What are you reading?

[Sandikal]

Ugh!  I hate running across blatant misspellings or grammatical errors in novels.  One that I see a lot is the use of the word "bare" instead of "bear".  (I see it the other way around too.)  One book I read had a character named "Kimm", but her name was spelled "Kim" about half a dozen times.  The proofreader should have caught that.

I finally finished "The Last Argument of Kings".  I really slogged through the middle of that book.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of Abercrombie's "The First Law" series, but this last one was tough.  I really bogged down during the battle scenes, especially when Logen & friends were fighting in the North.  They just didn't seem very exciting to me.  Although Jezal was the character that I least liked following in the first two books, he became much more interesting in this one.  I would have liked to have had more of the story focused on him.  There was also less of Glokta in this one.  He was the most fascinating character throughout the series.

[Listener]

Ugh!  I hate running across blatant misspellings or grammatical errors in novels.

Well, then, don't read anything by Laurell K Hamilton. At least not the first editions. Because some of the books are so packed with errors that it makes me hate myself for being so invested in the characters that I have to know right away what happens.

Seriously, how do you misspell the name of a character that's been in the series since book 1 when you're publishing book 13??

[Portrait in Flesh]

It might be dangerous to read "Good Omens" on an airplane.  People might think you're crazy when you start laughing out loud. 

No, it's perfectly safe.  I did it flying from Detroit to Seattle back in 2001.

I did it on a train ride between London and Edinburgh in 1992.

Happened to find my copy of the book in the crates I'd kept in a vault at my mom's house.  (I finally got the "please remove the stuff you have in storage here because I need the space" talk, so I flew out and shipped back four large boxes to my house via Media Mail...serves me right for reading so much when I was a dewy youth.) 

I'm going to have plenty of reading materials for quite some time to come.

[gelee]

Still reading Banks' "Look to Windard."  Great stuff, no surprise there.
Also listening to Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold."  Delicious.  Harsh, but delicious.  Joe Abercrombie is my new favorite fantasy author.  Definately NC-17.  Violent and foul mouthed.  It feels incredibly authentic, with some of the deepest characters I've come across.  I don't know why I don't hear about this guy more.

[Sandikal]

Still reading Banks' "Look to Windard."  Great stuff, no surprise there.
Also listening to Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold."  Delicious.  Harsh, but delicious.  Joe Abercrombie is my new favorite fantasy author.  Definately NC-17.  Violent and foul mouthed.  It feels incredibly authentic, with some of the deepest characters I've come across.  I don't know why I don't hear about this guy more.

I'll be listening to "Best Served Cold" soon myself.  I had to finish reading "The Last Argument of Kings" before starting it.  I listened to the first few minutes of it, and I decided to listen to "The Eyes of Darkness" by Dean Koontz instead.  I just wanted something easier.  I get my two Audible credits tomorrow and just saw that "Desert Spear" by Peter V. Brett is out in audio now.  I'll be listening to that before the Abercrombie.

Reading-wise, I'm on "The Atrocity Archives" by Charles Stross.

[gelee]

Just finished "The Atrocity Archives."  A couple of weeks ago.  Really enjoyed it, too.  I actually got hooked on the series through the short stories from the Tor.com podcast. 

[Scattercat]

I'm moving in spurts and jolts through "State of Decay," which I picked up on a whim a couple of months ago.  It's cool because it has wireless-capable zombies, but it also has prophetic dreams and psychics, which are my least favorite sci-fi tropes.  I don't like scifi as much as fantasy or horror, and I like it even less when it gives up on the "sci" part and starts throwing magic around by calling it telepathy.

Still, there is a scene in which one of the protagonists attempts to stop a wireless zombie by launching a DDOS attack from his own internal cybernetic network connections.  That kind of moment makes up for a lot of schlock.

[Sandikal]

Just finished "The Atrocity Archives."  A couple of weeks ago.  Really enjoyed it, too.  I actually got hooked on the series through the short stories from the Tor.com podcast. 

Starship Sofa has a much better production of "Down on the Farm" than the Tor version, no offense to Charlie Stross and his reading.   That's what got me interested in his Laundry series.  Charles Stross is kind of hit or miss for me.  I love the Tor.com podcasts, but the  production values of the stories is usually pretty bad.  I think most of the stories are read by the authors who just aren't set up very well for recording. 

[Boggled Coriander]

I love the Tor.com podcasts, but the  production values of the stories is usually pretty bad.  I think most of the stories are read by the authors who just aren't set up very well for recording. 

True, that.  I remember beginning Robert Reed's reading of his story "The Next Invasion" and thinking, "The sound quality's HORRIBLE.  No way can I listen to this for long."  Within five minutes I was hooked by the story.  I listened to the whole thing.

I know it's not EA policy, but if the quality's good I like it when authors read their own stories.  John Scalzi's a surprisingly good reader, and I thought Terry Bisson's voice was a good match for "Catch "Em in the Act".

[Talia]

I love the Tor.com podcasts, but the  production values of the stories is usually pretty bad.  I think most of the stories are read by the authors who just aren't set up very well for recording. 

True, that.  I remember beginning Robert Reed's reading of his story "The Next Invasion" and thinking, "The sound quality's HORRIBLE.  No way can I listen to this for long."  Within five minutes I was hooked by the story.  I listened to the whole thing.

I know it's not EA policy, but if the quality's good I like it when authors read their own stories.  John Scalzi's a surprisingly good reader, and I thought Terry Bisson's voice was a good match for "Catch "Em in the Act".

Yep. The fact that the author reads it (for some of them anyway) makes up for the awful quality, for me. I loved hearing Terry Bisson and Charles Stross (whose voice in particular I found very charming).

[Listener]

Finished "The Majipoor Chronicles" by Robert Silverberg. Have moved onto its sequel, "Valentine Pontifex". I didn't know if I'd like the first one, but the world-building is great even though the book is written in a style more popular in the late 70s/early 80s.

[Sandikal]

I love the Tor.com podcasts, but the  production values of the stories is usually pretty bad.  I think most of the stories are read by the authors who just aren't set up very well for recording. 

True, that.  I remember beginning Robert Reed's reading of his story "The Next Invasion" and thinking, "The sound quality's HORRIBLE.  No way can I listen to this for long."  Within five minutes I was hooked by the story.  I listened to the whole thing.

I know it's not EA policy, but if the quality's good I like it when authors read their own stories.  John Scalzi's a surprisingly good reader, and I thought Terry Bisson's voice was a good match for "Catch "Em in the Act".

Yep. The fact that the author reads it (for some of them anyway) makes up for the awful quality, for me. I loved hearing Terry Bisson and Charles Stross (whose voice in particular I found very charming).

Bisson and Stross were the best. 

[Ocicat]

Currently reading Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Tales" series.  Historical fiction about England being invaded by vikings in the late 9th century.  It's great stuff, fitting in all the history along with an engaging fictional main character who's loyalty is divided between the two sides.  This lets us see both sides first hand in a sympathetic light, as well as being a great source of interior conflict. 

Corwell is great at making a time and place come alive, and writes fantastic and realistic battle sequences.  Reads a lot like an epic fantasy series, minus any actual fantasy.

[Boggled Coriander]

Finished Interface.  I liked it and was annoyed by it in equal parts.  In general I liked the bits that obviously came out of Neal Stephenson's brain.  Dunno how much of a role he had in the parts that annoyed me.

[stePH]

almost finished with Death Note.  Considering another re-read of Cyteen (C.J. Cherryh) next.


[edit]

Went ahead with that Cyteen re-read; now in progress.  Though the twelfth and final volume of Death Note is ready for pickup at the library, and I'm going to grab it today.

[Bdoomed]

I started reading Death Note, and I got to I think the middle of it, and then stopped reading because I was too busy.  I tried to pick it up again but had forgotten too much, and I'll have to start over from pretty much the beginning if I want to finish it.  I was enjoying it.

Oh, and I started Watchmen today.

[CryptoMe]

Just finished listening to Cory Doctorow's Little Brother today in audio format. Really liked it; fun and full of interesting geeky IT facts (many I knew, but they were still presented in a way that it was fun to listen to). Also, I didn't realize it was "young adult fiction" until someone said so in the end notes.

[lowky]

just finished Open Season by CJ Box.  He writes stories set in and around the area I am currently working (Yellowstone Nat. Park) about a Game and Fish Warden/detective.

[Listener]

My box from Amazon was late, so I figured I'd reread Laurell Hamilton's "Skin Trade" -- I hate to say it, but I'm so invested in the characters that I plod through the plots and the mediocrely-written/simultaneously-overblown sex scenes and the ever-increasing angst just to find out what happens to my favorite ones.

Of course the box came right after I started. So next up will be "Bullet", in which I hope Hamilton finally kills off a few main characters because it's getting crowded in there... and then Stieg Larsson's third and final novel, "The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest".

[DKT]

Just finished listening to Cory Doctorow's Little Brother today in audio format. Really liked it; fun and full of interesting geeky IT facts (many I knew, but they were still presented in a way that it was fun to listen to). Also, I didn't realize it was "young adult fiction" until someone said so in the end notes.

I believe he's got a new YA novel coming out soon called FTW. I haven't read it, but I thought Little Brother was an incredibly fun ride. (Still have Makers on the bookshelf...)

[Sandikal]

Just finished listening to Cory Doctorow's Little Brother today in audio format. Really liked it; fun and full of interesting geeky IT facts (many I knew, but they were still presented in a way that it was fun to listen to). Also, I didn't realize it was "young adult fiction" until someone said so in the end notes.

I believe he's got a new YA novel coming out soon called FTW. I haven't read it, but I thought Little Brother was an incredibly fun ride. (Still have Makers on the bookshelf...)

My 8th grader is an anti-fiction-reader.  He hates fiction.  However, he loved, loved, loved "Little Brother".  Doctorow's new YA novel, "For the Win" is out now, but I ordered it with a pre-order and won't be getting it until August.  I may have to go fix my Amazon order.

I'm currently reading "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge and "Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz.  My audio selection is "Desert Spear" by Peter V. Brett. 

[jrderego]

The Bullpen Diaries: Memoirs of a Minor League Pitcher by Dirk Hayhurst.

[Listener]

Just finished listening to Cory Doctorow's Little Brother today in audio format. Really liked it; fun and full of interesting geeky IT facts (many I knew, but they were still presented in a way that it was fun to listen to). Also, I didn't realize it was "young adult fiction" until someone said so in the end notes.

I believe he's got a new YA novel coming out soon called FTW. I haven't read it, but I thought Little Brother was an incredibly fun ride. (Still have Makers on the bookshelf...)

My 8th grader is an anti-fiction-reader.  He hates fiction.  However, he loved, loved, loved "Little Brother".  Doctorow's new YA novel, "For the Win" is out now, but I ordered it with a pre-order and won't be getting it until August.  I may have to go fix my Amazon order.

I'm currently reading "A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge and "Forever Odd" by Dean Koontz.  My audio selection is "Desert Spear" by Peter V. Brett. 

Well, if he hates fiction but loves reading non-fiction, at least he's reading (and probably learning), so that's a big plus.

[Listener]

"The Girl Who Kicked A Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson. I'm about 40% done and so far there's been very little action and a screaming buttload of explanation, but I still can't stop turning the pages. It's crazy.

Fortunately, one of the MCs is about to become mobile again, and then much kicking of ass is likely to ensue. Always a plus.

[Talia]

Reading Blake Charlton's 'Spellwright.' Its his debut novel, and its pretty darn good. Its basically your standard high fantasy, but well written and with an interesting magic system where text literally is the spell. IE text flies off the page when your casting it, you can absorb text into your skin, etc. Its proving highly engaging, I expect to spend the rest of the evening curled up on my bed with it.