What should I read next?

[Riona]

So I don't know about you guys, but I typically have half a dozen books out of the library at one time and as soon as I finish one, it's a huge struggle to decide which one to start next! I'm hoping this can be a thread where we can post the books we're considering reading next and have others in the group suggest which one to go for. I know I'd find it useful, and hopefully others will too.

So I'll start! I currently have the following out from the library:

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
Daughters of the North
The Flame Alphabet
R.U.R.
and Delta of Venus

They're all books I've been meaning to read for ages and each of them sounds fantastic, so I'm having a really hard time choosing. Which should I go with?


**Ruby, if this is an inappropriate place to post this, just let me know and I'll delete**

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Great idea for a thread, Riona! I have this problem every damn time I finish something! I might just move it to the "Book recs" folder - I was hoping people would post this kind of stuff :)

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

For purely selfish reasons, I would like you to read The Flame Alphabet, so that we can talk about it. I've heard great things about Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, and it's high on my must-buy list.

[Riona]

I had a feeling you might suggest that! I'm hesitant to get involved with it though, since it's due back at the library in a week (and there's a waiting list, so I can't renew). Plus, so many other awesome sounding books!

But I will probably dive in. I just needed an extra push, hence this thread.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

*PUSH*

I think you'll get it done in under a week. From what I've seen, people either seem to race through it or put it down about 70-odd pages in.

[Rosa]

Riona wrote: "So I don't know about you guys, but I typically have half a dozen books out of the library at one time and as soon as I finish one, it's a huge struggle to decide which one to start next! I'm hopin..."

I've just read a great article by Stuart Kelly, my Reader in Residence at Napier, and Literary Critic on the Flame Alphabet. He said the book made him go pale ( according to his wife). He says it's a truly incredible book and I am dying to get a hold of a copy -- as soon as I complete my current studies and its associated reading.Sounds like a belter of a book!

[Riona]

Okay, I started it and am enjoying it so far, though it's definitely not an easy/quick read. I think I'll have to work to make the due date.


So, anyone else need some help choosing between books?

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

I will, shortly. I should finish both Blackout and Slaughterhouse-Five by tomorrow night. I've got other books on the go, and a long queue of paper books, but at some point I'll need to choose my next ebook.

I'm trying to choose between:
Prophets of the Ghost Ants
Loki
The Prospect of My Arrival
HELLBENDER
...... and everything else on this list that is marked as "unread-on-my-Kindle" (ie NOT the ones marked "unread-on-my-shelf")
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Wait. Hold the goddamn phone....... Look what I just acquired! I think this might warrant an immediate (quick read): clownfucker

[Riona]

Ruby wrote: "Wait. Hold the goddamn phone....... Look what I just acquired! I think this might warrant an immediate (quick read): clownfucker"

WHAT. That sounds ridiculous.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

I know. And I am a firm believer in ridiculous..

[[Name Redacted]]

For what it's worth, I read Mike's "Loki" earlier this year and reviewed it. He's a very nice guy and open to feedback!

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Okay, it's almost that exciting time again: Paperback Selection! I've almost finished both Boneshaker and Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, so I'm thinking the next read needs to be either:

Iron Council or Ghosts
I also have Любовник смерти out from the library, but might just have to return it next week..

[Riona]

Iron Council is the last of Mieville's New Crobuzon books, right? So I say you should go for it and finish off the trilogy. :)

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

I'll do that..... as soon as I finish Ghosts. ;)
Sorry. After finishing Boneshaker, I really couldn't face more steampunk straight away! I'm almost halfway through Ghosts already anyway, so it'll only be a short delay.

[Amashelle]

Ruby wrote: "I will, shortly. I should finish both Blackout and Slaughterhouse-Five by tomorrow night. I've got other books on the go, and a long queue of paper books, but at some point I'll need to choose my n..."

You have to read Loki next! I say this because I want to read it, and I don't have a copy. So you need to read it and tell me all about it, k?

[Theo]

OK...I have four books ready to go, but I'm not sure which one I should start with. Suggestions?

Phantoms
Christine
A Storm of Swords
The Last Book in the Universe

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Ooooh - pick the last one please? It's been on my TBR for a while and looks really unique!

I've read Christine, and it wasn't my favourite Stephen King book, but it is a classic.

I read Phantoms many, many years ago but can't remember whether it was one of the good ones or not. I went through a huge Koontz kick and read many of his books pretty much back-to-back. I found that after a while, the books started getting really hit&miss. Phantoms was one of the earlier ones though I think, so it might be a good bet.

[Theo]

Thanks for the feedback Ruby, The Last Book in the Universe it is! I have a 3+ hour car trip to make this afternoon, and I have it on audio, so that should work out nicely.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Cool. Let us know if it's as good as it looks :)

[Peter]

A Visit from the Goon Squadby Jennifer Egan. I really enjoyed this.

[Riona]

Okay, I'm reviving this thread! I have a whole stack of books out from the library right now, so help me choose between a few, please!

Zazen
Great Apes
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
We

I also still have Daughters of the North and Delta of Venus, which have been renewed a few times since my first post.

ETA: Oh, crap. I also have Hunger and A Fan's Notes, as well as a bunch of YA I don't particularly feel like reading right now.

[Anna]

I would choose We it's something I would read

[Riona]

Ernest wrote: "I'm reading Choke at the moment but I can't decide on what to read next. I've narrowed it down to...

The Rules of Attraction
Damned
Room
Diary

Thoughts?"

Ooh, I haven't read any of those! I've had Room on my kindle for ages, though...

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Oh wow. I've had that on my TBR for ages too and had totally forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder!

[Dr. Detroit]

Riona wrote: "So I don't know about you guys, but I typically have half a dozen books out of the library at one time and as soon as I finish one, it's a huge struggle to decide which one to start next! I'm hopin..."

Spiralling way off topic, funny you should mention R.U.R. Friends of mine had a punk band here in Detroit in the late 70's called (here's their single):

[Mike]

I just finished reading Eden and it was fantastic! It has a little bit of everything adventure, paranormal, mystery, suspense and horror. Good show!

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Okay, now I'm officially confused with the turn this thread has taken! It might just be me, but at least one of the earlier posts seems to be missing too - ie the post by Ernest that Riona was replying to.

Does anyone have a few books they're trying to choose between?

[Riona]

GR hasn't been marking posts in this thread as "new" for me! Except for Ruby's last post. WTF?

In any case, for once I actually know what my next couple books are going to be, so no help needed here. I'm sure I'll be back in a week or two.

[Theo]

I'm having trouble deciding, so which should I read next?

O Pioneers!
Christine
Company Of Liars
The Amulet of Samarkand

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Personally, I think Company Of Liars sounds pretty amazing. The only one I've read is Christine, but that was a very long time ago. It was never my favourite Stephen King book or film.

[Whitney]

Sort of related to 'What should I read next', or at least this seemed the best place to post this.

Aside from an unfortunate exchange with one of their pissy marketers in this group, I've always thought Dark Regions Press looked like a classy little publisher with some interesting titles. That they recently signed Joe Lansdale didn't hurt, either.

They currently have a program where they are donating one book to underfunded schools, libraries or prisons for every book purchased. To sweeten the deal, they are now offering 50% off all their titles. To further sweeten the deal, anyone spending $100 gets all of their ebook titles for free (32 of them) as well. So, because there is one small place left in my house where I will not be crushed under a pile of books in the event of an earthquake, I took the plunge.

Not knowing any of the writers in their catalog, I went on the blurbs, names, and cover art. what follows is the list of books I ordered. If anyone has read any of them, please let me know what you thought so I can decide which ones to put toward the top of the TBR list. Since I'm flying completely blind here, even a "that sounds interesting" would work.

Over The Darkening Fields
A Host of Shadows
Charnel Wine
Beneath The Surface, Nightingale Songs, Cold to the Touch
Wine and Rank Poison, Isis Unbound
Multiplex Fandango
The White Room
Tales of the Weak & Wounded
Phantom Navigations (this one is poetry).

[Riona]

Oh good, I'm glad someone is using this thread again.

I haven't read any of the above, but it sounds like most of them are collections of short stories, so I guess you could even dip in and out of a few of them!

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Nice! Sorry, Whitney. I don't think I've read any of them either. :(

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Hmmmm. Having just finished Ready Player One, I'm looking for something in that (very) broad general vein....

Can't decide between:

Transmission by Hari Kunzru (search isn't picking it up, of course)
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
The Windup Girl
The Shining Girls (not techy really, but the author Lauren Beukes, is great at that stuff)
Roadside Picnic / Tale of the Troika

[Riona]

I'm dying to read The Shining Girls but my library still has it on order. I'm first on the hold list when it comes in, though!

I didn't really like The Windup Girl.

[Whitney]

Ruby wrote: "...Can't decide between:

Transmission by Hari Kunzru (search isn't picking it up, of couTransmission by Hari Kunzru (search isn't picking it up, of course) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
The Windup Girls..."

I vote for Kunzru so you can report back on how it is.

One tip for book links, find the book with a normal search, then add it to a post by copying the ispn number into the 'add a book' search field: Transmission. Kind of a pain, but beats trying to scroll through 25 pages of irrelevant results.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Whitney wrote: "Ruby wrote: "...Can't decide between:

Transmission by Hari Kunzru (search isn't picking it up, of couTransmission by Hari Kunzru (search isn't picking it up, of course) http://www.goodreads.com/bo..."

Thanks. As it was, normal search wasn't picking it up either at the time. Had to find it using my bookshelf!

[Whitney]

I'm sure the search issues will all be fixed when IOI / Amazon starts 'improving' Goodreads ;-)

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Whitney wrote: "I'm sure the search issues will all be fixed when IOI / Amazon starts 'improving' Goodreads ;-)"

Don't remind me. *shudders*

I ended up starting on Transmission while I was waiting for a prescription today. The writing is beautiful.