May Reads 2009

I didn't see a topic for this month yet (maybe everybody was too busy over the weekend to read? ;))... May reads!
I just finished Breaking Dawn. Didn't like it as much as the others, but did want to read the whole series for completion. Just started in Millennium by Tom Holland to get back into medieval history....

Don't think there was one yet. Thanks, Divinenanny! ^-^ (And I didn't know Holland'd written more books! I'll have to add it/some to my wishlist! I quite enjoyed The Vampyre, although I was biased before reading. Byron!)

I've started reading New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear, but haven't got beyond page 7 or so yet.

I am still reading The Confusion by Neal Stephenson - it is becoming a trial, and I'm not sure why. I'm entertained every time I pick it up - but not entertained enough to read it for a long stint. I have the third in the trilogy to read after this, and I reckon that will take me to the end of May, which is really slow-going for me!

Last night I finished my latest ER book, The Blue Notebook. I will read more by this author if he keeps moonlighting from his day job at the Mayo Clinic.

Last night I started City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, the third of her Mortal Instruments trilogy.

I'm still reading The Stand and now I've started The Glister and Gray Apocalypse.

I finished The Book Thief last night and started Fool's Fate.

I started and finished A Beginner's Guide to Aromatherapy today. It was quite interesting and will definitely be useful as a reference book. ^-^

#2 - ooh, New Amsterdam! Lovelovelovelovelove!

I'm a little more than halfway through A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, which has been very interesting so far. I'm finding it slow going, since I keep stopping to think about what I've just read, but I consider it time well spent.

#9 - *bemused* It's your fault I picked it up. ^-~ I might've picked another from the sale otherwise.

I'm in comfort reading at the moment. I finished Club Dead and am racing through Dead to the World. Light and fluffy, to contrast with my thesis.

I read White Witch, Black Curse and while I love Harrison's writing, I'm so tired of Rachel being hurt emotionally and physically all the time with hardly anything good happening to her. Next time I'm getting her book from the library. I'm not paying for the misery any more.

I finished The Lost Queen and Ashes to Ashes yesterday, still reading Death from the Skies. Oh, and I started The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes really really late last night, but didn't make it past the introduction. Which is good, because I needed the sleep!

And I also finished Nine Princes in Amber. Do all these books end in a cliffhanger? I'm not sure I loved it enough to continue, but I did like this one. Are the rest like the first book?

Just finished Boston Jane and discovered that it was a series. I really enjoyed it and am heading out tonight for the next 2 books.

#10 - I do hope you're enjoying it. You already know how much I love it.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Born To Exile by Phyllis Eisenstein. It's a collection of interconnected novellas, and I was expecting a little more from it. I sought it out after I read one of the novellas in an old issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I thought it showed a lot of promise, but it's really just more of the same. Oh well. It's still good, just not wickedmadawesome.

Just finished Millennium by Tom Holland. I loved the book and it is a great history book about the period from about 900 to 1100, tracking mayor kings, popes, kingdoms and developments, in the light of the (as was then believed) apocalypse.

Finished New Amsterdam and Speak last week.

Still in a flutter over what I should read next. I have two that I want to read at the same time. (As in literally at the same time, not 'reading bits of one, then the other, then pick the former back up again'.) Why do the books do that to me?!

I started The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan this morning, and I'm having a fantastic time with it! I'll admit, the last couple of Ranger's Apprentice books didn't thrill me the way the first three did, but this one's back on track. What an awesome book.

I finished Away by Jane Urquhart yesterday. I zipped through the first part of the book, absolutely loving it, then didn't read for ages, RL stuff got in the way - bah - but was able to just relax yesterday and finish. Wonderful book, I love Urquhart's writing.

I'm going to start The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire by C.M. Mayo today.

I've been reading Rising Stars by J. Michael Straczynski. He's quite the storyteller, he is. An epic journey. Recommended!

I've been reading Terrier for a couple days on the recommendation of a number of friends, and enjoying it immensely, even if I'm not understanding some of the references. I just got the Gnostic Mystery in the mail today, as well as the Graveyard Book, and Anathem, so I'll probably set Terrier aside for a while to at least read tGB and the Gnostic Mystery, as tGM is an ER book.

I started Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey on the bus this morning. I'm rather surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. I mean, I'm not very far in, but thus far it's quite a bit better than Children of the Night. Huh. Let's hope it keeps up.

I'm probably going to stop reading the Gnostic Mystery in favor of starting something I actually want to read. I'm interested in the history behind it and Gnosticism, but most of the characters, the plot, and dialogue are really grating on me. Most likely I'll be starting on the Graveyard Book this afternoon.

Continuing with Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star. Just over the half way mark at present.

On an entirely different note, I'm also enjoying trying to work out which stereotype I am in The Lost Tribes of Pop.

Being sick, I'm comfort reading.

The SERRAted Edge series - elves & race cars - by Mercedes Lackey

Born to Run
Wheels of Fire
When the Bough Breaks
Chrome Circle
Elvendude

I'm up to Chrome Circle, then I'll read Five Little Peppers and How They Grew for the first time in 30 years. Hope it lives up to memory. Then I'll read Elvendude.

I just started The Book Thief today.

Finished The Origin of Species from my banned books reading list. Whew.

Still working on:
The Adventures of Augie March (National Book Award list)
Then It Was Destroyed by the Volcano (library book)
His Dark Materials (read-aloud-with-husband book)
The Divine Comedy (The Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List)
The Story of Mankind (Newbery Award list)
His Excellency: George Washington (Presidential Challenge)

Starting today:
1001 Arabian Nights (banned books list)

I must be in a reading slump. I've not finished a book for weeks.
Currently reading...
Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut - Not read much of this yet
The Darling Buds of May by HE Bates - been reading this for months, a page or two at a time is all I can manage.
The Minotaur by Barbara Vine - *yawn* is it over yet?
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Read this a decade or more ago and loved it... having a hard time keeping interested enough to keep reading this time through.
And a some short stories & poetry via DailyLit.
I don't seem to be making progress in any of them yet I read some each day... are they neverending books?

>scaifea, what did you think of Origin of Species?

I've had a copy on my shelf for years and never read it. Recently been hearing it call my name but I admit I'm a bit scared to try. I imagine it will be dry or dauntingly complicated.

Hey, it's just a book, BritAnnia. You can always put it down if you don't like it. :)

I can't stop myself! Help! *hehe*

I like to finish books even if I'm not finding them particularly engrossing. In the past I've tried to not finish and I'm always drawn back to the book, sometimes having to start back at the beginning. It's a sickness I tell ya!

Can't be helped then. I gave myself permission to move on if I don't like a book--life's too short, and my TBR lists & piles are too large, to waste time with mediocre books.

BritAnnia: Give it a go, I say. I found it to be surprisingly easy to follow - and this is coming from a definite non-science person (I usually have trouble with science-y stuff). I was really impressed that such a brilliant person could write in a way that I could understand.

Thanks, scaifea. I'll move it nearer the top of the tbr pile.
ETA: I added it to my DailyLit reads... I love that site!

I'm starting Blood Rites by Jim Butcher today.

Last night I finished Fool's Fate (who would have guessed - a happy ending!) and started The Language of Bees. Woo Mary Russell!

I found Alcatraz annoying, but the story itself was fun, so I'm giving him another try in Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones.

I finished one. Yay! FINALLY!
Now, do I finish one of the others I have on the go or add a new book to those underway... choices choices.

this month i've read the night angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, then Black Ships and now Hand of Isis, interspersed with an Alfred Bester collection Starburst and a random C.Pike book - i forget which one.

I'm just about finished with Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey. So far, this one's my favourite of the series. Burning Water started off really well, but I didn't find it too engaging overall. This one's much more enjoyable.

I finished Lady Susan today, and gave up on two more - Black Shrike and Death and the Visiting Fireman. Both just not worth the time. But Lady Susan was fun.

Just finished the Graveyard Book today and loaned it to a friend. Still in the middle of Terrier. Will probably finish that before starting Anathem. At least if I'm patient.

I started Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock this morning. Seems good so far.

Ooh. I'll be looking forward to your thoughts on that one, Xicanti. ^-^

I've finished Watchmen, Semaphore Annual 2008 and The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson since my last post. And now I think I should move onto a little bout of non-fiction, but whether I'll actually finish it before starting another book I don't know.

I read The Bar Code Tattoo, which sounded really interesting when I first heard about it but turned out to be very disappointing indeed.

I'm currently reading Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded.

I recently finished Wide Sargasso Sea which was quite lovely. It was my transition reading between books of Don Quixote - now to get through book 2.

I'm reading Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It's really, really engrossing and I've foregone all my other current reading for reading it. It also seems to be stunningly well researched. The bits of Middle English in there are very consistent with what I've learned of it. Huzzah for time travel books where language change is considered!

I liked The Bar Code Tattoo. What was it you didn't enjoy about it?

49 cmbohn-

The mysticism, paranormal, and pseudoscientific stuff. It seemed like lazy storytelling to me, everything that the paranormal stuff was used for could have been more believably done with science/internet/regular people. And the explanations for why the paranormal stuff was suddenly possible were ridiculous.

I don't dislike fantasy or paranormal stuff, it just didn't work this time. It seemed like two different books squashed together, the interesting SF book and the silly paranormal book, and they just didn't mesh.

I got it. And I see what you mean. I hadn't thought about that before.

I just started two ER books, Bozo Sapiens and Threads from the Web of Life. The first one is funny, but I'm a little bogged down in the economics section, and the second one is wonderful, mostly, except for the occasional use of a 3 dollar word where a 50 cent one would work just fine.

I just put down the Dutch translation of The Art Thief. The whole book was a vehicle for the writer to demonstrate his factual knowledge of art theft, and how he would solve thefts (like the Isabella Gardner museum theft). The story line is secondary and the spliced in knowledge was out of place. It was keeping me from more interesting reading, so after 100 pages I had enough.

I finished The Language of Bees, which what pretty good, and started Three Men in a Boat. What a hoot! I feel like a complete philistine in that I never heard of it before. It's hilarious.

I feel like I'm limping along through Blood Bank by Tanya Huff. It's a collection of short stories about the characters in her Blood Books series, and it's not quite so compulsively readable as I'd hoped. I've been enjoying the Henry stories quite a bit, but the Vicki ones aren't really doing it for me. They're all right, but that's about it. Sigh. I'll be glad to move on to something else tomorrow.

I just finished Destination:Universe. (It's rare for me to read anything written in the last 25 years. Or, for that matter, in my lifetime. I'm 40 going on 80)

Cancelled my bookswim account and sent back Anathem and More Information than you Require. Decided it wasn't a financially good investment, especially with all the books I've already bought over the years I haven't read yet, and the ones I do want I can buy or borrow for less than I was paying. Cool idea, maybe a financially solid investment for some, just not for me.

Still reading Terrier, working my way through Tolkien and CS Lewis for a paper I'm writing. I have ~60 pages left and another book to read, plus the paper to write before midweek. Probably screwed myself on this too. Fortunately I'm good friends with the prof and I've done well in the class up to now, so I shouldn't get too hard hit by a paper thats not quite up to my normal standards.

Luck, DEL

Finished Watchmen last night, just to be reminded of bits I missed. You really don't get the whole "scale" of the conspiracy theories on your first read. They kind of wash over you the first time but when you read it the third time you "get" it. And don't skip over the bonus material after each chapter, it's some of the best fractured narrative stuff in years!

I finished Death of a Fat God, which is just what I needed, a fun mystery I hadn't read before. I tried Kiki Strike: The Empress Tomb, but I just couldn't pay attention.

And thanks for the recommendation, littlegeek! I'd never heard of that book before either, but it sounds like fun.

After a weekend of unsuccessfully trying to settle down with Seventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman, I've decided that my brain isn't interested in fiction right now. I'm focusing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy instead, and I think I may read some more nonfiction after that. I'm hoping that'll kick me out of my book funk.

Finished all my reading for school this semester, so I'm reading Voyage of Slaves by Brian Jacques, a favorite author from my childhood, and going back to One Taste a year of journal entries by Ken Wilber, IMHO one of modern times most important thinkers, and the creator of Integral Theory.

I finished Battle of the Labyrinth last night. My plan is to finish the series this week, and take a break from reading (for pleasure) for the next 2 weeks. I have end fof the year stuff to do and a project due in 2 weeks. After that I'm doing a reread of the HP series in my new hardback books.

In the last few days I've finished Armageddon in Retrospect, Jane Eyre, The Darling Buds of May, and The Diary of a Superfluous Man.
Getting back to where I leftoff with Pillars of the Earth, and just started In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne, and Mort by Terry Pratchett.

I just started Impossible Things, short stories by Connie Willis. I'm kind of turning into her fanboy at the moment.

I've just started The Last Olympian, and will be picking up Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! as soon as that's done in preparation for A Princess of Landover, being released in August.

If anyone's interested, we're going to do a group read of the Landover series in Hogwarts Express; we'd love to have as many participants as are able to maintain the grueling 160-ish pages a week quota ;)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/65433

What are the chances that I would read two books, one Cyberpunk William Gibson, Virtual Light, one time travel 2057 to 1940 and back again and again, Connie Willis ,to say nothing of the dog, back to back, and both would mention "Hair Wreaths"???

So odd and been chewing at what's left of my mind, I had to look them up.

Victorian, pre-1900; hair was collected from multiple sources, usually family, and woven into wreaths (yup, like christmas wreaths). Usually displayed in shadow boxes, the wreaths commemorated important events; births, deaths, weddings, etc.

There's even a museam in Independence, Mo that is devoted entirely to hair and a group, "The Victorian Hair Society"....some things you just can't make up.

On the museum's website... interesting point. We still save hair. Baby's first haircut, that curly q lock, goes straight into the baby book. Could hair wreaths be why?

Amazing. And what are the chances?

Finished Conspirator.

Oh, I just loved the extrapolation of cell phone behavior! What a rip!

Now back to wondering how long before the next CJ book....

I finally got to read Corambis over the weekend which was very excellent! It was certainly worth waiting for.

Now I'm on to Dead Beat by Jim Butcher.

Just finished (and posted review of) Threads from the Web of Life by Stephen Daubert (member Giveaway)

Just finished The Faery Flag: Stories and Poems of Fantasy and the Supernatural by Jane Yolen. It was exactly what I needed to get out of my bookfunk, I think.

Set One Taste aside for the time being, its a reread anyway. Currently reading the Color of Magic, still working on Voyage of Slaves though I might set it aside. I'm also reading a book called By the Hand of Mormon, research for my thesis I'll be writing Fall semester of next year. Just got Bloodhound today, but I'm making myself finish the Pratchett book before starting it.

Finished The Tricks of London by Elizabeth Bear (no touchstone 'cause it's a chapbook and I'm not sure how to even add those, not having an ISBN) and The Rescuers and Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp.

I think I have my book-mojo back. ^-^

I finished The Wind's Twelve Quarters, a short story collection by Ursula Le Guin and, except for a couple of stories I didn't like, it blew me away. Wow.

I've started in on The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. It's early days yet, but I think I'm going to like it. It feels rather like a cross between Stuart McLean and Agatha Christie.

#72. . . If you are meeting Miss Bianca for the first time you are going to fall in love!

Started Bloodhound tonight, and I can't wait to get into this one. I'm hooked in the first 15 pages. Still working on By the Hand of Mormon. Hoping to have it done by the end of the week.

I started Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop this morning. It hasn't hooked me yet, but I think I'll enjoy it.

I adored Miss Bianca and still have the copy my brother gave me for my tenth birthday. Just finished The Graveyard Book, which I really enjoyed and have just started Crazy '08. It seems promising.

>69 Esta1923: Just wanted to let you know that I checked but didn't see your review on the book page.

I just finished Silks by Dick Francis. Rather a new twist, to have his book center mostly around a courtroom, but I enjoyed it.

#67 - A bit late, but I think the next Foreigner book will be out sometime later this year, with the last in this arch being written right now. I can't wait, Conspirator was great!
:D

She's also planning some electronic self-publication, with regained copyrights and stuff - see her blog, Wave without a shore, for more.

Finished By the Hand of Mormon yesterday. The book was a bit more academic than I was expecting, but quite informative all the same. Read it as research for a thesis I'll be writing on Mormonism. I'll probably be reading the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine & Covenants next, although maybe not right away.

Still reading Bloodhound, and greatly enjoying Pierce's writing.