What Are You Reading? vX.x

[judicial clerk]

The Monster of Florence- I thought this was a great nonfiction story. It details the story of the most famous serial killer in Italian history and the botched investigation into the killings. It is really much more than a true crime novel.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by rowech

Amazon.com: The Mitch Rapp Series by Vince Flynn (in order)

The last one especially was kind of blah but all of the others are fantastic in my opinion.

count me in as a Vince Flynn fan.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Altered Carbon - by Richard Morgan

I am a little over 100 pages into this book. It's a sci-fi book set 500 years in the future. It's a mix of cyber-punk and hard-boiled detective/crime fiction. So far, I'm really enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone who likes cyber-punk type stuff.

It’s a pretty decent read, wraps some interesting science fiction ideas inside of a lot of ultra violence and explicit sex. It’s the holy grail for a 15-year-old sci-fi geek to stumble across in the library. Altered Carbon is the first of a loose trilogy, followed up by Broken Angels and Woken Furies. The interesting science fiction of the novel revolves around “sleeving.” Basically, everybody has a little black box embedded in the back of their skull that records all thoughts and personality. Bodies are just sleeves to be worn in this society. There are lots of philosophical bits between the explosions and sex: the rich collect bodies to wear on a whim, the poor literally sell their bodies, physical murder is just property damage, deleting a final back-up is an unspeakable crime, soldiers are sleeved in genetically engineered super bodies, certain religions forbid re-sleeving after death.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

I read several Michener novels just after graduating from college. Centennial was fine, but I would recommend Hawaii, The Source or Space ahead of that one. By statute, I believe I am obligated to also recommend Chesapeake.

Space is a great book. One I have read several times. I really like this book.

[Bad-example]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Altered Carbon - by Richard Morgan

I am a little over 100 pages into this book. It's a sci-fi book set 500 years in the future. It's a mix of cyber-punk and hard-boiled detective/crime fiction. So far, I'm really enjoying it and would recommend it to anyone who likes cyber-punk type stuff.

It’s a pretty decent read, wraps some interesting science fiction ideas inside of a lot of ultra violence and explicit sex. It’s the holy grail for a 15-year-old sci-fi geek to stumble across in the library. Altered Carbon is the first of a loose trilogy, followed up by Broken Angels and Woken Furies. At face value it looks like a good fit for a film, but it will be very difficult to make this more than just a run of the mill sci-fi actioner. The reason is that the interesting science fiction of the novel revolves around “sleeving.” Basically, everybody has a little black box embedded in the back of their skull that records all thoughts and personality. Bodies are just sleeves to be worn in this society. There are lots of philosophical bits between the explosions and sex: the rich collect bodies to wear on a whim, the poor literally sell their bodies, physical murder is just property damage, deleting a final back-up is an unspeakable crime, soldiers are sleeved in genetically engineered super bodies, certain religions forbid re-sleeving after death.

Glad you are enjoying it. The sequels are quite a bit different in tone but still good reads. However, stay away from his (unrelated) 'corporate road warrior' novel, Market Forces. Pretty weak.

[whomario]

Just finished The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett

For me one of the Top3 Fantasy Books i´ve read that came out in the last 5 years or so.
Really good.
The setting is a world/the earth (solely humans) where there is a species called "Corelings" (not really correct as there´s actually multiple species that are very different from each other representing natural elements like fire and water and also fight one another) that have superantural powers and great strength but can only apear on the surface at night and that basically can only be fought off using painted or carved wardings that must be arranged to protect a house, a town or just a few feet on the street. If you get it wrong or can´t get it done (or if the rain or wind washes even one sign off) you are pretty much doomed and bound to become a meal...
At one point in time humans fought back using wardings as attack symbols on weapons, but after seemingly winning the battle the knowledge got lost and then the corelings came back ...
What is special about the book that there is no main antagonist and the danger and evil part is basically being taken by animal-like creatures that seem (and are treated by most) like a natural desaster more than an enemy you can fight.
And the take on magic is great as it is basically so that there just is magic but you need to be able to have, create and craft the wardens to access it, treated more like a trade rather than a supernatural talent.
Also it is told in 3 paralell story-lines following 3 characters from child hood to early adult-hood (in the first book, theres more to come and different storylines are being introduced).
Characters are very richely detailed.

The writing is good but easy, which isn´t a bad thing at all in the setting he´s decribing.

And the ending and introduction of the actual warded man is really kick-ass, best character i´ve read about in a long time.

As said it´s the first book of a series that is supposed to go to 5 books acording to the author, although that´s not a certainty yet.
Just a little cliffhanger, nothing major, so well worth reading it despite the 2nd one only coming out next April.

[DaddyTorgo]

YAY!!

New S.M. Stirling book "The Sword of the Lady" in the "Change" saga! And I didn't even realize. One more to go in this timeframe and then apparently 2 more in the future set further in the future of it.

Also - question.

E.E. Knight's "Vampire Earth" series - has anyone read any of them? They seem to have good reviews on Amazon

[molson]

I just finished "A Soldier of The Great War" by Mark Helprin. I had been looking for a book like this for a while - just a bloated, obnoxious, unapologetic, interesting story about one Italian soldier's experience in WWI. I'm absolutely in awe of Helprin's reasearch and knowledge of this time period. It's the kind of book that could easily have been 400 pages shorter, but I'm very glad it wasn't. This one will stick with me for a while.

[SackAttack]

Acquired the rest of the Dark Tower hardcovers over the weekend, so I plan to re-read that series in the near future here. Been almost a year since I've been able to since all I had when I moved out here was books 5-7.

[Autumn]

I'm reading Guy Gavriel Kay, I think on the recommendation of someone in this thread and really enjoying it. Thanks folks.

[path12]

A friend who is moving gave me a bunch of graphic novels her brother gave her that she never read. "The Invisibles". I don't know anything about it at all, but am starting it, pretty cool so far..

[Julio Riddols]

I'm reading Warren Ellis' 'Crooked Little Vein' which is excellent so far.. Similar to Palahniuk in writing style.. The story is about a detective who is a "shit magnet" who is coerced by a heroin addicted government official to find the "second constitution" written specifically for the eyes of the acting president, which was apparently lost and has caused the fall of the entire country.. So far, my favorite part is the forced saline injection the main character has to endure in order to obtain a receipt to further his investigation.

[CamEdwards]

I picked up and devoured The Forsaken by Tim Tzouliadis while I was on vacation. It's an incredible story about the thousands of Americans who left the United States and went to the Soviet Union in the 1930's, lured by the promise of full employment and a workers paradise, only to be caught up in Stalin's reign of terror. It's fascinating, heartbreaking, and incredibly researched.

[Scoobz0202]

Just placed my order for Joe Posnanski's new book, The Machine. Coming out in a few days. The amazon page says the 15th but from what Joe says on his blog it's the 9th.

Either way, I can't wait to read it. I was a fan of his previous book, Soul of Baseball, and as a Reds fan this is a definite must read.

hxxp://www.amazon.com/Machine-Legendary-Season-Heart-stopping-Cincinnati/dp/0061582565/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238769550&sr=8-1

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

What I'm currently reading:
Infinite Jest as a part of Infinite Summer. I'm not "on schedule" because of real life/work getting in the way, but I'm still trucking along. Reading this on my Kindle.
Northanger Abbey. I'm trying to listen to this. I've heard it's easier to read than Emma, which I couldn't get through. This all started because of the movie The Jane Austen Book Club. Listening to it from audible.com
Wheel of Time 6: Lord of Chaos. Stopped listening to this for awhile, as I re-read GRRM's A Game of Thrones. Re-started, and now I'm about halfway through. I listen mostly at the gym. This is all in anticipation of getting book 12 released this fall.

/tk

Hmm, a bit of time has passed since I last updated my reading list.

For the time being, I've given up on Infinite Jest. I intend to go back to it in the spring, after the new Wheel of Time book has been released (and read!). Right now, I feel like I'm really trying to get through the rest of the WoT books, and IJ is too much of a distraction.

At this moment, I'm in 3 books:
Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol," which is entertaining to read. Dan Brown will never be known as a "great" author, but I think there's always a place for mindless fiction, especially in high-stress times (as life has been for me, lately). I'm about halfway through.

"The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. This is a book that The Sword and Laser online book club will be reading, and sounded interesting. It's the story of Arthur, as told from the female point of view--his mother is the narrarator (or at least, so far she is, I'm about 10% in).

"The Path of Daggers" (Wheel of Time book 8) is on my iPod when I'm at the gym. I definitely want to get through the re-read soon, as "The Gathering Storm" (book 12 in the series) is due to be released on 10/27. I won't be done with the re-read by then, but I figure Christmastime is a good goal to have the re-read done, so I can read the new one then.

/tk

[Vince, Pt. II]

Damn, October 27th? I'm never going to finish I've burned through New Spring, Eye of the World and The Great Hunt in the last week, but I'm probably going to slow down a bit now. Just have to keep pushing

As for reading in general...I've been on a huge re-read kick lately. I re-read all of the Harry Potters, The Belgariad, The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Dark Tower, A Song of Ice and Fire, and now I'm back to the Wheel of Time by Jordan. I think Martin is still the most compelling fantasy author I've ever read - he just puts you THERE, in the story. I did not enjoy David Eddings as much as I did when I was younger - the characters seemed almost pretentious and contrived this time through, and specifically in The Elenium (Sparhawk et al) the characters always seemed in supreme control and never in any danger of anything going any way but the way they wanted it to go. An inherent sense of risk and danger seems integral - or maybe I'm just spoiled by Martin's willingness to kill off anyone or anything at any time

Wheel of Time as usual is very interesting early on - from my last time reading through, I really didn't get very bored with it until about book 8 or 9 I don't think, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. The Great Hunt was fantastic, much better than I remembered. I'm about 200 pages into The Dragon Reborn, and it's starting quite a bit slower than I remember - but it has been years since I read it, so we'll see how it goes.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Damn, October 27th? I'm never going to finish I've burned through New Spring, Eye of the World and The Great Hunt in the last week, but I'm probably going to slow down a bit now. Just have to keep pushing

Awhile ago, I found that the audiobooks worked much better for me than the print editions. I end up listening while on my "long cardio" days at the gym (which admittedly I'm not allowed to do a lower body cardio day until I see my surgeon again, on 10/15), while I'm in the car (like on the 90 minute drive to said doc) and while waiting for appointments (like waiting for the doc!).

For me, it's been easier to listen to than read. I can get the important parts without having to listen to every detail on each blade of grass or bit of embroidery.

/tk

[bbor]

Just finished Dan Browns 'lost symbol'.....IMHO the Dan Brown era is over.

Also finished 'The girl with the dragon tatoo' by Steig Larsson. very much liked this book.Sequel is out already 'The girl who played with fire'.

There are acually 4 books in this series but the Author died and the family is fighting over the release fo the last 2.

[rowech]

Just finished Dan Browns 'lost symbol'.....IMHO the Dan Brown era is over.

You need a new opinion. He's not great but he entertains the masses, he sells boatloads of books, and his books are always going to be optioned into movies. He's here to stay for quite a while.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Awhile ago, I found that the audiobooks worked much better for me than the print editions. I end up listening while on my "long cardio" days at the gym (which admittedly I'm not allowed to do a lower body cardio day until I see my surgeon again, on 10/15), while I'm in the car (like on the 90 minute drive to said doc) and while waiting for appointments (like waiting for the doc!).

For me, it's been easier to listen to than read. I can get the important parts without having to listen to every detail on each blade of grass or bit of embroidery.

/tk

I might have to pick audiobooks back up again. I used to use them for the 4 hour drive home to the Bay Area from Santa Barbara, and while I did delivery work. My commute's only 30-40 minutes, but that's still an hour to an hour a half a day, and I've REALLY been meaning to get back into cardio. That 24 Hour Fitness membership is just languishing

[Schmidty]

Just finished "Shadowmarch" by Tad Williams. I am a huge fan of his "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" series, but this book was kind of tough to get through for me. I mean it was fine, but there just didn't seem to be much depth to the characters, and I didn't really identify with any of them (other than maybe Chert or Veras (?). Maybe it's because of the fact that the last fantasy series I read was "A Song of Ice and Fire", I don't know.

Anyway, I was going to get the 2nd book in the series, but it wasn't at the library, so I picked up a cheesy Weis/Hickman book "Well of Darkness" and the 2nd book in that series. Also, got the first two books in "The Books of Barakhai" series by Mickey Zucker Reichert (her Renshai books were great).

I read a lot of fantasy because I can never find any other genre that holds my attention. For example, the only SciFi author I really like is David Brin. If anyone that likes fantasy has any suggestions for something from a different genre, let me know.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by bbor

Just finished Dan Browns 'lost symbol'.....IMHO the Dan Brown era is over.

Also finished 'The girl with the dragon tatoo' by Steig Larsson. very much liked this book.Sequel is out already 'The girl who played with fire'.

There are acually 4 books in this series but the Author died and the family is fighting over the release fo the last 2.

I don't know about the Dan Brown era. Nora Roberts sells a megaton of books, and she's no better. There is something to be said for mindless stuff, sometimes. I mean, how many shows on TV are nothing more than lots of explosions or fights (Discovery channel shows and any reality show come to mind)?

I really enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I haven't picked up The Girl Who Played With Fire yet, but it's on my agenda. I didn't know that there were others in the series (or that it was really a series).

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola,
I originally read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" while I was on travel to an isolated "resort" area of northwestern New Jersey. There were times in that book when I would completely FREAK OUT, look up while I was in my condo up there and SWEAR I could see Martin (or his equivalent...) outside of my condo, purely by seeing my reflection in the window. On more than one occasion, I was really happy to have to go into the ground station up there late at night, so I wasn't sitting in my isolated condo alone.

/tk

[bbor]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Dola,
I originally read "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" while I was on travel to an isolated "resort" area of northwestern New Jersey. There were times in that book when I would completely FREAK OUT, look up while I was in my condo up there and SWEAR I could see Martin (or his equivalent...) outside of my condo, purely by seeing my reflection in the window. On more than one occasion, I was really happy to have to go into the ground station up there late at night, so I wasn't sitting in my isolated condo alone.

/tk

LOl....i guess that is the sign of a good book!

[bbor]

TK...not sure if it is a series or not either.....i just figured by the name of the books they were related in some way.

[bbor]

Originally Posted by rowech

Just finished Dan Browns 'lost symbol'.....IMHO the Dan Brown era is over.

You need a new opinion. He's not great but he entertains the masses, he sells boatloads of books, and his books are always going to be optioned into movies. He's here to stay for quite a while.

The thing is he was great (re: Davinci code,Angels and demons) this book was him trying too hard,and was far from even good let alone great.

BTW i am of the opinion he himself did'nt write Davinci code...if you read his books before Davinci (besides Angels and demons) they are ridiculisly bad.

[the_meanstrosity]

I'm the same way Vince. I re-read a number of series over and over. Wheel of Time and Harry Potter are next on my list.

It looks like you and I have similar tastes in books. Have you read anything from Robin Hobbs?

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Damn, October 27th? I'm never going to finish I've burned through New Spring, Eye of the World and The Great Hunt in the last week, but I'm probably going to slow down a bit now. Just have to keep pushing

As for reading in general...I've been on a huge re-read kick lately. I re-read all of the Harry Potters, The Belgariad, The Malloreon, The Elenium, The Dark Tower, A Song of Ice and Fire, and now I'm back to the Wheel of Time by Jordan. I think Martin is still the most compelling fantasy author I've ever read - he just puts you THERE, in the story. I did not enjoy David Eddings as much as I did when I was younger - the characters seemed almost pretentious and contrived this time through, and specifically in The Elenium (Sparhawk et al) the characters always seemed in supreme control and never in any danger of anything going any way but the way they wanted it to go. An inherent sense of risk and danger seems integral - or maybe I'm just spoiled by Martin's willingness to kill off anyone or anything at any time

Wheel of Time as usual is very interesting early on - from my last time reading through, I really didn't get very bored with it until about book 8 or 9 I don't think, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. The Great Hunt was fantastic, much better than I remembered. I'm about 200 pages into The Dragon Reborn, and it's starting quite a bit slower than I remember - but it has been years since I read it, so we'll see how it goes.

[the_meanstrosity]

I loved Reichert's Renshai series. I just saw that there's a new book called Flight of the Renshai. Let me know what you think of the Barakhai series. I've seen it, but never picked it up. I did pick up the Nightfall series which was solid.

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Anyway, I was going to get the 2nd book in the series, but it wasn't at the library, so I picked up a cheesy Weis/Hickman book "Well of Darkness" and the 2nd book in that series. Also, got the first two books in "The Books of Barakhai" series by Mickey Zucker Reichert (her Renshai books were great).

I read a lot of fantasy because I can never find any other genre that holds my attention. For example, the only SciFi author I really like is David Brin. If anyone that likes fantasy has any suggestions for something from a different genre, let me know.

[rowech]

I'm currently about 100 pages into Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol"

I have two books on my radar in Bill Simmons' "The Basketball Book" and Stephen King's "Under the Dome". Both are due out this month I believe.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by bbor

The thing is he was great (re: Davinci code,Angels and demons) this book was him trying too hard,and was far from even good let alone great.

BTW i am of the opinion he himself did'nt write Davinci code...if you read his books before Davinci (besides Angels and demons) they are ridiculisly bad.

Davinci is the only one I've read... I'm scared to think of how much worse they could be? Seriously, the story is somewhat interesting, but the prose is painfully elementary. To think that Davinci is somehow a more mature product than previous entries... wow.

[QuikSand]

For those who enjoyed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the next book is indeed an extension of a series, although it has quite a few differences with the first. But Mikael and Lisbeth are both in book two, and the writing style is again very crisp and thoughtful. I recommend it highly.

Larsson had apparently envisioned the Millennium series as five books, I believe, but only really wrapped up the first three and only got to pieces of the next two. I haven't read up on any plans for publication beyond these two, but the second book is very good.

[Fidatelo]

Dola

Recently finished Stephen King's "Lisey's Story". Interesting concept, very good character depth (at least for Lisey and her husband... the other characters, even her sisters, seemed like paper mache in comparison).

The downside is that the book is just way too long for very little payoff. There really isn't a lot going on, but King draws it out over 650 pages. By the end I felt satisfied in that the book was enjoyable, but also glad it was over. I've switched to Scott Adam's "Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Boy" for a much-needed change of pace.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Davinci is the only one I've read... I'm scared to think of how much worse they could be? Seriously, the story is somewhat interesting, but the prose is painfully elementary. To think that Davinci is somehow a more mature product than previous entries... wow.

If you AT ALL liked DaVinci, I'd strongly recommend Angels and Demons. In my opinion, it was light years better than The DaVinci Code.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by the_meanstrosity

I'm the same way Vince. I re-read a number of series over and over. Wheel of Time and Harry Potter are next on my list.

It looks like you and I have similar tastes in books. Have you read anything from Robin Hobbs?

Haven't caught anything from Robin Hobbs...I've actually had a fairly large gap with no new material recently and it's been bugging me. Between The Gunslinger, Eddings' collected works, Terry Goodkind (forgot to mention I re-read a bunch of Sword of Truth novels - I was fairly nonplussed after the first three this time through and stopped after four), Harry Potter, George R.R. Martin and now The Wheel of Time, I've probably gone a good 6 months without reading anything new. I think the last new book I read was Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors), which was fantastic.

What would you recommend from Hobbs to start with?

[the_meanstrosity]

I'd definitely suggest Hobb's Farseer series. I think you'll like it. Assassin's Apprentice is the first book of the series with Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest finishing off the trilogy. Hobb continues the trilogy in another series titled the Tawny Man series. Hobb also writes the Liveship Traders series which takes place in the same "universe", but a different cast of characters.

I'm re-reading Goodkind's series as well. I'm struggling through it simply to finish it. I don't know that I'll ever re-read the entire series again.

I may have to give Anansi Boys a shot. I've seen Gaiman's name on other forums, but had not read anything from him yet.

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Haven't caught anything from Robin Hobbs...I've actually had a fairly large gap with no new material recently and it's been bugging me. Between The Gunslinger, Eddings' collected works, Terry Goodkind (forgot to mention I re-read a bunch of Sword of Truth novels - I was fairly nonplussed after the first three this time through and stopped after four), Harry Potter, George R.R. Martin and now The Wheel of Time, I've probably gone a good 6 months without reading anything new. I think the last new book I read was Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (one of my favorite authors), which was fantastic.

What would you recommend from Hobbs to start with?

[Vince, Pt. II]

If you're going to read Gaiman, start with Neverwhere. Fantastic book, and not too long. American Gods is also fantastic.

[terpkristin]

Hmm Gaiman, I really liked Anansi Boys but couldn't get into American Gods (I intend to give American Gods another chance, though, sometime "soon").

I also really liked Good Omens, the book he wrote with Terry Pratchett.

I love this thread for recommendations. Funny that Robin Hobb came up, I got Assassin's Apprentice for free on my Kindle, though I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'm trying to get through one series at a time at the moment.

And, like Vince and the others, I re-read pretty often. This is my 3rd or 4th re-read of the WoT books (admittedly this time I'm doing it because the next one's coming out so soon). I've read the ASOIAF books 3 times. Harry Potter...well, I probably shouldn't admit how much I've read that series.

Other books on my Amazon wishlist, to get to at some point (i.e. my future reading list):
The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
The Book of Jhereg (Steven Brust)
Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer -- can't believe I never read these)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
His Magesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik -- another free Kindle pickup at the time)
Assassin's Apprentice (Robin Hobb)
Rage of a Demon King (Raymond Feist, I've read the Riftwar Saga, the Krondor's Sons books, and am now into the Serpentwar Saga)
Fool Moon (Jim Butcher, 2nd in the Dresden Files)

I also have heard good things about Tad Williams though never read any of his stuff. Any recommendations for a good first book? I'll add it to my amazon list.

/tk

[chesapeake]

I just finished Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind this weekend. I'd recommend it as a very pleasant read.

[DeToxRox]

Just started "Blood's a Rover" by James Ellroy. It's the final book in his American Underground trilogy. Good stuff.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

If you're going to read Gaiman, start with Neverwhere. Fantastic book, and not too long. American Gods is also fantastic.

Ditto. First book I read by Gaiman was Neverwhere, and that was really good. I liked American Gods a lot, too, although not as much as Neverwhere. As it happens, I am currently running throgh Stardust. Saw the movie, and it appears it was fairly faithful to the book thus far. Light reading (for Gaiman) but fun.

I have been thinking of picking up Anansi Boys.

BTW, just finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson, which I think was poo-pooed somewhat by some here. I can understand the complaints, but I really enjoyed it. I tend to be detail-oriented, though, so I enjoy Stephenson's style.

[CamEdwards]

I'm about halfway through Paul Johnson's trilogy of "Intellectuals", "Creators", and "Heroes". Intellectuals was great, Creators is good, and from what I've heard, Heroes is kind of a mess. Great character sketches of famous (and not so famous) figures throughout history though.

Gordon Wood also has a new book coming out at the end of the month on the history of the United States between 1789-1815 called "Empire of Liberty". He's one of my favorite historians, and the advance buzz has been very favorable.

[the_meanstrosity]

Tad Williams is solid. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series isn't bad, but it's not great either. It's the usual boy into hero saga so it doesn't delve into anything new.

I have Rothfuss' Name of the Wind book. I've heard good things, but haven't had time to read it yet. I did read Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora. A good book about a crew of thieves (ala Ocean's 11).

Have you read any Steven Eriksen? A lot of sci-fi fans love his work. I've read the first book and bought some of the others to eventually read.

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Other books on my Amazon wishlist, to get to at some point (i.e. my future reading list):
The Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss)
The Book of Jhereg (Steven Brust)
Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer -- can't believe I never read these)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)
His Magesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik -- another free Kindle pickup at the time)
Assassin's Apprentice (Robin Hobb)
Rage of a Demon King (Raymond Feist, I've read the Riftwar Saga, the Krondor's Sons books, and am now into the Serpentwar Saga)
Fool Moon (Jim Butcher, 2nd in the Dresden Files)

I also have heard good things about Tad Williams though never read any of his stuff. Any recommendations for a good first book? I'll add it to my amazon list.

/tk

[Vince, Pt. II]

Feist has been suggested to me quite a few times...Apprentice something or other is what I was told to start with I think. So between Feist and Hobb it looks like I've got some new material to look forward to when I finally finish the Wheel of Time again.

I recently went with some "lighter" reading, and plowed my way through all of Christopher Moore's books - he's a pretty funny guy. While each of his books is pretty hit or miss in terms of how entertaining they are, I wasn't disappointed in any of them. My clearcut favorite was "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," (quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read) but "Fluke" and "A Dirty Job" were both very good as well.

[Vince, Pt. II]

And I have no idea how I possibly forgot about Fool by Christopher Moore. Right up there with Lamb for me.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Feist has been suggested to me quite a few times...Apprentice something or other is what I was told to start with I think. So between Feist and Hobb it looks like I've got some new material to look forward to when I finally finish the Wheel of Time again.

Yep, the first Feist book was originally one book called "Magician," now broken into 2 books, "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master."

/tk

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

And I have no idea how I possibly forgot about Fool by Christopher Moore. Right up there with Lamb for me.

I loved Lamb, but haven't had a chance to read Fool yet. It's really comparable in quality of writing?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by the_meanstrosity

Tad Williams is solid. His Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series isn't bad, but it's not great either. It's the usual boy into hero saga so it doesn't delve into anything new.

See, I absolutely love that series. Maybe it's because I read it when I was in high school, so I identified with the character.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

I loved Lamb, but haven't had a chance to read Fool yet. It's really comparable in quality of writing?

Fool is by far the second best of his works. If I wasn't raised Roman Catholic and got such a kick out of Lamb based solely on the subject material, I might even have enjoyed Fool more.

Edit for clarity:

In my mind, Christopher Moore had two types of books - Lamb, and everything else he wrote. Lamb was just brilliant; his other works were good, but didn't have nearly the same impact on me that Lamb did. Fool is nearly as good as Lamb was.

[CamEdwards]

Okay, I'm sold. I feel the same way about Christopher Moore and Lamb. Fool just went up to the top of my "to read" list. Thanks Vince!

[the_meanstrosity]

I liked the series as well, but it gets criticized by people for not bringing anything new to the genre. Tad Williams is a solid author though.

Originally Posted by Schmidty

See, I absolutely love that series. Maybe it's because I read it when I was in high school, so I identified with the character.

Feist is another good author with a similar boy into hero theme, but he progresses the story onto other characters which is why I've continued to read his books. In fact, I'd say my favorite book in his entire series is Daughter of the Empire. I love that setting.

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Yep, the first Feist book was originally one book called "Magician," now broken into 2 books, "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master."

Has anyone read Leo Frankowski's Adventures of Conrad Stargard series? It's an engineer who accidentally gets pulled back into time ten years before Poland is to be invaded by the Mongols. It's one of my guilty pleasure books, lol.