[October] What are you reading?

Desdichado · Oct 1, 2012

Just finished (today!) Voracious by Alice Henderson, which I freely admit I mostly only read because it takes place in Glacier National Park, which is one of my favorite places in the whole world.

After that, I've got a re-read of Jim Butcher's Turn Coat scheduled. I might go on and finish the series after that, or I might turn aside and read the Monster Hunter International series, which a friend just lent to me.

If I finish all that and there's still time left in the month, I'll probably read the Soloman Kane or Kull collections by Robert E. Howard, and then the Vampire Wars trilogy set in the Warhammer World by Steven Savile (I've had the omnibus version sitting on my shelf for quite some time.)

John Q. Mayhem · Oct 1, 2012

Crothian said:
Hopefully the original by S. Morgenstern and not that cut up version William Goldman put out.

You don't want to know how long I spent as a young teen trying to find an unabridged version of that book.

Stumblewyk · Oct 1, 2012

Crothian said:
Best Zombie books I've read and I've read a lot of them. Seanan McGuire (real name of Mira Grant) is also fast becoming one of my all time favorite authors.

Oh, absolutely. It's readily apparent that Grant/McGuire did more than her fair share of research into virology and pathology before diving into the books, and there's so, so, so much more to the storyline than "zombies rise, humanity fights back and tries to preserve what normalcy it can."

And the best part is that they're quick reads too. I blazed through most of Deadline in a weekend.

delericho · Oct 2, 2012

Nellisir said:
Has anyone read Agnes Grey? I read Wuthering Heights last week, and Jane Eyre is always on the list...but what about the third sister? I've never heard of anyone reading Anne Bronte's novel, but I haven't heard that it was terrible either.

She also wrote "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". I haven't read either, but we have a copy of Wildfell here, so I may get to it at some point.

Edit: Okay, I asked my wife (to whom it belongs) about it, and she says its, eh, all right. Not great, not rubbish. Just all right.

Nellisir · Oct 2, 2012

I finished The Unincorporated Man. Don't read it. I will not lend you my copy. I will very soon not have a copy.

Started The Talented Mr Ripley, but only a few pages in and don't know if I'll stick with it right now. Also started The Neverending Story, ditto. Not really in the mood for either of them.

Libramarian · Oct 2, 2012

I've just started reading Jack Vance's Lyonesse, and every now and then a collection of Gene Wolfe's short fiction. After that I am thinking Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin.

Although I also want to read some cyberpunk, as I haven't read anything in that genre and I have a copy of Cyberpunk 2020 that wants to be played some day. Anyone have a few books to recommend? Is there anything good/important not written by William Gibson?

Krug · Oct 2, 2012

Just finished Gone Girl, a bestselling thriller that's pretty well-written and has some very good, if contrived, twists. Things almost get satirical at the end, and I like the book's wicked edge.

Next up is Katherine Boo's Behind The Beautiful Forevers. Also have the first isue of Nightmare Magazine, which I contributed to in a Kickstarter campaign.

Nellisir · Oct 3, 2012

Libramarian said:
Although I also want to read some cyberpunk, as I haven't read anything in that genre and I have a copy of Cyberpunk 2020 that wants to be played some day. Anyone have a few books to recommend? Is there anything good/important not written by William Gibson?

Well, Neuromancer is the classic starting point, and its sequel (Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive) are excellent as well. I'd also look for Burning Chrome, a short-story collection that includes Johnny Mnemonic and a number of other stories in the same universe. After that? Snow Crash, When Gravity Fails, and River of Gods. I'd throw in Rainbow's End, by Vernor Vinge, as well.

There's a very fine line between cyberpunk and "AI" fiction. Neuromancer and Snow Crash fall on the hacker end; River of Gods and Rainbow's End are on the other. When Gravity Fails is somewhere in between.

When Gravity Fails is probably an excellent resource for a cyberpunk campaign, now that I think about it. The characters are a lot grittier and lower-class than the other books go (transgendered prostitute dancers, thugs, and crooks, among others). It's the first book in a series, but the strongest and stands well alone.

Nellisir · Oct 3, 2012

Started Soulless, the first book of the Parasol Protectorate, by Gail Carriger. Good so far.

Gilladian · Oct 3, 2012

Just read the graphic novelization of A Wrinkle in Time, done by Hope Larson. It's very good, preserves the tone and feel of the novel quite well. Also read most of Mark Siegel's Sailor Twain or The Mermaid in the Hudson. Didn't care for it. Despite the fabulous reviews, I thought it was trite and predictable, and I couldn't keep the characters straight. But it was very nicely drawn, I'll say that.

I'm two-thirds of the way through Skyfall by Meagan Spooner. It's another dystopian YA, a sort of Hunger Games variant in a loose sense; the heroine escapes from her enclosed nation into wilderness and is pursued by evil government forces; will she find the survivors before she's dragged down? Of course it is the first of a series... but so far the heroine is good, if a little feckless, and I like the world-building.