What are you reading?

Just read Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - did not like it anywhere near as much as I read the 1st.

Now reading the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - fascinating nonfiction.

Reading Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning because of all the attention the series has been getting lately. I am a little more than halfway through, and really enjoying it. Different take on UF than I have seen. The Fae are quite dark and nasty, which I like. And the MC isn't a kick-ass heroine, she feels very real to me.

janwyl said:

Storm Front by Jim Butcher. What a great feeling - to read an author for the first time, love the work, and know that he's written looooaaads of books.

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I have only read Storm Front, but just picked up the second book at the library, will be reading it when I am done with Darkfever. I was very excited after reading SF as well...love finding a great new author and to know I don't have to wait a year for the next book to come out.

KatieT said:

Okay, no flaming, but I am just now getting around to reading Water For Elephants. I love it! I can't wait for the movie!

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This is probably my all time favorite book. One that I could read over and over again. Last week I finished Ape House, after having it on hold at the library for 2 months. Another great story, though I liked WFE better. Can't wait for the movie, I hope they do it justice (though I can't stand Robert Pattinson).

Force of Habit by Alice Loweecey

A lily be any other name...

I just finished The Last Patriot, by Brad Thor. It was a good read. I finished it in two days!

Now I'm starting The Next Accident, by Lisa Gardner.

I just finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike. Lots of strong emotional scenes. I'll pick up the next one, Rabbit Redux to read later. One of my friends who reads a lot has a rule to not read books from the same author back-to-back.

Just started Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead.

I just finished The White Queen by Dr. Philippa Gregory, and now I'm into The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.

Finished Death Masks by Jim Butcher and moving on to Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd.

Already Dead by Denis Johnson. Love love love it. Moving quite slowly through it, but it is fantastic. Quite reminiscent of Chuck Palahniuk.

d&f.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I just started reading yesterday and am loving the story so far.

American Rose by Karen Abbott, a biography about Gypsy Rose Lee. If you're only familiar with her story from the musical Gypsy, you're in for one helluva shock when you find out Mama wasn't a delightful neurotic who fought so her babies could be famous at any cost but more like a deranged psychotic who exploited her children so she could get ahead in life.

I'm reading the Dresden Files series in paperback, and Emma on the Kindle.

AllieKat said:

I'm reading the Dresden Files series in paperback, and Emma on the Kindle.

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Looks like we have a few Butcher fans here. I just finished Death Masks today, and picked up Blood Rites earlier tonight.

The Next Accident, by Lisa Gardner. Pretty good.

I just finished Boneshaker by Cherie Priest 10 minutes ago. That lasted me all of half a day I've never been a big zombie fan. That being said, I loved the mix of steampunk, zombies, a mad scientist, and pirates on zeppelins! I'll probably be picking up her title Dreadnought this week.

Penny Warner, How to Host a Killer Party, first in the "Party-Planning Mystery" series. Nice use of San Francisco setting, well written. I'm not too crazy about some of the dumbass moves by the protagonist (amateur sleuth/party planner). That is typical in these series, though -- lack of common sense by the lead character, witless risk-taking, and (as in this one) flouting of the law. Readable, though. And without dumbass moves, etc., probably no book.

--Ken
P.S. Cannot recommend this one after finishing it. Murder method too implausible (convoluted and unpersuasive), protagonist too much of a dunce, and some nonsensical plot points.

AbielleRose said:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I just started reading yesterday and am loving the story so far.

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Whoo, I loved it too.

I'm reading 'Jane Eyre' and am not making much headway... although that's possibly because I can't find it.

I'm reading The Broom of the System, and can see why the author looked back at it as a failure, but there's enough good bits to keep me going.

I just finished Orwell's Coming Up for Air, which was partly a gorgeous memoir of what England was like before WWI, with some paragraphs so vivid and perceptive I had to stop and reread them several times to drink them in, and partly a repulsive didactic rant.

Oh. I'm also re-reading John Gardner's The Art of Fiction. First book about writing I ever bought, and the best one I've ever read. Same old yellowed copy, was buried on a shelf for years, when it should have been next to my bed.

I'm enjoying the 4th book of the 1st season of Erin Hunter's Warriors series. Cats are awesome!

I can't believe I just found this forum, and thence this thread. I swear, AW hides stuff from me sometimes....

Anyway, currently reading Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Enjoying it so far, though I've been reading it slowly. Also periodically reading bits of The Vorkosigan Companion edited by Lillian Stewart Carl and various Shakespearean plays from my grandmother's Complete Works.

Currently tucking into Redemption Alley by Lilith Saintcrow and trying to pick my second book on the go... I find if I don't have at least two to bounce between I can't focus enough and it takes me forever to get one done. Could be my adult ADD is surfacing.

Elaine Viets, An Uplifting Murder (Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper series). Off to a rousing start. I see immediately who I want to be the victim.

--Ken
P.S. Viets is an able writer, but toward the end slipped in some of the most godawful dialogue I have ever seen, the kind in which the characters describe aloud to each other what the other can see for herself. A wretched contrivance to convey description. Should have just described in narrative, not in dialog. Dunno how that got past editor. Fortunately, it is only a couple of paragraphs. Also annoying (but too common in this sort of novel), the protagonist's (amateur sleuth's) dumbass decisions to risk life and limb investigating on her own behalf rather than immediately sharing important information with the police. Otherwise (and mostly) a fun book. (Her Dead-End Job Mystery series is better, I think.)

I just finished Wild Fire by Christine Feehan. It wasn't that good. The beginning was a big info dump and the main characters are nothing but cookie cut outs of previous characters. I'm now reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I'm loving it. The first chapter was real boring but it got much better after that.

ResearchGuy said:

Penny Warner, How to Host a Killer Party, first in the "Party-Planning Mystery" series.

--Ken
P.S. Cannot recommend this one after finishing it. Murder method too implausible (convoluted and unpersuasive), protagonist too much of a dunce, and some nonsensical plot points.

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This one is actually in my tbr pile. I suppose if we get snow, it'll get read. If not, I might just bypass it. Thanks for the heads up.

I just finished Bloodshot by Cherie Priest and I really wasn't a fan of it, which is very disappointing because I usually really love her books.

I am now going back and forth between Almost to Die For by Tate Hallaway and Scorched by Sharon Ashwood. The first is so far a quick and easy YA read, the second one will probably be a little more in depth since the first book in the series was.

I'm done. I quit. I gave it 100 pages, and that's all I'm giving it. I put down Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd. This forum has ruined me for poor writing. You've inspired me to write better. I've read books on writing to improve my writing. And, through all this progress, what I've gained is that I can read a book like this and think to myself, "If this guy can get published, then I can definitely get published." So, this 100 pages waste of time helped me feel better about my own writing.

I'm moving back to the Dresden files. I'm on to Blood Rites.