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Please let us know what you're reading this month!

Damian wrote: "About to start Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.

Can anyone recommend any really good contemporary sf?

Damian"

What's your favorite flavor of SF?


I'm listening to the audiobook version of Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson right now. I'm reading The Likeness A Novel, a mystery by Tana French. (I need to get that one back to the library on the 5th. I've also started Proven Guilty, a Dresden Files novel, by Jim Butcher and The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks.

I remember a few months ago when I couldn't find a book to read. Now my to read pile is about 20 books high! I'm hoping to get to the following:

The Warrior's Apprentice
Under the Dome
Old Man's War
Assassin's Apprentice
Midnight Tides
The Light of Burning Shadows Book Two of the Iron Elves

Its a good thing the cold weather keeps me inside!

I'm reading The Way of Shadows bu Brent Weeks. I'm more than halway through and loving it so far.

I just finished 2 books, Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro which I wasn't that crazy about and Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett which I think was one of the funniest Discworld books I've read in a while. I'll be starting Brothers in Arms by Bujold and also try to work in some of the short stories from that series. And I'll also be starting February's book, The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling so I can try to get it finished in time for the discussion.

Laurel wrote: "I remember a few months ago when I couldn't find a book to read. Now my to read pile is about 20 books high! I'm hoping to get to the following:

"

Only twenty books! Those were the days...

You'll have to let us know what you think of Under the Dome. 'It' was the last book I read by Stephen King. I just felt so let down by the ending after reading 50,000 pages to get there... :( I much prefer his older books. I have recently enjoyed some of his short stories though, there was a collection of them out last year.

Assassin's Apprentice was great, I really enjoyed it. I've read the second, and have the third all ready to go, just waiting for the mood to strike. I think I'll pick it up after Basilisk Station.

I *love* the Assassin trilogy. Hobb is brilliant. There were some things about the end of book 3 that I didn't like; I'll be curious to hear what you think of it!

I finished To Reign in Hell and now I am re-reading Dune for the umpteenth time :)

I went on a bit of a reading fest, and finished off The Warrior's Apprentice, Old Man's War, and will most likely finish Assassin's Apprentice tonight! Maybe I'll finally be able to put a dent in that too read pile... Its been months since I've gone to the book store to buy things for myself! However, I do have to get through Under the Dome. I think that its longer than all of the previous three combined. Wish me well!

I'm still reading The Ships of Merior which I started on Christmas day. I started the omnibus Miles Errant last night to test my new LightWedge (a Christmas gift from my hubby which arrived "late" yesterday via UPS).

Further reading for January includes:

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You'll have to review Bridge of Birds for us, I've had it on my TBR list for a long time but haven't found a copy yet.

Here's my stack beside my easy-chair:

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I finished up Always Forever, the last book of the Age of Misrule trilogy by Mark Chadbourn. A nice read - not exactly my style (contemporary dark fantasy), but well done.

I just started Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Pretty good so far - the first 30 pages are one massive hook, and if it keeps up this pace, it should be a good one.

I have about 60 books on the TBR pile, so plenty of reading materials for 2010. My goal this year is to read more books than I buy/receive. We'll see.

Deedee wrote: "Here's my stack beside my easy-chair:Pirate Latitudes"

I bought this for my dad's birthday (coming up in mid-January). Let us know what you think of it, OK?

Currently burning through books at a fast pace, guess I missed the chance to read as much during the holidays. This week so far has been Powerless by Matthew cody, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. I seem to be on a steampunk kick, too bad I don't have Fever Crumb by Reeves yet!

On my list of books to come is The Lovely Bones, Maze Runner and I'll attempt Lips Touch 3 Times again--though I keep putting it down once I start.

Yay, Shan is here! *waves*

I'm almost done with my Dune re-read, and I think I'm going to read the sequels next. I read them once, in high school, and don't remember them at all (I don't think I really understood them!) so I'm looking forward to it.

I didn't understand Dune or Dune Messiah the first time I read them either, which was probably high school. I re-read them both a couple years ago and was blown away all over again by how amazing they were.

A couple years ago I reread Dune, the sequels and then the prequels. That was great fun. I have not, however, read the newer sequels by Brian Herbert... and I DON'T think I'll reread everything again when I tackle those sometime in the future.

As for what I'm reading--NOT ENOUGH! Still about half through The Golden Key and haven't had a chance to read it since before Christmas. YIKES! Just too darn busy....

I finished The Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts (my review) last night. A very enjoyable continuation in the saga of the Light/Shadow War.

Over my morning cup of Irish Blend tea, I started To Reign in Hell by Brust, a novel I've been looking forward to for a month or two.

I always feel calling it Irish tea is false advertising. It should have whiskey in it.

Yesterday I finished Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, which was a good space opera/space adventure-type story, but a little thin in terms of world-building for me. My review will appear soon.

Last night I started the forthcoming Gene Wolfe novel, The Sorcerer's House, due out from Tor in March. I had trouble putting it down!

Gene Wolfe ahead of publication? Now I'm jealous.

I'm jealous about the Wolfe too. Sounds great. I've just started Kelland by goodreads author Paul G. Bens, Jr.. It's actually the second time I've started it, but that's not because I was disinterested the first time. It's actually shaping up to be a very interesting fantasy.

Also I am in the middle of Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds -- a recommendation from goodreads last summer. (I believe it was up for BOTM for several months in a row.) It's a really good hard science type of sci-fi, but the skipping around in time gets confusing because it's for scientific reasons (and not postmodernist different POV type reasons that PM authors usually employ). Two great books I'menjoying right now, though.

I finished the Gene Wolfe last night, and it's a good one. Probably most similar to some of his earlier books like There Are Doors - set in contemporary America, but with supernatural elements. It's told entirely in the form of letters, and it's simply made to be re-read. I'll post a note when my review is done (it'll appear on ).

Last night I started on Unseen Academicals, the latest Terry Pratchett. Couple of laugh-out-loud moments already in the first 30 pages or so.

I'm downloading The Bone Doll's Twin on Audible right now. I'm also reading Olive Kitteridge: A Novel in Stories by Elizabeth Strout in my self-induced project to read through the list of Pulitzer Prize winners. My current genre reads are Brent Weeks's The Way of Shadows and Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie.

Oh, and I'm still carrying around Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher.

So many books, so little time.

Kathi wrote: "however, read the newer sequels by Brian Herbert... and I DON'T think I'll reread everything a..."

Don't bother, I was terribly disappointed by the finale Sandworms of Dune buy the twins. I make it the actual worst book I have ever read. Totally turned my off Anderson and Herbert.

Well, I finished Dune Messiah yesterday and am starting Children of Dune. There were parts of Messiah that were still a little too subtle for me but mostly I knew what was going on and enjoyed it. I can see why it really confused me in high school though!

I don't have super high expectations for book 3 because a lot of people have told me that the series goes downhill from there, but I still want to read it. My husband loves the entire series, so he's got them all and they're all falling apart he's read them so many times, so I might as well!

Ken wrote: "Don't bother, I was terribly disappointed by the finale Sandworms of Dune buy the t..."

Ken, I tend to be a "completist" so I'll probably give them a try, including Sandworms. But I won't have high expectations.

Finished To Reign in Hell (my review) yesterday and Brothers in Arms (my reivew) this morning.

Moving on to Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was and hoping the cold medicine doesn't interfere with comprehension and absorption.

I read Bridge of Birds a long time ago and loved it :)

I'm going to try to read A Clockwork Orange, Anansi Boys, and Island of the Sequined Love Nun.

I'm reading and Forever Odd...it's apparently an odd month. Both were gifts and I realize that it's the second Odd Thomas book and I've never read the first but it was a gift. actually both were.

The pendulum has finally swung and I have embarked upon a fantasy binge. I'm reading Assassin's Apprentice right now and I CAN NOT put it down. I think it's the best of the trilogy by far. Next up I want to finally read and finish To Ride Hell's Chasm and hopefully move on to The Way of Shadows before I start craving space ships and aliens again...

Sisimka - I'm reading Shadow's Edge now. Just 100 pages left. It's awesome. I like The Way of Shadows even more I think.

After that, it's on to book 3, Beyond the Shadows

I also loved Assassin's Apprentice and TRHC, so you're certainly on a good fantasy streak there.

Finally finished The Hidden City and it was great.
Now starting in on Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America and its quite reminisant of Fitzpatrick's War, well so far. Same sort of world, same sort of writing style.

I am taking a break from Children of Dune (and from SF/F, for that matter) to read The Help for my book club which meets tomorrow - I'm about halfway done - got to get cracking! It's very good, if anyone is looking for a break from the SF/F genre.

Hope you like Julian Comstock, Ken. That was easily one of the best novels I read last year.

Just finished Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

Other fantasy novels read this month:

The Knight by Gene Wolfe
the rest are novels in the Warhammer setting,
Konrad - David Ferring
Shadowbreed - David Ferring
Drachenfels - Jack Yeovil

I loved Sailing to Sarantium, and its sequel Lord of Emperors. What did you think?

Well, I ditched Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov. It wasn't entirely bad, but I felt like it took way too long to get to the point. I may give it another shot in the future.

I started Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh, which I read a long time ago, but I never continued with the rest of the series. I just bought the last couple of books in the series, so I'm planning to sink my teeth into this one. I usually read a couple of books by C.J. Cherryh a year, but it's been a long time now so I really am looking forward to this one!

I just finished Mirror Dance and I'm about to start a reread of A Wrinkle in Time for a read-a-long of the series.

Shel wrote: "I loved Sailing to Sarantium, and its sequel Lord of Emperors. What did you think?"

Reading Lord of Emperors at the moment, Guy Gavriel Kay is really good at telling stories.

Just started The Book of Lost Things.

Stefan wrote: "I started Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh, which I read a long time ago, but I never continued with the rest of the series. I just bought the last couple of books in the series, so I'm planning to sink my teeth into this one. "

I also read some books in this series years ago, and then bought more when she added to it. I, too, would need to reread from the start but that's pretty far down my list. These books were my introduction to Cherryh, and I liked them a lot. But I also read her Russian folklore fantasy trilogy and didn't care for those books at all.

This month I've read the first five books of The Great Book of Amber, by Roger Zelazny, and now I'm a little more than halfway through an ARC of Heresy by S.J. Parris.

Next up I'm thinking something of the pseudo-Victorian - either The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber or The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen M. Beckett.

I am finishing the third book of the Julian May's Saga of the Pliocene Exile, which I have really enjoyed, apparently there is a fourth book which I yet to acquire. The series reminds of the Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle/Majipoor series in its balance of sci-fi and fantasy. If I can track down the fourth book that will be the next read...one thing is certain there is no shortage of good books awaiting some attention.

BB

I acquired the Saga of the Pliocene Exile a few years back when I started shopping at used book stores. I have yet to read it, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I am encouraged to read older things that I would otherwise pass by, and since I've been shopping at used book stores, I've acquired several older series that were once the "latest and greatest".

Kathi wrote: "I acquired the Saga of the Pliocene Exile a few years back when I started shopping at used book stores. I have yet to read it, but I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. I am encouraged to read older t..."

There are some great finds in used bookstores, sadly in the large chain bookstores sci-fi & fantasy sections are constantly shrinking. The cover art of the Pliocene series is so so for the edition I have but the story is different and compelling.

BB

I remember picking the Pliocene exile way back in High School, early 80's. Excellent series.

Yeah, I think somewhere along the line I've missed a number of "classics", even though I've been reading fantasy and SF since I was very young (Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, tons of Andre Norton books). So I'm picking up some of them as an adult.

So far this month I've read:



I'm hoping to get to:



Its been a great reading year so far. All but one have been 5 star reads!

Kathi,
I know that I have read some Andre Norton books when I was a teenager, naturally I can't remember the titles so in a sense all would be new, Can you recomend any Norton tiles that you particularly liked?

BB