Whatcha Readin' August 2012 Edition

[tellyworth]

Originally Posted by tellyworth

I started Ivanhoe last night, but I'm not sure yet if I'll stick with it.

Couldn't get into it. Instead I read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; and now I've started The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien.

[jsgoddess]

Reading Juliet Marillier for the first time. Wildwood Dancing. Pretty enjoyable so far, though I have a bad feeling about one of the themes.

Originally Posted by tellyworth

Couldn't get into it. Instead I read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; and now I've started The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien.

Ivanhoe is weird. I read it first as a kid and loved it (there was a movie on TV with Olivia Hussey in it). Now I can't decide if I still love it or if it's horrible and ghastly.

[Chefguy]

I slogged through Creole Belle, by James Lee Burke, and was, for the first time, disappointed in one of his books. Disappointed enough to post a 3-star review, and three stars is only because I respect his body of work. Tedious, verbose, unbelievable plot and characters. I fear the saga of Dave Robicheau and Cletus Purcell has come to an end.

[RandMcnally]

I'm not sure what I should start next. I kinda want to read "Regeneration" by Pat Barker. If not that I was thinking of "Confront and Conceal," which is about Obama and the use of abnormal force, such as the virus that shut down Iran's labs.

Maybe I'll go with both...?

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Dung Beetle

Thanks for reminding me I wanted to read this!

Finished last night, loved it. Road trip books are becoming my favorite genre. This one is also the story of a marriage, and I like those too, especially if the couple has been together for a long time. Live and learn, from the mistakes of others.

Tonight I'll start the new one by Tim Egan, nonfiction about the life of Edward Curtis, the noted photographer of American Indians in the late 1800's/early 1900's.

After that will be The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, the new one by Jonathan Evison, who wrote West of Here, which I really liked. It's another road trip novel!

[Battle Pope]

Just started Goliath last night. 3rd book in the Leviathen series. YA, steampunk/alternate history series which is a quick, fun read.

The fourth book in the Sandman Slim series comes out in a few days so that will be next.

[PoorMarie]

Ada or Ardor by Nabokov. Wish I was way smarter than I am. This man puns in at least three languages and most of them are sexual puns. I'm getting about ten percent of the jokes but it is still one of the funniest books I've ever read.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by jsgoddess

...Ivanhoe is weird. I read it first as a kid and loved it (there was a movie on TV with Olivia Hussey in it). Now I can't decide if I still love it or if it's horrible and ghastly.

Isn't that kinda the definition of a guilty pleasure?

[jsgoddess]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Isn't that kinda the definition of a guilty pleasure?

No, I don't care if other people know I maybe love it to pieces. I just can't assess it honestly.

[Shakester]

Originally Posted by jsgoddess

Reading Juliet Marillier for the first time. Wildwood Dancing. Pretty enjoyable so far, though I have a bad feeling about one of the themes.

I've never read any of her stuff, since it's totally not my thing at all, but I know the family, and I can verify that Juliet is a Very Nice Person.

[Meurglys]

Originally Posted by Politzania

Am about 2/3 through The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett's recent collaboration with Stephen Baxter and I'm really enjoying it. The novel feels more traditional SF than what I'm used to with Pratchett (tho there are some phrases/elements that are pure Pterry - having a potato power the Stepper? ), so I wonder how much of the heavy lifting was Baxter. Once I'm done - anyone have any reccos on where to start with SB's work?

I thought The Long Earth was ok, but could have been much better. The voyage they went on ended up being quite boring, imo.

But I'm currently reading Stephen Baxter's latest novel, Iron Winter, and enjoying it a lot. It's the 3rd in his Northland series, an alternate history where the North Sea isn't flooded by rising sea-levels but remains inhabitable. Because they built a massive great wall to keep the water back!
The first is Stone Spring, set in neolithic times as they first see the rising waters, the 2nd is Bronze Summer, set in the Bronze Age, and now Iron Winter set in 1315 at the start of a little ice age and climate change is afecting the whole world, especially the vast Gormenghast-like city-wall holding back the sea.
Vol 1 was quite slow but good, vol 2 moved faster but I didn't enjoy it so much, and vol 3 is very good so far.

I haven't read much of his sf because I often find his style a bit dry but his more recent books seem better - the pair Flood and Ark, the quartet that begins with Emperor... Avoid Moonseed. it's awful.

[Max Torque]

Finished the first four books of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. Not great literature or anything, but entertaining; an interesting new addition to the Frankenstein mythology. Certainly way better than the last Koontz book I read, many years ago. Someone's checked out the fifth book, though, so I'll have to wait for it.

[Khadaji]

Originally Posted by Max Torque

Finished the first four books of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. Not great literature or anything, but entertaining; an interesting new addition to the Frankenstein mythology. Certainly way better than the last Koontz book I read, many years ago. Someone's checked out the fifth book, though, so I'll have to wait for it.

I read the first one and was totally excited about the series, but I didn't feel it lived up to its potential. The others were less good and I don't even remember too much about the last one.

I like Koontz - or did - but am finding his books haven't been great lately. (Although I am still enjoying the Odd series.)

[RandMcnally]

Originally Posted by RandMcnally

I'm not sure what I should start next. I kinda want to read "Regeneration" by Pat Barker. If not that I was thinking of "Confront and Conceal," which is about Obama and the use of abnormal force, such as the virus that shut down Iran's labs.

Maybe I'll go with both...?

Ok, I couldn't decide so I went with both.

And I added "Good Omens" to the list. So far I'm liking all three of them.

[Politzania]

Originally Posted by Meurglys

I thought The Long Earth was ok, but could have been much better. The voyage they went on ended up being quite boring, imo.

Hm - I rather enjoyed it - but I'm a fan of travelogues. I did find myself wondering if Lobsang's naming his airship Mark Twain was an homage to Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld ?

Originally Posted by Meurglys

But I'm currently reading Stephen Baxter's latest novel, Iron Winter, and enjoying it a lot. It's the 3rd in his Northland series, an alternate history where the North Sea isn't flooded by rising sea-levels but remains inhabitable. Because they built a massive great wall to keep the water back!
The first is Stone Spring, set in neolithic times as they first see the rising waters, the 2nd is Bronze Summer, set in the Bronze Age, and now Iron Winter set in 1315 at the start of a little ice age and climate change is afecting the whole world, especially the vast Gormenghast-like city-wall holding back the sea.
Vol 1 was quite slow but good, vol 2 moved faster but I didn't enjoy it so much, and vol 3 is very good so far.

I haven't read much of his sf because I often find his style a bit dry but his more recent books seem better - the pair Flood and Ark, the quartet that begins with Emperor... Avoid Moonseed. it's awful.

Recommendations noted - the local library has Stone Spring, so may give that a whirl.

Am about 10% into Dan Simmons' The Terror; Based on historical events, a mid 1800's Arctic expedition goes horribly (and perhaps supernaturally) wrong. I'm just to the part where the ships are trapped in the ice and the "something" is not only plucking men off the deck, but also trying to break into the ship. It's somewhat slow going, but if you like exploration stories that deal in the nitty-gritty of survival, this has been entertaining so far. It probably helps that I've read a couple of contemporary naval-based series recently* , so am familiar with the social structure, as well as some of the terminology.

* The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik and L.A. Meyer's Bloody Jack series

[yanceylebeef]

Finished The Apocalypse Codex. Really good addition to the Laundry series. I just downloaded The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. Looking forward to a good survival story.
Has anyone read Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot? I read the summary on amazon and bought it on a whim. Well see.

[jsgoddess]

Originally Posted by Shakester

I've never read any of her stuff, since it's totally not my thing at all, but I know the family, and I can verify that Juliet is a Very Nice Person.

Well, the Very Nice Person wrote a Very Nice Book. It's not exactly my thing either, since it ended up feeling more like a romance novel than a fantasy, but it's appealing.

[Elendil's Heir]

Just finished Peter Hennessy's magisterial The Prime Minister, about top British elected leaders since 1945, and how the job has evolved in that time, esp. with the advent of nuclear weapons and the 24/7 news cycle. Hennessy gives Clement Attlee and Margaret Thatcher top marks as the most capable, influential and powerful PMs since World War II, although of course towards completely different ends. Next I'm reading Hennessy's Muddling Through, a collection of essays on contemporary British politics. He has a very lively, interesting style.

[Battle Pope]

Not long ago I finished The Last Man on Earth Club. Quite a good read with an interesting premise: interstellar travel is almost impossible but inter-universe travel is. There is an organization a bit like the UN that makes contact with the "Earth" in each one. The novel focuses on six people, each the last survivor of whatever apocalypse has hit their world, and the psychologist working them through their trauma treatment.

[SCAdian]

Reread Eric Flint's 1632 and 1633, and am now reading 1634: The Baltic War, with 1634: The Bavarian Crisis waiting its turn.

Also just finished The Grange at High Force, and am reading The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler (the 1965 and 1977 winners, respectively, of the Carnegie Medal in Literature).

And I'm still working on The Viking Art of War, as well....

[Dung Beetle]

Re: Wool, by Hugh Howey

Originally Posted by yanceylebeef

You are in for a ride. I tore through the five books in about a week and a half. Great world building!

It really was a good ride. I was totally swept up in this dystopian tale, despite some incidents that strained credulity. However, I agree with someone over at Goodreads who said it ought to have been named Silo!

Next up, The Glass Demon, a mystery about a historical stained glass panel, said to be haunted. One nitpick so far…I had to read an annoying number of pages before I could figure out what the relationship was between the narrator and the other person she was talking to. I read it twice to see if I was missing the clues, but they just weren’t there. It’s assumed you already know that Tuesday is the protagonist’s stepmother.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

I just read a really cute novel: The Call, by Yannick Murphy. It's about a veterinarian in rural New England with an overly active imagination, which he uses to help deal with a struggling practice and a series of family crises. The book has a quirky format: it's structured like a series of log entries, which begin with descriptions of his animal visits but quickly stretch to cover his entire life. I enjoyed it.

I read a novel written in the 80's called Elleander Morning, by Jerry Yulsman. It's a book about a time-travel plot to kill Hitler, which sounds clichéd, but I've never actually read a story with that plot before. The book is a little strange, but I liked it pretty well.

I also picked up Knots and Crosses, the first Inspector Rebus novel by Ian Rankin. It's a contemporary crime/mystery series set in Edinburgh. I was lukewarm on this one - I liked it just barely well enough to try the next one, to see if they get better.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

...I read a novel written in the 80's called Elleander Morning, by Jerry Yulsman. It's a book about a time-travel plot to kill Hitler, which sounds clichéd, but I've never actually read a story with that plot before. The book is a little strange, but I liked it pretty well....

One of my favorites! The mechanism of time travel is never really explained, but I thought it was a great book. I got my copy from the Science Fiction Book Club back when it was first published.

[Politzania]

Grrrr - my library e-copy of The Terror expires today and I've still got 40% left to read! I'd gladly pay an overdue fine if I could just keep it a few days longer - guess that's a drawback of e-lending. At least the Kindle/Kindle app will remember where I was when I check it out again.

Speaking of library e-books - the Diane Rhem Show did a segment on this topic - I listened to about the first 20 minutes & quite enjoyed it - will have to finish it online.

Am finally getting around to Mark Kurlansky's The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation - I usually don't do nonfiction audiobooks, but Kurlansky's style lends itself to listening better than most & George Guidall is quite engaging - and (as best I can tell) doing quite well with the Basque/Euskera words. Spanish was my college major, so some of the history rings a bell, but it's fascinating to hear it from "the other side". Am only about 20% in, but I hope it continues to be as absorbing.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

I read a novel written in the 80's called Elleander Morning, by Jerry Yulsman. It's a book about a time-travel plot to kill Hitler, which sounds clichéd, but I've never actually read a story with that plot before. The book is a little strange, but I liked it pretty well.

I read this one after hearing about it in a thread here a few years back. If I remember right, the thread was something like "Recommend a book nobody else has probably read." Found some good ones there.

I agree, it's weird that there haven't been more time travel books focusing on a Hitler assassination. He's the guy that everybody would kill if they had a time machine, so why not more books about it?

Just finished Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, liked it a lot. I think Flynn might be a bit twisted, in a good way.

[LavenderBlue]

I was reading the Lady Colin Campbell bio of the Queen Mother. It was amusingly awful. Her basic premise is that a) the QM was a lazy, fat, social climbing slob and b) the world would have been off had Wallis and the Nazi loving Edward the 8th been allowed to stay on the throne during WWII.

So we're treated to pages and pages and pages of ridiculous gossip. The QM was not the countesses's of Strathmere's daughter. She was the product of the cook and her father the Earl. She really didn't love the Duke of York. She was actually in love with the Prince of Wales who rightfully spurned her piggy figure for that of the slender Wallis. Wallis wasn't really a social climbing, Nazi loving, sexually disordered, lazy, racist, anti-Semitic, unfaithful, clotheshorse who was only interested in getting her grubby hands on anything she could.

Nah. Wallis was really a lovely, chic, Nazi spurning, kind, picked on victim who really should have inherited her uncle's millions and only hated the QM because Elizabeth was a phoney.

The author also dabbles in nonsense like her assertion that vaccines were responsible for the flu epidemic of 1918 and Elizabeth had Huntington's disease in her family and lied about it.

I kept picturing the author's former in-law, a duchess by marriage, telling her the most outrageous lies and then running off to tell her friends about the latest lie she'd fed to her gullible daughter in law.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

That sounds hilarious, LavenderBlue.

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I read this one after hearing about it in a thread here a few years back. If I remember right, the thread was something like "Recommend a book nobody else has probably read." Found some good ones there.

I'm pretty sure I ordered my copy after you mentioned it in a thread here. It just took me a while to get around to actually reading it. I'm going to have to start making notes somewhere about where I hear about books. I'll look at a book on my to-read shelf (or a movie in my Netflix queue) and draw a complete blank as to why I have it.

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

I'm going to have to start making notes somewhere about where I hear about books. I'll look at a book on my to-read shelf (or a movie in my Netflix queue) and draw a complete blank as to why I have it.

I've considered doing this too, so I can remember who to thank (or whose recommendations to ignore).

There was some yelling once, when I thanked koeeoaddi for a book originally recommended by twickster. Good times.

[Blackberry]

I just finished January First, written by the father of a little girl with schizophrenia. You might have seen them on Oprah or Discovery Health. It was not great writing, but still an interesting story.

Now I just started Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn because I really liked Gone Girl.

[RandMcnally]

Originally Posted by RandMcnally

And I added "Good Omens" to the list. So far I'm liking all three of them.

I finished "Good Omens" last night. I really liked it up until the end. IMHO, I felt as if it kinda ran out of steam. Plus, I hated the character Adam. Hated him so very, very much. I thought he was annoying as hell (HA!).

[LavenderBlue]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

That sounds hilarious, LavenderBlue.

Lady Colin Campbell is hysterically funny if you read her in the right mood and right tone. She wrote a really nasty bio about Princess Di before she died. The book was rather obviously intended as a hatchet job by her caddish husband. Colin actually began life as a boy and then became a girl in her teens so I think she harbors a natural sympathy for Wallis that is wholly undeserved. She's the sort of woman Americans love to listen to and then heave a sigh of relief that we don't have to deal with the arrogance of a smug, inherited aristocratic class anymore.

[Chimera]

Bought Stardust a few years back and for one reason or another, was never able to crack it. Sat languishing until last night. Two thirds of the way through it I wondered if iTunes carried the movie. Yes, and it was $9.99, so I bought it and loaded it on my iPad. Wouldn't allow myself to touch it until I finished the book, which I did before I left work today (read most of the rest at lunch and only the last 8-10 pages in the quiet time before the end of my work day). Started watching the movie on the way home. Already disappointed with the changes.

[Tangent]

I saw the movie Stardust before reading the story. I really loved the movie, but the book--while very enjoyable--didn't delight me as much as the movie did. The only exception is that I didn't really care for Robert De Niro's character in the movie.

[Rollo Tomasi]

I preferred the book of Stardust to the movie except for the ending. The movie wrapped things up very nicely (albeit in an extremely fairy tale-ish way), while I always found the ending of the book rather unsatisfying.

[SCAdian]

Elleander Morning:

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

One of my favorites! The mechanism of time travel is never really explained, but I thought it was a great book. I got my copy from the Science Fiction Book Club back when it was first published.

Ditto!! Unfortunately my copy seems to have vanished during one of my many moves, so I had to ILL it when I wanted to reread it a couple years ago....

[SCAdian]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I read this one after hearing about it in a thread here a few years back. If I remember right, the thread was something like "Recommend a book nobody else has probably read." Found some good ones there.

I agree, it's weird that there haven't been more time travel books focusing on a Hitler assassination. He's the guy that everybody would kill if they had a time machine, so why not more books about it?

Not at all surprised that Elleander Morning would end up on a thread like that. Might have recommended it myself if I'd seen the thread....

"Missives from Possible Futures #1: Alternate History Search Results," by John Scalzi. See scenario 6....

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

...I read a novel written in the 80's called Elleander Morning, by Jerry Yulsman. It's a book about a time-travel plot to kill Hitler, which sounds clichéd, but I've never actually read a story with that plot before....

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

...I agree, it's weird that there haven't been more time travel books focusing on a Hitler assassination. He's the guy that everybody would kill if they had a time machine, so why not more books about it?....

Hope you both like this short-short story: http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory

[Dung Beetle]

I finished The Glass Demon. It was a pretty decent read, I’m going to give this author’s other books a try as well.

Next up: The Weird: a compendium of strange and dark stories. I’ve actually had this out of the library before and had to return it because I just didn’t have the time. This book is about three inches thick! Some of these stories I’ve read before, and I may have to cherry-pick the rest, or I’ll be lugging this doorstop around until Halloween.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

Originally Posted by LavenderBlue

Lady Colin Campbell is hysterically funny if you read her in the right mood and right tone. She wrote a really nasty bio about Princess Di before she died. The book was rather obviously intended as a hatchet job by her caddish husband. Colin actually began life as a boy and then became a girl in her teens so I think she harbors a natural sympathy for Wallis that is wholly undeserved. She's the sort of woman Americans love to listen to and then heave a sigh of relief that we don't have to deal with the arrogance of a smug, inherited aristocratic class anymore.

Have you seen the new Madonna movie about Wallis, W.E.? It depicts Wallis's "existential loneliness" as she's swept up by the tide of events and trapped into marriage: "You have no idea how hard it is to live out the great romance of the century, and to know I will have to be with him, always and always and always and always."

[Sigmagirl]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

I just read a really cute novel: The Call, by Yannick Murphy. It's about a veterinarian in rural New England with an overly active imagination, which he uses to help deal with a struggling practice and a series of family crises. The book has a quirky format: it's structured like a series of log entries, which begin with descriptions of his animal visits but quickly stretch to cover his entire life. I enjoyed it.

I posted about this back in February. Yes, I liked it too. Now reading Criminal by Karen Slaughter, another serial-killer book. This one has lots of flashbacks to 1975 when one of the female characters was just starting out in the police; it's shocking and all too true to remember what life was like for women back then. Even more shocking than the murders, because I expected that, because, you know, it's a serial-killer book.

[twickster]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I've considered doing this too, so I can remember who to thank (or whose recommendations to ignore).

There was some yelling once, when I thanked koeeoaddi for a book originally recommended by twickster. Good times.

Thank god that was before I was a mod, or it could've gotten really ugly.

[LavenderBlue]

Originally Posted by Eleanor of Aquitaine

Have you seen the new Madonna movie about Wallis, W.E.? It depicts Wallis's "existential loneliness" as she's swept up by the tide of events and trapped into marriage: "You have no idea how hard it is to live out the great romance of the century, and to know I will have to be with him, always and always and always and always."

I'm waiting for it on cable. Madonna apparently focused on clothing and little else.

Wallis just gets on my nerves. She was a spoiled whiner who married an in-bred twit, cozied up to Nazis and spent her days doing nothing but buying clothing and complaining that people did not curtsey to her. The only good thing you can say about her is that she took her husband the Nazi appeaser off the throne.

[Siam Sam]

Finished Trunk Music, by Michael Connelly, the fourth book in the Harry Bosch detective series. Much better than the previous installment, The Last Coyote. Those are the only two in the series I've read so far.

Now I'll spend some time reading through relevant sections of the Lonely Planet Japan guidebook. I started a thread a short time ago asking for advice about gorilla-watching in Rwanda, but that will be three or four years from now. For our Songkran getaway next April, I promised the wife Japan.

[Elendil's Heir]

Find a gorilla in Osaka, and you're golden.

[Jack Batty]

I finished the Hunter S. Thompson biography, and since I didn't have another book queued up and ready to go, I'm now re-reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for like the fifth time.

[delphica]

I read Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, which was one of the Pulitzer nominees for Fiction, and I cannot figure out why it wouldn't have gotten the prize. It was really incredible, a very short and sparse novella following a working class man through his life in the northern plains in the early part of the 20th century. The writing is beautiful.

[Politzania]

I've really been enjoying Yes, Chef: A Memoir by Marcus Samuelsson. A refugee child from Ethopia, adopted by a Swedish couple, Marcus tells his story of becoming a talented chef whose travels have taken him around the world as well as back to his homeland.
Samuelsson has a very engaging style; and speaks frankly of the mistakes he's made as well as his triumphs. His love of food and of creation shines through - he references "chasing flavors" many times and provides examples of how he's done just that. He credits his adoptive family with helping build his character and giving him the tools to succeed. He has also shared his success with his birth family; convincing his father to send his half-sisters to school so that they may have a better life.

Despite not being a foodie; I find myself having read several chef memoirs over the years and have enjoyed the stories overall. I'd love to be in on a conversation between Samuelsson and Jeff Henderson; to hear them compare and contrast their experiences as African/African-American men in the world of cooking. And you know, Tony Bourdain might be more fun to party with; but I think I'd much rather sit down to a quiet dinner hosted by Marcus Samuelsson.

[Khadaji]

September's thread: Link

[astorian]

I just started E.M. Forster's Howard's End (I never saw the movie).

[Ian D. Bergkamp]

Although I very much enjoyed Joe Hill's first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, and his short-story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, I never got around to his second novel, Horns, because what little I knew about it (a guy wakes up from a bender with horns on his head and people start revealing secrets to him) frankly didn't seem all that interesting.

But, in anticipation of his upcoming book, I finally decided to give Horns a read. I wish now that I hadn't waited to so long. It was very hard to put down. Even though this has been a busy week for me, I picked it up on Wednesday afternoon and finished it by Thursday night.

It's not a perfect book, but it's very good.