Just a short note of my own. I’m half-way into Thomas Pynchon’s latest, Inherent Vice, which as far as Pynchon goes I quite enjoy. I’m not a huge fan of his, but this works well for me so far, and is far more reminiscent of The Crying of Lot 49–a bit light-hearted, a bit winking–than his big tomes. Will definitely finish this one.
I’ve also got Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold around, which starts out as dynamic as I expected. Guess it’ll be a fun romp.
As for books recently finished, I completed Hunter Thompsons’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 72. I prefered the latter.
+1 this - read it last month, liked it a lot. Even though it paints a bleak picture of post-peak-resource world there’s still that feeling that life goes on. I agree that it is on the same vein as Gibson and Stephenson, but I love both of those authors too so for me that’s just a plus.
I’m reading The Saint by Dan Abnett, which is the second Gaunt’s Ghosts omnibus. Not very good at all, much worse than his Inquisition-books, mostly because after a few books the constant warfare gets dull and monotonous. After somebody’s head is blown up by a lasgun 100 times it just isn’t interesting any more. Some of the between-combat bits are still readable, so I mostly skip past the boring war scenes and read those. Wouldn’t really recommend the book to anyone, though.
After I’ll finish that, I have R Scott Bakker’s The Judging Eye waiting for me and then I have to go find more books, again.
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.
I dumped Hunted Past Reason – nothing wrong with it, but I should have read the blurb. It’s about two guys on a backpacking trip, and one of them ends up terrorizing the other one. Not in the mood for that.
Also dumped People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I really liked March and sorta liked Year of Wonders, but in this one, in the first chapter, Brooks has her main character going to bed with a guy she’s just met. Seriously, the woman pondered his dinner invitation – “I just met the guy!” – but as soon as she notices his gorgeous green eyes, she’s licking grease off his fingers.
Going to the library, with a long list.
I fully understand being frustrated with Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, but I’ve enjoyed each of them in turn and am hoping against hope that he’ll finish them all. I’ll read any I can get my hands on - they’re so immersive and intricate and unpredictable and wry and bloody and clever that I love 'em.
I finished The Windup Girl. I still really liked it, but a little less than upon starting. It’s a good book, but I really wished he’d explored his post-apocalyptic world beyond Thailand. Maybe he’ll write a sequel.
I read Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Woodrell, while on vacation. It’s short, so not a lot was left out in the movie. It’s really good, the prose is excellent. Beautiful descriptions of nature contrasting with rought dialog. Like the movie, it’s really a detective story.
I am currently reading The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay By Michael Chabon. I was worried it would be unreadably dense, but it breezes right along. I wish I’d read it years ago. Everyone who likes good writing would like it, but it’s a must if you’re interested in comic books, or the 1940’s.
Inshort I’ve had very good luci with three wildly different novels. I’m going to pick up more by Chabon and Woodrell, two writers who’s only common thing is talent.
Finished Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. With this book Kay has regained me as a fan. I had stopped reading him after Sailing To Sarantium which I found to be quite dull.
I have been mostly reading mind candy in my fiction, nothing too complex and mostly predictable. I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to read a well-written complex book. I enjoyed it enough I may go back and try to read *Sarantium *again (which may have suffered from having been read post-operation and full of pain meds.)
About halfway through Master of the Delta by Thomas Cook. A Mississippi high school teacher unravels an old mystery in 1954. I like it, but I had to get past the notion of a high school class focusing on “evil”.
Next two in the pile are Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker and So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger.
On the drive home after a week on the beach, I finished Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s (Unofficial) Manual by Michael Prestwich, a wry, interesting how-to book about becoming a knight and succeeding as one in medieval Europe, with advice on winning a lady, a joust, a siege, a title or a fortune.
Now I’m reading Robert T. Littell’s The Men We Became, about his 20-year friendship (starting when they were roommates at Brown Univ.) with John F. Kennedy Jr. Littell is a little defensive in tone at times, not wanting to be seen as cashing in on his dead friend’s memories, but tells some good stories. Things I hadn’t known before: JFK Jr. dropped a few hints about intending to run for office someday himself; he got occasional meanspirited prank phone calls that this or that member of his family had been shot; he admired Ronald Reagan; he was an expert skiier but a klutz in many other ways; and he had a single passionate night in a Chicago hotel room with none other than Madonna.
Auntie Pam, I’m sorry you didn’t like People of the Book. I thought it was fascinating. Been a couple years since I’ve read it, so I don’t remember that particular scene, but I did really like it. I was very disappointed in The Whisperers; it seems Connolly has decided to push his agenda of veterans’ rights. Nothing to deny here; I certainly agree that soldiers are inadequately supplied and, when they return, don’t receive enough medical and psychological care and support, particularly for PTSD. But when I read a Charlie Parker book, I want Charlie Parker to be in it, and not some VA types hectoring me in Charlie’s place. And I want lots of Angel and Louis and I got practically none. Plus the ending was muddled.
Now reading The Winter of Her Discontent by Kathryn Miller Haines, second in a cute WWII-set mystery series about a Broadway actress solving murders. Just something till I decide what to read next. I met the author last summer and she was nice.
Lansdale really hits his stride in the next one, Mucho Mojo. Great stuff.
I just put a hold on that one today, Malthus. 
Finished The Lady in the Tower by Allison Weir, about Anne Boleyn’s last three months. Really good; I recommend it if you’re into the Tudors (which I seem to be right about now).
Finished The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell, a sci-fi about our first contact with sentient beings on another planet. I liked it. I liked that we arguably were the ones with the higher technology, as we went to their planet instead of vice versa. I liked the depiction of simple, well meaning thoughts and ideas being exchanged that had far wider ramifications than anyone could’ve expected. A lot of the characters were too perfect - as in, they were all brilliant, some in several fields, many were beautiful or handsome, that sort of thing - but were engaging enough. I might check out the sequel.
Skimmed World Without End by Ken Follett. Meh. Very much like Pillars of the Earth; it’s almost the exact same story. I didn’t read the whole thing - I had to return it to the library a couple of days after I started it - but I got enough of the whole story. Just OK.
I enjoyed Pillars of the Earth - enough so that I’ve read it three times. But I’ve attempted World Without End twice and I can’t force myself to finish it.
Finished *Dead Witch Walking, *a light fluffy urban fantasy set in a world where bio medicine has killed most of the human population and allowed the “Inderlanders” (witches, vamps and other magical creatures) to “out” themselves.
I nearly put it down, it took a long time for the story to grab me. It is not great, even for urban fantasy, but in the end, I liked it well enough that I will probably continue to read the series. Also, I like the Clint-Eastwood-themed names. I had originally had a copy of For a Few Demons More which I had picked up in a bargain bin. I decided I needed the whole back story in order to appreciate it and so I waited until I read the first. IMO, Rachel Morgan, the protagonist, is a Mary Sue (only an observation and not positive or negative commentary.) I suspect that this will be one of the series I hold in reserve when I don’t have a good book, or I just don’t want to think too hard.
Finished The Magician the second in the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. This YA series really captured me in the first book, but for some reason I had set this one down and just now picked it back up. I still enjoyed it and will read the rest.
I am no longer on Jury Duty, so I will not have as much time to read, having to try and catch up from a week “off.” 
But it was good to spend a week where I didn’t feel guilty enjoying myself reading a book.
Am reading two from my journey into Neuroscience, Buddha’s Brain and Mind Chi: Re-wire Your Brain in 8 Minutes a Day. I will report when I have finished, but I will say that I become more convinced than ever that the brain can be rewired and for the better.
I finished another of Barbara Hambly’s Benjamin January books, Die Upon a Kiss. I’m enjoying those very much - historical mysteries set in 1830’s New Orleans. I ran across several of Hambly’s older books at the used bookstore the other day, so I’m reading her *Dragonsbane *now. It’s fun old-school fantasy.
I read the fifth of Kage Baker’s Company books, The Life of the World to Come, and I’m a little disappointed in the way the series has headed. I enjoyed reading about her immortal operatives living in the past with knowledge of the future, but this book was set in our future and I didn’t like it nearly so much.
I’m reading Antonia Fraser’s Charles II and the Restoration. I just finished the part where Charles escapes from England after Worcester - hiding in the oak tree, disguising himself as a servant, etc. I abandoned Fraser’s book on Cromwell, which was surprisingly dull. I may come back to it one day.
Just in the past few days:
David McCullough’s The Course of Human Events, an audiobook (actually a speech he first gave in 2003, so it’s only about 40 minutes long) read by the author. Love his voice! He talks about his love of history, what history still has to teach us, and the humanity and sacrifices of the Framers, especially John Adams.
Temptress by Jane Billinghurst, a once-over-lightly feminist exploration of the femme fatale in Western culture, from Lilith to Cleopatra to Mae West to Madonna. Pretentious and a bit silly, I thought; nice pictures, though.
The Downing Street Years by Margaret Thatcher, her autobiographical account of her time as Prime Minister. Skimmed it, didn’t read it all; for some reason the chapter on the Falklands War was curiously flat. Her narrative voice is quite distinctive, though.
I’m through with Thomas Pynchon’s latest, Inherent Vice. Overall, I’m quite happy I picked it up, and enjoyed the read. It’s probably the most accessible Pynchon since The Crying of Lot 49, which I suppose isn’t saying a lot; but unlike a slog like Mason & Dixon, I didn’t realize I was missing anything, so it may just turn out I wasn’t missing anything. If that’s the case, it was a rather clever play on old noir-style hard-boiled detective fiction with a touch of sentimentalism for a by-gone age. By all means a book worth reading.
And as far as reading is concerned, I was distracted off my chosen path by A Storm from the Shadows, David Weber’s most recent Honorverse volume. I’m glad he has given more Honor stories a pass for now, but this one isn’t too great yet, about half-way in. Like the last Honor books, it has a bit too much convoluted politics for too little space opera for my taste (the most exciting battle in the book happens off-screen, so to speak!). I’ll keep at it, though.
Otherwise, I have Austin Grossman’s Soon I will be Invincible to replace the Pynchon, and the stuff I mentioned earlier is also in need of being read…
I really like this series, but I’ve only “read” the audiobooks, so maybe that makes a difference in how slow it feels?
Does it get more interesting? I bought it maybe four years ago and was never able to get past the first 30 pages.
After what seemed like months, I finally finished Drood. Parts of it, heck, great hulking gruntloads of it were freakin’ brilliant, but **Khadaji **, if it makes you feel better, I also think it needed an editor. A ruthless, heartless, barracuda of an editor!
Just started Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann. So far, it’s excellent.