Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we review Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind.

This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

All in all, it's OK. Not great, not terrible, enjoyable enough, but not quite as fun as The Lies of Locke Lamora. Do note that we are at times quite harsh on the work, its merits nonwithstanding. Simply put, the book is not bad, or else we would actually have little to say. It is good enough that we must bring to bear our strongest criticisms, for it falls just short of being excellent. We both look forward to the continued growth of the author, and consider this a wonderful young adult fantasy novel.

We've discussed this book on two other occasions: relating to arrows and knees, and just as we'd finished it.

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we bring our review and thoughts of G. K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, published in 1908. It's an Edwardian thriller following a policeman sent to infiltrate the grand anarchist council only to find that it's full of other policemen with similar intents! It's an amusing and relatively enjoyable work, but it would be greatly served by a loose re-imagining in a modern format.

But first, we discuss Mr. Bubble, a ridiculous real-life sitcom-esqe request on Reddit (and the futility of such a thing in light of modern media), and whether cold or warm water hydrates one's body with greater speed (this becoming merely a vehicle, or dare I say, a pretense, for, shall we say, an argument).

For your reference, Scott's Choice for the next book will be The Name of the Wind.

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we bring you our thoughts on Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. It's the book club, so we'll assume you've read the book. If not, then this won't make a whole lot of sense (though this bingo card might give you a hint of what happens). But before that, briefly, we consider Facebook's continued failure as an IPO, chained as it is to the sinking boulder of Zynga, Google's Fiber initiative in Kansas City, and announce that the next book in the GeekNights Book Club will be The Man Who Was Thursday.

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we review Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. It's catching like wildfire, and dubious as we were, we had to see what all the fuss was about. The verdict? It's pretty good. Not great. Not particularly memorable. But, an enjoyable read well worth its short length and engaging story. Also, Rym hipstered up with some PBRs at Control-Flow.

The next book (Scott's choice) will be 1Q84 by Haruki-Murakami.

Tonight on GeekNights, we bring you the GeekNights Book Club! Specifically, we discuss The Little Prince and Wind, Sand, and Stars, both by the larger-than-life Antoine de Saint-Exup

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we bring you our full and final thoughts on The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (and the Oxford Comma) by Nancy Farmer. It's a charming, light book, set in a future Africa, that should be an enjoyable read for anyone who isn't a filthy Gondwanan.

Up next on the GeekNights Book Club, we discuss The Little Prince and Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exup

This month (July 2011) on the GeekNights Book Club, we discuss Isaac Asimov's Foundation. It's a science fiction classic that every person should read, and it might not be quite what you expect.

The next book, for August 2011, is The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm by Nancy Farmer.