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Location: Middle TN, USA | My intention is to focus my attentions on my "The Counting hall be Three Challenge"
Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's
The Grand Tour or the Purloined Coronation Regalia
The Mislaid Magician or Ten Years Later
Joe McKinney's
Dead City
Flesh Eaters
Apocalypse of the Dead
Besides these I have from the library
Jesse Petersen's 4th "Living With The Dead" novel - The Zombie Whisperer
The First novel in Pip Ballantine's very funny "Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences" Series - Phoenix Rising
Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind
and as always whatever else I feel like reading.
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| Reading Geoff Ryman's Air. Slow going at the moment. |
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| Read Aliette de Bodard's Servant of the Underworld and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Talents. Both very good.
Reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making at the moment. It's delightful, like Discworld meets literary surrealism.
Next I'll probably be reading Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo, Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass, Caitlin Kiernan's The Drowning Girl, and either Nicola Griffith's Hild or Mary Doria Russell's Children of God, both of which are doorstoppers. |
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Location: SC, USA | After March with KSR's Rice and Salt and Simmon's Hyperion, I've decided to go "lighter," in subject matter, gravitas and page count. Thus far, I've loved all the April books: Walton's Among Others, Barker's Abarat, and Doctorow's Little Brother. Right now I'm reading E. Nesbit's Five Children and It, the first part of a trilogy, which is not in WWE yet. i hope we can add Nesbit as an author soon because I want to do a blog on her. I will be reading more of her YA books this month. I'm also reading Suskind's Perfume, because, you know Very British YA books about manners and books about 18th century Parisian serial killers ARE perfect in combination. After those, probably Charnas's first Holdfast book, whose name escapes me and something by Diana Wynne Jones. |
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Location: UK | FeminineFantastique - 2014-04-11 3:25 AM
Reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making at the moment. It's delightful, like Discworld meets literary surrealism. Me too! I'm finding it quite hard-going, myself. It doesn't seem to have much of a direction, so far, just a series of things happening. This is quite common in books for younger readers, but I like a bit more drive to keep me engaged. I guess I wasn't really in the mood, but it's a library book so I have to read it now.
The only book I've finished so far this month was Jhereg by Steven Brust, which was a new purchase I just decided I wanted to read, and which happened to count for the Book Ones challenge.
I don't really know what's next. I feel like there's no longer any pressure on the Book Ones or WoGF. I ought to be able to finish both without really trying from here, given that the Valente counts for both. I should probably try to get one of my longer books read. I've been meaning to start The Time Ships for about two months, and keep putting it off, but I think I might actually try to read The Time Machine first (which I might have read, but can't remember - I've certainly read at least two other sequels-by-other-hands: Morlock Night by KW Jeter and The Space Machine by Christopher Priest). |
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| Yanno, I've tried reading at least two of Valente's adult books, and I just could not with them after a few pages of the sample. Too postmodern for me I guess? But Fairyland works for me. I love the dialogue/internal monologues, September's Somewhat Heartlessness, the wyverary with doubtful parentage, the bicycle herd. Lack of causality usually bothers me but somehow it works for me here. I suppose it adds to the surrealism.
So far there've been two books I've had to put down though. The first was Kiernan's The Drowning Girl, which I think was mostly because I'd just finished her The Red Tree and it was my favorite book in at least a year. The second was Justina Robson's Natural History, which was thoroughly engaging except that it was just too hard of sci-fi, I think. I had too difficult of a time following what was going on.
Edited by FeminineFantastique 2014-04-11 8:48 AM
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Location: Middle TN, USA | DrNefario - 2014-04-11 8:09 AM
FeminineFantastique - 2014-04-11 3:25 AM
Reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making at the moment. It's delightful, like Discworld meets literary surrealism. Me too! I'm finding it quite hard-going, myself. It doesn't seem to have much of a direction, so far, just a series of things happening. This is quite common in books for younger readers, but I like a bit more drive to keep me engaged. I guess I wasn't really in the mood, but it's a library book so I have to read it now.
The only book I've finished so far this month was Jhereg by Steven Brust, which was a new purchase I just decided I wanted to read, and which happened to count for the Book Ones challenge.
I don't really know what's next. I feel like there's no longer any pressure on the Book Ones or WoGF. I ought to be able to finish both without really trying from here, given that the Valente counts for both. I should probably try to get one of my longer books read. I've been meaning to start The Time Ships for about two months, and keep putting it off, but I think I might actually try to read The Time Machine first (which I might have read, but can't remember - I've certainly read at least two other sequels-by-other-hands: Morlock Night by KW Jeter and The Space Machine by Christopher Priest ).
I have started Fairyland at least twice, and have gotten exactly nowhere with it, but I plan to revisit it. I seems flat to me. I guess that is the problem I am having with it. It lacks passion. It does not help matters that fantasy is just not my genre.
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Location: UK | I finished it this morning. If I'm not really clicking with something but feel I "have" to read it, I tend to just plow through it so I can get to something else. Anyway, I thought the second half was much stronger, when September started to act, rather than merely be there. |
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| Nefario, I agree.
I finished it this afternoon, and can't wait to read the next one. But I don't have it yet, and I do have Redemption in Indigo, The Drowning Girl, Children of God, and some others, so... trying to have self-discipline. |
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Location: Great Lakes, USA | So far, I've read Mendoza in Hollywood and Divergent. Mendoza in Hollywood is the third of Kage Baker's Company novels, and the one I have liked the least so far. Divergent was ok, but not as good as some of my friends made it sound. I'm not really a fan of young adult fiction. I don't think I was a fan of young adult fiction when I was a "young adult."
I'm currently reading Annihilation, which is excellent and Ash, which is ok. (I'm getting really tired of wardrobe descriptions and wardrobe changes - I swear half the book is about clothing.) I have Servant of the Underworld, Hild and Shikasta to read, all library holds, so I have to read them before they're due. I suspect that I will really like Servant of the Underworld - a murder mystery set in the Aztec empire. How cool is that!? |
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Location: UK | If I'd known The Time Machine was so short, I might have read it sooner.
I've moved on to Surface Detail by Iain Banks now, which is the longest book on my provisional challenge list (since I decided Mary Gentle's Ash was a bit much), narrowly edging out The Time Ships. It could last me till the end of the month. |
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| Daxxh, I read Servant of the Underworld a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it.
For the latter half of April -- well, I went back to The Drowning Girl. I'm about a quarter of the way through and it looks like the plot is finally starting, so yay. After this it's between Children of God, Redemption in Indigo, and the next Fairyland book. I am really not reading fast enough to keep up. It's not my reading speed -- I finish most books in two or three days -- but the time off I tend to take between books.
Edited by FeminineFantastique 2014-04-15 12:57 PM
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| Oh this is a fun forum! I joined too many challenges but it gives me purpose while the east coast faces another dreary day. I did make it through Gentle's Ash but thought it could have been better at half the length. Generally I love her writing. Fairyland... Well I'm glad I had it on Audio. The writing was lush but it became too much after a while for me.
I just finished Wolfhound Century which I thought was amazing. The language set the atmosphere so well and I could feel the heaviness of the totalitarian government as well as the omnipotent rain (kinda like here lol) and the narrator was excellent. Just started listening to Blue Remembered Earth. Neither book is on a challenge list though. Guess I needed a break. But I am reading the Killing Moon by Jeminson for the LGBT RYO. I really liked her Hundred Thousand Kingdom but I might like this better. There's more subtlety and complexity in the characters' emotions. |
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| Oh this is a fun forum! I joined too many challenges but it gives me purpose while the east coast faces another dreary day. I did make it through Gentle's Ash but thought it could have been better at half the length. Generally I love her writing. Fairyland... Well I'm glad I had it on Audio. The writing was lush but it became too much after a while for me.
I just finished Wolfhound Century which I thought was amazing. The language set the atmosphere so well and I could feel the heaviness of the totalitarian government as well as the omnipotent rain (kinda like here lol) and the narrator was excellent. Just started listening to Blue Remembered Earth. Neither book is on a challenge list though. Guess I needed a break. But I am reading the Killing Moon by Jeminson for the LGBT RYO. I really liked her Hundred Thousand Kingdom but I might like this better. There's more subtlety and complexity in the characters' emotions. |
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| Oops-double clicked. And misspelled Jemisin. |
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Location: UK | Wolfhound Century is one of the books I originally had in my list, and want to read fairly soon, but became superfluous thanks to later additions. I'm probably going to read it anyway. It will count for the Book Ones challenge.
I also have Blue Remembered Earth on my list, for the Book Ones, Read More of that Author and Second Best challenges. Both books were in the running for my current read, but I went for Surface Detail instead, in the end. I'm going to have far too many Book Ones, to be honest. I was considering swapping BRE out for a different Reynolds. |
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| I've loved all of Reynold's previous books. BRE sounds significantly different though. When I first read a review I wasn't sure I'd like it but than another review said it was lovely to have a more optimistic view of the future and I thought that might be a good thing! I just started so I'm uncertain about the story line thus far.
What challenges are you doing? That's a general questions for everyone. |
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| Well, I finished The Drowning Girl. It was good, but I didn't love it half as much as I loved The Red Tree (though the books I do love as much as The Red Tree I could count on half a hand, so take that for what it's worth). Not sure what I'll be in the mood for next -- probably more fairyland.
Dlw, good choice re: The Killing Moon.
I'm doing the following challenges: 12 Awards, 2nd best, Authors of Color, LGBT, End of the World, Creature Feature, Faerie Mythology, Read the Sequel, and Mythopoeic. And I'm reading all lady authors so WoGF as well. There's a lot of overlap. I think I've got just under 40 books to go. If I can get my average down to 4 books a month or so, I'll probably go for short fiction as well. There're several novellas and anthologies that I want to read.
Edited by FeminineFantastique 2014-04-16 1:37 PM
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Location: SC, USA | I'm doing 12 Awards, 2nd Best, Authors of Color, LGBT, End of the World, In Translation, Marxists, etc., the 35, Short Fiction, Fantasia, I Have to Read More By and Bucket List.
I've already completed Pick and Mix and the Guardian. (However, i might try to keep up with Guardian books, to see if I can double up.)
I'd like to also do The Ones, WoGF, Masterworks and YA, but I will not let myself join until I've read several books the fulfill those criteria for other challenges.
It all sounds rather insane doesn't it?
However, almost every book I read counts for several challenges. My biggest counter thus far was The Handmaid's Tale which counted for 6 challenges: 12 Awards, End of the World, the 35, the Guardian, the Bucket List and Pick and Mix |
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| Now I feel like a slacker!
I'm doing the LGBT, POC, WoGF, Masterworks & Elizabeth Noun challenges. I have a few overlaps but in some ways my own challenge is not to have too many overlaps! Averaging 1 1/2 books a week though not all are for the challenges. |
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Location: UK | I signed up for ten challenges, which is probably a bit much, and has kind of distorted my reading so far this year, but I'm also fairly determined to beat them all. I'm in the WoGF, Book of Ones, Masterworks, 12 Awards, Second Best, Sequel, End of the World, Read More of that Author, Guardian and Elizabeth Noun challenges. Two of which I created, so I only have myself to blame.
Some of them (Read More of that Author, Read the Sequel) I picked because they'd pretty much let me read what I wanted to read, but in trying to get the maximum crossover and minimum number of books I've ended up having to bump a few I was intending to read. I'm hoping to fit them in anyway, but I want to get sufficiently ahead of the game before I start going off-piste (to mix a few metaphors). Oddly enough it's Read More and Read the Sequel that I am struggling with the most at the moment.
The challenges mean I'm reading proportionally more SF than I originally intended, and I'm tending to favour shorter books, although physical length and mental length can be quite different. I had a personal crime fiction challenge going on as well, which I might have to push back a year, although I have managed to read one book that counts for that and, I think, four of my RYO challenges. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | I signed up for five challenges, Grand Masters 2 completed, I just have to read more 5 done, YA 4 done, One world to rule them 1 done, The Counting shall be three 1.5 (I'm half way through one of them) I had planned to focus on "The counting" challenge, but things have gone a bit awry. |
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Location: SC, USA | Dlw28 - 2014-04-16 6:06 PM Now I feel like a slacker! No need! I decided that a part of the challenge was to see how many books in my 35 and the Guardian I could get to fit in other challenges. There are spreadsheets and multiple lists involved. As I said before, a little insane! I had planned to read more YA this year as well. The one I feel that I might regret (as in it will be the most difficult to finish) is the POC challenge because I don't have that many books on my shelves that I can pull from. It is taking more planning ahead and strategizing than the other ones. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | Dlw28: I have also decided to make my own personal challenge to minimize my multiple books. As of right now, I only have one novel that I am using in more than one challenge, and I think I can replace that one with something else. That will be 57 unique books. I am also planning to review each novel, even if the challenge is fewer reviews. I don't think that makes either of us slackers! |
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| 
I think the idea of spread sheets is fun! Might give me one other indoor activity before I start climbing the walls! I told myself I'd try to read 75 books total this year and I'm at 20 so it looks doable (unless the sunshine activities win out!) the majority of the 75 will be from challenges here.
It's true some of the longer books aren't always the ones that require the most concentration and thought...
I'm working on accumulating a decent POC collection of books to read. The library has been pretty good tho I've also bought inexpensive used books and ebooks. I have to say at least a few of these books have been wonderfully different fantasy realms to explore. I have an interest in Polynesian legends/myths but haven't found authors from that background yet. If anyone has a good source or link let me know.
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Location: UK | I have been doing quite well so far this month,but with babysitting,school holidays,my sister in hospital this last week,and suddenly being told that 5 relatives from USA are coming to stay in 5 weeks time,instead of next summer,,my reading has slowed to a crawl.As for reviews for our challenge books,I will just have to postpone those till mid June when the visitors will be gone,and hopefully life calms down a bit!These are my reads so far this month
L Sprague de Camp - Lest Darkness Fall
.C J Cherryh - Protector
.H P Lovecraft - The Lurking Fear
Neil Gaiman - Fables and Reflections.
Kim Harrison - Ever After
David Eddings - Pawn of Prophecy.
J G Ballard - The Crystal World
Books in Progress
Alistair Reynolds - Revelation Space
Terry Pratchett - Small Gods
Possibly,but improbably
Strugatskis - Roadside Picnic
L K Hamilton - Caress at Twilight
Mixed bag this month.Enjoyed C J Cherryh,Lovecraft and Gaiman very much,bit let down by the Ballard.. I am dragging very slowly through Revelation Space,somehow I cant connect with it.250 pages in,350 still to go.......sigh.... The Pratchett is quite amusing,but ,like Pyramids,it is satirizing religion,often uncomfortably so.I prefer the lighter Discworld books.
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Location: Cheshire, England | I've been flying through YA and short books this month, with the odd exception.
So far, then: Sarah Pinborough's Mayhem (interesting but I'm still undecided on whether I really like Sarah's books). A bit of light relief with J. R. Rain/Piers Anthony's Aladdin Relighted. Then Kelley Armstrong's Sea of Shadows was published so that turned up on the kindle and needed reading straight away! Luke Smitherd's The Man on Table Ten was a short but very enjoyable read. I've just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi and now I'm on to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I've shelved Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany but do intend to go back to it sometime, but I'm confused 80 pages in and can't summon up the will to finish it just now.
All in all though, it's been a good month for me with most of the books I've read this month being enjoyable to the extent of adding more of an author's work on my wish list.
Edited by francesashton 2014-04-20 11:02 AM
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | So far this month has been pretty good: Heinlein's The Door into Summer (good time-travel plot, but a main character I found annoying [as often with Heinlein]) A. Merritt's The Ship of Ishtar (purple pulp, also with a main character whose motivations I found somewhat unsavory) Ian McDonald's Empress of the Sun (third in the Everness YA series, and they keep getting better) the September 1962 issue of If (a pretty mediocre issue, but with an unusual hard SF story, "The Snowbank Orbit", by Fritz Leiber) C. J. Cherryh's Peacemaker (book 15 of a series that hasn't dropped in quality, this new one concludes an arc that's been running for the last nine volumes!) ERB's Pellucidar (a big dropoff from At the Earth's Core, but with some interesting sections, including a hilarious framing narrative in the prologue, and Burroughs' idea of utopia in the final chapter) I also finished a reread of The Lord of the Rings, for the first time since age 12. That's a story for another time...
Also, decided to add the Short Fiction challenge, and read the first volume of the new edition of the complete stories of R. A. Lafferty. I've always wanted to check out Lafferty, who has a great reputation, especially among writers. His style of prose and sense of humor take a bit of getting used to, but now I'm sucked in, waiting for more volumes to be published. One of the best things I've read in a while.
Maybe next I'll pick up the Grimnoir Chonicles. I understand it's quite popular... |
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Location: Beaverton, Oregon, USA | @Scott Laz
You can record your rereading of the Lord of the Rings in the Tolkien Challenge at the Frodo (3 books) level.
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | @Steve... Unfortunately, that would be "cheating", as my reread was in 2014. This is an old thread, which brings up the question of whether there is any interest in restarting these "what are you reading this month" threads...
Scott L. |
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Location: Middle TN, USA | Sure. I like to know what everyone is reading and why. I think we just got away from it because of the challenge pages. |
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Location: Gunnison, Colorado | Maybe I'll start a thread for May an see how it's goes... |
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Location: Beaverton, Oregon, USA | Sorry Scott. I was poking around the forum and noticed the month and date, but not the year LOL. The only other place where there's something like this is in the challenge forums with monthly updates on challenge progress. And I think less than 10 people participate in that. So this may be great place where people who aren't necessarily doing the challenges can post what they're reading, getting more people involved and sharing. |
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Location: Great Lakes, USA | @spoltz - I finished The Bone Clocks. That was an excellent book! The last section was kind of scary since I can see that actually happening. This is a book that I would recommend to friends, whether they read speculative fiction or not. |
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Location: Beaverton, Oregon, USA | @daxxh - Glad you liked it! I now have to read all his other work. And the TBR pile keeps growing! |
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Location: SC, USA | I have read Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and Jacob de Zoet. They were all fantastic. There are some similarities between Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas but JdZ was very different. I have started Number9Dream a couple of time but have had trouble staying with it. If I had it to do all over again, I'd start with his first novel so that I could track his easter eggs from novel to novel--but I am a nerd that way.
Here's a cool article on Mitchell that talks a lot about his easter eggs.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/08/david-mitchell-interview-bone-clocks...
Rhonda |
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Location: Great Lakes, USA | Great article. Thanks, Rhonda.
The only other David Mitchell book that I've read is Cloud Atlas, which I loved. I will have to read more of his books. |
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| @Rhonda That's what I'm doing. I started with Ghostwritten went on to Number9dream (actually my favorite to date) then Cloud Atlas. Next up would be Black Swan Green but haven't got around to it yet. |
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Location: UK | +Not a really active month for me in the SF genre,but I did have fun reading Terry Pratchett's Making Money,and some light UF books. Oddest book of the month was Murray Leinster's Forgotten Planet where a ship had crash landed on a planet redolent with huge insects. They reverted to a primitive scavenging life,unable to cope with the insects. Sort of Land of the Giants,but with detailed descriptions of insect behaviour. All very peculiar! lol.
My read of the month had to be Theodore Sturgeon's The Dreaming Jewels,dark and rather bizarre,but fascinating. I am truly enjoying the 1950's Defining Books challenge,they are full of surprises and are good fun.
Apart from that,I am trudging through Ancillary Justice,actually managed 20 pages yesterday,but its not grabbing me at all
I too would like a new What are we reading? thread. We all got so involved in our challenges last year that we forgot about this,and I had health problems and let it drop. I started this thread back in June 2012 to try to get people talking,and at times it was the only active thread on WWEnd! lol. The RYO brought in new members and things are a lot more active now.
Of course looking at what others are reading tends to make that TBR hill to become a mountain,but thats OK. Mine is approaching Himalaya standards! |
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What are you reading in April?