I’m reading two books at the moment:
The Turtle Warrior by Mary Ellis. It is depressing as the blurb says, but the characters are vivid, and you can’t help but feel for young Bill.
The Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden. I haven’t gotten far into it yet, but the idea of Jack Frost being real is interesting. Apparently it’s the beginning of a series, and the third book is due out in March.
I started Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss last night, and I just love it!
I wasn’t so sure about it when I read the jacket text. It sounded like another (yawn) tale of a legendary hero with a huge ego. But Rothfuss starts the story after the events that made the man into a legend, so I was able to meet him at a low point, which humanizes him.
So far, the story has wit, humor, energy, and mystery. Works for me!
Unfortunately the second book isn’t due out until 2009! :mad:
Let’s see. I finished The Never War (book 3 of the MacHale Pendragon YA series) and then read Rejection Collection 2 at Borders while waiting for a meeting. I have four books going right now: Temptations of the West, the 4th Pendragon, The Gods Drink Whisky, and Seize the Daylight–yes, I’m reading a book about the history of daylight savings time. Good for Jeopardy!, but puzzling to family and coworkers alike.
It is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. No quibbles about it so far other than Nyquil is killing my reading ability of a kids book.
Just started Dark Delicacies II: Fear, a short story collection edited by Del Howison and Jeff Gelb. So far, it’s horror-lite. I stopped reading to check the spine to see if it was a Young Adult collection. It has some good authors though. One I was really looking forward to was the Joe R. Lansdale story (Dog) but it was weak. On top of that, the word “pedaling” was used about twenty times in the story, and it was spelled “peddling” about eighteen of those times. Arrrgh!
Finished the book on monarchy and why it’s bad and I’ve now started The Eyre Affair which is some weird shit. Basically it’s about this branch of secret agents that has to go into books to save their characters from criminals. Funny though.
I finished the new Charlaine Harris book (just as depressing as I thought it would be) and I’m about to tackle Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I found the huge, solid black hardback in the cut-out section of the bookstore the other day. It sounds like something I’d enjoy, and I like the Napoleonic period of English history. I didn’t realize until recently that this book won a Hugo.
Just about ready to put aside:
Sex sleep eat drink dream : a day in the life of your body, by Jennifer Ackerman. I think this is actually an interesting book, but I just can’t get into it. There’s a fair bit of science here, and I’ve found myself several times reading the same sentence over and over. If you’re not too tired, and you get opportunities to read without constant noise from kids and TVs, you may like this.
The next book in my pile is King Solomon’s Mines, by H. Rider Haggard, and I know it’ll be good, but I dread starting it because I know I won’t want to put it down! I guess I could fiddle with the Ackerman book a little longer…
By the way, the stories in this book were lackluster, and the editing was shit all the way through. I can’t enjoy a book when I feel like no one even cared enough to proofread it.
I just finished Captain’s Fury. As mentioned I very much was looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint. I once again recommend it to fantasy fans.
I’m about 1/3 of the way through WebMage and finding it entertaining enough. Software nerds who like fantasy will enjoy this.
Not sure what I will start next. I have several in the queue, but none picked out.
Awesome , if its the same book that I read long ago. From the amazon review section it appears to be the same but I would take a chance on it anyways.
BTW
For all the other dopers who read this book, do you remember another book probably by a different author , about a boy thats shrunk down in size and his inventor father makes some sort of cabin that goes on the back of a seagull , for the boy to complete some sort of mission.
I remember it from 74/75 at the library , but have no idea about when it may have been published or reprinted.
Declan
Finally finished The Bonehunters (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 6) by Steven Erikson. I say “finally” only because I did not get the large blocks of spare time I wanted in order to lose myself in this book and had to read it in short sessions. Malazan fans will NOT be disappointed.
I can’t even recall the name of the book I’m reading now.
(And you can add me to those who liked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.)
I’m two hundred pages into it and so far I’m utterly charmed.
For Christmas I’m getting The Winds of Marble Arch, a collection of Connie Willis’s stories; *Eifelheim *by Michael Flynn (because **AuntiePam **has been raving about it); and Diana Gabaldon’s new collection of stories, Lord John and the Hand of Devils.
**Dust ** by Martha Grimes
Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
Cryptonomicron by Neil Stevenson
I just finished Stardust by Neil Gaiman and I read **Too Late to Say Goodbye ** by Ann Rule (for the bookclub in my building.)
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I posted these questions on the goodreads SDMB group. Answer them here, and/or there! (You may have to establish a free account; not sure.)
Ooh ooh ooh! If you don’t like it, I’ll buy your copy.
I’m almost finished (just a few pages to go) with Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It was a pleasure to read up until the last 50 pages or so. Minor quibbles – I’ll be getting the next book in the series.
Not sure what’s up next. Gulo gulo’s last post reminded me that I have three unread Malazan books on the shelf.
Finished Cities of the Plains, by Cormac McCarthy, and thus his Border Trilogy. Very good, all three. He makes an area that I know from personal experience is not very romantic at all seem romantic; that takes skill. If I were completely unfamiliar with the border area, it would almost make me want to live there. But I am, and I don’t.
Today I begin Bangkok Tattoo, by John Burdett, the sequel to his excellent Bangkok Eight.
I’m well into Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. I’ve read a lot of books about slavery and the trade, but nothing this personal.
Finally finished Amy Tan’s Saving Fish from Drowning, which I started in November – pretty good, overall, it just took a while because it’s long and I haven’t had as much reading time as I should have prioritized.
After that I was stuck away from home and needed to grab something quick and undemanding, so I read Otherwise Nomral People: Inside the Obsessive and Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening by Aurelia C. Scott. Meh. It was quick and undemanding – and not very interesting, I couldn’t keep the people in it straight, and it would have benefitted from some pictures.
Next up: Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. From the cover: “I have not survived against all odds. I have not lived to tell. I have not witnessed the extraordinary. This is my story.” There’s a bunch of introductory material, but most of this slim volume is an alphabetized set of single-paragraph entries. From “R”: Radio, song on; Rain, reading a fax and walking in the; Rainbows; Rainy days; Rearranged furniture; Red gingham tablecloth; Rejectiong; Retrieving messages…
It looks quirky and delightful, and after a profoundly shitty week (dead car and leak from the bathroom through the living room ceiling), I’m looking forward to being beguiled.