May you read a 1,000 books this month...

[knivesout]

...or at least, one really good book! And be sure to tell us all about it, good bad or ugly, in this handy little thread created especially for the purpose.

[Tsujigiri]

I was bought a book for my birthday:

'The book of useless information!'

The quote on the front reads "This book is totally useless"

I am in the process of inflicting it on my friends....for example

"The word constipation comes from the latin 'To crowd together'"

[Jay]

Doing a lot of rereads thus far, a list of what I am reading currently or have this month and some brief thoughts:

-The Cornelius Quartet by Michael Moorcock (rereading)

Consists of Final Programe, The Cure for Cancer, The English Assasin, and The Conditon of Muzak. One of the msot influential works of fiction reagrding genre writing, and my absolute favorite work by Moorrcock (along with Mother London). Been wanting to rearead this series for awhile about. Incredible story about Moorcock's classic assassin, scientist, rock star, time traveler. One of the great works of speculave fiction ever IMHO. I got the collected editon not too long ago, so it's time for a reread without to much handle on the first prints A must read.


-The Golden Age Trilogy by John C. Wright (rereading)

I interviewed Mr. Wright last month so decided, to start reareading his trilogy. Thsi is his Sci-fi work, if you int ofanatsy and havent read his fantasy offering Last Guardian of Everness, your need to pick that up, damn good fantasy reading. Anyways I'm a few chapters into my reread of the first book in this trilogy The Golden Age, the other books in the series are The Phoenix Exultant, and The Golden Transcendence. One of better Space Opera's I have read recently, and although I have never really been a fan of books with Hard Sci-fi Elements, Wright strikes a good balance. Combine this really heavily criticaly lauded series and his excellent fantasy effort I mentioned Wright has vaulted to one of the exceptional writers in speculative fiction IMHO. For more info on both works, he describes them in the aforementioned intereview I had with him HERE. Really looking forward to his forthcoming work Orphans of Chaos.



The Red World Polaris by Clark Ashton Smith (rereading)

I'm reading this for review purposes, obviously Smith is a legend often associated with another legend HP Lovecraft. I finished this terrific collection by NightShade Books yesterday.


Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card (reread)

I don't even know why I picked this up yesterday to read, but I did. One thing about Card is he delivers a solid, fun story, that a person can read in one day, and stil lhave time to get other things done. I know there are some people that now what to knock card for not being "Scientific" enough but they can piss off as far as I am concerned. I read/enjoy/promote the other harder books, by the self styled acadamia Sci-fi writers as well, a good story, is a good story. Even though Peter Wiggins gets a little sappy in this particular novel, a good fun read.

Domain - by Steve Alten

I picked thus up yesterday and finsihed it to (i find in most cases of comaprrison a fast reader). At first I thought it was going to be just another fast paced, mindless thriller novel, no different like many others on any fiction shelf (kind of like Dan Brown), and although Alten doesn't blow me away this novel about a Mayan Doomsday prophecy, has some interesting sci-fi/fantasy elements in it. I hear it's a part of a trilogy, and just may look into them.

Secret Life by Jeff VanderMeer (reread)

Again I'm rereading this for purposes of review, but as said in previous posts, Jeff VanderMeer is one of my favorite authors currently. The man simply doesn't have bad efforts. Secret Life is a collection (and one of the better ones I have read). Love his Ambergis setting, if your looking for current fanatsy by an exceptional author Vandermeer is the guy.

Palace of Repose by Holly Phillips


An editor at Prime told me he felt Phillips was the next KJ Bishop. Looking forward to getting to this soon, Hopefully next week.

I'm trying to read my copy of Tamar Yellin's The Genizah at the House of Shepher, one of the books I have been most anticipating this year, and it's been shipped, and should have been here a good while ago!

[Amber]

This month I have done far less reading than I normally would, due to some heavy-duty exams coming up to bite me, and much lighter than I usually would read. But I read too late in the night and here's the list....

Thanks to knivesout for this one I believe: Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night a traveller. Brilliant book perfectly, perfectly layered. Recommended to all.

The Firm: John Grisham--- can't believe I reread this book... but needs must when the devil drives.

Poems of Catullus: Another reread this one. 0_0 I read to see if they were as strange as I remembered them to be.. and was convinced.

The Loom of Youth: Alec Waugh.

The October Country: Ray Bradbury

The Positronic Man: Issac Asimov and Robert Silverburg... such a sad book

Assorted Hugo Award winners stories in Volume 4: Issac Asimov is such a lovely person. I really wish I could have met him.

Assorted other childish fantasy books such as my long outgrown but still secretly enjoyed favs.

Crime and Punishment again

The Fey Changeling

Fool's Fate

As you can see nearly every book is a reread. I simply have no money right now to indulge in the fascinating new authors appearing on the market. Other than those books, mostly classics such as 'heart of Darkness' Joseph Conrad, Brideshead Revisited, some book by Edith Wharton that I cannot recall the name of. And textbooks. Lots of textbooks

[Leto]

What does the Fey Changeling worth ?

Currently I'm in-between as I've just finished the King of August by Michel Pagel. And loved it.

[Amber]

I shall just check the author....

Edit: Kristine Rathryn Rusch. Not bad actually. Alas I only have this one- brought in a library sale where they sold all the books no-one ever took out. It's a little illogical in some instances but theres some rather innotative ideas.


Have you heard of it then?

[Leto]

got it by press releases, but I never received the first one. I might read it anyway.

[Amber]

Not bad at all. Though it doesn't have a comfortable mix of characters you can safely like in any way, which is what I like in a book.

The priest I really liked was an evil old man it appears

[Teresa Edgerton]

Finished the MacLeod and now I'm a few pages into The Poison Master by Liz Williams.

[Jay]

I'm trying to read my copy of Tamar Yellin's The Genizah at the House of Shepher, one of the books I have been most anticipating this year, and it's been shipped, and should have been here a good while ago!

Spoke to soon, just came in today's mail

[Alia]

Originally Posted by Tsujigiri

I was bought a book for my birthday:

'The book of useless information!'

The quote on the front reads "This book is totally useless"

I am in the process of inflicting it on my friends....for example

"The word constipation comes from the latin 'To crowd together'"

That's too funny Tsu, I have this book, bought it last year and consider it a bathroom read...
Personally, I have started quite a few books and haven't finished a one yet... working on it though!

[Leto]

Finally decided to have a look at SilverHeart by Michael Moorcook and Storm Constantine.
Not usually fond of Moorcook works, but 1-received the book as a press release and 2-The cover screams "steampunk" and has a lookalike Howl's Moving Castle man with a sword. Very intriguing. So far, page 21, conventional but good.

[Neon]

Well today I just finished reading Fool's Fate, to complete the Tawny Man series. I really enjoyed the ending I'm not sure what I will read next, but more than likely New Spring by Jordan, and maybe book 4 in the Runelords series. After that I'm hoping to start on JV Jones' Sword of Shadows series (pending a win on my current ebay auction for Cavern of Black Ice).

[littlemissattitude]

I just finished reading "The Cloud Atlas" by Liam Callanan - not to be confused with "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell, so highly praised here by JP.

The book I just finished reading was about a soldier in World War II, stationed in Alaska and caught up in the middle of a relationship between his superior officer and a half-Native/half-Russian girl who the soldier also falls in love with. Fast-forward to the present, and the soldier has become a Roman Catholic priest whose friend (and former foe), an Alaskan shaman who has lost most of his powers due to too great a love for the drink, is in the hospital in the process of dying. The priest sits by the bedside of the shaman providing the voice to guide the shaman back from his final spirit journey, and in the process makes what turns out to be his own confession.

It's a wonderful book.

Now I've started "Shadow of the Giant", by Orson Scott Card.

I'm also reading something called "In Search of Deep Time" by Henry Gee. It's about cladistics, a way of finding the relationships between species that results in bushes rather than trees. He is explaining some of the concepts of cladistics by reference to science fiction and fantasy. It's making for interesting reading.

[knivesout]

Right now, I'm reading Thomas M Disch's The Genocides, quite slowly although it is a slim book. It's reasonably depressing, so taking it in slow doses. Also reading John Varley's Demon. And some Gogol.