OK gang, here is the April thread. As mentioned in the last thread I am reading The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes. It looks like it is going to be kind of a mix between Sherlock Holmes and “light” fantasy. By “light” fantasy I mean fantasy based in our world, no swords and sorcery, no Elves, but some magic involved. (Anyone have a better term for that?)
The author’s style caught me as amusing, then got old quickly, then got better. So far I’m liking it, but we’ll see.
Master and Commander (The first novel)
Also - Equal Rites, and Lords and Ladies (Discworld)
I just started Jonathan Kellerman’s Obsession. I’m beginning to think that I’m burned out on Jonathan Kellerman. 
I just read Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. I thought it was a hilariously written book and that was the first I’ve read of him, so I’m going to pick up a few of his other books soon and dive into them. 
In the interim, my friend recommended a Piers Anthony book to me and I’ve never read any of his stuff, so I’ll probably hit that next. A Spell for Chameleon is the name of it.
I’m galloping through Steve Toltz’s “A Fraction of the Whole”. It’s a rollicking tale of a disfunctional Austrailian family. I love it so far.
On the bedstand…“The Yiddish Policemen’s Union”, I’m about a year behind on this one, but it slipped to the bottom of my pile a few months ago when I got all of Stephen J. Gould’s books at a used book store “going out of business” sale.
also Half Life by Hal Clement and I’m still trying to get thorough the Baroque Cycle. It will happen this year!
*Loss and Gain * by Cardinal Newman.
Rome and Jerusalem by Martin Goodman
Zev Steinhardt
I just finished reading SM Stirling’s new book Court of the Crimson Kings, as well as Hans Halberstadt’s book Trigger Men about snipers in Iraq. Right now I am re-reading SM Stirling’ Island in the Sea of Time trilogy—I’m on the last book.
Just marking time till Jim Butcher’s latest Harry Dresden novel comes out.
Urban fantasy?
I’m still working on The Dragonbone Chair and Kushiel’s Justice. I’ve added Tennyson’s Idylls of the King and Vidal’s 1876. I haven’t read Idylls in a while, so this is a “do I keep it?” re-read. I’m about three chapters in 1876, which, like the other Vidal book I’ve read, is kind of disconcerting at first because he drops you right in the time period. After about fifty pages it’s really engrossing, though.
Does the time-frame matter? I mean, is it still urban fantasy if it is set in the late 1800s?
Murder in LaMut, by Raymond Feist and Joel Forstenberg.
“The Gulag Archipelago” by Solzhenitsyn in the upstairs bathroom, “Economics For Dummies” at work, and “The Majipoor Chronicles” by Robert Silverberg for fun.
Okay, that’s when Xanth was still relatively good (that book in particular won a Hugo). I’d suggest reading maybe the first six of the Xanth series (A Spell For Chameleon; The Source of Magic; Castle Roogna; Centaur Aisle; Ogre, Ogre and Night Mare). After Night Mare things start getting really juvenile and silly and at the same time increasingly perverted. I’m kind of unhappy stopping you there if only because Dragon on a Pedestal (the next book) was my first Xanth book, and I have a soft spot for it…it’s a borderline book, though. The pun invasion and the dirty fairy tale quality began in force in the book after that, Crewel Lye…everything after that is pretty much crap.
The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs (the guy who read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica). I’m liking it a lot.
Chiming in so this will pop up in my Subscribed Threads. Still on Rabbit Is Rich, by John Updike, the third in his Rabbit series. About halfway through. Iy is very good. Man, it is REALLY making me nostalgic for 1979.
I just finished Peony in Love by Lisa See, which is deeply moving and lyrically beautiful, and The Execution of Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas, which is… kinda talky. Okay, really talky and long-winded at parts, but I got a kick out of it.
I’ve got The In-Between World of Vikram Lall up on my bookshelf along with Wicked, and I also just reread Vol 714 pour Sydney by Herge (shut up, Tintin is too a classic).
I just picked up Tim Powers’ **The Anubis Gates ** and plan to re-read it for the third or fourth time. Published in 1983, it is a wonderful time travel story, and the best (IMHO) of Powers’ books. Which is saying a lot.
When my friend recommended it, he said he’d only read a couple of the Xanth novels (although he’d read other things by Piers Anthony). I don’t think he’s gotten that far yet, he’s one of the types that bounces around series and never sticks to one at a time. I’ll keep that in mind and give him a heads up about it as well.
The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, by David Shields. As deeply insightful as the title.
I include the quote here because otherwise I’d have to figure out what to say about it, and mine would be more like: Reading this book is like paddling a canoe around a retention pond. You don’t see any fish and you know you aren’t going to get anywhere. (Still working on my metaphor).
I’m also reading The BFG to my son. It’s possibly the only Roald Dahl book left that I haven’t read, and it’s pretty good so far. My reading-aloud BFG voice is horrible, though…like Steve Irwin gone mad.
I’m almost finished with The Fall of Angels one of the Recluce books. I may read the next one…I haven’t decided yet. I just recieved Brother John in the mail from paperbackswap.com . I’m not certain I’m too enthusiastic about this one. I have the other two in the series, so I went ahead and requested this one. But the last one was just terrible. By far the best one is The First Duelist which is only semi-related to the other two, and can really work as a stand alone book.
I really wish I liked Stirling’s stuff, but the only book of his I can stand is Conquistador. I may have to head out to the book store and see if anything strikes my fancy. Although I’ll be traveling for a couple of weeks here soon, so maybe I can get into something more seriouse like Don Quixote or something.