What are you reading?

Just finished up Stephen King's "On Writing" for the second time, and was reminded again of why I love some of his work so much. Also wrapping up a re-read of "Pride and Prejudice" -- I'm feeling very Jane Austenish lately so I might start back in on "Persuasion" as well.

And I'm muddling my way through Edward Rutherfurd's "London," which I found on sale at Half Price Books. I've never read it before but I really liked "Sarum," so I thought I'd give it a shot. And finally, I'm reading "America's Women" by Gail Collins, which is pretty neat.

PattiTheWicked said:

Just finished up Stephen King's "On Writing" for the second time, and was reminded again of why I love some of his work so much.

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Thanks, Patti, for bringing up that book. I'm leaving for Charleston, SC early Saturday for a week, and I need to take something to read--I've got that book somewhere, and it's time for a reread. We also hit the B & N when we're down there. So, any suggestions on some good reads? My favorite author to read at the beach, David Sedaris, doesn't have a book out this year that I know of.

Hopefully, my husband will buy the "pregnancy card" I'm laying on the table, and he'll be the kid chaser.

I'm reading Dean Koontz's Cold Fire. A good read considering that it is "junkfood for the mind". I'm also working my way through Michelangelo and The Pope's Ceiling, but have been taking some breaks with less ponderous reads.

I finished A Fortress of Grey Ice not too long ago. I enjoyed it also but thought it wasn't as good as the first one. It seemed like there was too much "water-paddling" if you know what I mean. The story didn't advance at a satisfactory pace for me. I heard she's having some kind of problem, health maybe, and that's why the books are taking so long to come out.

Fiction I'm currently reading:

An Archer's Tale by Bernard Cornwell - Historical set during the Hundred Years War. Pretty good and I'm almost done.

The Sword and the Scimitar by David Ball - Another historical - Crusades and the Siege of Malta.

Earth Abides by George R. Stewart - Post-apocalyptic novel.

Recently finished The Darkness That Comes Before by R Scott Bakker (Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing series) Beginning third and last third were great. Middle kind of sagged. Still would recommend.

We just had a cold front move through and it's pleasantly fallish today, so I'm in my fall reading mood--Agatha Christie and Dracula, mostly. I'm halfway through Christie's Elephants Can Remember and about to reread Dracula, probably tonight so I can go to bed faintly spooked.

I'm reading Dune (Book I). It's amazing I haven't 'til now, though I've seen the movies. Herbert had a truly incredible way of capturing political scheming, and an imagination that rivaled any other author I've read (Tolkein included, even).

I'm racing through Cory Doctorow. Read his latest: Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town first; then read his 1st: Down and Out in the Magic Kindom; and now I'm halfway through his 2nd: Eastern Standard Tribe. Doctorow has a fresh, youthful style that I envy. Reading stuff like this excites me to get my butt back in the chair and finish my WIPs.

i've been reading some allen steele (the coyote novels) and jack mcdevitt (books in the omega cloud series)

great writers!

Just finishing "Reflections in a Golden Eye", by Carson McCullers.

I am trying to get through Dean Koontz's ODD THOMAS. My wife loved it, and kept telling me over and over and over to read it. I picked it up, and quite honestly, if he was a first time author, I don't think it would have ever been published. I'm trying to give it a chance, but it is boring the **** out of me.

Canscribe...I love Carson McCullers. I don't know what it is...I just love her.


I'm reading The Good People of New York by THISBE NISSEN...and enjoying it.

I'm fighting my way through the 1,300-page King novel The Stand. I wish I had the edited down version, because this thing sure needs editing down. Apparently this edtion came about because Stephen wanted to expand on his characters. I actually think it was the original manuscript and his editor chopped it, then it got popular, then they went for the whole Schmoe.

Tri

Shwebb said:

Thanks, Patti, for bringing up that book. I'm leaving for Charleston, SC early Saturday for a week, and I need to take something to read--I've got that book somewhere, and it's time for a reread. We also hit the B & N when we're down there.

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I love Charleston -- lived there for about ten years. My younger stepdaughter still lives down there. Have you ever been down there during Spoleto?

Good beach read: Possession by AS Byatt. It's a "literary mystery" of sorts, and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's one of those books that sucks you in, and the next thing you know you look at the clock and it's four hours later and your kids are hungry and you've burned the soup.

No, Patti, I'm not into Italian food that much.

Seriously, we always go to Charleston in the fall because we can rent a condo on the beach for cheap, avoid the tourists, and we love the drive through Fancy Gap this time of year--with the leaves changing. Our favorite place is Sullivan's Island because it's so residential we can fantasize about living there, but we usually stay somewhere on Isle of Palms.

My sister-in-law lives there--she's a massage therapist at Charleston Place. She's worked on a few celebrities, and when she tells me who some of her clients have been, I always want to know if they have any distinguishing scars or tattoos.

I just checked our local library's online catalog, and they have Possession--but only on video, not as a book. (I almost always prefer the book to the movie.) But I'll check at B&N when I get down there. My mother-in-law is also going to be staying, (actually all of my hubby's family but one sister!) so I'll let her take care of the soup!

ODD

OneTeamOneDream said:

I am trying to get through Dean Koontz's ODD THOMAS. My wife loved it, and kept telling me over and over and over to read it. I picked it up, and quite honestly, if he was a first time author, I don't think it would have ever been published. I'm trying to give it a chance, but it is boring the **** out of me.

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Different tastes. I think Odd Thomas is one of Koontz's best books. I wasn't bored for a second.

Melusine by first-timer Sarah Monette. I'm enjoying it, but it's a slow read because, well, I get annoyed with some of the things she does and it throws me out of the story again and again and again... The story itself is great, though.

brokenfingers said:

Recently finished The Darkness That Comes Before by R Scott Bakker (Book 1 of the Prince of Nothing series) Beginning third and last third were great. Middle kind of sagged. Still would recommend.

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Pick up the next one, The Warrior Prophet. It's just as big, but it's much tighter. Very impressive.

I recently finished Charles Coleman Finlay's The Prodigal Troll, which I'd recommend. It's definitely not your standard fantasy--kind of a riff on the Tarzan story, but not at all derivative.

I'm currently reading Thoughts Without a Thinker by Mark Epstein--about psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective. And I'm just about to start Michael Cunningham's Specimen Days, which has been highly recommended to me. Loved The Hours, but I haven't been able to get through any of his other books.

- Victoria

Jamesaritchie said:

Different tastes. I think Odd Thomas is one of Koontz's best books. I wasn't bored for a second.

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Yeah. I loved it too. I wasn't sure at first--it's written in an exaggeratedly simple style, and initially I found it mannered and self-conscious. But it really grew on me, and I found the ending very moving. It's one of those books that stays with you afterward.

- Victoria

I'm reading John C. Wright's The Golden Age. It's a very ornate space opera from 2002 that got great reviews.

So far (about 70 pp. in), it's an impressive attempt to imagine humanity in the far-future (like John Clute's Appleseed, but much more comprehensible). The plot really hasn't gotten started yet.

MTF

Tribes of California by Stephen Powers (research material for what I hope will someday be a big writing project). I'm almost finished.

Marcusthefish said:

I'm reading John C. Wright's The Golden Age. It's a very ornate space opera from 2002 that got great reviews.

So far (about 70 pp. in), it's an impressive attempt to imagine humanity in the far-future (like John Clute's Appleseed, but much more comprehensible). The plot really hasn't gotten started yet.

MTF

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Speaking of humanity in the far future, I'm currently wandering dazed and confused through Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun. I'm nearing the end and I still don't know what's going on, yet I'm finding it very difficult to put down.

In my spare time I'm reading a random Agatha Christie, greatly enjoying rereading Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades and struggling with Manchu, by Robert Elegant (I'm almost ready to give up on this one ).

I just finished Iris Johansen's Firestorm -- not one of her best efforts.

I'm about to start Minette Walters' The Tinder Box. I used to read everything by Walters, but gave up on her a couple of books back because her books were a little too disturbing for me. I picked this one up because of its size--if I put it down, I'm not wasting as much money. Has anyone seen this book in stores? It can't be more than 40-50,000 words long.

ETA: Just started reading the book, and the Author's Note says it's a promotional suspense novella written for 1999 Book Week in the Netherlands. That explains the short length.

I'm currently 1/4 of the way through Winters Heart (Wheel of Time book 8) by Robert Jordan. Darn! Why did I have to get hooked on this series?