What are you reading in August?

[Teresa Edgerton]

So I just read Stolen Songbird, an enjoyable NA fantasy, recently released and the first book in a trilogy.

And it wasn't until I finished reading it that I noticed it had been released by Strange Chemistry. Since, as many here already know, SC is shutting down and has cancelled all new titles, this was not good news.

I am sure that the author will manage to get the second and third books published somewhere, but considering the time between when a publisher acquires a book and the time they release it, I am likely to have a long wait.


Not that I am the person who should be complaining about long waits between books, but I am disappointed.

 

[Hex]

I'm reading Eoin Colfer's Warp, which so far feels darker and a bit older than his Artemis Fowl books. It also has the best and scariest villain I've encountered in a very long time.

After a delay while I got my head around the multiple points of view (argh!), I finished Advent, which was as brilliant and unsettling as it promised to be in the first 50 pages. I would really recommend it.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

I've been wondering about that one, but been a bit put off by the blurb which doesn't sound too inspiring.



I thought you loved vampires Parson!

Let me know what you did not like about the blurb of the Bolano book and I'll try and tell you if it's an accurate representation of the book or not?

 

[kythe]

I just finished "Robots and Empire" by Asimov. Of all the Robots and Foundation books I've read so far, this one has the most slow-moving plot. However, it does explain the ideas behind psychohistory better than any of the other books. And Daniel and Giskard the most fleshed-out characters in the series.

 

[Talysia]

I'm finally reading the latest book of Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, Skin Game, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

 

[Vertigo]

Let me know what you did not like about the blurb of the Bolano book and I'll try and tell you if it's an accurate representation of the book or not?

I keep seeing this sort of reference: "The book presents itself as a biographical dictionary of American writers who flirted with or espoused extreme right-wing ideologies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries" which sounds almost like a catalogue. But then that typically gets followed with something like: "It is a tour de force of black humor and imaginary erudition" which sounds really appealing. I have read 2666 and By Night in Chile and the next from Bolano I'm planning on is The Third Reich.

 

[Vertigo]

Let me know what you did not like about the blurb of the Bolano book and I'll try and tell you if it's an accurate representation of the book or not?

Sorry for the double post (I was too late to edit). The other concern is how much of the black humour might pass me by. As I understand it this is largely parodying real figures but my knowledge of those real figures is virtually non existent.

 

[Parson]

I've finished Firefly Beach by Meira Pentermann. This is a far cry from my normal fare. It was described as mystery. I do sometimes read mysteries and of course I read a lot of other stuff too. It turned out to be more of a quest than a mystery, with a bit of Fantasy mixed in. Surprisingly I liked it a lot. It had a peaceful undertone and characters you could meet on any street in a small town.

Now to discover which is the next Audible book I'll listen to while walking.

Also I am now half through my fifth reading of "For the Honor of the Queen." It's amazing how your memory of a book does not quite match the reality after a few years. It still brings me to tears as I contemplate honor and sacrifice.

 

[BigBadBob141]

Having spent the last two months reading detective and crime novels ( I highly recommend Lee Child, Michael Connelly & John Connolly ) I've come back to the fold.
I've started to wade through "The Year's Best Science Fiction: 31st Annual Collection" ed by Gardner Dozois.
A real brick of a book, this could take some time!

 

[Parson]

BigBadBob... Almost picked up a Lee Child book this morning, but the price seemed high for an ebook. What did you like about him? How violent are the stories of the ex-Marine?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

About to start Topper (1926) and Topper Takes a Trip (1932) by Thorne Smith, source of the well-known movies and television series. They should be typical for the author: mildly risque comic fantasies with a very 1920's/1930's feel to them.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Finished Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and Cassandra Clare's City of Heavenly Fire. Both were fairly satisfying reads.

Now back to where I left off with James Dashner's The Maze Runner and Tad Williams's Happy Hour In Hell.

Also starting The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima.

 

[Vertigo]

Lieutenant Hornblower by C S Forester. Whilst this was another great high seas adventure and was certainly a major page turner for me, it was also quite flawed in making Hornblower too perfect and the other major protagonist, a fellow lieutenant, too stupid. More here.

 

[Grunkins]

Finished Robin Hobb's The Golden Fool last night. She's a master. Every Hobb book I've read thus far is about as close to perfection as I can imagine a book being. In this middle book of her Tawny Man trilogy very little really happened plot-wise, but it was still completely compelling and as rich a novel as any of her books. Her characters are always deep and conflicted, her stories always loving and brutal. My instinct is to bull ahead and finish the Tawny Man trilogy then immediately jump into the new (coming out Tuesday in the US) Fool's Assassin, but I'd rather savor it. I'll read Fool's Fate sometime soon, but not yet. Really no idea what I'll read next.

 

[Parson]

Finished For the Honor of the Queen, and now am torn between re-reading A Short Victorious War --- David Weber, Honor Harrington #3, or Weber's Oath of Swords (War God) which I haven't read. I have the first in paperback and the latter on my Kindle. It takes something for me to get a real book out for pleasure reading it is so inconvenient. I am also listening to What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Only 4 chapters in and so far has my interest quite well. I especially like the story set in 1930. --- There is parallel story set in 1995, but the teenage ubiquitous use of a "walkman," just shouts 1980's.

 

[Bick]

I've started reading Jack L. Chalker's Midnight at the Well of Souls, which is pretty good and I'm enjoying it so far. Have other chronites read much Chalker? I think ChrisP probably has, as he often seems to refer readers to Chalker novels in the Book Search subforum.

 

[Juliana]

Had a bit of an Agatha Christie binge; have read most of her stuff multiple times as my mum had a whole collection of her books, so its like meeting old friends again. The nice thing about knowing 'whodunnit' is that I can focus on how she leads up to the reveals.

Lots of re-reading this month; Sanderson's Steelheart (was trying to see if my son would like it and got caught up; even better second time round) and also The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest because I wanted to remember how the trial went...

 

[The Bluestocking]

Had a bit of an Agatha Christie binge; have read most of her stuff multiple times as my mum had a whole collection of her books, so its like meeting old friends again. The nice thing about knowing 'whodunnit' is that I can focus on how she leads up to the reveals.

We are truly twins when it comes to reading tastes - I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Agatha Christie!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I've just started Half a King. I'm liking it more than any of his adult books I've read and found it flowing well. Although the first line of the cover blurb gave a huge spoiler that's made me feel the section I'm reading might actually be all back-story for the main story. If so, it's very good bad story...

 

[Parson]

I've started reading Jack L. Chalker's Midnight at the Well of Souls, which is pretty good and I'm enjoying it so far. Have other chronites read much Chalker? I think ChrisP probably has, as he often seems to refer readers to Chalker novels in the Book Search subforum.

A couple of decades ago I read his 4 Lords of the Diamond, which was cracking good S.F. with a mystery arc over all 4 of the books.

Also I started Weber's "Oath of Swords (War God) hasn't pulled my chain yet.