What Else Are You Reading - June 2012

[Aloha]

I purchased a hardback of the book. It was voted as a book that you would take with you on a desert island. Now, I see why. You need undisturbed time on a desert island to absorb this book and play with his mind puzzles. I prefer dessert island, though.

[Joseph]

I just took a quick break from Barsoom to read The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury for obvious reasons.

[Tamahome]

I'm distracted by Blue Remembered Earth a little bit.

[Will]

Finished Tigana and am now listening to Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas and reading A Soldier's Duty. Next book will be Caliban's War.

[[deleted user]]

I have just joined so im going to read hyperion and fall of hyperion, then mybe start the 3rd book in A game of thrones or try one by scott lynch.

[Krista]

I read the first chapter of Tigana, but before I get into it, I'm trying to finish "And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer. He's no Douglas Adams, but I feel like to have really finished the series, I need to read this last one.

[Kate]

Looks like I'm sitting out Tigana, they didn't have it my my local indie and I just don't have time to track it down.
Reading HHhH instead, it's been getting some good reviews and is about nazis and also something of a meta commentary on writing historical fiction.

[Joseph]

The Gods of Mars: Done! Warlord Of Mars: Begun!

(Moved from the WEAYR May thread because: Duh. Also, if I can keep going through the Barsoom books every 2-3 days, that'll put me really far ahead on my goal for the year; far enough that I can maybe move into Game of Thrones or Malazan or something else filled with huge books that take a week or more.)

[Rob]

Im looking at Amazon and it looks like the whole "john carter" series is Free on the kindle

[Joseph]

Rob wrote: "Im looking at Amazon and it looks like the whole "john carter" series is Free on the kindle"

Avoid the Disney Book-published "Collected John Carter" series -- they left out a bunch of the forewords that Burroughs used as framing stories. I paid about $10 for "Barsoom Complete Collection" that has all 11 books (they count it as 12 because they split John Carter of Mars into its two component pieces). So far I'm pleased with the quality of the books in the file. And yes, I think you can get at least a good chunk of the series for free on Kindle, Gutenberg, etc. I'd definitely recommend at least reading the initial trilogy, if you can remember and look past when they were written.

[Aloha]

Thank you, Rob. Audible is having a 40% off everything sale.

[Joseph]

And finished Warlord Of Mars and proceeded directly, without passing GO or collecting $200, to Thuvia, Maid of Mars. (One of the great, or one of the dangerous, things about having the entire series in a single ebook file.)

[AndrewP]

Still plodding through Tigana for this group. Catching up on another classic with Frankenstein on audio and also reading The Asphalt Jungle.

[Joe]

Making my way through 1Q84 and the Garden of the Moon. I hope to finish both books one by the end of the month.

[Kamil]

i'm struggling whith Trudi Cadavan's "The Rogue" and I'm sure I gonna lemm it

[Aloha]

I really enjoyed Frankenstein and 1Q84. The review for !Q84 is one of the most fun for me to write, since I got to analyze the heck out of it. I write reviews for the fun of analysis.

[Brandon]

I finished Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas which was enjoyable.

The Janus Affair which is the second in a Steampunk Series and excellent.

Once I am done with that I will give Tigana another try.

[Joseph]

Had some time on the commuter rail today, so I finished Thuvia, Maid of Mars and started The Chessmen of Mars. Going through these books like potato chips . . .

[Been]

Finally finished Being Geek: The Software Developer's Career Handbook. Damn good book if you're at all involved with software development. Took me way too long though. Now I'm jumping back into Cryptonomicon, and while I'm only 12% of the way through it's definitely shaping up to be my favourite Neal Stephenson book to date.

After I finish this I'm going to start reading the first book released as part of the Singularity & Co/Save the Sci-Fi kickstarter, A Plunge Into Space. I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to seeing what this type of Sci-Fi story written in the 19th century turns out like. I also really want to pick up Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas.

Edit: Ok, apparently we're not getting Redshirts in any form in the UK until mid-November. I think I'm going to have to look up how to get my Kindle US citizenship before summer's out.

[Rikki]

Goodness. I listened to I Am Not A Serial Killer, Mr. Monster and I Don't Want to Kill You all by Dan Wells. I finished all of those in about two days. I wish there was an audio equivalent to "page turner" beause these books surely were that. I also listened to Cast in Silence, Cast in Chaos and am now on Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara West. I read and loved Cow Boy by Nate Cosby and Chris Eliopoulos. Also read Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 2. Other than Tigana, I think that's about it. Oh, no, I'm also reading Heart of Steel on my Kindle

[terpkristin]

After multiple attempts to get through the last few chapters, I finally finished Throne of the Crescent Moon this morning. Review will be up later. I'm still reading Endymion in print and have just grabbed Tigana from Audible to give it a go.

[Melissa]

Reading Acacia: the War with the Mein.

[Nathan]

War by Sebastian Junger, an except look into Afganistan on the ground, non-fiction.

New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird (won't show if I do the whole title), a collection of Lovecraftian short fiction, most of which are good, which is saying something about Lovecraftia and this book.

[David Sven]

Finished Toll the Hounds. A few twists at the end. Not the most solid effort in the series, the plot seemed to falter at times but overall it was pretty good.
Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Aloha]

Over 2/3 done with The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. Whether you agree with his view point or not, the book is highly entertaining if you're into SciFi stuff. I'm really enjoying that. Also working very slowly on Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, which I'm also really enjoying with a bottle of aspirin. All this for some reason makes me want to learn about poetry. I'd like to be able to look at a poem and see the structure, like rhythm, etc. Why? Because.

[Denis]

Just finished A Life Too Short: The Story of Robert Enke ... a biography of Robert Enke, a german goalkeeper who suffered from depression throughout his career and ended up taking his own life.
I can only recommend it. 5/5...

Now I'm starting up on The Windup Girl ... really looking forward to this one ;-)

[Stuart]

I am reading

[Procrastinador]

After finishing Blood Oath, which was great, I started Elantris today and so far I'm really enjoying the story and the characters.

André

[toria (vikz writes)]

I am reading 2312 and I am really enjoying the read

[Kim]

I've knocked out about half of my list and am currently reading Tigana and Deathless.

[David(LA,CA)]

Working my way through the Star Wars: X-Wing series. On Star Wars: Iron Fist at the moment.

[Kate]

I finanly got my hands on A Tree of Bones on Saturday.
It's the final instalment in Gemma Files' awesomely gun totting, blood soaked, over sexed, Aztec magic infused weird west Hexslinger series and I shall be very sad to finish it, which I'll probably do on the eight hour flight I have tomorrow.

[Rob]

In the middle of Micheal Sullivan's Riyria Revelations unfortunately the last part of the trilogy is not on audible yet. Is is well written (unlike most of my posts, good story and good characters.
Im looking for a new series to start...has anyone read the Fey series by Rusch? or the Imager series by L. E. Modesitt?

[David Sven]

Finisihed Ready Player One. Nice fast read.

Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Tamahome]

Kate wrote: "I finanly got my hands on A Tree of Bones on Saturday.
It's the final instalment in Gemma Files' awesomely gun totting, blood soaked, over sexed, Aztec magic infused wei..."

They don't stock that at my local brick 'n mortar...

[Kate]

Tamahome wrote: "They don't stock that at my local brick 'n mortar... ."

It's a small Canadian press, what can you do?
I had to order it in.

[Sam]

Just finished Against All Things Ending last night. Good read as I expect from Donaldson. I'm currently listening to (though I've already read) The Mirror of Her Dreams.
I've read and re-read Tigana, so though I'm discussing it I won't be reading it again for this group.
I'm probably going to read either A Game of Thrones or The Gathering Storm next. Been a long time since I read any WoT and it will be my first Sanderson.

[Joseph]

All done with The Chessmen of Mars and just started The Master Mind of Mars.

[Ty]

This week I'm reading,

Kindle: Daniel Keys Moran's "The last dancer"

Truck book: Clive Cussler's "Deep Six"

Desk: Art Ludwig "The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems - Includes Branched Drains"

Bedside: Rory Miller "Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence "

[kvon]

I blasted through Redshirts, which is really more like a novella. Fun.

Also I finished Robopocalypse, which reminded me of World War Z, but with robots. I don't think I'm a fan of the story structure, following eyewitness accounts across the globe. I'm happy to report that no one died because of their Kindle in this book...on camera, at least.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Finished Tigana and Fuzzy Nation both decidedly average :-?

Started reading 1Q84. I am loving this so far :-)

[Alexis]

I'm still finishing up "the Magicians" from the last S&L round, so I'll sit out the Tigana one and maybe try again in July.

Everytime I see the 'required summer reading" tables at the book store, it makes me want to read some of the 'required" books that I never read as a kid, so I may pick up one of those next. I have a large pile of "to be read" books at my house to make my way through this summer

[Anne]

I'm reading Bradbury's "The Golden Apples of the Sun". The first story - The Fog Horn - is so haunting. He tugs at the heart without the usual tricks and cliches. Sign of a master.

[Keith]

Finished up The Short Victorious War by David Weberand my reread of Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson.

Now starting Hunting Party, the first in the Heris Serrano series by Elizabeth Moon

[Aloha]

1Q84 is tops in my favorites.

Tassie Dave wrote: "Finished Tigana and Fuzzy Nation both decidedly average :-?

Started reading 1Q84. I am loving this so far :-)"

[Aloha]

I finished I, Robot. I'm not sure how to rate it since dated books can seem dated or charming depending on my mood. It's like those charming 50's era pictures that are popular in posters. Knowing what I know of advancements in technology now, and seeing how topics can be treated in much more complex and exciting ways, it's hard not to see this book as naive.

Debating whether to read Gravity's Rainbow or Stranger in a Strange Land. I like the samplings I've had of both.

I haven't had a chance to touch Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid this week. That is one big tome full of passages I have to ponder on for a while. Hopefully, I can work on it this weekend when I'm alone.

[Anthony]

So far I've read Fall of Hyperion and How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe; currently reading The Omen Machine; next will probably be Redshirts, and by then The Long Earth should be out :D.

Fall was great, glad I read it. Will probably read #3 and 4 of the Cantos later.
How to Live Safely was... very strange. And awesome!
I was not sure about The Omen Machine after then end of the Chainfire trilogy. Glad I'm finally reading it :). Going back to a series like this that I've been reading and rereading for more than a decade is like reuniting with old friends at your old hangout.

[Joseph]

Finished The Master Mind of Mars and, of course, started A Fighting Man of Mars.

[Tamahome]

Hah Checking out Roberson's Further. Reads like Doctor Who or Hitcherhiker's Guide.

[Don]

Just started Ready Player One on Audible and finished Hyperion. Continuing with Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age is Revolutionizing Life, Business, and Society