What Are Your Reading in July 2011?

[Benjamin]

I finished Fort Freak just a little while ago. I didn't care for some of the authors new to Wild Cards that I hadn't already previously read before, namely Cherie Priest and Mary Anne Mohanraj, but on the whole the book was a good addition to the series.

Next up is The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder.

[Genia]

I'm reading Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It's thoroughly entertaining.

[Maria]

Finished Hard Spell good book. Very much a hard boiled urban fantasy. Similar to Dresden Files, but a tighter plot, darker and definitely fouler language. But it's good reading, especially the second half.

Also finished Ilona Andrews Magic Bleeds Total awesomeness! Still my favorite series.

[Helen]

Trevor, I loved Mockingjay.

Ala, why are you not happy with Dance of Dragons? Although, I don't want any spoilers so perhaps you can't say!!

[Shanshad]

Currently reading Darkfeverand will see if it retains my interest. Also The Map of Time which piqued my interest but may take some work to get into. I've just finished up The Five Fists Of Science and plan on reading Embassytown some time this summer. I refuse to read anymore of Martin's series until he finishes it.

[Trevor]

I finished Mockingjay. I thought it was a pretty good ending to the trilogy.

Next up is Doomsday Book. I'm only twenty pages in but it's pretty intriguing so far.

[Richard]

Just finished Blackout by Connie Willis.
The end of that book was like pleasantly jogging down the street, then turning the corner and running into a brick wall.
Only now do I realise that the other half, All Clear, is not out in paperback until late October.
What the heck am I to do until then, my OCD won't let me mess the set up by buying the hardback to go with my paperback Blackout. I guess a trip around all the local libraries with my fingers crossed is my only option.

At least I've now got Honor Harrington to keep me company as I search, I've just started On Basilisk Station and hope to read the entire series (free ebooks) if I like it.

[Richard]

Pia wrote: "Richard, I don't know if you've seen the Star Wars movies, but I adore that fictional world, have adored it from the very first moment of the very first movie. Somehow, I survived the years-long ag..."

I was at Primary school when the first Star Wars movie came out, and to my eternal shame I was more interested in Smurfs (small blue Dutch looking characters, that came free with petrol) than with all that silly shooting people stuff. It wasn't until Empire Strikes Back that I realised my mistake and got into the movies, but Empire Strikes Back was such a good movie I was quite happy to be left looking into the future with Luke, Leia and the droids.
I'm a little older now and the bloomin' future keeps zooming up and whizzing past me so fast I can't keep up.
I feel a little different about this book as it was obviously intended to be a single novel and my short memory and attention span will only make a protracted pause lessen my enjoyment of it.

Glad to hear though Pia that I'm not the only one here that remembers the original releases of the movies.

[Deanne]

Read Childhood's end by Clarke, found the final third segment slightly disturbing.
I've got Consider Phlebus and Millenium People to read.

[Andrea]

Richard wrote: "What the heck am I to do until then, my OCD won't let me mess the set up by buying the hardback to go with my paperback Blackout."

Richard, I think so many of us know exactly what you were feeling about this dilemma! The horror, the horror.....

[Richard]

But now Andrea you've got me wondering, Conrad fan or Apocalypse Now?
Only joking, of course it's both.

[Richard]

Deanne wrote: "Read Childhood's end by Clarke, found the final third segment slightly disturbing."

If you're interested, about 3 years ago the group read Childhood's End and the discussion thread can be found Here.

Always worth adding your own thoughts, sometimes these old threads spark back into life.

[Helen]

It is annoying when your set is all out of size. My Janny Wurt's are in about 4 formats. The hardback won't fit vertically on the shelf!

[[deleted user]]

Genia wrote: "I'm reading Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It's thoroughly entertaining."

That's on my To Be Read list - I really like her offbeat look at death in Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and sex in Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

[Izzie]

I started A Game of Thrones



and I've been working on the Coldfire Trilogy



:)

[Genia]

Sc wrote: "That's on my To Be Read list."

I finished it and really liked it. I literally binge-read it in one weekend. it was immensely entertaining.

Now reading Interview With the Vampire, which is okay, but the purple prose it's written in is beginning to get to me already - and I'm only on page 40.

[Jon]

I just finished Death Troopers -- a fun zombie Star Wars novel. Next up is Erin Hoffman's Sword of Fire and Sea.Sword of Fire and Sea

[Silvio]

Jenny wrote: "Ayla wrote: "I started Foundation this morning and am already sucked into the story. I just finished Children of the Mind so my mind keeps wanting to read Trondheim inste..."

Forward the Foundation is essentially a sequel to Prelude to Foundation, so since you already read Prelude it probably doesn't matter whether you read Forward before or after the other books. I would recommend reading The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn, and Robots and Empire before you get to Foundation and Earth or Forward the Foundation.

[Kevin]

I find that Forward the Foundation is not as good as Prelude to Foundation.

[Jenny]

Silvio wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Ayla wrote: "I started Foundation this morning and am already sucked into the story. I just finished Children of the Mind so my mind keeps wanting to read T..."

Silvio wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Ayla wrote: "I started Foundation this morning and am already sucked into the story. I just finished Children of the Mind so my mind keeps wanting to read T..."

I knew that Forward the Foundation was a sequel to Prequel, but thank you for the advice on reading the Robot books before the last two Foundations! I already own a few of them and I've been eager to read them all :) Thanks again!

[Jenny]

Kevin wrote: "I find that Forward the Foundation is not as good as Prelude to Foundation."

Prelude has actually been my favorite one so far because I love Hari Seldon so much.

[Benjamin]

Polished off The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man.

Planning to buy and start Ghost Story tomorrow.

[Kit]

I'm starting The Way of Kings this week-and then on to Red Mars. I got a little side tracked this week.

[Peggy]

Ghost Story is on its way to me now.

I'm more than a little excited about it.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I started Winter's Tale. Not so sure about it. Going to give it 150 pages and if it doesn't grab me by then I'm moving on.

[Kara]

Kayla wrote: "I started A Game of Thrones



and I've been working on the Coldfire Trilogy



:)"

Very different books, both of which I enjoyed.

I think the Coldfire trilogy has some spin up with it, and I remember some writing that was just too chalk full of detail and unnecessary, but the trilogy still holds one of my absolute favorite characters, (the Hunter) and just gets better as the books move along. I also love the visual descriptions and workings of the fae (which also develops as the books do).

[Kevin]

Jenny, the one book that you should read no matter what is Robots of Dawn, which connects the Foundation books with the Robot books together.

[Maggie]

I am starting The Black Prism on my nook, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in books. There are a lot og BotMs I want to read this coming month!

[Scott]

I finished The Beach, which I really enjoyed.

Then I started It. This is my 3rd time through this one. I haven't read it in almost 20 years. This is my favorite King book. When I started reading it yesterday, I was getting the chills. This book scared the crap out of me when I first read it back in about '87. I think I was about 17 when I first read it.

[Aloha]

When I finish The Beach, which is not grabbing me so far although it is well written and came highly recommended, I'm starting Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which is SciFi Aficionados' August read. I am loving SciFi as evidenced by how much I participated in and devoured last month's reads, Oryx and Crake and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Now I can't wait to start on their reads for August, but I am still reading my other forums' monthly reads, since I like to diversify.

[Jenny]

Kevin wrote: "Jenny, the one book that you should read no matter what is Robots of Dawn, which connects the Foundation books with the Robot books together."

Thanks I definitely will!

[[deleted user]]

So some life got in the way of some reading recently, but I did manage to get in The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making one recent afternoon, and must say that it was a nice, whimsical little read.

Thanks for that, Laurel. I'll get to the others soonish, I hope.

Also, just finished Ghost Story. The nerd-service is so thick you could cut it with a lightsaber. But it's goooood.

[Laurel]

Yay - you liked it!

I'm a little over halfway with Ghost Story, and you're right, the nerd references are epic! But, that just makes me happier. Butcher is one of us!

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

I've been re-reading Ellen Kushner's Riverside series (starts with Swordspoint). Somehow books with lots of angst and insular intrigue are what I'm in the mood for. Possibly because I'm coming to the (current) ends of the Death and Watch arcs of the Discworld books, which are almost completely the opposite of that.

[[deleted user]]

Laurel wrote: "Yay - you liked it!

I'm a little over halfway with Ghost Story, and you're right, the nerd references are epic! But, that just makes me happier. Butcher is one of us!"

Yeah, I really did. It was the perfect palate cleanser before Ghost Story. And I just loved the writing, it was great. :)

And Ghost Story... damn. Now I can't wait for the next one.

[Genia]

Ghost Story! *squee, vanish into bookland*

[Kit]

Has anyone read the "Shannara series" by Terry Brooks? Did you like it?-how many books are there in the series. I saw an summary in my SciFi bookclub for the newest one. Thought I might start it next.

[Destructo]

Just bought and finished Morlock Night by K.W. Jeter. This book totally redeems the genre of Steampunk for me, after having read, or tried to read several highly hyped but mediocre Steampunk novels. I remember reading Dr. Adder by him back in my teens and loving it. I think I'm going to have to track down some more of his work.

Also recently read (and really, really enjoyed) Equations of Life, Theories of Flight, and Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden. My spouse loved them too, so they must really be excellent.

Next book: The World House by Guy Adams (for some reason the widget wouldn't come up with a link for book).

And Heartless is on order from the bookstore.

[Michael]

Based on recommendations from friends on GR, I'm reading Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. Despite its length, it's going to be a relatively quick read.

[Terry]

A Dance with Dragon and the the Warded Man

[Marc]

Detour 2 Death
Outwitted

[Mach]

Kit wrote: "Has anyone read the "Shannara series" by Terry Brooks? Did you like it?-how many books are there in the series. I saw an summary in my SciFi bookclub for the newest one. Thought I might start it..."

I read all of them years ago, they are what i would call fantasy "light". The characters are either black or white, no grey whatsoever. Brooks borrows heavily from Tolkien, so if you want a light version of that, then i say go for it. I would give the whole series 3 stars. The first couple of books are better though, they get repetetive as you go further in the series.

[Kit]

Machavelli wrote: "Kit wrote: "Has anyone read the "Shannara series" by Terry Brooks? Did you like it?-how many books are there in the series. I saw an summary in my SciFi bookclub for the newest one. Thought I mi..."

Thank you-think I put it on the back burner for now. Maybe light reading this winter or sometime. I'm having problems finding the first in most series at my library. Lot of gaps, such as 1st copy, 2nd & 3rd missing, etc. If I can find the whole series-I'll try. The newest book is,

The Measure of the Magic: Legends of Shannara-and the conclusion to the series.

[Mach]

I have not read any Brooks in years and don't plan to read anymore of his books either. I feel like he is one of those writers that gets worse the more they write.

[Mach]

Kit wrote: "Machavelli wrote: "Kit wrote: "Has anyone read the "Shannara series" by Terry Brooks? Did you like it?-how many books are there in the series. I saw an summary in my SciFi bookclub for the newest..."

I saw that you liked Dune, so then i will assume you like epic fantasy. You can try A Game of Thrones.

[Kit]

Machavelli wrote: "Kit wrote: "Machavelli wrote: "Kit wrote: "Has anyone read the "Shannara series" by Terry Brooks? Did you like it?-how many books are there in the series. I saw an summary in my SciFi bookclub fo..."

Thanks-I'll check it out. I really, really like the old Dune with Frank-I'm still trying to get thru the rest of the series since his son took over. I agree with you that sometimes a series gets worse as it drags on.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

For those of you who liked The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, there's a story up on Tor.com, The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While, available here.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Sid!

[Kevin]

Machavelli wrote: "I have not read any Brooks in years and don't plan to read anymore of his books either. I feel like he is one of those writers that gets worse the more they write."

I know what you mean, but he was never great to begin with.

[Peggy]

I am exhibiting some uncharacteristic self-control - the Amazon box containing Ghost Story remains unopened, and will until tomorrow evening. I know that if I start it during the week, I won't get anything done (including sleep).

Patience...patience...