What are you reading in June 2010?

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I'm reading an anthology of new "sword & sorcery"-type stories called Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery. It's got an amazing line-up of authors and, so far, all the stories have been good to excellent. I'll post a full review later on, but for now, this is definitely one I'd recommend to fans of gritty "lone wolf"-style fantasy.

[Shel, Moderator]

I've just finished Dragonfly in Amber, which I absolutely loved - I thought it was even better than the first book Outlander. I will have to get my hands on book three!

Not sure what's up next. I'll have to see what I'm in the mood for later today :)

[Sandra]

I just finished Jerusalem Fire recommended to me by Janny Wurts and it was fabulous. I highly recommend it. A most unusual scifi story.

I also finished The Passage which I listened to as Audible had an introductory special offer on it. It was interminable! A dystopian novel about vampires, although the 'v' word is never mentioned, lol. He intends it to be a series, though I doubt very much that I'll finish it. The guy can write beautiful prose, though. He just writes so MUCH of it, lol.

[Sandra]

Jon wrote: "Finished my wild ride with Kay and the Ninth Driver with Lord of Emperors (my review). Now I'm returning to finish, in the next hour or so, another book club read: The Second Coming

After that, ..."

I got these in the mail today! Will be starting them as soon as I finish The Last Stormlord.

[Richard]

Just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi. So good I had to pull an all-nighter to finish it in one go. That doesn't happen very often to me. Looks as if I might have to find a copy of The Ghost Brigades now.

[Staci]

I've gotten a ton of reading done this month, but not much in the way of sci fi or fantasy. I did read, Agent of Change and Diplomatic Immunity for the group. I just started Brave New World and plan to start The Windup Girl within the next few days.

[Kerry]

I'm reading and enoying Mira Grant's Feed, which I recommend as a zombie book for people who don't like zombies. The zombies are part of the world building, but the book is as much about mystery and people and biology as just zombies. No splatter and gore, but lots of blood tests and bleach.

[orannia]

I started reading A Companion to Wolves (Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear) yesterday and am really enjoying it. It has a different feel to the Doctrine of Labyrinths, but so far I'm enjoying it.

[Phoenixfalls]

Orannia: I really liked A Companion to Wolves -- and since you've already enjoyed Monette's solo work, you should check out Elizabeth Bear's -- particularly New Amsterdam (if you can find it).

[Sandi]

I recently finished The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Knights of the Cornerstone by James P. Blaylock, and Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente.

I'm listening to Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie, but I don't think I'm going to finish it. The narration is terrible and the story isn't as good as his First Law Trilogy.

I'm now reading WWW:Wake by Robert J. Sawyer. I wasn't going to get it, but it's the only 2010 Hugo nominated novel I haven't read. I figured I might as well. It's okay, but there are way too many unnecessary infodumps, such as a description of Google and its history, how it works, and what the better alternative is.

[orannia]

Thank you Phoenixfalls! I discovered recently that I by far prefer character-based than plot-based books. Where do Elizabeth Bear's books fit please?

[Jeff]

I finished Warchild and read The Second Coming. I've just started Jim Butcher's Fool Moon.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Starting Sense of Honor: Volume One: The Archives of Tides of War by Shawn Weaver, a FirstReads win for me, and discovered he lives in the SE part of my state, WI. Always like to read "local" authors.

[Shel, Moderator]

Halfway through To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett. I love summer vacation when I've got brainpower to spare for Dunnett's historical fiction!

[Sandra]

Shel wrote: "Halfway through To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett. I love summer vacation when I've got brainpower to spare for Dunnett's historical fiction!"

I've only read one so far and loved it. But it was the Lymond Chronicles. I'd like to try a Niccolo.

[Phoenixfalls]

Orannia: New Amsterdam is definitely character-based; the rest of Bear's work varies. It is always rooted in her characters (so none of it is entirely plot-driven) but she doesn't make her characterization obvious, so sometimes their motivations are obscured. Others of hers where the characters are easy-ish to relate to are Hammered (the first of the Jenny Casey trilogy, which is space opera); Carnival (more space opera, this time with an exploration of gender roles); and All the Windwracked Stars (post-apocalyptic cyberunk-ish fantasy). But New Amsterdam is probably the most accessible of her works to date, and the perfect tonic for all the vampire sex books out there, having both vampires and sex but focusing instead on the mysteries, the alternate history, and the budding of a very interesting friendship. :)

[Laurel]

I've been updating my bookshelves, and if I've gotten all of the dates right, I've read 15 novellas this month. I've loved all of them, and am definitely going to continue for July. Hopefully by August I'll be able to tackle an epic or two, but for now, I'm really enjoying short fiction.

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key
Those Who Went Remain There Still
The Women of Nell Gwynne's
Gunpowder
Oceanic
The Last Unicorn: The Lost Version
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
Sailing To Byzantium
Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days: Tales from the Revelation Space Universe
METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization
The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate
Griffin's Egg
Odd and the Frost Giants
Exhalation
and I think Blockade Billy

[Phoenixfalls]

I spy a Kage Baker fan! How did you like Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key? I've been waffling on whether to buy it or the two volumes of Catherynne Valente's Orphan's Tales, which I've already read and loved.

[Laurel]

I found that I loved all of the characters except for Mrs. Waverley. I want to read any sequels to see how the plot is furthered, and to enjoy more of the male characters, but I have very little interest in Mrs. Waverley. It may be that there is a depth to her we have not yet seen, but I am wary. Are there sequels? If so, what did you think of them?

[Phoenixfalls]

To the best of my knowledge, there are no sequels and there won't be any sequels (as Ms. Baker passed away last January). I haven't read the novella myself, which is why I was waffling on whether to buy it or not. It seems so expensive for something so slim, but I'm an author completist so I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to end up buying. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[Shel, Moderator]

Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Shel wrote: "Halfway through To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett. I love summer vacation when I've got brainpower to spare for Dunnett's historical fiction!"

I've only read one so ..."

The Lymond Chronicles are brilliant. You should finish the series before starting Niccolo. They're AMAZING. (not that Niccolo isn't just as good, but to fully appreciate Lymond you need to read all six!)

[Sandra]

Shel wrote: "Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "Shel wrote: "Halfway through To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett. I love summer vacation when I've got brainpower to spare for Dunnett's historical fiction!"..."

Thanks, Shel. I plan to.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Kathi wrote: "Starting Sense of Honor: Volume One: The Archives of Tides of War by Shawn Weaver, a FirstReads win for me, and discovered he lives in the SE part of my state, WI. ..."

After 3 chapters, I am close to tossing this book, which is something I never do.

Let me say, the other books I've won have been fine; maybe not what I would have spent money on, but OK stories. And this one may be an OK story, too, but the writing is so stilted and the editing... well, I don't think there was any editing. In the first 4 pages there were a misspelling, several non-sentences, at least 3 punctuation errors, and at least 1 grammatical error. And it hasn't improved. I'm not sure I can look past the lack of editing and mediocre writing to follow what might be an interesting storyline.

I probably will force myself to finish it, just so I can honestly say I read it when I rate it and write a review. But it already is leaving a bad taste in my mouth...

[Marty]

I feel for you Kathi! Sounds hard to read.

[orannia]

Thank you Phoenixfalls! I'll see if my library has New Amsterdam :)

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I'm just about halfway through Grand Conspiracy by Janny Wurts. Excellent so far, as expected.

[Ruby]

Finished all those I mentioned previously (Secret Books of Paradys, Falkenberg's Legion and King David's Spaceship by Jerry Pournelle, and Tales of Pain and Wonder). The Pournelle made me want to read more sci fi so back I went to my Andre Norton stack. Last year some time I walked into a used book store that was new to me and found a whole shelf, maybe three dozen since they're mostly thin, of her books, most of which I did not have even though I had a shelf's worth at home! I couldn't buy them all but I picked up maybe 15. I've finished off a few since, but there are at least 10 more sitting and waiting. Although not the 132 pages of awesomeness that is The Secret of the Lost Race - I read it today! Next I think will be The Stars Are Ours.

[Sandi]

I'm reading Light right now too. I'm 50 pages in and very confused.

I'm listening to non-genre Alice I Have Been after having given up on listening to Best Served Cold. I've never been a fan of Carroll's Alice, but the real-life Alice Liddell is quite interesting. This book is historical fiction with an emphasis on fiction because so little is known about her, especially about her relationship with Lewis Carroll. He's a bit creepy.

I'm also reading A Fierce Radiance. It's a historical fiction about the development of penicillin. I won an ARC through FirstReads.

[Bookbrow]

I finished Grass which was excellent and now I have moved onto Light by John M. Harrison which so far is intriguing but I can just tell this one is going to be a battle.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished To Lie with Lions (oooh what an ending!), and then spent a great deal of yesterday in finishing Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip, which was very good though not my favorite of hers (that honor goes to Song for the Basilisk - what a GORGEOUS book).

Now in a complete change of pace I've picked up Stephen King's The Stand - I read it once when I was in middle school, but barely remember it at all, so when I found it used the other day for 50c I snagged it.

We are moving into our new house on Monday so I've been spending the last few days packing my books into boxes, and stressing out over making sure to leave enough out that I won't run out of things to read before we go...

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shel wrote: "We are moving into our new house on Monday..."

Good luck with the move. I'm grateful we have stayed in one place the past 20 years. I'd hate to have to box up all my books at this stage of things--I had hundreds and hundreds fewer when we moved to this house!

[Laurel]

Enjoy the new house, Shel!

[Janny]

Shel wrote: "I finished To Lie with Lions (oooh what an ending!), and then spent a great deal of yesterday in finishing Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip, which was very good tho..."

Shel, good luck with your move.

I, too, love Patricia McKillip - did you (yet) read Od Magic? Among my many favorites of hers.