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What are you reading in July 2010?
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Lareads
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Jul 10, 2010 01:30PM
I've been listening to audiobooks and here are the last three I've listened to: Under Heaven, The Name of the Wind, and The Wind-up Girl. I heartily recommend all of these on audio - my favorite was Under Heaven...the narration was great and added a lot to the experience. Loved it! I ordered The Curse of the Mistwraith, but until it comes I am going to listen to The Borders of Infinity (stories in the Vorkosigan series - I read these but they just came out in audio). I like the story about how Miles rescues Taura from Jackson's Whole (compare that with the Taura we see in Winterfair Gifts later on). I like the Dagoola IV prison break story too. I also have Namah's Curse, but I haven't started that yet.
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I finally finished Kushiel's Justice, it really, fianally, picked up about midway through.I liked it better the Scion, but I am not liking these books as much as the Phedre Kushiel books.Started with Pandora's Star
Next up will be Janny's book of the month
Ken -- I found that the Imri books grew on me. I didn't like them very much on my first read-through (and Kushiel's Mercy is a really major turning point in the series as a whole, with a totally different feel than everything that came before) but on rereads (I'm addicted to that world!) I came to love the time Imri spent with Dorelei, and the second half of the book moved me to tears multiple times. The third book (which I won't spoil) finally convinced me that Imriel and Sidonie make sense as a couple -- no small feat, because once I learned to love Dorelei I resented what I saw as authorial manipulation in getting the two of them together. Obviously I can't promise you'll feel the same. . . and I can't honestly say I like Imri's books better than Phedre's. . . but I like them *almost* as much, so there's hope, eh? :)Lareads -- I love the stories in Borders of Infinity, but I've been trying to resist the lure of rereading the whole series in preparation of CryoBurn coming out this November. Don't make my temptation worse! ;)
Oh, well, I'm addicted to the Vorkosigan series, I've read each book at least 3 or 4 times:). I liked Imri's series once I made it through Kushiel's Justice, it wasn't my favorite, but once I read Kushiel's Mercy - it really brought everything together and, like the first series, the third book is what makes the series, it's really a climactic ending so don't give up on it!
I am reading
which is quite heavy going but I am enjoying it. From reading what Janny Wurts said the other day, I am hoping the following books won't be such heavy going. Its always difficult in new books to keep track of everyone.I just might do some rereading of the Miles Vorkosigan books myself, its years since I read them although I did recently read a short story by herLois McMaster Bujold
I did a very foolish thing: I started reading "Gardens of the Moon."
Jo wrote: "I am reading which is quite heavy going but I am enjoying it. From reading what Janny Wurts said the other day, I am hoping the following books won't b..."Jo - the core characters will stay to the forefront, so you won't have a huge cast. The very few new characters that come in will be added very gradually, mostly at arc III, Alliance of Light (which is 3 volumes down the line, so you will be well established with the central story by then.) The glossary may be helpful to you.
I am itching to read C J Cherry's Deceiver next - and mightily resisting the temptation until the schedule permits.
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I just finished reading The Third Bear, an excellent collection of short fiction by Jeff VanderMeer. The review should pop up soon, but I need to think about it a bit more. Very good book though.
And last night I started reading The Bird of the River, the final book by Kage Baker. It's set in the same world as her previous fantasy novels The Anvil of the World and The House of the Stag.
I just looked back to see what I posted earlier. I finished the Sarantium Mosaic and it was fantastic. Then I read The Gaslight Dogs and it was quite a story! Beautifully written and powerful, but hardly a HEA. :( Hope there's going to be a sequel as I'd really like to know more about these characters and this world.I decided to wait on Gardens of the Moon, and am almost finished with Foreigner, which is quite good. I'm listening to Tigana, and I can't say what I think of it so far. Most of the characters are quite jaded and cynical. The world is under the thumb of sorcerers who rule harshly, and there is a small group of wandering minstrels who hope to restore the previous land, Tigana. So we'll see.
I'm strongly tempted to read two mysteries next for a break from fantasy while we discuss the Wars of Light and Shadow and I also reread Curse of the Mistwraith and Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark. I have The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest and Faithful Place: A Novel and I've read the first two of both series and am anxious to read these.
Stefan -- How do you already have The Bird of the River?!? I've been haunting Amazon and my local bookstore just panting after it. . . but they all tell me that it isn't going to be released until the 20th!
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It's an advance copy - I get those fairly often for reviews. I've actually had this one on the shelf for a few months but am just now getting around to it.
I'm so jealous!!! (I miss working at a bookstore. . . I'd always snag the best ARCs. . . )
Ron wrote: "I did a very foolish thing: I started reading "Gardens of the Moon.""ha ha ha
Good thing is that the 9th book just came out it in mass market, only waiting for the last book
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Shel wrote: "Sandra, words cannot express how much I love Tigana. One of my all-time favorites. It is absolutely heart-wrenching. Let me know what you think when you finish it."Oh good. Well, I will. Let you know, that is.
I finished The Furies of Calderon (my review) yesterday and will continue absorbing the second half of The Fugitive Prince.
I am reading Swan Song byRobert R. McCammon the comparisons to The Stand are valid, yet this is much more of a page turner, it's not high art but it's compelling.
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I just started Imager's Intrigue, book 3 in the Imager Portfolio by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. So far, about 100 pages in, it's just as good as the first 2 in the series.
I was reading (slowly) Timothy Zhan's "Odd girl out" 3rd in the Frank Compton series but I got caught in Torrents of rain the other day and for a block I had to run,it rained so hard my book was water damaged and I'm waiting for it to dry out. Ok, my book got dried out sooner then I expected. I'm back with "Odd girl out"
I'm still waiting for The Curse of the Mistwraith to come in the mail and in the meantime am reading non scifi books. I finished Cat of the Century and was extremely disappointed; I've always loved her Mrs Murphy mysteries but don't like having to wade through political diatribe while reading. In the future, I'll check the Goodreads reviews before getting her books (many agreed with my unhappiness with RMB)
After an a great read with Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon I am onto The Honor of the Queen by David Weber
Sandi wrote: "I'm trying to get through Light, I think I'm almost halfway. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I downloaded Kraken and that book is much more interesting. It has a compr..."Hmmm, Kraken, it just seems so right for China Miéville touch.
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I just finished The Silent Sea another action book from Clive Cussler. I really think most of his books should be sub-titled "if anything can go wrong, it will...but I will overcome it". I'm dismayed to see the ongoing discussion about The Curse of the Mistwraith as my copy still hasn't arrived (I had it mailed by pony express and they have to catch and tame the ponies)
Christine wrote: "I just finished The Silent Sea another action book from Clive Cussler. I really think most of his books should be sub-titled "if anything can go wrong, it will...but I will overcome..."Christine, the in depth pace ought to make it easy for you to catch up, and when you get to the early stages, I will still be there for you. (I'd help catch and tame the ponies, know a bit about that - grin) - may your copy arrive soon, and not get mis-routed by way of the Yak express.
I have a neighborhood book club read to shove through, then likely I will pick up Deceiver as my next in line read.
I picked up The Gaslight Dogs from the hold shelf at the library yesterday. And I must read The Rainbow over the weekend as I have a real life book club meeting Tuesday night to discuss it. I should finished Fugitive Prince today or tomorrow and I'll continue my in-depth re-read of Curse of the Mistwraith.
I just finished the third book in the first Foreigner trilogy, Inheritor, and I must say it was terrific. Very enjoyable. I found myself siding with the hero Bren with the aliens against the humans. Bad lot, those humans, lol.I'm not sure what I'll read next. A lot of people are nagging me to read The Lions of al-Rassan but I think I'll take a little break and proceed on my reread of The Curse of the Mistwraith as there's a lot of interesting discussion going on in that thread and it's prodding me to hurry up and re read. I'm also finishing up the audio version of Tigana.
Jon, hope you enjoy The Gaslight Dogs. I thought it was great, very very well written. Fingers crossed there's another coming.
Sandra AKA Sleo wrote: "I just finished the third book in the first Foreigner trilogy, Inheritor, and I must say it was terrific. Very enjoyable. I found myself siding with the hero Bren with the aliens aga..."The way Cherryh handles the interface of the mass human view, and politics - and a juggernaut scary situation with these aliens - very astute and chilling! And the series only gets better.
And yes, I want the sequel to Gaslight Dogs, too. I really want to know where Lowachee is going to take this. The next month's discussion on this book could be extremely interesting. The conflicts were so graphically edgy and stark.
I just finished Changes and Kraken. I finished listening to the audio book of The Sacrifice that was a free book on Audible. (They posted the freebie to Twitter and someone in one of my groups shared the link.) I liked it well enough, but it was really long and the first of five volumes. I don't think I'll read or listen to the rest. Too much time.I'm now reading His Majesty's Dragon. It's one that I wasn't going to read, but B&N offered it free a couple of weeks ago and I think everyone I know on GoodReads has read it.
I'm finishing up The Ghost Brigades and then on to The Curse of the Mistwraith which finally arrived two weeks after being mailed (guess they tamed the ponies but one went lame). Today I checked out a local used bookstore which sells books by the pound ($1/pound). I picked up The Masters of Solitude which looks interesting (free as the first book is free regardless if you buy any books at all). Has anyone on this list read this book?
Christine wrote: "I'm finishing up The Ghost Brigades and then on to The Curse of the Mistwraith which finally arrived two weeks after being mailed (guess they tamed the ponies but one wen..."Christine - wow, yes, indeed, what a blast from the past! I have fond memories of this book (and its one sequel) that brought out the very best of two gifted writers. This is one of the very rare books written by men that presents the women's view extremely well.
I don't know how this would hold up on a re-read for me today, but the very fact I recall details from it at all is quite significant.
Let me know how you get on with it.
I just finished The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. I loved it. A great series so far. Now I'm reading Hell House by Richard Matheson. Looking forward to it.
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Also borrowed a novel about a woman with Alzheimer's disease, with much of the book from her perspective. My husband said it had a lot of good insight and since I am primary long-distance caregiver for my dad who has the disease, I thought it might be helpful. So I will be squeezing that in-between the 2 series I'm reading.
I just finished China Mieville's The City and the City, Mendoza in Hollywood, and The Curse of the Mistwraith. I tried best I could to stay with the three sections a week, but each time I got to the end of the three and there were those brief sentences that left me thinking about what they might mean, I just couldn't stop reading. Maybe with the next book in the series, I can pull off reading it more slowly. Now it's on to either Sawyer's WWW or Wilson's Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America.
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(Also, Julian Comstock is great - highly recommended!)
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We are getting ready to leave on our belated honeymoon next week, going to Europe for 3 weeks, can't wait! I have to figure out which books are coming with me, because heaven forbid I run out of reading material while I'm away from my bookshelves...
Shel wrote: "I've finally finished The Curse of the Mistwraith, and, well, wow. :) I need something completely different to follow that up, so I'm now about to pick up [book:Summon the Keeper|60738..."Fear of running out of reading material led me to getting my eReader; if I have my laptop along, I can DL books from my library 24/7 from anywhere...
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Finished (a couple of days ago) Fugitive Prince (my review) ahead of an in-depth online discussion next month. It doesn't look like I'm going to finish The Rainbow before this evening's real-life book club discussion. I'll continue re-reading The Curse of the Mistwraith and start The Gaslight Dogs this week.
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Lugging books on trips also makes me jealous of those with e-readers of some kind. But I've invested so much in books that I can't justify it right now.
ENJOY your trip!!
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This alternate history is chock-full of unusual ideas and interesting characters, from a pre-teen Ben Franklin to King Louis XIV of France. The mix of science and alchemy, natural and supernatural, knowledge and instinct is what kept my mind occupied and the pages turning.
One of the things I really liked is that no one is blameless. The characters, even when acting in good faith, do dangerous things with unseen consequences. There are agents and spies playing both sides of the game, especially in the story sequences in France. Lots of shades of gray in both the characters and their motivations and actions.
This is the first book in The Age of Unreason series and, as such, does not have a neat conclusion. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds from here.
But I will have to wait because it's back to Janny's book (I've only read the first 3 chapter sets).
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Of course, it may be that it just suffered in comparison to The Curse of the Mistwraith :) Either way, I doubt I'll read more in the series.
Next up is Naamah's Kiss. REALLY excited for this one since the two Kushiel trilogies are among my absolute favorite books.
I finished Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang yesterday and deciding I was in an apocalyptic kind of mood, started Scatterlings by Isobelle Carmody. I think it's a children's book really, so I'm figuring it won't take me too long to read. I really like her Obernewtyn series, but I'm saving the last book I have of that at least until there's a firm publication date for the last book.
Laurel, yes I did. My review is here (if I did the link right; if not try here on my blog instead). It's a fraction spoilerly on themes, but not really on plot.
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I would not say it's a real cliffhanger. A number of things are resolved but new issues are raised and it didn't feel like a conclusion in any real sense.
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Beyond Reality
Books mentioned in this topic
61 Hours (other topics)Naamah's Kiss (other topics)
Replay (other topics)
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (other topics)
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Isobelle Carmody (other topics)Greg Keyes (other topics)
Kelly Link (other topics)
L.E. Modesitt Jr. (other topics)
China Miéville (other topics)
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