What Else Are You Reading? February 2013

[Joseph]

Finished Tales from the Perilous Realm -- the first time I'd read most of those stories in probably thirty years -- and started Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett (because after Tolkien I find I need to shift gears for a bit before going back into fantasy).

[Paul]

I have started reading "the War hound and the World's pain" (Von Bek omibus) by Michael Moorecock. It is becoming suprisingly addictive.Von Bek

[[deleted user]]

Currently reading Days of My Life: the Autobiography of H. Rider Haggard. Exciting and interesting, his life was almost as full as his romances.

If anyone is looking for some good older reads that often get overlooked, Puck of Pook's Hill by Kipling is great fun and the sequel Rewards and Fairies just as good. Haggard's She trilogy is good and a quick read. The Worlds Desire by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang is hard to put down. Old Peter's Russian Tales by Arthur Ransom is great stuff. You can just feel being confined in a Russian winter hearing the old stories told around the fire. Last, Islandia by Austin Tappen Wringht is a long slow novel that you will never forget.

[A.L.]

Sigh, I posted and hit the wrong button and it all went away:(

I liked The Shining. If I can find my copy I may re-read it.

Currently reading The Evil That Men Do Twenty Man Made Murders and Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops

[[deleted user]]

NMC wrote: "Just finished up both Pet Sematary and Pines. They were decent, but neither lived up to my expectations. I'll probably start on The Shining next."
If you have not read The Stand yet,I think that was a really good book.

[[deleted user]]

I'm working my way through the awfulness that is the Lando Calrissian adventures, an early 80's attempt by Del Rey to cash in on some of that Star Wars money, apparently by hiring the cheapest writer they could find. Seriously, guys. These are TERRIBLE.

[Dara]

I'm a little over half way through with The Blade Itself. Really enjoying Joe Abercrombie's writing style. Detailed yet easy to read. Next up will be my re-read of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I want to take the year to re-read the whole series.

[Geoff]

by Craig Russell

[terpkristin]

I just finished Technomancer and was pretty unimpressed. I'm hoping to finish Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was this weekend, before I travel next week...if not, I'll have plenty of time on the plane to finish it up and to start Downbelow Station.

I've got an assortment of audiobooks on my iPhone that I'm taking with me on my travel, and am kind of torn on what I'll listen to next. I think that if I finish Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was as planned, that I might listen to some fantasy novel, since I'll be reading a science fiction book in print...

[David Sven]

Finished Bujold's 4th Vorkosigan book The Vor Game.
My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Starting Oryx and Crake

[Lea]

LOVED A Storm of Swords and now I'm about halfway through A Feast For Crows...kind of disappointed that the mass market paperback of A Dance With Dragons isn't coming out until October. I was looking forward to being all caught up on the series. Oh well.

Once I finish A Feast For Crows I think I'm going to switch gears with some sci-fi, maybe Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card. I absolutely love all of the other Enderverse novels though I've been so hesitant to read Bean's stories. :/

[[deleted user]]

I should really read Ender's Game at some point, huh?

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "I should really read Ender's Game at some point, huh?"

You should! It's one of my absolute favorite novels. The rest of the series is really good too, in my opinion, but you'll hear a lot of differing opinions on that. [:

[[deleted user]]

It's just one of those books I've somehow missed! One of these days ... :)

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "It's just one of those books I've somehow missed! One of these days ... :)"
Oh I can relate, I have tons of those. I'm hoping this is the year I play catch-up on all the great fantasy and science fiction novels I've been recommended over the years.

[[deleted user]]

Likewise! Or at least some of them. There are waaaaay too many classics books I've missed. Ender's Game, Foundation, Old Man's War, Ship Who Sang, etc., etc., etc. ...

[Joseph]

Finished Mr. Shivers and started Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick, which I'm quite enjoying so far.

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "Likewise! Or at least some of them. There are waaaaay too many classics books I've missed. Ender's Game, Foundation, Old Man's War, Ship Who Sang, etc., etc., etc. ..."
I've read Ender's Game and Foundation, love the first as I've told you and thoroughly enjoyed Foundation. The others I haven't even gotten yet! I need to read Ender's Shadow, Dune, The Hobbit, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
Really looking forward to trying Old Man's War though, I'm hoping to find a copy of it at one of my favorite used bookstores.

[[deleted user]]

I got Old Man's War in the last Humble Bundle; looking forward to starting it! Dune is pretty great, but super dense. It's worth it if you can make it through, though.

[Planchette]

I bought a boat-load of books recently, but I can't tear myself away from the Codex Alera series that I started a month ago, and am quickly burning though.

I was reading The Difference Engine, but I lost it. I have Old Man's War queued up, and I will kick myself if I don't read Ender's Game before it's in the theaters.

[[deleted user]]

Yeah, the forthcoming movie is kinda lighting a fire under my ass, same way it did with Cloud Atlas.

[Space Preacher]

It's been a good month. Just finished Feed, which I recommend to any and everyone. I think it was intended to be YA, but so was His Dark Materials so whatever. It's basically cyberpunk, but from the point of view of the fashion victims that make up the customer base of the megacorps instead of some gritty antihero. Really very good.

After reading Blindsight last year and loving it, I've been trying to put off reading any more Peter Watts just so I could have the joy later. I finally broke today and started Starfish today and am already 40% through. This is some intensely dark stuff, but I really like it. I tend to get more robotic and space-based scifi, so something this biological is just so fresh. And Peter Watts is better at tying science and action together than any other author I've read.

[Planchette]

Speaking of not having read The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.... Can anyone tell me if having seen the all of the movies based on the books, based on the radio show, will ruin it for me? I was thinking of skipping to one of the other books, like So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, but it is so hard to know where the movies touch the books, since all of the titles are referenced.

And please don't answer this query with 42.

[[deleted user]]

From what I understand (only having seen the film and read the novel), they're all sort of different interpretations of the same subject. So I'd read the book, if I were you, even having taken in all the other media. I think it'll still be a fresh experience.

[Planchette]

Good to know, Matthew. I was hoping that was the case, thanks.

[Rob, Roberator]

I'm with Matthew. You should at least read the first book. It's a classic.

[Tamahome]

Jurassic Park.

Losa raptor!

[Jlawrence, S&L Moderator]

Stranger Things Happen, Kelly Link's short stories which have the best blending of myth/fairy-tales with modern day settings I've read outside of Gaiman's Sandman comics, and Built by Animals: The Natural History of Animal Architecture.

[W.R.]

I just wrapped up John Scalzi's The Last Colony along with Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. Both are really great, if really different books!

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "I got Old Man's War in the last Humble Bundle; looking forward to starting it! Dune is pretty great, but super dense. It's worth it if you can make it through, though."

I've got to ask, what is a Humble Bundle?

Sounds like I should save Dune for summer reading then. My literature courses drown me in enough dense reading as it is and I wouldn't want to dislike Dune simply because it was too much on top of everything else.

[[deleted user]]

Oh, sorry! Humble Bundle is this program where a bunch of creators donate their works (in the past it was mostly computer games, but they just recently started doing ebooks) and you can donate what you want, above a certain amount, and get everything in the bundle. The bulk of the cash goes to charity, and some goes back to the creators as well.

Sorry, I haven't had coffee yet and I'm not explaining this very well. Here's the website: http://www.humblebundle.com

But yeah, Dune would be a good one to tackle when you've got a lot of time and not too many distractions. Again, though, totally worth it.

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "Oh, sorry! Humble Bundle is this program where a bunch of creators donate their works (in the past it was mostly computer games, but they just recently started doing ebooks) and you can donate what..."

Oh, wow! That is really cool. Definitely be keeping my eye on that website.

I think you did fine.

Its definitely on the list. Any other good recommendations?

[[deleted user]]

Well, talking about dense books that took me several tries to finish is reminding me of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Fantastic book (and series); one of my favorites.

And then there's always Jumper by Steven Gould, ostensibly YA, and certainly a favorite of mine when I was a teen, but still compulsively re-readable.

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "Well, talking about dense books that took me several tries to finish is reminding me of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Fantastic book (and series); one of my favorites.

And then there's always J..."

I haven't heard Red Mars mentioned before!

Always a fan of YA despite the fact that I'm moving out of, if not already out of, the age range myself.

Thank you for the recommendations! [:

[Carolina]

Ash wrote: Always a fan of YA despite the fact that I'm moving out of, if not already out of, the age range myself."

I think a good book remains so even if you "get out" of the main target audience :) I loved
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and is not necessarily considered an "adult" book.

[Lea]

Carolina wrote: "Ash wrote: Always a fan of YA despite the fact that I'm moving out of, if not already out of, the age range myself."

I think a good book remains so even if you "get out" of the main target audienc..."
I've seen that one pop up on a lot of the blogs I follow. Absolutely adore the cover for it, I think it might even be on my wishlist already. If not, I'll add it. [:

[[deleted user]]

Red Mars is amaaaaazing! Especially if you enjoy hard sci-fi and sociology.

And I totally agree with Carolina. Good is good, no matter what the age range. Hell, I still go back through my Beverly Cleary books every once in a while.

[Lea]

Matthew wrote: "Red Mars is amaaaaazing! Especially if you enjoy hard sci-fi and sociology.

And I totally agree with Carolina. Good is good, no matter what the age range. Hell, I still go back through my Beverly ..."

Sounds like something I need to be on the hunt for then!

And yes! I go through mine quite often. Well, I do when they're not packed away. The trouble with having so many books means not everything can be out on display which leads to less reareading then I'd like. :/

[Hershel]

Ash wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Red Mars is amaaaaazing! Especially if you enjoy hard sci-fi and sociology.

."

If you like alternate history Kim Stanley Robinson has The Years of Rice and Salt.

[Dara]

Can anyone who has read The Blade Itself tell me if it gets any better? I like the characters but the book itself is so dull. Nothing has really happened in 380 pages. Abercrombie is a good writer but I am bored silly. Can anyone help motivate me to finish this?

[Tamahome]

Checking out Ben Bova's moon drama Farside. At first it seemed like female ya but now there's other characters. There doesn't seem much buzz about it.

[Carolina]

Ash wrote: "Carolina wrote: "Ash wrote: Always a fan of YA despite the fact that I'm moving out of, if not already out of, the age range myself."

I think a good book remains so even if you "get out" of the ma..."

It was lovely! I have to get my hands on the second book!

[David Sven]

Dara wrote: "Can anyone who has read The Blade Itself tell me if it gets any better?"

Well I actually loved all the books and tend to view the trilogy as a single story. The first book does have a lot of character set up. The other two books have a lot more "events." Bayez and Logen an co go on a quest. There's wars being fought on two fronts. We see more of the crew that Logen left behind in the next two books. The last book there is a climax of conflict that makes up a lot of the book. And the ending of the trilogy is very "realistic." Let's just say it's not a fairy tale ending - but that's what makes it appealing to me.

[Joseph]

Ash wrote: Always a fan of YA despite the fact that I'm moving out of, if not already out of, the age range myself. "

Then I also really, really recommend checking out Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. I loved it despite being very, very, very far removed from the target audience.

[Dara]

@David Sven: Thanks. I basically speed read the rest of the book. I'm sure I missed things but the other 2 books sound promising. Maybe some day I'll pick them up. I really liked Abercrombie's style.

On to my re-read of Harry Potter. Sometimes it's nice to visit with an old, familiar friend.

[Laura]

Enjoyed Glamour in Glass. Now it's time for a bit of nonfiction with Salvation on Sand Mountain Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia.

[Kate]

Finished Jack Glass and was delighted with it.

I've now moved onto Hammered, which is pretty cool.

[Tamahome]

They both sound good. Jack Glass isn't at this bookstore yet. :(

[Robyn]

Just finished Blindness.
Starting on The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State now. And no, it is not S&L related.
Also finished Every Day is an Atheist Holiday a few days ago. Great read. (I'm a big Penn Jillette fan).

[Thomas]

About halfway through Darwin's Children by Greg Bear. Very well done, and rather dark.