What are you reading just now and what can you learn from the reading?

I'm rereading Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett. In the book, he quickly and effortlessly sets up a magnificent read.

For anyone who has read it: Who is the protagonist?

I'm reading The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia. It's reminding me how important it is to have conflict between your characters. I enjoy her style and her story is interesting, but her two main characters just seem to exist in the same space without really interacting beyond the bare minimum. It definitely lowers my evaluation of the book.

I'm currently reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. I'm learning - oh, how I'm learning! - that it is absolutely not necessary to put every single ounce of research into the novel. I'm learning that having parts of the book in the present tense and other parts in the past tense doesn't work all that well, although, really, it's the present tense bit that doesn't work at all. I'm learning that infodumps, even when in the form of letters, are still boring infodumps. I'm learning that vicious editing to cut the deadwood is so absolutely essential to make a better story. I'm also learning that having a point to a story really does help move things along.

I wish Neal had learned those things cuz, I gotta tell you, from Quicksilver, it's absolutely obvious that he didn't.

The only reason I'm still reading, despite the awkward kludginess and boring bits, is because of the subject matter, and that's completely separate from his fairly awful style in this book.

I just finished In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan and it has changed the way I see food, the way I shop, cook and eat. It has even changed my body, as I have lost a considerable amount of weight by following his three easy principles: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Oooh, I've been eyeing In Defense of Food! I'll add that to my Amazon wish list.

Currently reading:
1) Cold Mountain - I've been reading it for months...it's wonderful, but I'm just not always in the mood to pick it up. Frazier has such a great way with language and description.
2) Lost in a Good Book - 2nd in Fforde's Thursday Next series. Almost done and liking it more than I liked the first book, The Eyre Affair. It's fun and playful and unconventional.
3) The Nine - nonfic about the Supreme Court. Fascinating!
4) Matrimony - Interesting (though not necessarily likeable) characters, interesting writing. Reading it for a book club.

qdsb said:

4) Matrimony - Interesting (though not necessarily likeable) characters, interesting writing. Reading it for a book club.

Click to expand...

I just finished this... I won't comment on what I thought about the book, but I have to say it has some of the sloppiest writing I've ever seen. Example, from page 201 (yeah, I reviewed it, so I've got it right here on my desk, with notes and bookmarks for easy reference):

..."And when his mother fed him, she would imitate a plane, saying, 'Zoom, zoom, zoom, into the landing field,' moving the spoon like a propeller into his mouth."

Really? 'Moving the spoon like a propeller'? And just how do you think a propeller moves, exactly? Spinning the spoon in circles? Wouldn't that spray food around the room? Wouldn't that make it difficult to get the spoon into the toddler's mouth?

Sheesh. I'm usually pretty forgiving of sloppy writing, but that one, and several others like it, pulled me right out of the book...

I'm currently re-reading CJ Cherryh's Fortress series to see how a master writes high fantasy. Very illuminating.

Next on the list I have Henry James (Turn of the Screw) for some instruction on horror.

And now that I've managed to tear my copy of King's On Writing away from my partner, It's time for a refresher.

I'm reading Home to Holly Springs, the first of the Father Tim Books, by Jan Karon. From her I get a better perspective on how to truly personify characters. How to show the book's events as they unfold. She's really, really good.

scarletpeaches said:

-snip for length-

Anyhoo, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the books we're reading just now or have just started reading, and what we can take or learn from each to improve our own writing, concentrating on the positive aspects of each book. Even the worst book ever written must be able to teach us something - even how we don't want to write!

-snip for length-

So. What about you?

Click to expand...

Right now, I'm reading Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I love how Adams puts you right into his version of the universe with his witty observations and casual introduction of different technologies, planets, etc. However, I have found that his narrative is a little too loosely constructed for my liking. I don't like how he sometimes does radical POV shifts, either. I'm hoping that, one day, I can imitate Adams' strong points. Right now, I'm working on avoiding what I feel are the weak points.

I recently read a book called Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. I loved the lyrical quality of the writing when the main character, Sam, went into his "animus" mindset. However, Rich Shapero destroyed any potential for a spiritual epiphany by having his character drop acid. I mean, is Sam really reliable now? Also, Sam's girlfriend (her name escapes me right now) was such a flat character. She started out fine, but turned into a woobie. In the end, the characterization and unrealistic plot disgusted me, but I finished the book, feeling deeply disappointed. The "animus" mindset was so, so beautiful. The idea had such potential.

After reading Shapero's book, I started to try and apply his lyricism to my own works, balancing it out with my personal voice, style, etc. I'm really happy with the results. I also learned an important lesson about reliability with your narrator and/or main character.

I just finished reading Split Infinity by Piers Anthony. First book of his I've read in about a decade.

I liked it, I really did. But what I learned from reading it: Don't let your research overwhelm the writing.

He had a big long lecture by Stile in there, and he caps it off by the character thinking, "Well, that was quite the lecture!" Somehow, that didn't make it all better. LOL He worked all his research (or knowlege) of human anatomy, physiology, and board games into this thing, and it was a bit clunky.

I forgave him because 1) It's Piers! and 2) I liked the concept. A lot.

I'm reading Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction / The Neutronium Alchemist / The Naked God). They're way overlong but they're excellent stories, and significantly there are a large number of parallel plotlines that we jump between at regular intervals. Significant because some of the jumps make me think "excellent, I was hoping to get back to this one" whereas others make me think "okay, I'll just read through this and hopefully the next section will be back to this story or that story". I'm making a conscious effort to figure out what causes that instinctive reaction, i.e. what makes the good ones good and vice versa, so I can put similar features into my own large scale futuristic SF number (though hopefully not quite as long as his...)

T.

The Broker by John Grisham

I'm reading it now. The story is moving along. What I'm learning is that JG is one of the very few writers that can get away with multiple POVs in a scene. Go figure!

honeycomb said:

I'm reading it now. The story is moving along. What I'm learning is that JG is one of the very few writers that can get away with multiple POVs in a scene. Go figure!

Click to expand...

Oooh, I just finished The Broker! I loved the ending - no spoilers, but I learned how JG can also bend the reader's perception of characters throughout a story arc.

I just finished "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson. I've learned that one can write a haunting and very lyrical story with few characters and very little action, set in an amazing landscape. And that one can write about loss without undue sentimentality.

Prepping for the first revision of my latest novel, I'm rereading Thomas McCormack's The Fiction Editor, the Novel and the Novelist. Far and away my favorite work on editing -- I recommend it to anyone who wants to get to the heart of prose fiction -- especially his or her own.

I have just finished "The Life Before her Eyes" by Laura Kasichke, and I have learned that plots aren't necessary for publication.

Right now I'm reading The Ghost, by Robert Harris.

What have I learned from it? Sometimes similes are a good thing. Sometimes they are bad. and he has provided several examples of both. There shouldn't be so many of them that I find myself ticking them off on a mental notepad to keep score.


(It's quite like listening to a speech and counting the "ums").


but he did say something amazing. The Ghost is a ghostwriter and as the narrator he was talking about novels - "great novels are all different. Bad novels are all the same. What they have in common is not sounding and feeling true while you read them. A novel that feels false is a bad novel," (or something to that effect) which I really found truthful and liked a great deal.

Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald (for the 5th for 6th time ) This and all of JDM's Travis McGee books are perfect examples of first person POV.

I know this thread is old, but I'm glad it was resurrected. What a thread!

I agree! Thank you, because I didn't know that thread existed.

I've just read The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I loved it. It's fresh and funny in spite of the heavy themes, but at times, well, there's something so obviously wrong with that kid that I just wanted to hug him. And I loved the mixing tapes. I actually must do a Charlie playlist.

I'm currently reading The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam. Ouch. The writing is gorgeous, and I'm in love with the characters. But it's a tough, tough read. I'll need a lighter read after that.

I reading The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. I'm learning about the octopus! It's science written in a fun, engaging style.

Re-reading Christopher Moore's entire output (currently The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove).

Reading him because he does what I do, and I need assurances sometimes that I'm not totally nuts for believing I'll ever be publishable!

Novelust said:

I'm trying to read more Urban Fantasy, and currently I'm working through 'Moon Called' by Patricia Briggs. I'm about halfway in, and the really interesting/jarring thing is that she gives the reader a lot of historical detail about her world. She'll stop the plot to tell the reader all about the history of the fae, werewolves, everything.

I guess it beats being horribly lost as a reader, but I can't help but feel I'd like her to just chuck me into the middle of the story, and keep the story going. She's built a very detailed world, and I applaud her for that, but I don't feel like stopping to check out all the architecture.

Click to expand...

Weird. I read "Dragon Bones" and "Dragon Blood", her High Fantasy duology, and never once noticed such boring details; it was all worked nicely into the plot, no infodumping. Hmm ... the Urban Fantasy are later works, are they? Do you think it is possible someone told her she should explain more stuff?
"Aralorn" had its weaknesses, but that was an early novel ... and I am not sure infodump was one of those weaknesses.


I currently read a Miss Marple novel - I can learn from it that one way to make a murder mystery interesting is by having a very unlikely motive for the murder, one that people would never guess. Quite useful, I would have thought the method employed by the murderer was the critical point.

Found a used copy of Wolf Hall at HPB and fell into it, completely absorbed. I'm learning some history and getting an interesting look at a style of writing very different from my own.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland who I think is a member of AW(?)

100 pages in and I like it a lot. It's quirky with humor and a mystery tied in. It's the first in a series and I will definitely get the next book.