# Rate the books you just finished reading.



## Skodt (Jul 2, 2013)

It is pretty simple. Everyone in this section clearly loves reading. Sometimes we get stuck on what to choose next. Rate and describe briefly what you have just read. We all have seen the what are you reading now thread, but tell us about what you have finished now. 

The Daylight War: This the the third in the Demon Cycle series. The book is very long winded through description and dialogue that could be cut effectively. Such things as room decorations, clothes, hair swaying in the wind type things. For that the story is still easily followed; though I found myself skipping big chunks of prose with skim reading, and never missing a beat. This book goes back and forth between two sections of characters. While there is effectively about seven perspectives it really is more so cut up in land sections. This isn't so bad to follow; aside from a lot of information being repeated, and a lot of going back in time to read what has already happened. This in the end can off an off putting effect, but it builds the story none the less. The ending is really what saves this installment. The first two were better written and probably overall more entertaining. That said this ending really has me ready to clutch the next book; kind of out of anger though more so than expectation. Is that good for the author? Well it gets his book read one way or the other. Even if for the next two or so years I think of his name and cringe at his idea of a good ending spot. 4/5 Even with the flaws, I say it is still a very good read


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## FleshEater (Jul 2, 2013)

Dean Koontz _Intensity
_
The story was good enough to keep me turning pages, but the conveniences wore thin after two hundred pages, and even more so by the end. The murderer was supposed to be a serial killer that broke all textbook definitions, which is fine, but he turned out to be more of a frat boy hellbent on _intensity_. The high part of this novel was the detailed psycho analysis, other than that, this book fell flat for me.


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## JimJanuary (Jul 4, 2013)

I could rate John Green's _The Fault in Our Stars _a 2/5 and expand on my rating, but I suspect some nerdfighter will read this and want to kill me. Let's just say the last time I read a YA novel I was actually 15... so my not being used to that genre/style of writing probably influenced my rating.


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## Pluralized (Jul 4, 2013)

_Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!_ - Richard P. Feynman

Theoretical Physicists don't typically offer much in the way of adventurous anecdotes beyond the laboratory or the classroom, but from childhood Richard Feynman led a fascinating and very exciting life. From the beginning, where he's up in his room in the 1930's in Far Rockaway building primitive radios and catching things on fire with his experiments, right through to his work at Los Alamos during WWII and subsequent relative fame as a high-level physicist, he hooks you right in with an easy, entertaining style. He marched and danced in the Brazilian Carnaval, seriously pursued learning to play hand percussion, frequented strip clubs, and witnessed the first atomic bomb blast through a truck windshield, taught himself to crack safes for fun, experimented with sensory-deprivation tanks and their effect on consciousness, among other shenanigans. The technical bits are presented in bite-sized chunks and the anecdotal history of his life presented with immense affability. An enjoyable read, all the way through. I'm kind of sad that it's over.


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## escorial (Jul 4, 2013)

Cannery Row/Sweet Thursday...John Steinbeck...Both books are about the same place and characters but written some years apart. Set in Monterey it describes a host of people living out there lives just day to day..set just after the second world war it is a glimpse into the world of bums an hookers.


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## Skodt (Jul 6, 2013)

22.) John Carter: The God's of Mar- In the second installment of the John Carter series; John finds himself in many the crazy situations. With every situation comes a turn of events that leads him to safety. It starts out with Carter returning to give his nephew a script of his time back upon Mars; remember this information because it becomes a tick of mine later. After the nephew receives the information he puts the words into a legible story. This story takes off right as John Carter dies on Earth. He is found in quite the predicament. With the help of a green friend he fights through the instant death, but the plight isn't over. As he escapes certain death he is forced into a room; in this room he hears voices, and after the voices more beast are sent to kill him, but luckily he notices a revolving door; he takes his chance and faces off an excellent swordsman. He fells him but with naught left in his tank, then a second swordsman maybe better than the first appears at his back, and a call barley saves him. He fights this danger off, and hears his green friends cries of trouble. With the help of a slave he enters the room fighting off yet more beast, until finally the girl slave uses her power to calm the beast. She then leaves, and John Carter and his friend are left inside a room with no exit. Finally she returns and tells him there is no escaping the Holy Therns of Mars, but Carter will never take no for an answer. He fights his way into the palace, and then sleeps in the store room out of total exhaustion. When he awakes his freed slave crew is dead, except the girl, and his green friend. Now under the guise of a Holy Thern( Whom fate has it he is identical to) he moves across the palace, but as he exits a swarm of black pirates is now randomly attacking the Therns-What fates!- he uses this time to try to procure one of the Blacks ship, but they spot him, and he fights them off; then he sends off his friends to whatever fate lies in their future. For him the rest of the story bounces around in these crazy situations, and even oft time crazier solutions. Now this book was quite filled with action, but little of it made you sit on the edge of your seat. Matter of fact I skipped a lot of the longer boring action scenes. In the end we come full round and find ourselves facing the original enemies. In a miracle array of events Carter comes out with a victory, but with victory comes defeat. His wife is trapped in a rotating prison for a year, he sees another prisoner stab at her, but does not know the outcome, and there we end this story of book two. My nitpick is that he came back to earth, knowing how to transverse the two planets with ease now. He had been dead for a long amount of time, but we are left with a cliff hanger? How is that even possible due to the events? 


With all this against the book; even with it not being a bad read. I can't find myself giving it more than 2.8/5


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## FleshEater (Jul 8, 2013)

I finished Joe R. Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water this weekend. It was absolutely amazing. The narration was written in a Texan drawl from the perspective of a seventeen year old girl. It's an adventure story like Huckleberry Fin. Full of laughs, suspense, and some parts horror, this has been one of the best reads I've had in a long time.


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## Charlaux (Jul 8, 2013)

The Body Farm - Patricia Cornwell (4/5)

The latest book I have read in my crime fiction phase, and one of my favourites. This book is told from Dr Kay Scarpetta's POV as she works with the FBI to investigate the killing of a child in a rural town. The book keeps two intriguing lines of plot and drama weaving (the individual crime and that of the wider series), simultaneously and IMO seamlessly, and I was still guessing right up to the end - and guessing wrong.


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## TWErvin2 (Jul 9, 2013)

*Hunted*, 6th book in the _Iron Druid Chronicles _by Kevin Hearne.  It wouldn't be the best book to begin the series, although one could pick up well enough. As always the characters are varied and interesting, non-stop action with humor and intrigue woven in.  In Hunted, Atticus, a 2000 year old druid (the last except for the apprentice he just finished training) is fleeing two the Greek and Roman goddesses of the hunt as he's ticked off their pantheons. The ways of escape he might normally used are closed, so it's a race to reach England and safety.  If you enjoy fantasy and action, the series might be for you. For the series, I'd rate this a 8/10. As a novel compared to all others 9.5/10.


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## OurJud (Jul 21, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> I finished Joe R. Lansdale's Edge of Dark Water this weekend. It was absolutely amazing. The narration was written in a Texan drawl from the perspective of a seventeen year old girl. It's an adventure story like Huckleberry Fin. Full of laughs, suspense, and some parts horror, this has been one of the best reads I've had in a long time.



Have you read his series of Hap and Leonard novels? I've read both _Bad Chili_ and _Mucho Mojo_ and enjoyed them thoroughly.


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## FleshEater (Jul 21, 2013)

That was the first I've read of him. He's definitely on my _read everything_ list!


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## OurJud (Jul 21, 2013)

FleshEater said:


> That was the first I've read of him. He's definitely on my _read everything_ list!



In the two books I mention he uses the same Southern drawl you describe in your post. He writes simply yet beautifully. Some of his descriptions are wonderful, such as this from _Mucho Mojo_ when he talks about the heat from the sun:



> [...] and of course that East Texas sun, which by 10:30am is like an infected blister leaking molten pus, doesn't help matters.


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## Staff Deployment (Jul 22, 2013)

The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

:5stars:

It's a horror book literally about the circus from hell. Incredibly fast-moving and gripping, and yet it somehow manages to drag the most self-indulgently horrible details out to a delightfully uncomfortable pace. The first part of the book is so matter-of-fact with the gruesome elements (such as a live bat nailed to a door by its head, and a room literally painted in blood) that it prepares you for the circus in all of its extremely, disturbingly violent glory. I loved the dynamic between the protagonist Jamie and his clown alter-ego JJ, especially the things they do to their shared body to get back at each other and send messages.

The climax of the book was absolutely _spectacular_, starting with a humongous explosion and ending with clowns getting beaten into a fine paste by a werelizard wielding a giant blood-soaked christian cross. It was _perfect._

My favourite character is the titular Pilo. He collects teeth and it's adorable. He's so pleased with his teeth collection.


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## rockoo315 (Jul 27, 2013)

I finished The Count Of Monte Cristo, the unabridged version, a couple of weeks ago.  I absolutely loved the book.  Dumas had an excellent writing style.  All throughout the book I kept on guessing on how the Count would enact his revenge and how his antagonists would react.  I also kept on putting myself in the Count's situation, assessing how I would've done things differently.  All in all, an excellent read.  Honestly, even though the book was a little of 1,200 pages long, I didn't want it to end.


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## Skodt (Aug 7, 2013)

The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson:

Kal- At the beginning I saw a totally different direction for this character. I was kind of annoyed by the random throwback to the past. I was kind of wondering why we were following a slave, and how he fit into the story. Then when he got to camp I was sure he was going to be made a soldier. Boy was I ever wrong. I ended up enjoying the past bits. I even looked forward to them after the first few. I also really enjoyed Kal as a character. The bridge crew was amazingly creative. I can't recall ever reading anything like this idea? The character development with not only Kal, but his band of mates was amazing. It seemed like the characters slowly came to life right before my eyes. By the end I was cheering them on and sad as each minor character died off so close to freedom. Not to mention who doesn't love Sly? I think the entire idea behind that relationship was imaginative and created greatly. 


Dalinar and company- I was confused by much of his visions and his book. Now I followed as best you could with the hints. I enjoyed his inner most thoughts and the way he was falling apart at the seams. It screamed to be real inner unrest. It was not forced, nor did it come off as fake. The entire setting around this character screamed falling apart. The end with the reveal was a bit? I am not sure yet. I will gather my thoughts on it, probably after reading the next few books. I do know I cheered behind the blue and felt myself willing Kal onward during the big moment. 


The rest of the cast- They were done nicely. Shallen was a little odd for me at first. I thought she was a little boring. Later she grows on me, but really more so for the King's sister and not herself. Szeth is quite interesting and I feel I have an idea what will happen to him, but I will keep it to myself for now. The interludes were odd to me. Did they really mean anything at all? Some of them did nothing for the story, and I suppose it will be more enlightening later, but for now it left me wondering if they were needed. 


Still overall this story is one of the most imaginative and creative pieces I have read in a long time. 4.7/5


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## OurJud (Aug 14, 2013)

HUNTER S THOMSON'S _FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS_

One of the best reads I've had in many a year!

So taken am I by Thomson's style that I shall have to be careful that his influences don't cause me to try and copy him, if I ever get around to writing this road novel of mine.


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## Skodt (Aug 14, 2013)

^Good luck. Any time I write school papers now I ramble like Hunter. layful:


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## Jon M (Aug 14, 2013)

Almost done with _Wool, _the omnibus version. Thought it was decent. So many people on Goodreads are calling this a classic, and I can't help but think it's all hype -- fellow writers drunk on the notion that Howey's a self-publishing success. The book is a little over five hundred pages long, at roughly 350 words per page, and I mention that because it seems like in all of that literary real estate, the story actually accomplishes very little. Won't spoil any of it here. But, nearing the end of the book as I am, just think it is surprising how flat the characters and the world seem on the page. Other, better writers have accomplished more in less.

Still, it was enjoyable. The equivalent of a summer action flick.


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## Staff Deployment (Aug 14, 2013)

Twice now I've had to stop myself buying Wool just to "see what the hype is about" because I have an uneasy suspicion that's the main reason it has so much hype to begin with.


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## escorial (Aug 15, 2013)

Last book I read was The Pearl by J Steinbeck...basically about a couple who find their lives can be changed by great wealth and find they were already rich without it. I can't say I really took to the whole story and felt it a bit biblical at times...not one I would recormmend.


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## Skodt (Aug 15, 2013)

Prince or thorns: It took me a long time to get into the groove of this book. Not because of the killing, rape, and looting. Not even the audacious language, but because of the first person telling of events. It felt odd to me at first. I had to let it settle over me. That ruined it a bit for me. Once it came over me and I accepted the style; then it was for me to try to really get behind this story, but I never really could. 

Jorg is too lucky. Everything he does settles on luck. The creatures are odd. It seemed like magic one moment was not in the world, and then we have creatures made of poison, men or lobster red, and dream witches. The characters died in droves, but they never really seemed to matter. Their death did not impact me a bit. The only character ever holding more than a trickle of interest was the Prince, and sadly even that entrance was hung by a small thread. 

Now Mark did good on his sentence structure. I even found some quotable passages. This just wasn't for me in the end. 3.1/5


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## OurJud (Aug 15, 2013)

Skodt said:


> It took me a long time to get into the groove of this book.



What book?


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## Skodt (Aug 15, 2013)

quick edit fixed that.


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## OurJud (Aug 15, 2013)

Ah!

Worryingly, I don't think I've heard anyone yet express a dislike for third-person narratives, but it seems quite a few people actively don't like a first-person POV.

This doesn't bode well.


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## Skodt (Aug 15, 2013)

It was the style of first person, not just the first person.


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## FleshEater (Aug 15, 2013)

I just finished reading Jack Ketchum's _The Girl Next Door_. Words can't describe how I feel right now. This has been one of the most powerful reads I've had. It makes you mad, sick, sad, confused, and you realize, after it's over, that no matter what, there are some instances where there is no room for cowardice.

I do not recommend anyone under the age of 21 to read this, unless you're already accustomed to absolutely unfathomable brutality.


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## Skodt (Aug 17, 2013)

The ocean at the end of the lane- I went into this book never having read a Neil Gaiman book. I left this book scrounging the shelves for more. 


This book reminded me of the feelings I had while reading Coraline. It touched my inner child and let it dance free across the pages. This story had all the right elements. It had happiness, sadness, desperation, magic, pain, and fear. It had a long standing friendship. It had an ocean in a bucket. 


The characters moved nicely. The story was enticing. I read this book in one setting. I recommend this book for anyone sitting down to relax and looking for a good read.


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