Books you're currently reading???

[BrianR]

Originally Posted by Crimson Ghost

Do you read it using a mirror?

Actually, TWO mirrors. Otherwise the text is reversed and reading is much slower.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Do let me know your opinion - I loved the pants off it. I became more lukewarm as the series went on, but The Eyre Affair had me laughing out loud on the bus.

I've been reading enough that it's keeping me off the internet more!

The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
Another recommendation by my bookseller friend. Interesting discovering a world that's not quite ours ... where books are highly regarded, with a nearly religious fervor in some cases, and the Crimean War is still being fought, 100 years later. Entertaining SF/Fantasy/Mystery. I really enjoyed this, not sure how it will work over more books, I can see things like the Dodo becoming tiring. Actually, it became quite tiring in this one. I did get a lot of giggles out of it.

The rest of the recent reads ... (these are since the beginning of July. I've been reading a LOT!)

Rules of Modern Policing: 1973 Edition - "DCI Gene Hunt" (Guy Adams)
For fans of the BBC Series, Life on Mars, this is a treat. From Gene Genie's misogynistic advice to Chris Skelton's Schoolboy doodles, it's a fun complement to the show.

One Second After - William Fortschen
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. Post-big awfulness novel, well researched, but I think the author made people a lot nicer than they would be under the actual conditions he describes.

Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin
My bookseller friend strikes again. First of a series about a female physician and forensic specialist ... near the end of the 12th Century. Think Medieval Quincy! I will have to read more of these.

Serial - Jack Kilborn and Blake Crouch
Free Download from amazon.com for Kindle. Not sure I would have found it otherwise. Interesting literary trick ... two authors, two main characters, neither told the other what their character was doing other than the basics of the premise ... then they wrote. More of a novella than novel, but interesting. And gory.

Darkfever - Karen Marie Morning
Awful, awful, awful paranormal romance. Has some good story elements, creepy settings, interesting characters, but all of that gets lost in the bubblegum pinkness, heaving breasts, and inane dialog. Free amazon.com Kindle download strikes again.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Most remarkable departure from my usual nonfiction these days (must hurry to finish What's So Great About Christianity, D'Souza 2007, before it's due back) is a couple of mysteries. There's a rather charming English-village series that for convenience should be called the Aunt Dimity series... and Aunt Dimity's a ghost who communicates through her personal blue ledger book, in a copperplate hand. Sundry and assorted, even concatenated, intrigues plus slice-of-life in the wholly obscure village of Finch. They're not always murder mysteries. There is the occasional, um, vampire. Or is he? Or she? Or...? By Nancy Atherton.

I'm giving a first try to a series set in late 13th century England that begins with Satan In St. Mary's, P.C. Doherty 1986. I'm comparing it against Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael stuff. It seems more vivid in its sense of time and place -- which early Ellis Peters isn't, could be any time and place -- but the writing suffers from a few too many modifiers. If I like his plotting and historical sense enough, I'll see if he cures that problem and generates leaner prose.

I recently read somewhere that romance novels are relationship porn for women, as contrasted with the copulatory porn men are likelier to read, both being literarily pretty exiguous and hence disposable reading.

And that does a lot to explain yaoi. It may be copulatory, but it's very much a relationship story, without which the buttsex would be deadly dreary.

And where copulatory and relationship porn slide together is lesbian erotica -- popular with anybody with a visceral appreciation of women.

[Crimson Ghost]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

And that does a lot to explain yaoi. It may be copulatory, but it's very much a relationship story, without which the buttsex would be deadly dreary.

You go through life, never expecting to see certain words together, and yet here we have "buttsex" and "dreary".
---------------------------------
Recently finished "Crucified" from Michael Slade.

"Germany: a bulldozer on a construction site uncovers the remains of a Second World War bomber and so begins a treacherous international journey from the crucifixion of Jesus at Golgotha to modern archaeological discoveries. Lawyer/historian Wyatt Rook and Liz Hannah must solve a series of whodunits to unravel the Judas puzzle. Blocking them at every turn is the "Legionary of Christ", a crusader backed by a secret inquisition that will stop at nothing to make sure the Judas puzzle remains unsolved."

Also The Big Book Of Freaks and The Big Book Of Weirdos.
Thus completing the 17 volume set.

[wolf]

Dead Heat - Joel Rosenberg
Final book of a series of Thrillers. Didn't expect the ending. Really.

Her Wiccan, Wiccan Ways - Traci Hall
Free Kindle Download. Cute teenage angst book, with ghosts and telekinesis.

Paranoia - Joseph Finder
Free Kindle Download. Industrial espionage thriller. Enjoyable, even if some of the dialog was stilted.

The Dreamstone - C.J. Cherryh
Not sure how I missed this years ago. The BF recommended a later book in the series, so I decided to start from the beginning.

[Jacquelita]

Originally Posted by wolf

Free Download from amazon.com for Kindle. ...

Wolf - how do you like the kindle. I've been jonesing for one ever since I saw it!

I can't determine if it's worth the $$$. I think the ease of getting reading materials would be great.

I also keep thinking that it would be a great gift for my mom since she's an avid reader, but needs to buy large print books (limits options for her)

Which one do you have - and what's your review?

[wolf]

I have a Kindle1, recently got to play with a Kindle2 in the wild, and liked it. They just made a significant drop in the price point, so it's that much ($50) easier to make the decision to get one. The text-to-speech feature is a little klunky, but can be invaluable to people with vision problems. I'm trying to decide if I want a Kindle DX (that's the one with the larger screen) or not.

I think it's worth every penny.

[Trilby]

Elegance of the Hedgehog - m. barbery

Blink

Julie/Julia (so funny!)

[DanaC]

I don't often read fiction these days. Mostly if I am reading at all, it's history books. Instead I listen to audio books and plays. Currently I am listening to two audio plays. Am half way through a Big Finish Doctor Who audio play, called The Rapture. A clever little play looking atthe power of religion to move people and what happens if that power is misused.

I'm also two parts into a three part BBC audio production of Le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. I think it's probably my favourite of the Smiley novels and I adored the 80's tv adaptation of it. When BBC Radio4 announced that they were doing the Complete Smiley, adapting all the Smiley novels I was so excited, but also a little wary. It's so easy to get an audio play wrong, and terribly hard to get it right. But, my worries were unfounded. I have now listened to the first two Smiley plays and parts one and two of TSWCIFTC and have been thoroughly impressed. Neat and well ordered little plays they are. Dark and grainy like Smiley should be. Infused with cold war culture and the weariness of an old spymaster. Very well acted and very well directed.

[Cloud]

Half Blood Prince, again.

Shaman by somebody . . . (non fiction book on Shamanism)

Ed Hardy, Art for Life

Behind Adobe Walls: the Hidden Gardens of Santa Fe & Taos

Opening Up: Body Modification Interviews by Shannon Larratt

[Flint]

For some reason...

Fahrenheit 451, then 1984, now Brave New World.

Erich Fromm's afterward to 1984 suggests Yevgeny Zamyatin's We would be the logical next step. Also might try Jack London's The Iron Heel, said to be the first novel of this type. I do have Ayn Rand's Anthem on the shelf, and might pull that one down too.

Any other suggestions, in the dystopian vein?

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Flint

For some reason...

Fahrenheit 451, then 1984, now Brave New World.

Erich Fromm's afterward to 1984 suggests Yevgeny Zamyatin's We would be the logical next step. Also might try Jack London's The Iron Heel, said to be the first novel of this type. I do have Ayn Rand's Anthem on the shelf, and might pull that one down too.

Any other suggestions, in the dystopian vein?

You keep this up and you're going to end up slitting your wrists. Why not read something happy in-between?

[Flint]

The happy in-between is when I put the book down and I'm back in the good ol' U S of A.

[wolf]

I've polished off two more of the Teen Paranormals by Traci Hall, Something Wiccan This Way Comes and Wiccan Cool.

I also made the mistake of hitting a free Kindle Download, My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent, which is the prequel to some awful paranormal romance series. Stupid Stupid Stupid. But they did get some of the nuthouse stuff right, including the dosing of the calm the nut down real fast shot.

I FINALLY finished Raven by Tim Reiterman, which is about the People's Temple mass suicide. I've been fascinated by that since 1978. I've been reading the book off an on since January ... a chapter here, a chapter there (a lot of them in the special reading room). I made it the primary book while momwolf has been having her shingles and prednisone psychosis.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Elizabeth George Speare
Somehow managed never to read this Newbery Medal book. Found it on the free-to-a-good-home table in the mailroom. It was actually pretty good and has a feminist theme that was quite ahead of it's time in 1958 when it was published.

Old Man's War - John Scalzi
Should have read this one before the Ghost Brigades, but it was still very good. New Science Fiction Classic, me thinks.

[wolf]

The Tree of Swords and Jewels - C.J. Cherryh
Read the next one in the series because it's the one that Tester-San actually recommended. Didn't really enjoy it much. Although I've read a couple of C.J. Cherryh's SF novels, I've never really taken to her ... I think for the same reason I didn't like these two books. She plods along with vaguely interesting minutiae for about 85% of the book and then crams all of the actual plot into the last 15% ... and skips over what should be important details.