April 2010 Reading

Apologies if the thread already exists. I can seem to find one. ^-^;

I've just finished up reading The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (another bites the dust!)

Before that I finished up
Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Mythology of the Celtic People by Charles Squire (although I admit I read a large chunk of it in March already)

*pokes touchstones*

I am anxiously waiting for World War Z from the library, but in the mean time, I'm reading Shades of Grey and just barely started Copernicus' Secret. The Jasper Fforde book is the weirdest thing I have read since - well, since my first Jasper Fforde book. Some Terry Pratchett books are kind of weird, but nothing, nothing like this!

>1 sparrowbunny: I love Pratchett! the Last Continent is the first book of his I read, and I've been meaning to get a copy of it for a while now.

Currently reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and old book club edition I picked up from Powell's City of Books. I've seen both the BBC version and the recent remake, but never read the book, so this has been quite enjoyable.

Also working on a reread of the Dresden Files series. In the middle of Storm Front at the moment. I got the most recent, Changes, released on Tuesday Earlier today from Amazon, but I'm making myself exert some self control and finish the reread before I start in on it.

Finished the Availability of Religious Ideas earlier today. Read for my Philosophy of Religion class, and I can tell I didn't actually absorb most of it. Starting on Religion and Nothingness for the same class sometime this weekend.

Currently reading Blue Mars but my head cold called for comfort reading so I'm in the middle of Survival, at the moment, with the Mars book waiting on the bedside table.

#3, Pratchett is a hit-and-miss author for me. In an "if I'm in the wrong mood, I want to fling the books at the walls and if I'm in the right mood, I'll love them to death" kind of way. (It makes reading the whole Discworld series problematic, to put it mildly.)
I did enjoy this one, though. ^-^ (Conversationally, my first - finished - Pratchett was The Last Hero. Never looked back, though the going is, as said, pretty slow.)

Shanra, I see your point. A colleague lent me this unknown author's Colour of magic, and I loathed it. Some years later, picked up Equal Rites and was instantly hooked! But haven't re-read the first one.

THE TUDORS: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty by G.J. Meyer

I'm 'Enery the eigth I am, I am...

I'm putting Henry VIII up there with certain Roman Emperors for being a total bastard.

I listened to, and read the end of, The Secret Life of Bees which I enjoyed and recommend to those who might like a feminine focused coming-of-age story set in 20th Century southern US of A. I also read and enjoyed His Majesty's Dragon and recommend it to readers of fiction who also like historical fiction of the British seafaring variety. I am still chugging along in Wolf Hall but I shall be finished with it today, or stay up late trying. I must get it off my agenda, now! And, yes, Henry VIII was a rather despicable human, I agree with you, Old Sarge.

Also, dipping into Photoshop 8 for Dummies but that is not a book one contemplates "finishing". It will supplement a class I am taking during the next couple of weeks. April is a great month for the cameras.

edit to add comment on Henry VIII's character

I just finished World War Z and have begun Peshawar Lancers.

Really enjoyed PESHAWAR LANCERS. I'm a big fan of S.M. Stirling.

Started World War Z this evening. Like I said in the group read thread, I love it already. (I read The Zombie Survival Guide last year so I knew there was a good chance that WWZ would be equally good.)

Just finished rereading Storm Front. Next up is Fool Moon, then Grave Peril. I'm about halfway through the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and really enjoying it. Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are amazing, and the book, IMHO, as aged extremely well.

Just finished up As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady Sarashina and finished up The Shifter by Janice Hardy before that. ^-^

A friend loaned me Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel early last month, and I'm almost done with it. I'll be reading something much shorter next, probably Kallocain.

I read Alas Babylon last week: a classic apocalyptic novel written in 1959.

Now reading The Lions of Al-Rassan by G.G. Kay, my first of his which I am loving.

I've set aside The Civil War: Red River to Appomattox to finish The Language of Bees. God of the Hive arrived on Friday!

#12 - Wow. I don't think I could re-read the entire series straight through. I'll probably start at proven Guilty when I manage to get hold of Changes which could be a year from now.

#4 you're still onthe Mars trilogy? I thought You'd finished them ages ago. Hope you're cold isn't as bad as the one going round here at the moment, 2 week of sniffles or coughs and counting.

Just finished Hero of Ages much better than Well of Ascension which I didn't enjoy so much. Not as much action as Mistborn but the characters worked a lot better.

I couldn't read the Dresden Files again. Too depressing and dark with no let up. I'm glad there is a long list for Changes so I have a significant break.

I'm actually considering skipping ahead a couple books. Eleven is a lot to read to get back up to speed, and although there's some set up in the first couple books, from what I remember the story arch of the series doesn't fully kick in and get up to speed until sometime around Proven Guilty.

Finally got around to reading The Silmarillion. I feel a cad that it's taken me this long. The love and the joy are strong, though, which balances the cad-ness admirably.

Slowly listening to A Call to Conscience. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was an amazing speaker who constructed arguments so carefully and gently that you almost forget they are deliberate. It is both a joy and a heartbreak to hear his speeches.

Next up is The Hobbit, of course, along with a book on Archaeology and History and Printing, writers, and readers in Renaissance Italy.

Also, I've requested a book called The Synod of Whitby, 664 through interlibrary loan. I love InterLibrary Loan. It is my favorite thing about living the future. Really.

I just finished Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. It's one of the best books I've found about native art from this region (which is of great interest to me).

I'm in Connie Willis withdrawal since reading Blackout, so I'm rereading Doomsday Book which may or may not be a good idea, given how distressing parts of it are.

I've begun Except the Dying, because I couldn't find Wrinkle in Time, apparently, it's gone missing. Anyway, not thrilled with the Murdoch mystery book, so far, I much prefer the TV show. More atmosphere and sense of fun, less ick.

#17 - If I had started Green immediately after finishing Red I'd be done long ago but each of them has been hard to start; then hard to finish. Presently I'm in the middle of Blue.

Usually I don't take a break with another book but despite liking the Mars trio (this far) I feel it needs some serious focusing; also it has got me thinking on a lot of issues, which means I frequently puts the book down to stare at the horizon. Lastly I just can't bring myself to care for the characters, and as the story rolls on it gets ever more harder to accept the longevity of the main protagonists/antagonists.

I'm reading 1776 - I'm learning stuff, but it's still tedious, The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales - fun to read the original tales, but again tedious with 159 of them, and for fluff Kitty Raises Hell by Vaughn - I can't help but like a werewolf named Kitty.

I liked Washington's Crossing better than 1776. But I loved John Adams.

I've finished up the last of the Fionavar Tapestry and couldn't resist picking up 'Under Heaven' next.

Currently reading yet another in the Sano Ichiro series The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria by Laura Joh Rowland
and also interspersing it with
cat crimes 2 - which are fun short stories

Finished Peshawar Lancers which I must say I loved. Feisty women and the British Raj, what's not to love?

Started Changes. As usual, Harry is a mess.

I enjoyed reading A Wrinkle in Time earlier this month. Now I'm reading The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt which I'm enjoying tremendously. The way she describes the houses, the way the children are living, the clothes - all very Victorian, delightful, just "my cup of tea".

Just finished Franny and Zooey, Good Omens, and An Equal Music. Now, I am reading Essential Zen and Tropic of Cancer and should be starting The Rebel before the end of the month.

Just finished Duma Key by Stephen King, brilliant if you like that kind of book, and have started Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and also am dipping in and out of Can't Be Arsed: 101 Things Not to Do Before You Die by Richard Wilson

I really enjoyed Stardust, hope you do, too!

About halfway through Time of Terror my ER book and I've been pretty impressed so far.

Just left Portugal at the Lines of Torres Verdas (1810), having finished Sharpe's Escape. Recommended.

Love the Sharpe books!

I'm currently reading The Passage by Justin Cronin, a book I received from Early Reviewers. I struggled at first, but now I'm hooked!

I finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell -which I highly enjoyed - and was *going* to read Kallocain next... Then I found The African Queen while cleaning.

I finally finished The Passage, and I'm starting Rooms by James L. Rubart, another Early Reviewer book.

Presently in the middle of Deceiver, on the second read. First read for story, second read for nuances ;-)

# 33 I loved Stardust Morphidae. Can you recommend any other Neil Gaiman?

Just about to begin Dark Echo by F G Cottam

#41 Not really. I read American Gods and The Graveyard Book and while they weren't bad, they didn't have the charm of Stardust.

#41 - Carrotlady, I loved Anansi Boys, but many people did not, I suppose many of the books depend on the reader, because The Graveyard Book is one of my favorite books.

I finally finished Mastering the Art of French Cooking, now I have to decide which shelf to put it on. Admittedly, I won't be cooking out of it much at the present time (my lifestyle doesn't encourage that kind of cooking at the moment), but it is pretty. So do I put it on the shelf with limited space in my kitchen, or on the shelf for reference in the cupboard. I pretty much know what shelf it has to go on, but I feel guilty putting it away like that. :)

I am reading Good Faeries Bad Faeries by Brian Froud. He's much more serious about fairies than I am, but the illustrations are grand.

41> Carrotlady, I loved Gaiman's Coraline and have heard good things about The Graveyard Book but haven't read it yet. Anansi Boys and American Gods are so different from Stardust and Coraline that they're hardly comparable.

Yes - The Graveyard Book is great, but quite different from Stardust, and the same is true for Neverwhere, my personal favorite of his. I agree with tardis on Anansi Boys and American Gods. His stories really have a wide range.

I've also been chewing through the Dresden Files. I finally broke down and started Storm Front in February, took a break in March to read The Name of the Wind and Dust of Dreams, and am now about to finish up White Night. Like they told me on the Malazan forums, the Dresden books are like printed crack.

Next up (either tomorrow or Wednesday) will be The Sword for the ER program.

Speaking of the Malazan world, that's where I'm heading back to. Starting Deadhouse Gates sometime tonight while I'm in work.

I finished Ironclad: The Monitor and the Merrimack. Now I'm not reading anything! I think I'll start Night next.

Just started Blood of Victory: A Novel by Alan Furst on my Kindle. Normally I don't go for "spy" stuff but Furst has me hooked on his work. No James Bond super-spy nonsense here.

Just finished The Way of Shadows. Very good, but not for young readers.

Still in the midst of the Dresden Files reread. Finished Grave Peril over the weekend, and on to Summer Knight

Finished Koshopah. Trying to finish The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century tonight.

MrsLee, Brian Froud is one of my favorite illustrators. He illustrated a wonderful calendar in 2001 and I used it after my first hip replacement to keep track of my recovery. When I first woke from the surgery I was very loopy and my notes with his illustrations make a fun read! Too funny. But his drawings are lovely, fun, and evocative.

OldSarge, Alan Furst lived in my city many years ago and was friends with some friends who owned a book store. I had the chance to read one of his first novels (can't remember name, or details) in the prepublication format. I loved it. I really enjoy his writing.

I picked up a cheap copy of Richard Feynman's Six Easy Pieces from Borders yesterday. I've only read the introduction, where someone's writing about his lecture style. I think I'm developing an academic crush. *fans self*

Yeah. I had a post-mortem, more-than-academic crush on him when I first got into physics. ::blush::

I just finished reading Little Dorrit. I have been on a Charles Dickens mode lately. I enjoyed it immensely.

Started Dark Voyage: A Novel. Looks like I'm on an Alan Furst kick.

Vengeance of Dragons by Holly Lisle

I read Diplomacy of Wolves and liked it, so I'm continuing with the trilogy.

WillSteed - I share your crush - his autobiographical books are sheer joy and if you can find Feynman's lost lecture : the motion of planets around the sun I highly recommend the listening. oh, oh it is happy and good to like physics.

le sigh.

Have bought Pilgrim at Tinker Creek as a gift for my niece. Also Desert Solitaire, which I've read before, but will read them both before sending them off.

Am more than halfway through Fellowship of the Ring, which is, as always, wonderful. Hope to finish before the month is out.

Finished listening to Fellowship of the Ring in my car, and have begun The Two Towers. I especially like Rob Inglis's reading of Treebeard. Also finished reading Good Faeries Bad Faeries. Interesting bits about the history of faery. Now I've begun The Big Over Easy. It's not grabbing me yet, but I think that is due to sleepiness and business. I do find it amusing.

The Number of the Beast by Heinlein. I'm on a RAH kick for some reason and I'm a "late Heinlein" lover. Also recently read Friday and I Will Fear No Evil.

I've been reading tons of books.......comic books!

63 - Huzzah! I'm reading DC's Kingdom Come at the moment. Quite the epic story.

>64 Choreocrat:
I'm on a Vertigo kick: Preacher, Fables, Jack of Fables, American Vampire, daytripper, DEMO, Sweet Tooth. And from another DC imprint, Wildstorm: Sparta U.S.A. and Victorian Undead.

Is it weird that I am looking forward to May's threads on what I'm reading? I don't even have a solid list, but I'm looking forward to sharing.

Started The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel. This will be my last Alan Furst work for awhile, have to save something for future reading.

I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale as part of my Books Off the Shelf Challenge. All the reviews on the cover are advance reviews. I've been pushing this around far too long.