Beyond Reality discussion

Please let us know what else you're reading this month!

I'm still reading Anathem, of course. I'm also reading Fragment by Warren Fahy and listening to The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

Just finished Fudoki, by Kij Johnson. I think I loved it in an understated way -- it should appeal to fans of Patricia McKillip & Catherynne Valente, though it isn't quite as ornate as either of those.

Up next:

I have finally finished Son of the Shadows. It was an excellent book (and one I highly recommend, although you need to start with the first, Daughter of the Forest), but it took me ages to read. I suspect that was more about my health (which has been awful) than the book, but it was frustrating that reading it just kept stretching out day after day.

I plan to start Warhost of Vastmark tomorrow or Monday. I'm travelling tomorrow and it was meant to be by train, but now looks like at least half will be by bus. I can read on a train, but not really on a bus so I may listen to Stormwarden instead. Either way, it's looking to be a Wurts kind of day.

I'm starting The Last Unicorn now and am still working on 20th Century Ghosts & Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales.

I'm two-thirds through "Memories of Ice" by Steven Erikson, it being about the fifth Malazan book I've read (the two before this, plus Esselmont's two novels). I'm nearly Malazanned out for the moment, so I've got two nice bits of SF lined up to follow: Banks' novel "Transitions" and Neal Asher's "Orbus", both of which I just recently found in paperback. I know we're meant to be reading Janny's "Wars", and eventually I will, but I know as soon as I get my breath it's back to the Books of the Fallen for me. And I still have Kay's "Under Heaven" waiting too, never mind the rest of the list.

For a change of pace (quite the uptick after the first story), I decided to read an anthology of Robert E. Howard's Conan tales: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. 'The Phoenix on the Sword' left me breathless with my heart thumping in my ears.

I'm looking forward to CryoBurn later in the month. I'd like to tackle Connie Willis Blackout and All Clear but I think I'll wait until winter for those two tomes.

The rest of my October reading can be found on my current-month shelf.

Anathem, to be followed by The Art of Racing in the Rain, then The Steerswoman's Road (The Steerswoman, #1 & 2) and Under Heaven - depending on how much time I can snatch for the sheer pleasure.

I am about halfway through Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe. After I finish that, I'll move on to:

- War for the Oaks - Emma Bull
- Lakota Woman - Mary Crow Dog
- Journey by Moonlight - Antal Szerb
- Tomoe Gozen - Jessica Amanda Salmonson
- The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter (hopefully in time for Halloween)

(I intended to read Anathem, as it's been sitting on my shelf for a year, but I find I am simply not in the right headspace right now for an epic read. I'll try it again in a few months after I finish my impending move.)

Reading The Ships of Merior. Hope to get to the 2nd book in the Age of Unreason series and then Warhost of Vastmark.

Hey, Kathi! Aren't you glad you stuck it out? I sure am glad I don't have all the interruptions you do.

So far am reading Revelation on my Nook. Next up, Restoration, then Anathem. I also have the last two Foreigner books right beside me, so hope to get to them. Just downloaded Fahrenheit 451 to listen to, and am waiting for the last two books of Janny's Cycle of Fire trilogy to appear at Audible.

Also have the 2nd Lymond book, Queens' Play in the pile!

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Hey, Kathi! Aren't you glad you stuck it out? I sure am glad I don't have all the interruptions you do."

Oh, yes, very much so. Just too much going on in my life these days, though, to read at a good pace. :-) Oh well.

I'm still reading Judas Unchained but today picked up The Last Unicorn andThe Burning Wire. I leave next Wednesday for a field competition in northern California so should have planty of time to read. I've also DL'd from the library Fire and Ice and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I which I will also have available.

I am reading Palimpsest by Valente, Catherynne M. A rather odd story I think I find I am a faint but pursuing reader. I next have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Way of Kings to read.

Candiss wrote: "I am about halfway through Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe. After I finish that, I'll move on to:

- War for the Oaks - Emma Bull
- [book..."

(I intended to read Anathem, as it's been sitting on my shelf for a year, but I find I am simply not in the right headspace right now for an epic read. I'll try it again in a few months after I finish my impending move.)


Candiss, sorry to hear your shelving Anathem, as it is a awesome experience, and it should be nice to hear this month (October) what other members of the group have to say about it.

I read the Angela Carter years ago. I loved it, which is odd because fairy tale fantasy doesn't usually grab me -- but I think Carter has just the right touch of feminism coupled with a great sense of awe and wonder.

And yes, Candiss, I am hoping to get [book:Journey by Moonlight|158217] read by Halloween also, after a few more gothics and noirs.

Last night I finished up Stories: All-New Tales. Quite the eclectic collection. My favorite stories were the ones by Gaiman (no surprise there), Elizabeth Hand, Joe Hill, Diana Wynne Jones, Joanne Harris, Michael Swanwick, and Gene Wolfe. Least favorites were the ones by Jeffrey Deaver, Carolyn Parkhurst, and Michael Moorcock (really wanted to like the Moorcock, but was just bored by it and had to skim). The rest were in the middle, interesting but didn't blow me away. The good outweighed the bad in the collection, so I definitely recommend it. I read through a bunch of the other reviews and it's so interesting to see which stories people liked and disliked - there's very little consistency, which just goes to show you how different readers have totally different tastes!

I just picked up used copies of some of the Oz books, which believe it or not I've never read, so I'm probably going to dive into those next while I wait for Warhost of Vastmark to arrive in the mail.

I recently finished Mockingjay, was slightly disappointed with it, and Blood Price by Tanya Huff, which I was pleasantly surprised by, this was my first modern vampire book. I'm currently working on The Last Unicorn and Anathem. And I finally hope to finish The Curse of the Mistwraith. I had to take a break from it, so put it aside to read Blood Price, but now I'm ready to get it finished.

Well I am still reading Judas Unchained. Same trouble as the previous book. His info dumps are an eternity to read through. Eventually once he gets to the action of the story the book picks up.
I still have no idea how important Ozzie's side trip is but it better be worth it.

I loved Judas Unchained and all the other books he has written I have read the most recent ones, each with Void in the title. I have been following his stories since I first read The Reality Dysfunction

I have now finished Palimpsest which I THINK I enjoyed and last night picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as I already mentioned. I have read a few chapters and am finding it a very good book, gripping.

Just finished The Last Unicorn and am now reading Wolf-Speaker.

I'm reading The Unincorporated Man.

I am reading Reigning Cats and Dogs by Tanith Lee

Just finished The Warded Man and next to read is The Magicians' Guild

I finished Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt Jr. last night. Loved it, although I think it might lose some readers before it gets really good in the second half of the novel.

Now I'm about to start Tracato, the 3rd novel in A Trial of Blood and Steel by Joel Shepherd.

My copy of Warhost of Vastmark arrived yesterday (along with Fugitive Prince, so I won't have to wait next time), so I'm gleefully about to plunge in.

And I can finally confess to you all why it took me so long to finish Ships of Merior (it was the only book I finished in September - just one book over a whole month - that's unheard of for me, no matter how busy I am!)... I was deep in the fog of fatigue and nausea that is the first trimester of pregnancy, and have successfully come out the other side :) So yes, I'm 13 weeks along (and also have been spending some of my precious reading time on What to Expect When You're Expecting, Third Edition), spending more time sleeping (and thus less time reading) than normal, but feeling good and everything is looking healthy so far.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know. I promise not to hijack all of the threads with baby talk. We now return to your regularly scheduled book discussion.

Congratulations Shel

Shel wrote: " was deep in the fog of fatigue and nausea that is the first trimester of pregnancy, and have successfully come out the other side :)"

Congrats!! I am so happy for you.

I am reading Mainspring by Jay Lake, a book I purchased that has been hanging around for a while on my bookshelf. Concept of story is interesting but main character is a little bit of a zero.

That's divine news, Shel! Congratulations.

Congratulations, Shel!

Read as much as you can now. Once the little one arrives, your reading time will severely diminish. I found I couldn't even concentrate on books for the first few years of my son's life.

Sigh, I'm still reading L.E. Modesitt,jr's "The Eternity Artifact. With any luck at all I hope to have it read by the end of this upcoming long weekend.

Congratulations Shel!

October's not going to be a month with much free reading time in it. I'm about halfway through Warhost of Vastmark (thanks again, Janny!) and, once I finish it, hope to begin Anathem, though I probably won't finish it before month's end.

Congratulations Shel! So glad you're feeling better; morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue are not fun.

I'm struggling to stick to anything at the moment and flicking around a bunch of books without staying with a particular one.

I'm being amused on and off by How to Fossilise Your Hamster: And 99 Other Experiments to Try at Home, finding myself a little out of my depth with Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, continuing to enjoy Seabiscuit: An American Legend and working my way very slowly (I'm up to p.77 so far) through Warhost of Vastmark.

I'm currently reading/listening to Gil's All Fright Diner. The mindless humor has been soothing since my gray matter is currently being pulled in too many directions for me to handle well. :)

I also won Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight in a Firstreads giveaway. I'm hoping it will show up soon. I am such a Discworld addict. :)

Kerry wrote: "Congratulations Shel! So glad you're feeling better; morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue are not fun."

Heh...whoever named it "morning sickness" had clearly never been pregnant before... if ONLY it were limited to the morning! Anyway, it's over now :)

Still haven't actually started Warhost yet, but we're going away for the 3-day weekend to a little B&B up in New Hampshire to enjoy the fall foliage and celebrate our anniversary, and will have lots of down time to just relax (hubby is a reader too) so I'm sure we'll spend a good part of the weekend just curled up together with our respective books. Can't wait.

Random wrote: "I also won Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight in a Firstreads giveaway."

I am SO jealous! But glad a Discworld lover was a winner.

I have just started reading The Way of Kingswhich seems to be very good. However, it is a vast book and I haven't got very far. I am also dipping into a book of short stories Moving Targets and Other Stories of Valdemarwhich is a Valdemar collection. I prefer Mercedes lackey's stories, but anything about Valdemar I enjoy.

I just finished Tracato by Joel Shepherd, which was easily the best book in an already excellent series. Can't wait for the fourth and final book.

Next up - probably Stories of Your Life: and Others by Ted Chiang, although I first need to catch up on a stack of magazines first.

Gah! I haven't been getting notices from this thread! What gives with that? Enyhoo, congrats, Shel. I can't imagine not being self absorbed and navel gazing and wrapped up in baby reading when pregnant. Hope it all goes well.

I finished Berg's Rai Kirah trilogy and thought it was fantastic -- best read since finishing WLOS! Profound. Moving. Thoroughly intelligent.

I've started Anathem and am finding it slow going. Digressed to Conspirator, and, Cherryh being totally addictive, have now started Deceiver. Finished listening to Fahrenheit 451, and found it interesting if a little dated technologically speaking, but of course book banning is au courant and always despicable. Am finding many new things to consider reading in the Scifi and Fantasy groups, but do plan to finish or at least make a big dent in Anathem this weekend.

Kerry, I'm amused by the title of the psychiatric book, and have to say I don't find the rise of mental illness in America at all astonishing considering the insanity of our culture.

I'm reading God Emperor of Dune, The Time Machine, and the last two volumes of Scott Pilgrim. If I happen to get through all that, I think I'll pick up where I left off on the Wheel of Time with The Shadow Rising.

Just started Earthborn. I figured I needed to finish up some of these series I've started.

God Emperor of Dune - wow. That takes me back. I need to reread that series, at some point. I remember liking God Emperor more than any other book in the series, aside from the first one of course.

Don't let them depress you Shel. My wife read hundreds of books as she "awaited" our first. After she came we both had many, many hours in the late watches of the night...you only need to learn to balance a feeding child and a book at the same time. Maybe read aloud it gets them started early. The nights I took "feeding shift" it worked out...after a while. And sometimes the reading aloud seemed to quiet the crying...


Both my kids are in their 30s now... :)

I agree Shel - I have a nine month old, and I still get in plenty of reading time at night after bedtime, and out loud to him. I think the problem only comes into play when there are two or more of them to watch after... :)

Our son was born 4 months before our daughter turned 3...he was much more fussy than she was.

That had to have been a handful! I want more, but the thought of having a little monster running around and a crying baby is terrifying to me. But I have a boy and I'd like a girl to complete the set.. So someday I'll just have to face that fear :)

Never a monster... Once they start sleeping it eases up, a bit. :) My kids are both grown now. :)

Stefan wrote: "God Emperor of Dune - wow. That takes me back. I need to reread that series, at some point. I remember liking God Emperor more than any other book in the series, aside from the first one of course."

I agree. I still think God Emperor is one of the best. Of course I am still mightally disappointed with the failure that is Sandworms of Dune. I utterly hate that book.

Dawn I wouldnt worry about it. All our kids are 2 years and 4 months apart (average) it wasnt as bad as you would think.
Shel, you will have time to read. Life doesnt stop totally with children. I think I read more in those days than I do now. Trips to the park. I would read they would play.