What are you Reading and Why Showing 1-50 of 1,308

[Janice, Moderator]

Tell us what you are reading and why you are reading it.

[Mark]

Violence; A Writer's Guide by Rory Miller, - a grim but fascinating look at what violence is really like. I started it for research, but got drawn in...

[[deleted user]]

I've got 2 on the go, both for my alphabet.
The End of Mr. Y is fascinating. I'm 3/4 of the way through and I still don't know how this is going to resolve itself.
I'm listening to Fame Fatale in the car and it's that bad I found myself shouting at the stereo. But I've only got a disc and a bit left, so one more return journey to work on monday will see it finished.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished 14 on Audiobook (gave it 3-1/2 stars) and will start Saving CeeCee Honeycutt later today since it's the next on the list.

[Esther]

I am reading The Three Musketeers as a Classical choice for the month and I have picked up the second in the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss The Wise Man's Fear, because I absolutely loved The Name of the Wind. I guess either could be classed as my "Just Because".

[Samantha A]

Currently reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane
and
Skeleton Crew

[Betsy]

Reading the GoodReads Give Away, and wanting to finish it before school and other personal responsibilities overwhelm me. I'm excited and interested in Rowlings or Galbraiths's, The Cuckoo's Calling. It's good,certainly worth reading,but I WISH the publishers had just promoted it as a Debut Novel. That would have been relatively true (new to the genre) Adding the extra lie about "him" being part of the Royal Military Police makes me furious. I read the first 2/3 of the Harry Potter novels,and enjoyed the movies and to predict what I might have expected out of Casual Vacancy would have been impossible to tell before I read the book. All I really know is the book jacket lie,meant to increase your interest in The Cuckoo's Calling,has me feeling duped.Even if the publisher had added a fake ranking to "his" author's name (assuming the British must have military ranking)would have been better than a little blurb saying the book was based on his experiences. Trying to overlook that I can saying that this is a good first novel and definitely worth picking up another in the series,no matter what name its' published under!.

[[deleted user]]

Betsy - I find that an interesting response. Authos have used on de plumes for centuries. And they invariably have some sort of cover story for the adpoted name. And she's certainly not the first author to publish in a new genre under a new name.

I'm not sure exactly what's upset you about this so much.

PS: The UK military does have ranks, but once you leave the military you can only use a rank of Major or above - and a retired Major wouuld be easily traceable - and found to be false.

[Esther]

These days I seem to only have time for audiobooks as I have them on my iPhone and can work/do chores while listening. Hopefully August will be a better reading month.

I just stated my K book for the alphabet. Forever Odd and I have 2312 in my car, that will become my next main book.

In audio, I am going through the 44 Scotland streets series by Alexander McCall Smith and the Goldy Bear series by Diane Mott Davidson

[Betsy]

Helen wrote: "Betsy - I find that an interesting response. Authos have used on de plumes for centuries. And they invariably have some sort of cover story for the adpoted name. And she's certainly not the first a..."

Sure,I know about non de plumes, and how earlier in our history some of American woman writers would have never been published under their feminine names. I "get" that she needed to use another name so she could be judged in another genre as someone besides the author of Harry Potter. It's the size of the lie that annoys me.Even if they they had just said "he" was in the military but left out that the story was based on his experiences that would have interested me enough. In fact wondering if the story was "based on his experiences" would have captured my interest more. Gotta admit the extent of my reaction surprised me too. Wondering if - part - is the return to the masculine name? Robert verus Roberta,maybe? . Thanks for helping me think about this. Hmm...

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm not sure that The Cuckoo's Calling would have crossed my radar so quickly if I hadn't learned that it was written by JK Rowlings under a pseudonym. While I understand the whole reasoning behind an author using pseudonyms, I have to wonder about how quickly this one was "uncovered", and whether the motives were all about the publicity and consequently the sales.

[Travis]

Author Seeley James wrote an interesting blog how I outsold jk Rowling's last week. It tells how her ad a pseudonym and he himself both being unknown and how he outsold her until the mysterious Tweet which instantly sold 300000 copies of the cu koos calling

[Sarah]

I'm reading Living with the Dead just because! The first of many this month I think. I'm over half way through and then I'm going to start The Name of the Wind which I'm really excited about.

[Dem]

Just finished Is This Tomorrow This is my review
www.goodreads.com/review/show/610034270

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Interesting thoughts with Cuckoo's Calling.

I guess the problem is that now days with the internet, you have to make up a whole backstory or life for your alias. The Bronte sisters for example could have just said they were Ellis Bell and lived in Yorkshire and that was the end of it.

But now days you can't just say you're Bob Smith without making a whole biography that's consistent so it can appear on your author's website, facebook page and twitter, not to mention on your publisher's website, facebook, twitter, etc. You need a digital footprint in order to make it plausable. We all would have known something was up if we just had a name and a county for this person.

But I'm entirely with Janice. I'm grumpy and staying away from it as I feel it was all there to trick people and build up hype, thus making it such a big seller now. If you have to sell books through cheap tricks, then that says something to me (see Saving Fish from Drowning). But I'm cynical.

[Lisa]

I finished Mariana for my alphabet challenge last night. I thought it was a really good read and I gave it a 4 star rating. Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I am now starting The Book of Lost Things for the 'Just Because' monthly challenge. I am really looking forward to this one! :)

[Chrissie]

I very much enjoyed: A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now I will start To the End of the Land.

[Travis]

Red Seas Under Red Skies just because

[Shannon]

Kafka on the Shore just because. And also still working on Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen as an audiobook while I run (had to take a week off and only listen to this when I run). Am really enjoying it and can hardly wait for my next long run. Also listening to Lisa See's Dragon Bones in the car and luckily, I have a fairly long drive coming up to get me into the field for work. Can't listen in the field but getting to and from works just fine. :)

[Travis]

Shannon wrote: "Kafka on the Shore just because. And also still working on Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen as an audiobook while I run (had to take a week..."

I just finished Kafka this morning and ended up giving g it 5 stars because it consumed me it was all I could think about when I put it down and had to get tight back to it. I found it confusing disturbing some parts I'm sure went over my head yet the writing itself sucked me in which is very strange considering when I started it I figured I would give up on it fairly quickly since I only Boughy it due to a sale without even reading the description of the book first

[Almeta]

Travis of NNY wrote: "Red Seas Under Red Skies just because"

Looked at the synopsis. This one sounds like a lot of fun. Not my usual genre but so highly rated and recommended by a couple of my favorite reviewers, that I'm going to give it a try.

Glad that you mentioned it here. Thanks

[Esther]

Travis of NNY wrote: "Red Seas Under Red Skies just because"

I meant this to be my L book for the alphabet. Let me know how it is. I liked the 1st one but had reservations.

[Kimberly]

I finished last night and loved it.
Started .

[Kimberly]

Lisa wrote: "I finished Mariana for my alphabet challenge last night. I thought it was a really good read and I gave it a 4 star rating. Here is my review:

http://www.goodreads.com..."

I bought Marianna last year and still haven't read it yet but I think I'll be moving it up on my list now Lisa.

[Almeta]

Finished Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach for the R alphabet read.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone for EU challenge.

And Somewhere In Time just because Richard Matheson died very recently. Romance is a departure for Matheson (and me!), but he has twice done it effectively. What Dreams May Come being the other entry, which I am starting now. Just because I want to!

[Travis]

Almeta wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "Red Seas Under Red Skies just because"

Looked at the synopsis. This one sounds like a lot of fun. Not my usual genre but so highly rated and recommended by a couple of my f..."
Have you read
The Lies of Locke Lamora very good and really in a fantasy genre all its own. This second book also good.

[Travis]

Esther wrote: "Travis of NNY wrote: "Red Seas Under Red Skies just because"

I meant this to be my L book for the alphabet. Let me know how it is. I liked the 1st one but had reservations."

About half done and reads just like the first. Still Locke and Jeane but bigger scheme and new dangers and enemies. Its 2 years later than the end of the last book I'm really enjoying it waiting for #3 this fall

[Kimberly]

I started

[Sarah]

I've just started listening to The Hobbit - it's the BBC Radio full-cast dramatization. I don't know whether that means it's not the full book content or not. There's no "he said" "Bilbo said" etc. Just a conversation.

EDIT: it's not the full book version - I downloaded a sample of the book on kindle at it isn't the same so I've now downloaded the full book so I've abandoned the audio and will read the book (at some point soon!)

[Almeta]

Travis of NNY wrote: "Have you read
The Lies of Locke Lamora very good and really in a fantasy genre all its own. This second book also good..."

I have not read it, but have it on its way. I thought I should read the first one before starting the second so that I could become familiar with the characters.

Looking forward to their arrival.

[Diane]

I am reading All That I Am because I am currently living in Australia. It is by an Australian author and received quite a few Australian awards in 2012. The beginning is a bit confusing as it has 3 story lines goes on in 3 different time periods. I'm hoping it picks up soon.

I am listening to The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared just because it looked fun. And it is quite fun.

I am also reading my 8 year old son Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . I never had much interest in this series until I had a young son. We are loving this series and it is so nice that we are both experiencing it for the first time. I now understand all the hype.

[Dem]

I just finished Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield This is my review.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/677381183

[Sarah]

I started listening to because for a challenge I had to read a book by a debut author. This just jumped out at me and it has such a lovely cover. A reimagining of Alice in Wonderland but with a much darker tone. I'm totally hooked!

[[deleted user]]

I fear I cannot recommend Fame Fatale. Need an F? look elsewhere. It was, in places, quite good, but one character was so extreme that it distorted the whole book and it descended into farce near the end. I listened to it in the car an found myself shouting at the stereo in frustration. Unfortunately, the last 3 disks coloured the previous 10. I've given in 2 stars as parts of it were quite fun, but the whole was most disappointing.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and quite enjoyed it.

I've started In the Woods because it's next on my audiobook list.

[Esther]

Done with my L book, i am now beginning Thirteen the last < sobs > book in the Woman of the Otherworld series.

[Janice, Moderator]

Esther wrote: "Done with my L book, i am now beginning Thirteen the last book in the Woman of the Otherworld series."

Hmmm... a person might have to check out that series!

[Cherie]

I left my Q book and am half way through One Hundred Years of Solitude.

[Sarah]

Esther wrote: "Done with my L book, i am now beginning Thirteen the last book in the Woman of the Otherworld series."

I only stumbled across this series earlier in the year so I've been slowly making my way through them - I've just finished the 9th book so I still have a couple to go before reaching the end of the series. I really enjoyed it. There are two books with novellas in too which I haven't read yet either - have you Esther?

[Chrissie]

I finished The Legacy Of Ladysmith: A Novel
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
It has South African history in it, but is primarily a a mystery with a bit of philosophical content too. Set in South Africa at the beginning of the Second Boer War and in Scotland.

Now I will start The Enchanted April.

[Esther]

Sarah wrote: "Esther wrote: "Done with my L book, i am now beginning Thirteen the last book in the Woman of the Otherworld series."

I only stumbled across this series earlier in the year so I've been slowly m..."

Read the ones about the men. It filled a few gaps in the background of the men.

[Almeta]

Finished What Dreams May Come.
Almeta's Review

Starting Connections and "es" in the Alphabet challenges Alexander McCall Smith's Friends, Lovers, Chocolate.

[Sarah]

I've just started Mudbound for this month's group read and also the audiobook Florence and Giles "just because".

[Dem]

Just finished One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash This is my review.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/683775454

[Kimberly]

I started because I love the Longmire series on A&E. Might start as well. Not sure.

[Janice, Moderator]

Kimberly wrote: "I started because I love the Longmire series on A&E. Might start as well. Not sure."

I really enjoyed The Yard, for what it's worth. :)

[[deleted user]]

I've got 2 on the go:
The Girl Next Door in the car and The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared to read.

So far I'm being mildly annoyed by the girl next door. eve's moved to New York and is lonely, but won't get off her arse & do anything, so has just decided becoming pregnant is clearly the answer.

[Janice, Moderator]

Helen wrote: "...so has just decided becoming pregnant is clearly the answer."

Clearly!

I'm reading A Jest of God and while the main character isn't running out to get pregnant (yet anyway), the pathos she's creating for herself is driving me crazy.

[Nancy from NJ]

I am currently listening to Fin & Lady: A Novel by Cathleen Schine and Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen.

[Esther]

I finish Thirteen and finally get to read Tell the Wolves I'm Home.