What are you reading in December 2013?

[Candiss]

Please let us know what you are reading this month.

[Bill]

I'm in the midst of The Blessing of Pan by Lord Dunsany

I just finished a long, rousing military space opera series by Steven Kent—The Wayson Harris Saga aka Rogue Clone

[Shel, Moderator]

I just finished To Ride Hell’s Chasm. What a ride!

Something completely different needs to be up next or it'll suffer by comparison. Not sure what that's going to be at the moment :)

[Antonis]

I just started reading Dune tonight along with 2 other books that I've been reading for some time. If I manage to finish it soon, I might continue with the fantasy book of the month, Cold Magic.

[Jenny]

I still need to finish up what I started in November- Zoo City (almost done), The Lightning Thief, The Republic of Thieves, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking.

[Jim]

My first Michael Flynn book: The Wreck of the River of Stars.

[Candiss]

SF/F-wise, I'm starting my month with Blindsight (Peter Watts) then moving on to Babayaga (Toby Barlow) followed by Duplex (Kathryn Davis) and filling in a spot in the older Discworld books I managed to miss with Eric (Terry Pratchett.)

Once I've finished those, I'll round out the month with a stack of short/quick reads I want to (finally) get read: Of Mice and Men, a reread of The Great Gatsby, and Like Water for Chocolate.

[Pickle]

im just starting Mort with a view to read Conquerors' Heritage, Eye of Cat and The Stone Giant

[Jenny]

I finished Zoo City. At times it was hard to follow and understand, but I'm glad I stuck with it. It was really good! I also finished off the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary e-shorts with Nothing O'Clock.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I'm in the second book of a duology, Fire Music. And then I'm returning to the Codex Alera with book 2, Academ's Fury. And then book 1 of The Fionavar Tapestry, The Summer Tree.

[Ken]

Well still reading Reamde

About a quarter of they way through and enjoying it.

[Helen]

Finishing a spy book that I'm not really enjoying. Then I'll be reading a Christmas themed book, Cold Magic, Academ's Fury and the Brent Weeks light trilogy. Or at least, that's the plan.

[Jon]

I must be off my rocker, because I'm currently ready a hardcover (Ysabel), an ebook checked out from my library (Allegiant) and two audiobooks (Rendezvous with Rama and Winter's Tale).

I also need to read last month's non-fiction selection for my Stranger Than Fiction real-world discussion group (The Pine Barrens) and read the next one for that group before the 20th when we meet again.

I want to squeeze in Cold Magic as well since I bought that book when it was first released and have yet to crack it open.

[Beth]

Plans are: finish Indexing, read The Ocean at the End of the Lane since I borrowed it from my sister, and then move on to Cold Magic.

One more book if there's time after that, but those three will nicely wrap up my 25-book goal for 2013.

[Tyler]

This month I plan to read Babel-17, Newton's Wake: A Space Opera, and The Catcher in the Rye.

[Random]

Candiss wrote: "SF/F-wise, I'm starting my month with Blindsight (Peter Watts)"

Good book. I read it with this group back in 2009 and I've been thinking about it consistently since then. I keep meaning to reread it at some point to see if I want to raise my initial rating.

I just started Raising Steam, the latest Discworld book. I've also started The Republic of Thieves but I stalled out around chapter 2. Not a problem with the book, just my lackluster attention span.

[Shel, Moderator]

I'm alternating between nonfiction Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity and the short stories in the collection The Stories: Five Years of Original Fiction on Tor.com that I downloaded from tor.com a while back when it was available. Been reading the stories in bits and pieces for a while now.

[Jerry]

I finished off the last 3 episodes of The Human Division, Kelly McCullough's Codespell, and Cory Doctorow's Chicken Little to start off the month. I upgraded from reading on my kindle fire to a new paperwhite, and I have been really enjoying it.

I hope to read A Song Called Youth, Ready Player One, and The Windup Girl this month.

[Andreas]

I don't know how far I get, but this is the plan:
Just finished our monthly book read Babel-17 which is awesome. Currently reading The Man in the High Castle for another group which seems to be a 5 star as well. For the same group, there will be The Golem and the Jinni which made a honorable finish in the GR choice award this year.

SF Book Club reads Warbreaker - I like Sanderson, so I have high expectations.
Then there is a second chance for Mieville who disappointed me with his Embassytown - Perdido Street Station it will be.
Codex Alera 2 is on the plan but I don't know if I can make it - same thing for Cold Magic.

[Lindsey]

Did a quick re-read of the holiday-spirited A War of Gifts and am almost done with And Then There Were None. I started Legacy of Kings a few weeks ago but feel like I need to restart that trilogy from the beginning before tackling this one. Hoping to get to a re-read of Cold Magic. If I can do that, I'll tackle the last book of that trilogy, too.

[Christine]

I tend to pick titles off the books suggested/voted on as group reads. I got Altered Carbon and read over half of it before deciding to abandon it. I kept getting confused about the characters and finally realized that I really didn't care who murdered who. I moved on to Chasm City which I'm enjoying a great deal so feel good about my decision about the other book

[Steven]

I just picked up The Drowning Girl The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan. So far it's quite nice, though I'm having a little trouble getting into it (probably a lack of focus issue on my part).

[Jenny]

Over the weekend I read The Invisible Man and now I'm reading The Valley of Fear.

[Robert]

I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale. Really liking how personal and introspective it is - makes a nice change from my usual science fiction. Haven't read anything else by Atwood, but I'm likely to try another one soon.

[Inna]

Robert, a word of warning. The Handmaid's Tale is very different from Atwood's other books. Liking it does not mean you will like the others.

[Thomas]

Right now, I'm reading The Golem and the Jinni, King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, and Abercrombie's The Blade Itself.

My daughter and I are also reading The Little Princess, and I'm TRYING to get my hands on a copy of the third Prydain novel by Lloyd Alexander, so we can read that too (she loves them).

[Thomas]

Antonis wrote: "I just started reading Dune tonight ..."

Tom Lange You started reading Dune for the first time??? I envy you. What a great book!

[Thomas]

Candiss wrote: "SF/F-wise, I'm starting my month with Blindsight (Peter Watts) then moving on to Babayaga (Toby Barlow) followed by Duplex (Kathryn Davis) and filling i..."

Babayaga looks like a good read. I've always liked Of Mice and Men - Fitz is great too, but I think I like Return to Babylon best - at least, it's my favorite of his.

[Thomas]

Christine wrote: " I moved on to Chasm City which I'm enjoying a great deal"
Reynolds is pretty awesome. I really liked his Revelation Space - I won't say anything about Chasm City other than I'm sure you'll like it!

[Chris]

Just started Wool Omnibus and have very high hopes for it. I'm usually let down by books that receive a ton of hype, but I have a feeling this may be the exception to the rule.

[Shel, Moderator]

I LOVED Wool :)

[Christine]

I've never heard of Wool, but I have now put in a reserve on it at my library

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I was kinda interested in reading Wool, but this situation earlier this year completely turned me off. Based on that, I don't think I'll be buying/reading any books by him in the future.

[Shel, Moderator]

Oof. I had not heard about that. :(

[Sandra]

Oof! Me, either! Too bad. I also loved Wool.

[Kevin]

I wish people would not judge an author'w work by their political views. I feel like the two things are separate from each other.

[Ken]

Neither did I. Interesting

I don't see it being a big deal.
I think its been blown way out of proportion

[Jenny]

Finishing up the Parasol Protectorate series with Timeless!

[Christine]

Regardless of the controversy surrounding Wool's author, I intend to read it (it has come in at the library)

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Kevin wrote: "I wish people would not judge an author'w work by their political views. I feel like the two things are separate from each other."

This isn't about political views, Kevin. It's an author fantasizing about grabbing himself and saying "suck it, bitch" to a female fan. That's not politics - it's just offensive. Also, I am not judging his works by that; I just choose not to read them. There are already more books than I can possibly read and review in my life time out there. If I see an author acting like a misogynist idiot in public, it just helps me trim down the list by deciding what not to read and support.

On a more positive note: I'm currently reading The Cormorant by Chuck Wendig, and it's awesome. Fans of the Miriam Black series will definitely want to pick this up.

[Candiss]

Regarding Hugh Howey: I don't know... I loved Wool. I remember being impressed by the strong, believable, human female protagonist Howey had drawn - how she was tough yet still vulnerable - and not vulnerable because she was female but because she was human. I thought he did a wonderful job of showing her as capable and intelligent.

My point is that I don't think Howey is misogynist. I think he was really angry and frustrated and said/wrote something really stupid while under the influence of those emotions. I know I'm guilty of some nasty thoughts in my weakest moments, but I keep them to myself and then chastise myself for such unkindness later. Howey was rash and rude, but I don't think he's a bad guy. (This is coming from someone who is, in general, pretty hot-headed about gender issues. Ok, very very hot-headed and easily-triggered. I am just trying to look at this particular situation objectively and line it up with the fact that this author isn't known for regularly saying/writing this sort of thing, and that he's certainly not woven this type of rant into his fiction.) *Edit to add: I definitely hope he's thought about his words and their impact and will think twice/thrice before he rant-posts in future.*

I am often guilty of judging an author by his or her politics, beliefs, etc. I am one who has trouble with Orson Scott Card, even as I admit I find his writing excellent. So I personally can't judge anyone for feeling strongly either way about an author's views or behaviors.

*puts on Moderator hat* Before this gets too heated, let's please remember to keep things civil. I know this sort of subject can cause strong feelings, but we're all friends here, right? Oh, and we're veering notably off-topic, aren't we? ;)

*clears throat* I'm deep into Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and just starting Blindsight by Peter Watts. Oh! and I'm nibbling at the graphic novel Boxers by Gene Luen Yang, with Saints queued up behind.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Candiss wrote: "*puts on Moderator hat* Before this gets too heated, let's please remember to keep things civil. I know this sort of subject can cause strong feelings, but we're all friends here, right? Oh, and we're veering notably off-topic, aren't we? ;)"

You're absolutely correct, Candiss. I've been a bad, bad moderator. Thanks for stepping in!

[Sandra]

Stefan wrote: "Candiss wrote: "*puts on Moderator hat* Before this gets too heated, let's please remember to keep things civil. I know this sort of subject can cause strong feelings, but we're all friends here, r..."

LOL

[Jenny]

I finished Timeless, what a great end to the series! I'm now reading The Fractal Prince. I expect to be just as confused as I was with the first book, The Quantum Thief, but there's still something great about it.

[Leigh]

I'm about halfway through Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake. It's not at all what I'd expected, but I'm still enjoying it very much.

[Chris]

I hadn't heard anything about the Hugh Howey stuff. Of course, I hadn't even heard of Wool either until I joined GoodReads, so my lack of awareness doesn't say very much.

Either way, well said by Candiss about trying not to judge others. I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Chris]

Finished WOOL the other day. Overall, I liked it a lot. I don't know if I'll be jumping into Shift or Dirt anytime soon, but Wool was a quick-paced read and had a lot of good twists.

[Nyssa]

I'm currently in the middle of Runes by Ednah Walters.

As I stated in my update: It feels a bit like the first 2 books of Twilight, but without the sparkling vampires.

[Pickle]

im just finishing On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers and its been enjoyable. Think i will squeeze in a few short stories from The Complete Robot before going onto something else.

[Ameru]

I want to read something but I don't know which book I should read first. Can you give me a recommendation that light enough to read? :D