December Reading Thread

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The Big Peat said:
Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or at least, reached the last 50 pages and decided I'd read all the good stuff and couldn't be bothered about the post-scripts about the personal lives of characters I didn't really care about.

Its well written and translated, and does a fine job of conveying a world and keeping the mystery interesting (its actually a very thin mystery, just doled out with great pacing), but the characters don't grip. Blomqvist is author wish fulfilment 101 to the point it does intrude on the consciousness and never really seems to be in turmoil, despite everything. Salander is just too angry and disconnected for me. They're prime examples of why authors are so commonly told to make it personal, as its not for them other than a burning anger against all the crappy things in society, and I don't like them but I'm not as incensed by them as Stieg Larsson or his characters.

Very good book, don't get me wrong, but a one and done for me.

Also... the next time any of the writers hear advice about can't do wish fulfilment, must make it personal, do this, do that... Larsson's books ignores a lot of such rules and is one of the best selling books of all time.
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I was always struck how many coffees and sandwiches Mikael Blomkvist consumed throughout the book. Do you plan to watch the David Fincher adaption? I thought it stuck with the story quite well.
 
Wyrmlord said:
I was always struck how many coffees and sandwiches Mikael Blomkvist consumed throughout the book. Do you plan to watch the David Fincher adaption? I thought it stuck with the story quite well.
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Not unless it comes on and I've got nothing better to do.
 
This month I read confessions of an atheist buddhist by stephen batchelor. It was biography of the author who join to buddhism as a monk but after years he couldn't find any answer to his questions an decided to continue his life as a lay person. Next I have started reading of Live Like A Stoic: 52 Exercises for Cultivating a Good Life. it is about the stoic traditions to find harmony in life. Sadly I couldn't read any sci-fi book this month.
 
I am reading Planet Killer by Lindsay Buroker. It is book 5 in her Star Kingdom series. She is most noted for her romance writing and for the first 3 books the romance was held to a very tolerable minimum, Book 4 less so, and now in Book 5 it looks like the romance is almost all there is moving the plot forward. I'll keep plodding through, at least until I just can't take it anymore. The first books I liked a lot so she deserves a little perseverance.
 
dannymcg said:
So far I'm really enjoying it, a continuation of book one that picks up about three months later.
I'm only a couple of chapters into it as yet so I'll update once I've gotten a good way through it.

I've got book three, The Forbidden Stars, but I've a couple others I need to read before that
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I've had to stop reading this, too many times I've thought "who's this character?" And skimmed through the first book until ah yes.
The same with "why? What's wrong with the rear port engine?" ...back to skimming through book one.
"Huh? How did that happen to his arm?" .....back to book one.(curses on my memory!)

I plan on a week sometime soon where l can start again to read the entire Tim Pratt trilogy in sequence.
Until then I'll stick with 'stand alone' books
 
I'm really enjoying Streets of Laredo, my second McMurtry book, sequel to Lonesome Dove. I was trying to figure out what he does that I like so much. He catches nuances of characterization so well and finds ways to describe details like no other.
Next up is Charles Dickens. I was thinking of starting either Great Expectations or David Copperfield in January. 2020 will also see more Alastair Reynolds and Tad Williams MST trilogy hopefully.
 
there are a few new books i picked up... jack l knapp new frontiers series is acceptable. nothing extraordinary but readable. the new craig alanson book, vakyrie from the expedionitary force really disappointed me. i have no idea how is going to salvage the series
 
dannymcg said:
Now I'm trying Gatecrashers by Patrick S Tomlinson - an unknown to me
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This is awesomely good....
Nasty aliens, outclassed humanity trying to make it big in the galaxy, political skulduggery, geeky scientists interacting with macho marines. Loads of in jokes.
All the stuff a sci fi reader loves :)
 
I just finished Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Good stuff. I think The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is entirely brilliant, whereas this was only very good. And now I know who the mole was. Or was he a vole? (Johnny English joke).

I’m now about to start With the Lightnings, by David Drake.
 
Paul_C said:
I'm a little over half way through Summerland now, and it's good enough to keep me reading but not as enjoyable for me as the Jean le Flambeur books.
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Summerland finished. Nothing special, but not bad. Maybe it was the setting, but it didn't feel like it really fired my imagination the way his previous books did. Can't grumble for 99p though ;)

Next up Lirael, with Borne (Jeff Vandermeer) to follow.
 
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