Currently Reading / Just Read (Books/stories/whatever)

[Petra456]

http://www.goodreads.com/nicolejune

Mine

[CezeN]

Yay! i added you guys that makes me happy lol that you guys have goodreads...

oh and i have to agree with Cezen... The Name of The Wind is on my top 5 list... I LOVE that book. and the next one, The Wise Man's Fear is hands down my most anticipated book... ever.

Have you read the excerpt from it that Rothfuss submitted for the and used to win The Writers Of THe future 2002 competition?

It's called the Road to Levinshir, and hidden somewhere in a book called the Tales of Dark Fantasy.

I haven't read it, but according to people that have Kvothe is depicted in his bad@ss, legend phase.

Also, how do you pronounce his name?
It's supposed to be pronounced "Quothe", but I've grown fond of "Ko-vothe", which sounds better to me.

[Haven]

I havent read that yet... but im gonna have to now lol... i cant wait to see Kvothe in his badass stage...

I pronounce it "quothe" most of the time... but for some very odd reason in my brain i want to call him kvo-e... lol i guess i just dont like the th in it.. lol im weird...

[Gravity Defier]

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - Andre Jordan

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love my job. Things I wouldn't think to look for are constantly coming to my attention.

[locke]

I finished reading The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman at B&N today. It starts off and ends strong but the middle is just basically the gospels told linearly with a tidbit of commentary from Christ.

Actually the title and concept are way better than the actual final result. It's so damn tame. However it is continuously subtle and very thought provoking. I don't think it dismisses faith or God, I think it challenges one to think deeply about faith and the institutions of Christianity that have spread throughout the world over two thousand years. At times it is a deeply religious work at times it is deeply agnostic. A very conflicted work, which is probably necessary.

That said, Jesus' prayer in Gethesemene is worth reading the book for, devastating, fascinating.

next thing will probably be The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

[LilBee91]

I just finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman--delightfully weird.
And next up is Pastwatch.

[Luet]

Is it your first time reading Pastwatch? It's one of my favorite.

[Mich]

I just finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman--delightfully weird.

The novel is much better than the show, in my opinion. And I didn't like how the comic rendered Door, although I suppose it matches her description. But the book, man. Fun read.

[Jayelle]

I just finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman--delightfully weird.

The novel is much better than the show, in my opinion. And I didn't like how the comic rendered Door, although I suppose it matches her description. But the book, man. Fun read.

Agreed.

Also, it made me look for places that could be the city below. There's this great brick archway that looks like a bricked up door on my walk to work. I always thing "there's an entrance to below".

[Gravity Defier]

This seems like as good a place to put this as anywhere: Nomi, my source at the book expo in NY says there won't be a galley for Mockingjay since the other two books were so successful.

[LilBee91]

Is it your first time reading Pastwatch? It's one of my favorite.

Yup, first time. All of you here have raved so much about it, I figured I should probably get around to reading it.

[Luet]

This seems like as good a place to put this as anywhere: Nomi, my source at the book expo in NY says there won't be a galley for Mockingjay since the other two books were so successful.

Aw, dang! Well, I have it preordered from Amazon anyway.

[Young Val]

Truth. There's no galley for MOCKINGJAY. Which is so upsetting,

[megxers]

Connie Willis is coming to the library in June!!!!!! (drats, of course this is the one weekend of the summer I may actually not be here)

So far this week I've read 3 Robert Charles Wilson books so I think it is safe to say I may have a new favorite author....

[locke]

is there going to be a galley for White Luck Warrior? I want/need a galley of it!

[Jayelle]

Connie Willis is coming to the library in June!!!!!! (drats, of course this is the one weekend of the summer I may actually not be here)

SO JEALOUS!!!

[Eaquae Legit]

Just finished C.S. Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy. I've been meaning to read it for at least a decade, but having finished it now, I'm glad it took me so long. I got much more out of it than I would have as a teenager.

It was delightful, with that charming voice that seems to infect everything Lewis wrote. Perelandra moved the slowest - but having written that, That Hideous Strength seemed to drag as well. I actually laughed out loud at the first mention of "Mr Fisher-King," and I would really have liked to know more about the sister who insisted he take the name.

While I was reading them, I kept wondering how much Lewis knew of current astronomy and how much he actually cared about it. Despite the "science fiction" moniker the trilogy gets, it really isn't about science in the slightest. It's pure cosmology, and once I got into that mindset, I found his Martians and Venusians much less jarring than, for example, Bradbury's.

I'm not sure what else to write about them. I know I'll go back and read it again, and very probably again and again. Very enjoyable, very thoughtful.

[megxers]

Connie Willis is coming to the library in June!!!!!! (drats, of course this is the one weekend of the summer I may actually not be here)

SO JEALOUS!!!

I'm quite excited I stumbled into a Louis Sachar signing last weekend, so now I have new copies of Holes, Wayside School Stories and his latest. Re-reading childhood favorites, yay!

Also, for all our P-web librarians (& academic researchers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98

[Gravity Defier]

I've been pretty badly distracted lately, so it took 10 days to finish what should have taken less than one (The Time Traveler) but with luck, I'll be able to focus on reading again.

I grabbed Catcher in the Rye, so I'll be starting that one tonight or tomorrow. I may not finish it because it doesn't look like something I'd normally read for fun but I'll give it a shot.

[Mich]

In my love of Neal Stephenson, having suggested The Diamond Age to CeZ, I went back and reread it for the umpteenth time. It was, as usual, delicious.

Then I went to the library and put every Stephenson book I haven't read on hold.

I read Anathem over the past week, and stayed up two hours past my normal sleep-time to finish it. It was great, hilarious, heartbreaking, confusing, and interesting, as usual for Stephenson. At first it appears to be a satire on standard speculative fiction (Herbert springs to mind), where half of the words are made up ones, the societies are completely different from ours just to create contrast with no real depth, etc. But then it evolves to something else. And then something else. And something else. This is a 900-page book, filled with philosophical thought-experiments and explanations of everything you could imagine, real or fictional, and the plot changes to different locations and directions so many times it makes you realize that "holy crap, there's half of the book left."

And I, for one, ate it all up.

[Young Val]

I grabbed Catcher in the Rye, so I'll be starting that one tonight or tomorrow. I may not finish it because it doesn't look like something I'd normally read for fun but I'll give it a shot.

I hope CATCHER surprises you.

[Mich]

So I've been reading Scott Pilgrim. Take that back, I've been shotgunning Scott Pilgrim, mostly due to Jan's suggestion and because the trailer made the movie look good (even though I hate being "that guy who reads the book when the movie looks good"). It's really funny, kind of heartbreaking, cleverly drawn, and, overall, an outstanding comic.

There's something about it that's, I don't know, unsettling to me. I can't put my finger on it. Reading it, though, makes me anxious, somehow. Nervous. I wish I knew why. It has something to do with relationships?

Anyway, now I'm done and want the last volume to come out. Oh, hey, it will magically come out in five days!

I give it "Mich's Comic Book Thumbs Up," since no one else has attempted to take the title of "Comics Dude" away from me.

[CezeN]

Last couple of books I've read are:
The Stranger- Everything I expected. Short but sweet. Honestly, though, the main character annoyed me. He could have at least tried to help his case, and avoid death.

The Book Thief- One of the best books outside of my taste, that I've ever read. I love how the perspective cycles between Death and the main character, and I love how Death views the world in colors. I love how Death drops subtle hints about what's going to happen, and also goes behind the scenes to tell you background information on certain events that he has specifically because he was there picking up the soul out of the newly passed human bodies.
The stories lacks the action, fighting, ect that I usually like and prefer in most books - but still manages to pull of an oustanding performance. The story may not have been fastpaced, but the slow pace allowed me to bond more with the characters - as I'm viewing as they grow up.
Best thing about the book, it goes full circle at the end. You finally understand why he's telling us this story, why he knows details he shouldn't, and why he's reading it to us.
***A Last Note From Your Narrator***
I am haunted by humans.

Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz-
This has got to be one of the s***** books I've ever read. Horowitz let me down this time. The mystery was retarded, the action was retarded, the ending was retarded, none of the characters were decently likeable. The school kids acted retarded, I mean, yeah these new kids aren't in on the secret yet - but that doesn't mean you have to plain ignore them. I thoroughly enjoy his other books, like Alex Rider and the Gatekeepers, but seriously wtf was he thinking this time?

The Road- Not as good as I expected, but good nonetheless. Beginning was too slow. So, took me a short while to actually get into the book. I'd rather they have come across more humans along the way, would have made it more interesting. The desperation and hopelessness came across pretty clear, though. However, I like how it ends on a hopeful note.

Currently on- Dumas Key.

[Rei]

I'm currently working on THE TIME MACHINE as well as Jasper Fforde's WELL OF LOST PLOTS. I've gotta say, if there is anyone here at all who has not read Fforde, get thee hence to the library! THE EYRE AFFAIR was great, but the stories only get more interesting and creative as the books continue.

[Mich]

Locke and Key is a relatively-new comic that's still coming out, and, now that I'm all caught up on it, I'll tell you about. It's by Joe Hill, aka Joseph Hillstrom King, aka Stephen King's son. And I'm sure I'm not the first person to point this out, but L&K reads a lot like a King novel. Magic that only kids or certain adults even notice, characters with deep flaws, eldritch abominations, New England, bad guys with horribly good luck, lengthy and detailed pasts that are very important but don't get revealed until way later because the characters themselves don't remember them, the list goes on. There was one moment that I could have sworn was taken directly from some King novel, possibly It, but I can't remember it.

And it's really good. Joe Hill can write, that's for sure. Me being a King fan might help that. And the art's good, too: not so realistic that the crazy things that happen seem out of place, but good enough that you'll never mistake one character for another one in the steadily growing cast, and the detail level is pretty amazing. The myth arc is very intriguing and I want more, damnit.

I need to stop reading comics that aren't finished yet. I seriously do.

[neo-dragon]

Also (unrelated) I've been reading some of Octavia E. Butler's stuff. I read "Fledgling" some weeks ago, and I'm almost finished "Dawn"; the first book in the "Lilith's Brood" collection. I also read "Parable of the Sower" some years ago. I don't know if anyone else here has read her stuff but it all seems to be very much the same: ie. themes of community, sexuality, and racism viewed in a sci-fi context through the eyes of a strong, black, female protagonist. It's like she's always telling the same story.

Having now read more of Butler's work including all of "Lilith's Brood" (aka. the "Xenogenesis Trilogy") and beginning the "Patternist Series" being half way through "Wild Seed" I have to say I'm impressed.

As I mentioned previously she does tend to write about the same themes repeatedly but she explores them in pretty unique and thought provoking ways. Butler is one of those authors who transcends her genre. That is to say that even though her works are definitely sci-fi/fantasy, I would still recommend them to those crazy "I hate that silly spaceship and alien nonsense" people because her books are never really about the fantastic elements. More than anything they make me think very seriously about what it means to be human, and that is exactly what good science fiction is really about.

Bottom line: If you haven't sampled Butler's work I strongly recommend that you look into it.

[Syphon the Sun]

Mich:

You probably already saw this, but Axe Cop is coming to print!

[Mich]

Mich:

You probably already saw this, but Axe Cop is coming to print!

I did see that! Man, Axe Cop is the man.

[megxers]

I need to get my hands of Scott Pilgrim 4. I'm currently reading Warbreaker, Neuromancer or The Angel's Game, depending on what I get to first this evening. I am developing a problem where I read 50-150 pages in one sitting of a book and then not touching it for weeks/months on end.

[ValentineNicole]

I need to get my hands of Scott Pilgrim 4. I'm currently reading Warbreaker, Neuromancer or The Angel's Game, depending on what I get to first this evening. I am developing a problem where I read 50-150 pages in one sitting of a book and then not touching it for weeks/months on end.

ME TOO. And a date for the movie next month!!!

[Mich]

The final volume of Scott Pilgrim came out today.

It was great. Just thought you ladies should know.

[Young Val]

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson.

[CezeN]

Just finished Duma Key by Stephen King.

Has to be the best psychological horror story novel I've ever read.
Well, second place to The House of Leaves.

I really don't have much words for describing it.
It was simply an awesome story, with awesome character development, and an awesome mystery that kept you on the edge of your seat.

[BonitoDeMadrid]

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson.

I just finished the second volume of the same trilogy, The Girl who Played with Fire! They're both amazing books.

Next up: Six Suspects, by Vikas Swarup (of "Q & A" - better known as the book behind "Slumdog Millionaire" - fame)

[Mich]

In my apparent kick of comics-related, Pulitzer-winning books, I just read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It's funny, it doesn't look that thick of a novel from the outset, but it took me a few weeks to read, probably because so much happens. It's the story of two cousins, one with a big imagination who lives in New York, the other who just escaped from pre-war Prague, and their involvement and various creations throughout the Golden Age of comics. Like lots of fiction set with a historical backdrop, the characters interact with a lot of real figures from that time, and the book treats them as absolutely genuine, complete with footnotes, mentions of lost transcripts, etc., but the part that made it particularly fascinating for me was that, well, almost all of the people mentioned are comic celebrities.

And it was all made even more confusing for me with hoe I found the book, which was by reading the comic-book sequel written by Brian K Vaughn, in which the author of Kavalier & Clay wrote the forward, which was the tale of how Vaughn met Sam Clay in his early childhood, which inspired him to read comics...

Anyway, good stuff, teaches you a lot about comic history, as well as giving interesting views on World War II, the beginnings of pop art, the start of the Comics Code, and, of course, another, completely different take on New York City.