Kim’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2010)

Kim’s comments from the And Now For Something Completely Different group.

Kraken, by China Mieville. I know some people are huge fans, but I swear I was three-quarters of the way through this still thinking, "Can it possibly continue to be this meandering and pointless?" One of the bad guys was a tattoo - really, a tattoo that took over the wearer's life by yelling obscenities whenever he went outside until he started doing what the tattoo wanted.

I finished it, but I'm still asking myself why I bothered.

Of course, Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite books of all time, and so far everyone I've recommended it to has had the same impression of that book. YMMV!

Oh, boy. My "to be read" pile is often the place books go to die. I've been working on some of them lately, though. Public shaming helps - I suddenly got cornered by a couple of friends asking if I had ever gotten around to the books they gave me. If they had just lent them, I could blow it off and return them, saying "I just don't know when I'll find the time, and I don't want to keep it from you any longer," but they were gifts, so I feel extra-guilty. It's not my fault that my favorite authors have been unusually prolific in the past couple of years. :\

Here's what I've managed to move from that pile to the "currently reading" pile:

Daemon by Daniel Suarez
In the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
Guns, Germs and Steel

For me, this year I've been having to really stretch myself to find SF books that I enjoy. I've burned through most of my regular authors (except for Jack McDevitt, thank you for being so prolific). So I've been exploring some sub-genres and classics that I usually avoid.

I'm currently reading At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft. I'd classify it as horror SF, at least for the time it was written in. It makes me think of Who Goes There by John W. Campbell Jr.

I also decided to read The Hunger Games - I know, everyone has read this series, but it's been a long time since I've read any juvenile-category SF. I've read all of the Heinlein juveniles, but otherwise...I was impressed. It's nice that authors can write challenging books for the preteen/teen set that are also fun to read as an adult.

Charles Stross's Laundry books are probably what made me seek out HP Lovecraft. The Laundry series are great spy/SF/horror books. I also revisited Pat Cadigan. I wish she would write more. Synners and Fools are wonderful, pure cyberpunk books.