What are you reading now?

I screwed up the title of the book I’m on now. It’s American Dreams: Lost and Found.

Just realized I never said – er, admitted – what I’m reading at the moment (well, I finished it yesterday): Jeffery Deaver’s Vanished Man. This is one in his series on paraplegic evidence genius Lincoln Rhyme and model-turned-CSI cop Amelia Sachs. I love a good plausible set of characters, don’t you? The first one, The Bone Collector, was absolutely one of the best thrillers I’ve read in years, and I’ve been a bit disappointed by the following books, so I didn’t rush right out to get this one (which came out in '03) – but it was pretty entertaining. A serial killer with some serious magic (as in stage magic) chops is running around NYC killing people – at random? It’s not clear.

Lots of nice plot twists – definitely enjoyable, if not the best freakin’ thriller ever. Pick it up in the library if you like the genre.

Last night I finished reading Love in a Dead Language, by Lee Siegel. I loved it. It’s very funny, with many layers of satire and a lot of playing with language. It’s kind of about sex, and kind of about love, and kind of about cultural misconceptions and academic pretentiousness. Check it out.

I finished Maximum City, by Sukhetu Mehta, last week. Maximum City is about the contemporary city of Bombay–its vitality, corruption, inequality and opportunity (which often appears in very strange forms.) I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it to other people, though it’s a little uneven. Some of the author’s analysis strikes me as a bit facile. But the subject matter is really fascinating, as are the people Mehta interviews. The sensory descriptions of Bombay are great, too. The first chapter, an account of what it’s like to move to Bombay from New York and try to set up an apartment, is, IMHO, the best part of the book.

Last week I also got done with Rumpole on Trial, which was a fun light read. Rumpole of the Bailey’s a fun character to follow.

I just finished Lost Papers, by Andre Aciman. That’s a book of essays about memory and what it’s like to always feel like you’re living in exile. I recommend this book, too, though Aciman’s neuroticism (neuroticness?) alternately interested and annoyed me.

Robin Hobb rules! I had never heard of her before I read Homecoming in Ledgends II, but after reading that I totally binged and read the Farseer trilogy, the Liveship Traders trilogy, and then the Tawny Man trilogy one after the other. It was delicious!
Ms. Hobbs has also written a good deal under the pen name Megan Lindholm, but most if not all are currently out of print in the US and I haven’t been able to get my hands on any yet. In an interview with Ms. Hobbs I read recently she stated that R. Hobbs and M. Lindholm have quite different writing styles, so I am not terribly heartbroken about not having sampled any Lindholm.
After Hobbes I was still in a bit of an epic mood (Liveship Traders much more epic than Farseer–make sure you read that series!) so I am re-reading ** Robert Jordan’s** Wheel of Time series. I keep telling myself that another volume has to come out someday. Perhaps by the time I finish I will be mired in an epic-that-will-never-freaking-end mood and I’ll re-read GRR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire. Another really great fantasy epic series. I don’t think GRRM has taken as long between releases as Jordan has (yet), but it sure feels like it.

To me, Pandora’s Star epitomizes what’s best about space opera. The section about the Alamo Avengers was one of the most exciting things I’ve read in years.

However, I worry that Hamilton has written himself into the same problem as he had with the Night’s Dawn series, that of

having an opponent that is just too powerful to beat, necessitating a need to have a deus ex machina come down and right things,

but hopefully not.

Bad news for us Americans: The sequel, Judas Unleashed, is not being released until January 2006. In Britain it is being released in August, iirc.

“necessitating a need”?

You know, I actually previewed that last post!

:smack:

I felt the same way about the extended battle sequences closer to the end of the novel. It was thrilling and was a prime example for me of literally not being able to put the book down.

This is what I’m reading now, and finding it fascinating, although I don’t much like any of the people I’ve read about so far.

Definitely delicious. There’s a Hobb forum at SFF World.

The best part for me about discovering Hobb now is that I don’t have to wait for the next book in these series. :slight_smile: I hate waiting. I’m like the old lady who asked Stephen King back in 1990 if he was going to finish The Dark Tower before she died.

[minor hijack]
I picked up Assassin’s Apprentice first to make sure I liked the style as much as I had the novella and about halfway through ordered the other 8 books all in one go. It’s such a warm fuzzy feeling to have a whole series waiting there on your bookshelf!

You know, I wonder about that lady. Could waiting for Roland to find the Tower be enough to keep a person alive past her time? I hope so, for her sake.
{/minor hijack]

I’m reading Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond right now. Pretty good so far.

I recently finished Return to the Whorl, the last of Wolfe’s volumes in his New Sun/Long Sun/Short Sun series. Makes me want to reread all 12 to get all the connections - I may do that soon.

Currently reading Scout’s Honor: A Father’s Unlikely Foray into the Woods, by Peter Applebome, and Runes of the Earth, by Donaldson. (I just reread the previous two Covenant series in prep for this one, since it had been a while).

On my “to read” pile, I have the PUllman novels someone mentioned upthread (Golden Compass and it’s two sequels), which I found cheap but new at a thrift store. And now that someone’s mentioned The Wizard, I’m going to have to add re-reading The Knight to the list, and run down and get the sequel.

The Banks book - The Algebraist - I haven’t seen that one. Is there a US edition yet, or is it just UK?

AAARgghh… so many books, so little time…

Just finished The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. Next up is *The Game * by Ken Dryden. Brilliant book. If you even kind of like hockey or sports, the book is a must read.

After that I’ll read Collapse by Jared Diamond.

I’ve come across a few in libraries and I have to say I am not enchanted at all. I love the Farseer and Liveship books but none of her Lindholm books have worked for me.

I hope she does more Farseer books. There’s got to be more in store for Nettle.

Last night I finished A book for Eleanor Farjeon, a collection of stories printed in tribute to her. (Not about her, just neat stories.) Anyone who likes her would get pleasure from it.

I’m going through David Lodge’s Art of fiction, a collection of newspaper columns he wrote about different elements and effects in the novel. Fun.

And I’m reading 1215: the year of Magna Carta, a little popular history book detailing life in England in that time period. Lots of fun everyday detail.