What Books Are You Reading Right Now?

[Palanan]

Since I'm snowbound today, it's a good time to nestle down in the papasan with a book and a cat. Just curious what other folks in the Playground are reading today, whether or not snow is a factor.

Once I've finished scraping the car, I'll probably go with Thomas Madden's Venice: A New History, which has been a great read so far, even if he ran through the city's first five hundred years in the first two chapters. (Guess those Magyars weren't so tough after all. ; )

For my audiobook, I'm listening to Michael Drout's short course on A History of the English Language--a little too much linguistic theory for the time allotted, but still a great overview and, as a fellow Tolkien fan, he's always great fun to listen to.

So, what's everyone else reading today? I'm not looking for neomodernist critiques, and please no beating of long-expired equines here; I'm just interested in a snapshot of what the Playground is reading today. Coursework, literature, fun and fluffy, all of it: I'd like to know.



.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I just finished reading The Princess Bride (literally yesterday), and have just started one of E.C. Tubb's Space 1999 adaptations.

In the queue is The Complete Robot (Asimov).

[EmeraldRose]

Currently rereading The Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony. I'm on book 5, and will probably finish them fairly quickly, since they go so fast.

I also just picked up Z3ro's book, and I've just started it. I'm liking what I've read so far.

[warty goblin]

I'm about halfway through The Time of Contempt, since they finally released the English translation. Next up is Metro 2033. After that I might reread Roadside Picnic, or possibly Nightwatch, depending on the mood. Hey, it's my Winter of Eastern European and Russian Genre Fiction.

[Toastkart]

Just finished Fighter General: The Life of Adolf Galland. Really interesting.

Thinking of moving on to some Discworld novels or Dune.

[BWR]

Roadside Picnic and Night Watch are great books.
Currently reading Gene Wolfe's "Pirate Freedom", following on the heels of Tim Powers' "On stranger tides".
And I just finished reading the Laundry RPG, and now want to run a game in that setting (I quite like the books it's based on).

[pikeamus]

'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' by John le Carre. Seventy percent in now and I'm pretty impressed. There is a lot of tension and atmosphere built up with very few words, very terse prose. I really can't tell if it's all going to end tragically and in failure, with some sort of pyrrhic victory or with some genuine success and relief.

Funnily enough I also have a history book of Venice on the go. 'City of Fortune' by Roger Crowley. I don't normally read histories, even pop ones, but I am enjoying this. I started reading as research for a writing project, and although it isn't giving me much of what I was initially after (which with hindsight it never promised to, given the title) I am learning a lot and getting some good ideas.

[WalkingTarget]

Reading The Lord of the Rings again, currently. It'd been a while and I've been itching to do another pass through The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales as well, so I decided to make it a whole thing. I also want to work my way through the History of Middle-earth set that my gf got me a while back, but that'll take me a while.

I've also been working through American Theocracy for a while now, but that touches on politics and religion so I'll refrain from discussing it further.

[EmeraldRose]

I'm forgetting the various textbooks I should be reading now for the term in school:

DSM V
Social Work in Mental Health
And another I can't remember but I think it's about organizational SW...

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by pikeamus
Funnily enough I also have a history book of Venice on the go. 'City of Fortune' by Roger Crowley.

Yup, I actually looked at that one first, but he picked up at the start of the 1200s, and didn't seem to address the prior seven or eight centuries. I'll give it another look if you think it's worthwhile.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Hey, it's my Winter of Eastern European and Russian Genre Fiction.

Well, it's good weather for it.

[Gamerlord]

Recently finished The Color of Magic (Finally got around to reading Discworld, and it seems to have a nice start) and the first book of The Dresden Files, Storm Front (Which was decent enough, albeit pretty damn predictable, I'm assuming the series gets better given all the praise it gets.) As for what I'm currently reading, on the last fifty or so pages of World War Z, after which I plan to either read Good Omens or The Silmarillion, not sure which one yet.

Yeah, admittedly this is hardly the most deep and intellectual of reading lists.

[BWR]

The first couple of Discworld books are a bit rough (even if I love them to pieces, much better than the ones of the last decade or so). Fortunately, many of the best are standalone, or mostly so, so you can read the best ones first.
Personally, I'm very fond of Small Gods, Reaper Man and Masquerade (though you might want to read Wyrd Sisters before Masquerade).

[Toastkart]

Currently rereading The Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony. I'm on book 5, and will probably finish them fairly quickly, since they go so fast.

I really enjoyed On a Pale Horse, but Bearing an Hourglass bored me to tears. So much so I haven't picked up the other books in the series. Are any of the others as good as the first?

I'm forgetting the various textbooks I should be reading now for the term in school:

ah, me too. Add Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence by Herman and World, affectivity, trauma: Heidegger and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis by Stolorow.

[warty goblin]

Reading The Lord of the Rings again, currently. It'd been a while and I've been itching to do another pass through The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales as well, so I decided to make it a whole thing. I also want to work my way through the History of Middle-earth set that my gf got me a while back, but that'll take me a while.

I've also been working through American Theocracy for a while now, but that touches on politics and religion so I'll refrain from discussing it further.

I just finished rereading LoTR again, the requisite eighteen months having past since my last gothrough. Need to reread the Silmarillion again too, but that requires getting my copy back from my ex.

Roadside Picnic and Night Watch are great books.
Currently reading Gene Wolfe's "Pirate Freedom", following on the heels of Tim Powers' "On stranger tides".
And I just finished reading the Laundry RPG, and now want to run a game in that setting (I quite like the books it's based on).

Oh I know, I've read them both before. This time I should hunt up the sequels to NightWatch as well.

I've got a couple Gene Wolf titles sitting on my shelf too, but haven't gotten to them yet.

Well, it's good weather for it.

11 degrees this morning, so it's downright perfect. By the end of February my plan is to sitting around shirtless drinking vodka straight from the bottle and complaining about how terrible life is.

[EmeraldRose]

I really enjoyed On a Pale Horse, but Bearing an Hourglass bored me to tears. So much so I haven't picked up the other books in the series. Are any of the others as good as the first?

Yeah...he could've done a MUCH better job on Chronos. The whole thing was a bit difficult to swallow. I think the best ones are actually For Love of Evil and And Eternity. The culmination of everything (as well as the timeline for Satan) makes all the other tripe stuff a little more bearable.

ah, me too. Add Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence by Herman and World, affectivity, trauma: Heidegger and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis by Stolorow.

Interesting! I just completed a continuing ed course of Secondary Trauma and Resilience. It was very good. I'm definitely interested in trauma, specifically PTSD in the military and caregivers.

[THEChanger]

Well, I just got a bunch of textbooks for various courses. Modern East Asia: A Brief History, India After Ghandi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy, Turkey: A Modern History, Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, and the only book I intend to keep, An Actor's Craft: The Art and Technique of Acting. I'm noticing that either the authors or editors of textbooks really like this Subject: Narrower Subject naming convention.

For pleasure reading, I'm currently tackling the Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft. A lot of the stories are hit-or-miss, as his style of horror relies on a deep fear of the unknown that I see to lack, or at least not feel as strongly as old HP did. But it's very interesting to see his style develop over time, and he does become more skilled as time goes on. I've yet to come to his more popular works like Mountains of Madness, so I assume the best is for last.

On another note, recently picked up and quickly read through William Shakespeare's Star Wars (actually transcribed by Ian Doescher). It was a fun read, and puts Star Wars in a context where it could conceivably be put on stage, so I was happy with my purchase.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by BWR
Personally, I'm very fond of Small Gods....

Small Gods is probably my single favorite Discworld novel, although Sourcery was pretty hilarious when I first read it. (Rincewind discovering he can do boss magic...just priceless.)

Originally Posted by warty goblin
11 degrees this morning, so it's downright perfect. By the end of February my plan is to sitting around shirtless drinking vodka straight from the bottle and complaining about how terrible life is.

...is this a Midwestern icy-weather joke? Not sure if I grok this at all. I have so few occasions for subzero humor.

Just went for a walk in the snowy woods. Red-winged blackbirds, pileated woodpeckers, kingfishers, robins, white-breasted nuthatches: everyone's busy out there. Meanwhile my cat has been keeping the papasan warm.

[warty goblin]

...is this a Midwestern icy-weather joke? Not sure if I grok this at all. I have so few occasions for subzero humor.

It's a Russian joke. Ask an American how they are, they'll say fine even if they recently lost their beloved pet and at least one limb in a freak threshing machine accident. If they're midwestern they'll respond 'could be worse.' The Russian response is 'terrible' even if things are really going pretty well.

Just went for a walk in the snowy woods. Red-winged blackbirds, pileated woodpeckers, kingfishers, robins, white-breasted nuthatches: everyone's busy out there. Meanwhile my cat has been keeping the papasan warm.

Makes me wish there were some decent woods around here. I have to content myself with jogging in blizzards; did four miles the other night in a 25 mph north wind driving hard snow in front of it. Over the course of my run the temperature dropped ten degrees.

[teacupprincess9]

I'm so glad I'm not completely snowbound here, but it's so bitter cold that I don't want to go anywhere anyway - it feels like -20 with the wind chill, so I'm pretty content to spend the day in bed with many many blankets.

I just started reading Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch, the first book in his Peter Grant series. It's pretty fun so far, definitely a light, quick read. I just finished re-reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett for the first time in many years; I forgot how much I loved both of their work (although I did reread many of the Discworld books over the summer). When I finish Midnight Riot, I've got to read a book my friend loaned me so I can get it back to her, Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez, which I guess is sort of a modern mythological road trip adventure, which sounds like it'll be pretty fun.

[TheThan]

It's a Russian joke.

yeah, sounds about right.

Anyway I'm currently reading Edgar Rice Burrough’s Barsoom series
So far I’ve gone through A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars; and am currently working on Thuvia Maid of Mars.

I want to tackle his Venus series when I’m done. What can i say, I like the old pulps.

[warty goblin]

yeah, sounds about right.

Anyway I'm currently reading Edgar Rice Burrough’s Barsoom series
So far I’ve gone through A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars; and am currently working on Thuvia Maid of Mars.

I want to tackle his Venus series when I’m done. What can i say, I like the old pulps.

Also on my list, though my local Temple used book store only had the first volume. Old pulps are fantastic though, in no small part because they could pack a remarkable amount of content into tiny amounts of space.

[Killer Angel]

Right Now?
Just today, i started "A bit closer to heaven".
Support "our" authors!

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by TheThan
What can i say, I like the old pulps.

Nothing wrong with the classics, especially when the classics are a ton of fun.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
Old pulps are fantastic though, in no small part because they could pack a remarkable amount of content into tiny amounts of space.

Absolutely so, and not just the older ones. Even relatively recent books, like Patricia McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, are able to compress a tremendous amount of story and emotion into finger-thin volumes.

One of my favorite writers once told me that the modern fiction market simply couldn't support that any more--that for there to be any sliver of profit, writers simply had to pump out inflated epic-size tomes. I don't know the ins and outs of the market well enough to say more, except to note that The Emperor's Soul seems to be doing well as a stand-alone novella. Probably the publisher was willing to take a chance on it based on Brandon Sanderson's current wave of popularity.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
I have to content myself with jogging in blizzards; did four miles the other night in a 25 mph north wind driving hard snow in front of it.

Sorry, I just don't do north winds. Especially not the frigid-continental-interior kind.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

In the midst of the second Codex Alera book, a fun read. (Whilst I try and remember to get a copy of Blood Rites so I can finish my Dresden reread in time for Skin Game...)

I also started Descent Into Hell on my e-reader, promises to be a thought-provoking read already.

Two very different books I'm hopping between.

[Ravens_cry]

Huh, I just finished the *first* Codex Alera. I like it significantly better than *gasp* Storm Front believe it or not.

[BWR]

One of my favorite writers once told me that the modern fiction market simply couldn't support that any more--that for there to be any sliver of profit, writers simply had to pump out inflated epic-size tomes. I don't know the ins and outs of the market well enough to say more, except to note that The Emperor's Soul seems to be doing well as a stand-alone novella. Probably the publisher was willing to take a chance on it based on Brandon Sanderson's current wave of popularity.

I don't know if this is the article you're referencing but this (and the entire series of blog posts) gives some fascinating insight into how publishing and being an author actually works.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Huh, I just finished the *first* Codex Alera. I like it significantly better than *gasp* Storm Front believe it or not.

No, I believe it. The quality of the first couple Dresden books is okay but nothing to write home about. They were pretty early in Butcher's career, especially Storm Front. The first Codex book was after he had a lot of time to polish up. It definitely shows.

Dresden gets substantially better from Book 3 to Book 5, for specific reasons.

[Kato]

While my usual fare consist more of books of English origin I've actually bought Faust Part II recently. But I'm having a pretty hard time with it... at least it's been getting better after the first 50 or so pages.
Though, I really need to get around to ordering that Dodger book.. I keep forgetting. I actually don't have anything unread lying around which is rare.

[warty goblin]

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld[/I], are able to compress a tremendous amount of story and emotion into finger-thin volumes.

I'll have to put that one on my list then.

One of my favorite writers once told me that the modern fiction market simply couldn't support that any more--that for there to be any sliver of profit, writers simply had to pump out inflated epic-size tomes. I don't know the ins and outs of the market well enough to say more, except to note that The Emperor's Soul seems to be doing well as a stand-alone novella. Probably the publisher was willing to take a chance on it based on Brandon Sanderson's current wave of popularity.

I've generally attributed this to the steady decline of the magazine and hence the slow extinction of the short story, among other things.

Sorry, I just don't do north winds. Especially not the frigid-continental-interior kind.

Heh, just got back from a three mile jog. Air temperature: 8 Fahrenheit. Wind: 25 mph Northeast by North. Hardest damn three miles I've run in my life.

[Eldan]

For pleasure reading, I'm currently tackling the Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft. A lot of the stories are hit-or-miss, as his style of horror relies on a deep fear of the unknown that I see to lack, or at least not feel as strongly as old HP did. But it's very interesting to see his style develop over time, and he does become more skilled as time goes on. I've yet to come to his more popular works like Mountains of Madness, so I assume the best is for last.

So am I. I've read bits and pieces of his works earlier, but a while ago, I found an absolutely gorgeous one-in-everything edition of his works in a bookstore that I just had to buy. Black with silver page margins and a nice shimmering metallic picture of space on the cover.
Though I'm reading it really slowly. There's very few of his stories that I like (mostly from the dream cycle) and most are just too slow and dense. At least the early ones are also really predictable by modern standards. I try to read all the shorter stories in one piece, but I only manage about one every three days or so.

Apart from that, my home reading is The Science if Discworld IV. A few chapters in and it's not grabbing me at the moment. The other three Science of Discworld books were fantastic, but this feels like a repeat of things that were already said in those, at least so far.

My train reading is Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. I didn't enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as most people seemed to, probably because I expected something like Hustle in fantasy novel form, i.e. mostly nonviolent trickery and cons. There was some conning, but it wasn't all that impressive, for the most part. (Locke charming his way into the office of a bank director just to get some clothes was really good, though). Instead, there was a whole lot of vengeance and stabbing.
Anyway, the second novel is, so far, a lot better, actually. Maybe I'm just used to the tone now, but in this one, the main characters have to run a heist, while working for three different factions, namely a dictator, a casino owner and a pirate captain, who are all thinking they are implanting the pair as double agents into the other factions. Quite enjoyable so far.

My work reading is a re-read of An Introduction to Plant Physiology and the Journal of the Entomological Society of Switzerland.