Whatcha reading in Oct 2014?

[Michele]

So I'm starting off still reading The Steerswoman, almost done though and certainly going to continue the series. For another group I'll be trying out Alif the Unseen and definitely going to pick up Downward to the Earth.

This is October, Halloween month, so I've also got The Haunting of Hill House on audio to listen to later in the month.

[Matt]

I'm going to finish the The Atlantis Gene series read the first book taking a break reading American Gods now. After that may try to find something a little scary too.

[Leo]

Just listened to Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, always a treat! Currently working my way around to a few different titles - Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber, Clariel (once it hits the shelves) by Garth Nix and I really need to hunt down Will Wight's Traveler's Gate trilogy....

[Rose]

I'm currently reading Blur, which seems to be a bit of a ghost story, and I'm also reading Stories from the Twilight Zone. So far, I'm keeping in the Halloween theme. Later this month, I'll be getting my pre-order of Undivided which I'm totally excited about.

[[deleted user]]

I just bought some stuff on my kindle....lined up for this month I have World War Cthulhu (it's a anthology of war stories with a Lovecraft twist), The Fred M White Megapack (the only thing I'm interested in here is a series of 6 stories he wrote, the Dooms of London series), The Mad Scientist Megapack (love me some mad science...this one has a nice mix of new and old stories), Robots Have No Tails by Henry Kuttner, The Book of Iod, also by HK (likely with a bit of C. L. Moore mixed in, it's darn near impossable to tell who did what and they helped each other with their writing ALOT), Amazing Stories vol. 75 no. 1 (the first new issue of Amazing in years, I am super excited about it) and The Best of Amazing Stories: 1926. A busy month full of retro goodness!

:D

[[deleted user]]

Well, let's see...


I just started reading Staveley's The Emperor's Blades.

Next week, two new titles go on sale that I'm planning on reading ASAP:

Lechie's sequel to her multi-award-winning Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword

Campbell's latest Lost Fleet story, Imperfect Sword

That's a lot of blades & swords, so next I plan to pull up a The Dragonbone Chair and sit a spell.

There will probably be some shiny objects to distract me along the way. Not too many, because with all the football and baseball playoffs, it's not like there's any free time reading anymore. :)

[Michael]

Well, the new Jane Yellowrock novel (Broken Soul) is due out next week so I'm sure I'll be reading that. I've got such a pile of books on my night stand, and such a backlog on my Kindle, I'm not too sure what I'll get to beyond that. I've been putting off starting the first book of the Lost Fleet series (Dauntless) so I may dive into that. Otherwise, it will probably be whatever catches my eye after I finish the next title.

[Kathy]

I am going to finish City of Stairs, again. I am also reading Sci-Fi Chronicles: A Visual History of the Galaxy's Greatest Science Fiction,superfun!! That will take me through the end of this week.

[Hillary]

I'm tempted by Ancillary Sword, b/c I very much enjoyed Ancillary Justice, but it seems Imperial Radch is heading in the trilogy direction, so I'm really more likely to wait.

I very much enjoyed the Memory, Sorry, and Thorn books in my teens, but I'm not quite in the mood for such a substantial series re-read. Up next sf-wise is Regenesis. I'm not sure after that.

I do have a sciency non-fiction read on the horizon, Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience. I figure if any of the findings were truly mind-boggling, I'd probably have heard of it before, but it looks like an interesting read on music, literature, and brain imaging.

[Charlotte (Buried in Books)]

G33z3r wrote: "Well, let's see...


I just started reading Staveley's The Emperor's Blades.

Next week, two new titles go on sale that I'm planning on reading ASAP:

Lechie's sequel to her multi-a..."

Oh, The Dragonbone Chair is such a wonderful book. I still can't bring myself to read the final part of the trilogy, even though I've had it in hardback for over 20 years. Because I don't want the story to end.

[Michele]

Oh, but Mr. Williams is currently writing a new follow up story for Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - so the story isn't over yet.

[Aleah]

Michele wrote: "Oh, but Mr. Williams is currently writing a new follow up story for Memory, Sorrow and Thorn - so the story isn't over yet."

No flippin' way?! Gah, someone hand me a paper sack, I'm hyperventilating over here.

[Michele]

From his blog -

Several of you have seen and shared the news that, yes, I am returning to Osten Ard for a series of books called (collectively) “The Last King of Osten Ard”. It will feature many of the same characters a generation later (and many new ones as well). The book titles will be (as of now):

The Witchwood Crown
Empire of Grass
The Navigator’s Children

...no word on when the first one will be out though. His blog here http://www.tadwilliams.com/2014/04/fr...

[Charlotte (Buried in Books)]

Holy crap!!!!!

[Charlotte (Buried in Books)]

Thank you for that Michele.

[Sabrina]

Ooh! I had not heard that. Thanks Michelle! I love his books.

[Bryce]

That's awesome. The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series is one of my favorites. As for what I'm reading, I'm still working on The Hound and the Falcon, finished the first book within it, working on the second. Picked up Alamut and The Voice of the Coyote at the local used book store. If I ever get time to finish The Hound and Falcon I'll have those to start on.

[Ryne]

Going to read Clariel when it releases in two weeks but also looking at completing 314 Part 3, Daughter of Bathory, and Among the Dead and Dying.

[Bryn]

I've picked up The Face of the Waters since I enjoyed our Silverberg group read so much. May or may not be among his better books; reviews seem even more conflicted than usual.
---I like his Biblical titles.

[K.]

Time permitting, I have been chewing through Jordan's , though it has been a much slower read for me than usual. For classes, I have been slogging through dry technical manuals on boredom it seems. Can't wait until semester break, and I can get back to the fun stuff again. (Miss the long holidays already, and that's not until next summer. boohoo!)

[Bryn]

I'm reading the entirely brilliant Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany. Fantasy To Think By. Anthropology, sociology: radical ideas in. Alongside Conan homages.

[Matthew Reads Junk]

Reading The Briar King. Little biased when I saw the author had written numerous Star Wars books. That's usually a black mark for me.
The book isn't too bad. A bit too many characters with shifting POVs but it's entertaining so far.

[Karen]

I finished Before They Are Hanged (book 2 of Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy). I am completely hooked so I will definitely get to Last Argument of Kings before this month is over.

I started The Mirror Empire but by about 5% through I went looking to see if there was a glossary. I guess I wasn't in the mood to fight my way through that style of world building/exposition. So I have taken a break and started Howl's Moving Castle and will get back to Mirror Empire before the group discussion starts. I'm also working on a paperback copy of The Lathe of Heaven

In addition, I plan to participate in the group read of The Dragonbone Chair. I also have the following on my Kindle lined up for this month:
The Emperor's Blades
Kindred
Crushed

[Michael]

Well I finished reading Broken Soul (Jane Yellowrock) as well as Small Town Heroes (Wearing the Cape). Both were excellent additions to their respective series. For those unfamiliar with either one, Jane Yellowrock is a series about a shape-shifting vampire hunter in a urban fantasy world of vampires, werewolves and magic. The Wearing the Cape series is about a young superhero in a story that explores both her own experiences but how superheroes and villians effect law enforcement, politics, and terrorism.

Now I have to decide what next. I actually stated the first Lost Fleet book, but it's not really grabbing me yet do I may pick up something else to read first.

[K.]

Quick up date on my reads. Finished Jordan's Great Hunt, and have become enmeshed in a read-for-review of Cybele the Dark Goddess: The Women of the Temple and have returned to my on-again-off-again perusal of Townsend's The Arabian Nights entertainments volume 2

Hope that last link works.

And, of course, there is reading through edits on my own stuff. For writers, isn't there ALWAYS reading through edits on your own stuff?

[Ciara]

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest.

[Simon]

Today I finished Pebble in the Sky and An Infinite Summer. The first has not aged well, the second was superb. On audio I've been struggling through Assassin's Quest which I'm finding to be not very good.

[Jim]

Have you read anything else by Hobb, Simon? I've only listened to her "Soldier Son" trilogy & didn't care much for it or her writing, so haven't tried anything else.

[Steve]

Am reading Peter F Hamilton's latest book The Abyss Beyond Dreams: A Novel of the Commonwealth. So far really good.

[Bryn]

I'm straight on to Neveryóna after finishing Tales of Nevèrÿon. Which is going to be a severe test to review. I read these when young, was fascinated & confused, but they are so much more significant to me now. For the processes of history -- it's like the ideal historical fiction too, analytical of history, cultures, inventions, social change. But that's only one facet... I don't know how he can do so much to my mind in 300 pages. Not by scrimping on story, I feel; I'm just as impressed by the reality of the lives.

[Simon]

Jim wrote: "Have you read anything else by Hobb, Simon? I've only listened to her "Soldier Son" trilogy & didn't care much for it or her writing, so haven't tried anything else."

This trilogy is my first exposure to her. The first book was ok, but this third one is bad and getting worse...

[Jim]

That's the way 'Soldier Son' went, too. Thanks. I keep seeing her books in the library audio downloads & get tempted occasionally. I'll resist.

[[deleted user]]

A couple of pieces of tinfoil added to my original October reading plan:

Blindsight - I've been meaning to read some Peter Watt for a while. This turns out to be a first contact story set out in the Ort cloud with a crew of mental oddities. Watt has an interesting prose style, though it's occasionally hard to tell his metaphorical from the literal.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone - I forget what put this YA urban fantasy on my to-read list (or listening list, since I'm audiobooking it.) Whatever charm it had from being set in Prague dissipated as it's an American author's tourist version of the city.

[Karen]

Finished 3 of the 6 I had definitely decided to read: Howl's Moving Castle, Kindred and The Mirror Empire.

Not sure what will move me next but I think I will look for something light before picking up either The Emperor's Blades or Last Argument of Kings. I'm kinda tending towards the latter so I can actually finish a series

[Kathy]

Tomorrow and Tomorrow, really enjoying this.

[Hillary]

Finally finished Regenesis! I was a little disappointed by this tome at first (not only is the pace slow, but it covers a lot of old ground), but the action did pick up in the last 1/3-1/4.

Monster was a fun light read, and I'm currently enjoying the Afro-Celtic Regency Ice Age world of Kate Elliott's Spiritwalker books.

[Jack]

Finihsed Firebird by Jack McDevitt and have started Reveleation Space by Alistair Reynolds.

[Simon]

Just finished Servants of the Wankh which was good fun. Starting Anno Dracula which is amazingly good. Audiobook is Ancillary Justice.

[Michele]

I did a reread of Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card. I like this book, but the others in the series don't interest me, not sure why.

Then Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor sort of a knock off of Connie Willis time travel. Was ok fun, not great.

Now rereading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas as partial inspiration for my NanoWriMo story.

And listening to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson for Halloween scary.

[Bryan]

I'm reading , James Smythe is a terrific writer who should get more recognition.
Next I'll finish the first law trilogy and I'll read (I liked the novella even though I'm not a fan of the "oral history" style)

[K.]

Splitting time between my own edits the Arabian Nights, and The Dragon Reborn

[Christy]

Just finished Abaddon's Gate by James SA Corey, and am starting Cibola Burn. Pretty good series, though a bit strange here and there.

[Matt]

This books been on my radar for a long time but just now got to reading Hyperion because it seemed like a good Halloween read. Wow what a powerful book!

[Michael]

Late to the game since it's the second last day of October. But, I finished:

A Dance With Dragons by George R R Martin (ASOIaF #5), although this was mostly read in September
And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer (Hitchhiker's #6)
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (Gentlemen Bastards #1)
Wool (Silo Series #1-5) by Hugh Howey

I thought all but And another thing.. were excellent. I also started American Gods by Neil Gaiman in October, which I am about a fifth of the way through and am digging, so far.

[[deleted user]]

Christy wrote: "Just finished Abaddon's Gate by James SA Corey, and am starting Cibola Burn. Pretty good series, though a bit strange here and there."

Yeah, it's a pretty engaging space opera series (and looks like it's getting a TV series, too.)

[[deleted user]]

Michael wrote: "Late to the game since it's the second last day of October. But, I finished: A Dance With Dragons ... And Another Thing...The Lies of Locke Lamora...Wool...I also started American Gods"

Sounds like you've done some serious catching up on some good titles.