June 2011 - What are you reading?

[Nancy]

Tell us what you are reading this month.

[Jamespc]

I'm starting Samuel Delany's "Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand" today. Hopefully I'll be finishing up Douglas Coupland's "Jpod" and Stephen Fry's "The Liar" soon. Then I'm moving onto "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers, something by Ursula K Le Guin and at least one more book by Patti Smith :)

[Doug]

I am starting Equations of Life. It is a sci fi novel set in post apocalyptic London and so fare features a Russian tech guru keeping his head down and a nun with a rather large weapon. It is the first in a trilogy. I like sci fi sometimes, but not out and out space operas. I like possible futures and techno thrillers. This one looks good.

[Bill, Moderator]

I've read the 2 novels for this month. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is an elegant Delany, but I don't think it will be popular. Counterpoint:Dylan's Story is a superb m/m romance plus much more. A great novel, IMO by a little known author. It's her masterwork and deserves prizes, IMO.

I'm reading a strange old SF not Rogue Moon (which I just discovered on sdfdb.com was a 1961 Hugo finalist) and want to read a gay book next. Not sure which one I'll choose, but I'd like something classy. Suggestions?

I have some catchup to do on Star Wars novels too.

[Ming]

I'm thoroughly enjoying The Book of Salt ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27... ) by Monique Truong. Her writing is beautiful and compelling. The book portrays a gay Vietnamese man who becomes the cook for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris during the 1930's.

To find my next book, I highly recommend http://bookdragon.si.edu/ for folks looking for an inclusive book review site of multi-cultural books. It specializes on Asian Pacific American, South Asian and Asian themes (a rarity) but the reviewer has great insight. It's also a top bookblog blog.

[Doug]

And for some reasong I am listening to Jayne Ann Krentz, and one of her psychic romance suspense series, and it is not half bad. My coworker suggested it.. it makes a fun listen..

[Nancy]

Doug, does your library have a good selection of audio books?

[K.Z.]

Just finished Jim Grimsley's Dream Boy. Gripping, and beautifully written. The last twenty pages, however, left me in a tizzy. (Gah, I hate when I can't be sure what's happening, especially at a story's conclusion!) I had to go to the author's website for closure...and, thank goodness, found it.

[Thomas]

Right now I'm reading With or Without You by Brian Farrey, it's the best young-adult book with gay characters I've read in a while. I'm almost done with it and have loved it so far, I highly recommend it. :)

[Bill, Moderator]

I read Salvation Army last nite, a short one nighter. I'll likely review it this weekend, if Stars in My Pocket... doesn't take me too long. I did a review of Counterpoint:Dylan's Story yesterday, which for GLBT books of this century is my 2nd favorite after At Swim Two Boys. For a better written review read Erastes' review. I agree with her.

I might next start Lev Grossman's novel The Magicians, not sure yet. It seems readers love it or hate it, so it's probably good.

[Doug]

Nancy, we do... they circulate really really well and we have a rather large corner selection of them, both on CD and now we also have the playaways, and that collection is growing by leaps and bounds.. the playaway is a little mp3 player with an audio book already loaded on to it. I like the collection very much... we get almost any new bestseller you can name in audio among other things, and also quite a bit of non fiction. I like to listen to them in the car.

Kernos, I LOVED the magicians and am waiting for the next book due out this summer.

[Wyndslash]

i just finished . it was really good c:

@kernos: i've been meaning to get counterpoint as well, but i'm taking a short break from M/M romances for a while. indulged in too much and now i feel a little sick :D

[Bill, Moderator]

How did you like The Man Who Folded Himself, Wyndslash?

[Wyndslash]

Kernos wrote: "How did you like The Man Who Folded Himself, Wyndslash?"

i really liked it :) it's on sale on amazon :)

[Paul]

Been long absent due to turmoil at work but wanted to put in a very strong rec for an e-short.

If you want a good, quick, sci-fi-y read with a transgendered hero. I highly recommend "Finished" by Christian Young. It's only a buck, it's a fun read!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

[Mtsnow13]

hmm, so far this month I have read the following:

911
Gemini (a little out of comfort zone)
Lovely Wicked (didn't like ending..)
Just For You
Cover Me
Special Delivery
Double Blind
Something About Trevor
Edward Unconditionally
The Long Way Home
State of Mind
The Strongest Shape

and I'm currently reading

True Colors

[Mtsnow13]

Wyndslash wrote: "i just finished . it was really good c:

@kernos: i've been meaning to get counterpoint as well, but i'm taking a short break from M/M romances for a ..."

Wyndslash, I understand completely.. thinking I'm about at that point, too with overindulgence.. have many on my tbr list of just released either historical or paranormal I need to get back to!

[Wyndslash]

@mtsnow: me too, but i decided to just focus on another genre which i used to enjoy (golden age mysteries) ;) plus i found myself spending a lot on romance novels and now i'm getting a little buyer's remorse.

[Bill, Moderator]

I recently finished The Magicians, an adult fantasy that starts off like a Harry Potter parody. Main theme, I think: greener grass probably ain't so.

Then I started reading a book I've read a couple of times, but not for a couple of decades, The Lathe of Heaven.

...To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven

[Fiona]

Kernos wrote: "Then I started reading a book I've read a couple of times, but not for a couple of decades, The Lathe of Heaven."

Awesome choice, Kernos! The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin is an outstanding piece of work! My favourite quote:

"Saying that, he was suddenly himself again, despite his lunatic hair and eyes: a man whose personal dignity went so deep as to be nearly invisible...
It was more than diginity. Integrity? Wholeness? Like a block of wood not carved.
The infinite possibility, the unlimited and unqualified wholeness of being of the uncommitted, the nonacting, the uncarved: the being who, being nothing but himself, is everything."

[Doug]

I am still here! I am on a bit of a French kick and I read Maigret and the Man on the Boulevard and Murdered House, The this weekend.

I am on a committee at work where we will be presenting mysteries that have been translated from languages other than English, so I will be reading quite a few in the next coming months. Luckily they are mysteries, so I should like them!

[Sergey]

I finished The Minotaur and rather enjoyed it, despite the fact that much of nothing happens for the majority of the story and the ending left a bit of dissatisfaction on the taste buds. Starting on Турецкий гамбит.

[Bill, Moderator]

Presently reading the 3 sequels to Old Man's War by John Scalzi. He is quite funny while taking SF seriously and uses lots of allusions to past works.

[Doug]

I did like the Minotaur when I read it. Was excited to find Tigerlily's Orchids by the same author at the library and have it on my to read soon pile.

[Wyndslash]

Fiona wrote: "Kernos wrote: "Then I started reading a book I've read a couple of times, but not for a couple of decades, The Lathe of Heaven."

Awesome choice, Kernos! The Lathe of Heaven by [aut..."

interesting premise, but it sounds like one of those books where i want to kill someone xD

[Lyndz]

Hey everyone.
I just started this: It's quite good actually!

[Larry]

I finished Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Liked it but had a big problem with the ending.

[Ann]

Just finished Krakow Melt by Daniel Allen Cox. I gave it five stars because it was original and provocative. Did anyone else read? Curious what others thought.

[Doug]

I have not read that one, Ann. I DID read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and I liked it but now I can't remember the ending. I think my age is catching up with me. I finally finished Out and I have to write a review. it was good, but it was pretty rough. Especially the ending. I probably will give it four stars.

I am starting Tigerlily's Orchids today.. a novel about another group of reprehensible people!

[Wyndslash]

as usual, i'm reading a lot of romances. still haven't finished Those Who Hunt the Night though, as that requires a bit more focus on my part. Lately, I've been reading before I go to bed since that's the only time I have D:

[Jules]

I just finished reading "She loves you, she loves you not..." by Julie Anne Peters. The story follows Alyssa, a teen who goes to live with her biological mother after her father finds out that she's a lesbian. The book has a quick pace. Peters gives you a good sense of how betrayed and lonely Alyssa feels, as well as how happy and at home she eventually feels.

[Doug]

I have not read that one, Julie, but I have read Julie Anne Peters before and really liked what I had read.

[Doug]

I finished Tigerlily's Orchids and it was quite good! Getting ready to dive into A Beautiful Place to Die now.

[Bill, Moderator]

I just finished John Scalzi's Old Man's War 4-book series: quick and fun reads and just started The Bards of Bone Plain which has beautifully prose.

[Nancy]

Just finished reading

Loved it!

Planning to start very soon.

[Bill, Moderator]

Paul wrote: "Been long absent due to turmoil at work but wanted to put in a very strong rec for an e-short...

Hi Paul! Have you or anyone any recommendations for more Gay-oid horror novels of quality like Willy and Kelland?

[Doug]

I have to buy Willy.. I have not gotten around to it yet.. but I have so many things I need to read for this internation crime presentation I will be doing in October... we have to come up with a working list and there are so many titles I need to finish.

[Doug]

I am totally squealing. I got an advanced reading copy of the new Reginald Hill novel, The Woodcutter and I LOVE him so much. It is exciting. No one else seemed to care when I picked it up and squealed, though. They thought I had lost my mind.

Starting Murder on the Eiffel Tower today!