August 2014 reads

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I liked And Blue Skies From Pain by Stina Leicht. It was not as bleak as her first book, Of Blood and Honey. Northern Ireland in the 1970's was not a nice place at all.

Now reading a collection of novellas, Sword and Salt by Lindsay Buroker. She has become my favorite indie author.

[Garett Hornwood]

Finished Band of Giants by Jack Kelly yesterday, thought it was a pretty solid introduction to the American Revolution and the leaders of the Continental Army.

I started Avengers vs. X-Men today and will finish it off tomorrow then start Sourcery by Pratchett.

Year-long reading update:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: I finished King Lear early this week and found it very good, thought not great. I finished Timon of Athens today and thought it was interesting, but just okay. Tomorrow I begin Macbeth which I've read aloud through during HS senior English about 15 years ago as well as watched a 70s(?) BBC adaptation in the same class. I've also have Kurosawa's Throne of Blood on DVD that I've watched before (and might after I finish reading the play). So I'm looking forward to reading the Scottish play.

[SkynJay]

So far in August.

The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler - Better than The Thousand Names, which was pretty good in the first place.

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S Dawson - I was interested in the premise but not a big fan of the overall result; a book that was fun but the supernatural elements seemed to be made up on the go without checking for consistency.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan - Enjoyed it.

The Revolutions by Felix Gilman - Read Thunderer or The Half Made World instead, I was disappointed with this one for reasons I am still trying to find words for.

Reading Two Serpents Rise by Max Gladstone - Loved the first book of the series, getting sucked into this one as well.

[Isildur's Mane]

I finished reading "On Writing" By Stephen King. It was a good read. Interesting and inspiring in turns

Still reading "Mockingjay", "Dangerous Women" (bit by bit) and other books.

[Night's_King]

22/25

Finished The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks, To Green Angel Tower: Siege by Tad Williams, The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan and Young Bloods by Simon Scarrow this month.

I guess I'll finish The Broken Eye (Lightbringer #3) by Brent Weeks this month, after it's release on August 26th.

That was really a great month for reading! :D

[deleted01]

I heard that if you scratch Pat Rothfuss's tummy just below the navel he kicks his leg like a puppy.

...AND BACK ON TOPIC, I just finished the last Lensman book, Children of the Lens. I thought it was the best of the bunch, but that really isn't saying much.

I wish I knew this when I interviewed him last week. Though I might not have tried it. He's a pretty big guy.

I read Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo last week. Wow. I've seen some mixed reviews, but I loved it. Fast-paced, surprising, and just brilliant. And I just love Leigh, she's great.

Currently reading Half the World by Joe Abercrombie. Harper Voyager were giving out free proof copies at Worldcon, and I managed to nab one. I'm not sure if I like it as much as the first one, but it's still the usual strong story I'm used to from Abercrombie.

Next up is The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham. I am soooo looking forward to this. To my utter embarrassment, I cut across GRRM in our interview last week to demand if it was any good, as I hadn't managed to buy a copy yet, and he'd just finished it. :blush: :laugh:

[Nicomo Cosca]

I wish I knew this when I interviewed him last week. Though I might not have tried it. He's a pretty big guy.

I read Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo last week. Wow. I've seen some mixed reviews, but I loved it. Fast-paced, surprising, and just brilliant. And I just love Leigh, she's great.

Currently reading Half the World by Joe Abercrombie. Harper Voyager were giving out free proof copies at Worldcon, and I managed to nab one. I'm not sure if I like it as much as the first one, but it's still the usual strong story I'm used to from Abercrombie.

Next up is The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham. I am soooo looking forward to this. To my utter embarrassment, I cut across GRRM in our interview last week to demand if it was any good, as I hadn't managed to buy a copy yet, and he'd just finished it. :blush: :laugh:

You are reading Half the World?! Lucky you! I'm interested to hear your opinion once you're done with it :)

I'm now reading Royal Assassin, book 2 of The Farseer. So far this first three chapter are making me kind of sad actually :( I just want Fitz to put himself up and that everything goes back like it was at the start of book 1

[Eponine]

It's because of the board that I'm reading The Stand (Stephen King) and it's possibly because of the board that I'm hating it. When I joined (almost a decade ago!) I wasn't much of a fantasy reader, and was only a feminist in the vaguest sense. Since then, I've tried to read a lot of board recommendations for fantasy - not necessarily looking for the best stuff that was most tailored to my personal tastes, but a sampling of what the genre meant to readers. And much of my education as a feminist was due to the board - including things that come up repeatedly as issues in books - the Bechdel Test, the male gaze... And now I can't enjoy sexist drivel. So I can't enjoy The Stand. Also, the religiosity of "good" makes my atheist complete lack of a soul die a little - you might not believe in god, but he believes in you... ? I already read Frank Peretti, thanks.

[HexMachina]

You are reading Half the World?! Lucky you! I'm interested to hear your opinion once you're done with it :)

I'm now reading Royal Assassin, book 2 of The Farseer. So far this first three chapter are making me kind of sad actually :( I just want Fitz to put himself up and that everything goes back like it was at the start of book 1

Oh...If you're sad now, well...good luck :p

ETA: Since the last update I have finished Jane Eyre and Prince of Thorns. I really enjoyed Jane Eyre, but found Prince of Thorns not to my taste. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy.

I think next I will be reading A Thousand Splendid Suns

[Teng Ai Hui]

Recently finished The Churn and Cibola Burn by James SA Corey and Divergent. Currently reading Worm by Wildbow, about to finish Act 3. I'm enjoying this one immensely.

[Lady of the Wind]

After finishing re-reading A Storm of Swords my main impression is that the writing is much better than in Clash. Now moving on to Feast and Dance. I decided to try the combined reading.

[Maester Hodor]

Last week I finished The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham. I absolutely loved it! My only problem with the book was that it wasn't long enough. I am eagerly awaitng the last installment now.

Right now I'm reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I'm almost finished it but unfortunately I'm in the process of moving right now, so I haven't found the time to finish it yet. But so far I like it and it's a very messed up book.

[Darth Richard II]

It's because of the board that I'm reading The Stand (Stephen King) and it's possibly because of the board that I'm hating it. When I joined (almost a decade ago!) I wasn't much of a fantasy reader, and was only a feminist in the vaguest sense. Since then, I've tried to read a lot of board recommendations for fantasy - not necessarily looking for the best stuff that was most tailored to my personal tastes, but a sampling of what the genre meant to readers. And much of my education as a feminist was due to the board - including things that come up repeatedly as issues in books - the Bechdel Test, the male gaze... And now I can't enjoy sexist drivel. So I can't enjoy The Stand. Also, the religiosity of "good" makes my atheist complete lack of a soul die a little - you might not believe in god, but he believes in you... ? I already read Frank Peretti, thanks.

Yeah, if I had to pick a King book that aged the worst, that would be it. It's odd how conservative he used to be too, because man, he is a super liberal now. I want to say his views on women have gotten better too but I haven't read a lot of the recent stuff.

[Eponine]

Yeah, if I had to pick a King book that aged the worst, that would be it. It's odd how conservative he used to be too, because man, he is a super liberal now. I want to say his views on women have gotten better too but I haven't read a lot of the recent stuff.

I hated the character of Susannah from the Dark Tower. She felt so fabricated - like King was thinking - I CARE about women and minorities and the differently abled and I'm going to write this character who PROVES it. Her entire personality was being female, black and in a wheelchair.

I'm not a fan of King at all, but I prefer his short horror stories and anything with no female characters.

[Night's_King]

I hated the character of Susannah from the Dark Tower. She felt so fabricated - like King was thinking - I CARE about women and minorities and the differently abled and I'm going to write this character who PROVES it. Her entire personality was being female, black and in a wheelchair.

I'm not a fan of King at all, but I prefer his short horror stories and anything with no female characters.

I don't think this is a fair thing to say. First of all, I think that she is a very interesting character, although I agree, that she feld fabricated at first. Odetta is as black as Turk from Scrubs, while Detta is inteded to speak like a stereotypical black person. And Susannah is definitly more Odetta than Detta. For her being in a wheelchair did make sense to me and didn't feel strange at all.

I like her character and I love the Dark Tower. But YMMV.

[UndergroundMan]

So far this month I have finished

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Colorless Tsukuru Tasaki by Huruki Murakami

Lettting Go by Philip Roth

The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman

Plan on Finishing two shorter novels to close out the month

Jazz by Toni Morrison

Falling Man by Don Dellilo

[Eponine]

Colorless Tsukuru Tasaki by Huruki Murakami

How was it?

[mashiara]

I finished Parasite by Mira Grant and didn't really like it much. The story just didn't do it for me, it felt too predictable and you could see where it was going right from the beginning. There was something really off with the characters and the writing. I'm not saying I won't read the second one in the series when it comes out, it's just not high on my list.

I've started Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts.

[Bolivar]

I finished The Widow's House. Might move on to either the last Witcher book that got translated or House of Chains.

[Night's_King]

Can't wait for tomorrow. I'm going to lock myself in and read The Broken Eye in one day.