What Else Are You Reading? May 2013

[Jlawrence, S&L Moderator]

Outside of the official S&L pick, I'm finishing up Borges' Labyrinths and starting The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. How about you?

[[deleted user]]

Gonna start off May with NOS4A2.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Wool Omnibus. I'm loving it so much I intend to continue on with Shift when I finish.

[Tamahome]

Ala wrote: "Gonna start off May with NOS4A2."

I really like Vic's scenes in the kindle sample, but are there no pictures in the kindle version like in the print version??

[Camilla]

Wool Omnibus, of course. I finished Dragonflight, even though I actually bought the trilogy, but I'm thinking about lemming the rest.

I haven't read as much lately as I wanted to, so I'm still on Toll the Hounds.

I finished The Dragon's Path and The Shadow of the Torturer for two other bookclubs last month, but the latter did not really make me as excited as in the beginning of the book. I liked the concepts, but the writing did just not fall to my liking.
The first one was rather intriguing though. I'm definitely reading the rest of the series at some point, but at the moment I have more than enough to read.

Oh, and I finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Funny stuff!

[[deleted user]]

Tamahome wrote: "Ala wrote: "Gonna start off May with NOS4A2."

I really like Vic's scenes in the kindle sample, but are there no pictures in the kindle version like in the print version??"

No idea, I don't have a Kindle.

[Jeff]

Starting Wool Omnibus. Also getting my health on by reading Becoming a Supple Leopard: Movement, Mobility, and Maintenance of the Human Animal. Got a few days before I need to pick my Audible credits and not sure what I'm going for.

[Joseph]

I finished Thief's Covenant and am moving straight into False Covenant, both by Ari Marmell. I highly recommend the series -- fast-paced stories about a snarky young thief.

[Geoff]

Currently reading The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham

Then moving on to Ready Player One and The Ice Princess

[Kristina]

I'm taking a break from The Hero of Ages to read Wool. Then I'll go back, cuz I'm totally loving the series. After that we'll see-I might knock out the last book in The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox for something short and fun before jumping into The Way of Kings. If Wool lives up to all they hype though I may have to track down Shift Omnibus Edition before I commit to that.

[Dharmakirti]

I'm up to book 3 in the Wool Omnibus. So far I'm enjoying it, not blowing my mind (not yet anyway) but I'm intrigued and entertained.

I hope to complete A Shadow in Summer in the next couple days. I am excited to read the rest of the series.

[Scott]

Currently reading The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith, probably finish it tonight. Thinking I might move on to Crime and Punishment after that. And, of course, at some point I'll get to Wool Omnibus.

[Joe Informatico]

Other than Wool Omnibus, I want to get in on that Renegade read of The Player of Games, but want to finish Consider Phlebas first.

Also, trying to finish Naoki Urawasa's manga series 20th Century Boys.

Then, if there's time, Caliban's War before the third Expanse book comes out.

[Dara]

I'm 29% through with Wool Omnibus. I don't really like it all that much.

[Lainey]

I'm about10% through Wool. After that I'll probably read The Magician King by Lev Grossman, and then maybe some Terry Pratchett.

[Neil]

Will finish Wool Omnibus then onto either The Shining Girls or Anno Dracula. Most likely one then the other. :)

[Don]

Working on the Sword and Laser pick as well as The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn'tSojourn and The Android's Dream

[Carolina]

Geoff wrote: "Currently reading The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham

Then moving on to Ready Player One and The Ice Princess"

I loved Ready Player One ( my review) I had a blast with that book!!!

[Sean]

Just picked up NOS4A2 with my Audible credit for the month.

[Dharmakirti]

Scott wrote: "Currently reading The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith, probably finish it tonight. Thinking I might move on to Crime and Punishment after that. And, of course, at some point I'll get to Wool Omnibus."

What is your impression of Tom Rob Smith?

[Dharmakirti]

Neil wrote: "Will finish Wool Omnibus then onto either The Shining Girls or Anno Dracula. Most likely one then the other. :)"

I started reading Anno Dracula last summer and made it about 1/2 way through. I really liked what I read. Then I forgot the book at my grandparent's house and by the time I got it back, I couldn't remember what happened. So, someday soon, I plan on restarting the novel.

[Scott]

Dharmakirti wrote: "What is your impression of Tom Rob Smith?"

I really like him. It definitely feels like he knows his stuff. He really does a great job portraying the paranoia associated with Stalin-era Russia. And the characters are all unique from each other and you can see their motivations. The story is really engrossing too.

I do have two qualms though. The formatting is strange, namely dialogue. He doesn't use quotes. Instead, he indents and italicizes dialogue, so sometimes I can't tell if I'm reading dialogue or a character's inner thoughts.

And, sometimes it feels like I'm reading "Murphy's Law: The Novel." If something can go wrong for the characters, it will. While I don't expect everything to be all sunshine and roses, at some point too much tragedy breaks the suspension of disbelief. I don't think he quite got there, but it is very, very close and I have 100 pages to go.

MAJOR SPOILERS (view spoiler)[ The protagonist's daughter gets kidnapped, his wife almost kills herself then decides to leave him, his two best friends get murdered, he gets caught up in not one, but two, prison uprisings, he's in a boat that almost capsizes, he gets tortured, his other daughter gets institutionalized, and he's in a plane crash.... (hide spoiler)]

But, overall, none of this made me stop reading, and I think I might try to find the other two books in the series.

[Misti]

I'm about 100 pages into The Written. Amazon was offering it for free a couple of weeks ago. I've been digging it so far. There's been plenty of action, plus it's got mages, dragons, vampires and werewolves in it.

[Ty]

I'm reading a few other things along with Wool Omnibus: What the Family Needed, Dragonsong, The Hanged God, and The Great Gatsby.

[terpkristin]

Finally made a little more progress through Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut and am now at a good "stopping point" for picking up into Wool Omnibus. I also started listening to Hounded on the way to PT the other day.

I also have a not-published book a friend has asked me to read as a sort of "technical consultant." I'll probably try to get into that after Wool, assuming Wool goes as quickly as I expect...

[LegalKimchi]

aside from wool, catching up on honor harrington (i stopped last on war of honor), and maybe Mutineer by Mike shepard or Shadow's edge by brent weeks. I've been on a sword kick with SOIAF, Mistborn, KingKiller Chronicles, and Throne of cresent moon. I need some pew pew.

[Tamahome]

[LegalKimchi]

Also, Criminal Procedure by Miller, Wright, Arbitration: Law and Practice by Carbonneau, Texas Civil Procedure by Flint and Scott, and finally, Texas Wills and Estates by G. Beyers. I am thinking of Leming Criminal procedure though... it started out with promise, miranda rights, hot pursuit, and search and seizure, but it lost me later on... terrible.

[Joseph]

Finished False Covenant and set the Wayback Machine for 1911 with The Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany.

[Sandi]

Maybe there should be a renegade renegade read of NOS4A2. The only reason I haven't picked it up yet is that I have way too many audiobooks, ebooks, and paper books already.

[Sandi]

I'm finishing up the audiobook of The Shadow of the Torturer. I'll probably be going right into The Claw of the Conciliator because this sure seems like it's going to end in a cliffhanger. I got all four parts of the series on sale from Audible, so I'm set.

In text, I finished both The Red House by Mark Haddon and The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin yesterday. Today, I started The Language of Flowers. It's general fiction.

[Doc]

I can't put Ready Player One down!

[David Sven]

Finished Steven Erikson's Memories of Ice The Malazan Book of the Fallen 3
My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...


Continuing on with book 4 in the series House of Chains

[Denzel]

I recently just picked up a book called "Call of the Herald" and it's quite a tail. It suffers a rather large flaw though, it lacks detail. It says what's happening, and makes it sound amazing, but lacks detail in showing what's actually going on. If not for that one flaw, I'd say it'd be an amazing book that everyone should read at least once. As it is, I wouldn't suggest reading it unless you (like me) have intense imagination which works the vagueness into a visual concept.

[Rob, Roberator]

Doc wrote: "I can't put Ready Player One down!"

Yeah. That was my experience with it at well.

[Jeff]

Sandi wrote: "Maybe there should be a renegade renegade read of NOS4A2. The only reason I haven't picked it up yet is that I have way too many audiobooks, ebooks, and paper books already."

Hahaha...I'll probably be picking this up in a couple days once my Audible credits come in especially as everyone seems to be reading this. Plus it's Captain Janeway narrating it!!!

[Tamahome]

It's a little annoying that the Nos4a2 ebook doesn't have the illustrations that the print book has. It would probably look nice on the kindle fire.

[Scott]

Tastykimchi wrote: "Also, Criminal Procedure by Miller, Wright, Arbitration: Law and Practice by Carbonneau, Texas Civil Procedure by Flint and Scott, and finally, Texas Wills and Estates by G. Beyers. I am thinking o..."

I had the same experience with Crim. Pro. Glad that's all behind me now....

[Kristina]

Doc wrote: "I can't put Ready Player One down!"

I totally didn't sleep for a couple days till it was done. It was so fun!

[Janet]

For my Malazan read, I still have about 300 pages to go in Reaper's Gale, then I have Return of the Crimson Guard waiting next.

For book club, this month we're reading Little Green Men.

Then I'm also reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Consider the Fork: How Technology Transforms the Way We Cook and Eat, and Throne of the Crescent Moon.

[Dara]

Finished Wool. Now reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher.

[Nancy]

I'm listening to the audio of Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal. It's quite good!

[Kate]

Started Necessary Evil this morning. I'll be sad to finish the Milkweed triptych.

[Rob, Roberator]

Dara wrote: "Finished Wool. Now reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher."


Awesome! I'll be starting an audio reread just as soon as I finish The Dark Tower

[Adam1234]

Halfway through Nick Harkaways The Gone-Away world. Its really fantastic!! I havent been this blown away by a book in a very long time. A healthy mix of Michael Chabon, Douglas Adams and Stephen King. Highly recommend to all!

[Tom]

Adam1234 wrote: "Halfway through Nick Harkaways The Gone-Away world. Its really fantastic!! I havent been this blown away by a book in a very long time. A healthy mix of Michael Chabon, Douglas Adams and Stephen ..."

Yeah I dug this book too. It reminded me of Pynchon, Mad Max, PKD, Harlan Ellison, Vonnegut... I think the author had more fun writing it than I had reading it. Not a great book, but worth the time. I haven't gotten around to reading Harkaway's follow-up yet, but I hear it's a little less weird.

[Sandi]

I thought The Gone-Away World was great. I listened to it last month.

[James]

Wool: omnibus, Feed by Mira Grant(audiobook), A storm of Swords and NOS4A2. Possibly get round to a couple of others as well

[Joseph]

Finished The Gods of Pegana and moved straight into Time and the Gods, both by Lord Dunsany. What can I say? They were both included in the Kindle omnibus edition I got for a couple of bucks.

[Scott]

Reading The Sheepfarmers Daughter....and I just realized when reading these posts that I feel really old (I'm only 42)! Why? Because I don't like gritty or dark or "real" - i don't like George R. R. Martin, I don't like Joe Abercrombie, i don't like urban fantasy. I miss the 80's and the 90's (that's why I feel old...I feel like the things I enjoy aren't in fashion anymore) - I grew up on Brooks, Eddings, Tolkien, Spellsinger series, R.A. Salvatore - I grew up on high/epic fantasy - great quests, great heroes, good guys won, bad guys lost, escapism at it's finest. Any suggestions on what to read for a guy whose taste is out of style lol?