What are you reading in April?

[beniowa]

I loved the former, and the latter looks really good and I look forward to hearing what you think about both of them.

Up Against It was decent space opera, but I wasn't blown away. It had the right elements for a great book, something just didn't click for me personally. I'd certainly recommend it though.

Haven't had a chance to start Golem and Jinni yet. Planning to tonight.

I saw you weren't quite as mad about it as I was. I just found it pleasant to be surprised when reading, rather than getting what you want/expect all the time.

Not quite as much, no, but it was still very good. :)

[Baelor Swyft]

I just started reading this rather bizarre novel called Girl Walking Backwards by Bett Williams. Completely different from anything else in this genre I've read... I'm used to these books being wholesome and uplifting. Girl Walking Backwards is angst-ridden, bizarrely psychedelic at times, and filled with explicit sexual scenes.

I mean, they took a dead bird and dressed it up in barbie clothes. This is a disturbed novel. It actually earns the blurb on the back equating it with Catcher in the Rye. The last one I read, Miseducation of Cameron Post (which was utterly amazing btw), also happened to be equated with Catcher on the back, but there was nothing at all in common between those two. Miseducation was more like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Anyhoo I'm excited because up next I'm going to take a very brief break from my continuous stream of lesbian romance and finally read Michael Crichton's Congo!

I love Crichton and when I was a kid I tried to read my brother's copy of Congo... but when I got to the part where they talked about "you couldn't take a woman on an expedition because the baboons would rape her." Yeah that was a little much for me so I stopped reading. har! Always wanted to read it once I grew up but my bro took his copy when he moved out (imagine that), so I put it off and put it off... with Jurassic Park 3D coming out I thought about Congo again and finally picked up my own copy. Should be good!

[Starkess]

I finished Excession by Iain Banks. It was hard to get into at first, but by the end it was one of my favorites of his. Definitely better than Use of Weapons, which I liked but will probably never understand why is often lauded as his best. Next up by him will be Inversions, not sure when though. I like to leave a little break between his books.

I also read The Wretched of Muirwood by Jeff Wheeler, a quick little YA novel that I got on an Amazon deal. I was craving a return to fantasy, so that was nice, but I had a few issues with the plot.

The Medium is basically a built-in deus ex machina, and I felt that he didn't utilize Lia enough on her own merits. She was a well-written, strong character with a lot of potential, but then it could have been anyone since it ended up just being the Medium.

I'll probably pick up the next one at some point.

I then read Extinction Point by Paul Anthony Jones, a self-pubbed post-apocalyptic book. I've been reading a few more self-pubbed books lately, and although some are good, they lack a general polish that I find a bit exhausting after a while. Like my inner editor just can't shut the eff up. (And it's not just because I'm looking for it--this one, for example, I didn't even know was self-pubbed until after I finished.) Anyway, this was interesting enough that I'll get the next one when it comes out. Some hints of a bigger overall plot to come, and the premise is very interesting.

Next up for me is The Mongoliad. Not sure what to really expect here.

[deleted01]

Reread lies of Locke lamora and red seas.... remembered how much I love these. So hard not to race through to find out how it works out. Seriously some of the best endings around.

I just can't get into Red Seas Under Red Skies, I don't know what it is. I flew through Locke Lamora, and I'm not noticing any distinct dip in quality, I've just barely wanted to pick it up. Going to start American Psycho tonight and see if I can come back to Red Seas after a while. I hate not finishing books, and it definitely doesn't deserve to just be put down and forgotten about.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Holy shit. Everyone on the planet should read this book. Seriously.

Since I saw your post, I checked this out on Amazon and decided to order it today. Hopefully another great recommendation from the board!

[fitheach]

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey= AWESOME!!!

Tuf Voyaging by some writer.. ;-p

I was on a Iain M. Banks Culture marathon, but was derailed by the news.. Very very sad.

[gordonah]

Have just finished Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian. My reading rate has slowed right down recently due to a change in work location. Will be starting Dodger by Terry Pratchett tonight. It was a Christmas present from the family, so if I leave it any longer they'll think I didn't like it!

[FreeRickonStark]

Just finished Pat Rothfuss' first two Kingkiller novels. I was just incredibly blown away. Some of the best fantasy I've ever read.

I've begun Blood of Elves by Andrezj Sapkowski. I love The Witcher video games so I decided to give the novels a try. Pretty good so far

[peterbound]

Need something for the weekend. Oo. Err.

Write a new book?

[peterbound]

I'm 50% through London Falling by Paul Cornell - gooooooooooooood book so far!

Really? I want to read this, but it looks like every other urban fantasy i've seen in the past year or so: Police (or police unit) forced into the dark metaphysical underworld due to a strange case.

You like it though?

[FirelordSylar22]

Just reaching the Battle of Blackwater Bay in A Clash Of Kings

Also reading The Blade Itself.

[Myshkin]

Since I saw your post, I checked this out on Amazon and decided to order it today. Hopefully another great recommendation from the board!

Hope you enjoy it.

Finished Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. I liked it a lot, but I didn't really buy the ending.

Now reading Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-ha Kim.

[RedEyedGhost]

Really? I want to read this, but it looks like every other urban fantasy i've seen in the past year or so: Police (or police unit) forced into the dark metaphysical underworld due to a strange case.

You like it though?

I finished it today, and this might be a knee-jerk reaction, but I think it might be my favorite opening book in an urban fantasy series ever. It is a bit of the standard premise, but it's so well done that I don't care. It's kind of a slow burn as we're dropped into the story in the final two hours of a four year undercover investigation into a London crime boss, we learn that the crime boss "could have known" that he had undercover cops on his crew from a source, and four of the principals in the case are assigned the job of tracking down the source. These four are our primary POVs and Cornell develops their characters very well, but it's the way he slowly introduces the supernatural components that all but picked me up and carried me to the end. There's no exposition from a wise old wizard here, we learn as the characters learn and Cornell handles this nearly to perfection - we get flashback scenes for two characters, one POV one not, and I was not wowed by either of those scenes.

There's not anything new here, it's just a really good book.

London Falling by Paul Cornell folks, check it out.

I'm now reading Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold.

[Serious Callers Only]

EATING CROW PUBLICLY!!!

A year ago i said i expected nothing much from a Kate Elliot book i was reading but was moderately impressed with the first volume (Spirit Gate) even though there were worrying signs that it would degenerate on a fetch quest for objects of power so i was not in any hurry to continue.

Reading the third volume now and it's nothing like that; quality series about corruption and despair.

[Teng Ai Hui]

Now reading Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-ha Kim.

After reading the description of this one, I'm anxious to read it as well. Hope you will comment on it when you are done.

Recently, I have been in string of reading the works of Rick Riordan. In the last month, I've gone through the Percy Jackson series. Now, I've started the first book of the Kane Chronicles. I've also started Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby.

[Starkess]

Decided I didn't want to get into The Mongoliad yet (not sure why).

I read Shades of Milk and Honey yesterday. I wanted to love it--Jane Austen with magic!--but I merely liked it. The writing at times just felt so wooden, and although I am a fan of Miss Robinette via Writing Excuses, she is no Jane Austen. But it wasn't bad, I definitely enjoyed it. Maybe my expectations were just a little too high. I'll definitely be picking up Glamour and Glass soon.

Just started on The Blight of Muirwood. Hope it's an improved installment in the series, but even if it's just on par with the first, it will help my day go by. :)

[A Man has Patrol Duty]

I just finished "For Esme - With Love and Squalor" by J.D. Salinger. It's a collection of some of his best short stories - The Laughing Man, A Perfect Day for Bananafish, and the aforementioned For Esme. Just an absolutely staggering talent. Now on to Tender is the NIght by Fitzgerald.

[jobmartell]

Kays "river of stars" and "no return" by jerrigan* I believe. Debut novel. Seems promising. And asoiaf re-reread.

[Eponine]

Finished Hyperion and halfway through I Am Legend.

With several of these books, I wish that I'd read them when I was an older teenager, and that goes for Hyperion too. For me, it was uneven - I thought that a few of the stories were great, a few were info dumps, and one was unbelievable wish fulfillment. Also, even when the stories were interesting, the characters weren't interesting or sympathetic outside the stories, which left me satisfied with the story of the past and mostly disinterested in finding out what was going to happen to them next - the cliffhanger didn't make me feel like I needed to read on. What's propelling me to the next book is the hope that the Shrike will prove to be an interesting figure in its own right in the future.

[Ours is the Furry]

Feast For Crows. Again.

[Captain Sheepf*cker]

Just starting Farlander by Col Buchanan. I just finished and loved River of Stars, probably as much as Under Heaven, making these my two favorite Kay books. Also getting ready to start The Judging Eye audiobook. Hopefully the Unholy Consult will be out this year so I won't have to wait too long for some closure.