What are you reading?

Inspired by some of the discussions in this thread: What are you reading at the moment?

I'm currently reading Fudoki by Kij Johnson. So far I'm a little under half-way through and enjoying the story a fair bit. Due to outside circumstances, it's a particularly slow read, though, so I'm not sure when I'll get around to finishing it.

Beat me to it, lynnoconnacht! Thanks for starting the thread. I just started Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors. Also reading the third installments of Edmund Morris' trilogy on the life of Theodore Roosevelt, Colonel Roosevelt. Truly enjoyed the first two--TR was such a remarkable man in so many ways.

Curious -- based on the number of replies, I will assume that the vast majority of authors do not read... ;-)

#2 Welcome! I hope it's just slow to take off. I'm terribly nosy about books. Do you think Flight Behaviour would make a good introduction to Kingsolver's works?

#3 Or we're too busy (reading?) to post about our books? ^-~

I'm in between books right now, having finished Fudoki. I know the books I 'should' pick up and I do want to read them, but... Not right now and I'm not sure what I do want to read. I hope I'm not falling into a situation where I can't bring myself to read paper books because I have too many ebooks and I must whittle down what's on my ereader first. That would be... problematic.

I 'should' read either River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay or The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King next. Those are the books left on my "Try to read these books in May" list. (I started out with about six this month, so I actually did quite well.) I think I'll try to focus on the latter. It's shorter. I might actually finish it before the month is over. ^-~

Somehow I overlooked this thread when it started.

I just finished reading Cinderella and Other Tales by the Brothers Grimm.
I have also been reading The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer aloud to two of my daughters.

One of the stories in the Grimm fairy tale collection was very clearly a combination of two of the earlier tales in the same collection, and I found myself very curious as to why the editors decided to include that particular story. For entertainment value, it didn't seem a very good choice. For illustrating the nature of folk-lore based tales and how they kind of branch and grow and so forth rather than being distinct entities, it might be a sensible pick.

The collection itself is labeled as being for 8-12 year olds. I've been trying to guess how interested my children would have been in the meta-story aspects at 8, and I really think that most of them would have just considered themselves "cheated" by the inclusion of a story with almost no original material. I'm not sure my twelve-year-old would care much either. My sixteen-year-old would find it more interesting, and my 21-year-old daughter who's a sociology major would be fascinated. (I need to remember to bring the subject up when she gets home from college.)

The Grand Sophy I first encountered when I was about 13, and it convinced me that maybe romances could be fun to read after all, but I haven't read it in a great long while. It struck me reading it this time that pairing a man with a bad temper up with a girl "with no nerves" was something I myself was planning to do in the near future. Fortunately, my own pair characters in no other way resembles Heyer's, so I don't need to worry that I'm being too derivative. :) If my heroine resembles anyone in Heyer's book, it's the much despised poet.

>5 LShelby: Why did you the Grimm fairy tale collection now?

>6 LMHTWB: Because it was close at hand when one of the children I was reading to got sent off on an errand, and I needed to fill in the 15 minutes it would take until she got back. A collection of very short stories seemed ideal for that purpose. And once I had started it, I figured I'd just keep it handy the next time a reading session was temporarily interrupted. :)

I had been planning to hunt down a few versions of one particular fairytale anyway, because my 21-year-old daughter is an artist, and I've been hoping to do a fairy-tale retelling for her to illustrate. I've been thinking the Seven Swans would suit her drawing style. The version in this collection has the brothers turning into ravens instead -- a bit too dark for her, that would be more my sixteen-year-old's style.

Come to think of it, the book might have been lying about in the first place because my sixteen-year-old had been researching fairy tales for one of her writing projects -- a post-apocalyptic science fiction fairy-tale mash-up.

And the twelve-year-old came in while I was writing this message, wanting to use the computer, and while she waited for me to finish this post, she picked up the collection and started reading it. :D

Maybe they reasoned kids either wouldn't notice the similarities or not care if they did notice? I know that I wouldn't have felt cheated at that age, but I was a fair bit younger when I started reading fairytales for myself.

Which of the fairytales are you talking about, though? I'm curious which they decided to include. They have a fair few that are basically the same story except for minor details.

My twelve-year-old seems to have wandered off with it.

From memory:
"Maybird" starts out looking like its going to be something new, (woodsman finds a girl in a tree) but very quickly turns into "Hansel and Gretel", (wife insists that they will all starve if her husband doesn't leave the two children in the forest) complete with the dropping of pebbles and then crumbs including the "why are you so slow?" I'm watching my white cat..." "That's not a white cat that is the sun shining..." etc. I can't remember the title of the story that the second half of Maybird is, but the two of them run away with the stolen wand (of the faery who had an edible house to lure children so that she could lure children and eat them in Maybird, and of some other villianous female in the other one), and turn themselves into a duck and a pond, a fiddler etc, and finally she as a flower gets plucked by a shepherd who puts her away in a chest, but she mysteriously materializes while he's sleeping and does the housework for him, until he catches her at it and sets her free of the spell so that she can be reunited with the hero. All pretty much exactly the same as the other story.

Huh. I only vaguely remember that one... *looks up a version online since it's not in her supposedly-complete collection* How odd... Anyway! The second half of the story reads near-enough identical to "Sweetheart Roland". (The second half of the version I linked is "Sweetheart Roland", wod by word. It's just the beginning that's different.)

I'd say "What an odd choice for a children's book", but a lot of the lesser-known tales aren't quite as detailed as that one. If you look at the beginning of "Sweetheart Roland", that's a much weaker opening than "Roland and May-bird"'s. It's possible the editors selected stories based on internal cohesion and felt that one was a better fit than any of their other options. Or... something. There are plenty of (lesser-known) stories that have less overlap in the collection that have the same (or better) internal cohesion.

(Maybe we should make a thread out of that? "You're compiling a collection of Grimm's fairytales. You have room for X amount of stories. Which do you pick?")

>10 dovelynnwriter:
Well, if your "complete" collection has both Hansel and Gretel and Sweetheart Roland, it's not really missing anything, is it? ;)

I do think that the Maybird tale is a reasonable selection as it stands. I myself might well choose to include it and skip the other two.

But I think compiling a collection of Grimm's tales wouldn't appeal to me much. I'm afraid I only enjoy them in small doses. On the whole, I prefer to be reading a single story told with more depth.

Although, I have been known to use folk-tales such as these to add depth to some other story. >:)

I like to collect folktales while travelling. Have two books of Maori folktales sitting by my computer waiting for me to delve in. My daughter gave me Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron for Mother's Day--another good book for reading in short bursts. I have the "complete collection" of Grimm tales somewhere and delighted in the darkness, having grown up with the Disney versions. I'm afraid my reading has slowed considerably since I started a new novel--mostly research books and what I can grab on the subway when going to and fro.

#11 *snrk* Technically not, no. The Maybird tale is definitely one of the better choices, yes. I'd definitely choose it over Sweetheart Roland.

#12 Oh! I hope you'll enjoy the books on Maori folktales when you get to them. I've quite enjoyed the ones I've read.

>12 MarysGirl:. What are the titles of the Mäori folk-tale books? I'm intrigued by Mäoritanga, particularly South Island Kai Tahu forms.

I just started Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which opens in the Chatham Islands, 17th century.

>14 bitser: Illustrated Maori Myths and Legends by Queenie Rikihana Hyland and Maori Fables by A. W. Reed. The first I got at a museum; the second I picked up at a used bookstore. For some reason in the museums and when we took tours the guides focused on only two tales: a love story about Hinemoa and Tutanekai and how volcanoes came to the South Pacific. Looking forward to getting more!

I'm reading A Dance With Dragons :) I'm really enjoying the whole series, but George RR Martin seems a bit ruthless - how many more characters are going to be killed, raped and maimed? Does anyone else find some parts a bit shocking? Especially some of the deaths - so unexpected! :0

>15 MarysGirl: Thanks. Is the first one meant for children? I've read the Reed book, I think. I'm building a list for my next abebooks.com order. There are several traditional stories told by characters in the novel I'm revising. Maori Myth and Legend by Margaret Orbell is an illustrated encyclopedia with short versions of a great many tales along with supporting information.

>17 bitser: It's beautifully illustrated, but I don't think it is targeted at children per se. The language is rich and the stories can be rather brutal--something like Grimm's.

Sounds interesting- thanks. I particularly like stories about taniwha, and have visited places where they are said to live, such as the waterfall and stream entering Spirits Bay east of Te Reinga, in Northland.

RE: Cloud Atlas, The author's cute scheme of writing novellas with clever links and then splitting them to bounce about in time doesn't appeal to me. When I got to the end of the first part, I skipped to the end of the book and finished it, which I intend to do with the others. I suspect that's how they were written.

I am enjoying it, in my own contrary way.

#16 I haven't read A Dance with Dragons yet and I'm a bit scared to after some of the reviews I've seen of it, so I'm not sure if I will. That said, I found some of the parts from the earlier books incredibly shocking indeed.

#17 Ooooh. That sounds interesting, bitser! (Though your touchstone goes to the Reed book for me rather than the Orbell one you mention.)

I've just started reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett and Clockwork Phoenix 2 edited by Mike Allen. I really should carve out some more reading time this month. I'm devoting quite a bit of it to hosting a read-along of The Last Unicorn later this month. It'll be interesting to reread it again! I've never reread a book in such a short timeframe before.

"Follow the River" by James Alexander Thom. I want to see how he depicts the ordinary aspects of native American living at that time (mid 1750s) besides my wanting to read an exciting story based on an actual occurrence.

>21 HaroldTitus: I'd be interested in hearing what you think of that one. I've got a potential project of my own it might be good research for.

I have just finished reading Matilda Bone one of the few books assigned to my children by English teachers that they actually liked. Not a bad book, but if I wasn't already perfectly aware that I did NOT want to live in mediaeval times it would have convinced me.

I also started a teen paranormal romance that my daughter brought home, but everyone was miserable in it, and I wasn't enjoying myself, so I set it aside.

I then reread my graphic novel Flag in Flames, and the storyboards for the sequel, Blood Price. I have some revisions in mind for the sequel.

Recently reread several of the Chronicles of Narnia and am now rereading Harry Potter #6. Both authors are brilliant.

#22,

"Follow the River" reveals some aspects of the Shawnee culture, but it is mostly about the main character's return to her frontier community. I enjoyed the book and reviewed it.

Hi guys!,
It is so nice to belong to this group.
I also have workbooks for children about language, anyone here would want to read it? :)

Hi Bitser, :)

Are you looking for books for children? I know some workbooks for children, would you want to try reading them?

yeah, donnamcfarland, you are right! :)
both are very creative on how they imagined the story :)

I'm reading Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi. Surprisingly I live in the area that he used as the setting for the story and to be honest the inconsistencies are throwing me out of the tale. It's obvious he never visited or just passed through if he did.

#28 I'm sorry to hear the book's inconsistencies in the setting are throwing you out of the story! Are you enjoying the rest of it, at least? (Er, if 'enjoy' is the right word given the genre.)

>26 VACristina: No. Are you kidding?

Still slogging through Colonel Roosevelt. I'm not finding it as compelling as the first two in the series. Just started Spartacus: The Gladiator on the Nook. So far, so good. Went to a reading/signing with Neil Gaiman last night. Love his stuff and he was great as always. Can't wait to get started on his newest The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman, an excellent first novel by an Australian now living in London. The description, characters, pace, and proportion are all nearly perfect. I wept at the end, as I think any decent person would.

I'd have ended it a few paragraphs sooner, on the image of the lighthouse, but that's my only quibble.

I intend to write her a fan letter, in ink on paper.

Had to return Cloud Atlas to the library before finishing it, since some bugger placed a hold and I couldn't renew it. So I bought a used copy.

The Orison of Sonmi... was good, if a predictable replay of Soylent Green and similar stuff. The Sloosha's Crossin' thing is nearly unreadable, a clumsy cop from Russell Hoban's excellent Riddley Walker. Ugh! Gave it up at that point.

The connections between the parts are slight and tenuous. There's no strong or provocative principle to tie it together.

The critics who gave this book such praise are evidently easy marks for cheap novelty and also very poorly read in the post-apocalyptic realm. I'd give Mitchell an A for some imaginative description and dialogue, and C- for the package.

Disappointed, for sure.

"Panther in the Sky" by James Alexander Thom. It is much more than a fictionalized account of the life of the great Shawnee chief Tecumseh. It is the cultural information that I am finding fascinating.

Just got back from the Historical Novel Society meeting in St. Pete's FL, so got a lot of reading done hanging out at airports and on the plane. Finished Spartacus: The Gladiator and looking forward to the sequel. Nearly finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane--Gaiman at his creepy compelling best. Started Vlad: the Last Confession, but haven't got far enough to say whether I like it.

>34 HaroldTitus: I grew up in Ohio a stone's through from Zane's Trace and have seen the Tecumseh outdoor theater production several times. Have you read any of Allan W. Eckert's work? He specializes in the time and place. I really enjoyed The Frontiersmen which features Tecumseh among many characters. Eckert died in 2011. His bio is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_W._Eckert

Art of War by Sun Tzu. Good read so far with fantastic strategies to use in business and leadership. Interesting to see how messages from the book can still be applied in modern times.

Finished a remarkable book Daughters of Copper Woman by Anne Cameron and posted a blog review (a shorter version here on LT): http://faithljustice.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/book-review-copper-woman/

I'm rereading The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. I wrote a book that played off them, and I wanted to read them again. Almost exactly half-way through at the moment. I may take a break and read something shorter off my scary book stack... I have too many books.

All Standing : the true story of hunger, rebellion, and survival aboard the Jeanie Johnston by Kathryn Miles, a dramatised history of an immigrant ship that carried famine refugees from Ireland without losing any lives on the passage. Very well researched and written.

The Logans : New Zealand's Greatest Boatbuilding Family by Robin Elliott and Harold Kidd, very absorbing if you're a yachting history buff, and I am.

Just added them to my library, so why don't they show up in blue? They do on the Preview.

>39 bitser: If you just added these works today, and they weren't previously on LT, that's why. It takes a while for the new works to become available from part of the site. If they were already on LT, I have no clue.

"Under the Dome" by Stephen King. Taking my time with it reading about ten pages a day.

So that's what, about 100 days? :)

Something like that. :) Will speed up my reading this weekend, and read the last 200 pages. Next book on my reading list is "The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor" by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga

Rereading Seth Kaufman's wonderful "King of Pain."

All Standing by Kathryn Miles, an excellent account of the Irish famine, the ships that carried refugees to North America, and the vicious policies of the English occupation.

Recently finished Tsar Wars. Classic pulp space opera. When I was a wee tot, my big sister read me the first of this author's space secret-agent series Imperial Stars as a bedtime story, and this appears to be a reboot of that series, but set in a new universe.

Finished Vlad: The Last Confession with mixed feelings--liked the writing was lukewarm on the characters. Reading an ER copy of Princesses Behaving Badly now.

Really needed a break from all the research and biographies I've been reading lately, so have been plowing through Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Pretty much reading a book day and have gotten through book 10. The last three are twice the size of the first three, so will probably slow down a little. Love the writing, social satire and mystery. Not so much the repetitious plots of the first several books. After book six things pick up and move along.

The Message by Julie Highmore. I'm thrashing around trying to find another writer I like as much as King and Koontz. It doesn't have to be horror - just absorbing!

I'm guessing The Message isn't doing the trick for you, oldstick? I hope you can find a new author to like as much soon!

I've just finished Namma by Kate Karko and started A Rosary of Stones and Thorns by M.C.A. Hogarth. Next up after that is The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker and then I'll have read all the books I set out to read this month plus some extras already! Yay!