...is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Er.
Oops.
Wrong script.
Ahem.
WHAT are y'all reading that's good? The last couple books I've read (and the book I'm reading now, come to think of it) were...OK but irritating, and, frankly, a chore to get through -- and I'm looking to reverse that trend.
So, tell me: What've you read lately that's made you remember all over again why you love to read?
Er.
Oops.
Wrong script.
Ahem.
WHAT are y'all reading that's good? The last couple books I've read (and the book I'm reading now, come to think of it) were...OK but irritating, and, frankly, a chore to get through -- and I'm looking to reverse that trend.
So, tell me: What've you read lately that's made you remember all over again why you love to read?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 05:41 pm (UTC)Oh, and ignore the godawful cover. I know what they were thinking but I think they were wrong.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 05:46 pm (UTC)The latest JD Robb in paper. I have another 3 open that are hard going, and that includes Hugo nominees, unfortunately :(
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:01 pm (UTC)The recent SF series based on the books was okay, but the books themselves are far better, IMHO.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:03 pm (UTC)Linnea Sinclair is finding a voice...
I pigged out and read the entire eight books of the wizard series by Diane Duane
Blood lines by Eileen Wilks (thrid in a series, now I've gotta go back and read the first two)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:09 pm (UTC)The Traitor's Tale, latest in the "Sister Frevisse" medieval mystery series by Margaret Frazer. I like these because they do a good job of capturing the period without dwelling too much on the grit, and the plots are consistently well-woven into the history of the period. Also, they're better than many medieval series at catching the emotional nuance of the religious life. This one opens with Jack Cade's rebellion occupying London.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:12 pm (UTC)Sun of Suns, by Karl Schroeder
Unwillingly to Earth, by Pauline Ashwell
The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, by Lois McMaster Bujold
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:20 pm (UTC)I started reading Scott Westerfeld's Peeps last night, and it's *awesome*. Also, hella creepy. But I can tell already I'm going to love it despite my issues with parasites. Parasites, eeeks! But parasitology as an explanation for vampirism? Awesome.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:20 pm (UTC)Um...let's see what else...er so if you don't want to read irritating then I really wouldn't recommend Keeping it Real by Justina Robson, even though I managed to get past my irritation and enjoy it. So...maybe skip that and come back to it when you're not in the mood to kill all copy editors ever. I liked the story and the characters a great deal, actually. I just...yeah.
Hope this helps!
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:25 pm (UTC)Let's see: Heyer? Ab fab is either These Old Shades or The Masqueraders (first one I read ever).
Who else? (besides Miller and Lee, of course!)
Have you read the Chronicles of Lymond series by Dorothy Dunnett? I was too young the first time but by mid-teens it was enthralling...haven't managed to finish the Nicolo series yet, still missing some volumes but equally fascinating. Historical romances, these, and enough references scattered in and out to qualify someone for a Liberal Arts MA.
Diane Duane's Wizard series is great...and most things by Tanith Lee...Brother Caedfael...if all that fails, there's always the classics: Dante, Dumas, RLS, Sir Walter Scott...
Hope this helps.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:01 pm (UTC)I have been reading lots of short mysteries. Charline Harris and Nancy Atherton, Robin Paige, Susan Albert. Tanya HUff's _Wizard of the Grove_ was nice. I somehow, wierdly, want to blend it with TBHOTD.
I was thrilled to discover a pretty copy of Kathy's _Night Calls_ at Half Price Books the other day only to reach the last quarter to find there were pages that hadn't printed. :( But you know about that one....
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:07 pm (UTC)For a fun continuing series - Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:14 pm (UTC)And, of course, C.E. Murphy's Coyote Dreams which I just finished.
Also loved Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, but realize that's not to everyone's taste.
Noticed a trend here--I can't remember the last epic fantasy that I read, which makes sense since I'm writing epic fantasies these days, so other people's books are too much like work.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:33 pm (UTC)The series started with "With the Lightnings" where the characters are introduced and thrown together by fortune. Next is "Lt. Leary Commanding" where Leary and crew are caught up in war while trying to bring their captured ship home. Then comes "The Far Side of the Stars", where the crew hires out as a private yacht when their captured vessel is discharged from military service.
The series has a very different way of looking at how to run a military organization, where corruption is expected, but tolerated as long as it is run descretely and doesn't interfere with mission objectives.
I've also been reading David Weber's "Off Armageddon Reef", a story about the last human colony trying to survive without technology in order to hide from an implacable alien race that will not tolerate any potential competition for the galaxy's resources.
Doc
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:35 pm (UTC)Which doesn't help you all that much, granted, but still.
And then there's the Kencyr books by P.C. Hodgell (who I'm interviewing on Saturday). Which were another Alexlit (http://www.alexlit.com) find.
Really, all of the books that Alexlit recommended I should read were totally awesome. And I've heard that Alexlit (http://www.alexlit.com) is slowly but surely crawling back into existence again; there's a placeholder explaining that their server crashed after "years of benign neglect" and they're in the process of rebuilding it. Once it comes back, it is an amazingly accurate way of exposing yourself to stuff liked by everyone else who likes the same stuff you do that you haven't read yet. Here's hoping it's soon.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:41 pm (UTC)Sounds like the themes in your books that make them appeal so much.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:53 pm (UTC)New, you wanted new. I just re-read Doc Smith's Skylark series - that was fun.
The Sharing Knife: Vol 2, Legacy by Lois McMaster Bujold (but that was an ARC, loaned to me by Elizabeth from Dreamhaven). The Sharing Knife: Vol. 1, Beguilement has recently come out in paperback - that's highly recommended!
I don't remember what else - if I remember I'll look when I get home and maybe post again.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 09:13 pm (UTC)Two new authors I've enjoyed immensely have been The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. They're both the first book in a series, so we'll have awhile to wait on the whole tale, but both are books my brother and I have raved to friends about.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 10:05 pm (UTC)Actually, since you ask, I just posted my April reading list on my blog this morning. http://chappysmom.typepad.com/bookworm/2007/05/reading_list_fr.html