The Sword and Laser discussion

I was thinking about the books I've read recently and some of them don't neatly fit into the scifi or fantasy genres. I wondered if this was an acceptable place to discuss books that don't fall into the Sword or Laser category.

Thanks.

I'm audio-booking The Godfather and I mentioned it in the Oct 2012 thread. I don't see why you can't start a thread here to discuss a non-genre book, you just may not get much of a response depending on the book.

I imagine you're not the only one who reads non-genre books though.

Women and Men

I must admit I do enjoy police procedural/crime fiction (going through a bit of a Patricia Cornwell phase at the moment!)

A Wanted Man
Enemies Foreign And Domestic
Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse
Lights Out

Ive been reading a lot of apocalyptic fiction lately

Tim A wrote: "I must admit I do enjoy police procedural/crime fiction (going through a bit of a Patricia Cornwell phase at the moment!)"

Me too. I find them oddly soothing because they are usually quick easy reads that don't tax my brain trying to keep track of a huge cast of characters, unclear motivations, and overwhelming new terms and magical systems (I'm currently slogging through a Malazan book and if you read any of those you totally get what I mean).

Rik wrote: "I'm currently slogging through a Malazan book and if you read any of those you totally get what I mean"

Having slogged through all 10 plus the 4 ICE novels plus Bauchelain and Korbal Broach books and Forge of Darkness - I totally get what you mean. Everything else got real easy to read after that.

David Sven wrote: "Rik wrote: "I'm currently slogging through a Malazan book and if you read any of those you totally get what I mean"

Having slogged through all 10 plus the 4 ICE novels plus Bauchelain and Korbal B..."

Yep. I like the Malazan books I've read but at the same time they are so tiring to read. I'm really looking forward to finishing the one I'm on just so I can breeze through a few "lite" books for a month or two before starting the next one.

Rob wrote: "I'm audio-booking The Godfather

or just good old fashioned listening? ;)
sorry Rob just couldn't resist! :*)

Maybe you listen to audio books. I absorb them through my skin.

lol You sound like an amphibian.
OMG Rob is a werefrog with special powers to absorb information by osmosis. That is so cool!

I just finished Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and while it has some fantastical-type elements, it's really just straight fiction, maybe a bit of mystery. It was a fun read, though, even of the end was total cheese.

I've loved the Malazan books, though there is a lot there. I read the 2nd one more than once I loved Coltaine and the Chain of Dogs so much. :)

Reading live by Night by Dennis Lehane. Crime fiction is a nice change from the massive plots and casts of characters in fantasy.

I'm interspersing my Sci-fi and Fantasy with W.E.B. Griffin. Loving his Marine series because there are so many moments I think "Yeah, my husband and/or his buddies would do/say that."

I usually put my non Sword and Laser into my 'Currently Reading' thread posts, but I don't discuss them further. There are other groups for each of those genres :)

terpkristin wrote: "I just finished Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and while it has some fantastical-type elements, it's really just straight fiction, maybe a bit of mystery. It was a fun read, though, even of the ..."

I had heard the short story on EscapePod or PodCastle a couple of years ago and it really stuck with me. (I'm pretty sure it was EscapePod because of the whole Google thing.) When I listened to the novel, I was bugged because the beginning was almost identical, but there was a bunch of stuff added that didn't need to be. (view spoiler)[Then, the novel veers off in a completely different directions and ends completely differently. It completely lost its magical elements. (hide spoiler)] I looked up the short story online to make sure I hadn't remembered the ending wrong.