Home » Discussion Forums » Pollyanna's Booklist » What are you reading right now? (the original!)
| What are you reading right now? (the original!) [message #722] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 18:23  |
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Right now I'm on a Dorothy Sayers kick--I cannot get enough of Lord Peter Wimsey! I've been reading the books as I could get my hands on them, so it's a bit out of order--most recently I read Have His Carcass, then I re-read Gaudy Night before reading Busman's Honeymoon. Now I'm reading Clouds of Witness.
[Updated on: Sun, 01 February 2009 01:16] by Moderator
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #737 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 18:44  |
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 Laura
Messages: 196
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern USA |
Senior Member |
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I have three books going.
I'm reading Bleak House, by Dickens. It's my first foray into Dickens, and I'm really enjoying it, although it's difficult to concentrate on it during my subway commute, which is why I'm also reading Amy Tan's The Kitchen God's Wife. The latter is on par with her other work, absolutely heart-breaking and captivating.
Then my third book is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg. It's an incredibly interesting book that explores the emerging paradigm of Christianity that is usually subscribed to by those who feel unrepresented by the more conservative, politically right-leaning paradigm seen most often in the media.
This one is a book I own and so it is much slower going than my library books. Lately whenever someone gives me a book I tend to shelve it; I guess the idea is that I'll have a reliable stash of unread books in case of emergency...
[Updated on: Sun, 12 October 2008 19:01]
Known on both Ravelry and LibraryThing as thelorelei.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #755 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 20:41 |
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Well, I took a lazy Sunday and wound my way through Spindle's End again... I'm working on Venus and Adonis for one of my classes, but surprisingly not in the middle of much right now. I tend to read really fast though, so I don't stay in the middle of something for lon
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #757 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 20:49 |
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Lianne
Messages: 144
Registered: October 2008
Location: San Diego, California USA |
Senior Member |
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This week I'm doing yet another reread of Tamora Pierce's books, currently done with The Song of the Lioness quartet and just starting the third book of The Immortals. CHALICE is waiting to go on vacation with me this Thursday, and I imagine I will crack it open as soon as I get to the airport.
Aside from those, I recently finished rereads of EXPENDABLE and HUNTED by James Alan Gardner. I don't usually go for space-based sci-fi, but these I like: the premise is that new worlds still need exploring in a culture now unaccustomed to violent death, and to avoid public relations discomfort when explorers die on those unknown planets, they groom only the ugliest and deformed-but-functional people to be Explorers. The sci-fi book club at the Borders I used to work for chose EXPENDABLE as its monthly pick, and since I hosted the club I thought I should read it. :> Never would have picked it up on my own - proof that book clubs are good! I hadn't read either of them in 6-7 years before last week, so it was a nice revisit.
I almost always have a copy of GOOD OMENS by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett around in the car and bathroom, so that one's usually in some state of reading. THE PRINCESS BRIDE by William Goldman lived in my car until I gave away my copy to an out-of-town friend; I still need to replace it.
I'm not good at selecting anything but fantasy to read. :> I pretty much ignore every other section unless I've been told about some specific book. Or, when I still worked at Borders/Waldenbooks, I'd spot something getting unpacked that looked interesting.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #763 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 21:15 |
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Loramir
Messages: 15
Registered: October 2008
Location: South Carolina, USA |
Junior Member |
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Right now, I'm rereading Huckleberry Finn to see if I like it any better than I did in 10th grade. I've become a huge fan of Twain's essays, short stories, and general humor writing, so I thought it was weird that I remember not liking this book. Thus far, I'm liking it a lot more than I did back then, although I've concluded that Tom Sawyer really gets on my nerves with his head-in-the-clouds mentality.
I'm almost perpetually reading either one of Robin's books or one of the Outlander books, which are my ultimate comfort reading and pretty much live on my bedside table. Any time I want a book I can just pick up and start reading and know exactly where I am, I grab one of those!
Coincidentally, I also just finished the Song of the Lioness series - I still love all my YA fantasy books! I'm waiting for my 11-year-old cousin to get old enough for the Lioness books - she's just finished The Hero & The Crown, which she loved, so now I'm debating whether to trust her with my beloved copy of The Blue Sword or send her off to the library!
Loramir
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #767 is a reply to message #763 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 21:35 |
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Lianne
Messages: 144
Registered: October 2008
Location: San Diego, California USA |
Senior Member |
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| Loramir wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 21:15 |
Coincidentally, I also just finished the Song of the Lioness series - I still love all my YA fantasy books! I'm waiting for my 11-year-old cousin to get old enough for the Lioness books - she's just finished The Hero & The Crown, which she loved, so now I'm debating whether to trust her with my beloved copy of The Blue Sword or send her off to the library!
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Yay, she's reading them in the order I read them! =) Hee. I found out years after I first read them that SWORD came before HERO. Whoops. But I like that order. Glad your cousin is hooked. And... was it your copy of HERO? If so, and it returned in good shape, you're probably safe with lending SWORD.
I didn't read any Tamora Pierce until I was an adult... I think I was halfway through college. I've found, like someone else said in some thread I can't remember at the moment, that there is a lot of good fantasy in the YA section. So I'll hang out with the teenagers and find good books. :>
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #773 is a reply to message #767 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 22:41 |
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Laura
Messages: 196
Registered: October 2008
Location: Midwestern USA |
Senior Member |
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| Lianne wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 21:35 |
| Loramir wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 21:15 |
Coincidentally, I also just finished the Song of the Lioness series - I still love all my YA fantasy books! I'm waiting for my 11-year-old cousin to get old enough for the Lioness books - she's just finished The Hero & The Crown, which she loved, so now I'm debating whether to trust her with my beloved copy of The Blue Sword or send her off to the library!
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I didn't read any Tamora Pierce until I was an adult... I think I was halfway through college. I've found, like someone else said in some thread I can't remember at the moment, that there is a lot of good fantasy in the YA section. So I'll hang out with the teenagers and find good books. :>
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It seems like so many Robin McKinley fans are also Tamora Pierce fans...I know it seems obvious, we all like fantasy, duh, but I hear the two names listed together so often, and they're such different writers with completely different styles. I first read Pierce in fourth grade and then Robin's work in fifth. Perhaps it's the subject matter and the "girls who do things rather than acquire things," themes to which they are both so committed.
I've decided that when I finish Bleak House my reward will be a read of Lioness Rampant; I recently bought a new copy to replace my old falling-apart one with the ridiculously ugly 80s haired, feather earringed, creepily staring close up of Alanna as the cover.
[Updated on: Sun, 12 October 2008 22:42]
Known on both Ravelry and LibraryThing as thelorelei.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #774 is a reply to message #773 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 22:46 |
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I think also that while there's a lot of difference in their styles, there's a similar sense of characterization and lushness of world. I know that both Pierce and Robin write books that just suck me into the world and don't let me go (this is a good thing, believe me!)
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #775 is a reply to message #737 ] |
Sun, 12 October 2008 22:51 |
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| Laura wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 18:44 |
Then my third book is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg. It's an incredibly interesting book that explores the emerging paradigm of Christianity that is usually subscribed to by those who feel unrepresented by the more conservative, politically right-leaning paradigm seen most often in the media.
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That sounds very interesting *adds to to-be-read list* I've been reading about the Emergent movement a lot lately (although it's not well-defined, I suppose, since it's still developing)--would you say that Borg's view point is Emergent?
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #779 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 00:50 |
librarykat
Messages: 566
Registered: October 2008
Location: Redneck Riviera |
Senior Member |
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I just finished Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey - I love the way she weaves retellings of familiar fairy tales with her original fantasy. This one involved a Puss n Boots story with ballet, English music halls, and elemental magic. I also just recently read The Amazing Remarkable Monsieur Leotard by Eddie Campbell and Dan Best, Real Vol. 1 by Takehiko Inoue, Slow Storm by Danica Novgorodoff, Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel, American Widow by Alissa Torres, and Alan's War: The Memoirs of G. I. Alan Cope by Emmanuel Guibert ... I read a LOT of graphic novels. Mostly it's for my work, but hey, it's fun, too. And how many people can say they get paid for reading comics?
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #786 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 03:04 |
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I have just finished reading Hawkspar by Holly Lisle (its the sequel to Talyn, but I couldnt get into Talyn when I tried it, but I will have another go now)
Summary - a young girl is stolen from her people, sold into slavery and purchased by a strange women only religion. The strange bit is the leaders - called Eyes, have their own eyes removed and magical stone ones with differing properties inserted instead. The leader of them all is Hawkspar - Eyes of War. She recruits this young girl into her secret conspiracy to save the world from a secret war.
Acutually fairly good, the Tamora Pierce fans might like it, its in many ways a grown up version of her type of story.
Just finished today Stealing Light by Gary Gibson - SF not fantasy.
Summary - everywhere Dakota Merrick goes, death and destruction follow her, and she gets the blame for it, but its never her fault directly. After a massacre, she and all the other 'machine heads' - pilots with implanted AI interface tech, have their Ghost (or implants) removed. She gets it replaced on the black market and goes it alone until people she knows start dying. Then she gets offered a job that gives her the opportunity to escape those trying to kill her, except they didnt tell her about the alien space ship they want her to fly...
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #788 is a reply to message #787 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 04:11 |
gonetotervs
Messages: 17
Registered: October 2008
Location: Kabul Afghanistan |
Junior Member |
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I just finished Cast in Fury by Michelle Sagara and am finishing Gail Bowen's Brutal Heart, and will start Maureen Freely's Enlightenment next.
For some reason, I read very few male authors -- Philip Depoy, Steven Hamill and -- Steve Miller who writes together with his wife Sharon Lee and produce some of my "other" favorite books -- are the real exceptions. I'm going to try to Neil Gaiman soon; I prefer my characterization on a par with the plotting and a lot of male writers IMHO substitute haven't figured out how to use action to develop character so I end up quitting on their books part-way through. And I have a really hard time seeing a male lawyer as a hero in any case.....
Jeanine
Jeanine
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #792 is a reply to message #788 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 06:02 |
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| gonetotervs wrote on Mon, 13 October 2008 21:11 |
Steve Miller who writes together with his wife Sharon Lee and produce some of my "other" favorite books --
Jeanine
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OMG yes I *adore* the Liaden books. A friend in Aussie who reads LMB recommended I try them a few years ago (they are really hard to find in NZ) and I stumbled across a couple in a bookshop around 2 or so years ago and absolutely fell in love.
While they are more SF than fantasy, the people and the characters are fantastically drawn, the plots are clever and not obviously seen, the humour is dry and witty and clever and funny, and the cats are key characters with personalities all of their own. Oh and Giant Turtles!
http://www.korval.com/liad.htm
I see several mentions about Cast in Fury, I havent read it yet, it has not yet made its way this far down under.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #809 is a reply to message #792 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 12:17 |
gonetotervs
Messages: 17
Registered: October 2008
Location: Kabul Afghanistan |
Junior Member |
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Michelle Sagara, who wrote Cast in Fury, is also Michelle West. Cast in Fury is the fourth of a series, with lots of the same pieces that RM and LMB and Liaden have -- neat heroine, well-drawn other characters, wit and plot. I've also been enjoying Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series for the same reasons, but don't know if she is any easier to find in NZ than Michelle Sagara.
Jeanine -- who loves Amazon
Jeanine
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #810 is a reply to message #786 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 12:32 |
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Lianne
Messages: 144
Registered: October 2008
Location: San Diego, California USA |
Senior Member |
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| BlueRose wrote on Mon, 13 October 2008 03:04 |
I have just finished reading Hawkspar by Holly Lisle (its the sequel to Talyn, but I couldnt get into Talyn when I tried it, but I will have another go now)
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Hmmm. I may have to go find HAWKSPAR and give it a try. I love Holly Lisle (especially the DIPLOMACY OF WOLVES trilogy), but when I picked up TALYN I also couldn't get into it.
| gonetotervs wrote |
For some reason, I read very few male authors...
I've also been enjoying Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series...
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I do the same thing. There are male authors I like very much, and if they're already in my mind as ones I like, I keep grabbing their books. But I find it very hard to start reading male authors. The overwhelming majority of my books were written by women. And I love Patricia Briggs.  I was reading her books before the Mercy Thompson set, but I'm enjoying those just as much. They're up in the high ranks of my comfort books.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #823 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 14:22 |
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Calliope
Messages: 30
Registered: October 2008 |
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I think I'd lost track of how many books I'm reading until I saw the question on what I was reading right now.  This forced me to go figure it all out.
Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez. His books generally have a lot of gentle wit, and absurd situations which tend to have me laughing out loud at least once. I got my hands on Gil's All Fright Diner several years ago and now I just snatch up his books like candy whenever I find them.
Icerigger by Alan Dean Foster. For whatever reason, this book was really hard to find, so when I finally found one I immediately got it. Its your basic survival SF, but quite good. Also seriously out of print the last time I checked unfortunately.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey. Oddly I had this book sitting on my "To Read" pile when I saw Robin's post mentioning the very same book. Its really good so far. I dive into it when I've got snippets of time.
Sandstorm by James Rollins. He's basic action adventure, and I've read and enjoyed most of his books. If you like Indiana Jones at all, these are right up your alley.
Plague Ship by Clive Cussler. I'm listening to this one in my car while I'm commuting to work, then to school. Fun to listen to ... Does this count as reading?
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer. Its a history book concerning a battle during WWII in the Pacific theatre. Good so far and amazing as well.
Then there's the Graphic Novels and Manga I tear through as a stress reliever. Mixed Vegetables Vol. 1 by Ayumi Komura, Kasumi by Surt Lim, Silver Diamond by Shiho Sugiura and finally The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba.
... this is longer than I thought... I think I should stop...
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #887 is a reply to message #793 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 22:12 |
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| Laura wrote on Mon, 13 October 2008 07:30 |
| Charismitaine wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 22:51 |
| Laura wrote on Sun, 12 October 2008 18:44 |
Then my third book is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus J. Borg. It's an incredibly interesting book that explores the emerging paradigm of Christianity that is usually subscribed to by those who feel unrepresented by the more conservative, politically right-leaning paradigm seen most often in the media.
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That sounds very interesting *adds to to-be-read list* I've been reading about the Emergent movement a lot lately (although it's not well-defined, I suppose, since it's still developing)--would you say that Borg's view point is Emergent?
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It's hard to say: I've never heard of the movement, all capitalized and whatnot. Borg spends his pages comparing the early paradigm with the emerging paradigm, so it's probably safe to say yes. He doesn't think that one needs to understand the Bible in a literal/factual sense in order to find it true, if that helps describe his view.
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I only heard it defined recently, hence the reading up on it--Borg does sound emergent, so I'll definitely have to add that to my reading list!
...I'm not reading right now. I'm playing online and watching Ninja Warrior *is easily amused*
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #904 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Mon, 13 October 2008 23:25 |
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Re Cast in Fury
First thx to all the people who posted more info. I actually have the other 3 in the series (I have nearly all her books - everything except the Dark Lands series).
For other horsemad readers, can I suggest this trilogy by Caitlin Brennan (also known as Judith Tarr) where horses that bear a remarkable resemblance to Lipizzaners (that she breeds) are the embodiment of gods and the dressage is the performance of the religious rituals - and romance and adventure and girls pretending to be boys and stuff
Mountains Call
Song of Unmaking
Shattered Dance
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #913 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 00:00 |
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Julia
Messages: 531
Registered: October 2008
Location: Library School |
Senior Member |
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Just read Diana Wynne Jones' House of Many Ways, which [I didn't realize this when I checked it out of the library] is A SELF PROCLAIMED SEQUEL TO HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE.
Which I had literally just reread. Like an hour or three before. And then I read Year of the Griffin. Oh wait, no. Dark Lord of Derkholm. Not Year of the Griffin. Whatever. and then the new one that I hadn't read before. I thoroughly enjoyed it, too.
And the day before that, I read Tamora Pierce's book Shatterglass.
And before THAT, I read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, by E.L. Koinigsberg. I have read that book so many times, but I love it more with each rereading.
But now my four-day weekend is over, and I am back at school. So I get to read Spenser, Shakespeare, and my Anthropology textbook. Hooray.
Goodnight.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #926 is a reply to message #792 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 01:22 |
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Bratsche
Messages: 269
Registered: October 2008
Location: Washington State, USA |
Senior Member |
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| BlueRose wrote on Mon, 13 October 2008 03:02 |
| gonetotervs wrote on Mon, 13 October 2008 21:11 |
Steve Miller who writes together with his wife Sharon Lee and produce some of my "other" favorite books --
Jeanine
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OMG yes I *adore* the Liaden books. A friend in Aussie who reads LMB recommended I try them a few years ago (they are really hard to find in NZ) and I stumbled across a couple in a bookshop around 2 or so years ago and absolutely fell in love.
While they are more SF than fantasy, the people and the characters are fantastically drawn, the plots are clever and not obviously seen, the humour is dry and witty and clever and funny, and the cats are key characters with personalities all of their own. Oh and Giant Turtles!
http://www.korval.com/liad.htm
I see several mentions about Cast in Fury, I havent read it yet, it has not yet made its way this far down under.
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So, for someone who hasn't read any of the Liaden books yet, any recommendations about where to start?
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #933 is a reply to message #926 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 02:24 |
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| Bratsche wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 18:22 |
*snippage*
So, for someone who hasn't read any of the Liaden books yet, any recommendations about where to start?
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Absolutely - this is the recommended sequence here:
Agent of Change*
Conflict of Honors**
Carpe Diem*
Plan B***
Local Custom
Scout's Progress
I Dare ***
* - these two are parts one and two of a story arc
** - this is a separate but related story arc
*** - both story arcs join and make a third one
The other two are prequels that kinda fill in the gaps, I didnt read til after I had read the others and felt no loss.
But absolutely start with either Agent of Change or Conflict of Honors - it wont make terribly much difference.
There are 3 others (if you like the above) - one is Balance of Trade and is a standalone
Crystal Soldier and Crystal Dragon tell the very very beginning of the story, but should probably be read after everything else to get the right context (and then you reread everything else and it all makes much more sense)
Stacey
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #934 is a reply to message #927 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 02:29 |
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I LOVE De Lint.
I didn't when I was younger... kept trying to read them, but could never get into it. Then I picked my mom's copy of Onion Girl, tore through it, and proceeded to devour everything else I could find. His urban fantasy setting is absolutely wonderful.
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #935 is a reply to message #722 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 02:40 |
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Currently reading Dorothy Sayer's Busman's Honeymoon, but I think after this I definently need to read Blue Sword again... I've been craving a reread of one of Robin's older books and I think I've settled on Blue Sword, but I'll finish reading Busman's Honeymoon first...
"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."
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| Re: What are you reading right now? [message #937 is a reply to message #898 ] |
Tue, 14 October 2008 04:06 |
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| Kathy_S wrote on Tue, 14 October 2008 03:56 |
Does anyone else resort to boxes and/or double shelving?)
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YES!!! and under the bed, at my parents house, in the loo (on shelves lol), around the computer, piled next to my pillow (current reading)...
Someone says "pie" and we all go on alert, like meercats. "Pie? Where?" - Blackbear
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Re: What are you reading right now?
Re: What are you reading right now?
