January Reads -new year, new books

[MisterOJ]

I picked up The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold when it was on sale for $0.99 a week or two ago and started it over the weekend.

I like it a lot. I love the way she didn't just jump right into the mystery and instead let us get to know the main character first and then filled in the backstory and whatnot later. I have a good feeling about this book.

[Narwhal]

Whatever else Gone Girl may be, am I alone in thinking it has one of the dullest opening chapters ever?

While it gets better quickly after, it seems awfully risky for the author to start the story with a chapter of nearly straight narration by a nondescript character with neither noteworthy qualities nor an interesting voice. But, given the popularity of the book, I'm probably in the minority in thinking that Nick is so very, very boring.

[Whitestripe]

Just finished The Book of Salt by Monique Truong. I'm not sure that I liked it. I generally don't go for the stream of consciousness books, and there was some POV skipping about that didn't make much sense.

I've got The Book Thief on my Nook for another week or so. I'll give that one a go next.

[Whitestripe]

Think I might give this one a shot. I like the little bit that I read.

Re: Heretic's Daughter

Give it a go. There is a lot of build up to the actual witch trials, but the stuff that came before was fascinating. I thought her descriptions were fantastic.

[Eponine]

I can't remember where I left off. I finished The Black Company, first book and am not going to continue the series. I'm currently reading China Mountain Zhang, and I'd report that I like it, but I'm only about 5% in.

A little while ago, I finished Suttree and I ended up loving it, despite one misstart and some slow going at the beginning. I think that Blood Meridian was the next book McCarthy wrote, and then All The Pretty Horses, which will be next for me. There's definitely a progression in writing style. The first books are shorter, Southern Gothic, Falkner influenced, Appalachian setting. He experiences with very dense prose but regional speech and dialog. In some of them, I find it mismatched, and I think it's to the advantage of Suttree that after the first few chapters, the dense descriptions decrease and the language becomes more direct. IMO, Blood Meridian is the pinnacle, where the grandiose prose style becomes extremely appropriate to the environment, to the character of the Judge, and to a story where people are archetypes of their counterparts in reality (the leader Glanton was a historical figure, and the book is accurate about some of the things that happened in his life). I understand that All The Pretty Horses is less severe, more personal, and after that McCarthy's writing style definitely becomes more stripped down.

I am fully 25% finished with the Westeros SFF 100 book list, and I'm using the rating system of how likely I am to seek out the author's other works. Of authors I hadn't previously read before, I've been most grateful to the introduction to Christopher Priest, Jose Saramago and Connie Willis. I can't say that my tastes line up with board opinions too well - most books on the list have been just OK in my opinion. I've found two authors out of the 25 to be really terrible - Michael Chabon and Stephen Donaldson. Jack Vance and The Dying Earth will be next.

[Eponine]

This guys seems to be pretty polarizing. I've had one of his books up on the shelf for a few years now and not picked it up (Yiddish Policeman's Union and not Kavalier and Clay).

I couldn't believe Kavalier and Clay won a Pulitzer. It was just so STUPID. And what was beyond my capacity for belief wasn't the fantastical elements, which were fairly minimal, but simply the progression of how the main characters had things happen to them and how they reacted to them.0

It's like when you meet someone who's a braggart, and they start telling you a story about themselves, and you start rolling your eyes - that's how I felt almost the entire way through - like "oh right, of COURSE it happened like that". Or possibly someone who actually had a lot of interesting things happen in their lives, but despite that, they completely lack introspection or perspective. It's not that uncommon among outdoor athletes - you'll meet a guy who has skied all over the world, and you'd think he'd have a lot of interesting things to say, but he's actually really boring to talk to. Maybe the guy who is telling you, "and THEN, I was banging this really hot artist chick who was rich and totally in love with me" had that happen, but enough is enough, right?

[Myshkin]

Finished Murakami's Norwegian Wood. A little slow in some places, and I missed some of the more surreal aspects present in Murakami's other works, but the ending was so powerful and so beautiful that it made up for everything.

Now reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I finished A Memory of Light. It was not perfect, but I thought it was a fitting conclusion to a series that I really loved years ago. I posted more of my thoughts in the full spoiler thread.

Up next is The Hobbit re-read as my commute book. I saw the movie and there was alot of "I don't remember this" moments. I haven't read this in 8 years.

Also up is a monstrosity of a non-fiction library book that outweighs A Memory of Light (I kid you not). It is A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor.

[Datepalm]

Thats it, I have officially given up on Tigana. 18 months is enough.

[Gillio]

Also up is a monstrosity of a non-fiction library book that outweighs A Memory of Light (I kid you not). It is A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor.

i have the podcast for this on my phone, the book would be cool

[Mlle. Zabzie]

I finished Some Kind of Fairytale. I liked it. The ending didn't annoy me as much as I was afraid it might and it was a pleasant little read. I don't know what my problem is. I keep saying I'm going to read Gone Girl, but it just sits there on my Kindle, looking at me. I'm reading Ready Player One instead (which has also been sitting on my Kindle, looking at me, for like a year). So far I think the story is fun, though a bit heavy handed and self-indulgent and the writing is meh but servicable. My real life book club is reading Lady Chatterly's Lover for February and Behind the Beautiful Forevers for March, so those are going into the queue.

[Whitestripe]

Currently reading The Book Thief. It's growing on me. My main quibble thus far is that the language (specifically Death's voice) seems a bit modern for a book set during WWII.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Currently reading The Book Thief. It's growing on me. My main quibble thus far is that the language (specifically Death's voice) seems a bit modern for a book set during WWII.

Read that a couple of years ago. I thought despite some flaws it was over all a pretty good read.

[beniowa]

I finished two books recently. First one was Fudoki by Kij Johnson, which was very good. It's a historical fantasy set in 12th Century Japan about a princess and a cat that turns into a woman.

The second book I read was Grimspace by Ann Aguirre and rather wished I hadn't read it all. Ugh.

My real life book club is reading Lady Chatterly's Lover for February and Behind the Beautiful Forevers for March, so those are going into the queue.

I'm trying to imagine you reading the first one and can't quite wrap my head around it. :P

[russjass]

So finally got around to Hamiltons Void trilogy, and finished the last one in january so it totally qualifies for this thread! Excellent series, thoroughly enjoyed, sucked in and compelled to read.

Read Prince of Thorns, which I vaguely remember being highly recommended around this forum. Did not enjoy this book, the main character was so emo and whiny that even Fitzchivalry would have told him to leave it out. Not really sure there was a story in there? Unless I hear that King of Thorns is orders of magnitude better, then I doubt I will be touching it.

aMoL obviously. Not going to de-rail this thread with anything about that.

Re-reading Abrahams Price of Spring as a pallete cleanser before heading into something new, looking at Brent Weeks at the moment, but undecided.

[Melonica Stormborn]

Currently reading The Book Thief. It's growing on me. My main quibble thus far is that the language (specifically Death's voice) seems a bit modern for a book set during WWII.

I'll add this to my queue too. Darn I have so much planned reading. Will I actually get to them? :D

[mashiara]

Two days ago I finished The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate, which I quite liked. While it might not be the best novel in the world it's solidly written with a good hold on how people who have addicts in their families feel and act. It did a great job in conveying exactly the sort of emotions and resentment that builds up eventually, along with the pain and the heartache.

Then I started reading War for the Oaks, by Emma Bull. I didn't manage to read much, because aMoL finally made its way here yesterday afternoon, so obviously I'm reading that now. It feels weird, reading the last WoT book.

[Procrastimancer]

Taking a break from Zadie Smith's White Teeth to read Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.

[Spring Bass]

I'm reading Red Plenty, which is really good, along with some mediocre Starcraft extended universe novel that is not so good.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

I'm trying to imagine you reading the first one and can't quite wrap my head around it. :P

Which is funny, because as these things go (e.g., compared to, let's say GoT) it hasn't moved much beyond a Jane Austen novel. :P

Finished Ready Player One. Easy read; engaging story; felt sort of like a screenplay that couldn't get sold and that was novelized instead. Overall, I wasn't hugely impressed - felt that it was derivative, the characters were pretty one dimensional, the "bad guy" was paper thin (didn't really understand the motivation) - but I enjoyed the story. Overall, felt like guilty pleasure.