(December) What are you reading?

[James Heard]

Reading Grimmer Than Hell by David Drake while staring at There Will Be Dragons wondering if I can stomach another repetitious John Ringo novel. I've been blowing through some collections of short stories recently too: Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin (which was one of my favorite serials ever in Analog), Years In The Making: The Time Travel Stories of L.Sprague de Camp, by ..., and The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century edited by Turtledove and Greenberg (which to be honest felt really uneven as a collection).

Other fairly recently read books include: The Shadow of Saganami by Weber, Reflex by Steven Gould, Destroyer by CJ Cherryh and Orphan's Destiny by Buettner (which wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it would be).

I'm eagerly waiting for At All Costs, The Way To Glory, and We Few (if I can stomach the Ringo bits) to hurry up and get themselves mailed here, because honestly I've got a few hundred books sitting on the shelves I haven't read - but they're the same few hundred books sitting there that I never read. One day I'll get down to reading the rest of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro novels I've got but they're so exhausting that I'm usually in no hurry.

 

[Starman]

I'm rereading Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. For gaming stuff, I've been (re)reading Eberron, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Five Nations, Explorer's Handbook, and Mage: the Sorcerer's Crusade.

 

[Jay Tomio]

Putting other books down as I just got The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker.

 

[Firebeetle]

Bud, Not Buddy

Being a teacher of 10 year olds, I read a lot of children's literature. . .

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis- Brilliant book with very witty dialogue and narration. An orphaned black boy in the depression tries to find the father he's never known. Mostly, though, it's about Bud's view of life.

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo. Clever little series that is an enjoyable read. Probably Harry Potter inspired without being a rip-off, a school for gifted children includes students who are all descended from the same magical ancestor, the Red King, and have one of his many talents. The clan elders are all rotten and are up to constant shenanegans. Lots of ideas for roleplaying, especially having a party of characters who are children of the Red King (or homebrew equivalent.)

Just finished Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Opal Incident, I have to admit the Artemis Fowl books are a guilty pleasure. Fairies with high-tech, a boy criminal genius who can't relate to other kids, and a martial-arts mountain of a man for a butler. These books are awesome.

 

[Asmo]

"The Shining Ones" by David Eddings

Asmo

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo. Clever little series that is an enjoyable read. Probably Harry Potter inspired without being a rip-off, a school for gifted children includes students who are all descended from the same magical ancestor, the Red King, and have one of his many talents. The clan elders are all rotten and are up to constant shenanegans. Lots of ideas for roleplaying, especially having a party of characters who are children of the Red King (or homebrew equivalent.)

Oooh, I think I've read that.


I'm reading Stanislaw Lem's The Cyberiad and some more Richard Sharpe books. I also recently read Amusing Ourselves to Death, Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight (again), and a really cool poem called The Wanderer.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Finished Yellowstone last night. Great read.

Tomoroow I will be reading Inkwell, by Cornelia Funke. My sister just gave me the hardcover of this book on Thnksgiving, I am looking forward to devouring it.

 

[NiTessine]

Now going through Philip Athans' Annihilation, the fifth book of the War of the Spider Queen. I'm of two minds about the novel. On one hand, Athans' prose is sometimes jarringly bad and his combat descriptions overly gory and explicit. However, there's plot is strangely gripping and his action scenes have a certain energy to them that was not present in his earlier work. If this keeps up, I'll have to get Whisper of Waves...

Then I've got The Political History of Finland, 1809-2003 that I must read for an exam. Really interesting. *Nod nod*

Next fiction book in line is probably Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel, followed by Conn Iggulden's The Gates of Rome.

 

[Dion Ritter]

The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard.

 

[Roudi]

After just recently discovering how amazing of a writer David Drake is, I am nearly done The Tank Lords (thank you, Baen Free Library!). If anyone can recommend more of his novels, or other authors who write in a similar vein, I'd be much appreciated.