FF: Reading on the Road

We spent a lot of time on the road this past weekend, driving up to Conduit, in Utah, so I didn’t get as much reading done as I would have liked.  Still, audiobooks do help…

At Arches National Monument in Utah

A reminder… The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

The House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.  Jim and I had listened to the first two “Howl” books on our last road trip, so this was our first choice for this trip.  Charmain is the sort of protagonist Diana Wynne Jones does very well – annoying yet still sympathetic.  And, as those of you who have read my Child of a Rainless Year know,  I love stories about weird houses.

In Progress:

Bluefeather Fellini by Max Evans.  I didn’t bring this one with me, so I’m not much further along.

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert.  The Dune panel at Conduit was fun, but the second half of this book is really dragging…

Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  This one also stayed at home, but I’ve resumed and am having a great deal of fun.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Audiobook.  I read this soon after it came out and loved it.  I used the trip to seduce Jim.  He’s completely hooked.  We’ll definitely make time to finish it this weekend.

Also:

Some of Roger Zelazny’s poetry.  As much as he loved his prose, poetry was Roger’s first writerly love.  I’ll be reading a couple of his at a celebration of his life this weekend in Santa Fe and found myself reading more than my “homework.”

That includes the ones he wrote for me – which I won’t be reading at the event.