What Are You Reading in July 2011?

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I'm going to tackle Feed next in my Hugo reads. I'm not big on zombies, but I hear so many excellent things about it that I want to give it a try. Then I only have the Connie Willis to go, but I haven't had much luck with her novels. At the moment, The Dervish House still has my vote. I liked The 100,000 Kingdoms, but not more than The Dervish House or even Cryoburn.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

CryoBurn was all right but did not set me on fire. I have a terrible confession to make. I have been wondering for a while if LMB isn't running out of worst possible things to do to Miles (without completely upsetting the apple cart that is his currently-happy life). And yes, I know/remember what happened at the end of CryoBurn ... I guess I mean, things that weren't bound to happen eventually.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I ended up giving Cryoburn 4 stars, because even if it isn't the best Miles book ever, it was still an expertly told adventure. Not a lot of people can write as smoothly as LMB. I also loved the alternate viewpoints, Jin and Roic. My guess is that, if there's another book in the series (and I expect there will be), it's going to be moving back to Barrayar, maybe about moving Barrayar more in line with the rest of the nexus in terms of modern values and so on.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Actually the next book is supposed to be (view spoiler)[an Ivan book (hide spoiler)]. There are readings of excerpts and their transcripts floating around the Internet.

[Ken]

Kathi wrote: "On to the last book in the Age of Unreason series by Keyes. Hope he wraps it up well!"

Read this several years ago and quite enjoyed it.

[Maggie]

Finished Oryx and Crake, which was excellent, now to finsh Shades of Grey and The Snow Queen

[Helen]

I'm not a zombie person (in more ways than one!) but really enjoyed Feed and Forest of Hands and Teeth so had to go onto sequels. They don't seem gratuitously violent or gruesome.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Helen, have you looked at World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War? I always recommend that to people who enjoy a thoughtful zombie book.

[Janny]

I'm finishing up Seer of Sevenwaters.

[Candiss]

Well, my plans have changed quite a bit from the 1st of the month. I started reading , because the monthly shelf in the Pick-a-Shelf group is "Western", (I dislike Westerns, for the most part, but the point of that group is pushing your usual reading comfort zone, so...) and this looked like it might engage me. I ended up devouring it to the exclusion of all other reading. It was awesome! Subtle humor, great characterization, not a bunch of hackneyed tropes and stereotypes...just great stuff.

I jettisoned a few books from my July plans, because I just don't see myself getting to them. (Black Hole, The Half-Made World, Possession)

I'm in the middle of and liking it very much. I still want to read this month, and I'm adding , , and to my queue.

[Maggie]

I have been wanting to read Babel-17! I hope you like it! I recently read Old Man's War. It wasn't perfect, but it was very enjoyable.

[Jenny]

Candiss wrote: "Well, my plans have changed quite a bit from the 1st of the month. I started reading , because the monthly shelf in the Pick-a-Shelf group is "Western", (I ..."

You'll have to let us know what you think of Old Man's War. I've had it on my bookshelf for a while but I haven't read it yet.

[Pickle]

Random wrote: "Ron wrote: "I picked up Daemon by Daniel Suarez (sorry, Martin fans) and am enjoying it quite a bit. I guess "cyber-thriller" is as good a pigeonhole as any. Fine ..."

One of the few books ive given a 1/5 for and if i could i would have given it a zero. Some of the descriptions, especially the of the 'rave', made me want to blush for the author. I dont think he has ever been within 10 miles of trance/techno music or a rave.

This month im hoping to read:

The Curious Case of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick.

[Christine]

I finished reading Diving into the Wreck which I quite enjoyed and and now starting on The Towers of the Sunset. If the group doesn't want to read the Recluce stories, I can read them alone. BTW, today there is a column in my local paper about summer SciFi/Fantasy books with the following recommendations:
Fuzzy Nation, Midnight Riot, The Bookman, The Cloud Roads, Magic Slays, and Black Blade Blues. I've never heard of any of them and wondered if others have read any and what they think? I have heard of the Fuzzy books but don't remember if I've read them

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Midnight Riot is pretty good. Fuzzy Nation is a reboot/fanfiction of H. Beam Piper's series, which starts with Little Fuzzy. Scalzi's version is all right, but lacks the vintage charm of Piper's books.

[Candiss]

Christine wrote: "I finished reading Diving into the Wreck which I quite enjoyed..."

I put that on my TBR last year and managed to forget about it entirely until I read your post. Thanks for reminding me! It looks right up my alley, and I'm heartened to read that you enjoyed it.

Edit to add: Ooo, and there's a sequel now! Perhaps it's good that I waited to read the first one.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Diving into the Wreck and its sequel are great, understated SF stories. I love the narrator.

Midnight Riot is one of the few urban fantasy novels I actually enjoyed. Its sequel Moon over Soho is good too. There's a third book due out this Fall.

I've heard good things about The Cloud Roads, but I didn't get around to reading it myself yet.

Fuzzy Nation is not something I'm planning to read. John Scalzi isn't a writer I particularly enjoy.

I'm not really familiar with the rest of the books you listed.

[Ken]

I spend years seeing the Piper Fuzzy books on the shelf at my favorite hometown used bookstore. Fuzzy name always turned me off. A couple of years ago I broke down and picked up two of them
Little Fuzzy
Fuzzy Sapiens
and just last week I picked up the short story collection
Fuzzies and Other People

There is also a non Piper Fuzzy book
which I am keeping my eye out for
Fuzzy Bones

[Ron]

Pickle wrote: "Random wrote: "Ron wrote: "I picked up Daemon by Daniel Suarez (sorry, Martin fans) and am enjoying it quite a bit. I guess "cyber-thriller" is as good a pigeonhole..."
One of the few books ive given a 1/5 for and if i could i would have given it a zero. Some of the descriptions, especially the of the 'rave', made me want to blush for the author. I dont think he has ever been within 10 miles of trance/techno music or a rave.


Well, here we disagree. I don't know how much verisimilitude the rave scene had, nor do I overmuch care. It did give us a good thumbnail demo of Loki's approach to life. I liked the characterization, I thought the writing was competent and sometimes better than that, I thought the idea of a souped-up game AI being unleashed on the world an interesting one, I thought the political and economic ideas were worth the space, I laughed, I thought it was good entertainment for the money. But then I have a long-admitted weakness for cheerful mayhem, and the Daemon provided lots of that. I would give it a three- or four-star rating.

[Helen]

Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "Helen, have you looked at World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War? I always recommend that to people who enjoy a thoughtful zombie book."
Thanks, I've added it to my growing list.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

I started reading Blackout by Connie Willis today - not an author whose work I've enjoyed much in the past, but I wanted to give it a try because it was nominated for the Hugos. So far, I'm actually enjoying it. I may need to take a break from it because I need to re-read Spin and Axis by Robert Charles Wilson, both for an article I'm writing and in preparation for the last part of the series, Vortex, which just came out last week.

[Candiss]

Helen wrote: "Snail in Danger (Sid) wrote: "Helen, have you looked at World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War? I always recommend that to people who enjoy a thoughtful zombie book."
Thanks, ..."

I'm going to throw out another for the "thoughtful zombie book" list: Pariah by Bob Fingerman

Another recent smart zombie one (which I haven't read, although I'm a fan of his other work): Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory

Oh! and: Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist (the Let the Right One In guy)

Wow, sorry...I didn't mean to run up a list. They all just sort of fit together in my mind.

[Kevin]

I am in the middle of what else, but A Dance with Dragons, which is rather good.

[Shel, Moderator]

I just got back from a week in CO visiting my in-laws. While there I finished Who Fears Death, which was quite good, if disturbing, Paladin of Souls, which I loved just as much as The Curse of Chalion, and when I finished those with a few days of trip left, picked up a mystery I've been eyeing for a while, In the Woods. Finished about half of it on the flight home, and I'm hooked!

[Bookbrow]

Stefan wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Chris wrote: "

Nothing else matters."

Oh God I know. As soon as my boyfriend finishes it I am dropping everything else in my life."

I'm real..."

I think the Robert Jordan rule applies, I will wait for the series to be finished before I start.


Reading Shiva descending by Gregory Benford, so far kind of dated but it is a easy read. I Just finished Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds and that was fantastic. Holidays approach so I will likely get a bit more reading done.

[Ken]

Stefan wrote: "I started reading Blackout by Connie Willis today - not an author whose work I've enjoyed much in the past, but I wanted to give it a try because it was nominated for ..."

I was waiting for Part Two. Apparently Blackout just Ends. It was written as one book but the Publisher split it into two books.
I beleive (I hope) that the second book comes out as a trade paperback in the fall

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Ron, have you read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? It's constructed around unusual vintage photos. Your avatar photo would fit right into the book.... (or is it in there :)?)

[Kevin]

I agree the Robert Jordan rule does apply with me to George R.R. Martin, which for me is to get the book the day it comes out, and carry it everyone go out so you can read it whenever possible until the book has been read.

[Kerry]

I finished The Darkest Road yesterday and have started my umpteenth read of The Snow Queen.

[Ron]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Ron, have you read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? It's constructed around unusual vintage photos. Your avatar photo would fit right into the book.... (or is it in there..."

Thanks Mike, that looks wonderful; I love the idea of combining a novel with vintage photography. I added a picture of my brother to my profile; if you'd like to see it go to my profile and click on "more photos" under the main picture (chicken with smoking Ron). ...edit... But now I see I'm preaching to the choir about adding photos...nice collection...

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Another interesting photo...

The only one among mine that actually comes from "me" is the shot of my cat. She died a few months ago.

[Ron]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Another interesting photo...
The only one among mine that actually comes from "me" is the shot of my cat. She died a few months ago."

I like your cat, and am sorry for your loss. I put up two more photos, adding up to my three cats.

[Ron]

But speaking of books...I just finished The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, who continues to impress me. Terrific inventiveness, sly humour, twisty plot, great characters. Slightly reminiscent of M. John Harrison's Light and Nova Swing, with slightly less serial killing. I have the sequel Up Jim River ready to go (oddly, it was released in mass-market paperback before "January Dancer" was), but i think I'll read Robert Rankin's Necrophenia in between, so as to come back to Flynn's universe somewhat fresh.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Ron wrote: "But speaking of books...I just finished The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, who continues to impress me. Terrific inventiveness, sly humour, twisty plot, great characters."

I liked that book a lot. It's so far still the only thing I read by him. I made the mistake of reading his blog for a bit after finding that novel, and let's just say that he'd probably get along with John C. Wright really well :)

As for my own reading, I finished rereading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, and am now reading or rereading all the Hugo-nominated short stories, novelettes and novellas.

[Ron]

Stefan wrote: "Ron wrote: "But speaking of books...I just finished The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, who continues to impress me. Terrific inventiveness, sly humour, twisty plot, great character..."
I liked that book a lot. It's so far still the only thing I read by him. I made the mistake of reading his blog for a bit after finding that novel, and let's just say that he'd probably get along with John C. Wright really well :)

Stefan, I know Flynn has the politics of a John Bircher, and I have decided not to read the "Firestar" series because that seems to be his theme there. And I definitely am not reading his blog (I am after all Canadian, which as you know puts me a little to the left of Lenin.) But I don't think macropolitics bear any weight in The Wreck of 'The River of Stars' or in Eifelheim, both of which I heartily recommend to you, knowing you have no shortage of things to read. They are not primarily political books, they are tragedies (where "Dancer" is a comedy and so, I hope, is "Up Jim River").

[Shel, Moderator]

Oh, I LOOOOOVED Eifelheim!

I finished In the Woods last night - stayed up much later than I'd intended because I couldn't put it down. I will definitely pick up more from this author when I want a mystery to read.

I'm not sure what I'll pick up next - will see what mood I'm in tomorrow when I have some reading time.

[Snail in Danger (Sid)]

Just sayin' - I'm definitely more liberal than conservative (especially socially). Firestar in particular is a love affair with the idea of humanity getting back into space rather than a pure political tract. (Though that may also put you off if you never geeked over the space program.) I'm only vaguely aware of exactly what the John Birch Society's politics are ... I know Flynn is much more conservative than me, but if your concern is that the cast will be filled with white male All-American middle class heroes, it's more diverse than that. There's also a lack of straight up black and white morality - lots of grey to be found.

I guess my point is, if you like SF about the practicalities of getting into space, and/or if you enjoyed Flynn's other work, maybe consider reading Firestar even if you've rejected the idea in the past. The series has its flaws, certainly. And I have to admit that I'm speaking from a position of having read the novel when I was a much less jaded reader, so I have a soft spot for it that I might not have if I were just now reading it. (In fact, I can think of at least one thing that would annoy me that I accept because it's this book - but anyway. :)

[Janny]

I just finished The Steerswoman's Road (The Steerswoman, #1-2), and now have gone on to the sequel, The Outskirter's Secret, since this is an omnibus edition.

Not a terribly well known book, but well recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I respect.

[Jenny]

I'm currently reading Starship Troopers but it's a fast read so I should be done with it today or tomorrow. I can't wait to read A Dance with Dragons but the boyfriend still has it, so I'll probably read Homeland until then.

[Sandra]

Mercy, you all are reading a lot of interesting sounding books. I've been continuing my reread of Foreigner, and squeezing a few other things in as well - for another book club, A Wizard of Earthsea (no, never read it, I'm a fantasy illiterate) and Servant of the Empire, co written by Janny Wurts, who definitely gives the Riftwar series more interest for me, as I'd given up on the earlier books in the series. Am finding the Empire series definitely riveting, exciting and fascinating.

Have listened to a couple of books, Dark Fire, a historical mystery; What Came Before He Shot Her, the story behind the tragic shooting of Inspector Lynley's wife by Elizabeth George, and Rock Paper Tiger, a suspense tale about an Iraq veteran. Just finished The Soul Mirror, 2nd in the Collegia Magica series. Much better than the first, but not as gripping as some other Berg books I've read.

Next up is Deerskin. Oh, and The Thief.

[Helen]

I have The Thief in my line up too.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Finished up Keyes' Age of Unreason series with the final book, The Shadows of God.

I think I'll dive into C.J. Cherryh's Fortress series, since the first book is coming up as a discussion book. And I'll probably proceed to read the rest of that series as well. As much as I want to read Foreigner, I'm reluctant to dive into that series at the same time, especially since I want to join the upcoming series read the group is going to do.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Just to balance out the scales here...:)... I have added The January Dancer to my list and so everyone knows, I'm a conservative. My daughter sometimes thinks I may consider Rush Limbaugh to be a bit liberal... so... room for everyone on Goodreads.

By the way, I don't really think Rush is liberal, at least not when he agrees with me. :)

[Maggie]

Shel wrote: "Oh, I LOOOOOVED Eifelheim!

I finished In the Woods last night - stayed up much later than I'd intended because I couldn't put it down. I will definitely pick up more f..."

Shel-I LOVE Tana French, both The Likenessand In the Woods are excellent. I recently picked up Faithful Place and am excited to get to it!

[Sandra]

Maggie wrote: "Shel wrote: "Oh, I LOOOOOVED Eifelheim!

I finished In the Woods last night - stayed up much later than I'd intended because I couldn't put it down. I will definitely..."

I also love Tana French!

[Laurel]

Very cool - I've picked up a Tana French from the library. I'm so glad to hear that she's well liked!

I think I'm going to spend most of August trying out all of the great recommendations I've gotten from this group!

[Maggie]

Dang!-me and Sandra agreeing on a book love???? Wonders happen! :D

[Sandra]

Maggie wrote: "Dang!-me and Sandra agreeing on a book love???? Wonders happen! :D"

Maggie wrote: "Dang!-me and Sandra agreeing on a book love???? Wonders happen! :D"

:P

[Christine]

I've just finished The Towers of the Sunset and really do enjoy the Recluse world; I've ordered the next book from my library. Now I'm reading Mystery and have House of Suns waiting on my shelf

[Deedee]

Well, I finished Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson -- her earlier stories were crisp and interesting, the later ones not so much. I've also finished Saturn: A Novel of the Ringed Planet -- which I enjoyed even though the characters and situations were somewhat simplistic.

I still have as next up: Shades of Grey and A Clash of Kings, Sky Coyote, Bimbos of the Death Sun and House of Suns.

I've gotten side-tracked by Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut. Not sure if you would call it science fiction or not, even though there is an annihilation of a city by a neutron bomb in the novel. This one -- so far -- is more biting "black humor" than Vonnegut's usual.

I've also dug out Fortress in the Eye of Time and I'm thinking I'll start that one before House of Suns.

I'll put Firestar back into the box downstairs .... and move Titan upstairs (Titan is the sequel to Saturn: A Novel of the Ringed Planet).