Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - September 2014

Just finished Nick Harkaway’s Tigerman. Amazing, heartbreaking and magnificent.

Just in time, too. The Bone Clocks by Mitchell and Acceptance, the third novel in VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy dropped into my kindle last night.

It isn’t necessary: The Son is a stand-alone, not part of his long-running detective series.

Yeah we do that out here in the Wild West as well. I canNOT tell you how many miles it is to my sister’s house but I know it’s roughly an 11 to 12 hour drive at ahem 80 to 85 miles per hour.

Also if I wer told a meeting had been moved up two days I would assume it was two days earlier. I don’t know if that’s because I’m in Utah or if that’s because I’m me.

This book sounds interesting, thanks for the info!

The way I learned it at secretarial class (a million years ago) was that if a meeting set for the second Wednesday of the month needs to be changed to the first Wednesday of the month, it is literally moving UP on a written calendar and that is why we say “the meeting has been moved up.” But this instruction also came with a caution that it was potentially confusing for people and that you should always write out the new date in the memo.

My most recent read was The Glass Sentence, by S.E. Grove, which is a fantasy/adventure novel, aimed at middle grade readers. It was really awesome. It presents a world that had some sort of “time disruption” event, so that Boston is stuck in the mid 19th century, and England is in the Middle Ages, for example. It doesn’t get too into how exactly that works, it’s the kind of thing where you have just roll with it. I think it’s one of the best children’s lit fantasy stories to come out in recent years.

I need to preface this with a short rant: People who write in library books need to be drug out into the street and shot. I had to read John Scalzi’s The Android’s Dream with an eraser in my hand to remove some wag’s editing and opinions of the novel. Fortunately this flaming jackass wrote in pencil, as opposed to the one who wrote in a copy of *Damia *with a pen. I had to take a white-out wand to that one.

Although I can understand the editorial corrections. Someone at Tor Books needs to learn how to proofread. Also, am I the only person in this fading republic who knows how to spell Ocracokecorrectly? Okracoke is not a city on the Outer Banks, it’s a nasty soda flavor.

Rant over.

Other than that, Android’s Dream was a fun read with lots of unexpected twists and turns. I really enjoy Scalzi’s take on interplanetary law. He did a good job with that in both this book and Fuzzy Nation. I felt bad about Archie, though. He didn’t deserve his fate.

And with that I end my trek through all the John Scalzi at my local library. Next up is Poul Anderson. Hopefully Scribbles McGee hasn’t read any of those novels.

I just finished Charles Stross’ The Rhesus Chart, fifth book in the adventures of Bob Howard, one-time IT admin at a secretive British agency dedicated to covering up the existence of Cthulhu-style abominations from beyond time and space. Stross evidently is developing a plot running through the books as we approach the time when the starts are aligned. In this one, vampires cause problems for Mr. Howard. I am enjoying this series; I like the mix of eldrich abominations and project management.

Yes, I didn’t realise this at first but, having started at the beginning (with The Bat), I’ve decided to proceed in an orderly fashion.

I was disappointed in The Bat and I’m not sure why. I was left feeling cheated at the end but I will read the next book, since I already have it from the library. He’s a popular author, so perhaps his books got better later on.

I just finished reading book 3 of Lev Grossman’s trilogy, The Magician’s Land, for the second time. Previous to that, I re-read Diana Wynne Jones’ last (sob) book, The Islands of Chaldea, which was completed by her sister Ursula. I really loved them both.

I am back to book 3 of the Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone, Full Fathom Five, which I started a while ago and put aside for the above. It’s LONG, I keep looking at my kindle’s progress bar which seems to do nothing. It’s not as good as the first, which I really enjoyed and gobbled up on a camping trip, but, I think, better than the second, which hasn’t left much of an impression. I like the world, the interesting way religion influences the characters’ lives, and good characterization. I’ll keep reading them, I guess.

Oh, forgot to mention my current read.

When I was in the library, collecting my reserved copy of Cockroaches, the second book written by Jo Nesbo, I spotted a book called Kinsey and Me, which I thought was about how Sue Grafton came to write her Alphabet series books, how she sees Kinsey and other insights. It’s not; it’s a book of short stories, a format which I don’t like for mystery/crime etc books.

I’ll persevere unto the end, though, because I’m that kind of person. Except when I’m not. :o

I bought Kinsey and Me almost six months ago, jabiru, and so far have read two stories. I agree with you about the format and I hope you get further than I did!

I’ve read the first two. I will press on for the time being but I’ve become a reader who’s time is running out and there are way too many good books out there for me to waste time on something I’m not enjoying. I will give it a bit longer but I can definitely see me returning it unfinished.

I didn’t like The Bat, but did enjoy The Redbreast, so I agree that you should give him another try.

Scalzi just published a prequel novella and its novel (Lock Out). The novel has a tone similar to The Android’s Dream.

Mark Twain once said, “In Europe a hundred miles is a long way, and in America a hundred years is a long time.”

You knew there was a 1976 movie?: Burnt Offerings (film) - Wikipedia

Thank you. I shall persevere.

Then I highly recommend Resume With Monsters.

http://www.amazon.com/Resume-Monsters-William-Browning-Spencer/dp/1565049136/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409751013&sr=1-2&keywords=resume+with+monsters

No, but I’d like to see it sometime. I finished the book this morning and thought it was great. It performed just as that kind of tale ought to do and was a fun ride (though predictable).

Next up will very likely be I Shall Wear Midnight, which I’ve been pushing away because it’s the last [del]Nac Mac Feegle[/del] Tiffany Aching book.

Personally, I feel its one of PTerry’s best books. Tiffany is growing up very well and she’ll be a fine successor to Granny. And I think it’s the only Discworld book that made me cry not from laughter but from emotion.

Well goodness from famine to well some rainfall, I have won another book from a Goodreads Giveaway.

The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution

This should be an interesting read :smiley:

Yeah, just finished* that myself and book three in the series should definitely be interesting. This author seems to be coming into her own. Hope I don’t have to reread the first two to refresh my memory (like I had to with the Outlander series 'cause it took so damn long) :slight_smile:

Also just finished* “Magic Casement” the the first of a four book “A Man of his Word” series by Dave Duncan. Pretty damn good. I’ve read Dave Duncan over the years (he’s hard to find in most bookshops and virtually impossible to find in a library so yay amazon kindle!) and always enjoyed him. Really epic adventure fantasy at it’s finest.

And a shout out to Connie Willis. Just finished* “Impossible Things”, a collection of her short stories. I’m not really fond of short stories but it was the last thing of hers I could find that I hadn’t read. It was excellent too, of course. I hate when I find a fabulous author and there’s nothing left of theirs to read. :frowning:

*realized I’ve ‘just finished’ a few too many books. Need to stop reading so much and go do something…