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October is in the Chair: October 2011 Reads


Larry.

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For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, now is the time for the weather to cool and the nights to become longer and perhaps darker in mood as well as in fact. Perhaps some of us shift our reads to something more macabre and twisted, now that October is in the Chair. What are you reading now or have planned for this month?

For myself, I just finished reading Beninese author Olympe Bhêly-Quénum's Le Chant du Lac (The Song of the Lake), which revolves around a cultural clash between traditionalists who want a local lake's divine spirits removed and the European-educated élites who look askance at this superstitious belief. Excellent prose creates a looming atmosphere that reminds me of some of the best weird fictions that I've been reading lately (Bhêly-Quénum is in The Weird, which comes out later this month in the UK).

I am also planning on re-reading several of Thomas Ligotti's collections, including Teatro Grottesco and Nightmare Factory, finishing Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant (a collection of some of her best webcomics of the past four years), and Vladimir Nabokov's King, Queen, Knave.

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Now that I can check out library books on my Kindle, I plan on reading a lot more! Just got my card in the mail today, will head down to my local branch this morning to activate it and I will be in business.

Right now, just getting back to my re-read of Sophie's World. Going to read the second Mistborn book soon.

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i'm still chopping wood on ADwD. with less than 100 pages to go i'm hitting the home stretch and loving every second of it. i'm also gnawing at the name of the wind, the mystery knight and snow crash with all in various points towards the end.

after that, my on deck pile is the lions of al-rassan, the half made world and player of games.

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I just finished Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf, which wasn't the best book I've read this year, but certainly one of the better ones. It has set the standard for other werewolf novels to live up to, that's for sure.

The Tower of Babylon kicked off my slow incursion into Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life and Others. So far, not seeing the excellence, but I am only one story in and will persist. Short fiction and I have a strained relationship, so I don't expect to get through the collection quick. I also started reading Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, but I only made it a few pages in before passing out for the night. I was amused by the events in the beginning though. It will likely be put aside for a while because I am picking up Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott from the library and intend to read it asap.

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Contrary to the OP, i've been in a mood for lighter stuff the past few days. Finished Clementine and Dreadnought, the sequels to Cheries Priests Boneshaker, and liked them better than it too. Before that it was Kage Baker's first Company book, In the Garden of Iden, which was a nice time travel romance with some interesting world building that hopefully gets explored more in the sequels.

Currently reading Death in the City of Light, by David King, non fiction about a serial killer in 1944 Paris. I was more interested in the Paris 1944 bit than in the serial killer bit, to be honest, but it's focused mostly on the latter.

Next I think i'll read Douglas Adams Dirk Gently books.

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Currently reading the second Ciaphas Cain omnibus (on the second full-novel) and finishing up Hell House - I've been in the mood for haunted-house stories lately. Also currently re-reading The Steel Remains in preparation for The Cold Commands. After that, I think I'm going to keep going with a re-read of all the Malazan books. I've bought but not read the last two of Erikson's and the latest Esslemont, so that'll probably keep me busy at least through the month.

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Finished off The Quantum Thief, which was a pretty good debut novel. It can be tricky when an author throws a reader into the deep end, but it worked for me. Looking forward to more of the universe and story in The Fractal Prince.

Also read Goliath by Scott Westerfeld. I liked the book and loved the series overall. However, it's probably a good thing this is the last book in this trilogy since it feels like this steampunk series is running out of steam. Each book seems a step down from the previous one. Besides a somewhat weak plot, Goliath features some true historical characters for the first time including Nikola Tesla who gets a rather unflattering portrayal. I would still recommend this series on the strength of the first book alone.

Finally, I got through Smoke and Mirrors by Gaiman. Some of the stories were a little light even for short fiction, but others were very good, and all were quite well written.

Currently about a third into Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I'm also about to start a new collection, When the Great Days Come by Gardner Dozois.

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Finished A Betrayal In Winter, which was very good, though I think I liked A Shadow In Summer better. Maybe.

Starting on Matterhorn tonight! It's been sitting near my bench since I bought it.... oh back in May?

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I just bought a Kindle and I should get it Tuesday. The library thing was my deciding factor (plus I had Amazon GCs). God help me.

I have just started the second Green Rider book, another of Elizabeth Chadwick's books, The Marsh King's Daughter and The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick. I am a bit obsessed with medieval fiction.

Riding the subway with delays gives me lots of reading time.

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