What are you reading in May?

I just finished Equal Rites. It's the first book I've read by Terry Pratchett.

What are you reading this month?

I read Heidi on my Kindle, and am now rereading Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones.

Is it May? I'm still reading One of our Thursdays is Missing. I need a few more hours of peace and quiet to finish it.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I crack me up!

I'm in the middle of Clash of Kings as part of my reread of GRRM's Song of Ice and Fire series.

I finished two books over the weekend: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (beautiful & amazing!!) and At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (engaging & educational, if a bit slow due to the amount of detail).

Last night I started a paper copy of The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer, which I intentionally started to have while traveling this week. Although I much prefer my NOOK when I travel, esp. when flying, I don't have any unread mags to take to keep me occupied during the period I cannot use my NOOK, so I started a book instead. I'm taking my NOOK, though, as I have Sarah Addison Allen's new novel, The Peach Keeper, on it that I'm itching to start!

I am still rererereading Chamber of Secrets and right in the middle of A Game of Thrones which is really interesting, but I don't have much time to read this week, blagh

I'm halfway through Julie Kawaga's The Iron King. It has some of the same characters as A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Right now I'm reading The Domesday book by Connie Willis and loving it!

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

The Iron King was better than I thought it would be. I'd read book two next except I've been waiting for the release of Divergent. I'm reading it on my Kobo and am enjoying it so far. After that I'll probably begin my HP reread.

#10 - I'm really curious about Divergent! I've heard it being called the next Hunger Games but even aside from that praise I think it sounds really interesting. (And I definitely want to read it for the Chicago aspect as well!)

#10: we just read about it on author Derek Landy's blog. He mentioned that everyone has been telling him to read the Hunger Games, but Divergent grabbed him from the first paragraph.

Finally finished the latest Thursday Next, so I'm between books right now...

#11 el & #12 jp:

I swore you'd read it, el?

Just finished it! I believe it about the next Hunger Games. I enjoyed Divergent more. It was incredible. Also less vicious, for those who dislike how violent Hunger Games is.

JP, what did you think of it?

#13 - Nope, haven't gotten to it (yet!). Unless you asked me about it before and I mistakenly said I'd read it because I was thinking instead of Delirium (which I did read).

For a while I was getting those titles confused. I'll take Single Word Young Adult Dystopia Starting With "D" for $200 Alex...

I just finished my French copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and one of my ER books Wandering Lonely in a Crowd. I'm still re-listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in anticipation of Part II. My dad gave me a copy of The Warren Buffet Way, so I'm going to start that.

>13 Kerian: That's a great recommendation for Divergent, Kerian. Good to hear!

#14 el:
I probably did the mix up. Delirium had to have been it. I was sure there was something you read before the release date that I was excited to read. Maybe it was just foggi who had read Divergent. I know she's read that one.

#15 wingert:
I just read Wandering Lonely in a Cloud. ;) I'm curious about your French copy of OotP. How does it compare to other editions?

#16 jnwelch:
Thanks, jnwelch! I hope you enjoy it if you choose to read it. :)

How Not to Write by Terence Denman. It basically takes half the rules you learn in elementary school and stands them on their head. I knew that this would be a fun read when I saw that the author would be tackling the "his/her vs their" matter.

To quote: "Writers used to get around gender-neutral third-person pronouns by using he, him, or his to refer to both men and women. But you don't have to be at the cutting edge of modern feminism to see that this is not generally acceptable to most women these days." (109)

Plus, use of the third-person gender-neutral pronoun has been around for centuries. It's perfectly acceptable in other languages, so when and why did English decide that this isn't?

#17 Keiran,

I have the French editions of sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Deathly Hallows and now Order of the Phoenix. I think the translators do a good job, considering the enormity of the books. After 12 years of French, I only had to look up a few words in a 1,000-page novel, so I feel good about myself. ;-) The only thing that's different are (obviously) the idiomatic expressions that JKR uses and some of the names.

I have the German and Spanish editions, and since I don't use the languages very often, it's a real workout to get through them. Idiomatic expressions and the like are very interesting when it comes to translations. For example, how would they change the following scene:

Character A: "Nothing's going to happen! Accept that!"
Character B: "Except what?"
Character A: -enunciates- Accept that.

We take the situation for granted when we're reading it in our own language, but you need some skill to craft a different dialog and keep the mood of the scene.

#17 and previous -- I did read a pre-release copy of Divergent, and loved it! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games.

I just finished listening to White Cat by Holly Black, an excellent, gritty fantasy, and the narrator of the audio version is just perfect for the story.

I also read some Wodehouse this week -- love the P.G. Wodehouse brand of humor!

I just finished Fuzzy Nation which is John Scalzi's reboot of Piper's Little Fuzzy. I haven't read the latter, but loved the former. The review is up here and at my blog.

#22: I love that book! How did you find a copy? I thought it was out of print? I read it as a teenager and had no luck finding it for catbastet. I think Piper's series was more meaningful to me since I also read Fuzzy Nation first.

Fuzzy Nation actually isn't out yet (comes out Tuesday) it's a new take on the story authorized by Piper's estate. The original, Little Fuzzy, is public domain, so it's available for free on Project Gutenberg and various other sites like amazon. :)

Really? Then there was another book that followed the Fuzzies from their perspective. I thought that was the name. Now I have to figure out what the name of the other book was!

Good to know Gutenberg has it. I will let Cat know!

I have just started and loving it Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson.

#25: I know Piper wrote a whole series, could be one of them...

Aha! It's called Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning. It was based on the series by H. Beam Piper, but was written from the Fuzzies' perspective.

ETA: Dang it. That was actually a sequel written for the first two before Piper's third manuscript was found after Piper's death. The book of the Fuzzy history from their perspective was Golden Dream by Ardath Mayhar. (Thank goodness I found it. I was starting to think I imagined reading it!)

Lol! Well suffice it to say, you may want to check out Fuzzy Nation since you obviously like the world!

#19 wingert:
That's so cool! Other than English I know only American Sign Language. It would be awesome to read Harry Potter in another language. I'm glad you get to.

#20 Rozax:
Too true.

I'll probably finish rereading Sorcerer's Stone today. Something funny is that I was accused of bringing a diary to work last night - my edition of SS is the ten-year anniversary edition, so without the jacket it's bound in cloth with gold stars all over it.

I finished The Wet Nurse's Tale while traveling last week - meh. I'm currently reading The Peach Keeper, which while not as good as Sarah Addison Allen's previous books, is still quite enjoyable!

I got Divergent in the mail today from Amazon. I'd already read the 100 page excerpt so it's like a head start. Anyway, it's awesome, I love it so far.

I finished The Peach Keeper last night and posted a review. Overall, a fun, light read!

Today, though, I hit a snag with starting something new. First, I tried Mr. Chartwell and quit less than 10 pages in; I do not plan to go back to it. Next I started Drinking Closer to Home and read 47 pages before giving up in frustration. I'm currently only a few pages into The School of Essential Ingredients, and am cautiously optimistic that I'll stick with this one, but am feeling very fickle about what to read...odd for me.

Now that I am back in a situation involving going to the library almost every day, I foresee a lot of good reads in my future. I just finished Paladin of Souls, and found it at least as good as The Curse of Chalion. Next, I have to decide whether to read The Ring of Solomon, One of Our Thursdays is Missing, or any of the other tempting titles I've checked out. A delicious dilemma, indeed!

I have lots of thoughts about Fforde's latest book, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It was definitely funny, I just found it a little harder to get through than others in the series. Maybe it was my timing for reading it.

Right now I'm reading The Last Lecture.

#35: I read that one, JP. And I really loved it, let us know what you thought of it!

I'm reading Wuthering Heights but I'm hoping to finish it today. I'm finding it easier to put down than other books I've read recently.

>13 Kerian: Kerian I loved Divergent (just finished), and agree if you liked The Hunger Games, you'll enjoy this one.

Fablehaven has really taken over our household this month

About halfway through Reaper Man, not read it before but loving it. Sat and read 60 pages after lunch without even thinking about it.

I read The Ring of Solomon (liked it, didn't love it), and Jane by April Lindner, a fairly good retelling of Jane Eyre. Now I will go peruse my stack of books to decide what I want to read next.

I've read Conrad's Fate, which I really loved, as well as The Iron Daughter, which I didn't love so much. (I wrote a little about them on my book challenge thread.)

I'm now buried in my ER book, The Meowmorphosis. It's based on Kafka's The Metamorphosis, which I never read. However, I'm enjoying this book immensely. I've been laughing to tears while reading it. If you don't mind an insignificant spoiler toward the beginning of the book, read the text in the quotations section on it's works page if this book sounds interesting enough to look up on LT.

ETA closed italics.

I'm currently reading 2 books, and writing one.

I'm reading:

Joy for Beginners by: Erica Bauermeister (ARC)
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile by: Noah Lukeman

Though I just finished reading Fallen by: Lauren Kate &
The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by: L.J. Smith

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith, Holy Disorders by Edmund Crispin, Dear Enemy by Jean Webster, and Robotika by Alex Sheikman.

I just finished re-listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in preparation for part II. I also finished an ER, The Athlete's Clock, and I started 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Music.

Just read One of Our Thursdays is Missing, which was fun, and The Grimm Legacy, which I really liked.

#43, Alishamb08 - I finished another of Erica Bauermeister's books a few days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait to hear what you think of her new one!

As noted above, I finally settled into The School of Essential Ingredients, which proved to be a delightful read! I really liked how each chapter was focused on one character, interweaving their history with the present time classes.

I'm now re-reading (for the umpteenth time!!) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I'd like to re-read the entire series before the movie in July, which should be doable, although I might have to break between books to do book club reading. Must say, though, that I do wish I could buy the series for my NOOK...lugging around some of the later books will get rather heavy!!

#47 - I should be posting my review on here soon, as the book comes out in bookstore June 9th, so I must get them the review before them. I'm trying to finish reading it this weekend so I can start reading my second ARC "Becoming Marie Antoinette" By Juliet Grey. Plus I have to help a friend of mine proofread his book so he can start searching for an agent. How exciting for him. I hope to be in his shoes (looking for an agent soon as well once I finish my first book).

I'm glad that you posted a little something above about Erica Bauermeister first book, as I have not read that one. I hope they aren't a sequels to each other.

I also just finished One of Our Thursdays is Missing -- it felt like the end of the series. Do any of you other Fforde fans know if he's planning on continuing it? I guess he just did a really good job of wrapping up loose ends. I enjoyed it -- not as much as the first three in the series, which are just brilliant, but more than the fifth.

I've also been listening to In the Belly of the Bloodhound by L.A. Meyer (which I have read before; I'm re-listening to this series rather than re-reading it). Also, I read Ordinary Jack and Absolute Zero by Helen Cresswell, favorites from childhood, and they are just as good as I remember them to be. Any fans of British humour, I'd recommend you look for the Bagthorpe Saga.

#48 - Nope, not a sequel. Other LT folks who've read it have given it positive reviews, so it's definitely hitting my TBR list! Hope you're enjoying it!!

#47 grmwk:
The Harry Potter books were the very first I looked for when I got my Kobo. So sad that ebooks don't exist for them. :(

#49 foggi:
Fforde said there would be another Thursday next book. He also plans to create series out of Shades of Grey and The Last Dragonslayer.

I'm not getting any reading done. I despise days on end without reading.

#51 -- Thanks, K. I'm glad to hear that there will be more of Thursday Next. I'm also eager for the continuation of the Shades of Grey series. I haven't read The Last Dragonslayer yet. I hope you get more reading done soon!

#50- So far so good on the book. though I have to finish reading it fast, June is fast approaching and I need to get my review in ASAP. So I can be eligible to receive more ARC's.

I just finished A Game of Thrones and it was really good! I am now going to focus on the Harry Potter re-read before the movie, if I start reading another book I think I might not finish the books before the last movie...

I want to read How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend soon, but I think I may finish the octopus embroidery I'm doing first. I haven't figured out how to embroider and read at the same time yet. ;)

55-And you all thought she was multi-talented. She can't even embroider while she reads. *eyeroll*

I'm about a third of the way through my ER, Rex Riders, which is moving along much faster now that there is more happening and less scene setting. :o)

#55, 56 - Audiobooks! :)

I'm reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter right now. It's not quite as good as I expected from what some people told me about it, but it's still pretty entertaining. I think I'd like it more if it wasn't actually trying to be serious.

(Also - I've been away from LT for a while, when did the new thread formats get here?!? "Preview" a post?? Crazy!)

Just happened in the last few hours el. We're all as surprised as you! (I used the "reply" button, looking forward to seeing what difference it makes!)

I think there's always been a "reply" link under each message, and it always posts to the bottom of the thread. I'll have to check and see if I can figure out if it's supposed to do anything different. I know Tim is majorly against conversations that branch off with replies inserted or indented under comments, and I kinda agree with him on that.

I have just started The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe, it seems to be promising.

I am in the middle of the House of Night series.... er, for the third or fourth time XD

....I didn't even notice that the 'preview' thing was new.... I thought it had been there all along XP

I just finished Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, recommended by someone on here -- el, I think -- and I would recommend it as well, especially to readers who enjoy memoirs.

#62 - @foggidawn, I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress in January and thoroughly enjoyed it!! I too picked it up because of a rec here on LT, and was not disappointed. The poor guy next to me on the plane, though, probably thought I was looney, as I laughed out loud quite a bit :)

#63 - @grkmwk, you may be the person whose recommendation I am remembering, then. If so, thanks! :-)

I have the latest true blood book sitting by my bed. Damn inability to concentrate.

Is True Blood any good? I heard it was a TV show, but haven't seen it at all.

I read Anna and the French Kiss, pretty good if you like YA romance. I then picked up the next Bagthorpe book, but got distracted with Wither by Lauren DeStefano, a really interesting dystopia, so now I'm about a quarter of the way in to that.

#65 I enjoyed reading and watching the series, although the story lines are somewhat different to the TV production.

#52 foggi:
Thanks, I did!

#57 el:
I'm been really curious about that book. I can't wait to hear what you think of it!

#66 Alisha:
I liked the books but don't like the tv show. My sister says the second series of the show sticks to the books more, but I still haven't seen it.

I finished The Meowmorphosis and have a review posted if anyone would like to read it. I could see some of our members liking this book, perhaps among them, Maren.

I'm now rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

#69 - I haven't read of watched the True Blood series. I have read and watched the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith, and that series my friends is good, but the books don't match the TV show one bit. The book says Elena is blonde, and the TV show has Elena with dark brown hair ????

Never read the books... lol, I thought Elena was supposed to be a brunette? O.O

That's what I thought because of the show. But in the books she's a blonde, and instead of having her brother Jeremy, she has a little sister. Aunt Judy (book) = Aunt Jenna (TV show). It's so weird.

#70 Alisha:
I've heard that from kirby about that series. Other things do silly stuff with hair colors, too. Mr. Dursley's supposed to have brown hair, and Dudley's supposed to be blonde...the HP movies flipped it.

I still feel bad that DH part 1 didn't let Dudley have his moment of glory. I thought that really showed how the character matured and really, how long would that have taken to stick in?

#73 - You know I'm going to have to go back now and look or re-read the HP series I don't remember reading that about Dudley and his hair...lol.

#74 - Yeah they could have put that it and I don't think it would have taken away from the movie at all...

#74 -- I agree.

I'm reading The Grimm Legacy. So far, it's good but not great. We'll see if my opinion of it picks up after reading the rest of it.

Hmm . . . looks like touchstones are down. *sigh*

I finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone last night, and started Chamber of Secrets today over lunch. I realized that I won't be in town for my book club's June meeting, so I won't have to pause in my series reread for that book. Unless I need a break, my current plan is to reread the series straight through, then launch into a movie rewatch in preparation for the release of the final HP movie in July.

Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell

I'm going to re-read the Harry Potter series and watch the movies after I finish these two ARC's that need to get done...I only have to do a review for one but I'll be posting both reviews on here. Yay I love getting ARC's.

I just finished reading The Boleyn Inheritance. It was okay, but none of her books have come close to The Other Boleyn Girl for me.

Now I am reading Jacob Have I Loved. I am not sure how I have never read it before, since it won the Newbery and is by Katherine Paterson.

Question for those who have read Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan series: Is it necessary to read them in order, or do they stand up alone?

#69 - So about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter... it's definitely entertaining but parts of it didn't sit well with me. As much as I enjoy alternate histories, supposing that Lincoln opposed slavery to stamp out a vampire food source rather than because it's a morally abhorrent institution had the book fall a little flat for me. It's still well written and the simple premise of honest Abe beheading vamps was a good time. And much the same way Pride and Prejudice and Zombies stayed true to the original text, this one was - in part - a decent biography of young Lincoln.

I just started my Early Reviewer book The Goddess Test too, I've started to see some rather negative reviews of it (I just can't look away when I see something get one star or less!) so I'm hoping it's better than some people have said.

I finished Throne of Fire and The Perilous Gard over the weekend -- both good -- and listened to In the Belly of the Bloodhound. While not my favorite of the Bloody Jack series, I'm convinced that Katherine Kellgren is one of those narrators who could read the phone book and make it sound interesting. Not that this book is as boring as the phone book by any means -- just not the best of the series. But I did appreciate it more this time through. I'm not sure if that was because I knew what to expect, or because the narration was so good.

I'll be reading the following once I finish up Joy for Beginners By: Erica Bauermeister:

Becoming Marie Antoinette by: Juliet Grey
The Soldier's Wife by: Margaret Leroy
and an ARC that I got from the ER May 2011 Batch.
Escape from Zobadak by Brad Gallagher

So much to read/write...not enough hours in the day...

I've already read both Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban in my series re-read. I'll be starting Goblet of Fire today over lunch.

Incidentally, GoF was the book that hooked me for the series, pushing me over the "these are fun" edge to "these are AWESOME!" so I'm excited to read it again. I know that for many others PoA was their turning book, but I've never liked it as much.

Also, as I've been doing this series re-read, I've come to appreciate CoS much, much more. I've been intentionally re-reading with an eye toward hints of what's to come, and as JK Rowling shared, there is actually a lot in CoS that I can only now appreciate knowing the outcome. Seeing how much she had in place from the very beginning makes me respect her and the series all the more!