Temeraire is so perfectly delightful (except for the several “emo Laurence” installments, which we seem to be getting past now). I wanna dragon bestie. 
If you enjoy audiobooks, the Temeraire ones are very good–narrator is just perfect.
I’ve got a couple of books on the reading pile at the moment. Just finished My Beloved Brontosaurus by Brian Switek. It was a light-but-intriguing look at the current debates in paleontology from a layperson’s / dinogeek perspective.
So on to Blue Monday by Nicci French, a book recommended by a Canadian penpal of mine. It’s been page-turning so far. I like the character of Dr. Frieda Klein, with her no-nonsense attitude and firm boundaries. Not quite as sure about the plot, but I’m not done yet, either.
I’m also reading A Mortal Bane by Roberta Gellis. I find some aspects of this historical mystery compelling, such as the vital importance of the papal bull for the Bishop of Winchester, and reading something set in a brothel during medieval times with at least some plausible-sounding detail has caught my interest. The characters aren’t nearly as fascinating or realistic as some I’ve read: a beautiful madam with a heart of gold? The stubborn-but-virtuous knight who can’t help but fall in love with her at first sight but fights it. Ummm, okay. Easy enough to tell that Gellis mostly writes romances, not mysteries. I’ll finish this one, but unless the author’s really clever with the resolution of the mystery, I’m not likely to seek out more.
And LawMonkey, you were right about the female protagonist in Lirael and Abhorsen - loved her. It took me a while to twig that she was female, though; I need to be more observant!
ISTR that she introduces herself as “the Disreputable Bitch, technically”, fairly early on. On the other hand, I think I’m skipping Sameth’s chapters next time I visit the series. If necessary, I’ll check wikipedia to refresh my memory.
I just read The Martian Child, by David Gerrold of The Trouble With Tribbles fame. It’s based on his 1995 Hugo-winning novelette. The book calls itself a novel based on a true story, and it seems to be mostly a memoir about Gerrold’s adoption of an abused, troubled 8-yr-old boy. The child occasionally claims to be a Martian, and at first the narrator shrugs at this, understanding it to be a coping mechanism. Then the book turns kind of weird when the narrator begins to take his son’s claim seriously.
The parts which seem to be a straight memoir about the adoption process are pretty good, although the book is frustratingly slight. I don’t think the fictional Martian element worked very well at all, not mixed in with such a personal story. There’s a movie based on this, starring John Cusack, which I haven’t seen.
I downloaded a free audiobook version of The Peculiar early last month, thanks to www.audiobooksync.com - I wasn’t familiar with the novel or the author, but the description intrigued me.
The novel is set in an alternate-history Dickensian England, some time after an invasion by the Fairy Folk and the Smiling War (so named due to the innumerable grinning skulls in the aftermath of the fighting). The humans and the Fairy Folk have come to an uneasy truce, with highborn members of the Fae as representatives in Parliament, but each group generally keeps to themselves. What mixing there has been resulted in The Peculiars - half-breed children scorned by both groups.
Bartholomew Kettle is one of these Peculiars - living a semi-secluded life in the fairy slums of Bath. However, strange goings-on in his neighborhood may somehow be connected with a string of half-breed children being found in the Thames as empty sacks of skin.
Arthur Jelliby, a somewhat feckless junior member of Parliament finds himself in danger after accidentally stumbling upon another part of this same sinister plot. He becomes a reluctant hero, eventually teaming up with Bartholomew to save England from disaster.
The world-building is a fun mix of fantasy and steampunk - and quite British. Apparently there’s some connection between Bath and the supernatural, as this is the second novel I’ve read recently that has strange goings-on there (The Rook is the other). This novel reminds me a lot of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - a YA version of that world, if you will. I am a bit embarrassed that I didn’t realize the first few times that the narrator referenced “the she” - he meant “the Sidhe” - guess I’d only ever read the word before!
I really got to like Arthur - he turned out to be quite brave, despite his nebbishy start. Bartholomew also showed some nice character development. Both protagonists are pretty well-rounded, and the villains of the story were also well-written. The plot goes along well - no huge surprises or reveals along the way, but there’s some fun bits of action. My only complaint was the narrator’s vocal choice for the Fairy characters - high and grating & not very pleasant to listen to.
I’d recommend the novel to fans of period urban fantasy looking for something on the light side.
Well, there’s another one added. Shit, man, I’m starting to acquire a Pile!
As mentioned elsewhere, I’m currently working on Musashi, and really quite enjoying it. It’s like reading a good samurai movie. (Shocking, I know.) It has me pondering finally dipping my toe into Usagi Yojimbo…
Taiko, by the same author, is also very good.
Started today on You, by Austin Grossman. I like it so far, despite my knowing little about gaming or computers.
When I finish my current reread (Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong), I’m getting ready to read Codex Born, the second book in Jim C. Hines’ Libriomancer series. The first one was a blast, fully of geeky shout-outs and flaming spiders.
I enjoyed this too, even though I don’t know much about gaming either. I think it helped that I’m about the same age as the author/protagonist, so I definitely remember the general time, if nothing else.
Heh - no apologies from me, LawMonkey - heaven knows you’ve contributed often enough to my MountToBeRead!
Read thru the ebook version of Sunset and Sawdust, a Joe R. Lansdale novel, courtesy of the Indiana Digital Media consortium. Ye gods, Landsdale is **not **kind to his characters … the book kicks off with Sunset Jones being beaten by her husband during a tornado and doesn’t get much gentler from there.
However, Ms. Jones rises above the situation and through sheer stubborness manages to solve a mystery and make life better for a few more people along the way. She does make mistakes - and others suffer for it, as does she. The novel is a compelling look at a place and time (1930’s Texas) and a a labor of love.
While Lansdale is known for his horror writing - I’ve enjoyed his historical fiction as much, if more so, than his genre work. In fact, this novel has a nice tip of the hat to his short story (later expanded to a novel) “The Big Blow” - a fictional account of the boxer Jack Johnson and the Galveston Hurricane.
Lansdale’s writing is powerful - deceptively easy on the surface, but he’ll draw you right in and make you feel as if you’re right there in the story. I’ve been careful to stretch out my readings of his body of work - it’s potent stuff that I don’t want to run out of any time soon.
Still enjoying Joe Haldeman’s sf novel Marsbound and Roy Jenkins’s bio Churchill. Jenkins has a lot of funny stories and wry observations about Churchill. Early on in his career, when Churchill held a junior post in the Colonial Office, he wrote a long and very assertive policy memo, concluding with, “These are my views. WSC.” His boss, Lord Elgin, wrote below that, “But not mine. E.”
Re-reading A Storm of Swords, book three in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. My son has to read it this year for English and I am going to read it as well so we can discuss it.
Finished Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. It was okay. Started out stronger than it ended. A British boy orphaned in India about the turn of the 20th century grows up to become a spy for the British government. The pace is much slower than the book’s modern-day counterparts.
Now it’s back to John Burdett and the fifth installment of his Bangkok detective series, Vulture Peak.
You reminded me that I need to start scrounging up the crumbs I’ve missed. Sadly, there don’t appear to be many left, but I see he has something new coming in September! This looks really good.
Kim’s Game is still played by Boy Scouts, and Kipling’s Jungle Book is the basis for the ranks of Cub Scouting.
In the spring, I read “Name of the Wind,” by Patrick Rothfuss, and just this weekend finished his second installment in the Kingkiller series, “The Wise Man’s Fears.” The hero, Kvoth, takes a break from his arcane studies, then travels across the Commonwealth to secure and then serve a patron, learning many an interesting lesson along the way. Of course, his reputation continues to grow as well, with him helping it along every now and then. A very absorbing read.
Am almost done with Emma Bull’s “Territory,” which I’m enjoying very much. Her premise that Wyatt Earp is a type of proto-sorceror in Tombstone, Arizona, is fascinating. Earp is being challenged by Jesse Fox, a reluctant sorceror, who only wants to travel on to Mexico but can’t let Earp and his cronies get away, literally, with murder. The story offers a little romance, a little good horse training, and a brief look into the lives of the Chinese in the West in the 1880s. Worth the time to read, I think.
They engage in espionage against Russia? :eek:
I knew I should have stuck it out past Cub Scouts.
Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain. My heart goes out to children raised in extremist religions, believing that eternal torment awaits them if they displease their parents or religious leaders.
Started Catching Fire. Because so many of the characters in The Hunger Games died in the first novel, it feels like an entirely separate story from what Catching Fire and Mockingjay appear to be. But I want to finish the trilogy.
I’ve checked out a lot of legal thrillers: Rough Justice by Lisa Scottoline, Oblivion by Peter Abrahams, and Defense For The Devil by Kate Wilhelm. I’m a bit indecisive about which one I should read first.