I am in the middle of Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. Next up is book #4, aka Breaking Dawn.
I discovered Clive Barker (starting with The Hellbound Heart and the Books of Blood) when I was 18 or so and I was blown away by just how different and forceful his horror imagery was. Then he really lost his way and wound up writing stuff like Sacrament and Galilee. Weak, weak stuff, really. The last I checked he really wasn’t writing anything anymore. And it bugs me because I have his old works like Imajica in storage, but if I read them I’ll be disappointed for sure by how much my tastes have changed. 
I just finished The Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward Lerner. A prequel of sorts to Ringworld. Very middling and disappointingly flimsy.
Am starting King Leopold’s Ghost, about the exploitation of the Congo by Leopold of Belgium. Fascinating stuff so far, and extremely well-written.
Just finished Freakin Fabulous: how to dress, speak, behave, eat, drink, entertain, decorate, and generally be better than everyone else, by Clinton Kelly. Light and funny and possibly even useful, unless you are already fabulous enough. 
I have a bit of a crush on Clinton, though, so I may be biased.
I won’t know what’s next until I get back from the library.
Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman – I’ve never read a book with such a self-deluded narrator.
Crooked cop Joe Denton gets out of jail after seven years for attacking a local DA. Coked up, he set fire to the DA’s office and then stabbed him in the face with a letter opener, scarring him horribly. The only nice thing about Joe is that he lets his jailer win their games of checkers.
He fantasizes about going straight, getting back with his ex-wife and daughters, while falling back into his old ways and finding trouble and wondering why his parents don’t want him around.
I hated this guy, never once felt sorry for him (the author wouldn’t let me), and really enjoyed the book, especially the ending. I think the Coen brothers should take a look at this – it’s right up their alley.
Lessee, recently finished two books by Patricia Briggs: Dragon Bones and Cry Wolf. I liked the former much more than the latter.
Currently reading the fourth Matthew Shardlake book: Revelation.
Also:
The Last Kashmiri Rose, by Barbara Cleverly
Portuguese Irregular Verbs (hilarious), by Alexander Mccall Smith
The Vesuvius Club, by Mark Gatiss
Ship of Magic, by Robin Hobb
Seven Choices: Finding Daylight After Loss Shatters Your World, by Elizabeth Harper Neeld
I’m in the middle of that last book, but I’d highly recommend it so far.
The Magus: John Fowles
Hyperion: Dan Simmons
Just finished The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr, which is a (relatively) new Sherlock Holmes mystery commissioned by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. I thought he did an excellent job of making the book read like a classic Holmes story by Doyle, so if you enjoyed the original stories, you should like this one.
Just started The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Only a few chapters in, but it’s a gripping read so far. The set-up is that a porn actor/producer/coke addict has a near fatal car wreck, suffering severe burns over the majority of his body. While he’s recovering in the hospital, a mysterious visitor shows up and begins telling him about her 500-plus-year history, while suggesting at the same time that he has a similarly long connection to her that he doesn’t remember. It’s a debut novel, and occasionally reads like the author’s trying to hard to be clever, but most of it works well (so far).
I’ve been in a really weird mood lately, and have had trouble getting into anything. I’m one of those people who feels discomfited, almost physically uncomfortable, if I’m not in the middle of a book or three. I’m reading The Copywriter’s Handbook, by Robert Bly, which is useful but not terribly engaging. I’ve got Madeline L’Engle’s *Time Quartet *laying around, and I read the first couple of pages, but it’s not quite the same as it was when I was younger and I find myself only half-way paying attention, waiting for the moment when I get into it (which of course can’t happen while I’m sitting there waiting for it to happen). I’m also halfway through The World Without Us, which I was really looking forward to but which is in fact very hit or miss, almost chapter by chapter. This thread has inspired me to go to the library, but of course what I really want is to find some heretofore undiscovered Pratchett sitting on one of my bookshelves. No such luck, I suppose.
I finally finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. The book’s lucky I want to trade it online, otherwise it would have been chucked across the room. A 900 page vampire novel with only the briefest appearances of vampires. How this became a best seller is completely beyond me.
I also finished The Black Tower by Louis Bayard. This was fun and enjoyable. A mystery set in France during the Restoration and a man who may or may not be the missing dauphin. The characters are all quite likable and the plot clips along nicely.
I’m now reading *The Big Over Easy *by Jasper Fforde. So far, delightfully goofy.
Currently reading: Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card, not far enough in to make a decision about it yet.
Books I finished recently:
*Jennifer Govenment *by Max Barry - Got this becase of a comment by Rigamarole in this thread. I liked it. Easy and fun read.
Lords of the North and Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell, the last two books of the Saxon Series. This man consistently amazes me with both his storytelling ability and attention to historical detail. I am now “done” with all of this available books. I eagerly await the next.
When I used to listen to books on tape while working out, I had tried it. I found it dull and tedious and rather than make my walks seem easier, I began to dread them. I finally threw the tapes out.
You’re going to foist it on someone else? I donated mine to the library. I wanted to trash it but I can’t toss a book if it’s in good condition, dammit.
I liked this one enough to buy The Pale Blue Eye – I’m reading it now. I like Bayard’s writing, and I like that his characters aren’t perfect, but that their flaws aren’t emphasized.
Almost done with The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway, it’s pretty good.
Just finished "death at intervals by Jose Saramago and am now starting Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Thanks!
I spent Sunday re-reading parts of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. Then I went ahead and started another Heyer, The Corinthian, and so far it’s my least favorite ever.
It’s the second of her novels I’ve read to feature cross-dressing. Apparently people were rather easy to deceive during the Regency era: a lovely, sheltered, inexperienced young woman only had to cut her hair short and put on some breeches and she could pass for a man, even withstanding close, prolonged observation. And we have a handsome, fashion-conscious hero who has never shown much interest in women until the tomboyish heroine crosses his path. Too bad Heyer couldn’t have just written a gay romance.
I thought *The Historian *was a great book. YMMV apparently.
You’re not alone - I thought so as well and have read it twice.
I know it was released to good reviews, but sometimes it feels like I’m the only person who likes The Historian nowadays. (ETA: Apparently not. Yay for more Historian fans!)
I just finished The Scourge of God, the most recent “Novel of the Change” by S.M. Stirling. It was good, but the original trilogy was a lot better and very little actually happened in this fifth book in the series. The fact that there is 2-4 more books planned is both exciting (because I still enjoy them) and depressing (because the first two books in the new tetralogy could have easily been one book).
I just started Contagious by Scott Sigler. It’s a sequel to Infected and is the pulpy, gory, bloody, vulgar kind of fiction that mom used to make. I’m only a few chapters in, but I love it.
OOOH, I must read this! :: writing it down in little pink notebook ::
Loved that one!
Haven’t read that one, but loved *A Thread of Grace *and Dreamers of the Day.
About 1/4 into The Grandmothers by Glenway Wescott, and it’s blowing me away. This is another book I picked up only because it was quoted in Wisconsin Death Trip.
I bought *Wisconsin Death Trip *and am underwhelmed. What am I supposed to see here? He keeps re-using the photos.
Also reading Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock. It’s delightful, and since the title character implanted goat testicles in men as a 1920s-era version of Viagra, there are lots of fun euphemisms and puns.
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I loved Charlatan! Made me then go get Indiana Gothic, the story of the author’s great-grandfather, who was shot to death by his brother-in-law; he’d been having an affair with his wife! Juicy!
Loved *A Pale Blue Eye *and looking for Drood!
The Fire by Katherine Neville, which I’m only 10/15 pages into. Liked The Eight, so it should be good.
On my list.
Didn’t see either the love or the hate. It was just OK to me. Far too long and not enough bang for the buck, but I didn’t despise it.
Also loved it! That poor, poor prince.
I just checked out a handful of William Bernhardt’s Ben Kincaid mysteries out of the library to keep me company until TODAY, when Jacqueline Winspear’s new Maisie Dobbs book *Among the Mad *is released! I’ll be picking it up after work!
OH!!! And I almost forgot!! Minor hijack: Donald Pollock will be discussing and signing *Knockemstiff *at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Legacy Village on Cedar Road in Lyndhurst at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 12!
An excellent choice. 