December Reading 2016

[First of My Name]

Finished the first volume of the manga Akira. The first hundred pages didn't do much for me but after that the pages flew by. I'm interested enough to want to read the sequels.

I've started The Library at Mount Char, which has rave reviews and is promising so far. I'm glad to be reading some Fantasy again after circumstances have conspired against me doing that the last few months.

On ‎4‎-‎12‎-‎2016 at 11:54 PM, TheRevanchist said:

Started the month by reading the first two books in 'The Acts of Caine'. It looks that I am going to finish my 52 books per year challenge successfully (need just an another 4 books to do so).

Still one of my favorite series ever. I place the second book on a pedestal. 

[End of Disc One]

25 minutes ago, First of My Name said:

Still one of my favorite series ever. I place the second book on a pedestal. 

Nice. My copy of BoT is on a mere bookshelf.

[HexMachina]

Started The Liberation today. Already 30% through, I don't want to put it down. I should really pace myself but I have no self-restraint. 

I also started The Count of Monte Cristo too so I could try and slow down a little with that

[First of My Name]

1 hour ago, End of Disc One said:

Nice. My copy of BoT is on a mere bookshelf.

Filthy casual.

[Mexal]

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I also started The Count of Monte Cristo too so I could try and slow down a little with that

My all time favorite.

[Contrarius+]

4 hours ago, First of My Name said:

I've started The Library at Mount Char, which has rave reviews and is promising so far. I'm glad to be reading some Fantasy again after circumstances have conspired against me doing that the last few months.

I love this book to pieces. Truly a wild and crazy book. :-)

 

I don't remember whether I mentioned that I finished Salvatore's Legend of Drizzt: Homeland the other day. Truly a teenage-boy fantasy. And this afternoon I finished Wooding's Retribution Falls -- which was a lot of fun, but too studied and calculating in spots, making it too predictable.

I've just barely started Gemmell's Legend, but I have no opinions on that one yet!

[Starkess]

Finally got a chance to start Babylon's Ashes. I am through chapter 4 and not feeling super excited but definitely giving it the benefit of the doubt for now.

On 12/5/2016 at 7:26 PM, Lily Valley said:

I got sucked into reading Jeff Wheeler.   MUST READ AUTHOR BLURBS BEFORE I START FREE FICTION.  It's like the worst of Card's series for heavy handed morality preaching.

I read Jeff Wheeler's Muirwood trilogy. It was actually pretty entertaining until the last book and then the women-are-evil-sluts themes just got way too overbearing. I saw his new series was on special but I decided to pass.

[beniowa]

On 12/5/2016 at 6:26 PM, Lily Valley said:

YAY!  I hope you like it!  I took a peek at Eason's blog and it looks like she's having trouble with book three.  Although she could be having trouble with an unrelated project.  I'm certainly not impertinent enough to ask.  It's an unfinished trilogy, but nice wrap up of each story in books 1 and 2.  I felt like the end of 2 was a bit rushed.

I did, thanks again for the rec.    Though I do to have admit that I had trouble with the author's writing style and never quite got into it.  It did get better in the second and third sections.  And I did like the characters and the characterization, and the author certainly had a lot of interesting ideas. 

I pre-ordered a signed copy of Babylon's Ashes, but it won't show up for a couple of days so now I'm reading The Liberation by Tregillis. 

[Guinevere Seaworth]

 Being a fan of the show, Outlander, I loved reading about in behind the scenes in The Making of Outlander.

League of Dragons was an ok ending to the Temeraire series.  Given how good the first three books were, I was disappointed how poor the books were in the middle and end.

Now reading the final book in Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series, Blue at the Mizzen.

[Lily Valley]

17 hours ago, Starkess said:

Finally got a chance to start Babylon's Ashes. I am through chapter 4 and not feeling super excited but definitely giving it the benefit of the doubt for now.

I read Jeff Wheeler's Muirwood trilogy. It was actually pretty entertaining until the last book and then the women-are-evil-sluts themes just got way too overbearing. I saw his new series was on special but I decided to pass.

OMG.  The new trilogy is an abomination.  He continually praises the main character for her meekness and humility.  The virgin / whore dichotomy is strong in this one. 

Ben, I just inhaled Senlin Ascends.  What a fun read.  I loved the crazy world and the protagonist.  Also EDITH <3!!!  Thank you!

[beniowa]

On 12/9/2016 at 11:28 AM, Lily Valley said:

Ben, I just inhaled Senlin Ascends.  What a fun read.  I loved the crazy world and the protagonist.  Also EDITH <3!!!  Thank you!

Yay! 

[Iskaral Pust]

I finished The Sellout by Paul Beatty.  Very good and well worth its Booker Prize.  It's like Vonnegut writing about racism and life in the ghetto.  As feared, it rambles rather than ever finding a satisfying narrative but it works nonetheless.  

Now reading The Call by Peadar.  Despite not being a fan of YA or horror, I'm enjoying it and flying through it.  Good rec from these threads.  

I just bought several new books for my Kindle.  Hopefully lots of reading time over the Christmas break. 

[Paxter]

Recently finished Bakker's The Great Ordeal. This had some great moments, but I think it was generally slower and more impenetrable than previous instalments in the series. I'll definitely finish the series, but I'm generally less excited about it than I used to be.

I also read Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and Keyes' Flowers for Algernon. These were both fantastic, quick reads and were among the best books I've read this year.

Now on to the sixth volume in the ongoing Saga comic series, and will probably read a Tim Winton novel over Christmas.

[RedEyedGhost]

Read this great blog post by Robert Jackson Bennett on how Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell played into his marriage proposal. 

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finally got around to finishing the James stories. It was great, but not really the sort of collection you could rush (as I noted last month, collections of horror stories by one author are problematic reads, since you end up spotting the authorial tics and formulae).

Next up is Flashman on the March, by George MacDonald Fraser.

[Jo498]

Yes, such collections were usually not published as omnibus for a reason. In MR James' stories there are a few that are almost duplicates of each other (most blatantly "The mezzotint" and "The haunted doll's house" (or sth. like that). Hairy nightmares are also a particular fetish of his as well as strange Latin inscriptions or messages...

[The Marquis de Leech]

And spiders. The stereotypical M.R. James story would feature a lost Latin manuscript unleashing hairy spiders through your bed-sheets after a visit to a Cathedral.

[Peadar]

14 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Now reading The Call by Peadar.  Despite not being a fan of YA or horror, I'm enjoying it and flying through it.  Good rec from these threads.  

Thanks a million! Hope you enjoy the rest!

 

As for me, I enjoyed Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil. Now reading an as-yet unpublished manuscript by my friend, Martin Owton.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

A Closed And Common Orbit-Becky Chambers.

As lovely as the first one. Great characters and very inclusive. Not one for the sad pups.

A Memory Of Light. Sanderson and Jordan. 

Basically an overwritten battle report from the pages of White Dwarf magazine only with worse prose. 

Next, onto Arcadia by Iain Pears.

 

[Iskaral Pust]

On 12/12/2016 at 8:41 AM, Peadar said:

Thanks a million! Hope you enjoy the rest!

You owe me a few hours of sleep already.  I only get to pick up the book after midnight as I get into bed, and it's not an easy book to put down. I'm almost done so just one more late night should be enough to finish it.