September 2009 Reads, Potential Reads, and Abandoned Reads

[Larry.]

I received 8 books in the mail today. Going to be hard to choose from 7 of them (the other was a review copy for a Salvatore FR book):

Housuke Nojiri, Usurper of the Sun

Otsuichi, ZOO

Daniel Olson (ed.), Exotic Gothic 2: New Tales of Taboo (this is 350 copy limited-edition from Ash-Tree Press. It includes a short story from Milorad Pavić, among several others from across the globe. Very curious about this one)

Pope Benedict XVI, Saint Paul

David Anthony Durham, Acacia: The Other Lands

Caitlín R. Kiernan, A is for Alien (short story collection from Subterranean Press)

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

I think I have a pleasant week ahead of me now :D

[VarysTheSpider]

I've been reading Assassin's Apprentice chapter by chapter in various book stores

:rofl: I admire your honesty.

Can't be bothered to start a thread about Oscar Wilde so I'll just jot a few lines about what I've read of his in the last couple of weeks.

I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, a book I haven't read since school. I don't really care for the central message of the book - not that I disagree with the idea, I'm just not very interested in it - but Lord Henry's every word is delicious ("I man can be happy with any woman, as long as he doesn't love her" - so God damn true, that), and Dorian's quite easy to feel sorry for. The pacing's about right and the plot clips along before a rather satisying climax. I liked it a lot. If nothing else, too, it's always interesting to read old fiction set in the city you live in.

Moved on to Lady Winderemere's Fan, a play about Victorian etiquette, and had a lot of fun with that one. I don't think it made the same impression on me as The Importance of Being Earnest with regard to the hypocrisy displayed, certainly there is no character as good as the hilarious Lady Bracknall, though I found the exchanges regarding Australia to be pretty damn funny. The ending made me sad.

Then I read The Soul of Man Under Socialism, which talks about far much more than socialism, going off on one about what makes an artist, the role of journalism in society, why the public should know their damn role and shut their damn mouths about things (I couldn't help but wonder what Wilde would have to say about the media nowadays, where the public's reaction to events are seemingly more news worthy than the events themselves). It was good food for thought, I agreed with what he had to say about pragmatic solutions being generally useless in achieving anything.

Next up is An Ideal Husband, then I'll probably spend a week or whatever reading some of his poems and essays.

[Guest Nadine]

Next time try either the Book Depository (free shipping worldwide) or Amazon, UK. I ordered if from the UK.

I do that for most books I don't want to wait for, but amazon.ca said they were releasing the book on sept 1 and I am in MN which is really Canada-lite so shipping is minimal. I know BD is free shipping, but I ordered a peck of books and just shrugged and made a big order. :P I can't figure out when it *is* going to be released now. Tho, I am not in too much of a hurry to get it - I have well over 25 books on my to be read shelves. (Yes, I am that OCD that I have a seperate shelf for unread books. :P )

I am flying through my WoT re-read and really am appreciating the books more than I have in a long time, maybe because I know Jordan is gone. I am finding small things that make me want the answer, but no one but Jordan would know. Its all rather emo.

I am almost done with book 4, and now I wish I kept a list of things I thought about from the start. Ah well, another re-read sometime won't kill me.

[BookWyrm]

Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

EEEKKK!!! I just bought that! You'll probably finish it before I even start though.... assuming my professor's don't let up with the homework....

I'll be staying away from your blog until I finish the book now. :P

[murphy]

EEEKKK!!! I just bought that! You'll probably finish it before I even start though.... assuming my professor's don't let up with the homework....

I'll be staying away from your blog until I finish the book now. :P

The movie of that book scared the bejabbers out of me. Stayed up all night after watching it.

[mashiara]

I'll be bringing it along for my 4.5-hour train ride tomorrow, but I'm also bringing The Blind Assassin as backup. And trashy magazines.

I hope you enjoy this! :)

Trashy magazines make for surprisingly fun reading material as well.

We've had Zollo staying with us for the past three days so I haven't really been able to do any reading. I feel like an addict without her fix. :/

[BookWyrm]

The movie of that book scared the bejabbers out of me. Stayed up all night after watching it.

I loved The Haunting too :D

I can't wait to see how much better the book is.

[Ser Barry]

We've had Zollo staying with us for the past three days so I haven't really been able to do any reading. I feel like an addict without her fix. :/

That raises questions which I would rather not see answered.

[mashiara]

That raises questions which I would rather not see answered.

:lol:

No comment. ;)

[Mexal]

I finished the Sword-edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe. It was ok. The balance between the fantasy and detective pieces just wasn't there for me. I kept being taken out of the story because of the way the characters acted was very modern and seemed out of place. On top of that, I thought the story was coincidental and the actual detecting was pretty uncomplicated.

I am now reading The Price of Spring by Abraham. I wanted to finish the series so I put aside my reread of Acacia. I have Dust of Dreams sitting here but it's very intimidating after reading TOLL and being disappointed so I'm a bit reluctant to jump into this monstrous volume quite yet.

Though if I do tackle DoD, is there any kind of list of characters that I could consult as reading a review or two, I can't help but realize I've forgotten 3/4ths the characters.

[murphy]

I finished the Sword-edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe. It was ok. The balance between the fantasy and detective pieces just wasn't there for me. I kept being taken out of the story because of the way the characters acted was very modern and seemed out of place. On top of that, I thought the story was coincidental and the actual detecting was pretty uncomplicated.

I am now reading The Price of Spring by Abraham. I wanted to finish the series so I put aside my reread of Acacia. I have Dust of Dreams sitting here but it's very intimidating after reading TOLL and being disappointed so I'm a bit reluctant to jump into this monstrous volume quite yet.

Though if I do tackle DoD, is there any kind of list of characters that I could consult as reading a review or two, I can't help but realize I've forgotten 3/4ths the characters.

There's this: http://encyclopediamalazica.pbworks.com/

[Deornoth]

Finished reading 'Bite Marks' (Terence Taylor), vampires in New York are trying to stop a newly turned vampire toddler revealing the secret of their existence... It's a lot of fun to read, with plenty happening, but I sometimes got the feeling that Taylor was trying to cram more in than the book was comfortable with. There was also a 'WTF?' moment that really spoilt the flow... My full review is over Here. I'm now reading Robert Holdstock's 'Avilion' amongst others...

[dalThor]

I just finished The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney. Fantastic book. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Pressfield.

I'll be reading Neil Gaiman's, Neverwhere next.

[Guest Nadine]

Got the EOS newsletter today and found two more books to get:

The Child Thief

With this haunting, provocative, relentlessly thrilling reconsideration of a timeless children's classic, the acclaimed artist Brom dramatically displays another side of his extraordinary talent. Exploring the stygian blackness that gathers at the root of the beloved Peter Pan legend, he carries readers into a faerieland at once magically wondrous and deeply disturbing.

Beautifully illustrated by the author with haunting portraits and indelible images, Brom's The Child Thief is a daring novel of darkest contemporary fantasy that will, at once, haunt and exhilarate any reader who agrees to follow Peter on his desperate crusade.

and

Unbound

Unbound

by Kim Harrison, Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Vicki Pettersson, Jocelynn Drake

Not all hunters are bound by human laws…Get ready for the ride of your life. Evil is about to have its day.

I can't turn away from any Kim Harrison book and I am enjoying Vicki Pettersson's Zodiac series.

*Credit to EOS newsletter, will forward on request, etc

[murphy]

Finished Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco. Not as good as Butcher or Mike Carey, but very enjoyable. Looking forward to reading the next two books in the series. Now reading Caitlin Kittredge's Night Life. It's the first book of hers that I've read and it's too early to tell if I'll like it, especially since I thought I was ordering a Caitlin Kiernan book. :blush: :bang:

[williamjm]

I finished Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia. Overall, a pretty good book with a fantastic premise (one day in 1912 the continent of Europe and all its people disappears to be replaced with an alien landscape). I did have some issues with the structure - the big time gaps can be a bit jarring at times and I think revealing the explanation for Darwinia in an 'interlude' that basically consisted of a big block of exposition was a bit clumsy. I also think it would have worked better if the reveal could have been delayed until a bit later in the book, and overall I thought the real main plot wasn't as interesting or as distinctive as the Darwinia bits. It is not quite Wilson's best, I'd rank Spin significantly higher, but it is still an entertaining read with a few original and interesting ideas.

Next up Dust of Dreams.

[chitman13]

I finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card last night. I enjoyed it quite a lot and thought the pacing was good and action and tactics worked well. I thought the age ofthe recruits stretched believability at times, but on the whole it was well worth the effort. I'm debating whether or not to look up the other books in the series, but not too sure if they'll live up to this one.

[Procrastimancer]

Got the EOS newsletter today and found two more books to get:

The Child Thief

I expect that to be arriving in the mail any day now. Unfortunately, I am having a hard time getting into anything else because of the anticipation of its arrival. Got to love the EOS newsletter, I picked up Sandman Slim because of it and was not at all disappointed.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Joe McKinney's 'Dead City' where a San Antonio cop must fight his way through a city full of zombies to reach his wife and child. The ending is a bit of a cop out but other than that 'Dead City' is a sweet read full of zombie carnage, just how I like it. My review is over Here. I'm now finishing off 'Fast Ships, Black Sails', 'Avilion is looking to be pretty good as well.

[murphy]

Gave up on Caitlin Kittredge's Night Life. I found the heroine too irritating and her actions seemed too contrived. Now reading Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. Not great, but it is an enjoyable read.