What Are You Reading 2015 Edition

[Don]

Washington, a life. Pulitzer-licious.

[Alexandra]

Don wrote: "does anyone think if the Firefly crew did what the "Entourage" men did(follow up their series with a movie) it wouldn't be successful?"

They did follow Firefly with a movie; it's called Serenity, which didn't do too well at the box office.

[Graham]

They did follow Firefly with a movie; it's called Serenity, which didn't do too well at the box office."

Nevertheless, it was a great film. However, I think its main purpose was to finish off the Firefly series for the fans because of the way it was just yanked by the network with no resolution. I will always be grateful that film was made.

[Julia]

I've recently finished, or given up on:

The Biology of Luck, Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight and Single Handed: The Inspiring True Story of Tibor "Teddy" Rubin--Holocaust Survivor, Korean War Hero, and Medal of Honor Recipient.

I'm currently reading X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter and I'm listening toThe Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip M. Hoose.

[Don]

Alex, I did not know that Serenity was a Box Office release but I was aware of the movie and loved it. I thought it was a close to the series which I only became aware of after catching Serenity on the SciFi channel. I should watch more TV but I Just don't. Serenity cost 40 million to make and brought in 38 million worldwide. if firefly dosen't have a cult following, it should. dang it.

[Kateb]

Same with Farscape tv series ,they had to do a movie to finish it off. it was a great series that many didn't know about.

[Julia]

Don, 'Firefly' and nearly everything Joss Whedon does has a cult following. Look him up on Imdb to see if you've missed anything he's made. Or hey, look him up here, did you know there are, this is the first Serenity Better Days #1 graphic novels that follow 'Serenity?' Also Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse: Epitaphs graphic novels.

[Leanne]

Currently reading The Emperors Blades which is brilliant!

[Felicite]

Just finished a novel called Az by A.A. BavirAz - Revenge of an Archangel. It really caught me off guard with how deep it was, but it was a strong story.

[Beachesnbooks]

I just started We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

[Reg]

Currently on some Kafka. Fascinating literary mind.

[Papaphilly]

Jaleenajo wrote: "I just started We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson."

A true classic. She tends to be forgotten, which is a real shame.

[Tad]

I'm also a fan of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Shirley Jackson in general. I read that book for the first time not that long ago and was once again impressed by her skill. While maybe not as well known as some other authors, I think she has served as an inspiration to many writers.

[Scott]

Man, I loved Lies! I can't wait for the next installment of that series

[Scott]

I've always found the great thing about being late to the party is you get to catch up since there are multiple books out :)

And then you catch up and have to wait. Those books have some of the best dialogue I've ever read

[Rob]

I enjoy the series, but I don't think the next two books are nearly as good as that first one, but it was good it was just too much to live up to IMHO.

[Hank]

Donna wrote: I read this as an audiobook and enjoyed it. I don't know if you're into audiobooks, but the narrator for this series is fantastic. I need to fit in the next book Moon Over Soho

I will wholheartedly agree with Donna, the narrator is fantastic and the audiobooks equally so. I haven't grabbed the last one yet but am anxious to do so, I keep hoping my library will get it but I might actually have to buy it.

[Esther]

I am reading Breakfast at Tiffany's. I know the story well from the film and am finding Capote;s writing style easier than I expected. The Holly character is almost exactly as Hepburn played her in the film and one thing I have noticed is that whereas I used to find her cute I now find her annoying. Maturity? Or maybe I am just used to more practical women from modern scifi.

[Andreas]

Just finished Children of Time. I highly recommend this SF space opera. See my review.

[Kateb]

Flash Beagle wrote: "I just started I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. It's for this year's challenge but I think I'll have my own challenge of reading everything by Asimov. I love his outlook and ..."
I re read all Asimov books earlier this year, loved them, just worked my way through the PErn series by McCaffrey.
I think from reading all of these threads I will start the Dresden series.
I am in a book club where we each suggest a book. The other people like totally different genres so I have just finished the signature of all things. What I would like to know is it just me that didn't like it (the others loved it) or is it because I like a different genre of books. Have any of you read it?

[Donna]

I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so far, with the added bonus of there being humor, which I didn't expect. Plus, I really like the cover art. Has anyone read it?

[Justine]

Donna wrote: "I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so far, with the..."

I have that on my ereader and mean to start it soon....it looks great!

[Bill (Just a)]

Esther wrote: "I am reading Breakfast at Tiffany's. I know the story well from the film and am finding Capote;s writing style easier than I expected. The Holly character is almost exactly as Hepburn..."

I really liked this. I listened to it and it was read by Dexter ( Michael C. Hall ). It was a great way to spend 3 hours.

[Bill (Just a)]

A couple of books back I finished book 2 in the Alex Veras series. This is the series that Butcher suggested when looking for another Dresden like urban fantasy.

What I am finishing/starting now isn't SF/F. SF/F is just one genre. I just finished listening to "The Dinner" which is often compared to "Gone Girl" but I liked it much better. Now I am listening to "The Jefferson Bible". Thomas Jefferson cut and pasted the Bible to produce a text without miracles, virgin birth or resurrection. It was supposed to be the ethics and philosophy of Jesus the man. Interesting concept. Imagine if a politician did that today.

[Donna]

Justine wrote: "Donna wrote: "I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so..."

That's great. I hope you enjoy it.

[MadProfessah]

Rob wrote: "I enjoy the series, but I don't think the next two books are nearly as good as that first one, but it was good it was just too much to live up to IMHO."
I read the 3rd book when it came out 18 months ago but just recently (finally) finished my review of The Republic of Thieves,

here:

http://buckmire.blogspot.com/2015/06/...

[Chuck]

Halfway through with Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. It's really good.

[Sharon]

Donna wrote: "I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so far, with the..."

Sounds very interesting, just the kind of thing I particularly enjoy.

[Rob]

I've been sort of taking it easy on reading text lately. I've slowly worked my way through Different Seasons.

I'm usually not a big fan of short stories or novellas for some reason, but this is great collection. Three of the stories were turned into movies after all. (My Review)

I also listened to the first two books of the Long Price Quartet. Pretty good so far, though they won't be for everyone. I seem to be a fan of everything Abraham does.

A Shadow in Summer: Review
A Betrayal in Winter: Review

I would have jumped right into book 3, but I got my hands on an early review copy of the audiobook for Queen of Fire! :-D

Pretty good, I'll likely have a spoiler-free review of that next weekend.

[Maarit]

I finished reading Kohtalon miekka (Sword of Destiny) by Andrzej Sapkowski. I really liked the short stories in this book and think they were a bit better than the ones in the first book. And the Finnish translation is excellent, I now regret reading the first book in English as the translation in that one felt a bit odd.

I'm also still reading American Gods (why there is so much travelling from place to place in this book and almost nothing interesting happens?), Name of the Wind (Kvothe and the wizard's school, dropped my interest level a bit, though still a good read), Mort (so far the best Pratchett I've read) and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (a bit scifi for all the fantasy, interesting so far). And last but not least the big classic War and Peace, my eternity project for this year, though I'm over halfway through it :).

[[deleted user]]

Just finished reading Isaac Asimov's final novel Forward the Foundation, and I'm not a fan. See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next I plan to reread the original itself, Foundation.

[Bill]

It's either raining bathtubs here or too hot to be outside, so I am indulging in escapist lit. I am on book 7 of the Star Trek: New Frontier Series and intend to read all 18 published so far.

What fun! No thinking required ;-)

[David]

Maarit wrote: "After 2½ months of on/off reading I finally finished King Rat. I didn't like it and think it's the weakest Miéville book that I've read so far (only Embassytown and Railsea left now)..."

Mort is excellent. Love Death to death.

[Alexandra]

David wrote: "Mort is excellent. Love Death to death."

I just finished Mort a couple days ago. I agree it is excellent, and Death was funny as hell.

[Roberta]

I'm reading The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad :The Iron Dream.

[Julia]

This week I've read Death Vows and Tongue Tied both by Richard Stevenson. They are Don Strachey mysteries, meaning a gay Albany PI, who can be a hoot. I liked the first better, it takes place when gay marriage was new to western Massachusetts.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie started as TED talk, which I've seen. I thought it well- worth reading.

Out of This World by Charles de Lint was as usual for his books wonderful! However, it's #3 in a series and they have to be read in order, which is not something one usually says about Charles de Lint.

Then I mostly loved Jews vs Zombies edited by Rebecca Levene and Lavie Tidhar. It's a collections of short stories, I don't expect to enjoy everyone of them.

I'm now reading Lavie Tidhar's novel Osama, which is very neat.

[MadProfessah]

I just finished reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell and was blown away! It is soooooo good! I think even better than his Cloud Atlas.

Also enjoyed inhaling the (first) Tao trilogy by Wesley Chu in about a week...

[Rob]

I was lucky to get an early review copy of the audio version of Queen of Fire thanks to SFFAudio. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the last two. (My Review)

[Katy]

Donna wrote: "I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so far, with the..."

Loved it. Hope you have had time to read it.

[M.L.]

I'm reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson and enjoying it. It is somewhat of a slow burn (part of that may be that I haven't much reading time lately) but with all the characters and perspectives it makes sense. It's very real and topical and of all the possible catastrophes I had never thought of the moon blowing up (coming apart) and the mega-catastrophe that would follow.

[Collene]

I am re-reading Night of the Fae by Lyneal Jenkins. I got it free off Amazon and whizzed through it. The new book is out soon so I'm recapping everything that has happened. I definitely reccommend it, though, be warned that there is some romance in the first book, but boy, by the time you get to book 3 Frozen Flame, there is none stop action. I have never read anything like it before.

I hope you all get a chance t read it before it goes off free. :)

[Justine]

Flash Beagle wrote: "I'm reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson and enjoying it. It is somewhat of a slow burn (part of that may be that I haven't much reading time lately) but with all the ..."

Seems like this is the book of the summer...I'm looking forward to your final pronouncement before I tackle it myself. I just finished Midnight Tides, and I'm now reading The Tyrant's Law; I wanted to get back to The Dagger and the Coin before I forgot completely what was going on. :) I'm trying to spread the books out until the final book comes out ... the date has been pushed back I think until October or something.

[Justine]

Oh, I just checked...The Spider's War is scheduled for January. So, yes, spreading things out since I think I only have one more book between now and then.

[Maarit]

I finished Mort by Terry Pratchett and it's so far the funnies Discworld novel I've read.

I also started to read The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I don't usually read e-books, but this was a bit hard to get otherwise and so far reading from phone screen hasn't been that bad as I don't own an e-reader.

[Donna]

Kathy wrote: "Donna wrote: "I started reading Uprooted. It's a classic, magic filled fairy tale for adults and young adults, but definitely not for children. The writing and the story is great so..."

I finished Uprooted a few days ago and loved it, too. The writing was beautiful, the story and characters memorable. I'm looking forward to reading more of her writing in the near future, starting with His Majesty's Dragon. Have you read that book or any of that series? I've heard good things about it.

[Katy]

I'll take your idea and read His Majesty's Dragon too. Uprooted was my first book by Naomi Novik. Looking forward to reading more by her.

[Phrynne]

I finished The Twiceborn Queen by Marina Finlayson' Shape shifting dragons! really good.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Getting through A Darker Shade of Magic. Enjoying it muchly.

[Phrynne]

Liam wrote: "Getting through A Darker Shade of Magic. Enjoying it muchly."

But far too long to wait for the sequel!!!!

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Yeah that's annoying :P I should've waited longer.