What are you reading in August 2010?

[Benjamin]

No offense, but I think speculating on whether an author will keel over before finishing a series is somewhat in bad taste.

I read The Monarchies of God: Hawkwood and the Kings Pt. 1 by Paul Kearney, an omnibus of the first two books in the Monarchies of God series. It's my first re-read of the series and just as good as I remember.

I also read The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang. It was decent, but it didn't blow me away. Maybe I'm just too familiar with software and programming to be able to get into it.

[Ron]

Have now read The Affinity Bridge. One of--though not THE worst book I've read this year.

And have just started The Last Light of the Sun.

[Tim Scofield]

I just started reading Gardens of the Moon by Steve Erikson. Lots of characters to keep track of but I'm enjoying it so far.

[E.J.]

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Beniowa79 wrote: "I read City of Thieves by David Benioff the other day and it was a great read.



I loved that."

Trevor wrote: "Finished reading Knife of Dreams yesterday and it was a definite improvement over the previous few books in the series.

I'm now reading Grave Peril by [author:Jim Butch..."

Was a favorte of mine last year.

[Shomeret]

I read Naamah's Curseand was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think that she'd write anything as interesting as the first Kushiel trilogy. I was wrong. This one is quite good.

[[deleted user]]

Finished up the Codex Alera series, which was a decent read all the way through. Started on Broken Angels, though it isn't catching my fancy the way Altered Carbon did.

Will also be reading Mind Games, Darkness that Comes Before, and a few Gaiman books that I have on hand.

And, maybe at some point, I'll finish The Terror. Maybe.

[Rusty]

Ready to begin Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. I love this group. Read such a broad range of fantasy. It's exciting.

[stormhawk]

I just finished Doctor Who: Nuclear Time - Oli Smith

Avoid this book.

I LOVE Doctor Who and all things Whovian. I was a member of the Unearthly Children. I ate Jelly Babies by the box.

This is a very bad book.

[Lara Amber]

Beniowa79 wrote: "No offense, but I think speculating on whether an author will keel over before finishing a series is somewhat in bad taste.

Well there are a lot of reasons an author will leave a series unfinished. Death is just one where there is no coming back. An author can rediscover their passion for a series decades later (Stephen King, The Dark Tower series took 22 years), who knows if Melanie Rawn will EVER continue the Exiles series, but she is around to continue it.

[Paul]

Just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi - first book in while that has grabbed my attention from the start and I "found" the time to read in a few days. Just started re-reading The Hobbit and hope to continue to re-read LOTR..its been 26 years since I last read it

[stormhawk]

Waxwork - Peter Lovesey

just started on another electronic galley, due for publication in January 2011

Double Prey: A Posadas County Mystery - Steven Havill

[Valmore]

Reading "Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher. It's an easy read, and very enjoyable.

[lbuch79]

Beniowa79 wrote: "No offense, but I think speculating on whether an author will keel over before finishing a series is somewhat in bad taste.

None taken. I had no intention of it being in good taste. I find that making sure everything i say is in good taste is such a bore and a complete waste of my time and energy. I think i'll just say what i'm thinking. Fact is everyone dies and if he did i'd be heart broken. I'm in love with the series. Maybe i'm more like the Imp in this respect.

[Julia]

I'm currently reading Anathem and loving it. It's rare that a book engages me on such a high intellectual level. I feel like Stephenson really respects my intelligence as a reader. I find myself thinking about the philosophical questions raised by the book a lot, even when I'm not reading.

[stormhawk]

Anathem was the first book that I downloaded for my Kindle. I loved it. I love books that make me try to figure things out ... gave me the courage to tackle The Baroque Cycle!

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I loved Anathem. It's one of the things that has me considering making the leap from dead tree to pixelware. (I've already worn out one hardcover copy of it, and it's unlikely to be particularly durable in paperback form.)

I'm almost done with A Terrible Splendor. If you are a tennis geek, this will probably be right up your alley, especially if you like popular history. It's pretty well done. (That may seem like damning with faint praise, but frankly, a lot of books that mix sports and popular history are absolute crap. This one's not.)

[Hilary]

I'm tired of wading through New Moon (too schlucky for my tastes at the moment) and decided to go classical; deep, deep classical: The Aenid by Virgil. I have never read a classical epic poem but holy macaroni, its got it all: spiteful gods, terrific action, the sack of Troy, betrayal and lust. And its only 2100 years old!

[Hilary]

Pat wrote: "I just started Ender's Game. The writing is awful, but I'll give it more time to see if it improves."

Sorry to hear that Pat. I ranked Enders Game as one of the all time greats of Sci-Fi literature; kind of a Lord of the Flies meets Star Wars kind of thing. I hope you find it more engaging. Good for you to stick with something to see if it improves. I found Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series very slow moving but ultimately rewarding. However, I've pretty much given up on New Moon because of the icky writing so I feel your pain!

[[deleted user]]

Gah. Was in the bookstore and saw this: The Desert Spear and just had to grab it.

I need to stop going to the bookstore...

[Julia]

Just finished Nightlifelast night by Rob Thurman. Enjoyed it a lot.

Now I'm rereading To Kill a Mockingbird then Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee and I am Scout and then Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm leading a discussion of TKaM next week at my library...

[Laurel]

Julia, that sounds like an amazing night! Let us know how it goes.

[[deleted user]]

Finished House of Suns
Started Boneshaker
Started Longitude

[Benjamin]

I finished Spellwright by Blake Charlton. Frankly, the writing could be a little stronger, but I like how Charlton plays with the whole prophecy cliche and that the main character has a disability making it difficult for him to do magic. I'm interested enough to read more.

[Jon]

I started The Shining Company yesterday after finishing Same Kind of Different As Me (my review). Once my daughter returns to Texas, I'll continue my in-depth re-reading of The Curse of the Mistwraith.

Other books I finished this week included The Emerald storm (my review) and Power Surge (my review).

I'm waiting for my signed copy of The Way of Kings to arrive; so in the meantime I'm reading through my borrowed shelf to return books to friends who loaned them to me months ago.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I read Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery after someone in this thread mentioned it ... not bad. The Scott Lynch and Tanith Lee stories were probably the ones I liked the most.

Now I'm re-reading The King of Elfland's Daughter. (Oh, and I read The Door Through Space after stumbling on a cheap copy at a local HPB. More proto-Darkover.)

[Mike]

I'm reading Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb and I have liked it pretty well so far. There really isn't as much action as I would typically like to see and yet when I start reading, I have a really hard time putting it down.

[Jed]

Among others, and while holding my breath for Mockingjay (book 3 of The Hunger Games) to arrive on 8/24, I re-read a really obscure book that I want to highly recommend:Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do
This is GREAT - bizarre characters, action driven future writing and I rate this up there with Altered Carbon and The Skinner. It has lots of typos which annoys amateur editors like myself but it's worth it.

[Arthur]

I finished The Last Unicorn
My review

and started
So far, not bad, although a bit too light...

[Benjamin]

I just finished Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal this afternoon. Having read some of Kowal's short stories, this debut novel doesn't feel like it really plays to her strengths. It's still a good start to what will hopefully be a long career.

[stormhawk]

While the Savage Sleeps - Andrew E. Kaufman

[Emily]

Read The Missing by Shiloh Walker. Ick. Wasn't a fan.
Currently reading A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom. I find it interesting, even though I don't normally read non-fiction.
Re-read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins... can't wait for Mockingjay!
Read Pawn of Prophecy by Eddings for the first time. Can't believe I hadn't before. It was cute and entertaining.
Also currently reading Mistborn: The Final Empire.

[Shomeret]

I am just about to start the Native American fantasy novel Zadayi Red.

[Frank]

Emily wrote: "Read The Missing by Shiloh Walker. Ick. Wasn't a fan.
Currently reading A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom. I find it interesting, even though I don't normally read ..."

Did you read all the books in The Belgariad series. Emily. There are 10 in all I believe. (2-5 booked series). If you liked them you should try his other series that starts with The Diamond Throne. Hope you enjoy!!!!

[stormhawk]

just started Boneshaker.

[Emily]

Fred wrote: "Emily wrote: "Read The Missing by Shiloh Walker. Ick. Wasn't a fan.
Currently reading A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom. I find it interesting, even though I don't ..."

I've only read the first so far! I work at a bookstore, and was recommending things to one of my customers, and they in turn recommended the Belgariad to me. I'm glad they did!

[Kimg]

I finally started to read The Dreaming Void seriously now that I have time after I browsed in it a few months ago.
Also trying to finish Wintersmith, only a few pages to go.

[Jon]

Last week I finished The Shining Company (my review) and The Quiet Invasion (my review). This morning I picked up Song of the Beast and I'll continue my in-depth re-reading of The Curse of the Mistwraith.

Later this week, I'll post some of my August reads in my Bookmooch Inventory. I'll be clearing out some of that inventory to donate to my local library's fall book sale.

[Sandra]

Somehow lost track of this thread. I finished The Lions of al-Rassan last night. Can't decide what to read next, as it was so intense I'm a little wrong out.

[Heidi]

I know I'm late to the game, but I've been quickly working my way through the Greg Keye's Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series. I've just started the last, The Born Queen. I got hooked on Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series last summer and since who knows if we'll ever see the next installment, I looked for something similar. I think I like Martin better, but Keyes was/is enjoyable.

[Laurel]

Sandra, did you enjoy Lions? Its one of my all time favorites - I'm curious to know what you thought?

[Sandra]

Laurel wrote: "Sandra, did you enjoy Lions? Its one of my all time favorites - I'm curious to know what you thought?"

I'm not sure if 'enjoy' is the right word, but I was certainly involved. I complained through the first half about Kay's POV shifts, his bird's eye view of the world. It took me a little while, as usual in Kay's books, to find characters I engaged with. But then, boy! He grabbed me by the throat, tore my heart out of my chest, and in the end left me so sad. And even then he doesn't let you know who died until the very last minute. I guess I'll have to list it very high on my favorite list.

I'm still sad even telling about it.

[Laurel]

I'm sending you a hug.

[Sandra]

Laurel wrote: "I'm sending you a hug."

LOL, thanks.

[Benjamin]

I read The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. It was good, though it had just a touch too much absurdity. Plus, there was a plot twist two-thirds of the way through that pissed me off a bit.

[Steve]

I know the month is nearly over, but I'm new to the group. I'm about half way through Gate of Ivrel by C.J. Cherryh. So far, a terrific read.

[Gemma]

Beniowa79 wrote: "I read The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway. It was good, though it had just a touch too much absurdity. Plus, there was a plot twist two-thirds of the way through t..."

I loved the Gone-Away World! Once i'd finished it at least. At every plot twist I thought I didn't like the way things were going, but I thought it was very well brought together in the end.

[Benjamin]

Gemma wrote: I loved the Gone-Away World! Once i'd finished it at least. At every plot twist I thought I didn't like the way things were going, but I thought it was very well brought together in the end.

I should mention that the absurdest quality did make it a bit interesting and I did enjoy that. And I did get back into it after the twist. I just felt the book could have used a little editing.