What are you reading? - November 2009

[Chris]

It's November already, can you believe it? Well, we need to start off our lists of books we're planning to read for the new month.

I just started Nyphron Rising by Michael J. Sullivan and I'm loving it so far.

Also this month, I plan to read:
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King &
Changeling by Roger Zelazny for other groups.
The Hobbit, for this group.

And I plan to get into two new releases on my own as soon as my copies arrive:

The Gathering Storm by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan
Under the Dome by Stephen King

[Marcela]

I'll probably finish The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley today or tomorrow. I'm really enjoying it but for whatever reason it is taking me forever to finish it.

For this month:
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Soulless by Gail Carriger
And maybe I'll tackle on Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

[Laurel]

My November list is a bit like Chris'...





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Its going to be a great month!

[Elise]

Still reading

The Codex by Douglas Preston
The Hobbit Or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Next I'm planning on reading

Nyphron Rising by Michael J. Sullivan
The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

and then maybe The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

[Heather]

Starting with The Swarm A Novel

It's an 800+ page book so that may take me the entire month. I would like to re read the Hobbit if I have time as well as catch up on The Sisters Grimm series but I don't know if I will yet.

[Sarah]

Now I'm reading Odinn's Child by Tim Severin.
Next I'm planning on reading the following books thought I don't know in what order yet:



Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier.
Stormrider by David Gemmell.
Wuthering Heights.
And hopefully two Dragonlance novels.

[Michael]

The Hobbit
Diplomatic Immunity (Sci-fi by Bujold)
The Silmarillion

probably in that order.

[Matt]

I recently wrote up quite a list, almost fifty serious books long. I'm trying to catch up on my fantasy, as I've been ignoring the genre by and large since WoT book 10 drove me insane for a month. Taking that into consideration, here's my list for November:

Winter's Heart by Jordan
Crossroads of Twilight by Jordan
Knife of Dreams by Jordan

and finally the reason for all this torturous reading:

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Now that it's finishing I just have to read it. Sad, I know. Shed a tear for me.

Also I just started Lord Fouls Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson and I fell deeply in love within minutes. It's so well crafted and the protagonist Thomas Covenant is more complex than perhaps any other in modern fantasy I have read. I can't wait to get to the rest of the series!

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Started Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last night. It's a quick, and, so far, fun read (unlike Interview With the Vampire, which I had to force myself through), so I should be done in a few days, and then on to Soulless, which also promises to be fun.

[Matt]

blackrose wrote: "Started Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last night. It's a quick, and, so far, fun read (unlike Interview With the Vampire, which I had to force myself through), so I s..."


I keep seeing that around, and every time I do I get closer to trying it out. I didn't care for the regular Pride and Prejudice, but maybe a little undead flesh eating will spice it up

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I liked the new movie version of P&P, but found the actual book kind of slow and repetitive. One of the good things, imo, about the book is that aside from adding the "unmentionables", it seems to edit the book down a bit, as well.

[Jon]

Finished The Gathering Storm (my review) last night.

I'm picking Blindsight back up and will start a re-read of The Hobbit this week as well.

[Janny]

Nearly finished Fool's Errand. Took me ages to get to it, I know. Just can't ever snag enough reading time.

[Landon]

The Corrections
Acacia The War with the Mein
The Other Lands
Mistborn The Final Empire

[Sarah]

Alex wrote: "I'm reading Winterbirth right now. There's a lot of good stuff here, but a lot of... other, as well. The depth of the world is impressive, no doubt, but some of the exposition can feel needless, ..."

Winterbirth being the first book in Brian Ruckley's trilogy? I've been planning on reading it sometime but as reviews were so controventional I never really got to it.
So what's in there that's going to make like it, or not like it?

[Prue]

About to begin Juliet Marillier's Heartsblood and thinking I may re-read The Hobbit

[Marc]

I picked up Neverwhere and Vampires, Inc. at Astronomicon, along with some Zelazny and Poul Anderson titles.

[Laurel]

Winterbirth, and the rest of its trilogy, follow a war between the offspring of an exiled clan and the offspring of those who exiled them. Neither side is completely in the wrong, but its a difficult question - who has the right of ownership, who has the right to revenge? It also has sub story lines that explore the discrimination towards a mixed race, the ties of family, a too young son who has to suddenly fulfill his father's legacy, the influence of religious sects on the course of a war, how innocents are used as pawns for what some think are the greater good, and much more.

There are some moments where the pace of the novel may seem to stall, but it always picked up again. More importantly, I liked the questions it asked. I think that many pertain to our own recent history. I connected to the lead characters, and appreciated the way the book made me think about my own world views. Its worth a read.

[Laurel]

Thanks Alex!

[Arthur]

Not much time for reading after moving house.
I am still stuck with Sci-fi A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge

[Barbm1020]

Almost finished with Johnny and the Bomb, by T. Pratchett. It's a J book but so well-written that I'm enjoying it.

[Janny]

Just finished Fool's Errand, and will probably pull my copy of Ethan of Athos to re-read between all the crazyness.

[Mir]

Just started Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Zombie Steampunk set in Seattle.

[Sarah]

Started Serpent's Shadow by mercedes Lackey yesterday.
ALmost halway through. It's really good once you get used to the general atmosphere...

[Linda]

Can't wait to start First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher. Will be listening to the audio download version due out Nov. 24. I've listened to all the Codex Alera books and can't rave enough about Kate Reading's narration. I have loved this entire series and am very sorry to see it end.

[Mir]

I'm trying A Monster's Notes, which is derived from Frankenstein. So far (as for page 80 or so) it is a vaguely philosophical internal monologue.

[Arthur]

Nicola wrote: "I read a bit of Scar Night, but it was too grim for my mood at the time"

I have heard that the whole trilogy is grim and depressing. I wonder whether it is true.

[Arthur]

I am curious about the ending. If it is as un-happy ending as I heard then the trilogy is not for me. I have enough bleak moments in RL to cope with.

[Marc]

You might like J. V. Jones' Book of Words trilogy. I find her work grim and depressing but it's more of an issue for me than it sounds like it is for you.

The Baker's Boy
A Man Betrayed
Master and Fool

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I started Soulless on Monday, I believe, and am almost finished it, flu and all. It's more PNR than I expected, sort of like the Sookie Stackhouse book (well, the first one, anyway, as that's as far as I got), but I'm enjoying it much more than I did the other.

[Mir]

I'd agree with that assessment, blackrose. I was hoping for something a little less PNR, but thought it was well done.

[Elise]

Last night I finished The Codex by Douglas Preston. Not fantasy, but a thriller/adventure novel. It was quite a good story for basically a popcorn read.

Now, I'm about to start Nyphron Rising by Michael J. Sullivan.

[Zachary]

Just finished The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King tonight. And I read the frist couple of pages in Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

[Laurel]

Alex,

Isn't it great that the series was released in a timely manner, allowing the reader to get through the whole series while its still fresh in your mind! I can be very patient with series, but I do love being able to read it all in one shot!

Hope you enjoy the finale.

[Elise]

Finished off my reread of The Hobbit Or There and Back Again today. I enjoyed it more this second time around.

I also read It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Zombies a Book of Zombie Chris by Michael P. Spradlin. I read it in probably less than a half hour. Very funny zombie Christmas carols.

I've just started on The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

[John]

I just started reading Ericksons The Gardens of the Moon
and so far it seems really good, this is the first book I read from this author.

[Zachary]

I really want to read that series.

[Sarah]

Zachary wrote: "I really want to read that series."

I'm planning to start this series as well, but I'm waiting for a time when I'm less occupied with my studies. This one I need to sit down and concentrate upon, since it's not a fast, light read you pass the time with in the bus.

[Zachary]

Sarah wrote: "Zachary wrote: "I really want to read that series."

I'm planning to start this series as well, but I'm waiting for a time when I'm less occupied with my studies. This one I need to sit down and co..."

Exactly. A friend also has me going through 'The Dark Tower' series, so I shall wait until I have read all 7 of those lol

[Arthur]

Zachary wrote: "A friend also has me going through 'The Dark Tower' seriess..."

Envy you :)
Superb series.

[John]

Definately one of King's best

[Zachary]

John wrote: "Definately one of King's best"

I am really enjoying it, only on the third book though.

[Peter]

Presently reading The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks. Really impressed how he fills in the gaps created by his earlier work (Angel Fire Fast, a Knight of the world etc.). Next to read is either Peter F Hamilton (The Void series, read the rest, real good stuff!) or R.A. Salvatore, I haven't read any of his work yet so I'm really curious, I have the " Demon" series lined up.

[Charles]

Ships of Merior (Wurts)
To Ride Hell's Chasm (Wurts)
The Hobbit
Anathem (Neal Stephenson)

Now that Janny is reading Anathem, and it being a fantasy novel, I finally get a chance to brag on it. Neal Stephenson is da bomb. He and Gaiman are my favorite non (usually)-fantasy.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Currently reading RealmShift by Alan Baxter, which I'm only about 40 pages into, but has promise.

[Jon]

I finished The Hobbit yesterday. It was wonderful to return to a more innocent Middle Earth.

I started Ethan of Athos yesterday afternoon and it is proving to be a very quick read.

In planning for my trip to Texas this week, I'll take my three library books - City of Jade, Blindsight and the second Imager novel. I'll throw in a couple more paperbacks and maybe an audio book or two (for the long drive to Denton/Plano).

[Barbm1020]

I started The Blade Itself but couldn't get into it. Going to read nonfiction for a while I think.

[Jon]

I finished Ethan of Athos this morning and will probably read the novella Labyrinth at lunch today.

[Zachary]

Alex wrote: "Finally finished Fall of Thanes, and with it, The Godless World trilogy. I say finally, not because I didn't enjoy the books -- I did -- but because they were sometimes tedious reads. A novel nee..."

Good news for me, I am soon to read it.

[Cameron]

Very close to finishing A Game of Thrones. Not sure what I will start next.