[October]What are you reading?

[Gilladian]

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. WWII girl pilot story - she ends up in Ravensbruck for 6 months - the story is written as a series of flashbacks after her rescue... poignant and realistic and so, so sad. It is a companion, not really a sequel, to Code Name Verity. They're YA novels, but I suggest that if you want to read about heroism, give them a try. They're worth it.

 

[Rhenny]

Non-Fiction: Of Dice and Men by David Ewalt

Fiction: The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear both by Patrick Rothfus.

I enjoyed them all...still finishing The Wise Man's Fear .

 

[Nellisir]

I just finished The Great Game, by Michael Kurland, which does 1890's detective fiction with Moriarty as the protagonist and Holmes as, frankly, the buffoon. Frankly, I found it dull and uninspired. All the women were plucky freethinkers, and all the men were bold and resolute, except the villains. No character development whatsoever, and the plot was some strange assassination thing with the aim of bringing about WWI, so the Order of Wotan (not introduced until the end of the book), could rise up (all 12 members) and take control of Europe. Or something. I really didn't care.

 

[Nellisir]

In other news, it's book sale time again. Since it's the first week, I went for books that I really wanted, or that looked really interesting and might not be there next week. I got:
The Years Best Science Fiction, Vol. 1 & 21, edited by Gardner Dozois (1983 & 2004, btw). Now I need 2-6, 10-12, 15, & 19.
The Last Witchfinder, by James Morrow. Looked interesting, good comments on the back cover.
Grave Goods, by Ariana Franklin. Enjoyed the first book in the series.
The Difference Engine, William Gibson & Bruce Sterling. I keep missing this one somehow.
Vellum, by Hal Duncan (a little nervous about this one. Incidently, there is someone in town that gets advance preview copies of a lot of sf books, and donates them afterwards. There are a few in each sale.)
The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin. The Jannisary Tree was good.
The Absent One, by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Loved the first book.
Shardik, by Richard Adams (not sure what to think about this one; I took it down and put it back about five times, but a) it seemed OK when I flipped through it, b) I've actually heard of it, and c) Watership Down, people.)
SHE; King Solomon's Mines; and Allan Quatermain, by H. Rider Haggard. Three novels in one book. Classics.
The Years Best Fantasy Stories, Vol. 3 & 5. These are from 1977 and 1980.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic. I think I actually have this, but the older edition and in paperback. This is hardcover. If someone is interested in the other one, PM me.

 

[Zaukrie]

Republic of thieves by Scott Lynch.....if you have not read the Locke Lamoria books, you should.

 

[Nellisir]

Read Faceless Killers, by Henning Mankell, so I could remember if I wanted to get more of his books. I think I shall. I really disliked The Man from Bejing, but the Wallander books are better. I wonder if anyone ever dies in Scandinavia during the summer?

I also read most of the stories in The Year's Best Fantasy Stories, Vol. 3. This is a weird book (and probably a weird series). It's almost like a Lin Carter vanity project. Maybe it is. He edited it, wrote one story, "co-wrote" another from fragments of a story left by Clark Ashton Smith, and there are at least two or three stories which "have never been published before". So it's not a "Year's Best" as we might expect today, with the best stories that were printed in Year X; it's the best stories (maybe) that Lin Carter had around.

That said, some of them were quite good. It was very interesting to read and see how the tone of fantasy has changed since 1978.

Working on The Years Best Science Fiction Vol. 21. I love "Year's Best" books, particularly anything edited by Gardner Dozois. Top-notch stories spanning the full range of the SF genre. It's interesting to read the older ones because occasionally I'll run across a story I've read before (usually in Best of the Best, Dozois' culling from 25 years of Years Best), such as "Ej-Es", by Nancy Kress, which is sad and haunting and not your usual super-science story.

 

[Nellisir]

Second weekend of the book sale. I like to list what I got in hopes that something will spark a conversation or someone's interest, but that never seems to happen, so I won't make you read through it this time. (Except I did score Wolf Hall and The Little Sister, both of which I'd struck out on for several years.)

 

[Nellisir]

Read The Outfit, by Richard Stark. Starring Parker, as in the character that's Jason Statham's recent film is clearly adapted from/based on. Basically, the novel reads like a Jason Statham movie. Crook with quasi-moral sense gets screwed over by other villains, takes revenge. It's not high literature, but it was a nice quick read.

Meant to read something different, but got sucked into The Little Sister, by Raymond Chandler instead. Oh my god this guy can write.

 

[Kramodlog]

Anyone read Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell and 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson? Any good?

 

[trappedslider]

Anyone read Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell and 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson? Any good?

Arctic Rising was okay, not something i'd want to buy, but it was worth checking out form the library.


finshed up both John Grisham's new book "Sycamore Row" and Veronica Roth's "Allegiant" so right now i'm not reading anything