Which book(s) are you currently reading?

Discussion in 'BOARDANIA' started by Roman_K, Aug 18, 2005.

  1. redneck New Member

    Kat, I think that Anansi Boys was my favorite of his books. I liked American Gods, but felt like there was a period in the middle half of the book that just went on a forage for a while that had nothing to do with the rest of the book. It may just have been me and it's been several years since I last read it.

    My favorites or Gaiman are in order, Anansi Boys, Stardust, Neverwhere and American Gods are tied for third.

    Christopher Moore is an author that I've been reading a good bit of lately. Fluke, Practical Demon Keeping, and The Island of the Sequined Love Nun are some of my top favorites. But my favorite is Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood friend.
  2. Roman_K New Member

    My new ebook reader (Sony PRS-505, for those interested) has restored something I have long lacked - ease of reading and book acquisition.

    I am currently reading Glen Cook's The Black Company series, an incredibly bleak and violent and yet incredibly gripping fantasy book series. The main theme of the story is the story of a mercenary group, an incredibly unlike group of heroes - or anti-heroes, for that matter, because these guys aren't nice.

    In fact, I think that of the dozens of characters in the five books that I've read so far, about two could be considered good. The rest were... uncertain, mostly, not evil or good as such, though many of them committed acts pretty ghastly acts at times.

    Incidentally, I've read those five books over a single week. I am restored to my former self at last - a book a day, or close enough to make me feel good about it.
  3. wilva New Member

    have just read my first sara douglass, (the crucible triology), read it really quickly have issues with the misogyny of the main character but then it is set in the 14th century. Love the religious debate it entails.
    i love american gods!! good omens of course is the funniest book ever written first read that nearly 20 years ago!! still love it. cheers guys its good to get to know of other authors other pratchettites like!;)
  4. duhuj New Member

    hello
    im currently reading Wee Free Men, and plan on reading carpet people next.
    I just finished reading The Time Machine which was so much better than the movie.
  5. IgorMina New Member

    I'm reading The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, The Way of The Word by Congreve, W ou le souvenir d'enfance by Georges Perec, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, and Small Gods by a bearded man with glasses, can't quite remember his name... ;) :tongue:

    *rereads post*
    Oh dear, that's rather a lot of books to be reading a once, isn't it?
  6. TamyraMcG Active Member

    Ahh well if you knew how many books I've started lately you'd feel so much better about yourself. I hardly dare even try to figure it out but I feel like I'm betraying the written word. I know I'm reading Hogfather again, though.
  7. jaccairn New Member

    I've just read Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. It's a short story he did for world book day and I liked it so much I read it several times in two days. It's aimed at children but is a good read.
  8. Taraniel New Member

    I just started reading Sourcery and Pyramids by Terry Pratchett.I have begun the reading of these books earlier: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden and The Son of the Light by Christian Jacq. I intend to begin the reading of the following books shortly: Year Zero by Jeff Long, It by Stephen King.
  9. randywine Member

    Finally got around to getting 'The God Delusion' by (the apparently hell-bound :smile: ) Richard Dawkins.

    TaraNiel - 'It' is an excellent story (especially if you have nothing to do for the next 14 months ;) ).

    R.
  10. roisindubh211 New Member

    Roman, how is the Sony? I've started thinking about getting an ebook reader (insta-library! weeeee!) but I'm scared to get one that will kill itself or refuse to function in a sane way. Any definite advantages over the Kindle one?
  11. sammi New Member

    I am starting Truckers again with my son, but I think there is something seriously wrong with him. He's not finding it as funny as me?
  12. Roman_K New Member

    I have reached the 8th book of The Black Company series, She is the Darkness. Still very interesting, and even a little less bleak - though it could be that I have simply gotten used to that aspect of the books.
  13. redneck New Member

    I've been rereading Christopher Moore's "Fluke: Or, I know why the Winged Whale Sings". I had forgotten how funny some of the passages are. Here a couple of examples. I highly recommend Moore. The best ones that I've read are "Fluke", "Practical Demon Keeping", "Coyote Blue", "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove", and my favorite is "Lamb: the Gospel according to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend".

    Actually, orcas aren't quite as complex as scientists imagine. Most killer whales are just four tons of doofus dressed up like a police car.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    [Clay gives a pretty long tirade about how 'dangerous' everything is now with a lot of language used towards his girlfriend, Clair. He then throws out the chicken that they were going to eat for supper.] "Clair put down her knife and pickle, then wiped her hands. As she came toward Clay she pulled a large bobby pin from the back of her hair, and her long, thick locks cascaded down her back. She took Clay's right hand and kissed each of his fingertips, licked his thumb, then took his index finger in her mouth and made a show of removing it slowly and with maximum moisture. Clay looked a the floor, shaking.

    'Baby,' she said as she place the babby pin firmly between Clay's wet thumb and index finger, 'I need you to go over to that wall and take this bobby pin and insert it ever so firmly into that electrical outlet over there.'

    Clay looked up at her at last.

    'Because,' she continued, 'I know that you aren't mad at me and that you're just grieving for your friends, but I think you need to be reminded that you aren't invulnerable and that you can hurt even more than you do now. And I think it would be better if you did it yourself, because otherwise I'll have to brain you with your own iron skillet.'

    'That would be wrong,' Clay said.

    'It's a cruel world.'

    Clay took her in his arms and buried his face in her hair and just stood there in the doorway for a long time.

    [rehashing of the bad times that had led up to this. Not writing it because it would give away serious plot twists]

    'Now, let me go,' Clair said. 'I have to got that chicken out of the yard and rinse it off.'

    'I don't think we should eat it.'

    'Please. I'm going to cook it up for Kona (a weed smoking surfer guy). You're taking me out.'

    'I am?'

    'Of course.'

    'After I stick this in the outlet, right?'

    'You can grieve, Clay - that's as it should be - but you can't feel guilty for being alive.'

    'So, I don't have to stick this in the outlet?'

    'You used foul language at me, baby. I don't see any way around it.'

    'Oh, well, that's true. You go get Kona's chicken out of the yard. I'll do this.'
  14. Faerie New Member

    I'm reading overdue notices. I've been reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, but I haven't had much time to read lately what with almost every teacher planning an exam for the same week. Now we're under a blizzard warning (ah, Spring in the U.P.) which means I can't return the books to the library even if I was finished with them so more over due notices for me.
  15. Roman_K New Member

    Finished the (currently) last book of The Black Company series, Soldiers Live. Very nice ending to the story arc until that moment, and a very... thoughtful feel to it.

    I've currently started reading Perdido Street Station by China MiƩville, and I'm loving it so far. An interesting rare blend of fantasy and steampunk, though the world itself is a bit too... alien. I'm getting used to that though.
  16. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I finally read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by that Douglas Adams guy... I grew up reading Hitchhikers', loved every page and have had this book in my bookcase for many many years without actually ever reading it. I "read" The Meaning of Liff by the same and one John Lloyd, it's the greatest book ever, I must say, a dictionary of all the important things in life that never got their own word... I must read Hitchikers' again.
  17. Maljonic Administrator

    I'm reading Anna Karenin, still, in very tiny chunks - I'm almost to page 600 after about 5 months.
  18. Roman_K New Member

    I'm currently reading The Witcher series of books by the Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I'm reading the Russian translation, and I recommend the short story collection available in English to anyone interested - UK edition and US edition. As I understand it, the rest of the series will be published in English later this year.
  19. Hsing Moderator

    I've finished "The Night of the Hunter", by Davis Grubb, and "The Executioners", by John D. McDonald; I am almost through with "The Mole People", by J. Toth. I am very ambivalent about that book, because as fascinating it is to read, I am not used to documentaries where the author puts themselves into the foreground like that - it reads semi fictional to me due to its story like nature, rather than a report. Later reviews of the books confirmed that feeling more or less.
  20. TamyraMcG Active Member

    I just finished Red Lightning, by John Varley, the author's notes at the end are a little eerie. I'm in the middle, more or less, of At All Costs, the latest Honor Harrington book by David Weber and I am also reading At The Mountains Of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft. OOOh weee.
  21. redneck New Member

    I'm in the middle of "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. If you read "Goblins- Life Through Their Eyes" then you might have seen the banner for it or their obvious plug in the latest strip. So far I have really enjoyed it. It's his first book with the second supposedly coming up very soon. It's not a small endeavor to begin, but it reads pretty quickly.

    It's not a difficult read, but there is quite a bit of emotion and it changes from first person narrative to third person because of stories within the book. Sometimes it takes me a little while to shift from one to the other, but that may just be me. I've really enjoyed his development of the characters.
  22. LadyBlurp New Member

    Just finished with shadow of a dark queen *Q dramatic music* by Raymond E Feist... now going to start (again) with the discworld books! YAY! *clap clap* :D
  23. Sunna New Member

    Hey Tam,how is that Lovecraft one?
  24. Gypsy New Member

    Thirsting for books...

    Books in English are in short supply in my city. I think i've gone from reading 3 a week to 1 a month (if that!).

    My last book was 'Hippopotamus' by Stephen Fry, (of Blackadder fame, and also V for Vendetta, among others) and now i'm reading 'Paperweight' by the same author; a collection of his non-fiction articles and ramblings from over the past 25 years...brilliant stuff.
  25. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Ah, Stephen Fry. He's just the best...
  26. Gypsy New Member

    Stephen Fry

    Yes...yes he is.

    'In the banquet of literature, Paperweight aspires to be thought of as no more than a kind of literary guacamole into which the tired and hugry reader may from time to time wish to dip the tortilla chip of his or her curiosity.......Perhaps, however, it will be the other end of the alimentary canal that furnishes us with a clue as how to manage this book: its natural home may well turn out to be the lavatory.....It may be that each article of the book should have been flagged with a number or symbol indicating the length of time the article would take to read, that number or symbol corresponding with the health of a reader's bowel.'

    -Excerpt from the Introduction of Paperweight, by Stephen Fry

    How could you not love a book introduced in such a way by its very own author?

    Literary guacamole...genius!
  27. Simkin New Member

    I am currently reading "Myth-chief" by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye. I plan on reading "Death's Shadow," which is by Darren Shan next. The Myth-chief book is good, with, occasionally, funny jokes. It is the first book I have read that is within the "Myth" series. Death's Shadow is part of the Demonata series, and I enjoyed the previous ones. I know about Darren Shan from his "Circue Du Freak" series, which was about vampires instead of demons, and all of the books for it are available.
  28. Roman_K New Member

    I have recently read China MiƩville's Bas-Tang books (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council). I liked all three, overall, in a "steampunk fantasy meets urban" kind of way of way, though the third book took far too much influence from MiƩville's politics and too less from actual literary content...

    ...which is where his short story collection comes in, really, title Looking for Jake. It was... at least much of it was... propaganda in short story format. It was mostly well written, most of the stories were very good... and yet in the end I had to admit that nearly all of them shared a semi-hidden political message.

    Oh well. At least one can hope his future Bas-Tang novel won't focus so much on that crap.


    Other than that, I recently purchased Night of the Long Shadows by Paul Crilley. The book is set in the Eberron fantasy world, developed by Wizards of the Coast, which shares some techno-magical advances that make it an ideal urban setting as well. This particular book received actual praise, a rarity for the average Wizards contract writer, so I bought it.

    And I admit, the book is excellent so far. So good that I understand why Wizards hired Crilley to write another trilogy for Eberron. I think he's something of a rising literary star, and I most certainly hope that he continues to write high-quality fantasy literature.
  29. Maljonic Administrator

    I finished reading Anna Karenina the other day, and I'm almost finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and Pillars of the Earth - all three are great books.
  30. Maljonic Administrator

    I used to keep buying Star Trek The Next Generation novels when I lived in Japan, they had a load of them in English in this quirky little bookshop. :)
  31. TamyraMcG Active Member

    I'm still reading Lovecraft, trying to make it last I believe, but I'm also reading Eudora by Suzanne Marr, an autobiography of Eudora Welty; Armageddon Reef by David Weber; and 1635:the Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. And there are a few other partialy read or unread books hanging around waiting to suck me in. Lovecraft is delicious at least in small doses.
  32. Gypsy New Member


    I had to read that 3 times to realise that there were three books named...and not just two...:redface:although 'A Thousand Splendid Suns and Pillars of the Earth' just rolls off the tongue doesn't it?.

    I am still reading Paperweight (by Stephen Fry), albeit sporadically, and am halfway through Salman Rushdie's 'The Enchantress of Florence'. I was sent the latter, along with another book, as a surprise birthday present....no better present really.

    Working in a bookshop for 2 and a half years cured me of being a book snob (only reading one or two authors for years at a time...and not caring about exploring new writers/genres.) Of course there are some who stay your core favourites, but now i'm more of a book wench- i have many special friends from all walks of life (or shelves of Dymocks? -replace with name of bookstore you're familiar with)
  33. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I realised the other day while gazing out of a train window at an advert for the paperback copy, that I never finished Making Money. It's the one I got signed by Pterry in London so I am not allowing myself to stuff it in my bag and read on the commute as I usually would, so it has been half-read since... eek! This has never happened ! I must get a paperback copy and read that one. or throw a couple of fake sick-days and read it at home.
  34. Joculator The 'Old' Fool

    I picked up a copy of Mary Stewart's 'Thornyhold' after Judi had finished reading it a few days ago.
    After passing comments such as "Ah, the thinking woman's Mills & Boon" and "Not another sloppy love novel", I have discovered two things...
    1 - The book has quite an interesting plot, although not as complicated as her Arthurian trilogy.
    2 - I'm just an old romatic at heart...Aaahhhh.

    But I still adamantly refuse to read anything by Barbara Cartland.
  35. redneck New Member

    I was the opposite. I would devour all of the books by my favorite authors and then start whoring myself to other authors. But if one of my favorite authors produced a book while I was reading one of the books I had sold myself for then the current pimped book would get tossed until the favorite author book was finished.
  36. Gypsy New Member

    You have a wonderful way with words...:surprised:

    That's basically me now. I find I have become less picky over the years and now even more (less?) so, because beggars can't be choosers. I wanna be a book whore again!:shock:


    [Incidentally....when i've posted enough can I be Book Wench?]
  37. Gypsy New Member

    I peed on Fellini.
  38. Sunna New Member

    I've decided to do a poll,to see which one of you here has the most similar book taste based on this thread....exciting stuff
  39. Roman_K New Member

    I have recently finished reading Legacy of Wolves by Marsheila Rockwell, a book in the same standalone series of Eberron novels (The Inquisitives) as my previous book, Night of the Long Shadows. These standalone novels seem of an overall higher quality than other standalone books published by Wizards in the past, be it many of the Forgotten Realmsbooks or, worse still, the rather pathetic and obviously gamebook-commerial Greyhawk books...

    Perhaps Wizards have found out that hiring decent writers actually means that one covers the publishing costs of novels? Time will tell.

    With that in mind, and with my growing fascination with the world of Eberron, I decided to seek a more comprehensive book series to read. I think I've found what I want in the Heirs of Ash trilogy by Rich Wulf. I've so far bought and read the first two, Voyage of the Mourning Dawn, and Flight of the Dying Sun. The third, Rise of the Seventh Moon, should be shipped within the next few days.

    Overall, I quite enjoyed the first two books. Very well written, memorable characters that weren't entirely flat (though that at times dependent on their importance to the story), and constant character development... The feeling I had in the story is that I'm watching the rather small story of each and every character unfold within the constraints of a much larger central plot.

    I think I'll spend the next few days trying to find an online Eberron campaign to join - this blend of a fantasy world and magic that has become the world's technological advancement (airships powered by captured elementals, to lightning-fast railways criscrossing the nations, to a race of advanced golem-constructs that gained intelligence as a side-effect of their preparation for war) has taken my fancy.
  40. Faerie New Member

    I was reading some of the Dragon Lance books again but I was waiting on the 2nd one from the library and it came in and got sent back because no one told me it came in. So in between waiting on the library and for people around here to give me my phone messages I've started rereading the Xanth series by Piers Anthony and because I read in bed before I fall asleep I dropped one of my books under my bed. It was much easier to get a Discworld book out of my bookshelf than to search under my bed so I'm reading those again. I want to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer but I haven't gotten around to it yet, I keep rereading other things, I need to branch out.
  41. Sunna New Member

    Ooh,DragonLance
  42. Faerie New Member

    I've temporarily given up on DragonLance. Never got the 2nd book and I've moved on to all the Discworld books again and I still want to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I haven't been to the library all summer, my mother has been doing it for me. I need to branch out and find some new things to read instead of rereading things. Soon I will be back at school in a different town with a whole new library to explore.
  43. Gypsy New Member

    Guards! Guards!
    Have increased my meagre 'books in english' collection here by 2! Mort and the aforementioned gem. Thankyou PTerry! And international distribution!
  44. jaccairn New Member

    'The War God's Own' by David Weber, on-line at Baen free e-books as I can't get hold of a reasonably priced paper copy. (It was a very quiet day at work yesterday and I had to find something to do.)
  45. Sunna New Member

    Starting on the EarthSea books tomorrow.
    I read in the biggest icelandic newspaper that Making Money is like no.4 bestseller in Iceland now. Better late than never.
  46. Katcal I Aten't French !

    Oooh, Earthsea... Loved those books when I was a kid, just re-read them last year and enjoyed them muchly again...
  47. Perdita New Member

    I'm reading american Gods by Neil Gaimen - I actually can't work out how I've never read this before!
  48. redneck New Member

    I really liked American Gods, but felt there was a place in the middle of it that he just went for a joy ride that didn't really have a lot to do with the story. It may have been just me though.

    I was at the bookstore yesterday and some fella and I were browsing through the fantasy books together. So I asked him if he had any good authors to recommend. He said sorry, but that he was looking for some as well. So, being the helpful bloke that I am, I set about trying to get him some books. We of course started with Pratchett (he bought Gaurds, Gaurds) and then moved to Bradbury, Richard Adams, and several others. He said that he wasn't much of a fantasy fan, more of a horror/thriller, and since I don't read many of those I didn't have any to recommend. I at least taught him something that day, don't talk to Nate about books while standing in a bookstore. I'll drag you all over the store to show you some more good books.

    While I was in the store I was mistaken for an employee three different times. Even though I'm not one I was still able to help them out. Fun times.
  49. chrisjordan New Member

    Reading The Da-Da-De-Da-Da Code. Good stuff. It's been a while since I read a new Rankin.
  50. Maljonic Administrator

    I haven't read a Rankin book for a while either, I think I might get one for my upcoming travels.

    I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns today, which is a lovely book about life in Afghanistan - very powerful stuff in places, and made me want to cry at the end but I held it in because I was in a crowded restaurant. :)
  51. redneck New Member

    Just finished "Dragon Weather" by Lawrence Watt-Evans. Was a good book, but the main plot was "The Count of Monte-Cristo" in a fantasy realm. With dragons.
  52. randywine Member

    Just read 'Blind Faith' by Ben Elton - It was, to say the least, a bit freaky. A kind of 1984 (with a very high instance of both Orwells Big Brother and the shit, TV brain porridge big brother) meets Make Room Make Room.

    I won't read it again...

    R.
  53. Gypsy New Member

    Just finished P.S. I love you... I like the concept, and loved seeing Gerard Butler in the movie....mmmm King Leonides.

    Cecilia Ahern sure knows how to get those tear ducts working. I get so emotional sometimes, like when I see those kleenex commercials with the little puppies....

    *sniff*
  54. IgorMina New Member

    I'm reading Ivanhoe right now. It's confusing me a bit because Walter Scott starts off describing this tale of rivalry between the Saxons and the Normans and then suddenly BAM! you realise that you're actually reading the tales of Robin Hood.:bunny:
    I'll see what I think when I've finished it..

    I also recently read The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which I thought very good. :)
  55. dibbler New Member

    I just finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was superb.
  56. colonesque10 New Member

    I'm reading two books at the moment, 'Making Money' which i've only just got and 'how to read books'. I should probably read the latter first. :D
  57. Rincewind Number One Doorman

    May I suggest before all that you read "How to wash?"
  58. sampanna New Member

    "How to wash" would be rather hard to produce. After the first practical exercise, the book would be a sodden mess.

    I've been reading a lot of Rex Stout lately - a detective series starring Nero Wolfe and his employee Archie Goodwin. If you haven't read it yet, take a look - the stories are interesting, but the characters themselves are much more so.
    Incidentally, the back of the book I'm reading - "Some buried Caesar" - has a copy of a letter written by P.G. Wodehouse to a friend of his called Dan, in which he thanks Dan for sending him the Rex Stout to read and how he liked it a lot.
  59. SusanCromwell New Member

    just finished reading going postal it is really good so keep at it.
    I am reading the Doomspell triology at the moment it is a really good alternative fantasy.
  60. Roman_K New Member

    I have recently finished reading a collection of three novels titled "Oriya" in Russian. They were written by Andrey Valentinov, a Russian fantasy and science-fiction author of some renown. The collection, or the series - whichever is the closest definition, focuses on a mix between fantasy, historic fiction, with a little tinge of sci-fi mixed in for no other apparent reason than the fact that Russian fantasy authors seem to like doing that.

    It's of a sub-genre called Russian Fantasy, in that it does its best to focus on the cultural and historical specifics of Russia, Ukraine, etc. in a fantasy world.

    This one felt more like an alternate history novel, truth to be told, as it described, in vivid detail, what I could only consider the nascent Slavic state of the 7th or 8th century, along with its neighbors. Overall, an enjoyable read.

    I am currently reading Newton's Cannon, a Steampunk-ish novel by Gregory Keyes, set in the 18th century rather than the more traditional setting for the genre - the Victorian Era. So far, I've enjoyed it, and the rather interesting twist of alchemic development leading to a pseudo-scientific/magical era.

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