May 2011 Reading Thread

[SkynJay]

I like to read humor in books. Pratchett is the best, but I also like Asprin and Holt and Moore. Someday ill try Wodehouse.

[RedEyedGhost]

Have you tried the audio books? The narrator is great.

I'm not a big audio book guy; I get distracted too easily. (Plus the repeated misuse of who in place of whom is written in the text, so I imagine he would read it that way because that's how Harry is thinking it and I hope it's not because Butcher and his editor don't know the proper usage.)

[mashiara]

I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin a few days ago and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I had read many conflicting reviews about it and I was prepared for a less than great outcome, but it really came off as fine reading. I disagree with people who classify it under the romance genre -and those of you who've followed my posts would know I have nothing against romance novels, quiet the opposite sometimes. Sure, there is a romantic subplot and a little bit of purple prose in there, but it's not the main theme of the book. I liked the characters, I loved the way the narration unfolded and we got to understand more and more of the story, I have to admit I did not see the ending coming. Great book, as far as I'm concerned.

I also read the second one in the series, The Broken Kingdoms. I wasn't as impressed with that as with the first one, I liked the idea of the struggle for redemption and it was kind of nice to see how things had changed in 10 years since the first book but I did not find the main character as appealing. Still, decent reading and I'll be looking forward to the 3rd book of the series and the conclusion of the story.

Another book I finished just yesterday, Bones of the Hills, Conn Iggulden. This is the final part of his Genghis Khan trilogy and to me it was kind of meh. I'll admit to never studying Genghis as a historical figure and not knowing much about him so I don't know how much of the book was based on truth. Of all three books I really enjoyed the first one, dealing with his childhood and ascend to power. The other two, I was just not impressed with.

Currently reading Coraline and Other Stories by Neil Gaiman.

[Larry.]

Finished reading the Strahan-edited Eclipse 4 - some really good stories in there (Kiernan, Swirsky in particular). On par with the other volumes in this original anthology series. Should be out very shortly in the US, if not already (I received my review copy last week).

Going to (finally) read four of Eric Basso's books for a group review later this month. The Beak Doctor. Revagations: A Book of Dreams, Bartholomew Fair, and The Golem Triptych.

Also started reading Adam Levin's 2010 debut novel, The Instructions and after the first chapter, I think this book might have made it onto my 2010 year-end lists if I had read it when it came out last November.

[Demosthenes]

I'm not a big audio book guy; I get distracted too easily. (Plus the repeated misuse of who in place of whom is written in the text, so I imagine he would read it that way because that's how Harry is thinking it and I hope it's not because Butcher and his editor don't know the proper usage.)

I'm not big on audio books either, usually. (They tend to put me to sleep, to say nothing of holding my waking attention...) But really. I actually didn't love the Dresden books in print, but the audio book narrator is so. damn. perfect that you should at least download one or check one out from the library. All the grammatical quirks that bothered me while reading disappear with the magic of the hardboiled detective narrator voice.

[valacirca]

Newbie here so I'll have to chime in and say that I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones and according to Kindle, I'm 20% of the way through.

Aside from that, I'm also midway through Winter's Bone.

After finishing what I'm currently reading, I'm planning to take on the rest of the ASoIaF series as well as The Hunger Games trilogy.

[Gormenghast]

My review of Scott R. Bakker The Darkness that Comes Before. I guess I'm a bit late to the party ;)

http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/2044

I've started reading this book last October... Just saying.

Now I can go on with The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts (150 pages in), Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson (400 pages in) and Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie (80 pages in).

I wonder if there's anyone crazy as me who takes MONTHS to finish a book and read 4+ at the same time (and across all sort of series, without reading from one to the other...).

[Liadin]

Just finished Shadow Gate, the second book of Elliott's Crossroads trilogy, and going to move on to the third in the next couple of days. I'm quite liking it, and will probably make a thread when I finish to see if anybody here wants to discuss.

Newbie here so I'll have to chime in and say that I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones and according to Kindle, I'm 20% of the way through.

Aside from that, I'm also midway through Winter's Bone.

After finishing what I'm currently reading, I'm planning to take on the rest of the ASoIaF series as well as The Hunger Games trilogy.

May I ask what drew you to this board when you haven't actually read ASOIAF yet? :P

[SkynJay]

I joined the board before finishing asoiaf too. This very lit forum was the best I found.

Edit: I was on affc at the time though.

[valacirca]

May I ask what drew you to this board when you haven't actually read ASOIAF yet? :P

I've been aware of ASoIaF for a while now, but the HBO series is what eventually piqued my curiosity.

I didn't want to see the show without reading the book, so I'm now reading the book and watching the show in parallel.

I'm liking the show and loving the book so much that I wanted to constantly discuss about it or at least see people discussing the series, but couldn't find that kind of crowd in my other forums, so I went here.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Just finished Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Uttery fantastic. Great prose,an entirely believeable and loveable heroine and a bleakness and sense of menace throughout. Its up there with Kelly Links Pretty Monsters as my favourite read of the year so far.Film adaptation was very good as well.

[Ser Nevarc]

I'm experiencing a reading burst this week.

Finished The Catcher in the Rye yesterday, which for me seems semi-deservant of its everlasting fame. The characters were, as I expected, the strongest value of the novel-- like Kerouac's The Road, there's like no meaningful plotline, more like this progression of events that leads to no real meaningful climax or resolution. If you liked it, I'd recommend the novella The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

...and then last night read Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in one gulp. Great allegorical, simple prose.

I think I'm starting Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness tonight. I've read The Call of Cthulhu and a couple other short stories. Anyone read it yet?

:read:

[Astra]

Deadhouse Gates [The Malazan Book of the Fallen #2] by Steven Erikson.

So far, I like it!

[TheEvilKing]

Finished The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Good but didn't blow my mind or anything. Will be worth a re-read at some point though, definitely.

Not sure what to read next. I'm kind of hanging out for White Luck Warrior, which should be released here in a week. Until then... might read some short stories, and start a mmpb.

[Datepalm]

Started Swainsons The Year of Our War - it's very...new weird, I guess. Its good, but the worldbuilding and plot feel a bit patchy somehow. Interesting, but unclear. Main character is great and holds it all together though. Also Iain M. Banks State of the Art, a culture anthology. Some of the stories are little more than a punchline, but others are quite tricky and poignant in not a lot of pages.

I managed to get half way through Jon Courtnay Grimwood's "The Fallen Blade." I remember a lot of good reviews for it, but i'm not enjoying it at all. If it weren't on the kindle, i'd have forgotten about it a long time ago, but its kind of sitting there looking at me,so now and then i'll open it and read a few percent more, in some vain hope that it clicks together eventually. It hasn't yet.

I don't care about any of the characters or the plot, and the book sort of incoherently stutters from scene to scene, never filling in the blanks. Its also entirely filled with totally unsympathetic characters and constantly extremely violent, constantly grossly sexual, drenched in bodily fluids, etc. It dosen't amount to anything though, or make any point (unlike in, say, Abercrombie or even Lynch.) Its not interesting or shocking or even disturbing. Not so much 'grim grit' as 'tepid nausea'. If I had to summarize it in a word so far, it would be "ick". Has anyone finished it? Should I go on?

[Ser Nevarc]

Finished The Prestige by Christopher Priest. Good but didn't blow my mind or anything. Will be worth a re-read at some point though, definitely.

Not sure what to read next. ... Until then... might read some short stories, and start a mmpb.

Have you tried Harlan Ellison?

[Valarr]

Tried reading Dresden Files, had to force myself to finish third book.

I read Roger Zelazny's Unicorn Variation yesterday, and today started his A Night In The Lonesome October

[Eponine]

Started Swainsons The Year of Our War - it's very...new weird, I guess. Its good, but the worldbuilding and plot feel a bit patchy somehow. Interesting, but unclear. Main character is great and holds it all together though.

Is a stand-alone or part of a series? I was thinking about reading it and am glad that you brought it to mind again.

***

I'm almost finished with The Sword of the Lictor, Gene Wolfe. A few times, it feels like it's left layers of symbolism and delved into beating one about the head with Christianity. I still feel the same way as I did a book ago, that it's an artifact rather than a novel. Certainly, I'll finish the final book, and I would recommend it as an example of brilliant and complex writing, but the parallelism is so strong in places that I find myself being pulled out of the book too much (especially in the temptation in the wilderness scene). It's become the difference between seeing a reference and reading an allegory. IMO, in the first case, it's like a semi-hidden bonus (and you get to feel smart), and in the second case, you're spending all your time thinking - this corresponds to this and that corresponds to that, and in the end you're not really engrossed in the actual story anymore.

[lady narcissa]

I've also been reading, for a value of reading that means 'skimming between sex scenes' a couple of bodice ripper type romance novels ('Beyond the Highland Mist', which has our heroine time travelling to 16th c Scotland, and the most risible alpha-male hero i've ever read...

KMM's Highlander books are pretty bad (and I generally enjoy reading time travel romance novels) and if you think that hero is the most alpha-male hero you've ever read, keep reading. They only get more alpha...like ALPHA+++ on steroids. I only made it through them because I was desperate for background on certain characters in her later Urban Fantasy series.

For the sake of research into my increasingly involved 'Highland Sheikh' parody. I need to find a book with an actual Sheikh with actual harem girls - the romance novel 'sheikh' category seems to feature mainly 'glamorous' oil tycoons living in Europe with a thing for horses. Don't tell anyone the 80's are over!

Have you tried Johanna Lindsey or Beatrice Small? Both published historical romances in the 1980s that had sheikhs. However if I remember the Lindsey ones correctly they generally involved sheikhs who also ended up being British aristocrats who were embracing their mother's heritage and hanging out in the Middle East but ultimately end up back in Regency England as Earls or Dukes. Although for the sake of your parody I suppose you could easily have them end up back in the Scottish highlands instead! Let me know if you need specific titles.

[Datepalm]

Is a stand-alone or part of a series? I was thinking about reading it and am glad that you brought it to mind again.

Theres three more books, and a fifth to be published, apparently, but i'm having a hard time figuring out how stand alone any of them are from the internets without getting spoilered. The fourth one is a prequel, so i'm assuming the first three at least make a coherent (and already published) trilogy.

Lady Narcissa - Awesome! Sheikh-dukes sounds perfect. re - KMM, damn, now I have to keep reading. I really thought a line like "he touched the perfect stubble on his perfect jaw with his perfect hand" was untoppable. I mean, I don't even have the first clue how to actually parody that.