Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[ProfCrash]

I normally try to read an entire thread before jumping in but 513 pages is a bit much.

I am currently reading How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu.

I don't really know how I feel about the book yet. It is interesting but very different from what I expected. I have enjoyed parts of it but it is not something I feel the urge to sit down and finish right away.

I am looking forward to reading recommendations from this thread.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I normally try to read an entire thread before jumping in but 513 pages is a bit much.

I am currently reading How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu.

I don't really know how I feel about the book yet. It is interesting but very different from what I expected. I have enjoyed parts of it but it is not something I feel the urge to sit down and finish right away.

I am looking forward to reading recommendations from this thread.

I tried, but couldn't stand that book. And no, don't try to read this thread, it is a book of it's own!

Just jump in and mingle.

[MeiLin]

I just finished MK Hobson's "The Native Star," which I loved. Fantasy western, set partly in the Sierra Nevadas up by where my folks live. Romance, magic, trains, disembodied Italians, dastardly villains, narrow escapes--it makes it all sound like a potboiler, but it's very well written, pulls you right along, and makes you eager for the next book without feeling like you're reading one book split in two.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Ooh. Barbara Hamilton is the pseudonym of my favourite writers, whose publisher apparently decided she should adopt it to try and break out of the midlist doldrums as a "new" author with that series.

If you end up liking Ninth Daughter, you might also want to look up Patriot Hearts under her regular name (nearly the same, but ends with -bly). It's a straight historical set from the viewpoints of Martha Washington, Dolly Madison, Abigail Adams, and Sally Hemings and pretty decent, though not nearly as good as The Emancipator's Wife, which is her Mary Todd Lincoln novel which was a finalist for a Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in a Civil War Novel. She also writes excellent sf/fantasy and other historical mysteries.....*respectful snippage*

I didn't like Ninth Daughter, I LOVED it!! And I knew the "secret" of the pseudonym, because I stumbled on it while trying to find out if there was going to be a third in the series, (there is!). I will definitely look up the ones you recommended, because I fell in love with her writing. Thanks!

Now I'm reading "Her Royal Spyness" by Rhys Bowen. Still historical, but fast forwarded about three centuries, LOL (it's set in the 1930's). I figured I'd start this series because of the "royal fever" that is or will be gripping us here in the USA due to William and Kate's wedding.

[bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

I try to ignore recommendations or -em, what's the opposite of a recommendation? a decommendation?- based on perceived similarities between books. Two books can be similar in an area that means nothing to me (like subject matter for instance) and differ wildly in others that do matter to me (like the writing). There are too many different reasons to like or dislike a book, a statement like "if you liked this, you will love that" simply means nothing in my opinion. Now I try to read an excerpt before I buy. It's not fool-proof of course, but combined with reviews that explain WHAT the reviewer liked or disliked in the book and why, it works more often than not.

Like you, I pay more attention to the reasons given for liking or not liking a book cited in the review. Guess that's why the comparison to Franzen put me off. But I suspect I'll ultimately turn around and get that book anyhow. (The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher) At least it's from a British perspective rather than the usual dose of American craziness and the period nature of the setting intrigues me.

Anyhow, I have just now started Troubles by J.G. Farrell, the "lost Booker" winner. So far, I'm really enjoying it, despite some formatting issues in the e-book edition. And trying to finish up The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, about how the Internet and Google are turning our brains to mush.

[Dr. Drib]

I just finished "Monstrumologist," by Yancey.

This is one of the best books of literary horror that I've read in a long time.

There's a sequel out that is reported to be even better than the first one.

Highly, highly recommended, if you like articulate fiction, with the possibility of a whole new series of new titles in the making.


Don

[thinkpad]

I need help. I'm trying to remember a fantasy series where the author finished writing all books before he published. I think there were 6 books. I can't remember if I saw the tips on this author here at MR or if it was somewhere else.

I've tried to search for it but so far I've come up with nothing.

[DixieGal]

Finished The Perfect Woman, an Amazon freebie. Thriller about catching a serial killer. Very good, highly recommended. WARNING: Violence

Started Soul Identity.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

I need help. I'm trying to remember a fantasy series where the author finished writing all books before he published. I think there were 6 books. I can't remember if I saw the tips on this author here at MR or if it was somewhere else.

I've tried to search for it but so far I've come up with nothing.

Maybe you should ask in the Name that book? thread. From what I've seen, it seems to have a pretty good hit rate

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Maybe you should ask in the Name that book? thread. From what I've seen, it seems to have a pretty good hit rate

But what if he doesn't want to be hit???

[thinkpad]

I'm trying to figure out what to read next.

I started on Dragonverse but didn't really feel like continuing at this moment so I'll save it for later. I was considering Elantris but I think I will wait with that one too. I considered starting on Oath of Fealty by E. Moon but I want to wait until the continuation: Kings of the North gets out in March.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I just finished "Monstrumologist," by Yancey.

This is one of the best books of literary horror that I've read in a long time.

There's a sequel out that is reported to be even better than the first one.

Highly, highly recommended, if you like articulate fiction, with the possibility of a whole new series of new titles in the making.


Don

There's a video ad for that book. It looks interesting:

[mazzeltjes]

Re-reading Great Sky River by Gregory Benford. This is part of the Galactic Center Saga.
His meanderings about biological vs mechanic life are still fascinating.
Pleasure to pick this series up again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory...ic_Center_Saga

[Jadon]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

If you have not yet read Watts' Starfish trilogy, then be sure to get it. It is absolutely mind-blowing hard scifi and thriller.

I've read the trilogy. While I found many of the ideas interesting, the relentlessly downbeat tone tempered my enjoyment greatly. I don't have anything against dystopias; I just want them experienced in a more distanced way, less intense. Like the Ty Merrick novels by Denise Vitola, where a (sort of lycanthropic) cop in an enviro-damaged semi-soviet-ized future investigates odd crimes. The setting's about as bad as the Starfish world, but the tone isn't depressing.

[ATDrake]

2 paperbacks by comedic fantasy author John Moore, whom I was surprised to find had written more books beyond the 1st I'd read. I thought for years he'd just left it at Slay and Rescue (incidentally the only one available in e-book), but no, he's written more so I went over to the local specialty SF/fantasy bookstore to see what they still had on shelf. Only 2 out of the other 4, alas.

A Fate Worse Than Dragons, in which a middle-class knight and a princess scheme to get him married to her under the fantasy trope rules of "Princess Can Marry Heroic Rescuer", while trying to keep her official fiancé from becoming said Rescuer.

Very funny, but the best part of this book was the way everyone kept acting like sliced bread was this horribly dangerous newfangled Frankenfood which had to be treated with caution and kept away from the kiddies.

The Unhandsome Prince, about a girl who kisses a frog who turns out to be a less-than-traditionally-gifted prince and thus ends up going to the city with him and the daughter of the sorceress who cursed him to find her a husband more to her liking, before the prince reverts back into a frog.

Not as funny, but I think I actually liked this one a bit better. Except for the sliced bread gag, because that was hilarious.

Both recommended if you like spoofy fantasy fairy tales which satirize the traditional tropes.