[May] What are you reading?

[Elodan]

Just finished The Knight and Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber; the disappointing last book actually written by Leiber in the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series.

Currently about a third of the way through Bronze Gods by A.A. Aguirre. It's about a detective team in a steam-punk setting; liking it so far.

 

[Kaodi]

I read A Dance With Dragons. Soon I will be doing a lot of school readings...

 

[Nellisir]

Finished Revelation Space; reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore.

 

[Murph Murphy]

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi is really good if you like Sci Fi with a transhuman/computer science bent. At one point someone says "I need root on this body" which I loved. I'm about to start the sequel ​The Fractal Prince

 

[Nellisir]

Here's the full and up-to-date list of my haul in the last 10 days, with authors. Grand total? Less than $90. I might go back next weekend for $.10 prices, but the pickings are pretty sketchy. Abundant if you need fire-starting material, but sketchy. (That said, general fiction and mystery can still have good stuff, so that's what I'd be looking at. SF/fantasy is usually tapped out.)

• Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds
• Absolution Gap - Alastair Reynolds
• Chasm City - Alastair Reynolds
• We Have Always Lived In The Castle - Shirley Jackson
• Starbound - Joe Haldeman
• Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton
• Island of the Sequined Love Nun - Christopher Moore
• Poodle Springs - Raymond Chandler & Robert B. parker
• Sacre Bleu - Christopher Moore
• 1493 - Charles C. Mann
• The Queen of Bedlam - Robert McCammon
• The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain
• Double Indemnity - James M. Cain
• Hypothermia - Arnaldur Indridason
• Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
• Lost In A Good Book - Jasper Fforde
• Norwegian Folktales
• The Years Best Science Fiction 8th Annual Collection
• Out of Oz - Gregory Maguire
• Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indridason
• Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell
• A Monstrous Regiment of Women - Laurie R. King
• The Immorality Engine - George Mann
• Inherit the Stars - James P. Hogan
• Medieval People
• The White Hart - Nancy Springer
• Times Without Number - John Brunner
• The Dreaming Earth - John Brunner
• Tarnsman of Gor - John Norman
• Where Time Winds Blow - Robert Holdstock
• The Stupidest Angel - Christopher Moore
• Ironskin - Tina Connolly
• The Last Four Things - Paul Hoffman
• Ashes of the Earth - Eliot Pattison
• A Spectacle of Corruption - David Liss
• Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
• Lud-in-the-Mist - Hope Mirrless
• The Glass Key - Dashell Hammett
• The Hand That Trembles - Kjell Eriksson
• Still Waters - Nigel McCrery
• 1990 Annual World's Best SF
• The Inspector and Silence - Hakan Nesser
• The Club Dumas - Arturo Perez-Reverte
• Tropic of Night - Michael Gruber
• A Murderous Procession - Ariana Franklin
• Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time - Brian Aldiss

Medieval People is pretty cool. It's a collection of biographical...sketches? of six real-life "common" medieval people built from historical sources. The only one I've glanced at so far is the 15-year old housewife of a 65-year old, somewhat well-to-do guy in Paris. He wrote her a book of advice on everything she should know to be a good wife & companion, and he's pretty realistic about it. He writes that her job is to make his last years comfortable; his job is to make her suitable for her next husband. It's not kinky; he gives recipes, cleaning advice, advice on hiring servants and judging horses, and whatever else struck his fancy.

 

[Jhaelen]

Here's the full and up-to-date list of my haul in the last 10 days, with authors. Grand total? Less than $90.

Wow, quite a list!
I'm currently breezing through "The Hydrogen Sonata" by Iain Banks. Then I have only one title left to read, so it's about time I go looking for more fodder myself...

 

[Nellisir]

Wow, quite a list!

Yeah, I'm excited about it.

The first year or two (there are two sales a year) I went in with a list of "best books" (of the year, pulitzer, etc, etc.) Some were great; some I still haven't read. The last year or two I didn't have much time to prepare, so I sort of winged it - some hits, some misses. It's hard to find stuff in SF/Fantasy that I haven't read or passed over before, so I pushed more into mystery. This year I went in with a list of authors I had enjoyed (Alistair Reynolds), particular books I wanted (We Have Always Lived In the Castle; Queen of Bedlam), and particular authors that were supposed to be similar to ones I enjoyed (James M. Cain). And books/series/authors that seem to keep getting mentioned and I want to read to "cover the bases" (John Brunner, John Norman).

I was there at opening on the first day, which paid off. I went again yesterday to "fill in" some the more common authors that I'd passed over or only gotten one of the first time around (ie Christopher Moore; the Scandinavians). If I go next weekend, it'll be "this looks interesting and it's only $.10" time, and I'll grab some more stuff from the history & architecture sections - reference rather than reading.

I'm currently breezing through "The Hydrogen Sonata" by Iain Banks. Then I have only one title left to read, so it's about time I go looking for more fodder myself...

I think I've passed that one by quite often. How readable is it? I like books that move along, and that one always looked threateningly abtruse. However, I thought the same about Alistair Reynolds and was totally wrong, so....

And to get back on topic...I finished Island of the Sequined Love Nun a few days ago, and am bouncing between 8th Annual Years Best SF, Double Indemnity, and a book I'm not going to mention here. I might do Absolution Gap or Altered Carbon next. I tried really hard to get a variety of books, and I think I succeeded as best I could hope for. Although I do have a weird sudden craving for Patricia McKillip's books.... (I love me some gloriously, unashamedly stylized high fantasy.)

 

[Mark CMG]

Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Tales are done and, though it was fine enough, The Death of Kings (book six in the Tales) was a bit of a let down for me. Perhaps I just wanted the series to continue. Anyway, since I already read 1356, book four of the Grail Quest series from Cornwell, I'm going to get to The Warlord Chronicles later and read the first three of the Grail Quest first. All in all, a very enjoyable author. If interested, as I have mentioned before, give Agincourt or even Stonehenge a shot first to get a feel for his writing from his one offs.

 

[cherise]

I wanted to read again the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think I've passed that one by quite often. How readable is it? I like books that move along, and that one always looked threateningly abtruse. However, I thought the same about Alistair Reynolds and was totally wrong, so....

I think it reads rather well. I'd say it's as readable as most of his books and better than some (e.g. Feersum Ennjin). I just hope it has a proper ending; I recall some of his novels were rather unsatisfying in that regard. Still, in hindsight, I'd have to say I've enjoyed all of his novels so far. The brilliant parts always overshine the tedious or incomprehensible bits and its the former that I tend to remember when thinking back.

I felt Alistair Reynold's novels to be more hit and miss: I thought the first novel (Relevation Space) was good but not great, was disappointed by the second (Redemption Arc) and very impressed by the third (Absolution Gap).