What are you reading in July?

I've just started The Olive Readers by Christine Aziz

Today, I'm going to start Star Trek: New Worlds, New Civilizations

If I ever finish this Robin Hobb, I'm planning to dive into The Way We Live Now.

Well, I posted a request for input on Sharon Shinn, and got nada.. so I dived in and purchased several ( series) books used. I hope they are good. I imagine that I will read all five once they arrive.

#3 LG - which Hobb is that? I'm guessing by that comment that its Soldier Son???

#5 No actually, Ship of Destiny. It's only taking me so long because I have become mesmerized by a bomb thread on the Battlestar blogs. (flee will understand this) Must read all the bombs!

The book is good.

Slaughtermatic by Steve Aylett.

#3 and 5 - I've never read anything by Robin Hobb. I know I'll get strange looks from some for that. :) Would you suggest I try something? Where would I start?

#6 LG - Liveships is one of my fave trilogies ever, i love to hear others are enjoying it :)

#8 Georgia, you have to start with Assassins Apprentice, the begining. However it's a trilogy of trilogies so be prepared to set aside some time!

eta After finishing the Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney I'm going to read the Coldfire trilogy, Tigana, Deluge, Start the dragonbone chair series and finish the Saliva Tree, convince my mum to buy a new series for my 14 yr old brother which I can then read, something by j v jones, more Nancy Springer...Tanith Lee...Sanderson...Poe...CA Smith

Nope this is too much hard work thinking of my TBR pile - I've got over 800

Wandering through The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters very slowly. I just can't seem to read it very quickly. On the other hand, I'm whipping through the Pagan Chronicles for the umpteenth time.

#10 I haven't read the Farseer Trilogy yet (starts with Assassin's Apprentice), and I'm almost done with the 2nd trilogy (Liveship Traders). I really like it. I'll def read the other ones eventually.

My friend gave me the Liveship books first because she knows I'm a sucker for maritime stuff. I love Patrick O'Brian.

Robin Hobb - yes, best to start with the 'beginning'.

To allay any confusion, Georgia, she has four trilogies and a bunch of other books under her pen name Meghan Lindholm.

The first of her trilogies is 'The Farseer Trilogy' comprising: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest

Then, her second trilogy stays in the same world of the Assassin books, but jumps to a different locale, with different character and a different style of book. However, things link back to the first trilogy, and things from this trilogy link to the third.

Second Trilogy is 'The Liveship Traders' comprising: Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny

Third trilogy is 'Tawny Man' comprising: Fool's Errand, The Golden Fool, Fool's Fate, which returns to the characters and place of the first trilogy.

Right now I'm reading Roma by Steven Saylor and Ilario by Mary Gentle.

eta- oh, the fourth trilogy is 'The Soldier Son', which hasn't been so popular...

I am being very irresponsible and am reading multiple books: on my Kindle:Merle's Door, and Team of Rivals, and in RL: Invader, The Annotated Alice in Wonderland, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Clapton, The Color of Magic, American Pie Slices of Life and Pie from America's Back Roads and finally, the first few pages of several TBR books. I will not list them - much too embarrassing.

I'm not sure what I will be reading. Depends on what turns up on the library's 'new acquisitions' shelves. I have Triumph of Caesar by Steven Saylor and One Year Off by David Cohen sitting on my nightstand currently and a friend is supposed to lend me Tales of a Female Nomad this week. Other than that anything is possible.

I just finished Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code... although that would count for June :o)

I'm starting David's Baldacci's Absolute Power tonight.. hhmm, still June though!

Next I've got 1984 and I'll probably pick up Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.

I finished Eragon a few days ago. Didn't like it too much - I noticed it was on a few "wish-I'd-never-picked-that-book-up" list. :) I'm pondering whether Eldest gets better. Any thoughts?

#10 and 13 - Musereader and severn - Thanks for the help! I'll give it a try.

#8 GD - sorry I didnt see your post!

I'll definately add my voice to the recommenders, all nine six duchies books (The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders & Tawny Man - they are all set in the six duchies) are big faves of mine & I'd recommend them to the whole world if i could, lol...

The liveships trilogy would definately make sense on its own (I started with it), but you'll get more out of all 9 books if you read the trilogies in order.

Please do tell us what your thoughts are once you've had a chance to get into the stories :)

I'll add my 2 b0b's w0rth as well f0r the liveship traders I haven't read any 0ther H0bb b00ks but this tril0gy was an amazing experience!
I'm currently reading The Spirit St0ne by Katharine Kerr It's the umpteenth b00k in her Deverry series which I can als0 highly rec0mmend.

Edited t try and fix s0me bad speling and ...why did I even bther trying!! argh!!!

Two Towers starting today, having finished Fellowship of the ring over breakfast.

Struggling with The trouble with Physics which is interesting but stretching...

I'm reading The Time Traders by Andre Norton ( http://manybooks.net/titles/nortona1914519145.html ) using ereader on my Palm Pilot, as well as rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz

As a bedtime story for my little boy, reading Greenwitch by Susan Cooper.

I'm reading:

-Dark Visions by Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, & Dan Simmons
-Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx & Frederick Engels
-The Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns
-Chainfire by Terry Goodkind
-The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I'm currently reading Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips which has been pretty amusing.

Up next will either be a historical romance or Spindle's End by Robin McKinley depending on my mood at the end of this book.

oh, I forgot to mention that The Winter King from the Arthurian read is still awaiting my attention. I am about half way thru.

Just started Murder with Puffins. Pretty entertainig so far. Decided to try these because the author is coming to my neck of the woods this month.

#25 - I read Gods Behaving Badly recently - it was hilarious! Setting it in London was what made it worthwhile to me.

My friend hooked me up with a bunch of ARC's, and I'm in the middle of The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory. Pretty good so far. I'm also reading Battle of the Labyrinth, another modern rendering of Greek mythology, and Girls Like Us which is basically a biography of all my mom's favorite singers, (but I like them too.) I'm in a couple of other books too, but these are the ones I've gotten the deepest into.

Five Quarters of the Orange. It was fantastic! I read it all in one sitting, which is why I was finishing it early this AM. It's not fantasy, so it's probably not GD fare...

#29 - That was an amazing book...and helped me identify what kind of headaches I was suffering from :')

I'm currently reading The Lancelot Closes at Five by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (amusing style of writing) and Devil World (Star Trek) by Gordon Eklund. No idea what I'll read after ... whatever takes my interest.

Finishing up Something Rotten today. I'll probably follow up with The Monster of Florence since that's due next at the library and I can't renew it (somebdy else gets a turn!).

I'm in one of those places where I'm in the middle of many books, including:

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Black Angel by John Connolly
A Nameless Witch by A. Lee Martinez
The Born Queen by Greg Keyes
Bloodheir by Brian Ruckley
Daemons are Forever by Simon R. Green
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

But for some reason, I can't seem to focus on anything for more than a day or two. I think I'm a little burnt out and in need of a vacation.

OH! Vacation helps with focus? I have so much trouble with focus because I haven't taken sufficient vacations! Yes! That must be the reason... *traipses off to schedule some more vacations*

LOL!

i'm just starting The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield...which i bought because i read so many good things about it here on LT.

we will see...

I just finished Neil Gaiman´s Neverwhere which I really enjoyed and am now starting American Gods which is even better so far!

Finished up Star Trek: New Worlds, New Civilizations. About to start The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank.

Just finished Manifesto of the Communist Party and now I'm off to start The Scarlet Letter.

Just finished "what are you reading now" and about to start "Morph's humour of the day".

say, where's that "what are you writing now" thread...

I'm about half way through my first ever reading of a Neil Gaiman book, Neverwhere. Plus, I bought Stardust and Mirrormask on DVD last weekend. I'm besotted by Gaiman's work!

Hopefully I'll get America America soon, since I'm next on the list at the public library!

#27 -- that's next on my TBR pile! I picked it up on a whim, but now I think of it every time someone mentions puffins in this group :o)

Currently reading The Well of Lost Plots -- I haven't read anything else by this author before. A very different kind of book!

#42 - Hmmm. Did you pick up the threads of the story ok? The first one leaves some plot elements hanging as continuing threads through several of the books.

If this ends up being a double post, I'll remove one, but I'm having a very temperamental computer today.

My goal is to be reading one book from each of my bookcases filled with TBR books. That would be four books at a time. I'm presently reading six.

The Letters of Dorothy Sayers
The Silent Traveler in San Francisco
All Around the World Cookbook
History of the English Speaking Peoples: The Age of Revolution
Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond
Thicker Than Water: a Quinn Parker mystery

The Dorothy Sayers book is borrowed, I always try to read those first, and the cookbook was an impulse to read, so they are not in my "plan", but I'm enjoying them. The cookbook not so much, but it may prove informative.

I'm hoping to finish The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan today. I've been pretty preoccupied and have had trouble concentrating on it. :(

After that, I've got to read This Gaming Life by Jim Rossignol so I can review it for the ER program, then The Host by Stephenie Meyer and two X-Men graphic novels so I can get 'em all back to the library.

After that, I'm hoping to read Robin Hobb's Solider Son trilogy, at long last.

Never mind the Anne Frank book. I forgot I have a copy of The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America that I want to read and review for the publisher. It's rare I can find nonfiction books that publishers will give out to laymen, so I want to give this one my full attention.

46 - You gave me a start, mentioning The Battle for Skandia. I thought there was a new one out already. I don't like intercontinental book retitling. It's very confoozling.

I'm finishing up The White Mary by Kira Salak and then I have no clue what I'm reading next. I got 25 books for my birthday (I'm still rather amazed that I didn't wake up on the floor a few minutes after that realization) and I'm at a loss as to where to start!

Just finished The Hobbit. Now reading the 1st book of the series Warriors Into the Wild by Evan Hunter which is a YA series my 12 yr old Granddaughter has been reading avidly. I tried to get her to read some of the Redwall series which i've read quite a few of & she asked me to read one of he Warrior series which is about clans of ferral cats. I am reading this & she will read one of the Redwall books when she has finished her series. So far this book is not nearly as enjoyable for me as the Redwall books are as there seems to be constant warfare amongst these felines while there are plenty of lighter moments in the Redwall books & there are a regular UN of critters in the Redwall books which brings to mind the poem The Animal's School because each of the animals uses their own best skills to help the group survive.

The Warriors series is super popular w/the 'tween' set right now but my grandsons who are quite a bit older now enjoyed the Redwall books when they were Hannah's age! 8^)

Finished About a Boy for the second time. Still fabulous.

Started reading The Catcher In The Rye. Not so fabulous. This Holden Caulfield fellow needs to stop whining about how all the adults in the world suck and get on with his life. It's like reading modernist Emo poetry, only this guy hates most people around him. Such disregard for any form of academia!

I think I'll make an effort to finish the swedish edition of The hobbit, for my comparative reread. Then I think I'll pick up either Sailing from Byzantium or The search for the perfect language.

#43 -- I think I'm picking up on everything ok. The whole premise was kind of a shock to me, but I think it's really clever.

Just about halfway through The Monster of Florence. Turns out some of Hannibal was based on the events of this serial killer's heyday back in the 80's. Amazing what a screwed up job of investigation the Italian authorities did. Three different people were tried for the killings, and all were exonerated, mostly due to screwed up crime scene and evidence handling. Definitely not CSI material!

I've just finished Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was a great first book for her. I have just started reading Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. Its one of those warped bedtime stories type novels with fairies.

#48 - tell me about it. And sometimes the rejigged titles just aren't as good. I guess The Battle For Skandia is more descriptive, but Oakleaf Bearers is far more elegant.

Agreed. But at least you didn't have to mail order it from Australia!

I am definitely reading My Stroke of Insight in hopes of getting some help dealing with a friend who has been having seizures of an unidentified cause. I really wish the Dr.s knew more.

Two I started: The Madams of San Francisco by Curt Gentry, and The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett. Still reading some of the others.

Having finished and reviewed Two Towers I'm now onto the return of the king hurray no more crawling in the swamps of the dead marshes.

Not sure what to take with me for a week's holiday though.

I am reading Reap The Wind another Iris Johansen.. I want to send this and another to my daughter, as I think she will enjoy them... But I think Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America by Christine Wicker is my next read. I was going to start the Shin series, but I believe I will be putting that aside for a while. I just ordered some books that make me drool. Shinn is still a mystery to me.

I finished Fast Food Nation and started this year's Pulitzer Prize Winner - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - and I am loving it!

I'm reading Jane Eyre, The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, and God's Demon. When I'm done with at least one of those, I'll start on Great Expectations and The Kite Runner.

clamairy: Let me know how you go with Oscar Wao, I really enjoyed it!

I started reading The Name of the Wind this weekend, really impressed so far.

#64 - TA, I am loving it. It's so dark but hilariously funny. I can't think of much to compare it to, except maybe A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. :o)

At the moment, I am reading The Power Makers by Maury Klein and The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart. Enjoying them both!

I'm reading
The Power Makers It's very interesting, but I can't read too much at once.
The Vanished Pomps of Yesterday by Sir Frederic Hamilton about being a British diplomat in the 1870s-early 1900s
Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

I've completly dismissed everything in my TBR from what I said in message #10 and read two and a half of the first 3 Earth's children Books by Auel instead.

See I get thing out, put them in a pile, thinking that's what I'm going to read next, then I read something completly different, at least this thread has made me use a TBR tag. I previously only had an Unread one, but Unread includes things I'm not going to or can't read so I know I've got 803 Unread, but 283 TBR.

The Surrogates. Its a graphic novel and its really good so far.

Had good luck at library: Just finished "Mister Pip" by Lloyd Jones (liked it very much). Now beginning "The Night Climbers" by Ivo Stourton (not sure about it, but will go further. . . have you read it?)

I finished Dark Visions at the doctor's office this morning, and I'll be starting Stardust later today.

Have just started reading Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin which is about a culture which exists in the future long after our culture is gone. To me that is an intriguing premise. She writes from the standpoint of a historian/anthropolgist learning about this culture through archeological methods. It promises to be a good summer read! 8^)

Edited by author to correct silly spelling boo-boo!

I started The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley over the weekend. It has been interesting so far.

I started Blood Pact by Tanya Huff this morning and am really enjoying it so far. I've also been reading Seven Seasons of Buffy as my nonfiction selection.

I was trying to read Persuasion by Jane Austen, but it is boring me to tears so I switched to Sense and Sensibility. Which still has the same stylistic quirks that I find odd and sometimes annoying, but at least things happen, which is more than I can say for Persuasion (I got halfway through the book and I was still waiting for something, anything, to happen).

I'm reading Garth Nix's Sabriel & enjoying it so far :)

I currently reading the Fourth SFBC Elric omnibus. Really, I am just marking time until the new Vlad Taltos, Mistborn, and Shadowmarch books come out, plus I have three books coming from Amazon soon. This collection is not as good as the first three. There is too much pontification of views and not enough story.

#77 - Seanie, glad to hear it! According to my daughter each book in that trilogy is better than the previous one, so you have more to look forward to!

Finished The King's Shield by Sherwood Smith and have started The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - about a quarter of the way in...this is a very strange story. A lot of tongue in cheek, but the cruelty in tone for some reason doesn't make me laugh, yet. Did anybody else find that the characters in this series seem distanced from the reader? It may not be quite my cuppa, but it's too soon to determine the author's game, at least until it gets further into play. A tone of clever cynicism doesn't always work for me, even if I may admire the slick crafting. So I'm reading this one in short takes, to find out where it goes.

Library sale had a copy of Shadowplay by Tad Williams - I haven't tried a book of his since Dragonbone Chair so I guess I need to get the prequel.

I downloaded Oscar Wao last night and intend to start listening today at work. It's so boring around here lately, I'm losing my mind....aaaghghghghghg

Working on Maire MacNeill's 'The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of the Harvest'. . . all 700 pages of it. (Borrowed it via ILL to see how badly I wanted it, and decided I did, but I'm going to have to give the ILL copy back before I'm done. Got one on order now.)

Alternating with re-reading Lindsey Davis' Falco series (mysteries set in 1st c Roman Empire) when I want something lighter.

>#81: aaaghghghghghg indeed. You can't lose something that you never had.

ooooooh, I'm so insulted, MrA. At least I don't go around touting myself as an answer man, and then refuse to do sports questions.

#27 - I honestly thought that was a joke at first! Good thing the touchstone worked or I would not have believed that was an actual book. :)

I'm reading The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and I really can't decide if it's amazing storytelling or total rubbish.... probably depends how it ends....

Well, I would be reading Finn, by Jon Clinch, if I ever had the time to do so.

Stupid life, always getting in the way.

#80 - For what it's worth, I thought the first Abercrombie was fairly average too. Word on the street is that the trilogy gets better with each successive volume, with the third knocking people's socks off. So, yes, I'll read the second, despite having the same hang-ups as you.

So far this month I've finished:

The Black Angel by John Connolly
Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais
Jhegaala by Steven Brust

I'm currently reading A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham and what feels like a zillion other things.

I just finished The Neverending Story; now I'm reading Nineteen Minutes. I'm also over halfway through I Am Charlotte Simmons, and I will finish it, but it's getting tedious. I'm reading a book for school too called Georgia Stories. Yep. just as I thought, the touchstone didn't work. The book is a collection of short fiction from Georgia that I plan to teach from this year. I have to make sure I don't try to tackle some story that will get me in trouble!

#89 hobbitprincess - I'm interested to hear what you think about Nineteen Minutes. It's one of those books that stays with you.

I just got a copy of The Neverending Story last week. I should begin it sometime during the week.

I'm ready for one of those books that you simply can't put down; one you stay up all night reading. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

#79 Clam - Oh goody :)

Something that I've found funny is that there's a character called Touchstone :)

I read The Year Of Magical Thinking in less than twenty-four hours (see? Being unemployed has a plus side!), but now I can't settle on what to read next. I keep picking up books, reading a chapter, and putting them down. Even good ones. It's like... reader's block.

#92, elle I do that all the time, I usually go through about 5 books before I find the one that I settle on. I finished The Mammoth Hunters yesterday, and opened Shadows Return, Mistborn, Silverthorn, and Sebastian before settling on Watership Down and i'm still stuck halfway through When true night falls.

#87 - mikepatrick - thanks.

I do tend to stick with stuff - given the human tendency that truly new things, and the unfamiliar, often feel (falsely) uncomfortable (survival instincts rear up and tell you to watch it!) until one gets oriented to the material. This will be a book I read "sandwiched" between other stuff, due to its type casting of reprehensible caricatures. I will see, indeed, if my socks get knocked. Applause, regardless, for originality.

For clever cynicism, I personally prefer Lindsey Davis as the slighting outlook comes paired with characters with heart.

Checked 4 out of local library: "Mister Pip" by Lloyd Jones, a lovely little book. "The Night Climbers" by Ivo Stourton,328 page shaggy-dog story. Now reading "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. (I'm 1/2 way thru and fascinated.) The fourth is "His Illegal Self," by Peter Carey.

I finished Seven Seasons of Buffy, (a critical response to the television show; very good!), yesterday and am now going to start The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I'm looking forward to the story, but I am NOT pleased with the book's weight. Tomes like this are why I prefer mass market paperbacks. I haul my current read around with me for my bus ride and break times, so thick hardcovers cause me some problems.

Does anyone else read two or more books at the same time? I am reading Good Omens and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I know most people have read these books already but I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of my reading.

yep but not if i can avoid it. i get confused and lose interest.

I just started A Game of Thrones, so far so good. I'm also reading Lamb, well I was reading it until I misplaced it.

#97 - Always. It's my bane. Clam's Bane... The Curse of Multiple Reads. I have dozens of books with the bookmark at the halfway point sitting around.

Clam's bane:

#97, I've got Watership down and When True Night Falls, and Deluge Mccaffrey for my novels and Tales of Science and Sourcery Clark Smith, The Saliva Tree, the Fredrik Pohl Omnibus and Henry Sugar under my pillow for short story reads when I go to bed.

I'm still reading The Code Book (*not* the da Vinci Code, as the touchstone thought) and The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle, a lovely jf Victorian era-style mystery.

#97 - WOW, what great stories to juggle, too! I don't usually juggle fiction. I'll usually have a fiction and one or two nonfictions working at the same time.

#76

I started Persuasion in Feb and lost it. Now it is found and I started it again. It seems lovely at the beginning, I hope I don't put it down after all I've been through. I love to hate the father who thinks so little of his own children because they are just daughters.

i'm still reading Hungry by Alethea Eason due to hectic from worng. >.

#103 - So, do you enjoy The Code book? I had a reading spree on crypto history some years ago and I remember that one as educational. After I read that one I could actually speak with the security hacks here at work without feeling flustered ;-)

I finally started House of Leaves yesterday. It's very different and tough to read, but so far I'm really enjoying it.

Jerusalem fire pretty good so far, odd though.

I finished off Oscar Wao the other day, but have been so insanely busy that I've only gotten 16 pages into That Old Ace in the Hole for Wednesday night's book club.

Don't expect to see too much of me until I'm finished with it.

I haven't been in the mood to ready anything lately.

bleh

i know that feeling. sometimes you just can't get into books, especially when there is other stuff going on. It'll pass.

Meanwhile, nice creepy-crawly photos on the "icky" thread, i must say.

Thanks.

I seem to be more interested in my camera than in reading. Makes me feel guilty for some odd reason.

Oh no fleela, no guilt, your books will wait. I go through phases of reading too. I always come back to it.

Right now, in addition to a couple of earlier mentioned books, I'm reading Caesar and Christ by Will Durant and City of Gold and Shadows by Ellis Peters. Just finished One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross by Harry Kemelman. I read mysteries much faster than I read nonfiction. :)

ETA: Stupid Caesar, I can never spell that name/title. Enough mistakes and maybe it will stick.

#109 - Reading-Fox - Jerusalem Fire by R. M. Meluch? That story is one of my all time favorites! yes, it is unpredictable, but the resolution is bound to blow you away. I think it's one of the most underrated books, ever.

People who liked Lions of Al-Rassan may well enjoy this story. It has the same vein of poignancy, amazing interpersonal insights, but tapped from a slightly different angle. And so well done! A cut well above the usual, by my lights, anyway.

Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Slow starting, but I didn't have my good reading glasses with me and that may have mattered.

I rarely, rarely abandon a book, but I finally did just that yesterday. It was I Am Charlotte Simmons. I do not consider myself a prude by any means, but the continual use of the "f" word, multiple times on virtually every page, got to me after awhile.

I'm reading Rhett Butler's People, a book I forgot I had. It's pretty good, so far. Should be a quick read.

I just started Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. It'll be my "listen to while I do housework" book.

107 - I'm completely with it until it gets to the computer tech stuff. That's where the maths gets too scary. I'm fascinated by Rejewski and his Enigma decryption, though. It's amazing.

Finally finished Ilario. Took ages! Slow reading place, but I enjoyed it. Hell, I even did a review, and for some reason I really struggle to get motivated to do those.

Then I read The Madonnas of Leningrad which was just gorgeous, poignant and horrifying all in one.

Now I'm reading The King of Elfland's Daughter by his worshipfulness, Dunsany.

#117 - I've eventually decided to tag books like that based on restaurant at the end of the universe my tag is Award for the most gratuitious use of the word f" so far only applied on 2 books, one of which is restaurant itself.

#115 - you recommended it to me a while ago, so when I saw a copy I thought I'd try it. Very much enjoyed it. I'm trying to think of how to review it.

I had four going on simultaneously (why is the book you're reading never where you think you left it?)

I just finished Already Dead by Charlie Huston. I enjoyed it and just added it to my LT. The Sultan's Seal - the mystery is fairly light-weight, but the setting of Ottoman-era Turkey is interesting. I have a long commute, so there's always an audio book—this time it's Pride and Prejudice. One disk left to go. Finally, I've just started Naomi Novik's latest, Victory of Eagles because I left The Sultan's Seal in my wife's car. :-)

Finished a mystery by Ellis Peters on my trip and began Good Omens, which I am loving! I didn't want to bring all the heavy hardbound histories I'm still in the middle of on my trip, so I'll have to get back to them now I'm home. Think I'll finish Good Omens first though, it's hard to put down.

I just finished Passage by Connie Willis

This was a wonderful, gripping, un-put-downable read.

I loved all of it. I am trying to think of something not positive to say, but no luck. I liked it better than The Doomsday Book, and I did like that one a lot.
This is going to sit next to TheLace Readeron my favorites shelf. I can hardly believe that I found two reads like these in the same week!

I'm about halfway through The Day Freedom Died about a mass killing of blacks by whites in central Louisiana in 1873. It's been a weird read for me since I lived for about a decade near where the book is set. And my parents own land about 15 miles from Colfax. I keep reading about places I know and yet I never heard about this happening. It's a really good book and I'm having trouble putting it down but given the subject, I can't say I'm enjoying it.

Currently Reading
M is for Magic
Emma
The Crusades, A Very Short Introduction

plus I have just been lent
the last hero and world without end, so that should keep me busy

I read Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer because my daughter read them, I like vampire stuff, and I wanted to talk with her about them. They got me out of my reading slump.

Now I'm reading Stealing Athena by Karen Essex, a freebie. I'm really enjoying it, and compared to The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman, which also has two story lines going, one in Contantinople, it's heaven.

I've also still got The Power Makers in process.

Next on the fiction list is probably Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet for August bookclub meeting. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

karen

The Lace Reader got me out of mine... thank goodness for us both!

I really enjoyed Born on a Blue Day it was a fast and enjoyable read. He is quite remarkable!

I've been rereading Sandman. I'm currently on The Season of Mists, which was my favourite volume for a long, long time. I'm looking forward to diving back in.

I am re reading Catcher in the Rye as I need a paperback book for the bathtub. All the rest of my stuff is on the Kindle. I am seeing Catcher from a different perspective. I think I first read it when I was in my 20s; now in my 60s. I see the world and Holden a wee tad differently.

I'm reading Marcus Herniman's Siege of Arrandin. I'm enjoying it so far, but hoping i end up loving it coz books 2 & 3 in the trilogy were very hard to find & I ended up paying more for them than I usually would for books I havn't read yet...

I am reading You Only Live Twice. And I thought Terry Pratchett books were funny, I couldn't stop laughing about how RACIST James Bond books are. I literally LOLed when the Australian agent helping Bond declared the Japanese to be a "completely different human species" as he barges through a crowd of them paying no courtesy to their culture's manners. Such characters make me embarrassed to think Aussies may or may not have acted exactly like that when abroad in the 50s.

Just finished antarctica which is absolutely superb. Near future eco-SF in a similar vein (and maybe the inspiration of) the forty signs of rain trilogy. very very vivid outdoor imagery.

I started Trinity by Leon Uris last night. It's on my list of 5 large books to read this year. I was afraid it would be dull and large, but so far I'm liking it a lot.

oh, Trinity is fantastic! I read it ages ago... and loved it.

Rereading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, in preparation to read number two of the series. I only read this a year ago, however I adore this book, and have no problem rereading it again so soon.

Before that, and after finishing with Elflands, I read No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod, which was STUNNING. Oh, it tore my heart out by the end. I think it's going to find its way into the top 35.

As always, I seem to have several going. In the middle of A World Too Near by Kay Kenyon, A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain and Pretender to the Throne: the further adventures of Private Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovich...except that I can't find where I've put the latter.

Vacation starts in a week and a half and I have a box full to take to the cabin. :-)

Even tho I already have a stack of "reading now" I am cracking open The Lions of Al-Rassan because it just looks so juicy. I can't help myself.

I read Lord of Light a few days ago, and I think I will re-read it again Friday. I haven't decided on much else (fiction-wise) to read this month. Maybe tomorrow I will re-read Ubik.

This month has been sort of a lukewarm book interest month -- with my interests spanning only books I've read before. My Amazon/LT recommendations aren't helping, either (OH YUCK!).

An excellent book, maggie1944!

I'm currently somewhere in the middle of the following books:

Jumper (read half of it at the bookstore last week)
I Am Legend
Simplexity (ER book)
Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age (which I got distracted from, ha ha ha, by other books)

I'm this minute in the middle of the Torchwood audiobook Border Princes, which I'll be done with in about 45 minutes.

Last night I started The Christian World: A Global History by Martin Marty. I'm almost halfway through and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in religious history.

bluesalamanders, I went to Amazon to look at Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age and although it does not look like a book that will lift one out of depression, it does look very interesting. Are you finding it relatively easy to read? I mean I know some academic books are harder than stones to read, others are quite readable. How does this book rate? And do you agree with her point of view?

144 maggie

I haven't gotten too far into it yet - I find nonfiction books really hard going. But the concept is very interesting (I heard about it on NPR, which is why I went out and bought it) and I think it is well written so far. And yes, I agree with what I've read so far, too.

I'm not reading it right now - I'll probably read more of Simplexity since it's an ER book and also fairly mood-neutral. It may be a while before I get back to Distracted.

I finished Dissolution last night (good book) and started Artemis Fowl the Time Paradox

Oh you gave me a panic attack then readafew, I thought the new Artemis was out in august, and it is - in the UK - Dammit, it's not fair.

8P~

neener, neener ;)

I started 1984 but I simply cannot get through that book... I since read The Pythagorean Solution and started Bringing Down the House - I'm a big fan of blackjack.

I still have Artemis Fowl, the Opal Deception, French Women Don't Get Fat, and Lip Lock coming up... talk about diversify reading :-)

>138 TadAD: I'm glad to hear you're reading A Tramp Abroad. Are you liking it so far? So many people overlook most of his books, settling for only reading Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn.

I put up a list of other lesser known Twain books you might like over on my blog.

I finished A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear over my lunch break. It was excellent. I initially had some trouble with the names, but once I got into the rhythm of the story all my qualms faded away. I was sorry to see it end.

I think I'm going to start The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon next, with perhaps a brief stopover in A Game of You by Neil Gaiman et al.

And because I wasn't already in the middle of enough books, I picked up Soul Music when I was at the bookstore today.

I am about to start Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael A Cremo.

It has been on my TRB pile for a few weeks.

>150 Whicker: Hi Whicker. I'm not far in...maybe 100 pages...but I'm enjoying it a lot. I had read The Innocents Abroad and found it quite funny, so I thought I'd move onward through his works. I think I'm enjoying this one a bit more as he seems to have deliberately set himself up as the central figure of ridicule, whereas in IA there was more a sense of him laughing at the others.

I picked up about 15 volumes of Twain at a used book sale, so I've got enough material to read one every so often for quite a while. :-)

I've found myself reading this whole list:

Q's Legacy
Marley & MebyJohn Grogan
The Picnic & other inimitable StoriesbyG Durrel
You Are What You Eat
Change One for Diabetes
I'm reading the last 2 because i was told recently that i'm borderline pre diabetic-so am doing my best to keep it from becoming full blown diabetes! I am also reading a lot of product labels. 8^)

Harry Potter As I finally now have the 7th in paperback I get to read the series through.

I just finished Moonraker. It was my first James Bond book, and it was a lot of fun. Plus the cover art on the copy I found was enough to make me read the thing.

I'm back into The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I took a break from it this weekend so I could focus on some nonfiction and a couple of graphic novels. It's very enjoyable, but I'm a little disappointed that I'm not OMGINVOLVED with it. I'd heard tons of good things before I'm started; while they're all true, I find that I'm experiencing them to a lesser degree than others have done.

I'm also in the midst of a big, involved reread of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. My love for these books knows no bounds. I'm enjoying them just as much now as I did the first time I read them all. I've had a great time trying to write reviews for them, too. I have so many thoughts on the series that I'm sure they're all over the place, but it's been an interesting exercise.

I finished The Eight which I had but hadn't read. I picked it up because I scored The Fire: A Novel from Early Reviewers...and will be moving on to Angelica.

I mentioned elsewhere that The Eight was okay, but in my opinion had way too much of everything. Too many historical figures, too many near misses, too much that made you say "Oh come one now!" Jut too much of everything. I wonder what The Fire will be like?

I am looking forward to Angelica. That one called out to me from Amazon......( used)

I've decided to work my way through Feist's works, so i'm through the Original, the Legends and the Empire trilogies so far on to the two books about the children now Prince of the Blood and Kings Buccaneer. I think I've abandoned When True night Falls.

July have been slow to me, bookwise - too much socialising going on, but that's a good thing so I don't complain.

Finished Sailing from Byzantium, which I bought earlier due to Flee's mentioning of it, and it was worth both the time and the money.

Some weeks ago I found a bag of forgotten books in the cellar, and I decided to read one of them - Out of the silent planet - before continuing with cutting volumes off my non-fiction TBR stack.

Else I'm forcing myself to read a book that roughly translates to User Centred Systems Design. I get very upset by it but I figure the assignment I'm about to begin next week will benefit from the reading... sigh.

#119 - Usually I skip the math in books like that. I don't need to understand the details as long as I get the general concept ;-)
If you thought that one interesting you might want to read Battle of Wits...

#133 - You Only Live Twice is one of my fave Bond films, mainly for the interior designs but also for the truly outdated ideas about race and women. At some point those things stop being outrageously aggravating and start being outrageously fun ;-)
I don't know about the books but the classic films are all VERY racist, playing off archetypes of about every nation or culture you can think of.

>161 Busifer:
Good to hear about Sailing from Byzantium. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon!

#162 - It has led to at least two more 'to buy' books noted down in my small black book - similar or associated topics - and new ideas in my head; a good thing! Thanks! :D

Which books? Do tell!

Sea of faith: Islam and Christianity in the medieval mediterranean world and Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain (I'm interested in architecture as an art form and as a way to state belonging and power).

I'm also on the look for more on the Ottomans.

Persuasion by Jane Austen. Just never read it. I love the "older" heroine, Anne. The passing glances in the book are more telling then the movies I have watched. I love her details in storytelling.

I'm about halfway through Sunshine, which I'm getting a huge kick out of. I love the worldbuilding McKinley's done! I'm still not sure that it's a keeper, though. I think it's all gonna depend on how this plays out.

167 xicanti - Nice to hear it, Sunshine is one of my favorite books :)

I'm currently reading Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction by Justine Larbalestier and it's not a little depressing (and even disgusting) at times. Women are so maligned in SF stories...

Rereading "Ebenezer LePage" By G. B. Edwards , and "The Horse of Pride" by Pierre-Jakez Helias because they resonate with the book about Guernsey everyone was excited about (lost its title!! it's about Guernsey Islands WW2). . . I mentioned this a day or so ago. . .plz xcus if repeating now/here

I just received from Amazon Mongolian Cloud Houses and doesn't that sound like a gripping read?

hmmmm... currently open on the bookshelf are the two I'm reading side-by-side... the making of the atomic bomb and unlocking the mysteries of birth and death ...

Volcanoes in Human History which I have been meaning to read for a while arrived from Amazon on Friday - YEAH