Reading in July

[Asathor]

I've just finished The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss and Prince of Thorns by Lawrence, a very good (intro-)books and I will definitely pick up Wise Man's Fear and King of Thornsbefore long.

Right now I'm going for The Conqueror's Shadow by Marmell and I'm thinking about reading William Napier's Clash of Empires: The Great Siege but I'm not sure about the quality of the book. Any tips on whether or not it's worth it would be appreciated.

[mythsandstuff]

Finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children last night. Meh. It's twee, with the found photographs, but not twee enough (I hope I'm using that right). By the time it ended, I wished it had gone the full Wes Anderson/Lemony Snicket. Which is a shame, because I'm a sucker for the timey-wimey.

[Inigima]

I was listening to The Onion Girl, but I gave up half way. It was just too preachy and self-satisfied.

That's the de Lint one? I tried to read that on a friend's recommendation but I thought it was too, well, shitty. I didn't think it was that preachy, I just thought the writing was abysmal.

Finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children last night. Meh. It's twee, with the found photographs, but not twee enough (I hope I'm using that right). By the time it ended, I wished it had gone the full Wes Anderson/Lemony Snicket. Which is a shame, because I'm a sucker for the timey-wimey.

Amazon recommended that to me because I liked The Night Circus. Is it appropriate reading for adults? (I'm not ruling out YA -- I just couldn't tell what age group it was meant for. Not all that interested in reading books meant for very young children.)

[mythsandstuff]

Amazon recommended that to me because I liked The Night Circus. Is it appropriate reading for adults? (I'm not ruling out YA -- I just couldn't tell what age group it was meant for. Not all that interested in reading books meant for very young children.)

It includes curse words, so it's not for littluns, but it's got a teen protagonist. It's pretty squarely YA, IMO.

[Inigima]

Roger that, thanks.

[TheEvilKing]

Felt like something light 'n' easy so I'm reading Vellum by Hal Duncan.

[Sci-2]

Felt like something light 'n' easy so I'm reading Vellum by Hal Duncan.

It gets rather crazy, but IMO it is worth sticking with. There's a Vellum thread where Larry's interviews with Duncan are linked, it really helps to explain what is going on.

I think it's all rather masterful, maybe because a lot of what he does is similar to ideas about reality that've been utilized in comics for awhile.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Finished the Heris Seranno omnibus. I found the last book a bit too pat in the end and felt that none of characters were in any sort of real danger. Overall, I found it an OK space opera, but also the weakest of Elizabeth Moon's works that I have read to date (The Deed of Paksenarrion, The Speed of Dark, Vatta's War).

Up next is the ongoing Wheel of Time re-read by picking up Lord of Chaos. I'm getting to the point that even though I read this, it was a long time ago and I've forgotten many of the details.

edit: grammar

[Galleymac]

Finished Eutopia, liked it a great deal. Because it's reproductive horror, it has the expected issues with gender and would probably be triggering as all frak for a lot of people. And being set in rural bits of the States in the early 1900's, the N-word finds its way into the mouths of, well, racists (but there are fewer of them than I would have expected, and they're not straw-racists) -- I think most characters get the appropriate amount of fleshing-out for a thriller. And I think the characterization is handled pretty respectfully.

The main thing is, it's horror and so by nature way, way out of my comfort zone, and yet I really liked it. (To help people who are not me gauge that: I was not freaked by "Let the Right One In" in film or novel form, loved it, in fact, but I can't handle Stephen King at all. Or "Saw" and such. I have trouble listening to third-party summaries, even.) Very fast paced. Possibly more science fiction-y than horror-y, which might be why I'm all right and not shaking or jumping at shadows now, and

had an ending with some hope to it

which a lot of horror doesn't (which is why I avoid a lot of horror).

Focusing my attention on Harbour now.

[Cuchulain]

Read My Work Is Not Yet Done by Thomas Ligotti. Original and well-written. Also very dark and nihilistic. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but I loved it.

Earlier today I finished The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. At first I figured him for an Ian McDonald clone, but he's actually got his own thing going here. I really liked the world-building, the character were interesting and the prose was great for a first novel. Excellent overall.

Next up is The Broken Isles, the conclusion to Newton's Legends of the Red Sun.

[dornish prince]

finished up farenheit 451 and my earlier opinion doesn't change. i think it is brilliant. the choppiness of the narrative was much less jolting on a re-read so i was able to soak in the atmosphere much more. i could certainly see more bradbury in my future as i've only ever read farenheit and something wicked.

started the half made world last night. we'll see.

[Buckwheat]

I just read the first couple of chapters of Shaman's Crossing, Robin Hobb. The first chapter is cool, the next two started to drag. I read the Farseer trilogy before and I think it will be fairly similar to that one: introverted, cautious hero, weird magic stuff, other culture, shadowy teachers and similar, to help the destined hero to develop. I hope for some more interestiong charactes to appear, but as I said, I only started.

[Tyrion Lannister]

I'm breaking in the Kindle I received for my birthday last month by reading The Three Musketeers for the first time. I'm around 80% in, and enjoying it quite a bit. I'm also getting great use out of the built-in dictionary in the process.

[gordonah]

Still reading Gone with the Wind. About 2/3 of the way through it's 1,000 pages. Should have it done for the start of next month,

[mythsandstuff]

I'm breaking in the Kindle I received for my birthday last month by reading The Three Musketeers for the first time. I'm around 80% in, and enjoying it quite a bit. I'm also getting great use out of the built-in dictionary in the process.

The dictionary is especially useful for identifying the made-up words as you read Mieville, FWIW.

[Tyrion Lannister]

The dictionary is especially useful for identifying the made-up words as you read Mieville, FWIW.

Ironic that you should bring up Mieville, because he's probably next on my 'to-read' list after I finish up with the d'Artagnan Romances.

[Durckad]

I'm breaking in the Kindle I received for my birthday last month by reading The Three Musketeers for the first time. I'm around 80% in, and enjoying it quite a bit. I'm also getting great use out of the built-in dictionary in the process.

Yep, having a dictionary at hand is one the best parts of having a Kindle. :D

I'm about halfway through Snow Crash right at the 'Neal Stephenson teaches the reader about ancient Sumerian myth' section. It's interesting and, I'm assuming, pertinent, but there's no doubt that this section just screws over the pacing of the book.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by HST. As to be expected it's completely insane and very funny.

Am slogging through a biography of Edward I, "A Great And Terrible King". By Marc Morris. Rather tedious. A dry summary of his life with not much of the way of personal insights into his character.

Also "The Outlaw Album", a short story collection by Daniel Woodrell. Very good so far.

[Reposado]

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by HST. As to be expected it's completely insane and very funny.

just read this on audio book. very unusually done, with music frequently being played in the background and tons of side effects.

surprised at how closely the film kept to the book

I finished GGK's Under Heaven. Was underwhelmed by it. The worldbuilding was great and I would love to see another story set there. But the main character wasn't very interesting, nor did he do much. too frequently large chunks of background history were dumped in with no perspective. possibly my least favorite by Kay

next a crime and punishment re-read, since it's been a good eight years. that will finish the books i currently have with me; heading home friday though

[jagilki]

Finally finished The Darkness that comes Before (although I started it in the middle of June, finished on the first)

Read Redshirts by Scalzi on the Third/Fourth

Reading book two of Mistborn now.