What are you reading this December, 2017?

[Shaitarn]

Started The Emperor's Blades.

[Andrea]

Finished Uprooted yesterday, that book is definitely in my top 10 if not my top 5 favorites!

Now, the past few years I've been reading various Middle-Earth related books but aside from Beren and Luthien (waiting for paperback version) I ran out of stuff to read. But last time I was in the library I stumbled across The Story of Kullervo so thought I could still read something Tolkien this year anyway.

[Martin]

Not had much time for reading at the moment, Crimbles always a busy time fo me but am currently toying with the idea of tackling Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy in the New Year, get reacquainted with with some Moorcock favourites, Elric, Jerry Cornelius and the enigmatic Lord Jagged and also Vonnegut's Player Piano, Cats Cradle, Sirens Of Titan etc. Keep my eye on any recommendations and reviews for new books and authors, I really must read more this year as I have been a bit remiss for some time.

[Abigail]

Well, I've picked up The Bear and the Nightingale.

Because you'll notice, if you look around, that everyone's reading it.

Yes, everyone. It's high fashion around these parts. It's like toilet paper, no home is without it. I had to aggressively place a hold on it at the library in the hopes that someone would soon bring back one of their fifteen checked out copies.

But if I didn't have it, I would be behind. And no one wants to be behind.

[Mary]

The Chocolatier's Wife by Cindy Lynn Speer

[Eric]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Oathbringer. This is Brandon Sanderson's third of the Stormlight Archives and this series continues to be amazing. Over 1000 pages in "Oathbringer." Welcome to the world of Roshar, the Highstorms, the sprens, Voidbringers, and Radiants, to name a few.

[Allison]

Abigail wrote: "Well, I've picked up The Bear and the Nightingale...

But if I didn't have it, I would be behind. And no one wants to be behind. "

Especially not the other item that's apparently as common as Bear and the Nightingale! ;-)

[BookishlyBookish]

Eric wrote: "I'm about 3/4 of the way through Oathbringer. This is Brandon Sanderson's third of the Stormlight Archives and this series continues to be amazing. ..."

I'm halfway through The Way of Kings myself and I'm so impressed with Sanderson. I can't wait to get to Oathbringer but I also don't want to rush the experience! Thankfully I have the rest of the Cosmere's books (outside of the Mistborn trilogy) to get through which should keep me going until the next release in 2020.

[Eric]

Casey wrote: "Thankfully I have the rest of the Cosmere's books (outside of the Mistborn trilogy) to get through which should keep me going until the next release in 2020."

I was not aware of "The Cosmere Collection." I looked it up after reading your post. I'm not into short stories, if that is what they are, but just may give them a try. Thanks Casey!

[Allison]

Eric wrote: "Casey wrote: "Thankfully I have the rest of the Cosmere's books (outside of the Mistborn trilogy) to get through which should keep me going until the next release in 2020."

I was not aware of "The..."

There are some short stories, but most of them are medium to large bricks. I'm also trying to get through them (at a more manageable pace than I devoured Oathbringer) because I'm very curious to find out how it all ties in. I have a feeling it's gonna be epic en crisse.

[Jeff]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Brendan]

Finished Altered Carbon, a tale of an excessively horny detective killing everyone he meets.

Starting on a newly released third book in a series that I am extremely excited for. No, not Oathbringer, it's The Will to Battle. Someday I will need to get these books in a non-electronic format, the covers look incredible.

[Allison]

Brendan wrote: "Finished Altered Carbon, a tale of an excessively horny detective killing everyone he meets.

Starting on a newly released third book in a series that I am extremely excited for. No, n..."

So curious about The Will to Battle. I think I'm gonna wait for the last one still but from what I've seen so far it looks phenomenal.

[Eric]

Allison wrote: "There are some short stories, but most of them are medium to large bricks."

I'm good with bricks . Thank you, Allison.

[Allison]

Eric wrote: "Allison wrote: "There are some short stories, but most of them are medium to large bricks."

I'm good with bricks . Thank you, Allison."

This is a collection of short stories in the Cosmere, but they're secondary to the series Warbreaker, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, and Mistborn

[Eric]

Allison wrote: "This is a collection of short stories in the Cosmere, but they're secondary to the series Warbreaker, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, and Mistborn "

I should have joined this group awhile ago. Warbreaker and Elantris are now on my Kindle. Are they stand alone or is there an order to these two? Thank you, again.

[Allison]

Eric wrote: "Allison wrote: "This is a collection of short stories in the Cosmere, but they're secondary to the series Warbreaker, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, and Mistborn "

I should have joined this group a..."

:-) I'm only up to date on Stormlight Archive. I'm reading Warbreaker next because I'm told it has the most meaning for people who've read Stormlight. I believe each of the series is self-contained (so far) so you can start with the first book in any of those series and be fine. But I'll have to defer to someone who's more knowledgeable about any sort of "most beneficial" way to read through the Cosmere.

[BookishlyBookish]

Eric wrote: "Allison wrote: "This is a collection of short stories in the Cosmere, but they're secondary to the series Warbreaker, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, and Mistborn "

I should have joined this group a..."

These two are stand alone. Elantris was written first but you can read them in any order. Thankfully he just has a few short stories/novellas because I'm also not very into short stories. But the vast majority of the books included in the Cosmere are full hefty novels. They can be read in any order really, as long as you keep in mind the mistborn novels should be read in order of themselves. Apparently the end of the Stormlight Archive will somehow tie all the individual stories together which is insane planning on Sanderson's part, and I'm extremely excited to see how he does it. Even if it won't be until my mid 50s before the series is completed!

[Roger]

Casey wrote: "Eric wrote: "I'm about 3/4 of the way through Oathbringer. This is Brandon Sanderson's third of the Stormlight Archives and this series continues to..."

Remember to read Edgedancer between books two and three, get some more info on Lyft and Darkness...

[Roger]

Allison wrote: "Eric wrote: "Allison wrote: "This is a collection of short stories in the Cosmere, but they're secondary to the series Warbreaker, Elantris, Stormlight Archive, and Mistborn "

I should have joined..."

To expand on that, there is a reference from Warbreaker in Oathbringer, it's not a huge deal if you haven't read Warbreaker, but it's cool to me how they all tie together.

[Eric]

Roger wrote: "Remember to read Edgedancer between books two and three, get some more info on Lyft and Darkness..."

Guess I missed . Thought it was a novella. Now I see it is labeled Stormlight 2.5.

Thank you all for the insights.

[Eric]

Casey wrote: "Apparently the end of the Stormlight Archive will somehow tie all the individual stories together which is insane planning on Sanderson's part, and I'm extremely excited to see how he does it. Even if it won't be until my mid 50s before the series is completed! "

If you'll be in your mid-fifties, wonder where I'll be? I'm currently going on 31 trapped in a 72 year old body. ;)

[BookishlyBookish]

Eric wrote: "Casey wrote: "If you'll be in your mid-fifties, wonder where I'll be? I'm currently going on 31 trapped in a 72 year old body. ;) ..."

I'm 29 now if that helps? Hopefully he won't take as long to release the later books but right now he's on a 3-3.5 year schedule per novel.

Roger wrote: "Casey wrote: "Eric wrote: "Remember to read Edgedancer between books two and three, get some more info on Lyft and Darkness..."


I just bought this one a few days ago, thankfully :) Definitely don't want to miss any information that helps to tie in all these characters!

[Eric]

Casey wrote: "I'm 29 now if that helps? Hopefully he won't take as long to release the later books but right now he's on a 3-3.5 year schedule per novel."

Guess I can make it another twenty years. The brain is fixed on age 31, so maybe that will make it easier. lol!

[Rachel]

Allison you’re reading Warbreaker next b/c it’s my favorite and is the prettiest (mentally I guess) plus the spouse thinks it’s the most unique magic...even for Sanderson lol.

(Like my hubris?)

[Allison]

Rachel wrote: "Allison you’re reading Warbreaker next b/c it’s my favorite and is the prettiest (mentally I guess) plus the spouse thinks it’s the most unique magic...even for Sanderson lol.

(Like my hubris?)"

haha! Yep. I felt it through the interwebs and was like "Well, Rachel thinks it's prettiest, so every other opinion is wrong." ;-)

[Álvaro]

At the moment I'm in the middle of Ancillary Justice (my "on the bus" book ) and Infinite Jest (my "peacefully at home" book).

[Andrea]

Finished Tolkien's The Story of Kullervo. The actual story was about 40 pages long, the rest was introductions and essays (in fact the same essay twice in different stages of development which I thought redundant). Can definitely see how it was the original of The Children of Hurin. The 40 pages themselves were worth a read, the rest is only interesting to hardcore Tolkien fans (and perhaps even then a bit much, I mean does it really matter if it was one year or another in which he wrote this?)

Still reading Songs of the Dying Earth anthology...it gets kind of repetitive, even if every story is unique, because the tone and type of story Vance wrote is pretty distinct, they all start to blend together. Though I do enjoy reading each author's first experience with Vance.

And now starting on my final books of the year, the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan - The Red Pyramid is the first one. This should be fun and light to end the year on a positive note!

[Shaitarn]

Reading a bit of urban fantasy to finish the year: Dark Currents.

[Silvana]

Happy Christmas!

I love the holidays as I can finish some unread books and binge on my fave series. Currently finishing Yoon Ha Lee's free short stories, one of them have been a favorite, Extracurricular Activities : https://www.tor.com/2017/02/15/extrac...

[J.J.]

Casey, Brandon Sanderson's books are pretty good. The Stormlight Archives are great in my opinion. When I read The Way of KIngs and Words of Radiance they were surprisingly good. I couldn't put down my book, audiobooks are just as good too. MIstborn trilogy are really good too, but I couldn't get into book 4. The gunslinging western-like scene threw me off. It was a big change from the first 3. It's just my opinion. Others might of liked it, I'm sure. I also read Elantris and it was good as well. Brandon Sanderson and his Cosmere universe is pretty original when I comes to a type of magic. Oh, I have yet to read Oathbringer, book 3 of Stormlight Archives, heard is pretty good too.

[Mike]

I finally finished my reread of Lord of Chaos and I've begun The Last Policeman, which I'm enjoying so far.

[Eric]

I've finished Oathbringer. Storms!

Have started The Secret Life of Mrs. London, courtesy of the author for a review.

[Mary]

Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness by Carole G. Silver

[NekroRider]

Finished Imago in the wee hours of this morning. Now trying to decide what to read next. Originally my plan was to read The History of Bees, but received some great books for Xmas so now deciding between that, Infomocracy or Kings of the Wyld. Really been looking forward to reading Infomocracy but also wondering if I feel like a sci-fi/dystopia break in favour of some fantasy.

[Violet]

Started reading James Rollins' The Bone Labyrinth . I am over 100 pages in but struggling to connect with the story--ugh. It may just be me as it's gotten stellar reviews, but I am forcing myself to continue. Also started Artemis and loving it so far!

[Gary]

Andrea wrote: "Finished Uprooted yesterday, that book is definitely in my top 10 if not my top 5 favorites!

Now, the past few years I've been reading various Middle-Earth related books but aside from Beren and L..."

I picked up Beren and Luthien in ebook format this week it was on sale.

[Eric]

I finished The Secret Life of Mrs. London. I will start Elantris this evening.

[Andrea]

Finished The Red Pyramid, moving straight into the next book The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. Should be able to finish that by the end of the year, no chance of finishing the whole trilogy though :) Riordan's book just make me happy, they're silly, but sometimes a person needs a little bit of that.

[NekroRider]

Woke up fairly late this morning and decided to forego all other activities until I finished Infomocracy. Things were getting too suspenseful! Have now finished it and ended up giving it 4/5 stars. Really great book that kept me pretty well hooked throughout the whole thing. My only complaint was that somehow the end felt too easy and uncomplicated compared to the rest of the book (which was pretty much the opposite). Otherwise great book and now trying to calm my urge to run out and buy Null States. I promised myself I'd read the rest of my Xmas gift books and at least one of the other five books I have unread before buying a new one...but I want to know what happens next!

Anyways, so yeah my next read is up in the air. Not sure if I'll manage to finish a 56th book before the new year. Right now it's between rushing out to get Null States, or moving on to Kings of the Wyld or Fools and Mortals. I was planning to get the aforementioned History of Bees read next, but Infomocracy got my blood up and I want my next read to be a fast-paced one as well. History of Bees seems like a slower paced book and not really in the mood for enjoying a slower, meandering read right now.

[Cat]

This month, I managed very few of my planned reads.

I did complete my author geography bingo challenge and read The Immortals of Meluha which I really enjoyed - straight up heroic fantasy from Indian mythology. Thoroughly enjoyable. I also read Killer of Enemies which annoyed the hell out of me but my motivation to finish the challenge was stronger than my desire to abandon it.

I re-read Heartless because I was in need of a feel-good read and this book just makes me happy even if it's bittersweet.

Randomly discovered at the library the new Iron Druid book Besieged which were all short stories and possibly better than the actual books.

For Christmas themed books I read Letters from Father Christmas by Tolkien which was rather sweet. And The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror which I didn't particularly enjoy, didn't appeal to my sense of humour although it had it's moments, and it took too long to get to the good bit.

I got a few books for Christmas, including Stardust which I have already devoured and loved. And I've got a whole new pile of books but I'm not sure where to start, but very excitingly I'm getting a new bookcase today! Yay more books!

[Mike]

I found The Last Policeman to be a very fast read and finished it last night, completing my vanilla GR reading challenge with two days to spare. However, I wound up missing my goal in the group's basic reading challenge because one of my books wasn't SF or F at all, leaving me at 9 books out of 10. I've started Firefight, the second book in Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners trilogy. That'll probably carry me through into 2018.

[Gary]

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson (Book #3 of the Stormlight Archive) was released on November 14, 2017, and I finished it in December. In December, I also read The Franchise: Lebron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers by Terry Pluto and Brian Windhorst. I plan to read Blood and Tempest (Book #3 of Empire of Storms) by Jon Skovron next. It was released on November 28, 2017, and I have a copy of it.

[Jeff]

I read Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy and now I just started Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

[Andrea]

Finished both Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan and the Songs of the Dying Earth anthology. I have a much bigger appreciation for Vances stories after having read these.

Started on the third Kane Chronicle - The Serpent's Shadow - but won't be able to finish it before the end of the year, only have about 6 hours left after all!