The Books of August - Summer reading at it's finest

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Ah, Sirathiel. Long time no see. I look forward to finding out if Dan Brown pongs as badly in German.

 

[Sirathiel]

I take it you weren't too impressed with his works? What I've read so far isn't too bad. In fact, I'm quite impatient to read the rest of the book... Care to share a more detailed opinion?

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Well A&D had a few decent conceits, but it felt distressingly light weight to me. The events just began to beggar credibility - the sort of thing that would work better in a slick Hollywood flick, and I suspect that was at the back of Brown's mind. The characterisation annoyed me too - everyone turns out to have some deep buried trauma influencing them, whereas the one person with cause to be traumatised - the woman whose father is killed at the beginning - well, she seems just fine.


Actually, I guess his books are decent enough popcorn reading. But I'm an insufferable snob.

 

[Sirathiel]

lol Hey, it's good to have high standards! I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm through with it.

 

[littlemissattitude]

Dan Brown is definitely popcorn reading. At some level, I really felt like "The DaVinci Code" (which I read first) and "Angels and Demons" were the same book. And, while I was reading "DaVinci" I kept thinking that Brown had certainly read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" too many times, because it seemed like he had lifted parts of it wholesale. Didn't stop me from reading both books through. I don't know how he does it, but he kept me turning the pages.

Meanwhile, I'm reading something called "See No Evil", the memoir of a former CIA agent. Interesting book, no matter what your perspective on "intellegence" agencies (and I put that in quotes because they sometimes don't seem all that intelligent, something I've caught the author admitting a couple of times already).

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Finished Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson. It seemed to veer into vanVogt-ish super-human territory at times, but with a broader philosophical questing, not to mention riffs on shiny new technologies van Vogt never dreamed of. The ending was beautifully disturbing. I guve the book high points: fascinating concept well explored, rich, compelling characterisation, well-knit, exciting plot. I'm going to look out for Robson's other works, for sure.

And now, in the drop-everything-else category, I just got a copy of Iron Council, the new China Mieville novel!!! Hell yea!!!!! Already 60 pages in and I like it. A lot. Subversive puppet shows, gotta love it.

 

[polymorphikos]

I'm reading the Count of Monte Cristo,
Translated into the English Lingo,
and enjoying it much,
(No doubt many say such),
Although some scenes seem contrived and the plot moves slow.

 

[dwndrgn]

I've finished reading Vurt by Jeff Noon and boy was it out of my normal range of reading. I'm kind of glad I read it but I'm not sure yet whether I enjoyed it or not. It was a very surreal story about a civilization that uses feathers to access dreams/theater/tv like stories - kind of like a drug of choice. I'm not even really sure how to describe it. A lot of it seemed contradictory but still worked. Knivesout, you would probably like this one.

Hopefully our library will have power soon so I can get something else to read.

 

[SDNess]

For a couple of days I've been reading books in the Halo series. (The Fall of Reach and First Strike.)

After, I finish the last one I'm going to read this supernatural thriller written by my grandfather's cousin's daughter called Sixth Sense.

After that...Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I'm halfway through China Mieville's Iron Council. Remember my desire to see a worker's revolt in a fantasy world (I think I said something to this effect in our Carol Berg discussion!)? Well, my wish has been granted!


Also continuing with David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, a book that is precisely 1/6 science fiction, and all brilliant.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I've finished reading "See No Evil". Interesting book.

Now I'm re-reading "The Gold of Exodus: The Discovery of the True Mount Sinai", by Howard Blum, which I referred to over on the Palestine thread on the World Affairs board when we were talking about the historicity (or not) of Moses.

I've also started "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon, which I've been trying to get hold of for years. Seems like it is going to be great popcorn reading, which I need right now. I've been reading way too much serious stuff recently.

 

[erickad71]

Outlander is great popcorn reading! I really enjoyed that book, Jamie and Claire are very likable characters, and to me that is a major requirement in whether I will enjoy a book or not. I really cared about what happens to them in the story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did littlemiss.

 

[dwndrgn]

Outlander is great popcorn reading! I really enjoyed that book, Jamie and Claire are very likable characters, and to me that is a major requirement in whether I will enjoy a book or not. I really cared about what happens to them in the story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did littlemiss.

I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment. Not only are the characters interesting but you can clearly see that the author did exhaustive research to ensure that she was as accurate as she could be, historically. I found that aspect almost more enjoyable than the human element. Watch out though, they are addictive. Kind of like a soap opera, you have to keep reading the next books...and then you'll end up like me, waiting impatiently for the next installment

I've got Terri Windling's The Wood Wife to read now. Our library is still closed from the hurricane and this is my last unread book in the house . I'm hoping they'll get back into business soon or I'll be playing freecell 'till the cows come home!

 

[dwndrgn]

I'm halfway through The Wood Wife and am enjoying it, and I am also surprised by that. From reading the synopsis, it isn't what I'd normally pick up but I bought it cheap at a second-hand store since so many here had recommended it. The first chapter didn't really pull me in but I kept reading out of sheer boredom. Now I'm hooked.

 

[LadyFel]

David Eddings' 'The Diamond Throne'...Hubby just borrowed the whole series to re-read, I'm getting started on the first one...It's a bit slow at the beginning, but it's well told so far, I think I'll stick with it...

My reserve is 'Enemy of God' by Bernard Cornwell, I've finally managed to get my hands on the first two books of his Arthur trilogy, and they're excellent

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Well, I just finished My Life As A Fake by Peter Carey. Neither sf nor fantasy, but pretty surreal at times anyway. Still reading David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and also a book of short stories by Murray Leinster.

 

[mzarynn]

I read Outlander as well earlier in the summer and I've finally gotten my hands on the second book of the series, Dragonfly and Amber. I just started reading it two days ago, and I am desperately hooked. In fact, what am I doing on the computer? I'm going to pick it up again.

 

[littlemissattitude]

mzarynn. "Outlander" really has me hooked. I'm about three hundred pages in now, but only because I've been strictly rationing my time with it. If I didn't, I'd be reading it straight through, and would probably already be finished with it. But it's also one of those books that's so good that I want to make it last. I think the thing I like about it is that while it is a romance novel, it isn't a stereotypical romance novel. Claire doesn't meet Jaime and lose all her common sense (or at least she hasn't shown any sign of it yet), as most romance heroines do. It gives me hope for the genre.

 

[erickad71]

littlemiss, you hit the nail on the head! It's not a "stereotypical" romance novel. Which is absolutely why I loved it. I used to read romance novels but I quit cold turkey because they were so ridiculous and they were all the same. I cannot compliment Outlander enough, I think it's a great book with a wonderful historical background and even though I knew how that would turn out, I rooted for Jamie and Claire the whole way.

 

[dwndrgn]

Well, our library's still closed (they were doing renovations anyway and probably decided to just close up and finish that before any more bad weather comes our way. Bummer. However, I do have a few extra bucks today so I'm going to stop by the local second-hand shop and see what's on offer. I'm feeling good today, maybe I'll find a real gem for $1.00 or something like that. I also resurrected my old library card from when I lived close to where I work. It is still active and since I work here I figure I'm ok to use it. Especially since I know I'm not going to abuse it. The only problem there is that this library is extremely tiny, about the size of the ground floor of my house so they don't have a whole lot to choose from. The good thing is they often have some that my library doesn't and they get quite a few castoffs from the local Brits so they have some UK copies too.