Author Topic: What are you reading? (Read 1059074 times)

Scattercat · **Reply #1650 on:** January 25, 2011, 08:14:08 PM

Well, it's metafiction; it's purposely playing with the expectations of all of the Magic School books in a way I found entertaining in the extreme.

iamafish · **Reply #1651 on:** January 26, 2011, 11:05:01 AM

I'm re-reading the curious case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I'm having a Gothic Horror binge at the moment: Frankenstein, followed by Dracula, followed by Jekyll and Hyde

kibitzer · **Reply #1652 on:** January 27, 2011, 01:44:52 AM

Still on The Night Watch and I'm pretty ambivalent about it -- feel I could just stop and not really care about what happens. There's a lot of character internal dialogue and thought, and I'm finding that long-winded and repetitive.

Opinions: worth persisting with the rest of the series?

Scattercat · **Reply #1653 on:** January 27, 2011, 05:55:41 AM

If you're not enjoying the style, then probably not. The style is pretty consistent throughout. I found them fascinating, personally, though in part despite Anton's constant yammering, I admit.

Bdoomed · **Reply #1654 on:** January 27, 2011, 08:49:11 PM

Started reading "Moo" by Jane Smiley for class. Wasn't liking it for the first few pages, lots of tell and no show. The next couple of pages, however, began to take on a slight comedic style, almost reminiscent of Douglas Adams, however much more subdued and less funny. It made me not so annoyed at the first few pages.

I've also started Game of Thrones on my Kindle. That's going to be slow for me to read because of all of the school reading I have to do these days. I'm still on the first chapter (actually I think it's a prologue) and it's been 3 days since I bought it (only $5!!!). So far it's pretty good, keeping my attention when I can spare it. I hope I can finish Moo quick enough to have some spare time to read more of it.

Devoted135 · **Reply #1655 on:** January 27, 2011, 09:02:06 PM

I loved Game of Thrones, and also Clash of Kings... Storm of Swords is on the "to be read soon" list. I hope you enjoy it too!

Just finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which was somehow accessible and challenging at the same time. One of the better dystopias I've come across, though not having it chosen for me by a professor probably helped that along.

Sandikal · **Reply #1656 on:** January 28, 2011, 12:29:47 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on January 27, 2011, 01:44:52 AM

Still on The Night Watch and I'm pretty ambivalent about it -- feel I could just stop and not really care about what happens. There's a lot of character internal dialogue and thought, and I'm finding that long-winded and repetitive.

Opinions: worth persisting with the rest of the series?

I thought Night Watch was okay, but I don't love it enough to continue the series.

Listener · **Reply #1657 on:** January 28, 2011, 01:38:16 PM

Quote from: Bdoomed on January 27, 2011, 08:49:11 PM

Started reading "Moo" by Jane Smiley for class. Wasn't liking it for the first few pages, lots of tell and no show. The next couple of pages, however, began to take on a slight comedic style, almost reminiscent of Douglas Adams, however much more subdued and less funny. It made me not so annoyed at the first few pages.

I enjoyed "Moo" enough to give to a friend who I thought would like it, but I've only read it once and only vaguely remember it.

Quote from: Sandikal on January 28, 2011, 12:29:47 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on January 27, 2011, 01:44:52 AM
Still on The Night Watch and I'm pretty ambivalent about it -- feel I could just stop and not really care about what happens. There's a lot of character internal dialogue and thought, and I'm finding that long-winded and repetitive.

Opinions: worth persisting with the rest of the series?

I thought Night Watch was okay, but I don't love it enough to continue the series.

I suggest reading "Day Watch". It gives you insight into the other side that you might find quite surprising.

Listener · **Reply #1658 on:** January 28, 2011, 01:40:50 PM

Finished "The Magicians". I have to say, the best parts are before Penny gets back together with the gang, and I felt the part after the final battle was too tacked-on a la the parts of "The Amber Spyglass" after Mrs Coulter and Lord Asriel resolve their problems. It just kept going on, and getting mopier and mopier, and then the appearance of Mayakovsky's student felt forced. I did rather like finding out the true identity of the Watcherwoman and the paramedic. Overall, a good book.

Now reading "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" by Seth Graeme-Smith. It's... okay.

iamafish · **Reply #1659 on:** January 28, 2011, 11:39:32 PM

Just stared Alice's adventures in Wonderland. I'm only a couple of chapters in and I'm loving it to bits so far.

Sandikal · **Reply #1660 on:** January 29, 2011, 03:48:37 PM

I just finished So Cold the River by Michael Koryta. The library had it shelved as a mystery, but it should have been in general fiction with the Stephen King and Dean Koontz books. It had the potential to be a great ghost story--it had all the elements. However, it seemed a bit flat to me. I just can't pinpoint why. I liked it, but thought it could have been a lot better.

I'm now reading Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. I've seen it on the bookstore shelves forever and decided to download it to my Nook because it was only $2.99. I'm not very far in, but I like it so far. I haven't been reading as much old-school science fiction as I used to because there is less of it out there and because it's all seeming so derivative.

On audio, I just finished Maria Snyder's Study series. It was completely entertaining fluff. I needed a good dose of fluff after listening to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I'm now listening to Good Omens. I read the book a couple of years ago and loved it. The audio is quite confusing because the narrator doesn't pause when the story switches from one scene to the next. So, you'll have Crowley and Aziraphale getting drunk and you're suddenly hearing about Anathema reading about herself in The Book. I do love the narrator's performance though. He's got great delivery and I'm getting quite a few laughs out of it. I just wish he'd give a little bit of a pause before switching scenes. I don't remember being quite so confused by the book in print.

FireTurtle · **Reply #1661 on:** February 09, 2011, 04:05:49 AM

Finished the "Hundred Thousand Kingdoms". Enjoyed. Very solid, really. I'm a little nervous as to what she will do with the sequels just because the end felt....well, like the end. But, given her inventiveness in this lovely first novel I'm withholding judgment.

Listened to the Storm Front and Fool Moon by Jim Butcher while painting the house and running outside last week. Enjoyed, narration was very good, except the part where Marsters (the narrator) kept saying "Spike" which thankfully, was only a minor character's name but it was unbelievably distracting because I kept falling out of the story when my brain shouted, " NO, YOU are Spike!"
The books were inventive pieces of interesting fluff that kept me thoroughly entertained. I was totally going to order the last few until I looked on iTunes and there are like a MILLION sequels! Now that I have listened to it I don't want to read it- it totally ruins the vibe! AUGH! Why did no one warn me! Not like anyone knew I would do such a foolish thing but, STILL. Sheesh. Not to mention the audiobook versions are ridiculously overpriced.
Ok. Someday when I am thrown in debtors prison I can shake my fist and scream at the ceiling, "This is all your fault Jim Butcherrrrrrrrrr!"

CryptoMe · **Reply #1662 on:** February 09, 2011, 06:43:44 AM

Quote from: FireTurtle on February 09, 2011, 04:05:49 AM

Not to mention the audiobook versions are ridiculously overpriced.
Ok. Someday when I am thrown in debtors prison I can shake my fist and scream at the ceiling, "This is all your fault Jim Butcherrrrrrrrrr!"

I've also been listening to the Dresden series audiobooks (yes, I had the same reaction you did to Marsders reading "spike"

). However, I get them from my local library, downloaded right to my computer at home, for free. No need to slog through the horrid snow and frigid temperatures (I envy you your run outside

. No need to go to debtor's prison. I would highly recommend that you check if your local library offers a similar service.

Sandikal · **Reply #1663 on:** February 10, 2011, 04:36:24 AM

I won a copy of "A Discovery of Witches" on GoodReads and it came yesterday. So far, it's living up to its pre-publication hype.

stePH · **Reply #1664 on:** February 10, 2011, 06:17:38 PM

Was reading Robert M. Price's Deconstructing Jesus but abandoned it around page 35 for two reasons:

1) The last three books I've read were somewhat heavy non-fiction books, and this Price is more of the same, and I need some lighter fiction to unwind a bit.

2) I would get much more out of this book after reading the New Testament of the Christian Bible, so I'm going to do that before coming back to this book.

So I'm currently reading The Man with the Getaway Face, the second Parker novel by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake). Before that I read the first, The Hunter (though my copy is titled Point Blank after the Lee Marvin film), and after this I'll read the next one, The Outfit.

Bdoomed · **Reply #1665 on:** February 11, 2011, 01:29:41 AM

For class, reading Unmaking the Public University by Christopher Newfield. More scariness about the university system, a lot of hating on the conservatives, a fair amount of hating on the weak willed liberals, all around good scary stuff.

kibitzer · **Reply #1666 on:** February 11, 2011, 01:38:00 AM

Disturbia by Christopher Fowler. Has absolutely nothing to do with the Shia LaBeef film.

stePH · **Reply #1667 on:** February 11, 2011, 04:31:09 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on February 11, 2011, 01:38:00 AM

Disturbia by Christopher Fowler. Has absolutely nothing to do with the Shia LaBeef film.

HA! You call him "LaBeef" too!

Does it have anything to do with the Rhianna song?

kibitzer · **Reply #1668 on:** February 11, 2011, 05:48:54 AM

Quote from: stePH on February 11, 2011, 04:31:09 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on February 11, 2011, 01:38:00 AM
Disturbia by Christopher Fowler. Has absolutely nothing to do with the Shia LaBeef film.

HA! You call him "LaBeef" too!

Does it have anything to do with the Rhianna song?

Sadly, no. It just seems to fit...

Scattercat · **Reply #1669 on:** February 11, 2011, 07:11:14 AM

Read Tim Pratt's collection "Hart and Boot" and was reminded why I like him (as his last couple of appearances at EA have been duds for me). Good stuff.

Read "Bitterwood" after several recommendations, some from people who seemed trustworthy, and was - har har - bitterly disappointed. Like, it started out *awesome* and I was all, "Dude, cool alternate religions and unusual moral frameworks, radical!" Then, all of the interesting bits went away. Then the characters started lurching around like a Kabuki play and announcing their backstories and internal motivations and randomly switching personalities for no reason other than it would sure be convenient for the plot if the amoral coward turned into a noble altruist. Then the ominous preacher came back and I was briefly excited until that plot thread fizzled like a wet bottle rocket and we got a lecture instead. Most recently, I read about a CENTRAL DEFINING CHARACTER EVENT that for some reason has NEVER BEEN MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY and if I hadn't been reading on my Kindle I would have thrown the book across the room.

Right now I'm just reading the rest out of sheer commitment and the hopes that it gets better, but I'm really not feeling great about my chances. The only thing that could redeem the utterly ridiculous villain subplot would be for the dragon king to pull a Vetinari, but it looks like I'm going to get a faceful of pathos instead.

Like, okay, name the character "Blasphet" if you must. Okay, and he ran a cult that worshiped him as (sigh) the "Murder God." This is kind of silly but I've seen worse. But then give him black scales (when every other dragon of his race is red/orange) and red eyes and a propensity for announcing in EVERY SCENE about how he coats his claws with ULTRA-POISON that can KILL WITH A TOUCH and you just start sounding like a twelve-year-old who read LotR last week.

DKT · **Reply #1670 on:** February 11, 2011, 09:48:38 PM

Quote from: FireTurtle on February 09, 2011, 04:05:49 AM

Finished the "Hundred Thousand Kingdoms". Enjoyed. Very solid, really. I'm a little nervous as to what she will do with the sequels just because the end felt....well, like the end. But, given her inventiveness in this lovely first novel I'm withholding judgment.

I haven't quite finished The Broken Kingdoms yet, but I'm close to doing so, and it's pretty great. Characters from the first book appear, but it's not about them, and it does some really interesting things. So I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.

I've also been listening to Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, which is the first novel of her's I've read. Thus far, I like it pretty well, but not as much as I did at about 1/3 mark. (I'm close to 2/3 through it now.)

Reread a couple of comics including Batman: A Death in the Family and Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, and am reading Captain America: Winter Soldier for the first time. After I finish that up, I'll probably jam through the final volume of Ex Machina.

tinygaia · **Reply #1671 on:** February 11, 2011, 09:55:04 PM

Quote from: DKT on February 11, 2011, 09:48:38 PM

I've also been listening to Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, which is the first novel of her's I've read. Thus far, I like it pretty well, but not as much as I did at about 1/3 mark. (I'm close to 2/3 through it now.)

I read her Sharing Knife series. Interesting magic system in there, but watered down by fluffy romance, which the review that made me want to read it neglected to mention. I was disappointed because I'm not big on fluffy romance, but it took place after lots of monster-killing action, so I was hooked by then. A good read overall. I enjoyed her writing style.

kibitzer · **Reply #1672 on:** February 12, 2011, 07:57:14 AM

Sherri Tepper, anyone?

tinygaia · **Reply #1673 on:** February 12, 2011, 05:35:15 PM

Quote from: kibitzer on February 12, 2011, 07:57:14 AM

Sherri Tepper, anyone?

Yeah, just like that, actually.

stePH · **Reply #1674 on:** February 12, 2011, 06:51:15 PM

Quote from: kibitzer on February 12, 2011, 07:57:14 AM

Sherri Tepper, anyone?

Yes, please and thank you.

I think I'll start The Family Tree after I'm done with Stark's The Outfit. I have a bunch of her books that I was reading in publication order and I believe that one's next.

[edit]
Speaking of Stark (Westlake), the first three Parker novels really should get omnibus'd into a single book, if they haven't ever been yet. There's a connective thread through them that makes them more like three sections of a longer novel, though they still work as short stand-alones.