What are you reading in June 2014?

[Nick]

Please tell us what you are reading, or plan to read, in June, 2014.

[Jim]

Missed it when it was a monthly pick, but will embark on The Windup Girl as soon as I get through Brass Man, the next book in my queue after I finish my current read, The Children of the Sky.

[Pickle]

im just starting Ancillary Justice and will then read a short story or two from The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. After that i will finish the Revelation Space trilogy with Absolution Gap

[Kythe42]

Well I actually finished reading these books in May, but that topic is locked now. I'd suggest keeping a monthly thread open for a few days into the next month. Maybe I'm just overly picky but I really prefer to post books in the monthly thread I actually finished reading them in. One of the books I finished reading I just finished last night. Anyway....


I finished reading Many Waters and A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle.

Reviews here and here.

I'm not sure what I'm reading next at this point. I wanted to read the graphic novel edition of A Wrinkle in Time, but I'm having issues with the ebook file I purchased so I will have to figure something else out to read until I can get that ebook working.

[Christine]

I'm finishing up Dust; I have really enjoyed this trilogy and recommend it. Next on my shelf is A Sorcerer's Treason

[Shel, Moderator]

I just started The Martian for our discussion, after tearing through the entire The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy in a matter of days.

[Juston]

I am reading Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. I'm about halfway through and I am enjoying it so far. Looking forward to discussing it.

[Ken]

Still reading Midnight Tides.
Next I think will be a book in the Vorkosigan series.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

The first 2 books for me this month will be Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan and The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker, each the third book in a trilogy. I'm not sure what will follow those.

[Jenny]

I'm continuing Dust by Hugh Howey. I'm really enjoying it, as I've enjoyed the rest of the trilogy. I just need to sit down and actually spend some time reading.

I just picked up The Strain from the library, narrated by Ron Perlman. Man is he fantastic to listen to!

I have a few graphic novels due back at the library soon, so I'll be getting to those too. I'll post when I read them.

Happy reading everyone!

[Lindsey]

I'm torn between finishing my The Way of Kings re-read and starting Canavan's newest, Thief's Magic. Cold Steel has been calling me from the bookshelf as well... Hoping for a strong month since I only finished two books in May.

Whatever else I decide on, I'll be reading my first Terry Pratchett book, Wintersmith, for my IRL book club.

[Nick]

Kythe42 wrote: "Well I actually finished reading these books in May, but that topic is locked now. I'd suggest keeping a monthly thread open for a few days into the next month. Maybe I'm just overly picky..."

Thanks for the comment Kythe42. I understand the need to be overly picky; it is not a detriment at all. At this point, however, Candiss and I are not going to be rushing to changing any of Stefan's long time rules.

Stefan expressly told us to close each month's "What are you reading?" thread on the first day of the next month, for two reasons: 1. so each thread doesn't become too long and rambling, and 2. because it's no longer the month in question. As it's no longer May, we close the May thread.

We are keeping up the long-time clerical habits established by Stefan, and that if there is a particular discussion that was going on in the May thread, you are more than welcome to continue it on in the June thread. Pleeeease do.

Thanks.

Nick, for the mods

[Candiss]

*puts on mod hat...imagine it with a propeller if you like*

Kythe42, I can definitely see how it could be annoying for us to close the thread right on the 1st of the month. But it's a long-time practice, as Nick says above, that we keep with because things have the potential to get messy and disorganized really quickly. The threads don't always get really long, but we're had mod frustrations in the past related to this issue. Also, if we don't start a new thread, there have been times where people message us asking where it is and/or a member will start such a thread themselves, leading us to eventually having two or three conflicting and overlapping threads. It's hard to succinctly describe the situation when it's not actively happening and thus providing a clear example.

So, anyhow... It's really for our convenience and to make sure the membership has one obvious, tidy place to post what they're reading. :)

/removes mod hat

[Kythe42]

I had composed a rather long post explaining more about why I made the suggestion that I did as well as outlining the experiences I've had as both a member and a former mod of other groups. Then a browser glitch wiped it and I don't have the energy to write it all out again. I wanted to clarify though that I wasn't suggesting that you not make a new thread at the 1st of the month, but that it would be nice to have the old one open for a few days as well.

Anyway the short version is that I've never encountered the problems you describe in any other group I belong to and this is the only group I belong to that actually closes the monthly threads. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but just that I've never encountered the problems you describe.

I understand you have your reasons and I respect that, but I'm going to have to think long and hard about whether I want to continue to post here when I'm already a member of several other groups on various sites, none of which have these restrictions on the monthly threads. Whatever I end up deciding, I want to let you know that there's no hard feelings. From one (former)mod to another I understand that everyone has their own way that they like to run things.

[Candiss]

Kythe42, I've sent you a private message so that we don't clutter up this thread with non-book-specific talk. :)

[Bev]

Kythe42 wrote: "I had composed a rather long post explaining more about why I made the suggestion that I did as well as outlining the experiences I've had as both a member and a former mod of other groups. Then a ..."

All my groups do this.......

[Kythe42]

Interesting that our experiences with policies in other groups should be so vastly different.

[Nick]

I just finished 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. I had fully intended to go for his book Antarctica as I enjoy reading in the summer about frigid places. But it was out at the library, and, well, 2312 is sci-fi. Despite a lot of passages on and under the burnt surface of Mercury, I enjoyed it a lot.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Nick wrote: "I just finished 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. I had fully intended to go for his book Antarctica as I enjoy reading in the summer about frigid places. But..."

I've only read the 3 Mars books by Robinson, and while I like them and they stuck with me, I found the science to be pretty overwhelming. Are his other books like that, too?

[Juston]

Kathi wrote: "Nick wrote: "I just finished 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. I had fully intended to go for his book Antarctica as I enjoy reading in the summer about frigi..."

It's been a few years since I read the Mars trilogy - mid/late 90's if I remember correctly.

Did Robinson make a reference to the Abrahamic faiths as having sprung from a culture of shepherding (c.f. Jesus and Moses...)?

[Matthew Reads Junk]

Finished The Terminal Experiment by Sawyer.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
(hated it)

Starting the Shockwave Rider by Brunner.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

In hindisght it seems both of these books deal with similar themes. Hopefully I'll enjoy one more than the other.

[Christine]

I'm about halfway through The Chrysalids and am enjoying it despite (or maybe because of) its age

[Pickle]

Christine wrote: "I'm about halfway through The Chrysalids and am enjoying it despite (or maybe because of) its age"

that's my favourite John Wyndham novel though they are pretty much all very good.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Juston wrote: "Did Robinson make a reference to the Abrahamic faiths as having sprung from a culture of shepherding (c.f. Jesus and Moses...)?"

Yikes, that is something I don't remember.

[Lindsey]

Decided on Thief's Magic. I'm about 100 pages in and so far, great choice.

[Deedee]

Just finished Celestial Matters which won the Compton Crook Stephen Tall Memorial Award — for best first novel (voted by members of annual Balticon). The first 30-40 pages and the last 30-40 pages were hard to get through, but the middle 200+ pages were entertaining. The premise: alternate scientific systems, specifically, what if the ancient Greeks were correct in regards to science?

Getting ready to start Lexicon (or maybe The Martian).

[Chris]

Just started The Gunslinger and am enjoying it. For some reason, even though I read a ton of Stephen King as a kid I never read his Dark Tower books.

[Shel, Moderator]

Just as well that you waited, he took FOREVER to finish the series :)

[Christine]

I just finished The Chrysalids which I definitely enjoyed and have started on A Sorcerer's Treason

[Ken]

Chris wrote: "Just started The Gunslinger and am enjoying it. For some reason, even though I read a ton of Stephen King as a kid I never read his Dark Tower books."

I dont think he has anything on Jordan or Martin.

[Chris]

Ken wrote: "I dont think he has anything on Jordan or Martin. "


This might be a really dumb question, but which Jordan and Martin? (I wasn't sure if you were saying King wasn't that great or that there are better fantasy series than the Dark Tower series).

[Deedee]

Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time series --- poor guy literally died before finishing the series) and George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones fame --- book #3 of series -- wait 5 years -- book #4 of series -- wait SIX years -- book #5 of series (2011) --- wait ???? and book #6 will appear ................)

Hope y'all don't mind me jumping in here!

[Christine]

I'm reading The Assassin's Curse and will start The Blue Sword, Howl's Moving Castle and Alif the Unseen later.

[Chris]

Thanks Deedee. I figured that was the Martin he was referring to but I'd never heard of Jordan before (I read a lot of Sci Fi but no Fantasy).

[Nick]

Kathi wrote: "Juston wrote: "Did Robinson make a reference to the Abrahamic faiths as having sprung from a culture of shepherding (c.f. Jesus and Moses...)?"

Yikes, that is something I don't remember."

Re: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

I don't recall Abrahamic faiths references specifically, but that doesn't mean references were not there. Sometimes his science can get, as Kathi says, overwhelming, and other things get lost in my reader's eye. Mostly what bogged me down in this book were the lengthy passages where characters were lost (especially the 100 pages or so where a group of them had to walk through underground tunnels on Mercury -- yes, 100 pages of walking through tunnels). Having said that, I found the book fascinating. It was just the "right" amount of science for me. Non-scientist that I am, I still like reading about it by people who know a lot about it. A lot may be over my head, but if the writer can make it sound credible, even in my mind's confusion, more the better.

[Juston]

It was right at the start of Red Mars about page 29 or 30 during a debate between John and Phyllis. John says to Phyllis:


“Look, there’s a history to all this stuff. Monotheism is a belief system that you see appearing in early herding societies. The greater their dependence on sheep herding, the more likely their belief in a shepherd god.

[Nick]

Juston wrote: "It was right at the start of Red Mars about page 29 or 30 during a debate between John and Phyllis. John says to Phyllis:


“Look, there’s a history to all this stuff. Monotheism is a belief system..."

Ah! I guess the question for me is whether Robinson means that statement literally or some broader general context? Though couched in science fiction, many of his stories (I'm thinking Red Mars specifically) are, in reality, investigations into societal revolutions -- what makes groups of people do what they do? I can see his attitude on religion stemming from this viewpoint. So he generalizes all Monotheism as stemming from herding societies. I'm not sure I agree (for instance, I think the influence of Egyptian Monotheism was great in the Middle East), but the idea keeps a consistent sociological viewpoint for Robinson's purposes.

[Lindsey]

My copy of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms showed up a day early and I might have gotten sidetracked on my other reading plans. Whoops?

[Matthew Reads Junk]

Started Dragon by Steven Brust.
Feels good to step back into that world and the strong charactersization narrative.

[Ken]

Chris wrote: "Ken wrote: "I dont think he has anything on Jordan or Martin. "


This might be a really dumb question, but which Jordan and Martin? (I wasn't sure if you were saying King wasn't that great or that..."

Wrong quote. You mentioned that King took forever tyo finish the Dark Tower. I said he had nothing on Jordan and Martin

[Shel, Moderator]

I dunno, it was 22 years between the publication of the first and the last book of the Dark Tower series. Not sure about Jordan, but I know Martin hasn't taken THAT long...at least, not yet!

I'm in short story mode right now until school is out (one more week!) and I have the time to lose myself in a novel again! I just finished a set by Michael Swanwick that I really enjoyed.

[Juston]

I've just finished The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I'm taking a break from Sci-Fi and Fantasy till July.

I've just started an historical Novel, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, the winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize.

[Sumant]

I started with Anna karenina but stopped after 100 pages it was very predictable story.

Now reading Royal Assassin and enjoying it so far.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Just finished Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan--the best and most satisfying of the Takeski Kovacs books, in my opinion. Thanks to this group for getting me started when Altered Carbon was BOTM.

Next up is The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker.

[Jo]

I have been reading The Sevenwaters books by Juliette Marillier. Thoroughly recommend them.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Jo wrote: "I have been reading The Sevenwaters books by Juliette Marillier. Thoroughly recommend them."

I have those on my shelf. Should move them up...

[Jo]

I misspelled the author's name, it's Juliet Marillier. The books all, basically, take place in an ancient Ireland at the time of the Druids and the belief in Otherworld characters who appear off and on to the family of Sevenwaters.

[Christine]

I just finished A Sorcerer's Treason and really enjoyed it; I think I'll check into this author's previous books. Now starting on Concealed in Death

[Jo]

Love the J.D. Robb books, think I have read them all but I just might have missed one or two lately. Don't know A Sorcerer's Treason, will have to look out for it.

[Andreas]

Just got my copy of cross-gender anthology Rogues. First story by Joe Abercrombie was awesome and so many are waiting!
Expect me to continuously editing my review.