What Else Are You Reading - February 2012 Edition

[Ian]

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? last night, so now moving on to The Heroes which I'm sure will be a blast

[Keith]

Starting Empire State today

[Amanda]

Started reading Uglies over the weekend

[Troy]

Finally finished Elantris last week on Audible so I just started the audio version of Know No Fear by Dan Abnett. Still working my way slowly through A Dance With Dragons on Kindle. I also plan on mixing in a few graphic novels this month too, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Last Gleaming, and Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.

[kvon]

I'm dipping my toe in audibooks with The Night Circus. It's probably not a great book to do in audio, as it jumps around in time so much. I was convinced for about three chapters that two different characters were the same person. And I miss the tactile knowledge of how far through the story I am; it's like the free fall when you get to the end of book and find out it's a duology that ends on a cliff-hanger (see Pegasus.)

Also I'm reading The Word for World is Forest for my realspace book club.

[Philip]

Finished Jerusalem: The Biography last week and started Sisterhood of Dune.

[Brandon]

In the last week I finished Amortals , Zero Sight and Zero Sum. For anyone looking for good urban fantasy I would recommend Zero sight and the sequel.

[Stephen]

I have been reading the Douglas Prestonand Lincoln ChildPendergast series.

[Napoez3]

I'm reading a Fan translation of Baka to Test. When I finish it, I'll start with Empire State or maybe The Golden Compass I don't know yet.

[Louis]

I just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This is part of the Kingkiller saga. It was quite good so I'm continuing the sereies. The first books is a Fantasy Magic based story but I wouldn't doubt that swords willl come up too.

I'm pretty sure others have read it, as I have seen it and the protagonist (Kvothe) be mentioned several times. It was also rementioned by Felicia Day in several different forms over the past year. I finally got down to reading it.

[Manuel]

I'm re-reading Stone of Tears.

[Mark]

I said I would read The Wise Man's Fear next but instead have gone for Waylander II by David Gemmell, just finished it last night - excellent. Now I have a quandary, do I read The Wise Man's Fear, (The only thing putting me off is the size,) or do I read something more consise. The other choices I have are The Chapter's Due by Graham McNeill, Elantris by Sanderson, Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher or Conquerer by Conn Iggulden. Genuinely can't decide at the moment.

[Erin]

February has been a busy month for reading so far. I'm bouncing around between the really fun YA stuff like Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers books (I read 3, 3.5, 4, 5 and 5.5 on the first and second), Steampunk! An Anthology Of Fantastically Rich And Strange Stories and The Demon's Lexicon and the heavy duty novel research stuff like Pox: An American History. I'm also blogging a Wheel of Time reread we just finished The Eye of the World, so there's a seemingly never-ending stream of reading to do.

That's it for the month so far. On the bright side, all that reading has finally gotten me ahead of the curve on my 2012 reading challenge!

[terpkristin]

I finished the Dunk and Egg stories. I was reading something online and came across a book review for Confessions of a Surgeon: The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated...Life Behind the O.R. Doors. I ended up grabbing it for Kindle...I've had a lot of surgery, figured it'd be interesting to see the other side of the scalpel...

Also still listening to Inheritance.

[Mark]

Reading Of Blood and Honey.

Enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. And it was free!

[Warren]

I found a real pager turner

http://youtu.be/GOMIBdM6N7Q

[Jlawrence, S&L Moderator]

Just finished The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (not quite as fascinating as The Making of Star Wars but still excellent), reading The Name of the Rose and The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England.

[Jenny]

I am listening to Good Omens on audio. I love Neil Gaiman's work so far and this is my first Terry Pratchett.

[John]

I am reading Forever War and Bitter Seeds.

[Bree]

I found a treasure trove of more recent Francesca Lia Block books available for Kindle in the library catalog, so I think I will be eating these up and reliving my adolescence for a while.

[Patrick]

I've been on holiday for the last week and had lots of time to read - huzzah!

So far, I've enjoyed "Summer Knight" - the first Harry Dresden book that I've tried. Now going back to the start of that series.

I also read "Allison Hewitt Is Trapped", a fun Zombie dystopian tale in which books play a key role and I'm finishing up "The Hunger Games". It's fine but I don't see myself reading the other two books in the series.

[Elianara]

Just finished listening to Murder in Mesopotamia. Trying to decide if I should got with Cast in Shadow or Stalking Darkness as my next read. I also have Fire on my TBR pile. So the big question is, start reading a new series, or continue with a series I've already read one book from.

And I'm still trying to get to the end of Rule 34 but I find it hard.

[running_target]

Just started listening to Wizard's First Rule. Pretty bad so far, only 20ish hours to go. Hooray.

[Kevin]

running_target wrote: "Just started listening to Wizard's First Rule. Pretty bad so far, only 20ish hours to go. Hooray."

You might want to stop now, because certain books in the series get too preachy with Goodkind's political viewpoints. A lot of people hate that, but I did not find it terrible.

Plus this is the only thing I think he can write because he really needs to do something different. All his writings always comes back to the series.

[Been]

Started reading The Golden Compass/The Northern Lights a couple of days ago, and listening to Bitter Seeds on Audible.

I'm a quarter of the way in and I'm not enjoying the Golden Compass as much as I thought I might, but I'm not sure how much of that was because it was so hyped up... Bitter Seeds on the other hand I'm loving so far. Already halfway through thanks to listening at 2x speed and having a lot of cleaning to do around the house.

[Sean]

terpkristin wrote: "I was reading something online and came across a book review for Confessions of a Surgeon: The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated...Life Behind the O.R. Doors. I ended up grabbing it for Kindle..."

I have a friend who's a surgeon, so I get enough of that from her Facebook feed. At least no longer doing her residency at the free clinic so I no longer have to put up with horror stories about morbidly obese people with necrotic skin and women who get feminine hygiene products stuck and don't seek help until it turns septic.

[terpkristin]

Sean wrote: "I have a friend who's a surgeon, so I get enough of that from her Facebook feed. At least no longer doing her residency at the free clinic so I no longer have to put up with horror stories about morbidly obese people with necrotic skin and women who get feminine hygiene products stuck and don't seek help until it turns septic."

True story: until I decided to be a rocket scientist, I was convinced I was going to be an orthpaedic surgeon. That decision happened later in life than you'd imagine.

[Boots]

I feel like I haven't posted on these threads for awhile. Last week I read Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts which was an interesting read, if not informative. I just finished Brave New World yesterday and realized it was another one of those 'I should have read it sooner' type books. I'm about to start Steve Jobs which is unusual for me because I normally don't read biographies but we'll see how it goes.

[Bree]

Kevin wrote: "running_target wrote: "Just started listening to Wizard's First Rule. Pretty bad so far, only 20ish hours to go. Hooray."

You might want to stop now, because certain books in the seri..."

Yes, the first book is pretty much the only one that can pass as a normal, enjoyable fantasy book. Of course, I went on to read the series all the way up to Chainfire, but only because my views on economics and ethics are the polar opposite of Goodkind's and I read the series as some sort of masochistic car-crash gawking exercise. The gratuitous (and near-constant) rape and dismemberment is bad enough, but really, what he does to the fantasy genre is what really grosses me out. ;)

[Kris]

Started the Malazan Books and they are right in my wheel house....definite good reads...

[Kevin]

Bree wrote: "Kevin wrote: "running_target wrote: "Just started listening to Wizard's First Rule. Pretty bad so far, only 20ish hours to go. Hooray."

You might want to stop now, because certain boo..."

So I'm guessing you're not a big fan of Any Rand either?

[Tom, Supreme Laser]

I am time traveling and reading Blue Remembered Earth (Imported)Blue Remembered Earth which isn't out in the US until summer and The Coldest War (Audiobook) which isn't out in print until the summer.

[Jeane]

Reading "The Eight" by Katherine Neville. Very intersting and reminds me a lot of "The Da Vinci Code" in some ways.

[Kate]

Listening to Stephen Fry's second biography,The Fry Chronicles, which is sadly nowhere near as good as his first, Moab Is My Washpot

[Kevin]

I'm reading Gods and Generals.

[Mark]

Just finished Of Blood and Honey and really liked it.

Starting on The Cloud Roads

[AndrewP]

running_target wrote: "Just started listening to Wizard's First Rule. Pretty bad so far, only 20ish hours to go. Hooray."

I am on Faith of the Fallen at the moment. Lot's of people bag on these books, but then say they have read more of them. If Wizard's First Rule is so bad why on earth would anyone carry on reading another 10,000 pages? (The same also hold true for Wheel of Time I think.)

[Sean]

AndrewP wrote: "I am on Faith of the Fallen at the moment. Lot's of people bag on these books, but then say they have read all of them. If Wizard's First Rule is so bad why on earth would anyone read another 10,000 pages?"

I rag on the books and I didn't even get to page fifty. I gave up at the point where someone proposed that they outlaw fire and people, instead of asking "Are you retarded?" actually gave the idea serious consideration.

[Docxen]

just finished brandon sanderson's Elantris great book it's been a while since i read something that i enjoyed so much. It's one of those hate to finish it books cause i'll miss the characters.

Well i feel stupid after posting this and going thru the website figured out it had been on the reading list. Havent been able to keep up with the reading list due to work/home issues dang lol.

[Denis]

I'm about halfway through the The Passage... So far I have mixed feelings for this one, I don't like the writing, and the story has staled a bit I think :/

Gonna finish it and hope it gets better ;)

[Ewan]

This month i'm reading the Kingkiller chronicles, seen as how they come so highly recommended from everyone who ever picked the books up. So far I can see why :)

[Kevin]

Ewan wrote: "This month i'm reading the Kingkiller chronicles, seen as how they come so highly recommended from everyone who ever picked the books up. So far I can see why :)"

Nope, I am about one of the few that would tell everyone to stay away from the books. I hated the books because I found Kvothe of the most arrogant person.

[Ewan]

I actually did hear this specific criticism several times before I started reading.

You're right, he's incredibly arrogant. Doesn't really alter the quality of the writing however. Things can get a little stale these days with everyone's insistence on self aware character with mundane personality flaws.

Its nice occasionally to read a story of the old road with a main character who is exceptional, knows he's exceptional and therefore does exceptional things.

After a while reading about mundane people struggling and moaning and then accomplishing exceptional things, I think I know which approach I prefer.

(One book in and already a Rothfuss apologist, I must like these books.)

[Tamahome]

Machine by Jennifer Pelland. Just got it on the basis of the ebook sample. Seems nicely creepy and depressing a la Octavia Butler. She was just on sfsignal's podcast but the interview was pretty fluffy.

[Alterjess]

I'm about 50 pages into Use of Weapons. In fact, I'd like to suggest this for the next S&L pick because there's no way I'm going to have time to read anything else any time soon. This book is LONG. (Can we get Ian M Banks and Neal Stephenson into a support group of some kind? I *know* I've read sub-1000 page works by each of them in the past...)

[Denis]

Kevin wrote: "Ewan wrote: "This month i'm reading the Kingkiller chronicles, seen as how they come so highly recommended from everyone who ever picked the books up. So far I can see why :)"

Nope, I am about o..."

I really liked the first book, but after reading the second book, I must say that I pass on the third

[kvon]

Mark wrote: "Starting on The Cloud Roads"

I'm curious what you think about it. I've loved some of her earlier works.

I finished The Quantum Thief which had lots of neat future technology and post-humans. The characters rated an okay.

Also The Word for World is Forest and realized how much of that book I forgot; I appreciated it more this time around. I look at it more as a psychological tale this time (warning, tvtropes link). I remembered it as being a novel about ecology, but it's more about ethnography.

[Kevin]

I'm starting a reread on Fight Club and The Eyes of the Dragon.

[Philip]

Kevin wrote: "Nope, I am about one of the few that would tell everyone to stay away from the books. I hated the books because I found Kvothe of the most arrogant person. ..."

Maybe it's just a matter of perception, but I found Kvothe to be very confident rather than arrogant. He was confident about things he had exhaustively studied(which is reasonable to me)and self-deprecating often enough to counterbalance himself. To each his own....

[Mark]

kvon wrote: "Mark wrote: "Starting on The Cloud Roads"

I'm curious what you think about it. I've loved some of her earlier works."

I don't think I've read anything of hers before. It's fairly interesting, a mix of science fiction and fantasy that moves along pretty well and is entertaining. The world building is pretty cool and I'm 70% into it and things are still unfolding.

At times the characters do things that don't seem very believable to me. There's a touch too much of the romance between the 2 main characters for my personal taste.

Maybe the worst part is a coincidence- I just read the article "4 Realizations That Will Ruin Science Fiction For You" on Cracked.com (
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-realiza...)

#4 is about the straight man- the main character Moon is all over it.

But overall I'm enjoying it and might consider buying the 2nd book in the series.