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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - November 2014
For me this month, after finishing the pick, I read and finished The Trellborg Monstrosities, the tie-in novella for the Achtung! Cthuhlu supplement for Savage Worlds (basically, Lovecraft meets WWII). Good stuff, I just wish it was longer. Now I'm reading the third Anno Dracula book, Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha. It's fun, and the annotations help to not feel left out.As for audiobooks, I've finished The Briar King, and I'm totally going to read the rest of the series. Now I'm listening to The Jennifer Morgue. Yeah, I'm on a bit of a sf&f/spy thriller kick, and it's because of NaNoWriMo.
Finished City of Hope & Despair and am starting (of course) City of Light & Shadow. Although we'll see how much my reading time suffers when Dragon Age: Inquisition releases on Tuesday ...
Finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. It was o.k. but didn't really grab me. I may have liked it better if it wasn't in first person.Starting Quicksilver. It's a brick so I'll probably be working on it for a few weeks.
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I finished The Temporal Void last weekend, and enjoyed it more than The Dreaming Void. (My Review)
I just finished The Magician King. While I enjoyed the first book in the series a great deal, it was rather depressing...Maybe some of it hit close to home. The Magician King, while not exactly upbeat, was definitely a more enjoyable read. On to The Magician's Land, then The Blinding Knife. If I can squeeze in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I will.
I'm quite enjoying The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson. It is pretty creepy and he has the sense, most of the time, not to give too much detail about the horrors encountered by the shipwrecked crew. Not much character development but great atmosphere. I've read a short story by him before, The Voice in the Night, that was excellent. This is good.
It may be that I prefer horror as a short story. I much prefer Lovecraft, Clark Aston Smith, and the shorter Neil Gaiman works (Coraline for instance) to the novels of King. The atmosphere is easier to sustain throughout the entire work, which is one of the most important aspects for my enjoyment. And the quick punch at the end just seems to work better.
It may be that I prefer horror as a short story. I much prefer Lovecraft, Clark Aston Smith, and the shorter Neil Gaiman works (Coraline for instance) to the novels of King. The atmosphere is easier to sustain throughout the entire work, which is one of the most important aspects for my enjoyment. And the quick punch at the end just seems to work better.
I am starting the audio of Robin Hobb's newest Fool's Assassin. Still working on the ebook of Steven Erikson's Willful Child.
Finished The Golem and the Jinni. I loved it! It was stunning. My review. I think I'll read The Tropic of Serpents next.
David wrote: "I'm quite enjoying The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' by William Hope Hodgson. It is pretty creepy and he has the sense, most of the time, not to give too much detail about the horrors e..."I agree David. Anything more than a novella and it becomes almost impossible to sustain.
About halfway through The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.....grimdark adventure?...I guess that's what you would call the book. Main characters are pretty despicable with a twisted sense of morality.
Just finished Neverwhere. Today I'm starting The Way of Kings, it'll be a long one but hopefully I'll love it as much as the reviews it has.
Some unexpected circumstances have seen me stuck at home a lot over the last few weeks; I've gotten ALOT of reading done. Here's everything I've read since I've last been in here, feeling too lazy to bother linking reviews:
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Er . . . . . yea. I'm off to finish off these two and then I'll probably be a bit tied up for a while.
.Er . . . . . yea. I'm off to finish off these two and then I'll probably be a bit tied up for a while.
David wrote: "Most recently I've read The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Rothfuss, Clariel by Nix, and Imperfect Sword by Campbell. All three very interesting wit..."I flew through Foundation still trying to get through Irobot. I think I'm the minority though.
Finished City of Light & Shadow and am moving on to something altogether more ... unsettling ... with Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation.
Michelle wrote: "Just finished Neverwhere. Today I'm starting The Way of Kings, it'll be a long one but hopefully I'll love it as much as the reviews it has."Try not to go in with too high expectations. It's better to just hope for an entertaining adventure yarn in a pretty detailed setting. (I'm one of those who ended up liking it a lot but I don't think it could have survived the weight of expectations if I had read the reviews first.)
Alan wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Just finished Neverwhere. Today I'm starting The Way of Kings, it'll be a long one but hopefully I'll love it as much as the reviews it has."Try not ..."
I also read The Way of Kings based on the good reviews but for me it was even better than my expectations.
Im currently reading Red Seas Under Red Skies after reading the Lies of Locke Lamora which was a really fun read..
So, this month I've also read:Hounded - very funny urban fantasy, will probably read another in the series at some point
The Gods of Gotham - solid historical detective mystery; worth it for the excellent research on mid-19th century NYC
The Blackhouse and its sequel, The Lewis Man - both darkly interesting mysteries set in the northern Hebrides (worth reading for the setting alone)
City of Heavenly Fire -not my favourite, but I had to finish the series
Being Mortal - excellent look at the way the dying are treated in the American health care system
Not a lot of SFF in there, but I think I'm either going to read Ancillary Sword or The Devil You Know next.
Immortal Coil a Star Trek - TNG novel. This is the second Star Trek novel I read and I like it alot better than the first one which was A Time to Be Born. This one is all about Data, yay!
Just finished The Eternal Champion. One of the most visceral reactions a book's ever drawn from me. It'll take me weeks to fully absorb everything, and I've got days, because the new edition of the sequel will be out either the 2nd or 6th of December. Absolutely intense stuff. My review.
Viola wrote: "Immortal Coil a Star Trek - TNG novel. This is the second Star Trek novel I read and I like it alot better than the first one which was A Time to Be Born. This one is al..."Are you in the star trek reading group? I'm reading A Time to Sow.
I just finished reading Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede with my 8 year old daughter, and it was great. We both really enjoyed it. For myself, I'm starting Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers, and then I'm going to read The Slow Regard of Silent Things and Blood Song by Anthony Ryan.
Here's hoping I can make a dent in that list before the holidays really start...
Bad Times Book 3: Avenging Angels by Chuck Dixon. No holds barred time traveling series. Good stuff!
Just finished The Magician's Land. It was a great end to the series. Now I will try to blow through DADOES before we start The Blinding Knife in a few days in another group.
Finished A Natural History of Dragons. Terrific book.Lemmed Lex Talionis. The story didn't even start until the halfway point, which was too little too late.
Continuing War Stories, as well as non-fiction Sleepless in Hollywood (halfway, bleh so far) and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (chapter 2, excellent so far).
Chakara wrote: "Are you in the star trek reading group?"No. Should I?
Finished Clariel by Garth Nix. Didn't like it much. But I feel like I should go back and read the other books in the series now--especially Sabriel.
Chakara wrote: "Viola wrote: "Immortal Coil a Star Trek - TNG novel. This is the second Star Trek novel I read and I like it alot better than the first one which was A Time to Be Born. ..."Sweet cover! I don't think I've read a Star Trek novel in 10 years.
Finished Annihilation and am on to Authority, the second in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy.
I just finished The Severed Streets. It wasn't quite as good as London Falling but still well done. my review
Over the last month I've read:Upgraded edited by Neil Clarke which had some brilliant stories. I was particularly impressed by the ones from Rachel Swirsky, Yoon Ha Lee and Elizabeth Bear.
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch which is the fifth of his Rivers of London books. This series is excellent (can't wait to see the TV series), and by this stage in the series the author has nailed the voice of Peter Grant perfectly. The book doesn't resolve the massive plot twist at the end of book four, but it does move the story along nicely.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions was good with only about half of it being reprints of the Randall Munroe's online weekly What If? segment of xkcd.
Also:
- Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
- Love Devours: Tales of Monstrous Adoration by Sarah Diemer
- London Falling by Paul Cornell
Currently reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel for next month's Writer and the Critic podcast.
Need an ebook to read at the gym so I'm going with Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.
I've also started listening to Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. I've actually lemmed it twice already but I think that was the 1000 page version. It's interesting hearing daniels route around london since he walks by my office.
This month I've finished What We See When We Read, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar and Why I Read: The Serious Pleasure of Books in nonfiction and The Isolation Door: A NovelWomen and Other Constructs in fiction, as well as the month's pick off course
I finished The Devil You Know, which I enjoyed, and have moved on to Ancillary Sword, which for me is proving to be a very worthy successor to the first book.
Finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Can't believe I never read it earlier. Also, I think all of the 10 or so times i tried to watch blade runner i was either really high or drunk or both, because the only thing I remember from the movie are snippets sampled by various Industrial artists (Skinny Puppy I am looking at you). Next up is The Blinding Knife
Just began The Onslaught from Rigel by Fletcher Pratt. Not so sure about this one. People being turned into metal-men by a passing comet seems pretty silly. Also the reactions of the characters to most of the human race being turned to statues seems a bit too nonchalant. Fewer boring dinner parties to attend. It is very readable and moves right along. I'll give it a bit more time, at least until the aliens make an appearance.
This month I've read Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, The Help, The Poisonwood Bible, The Stranger and The Road. I'm waiting for next month's read of The Night Circus to start following along with everyone; I've already read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and wasn't too jazzed. Not much of a Philip K. Dick fan.
Viola wrote: "Chakara wrote: "Are you in the star trek reading group?"No. Should I?"
I like the group but its been dead for the past month we were trying to read the whole A Time To... series.
I just finished reading
Pretty good.
I've been reading Eleanor Caton's The Luminaries. I would recommend for anyone who likes historical fiction and/or mysteries. It takes place in New Zealand in 1865/1866 during a goldrush. A visiting politician discovers a dead body and a prostitute is found wandering through town so high on opium that people think she attempted sucicide. Are these two events linked in any way? I got so into this book that I set aside my other read, Horus Rising to focus solely on this. I have about 100 pages left so I I'm hoping to finish it today or tomorrow.
As soon as I finish the Luminaries I plan on reading The Golem and the Jinni and I plan on finishing Horus Rising.
Reading The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt. Loving it. It's about a group of archeologists on a planet exploring alien ruins and fighting against the Earth government that wants to terraform it before they're done exploring. Also read The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. The Obstacle is sort of a primer on the philosophy of Stoicism.
I've been listening to the audiobook of Mistborn: The Final Empire, but it just isn't catching my attention. I love Sanderson's later work and I've heard a lot of praise for the Mistborn series. Am I missing something? Should I stick it out?
I finished listening to City of Golden Shadow and really liked it (my review), so I jumped immediately into the second book in the series, River of Blue Fire. I also started reading Legion: Skin Deep yesterday (will finish today) and reading Theft of Swords on my Kindle. I need to set more time aside at night to read it. :)
Rob wrote: "Reading Theft of Swords? Aww. You'll miss Tim Gerard Reynolds awesome narration.."I'm going to switch to audio once I finish River of Blue Fire, but for now, I get jumbled when trying to listen to too many things.
Michelle wrote: "I've been listening to the audiobook of Mistborn: The Final Empire, but it just isn't catching my attention. I love Sanderson's later work and I've heard a lot of praise for the Mistbo..."I really liked the Mistborn Trilogy. I have read it twice so far and have enjoyed it on both occasions. But I am an avid Sanderson fan, I read everything that he writes. I would recommend sticking it out, but if you are not enjoying, maybe put it aside and try again later.
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The Sword and Laser
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Tarkin (other topics)Skin Deep (other topics)
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Tim Gerard Reynolds (other topics)Tim Gerard Reynolds (other topics)
Philip K. Dick (other topics)
Neil Clarke (other topics)
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The Complete Robot (1982) and/or I, Robot (1950)
Caves of Steel (1954)
The Naked Sun (1957)
The Currents of Space (1952)
The Stars, Like Dust (1951)
Pebble in the Sky (1950)
Foundation (1951)
Foundation and Empire (1952)
Second Foundation (1953)
The End of Eternity (insert)
Then take a break and reflect on "old" Asimov before starting on "new" Asimov. The differing timeframes and inconsistent plot points regarding Trantor and the Empire that show in the preceding books are covered by implication in The End of Eternity. Plus it is just plain a great book.
The Robots of Dawn (1983)
Robots and Empire (1985)
Foundation's Edge (1982)
Foundation and Earth (1986)
Prelude to Foundation (1988)
Forward the Foundation (1993)
I did not so much like the last six as appreciate them. That said, while Prelude to Foundation trivializes parts of the otherwise great Foundation books, it contains such a realistic depiction of aging and knowlege of the approach of death, that I feel it came straight from Asimov's soul. Read that one if only for his insight.