I’m about 100 pages into Master and Commander. I don’t think I’ve understood ten words so far.
But I’m enjoying it. It’s like watching cricket highlights. I have no idea what the hell they’re going on about, but it’s fun to listen to.
Bumping into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business(Amazon link). Danny Goldberg was deeply connected in the music business from the late 60’s through the early 90’s, writing columns, doing PR for Led Zeppelin and managing Nirvana. This is his collection of stories…
Finished Unlikely Friendships a collection of stories about animals that formed friendship bonds.
It was OK, and helped pass time when I had down-time at work, but the stories were bare-bones. Mostly just descriptions of the animals and a brief description of how they bonded. I came away wanting more detail.
W00t! Just discovered that Steven Brust has a Dragaera short story available for the Kindle on amazon.com. I’m sure it’ll be 99 cents well spent.
In other news, I’ve placed a hold on Flashman and the Dragon from the library. I was a bit surprised to realize that I’ve demolished most of the Flashman series since the dope introduced me to it sometime in the last year. I think I’ve only got three to go, including Dragon.
Meanwhile continuing Tristram Shandy, which is quietly delightful in its mellow, meandering way.
Those are my favorite books, I’ve read them all at least twice, and over the weekend I still had to look up what “sailing large” means. It’s marvelous to hear the nautical stuff read aloud - my husband and I do a lot of driving in the fall, and we’ve just started an audiobook of The Ionian Mission.
For a creepy October read, I’ve started Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman. It’s an alternate history of Bram Stoker’s *Dracula *universe, in which Vlad Tepes triumphed over Van Helsing and has married Queen Victoria. It incororates a ton of characters from Victorian literature and from all kinds of vampire fiction - wikipedia has a long list. I’m unfamiliar with most of them, but I’m enjoying the book anyway.
After hearing people rave about Terry Pratchett for years, I’m finally going to Discworld. I’m starting with “Night Watch.”
I loved Anno Dracula. Not really creepy, Dracula only appears in the final chapter and you already know who Jack the Ripper is from the opening chapter but the literary mash ups were fun to read. Newman even gives nods to Prince Mamuwalde and the hopping vampire from the Hong Kong Mr. Vampire movies. 
I’m reading Habibi by Craig Thompson. Is this the best graphic novel of 2011? It should be.
Well, I’m reading Terry Pratchett’s new book, Snuff. I have, through mysterious and inexplicable means, obtained a pre-release copy.
I’m about 40% into it. It’s good, a bit of a return to form after Unseen Academicals. I didn’t hate UA, but it wasn’t one of his better Discworld books. Snuff, however, is a Sam Vimes story, and Vimes is a great character. It’s classic Pratchett.
I’ll be looking for it. I love Vimes but don’t care for the Unseen stuff as much myself.
I just finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It’s awesome. Even the fact that it ends abruptly without resolution doesn’t bother me because I’ve already got the sequel, The Fall of Hyperion, on deck.
I just finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman. A few months ago I asked people for suggestions for a “dark Narnia” and this is the book that got the most recommendations. Well. It’s definitely unabashedly like Narnia, I’ll give people that. But it’s not nearly as dark as I was hoping for. Still, I do plan to read at least the next book.
Finished Snuff.
My two word review: Classic Pratchett.
Well, I found it creepy. Especially that final chapter with Dracula. But I agree, the literary mashups were fun, as were the references to historical figures.
I finally finished American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Considering it won it Pulitzer, I expected it to be better.
It’s also tough to read a mostly positive biography about a guy who was so blind to his dangerous inconsistencies.
Now I’m going through Edith Wharton’s Ghost Stories, because Halloween.
In the middle of Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick. Really fun read; seriously, it’s very difficult to put down. And some time I’ll get around to solving the codes at the beginning of each chapter. 
After that, I’ll read Jon Stebbins’ Beach Boys FAQ…
Hope I didn’t kill your other thread by being so vehement about “The Eyes”! I was interested to see what else people might say about it. And I hope the rest of the stories are better.
I’m a little over halfway through* The Twelfth Card*, one of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series. I’ve read a number of the Rhyme novels and enjoyed them all. This one isn’t really clicking for me so far, but I’m not ruling out a spectacular finish.
I knew that thread would be lucky to get a reply - competing with ‘what’s the sexiest costume?’ and ‘my wife and girlfriend and I were talking about zombie vampires…’
So thanks for answering.
I loved that book, especially the Chaucer Canterbury Tales angle. You will like the sequel, too.
Another 2 part space opera recommend would be for the Peter F Hamilton books Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, possibly my two all time favorite sci-fi novels.
I just finished reading Lee Child’s new Jack reacher novel The Affair, which is actually a prequel…that said, the story is classic Reacher and it never disappoints me.
And I just picked up Ken Follets* A Dangerous Fortune*on a whim because Amazon kept recommending it…while it was a little PBSish I really found I couldn’t put it down…a very pleasant surprise.
Just finished re-reading a couple of graphic novels–the outstanding Golden Age from James Robinson and Paul Smith, followed by Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come.
Now reading White Angels: Beckham, Real Madrid & The New Football by John Carlin. Carlin is a very good writer, especially when describing actual matches, so it’s been a very pleasant read so far.