December 2015: What Are you Reading?

[dask]

I'll post the table of contents later this weekend when I have a little more time. In addition to a bunch of people I've never heard of there is a story by Charles Dickens which I really liked.

 

[Fedos]

I just finished up Ovid's Metamorphoses for the first time. Trying to broaden my horizons and read more widely instead of just fantasy, horror, and science fiction. It was a very good read and after having finished both the Illiad and Odyssey earlier in the year it went perfectly with those two epic poems. I'm still looking forward to reading more mythology so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on where to go from here?

In fantasy I'm currently reading through The Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams. Really enjoying this one and finding it to be a fantastic read. Also reading The Lost Road and Other Writings by J. R. R. Tolkien in an effort to read the background material to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion until I give those books another read through. In science fiction I'm reading Endymion by Dan Simmons, such a drastic change of pace and focus from what I'd come to love about Hyperion and to a lesser extent The Fall of Hyperion, but I'll plod through regardless.

In horror I'm reading through The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft edited by S. T. Joshi. I really was attracted to Lovecraft through Edgar Allan Poe when some college-mates said that an initial story of mine sounded like something Poe would write. Anyway, I've already read through about half of this book and am very much enthralled so far, with lots of stories competing for my favorite of the bunch. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I was reading through the complete fiction of Edgar Allan Poe alongside Lovecraft.

Lastly, for poetry I'm reading through a critical edition of Shelley's Poetry and Prose in an effort to acquaint myself with this poet. I'm about halfway through this book and enjoying myself with it. As an aspiring writer, I am doing the best I can to read broadly and tackling poems as a springboard to improving my own prose writing. Lots of days left in the month so I should be able to get through a few of these.

 

[tobl]

I'll post the table of contents later this weekend when I have a little more time. In addition to a bunch of people I've never heard of there is a story by Charles Dickens which I really liked.

you don't like a christmas story?

 

[dask]

Sorry, but I don't quite know what you're getting at.

 

[Gonk the Insane]

Nearly finished Teresa Edgerton's Goblin Moon. Absolutely loving it.

 

[Dan Jones]

Almost finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence.

Am toying with reading one of Peter V Brett's books next. I came here to see what others were saying but was surprised to find no threads on him. Any reason?

 

[HareBrain]

Any reason?

Yes, you didn't look very hard.

THE WARDED MAN (or THE PAINTED MAN) by Peter V. Brett

 

[Dan Jones]

Hmm. I can only think that excessive mince pie consumption affects sight.

Thanks for the redirection

 

[HareBrain]

Hmm. I can only think that excessive mince pie consumption affects sight.

Certainly a cockney who ate his mince pies wouldn't be able to see very well.

 

[Dan Jones]

Oh touché.

 

[Mark Ragland]

Finished Hell's Faire by John Ringo. Liked it but not as much as his previous Posleen War books.

Started Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. Enjoying it so far. While I've heard of Weber for years, this is the first book I've read by him.

 

[tobl]

Finished Hell's Faire by John Ringo. Liked it but not as much as his previous Posleen War books.

Started Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. Enjoying it so far. While I've heard of Weber for years, this is the first book I've read by him.

at least you choosed a nice one. i quite like thãt series aldo not as much as the honor Harrington series. my first book from him was OUT OF THE DARK and almost put me of him for ever.

 

[Edward M. Grant]

Just finishing the first Dave vs Monsters book. It's OK, but there's been too much talking and not enough monsters so far. And I'm still wondering whether the story will actually finish in the few pages that are left, or whether it will just be a cliffhanger for the next book.

Still working through the Day Of The Triffids and Mouse On The Moon ebooks on my Kindle.

 

[ratsy]

Reading Finders Keepers by Stephen King. Almost half way through and I am enjoying it, as I do with all King books. I think I may do a King Binge next year, and try to read the ones I haven't tried yet. Now that I know my library has most of them.

 

[Hex]

Fire Warrior -- one of the Warhammer 40,000 books about the Tau. So far so story-not-quite-started-yet. I've only read a few of the Warhammer books but they seem to enjoy their flashbacks.

 

[tobl]

finished all the demon accords books by John conroe. they are very easy to read and to like. especially the humor i quite like them.

 

[Gonk the Insane]

Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. A friend didn't think much of it, but the kindle version was on offer for £1 so thought I'd give it a go. It's pretty good

 

[tobl]

Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. A friend didn't think much of it, but the kindle version was on offer for £1 so thought I'd give it a go. It's pretty good

didn't like that one acutally
i'm now on koban 5 like the series a lot

 

[The Bluestocking]

I've just started the JACK REACHER series and am loving it!

 

[Vertigo]

Once again I'm managing to find time to read but not do any write ups so here's my recent reading:

Lord Hornblower by C S Forester - the penultimate Hornblower book. Excellent.
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold - I enjoyed this more than most of the recent Vorkosigan books, probably because she has dropped most of the romance and focused on putting together a good solid plot. Very good.
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick - I am mostly a great fan of PKD but this one was very disappointing. It was essentially three separate stories that crossed but never really came together and none of them had any real resolution. Maybe I'm missing some PKD weird hidden message!
Necromancer by Gordon R Dickson - another disappointment; after the first Childe Cycle story, which was very enjoyable, this one goes way back in time to a relatively near future story that I found muddled and indulgent and based on more fantasy than science.
Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs - I know what to expect with ERB's Barsoom books, which is an enjoyable romp that doesn't bear too close an examination but, even foregoing that close examination, this was very disappointing to me. It is much more pulpy than the earlier books: wafer thin clichéd characters, complete lack of any kind of realistic motivation, oh so noble heroes and oh so horrible villains. I've levelled such criticism at ERB before but it was all far worse in this volume. If I can pretend I don't notice then it is still an enjoyable romp but it's getting harder to turn a blind eye.