The Great Hullabaloo: BOOKS.

[Abraham Smashington]

bought my first e-book on our Nook last night. "Alone" by Brian Keene. It's a novella so it's a nice short read and I really enjoyed it. I've been waiting on a new book by Brian for months so I was super excited that it was on there. It's only 2.99 and I think it's worth it.

[BillyG]

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

Super dense book, but really great. Tons of characters spanning from the Japanese invasion of China through the mid 1990s. I'm pretty sure math/security geeks treat this book as their holy grail, because a lot of it focuses on code breaking in WWII.

The Dream Team - Jack MacCullan

Jack is one of the best NBA beat reports ever. He followed The Dream Team from inception of the idea, all the way to the flight home from Barcelona. He has tons of amazing stories (Sir Charles solidifies his place as my favorite player ever), and goes back to talk to the players 20 years later for further perspective. Really fast read.

Working on Cloud Atlas now. Surprised how quickly I am making it through the book. I am just under halfway through it. The book is starting to tease how everything might be connected, but I don't have any clue yet how it will.

[Martin]

I fucking LOVED Cloud Atlas. Also, I loved hearding the 2012 US basketball douches saying they were better than the Dream Team. Yeah. Right. Look, even our 2010 hockey team, fucking loaded with talent, was nothing compared to the US juggernaut that raped Barcelona. Holy cow.

Starting Robopocalypse.

Let's see if Dr. Hughes is right or if he's on crack.

[Abraham Smashington]

It's a fun read and there is no way the movie will come close to being as awesome.

[Martin]

I'm expecting that. Fun. So far, it is (done with the Sexbot).

After that: The Rook.

[Abraham Smashington]

The Sexbot stuff is great.

[Martin]

Done with Robopocalypse. It was ok, but it lost steam by the end. Like, really deflated. I still liked WWZ a bit more, but still, I'll check out Wilson's other book, Amped.

[BillyG]

Reading the Wool series on my Kindle. You can get the first 5 volumes for like $5 right now, highly recommend you do so.

[Martin]

I'm starting the Wise Man's Fear this weekend, due to Billy's sale tactics.

[BillyG]

YES. Just had another friend start it. He tweeted me today to tell me that Kvothe at university blows away the entire Harry Potter series. I guess that's high praise?

[Martin]

Well Kvothe in the first volume alone is better. What I want is more Chandrian though. That looked so neat. I mean, that ain't just gonna a trilogy, right?

[gravedigger]

I'm reading King's 11/22/63 right now. It's really quite entertaining so far but I think I'm missing some of the King references. Jake, the main character, just got back from 1958 Derry, ME. I recognized that he spoke with The young versions of Annette O'Toole and Harry Anderson from IT and also caught references to "The Body" but one thing I'm not sure about...

Was there another book/story about a force or something that possessed people to kill with a hammer?

[Martin]

Reading The Apoclaypse Codex by Charles Stross. (the Laundry series)

So far, the Chutulu + Dark magic + James Bond + Public bureaucracy mix has worked for 3 volumes, so it's probably gonna work for the 4th as well!

[Martin]

Apocalypse Codex was good, as usual, Stross is the Man.

Now, I'm halfway through Daniel O'Malley's The Rook. Haven't been into a book like that since the Lies of Locke Lamora. Wow. Instead of telling you what it's about, I'll be lazy and copy-paste the blurb. It's worth it though.

"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined

[Shit Dickface]

I still want to high-five the fuck out of you for suggesting The Lies of Locke Lamora. I'm not a fantasy fiction guy at all but that and its sequel were fantastic. Cameron Hughes turned me on to The Six-Gun Tarot and I just bought a copy, so I'mma get on that and report back. It sounds awesome though.