What Else Are You Reading? March 2014

[[deleted user]]

Nicholas wrote: "I'm probably alone in this, but I'm reading a book about Greek Mythology, called, simply, Mythology by Edith Hamilton. I love Greek myth in addition to sci-fi and fantasy, which, technically, any m..."

That's a classic. I read that ages ago in high school along with Bulfinch's Mythology. A couple years back I read LeGuin's Lavinia, based on Roman mythology and enjoyed that.

[Mark]

Well a 10 hour juggernaut just landed in my podcast feed, so I guess The Star Rover is next. SFFAudio is not a fan of serialization, clearly!

[Joseph]

I finished In Yana, the Touch of Undying and started K.J. Parker's Devices and Desires because it's been sitting on my shelf staring at me mockingly for entirely too long.

[Rob, Roberator]

Finished listening to The Ghost Brigades and enjoyed it (My Review)

Started an audio re-read of Codex Alera with Furies of Calderon

[Ian]

I am currently reading curse of the mistwraith by janny wurts

[Dharmakirti]

I recently started reading Anthony C. Yu's translation of Journey to the West. So far, very entertaining.

[Keith]

Moved on to Winter's Heart in my quest to actually finish the Wheel of Time series. It's still more irritating than enjoyable, but not so irritating that I won't finish this march.

Also, spurred on by Jodorowsky's Dune, I am rereading Dune, since I have to admit to myself reading it high school twenty-odd years ago probably wasn't really reading it.

[Rob, Roberator]

Keith wrote: "Moved on to Winter's Heart in my quest to actually finish the Wheel of Time series. It's still more irritating than enjoyable, but not so irritating that I won't finish this march.

Al..."

Just 2 books to go until it gets good again! lol.

[Rob, Roberator]

right before imho with Jordan's last book Knife of Dreams. Really I thought the very end of Crossroads of Twilight was great too, but like 98% of that book was such a slog that I don't think I can ever read it again.

If I ever do a re-read I'll probably just read the wiki for that book.

[Robert]

I've been bingeing on Faith Hunter's Skinwalker series. It's a kind of guilty pleasure, like potato chips and coke.

[Robert]

Tabitha the Pabkins wrote: "Robert wrote: "I've been bingeing on Faith Hunter's Skinwalker series. It's a kind of guilty pleasure, like potato chips and coke."

@Rob I really enjoy the Skinwalker series! I only have to read ..."
Thanks, Tabitha. I'll put it on my list to check out though, I just found out Kathy Reichs has two more installments on her Virals series. The second one was a little too close to Goonies plot-wise but, she's a good writer that deserves a chance to make up for it.

[Thomas]

Finished David Brin's Sundiver and about to start T. Jackson King's Retread Shop.

On the nonfiction side, finished reading What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses. Wonderful little book, if you're into the science of natural history.

[Karen]

Reading Words of Radiance. New book so only 2 week loan from library. No time for complete sentences. I go now.

[David Sven]

Finished Con Iggulden's Conqueror series with Conqueror
My review

Starting Robin Hobb's Soldier Son series with Shaman's Crossing

[Viola]

Started reading Wit'ch Fire.

[Keidy]

I finished reading American Gods a week back and now I'm halfway through reading both: The Maze Runner and Hounded. I'll probably be finished with both in the next couple of days.

[Walter]

I enjoyed American Gods. What did you think of it?

I have Hounded, got it when it went on sale after Veronica and Tom gave it five stars. Haven't read it yet, though.

[Keidy]

@Walter: I haven't written the review yet. I'm going to wait till I finish the next two books before I do, but this I can tell you, American Gods surprised me in the best way. Through a lot of the book I was rebelling with Neil Gaiman's ideas and his world and how these gods exist in our country because I wasn't thoroughly convinced of the nature of his world. I kept rejecting it though silent objections of my own because of the loopholes I kept seeing but let me tell you, through the last quarter or so of the book he made me feel like reading through it all was worth it! Not only did he finally close all of those gaps in his story that I kept poking at but he actually made me want to re-read the entire thing again! Something I haven't done since I was a teenager!

This is definitely a book that you would want to read again as there's a lot that I missed the first time that finally clarified itself later on in the book. I found myself flipping back and forth through pages as I was finishing up the book. Incredibly good writing. I was thoroughly impressed and this was the first book that I've ever read from the guy. I'll be reading more of his work for sure. Totally five stars material.

Hounded is good so far. The characters are likable and I like the path the story is taking me. If it ends as good as it starts I'll be reading more of this series for sure.

[Tamahome]

Just finished the third Saga comic trade paperback. But it was nothing special.

[Nicholas]

I'm soon to read The Iliad, and I'm sure we all know what that one is about.

[Keidy]

I've gotta read Saga sometime. I keep hearing wonderful things about it. Next convention I go to I'll be on the hunt for trade paperbacks along with Wolverine & the X-Men by Jason Aaron Omnibus and the newest Star Trek trade paperbacks.

[David Sven]

Tamahome wrote: "Just finished the third Saga comic trade paperback. But it was nothing special.

"

Ah Huh! Lucky the lying cat's doing it's job. I knew you hadn't really finished it!

[David Sven]

Finished Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings on Audible
My review

Starting my nominated Horror/Creature feature month (April) early with the Audible version of Relic

[Michele]

Oh, I really like the Preston and Child series that starts with Relic. The first couple of books are a bit rough around the edges, but they get really polished.

I've just finished a reread of Jhereg, and listened to Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain, which was mostly fun except I found the sidekick character so annoying I wanted to kill her many many times.

[David Sven]

Michele wrote: "Oh, I really like the Preston and Child series that starts with Relic."

I didn't mind the movie when it came out. I'll see how it goes.

[Tamahome]

Here's what I imagine Lying Cat sounds like.

http://audioboo.fm/boos/2031461

[terpkristin]

I finished up Words of Radiance last night. I'm still trying to finish processing it. I loved it, though it did have some flaws (that were common to The Way of Kings). It will get 5 stars when I write up my review.

Next up are the April pick, A Dance of Cloaks (most likely in Kindle format), and Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic: The Thirteenth Rib in audio.

[Joseph]

Michele wrote: "Oh, I really like the Preston and Child series that starts with Relic. The first couple of books are a bit rough around the edges, but they get really polished."

My favorite might have been Reliquary just because the setting (subways & sewers under New York) was so cool. I have to admit that although I enjoyed them, I didn't enjoy them quite as much as they brought Pendergast more to the forefront. I think I'm currently two or three behind in that series; should rectify at some point.

[Tamahome]

I like the kindle sample of Schroeder's Lockstep. YA hard sf. B&N doesn't seem to bother stocking it.

[Ty]

I finished Mistborn: The Final Empire and Eden. Eden wasn't bad, but Mistborn was amazing. I'll definitely be reading more in that series soon. For now I'm moving on to The Color of Magic, Empire State and Out on the Cutting Edge.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Zipped through Divergent so I could see the movie today.

[Mark]

Ty wrote: "I finished Mistborn: The Final Empire and Eden. Eden wasn't bad, but Mistborn was amazing. I'll definitely be reading more in that series soon. For now I'm moving on to ..."

I was pleasantly surprised by Mistborn

[H.t.]

Just finished reading Ken Follet's Winter of the World. Read some Shakespeare before jumping into Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey 2 2010. Pretty good up until now!

[Mark]

You can stop at 2061. Go no further.

[Ctgt]

Tamahome wrote: "Just finished the third Saga comic trade paperback. But it was nothing special.

"

Nice Tamahome. Did you commission that or was it con sketch?

[Tamahome]

It's from the back of the 3rd trade.

[Ctgt]

Oops. I've been getting it monthly so I missed that.

[Tamahome]

This is in the back too, from the Time magazine article that doesn't seem to be online for free:

[Ctgt]

Tamahome wrote: "This is in the back too, from the Time magazine article that doesn't seem to be online for free:

"

I like that. Thanks. I'm way behind on Saga. Gotta catch up.

[Doug]

I have a bad habit of being in the middle of 5 books at once... trying to knock some of that off my list. Technical reading aside, I'm currently reading:

Rule of Two I'm finally starting to work through some of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff... This series is pretty amazing.

Deadline (The first book was amazing, this has been on my Kindle for over a year, and I need to finish it.)

A Dance with Dragons - Been working on this since it came out, tried to get through the audio book last year, but never finished it. Going to get the Kindle version and try again... Honestly the TV show is giving me everything I need right now, but I want to finish the books just because...

Three Parts Dead - I really came to like Max when editing the S&L Author Spotlight on him. I'd love to sip scotch and talk metaphysics with him. This went on my Kindle today, and will probably get read in the next month.

A Dance of Cloaks - Just went on my Kindle today, and I'm trying to keep up with the club. I'm more of a Sword at this point (I was a Laser in my youth), and a tale of Assassins sound like my kind of thing...

Too many books, too little time...

[Pat]

Started Wool this weekend... thought I'd see what all the fuss was about.

[Dara]

Finished The Bonehunters. My review. Now taking another stab at Words of Radiance. I think I'm ready to tackle it now.

[Geoff]

Just finished Doctor Sleep. I thought it was great, better than The Shining.

And now, its back to the Wheel of Time. After reading Words of Radiance I needed a couple books to decompress but am now ready to get back into it with The Shadow Rising.

[Eric]

Not sure if it counts as "what else" since I'm not reading this month's book. But right now I'm reading "A Once Crowded Sky"

[Keith]

And so Crossroads of Twilight begins. Even people who defend the rest of the WoT series scuff the floor and look away when it comes to this one, so I think I have been prepared for a slog of Lord of Chaos proportions (that's the last book in the series that got me to abandon it for a while).

As long as someone sniffs contemptuously and crosses her arms beneath her breasts, I think I shall make it. At this point, the things I hate about the series are almost at the level of parody, which makes it easier to get through. I love the fact that all of Jordan's female characters -- they don't just have short tempers. Every single word or facial expression instantly sends them into a fit of indignant, bug-eyed fury. It's like the whole of Jordan's universe is populated by Pete Campbell from Mad Men.

[Rob, Roberator]

Eric wrote: "Not sure if it counts as "what else" since I'm not reading this month's book. But right now I'm reading "A Once Crowded Sky""

Pretty much anything the group isn't reading. So you're doing it right :-P

[Rob, Roberator]

Keith wrote: "And so Crossroads of Twilight begins. Even people who defend the rest of the WoT series scuff the floor and look away when it comes to this one, so I think I have been prepared for a ..."

Good luck! Once you're through the last 4 are all really enjoyable IMHO.

[Geoff]

Rob wrote: "Good luck! Once you're through the last 4 are all really enjoyable IMHO"

Everytime someone mentions reading a Wheel of Time book (specifically, the middle books), you comment on the quality of them and how soon they will get back to the 'good' books. And I have try really hard to avoid those comments so that I am not predisposed in my own first time read through of the series.

[Rob, Roberator]

Haha. Sorry.

[Lite]

thinking about The Golum and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. Anybody read it?