Tell us what you are reading now, part II

I took the liberty to start part two of this thread - the last is 262 posts long, and takes some time loading ;-)

Presently I'm reading Anansi Boys by Gaiman, and this far I'm less than impressed. Maybe this is because I was awed by The Lions of Al-Rassan, but I chose Anansi... on puropse - I wanted something "light".

I've read a third of the book and right now I'm undecided if I'm going to finish it at all...

So, what about the rest of you? What are you reading right now? And what do you think of it?

Inheritor 3rd of the Foreigner series. I've just bought Destroyer so I'm reading them all in order agian, hopefully I'll manage to find pretender by the time I get to it so I don't have to do this again in 6 months time. Although considering the superb quality fo all these books it would hardly be a hardship.

SO far I think Invader was the best, some absolutely classic scenes. Inheritor has started a little slow, re-capping the previous two books, but I know it will pick up shortly as politics rears its ugly head once again.

I am reading Tolkien's The War of the Ring, which is the History of Middle-Earth, vol 8; the History of LOTR, part 3.

Not pushing to read it at any great clip.

I am also reading "By faith, not by sight" : Paul and the order of salvation by Richard B. Gaffin. A former prof from seminary days, catching up on issues as I am making church/community changes.

I'm reading "Memories of Ice" by Steven Erikson, book 3 in the Malazan series. I started with the second book "Deadhouse Gates" less than a month ago and i've become hooked. Highly recommended, and this is from a once sceptical reader.

Busifer, i had the same reaction to Anansi Boys, although it was my first Neil Gamian. The book just didn't connect with me, and his style and the story as a whole was just too... light (for lack of a better word). He was trying to create a particular atmosphere, and i think he failed in doing so.

Last night I started a book called Owl In Love but didn't get very far into it.

I haven't read any of Neil Gaiman's books yet, but I intend to in the future.

Rereading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but as I only have 5-10 minutes a day to read, it's slow going. Good thing I planned to start now if Book 7 is out in July. :D

I am rereading The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. It is not that long of a book and I would have finished it a couple of days ago, but I have had a headache (plus a sore neck and a stomach ache) for nearly a week, which makes it difficult to do anything for very long, even read. Ow.

Hope you feel better soon, bluesalamanders.

I'm still reading Thirteen Moons, and with my kids home all last week I got little read. Now I have workmen in my home painting, so I can't relax enough to read.

:o(

Woe is me.

I'm hope you're feeling better soon too bluesalamanders, - maybe clamairy could make you a hot toddy?

I'm reading Mockingbird, an unauthorized, very interesting biography of Nelle Harper Lee, The Lions of Al-Rassan because Busifer has been rapsodising about it and I wanted to refresh my memory (and join in the discussion about it with her) :-) and I'm listening to Bones of the Barbary Coast, a fun ghost story in a series about a parapsychologist. I must confess though that I keep peeking at two other books I just got Lady Hester, a biography of a Victorian woman who had lots of traveling adventures and ended up in the middle east, and Cherry, a biography of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a member of the Scott Antarctic Expedition in 1912.

Touchstones definitely aren't working for me today :-( I've got to get off the computer and spend more time reading - there's too many (can there EVER be too many?) good books to read right now!!

(edited for touchstones)

I am reading Perdido Street Station. Kind of wacky mix of Sci-Fi, steampunk, fantasy and horror. I am over half way through and still not sure what I think about the book.

After Perdido Street Station I decided to stick with characters with human heads. I'm reading On Beauty and still on Talk Talk on the iPod.

Currently reading Seven Years in Tibet, with The Republican War on Science on deck. Also pulled out The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity, which is a book I've had since last year, but has reference to the controversial "Jesus Family" ossuaries in it...the whole thing seems flakier and flakier to me, but still fun to read about. And now I have a dog-eared copy of Ulysses staring me down as well (two bucks at the used bookstore!). So that's the current docket.

#11 and #12 - Perdido Street Station is at the top of my "to be read" stack. What do you suggest?

Bluesalamanders - I hope you're getting better!

GeorgiaDawn, do read it, but don't read my review first. It's spoileriffic.

It's fun, it's very weird and very creepy.

I'm reading what my students are currently studying, A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, The Scarlet Letter, and The Land. They are all good.

I'm reading The Secret, recommended by a friend of mine after we had a long discussion about spirituality. It's interesting and making me think. (That would be The Secret by Byrne, not by Garwood, as the touchstone indicates.)

GeorgiaDawn, I agree that you should check it out (although it takes a while to get going) but be prepared for some unusual characters.

>#7

After my freaking miraculous conversation with Robin McKinley, I am on a total McKinley kick. In the last week I've read:

1. Spindle's End
2. The Knot in the Grain
3. The Stone Fey
4. Her retelling of Black Beauty
5. The Hero and the Crown

and now I'm reading

6. Rose Daughter

Which I had to tear my house apart to find because it's paperback and all of my paperbacks live under my TV in a solid six by six by six foot cube of books.

Right now I'm rereading The Mists of Avalon which is by Marion Zimmer Bradley, of my favorite books of all time! It's going slowly not but because it's bad because I tend to savor books I really like :)
edit: touchstone

Msg#'s 11,12,14,16,18

You guys have my interest piqued about Perdido Street Station. I haven't read anything by Mieville before but I've heard him mentioned before. Another to add to the TBR list!

I'm so, so, SO close to finishing off The Eagle and the Raven by Pauline Gedge. I've only been reading it for a little less than a week, but it feels like it's been forever. I love it, but it's one of those books where I find that I just cannot read quickly. I sit there for half an hour and find that I've only gotten through fifteen or twenty pages, if that. Sigh. I should be finished it tonight; while I'll miss it, in a way, I'll be really glad to move on to something else.

I'm also reading The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I don't usually read two pieces of fiction at once, but work has been so slow lately that I've taken to reading e-books when I don't have customers. I work in a pretty public area, so I can't just whip out a paper book, but e-books are nice and discreet. They look fairly official, too, when they're published as PDFs.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well - I do feel better this evening. Perhaps the weather is stabalizing (don't know why you have a headache? blame the weather - standard procedure) or something. Who knows. With luck, it'll be gone tomorrow (pleasepleaseplease).

I did finally finish The Blue Sword and am now reading Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman, which I think is the second book, after The Ruby in the Smoke, but I'm not sure, since (as usual in series these days, grr) they're not marked.

19 dressagegrrrl - Wow, you've got a couple there that I don't have. I've never read her retelling of Black Beauty, and I'm not sure if I've read The Stone Fey, but I know I don't own it. Looks like a fun list!

I finally gave up on Anansi Boys, which is an unusual thing for me to do. Maybe I'll try again later.
I'm waiting for A Song for Arbonne to arrive in the mail (any day now?!) and in the meantime I'm reading a book discussing IS/IT-departments vs. the core business of the corporation (IT ur ett affärsperspektiv). Badly written and nothing that I don't already know, but sometimes I have to know what others in my field are saying.
Not what I prefer to spend my reading time at.

#23 - Good to hear you are feeling better, Blue!

#16 - I wouldn't call that a spolier for Perdido Station dbeyer's which appears close by, is a bit, but yours just picks a few details without giving away anythign about the plot or how they interact.

I found parts of station utterly absorbing, parts very weird and parts just unplesant. I probably wouldn't recommend it to most people - as the lasting impression is just the unpleasant bits unfortunetly.

I liked Perdido Street Station for its unusuality (is that a word?), for its world, and because it was really interesting. I didn't actually enjoy it that much in retrospect and I probably won't ever read it again, but I think it was a worthy read since Mieville went in what felt to me a very strange direction in fantasy and pulled it off.

As for me, I've just finished The Odd Women literally minutes ago, and found that I didn't like it very much and wouldn't recommend it. I am now off to read The Name of the Rose and after that, one of the fantasies that my friend has kindly shipped across an ocean for me!

The Name of the Rose? Everybody says it is a good book, but I never managed to get through it. Might be because I saw the movie first and hated it.

I am currently reading Surfeit of Lampreys and Conan the Freebooter. Feeling a bit down and pulp always helps!

Busifer, I keep hearing so much about Neil Gaiman. I tried to read American Gods to join in the group discussion, but found I disliked it intensely and gave up on it. I was thinking I'd give Coraline a try - have you read that one? I like ghost stories and thought that might be more to my taste. Thoughts anyone?

#28 - I've never read it, katylit. I saw a Neil Gaiman book on the FREE shelf at the library yesterday, and I didn't take it. LOL I did finish American Gods, maybe that is why I am in no hurry to read anything else written by that man.

#27 ds_61_12 - I actually really enjoyed the movie, but I couldn't get through The Name of the Rose either. Sometimes I like big, rambling books like that, but other times they just rub me the wrong way. That one definitely rubbed me the wrong way. I found it really, really annoying that the narrator would say something like, "I won't tell you what anyone looks like," then proceed to describe the physical charcterstics of everyone he met, in great detail. Sigh. I was very disappointed, especially since I was really looking forward to reading it.

#28 katylit - just remember that Coraline is a children's novel, aimed at readers of eight or so. I enjoyed it, both in print and as an audiobook, but it might not be to your taste if you're into more literary, adult-targeted sorts of things.

I'm reading this obscure book about a whale, but I can't remember the title.

Sincerely,

Ishmael

#31 - But, you should be writing that book, Ishmael... not reading it!

:o)

#32 - Aragh, matey, I feel like I'm living it. Now, where's me grog?

*shouts to barkeep*

Oy, did you see a tatooed fella running off with two tankards of grog?

:D

Katylit - I've read Coraline and it's a nice little book. But as Xicanti says it's written for kids... and while I liked it I don't think I will reread it - if you don't like Gaiman's writing you'd better skip it.

Thanks for the comments. I have so many new books that are begging to be read right now I won't be in a hurry to add Coraline to my TBR list anytime soon.

Almost finished Mockingbird and then will focus more on The Lions of Al-Rassan.

I'm away for the weekend, have a great one everybody, 'see' you Monday :-)

#35 - Have a wonderful time, katylit! Please let me know how (if) you are enjoying Mockingbird.

It's daunting how much more SLOWLY I read a book nowadays. Not my actual reading speed, but total elapsed time. It used to be that I would pick up a book, read on the way to school or work, during lunch, coming home, and the entire evening until bedtime. I'm just too pooped from Life to spend THAT kind of dedication reading, so I just don't go through as many books as I used to. I now often take weeks to read a book I might have in the past finished in a day or two.

Anyway, I finished rereading The Hobbit and am now well into rereading Fellowship of the Ring.

I had to quit reading the book about IT/IS and businessprocesses too - the language was the worst I've ever encountered, and God knows I've had to read tons of badly composed reports in my day...
Four days later I had managed it to page 17!!! Every paragraph, sometimes every sentence!, I had to lower the book and tell myself to breath slowly and concentrate on the content, not the style. But it was a) badly written, and b) not edited at all. Result: a tapestry consisting of every grammatical error you could possibly think of! The author is a consultant, like me, and it was easy to see what she has done - taken snippets from old reports made for clients' but not bothering to made the snippets into a whole.

Luckliy A Song for Arbonne arrived yesterday. I haven't fetched it from the post office yet as they where closed when I left the office last evening, and they don't deliver packages over a certain size, but I will have it later today...
YES!
I hope it's good :-)

#27 and #30 - I can understand why you didn't like The Name of the Rose - it is definitely rambly, particularly about religion, and Adso is not the most wonderful narrator ever. I'm quite interested in the mystery of it though, and I am an aspiring medieval historian so I also enjoy the immersion into the monkish life. I think that has a great effect on my personal enjoyment of it.

#38 - Busifer, A Song for Arbonne was my first Guy Gavriel Kay and I can tell you that I loved it, even though it's been years since I read it and don't remember anything else about it. I hope you love it too. =)

I hope so too! I've read and enjoyed Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan so far, but everyone says those two are the best so I kind of anticipate a certain level of disappointment...
Not that I really think I will be, but as a strategy to ward off said disappointment ;-)

I wasn't a big fan of Tigana, but Sailing to Sarantium is excellent.

#41 Karlstar - I just bought Sailing to Sarantium a few days ago, spurred on by how much Green Dragon patrons enjoy Kay's work. I'm looking forward to diving into it pretty soon.

For now, I'm almost done with The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, which I'm enjoying quite a bit, and I've just begun Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as an e-book.

I am re-reading the Harry Potter books, I am now on The Goblet of Fire and I am enjoying them much more this time around. Maybe because I am not flying through them to find out what happens and so I can take my time and pick up on more. Plus, I am reading them with my niece who is 11 and I am enjoying her views on the events.

#30/39
Ah, at least I'm not the only one, I was starting to despair. And mostly for the same reasons to. I'm a catholic myself and usually I enjoy reading about religion (any great fantasies lying about with religion as a main theme?) even though I'm not what you'd call a religious person.
I actually thought of specialising in medieval history when I started studying, but after my first year I didn't anymore. The exam on the middle ages took four tries and I scraped through with a 5.6 (you pass with 5.5...). All those alliances and shifting borders, up to five rulers in two years. Nations that split in four different ones, only to merge into again because all the lines but one died out. Try keeping up with that.
Ehm, what was this thread about again?

#44 " (any great fantasies lying about with religion as a main theme?)" - don't the vast majority of fantasies have Gods in them somewhere along the line? Normally as some kind of plot line involving how the magic works.

I don't know of many with religion as the MAIN theme, but its usually present. Priestess of the White might be one you haven't come across?

Just realised I've been a member of this group for a while, now, but never posted. Hello!

At the moment I'm reading Never Had It So Good. Not very Green Dragony, but it has a quite a bit on the books of the period - not just "literature" but also stuff like science fiction, espionage and children's books.

#44 - Somehow I don't mind the complexities of medieval history, I find it fascinating and easy to remember; much easier than the politics of recent history. Then again, literally everyone I know thinks I'm crazy for loving it, so oh well!

Anyway, I just finished Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith and really enjoyed it - definitely not a thinking kind of fantasy, but one that was just a pleasure to read throughout, and which was really heartwarming. I also finished The Name of the Rose a couple of days ago and found that excellent, and worth working through all the medieval religious discussion, my least favorite part.

I am now going to read The French Lieutenant's Woman for my literature class, and then perhaps something by Terry Pratchett - I've got Hogfather with me at the moment, but my friend has sent me three of his books so I don't know which I'll choose next!

Hogfather's really good, one of my most favourite Terry Pratchett books. Nominally a Christmas story but you know how twisted the Discworld gets.

#47 - Hogfather was the first Pratchett book I read, and I think it is still my favorite.

#44 - These aren't fantasies, except in the broadest sense of the word, they are mysteries, Ellis Peters Cadfael series are wonderful stories which take place for the most part in monasteries in England in the 1100's. Humor, mystery and faith as well as the misuse of religion. Very interesting and a bit historical too.

I seem to be stuck on Children of Men by P.D. James. I started it several weeks ago and I've finished about 4 other books in the meantime. I pick it up, read a chapter and then get distracted by something else. It's an interesting book but I seem to be in the mood for something quicker paced. I just finished Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin. I'm going to try finishing Children of Men this weekend.

#46 - A belated welcome to you then, Akiyama! Now that you've made your virgin post, I hope you'll keep yapping with us.

I am almost done with Thirteen Moons (for some reason the touchstone points at the wrong book, and doesn't give you the 'others' option) and I am so happy I could widdle.

:o)

Soon I'll be free to start something else!

I just finished the YA book Senses Working Overtime which was pretty good, but not a fantasy at all.

Not sure exactly what to start next, probably either The Dragon's Heart or The China Garden.

I have nearliy finished A song for Arbonne, and it's really good. Not as good as The Lions of Al-Rassan but I don't think that comes as a surprise to any of you who have read my recent rants ;-)

The main diffrence being, for me, that I did not immediatly identified with or took to one of the characters... but the story itself is worth the reading and soon enough I was hooked, turning page after page.

Btw, Hogfather is one of my least favourite Discworld novels... Still, I've read it more than once.
I'm hard pressed on which is my favourite as they differ a lot. Maybe Small Gods, or Reaper Man, or...

As to Ellis Peters my husband has one of his novels and have always said I would like it. Maybe time I tried?

Oh wouldn't it be a boring world if we were all the same Small Gods is probably my least favourite discworld.

Well, that's what makes living an exiting thing, don't you think?

I'm reading Eragon and it's a surprisingly good read.

I've just started book one of the Trinity series by Fiona Mcintosh. Actually about 3/4 of the way through it. Worth taking a look at. Highly recommended by Robin Hobb...and me. Then after that I have to reread Earthsea and I have Sylvia by Bryce Courtney a fictional account of the childrens crusade during the dark ages...suggested to him would you believe by Fiona Mcintosh...small world.

Then I have a few Peter Straub books and the last two books of The Dark Tower to read. And then a few modern anthropological studies on Islam
and how they view the Western Christian world and vice versa. I have read some of it already and find it very positive...and light hearted in places. thinks thats all...

>51 clamairy: clam, what's your opinion on Thirteen Moons? I *loved* Cold Mountain, but most of the things I've read about Thirteen Moons have been really mixed, so I've been waiting to pick it up. Worth the read? Wait until it's out in paperback?

#53 - Try Ellis Peters, if it's the author I'm thinking of though, it's a woman. Gotta go, my friends here!

#59, OK maybe it's a "her"? I've no idea! Anyway, if your touchstone is right the book my husband owns is written by that same lady :-)
And yes, I think I'll try it out. Thanks!

#58 - Wait for the paperback. I enjoyed it, but it didn't leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy. Then again, neither did Cold Mountain, but at least with that book I felt totally sucked into the story. This reads much like the Civil War era biography of a quirky colonel. It is so very beautifully written, however.

So, yes, it's worth the time, but let's just say I'm glad I got it for 40% off.

I'm about fifty pages into Mansfield Park. So far, it strikes me as being a much meaner book than Austen's earlier work, which I suppose I was expecting given the commentary in Margaret Drabble's introduction. I like Austen's style, but the way poor Fanny's rich relations are treating her is leaving a bad taste in my mouth so far. I want to keep at it because of all the social commentary she's supposedly packed into it, but I really don't like mean books. Hmm. I think I'll see how it plays out as it progresses.

Finished The Prestige by Christopher Priest recently and now reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I really enjoyed The Prestige and I'm thoroughly enjoying The Golden Compass as well. I intend to continue with the other two books in Pullman's His Dark Materials series when I'm done.

I finished A song for Arbonne last night - I enjoyed it very much. I guess I did not identify as strongly with any of the characters as I did with Jehane in The Lions of Al-Rassan, but still a very moving tale and I sure knew who I did not want to win, in the end.

Next up is The leper of Saint Giles which is the Ellis Peters book my husband has - I decided to give it a try.

Let me know what you think Busifer, about the Leper book.

#65 - Let me know what you think Busifer, about the Leper book.

I hear it falls apart at the end.

Runs away and hides...

#66 - orf orf...

#65 - I will! Haven't actually started reading it yet, but will do so this evening.

Up to Destroyer now, its been a fabulously gripping series so far and I can't wait to see what happens in this new trilogy. Unfortunetly I don't yet own the next two so I may be a long wait!

I'm reading the second book of Harry Turtledove's Hellenic Sea Traders series, The Gryphon's Skull. It's actually a re-read for me, and I'm enjoying it yet again. :)

I'm on those Pratchetts I believe I mentioned in my last post. I was told not to read Hogfather first, so I'm reading Soul Music - my friend has chosen all the Susan books for me to read because she thinks I'll like her. I'm more than halfway through though, so I'll be moving along very quickly. =)

#66 GROO!!! I literally laughed out loud!!

*note to self - do not read posts by Groo while students are in the classroom*

*another note to self - come up with a believable reason to explain to students why I am laughing at my computer*

Bit late, been ofline a couple of days (no internet at home *moan*)
#45 "don't the vast majority of fantasies have Gods in them somewhere along the line?" They do, but often you don't get a good idea of how it "works", how it's organised. At least in what I've read. Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can find it.

#47 "Somehow I don't mind the complexities of medieval history" Live would be so boring if everybody was the same... Anyway people think I'm crazy when I start to talk about missionaries in Indonesia...

#49 Ellis Peters is an author I have greatly enjoyed MrsLee, both in books and in the tv series. We were even allowed to read them for our finals, strangely enough.

#66, lol, very clever Groo! :-D

#71, GD, even if you told your students the truth they probably wouldn't get it. I laugh out loud so often reading Green Dragon posts and then try to explain to my husband - like the food fight?? Anyways, now I just say, I'm in the Dragon and he smiles politely and leaves me be.

#23 - Bluesalamanders, I am glad there is at least one other massive McKinley fan in here. Seriously.

The reason why I have her version of Black Beauty and the Stone Fey is that I am obsessed and recently bought them from eBay. Motivation: Three lines of electronic text from her to me. I am such a nyerd. Despite being in Morocco for the last week and a half, I managed to finish Rose Daughter, and then moved on and finished Beauty and Deerskin.

I'm gearin' up for the new one.

I think I am also going to go back and reread all my Steven Gould books. I just finished Helm. (Long plane ride.) Have you read any of his books?

I lost a post! *$&%#()!!

#73 - I tried to share the food fight with my husband, too. He didn't think it was anywhere near as funny as I thought. Maybe next time I'll throw food at him as a demonstration! Nope....no Roombas to clean it up for me.

I guess I should actually post something that pertains to this thread. I'm STILL reading Perdido Street Station. I really like that book, but I've had very little time to read this week. I'm also reading Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

>63 Phlox72: - Phlox - Have you seen the movie version of The Prestige? How did you think they compared?

I actually liked the movie better than the book, which is really rare for me (I did like the book a lot too)... although I saw the movie first so I "knew how the trick was done" when I read the book; I don't know if my perception would have been different if I'd experienced them the other way around.

#74 !!!!!!!!!!!! Morocco!!!!! Gah i am so jealous ;P I loooove other countries/cultures. Ive read some about Moroccos culture and it seems fascinating. Did you happen to visit one of the towns where they still hold a sort of daily-circus with story tellers, enchanters, vendors and what not?

I think i will be constantly broke once i get out of college because im goign to travel every chance i get, goin to France this summer hopefully :D

so I am now officially going to begin reading The lions of Al-Rassan. I am also looking for a good fantasy book with a really good love story...wierd for a guy, i know, but what can i say? I like romance stories. Anyone have any suggestions?

Tasozel - I think there is a thread here for that subject, maybe a Valentine's Day thread?

#77 - One of the things The Lions of AL-Rassan are is a love story, so if you're about to read that one you're already right on track :-)
If you love to travel and enjoy the book you might want to visit southern Spain; Andalucia /Al-Andalus/. The moorish culture was a fascinating one and in the south there are lots of interesting places (like Alhambra, in Granada) but also the general atmosphere is great once you skip the tourist-thronged and mainly english-speaking Costa del Sol.

For France I recommend A song for Arbonne... As the former a many layered story where you actually can smell the air and feel the landscape while reading.

Or was that just me for having been there already?

#73 Whereas my husband is at the opposite end of the extreme. We met in a chat room back in 1989 (on Commodore 64's no less) called the Red Dragon Inn! "Food fights" were a weekly occurrence.

We've been together since then. :)

>#77 Yes, most of the large cities in Morocco grew up organically around a central marketplace - a medina or souk. Marrakech has a very nice one that REALLY comes alive at night. It's called the Djemaa el Fna. Here's a pic.


and


There's more public pics on my flickr site - www.flickr.com/photos/kristy_truax. Unfortunately, there's almost 400 in the Morocco set.

If it bugs anyone I posted pics up, let me know, and I can take 'em down. It's not really on topic or anything.

74 dressagegrrrl
Yes, since I discovered I am missing quite a few of McKinley's books, I've decided I want to get the rest of them. I also need new copies of a few, since mine are old and rather...well-read. I didn't think to look on ebay, I was looking on a couple of used bookstore sites I like.

I don't think I've read Gould, though I have heard of him. What kind of books does he write?

>#82 Bluesalamanders

A lot of McKinley books are out of print and hard to get. Used bookstore sites will frequently know what they are selling and will charge accordingly. People selling on eBay are frequently clueless. So, you can sometimes get them el cheapo if you are watching carefully.

Gould writes very good books. I suppose technically they are more sci-fi (which is generally not my cup of tea.) However, unless something takes place in space and is a blatant space opera, I tend to differentiate between sci-fi and fantasy more on tone than content. Sci-fi comes off as harder edged to me. Fantasy is a bit softer.

My favorite of his books is called Helm and I've literally never lent it to someone who didn't rave about it after. It's about a young man named Leland who puts on a glass helm that has been in his family's trust for generations. It's actually an "imprinter" from a previous era that gives him an immense amount of knowledge from the pre-founder era. It's all about how he assimilates and uses this knowledge. I actually don't want to tell you any more because describing it makes it sound EXTREMELY sci-fi and I don't want to turn you off to it. We seem to like similar books, and I would definitely recommend this.

My husband liked his book Jumper, but I hesitate to recommend this one even though I also love it. It's about a boy who discovers he can teleport and uses it to escape an abusive father and to cope living in New York. The thing you have to remember with this book is that it was written pre-9/11. He uses his teleportation power to stop hijackers on airplanes and coming through the post-9/11 filter most Americans have it comes off as sensationalistic and emotionally manipulative. Once you realize that it is easy to relax a bit and just enjoy the ride.

I have to laugh at how this thread changes from post to post, books, food fights, meeting partners, Morocco, - it's great. I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't convey the delight of a virtual food fight GeorgiaDawn :-) You're right about the roombas.

It sounds like you had a wonderful time dressagegirl, is there another thread where you'll tell us all about it? 'Cause I'd really like to hear about your trip. The pics are great!

I like McKinley as well, I only have a couple of her books, but I've read lots more. That's a good idea about eBay, I'll have to check it out. I loved Deerskin, I think that's my favourite so far.

But sticking to the topic, I just finished Mockingbird which I really enjoyed and now am reading The Lions of Al-Rassan too, and also Daddy-Long-Legs. The latter is an old book of my mom's, and the movie was on tv yesterday, so I couldn't resist. It's short and sweet, another era.

Why is it Lions touchstone never works??

firefly and phlox, I read The Prestige first and really enjoyed it, although I thought the ending a bit odd. But it really spoiled the movie for me because the movie was SO different. My husband and daughter (who hadn't read the book) really enjoyed the movie, and I think I would have too without the comparison. All I kept thinking was "that's not like the book". But we're going to rent it and watch it again, maybe it'll be better on a second viewing.

I am reading a borrowed from my daughter book titled Trickster's Choice

dressagegrrrl - That looks like my kind of place, haha. Definately have to visit one day, great pics, thanks for sharing

#78 ... :( *goes to look for the valentines day thread*

Busifer - Spain is definately on my list ;D

Perhaps i will get a chance to see a bit of it, if i get bored with France, lol after all, even I cant drink wine all the time hehehe

#83 DressageGrrrl

There is a thread somewhere about authors that are under appreciated and I think now I am going to try and find it to mention Steven Gould. He has always been a favorite of mine and I have to confess that he is one of a handful of authors that I have written to. (But I guess that is another thread as well).

I just finished The Peshawar Lancers by S. M. Stirling which was enjoyable but not life changing. I'd recommend if you like alternative history and a swashbuckling main character. I'm about to read Empire by Orson Scott Card which I picked up used a couple days ago. Maybe after that I might go back and read Helm again. It's been a few years.

Re: The Prestige - I read the book back in October, then rented the movie a couple of weeks ago. I think I enjoyed the latter more. It was very different, but it felt like some things came together better in the movie than in the book. For example, I didn't really buy Borden's trick in the book, but it felt believable to me in the movie. Maybe it was a visual thing.

>#87 Melsar

I think I might have already mentioned him in that thread, ha ha. I think most people who read Steven Gould's works appreciate them. It's just he's so infernally slow to get new books out!

Did you hear that he got tapped to make Jumper into a movie? Only he ended up writing a whole new book called Jumper: Griffin's Story that the movie will be based on. It features this "Griffin" character instead of Davy Rice (who I quite adored).

I am not sure how I feel about this turn of events, but am glad for Gould's good fortunes.

Also, I wrote to Gould and he never wrote back. I did mention that in the "Writing to an Author" thread. But I really didn't mind so much. I appreciate his work too much to let that get in the way of my lurv of him.

#87 "It's just he's so infernally slow to get new books out!"

Isn't that the truth.

I must have written him before he got busy because I actually got a response. My question was asking him when his next book was going to be out and this was right before Greenwar came out.

I hadn't heard that a movie was pending so that is something to look forward to. I wonder if the rewrite was tio deal with some of the post 9/11 stuff you were talking about.

I'm still trudging through some academic reading. Ok, as a literature teacher, I should not refer to reading A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court and The Scarlet Letter as "trudging", but that's what it feels like. I am reading Of Mice and Men because my son is reading it for school. For pleasure and total escapism, I'm reading Sweetwater Creek.

#65 - This far I'm not hooked. Normally I would have finished it (The leper of Saint Giles) by now but I'm not drawn into the plot.

It could be that I have neglected a few of my duties lately and have spent some time on catching up/meaning less time to read. But I should really have managed to read more of it anyway. I'll give it another chance, trudge on a while yet, before I decide how to procede...

I'm reading a translation /swedish/ and I wonder if the language is as elaborately oldish in the original as in my version? I have no problem with language like that (my favourite version of The mysterious island is a original 1845 handset copy my father owns) but it feels so construed in a modern work...

#92 - Hmmm, it's been awhile since I've read them, but I don't remember much antiquated language. I wonder if it would have been more captivating to start with an earlier book in the series, such as A Rare Benedictine or A Morbid Taste for Bones.
It could very well be that it's not your thing. A very big part of the attraction for me was the illustration of the different kinds of faith people have, meaning some who look at it as a business, and some as a heart way of life. Some go by the letter of the law, others try to follow the intent of the law. Possibly, knowing your worldview, these would get in the way of the story for you? I also love the friendship between the sheriff (Hugh) and Cadfael, I'm a terrible judge of mysteries, because I don't read them to solve the puzzle. :)

*I really liked The Mysterious Island too.*

I finished wading through Mansfield Park a bit earlier this evening; now I'm looking forward to starting To Light A Candle by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory as some much-needed escapism. It's not that I exactly mind books that take me forever to read, (as Mansfield Park did), but in general I'd rather go for things I can read at a decent speed. I feel like I'm stagnating if I take too long with the same book, especially if it's relatively short.

#93 - Quite possibly you're right, I should have started with one of the earlier books and normally I'm quite obsessive about reading series in the right order. But as it happened my husband owns this book and that made the choice easy to make :-)
I do not think the different ways people handles their beliefs etc. stands in the way of the story, though. In this particular case it feels rather muc more like a language thing. As I'm bad at old style english I'm unable to write anything that describes what I mean, but think 17th century texts and you know what I'm at.

As I accidenlt ypu t on the old and much longer thread I'm now on The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey The first of her work I've read - I probaly should have started with Arrows of the Queen but the shop didn't have it and this is the chronological first. I wasn't quite taken with it at first as there are a lot of strange names/characters to grasp but I'm thoroughly enjoying it now, and looking forward to reading more of her work.

Yesterday I finished the very funny and informative Spook, so this morning I started The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by one of my personal gods Bill Bryson, and I've already been laughing out loud. :o)

Just finished "Hippolyte's Island," by Barbara Hodgson. Picked it up at library, knowing nothing about it or the author. It is beautifully illustrated, and I enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as reading the (rather complicated) tale. Has anyone else read it? (Published in 2001 but on the new book shelf at our library!) Esta 1923

I've seen Hippolyte's Island at the bookstore Esta and wondered if it was good. The pictures are lovely aren't they? I think it's one I should add to my TBR pile.

I'm still reading Lions of Al-Rassan and also just started Jane Austen, the world of her novels. I'm enjoying both tremendously.

I read Hippolyte's Island a few years ago. I loved it. The illustrations are exquisite and I really enjoyed the story. I wanted more. I picked up another of her books - Barbara Hodgson - but wasn't as excited about it. Maybe will give another one a try.

I've started Wicked, it intrigued me, and I like to mortify my teenage boys with my "wicked witch of the west" laugh.

#101 MrsLee - let us know how you like Wicked! It's one of my top three favourite books, though it certainly isn't for everyone.

I've just started Primavera by Francesca Lia Block. I don't expect it to take me long; her books are always whip-through-'em-like-wildfire kinds of things.

#65 - I've now finished the book (The Leper from Saint Giles) and as it happens I ended up liking it. A nice mystery, rather straightforward and... well, manageable; no postmodernism, no parallell plots and storylines. Good for reading when commuting, when reading in snippets is necessary :-)

I'm now onto Paladin which I know very little about beforehand. So far it's a conventional wonderful work of fanatasy by C J Cherryh however she seldom writes anything conventional so I'll see where it goes.

Hello all. I'm new here and this is actually my first post. I figured starting with what I'm currently reading would be a good place to introduce myself.

Recently Finished:
The Stand: Complete Uncut edition by Stephen King

Currently Reading:
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Long Walk by Stephen King (written as Richard Bachman)

Anyway, I'm looking forward to browsing through the posts here and seeing what all you folks are interested in.

Take Care,
Stefan

#105 - Stefan - I loved The Stand and The Long Walk! I hope you enjoy them.

#106 I did really enjoy The Stand. This was actually my second time through (I'm re-reading all of King's works in chronological order) and I think that I enjoyed it even more this time. I read it over the last few months, it's been flu season around here, and that helped to keep the freak out factor even higher. Every time someone (especially yourself) coughs or sneezes, Captain Tripps pops into your mind!!

#101 & 102 Wicked is high on my list of favorite novels. Most everything else by Gregory Macguire has been a disappointment though.

Some day ago I begun reading The Myth of Evil. As it was to big to lug around I also, uncharacteristically, started a second book - Foreigner, a choice inspired by reading_fox's praise for the series.
This far I enjoy both books!

I'm having a blast with the Thieves & Kings series by Mark Oakley. I'm currently on volume 4, (of five that've been published thus far), and am looking forward to really digging into the last two books over the weekend.

I'm also rereading Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, out of nostalgia. I read and loved these books in junior high, more than ten years ago, so I've been working my way through the series again. I reread Dragonlance Chronicles earlier this year and wasn't too blown away, but I remember enjoying the second trilogy more. It's too early to tell whether I'll react better to these books after such a long break, and I've got a feeling I won't be reading it much over the weekend. Thieves & Kings is my reading priority right now.

i have started Elantris and I have a couple of others that I'll be starting soon ut can't recall them right now.

I've started Midnighters The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld.

I'm reading A Rose for the Crown by Anne Easter Smith and really liking it so far. I love medieval historical fiction.

I'be been in a reading slump recently but managed to push through and finish both my audiobook (Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - charming but I thought the pacing was off) and my book (The Crown of Silence by Storm Constantine - bleh, just couldn't hold my interest.)

Now I'm listening to Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire - fairy tales with animals as the main characters, so far, very cute with plenty of jokes/references for the grownups. I plan on picking up The Eyre Affair later today; it needs a re-read now that I've actually read Jane Eyre, and so I can move on to the sequels. Should be especially nice if I can find a way to jury-rig my new hammock up on my porch.

I'd been meaning to start Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay but a couple of books came in at the library that I'd requested and won't be able to renew. I'm almost done What Came Before he Shot Her by Elizabeth George which I'm enjoying, but I started and won't be finishing An Innocent Man by John Grisham. I usually like Grisham but this one I just don't care for the writing style and can't get into the book.

What do you think of What Came before He Shot Her?

Yes, I'd like to hear about it too sandragon. I like the Inspector Lynley series so much, but I think I've missed a couple so probably need to get caught up. I keep looking at the book longingly at the store, but have tried to be good (so far...) :-)

What Came Before He Shot Her is not a typical Elizabeth George mystery. Events in this book are happening at the same time as those in With no one as Witness which was the previous book and you have to read that one first or this one will spoil it for you, even though the only time they connect is at the end and have nothing else to do with each other. So far anyways. I've 100 pages to go and they are still separate books. But this book explains the events leading up to a certain event at the end of the last book. And so far Lynley et al haven't shown up at all.

Is is me or was that all very convoluted? I am enjoying it though, even if it's not a mystery, because George has as usual written well, and thoroughly, about her characters, and there is an edge of tension because I know what's going to happen, but when is she going to hit me with it!?!

katylit, I'd recommend catching up on those you've missed because things are happening to the main characters and it matters if you've missed one. The library is my friend, all the mystery books I read are from the library, but that still doesn't help my TBR pile :op~

Lucky you, try to get them here... The only way I can follow them is on the telly. But I mustn't whine I have my Christie collection still :) And I have time to up-date my LT-catalog.

ds,
I tried watching the Lynley mysteries on TV, but the TV characters clashed to much with my mental picture of them. I only watched 2 or 3, then had to stop.

Who else do you like besides Christie, mystery-wise?

I only started reading mysteries about 3 years ago. Through my library I've made my way through the Mrs Pollifax books, the Inspector Lynley books, and all of Laurie R. King's books. I was reading Martha Grime's Richard Jury books but felt they lost steam and haven't been able to get past/finish The Horse You Came in On. I haven't tried too many of the Golden oldies yet. I've just started trying Ian Rankin's Rebus novels.

Christie, Marsh, Sayers, Wilkie, Arthur Conan Doyle etc., etc., etc.
If it's Golden Age I like it, mostly anyway.

I'm finally reading The Brothers K by David James Duncan - one of my favorite authors. I'm only 50 pages into it but already in love with it. Just in time for baseball season!

Have you tried P.D. James sandragon? I find she writes very well, I really like Inspector Dalgliesh and the Inspector Morse series is good too by Colin Dexter.

Golden Age always tips the balance for me, Sayers and Christie especially. I liked Mrs. Pollifax - she's just plain fun.

And thanks for the advice, I'm close to finishing Lions of Al-Rassan (gosh it's taking me a long time to finish - I keep getting distracted), and then reading Elantris for the group read. But I love reading mysteries in the summer, so I think I'll hit the library after Elantris and see what I can find :)

For mysteries, don't forget Rex Stout and Ellis Peters, G.K. Chesterton

>123 katylit:,
I tried a P.D. James ages ago, but I can't remember which one or what happened. This was before I really gave mysteries a chance. Someday I'll give her another go starting with the first Dalgliesh book. And I never knew Inspector Morse was from a series. I thought it was only a TV show!

I've dabbled with most of the above mystery authors but none of the Golden Age or Noir ones really caught on with me. And I tried A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters but I wasn't in the mood for the Medieval setting. I do have a collection of Sherlock Holmes that I plan to read, again someday.

"I thought it was only a TV show! "

There are a (very) few instances of a TV show that came first, but the vast majority are based off an original book or books. Anytime you enjoy a TV show, have a look for the books, they are often better - more detailed, longer and with more consistant internal logic.

I'm re-reading No. 1 Ladies detective agency as a run-up to the latest Blue Shoes and Happiness which I bought recently. I recoomend them to anyone who hasn't tried them, a gentle and charming crime series set in Botswana. Full of the joy of life and love of Africa.

#126- I listened to the first one CD, reading_fox. I loved it! I was shocked and maybe a tad disappointed to find out they were written by an Englishman. I still plan on reading (or listening to) the rest of them. :o)

#127 Taken from his Wiki page "Born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Alexander McCall Smith was educated in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe before moving to Scotland to study law. After returning to southern Africa to teach law at the University of Botswana, he returned once more to Edinburgh, where he lives today."

At no stage has he been an Englishman! ;-) He's British, or Scottish, depending on how patriotic he's feeling, maybe even Rhodisian. I guess he wouldn't associate to Zimbabwe.

They are presumably based on his experiances in Africa, though I guess the world has changed quite a bit since then.

*hushes..., look around, hopes no one sees or hears*
(I think he's Scottish, or at least went there when he left east Africa; big difference for those living on the isles...)

Ops! Too late!
;-)

Well at least you tried.

:-)

Ooops, yes I meant a British-man.

Really, the point I was trying (and, obviously, failing miserably) to make is that he's not black and he's not female. He does get points for having been born and lived for a long time in Africa, though. ;o)

I did get your point, and you are quite right. I was just being besserwissery*

He does capture the spirit very well. over Here Thalia's sister is going to Botswana shortly and Thalia's offered to let us know how well it does compare to modern Botswana.

* yes ok, how is it really spelt?

That will be very interesting to hear how McCall's books compare to modern Botswana.

I love The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, they're great. I got my sister hooked on them too and she was so excited when McCall visited her local bookstore and she got to meet him and he signed books for her.

I listen to them on audio (I love Lisette Lecat's voice, it's so melodical), I'm listening to Blue Shoes and Happiness these days, and I've read the books too.

I like the Sunday Philosophy Club series too, they take place in Scotland.

#134 - ;-) As the word "besserwissery" don't exist in the original german I'd say anything goes, hehe!

#134, it's a lovely word. What was the intent? "Contrary?"

(Joins in the Committee to promote Besserwissery and its Elevation to the OED)

#137 - I think it was a sort of "know-it-all" but really they don't. That sort of thing.

Alexander McCall Smith - I too was shocked, and felt a bit violated that a man could write a woman so well. However, I looked it up somewhere (it's been awhile ago) and saw that the books are adored and best sellers in Botswana, so I thought that validated him a bit. They are wonderful books, no matter what.

I thought of Dorothy Sayers and Jan Karon, two women who write men very well, IMO. I don't know how men feel about that.

#137 - It means "someone who (thinks she or he) knows better (than...)".
The origin is german, and it's "besserwisser" in that form.
In Sweden we use it in a derogative way, but also as selfironical.

Edited to add: It's a person who always corrects other people on every small (or big) detail...

So it's a grander form of nitpicking, huh, Busifer? Hmm. Regrettably, I qualify. ;)

We use Besserwisser a lot (as we speak German here), also like Busifer either in a derogative way or to make fun of someone. It's a very convenient word and I don't think there's a word in English that comes close.

>140 Linkmeister:: A lot of people qualify for that word :-)

I am reading Juliet Marillier's Daughter of the Forest and I LOOOOOOOVE it. I am just about done and it is an absolutely gorgeous book.

It does sound like a very good book dressagegrrrl, the sister & brothers swan fairy tale has always been one of my favourites. I think this is another to add to the wishlist/tbr pile :)

I've gone on a kids bing for the moment. I am reading Larklight by Philip Reeve. Its very good and very british!

which is fun for me because I'm american :P

I just finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and it was pretty good. I stayed away from it for a long time because the whole premise just reminded me of YM or other teenybopper beauty rags, but I am glad that I picked it up. I am going to recommend it to my niece, Jack.

**Edit - I am also reading Elantris, of course. I know some people are still waiting on their books. When should we start the discussion? Maybe the third week in April or the start of May? Is that too far away?

I'm working my way through Wolfsong, an anthology of short stories set in the Elfquest universe. I'm sorry to say that I'm not really enjoying it. I love the comics and consider them one of my best book finds of 2006, but I've found that I'm not terribly interested in the world at large. I'm mainly concerned with the core group of characters, none of whom feature in this anthology or the others in the series.

I'm thinking we should resurrect this thread, since Part 1 is over 300 posts long!

I finished off Heaney's translation of Beowulf this morning. Not too shabby, I must say. I'd like to get my hands on a few other versions, though. Isn't there a Tolkien translation out there somewhere?

I just started In an Instant and so far it's interesting enough to keep me reading.

Rats! It's not a translation at all, but a book of criticism titled Beowulf and the Critics. Actually, this looks pretty good, too. One of the Amazon reviews says:

In his preface Drout mentions the likelihood that there are two natural audiences for this book: Those who read it because the name "Tolkien" is on the cover; and those who read it because "Beowulf" on the cover. And Drout writes that "the most valued audience of all is those who read the book because it says both 'Tolkien' and 'Beowulf' on the cover"

#11 (waaaaaaaay up there!)

I loved, loved, loved Perdido Street Station! I just finished The Scar last night. Time to get Iron Council. Yay!

clamairy - I am one of those who would read it for both reasons, but when I looked it up to buy it was phenomenally expensive.

I'm still trying to finish What Love Sees. It's still readable and interesting, but the author tends to switch tenses which is annoying.

#150 - Yeah, it's ridiculous! }:o|

I'd be looking for a used copy of that, I think. Or maybe I will try to get it through inter-library loan. (Since I'd bet my eye-teeth that my library is too small to own a copy of that.)

#149 - I read Perdido Street Station a couple of weeks ago and was very disappointed. I was really expecting to like it, but I just couldn't stomach it. There are two things that either make or break books for me: characters and setting. I actively disliked the main characters in the beginning, and eventually my dislike faded to a mild disinterest. New Crobuzon, on the other hand, just put me off completely. I fully respect how well-developed Mieville's world is, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I ended up abandoning the book a little less than halfway through because I didn't want to spend any more time with people I didn't care about in a setting I disliked.

Sigh. I might try some of Mieville's other work one of these days, but he's not exactly high on my list after this disappointment.

But back to the topic at hand...

I've just started Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. I can't wait to dig in!

I am reading a number of primary source document books for my two history classes this semester...and staring longingly at all the lovely novels in my TBR piles just begging to be picked up, including Children of Hurin, which I have promised myself I can read as a reward when classes are over.

I'm currently rereading the Lensman-series minus Gray Lensman which I still haven't found. This to celebrate the finding of Children of the Lens. Next to that I'm reading some material on assertiveness and on the history of the Black Legend.

I finished Bit the Jackpot by Erin McCarthy before breakfast. Just the bit of fluff I needed before jumping back into Octavia Butler's Patternist series. I'm not sure what I'll read after that.

#65 (Busifer) I have seen most of the BBC series in which Cadfael is portrayed by Sir Derek Jacobi I believe there are 13 of them & love them! Jacobi is superb as Br. Cadfael! I have also read a couple of the novels. Medieval times are one of my favorite eras to read about & think about but I sure wouldn't want to live there!

#156 - That series has to my knowledge never aired in Sweden! I guess Sir Derek is excellent as Cadfael :-)
...and a lot of books that I read takes place in cultures that while I find them intriguing or exciting I never could manage to live in. Even if misogynism isn't erased it has been far much worse than it is today... at least here in Scandinavia.

Soo... I should read any of three other books BUT yesterday a packet carrying Lord of emperors and Invader arrived and I HAD to start with the previous right away!
When that one is finished I WILL read the ones put on hold before picking up Invader... I promise ;-)

Mistborn was fantastic. If any of you are wavering on picking it up, waver no longer. It took me a little longer to really get into it, but once I was hooked I was hooked. I can't wait for the sequel!

Now I'm reading Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay. Fantastic stuff so far, as I expected.

#159 - ...adding Mistborn to my list. As you'd expect I agree with you on Lord of emperors - fantastic, so far!

Finished Patternmaster. Pretty good series, really thought provoking. I'll have to find other books by Octavia Butler.

I'm now re-reading the Harry Potter series. I want to get back up to date before the new book comes out. After that, I'll probably read Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime series.

>#159 I was the same way Xicanti. I absolutely loved that book, but it didn't hook me in until halfway through. Once it had me though, I was TOTALLY zoned into it and nothing else mattered.

It was a great book. Can't replace Elantris in my heart though.

I'm tag teaming Ship of Magic with Barchester Towers. I have decided to re-read all the Barset novels this summer, and I just couldn't wait. BT is one of my favourite novels, ever. Love me some Trollope.

I'm reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to let my brain rest during essays. I'm also trying to figure out why Harry Potter is so appealing to so many people, because it really isn't written that well. I still love it. *sighs*

I'm also reading various short stories by George R.R. Martin in his massive collection Dreamsongs. I love his work and it's fascinating to not only read the stories he wrote when he was a teenager and young man, but to read his thoughts on them and how he felt at the time. I'm so glad I bought this one.

I'm going to reread all the HP books, probably starting June 1, in anticipation of the last one. It's been a long time since I read some of them!

I just finished The Ivy Tree. Don't bother. (Simply said!)

I checked out Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett the other day. I believe it's one of his YA books. I've only read a little bit, but it's grabbed me already. Next week, I'll start The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman with one of my classes. I've never read it before.

>#165 You didn't like The Ivy Tree? The one by Mary Stewart?? Oh, I LOVED that book. Maybe it's because I read it when I was much younger, but it was one of my favorites. It's such a gothic romance!

#164 Is there a list of contents anywhere for Dreamsongs? How does it compare to Sandkings? - the contents are commented in my library if you don't know it.

Busifer You know you really want to read Invader next . It has got more of Illsidi in it! It is IMHO the best of all the Foreigner series.

I'm not actually reading any book I'm catching up on my periodicals whilst waiting for the review group to pick my next re-read.

#165 - I'm doing the same I think with Harry Potter, but not sure if I want to read the first three again since I've read them so many times. I haven't read 5 or 6 again since they came out, so I really should. Not for lack of liking them, but because I went to college and started to have much less time and a surplus of books.

#167 - Dreamsongs has 34 stories in it, including those you listed in your catalog for Sandkings. I bought it on a whim, so I'm not sure where you'd find a list of contents. I could type up mine for you if you liked, it's not too long. Just let me know!

#167 - It could have been a draw between Lord of emperors & Invader but The Sarantine Mosaic is more of one book divided in two volumes than anything else so it felt more "right" to finish that one first. I intend to read Invader very soon now, so I don't think there's much of a difference, anyway, hehe.
The work related nonfiction could always wait :-)
/hush, don't tell my boss!/

Edited to add: reading_fox, I'm very glad you haussed the Foreigner-books, I probably would never had tried them else!

YAY! My son had to read a book for school, and he liked it so much he asked me to read it too! It's a YA book called Number the Stars and I enjoyed it quite a bit. :o) Mostly I'm just so thrilled that my NON-READING child read something he liked that wasn't a Captain Underpants or a Time Warp Trio book. :o)

#160 - I finished it just now, and WOW! Such a remarkable book. I gave it five stars, and it's been months since I did that with a piece of fiction.

I can't quite decide what to read next. Sigh. I have a feeling that whatever I choose is going to let me down.

#172 - Yes, I know THAT feeling! After reading The Lions of Al-Rassan I felt like whatever I read would be a huge disappointment. It didn't get better when taht was how it turned out - I didn't even manage to finish Anansi Boys and that's VERY unusual for me...

#171 - Congratulations!!! That must feel very good indeed :-) Hopefully he will move on to other books as well!

#173 - I am hopeful. He insisted we sit together and talk about it last night!!!!

I'm still in shock, and VERY happy.

:o)

#171/174 - Happy for you, clam, and for the boy too. Nether of my daughters were readers, until the met the Harry Potter books. We became aware of them shortly after #3 came out and it was encouraging to see them avidly reading something. Even if I didn't like the HP books (but I do), I would be very appreciative that the sparked a difference in my girls. Hope it's a sustained interest for your son.

To respnd to the topic: I am reading Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton; The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg (re-reading); some stuff on 2nd Temple Judaism (the jewish matrix or context from which Jesus/Christianity arose), and some programming/technical stuff.

While on vacation recently I read Children of Hurin, Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #1), and Split Second by David Baldacci

Thanks, cad! I just hope this wasn't a one-time thing!
:o)
Have your girls moved beyond Harry?

clam: both daughters have also moved to other books, especially the younger one, when college studies aren't in the way. They don't devour books like I do.

I think JK Rowling deserves a lot of credit for getting kids to read again. I was almost disappointed when they made them into movies (though I love them!).

I know that feeling clamairy, feeling joy for you tonight!

I've finished Guards! Guards! and The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen by Lloyd Alexander, think I'll read Blue Shoes and Happiness now. Still poking through Francis Schaeffer and David Livingstone's journal. Along with my herb encyclopedia.

I weeded out my groups, so now you guys get to bear the brunt of my What are you Reading now stuff.

#165 - Oooooh, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was a great book! I should reread that!!!

Good morning, groo hunny!
*hugs*
:o)

Happy Clam's Day, Mother!

Oh, wait...

Happy Mother's Clam, Day!

Nope, nope...

Day's Clam Happy, Mother?

Ahhh!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Clam!

Bwaa haa haa!!!
:o)
Many thanks, groo.

...almost finished reading Invader, and I can tell I'd rather be home than at the office right now! With only some 60 pages left it feels unjust to have to focus on such mundane things as... interviewing prospective co-workers ;-)

*Note to myself - I have to order Inheritor right away!*

Okay, Busifer. I'm adding it to my B&N wishlist, because otherwise I'll forget and then I'll never be able to remember which thread you posted this is.
;o)
My brain is MUSH, I tell you!

#187 - You have to, or ought to, start with Foreigner : a novel which is the first installment in the series and which while slow at the start really sets the stage for Invader.
reading_fox, who I think has read the lot, says Invader possibly is the best but I'm not sure how well it stands on its own...

Okeedokey. I'll amend that list, then.
Many thanks, Busifer!

Well I still haven't read Deliverer it hasn't arrived in the UK yet, let alone in paperback.

The series order can be found in my catalog search for the tag /bre0* . There are condensed plot summaries (no endings, but the start of the next book reveals deatils from the last) in my reviews - so if you haven't read any of the series you might want to use a catalog view without reviews. I don't think they contain spoilers, but I've come to realise some LTers are more sensitive than I to these descriptions.

Even after 9 books the quality is still amazingly high. Apparently another three have been ordered by the publisher. I'm certain they will be as excellant.

I don't think they would work as well as standalone books though.

C J Cherryh is my all time favourite author (at the moment anyway) and this is some of her best writing.

Oh I'm reading Legends: Discworld, Pern, Song of Ice and Fire, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, Wheel of Time Better than I remembered.

I'm a little more than 100 pages into House of Dreams by Pauline Gedge. I wasn't sure that I really wanted to read it just now, but so far I'm loving it. I'd previously only read Gedge's very early work, and it seems like her pacing/readability has really improved. While I enjoyed both Child of the Morning and The Eagle and the Raven, I found that I could not read either of them quickly. In contrast, House of Dreams is just flying by. Maybe she's an author who's more effective in first person than third.

I'm rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, in preparation for Towel Day on Friday!

Here's a taste:

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

And so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.

And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, one girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place.

This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.

Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it, a terribly stupid catastrophe occurred, and the idea was lost forever.

This is not her story.

But it is the story of that terrible stupid catastrophe and some of its consequences.

It is also the story of a book, a book called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - not an Earth book, never published on Earth, and until the terrible catastrophe occurred, never seen or heard of by any Earthman. Nevertheless, a wholly remarkable book.

In fact it was probably the most remarkable book ever to come out of the great publishing houses of Ursa Minor - of which no Earthman had ever heard either. Not only is it a wholly remarkable book, it is also a highly successful one - more popular than the Celestial Home Care Omnibus, better selling than Fifty More Things to do in Zero Gravity, and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes and Who is this God Person Anyway?

In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

But the story of this terrible, stupid Thursday, the story of its extraordinary consequences, and the story of how these consequences are inextricably intertwined with this remarkable book begins very simply.

It begins with a house.

That's wonderful Groo - I gotta read Hitchhiker's again, it's just been too long.

xicanti - I love Pauline Gedge. I heard her do a reading years ago in Edmonton and she said she always felt The Eagle and the Raven (wrong touchstone!) was her worst book, she was embarrassed that it was still being published! But her Egyptian books are wonderful. I like Stargate too, it's a good fantasy, came out long before the movie of the same name.

I finally finished Life of Pi. Loved it.

Next in my fiction books will be Men at Arms Discworld. My daughter keeps bugging me to read all the Pratchetts we have so she can talk to me about them, but I want to read them slowly so I fully appreciate every one.

I just got The Dangerous Book for Boys in the mail. It's delightful! There is a list of books that all boys should read. I'm at school and don't have the book with me, but it does include books mentioned here, like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Life of Pi, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Discworld books. There are many other great books listed, many of them well-loved by the Green Dragon crowd.

katylit - Even though I enjoyed The Eagle and the Raven, I can see why she'd say that. It's more of a survey of the Celtic/Roman conflict than a tight plot. My only real complaint with it, (aside from my inability to read it quickly), was that it was marketed as a story about Boudicca, and it really wasn't. I kept waiting and waiting for her to take a larger role, and she didn't do so until the very end of the book.

Currently, I'm working my way through His Majesty's Dragon. I'm enjoying it very much, but I'm finding it to be a quiet book. I like it, but it's not blowing me out of the water. I've also begun Notes From the Underground by Dostoevsky as my e-book; it's considerably less enjoyable.

ETA: now that I'm a bit further into His Majesty's Dragon, I find that I have to withdraw my earlier opinion. It certainly wasn't love at first sight, but this book has really grown on me. I've come to love it, albeit still not in an intense, must-read-as-quickly-as-possible way.

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

Neruda's Memiors (i never want to finish this. finishing it will be like admitting his death . . .)

Ondaatje's Handwriting (poems)

I loved Aunt Julia & the Scriptwriter. You know it's basically autobiography, right?

As I sat in the auto glass shop waiting for the bad news about my suddenly-non-working car window I was reading the last 40 pages of Fifty Degrees Below, the middle book in the climate change/political machinations trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.

I'm presently reading Inheritor, which I find a bit slower than the two books that precede it - lots of "reasoning" and "telling" - not a lot of "happening"... it may change, of course, as I'm only about half way through ;-)

Still, an interesting series. I think some of my interest in it derives from the language/culture issue - there doesn't have to be different planets to be differencies in that special department! I only have to think about how often scandinavians think we are just like the british, but if you look beyond the appreciation for roughly the same kind of humor + beers the cultural differencies are HUGE; the same go for norway, where we swedish people think we are the same but in reality there are more than a mountain range that separates us...

The beginning of Inheritor is a bit odd. I don't know if she was just padding out the back half of the book, or had had a long break between books? or something? It does get going again!

I've just finished Longshot:risk a Dick Francis double bill and am now onto my assigned reading - Lord of the Flies which is a change in pace and genre!

Just finished The Saint Goes West. Was a bit down so got myself some feelgood stuff that didn't need a lot of attention. Now I'm reading Have his Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers and the first instalment of the Gap-series of which I can't remember the title at the moment.
Also I'm reading Viglius van Aytta: de jaren met Granvelle 1549-1564 (the touchstone for that one gave the Dutch translation of LotR: Return of the King: I wish it was) and sundry other books. As well as some pamphlets from the era. In gothic script. Some of them hand written. Copied from microfilm.
*lays down head and weeps*

Just finished Lady Friday by Garth Nix. What a great author! I loved the Sabriel series and I've really enjoyed the fast-paced Keys of (to?) the Kingdom books. (I'm a teacher so I'm often looking for good YA to suggest to my students)

Haven't decided what to read next yet...need to stop at the library before I head home today... :)

I just finished reading The Innocent by Posie Graeme-Evans and hated it. Stay far away, there was nothing good about it.

I'm now going to start reading The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland; it's the first of a trilogy that has received rave reviews everywhere I've looked and I'm sincerely hoping for a treat.

I really enjoyed the Josephine trilogy littlebookworm, very well written. That was one series that I bought the first two in paperback and then couldn't wait for the third one to come out in pb so bought the hardcover. I believe that Sandra Gulland is a LT author too which is fun.

I finished off Cover Her Face by P.D. James a couple of days ago, and dove right into her book Unnatural Causes. Very enjoyable books.

:o)

I'm barelling through Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Despite how much I was looking forward to it, I'm rather surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. It kind of snuck up on me.

I'm currently halfway through Explorer, which is book 6 of 9 in the Foreigner series... those books have an obsessive quality - I just WANT to know what's going to happen next, page after page after page... Usually I don't read three 400+ page books in a week, but I'm closing in on it.
It's kind of sick. Or mad. Or whatever ;-)

#206 Whoah, clamairy, I just started reading Cover Her Face tonight! I'm glad to hear you liked it, though I usually do enjoy P.D. James.

I'm reading DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore by Alan Moore, in order to prepare myself for writing my latest book which will be illustrated about Supervillains. Since this book has some of the most influential takes on Supervillains in comics history, I decided it was a good thing to have, and I got it, not being disappointed.

Also I am reading H.P. Lovecraft, not because I agree with his views on the world's non-white poulation, but because I am also working on a subplot involving him in the said book I'm working on.

Reading material you read to research for one's writing is a great way to find material you wouldn't normally read, and if you like what you can find on the matter, it is often likeable enough that you find yourself recommending books to friends that are not written by you for once.

Writers can read differently, however the motives for reading as a writer effects how they read, for fun or just to find out interesting facts about people in creative history.

What I don't recommend however is reading too many books at once, as this does not allow the power of one piece of writing to sink in as well as it should.

Sorry, I'll fix the touchstones. I'm new to them.

#205 - katylit, I am agreeing with you so far, having read the first two books of the trilogy. I bought the whole series in one box because it was cheaper, and now I'm thrilled because it means I have them to read as soon as possible. I'm loving the trilogy and wishing Sandra Gulland had published more already!

I'm now reading Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb in between. I only started it late yesterday, so I don't know how much I like it yet.

I'm almost done with Ship of Magic. It was slow at first, but the second half is great! I'll probably read everything Hobb has written.

I'm going back to my Trollope project after this. Doctor Thorne, here I come!

hey hey lil geek, sorry i fogot to come back here.

I didn't know Aunt Julia & the Scriptwriter was autobiographical, no. that will certainly put an interesting twist on my finishing it. funny thing, i got nudged towards llosa by a gal from this site, and thought i'd read another ...

life's been crazy these past few weeks, but i hope to get back to Aunt Julia by next week.

Still reading H.P. Lovecraft and Alan Moore, I have The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, which has his most famous story, The Call of Cthulhu, and some other gems as well, like the Explanatory notes for each story by S.T. Joshi. DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore is still very good. The best stories in there are the Superman and Batman ones, however the Green Arrow one is OK I guess. I finally got all my touchstones to work, YAY!

I finished Cover Her Face, thought it was a respectable mystery, but not one which I would read again. I'm beginning Fer de Lance, which I've read before, but now I'm reading it with the Black Orchid group, so that's fun.

I've just started Cyteen C j CHerryh hugo award winning novel. I've been meaning to read it for ages, and finally found a copy in borders at buy 1 get one 1/2 price. Shame that Cyteen wasn't the discounted one, but you can't have everything.

Cyteen is set in her Alliance/Union universe, and only a few pages in the politics are already very dense.

When I've finished that the review group have chosen some Thomas Hardy for me to read. Quite a change of pace!

I am currently reading "The End of Harry Potter?"

I'm currently working on four books; Monster Island by David Wellington, Woken Furies by Richard Morgan, Coyote Dreams by C.E. Murphy and A Cruel Wind by Glen Cook.

#215

have you played the game Call of Cthulhu ? Its a great laugh!

I'm ones more reading Belgarath the Sorcerer by David and Leigh Eddings. Also I'm reading The Golden Ball and other stories by Agatha Christie. Just finished is Set In Darkness by Ian Rankin.

I've just finished "The Diamond of Drury Lane" by Julia Golding

Great read :)

Well, I finished off two P.D. James books last week. I enjoyed Cover Her Face more than the second one, which was Unnatural Cases.

Right now I'm crying my way through Al Gore's latest book The Assault on Reason which debuted at numero uno on The New York Times bestseller list. I guess that answers the 'do you buy bestsellers?' question!

I just finished The Carpet Makers, the first book that I read because of seeing it described on LT. I was intrigued by some of it, enjoyed linking the little sections together, but the ending left me cold. I wrote a brief review here: http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=Jim53

Have just started Lamb, also because of many mentions here. It's off to a very promising start.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. I'm so, so glad that LT inspired me to give her books another go; I could seriously just read this one straight through, if I didn't have to go to work. *grumble grumble*

#220

I want to find it, but I don't know if my local Geek store has it. By "Geek Store" I mean the greatest respect, I find Geekness as a mark of pride. I've heard CoC is quite difficult to play because your characters often go insane, like in this lightbulb joke:

Question: How many investigators does it take to change a lightbulb in Call of Cthulhu?

Answer: One to begin the task, and several others that went mad fending off the horrors that were preventing it being done.

LOL.

Well, not having any other entertainment going on today, I finished two books which I was well into Fer de Lance and Unwritten history: Life Amongst the Modocs, which turned out to be very good and very sad at the same time.

Next up: His Majesty's Dragon

Well I finished Cyteen, just about finished Mayor of castorbridge and am moving onto Stamping butterflies

Cyteen was just awesome, completely blew me away. Yes it is long, and dense. It is also fascinating, gripping and enthralling. I know I often rave about C j Cherryh's works, but this was just amazing. I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this, ever, including Lord of the Rings: , Terry Pratchett or any classic.

Having no other entertainment going on yesterday, I finished The Historian, which I liked very much, and started reading The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III by Ian Mortimer. I love medieval history, and Mortimer is so far very adept at handling evidence and refuting or supporting other historians' arguments. For my fiction read, I've started Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon, but I'm somewhat hesitant about reading it because Medalon didn't really live up to my standards. I'll see if it's any better before I abandon it though.

I just finished Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, a very intense, beautifully written WW1 story - amazing read.

And now I'm reading The Dark is Rising series which just arrived from Amazon. Delightful, I can't believe I've missed these books all these years *shakes head in wonderment*.

I love reading everybody's likes and dislikes, always brings a grin to my face when I see someone else likes a favourite book of mine too :-D

I'm reading The Lions of Al-Rassan and listening to Framley Parsonage. I believe you may have all group-read the Kay at some time before I joined. The first few chapters amused me because a whole lot sure happens to this one woman all in one day! And during this horror & strife, she still manages to get the hots for 2 different men. I'm enjoying the story, but it does read like a romance novel in some spots. The women seem to be there to be in love with men (even when they kill people).

Trollope is hilarious. One of my fav authors.

I'm just finishing Thermopylae to touch base with 300. It's a great history to complement Miller's story.

I'm about a hundred pages into A Song For Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's still a bit too early to tell, but I think I'm going to love it.

I know I'm showing my age here, but...

I read Greil Marcus's Once upon a time: Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone last night (I'm not sure how whoever entered that into LT came up with that title; I don't see "Once upon a time" anywhere on the cover or inside the book, but nevermind; the cover displayed is the right one) and had to dig out my copy of "Highway 61 Revisited" to follow along. It was a good quick read; Marcus likes to find themes in his work, and here he's making the case that this song "changed everything" about rock n' roll.

Well, maybe. It was an interesting book; none of the stories about the reaction to Dylan playing it on stage or about the recording session were new to me, although (as usual) Al Kooper comes off as a guy who knows how to tell a story with self-deprecating humor.

I just finished Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille - Meh. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. Maybe, because of the title, I expected more comedy - kind of like Lady Slings the Booze by Spider Robinson.

The ending felt a little rushed and a little flat. Not horrible, just not particularly good.

I felt the need for some fluff, so I'm reading The False-Hearted Teddy: A Bear Collector's Mystery by John J. Lamb. You don't get much fluffier than that!!

**touchstone just WON'T get the correct record on the Teddy book - it keeps pulling a Tom Clancy novel - definitely NOT what I'm reading. Maybe because I'm the only one who has cataloged a copy?**

>I just finished Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille - Meh. I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. Maybe, because of the title, I expected more comedy - kind of like Lady Slings the Booze by Spider Robinson.

Brust hates Robinson's works, so I doubt anything of his would be like Spider's.

I'm reading "prospero's children" by Jan Siegel. Its pretty COOL!

I'm reading A History of God by Karen Armstrong who happens to be a former nun. So far it's just perfect for this Happy Heathen.

clam, I'd love to hear what you think. Karen Armstrong is quite an fascinating writer.

#237 - Morph: Thanks, I didn't know that. Brust is new to me. Was intrigued by the title and the blurb on the back. As I said, it wasn't bad, just not quite what I expected. I'll have to read it again sometime and see what happens.

>241 dulcibelle: Steve told me that he threw a couple Callahan books against the wall, he disliked them so much.

Can't say I'm impressed with his taste. Spider is the man. :)

I've finally gotten round to reading Tom Shippey's excellent JRR Tolkien Author of the Century (ok, so the tags aren't working right now).

And Clam, A History of God is a very interesting book, I'm sure you're enjoying it.

Presently I have to read a lot of work related material, and to stay focused my private choice of reading is Information Dashboard Design... and this far it's good enough.

I have some hopes that my other reading material (The last light of the sun & Cyteen) will arrive in the mail on monday or tuesday... ordinarily it would arrive on friday, but hey - that's Midsummers Eve here in hedonistic Sweden and that's about the most important holiday there is; everyone stocks up on snaps, beers, pickled herring, new potatoes, sour cream, eggs and chives.

Very traditional - everyone gets horribly drunk, stays up all night, have supernatural experiences, do a lot of mysterious things like picking 7 flowers, walking backwards around old wells or jumping 7 fences on meadows or... you know, the general spirit is that one should get laid, or at least be able to get a peek of the face of the one you're going to live the rest of your life with, wheter you've met or not ;-)

(one midsummers night /OK, it was 5 o'clock in the morning.../ some 15 years ago I actually had a very "supernatural" experience involving a beer bottle with the text "one way no return" embossed at the neck, hehe)

I'm re-reading William Faulkner's Sanctuary.

I've just finished Part I of Tigana. It's fantastic so far; I'm looking forward to going back and reading the discussion threads about it.

I finished Feet of Clay:discworld on my trip, along with Blondie's Cook Book. I began The Panama Canal....*yawn* Actually, it has some interesting things which I did not know before, but for this anti-mathematician, it takes a lot of skimming.

I just started The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte yesterday, and so far I am liking it. I've never read anything by any of the other Bronte sisters besides Charlotte, and I'm really hoping this one matches Jane Eyre, one of my favorite books, in quality.

Oh, let us know how you like it, littlebookworm. I've only read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, which was so good I read it twice.

I'm starting The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wildertoday to break up the tedium of my other "good for me" reads. Anyone read this? I had never heard of it before I stumbled on this, but I like other things I've read by Thornton Wilder.

I'm currently reading The Return from Troy by Lindsay Clarke.

As the title suggests, it tells the stories of the heroes of the Greeks and their perilous return from the Trojan plain. It's pretty good so far and the prequel, The War at Troy was awesome, so I have high hopes. ;)

The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay. I'm really enjoying it so far.

I'm currently reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

#252 - Coincidence? My copy will arrive tomorrow, I hope! Good to hear it's worth reading :-)

#249 - I loved it! I really highly recommend it, especially if you liked those two (I did too, but unfortunately forgot Wuthering Heights when I made my post, shame on me). I think it's one of those novels that Americans don't really hear about, but we really should.

#255 - Well, I had heard about it, but I have never seen a copy in the flesh, um... in the paper. It's been hard to find. (Not that I've been actively searching. But if I'd seen it I would have grabbed it.) I'll keep an eye out for it.

I was in the middle of a huge pile of apricots today which had to be put up. At the library, I had an inspiration: audio book! So I checked out The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, read by Douglas Adams. That made the apricot chore go by so fast I finished before Mr. Adams was done reading to me. I need more fruit! As if 8 gallons of apricots isn't enough.

" put up "?
Gallons sounds like you are making jam, but I don't know this expression for it?

Audio books - it is amazing how much time it takes to read aloud, compared to the speed I can read in my head. Maybe I wouldn't need to re-read so often if I listened to audio books.

Gardens of the Moon I don't think I could cope with this in audiobook though, there is a lot of names to keep straight.

Hi, I've enjoyed reading this thread & thought I'd share mine.

Currently reading:
#1: Enter Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. Just started reading his work last month or so, and this is my first purchase (have emptied our library). Short stories, and very good considering they were his first Jeeves and Bertie stories. There's also the Reggie Pepper stories which I've not read ever, & am looking forward to.

#2 Re-Reading Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey ready for the just released Kushiel's Justice. Lush but I liked the first 3 more...

#3 Re-reading (at least once every 2years)- most of theAnne of Green Gables books. I think it's the winter season that makes me want to curl up with children's classics :-)
I plan to skip the children ones and go straight from Anne's House of Dreams through to Rilla of Ingleside. Comfort reads.

#4 Measuring The World by Daniel Kehlmann. Really enjoying it, but finding it slow going as I finish each chapter and want to absorb the writing and also the two completely different personalities and their view of the world at the end of the 18th century.

and just finished and really loved Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin. It lived up to my expectations and love for the characters.
ryn

PS: readingfox, very happy you enjoyed Cyteen so much. One of my very favourite desert island books.

#254 - I finished it last night. It was good, with a lot of thought provoking themes, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Kay's other work. I found it a bit more abstract; it seems like the sort of thing I'll get more out of the second time through.

I've started in on The Lions of Al-Rassan now. I'm only about twenty-five pages in, so it's too early to tell for sure, but I've got really good vibes about it.

FINALLY (#252 & 254) my copy of The Last light of the Sun arrived.
Only just started it, so I've no idea of what to think yet!

I'm just starting Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, and really liking it so far.

I loved The Last Light of the Sun, but I think a lot of that is my love for the cultures GGK used in it.

Well-am in the middle of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and lovin' it. Still rereading Children of Hurin & listening to The Silmarillion. The Sil being the first step in reading the 'Chronological Tolkien' which ought to take me through the summer & into fall. Have made a stab at starting His Majesty's Dragonas well. Next on deck is Sourcery.

#260> xicanti, I agree with your assessment of Last Light. Of course, less-than-best GGK is still pretty darn good. Lions is my favorite of his.

#255> lbw, I really enjoyed Tenant too. The other underrated Bronte book (IMHO) is Villette. Have you read that one?

reading_fox, I think the term "put up" comes from my grandmother. What I did was to wash, sort, cut, pit and freeze 8 gallons of apricots. Now I can decide whether I want them as jam (my mother always made that, I've yet to try it), pies or cobbler. Or any number of other yummy treats such as smoothies. All good for eating while you read a great book.

Speaking of which, I finished The Panama Canal and The Bridge of San Luis Rey. The first was informational, more of an info-mercial if you ask me. Very arrogant American-centric, but then it was written in 1913. The second was quite good. I like it. The closest I can compare it to in modern literature would be The Life of Pi, meaning it dealt with spiritual thoughts, letting the reader form his/her own conclusions.

I am now reading The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout and The Saint and Mr. Teal by Leslie Charteris. I ordered To Ride Hell's Chasm, but I'm not sure when it will arrive.

Finished The last light of the sun the other day. While not as good as some of his other books I still liked it. Maybe it was the faeries that put me off - I'm really not into that sort of stories.

Starting on Cyteen now, can't say anything at the moment other than that I look forward to reading it even if it's a big chunk of a book to lug around. I opted for the trade PB edition and it's 20 cm high 5 cm thick... (8 inches by 2).

I have just finished Inda by Sherwood Smith based on its review in Endicott Studio. (This is a blog on the literature and art of the mythic and fantastic, run by Terri Windling and a colleague.

The underlying plot of a political betrayal took its time in developing - I had to work a bit to sink into this story - the rich background of political complexity of this author's fantasy world required a lot of reader-orientation - for me, anyway. I will definitely look up the upcoming sequel to see how such an intriguing foundation becomes developed.

Once the story got going, it absorbed me enough to look further.

Well, I'm now hooked on Douglas Adams having just finished reading The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy & am now working on getting the rest of the -trilogy or..um quadology or what ever you call it! Really zipped through it & ran out of book before i ran out of weekend! Gottta get to the used book store an see if i can bag the rest of the series!

I've begun rereading all the Harry Potter books in preparation for the grande finale. I'm currently on The Prisoner of Azkaban. Unfortunately, my reading time has been rather piddly today due to some errands I had to run on lunch and my second break, so I'm not nearly so far into it as I'd like to be. :(

I've just fnished with The Color of Magic and am now on to The Light Fantastic.

I have also started the group read. I also have to start the first book of the Live ship traders as well.

Tomorrow I may take some time away from LT and wow and just read. It depends on if the kits and Katie let me.

Me, too, xicanti. I've gotten to The Order of the Phoenix. I have some reading I need to do for teaching purposes, but I'll get the books done before the 21st.

I did my reread in March. Not that it helped me figure out what I think will happen next.

I'm reading The Art of Detection. I love Laurie King.

littlegeek - I love Laurie King too. Someone in another group I'm in, not LT was dissing her and it was all I could do not to respond indignantly. I get very high hackles when someone is mean to my favorites. :(

I'm going to finish David Livingstone's journals tonight so I can take To Ride Hell's Chasm and the other two mysteries I'm reading on vacation. Also will take a book by Pearl Buck and I bought two audio books for the looooong car rides. A Tony Hillerman and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

#273 One of those anti-pastiche purists?

Perhaps, but they attacked her writing prowess, etc. My problem is, I don't know enough terminology to answer back. Like wine, I just know what I like, what I want to taste again and what I would recommend to others. :) It has been years since I've come across a modern mystery writer whose books had enough depth to make me read them twice. I hate pastiche books as a rule, but as far as I'm concerned, King helped the Sherlock Holmes legend. He was always kind of cardboardy to me before. I really enjoy her other books as well. O.K., enough, at least I got it off my chest! :)

The only thing about King that annoys me is she's a little too obsessed with food. I don't need to know the entire menu of every meal my characters eat. Other than that, I dig her.

This book seems to have less of that, but a lot of personal Kate info that really doesn't interest me. In the first book, her partner mattered to the plot, now she's just in there for no apparent reason. Perhaps I'll be proved wrong, however.

I like the Mary Russell books the best.

I agree about the Mary Russell books, the Kate ones seemed to be more in it for the derringdo of writing about that kind of a partnership somehow, though I've only read two or three of them and felt they were well done. I do like some of the thrillers though, even though I swore I wouldn't read any because I don't like secret cult stories where children are involved. Folly was very good, I thought.

I guess a lesbian isn't that exotic to me. I didn't read Folly. I did read A Grave Talent, and yes, it was pretty harsh. Well done, but harsh.

First post. There are a ton of great books and authors mentioned in this thread!

I've been reading Kushiel's Chosen for a couple of weeks now. Two-thirds of the way in, it's beginning to pay off for all the hard work of the setup and endless character names, betrayals, and loyalties to keep track of. As much as I like the main characters and story, I was about ready to throw the book across the room if I had to listen in on complicated name dropping at a party one more time! I'm the kind of person who can't just let a mention go by without understanding exactly who/what/where is meant, and that means lots of checking and work.

I honestly don't know why this aspect isn't mentioned more often in reviews. To me it's such a hassle that it took me years to get up the resolve to read the second book. I don't know if I'll have the stamina to read the third one.

I guess it's like having a second baby: if nature let you fully remember the experience of childbirth and babyhood, no one would ever have a second one. ;)