What are you reading in Jan 2014?

[Paul]

I used to love Wizard of Earthsea and the second and third books (never read the fourth one). Le Guin has such a great writing style.

[Lee]

I read Wizard of Earthsea years ago. Loved it. Never continued. Its on my list to finish this year. I've been on a kick of reading children's fantasy lately.

Now I'm reading Beyond the Shadows. I'm just a few chapters in but I already like it better than the 2nd Night Angel book. Shadow's Edge was too much angst for me.

I'm also reading The Golem and the Jinni. This is the type of book I would never pick on my own. It is very slow with hardly any plot. Its a 'good' book that I feel I *should* like. But honestly, I'm bored.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

I started The Colour of Magic last night but didn't get very far. I'm sick, dammit.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Chris wrote: "I started The Colour of Magic last night but didn't get very far. I'm sick, dammit."

You catching a cold?
:(

[Chris , cookie guilt]

More like, it's caught me. Heh...

I have a road trip tomorrow and a conference all day Thursday, then a drive back. That will really suck if I don't beat this by then.

I'm gonna go medicate myself and try to sleep it off.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

:( Wow. That sucks. I hope you fell better soon.

You're not driving north, are you? We're supposed to be getting a lot of snow today.

Supposed to. Hasn't started yet.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

North, but not THAT North....

Just to Atlanta...

[Laurel]

Chris wrote: "I started The Colour of Magic last night but didn't get very far. I'm sick, dammit."

Feel better!

[Laurel]

Titania wrote: "My shoulder's been a distraction so I haven't read anything since I finished Middlemarch, but today (well, yesterday now) I finally started Narnia. That should get me through my series challenge go..."

I hope your shoulder is okay!

[Becky]

I'm also getting sick... Chest congestion fun time. You think that if I anger a ninja or something that they'll rip out my lungs for me? I know it's usually the heart, but maybe... just this once...?

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Wow, so, T's shoulder is acting up, Chris is catching a cold and Becky wants a ninja to rip out her lungs...

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Sounds like the lead in to a DirectTV commercial.

"Get DirectTV. Don't have a ninja rip our your lungs."

[Becky]

I'll just take the lung ripping, thanks.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Haha...I bet you let your dad get beat up for a can of soup, too.

[Becky]

Chris wrote: "Haha...I bet you let your dad get beat up for a can of soup, too."

A can of soup? Just the can!

[Laurel]

Poor Becky :(

[Nyssa]

Oh man! I hope all of you feel better soon!

[Becky]

Thanks... I feel like crap, but I'm having a great day otherwise. I just finalized the details of the new job I'm taking. I start Feb 17th. Super exciting!

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "Thanks... I feel like crap, but I'm having a great day otherwise. I just finalized the details of the new job I'm taking. I start Feb 17th. Super exciting!"

Congratulations!!! Can you share what you'll be doing?

[Laurel]

Congratulations!!!

What she said - details, please!

[Becky]

The short version: I'll be working for a technology company as an implementations analyst. Doing testing, troubleshooting, training, etc for new connections.

[Nyssa]

Becky wrote: "The short version: I'll be working for a technology company as an implementations analyst. Doing testing, troubleshooting, training, etc for new connections."

Nice!! Congrats, again! :)

[Becky]

Thanks!

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, Bad Girls Deadlift]

Becky wrote: "The short version: I'll be working for a technology company as an implementations analyst. Doing testing, troubleshooting, training, etc for new connections."

Congrats!!

[Paul]

Congratulations on the job Becky!

[[deleted user]]

Laurel wrote: "I hope your shoulder is okay!"

Thanks Laurel! It's on the mend, I think, just slowly. Apparently I did quite a number on a large nerve.

Hope everyone else starts feeling better soon too!

[Jenny]

Congrats Becky!!

I hope everyone feels better!

I'm working on finishing up The Blinding Knife and I'm really enjoying it! When I'm done I'll properly get into The Glass Castle. I'm also listening to The Titan's Curse on audio.

[Chris , cookie guilt]

Congrats, Becky....

I'm feeling better. Just dosed myself up and went back to bed. Did the trick, I hope....still a bit lingering, but I hope to have it mostly beat.

Maybe I can get some reading done. Or more Breaking Bad.

[Paul]

Chris wrote: "Congrats, Becky....

I'm feeling better. Just dosed myself up and went back to bed. Did the trick, I hope....still a bit lingering, but I hope to have it mostly beat.

Maybe I can get some reading ..."

Glad to hear you are feeling better mate. Hope everyone else feels better soon.

Just finished Vicious and absolutely loved it! For me, it was the perfect superhero book, with complex, interesting characters and a morally ambiguous plot that really kept me engaged. It reminded me a bit of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell but cut right down to the essentials of the story. Read it!

Moved on to The Darwin Elevator and enjoying that so far as well.

[Lee]

Would you still recommend Vicious to someone who doesn't like Jonathan Strange? I liked Jonathan Strange. Sort of. But it was so slow. Same problem I'm having with Golem and the Jinni. The atmosphere is great in both but the story is meh. For me.

[Laurel]

Paul, do you know the evil influence you have on my tbr list?! You must sit in your evil book lair wringing your hands MWA ha haing!

added

[Paul]

Laurel wrote: "Paul, do you know the evil influence you have on my tbr list?! You must sit in your evil book lair wringing your hands MWA ha haing!

added"

lol

Shhh, we weren't going to mention the evil book lair ;)

I could say the same to you Laurel. Every time I read one of your reviews I end up getting excited and adding that book to my list :D

Nienna. I would say give this one a try even if you didn't like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell.Particularly if you thought Jonathan Strange was too slow. This book is much shorter and moves a lot quicker into the good bits of the story, there is really no padding at all. They are only similar in that they are both about (view spoiler)[ two friends with special powers who become enemies (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Laurel]

Hmm...

I haven't been writing as many reviews lately. I better get back on that ;)'

[Paul]

Laurel wrote: "Hmm...

I haven't been writing as many reviews lately. I better get back on that ;)'"

Your reviews of the Dire Earth books definitely made me want to pick them up. Yes, write more reviews!

[Benjamin]

Just started by Peter V. Brett. So far its really good, and darker than most fantasy series (ie.. Farseer, Codex Alera..)

[[deleted user]]

Reminder: Link to book titles, not just covers, please folks. Otherwise those of us who browse from touch devices have no idea what you're talking about.

/mod hat off

I don't really like superhero stuff all that much so I'd overlooked Vicious, but the comparison to Strange & Norrell has me intrigued.

[Sinistmer]

Nienna wrote: "I read Wizard of Earthsea years ago. Loved it. Never continued. Its on my list to finish this year. I've been on a kick of reading children's fantasy lately.

Now I'm reading Beyond the Shad..."</i>

I was not a fan of [book:The Golem and the Jinnimyself. I know it did very well, but it did not live up to my expectations based on the reviews it received. I didn't mind the slower pace; I really wasn't a huge fan of the portrayal of the main characters.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Just finished a book that went right onto my favorites list: The Martian

[[deleted user]]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Just finished a book that went right onto my favorites list: The Martian"

Oh, I've been hearing lots of good word of mouth about Andy Weir. Not a surprise to see that yet another good SF author is Scottish -- there's something about Scotland and great science fiction.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I'm just wondering how he'll follow this one up. It's a great read.

[Emily]

See, and I loved both The Golem and the Jinni and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, but they were both massive and slower reads. I have to be in the perfect mood for those kinds of books, so I guess these just hit me at the exact right time!

I think I'm on to Prince Caspian next!

[Lee]

I finished The Golem and the Jinni earlier and ended up liking the second half a lot. I loved the language and the atmosphere.

I hated Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell but I think part of my extreme hatred of the book had to do with the book itself. I had a huge very heavy copy and I hated lugging it around to read. I find I am more likely to enjoy 'heavy' books on my nook than not.

[Becky]

I didn't really care for JS&MN, but then I'm not much for fairy stories. I also don't really like reading about revelry and endless parties and whatnot, so... *yawn*

[Laurel]

From all of your recs, I went on a bit of a buying/pre-order splurge...

I'm loving Fortune's Pawn so much, I pre-ordered the sequels immediately! Honor's KnightHonor's Knight

Paul and Mike also made these sound amazing! The Martian and Vicious. I love when people recommend good books!

Oh, and I still have to read the Charles Stross series. Yet another example of a series I previously avoided due to an awful cover....

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon, Not a book hipster!]

I loved Strange & Norrell, but was much less enamored with The Golem and the Jinni. I don't mind slow, unwinding plots as long as I like the characters.

I mostly found the characters in S&N fascinating, whereas I didn't find the ones in G&J all that interesting nor well developed.

(I was just rereading my review for G&J and was surprised to see I gave it three stars. I think I bowed to peer pressure - so I've gone ahead and dropped it to 2, but left it 2.5 in my review.)

[Nyssa]

I'm in the middle of A Nameless Witch. It is grossly amusing!

[Laurel]

I loved that book!

[[deleted user]]

I really enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni. My only real complaint was that I'd have liked a little less time spent on (view spoiler)[the romance (hide spoiler)] and a little more time spent exploring the city's Jewish community, because that was a big part of the book's appeal for me. But that was a relatively minor complaint in an otherwise lovely read.

[Sinistmer]

Benjamin wrote: "Just started by Peter V. Brett. So far its really good, and darker than most fantasy series (ie.. Farseer, Codex Alera..)"

That book keeps getting recommended to me here. What do you like about it?

[Nyssa]

Laurel wrote: "I loved that book!"

Nyssa wrote: "I'm in the middle of A Nameless Witch. It is grossly amusing!"

I'm almost finished and I'm loving it too! :)