What Are You Reading - May '08

[Larry.]

I reviewed the 2008 Premio Alfaguara winning novel, Antonio Orlando Rodríguez's [i]Chiquita[/i] [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/2008-premio-alfaguara-winner-antonio.html"]here[/url], if any are curious about one of the better historical novels I've read this year.

[Fighter]

[quote name='Myshkin' post='1370282' date='May 25 2008, 18.11']Just finished Alan Campbell's [i]Iron Angel[/i], which I loved.

Now starting Joe Abercrombie's [i]Last Argument of Kings[/i] and hoping it's as great as everyone says it is.[/quote]

Exactly same. LOL.

[RedEyedGhost]

Last week I finished [b]Catherynne Valente's [u]The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden[/u][/b], and I could not more highly recommend this one. It is a wonderful reading experience. The story is told by the telling of stories within stories that have ramifications of the outcome of the other stories. It has the same feel as reading The Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales - if they were all interconnected into one grand saga. A beautiful interwoven mix of magic, wonder, an intriguing cast of characters, and epic storytelling.

Be forewarned that this is not "light reading". You must be actively engaged in the reading of this book, but the good news is that it will suck you in and you cannot help but enjoy it. I think this is one of those rare books that >90% of the board would enjoy reading, so if you haven't tried it yet pick it up when next at the book store or add it to your next order - I highly doubt that you'll be sorry.

Highest possible recommendation.

[b]9/10[/b]

I just finished Warren Hammond's [u]KOP[/u], and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. I wanted a something a little lighter after [u]In the Night Garden[/u] and this fit the bill perfectly. I'll write more after I've let it digest a little, but I'm eager to read the follow-up [u]Ex-KOP[/u] which comes out Sept 30th.

Next up is Catherynne Valente's [u]The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice[/u].

[Larry.]

I finished reading Gregory Frost's [i]Lord Tophet[/i] and Tobias Buckell's [i]Sly Mongoose[/i] this evening. While I won't write full reviews of them until late June-July at the earliest, I did write a few vague thoughts on the [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/early-thoughts-on-two-upcoming-releases.html"]OF Blog[/url] about what I enjoyed about both.

Almost finished reading the Ellen Datlow-edited [i]The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy[/i]. Some really good stories in there. Might have a review up by Tuesday.

[Bellis]

I just finished some Amin Maalouf. He writes from an interesting perspective, humanizing parts of the world that are often caricatured in the news or in fiction. His tone is fairly detached, however, and for the most part, the prose is dry and journalistic. The three books below also feature a theme of whirlwind romances, which both start and end abruptly (blink and the love interest will die, or myseteriously disappear). Still, it's worth checking out if you're interested in the history of the Islamic world. (I read translations, but for those so inclined, the originals are in French).

[b]First Century After Beatrice[/b] - an old-school short sci-fi novel set in the near future, building on current issues of gender imbalance, baby sex preference and international adoption and the baby trade. The protagonist is an entomologist, and so we often return to meditations on butterflies and scarabs.

[b]Samarkand[/b] - this novel is in two parts: first we get a slice of life in Omar Khayyam's Samarkand and his relationship to the local ruler and also the founder of the Assassins who, we learn, were much too smart to have been on drugs. Secondly, we follow the adventures of an American searching for Khayyam's lost manuscript in turn of the century Iran, as the country tries and fails to implement a modern government. I enjoyed the glimpse at two different periods in Persian history that I previously knew almost nothing about.

[b]Leo Africanus[/b] - the semi-fictionalized biography of Hassan, born in Grenada shortly before the Reconquista. His family flees to North Africa, where he grows up, travels around Africa, Egypt, Constantinople, ending up in Rome, (forcibly) converted to Christianity and an Arabic tutor and African geographer for the Pope's court. The main character is pretty phlegmatic, suffering various hasty love affairs, and changes of location and even religion with little struggle. However, it's a fascinating chronicle of early 16th century European/Middle Eastern relations.

[blackwater]

The Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny. First time I've read it in english, now I've found translated version.

[swedeheadchris]

I've just posted [url="http://thebookswede.blogspot.com/2008/05/elantris.html"]my review of [i][b]Elantris[/b][/i][/url], the début novel of [b]Brandon Sanderson[/b] -- the guy who will be finishing the Wheel of Time series -- and it was largely very good :) A few flaws, but mostly impressive stuff: good characterisations, good story, sometimes the dialogue was a bit stiff, events weren't always that well explained, but good stuff.

[url="http://thebookswede.blogspot.com/2008/05/elantris.html"]Elantris review here![/url]

~Chris

[Deornoth]

I fancied a quick fun read yesterday so picked up 'Dawn over Doomsday' (Jaspre Bark), the latest installment in Abaddon Books' 'Afterblight Chronicles'. What looked like a fun read soon became a big ol' pile of meh' though, there was enough cool stuff to keep me reading but not enough to be entertaining... A full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url]
I'm still working my way through 'Bloodheir', it's heavy going but there's signs that things are about to get better...

[LacyinTX]

I just finished [i]Pillars of the Earth[/i]. It was really good.

Now I am reading [i]A Betrayal in Winter[/i] - Daniel Abraham. I am loving this book. I worried at first that I would need to re-read [i]A Shadow in Summer[/i], but I caught on right away. There were enough refrences to the past book to catch the reader up without an obnoxious infodump. Very nicely done.

This story just gets better and better. I can't wait to get to the next one!

[duchess of malfi]

I'm a bit burned out on fantasy & science fiction right now, so am continuing to read some general fiction and historical fiction.

I just finished reading [i]Alice's Tulips[/i] by Sandra Dallas. It is historical fiction, set in Iowa in the American Civil War. A teenaged bride - flighty and flirty and very immature - is left on her new husband's family farm with his dour mother while he goes off to fight for the Union. Needless to say, there is a lot of suffering on the home front, and the girl grows and changes drastically as a result of witnessing the suffering of others (she goes from being a very prejudiced person to someone who welcomes an African American to join in for Christmas family dinner, for example) or from the direct suffering of herself, her family, and her friends.

About to start reading [i]Water for Elephants[/i] by Sara Gruen.

[Minaku]

Finished Musicophilia, took a small break, and then started in on a series recommended to me by a student's mother, also an avid reader. It's by CS Friedman and the first book is called Black Sun Rising.

I'm about 50 pages into it and I already can't stand it. This is a bad thing. I thought maybe it was my brain, I can't focus like I used to, but still... the writing drives me nuts. It's like reading someone's bad fanfic complete with line breaks every two paragraphs, overuse of description, and twinked out characters. The character I just met has already fallen in love with another character after sleeping with her once, and now her store just exploded with her inside, so this character is feeling soul-searing emo agony right now. I'm not sure I can make it all the way through the book, much less the trilogy. But I have to, because my student's mom recommended it.

:sick:

[WhiteQueen]

[quote name='Bellis' post='1348740' date='May 9 2008, 10.27']Have you read [b]A Thousand Splendid Suns[/b] yet? I was hesistant because it sounded quite depressing, but I ended up liking it much better than The Kite Runner.[/quote]
I enjoyed it, too. He (Khaled Hosseini) is a good writer. In general, I noticed that a lot of physicians turned writers are ususally pretty good. Well, after the Caliph House I went on a "books about travelling to different countries and dealing with cultural differences" kick and I am still reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Makes me want to go to Provence, in addition to Marocco (as inspired by The Caliph House and the fact that one of my friends had moved to Casablanca as well as Tahir Shah). Meantime, as I went on vacation to Galapagos Island, I needed something to read on the plane (it's a long flight) and I finished David Baldacci's Simple Genius. If anyone cares about Michelle Maxwell and Sean King, it is his third book about the duo, and is about as credible as the first two. :) I go to DC a lot, so it's fun for me to recognise places from his books.

[alsy]

I just finished Stephen Erikson's Gardens of the Moon and I loved it!!

Now I am going to finish Bakker's The Warrior prophet. Actually I think I will be going back and forth between that and Erikson's Deadhouse Gates. You know, a chapter here a chapter there.

[Patrick Mallister]

just finished "The Book of Athyra" by Steven Brust, gonna stop by borders and pick up something new, haven't decided what yet.

[RedEyedGhost]

[quote name='duchess of malfi' post='1372350' date='May 27 2008, 09.54']About to start reading [i]Water for Elephants[/i] by Sara Gruen.[/quote]

Can't wait to hear what you think about this one. I've got it on the stack - probably within the next 10. :thumbsup:

[Larry.]

Read quite a few today at work and at home:

Various artists, [i]Out of Picture 2[/i] - Received this in the mail and read it while the students were working on their math. This is a [i]gorgeous[/i] graphic novel-format of short stories written/drawn by a group of animation professionals, most of whom have worked for Blue Sky Studios at some point. The artwork is outstanding, of course, and the shorts were often quite humorous.

Howard Zinn, et al., [i]A People's History of American Empire[/i] - 2008 supplement to his bestselling [i]A People's History of the United States[/i], this is a story of the series of American interventions across the world from the 1890s to the present, told in graphic novel format. Conservatives in general won't find this to be too appealing (it is unapologetic about its slant), but Zinn tells his story concisely, with the images (many of them barely-altered photographs) providing sometimes-stunning evidence of the horrors behind much of 20th century US foreign policy (the massacres in particular done by American soldiers in the Philippines and to striking miners is particularly gruesome).

Peter David, [i]Tigerheart[/i] - a retelling of [i]Peter Pan[/i] that was perhaps too close to the original in mechanics as well as spirit. Lukewarm on this one right now.

James Braziel, [i]Birmingham, 35 Miles[/i] - 2008 debut novel, this is about a post-apocalyptic event (the 2014 ozone layer hole opening over Alabama) and its effects on a young family 30 years later in the new Southeast Desert. Moving, well-written, more personal than most such stories.

Paul Kincaid, [i]What It Is We Read When We Read Science Fiction[/i] - collection of essays from the 1980s to a few years ago, this 2008 collection will be reviewed either this weekend or next.

[ThRiNiDiR]

I'm still bogged down with [b]Bonehunters[/b]...there is definitely something missing that would make this book a bit lighter read :/ (Erikson succeeded with DG, MoI and HoC in my opinion, but not here and not with MT)

[Patrick Mallister]

just picked up Winterbirth and Bloodheir from Brian Ruckley. I've heard only good things so hopefully they're as good as everyone says they are

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Finished [i]The Rosetta Key [/i]by William Dietrich. I needed a brainless read and it fit the bill perfectly. Think of the Da Vinci Code lite.
Onto [i]The Golden Compass [/i]by Philip Pullman and the rest of His Dark Materials trilogy.

[Peadar]

I have had a great laugh with Julian Gough's [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jude-Level-1-Julian-Gough/dp/1905847246/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211990032&sr=1-1"]Jude: Level 1[/url]. A kind of modern incarnation of Candide.

Forward, brave Peadar, to [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hound-George-Green/dp/0553815342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211990126&sr=1-1"]Hound[/url] by George Green.