To Read Pile

[chrispenycate]

Yes! The famine is over. I was forced out to buy sandals (what was wrong with the ones I was wearing? A bit scruffy, perchance, but well run in in their four years of one careless owner.) and my sister left me in Waterstones while she did something I couldn't do for her.

Very bad selection of SF, but I got China Mieville's "The city and the city," Peter F. Hamilton's "The temporal void" and a Jim Butcher they were almost giving away (well, I've not tried any of his and this seemed a good opportunity) and told off for trying to carry too much weight.

So I can stop rereading. Now, if only baby things were next to a second hand bookshop...

 

[Nesacat]

If you haven't already, you might consider a site like Shelfari or one of the others. I do this mainly to keep from purchasing a duplicate of one I've forgotten I have. Course, at my age you need all the help you can get.

I have considered doing something like this several times. I usually give up after several bookcases.

And yes I have ended up buying duplicates. Usually because the covers and blurbs change and of course I've not read the first one to start with. Yes, there'll be this little voice telling me it sounds familiar and I won't be able to work out why it's familiar so will invest in said book. The absolutely marvelous thing about having a regular book dealer is that he, bless his heart, keeps track of what I buy. On the plus side, I always have a gift ready when one is needed.

 

[Mouse]

Currently reading:
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

To finish reading (books packed away and now I can't find them!):
The Queen’s Necklace by Teresa Edgerton
A Sword from Red Ice by JV Jones
Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks

To read:
Watcher of the Dead by JV Jones
A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks
Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin
Windhaven by George RR Martin and Lisa Tuttle
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
I, Corriander by Sally Gardner
The Black Angel by John Connelly
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
The Walking by Bentley Little
Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton
King Rat by China Mieville
Legends by Terry Pratchett et al
The Death Trilogy by Terry Prattchett
The Picture of Dorian Gray unedited version by Oscar Wilde
Steve and Me by Terri Irwin
Slights by Karen Warren
The Death Collector by Justin Richards
Henry VIII Wolfman by A.E. Moorat
Shade’s Children by Garth Nix
The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix
Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
Around a Dark Corner by Jeani Rector
Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan
The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
Haunted Landscapes: Cornish and Westcountry Tales of the Supernatural by Donald R. Rawe
Plus various anthologies I have stories in.

Ok something naughty's happened. I bought two more books. The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud and um... another one. But, I finished reading the Wilde biography and moved De Profundis off my to-read pile into my reading right now pile, so that makes up for it, right? Right?

Oh and yay! Chrispy has a to-read pile!

 

[Vertigo]

That's very bad Mouse! I regret I may be about to do something similar, though over a larger scale and timescale (I'm not that rich). I am thinking of working through all the SF Masterworks which is going to require the purchase of a quite a few books I do not currently have (abe books here I come )

 

[rai]

I got you all beat. I just bought almost the complete series of "The Years Best Science Fiction" vol. 6 - 28 (excluding volume 7 and 1-5). got them on Amazon new or very good condition.

that's 22 volumes of years best stories (somewhere around 5.5 million words).

 

[GreenKidx]

Mouse- I'm a bit late(I rarily venture outside of Aspiring Writers, only just found this thread) but I LOVED the Summer Tree by Guy Gaveriel Kay. Ive only gotten around to book one but already purchased book two and looking forward to buying book three soon. I enjoyed what I've read (2 books) of The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix as well.

Some of you make my feel so much better about my book buying habit! Then again I'm still young, plenty of time to work on growing my TBR pile to insurmountable heights. Just counted 21 physical books to read/finish and 10 ebooks. At the top are: The Skin Map, El Alquimista(gonna read The Alchemist in spanish), Empress, The Wandering Fire, Play Dead, Dragon Avenger, Heartfire and Nine Gates. These are of the books I currently own. Will definitely be buying The Desert Spear, The Palace of Impossible Dreams and The Wise Man's Fear and moving them to the forefront in the very near future.

I am currently trying to transition to ebooks and have decided that I will only be buying traditional physical books to finish series already in progress or if the ebook version is not available. That being said my "series in progress" and "to be purchased" lists would be lengthy. I might actually dive in today and really see what all needs to be completed/purchased.

 

[GOLLUM]

That's very bad Mouse! I regret I may be about to do something similar, though over a larger scale and timescale (I'm not that rich). I am thinking of working through all the SF Masterworks which is going to require the purchase of a quite a few books I do not currently have (abe books here I come )

As you probably know I have the entire set of SF and Fantasy Masterwork series to date. I was lucky enough to source all of the SF but two off the shelf from our speciliast SFF shop. Those two were hard to get. One was sourced from a Polish website, the other from a French one but it was worth it. The SF spines are amongst the best to have been designed..except for the more recent non-numbered releases and it's an excellent series. I think most of the books are still easily enough sourced. Let me know if you have troubles with any of them, I may be able to help.

I plan as part of my upcoming blog site to read and review the entire series to date as an ongoing event in case that is of interest to you.

I wish you the best of luck...

 

[Vertigo]

Thanks Gollum, I was aware you doing something along those lines and I shall certainly be very interested in your views. I'm not too concerned about getting the actual Masterworks editions of the books (I generally try to get eBooks if they are available anyway) and since most were pretty big sellers in their time, if I can't get an eBook I should be able to get them second hand from somewhere like Abe books
(I've already checked and most are available there though not as Masterworks editions).

Also I do have quite a few of them (though again mostly not masterworks editions) gathering dust on shelves and I shall probably re-read any of those that I've not read in a while (most of them that is).

I'm very much looking forward to it, as I know a lot of the books I have read from the list already are brilliant, though there are a couple that I have read recently and found disappointing, like Forever War which I thought was very flawed, though maybe it just doesn't have the same relevance so long after Vietnam.

 

[Fried Egg]

I'm very much looking forward to it, as I know a lot of the books I have read from the list already are brilliant, though there are a couple that I have read recently and found disappointing, like Forever War which I thought was very flawed, though maybe it just doesn't have the same relevance so long after Vietnam.

I think "Forever War" is more pertinent than ever, it's allegory transcending Vietnam to encompass all long duration/distance wars which, let's face it, we have no shortage of today. But each to their own I suppose.

 

[Vertigo]

I agree with that FE as far as it goes. I think the problem for me is that the style of warfare has changed. Attitudes, conscription, tactics (napalm etc.) have changed or become unacceptable, but the Forever War simply felt like Vietnam set in space, even without the author's forward I would have had no trouble identifying it as Vietnam. It's a bit like Tanya Huff's Valor's Choice, it was good until it simply became the Zulu wars with Rorke's Drift set on an alien planet. Whenever you try to shoehorn historical events into future settings you will always end up with contextual incongruities which I find intensely annoying. I feel that both authors have taken current attitudes, training, organisational structure, tactics etc and simply dumped them into the future without really changing them to suit future technologies. A little harsh maybe and I have enjoyed both authors and both of these books and will almost certainly read more of their work. I just find that, for me at least (and it is obviously a highly subjective view) FW doesn't rate classic status. However I am also fully aware that a large number of authors that I respect and admire greatly obviously thought different as they were the ones who put it in the list. So I am perfectly happy to mark it up as just being something that didn't quite click with me.

 

[Fried Egg]

I agree with that FE as far as it goes. I think the problem for me is that the style of warfare has changed. Attitudes, conscription, tactics (napalm etc.) have changed or become unacceptable, but the Forever War simply felt like Vietnam set in space, even without the author's forward I would have had no trouble identifying it as Vietnam.

I would probably agree that there are plenty of signs that it was the Vietnam conflict that was the inspiration behind thie book but on the other hand I don't think a knowledge of Vietnam is essential for appreciating the story, or the points the author was trying to make. Someone could grow up today, having no knowledge of Vietnam and only of America's current involvements, and still get a lot from this novel.

 

[Vertigo]

I would probably agree that there are plenty of signs that it was the Vietnam conflict that was the inspiration behind thie book but on the other hand I don't think a knowledge of Vietnam is essential for appreciating the story, or the points the author was trying to make. Someone could grow up today, having no knowledge of Vietnam and only of America's current involvements, and still get a lot from this novel.

Possibly more actually and maybe that's my difficulty; that I just couldn't separate the two so it constantly jarred with me. But never mind I still enjoyed the novel and I certainly don't always expect to find every book that others consider a classic to be that for me as well. Book reading is always, to some extent, going to be a very subjective occupation

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks Gollum, I was aware you doing something along those lines and I shall certainly be very interested in your views. I'm not too concerned about getting the actual Masterworks editions of the books (I generally try to get eBooks if they are available anyway) and since most were pretty big sellers in their time, if I can't get an eBook I should be able to get them second hand from somewhere like Abe books
(I've already checked and most are available there though not as Masterworks editions)..

I can drop you a line once I get started.

I agree that most of the Masterwork books are generally very good and I'm with Fried Egg, Forever War has as much relevance today as when it was first released. The themes it deals with transcends any historical context. Ridley Scott certainly sees the relevance in bringing this book to the sliver screen as his next major SF project following Bladerunner and Alien. Work is currently underway on finalsing the script and I for one am looking forward to seeing what Ridley comes up with....

 

[Vertigo]

Thanks Gollum I's appreciate that - I might even try to do something similar for myself

I don't deny the relevance of Forever War I just felt like I was reading in two different timelines. I prefered Scalzi's Old Man's War series which I thought were better depictions of the needs of futuristic ground warfare.

I too will be interested to see what Ridley Scott comes up with!

However I guess we are going too much off topic for this thread.

 

[GOLLUM]

Agreed....

So what's in your TBR pile Vertigo? The next let us say half a dozen books you are hoping to read?

 

[Fried Egg]

I've a vague plan to complete the fantasy masterwork series by the end of next year and the (original) SF Masterworks series by the end of the following year.

Like Vertigo, I'm not particularly bothered about tracking down the proper masterworks editions. I'm not even bothered about getting precisely the same collections. i.e. I'm not going to bother with Clark Ashton Smith's "The Emperor of Dreams" since I've read several other collections which contain most if not all of the stories there in.

 

[Vertigo]

Agreed....

So what's in your TBR pile Vertigo? The next let us say half a dozen books you are hoping to read?

Well I have just read Tau Zero though not because it is in the Masterworks series but rather because I am currently very interested in Bussard Ramjets and I have also got the first couple of Gregory Benford's Galactic Centre series for the same reason. Though I have never read anything by him before. Then there are a number of on going series of books I have in my pile as well.

So just looking at the top of my pile that are most likely my next few reads (but in no particular order):

James Blish - They Shall have Stars (Masterworks) reading now.
James Matheson - I am Legend (not so sure about this one as I'm not a great vampire lover)
Gregory Benford - In the Ocean of Night
Neal Asher - The Skinner
Iain Banks - Transition
Iain M Banks - Surface Detail
Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead
Peter Hamilton - The Evolutionary Void (I shall probably have to re-read the back end of Temporal Void first)
China Mieville - Iron Council
Justina Robson - Down to the Bone
John Scalzi - the Android's Dream
Dan Simmons - Endymion

Those are probably the top of the pile of books I have actually got (I do have a lot more) but I shall probably be gradually slotting Masterworks books into it and also interspersing with the odd lighter read from the likes of Bujold, Huff, Weber and others

That said whenever I list my likely next dozen odd reads it always changes. For example I have been "about" to read The Evolutionary Void for a long time now and just haven't got around to it despite the fact that I love his Commonwealth books.

 

[Connavar]

I've a vague plan to complete the fantasy masterwork series by the end of next year and the (original) SF Masterworks series by the end of the following year.

Like Vertigo, I'm not particularly bothered about tracking down the proper masterworks editions. I'm not even bothered about getting precisely the same collections. i.e. I'm not going to bother with Clark Ashton Smith's "The Emperor of Dreams" since I've read several other collections which contain most if not all of the stories there in.

I have a vague plan to read more modern literary stronger fantasy that you might find in Fantasy Masterworks. I have read classic fantasy you see in FM series. Vance,Dunsany, Howard,Zelazny,Poul Anderson books in FM series.

I will look for World Fantasy type fantasy books. Also im getting more african general fiction and genre fiction since i just found North African Library in town has good collection of fiction from Africa and not just non-fiction books.

 

[GOLLUM]

Such are the issues Fried Egg of being an obsessive compulsive. Wait until you see the pictures incl. inventory I plan on releasing of my library...

Funnily enough on individual books I don't care which edition I get as long as I obtain the book I'm after but with series I like to source the entire set if it's something I really like.

For a twist on the TBR pile the first 7 books I plan on reviewing to kick start my new thread are:

The Woman In Black – Susan Hill
The Tartar Steppe – Dino Buzzati
Street of Crocodiles – Bruno Schulz
Nada – Carmen Laforet
Wittgenstein’s Nephew – Thomas Bernhard
Pedro Paramo - Juan Rulfo
Bruges-la-Morte -Georges Rodenbach

Not necessarily household names here but all top line authors I can assure you and almost every work containing elements of the fantastic or supernatural....

 

[Mouse]

Mouse- I'm a bit late(I rarily venture outside of Aspiring Writers, only just found this thread) but I LOVED the Summer Tree by Guy Gaveriel Kay. Ive only gotten around to book one but already purchased book two and looking forward to buying book three soon. I enjoyed what I've read (2 books) of The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix as well.

That's good, I fancy I've heard good things said about Guy Gaveriel Kay since I picked up one of his books (swapped something for it actually) so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it!

Good to hear the Garth Nix Seventh Tower books are good too. I do love Garth Nix. Really tried hard to get Legends of Australian Fantasy the other day as he has a short story in it (an Abhorsen story actually) and Trudi Canavan's in it also, but couldn't find the damn thing. Except on Kindle. And I don't have one of they.

However I guess we are going too much off topic for this thread.

Oh aye. Thread-jacking as soon as my back's turned, hey? Tsk!