What August tome are you tackling this month?

[mosaix]

'The Colour' by Rose Tremain

 

[GOLLUM]

Also, I'm not sure what the etiquette is with the monthly reading threads, should requests for suggestions go in their own thread, or are they appropriate here?

Check out the Fantasy and SF recommendation threads in this same section for main suggestions. Reading your posts we seem to have fairly similar tastes. I could suggest many authors to you but I'll just briefly mention just a few here in this thread. If you like quality fantasy classics you might want ot check out Victor Gollancz's Masterwork series, excellent stuff! Also anything by Jeff VanderMeer, M. John Harrison, R Scott Bakker's recently completed trilogy, Italo Calvino, Paul Kearney esp. his latest Mark Of Ran, anything by Gene Wolfe esp. Book Of The New Sun, Gormenghast by Peake, Tad Wiliams, Lord Dunsany, Martin's Fevre Dream (best vampire novel ever!), Clark Ashton Smith, HP Lovecraft, Robert E Howard for the finest of so-called pulp fantasy and the list, like the road, goes ever on and on.

 

[The DeadMan]

Lord Of The Rose by Douglas Niles

 

[Tau Zero]

Well, i July i said i was going to read:
Holly Lisle - Gods Old and Dark
Elizabeth Bear – Scardown
Elizabeth Bear – Worldwired

What i actually read in July was:
Holly Lisle - Gods Old and Dark
Elizabeth Bear – Scardown
Carie Vaughn - Kitty Goes to Washington

I'm now reading
Elizabeth Bear – Worldwired
and i'm going to pick up
Jack Yeovil's Genevieve Undead series

(Thanks, Sparks-The-Knave, for the suggestion)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

'The Colour' by Rose Tremain

I've never read anything by Rose Tremain, but one of my favorite movies ("Restoration") was based on one of her novels, and I've always thought I should try something by her.

Are you enjoying The Colour, mosaix? Would you recommend it to other readers who like historical novels?

 

[ravenus]

Finished with Silverberg's Dying Inside which has as its lead character a guy who can read people's minds, but at a stage where his abilities are ebbing away. The book is a brilliant character piece, with this guy, who lives on the margins of society ghost-writing term papers for univ students, reflecting on his life and how his ability has molded him and affected his relationships with other people. Silverberg manages a constantly poignant tone and this was one of the really beautiful books I've read.

After a huge hard disk fiasco (busted big time) I've developed computer phobia for the moment, and so got back to some reading. Apart from assorted William stories by Richmal Crompton am currently browsing through China Mieville's short story collection Looking for Jake.

The title story was damn good, 'Foundation' was decent, another story calld 'The Ball Room' was very ho-hum, then another really good one called 'Familiar'. Ya so far it's been an interesting trip and I like that Mieville does not try to dilute the horror elements of his work.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Well I'm nearly half way through Judas Unchained. Then onto Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files) and I think I'm going to start the Prince of nothing series by R Scott Baker (ie the Darkness that comes before )

 

[Joel007]

Just finished X-wing series books 1-9, then all of Harry Potter in 2 weeks.
Now I'm reading all of Mark Robson's books... twice

Then on my list is to return to the magical land of Adrian Plass, and Max Lucado.

 

[elvet]

I'm halfway done Threshold by Sara Douglass. The first half was very good, but now its getting less interesting. I'm having trouble believing the change of heart of one of the main characters. It just seemed too far fetched even for fantasy.

 

[iansales]

Finished Neal Asher's Brass Man (enjoyed The Skinner more), and now reading Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell (favourite writer).

 

[GOLLUM]

@Elvet As Rosemary says, Axis trilogies are very good and IMHO Douglas's best work.

@Ravenus. glad you liked Dying Inside, think I mentioned this to you some while back in realtion to JP. Looking For Jake is a little bit of a mixed bag but when Mieville is on song he's pure brilliance! witness PSS in the longer format. The Title story was the best of the bunch for me personally.

 

[murphy]

Let me see... favorite authors that come to mind in the Science Fiction vein are Robert Heinlein, Spider Robinson, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Alfred Bester and Orison Scott Card. I've been dabbling in military sci-fi lately as well... Posleen series, Prince Roger books, Miles Vorkosigan, the Culture books, etc.

For Fantasy, Steven Erikson is my current favorite. I've read everything by George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan, didn't really like the Terry Goodkind stuff... my interest in the series flagged around Blood of the Fold, and I'm not quite sure why. I loved Michelle West's Sun Sword series, the Black Jewels trilogy, pretty much anything written by Pratchett, the original Dragonlance books, and everything by Feist.

For less genre-specific authors, Tim Powers is amazing, as is Neil Gaiman (Good Omens is one of my all-time favorites). I love the New Crobuzon books by China Mieville, but was less enamored of King Rat. I recently finished Widdershins by Charles de Lint, and loved it.

For non-sci fi/fantasy, my tastes are irratic. I loved Great Expectations and David Copperfield but didn't like Oliver Twist or Hard Times by Dickens. Catch-22 is one of my favorite books ever. John Irving is terrific, in small doses. Many of the other 'classics' have been enjoyable, although I read them mostly in college. Virginia Woolfe, Toni Morrison, Faulkner, Hemmingway, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Nathaniel Hawthorne all wrote books I enjoyed, but wouldn't necessarily seek out without some prompting.

...and I have to guiltily admit I've been reading a startling amount of trashy vampire novels lately. I loved the early Anita Blake books, but the last one just irritated me... seems like the whole plot got left out somewhere. I'm reading Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong, Carrie Vaughn, and Laruell K. Hamilton, and I don't know why. =) Additionally, a friend recently got me to read the Simon R. Green Nightside books and the Harry Dresden books (ironically, the same one who got me reading Laurell K. Hamilton, whom I paid back with the Liaden books by Lee & Miller), and I enjoyed both.

I also tend to dislike books where the story consists of misery upon misery being heaped upon a poor downtrodden yet enduring character. Given my choice, I tend to like stories that end on an upbeat note as well. Leaving a book in a better mood than when I picked it up is always a good thing for me. I just don't buy the whole catharsis thing. =)

I'm imagining my best bet would be to just find a few people whose suggestions in general are books I enjoyed, then look at the rest of their suggestions. Web-browsing between here and Amazon.Com would be a good idea. In general, I'm just looking for the stuff that you won't find prominently displayed in Barnes and Noble, but is really a good read. I would have never read Gardens of the Moon if a bookstore employee didn't recommend it, and that's the kind of thing I'd like to find more of.

Also, I'm not sure what the etiquette is with the monthly reading threads, should requests for suggestions go in their own thread, or are they appropriate here?

Have you read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell yet? If not, would highly recommend it. It's fantasy written in Jane Austin's style. Also, didn't see Jim Butcher on your list. If you haven't read any, start with Storm Front.

I'm in a reread mood in the last few days. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden universe books and am thinking of buying some more chapbooks from their website.

 

[Alia]

I'm going to try to finish Dark Moon by Meredith Ann Pierce this month. My goal use to be to read 50 pages a day. Since last year, it's turned into 50 pages a month. *sighs* I need to get back on track!

 

[elvet]

Just started The White Mare by Jules Watson. I did a quick search in the forums, no one seems to have mentioned her. Hopefully that's not a bad thing .

 

[ravenus]

Finished China Mieville's Looking for Jake (except for one story called 'A Report of Certain Occurences in London' or something like that, which I'll tackle sometime later).

Mieville as a shorts writer seems more relaxed and less intent on bamboozling you with detail. Of course I've read only PSS but have heard similar opinions about Iron Council. The book ended with a terrific novella called 'The Tain' where mankind battles against its own reflections.

 

[the_faery_queen]

oracle queen, by lynn flewing (i always spell her name wrong!) tho by the time i start it will be teh end of aug, as im saving it for my swansea trip

 

[phantos]

hi. new here.
I am presently (finally, after years of it being on the shelf) tackling (more like embracing actually)... Donaldson's; the Thomas Covenant series, Lord Foul's Bane presently.

I have been looking forward to this for a long time.

 

[GOLLUM]

hi. new here.
I am presently (finally, after years of it being on the shelf) tackling (more like embracing actually)... Donaldson's; the Thomas Covenant series, Lord Foul's Bane presently.

I have been looking forward to this for a long time.

Good to hear it. Covenant is an all time fav of mine. There's a Donaldson subforum here if you want to check it out....

 

[Marya]

I'm on the last 1/5 of A Game of Thrones and I am starting Clever Maids - The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales.

 

[iansales]

Finished Lawrence Durrell's Prospero's Cell. More a series of sketches of the island of Corfu than a travel book per se. But some lovely writing. Now onto Asimov's Second Foundation, to see if fond memories of it survive a reread... unlike Foundation and Foundation and Empire. You can never go back again...