What are you currently reading in 4/11?

[Benjamin]

I just finished The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham.

Next up is The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones.

[Aloha]

Thanks, Nikki. Joel gave a scathing review of it. Do you agree with is review?

Snail in Danger (Nikki) wrote: "I just finished The Adventure of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle. (Aloha, you should take a look at that one.) Also re-read My Name Is Asher Lev and [book:The City & The ..."

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I had fun with it. Is it terribly deep - no. But it was a fun bit of popcorn with an unexpectedly bloody ending when I got up early this morning. Of course, I also didn't pay $stupid for a limited edition copy, which I suspect may be the source of some of that reviewer's grumpiness. (I got a copy from a local library.)

[Aloha]

I'll have to get it from the local library so I won't get grumpy if I don't like it. LOL

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Yes ... I almost always borrow things from the library to test drive them. :P Been bitten one too many times even by books from authors whose work I'd really enjoyed in the past.

[Maggie]

I found some good reads at the library today...All the Windwracked Stars and The Warded Man

[[deleted user]]

Warded Man is good stuffs

[Maggie]

I am excited about both of them

[Benjamin]

I've started test-driving books from the library as well. I can always buy them later if I really want them.

[Terence]

I've started Anthony Huso's The Last Page and will be reading Witches on the Road Tonight and/or The Mammoth Cheese, both by Sheri Holman. I've never read anything by her before so if I don't like one of the novels, I'll probably not be reading the other. I've never read anything by Huso either (makes sense - this is his first novel) and am still reserving judgment but so far it's been OK.

In nonfiction, I'm reading The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy - fascinating character and historical period (late Republican Rome) but not very good execution, unfortunately.

Tidbit for fans of the Malazan Empire: The massacre of 80,000 Roman & Italian citizens in 88 BC reads a lot like the beginning of the Whirlwind's Rebellion, except they didn't have a Coltaine to save them.

[Scott]

I finished Storm Front this morning. This was any easy, quick read. Very enjoyable.

I'm going to start A Game of Thrones so that I have at least the first one done by the time the series starts.

[[deleted user]]

Feel free to join in on the ongoing Game of Thrones discussion we've got here, Scott. :)

[Caleigh]

Rusty: Ooooohhh Graceling! Loved it.

Right now reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, but I've got a big line-up:

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
Hidden Cities by Daniel Fox
The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick
Raven's Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

Hmm ... I think I see an absence of female writers here. Time to go find some recommendations!

[Scott]

Ala wrote: "Feel free to join in on the ongoing Game of Thrones discussion we've got here, Scott. :)"

I appreciate the invite. I just looked at the first section and apparently, at some point, someone must have posted a major spoiler. Luckily, it has already been removed. I guess being slow on reading this paid off. :)

[[deleted user]]

Well, you know what they say... the slow tortoise shot the fast hare in the face then took his wallet.

Or something like that.

[Julia]

I'm directing "To Kill a Mockingbird" next weekend so I'm rereading for at least the fourth time To Kill a Mockingbird and A Hundred Words for Hate.

[Genia]

Oh, you can mention non sci-fi stuff? I'm reading Gibbon's The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire - only chunks thereof mostly, though. I am also reading Dorothy Sayers and her Peter Wimsey books, and the fifth book in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series Caesar.

[Aileen]

Just finished Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn vol 1 and have purchased vol 2. Liking it a lot.

[[deleted user]]

Genia, you can mention anything you're currently reading :)

[Lara Amber]

Ala wrote: "Genia, you can mention anything you're currently reading :)"

Yep, half the fun is seeing the full spectrum of what people read.

[[deleted user]]

Picked up Unfamiliar Fishes today, looks to be a quick and fun read.

[Weenie]

Just started Kate Elliott's Traitors' Gate

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Ala wrote: "Picked up Unfamiliar Fishes today, looks to be a quick and fun read."

Let us know how it is. I have it on my Nook, but it's not terribly high up my TBR right now.

[Genia]

Ala wrote: "Genia, you can mention anything you're currently reading :)"

The answer to that is: anything, if it has letters in it.

[Benjamin]

Last night I finished The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. This book was a fun sword-and-sorcery adventure yarn set in 8th Century Baghdad and its environs. Think of the Prince of Persia movie, but more historically accurate and better written.

I'm now reading Wolf HallHilary Mantel.

[Trevor]

So far this month I've read Enchanters' End Game - It didn't work well for me at all. I gave it 2/5 stars.

Ysabel - This was my first Guy Gavriel Kay book and, though it had some flaws, I enjoyed it a lot. 4/5 stars.

Angel's Game - This one wasn't quite as good as the first but still very enjoyable. 4/5 stars.

I'm now reading Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan

[Sandy]

It took me most of March to slog through The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I was really disappointed in it, as I'd enjoyed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and many others spoke highly about it. Tastes differ...

[Kevin]

Sandy wrote: "It took me most of March to slog through The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I was really disappointed in it, as I'd enjoyed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and ma..."

For me, and some others that I know, the problem with The Yiddish Policeman's Union was trying to follow the language that he creates for the book.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Benjamin wrote: "Last night I finished The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. This book was a fun sword-and-sorcery adventure yarn set in 8th Century Baghdad and its environs. T..."

I really enjoyed Wolf Hall.

[Rusty]

I enjoyed Wolf Hall, too. Glad to see others feeling the same!

[Genia]

Wolf Hall was an excellent book, but I also really enjoyed The Yiddish Policemen's Union. The "language" was no real barrier for me, as such, but I admit I come from the right sort of background for it.

[Rachel]

This morning I started Red Seas Under Red Skies (the Locke Lamora sequel). Haven't read enough yet to have an opinion.

I'm also reading a lot of academic papers at the moment...

[Julia]

Kevin wrote: For me, and some others that I know, the problem with was trying to follow the language that he creates for the book.

For me, a huge part of the fun was the language. Now, 150 or so years ago I was fluent in Hebrew and pretty much had memorized. So I got that a gun was a sholem "peace" or peacemaker.

[Genia]

Being fluent in Hebrew and knowing Ashkenazi inflections as well as studying Yiddish for four years did help, I admit. And knowing how Jewish humour works. And familiarity with noir detective books, which the Yiddish Policemen's Union was spoofing - well, rather say, paying homage to - left and right.

Actually, to be honest, I think out of all of these, the familiarity with noir detective works and film noir was the biggest factor, because while Chabon was not sparing the Yiddishisms, he was also trying to make the work not be completely opaque to the standard American public, but he definitely was writing in the noir genre style. It was just Jewish noir.

[Chris]

Just scored the following Science Fiction classics at the local thrift store for about four dollars total:

Heinlein, Double Star
Asimov, I, Robot
Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Robinson, Red Mars and Green Mars
Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet
Card, Speaker for the Dead
Spinnard, Bug Jack Barron

I will try to add these to my April readings

[Genia]

Double Star was so much fun.

[[deleted user]]

Published, Unpublished, written on a napkin... whatever. :P

[Becca]

Chris wrote: "Just scored the following Science Fiction classics at the local thrift store for about four dollars total:

Heinlein, Double Star
Asimov, I, Robot
Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
Atwood, The Handmaid'..."

The Handmaid's Tale is one of my all-time favorites. Good choices!

I'm reading Dune this month, as I'm a Dune noob. Loving it so far.

[Trevor]

I finished up Thirteen and liked it a lot. I'll definitely be checking out more of Morgan's work in the future.

Next will be Palimpsest and I hope it's as good as The Orphan's Tales were.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Just finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. I was shocked at how good I thought it was.

[Julia]

I've finished To Kill a Mockingbird and A Hundred Words for Hate. Now I'm reading a 290 page coffee table size book of various slayers (including Buffy) through the ages. It's due back at library today...

[Phoenixfalls]

Trevor wrote: "Next will be Palimpsest and I hope it's as good as The Orphan's Tales were."

I didn't end up liking Palimpsest as much. . . the tone was a little distant for me. . . but I just finished The Habitation of the Blessed and it was WONDERFUL. Except that now I have to wait two years for the rest of the trilogy to be published. . . *shakes fist at slowness of time*

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I am currently reading Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland and it's absolutely terrible and I'm ashamed to admit I'm really enjoying it. Teehee. ;)

[Trevor]

Phoenixfalls wrote: I didn't end up liking Palimpsest as much. . . the tone was a little distant for me. . . ..."

I'm a third of the way in now and it's definitely strange but I pretty much expected that. I haven't decided if I like the book or not but there's no denying how creative Valente is.

I'll probably wait for the The Habitation of the Blessed trilogy to be complete before I read it. It's always good to hear positive feedback though.

[Bill]

Starting Son of the Morning and Other Stories, by Canadian SciFi author

[Evilynn]

Phoenixfalls wrote: "Trevor wrote: "Next will be Palimpsest and I hope it's as good as The Orphan's Tales were."

I didn't end up liking Palimpsest as much. . . the tone was a little distant for me. . . ..."

I OTOH *loved* Palimpsest, even more so than "In The Cities...". I'm holding off on Prester John until the series is complete, I think. Valente is very productive, but I hate having to wait for a series. I think Robert Jordan and George RR Martin beat that out of me... :P

[Trevor]

I finished Palimpsest and it was an uneven read for me. It was genuinely intriguing at times but I had to force myself to keep reading at others. I feel like I should have enjoyed it more than I did, it just never quite hooked me.

Next up is Black Sun Rising which I've heard a lot of good things about.

[Benjamin]

Trevor, I didn't like Palimpsest as much as The Orphan's Tales either. Still good though.

Evilynn, you can always read Deathless while you're waiting. ;)

As for myself, I was finding Wolf Hall a bit slow and meandering so I took a break with After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. It was a good book with a nice twist on the usual superhero story.

Now back to Wolf Hall.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Wolf Hall took me some time to get into, but I ended up really enjoying it.

[Catherine]

I'm listening to Wolf Hall on audio and finding the story line of the first part a bit broken up. It's hard to keep up with what's going on. I don't think it's because I'm listening to it, I think it's because of the author's style. I'll keep going for a while and see if it clears up. If not, I just may have to ditch the book. Life's too short and there are too many books to read to read something I'm not enjoying!