The Sword and Laser discussion

I'm 65% through this book and bored. Nothing is really happening. Does it get any better near the end?

It depends, of course, on what you're looking for. If you're hoping for an action-packed, plot-centric slugfest, then this will likely seem like very weak tea indeed. If, on the other hand, you're on board for abook in which the ' action' is primarily in watching the mental acrobatics of the awkward and young, then this book is very, very satisfying.

Lem it now, wish I had.

I don't know what I was looking for, but I've been lately forcing myself to pick it up and keep reading. I hate to not finish books I've started, but I've read real journals that have been more interesting.

I'm surprised, because it's a short book, and seemed a quick read to me, but yes, as Louise said, it sounds like you won't miss much by lemming it.

You've gone far enough to understand what the book is offering, and while there is plenty of interest (in my view) in the pages which follow, it will only be of interest if the rest worked for you. And honestly, even some of the people who loved the book didn't feel the ending was particularly strong or satisfying.

Lem contentedly and find something you'll enjoy better. :D

I lemmed it-to slow for me and I felt like I was missing out not understanding most of the references. Enjoying some other things this month and looking forward to finding out what the pick ends up being for next month.

What the others said. I *did* love it, but if you're not into it by now, it's not likely you will get anything out of the last third of the book.

I would not normally suggest this, but you could just skip to the last couple of pages and read the end.

I read this book awhile ago, but I wish I'd lemmed it halfway through. I never got "a nostalgic love of sci fi" as much as a "generic list of books she read that happened to be sci fi" with a crazy witch mom slapped on top. Go read something you enjoy more!

I bring the nostalgic love of SF with me, so that's the best part for me. The rest of it I'm kind of bouncing off of. But when she lists what books her father has in his shelves, and OH he has this one and she loved this one! I'm right there with her.

Maybe I should just skim the rest and read that part ;-)

I'm forcing myself to finish it on principal alone. I'm listening to the audio book while I'm doing other things so really only half listening. I'm half way through and I find nothing about this story interesting at all. The only think I'm taking from it is a list of other books to read as she goes to the library. Maybe when I listen to the wrap up show they'll point out something I missed.

Allan: what principal is that? The principal of you hating yourself? While I am an advocate for giving a book club pick more effort than you usually give to a book you're not into, there's no need to punish yourself with a book that you don't have any connection to. Go read something you'll like!

PS. To paraphrase our Supreme Laser, I thought about lemming this thread.

It's an odd book. I played with the notion to lem it after 50 pages and asked myself what open questions are there. At page 120ish these questions are answered but I feel with Mori and this is keeping me semi-interested in the book so the last 100 pages will be done by Friday and I will read a fast fun graphic novel to counterbalance this slow odd book.

Robert of Dale wrote: "Allan: what principal is that? The principal of you hating yourself? While I am an advocate for giving a book club pick more effort than you usually give to a book you're not into, there's no need ..."

After another 45 min I gave up. lol It was for the club so I gave it more that I normally would have but now I'm done. One to something else for now.

It would have been an "Ok" book if it ever got to some action.

I was expecting the mother to play a larger "on screen" role. She's more an imposing background figure who fizzles when she does appear.

The events that precede the main story would have made for a better book.

I can see why some think it is YA. I'd almost think it was ok as a children's book. (10-15yrs)

Tassie Dave wrote: "It would have been an "Ok" book if it ever got to some action.

I was expecting the mother to play a larger "on screen" role. She's more an imposing background figure who fizzles when she does appe..."

Exactly my view, and the reason I was annoyed by the blurb because it made me expect the book to be more like that.

Yep: I'm pretty much in the same boat. At this point I'm about halfway through and there's nothing compelling me to pick it up and read some more. I do generally enjoy slower paced books every now and then, but this one really isn't connecting with me at all. Like Janet mentioned earlier, I'm familiar with many of the books Mori mentions but I don't have the same fondness and nostalgia for them. I'm glad I gave it a shot, but I just not enjoying the story.

This is doing almost nothing for me. Around 100 pages in I started becoming a little interested, but not enough for me to enjoy. The only reason I'm still going is that I want to read every S&L pick this year.

Will wrote: "The only reason I'm still going is that I want to read every S&L pick this year. "

Sadly, this is probably the only reason I'll jump in on the July pick.

Only about an hour in the audiobook and I've yet to get the point. I'll keep listening to see if something clicks, but I just have one of those feelings which seems to match what others have said here.

Oh well, trying to broaden my horizons. You never know until you try.

OK, I ended up finishing it because I was nearly done and I guess I wanted to see why it won an award. About 75% through, the pace started to pick up and I actually thought there might be a story there. I thought there might be a "payoff" at the end, but I guess I was pretty disappointed. I still don't see why it won an award, but maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I find everyone's reactions to the books we read so interesting. I found this book captivating, although I can't really say why. It's kind of amazing how different all of our tastes are and that the same story/voice can be boring to one person and immensely interesting to others.

I'm wondering what makes some books so divisive and some so well loved. Sure, there is not book that is universally loved, but some or more and less divisive than others. I guess it must be some magic combination of writing, voice, and plot.

I enjoyed the main pick just fine, but I'm halfway through the alt and bored to death with it. Maybe there's a reason I've always preferred fantasy over sci-fi.

Ariel wrote: "I enjoyed the main pick just fine, but I'm halfway through the alt and bored to death with it. Maybe there's a reason I've always preferred fantasy over sci-fi."

What was the alt pick? I never saw it posted.

I'm really struggling with this one as well. I think it's the fact that I haven't read most of the books she references combined with the diary entry style. The style in and of itself isn't so much a turn off for me, but the way this is written I feel like I'm missing half the story. In true diary style - she writes for herself not for an audience, which means you have to infer half the things she's writing about. Instead of being intrigued I'm just confused! The only reason I have any sense of what's going on is because I've read other discussions.

@Tina sorry, I apparently got carried away! There is a renegade read of Player of Games, not really an alt, I guess. /shrug. Whatever, I'm lemming it anyway.

I also played with the idea of lemming, ( something I really am not a fan of doing) only the cool accent of the audio narrater's voice and the "kinda interesting" coming of age SF geek story of the main character kept me going.

terpkristin wrote: "Will wrote: "The only reason I'm still going is that I want to read every S&L pick this year. "

Sadly, this is probably the only reason I'll jump in on the July pick."

What does that mean?

Ah, I'm trying to read every S&L pick this year. The top 2 in the voting for the July pick consist of a book I've read and one I'm not interested in. If the latter wins the voting, I'll read it (or at least really try, since I did end up lemming the Cherryh book this year), but otherwise I would most likely skip the book. Of course, if the one I've read wins, I'm golden! ;)

terpkristin:

Since I believe you said Redshirts is the one you're not interested in... If it helps any, a lot of people who weren't much into the main text *loved* the codas. No way to tell whether you'd like it/them or not, of course.

I liked the book, liked the codas, didn't go into raptures over either, for what that's worth.

terpkristin wrote: "The top 2 in the voting for the July pick consist of a book I've read and one I'm not interested in. If the latter wins the voting, I'll read it (or at least really try, since I did end up lemming the Cherryh book this year), but otherwise I would most likely skip the book. "

Sometimes the books you are least interested in reading turn out to be the best, or a least a lot more enjoyable than you imagine.

Ariel wrote: "There is a renegade read of Player of Games, not really an alt, I guess. /shrug. Whatever, I'm lemming it anyway. "

With that one, I really would recommend you read a bit further. I loved the intro, then felt like the pace slowed down to a crawl, and I wasn't enthused at the thought of keeping reading, but after half way, it really picked up, and was a thoroughly satisfying read. It's a slow builder. Well, or maybe it just isn't your thing. Just thought I'd offer my view. :)

Ruth wrote: "Sometimes the books you are least interested in reading turn out to be the best, or a least a lot more enjoyable than you imagine."

That's why I'm trying to read all the S&L picks this year! :)

That said, I'm not into Star Trek and while I didn't dislike the two previous Scalzi books I read, I didn't think they were anything special...I don't feel any particular interest to go back to yet another Scalzi book. But if it is picked, I already have a copy (Hugo packet), so I'll give it a go.

@Ruth I will take your advice and keep trying. Especially since GR doesn't have a Lemmed it button... Only Progress and Completed. ;)

Ariel wrote: "@Ruth I will take your advice and keep trying. Especially since GR doesn't have a Lemmed it button... Only Progress and Completed. ;)"

You can create a special label for your books, so you can have ones in addition to "To Read", "Read", and "In Progress." I've setup one for "Abandoned."

It was posted in the S&L forum at one time, I'll see if I can dig it up.

I think what Redshirts has to offer over other Scalzi work is it's very meta. Plus the codas are heartstring tuggers.

terpkristin wrote: "You can create a special label for your books, so you can have ones in addition to "To Read", "Read", and "In Progress." I've setup one for "Abandoned."

It was posted in the S&L forum at one time, I'll see if I can dig it up."

This is the comment in the "Books You Have Lemmed" thread that talks about making custom exclusive bookshelves. If you don't want to click-through:
Go to 'My Books', on the top left next to 'bookshelves' click 'edit'.
Scroll to the bottom and in the 'add a shelf' box type 'lemmed.'
Click 'add.'
Check the 'exclusive' box next to your 'lemmed' shelf et voilà, you can move your unloved books over there.

(Thanks, Kate!)

Ooo, thanks! It was driving me crazy having Lemmed books just hanging around.

terpkristin wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "You can create a special label for your books, so you can have ones in addition to "To Read", "Read", and "In Progress." I've setup one for "Abandoned."

It was posted in the S&..."

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!

Ariel wrote: "@Tina sorry, I apparently got carried away! There is a renegade read of Player of Games, not really an alt, I guess. /shrug. Whatever, I'm lemming it anyway."

Oh, wished I'd done that one instead.

Veronica wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "You can create a special label for your books, so you can have ones in addition to "To Read", "Read", and "In Progress." I've setup one for "Abandoned."

It ..."

I second this caps-locked thanks. WOO THANKS!

This was my first S&L book so I felt compelled to finish... And didn't know about lemming it. *grins*

I certainly felt as though I was reading a 15 year old girls diary. It just isn't the style of book I'm often interested in. I felt overall character development was non existent... which is usually a key downfall for books I don't enjoy. I didn't get a sense of feeling for any of the characters.

Having not read many books from this era... I certainly now have a much larger list of books to read... And maybe not having read those books... I missed out on some subtext?

Glad to see some enjoyed it though. On to the July book(s)!

Overall 2 out of 5 stars...

I only finished this one because I wanted to be open minded. the book really was not my thing. Lemming may have been the way to go.

AMONG OTHERS reminds me of WORLD WAR Z in a weird way. With both of them, I only enjoyed the story until the novelty of the unique format wore off on me. With WWZ, I was about a quarter of the way through when the "oral history" format lost its appeal. With AMONG OTHERS, I made it about half way in when I lost interest in the journal format.

I just wish something was happening in the story. I'm two thirds through and it's just painful to read. The book has plenty of elements I normally enjoy, but there's just nothing happening! And you can tell a good story where nothing happens, but it's not working for me here at all.

I'm actually happy I got this title through interlibrary loan because it means I can't renew the book. So since I have to return it this week, this will basically be a forced lemming because there's no way I'm going to be able to slog through the last third in a couple of days.

Finished it - I kept waiting, but...
I never lem a book - you can't appreciate the good without reading the "not so good" -
Very disappointed and gave a "don't bother" to my son.