What are you reading in December 2010?

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Please let us know what you're reading this month!

[Dawn]

I'm about 80% done with the first Mistborn book (Mistborn: The Final Empire), and I absolutely love it so far. After I finish I'll move to do the other two in the trilogy. Then, I'm planning on doing a reread of all seven Harry Potter books. Should be a busy reading month for me!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I really like the Mistborn books--they were my first introduction to Sanderson's work.

Having seen Part 2 of Harry Potter 7, I think rereading those books is going to be on my list, too.

[Dawn]

My only other Sanderson experience is through the Wheel of Time books. He's quickly becoming a favorite for me though!

[Jon]

For December, I've got so many fantastic reads to enjoy for my book clubs. I requested Ship of Magic from the library this morning. I started Against All Things Ending, which I have to finish in a flash because it's due back to the library next Tuesday. The rest of my December reads can be found on my current-month book shelf.

[Christine]

@ Jon, I was very frustrated with Thomas Covenant in the first trilogy; this was one of the few books I felt like throwing against the wall. I go so tired of his continued whining about not being able to save the world (I think he felt he was unworthy??). I haven't read any TC books since that series. Does he get better in thie series???

[Janny]

Christine wrote: "@ Jon, I was very frustrated with Thomas Covenant in the first trilogy; this was one of the few books I felt like throwing against the wall. I go so tired of his continued whining about not being ..."

I finished the first two trilogies from sheer anger, at the One Scene - you have to read the ending. Maddening as it is....Donaldson doesn't waste effort.

[Phoenixfalls]

I have a big month ahead to catch up after NaNoWriMo and finish off my challenges by the end of the year!

Currently Reading


Must Read in December


Potential Reads (if I read the above list)

[Candiss]

I'm scrambling to finish challenges, too, Phoenixfalls.

I'm currently reading Petty Magic: Being the Memoirs and Confessions of Miss Evelyn Harbinger, Temptress and Troublemaker. (This is terribly funny and charming, with a [mostly] sensible magic system that seems [mostly] practical and realistic. I have a real soft spot for elder protagonists, especially in SF/F.) I'm also still nibbling through Journey by Moonlight. I really like it, but I've been reading it forever. I find I read a few pages and have to stop, as I become all daydreamy about various references and places, etc.

This weekend, I hope to start Under Heaven, for which I'm very excited as it's my first G.G. Kay, and I checked out of the library the audiobook of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (I am not a big audiobook person, but if I can find a full-cast recording or really inspired reading, I like to have one around to listen to while baking or doing housework, etc. It makes things nicer and gets more books in. This is a newish experiment for me, and it's working well so far.)

After that, I will read Orlando, a classic with strong speculative elements that I have been meaning to read for, oh, 20 years.

Beyond that, I have a dozen various challenge books I'd love to get to by the end of the month, and I'm hoping to get another 5 or so in, but I am only going to commit myself to the above list and see how things go from there.

[Shel, Moderator]

Candiss, I was totally blown away by The Book Thief. I will say, though, that it may be worth looking for a physical copy to page through after you finish the audiobook, even if just for a few minutes at a bookstore, because there were several parts of the book that were illustrated and I thought the illustrations really added a lot.

I'm working on Under Heaven, and then planning on reading The Twelve by James Burk, who's a buddy of mine and I'm very excited to read his work!

[Candiss]

Shel - I noticed the nifty illustrations when I flipped through the book some months back. I will definitely take a longer look!

[Michelle]

Currently Reading:
Grand Conspiracy by Janny Wurts
The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson

TBR:
Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson
Probably will read more but don't have any specific plans yet...

Finished with:
Under Heaven by G.G. Kay
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin

[Kerry]

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time yesterday, making it my first December books. I'm now on Grand Conspiracy and while I'd like to read Under Heaven, I'm struggling with trying to read both Wurts and Kay at the same time while also coping with Christmas coming up and the end of the school year.

[Christine]

Today I picked up the following books from the library today so guess I'll be busy this month

Wild Seed
Cure
The Magic of Recluce
Blind Lake
The Art of Racing in the Rain

I'll get started on these once I finish Burndive and Child of the Prophecy

[Phoenixfalls]

Christine wrote: "Today I picked up the following books from the library today so guess I'll be busy this month

Wild Seed"

Wild Seed is EXCELLENT. Definitely one of the top ten books I've read this year. (And I just hit #100!)

[Christine]

I got most of those titles from reading on this group

[Amelia]

After watching the new Harry Potter movie, I decided I needed to reread the books, so everything else got bumped back.

I'm currently on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

I'll read the rest until I get to the seventh one.

After that, who knows. I might have some new books from Christmas by then.

[Shel, Moderator]

I just finished Under Heaven and was originally planning on reading my friend Jim Burk's new book The Twelve next, but after finishing the Kay I don't want to read another fantasy right away; it was one of those books that you need to read something completely different when you finish, otherwise anything remotely similar will suffer by comparison... so I think I'm going to pick up Frank Herbert's The Dosadi Experiment, which my husband has been bugging me to read for a long time - it's his favorite Herbert book (even above Dune) so I've got high expectations!

[Ken]

Finished with Kay`s Under Heaven. I liked the book but it was not one of his better books

I started in on WWW: Watch

[Laurel]

December is all about Christmas trees, time with family, a little too much food... It's all meant to be wholesome and peaceful. So, my theme for the month is to read books by favorite authors - apple pie for the book lovers soul!

Ship of Magic
War of Honor
Borders of Infinity
Peril's Gate

It's going to be a great month!!!

[Shel, Moderator]

Laurel wrote: "December is all about Christmas trees, time with family, a little too much food... It's all meant to be wholesome and peaceful. So, my theme for the month is to read books by favorite authors - a..."

Nice :)

I have to say, the Liveship Traders trilogy have been my least favorite of Robin Hobb's books. I read them all because I loved the Farseer trilogy SO MUCH but ended up being disappointed. But then she returned to form with the Tawny Man trilogy so she still remains a favorite of mine...

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I finished Pathfinder, a YA SF/fantasy novel by Orson Scott Card. For a YA novel, I thought it was excellent.
Right now I'm starting on The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, the sequel to our February Fantasy Book of the Month, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (although so far it seems to be an almost completely separate story with new characters, but set in the same world and after the events of the first book).

[Stuart]

I am reading Saturn's Children by Charles Stross

[Nick]

I'm reading Starship by Brian W. Aldiss -- a crack at 1950's scifi.

[Ken]

Finished Sawyer's Watch, pretty good, very much a middle book of a Trilogy

Was going to wait it out but it was calling my name. Started the second to last WOT book Towers of Midnight. Its quite a LARGE tome

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished reading The Dosadi Experiment yesterday. Very much in the same style as Dune; I thought Dune was better, but this was still excellent. I always have to make a certain mental adjustment in my expectations when I pick up a Frank Herbert book. I have to go into it knowing that it's more a book about ideas than about characters. Generally this kind of writing turns me off, because strongly defined characters are important to me, but Herbert is so good at what he does that I can get past the lack of characterization to appreciate the meat of what he writes about.

In this case, Herbert takes "survival of the fittest" to new extremes. I definitely would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Dune.

Next up: The Twelve by James Burk.

[Laurel]

I just finished Ship of Magic, and had thought to move on to Dune or Peril's Gate... I obviously wasn't thinking. You can't read one Robin Hobb book and then ignore the rest. They're entirely too addictive. Mad Ship is next on my list!

I really do mean to read Dune someday, and very much want to get back to Janny's series. There's just so much to read!!

[Abigail]

I finished Soulless last week. This week I'm reading Graywalker and when I'm done I'm going to read the Chronicles of Narnia.

@Laurel: Dune is an awesome book! I also really like Janny's writing. Good luck with them!

[Sandra]

I have quite a reading list this month, but doubt I'll get to them all. Am currently readingUnder Heaven and enjoying it immensely. Enchanted by Kay's lyrical prose and the oriental feel of it - peace and beauty, short bursts of intensity and violence. Fabulous.

I just reread Traitor's Knot, listened to Frederica - delightful, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - non-stop silliness that ultimately bored me, with occasional moments of true hilarity. I plan a reread of Dunnett's Queens' Play, and The Death of the Necromancer (first time) as well as a lot of other stuff.

I no longer do much for the holidays so don't anticipate much interruption for that, thank goodness, but there will be some, of course.

[Bookbrow]

Laurel wrote: "December is all about Christmas trees, time with family, a little too much food... It's all meant to be wholesome and peaceful. So, my theme for the month is to read books by favorite authors - a..."

Hey Laurel remember when you warned me about how addictive those Weber Honorverse books are, well I am just starting Echoes of Honor (#8) It looks like I am going to have to savour the last few books. Also reading James Hogan's giants series. Trying to reach 40 books but I think I may have to read some slim 50s volumes in order to make that amount. I think I also need to finish the Robin Hobb series that I started in the summer, fantasy beckons.

[Brainycat]

I'm almost an eighth of the way through Spin State and I'm really into it; I really like the protagonist. She reminds me of Takeshi Kovacs from the Altered Carbon series and Sarah from Hardwired.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I've been buying books like crazy lately, we'll see what happens when I get there.

[Ron]

Brainycat wrote: "I'm almost an eighth of the way through Spin State and I'm really into it; I really like the protagonist. She reminds me of Takeshi Kovacs from the Altered Carbon series a..."

That's Chris Moriarty, no? She's very good; You'll probably like 'Spin Control' as well. her blog said she was at work on a third novel, but that's some time ago; she must have a life or something....

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished The Twelve the other day - quite a quick read - and I definitely would recommend it, even if the author weren't a friend :) For what it is, it's very well-done. It's not a big emotional heartbreaker or a detailed fantasy epic or a funny satire, and it doesn't pretend to be. What it is is an interesting take on archetypes vs. individuals, and I really enjoyed it.

I'm taking a break from fiction right now, just started The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature by Daniel Levitin (I really enjoyed his first book, This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession). I think Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett is next, to finish up her Niccolo series, then I'll be back to our series read with Grand Conspiracy, which ought to have arrived in the mail by then :)

[Christine]

I'm getting ready for a trip to NZ just after Christmas so am stocking up on library books for my eReader. In the meantime, I have about 7 books on my shelf so must be more selective about what to read before I go. I dropped Cure in favor of The Art of Racing in the Rain which I am enjoying and recommend to everyone (especially those who live with dogs)

[Kara]

Been listening to the Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set this month.
Also read The Warded Man, and Storm Glass, and am currently making my way through Sea Glass. To be followed by Dreams of the Ringed Vale and/or The Lies of Locke Lamora. Then I've got this huge and exciting list for 2011, woot!

[Ken]

Christine wrote: "I'm getting ready for a trip to NZ just after Christmas so am stocking up on library books for my eReader. "
One of my quirks is that I always try to buy a book from whatever foreign land I am in. Usually ends up being a Non Fiction book for some reason though, Strange.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I've been reading Pump Six and Other Stories, a great collection of short stories by Paolo Bacigalupi. Two of the stories are set in the same world as his novel The Windup Girl, and one of them features one of that book's characters.

[Dirk]

Phoenixfalls wrote: "I have a big month ahead to catch up after NaNoWriMo and finish off my challenges by the end of the year!..

How the heck do you guys read up to 12 (or even more) books in one month?? I'm happy if I can manage a book a week, which obviously means I read four to five books a month. Sometimes three. I don't think I'm a slow reader but I must be doing something wrong...

I just finished Hyperion and I am gearing up to finish Downbelow Station (Company Wars, #3). Hopefully before the end of the year. Hopefully.

[Phoenixfalls]

Dirk wrote: "How the heck do you guys read up to 12 (or even more) books in one month?? I'm happy if I can manage a book a week, which obviously means I read four to five books a month. Sometimes three. I don't think I'm a slow reader but I must be doing something wrong..."

Well. . . I read upwards of a page a minute, so an average say 350 page novel takes around five hours, which is easy for me to do in a sitting. (I have a long attention span.) But the real secret is just be unemployed! Best thing to ever happen to my reading production. . . ;)

[Candiss]

I've been reading The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente. It's a beautiful book, very heavy at times, and fearlessly unusual. The author's imaginative range is astonishing. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Valente shortlisted for the Hugo again this year. (As much as I loved Palimpsest, I thought the win for The City & The City was justified. But "The Habitation of the Blessed" is really a rare beast.)

[Dirk]

Nick wrote: "I'm reading Starship by Brian W. Aldiss -- a crack at 1950's scifi."

Is this also known as Non-Stop? I read Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss a few years back and loved it!

[Shel, Moderator]

Dirk wrote: "I just finished Hyperion and I am gearing up to finish Downbelow Station (Company Wars, #3). Hopefully before the end of the year. Hopefully."

Hyperion is one of my all-time favorites, but I know not everyone has the same reaction - what did you think?

(I'm happily involved in Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett)

[Sandra]

Shel wrote: "Dirk wrote: "I just finished Hyperion and I am gearing up to finish Downbelow Station (Company Wars, #3). Hopefully before the end of the year. Hopefully."

Hyperion is one of my all-time favorites..."

Ah, will you be finished with House of Niccolo then? I haven't started it yet as I am still so enthralled with Francis Crawford I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. Am going to read King Hereafter next month with the DDANZ group over on yahoo, finish rereading the Lymond Chronicles and then maybe do House of Niccolo. I'm happy as a hog in slop in the world of DD.

[Dirk]

Shel wrote:
Hyperion is one of my all-time favorites..."

I really liked Hyperion. A lot. The only other Simmons I had read before Hyperion was Summer of Night, which is a horror tale in the vein of Stephen King's 'It'.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Dirk wrote: "How the heck do you guys read up to 12 (or even more) books in one month?? I'm happy if I can manage a book a week, which obviously means I read four to five books a month. Sometimes three. I don't think I'm a slow reader but I must be doing something wrong..."

I'm with you, Dirk. If I were having a "normal" year, whatever that is, I would average a book a week. 50 books a year is my usual goal. But I have been reading (or rather, not finding time to read) the same book for 2 months now.

I think the people who read on their commute have an advantage, or people who have more than one book going at a time, like a print book and an audio book.

I really have no excuse, since I'm retired, but I'm busy with volunteering, caregiving, and other real life stuff that really has gotten in the way of my reading this year.

My new year's resolution is to cut back on some things and re-prioritize my time & energy, and I've already started working on that. :-)

[Shel, Moderator]

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Shel wrote: "Dirk wrote: "I just finished Hyperion and I am gearing up to finish Downbelow Station (Company Wars, #3). Hopefully before the end of the year. Hopefully."

Hyperion is one of my all-t..."

Yup, it's the last of the Niccolo books. I have King Hereafter sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me, too!

I know how you feel about not wanting to start right away, though; I loved Francis Crawford so much that when I started Niccolo Rising I really was missing him. Niccolo has grown on me, though; Lymond is still my favorite, but I'm a little in love with Niccolo too ;)

[Nick]

Dirk wrote: "Nick wrote: "I'm reading Starship by Brian W. Aldiss -- a crack at 1950's scifi."

Is this also known as Non-Stop? I read Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss a few years back and ..."

Yes. Starship and Non-Stop are the same novel. Non-Stop is a re-do in which Aldiss tweaked a few words on a few pages.

[Emma]

Currently reading Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder.
Fun and lightweight, at least so far.

[Ken]

Dirk wrote: "How the heck do you guys read up to 12 (or even more) books in one ..."

When I first started working I spent and hour and half one way commuting so I used to read a book every couple of days. The one time where my TBR was quite manageable. Then I got married, had kids and reading took a dive. In the last 10 years I have spent 6 to 8 months commuting to work on a bicycle and now I am around 1 to 2 books a month. I mostly read for about a half an hour before I sleep. This last year I have only read maybe 4 really interesting books. I tend to go past my 30min window at night.

[Dirk]

Ken wrote:
When I first started working I spent and hour and half one way commuting so I used to read a book every couple ..."

The younger generation has a bit of an advantage, especially insofar as number of books read is concerned. I only joined goodreads last year, and I obviously can't remember half the books I read as a kid. My number of books read is only representative of the last, say, six years or so, really. There are exceptions of course, where I remembered specific books, like The Wind in the Willows, which really made an impression on me back in the days.