SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
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What I am also reading in December
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![Jon (jonmoss) | 889 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1375036866p1/899665.jpg)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - finished
The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands by Robert E. Howard - finished
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving - finished
The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing - currently reading
For the rest of December:
The Tolkien Reader by J.R.R. Tolkien
Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille by Steven Brust - finished (12/22/2008)
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - finished 12/23/2008
Hyperion by Dan Simmons - finished 12/27/2008
and possibly Neuromancer - finished (12/21/2008)
Looking forward to finally catching up on this list since I'm on vacation until January 5th!
Happy Holidays everyone!
![Jensownzoo | 200 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1256839468p1/1571381.jpg)
Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin
Cast in Fury by Michelle Sagara
Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead
Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry
The Queen's Bastard by C. E. Murphy
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
I also hope to do a quick re-read of Neuromancer. And possibly pick up His Majesty's Dragon. May even get to read Stardust and A Christmas Carol for a different group. It's an ambitious month, I know.
Not sure why, but I'm reading Plato's Dialogues. I think this might last me the entire month and on into 2009. See you next year.
![Terence (spocksbro)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1555890512p1/1019174.jpg)
In the fictive realm, I'm going to set a modest goal of finishing James Branch Cabell's The Silver Stallion and then moving on to:
Clare Clark, The Great Stink
Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
Etgar Keret, The Girl on the Fridge
If I can, I'd also like to begin rereading Jack Vance's Lyonesse series.
![Nick (ndoerrabbott) | 55 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1545783280p1/993553.jpg)
On the 'currently reading' stack (trying out this cool book cover display):
![Juggler of Worlds by Larry Niven](https://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1227319096s/2454413.jpg)
![The Vertigo Years: Europe 1900-1914 by Philipp Blom](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380882139i/3141386.jpg)
![Just After Sunset by Stephen King](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380882139i/3141387.jpg)
![The Devil's Eye: An Alex Benedict Novel by Jack McDevitt](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380882139i/3141388.jpg)
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Just finished:
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Actually, I just remembered I'm also reading Stephen Baxter's Evolution. Peter over at Yahoo's hard sf group demanded I read this, so I am. This one is infintely more enjoyable. Fluffy almost in comparison to Plate, but it really isn't.
If you like science in your science fiction, you might go for this one.
If you like science in your science fiction, you might go for this one.
![Steven (skia) | 104 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1214615923p1/1101729.jpg)
![Sandi (sandikal)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1404709147p1/811687.jpg)
![Zarinthia | 7 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1656012666p1/136658.jpg)
Am contemplating getting either the Uglies series or Outremer (Outremer #1: The Devil in the Dust) series for the rest of December :)
Oh and I couldn't get past the first chapter of Midnight's Children though I tried for about 2 weeks.
![Imperfectlyrua Castle | 15 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1351781289p1/1718619.jpg)
![Jim (jimmaclachlan)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1340192527p1/695116.jpg)
![Jackie (thelastwolf)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1225124705p1/1660443.jpg)
I just bought the newest Dean Koontz novel, 'Your Heart Belongs To Me' and Neil Gainman's 'The Graveyard Book'. They are next in my line-up.
I have so many books on my shelves to read, I have no business buying any more, LOL
If my local library has the full Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, I'll be reading them too.
![Kathryn | 5 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1316545868p1/446464.jpg)
![Kathryn | 5 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1316545868p1/446464.jpg)
![JuliAnna | 53 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1231967982p1/1269729.jpg)
Novik, Her Majesty's Dragon
Asaro, Primary Inversion
Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle.
Peleven, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf. This is a Russian novel about contemporary conditions in post-Soviet Russia narrated by a supernatural call girl. It made it onto the NYT top 100 books of the year, but the review made it sound like it may be a touch pedantic and moralistic. Still, Lukyanenko's Night Watch series has me interested in Russian urban fantasy.
Bolano, 2666
Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown
Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory
I am currently reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, which has some great stuff in it but wouldn't have been hurt by a good editor, and Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Slaughterhouse five is great but it reads more like literature than science fiction. This is not to say that I would exclude science fiction from literature, but that the conventions of the novel are more in line with those of literary fiction (especially postmodern fiction) than with those of science fiction. And, I would feel more comfortable recommending the book to those who like the former rather than the latter. I think I would have been very disappointed with it in my teens. On the other hand, I think I would have gotten more out of the Dostoevsky when I was younger and more passionate about the issues he addresses.
![Jane (jane_jones) | 36 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1230930006p1/1743251.jpg)
Jensownzoo: I really liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Nick: I'd be interested in your thoughts on the King book
blucat: I really have to get to Inkheart - want to read it before the movie comes out
As for me...I'm reading The Crown Conspiracy - it was a recommendation of a real life frined and I must say it is one of the best fantasy books I've read as of late - it is very fast paced and has some great characters.
Jane
![Jackie (thelastwolf)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1225124705p1/1660443.jpg)
I'll probably finish it today, or tomorrow.
I'm not as impressed as I usually am with his novels. It's good but not as good as usual.
![Leslie Ann (leslieann) | 185 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1345836812p1/1059245.jpg)
![Sandi (sandikal)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1404709147p1/811687.jpg)
I'm over-doing the reading multi-tasking right now. In addition to "Quicksilver, I'm reading In the Woods, a police procedural story by Tana French and Sheep and Wolves, a short story collection by Jeremy Shipp.
Next up is Knight's Fork by our own Rowena Cherry.
![Carly | 25 comments](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Jim (jimmaclachlan)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1340192527p1/695116.jpg)
![Jon (jonmoss) | 889 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1375036866p1/899665.jpg)
Final Update for December and 2008: I met almost all of my reading goals for December. I'll do the math tomorrow to see what the stats are for the entire year. In addition to what I listed to read at the beginning of the month, I also read The Book of Three, The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery and topped it all off with Old Man's War.
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!
![Jackie (thelastwolf)](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1225124705p1/1660443.jpg)
1. Morrigan's Cross
2. Dance of the Gods
and will probably start
3. Valley of Silence within the next day or so.
![Leslie Ann (leslieann) | 185 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1345836812p1/1059245.jpg)
![Robin (robinsullivan) | 346 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1237804938p1/1572236.jpg)
![The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One) by Patrick Rothfuss](https://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172529959s/186074.jpg)
![The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 1) by Jonathan Stroud](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380882140i/3141392.jpg)
![The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1379730317i/16881.jpg)
![Stardust by Neil Gaiman](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1379730317i/16886.jpg)
![Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson](https://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1170690764s/68428.jpg)
-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)
![JuliAnna | 53 comments](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1231967982p1/1269729.jpg)
Gibson, Neuromancer (a little tough to get into and a little dated, but still a good ride)
Novik, Her Majesty's Dragon (light and entertaining)
Asaro, Primary Inversion (entertaining mixture of Heinleinesque SF, romance and physics)
Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five & Cat's Cradle (the former is excellent; the latter was lacking)
Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (some brilliant parts, some entertaining parts and a lot of tedium, but I have never been a big Dostoevsky fan aside from Notes from the Underground)
I also read some very good books which were recommended here:
Stephenson, Anathem (SLOW start, but it picks up)
Martin, A Game of Thrones (excellent, but not a happy book)
Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind (perfectly good, but it didn't effect me as strongly as it does others)
And, I read a couple of books recommended in other groups:
Harris, Dead Until Dark (not one I would recommend)
Burke, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (standard Burke)
Wicomb, You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town (beautiful but painful)
I'm still working on Weinberg's Dreams of a Final Theory, which has some fairly accessible discussions of contemporary theories in physics. Still, it isn't a quick read.
Books mentioned in this topic
Watchmen (other topics)Slaughterhouse-Five (other topics)
Dead Until Dark (other topics)
Three by Vonnegut: Cat's Cradle/Slaughterhouse Five/Breakfast of Champions (other topics)
Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist's Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Michael J. Sullivan (other topics)Nora Roberts (other topics)
Mary Roach (other topics)
John Gregory Betancourt (other topics)
Jhumpa Lahiri (other topics)
More...
stranger in a strange land
hard eight
an abundance of katherines
dewey
the anubis gates
dune
frankenstein
ink and steel
the wednesday wars
little women
canterville ghost
We'll see if I get to all of these!