What Else Are You Reading? August 2013

[Nico]

I finished Wolves of the Calla and now the end is in sight, two more to go.
Also finished The Riyria Revelations withHeir of Novron. Very fun read, highly recommended!
Finally my last two books of the Void Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton arrived and I start today with The Temporal Void

[Michele]

When coming up for air from Chalion (love this book) I'm reading through all the old forums posts here on goodreads S&L and listening to the old podcasts - thank you for making them easily downloadable. Fascinating topics over the years - I maybe be resurrecting a few.

Oh I just finished Inferno by Dan Brown. Typical throwaway fun trash, but better than the last one about american stuff IMHO.

[Rob, Roberator]

I finished Cold Days over the weekend to complete my Dresden audio re-read, leaving me once again waiting for the next book.

I didn't really write a new review for this one since I already did in November, but I added in a bit about how awesome James Marsters is in the audio book.

I started listening to Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde for SFF Audio

[AndrewP]

Finished Cryptonomicon at last this weekend (yahoo.. happy dance). That was a tough read but I enjoyed the attention to detail.

Broadening my exposure to urban fantasy by reading Dead Until Dark and listening to Mike Hammer: Lady, Go Die! on audio, narrated by Stacy Keech

[Neil]

I'm reading Daemons Are Forever by Simon R. Green, the second book in his secret histories series. After coming off reading the Dresden files books, this urban fantasy is definitely lighter in tone, and at times tongue in cheek.

[Dara]

Finally finished Gardens of the Moon. I liked it despite it being a difficult read. Now to read Last Argument of Kings but sickness might make me slower.

[Alicja]

Creation is a slow, highly philosophical going but it is interesting. Almost done with Hood, it's good but for some reason I was expecting more from a re-telling of Robin Hood. Also, almost done with anoxic zone, it is a very original and interesting take on vampires but has a few issues, mainly a crappy editor. Just starting Jackdaws and 1Q84... and that means I am so ADD I can't read just one (or two, or three) books at a time.

[Ctgt]

Michele wrote: "Oh I just finished Inferno by Dan Brown. Typical throwaway fun trash, but better than the last one about american stuff IMHO. "

I agree. I see a ton of hate about Brown and his books and I don't really understand. Do people really go into one of his books expecting the next great novel? I look at them as a typical beach read, some action, some suspense, some travelogue. I actually bumped this book up a star because I liked the way it ended. It had been fairly typical until the end.

[Ctgt]

Just finished Return of the Crimson Guardgood but not Erikson. Starting Niceville.

[Karen]

Bryan wrote: "Reading The Black Company right now and feeling seriously underwhelmed by it. Everyone talks it up, so I feel like I should finish it, but quite honestly, it sucks. "

Same exact thing here. Everyone raves about this series, and I just can't seem to get excited about it. I forged my way through the first two books, with many a stop and start, and then I gave up about a quarter of the way into the third, when I realized I had way more interesting things to read on my list, and reading time is too precious to waste on something I'm just forcing myself to read because I feel like I should, simply because I managed to make it through the first two books.

[Chris]

Now to read Last Argument of Kings but sickness might make me slower."
I love Abercrombie, but I think The Heroes is my favorite book of his.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Listening to Kafka on the Shore, kind of wishing I'd read it prior to 1Q84. A lot of what puzzled me there is present here but in more linear ways. Really enjoying it.

[Nancy]

Just began Pantomime by Laura Lam. So far, so good. Really interesting world building going on.

I'm also listening to On the Edge by Illona Andrews. This one is a little heavier on the romance than I prefer but it's SO REFRESHING to read an urban fantasy world that's not populated by sexy vampires, dominance obsessed werewolves, and dangerous faeries.

[Dharmakirti]

I'm about 1/2 way through The Curse of Chalion and I'm enjoying it.

I just started reading Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain with the Thoams Mann Group. If anoyone wants to join, it's a great group with a lot of very good discussion. http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

[Kevin]

I also random picked up The Jackal of Nar by John Marco and put on hold The Shadow Rising. I bought the book a year ago, but I tried to read the book a couple of times since, and this is time the book is finally working for me.

I find that John Marco is one of many great authors that are missed and not discussed at all in science fiction and fantasy because their books have not been nominated for awards or are New York Times Bestsellers.

[Matthew]

Just finished The Black Company and Post Captain and I have to say I was disappointed by both books. Black Company for ts part had some interesting things, but nothing gripping.

Looking for my next book to finish the month off.

[Laura]

I read Anansi Boys, which was delightful. I'll start Way of Kings tonight / tomorrow. I promised myself I would read it this year.

[Rob, Roberator]

Laura wrote: "I'll start Way of Kings tonight / tomorrow. I promised myself I would read it this year."

I LOVED that book, but it's not for everyone.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm going to start listening to The Darwin Elevator this morning.

[Igor]

After finishing First Law trilogy I'm up to Best Served Cold, Audible version.

[France]

Katy wrote: "France wrote: "I'm currently finishing Among Others. By the time it came to my place through mail, it was already July so ... I'm reading it only now. I enjoy it so far.

I'm also halfway through G..."

"I really liked Among Others. It was a great YA book. Have you read Akata Witch? This was also great. Also, Who Fears Death by the same author is fantastic"

I'll definitely chech those books, they sound interesting !

I really liked Among Others. I found Mor's voice agreable, and it's always nice to read about people who'd rather read than care about the "social world".

Girls in White Dresses was exactly not that, but it was a fun read, even if, as often in chick lit, it was a bit too heavy on romantic relationships.

Now I'm reading Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake for Vaginal Fantasy, and The Ritual by Erica Dakin. Both are really entertaining so far. I've also begun Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas on Heroes and Heartbreakers. The first part was interesting, I'm waiting to see the rest.

[[deleted user]]

Just finishing The Fox Woman and Other Stories by A. Merritt. A collection of short stories and the start to some unfinished works. The story that gives the book its title had an ending that didn't work for me. The unfinished works were meh. The last story, The Women of the Wood, is excellent. The People of the Pit is also a good read. So a mixed bag. The book is available on Project Gutenberg.

[Mpauli]

I finally finished The Wise Man's Fear on the audio book front.
Go here and experience a review within a review within a review.

I'm starting with Last Argument of Kings and soon with The Curse of Chalion.

[Rob, Roberator]

Finished listening to Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde for sff audio (My Review).

Started listening to The Way of Shadows.

[Laura]

Rob wrote: "Laura wrote: "I'll start Way of Kings tonight / tomorrow. I promised myself I would read it this year."

I LOVED that book, but it's not for everyone."

So far the only Sanderson that I haven't liked was Alcatraz. Stormlight Archive just seems like a huge commitment - I had to psyche myself up to start it.

[Jason (jasonb)]

I just picked and I am reading Building Harleqiuns Moon" by Larry Niven & Brenda Cooper.

I have never read a Larry Niven book and I know the book club just wrapped up Ringworld (sadly no Kindle/ebook version yet) and I heard about this one not too long ago. I figured I would give it a try.

Also, being a glutton for punishment (school starts Monday), and this is not a sci-fi genre, but I also picked up Moonraker by Ian Fleming. A) I love Bond and wanted to read the source material for the movies. B) I love Bond! And as a prime customer I can read all the Bond books (though I'm sticking with just Fleming's books) for free each month. And they are usually a day book on a nice Saturday afternoon.

[Ty]

Jason wrote: "Also, being a glutton for punishment (school starts Monday), and this is not a sci-fi genre, but I also picked up Moonraker by Ian Fleming. A) I love Bond and wanted to read the source material for the movies. B) I love Bond! And as a prime customer I can read all the Bond books (though I'm sticking with just Fleming's books) for free each month. And they are usually a day book on a nice Saturday afternoon. "

I love Fleming's Bond books. The other ones were kind of hit and miss, but the Fleming ones were great. One of these days I'll have to go back and re-read them.

[Joseph]

Jason wrote: "Also, being a glutton for punishment (school starts Monday), and this is not a sci-fi genre, but I also picked up Moonraker by Ian Fleming. A) I love Bond and wanted to read the source material for the movies. B) I love Bond! And as a prime customer I can read all the Bond books (though I'm sticking with just Fleming's books) for free each month. And they are usually a day book on a nice Saturday afternoon."

Moonraker confused the heck out of me the first time I read it (many, many years ago in my youth) -- I had seen the movie, didn't realize how little relation most of the movies held to the books, and spent the entire book waiting for the space shuttles and Jaws.

[[deleted user]]

Jason wrote: "but I also picked up Moonraker by Ian Fleming..."

Fleming is a good writer. I recently finished Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fun. International spy-ring, souped-up car, explosions.

You might also enjoy Raymond Chandler. Fleming admired him, some see a lot of Philip Marlow in Bond. The BBC has a radio show the two did together. http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/james_bo... The audio boooks read by Elliot Gould are exceptional. The BBC full-cast adaptions very good.

[AndrewP]

You might also try Leslie Charteris who's character 'The Saint' is also a bit bond like.

[Joseph]

David wrote: "Fleming is a good writer. I recently finished Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fun. International spy-ring, souped-up car, explosions."

I had a hardcover of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was young but never realized that Ian Fleming was the author (or at least didn't know about the Chitty/Fleming/Bond connection). That was another book from which the movie deviated.

And a couple of years ago I was in my old hometown (Austin, MN) and stopped in a used bookstore where I bought what may or may not have been the copy I used to own in my childhood.

[Jason (jasonb)]

AndrewP wrote: "You might also try Leslie Charteris who's character 'The Saint' is also a bit bond like."

You know I didn't know 'The Saint' was based on a book. Rather, I watched all the television episodes with Roger Moore and loved it. I am utterly appalled at my lack of knowledge but will search out the eBooks as soon as I'm done with Fleming.

Thank you so much for the suggestion!!!

[Rae]

I am reading my newly signed (by both Salvatore and Greenwood) copy of "The Companions". On Chapter 5.

[Tadhg]

after a reading slump, I've read ~5 books this week, the latest of which was Dust; not quite as good as Wool, but I enjoyed it. Making my way through some Cthulhu anthologies

[Rob]

Peter F. Hamilton's Great North Road almost done, long but good read.

[Molly]

This month, The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Bitter Seeds.

[terpkristin]

I finally finished my friend's book! Once I got into it, it went surprisingly quickly. This past week, I was slammed at work and not reading much. As a result, I'll spend some time this week, hopefully listening to at least a story a night in Carniepunk. I'm also listening (re-listen) to The Curse of Chalion and have picked up Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut once again. I'd like to try to finish that, reading on Kindle (or Kindle app) as I have a spare moment here or there. We'll see how/if that works out.

[CountZeroOr]

I'm preparing to do a couple of podcasts for a site I write for on Neon Genesis Evangelion, and as part of this, I've finished watching the show and I'm gearing up to watch all four movies (Death & Rebirth, End of Evangelion, Eva 1.11 - You Can (Not) Advance, Eva 2.22 - You Are (Not) Alone) - and I'm also reading all of the manga, as it's giving me a new perspective on the plot of the series. I'm currently on Neon Genesis Evangelion, Vol. 11, which is the beginning of The End, so I'm holding off until I've seen End of Eva, so I can compare the differences between the two.

I'm also currently reading The Notenki Memoirs: Studio Gainax and the Men Who Created Evangelion, which is a memoir by one of the founders of Gainax, and which also has a great portrait of science fiction fandom in Japan in the 1980s.

As a minor aside - in one of the book's appendecies, the author (Yasuhiro Takeda) states his anticipation for the 2007 Worldcon being in Japan. I wonder what he thought about absolutely nothing from the host country ending up on the Hugo ballot, much less winning. Yeah, I'm slightly bitter about this, and my full feelings are probably better left for a different thread.

[David Sven]

Finished reading Kevin J Anderson's Hidden Empire The Saga of Seven Suns 1
My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now starting Robin Hobb's Tawny man Trilogy with Fool's Errand

[Dara]

Finished Last Argument of Kings. Enjoyed it to a point but meh. Now on to Royal Assassin.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm reading A Clockwork Heart. I found steampunky urban fantasy I actually like!

[Christopher]

Sadly my own writing and Pathfinder prep are keeping me from reading quite as much as I'd like but I have finally gotten rolling in the Song Of Ice And Fire books, after several false starts over the years. I am also tackling some of the DS9 books on my shelf as they are usually fun and I can knock one out over a couple of hours.

[Tamahome]

Jenny wrote: "I'm reading A Clockwork Heart. I found steampunky urban fantasy I actually like!"

*shock*

[Neil]

I'm making my way through Simon R. Green's The Secret Histories series, having just finished Book 3 (The Spy Who Haunted Me), and moving onto Book 4 (From Hell With Love).

Having just come off a binge read of all the Dresden Files books and Iron Druid Chronicles (ok, I'm late to the urban fantasy thing), Books 1 and 2 strayed a bit too much from the typical genre tropes, but Book 3 nailed the mix of "Urban Fantasy meets James Bond" very nicely. I'm hoping this one continues the trend.

[Jacob]

Kingdom of Heroes, though I finished it this morning. Awesome read, hopefully I find something else to keep me occupied soon.

[Rob, Roberator]

Neil wrote: "I'm making my way through Simon R. Green's The Secret Histories series, having just finished Book 3 (The Spy Who Haunted Me), and moving onto Book 4 (From Hell With Love).

Having just come off a b..."

I keep meaning to find time to start that series. I enjoyed his Nightside books and Secret Histories is what he's moved onto since. There was even a bit of crossover in one of the last few Nightside books.

[Nico]

Finished The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton, amazing finish to his Void trilogy. I became such an Hamilton fan through this series(all in HC now :)). The Reality Dysfunction came today in the mail and I will start it soon.
In the meantime I read Codex Born a quick and fun read.
And yesterday I finished Emperor of Thorns fantastic bittersweet finish to the story of Jorg Ancrath.
Currently I make a litle excursion from SFF and read Der Prozess by Franz Kafka.

[Teri]

I am reading the Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. I read this book a long time ago but don't really remember it. So, I thought I would go back and read it again. I am also planning on rereading the Sword of Shannara books.

[terpkristin]

Hah! I just picked up a used copy of Dragonbone Chair at my work's "book sharing" stuff our cafeteria. I plan on reading it during my upcoming convalescence.

[Kevin]

terpkristin wrote: "Hah! I just picked up a used copy of Dragonbone Chair at my work's "book sharing" stuff our cafeteria. I plan on reading it during my upcoming convalescence."

Hopefully you like The Dragonbone Chair, but I find all of Tad William's bigger/longer series books to be long and dragged out with nothing happening for pages on end.