SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

December is here already! I plan on reading:
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!

Currently reading:

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!

I have these books out from the library right now:

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.

I don't even want to contemplate the nonfiction shelf :-)

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.

On the 'currently reading' stack (trying out this cool book cover display):





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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.

Well so far I've read Spirit Gate and Shadow Gate. I've also checked out 5 or so of the Miles Vorkosigan series. Other than that I'll just have to see what I find at the library.

I just finished Bel Canto (non-SF) and am currently reading Quicksilver. I have one fantasy book that my daughter loaned me, but I don't remember what it's called and I have some non-genre fiction in my pile.

I just finished Inkheart and am now starting on Inkspell and finishing off the trilogy with Inkdeath.

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.

I just started Legend by David Gemmell and I want to check out John Gregory Betancourt's take on the Amber world. I may continue on to Wizard's First Rule. I've been meaning to start that series for about two years now and something else always comes up.

Imperfectlyrua, while I really liked Betancourt's take on Amber, be warned that the 5th book hasn't been published & won't be any time soon, if ever. The publisher went belly up & the new one isn't planning on publishing it, even though they own the rights. I wrote to John & he told me, so I wrote to the publisher as well. Never got a reply from them. It would be great if you & everyone else would email them & ask for it. We're left with a terrible cliff-hanger at the end of book 4.

I'm currently reading The Heretic's Daughter which I won at a giveaway here at goodreads. It's about the Salem Witch Trials.
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.

I just finished Mothstorm and loved it! Seriously, these books are SOOO good. Philip Reeve is a wonderful author, and these books have actually filled a bit of the HP void for me, which is really amazing. This is the third book in the series. Honestly, the second book wasn't as good as the first but this one was fabulous! Also, it takes place over Christmas so it's the perfect time of year to give it a try. I think reading the first book,Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space first would be best, but if you are pressed for time and really want to get in this seasonal (if only slightly) read then you should be able to pick up on things well enough to enjoy Mothstorm now. I wish more people would read these--truly a treasure! This seems like a good group for it, too, since it's sci-fi/fantasy, YA! Victorian space-pirates, adventure, romance, even some philosophical elements--but quite a lot of humor and fun, too.

Just started The Legend of Holly Claus which seems to be setting up the Father Christmas story with some traditional fantasy elements.

Gibson, Neuromancer
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.

Jon: I liked Ender's Game - what were your thoughts?

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

Dean Koontz's Your Heart Belongs to Me
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.

I've just started reading The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein, and an unpublished novel by a good author friend of mine, Catherine Cruzan. I'm sure this book will be a big hit once it's published. I'll also start Mistborn: The Final Empire.

Just started: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

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I'm still reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Turns out that the mass-market paperback was only 1/3 of the original book, so I had to go get the big old trade paperback.

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.

just finished Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) but I need to relook at the graphics part a little more carefully (rushed through the text a little the first run). slowly going through Bonk (Mary Roach) which is excellently researched and funny (the science of sex). rereading the Power of Reiki (Tanmaya Honervogt). trying to read The World is Flat (Thomas L. Friedman) but this one is running so close to home and reality that the nonfiction is coming a little too much like horror. I'm finding I'd rather read somewhat escapist literature than nonfiction these days. also too many self help books to mention (a horrible compulsion which may also be a form of horror). the area of self improvement may be a farce/fantasy.

Carly, thanks for mentioning Mary Roach. I've enjoyed reading the Reader's Digest column by Mary Roach but the only book I've read by her is Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. She did an excellent job on that too, although given my penchant for reading books during lunch hour, hers was not the best pick. Still, I highly recommend it to anyone. I've been meaning to look up other books by her & keep forgetting.

I am reading Terry Goodkind Wizard First Rule

Jon wrote: "Currently reading..."

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!

I'm on the second of The circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts
1. Morrigan's Cross
2. Dance of the Gods
and will probably start
3. Valley of Silence within the next day or so.

This has been a New Crobuzon December.

Perdido Street Station
The Scar
Iron Council

I am finishing up a charming book of literary fantasy fiction called The Art of Racing in the Rain. It's a story about a semi-professional racecar driver as told through the eyes of his Golden Retriever dog. I highly recommend it.

These are the books I read over December:

The Name of the Wind
The Amulet of Samarkand
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Stardust
Mistborn: The Final Empire

-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

Well, I read some of what I planned:
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.