What are you reading?

[Sandikal]

And "Stress of Her Regard" by Tim Powers takes the poem fragment by Byron and, I think, some of the historical details of that week with the Shelleys and turns it into a whole speculative-history novel.  That's Powers' usual MO, though; take a random weird historical event and spin a story out of it.

I've never outright loved any of his books, but they're usually fun, especially if you're a history buff and can catch the in-jokes.

Tim Powers makes my head hurt.  It took me two tries to get through "Declare".  It was worth it though.  "Anubis Gates" wasn't as good, but it wasn't as difficult either.  Both were really weird though.

[Sgarre1]

Finished up CRIMSON ORGY, a pulpy novel about the awful events surrounding the filming of a now-lost gore film in Florida in 1965 (think Hershel Gordon Lewis) (review here http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2246553.Crimson_Orgy), BROOKLYN NOIR crime anthology (eh, all right - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91891.Brooklyn_Noir) and a collection of the wonderfully delicate A.E. Coppard's short fiction (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5599597.Dusky_Ruth_and_Other_Stories).

Moving onto - WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE (who can't do without some Raymond Carver?), SAN FRANCISCO NOIR anthology (I have ulterior motives...) and still plowing through THE DEDALUS BOOK OF SURREALISM (tougher than I expected).

"Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system."
— Flannery O'Connor

[Ocicat]

I've heard that Tim Power's excellent On Stranger Tides will be the basis for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

It's a really good book, and the first Pirates movie obviously owed a lot to it in terms of general feeling.

[Boggled Coriander]

Just finished Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.  A great book to recommend to anyone who's dissing Young Adult fiction.  It's less juvenile than many novels marketed to adults.

Now I'm reading a collection of Cory Doctorow's short fiction.  Before, I didn't get why he was so popular.  (The exception being his story "Anda's Game", which was brilliant.)  But when I saw the collection in a used bookstore, I figured I might as well give him more of a chance.  I'm glad I did.  "Craphound" works much better for me on the page than it did as a podcast (not Escape Pod's fault; I just prefer the story in printed form), and the other stories are good-to-brilliant so far.

I'm also working my way through the non-fiction Where Wizards Stay Up Late, about the creation of ARPANET.  Kinda humbling to think so much of what I take for granted today was the result of endless man-hours of work by guys much smarter than me.

[DKT]

I've heard that Tim Power's excellent On Stranger Tides will be the basis for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

It's a really good book, and the first Pirates movie obviously owed a lot to it in terms of general feeling.

Have you heard that it will be the basis for the movie, or are they just nabbing the title? (I've read they're using the title, but hadn't heard it would be the basis, which would make me very happy.)

[Darwinist]

Just finished Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse which is an anthology of 22 stories of post-apocalyptic fiction.

Some really good stories in there, one of my favs was When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow.  A nice depressing read if you like end of the world stuff. 

[Sandikal]

Just finished Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse which is an anthology of 22 stories of post-apocalyptic fiction.

Some really good stories in there, one of my favs was When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow.  A nice depressing read if you like end of the world stuff. 

I love post-apocalyptic fiction.  I'll have to look for this one.

[Ocicat]

I've heard that Tim Power's excellent On Stranger Tides will be the basis for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

It's a really good book, and the first Pirates movie obviously owed a lot to it in terms of general feeling.

Have you heard that it will be the basis for the movie, or are they just nabbing the title? (I've read they're using the title, but hadn't heard it would be the basis, which would make me very happy.)

I've heard they are using it as a basis... but the source isn't so trusted, and may just think so because of the title.  Or they may know something.  I guess I'll be able to ask Tim in a few weeks, since he'll be guest of honor at Steamcon here in Seattle.

[Darwinist]

Just finished Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse which is an anthology of 22 stories of post-apocalyptic fiction.

Some really good stories in there, one of my favs was When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow.  A nice depressing read if you like end of the world stuff. 

I love post-apocalyptic fiction.  I'll have to look for this one.

I love that genre, too.  You'd probably like this collection.  Some of the stories I struggled through and some I loved and read twice.   Most stories are not very long.   Overall, a pretty good set.

[Raving_Lunatic]

I just found Snow Crash, which i'm ashamed to say i've never read despite the fact it seems to be on almost everyone's top 10/50 SF books of all time lists... I've been hunting them all down trying to give myself that starting block at least... but I found it for just 30p in my local library's sale!

[Sandikal]

I'm reading "Selected Short Stories of H.G. Wells" edited by Ursula K. LeGuin and "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker.  (Yes, I do read non-genre.)  I may end up paying some overdue fines for the Wells because I've already renewed once and it's due Thursday.  I just have a hard time reading more than one story in it during a session.

I'm posting because this dropped to page 2.

[DKT]

I've heard that Tim Power's excellent On Stranger Tides will be the basis for the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

It's a really good book, and the first Pirates movie obviously owed a lot to it in terms of general feeling.

Have you heard that it will be the basis for the movie, or are they just nabbing the title? (I've read they're using the title, but hadn't heard it would be the basis, which would make me very happy.)

I've heard they are using it as a basis... but the source isn't so trusted, and may just think so because of the title.  Or they may know something.  I guess I'll be able to ask Tim in a few weeks, since he'll be guest of honor at Steamcon here in Seattle.

Apparently, Disney has optioned Tim Powers novel. Details are at Locus. I really need to read On Stranger Tides now. Maybe after Halloween, I'll go through a Pirate reading block.

I finished reading the Last Colony and liked it so much, I jumped over to Zoe's Tale. It's interesting to read the two back-to-back because they're so similar, yet so different, and the strengths of one novel are the weaknesses of the other. It's a good universe Scalzi's created, I hope he goes back to it one day. He knows how to make me turn the pages faster than any other author I can think of. If you like Scalzi's other Old Man War books, you'll probably like these too.

Started reading Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, which is thus far fantastic. Carey's prose writing is just as great as his comic book writing.

Also listening to I Am Legend at work, which is ripping me apart. What an incredibly sparse, grim, and gritty story. I read it probably about 10 years ago and thought it was good, but now I understand why everyone calls it one of the great vampire stories.

[Raving_Lunatic]

done snow crash, now the great gatsby

which version of I am Legend have you got on audiobook? I had the most fantastic version, which catapulted it into one of my favourite books- it is a fantastic story!

[Portrait in Flesh]

Also listening to I Am Legend at work, which is ripping me apart.

That's my current commute listening, although it may take a while (since my commute averages 15 minutes to and from).  Pretty good stuff so far.

[Russell Nash]

Also listening to I Am Legend at work, which is ripping me apart.

That's my current commute listening, although it may take a while (since my commute averages 15 minutes to and from).  Pretty good stuff so far.

which version and did you have to buy it or is it downloadable from somewhere?

[DKT]

I got mine from Audible. iTunes says it's narrated by Robertson Dean. He really nails the mood of loneliness and despair. Definitely check it out if you have a chance

[Raving_Lunatic]

yeah, mine's the same narration. it's fantabulous.

[Portrait in Flesh]

Yep, Dean's the fella (via Blackstone Audio...they usually have pretty good readings, from what I've heard).

I got the audio book in the break-up and he got the Will Smith movie.  Ah, knowing he still hurts is oh so sweet.

[lowky]

Just finished Audio version (librivox via Podiobooks.com) of King Solomon's Mine  Starting on FETIDUS Foundation for the Ethical Treatment of the Innocently Damned, Undead and Supernatural

[Swamp]

Last year I listened to King Solomon's Mines from Librovox.  I liked it.  I also listened to A Princess of Mars and PeterPan.

Right now I am reading Pride and Prejudice (no zombies) via email from DailyLit.com.

[Thaurismunths]

I'm actually reading non-fiction at the moment.
The book is called "A history of God: The 4000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam".
It's a historic and political account of the evolution of the western concept of "God". It almost entirely avoids the sticking points of dogma and ethics, and sticks to a rational and fact-based account of how we got from the eternal "Sky God" to "The Man in the Clouds" that we have to day.  And, quite helpfully, it isn't nearly as dry as it sounds.
So far I'm aghast that there is any dispute between religions, as they all believe, in essence, in the same things.

[Russell Nash]

I'm actually reading non-fiction at the moment.
The book is called "A history of God: The 4000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam".
It's a historic and political account of the evolution of the western concept of "God". It almost entirely avoids the sticking points of dogma and ethics, and sticks to a rational and fact-based account of how we got from the eternal "Sky God" to "The Man in the Clouds" that we have to day.  And, quite helpfully, it isn't nearly as dry as it sounds.
So far I'm aghast that there is any dispute between religions, as they all believe, in essence, in the same things.

I say this everytime someone mentions this book.  I set it aside and started reading something else, because there was so much info I wanted to remember.  If I'd gone through the book all at one time I would have forgotten almost all of it.  My plan was to read a bit and then read 20 pages of fiction and then go back.  I got side tracked.  I just finished The Golden Compass, so I think I'll go back to that original plan with The Subtle Knife. 

[Thaurismunths]

I'm actually reading non-fiction at the moment.
The book is called "A history of God: The 4000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam".
It's a historic and political account of the evolution of the western concept of "God". It almost entirely avoids the sticking points of dogma and ethics, and sticks to a rational and fact-based account of how we got from the eternal "Sky God" to "The Man in the Clouds" that we have to day.  And, quite helpfully, it isn't nearly as dry as it sounds.
So far I'm aghast that there is any dispute between religions, as they all believe, in essence, in the same things.

I say this everytime someone mentions this book.  I set it aside and started reading something else, because there was so much info I wanted to remember.  If I'd gone through the book all at one time I would have forgotten almost all of it.  My plan was to read a bit and then read 20 pages of fiction and then go back.  I got side tracked.  I just finished The Golden Compass, so I think I'll go back to that original plan with The Subtle Knife. 

I'm glad to hear that someone else has heard of it.
If I weren't such a slow reader I might try your strategy, but it is on loan from the local library... and I've just googled it. Amazon has it for $10.85, so I might get a copy for the house. I'm really enjoying it, and I agree that it is very informative. It's one of the few books that I've been tempted to write notes in the margin and dog-ear pages for future reference.

[MacArthurBug]

I am grudgingly reading the accursed Twilight saga. Not due to want- but due to increasing pressure from my peers. Stoopid peers.

[stePH]

Finished Zenna Henderson's Ingathering: The Complete People Stories; now re-reading V for Vendetta.