What Else Are You Reading - February 2015

[John (Taloni)]

I'm reading The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I wanted to read the first book of The Expanse to get back to some hard science SF, but my library's Overdrive copy was already out. Hrumph.

[Sandi]

AndrewP wrote: "Have any Dresden fans read any book by Ben Aaronovitch? I have read that they are similar in style but set in London."

I've listened to the first three. I really like them. The first one isn't the best and the audio production has issues, but all of that is much improved by the second book. It's kind of like Dresden Files, but different. And, the London setting is really cool.

[Lindsay]

AndrewP wrote: "Have any Dresden fans read any book by Ben Aaronovitch? I have read that they are similar in style but set in London."

The Dresden books have a lot of detective-noir trappings especially in the early books. The Peter Grant books are much more about modern police work. If you're looking for something similar to Dresden but set in London then I think the Alex Verus novels by Benedict Jacka are more in that line.

[Robyn]

Or you might try Paul Cornell's London Falling. Though that too is more about modern policing than the detective-noir - perfect way to distinguish them, Lindsay.

[AndrewP]

@Michele & Robyn

Thanks for the info:) I seem to have missed the reference in the other thread. Being a Brit myself I should't have a problem with the lingo, I'll give them a butcher's.

[David H.]

Rob wrote: "I dunno. It sure makes me nervous it will get pushed back again though."

Carrie Patel's THE BURIED LIFE ended up getting pushed back from August/Sept. 2014 to March 2015 because of the Angry Robot sale. But you're right, it does looks weird without a cover. I want to finish the trilogy!

[Rob, Roberator]

Yeah, I believe the sale is why it was pushed from Dec 2014 to April. I'm hopingit doesnt get pushed again.

[David]

I know he's been pretty popular for a while, but I just discovered Alastair Reynolds. I just finished Revelation Space and really enjoyed it. Now I'm reading Redemption Ark and I really like that so far as well. If you're reading this you probably already know Alastair Reynolds, but if you don't I recommend him highly.

[John (Taloni)]

^ Be sure to read Galactic North. The stories tie in to Revelation Space and Weather is really good.

[David]

Thanks, John. I will. I plan on reading as much of Reynolds' stuff as I can. The guy really knows how to write a space opera.

[David]

Thanks, John. I will. I plan on reading as much of Reynolds' stuff as I can. The guy really knows how to write a space opera.

[Trike]

Rob wrote: "The Deaths of Tao ends on a horrible cliffhanger, so you might want to hold off until closer to April when The Rebirths of Tao comes out."

Those titles are total spoilers.

[Rob, Roberator]

Lol. No they aren't.

[Walter]

Reading The Winter People for another group.

[Tara]

Just finished re-reading Mistborn: The Final Empire and started reading Assassin's Apprentice so far so good..

[Jason]

Reading Ancillary Justice (Ann Leckie), saw it in my local B&N and...well...bought a few others, had a book buying spree.

Devoured Joe Ambercrombie's "Half A King" in a day.

...and working on "The Very Best of Charles de Lint" via Kindle, even though I've read more or less all those stories elsewhere.

[Whitney]

getting so tired of waiting for The Return so I picked up free kindle version of Flight lord is it horrible.


Still working on The Martian,Assassin's Apprentice,The Lies of Locke Lamora ad Magic Slays.

[Pris]

I've just started but am loving Boy, Snow, Bird. Also been re-reading some Alastair Reynolds

[Pat]

Started The Girl with All the Gifts yesterday & read over half of it last night so I must be enjoying it

[Dharmakirti]

I hope to finish The Sparrow(which I think is fantastic) today and then I will focus on The Brothers Karamazov.

[Scott]

I finished Annihilation yesterday, which I thought was okay, so now I'm moving on to Shades of Milk and Honey. Not my usual fair but I've recently started listening to the Writing Excuses podcast with Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler, and hearing Mary talk about her writing process has my interest piqued.

[Joseph]

Finished Rapture, the last of Kameron Hurley's Bel Dame Apocrypha novels, and am moving onto something considerably lighter (I hope) -- Covenant's End by Ari Marmell.

[Dustin]

Lots of Nonfiction. Civil War books like The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the Twelve Days That Shook the Union and some others. Also The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World (which is great information for anyone that writes fantasy.

As for fantasy, I'm working on Nice Dragons Finish Last and once again trying to get through The Dragon Reborn

[Rob]

I am readingThe Widow's House by Daniel Abraham and listening to The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. I have Willful Child by Steven Erikson on deck!

[Robyn]

Hey, I just finished The Widow's House too. Very enjoyable.

Haven't entirely settled on a new book, but I suspect it is going to be the first in the Parasol Protectorate, Soulless.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Robyn wrote: "Haven't entirely settled on a new book, but I suspect it is going to be the first in the Parasol Protectorate, Soulless."

I don't usually read that genre but those are fun books!!

[Alan]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Robyn wrote: "Haven't entirely settled on a new book, but I suspect it is going to be the first in the Parasol Protectorate, Soulless."

I don't usually read that genre but those are fun books!!"

I was thrown out of that series by (view spoiler)[ the monumental idiocy and out-of-character actions of one of the main characters at the end of book two just to create a cliffhanger (hide spoiler)] and didn't read books 3 onward. Is that issue resolved relatively quickly or did I misjudge that character?
(I feel kind of odd being one of those readers whom the author has giggled at being bothered by it but it really came from left-field)

[Brendan]

So I finished Green Mars (it was a good book but felt more like it was a way to get us from the first book to the third book than a satisfying arc in and of itself) and have started reading The Mirror Empire. Liking it so far, it feels very "of this decade" in the issues that it deals with. Was genuinely surprised at the... unusual funeral rites near the beginning of the book, really got my attention.

I usually don't read fantasy but this seems to be unconventional enough that it is keeping my interest.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Alan wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Robyn wrote: "Haven't entirely settled on a new book, but I suspect it is going to be the first in the Parasol Protectorate, Soulless."

I don't usually read that genre..."

I only read the first book, ha! It was cute and I keep meaning to try the rest.

[Jeff]

My reading has taken a hit as of late as I've been on an arthouse film run. Currently listening to The Gunslinger though I've just had poor luck lately with following/paying attention to audiobooks. Might pick up the Kindle version to see how much I actually remember. Just thinking audiobooks aren't for me.

Also picked up Ready to Run: Unlocking Your Potential to Run Naturally as I've been running & my mobility isn't that great and getting subsequent aches/pains.

[Kristina]

I just read Shadow and Bone and just loved it. I snagged for the nook one day when it was on sale because I saw in on the Goodreads 2014 YA list. I am totally downloading the next book asap...after I finish The Deaths of Tao and The Autumn Republic anyway.

[Sky]

Just finished The Autumn Republic. McClellen just gets better with each book. Excited for his next trilogy. Still listening to the audio of How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, had to put it on hold while going through TAR.

Tomorrow I'll start either Half the World or An Unwelcome Quest, not sure which.

[Jonathon]

I finally finished off Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton. Wasn't overly keen on the books as a whole. I liked the second more than the first but I don't think Hamilton's for me.

Carried on with my run through of the Dresden Files with Turn Coat. I'm quite partial to these books, particularly when they move away from the noir-esque trappings of the earlier books

I've just finished off Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh. I liked it well enough, wasn't blown away by it though. Unsure if I'll carry on with the series or not.

Started on Half the World by Joe Abercrombie. I've been itching for this book since the first one came out

[Kurt]

I'm reading Operation Arcana and a Star Trek novel Shadow of the Machine. There's also Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov. And I'm going to dive further into The Suicide Exhibition: A Novel this weekend.

[Paul]

I am reading the Foundation Series by Isaac Asmiov and am currently at Foundation and Empire. I find that I am enjoying the original trilogy much more than the prequels, which I read first (might have been a mistake, now that I think about it).

[John (Taloni)]

Paul, I tend to like to read books in release order. In many cases the prequels answer questions that are more interesting to wonder about rather than having answered up front. Another example is the Narnia books, where The Magician's Nephew is now somehow first since it is sequentially first, but is really a lesser book containing answers raised in better parts of that series.

[Timothy]

I am currently reading the Giver by Lois Lowry. Definitely a thought provoking read. Has anybody here read the entire series? Are they all as good as the first book?

[Brendan]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Paul, I tend to like to read books in release order. In many cases the prequels answer questions that are more interesting to wonder about rather than having answered up front. Another example is t..."

Big supporter of going in release order here. Though there are exceptions like book availability, I almost always try to start with the earliest published and work forward. Even more true for Foundation where the prequels are kind of meaningless unless you know what happens in the main books, but the original trilogy is also far superior. Not going to say people are wrong for going chronologically but, yeah they're wrong :p

[AndrewP]

IIRC The Magicians Nephew is now first because Lewis said that it should be read first in an interview or article.

[Joseph]

AndrewP wrote: "IIRC The Magicians Nephew is now first because Lewis said that it should be read first in an interview or article."

If Lewis himself said that, I'm going to respectfully disagree -- although the events may take place before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the narration clearly takes place afterwards -- the book is filled with asides and references that only make sense if you've already read the series.

(Having said that, I went through a long period in my childhood where I did always read Magician's Nephew, then Lion, then Horse & His Boy, then on through the rest of the series. But in recent years I've changed my mind.)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Timothy wrote: "I am currently reading the Giver by Lois Lowry. Definitely a thought provoking read. Has anybody here read the entire series? Are they all as good as the first book?"

Wondering the same!

[Scott]

I already finished Shades of Milk and Honey (Listening to a 7 hour audio book during a 8 hour work day does wonders for "reading speed" lol). I found the first half slow but I ended up really enjoying it and am already on to Glamour in Glass.

[Keidy]

I've read a whole slew of books from January to February and just finished writing all of my reviews.

I've read Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1) by Brandon Sanderson (My Review). He continues to impressing me with great storytelling and strong characters. It's really rare to find a story that had equally important siblings, sister in this case, and it was a breath of fresh air. I was really impressed by this novel and I hope that Sanderson will continue with this series sooner rather than later.

The next book I've read was paranormal/SciFi Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher (My Review). This combination was really different having it have the paranormal ghosts along with the SciFi sensibilities of aliens and to top it all off, it is a romance book! I really didn't think it would work but somehow it did. Now this isn't any kind of book to take seriously. I'd think of it more as a popcorn book. But even with that statement this book really did impress me and I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would.

After that I read Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk, #1) by Bec McMaster (My Review). Another good popcorn book, this book combines vampires and romance in a Steampunk setting. I just thank the gods that they laid off of the vampire lore and made some of their own along with not being so heavy handed with the romance. It made for a nice quick and enjoyable read.

When I finished that, I went back to finish the newest book from the Kate Daniels series, Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7) by Ilona Andrews (My Review). Kate Daniels is as kick ass and hilarious as she always was and I found myself really sad that I caught up to this series. Now I'll have to wait patiently for the next books to come around.

The last book that I have just finished reading was The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (My Review). It caught me by surprise how much I really loved this story by an unknown debut author. This is a terrific start and I hope that she will continue to write more stories in this world. In some ways, it reminded me a little of manga Bleach Volume 01: Strawberry and the Soul Reapers, you know, before the story got convoluted. Now, I'm not saying that the story is a ripoff of the manga Bleach. I'm just saying that it has that same feeling of wonder and mystery due largely because of the world-building of the paranormal ghost world. A great book that I would recommend to anyone.

And that's about it for now. I always try not to get so backed up on my reviews and it always ends up happening anyways. Right now I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I'm about halfway through and struggling to finish it. The author's tone, while clever, is really turning me off. The story is supposed to be a mental recollection of her life and the events leading to it, but it's so unfocused at times to the point of rambling that it's beginning to frustrate me. I'll probably finish it though as I'm really curious at what will happen in the end. Hopefully it will end up being worth it.

[Kristina]

Got a hold of The Autumn Republic-loving it so far!

[Sean]

Decided to start on Waistcoats & Weaponry, the latest in Gail Carriger's Finishing School series. I'm only a few chapters in, and it's hilarious as always. Even in context, the fact that the characters' reaction to the statement, "You have received a pigeon" (as in carrier pigeon) is to gasp in shock is hysterical.

[Joseph]

Finished Covenant's End -- a great end to a great series -- and am starting an anthology, Sword & Mythos. Because sword & sorcery and Lovecraftian horror should go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And tentacles. Lots and lots of tentacles.

[Ctgt]

Joseph wrote: "Because sword & sorcery and Lovecraftian horror should go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And tentacles. Lots and lots of tentacles."

I really like the sound of that!

[Lindsay]

Keidy wrote: "The next book I've read was paranormal/SciFi Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher..."

That one's been on my to-read list forever. I think the Vaginal Fantasy people liked it too. She also just had a new release with Echo 8.

[John (Taloni)]

Finished The Long Earth by Pratchett and Baxter. Not particularly impressed. It's a fair take on a Simak idea from City - alternate versions of Earth that have everything but humans - but Pratchett seems to have a big chip on his shoulder about religious people and Republicans. I really wasn't laughing at the laugh line about the sister on the run from the FBI when she had shot at a Senator. I'll go on to The Long War, mainly because the book ended in a cliffhanger and I'd like to finish the story.

I feel like Pratchett is trying to be Heinlein, but Heinlein handled dystopian topics much better. (Revolt in 2100 and Job: A Comedy of Justice are faves.) Also Heinlein's line was a lot funnier: "Avoid strong drink. It makes you shoot at tax collectors - and miss."

[Brendan]

Of course Pratchett could never write that joke, he is extremely pro gun control. :)