September 2008 Reads

[Larry.]

New month, new thread. What are you planning on reading, in the process of reading, or hoping that you'll put off reading for this month?

Here are my planned reads:

[b]To Finish Reading[/b]:

Naguib Mahfouz, [i]Children of the Alley[/i]


[b]To Read[/b]:

Salman Rushdie, [i]The Enchantress of Florence[/i]

Tim Powers, [i]The Stress of Her Regard[/i]

[Oddy]

150 pages in House of Leaves. A bit over my head, but still very good. Looking forward to reading all the analysis and forum stuff on the book.

[blackwater]

I've found Neil Stephenson's Quicksilver in the library a week ago, and all that time I'm finding excuses why not to start reading it. True is - it's 960 pages, small letters, paperback, and I'm scared. Reviews are good, so I believe that when I start reading it will be easy.

[stgben]

[quote name='blackwater' post='1501572' date='Sep 1 2008, 00.58']I've found Neil Stephenson's Quicksilver in the library a week ago, and all that time I'm finding excuses why not to start reading it. True is - it's 960 pages, small letters, paperback, and I'm scared. Reviews are good, so I believe that when I start reading it will be easy.[/quote]

On the topic of Neil Stephenson, his new book [i]Anathem[/i] will be coming out on the 9th of September. I look forward to reading that.

[oneeye]

I'm on book 3 of 7(Fortune's favorites) of the Masters of Rome series (Mccullough). Still good! That scene where Aurelia begged for Caesar's life with the vestal virgins in tow was just brilliant somehow.

[Inigima]

Currently reading Chabon - [i]The Yiddish Policeman's Union[/i].

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Just started [i]A Canticle for Leibowitz[/i] this morning, and still going through (the Annotated) [i]Lolita[/i]. Other than that, I've been making it through various trashy romances and crime novels (Dexter Morgan, Tony Hill) so I'll continue with those. I also bought [i]The Steel Remains[/i] and [i]Empire of Black and Gold[/i] so those are probably up next.

I'm waiting on Orbit for [i]An Autumn War[/i], otherwise that would be very high up there as well. (If I were really patient, I'd wait and get the second omnibus to match [i][url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Price-Shadow-Betrayal/dp/1841496111/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220269173&sr=8-1"]The Long Price[/url][/i], but I don't think I'm that good. :P)

Edited: forgot a parenthesis.

[Werthead]

I have more books on the go then I'm comfortable with: halfway through Connie Willis' [b][i]Doomsday Book[/i][/b] (excellent) and I have Chabon's [i]Yiddish Policemen's Union[/i] (overrated and not a quarter of the book [i]Brasyl[/i] is), Neal Stephenson's [i]The Confusion[/i] (exhausting) and Robert E. Howard's [i]Conan Chronicles Vol. I [/i](badass, but can only be read in short bursts as the stories are all a bit samey)[i] [/i]in varying stages of compleition, whilst I'm going to abandon my efforts to read the electronic, hideously badly-edited ARC of [i]Return of the Crimson Guard[/i] in favour of the Bantam print edition.

[quote name='Lucreefzia Borgia' post='1501684' date='Sep 1 2008, 12.42']I'm waiting on Orbit for [i]An Autumn War[/i], otherwise that would be very high up there as well. (If I were really patient, I'd wait and get the second omnibus to match [i][url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Price-Shadow-Betrayal/dp/1841496111/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220269173&sr=8-1"]The Long Price[/url][/i], but I don't think I'm that good. :P )[/quote]

I don't think you have much choice. Orbit don't issue Abraham's books in their individual volumes as they feel they are too short, so they will only be available as the two omnibuses. So we'll have to wait for [i]The Price of Spring[/i] to come out in the USA (June or July 2009, I believe) and then the second UK omnibus will come out a few months after that :(

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Right, but I may break once the US releases it in paperback, and might even crumble and buy Price of Spring in hardback to read both within a similar timeframe. (Assuming they're released anytime near each other, that is.

Unless, as you point out, that release is around the same time as the UK's planned omnibus, so then i'll just wait. I hate waiting. :(

[Werthead]

[quote name='Lucreefzia Borgia' post='1501766' date='Sep 1 2008, 13.30']Unless, as you point out, that release is around the same time as the UK's planned omnibus, so then i'll just wait. I hate waiting. :([/quote]

Be strong, you're a GRRM fan ;)

[Gormenghast]

I repeat the message from another forum ;)

100 pages into Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains. Still failing to see what's so edgy in the story, but a pleasure to read. Great dialogues, but the characters sound a bit all the same.

170 pages into Erikson's novellas. A bit too Dracula-inspired and with unsatisfying finales. But beautifully written, with good humor and characters.

Next on the list is Memories of Ice.

[Gigei]

I just finished Reaper's Gale, by Steven Erikson. This is 7th of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

At this point, having read 6 monster books, I have invested heavily in time and brain cells on the series. The book before RG was a disappointment but luckily I loved RG.

:) Nothing much stands out compared with my favorites but this is a solid Malazan book that finished off some important plots like the Edur "conquest" of Letheras.

It's probably shallow of me but I enjoyed the somewhat heavy-handed anti-capitalist/imperialist parts. I'm talking about one of my favorite characters bringing an empire to its knees through economic sabotage because of his disgust over it's slavery of the poor and bloated useless rich.

A new character, Clip, was very annoying but in a good "omg what a punk" way. Kind of like a rebellious teenager. I like the idea of what he is able to do and his "special" power. Trying not to spoiler it.

The main plot so far is how the Letheras empire is faring after the conquest of them by the Edur. We get to see how Rhulad is doing and the champions who are to fight him have arrived.

Fear, Seren, Undinaas and Silchas Ruin are travelling together and we get to see some interesting things. SR is a cold-blooded guy!

Toc, in his new body, is doing as usual for him. I love this char and it is a major part of why I like RG. :) It really helps when you read chars you root for as I do for Toc.

There are minor parts that I also liked with some small mention of Kilava, Tool and Hetan. Sweet stuff.

We also get to see what happened to Onrack, Trull, Quick Ben and the Malazan army with Tavore. Hellian is a hoot. :)

Shurq - well, really, what's not to like?

For new readers to Malazan, this is not a good place to start, I would say. I probably only liked it because I already loved many of the characters in it anyway. :D

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

I'll wait, and try to wait without complaining, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. :P

And because I had some real content to add: [i]Acacia[/i] is also on my TBR pile right now. I don't like reading TPBs while standing on a jammed train, though, so it's going to be an at-home read.

[Starkess]

To finish:
[i]La Sombra del Viento[/i]. It's beautiful so far, but I've had zero time to read lately! I plan on remedying that in about an hour. :)
[i]10 Great Works of Philosophy[/i]. It's been months now, but I swear I will finish this!

To read:
[i]John Quincy Adams
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics[/i]

[Tormund Ukrainesbane]

Reading: [i]The Sunrise Lands[/i] by S.M. Sterling

To read: [i]The Last Argument of Kings[/i] by Joe Abercrombie

after that, we'll see. How I do miss the time when I read 2 or 3 books a week.

[Larry.]

[quote name='Starkess' post='1501874' date='Sep 1 2008, 09.43']To finish:
[i]La Sombra del Viento[/i]. It's beautiful so far, but I've had zero time to read lately! I plan on remedying that in about an hour. :)[/quote]

You're reading Zafón in the original? Sweet! I've never tried the English translation, but I found the Spanish prose of his to flow very well :D

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Kristin Cashore's 'Graceling', the tale of a King's niece who is an unstoppable killing machine but doesn't want to be but can't escape her duty but then falls in love even though she has sworn never to marry and he's really good looking and so on...
'Graceling' has one of the single most annoying main characters that I've ever come across and it also doesn't help that the book is peppered with stupid sounding people and place names. Surprisingly though it actually ends up being an entertaining read although probably not one where I'd be queuing for the sequel...
My full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url].
I'm now finishing off Paul Kane's 'Arrowhead' and I've also got Kage Baker's 'The House of the Stag' on the go...

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I'll be finished [i]Digging for the Truth [/i]today by Josh Bernstein. I loved the TV show and the behind the scenes is fascinating to read.

Up next is [i]Heart of Light [/i]by Sarah Hoyt or the [i]Book of Words [/i]trilogy by J.V. Jones.

[Starkess]

[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1501911' date='Sep 1 2008, 11.17']You're reading Zafón in the original? Sweet! I've never tried the English translation, but I found the Spanish prose of his to flow very well :D[/quote]

It really is just gorgeous prose. That's what drew me in even when the beginning was kinda slow. I almost bought [i]El juego del ángel[/i] yesterday but decided I should start finishing some of the other books on my shelf first. :)

[Larry.]

[quote name='Starkess' post='1502126' date='Sep 1 2008, 14.01']It really is just gorgeous prose. That's what drew me in even when the beginning was kinda slow. I almost bought [i]El juego del ángel[/i] yesterday but decided I should start finishing some of the other books on my shelf first. :)[/quote]

Well, the intro to [i]El juego del Ángel[/i] is remarkable as well; one of the better opening lines I've ever read. Not that I'm trying to persuade you or anything... ;)