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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #31196 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Thu, 08 July 2010 00:48   |
 librarykat
Messages: 573
Registered: October 2008
Location: Redneck Riviera |
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One book I read during ALA is a debut YA novel called HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER by Lish McBride; it will be published in October. I was able to attend a breakfast hosted by the publisher, who handed out advance reading copies of a number of books. This one just caught my eye. Sam is a young man, bit of a slacker, dropped out of college and now works at a fast food place in Seattle. One night, he and his friends accidentally damage a parked car while playing potato hockey during their break, and this brings Sam to the attention of the car's owner, Douglas. That man turns out to be a powerful necromancer, and he knows something about Sam. He decides to send Sam a message by sending him a package - the reanimated head of Sam's friend. He's got one week to decide whether to subject himself to the necromancer or to figure out how to stop Douglas from killing him and his other friends. The book is much more than mere horror or suspense; McBride writes great humorous, snarky dialog between terrific characters, who all matter. Every chapter heading is a rock song title or line, the book's title is a play on Elton John's hit "Tiny Dancer." I already know to whom I'm going to give this book to read. I've got too much to do, and I want to read it again.
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #31389 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Wed, 14 July 2010 18:15 |
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i am reading michelle sagara's new book cast in chaos.excellent so far.
Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #31714 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Thu, 22 July 2010 06:30 |
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just finished cast in chaos by michelle sagara,was a great read,i just love this series.
Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #31970 is a reply to message #31944 ] |
Tue, 27 July 2010 14:43 |
Aaron
Messages: 319
Registered: June 2009
Location: California |
Senior Member |
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| ravenclawgirl wrote on Mon, 26 July 2010 19:40 |
It's the first Bujold book I've read, though I seem to remember her being recommended, several times, on the forum.
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Be aware that the science fiction is lighter and less polished than the Chalion books. Recommended but different, "Space Opera" rather than "High Fantasy".
[Updated on: Tue, 27 July 2010 14:44]
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #31991 is a reply to message #31944 ] |
Tue, 27 July 2010 23:16 |
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| ravenclawgirl wrote on Tue, 27 July 2010 14:40 |
I've just finished THE CURSE OF CHALION by Lois McMaster Bujold. It was absolutely amazing. I've now got a bit of a literary crush on Cazaril. And Palli, to a lesser extent. And I loved all the political intrigues. It's the first Bujold book I've read, though I seem to remember her being recommended, several times, on the forum.
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While Curse is excellent, I have a big soft spot for the sequel Paladin of Souls. It also has the redemption theme but just appeals that little bit more to me.
I am a HUGE Bujold fan and happily recommend any and all of her stuff. Be advised it pays to read the Vorkosigan ones in order or you can get spoiled in a lot of the later ones.
http://www.dendarii.com/
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/lois-mcmaster-bujold/
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32125 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Sat, 31 July 2010 18:53 |
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Just finished reading THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins and definitely enjoyed it. I'm heading into CATCHING FIRE, the sequel, next.
Smooshes!
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32224 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Tue, 03 August 2010 21:10 |
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Beauty/Anna
Messages: 481
Registered: November 2008
Location: America |
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I recently finished Twelfth Night by Hamlet, surprisingly that was the first time I had read it.
At the moment I am reading quite a stack of books, I just started Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
I am also re-reading Emma by Jane Austen.
[Updated on: Tue, 03 August 2010 21:11]
"You are your best resource for success"
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32565 is a reply to message #32453 ] |
Tue, 10 August 2010 13:23 |
claning
Messages: 266
Registered: February 2010
Location: California |
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I love Thirteenth Child too and am anxiously awaiting more in this series (since rumor has it there will be more). It's definitely in the "read again and again" category.
The book has attracted some serious flak because it imagines a quasi-American Old West without Native Americans. The theory behind the complaint, I gather, is that because Native Americans have a long history of being ignored and demeaned, it's a crime to publish yet another book that ignores them. I can kind of see where this comes from, but I don't buy it: it's fiction, dammit, and if Patricia Wrede wants to populate her not-quite-American Old West wilderness with terror birds and steam dragons instead of people, she has every right to if that's how the story goes. She's writing about Columbia, not America: there are mammoths and magic and a whole lot of other stuff America has never had (for better or worse).
(It's also the case that Patricia Wrede has never said there aren't any Native Columbian people: we just haven't seen or heard of any.)
O Chris Laning <claning@igc.org> - Davis, California
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32689 is a reply to message #32565 ] |
Thu, 12 August 2010 20:12 |
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Melissa Mead
Messages: 997
Registered: October 2008
Location: Albany, NY, USA |
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| claning wrote on Tue, 10 August 2010 13:23 |
I love Thirteenth Child too and am anxiously awaiting more in this series (since rumor has it there will be more). It's definitely in the "read again and again" category.
The book has attracted some serious flak because it imagines a quasi-American Old West without Native Americans. The theory behind the complaint, I gather, is that because Native Americans have a long history of being ignored and demeaned, it's a crime to publish yet another book that ignores them. I can kind of see where this comes from, but I don't buy it: it's fiction, dammit, and if Patricia Wrede wants to populate her not-quite-American Old West wilderness with terror birds and steam dragons instead of people, she has every right to if that's how the story goes. She's writing about Columbia, not America: there are mammoths and magic and a whole lot of other stuff America has never had (for better or worse).
(It's also the case that Patricia Wrede has never said there aren't any Native Columbian people: we just haven't seen or heard of any.)
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I didn't feel the lack in the first book, but it seems like things will feel really empty out West without any people at home there.
Member of Carpe Libris: http://carpelibris.wordpress.com/
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32775 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Sun, 15 August 2010 01:56 |
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I just discovered Door into Fire and Door into Shadow by Diane Duane on Smashwords (for cheap!) and grabbed them as fast as I could push the keys. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/6723
I'm about to start Fire.
This is a re-re-re....re-read. Written in 1979, I believe it was Duane's first novel, and I consider it to be one of her very best. I enjoy the Young Wizards, and the Cat Wizards are totally delightful, but the depth of the characters and the world-building, and the humanity of the characters, in the Shadow books is outstanding. I continually hope that she will sometime complete the cycle with the rumored Door into Starlight, but she has left the world for so long now that it may never happen.
On the other hand, Elizabeth Moon has just gone 25 years into the past to pick up Paksennarion, so maybe it can happen.
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32785 is a reply to message #32775 ] |
Sun, 15 August 2010 18:13 |
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| abigailmm wrote on Sun, 15 August 2010 17:56 |
I just discovered Door into Fire and Door into Shadow by Diane Duane on Smashwords (for cheap!) and grabbed them as fast as I could push the keys. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/6723
I'm about to start Fire.
This is a re-re-re....re-read. Written in 1979, I believe it was Duane's first novel, and I consider it to be one of her very best. I enjoy the Young Wizards, and the Cat Wizards are totally delightful, but the depth of the characters and the world-building, and the humanity of the characters, in the Shadow books is outstanding. I continually hope that she will sometime complete the cycle with the rumored Door into Starlight, but she has left the world for so long now that it may never happen.
On the other hand, Elizabeth Moon has just gone 25 years into the past to pick up Paksennarion, so maybe it can happen.
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I am also a huge fan of the Door Into series, and like you hope we get the last book. I keep hoping seeing as PC Hodgell came back to her fantasy series after at least a 10 year hiatus while life and education got in the way. And Katherine Neville published a sequel to her fabulous The Eight last year as well - some 20+ years after The Eight was published!
So it *could* happen?
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32889 is a reply to message #32785 ] |
Tue, 17 August 2010 15:07 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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Oh, a Diane Duane I've never heard of! Thank you! (But does the lack of a third book mean I'll be stuck at a cliffhanger forever? There seem to be a lot of those going around these days, but at least most of them have promised conclusions on the way.)
And Smashwords is an interesting idea: lets hope more authors put their out-of-print works up so we can finally get a hold of them!
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32892 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Tue, 17 August 2010 16:10 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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Just finished Connie Willis's Passage, which I had read years ago but mostly forgotten. Wonderful book. Willis is a master of building up irrelevant detail after irrelevant detail into a framework of stunning significance, fractal-like in its layered complexity. A beautiful, funny, heart-rending story. (I sound like I'm writing a promotional blurb! Just go read it and you'll see what I mean.) Now I want to re-read Doomsday Book, which I read around the same time and remember loving. (To Say Nothing of the Dog is also one of my all-time favourite books.)
Before that I tried Maria Snyder's Poison Study and sequels: I thought the main character and the premise were intriguing, but I gave up halfway through the third book. I just didn't care anymore.
Before that I read Elizabeth' Moon's Remnant Population, which I really enjoyed. Her theme kind of hits you over the head, but I willingly bought into it; Ofelia is a great character and Moon makes her situation very real. I wish more SF were like this: explorations of what might actually happen in imagined future scenarios, rather than adventure plots set in space. (Not that I mind a good bit of space opera now and again! (Since we were talking about Lois McMaster Bujold!)
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32918 is a reply to message #32889 ] |
Wed, 18 August 2010 02:40 |
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| Kim A wrote on Tue, 17 August 2010 14:07 |
Oh, a Diane Duane I've never heard of! Thank you! (But does the lack of a third book mean I'll be stuck at a cliffhanger forever? There seem to be a lot of those going around these days, but at least most of them have promised conclusions on the way.)
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I was not totally clear. The Tale of the Five, AKA the Middle Kingdoms books, AKA the Doors books, were supposed to be a tetralogy, only the fourth one, THe Door into Starlight, was never written, or at least never finished. Smashwords has the first two, D.i.Fire and D.i.Shadow, and the third, Door into Sunset, is supposed to show up there soon. They are pretty self-supporting, and Sunset ends quite satisfactorily, so the lack of Starlight is not a serious problem. Just *sighing wistfully* I would like to read it someday.
There are a few slight hints that the Middle Kingdoms might share a universe with the Young Wizards.
OMG. OMG. I went to check Amazon for used pb availability of Sunset, if it doesn't show up soon on Smashwords. And I found the cover of Fire that keristor on LJ was telling me about the other day. He has that edition, and plans sometime to present it to Diane Duane for a signature, that is if she doesn't grab it away from him and burn it! Put it this way -- three of the covers below wore done by an artist who had clearly read the whole book and thought about the best presentation. One was slapped on from a stock S&S illo they had in the files, by a marketer who had never even glanced at the first page of the book! OMG!
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #32932 is a reply to message #32918 ] |
Wed, 18 August 2010 15:59 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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Oh my word, that cover is priceless!
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #33279 is a reply to message #32932 ] |
Tue, 24 August 2010 20:23 |
Library_dragon
Messages: 6
Registered: May 2010 |
Junior Member |
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I just finished Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose and I loved it. I'm currently planning to hit my local used bookstore in search of more of her books.
Danger: Here lurks karoshi!
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #33281 is a reply to message #33279 ] |
Tue, 24 August 2010 21:00 |
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| Library_dragon wrote on Tue, 24 August 2010 20:23 |
I just finished Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose and I loved it. I'm currently planning to hit my local used bookstore in search of more of her books.
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yes, that was a good one,try her valedemar series,starting with arrows of the queen or the black gryphon.
Bonnie Holmes the faster ahead I go, the more behind I get
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #33287 is a reply to message #33281 ] |
Tue, 24 August 2010 22:11 |
Library_dragon
Messages: 6
Registered: May 2010 |
Junior Member |
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| holmes44 wrote on Tue, 24 August 2010 21:00 |
| Library_dragon wrote on Tue, 24 August 2010 20:23 |
I just finished Mercedes Lackey's The Fire Rose and I loved it. I'm currently planning to hit my local used bookstore in search of more of her books.
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yes, that was a good one,try her valedemar series,starting with arrows of the queen or the black gryphon.
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Thanks for the suggestion! I'll make sure to check it out!
Danger: Here lurks karoshi!
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| Re: July-August 2010 What Are You Reading? [message #33289 is a reply to message #31013 ] |
Wed, 25 August 2010 00:06 |
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Lackey has created some memorable characters and worlds, though I feel that she needs work in the ability to develop a situation or character by hint, rather than by infodump.
All the elemental magic/refigured fairy tale stories are good. I think my favorite is Serpent's Shadow (note the presence of the young Lord Peter Wimsey, more or less!), but Phoenix and Ashes and Gates of Sleep are also good, especially the down-to-earth bohemian artists in Gates of Sleep.
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July-August 2010 What Are You Reading?
I HIGHLY recommend those authors to you!
