Ser Barry Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 The Best American Magazine Writing 2007 A collection of 18 of the best articles from American magazines published in 2006. Almost uniformly impressive, barring a strange critique of an E.B. White essay about geese by Paul Theroux, this collection promises to deliver top quality writing in a variety of fields and it delivers. Thought provoking, moving, funny and anger inducing. The biggest flaw I found was that I read it so quickly I did not give each piece the time for thought that it deserved. I would also add that some of the pieces missed out on having no photographs present. Immedietly back on the re-read pile. Barry Silver Star. Here are two of the articles I found most impressive. http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0906NEWORLEANS_216 http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/feature.../hitchens200608 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Time for Wolves Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 They are indeed interesting articles. I'm still reading Ian McDonald's "River of Gods", which I borrowed at the end of February but haven't had a chance to read much of yet. Very enjoyable so far, if a bit all over the place. Also reading "The Hollow Hills", "Here Be Dragons" by Sharon Penman (which is not that great at the moment) and John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse", which is just weird and which I will probably stop reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashalla Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I'm starting Robin Hobb's Soldier Son Trilogy tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I finished The Black Echo by Michael Connelly and The Running Man by Stephen King (one of the Bachman books). Decent reads, both of them, nothing spectacular. I also read Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. It didn't do anything for me, sorry. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it. Next book I'm going to read is The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AprilFool Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I am reading Jeff Smith's graphic novel Bone. I just finished Tim Eldred's graphic novel Grease Monkey. It was great! It examines a variety of themes from politics to racism in a way that both younger readers and older readers can both appreciate. Prior to that I read John Meaney's Bone Song. It was a fairly good book, but what was really cool was the world he created. I hope that he continues to write in this world because I loved it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawrence Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Started reading Minister Faust's From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain after I finished Ian McDonald's Brasyl last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I finished The Dark Glory War by Michael Stackpole. The first 3/4 of the book was a very standard fantasy cliches with 3 youths that are coming of age and central to fighting against the evil queen in the north. The last 1/4 was so unpredictable. Without giving away spoilers, it was like the Red Wedding for all of the characters. Even the main character, who survives gets royally screwed over. About 1/2 way through Fortress Draconis by Micheal Stackpole. It is pretty good and I'm hoping the author will keep things unpredictable. This book takes place 25 years later from the events in The Dark Glory War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 After a horrendous day at work, I decided to start Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. Should keep me out of trouble for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 The Best American Magazine Writing 2007 A collection of 18 of the best articles from American magazines published in 2006. Those anthologies are definitely worth reading, although sometimes there are WTF? moments and choices. One thing that strikes me when reading them, though, is how glib and formulaic magazine writing can be. This is one reason why I don't read magazines outside of work hours -- I'm not going to give up my free time to something I find frustrating. But the anthologies (Best American Magazine Writing, Best American Science Writing, etc) vastly improve the signal-to-noise. </mag geekout> I'm reading (finally) Daniel Abraham's Betrayal In Winter and re-reading Jane Yolen's Books of Great Alta. Both are top notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Finished Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth. Overrated, but still a solid novel. Review forthcoming. Started Steph Swainston's The Year of Our War, which I suspect is seriously going to irritate me unless the narrator dies very soon. I'm only 30 pages in so I'll give it some more time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fjgilman Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Finished Brian Ruckley's Winterbirth. Overrated, but still a solid novel. Review forthcoming. Started Steph Swainston's The Year of Our War, which I suspect is seriously going to irritate me unless the narrator dies very soon. I'm only 30 pages in so I'll give it some more time. Do stick with Year of Our War if you can. I found it offputting at first, and put it down for a couple of weeks, but when I picked it back up I really got into it, read the whole series back to back, and enjoyed them immensely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I've started Robert Charles Wilson's Axis, which seems fairly good so far. I really liked Spin so I'm interested to see if the sequel will be as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duchess of malfi Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Over the past few days I reread the first three Harry Potter books. I had wanted to do a series reread before the seventh book came out, but did not have time. I'm actually glad to be rereading them now after having completed the series - I am picking up on all sorts of things I did not pick up on the first couple of times I read them. Whatever else you want to say about Rowling, she did a great job of planning out her series, right from the first book. Some fantasy writers for adults like Laurell K. Hamilton should read Harry Potter and take notes on how to keep things in your series a lot more consistent. I figure I will reread the other four books over the next month or so. I read Emma Bull's Territory and really enjoyed it. It was this great genre bender combining western and fantasy. It is set in Tombstone, Arizona Territory in 1888. The deposits of silver act sort of like ley lines, so sorcerors with earth powers have converged on the town as they can use a lot of power there. Lots of violence (as you would expect with a western), the promise of what might be a very nice romance in the second volume. Does anyone know when the next book is due out? Because I am really looking forward to reading it. I have not tried Emma Bull before, and now I will have to check out her back catalog, as the quality of writing in this book was so high. Now reading the latest Kim Harrison book, The Outlaw Demon Wails. Looks like she is going to be tidying up a loy of loose ends and mysteries in this one, and it might be the best thus far in the series, taking it in new (and extremely interesting) directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amras Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I've been reading a lot of different things lately. On the book front I've finished my review of Charlie Huston's third 'Joe Pitt' novel, "Half the Blood of Brooklyn (check it out). I thought it was a something of a step-down from "No Dominion", but it was still a cracking good read. My main beef with it was that I thought it was much too short; the story ended when it was really beginning! The upside that saved it for me was the fact that the characterization of the supporting cast was vastly improved from the other two books in the series. Seriously though: Only 220 pages long? Hell, I've written blog entries longer than that "Inside Straight" by You Know Who and Various is next on the menu. I'm one third into it and it's going down quite smoothly. I've also begun my foray into the freaky world of comic books. So far it's been mostly Ennis, Ellis and Whedon, but I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons in this genre. There's bound to be lots of awesome stuff there too, though I'm trying to steer clear of superhero comics. Men in lycra has never been my thing, and I've mostly developed a great dislike for those jocks from watching the piss-poor movies (with a healthy exception of X-Men II and Batman Returns). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enikale Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Finished The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns recently. Both are good books, The Kite Runner being the better one in my opinion. A quarter way through 3rd book of the Prince of Nothing series, The Thousandfold Thought, by R Scott Bakker (great series). Also started Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope but haven't gotten far into it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malek Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I'm reading Bakker's "Darkness That Comes Before" - first book of his "Prince Of Nothing" trilogy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VarysTheSpider Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Just about wrapped up The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction, edited by Mike Ashley. There's about 20 short stories in this collection, of between 10 and 60 pages each (but a hard median of around 30). They have a slant in the direction of a future based on personalisation and uber-communication, which I suppose is as good a prediction of the future today as hover-jets were in the '60s. Although there are some interesting stories here, most either insult the name "extreme" or are complete crap. Worth a read, I suppose, but probably for the sci-fi fan who likes ideas at the expense of, well, everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Here are the initial plans: To Finish Reading: Adolfo Bioy Casares, Borges To Read: Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past (at least the first three volumes) Tananarive Due, The Living Blood Peter Beagle, The Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle Nikolai Gogol, Dead Souls (re-read) Rob Rogers, Devil's Cape Natasha Mostert, Season of the Witch Paul Melko, Singularity's Ring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wedge Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I'm a few chapters into Before They Are Hanged. I'd bitch about there not being a map due to my spatial comprehension needs, but that's been covered elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greyweather Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I'm in the midst of Richard Morgan's Black Man (or Thirteen for the Americans). Absolutely wonderful so far, even better than Altered Carbon IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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