What are you reading?

Been on a bit of a Plantagenet/Tudor kick thanks to the Richard III
reinternment. The oldie but goodie--Daughter of Time- Josephine Tey, The King's Daughter- Sandra Worth, The Red Queen- Philippa Gregory and currently on The White Princess also by Gregory.

Trying very hard to finish Jamie McGuire's Red Hill because it was recommended. I was promised zombies, character development, and romance. I'm on chapter five and have received none of those things, not really.

If someone doesn't get in a fistfight over how to protect the survivors or kiss under a rain of blood from beheaded zombies by chapter seven I'm putting it away.

My first book was "The Writing and Selling of Fiction," by Paul Reynolds. It's a 1965 book, so lots of the advice is quite dated. A few gems include:

1. Vanity publishers are of the devil.
2. You can pitch the concept of a novel to an editor without a complete manuscript in hand.
3. Never, and I mean NEVER reveal the plot of the novel in the cover letter! That's why they're reading it!

So, yeah. Lols.

I just finished "Kingdoms of Sorcery," a fantasy collection edited by Lin Carter (who was, apparently, a big name back then). Carter uses the selected pieces to show how "fantastical writing" has evolved from Voltaire to what we know today. The hardest stories for me to read were the ones inspired by the Icelandic sagas, being completely ignorant of them. However, I enjoyed several of the pieces.

Now, I'm reading "September, September," by Shelby Foote. It's one of the newest first editions to join the library.

Hellebore said:

I was promised zombies, character development, and romance.

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That happened to me, too, way back in college when i was trying to date Yvonne Olsen.

It didn't turn out well.

caw

Revival...Stephen King. Good read until the end.

Steelheart...Brandon Sanderson. Wasn't really planning on reading this but did anyway. A little too YA for me but it wasn't bad. I plan on reading part II.

A research book, The Induction of the Cult Image in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Loving it! Been on the TBR list for years.

Chris P said:

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Loving it! Been on the TBR list for years.

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Great book. Check out American Gods by Gaiman if you haven't already.

I just got started on Kate Bolick's Spinster, which I am loving so far. It has a really nice wryly funny voice, and I'm learning a ton about early feminist writers.

I'm alternating with Catherynne Valente's The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, because I am a sucker for a good Victorian pastiche.

Night Work: A Novel by Steve Hamilton. I just started reading it but many of the reviews say it's dark and depressing which is right up my alley.

Just finished The Laughing Policeman, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, a husband and wife team of Swedish writers. They produced ten police-procedural mysteries back in the 1970s, of the highest quality. Policeman is the fourth in the series, and I'm on a mission to read them all in order. This particular one was magnificent, atmospheric, featuring excellent deeply-developed characters and the thing you really want in a mystery: Mystery. The translations are excellent. I recommend them most highly to anyone who likes the mystery genre.

caw

blacbird said:

Just finished The Laughing Policeman, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, a husband and wife team of Swedish writers. They produced ten police-procedural mysteries back in the 1970s, of the highest quality. Policeman is the fourth in the series, and I'm on a mission to read them all in order. This particular one was magnificent, atmospheric, featuring excellent deeply-developed characters and the thing you really want in a mystery: Mystery. The translations are excellent. I recommend them most highly to anyone who likes the mystery genre.

caw

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Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out.

Finished Abarat by Clive Barker a couple days ago. Loved it. Reading The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls now.

Secret of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip.

Just finished "September, September" by Shelby Foote and "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Now I'm on "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson.

Writing Subtext (Elizabeth Lyon)
Nonviolent Communication (Marshall B. Rosenberg)

Why Is Sex Fun? By Jared Diamond

Chris P said:

Why Is Sex Fun? By Jared Diamond

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Please, please post a keyboard alert the next time! Now I have coffee all over the place. (At least it's not wine or , worse, Rumpleminz schnapps.)
At first I thought, "Huh? Why?!" You got my interest and I looked it up. Okay, interesting read.

I'm currently reading Wreckage by Emily Bleeker

Going back to the classics for fun. Robinson Crusoe. Not fun. Anti-fun I think.

Eh, it's been about a month, might as well procrastinate here again...

Just Finished:
Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation (Bill Nye, in hardcover.) What evolution is, what it can teach us, and why it's a bad idea to let creationists/intelligent design "theorists" run things. Clearly written and accessible, it's an excellent explanation of the topic, though I fear it's just preaching to the choir - a hallmark of the Ken Ham-brand fundamentalist is the absolute refusal of even the possibility of a fact or theory or mere notion aside from what they already believe. (I also have to admit that, somewhere in the back of my mind, Bill Nye will always be Almost Live!'s Speedwalker to me...)

Currently Reading:
Eyes like Sky and Coal and Midnight (Cat Rambo, on Kindle.) A collection of Rambo's fantasy short stories. Not bad, given my overall iffy luck with short story collections. I've liked more than I've disliked or simply found bland, so far.

And I'm still picking away at that Now Write! book... just plain haven't been that interested in pushing ahead for a while. (Mostly because I was working on a short story, and therefore didn't need writing exercises and essays to spark an idea - got that polished and subbed, so maybe I'll get back to this one.)

Christine by Stephen King.

Pucked by Hunting. Good voice, good sex, 100 some pages in, story's not going anywhere.

I'm finishing up The Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauksi. I'm about 80% done with it and, for the most part, enjoying it. Some of the dialog is a little clunky, but the concept is interesting. I'm enjoying it enough to pick up the second book when I'm through.

Under The Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes.