1/27/13

  1. prelude

    discussion of cars. why do people like crossovers but not wagons? babies.
    hand-painted cookies. chad's wearing a sars mask. sophie has a book to report
    on. soviet russia? pro tip: turn on the private setting on spotify so you don't
    scrobble the kids' music. monoprice. sophie calls the meeting to order.

  2. sophie: the sleeping beauty trilogy. anne rice (as a n roquelare, her sexxy pen name).

    1. verdict: +
    2. review:

      this is "the claiming of sleeping beauty," "beauty's punishment," and "beauty's
      release." just like the classic, but this time prince charming wakes her up by
      "effing" her, and makes her into a sex slave. they're all into bdsm. it's
      erotic but interesting. thousands of sex tributes to the sexy queen. something
      about a horse track? the pleasure and pain are together. the men slaves have to
      have an erect penis ALL THE TIME. sleeping beauty is a BEAUTIFUL woman, so they
      poke and prod her. in book 3, she's released from slavery and she hates it,
      because she's really horny. well-written, better than the other erotica.
      recommended.

  3. adam: remainder of the dark tower series. stephen king.

    1. verdict: ++
    2. review:

      this is books 5, 6, and 7: "wolves of the calla," "song of susannah," and "the
      dark tower." definitely recommended. they get "overly meta" starting in book 5.
      that's when a character from salem's lot joins the cast. but then it gets even
      MORE meta, and stephen king himself is a character. it comes across as very
      indulgent. it's off-putting, but the writing is good. book 7, characters get
      pretty badass. he's going all-out. self-indulgence is offputting, but as a
      whole it's great. final report is forthcoming as he's still reading book 7.

  4. interlude

    talking about robert jordan. is brandon sanderson a hack? jeff's coworker is
    going to re-read the whole series prior to reading the final volume.

  5. chris: among other. joe walton.

    1. verdict: eh
    2. review:

      hugo & nebula award winner from 2011. big fucking whoop. diary of a wimpy girl
      in the english countryside. 70s & 80s scifi fandom worship. she and her twin
      are crazy and thinks she's a witch and talks to fairies. kinda bored him in the
      end although the tone and setting are pretty decent.

  6. chris: mr penumbra's 24-hour bookstore. robin sloane.

    1. verdict: --
    2. review:

      really truly just awful. "take that, city lit checkout schmuck." very
      mysterious small tall bookstore blah blah blah. harry potter set in a
      bookstore? his girlfriend works at google so, ah fuck me this is terrible. i
      like this part about how the goog cafeteria has one line for employees where
      they get nutritious food and one line where the guests get food for fatties.
      also sounds like the da vinci code aping neil stephenson.

  7. chad and jeff: red country. joe abercrombie.

    1. verdict chad: +
    2. verdict jeff: +
    3. review:

      abercrombie's spaghetti western. set in the same world as the others.
      meta-discussion of abercrombie: consensus that he's better than grrm.
      discussion of tone, style, side characters moving to the forefront, etc. "he
      learns a new trick every book, and milks it." this book has all the western
      tropes: wagon trains, indians, etc. the callback character in this one is a
      star from the first books. evil ottoman-esque empire (the "gurkish") are trying
      to take over. chad thought it was too long? some was good, some was like "why
      am i reading this stuff that's just like every western?" jeff read it
      back-to-back with the heroes. chad wants him to write something that's not just
      an excuse to work in a certain style. "the mayor is whats-her-face, right?"

  8. jeff: the hydrogen sonata. iain m banks.

    1. verdict: ?
    2. review:

      (ed.: title corrected from "some culture novel? the latest one." lol me 911. i
      guess we don't get a review of this one? faithless scribe asleep at the wheel.)

  9. aaron and chad: game of thrones. george r r martin.

    1. verdict: "does it even matter at this point?"
    2. review chad:

      "i prefer the tv show."

    3. review aaron:

      "i don't want to talk about game of thrones."

  10. jeff: lost girl. tv show.

    1. verdict: +
    2. review:

      girl who's a succubus. lots of sex. sophie would love it. jeff says we should
      watch it. 2 seasons on netflix. buffy-esque. (ed: we're doing tv shows now? i
      don't know if we're doing tv shows...)

  11. and i think that's it!