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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Aug 18 2015, 2:54pm
Post #1 of 17
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It's the possible rain reading thread!
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Yes, that's right---after our floods in May, we've now gone almost 40 days without rain. But the weather pundits are saying there's a good chance of it, along with briefly cooler temperatures, this week. But we can't complain. We're in better shape than the poor folks in California. 
I'm finally on the last half-hour or so of Bill Bryson's At Home. Even though I've thoroughly enjoyed all 13 CDs, I'm ready for the end, not least because the last chapter or so has been one ghastly story after another of poverty and child abuse in historical times.
I finished listening to Alan Bradley's The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag and have to confess to mixed feelings. It's nicely written, and the audio book is well-narrated, but at the end of the day the plot just didn't hold up. I can't buy the precocious main character, for one thing. For another, I can't buy that even with the relatively primitive forensic techniques of the late 40s, something would be assumed that was assumed in the story. (Sorry about the awkward phrasing there, but it's a massive spoiler.) I could even see the author twisting himself in knots trying to make the assumption work.
I won't be reading any more in the series.
I also skim-read a paper book, The Ganja Coast, by Paul Mann, one of a series of literary mysteries set in India. The first one in the series was grim and ugly, and sure enough, this one was, too. Set in the drug culture in Goa, the story details such shocking and dark events that never mind the main characters are fairly likeable, I just couldn't bear to read every page. And yet, even then, I guessed one major reveal of the plot early on.
I won't be reading any more of these, either.
To get the bitter taste out of my mouth I've started The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday, the next one in Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series. So far, this installment seems to have an actual plot.  With or without one, I know I'm in for some pleasant hours.
What have you been reading?
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 18 2015, 7:40pm
Post #2 of 17
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
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Dumbledore's dead. Hedwig's dead. Mad-Eye's dead. And Ron's just packed a snit and left Hermione and Harry to save the wizarding world on their own.
It's hard to read this slowly enough to make it last. (Even though this is the third or fourth time I've read the book.)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Saurons master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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One Ringer
Tol Eressea
Aug 18 2015, 7:57pm
Post #3 of 17
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Picked up the first book a couple months back with my friend. I left him in the dust pretty quick as I conquered the first 400 pages or so.  It's been resting on the shelf the past while now, but I'm looking to get back into that groove. Really enjoying it, if that wasn't already obvious. I've never seen the show but I definitely love the characters. If I had to pick a favorite I'd go with Jon Snow (for some reason Nicholas Rowe from Young Sherlock Holmes really slips into this part for me).
"You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain."
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Tintallė
Gondor
Aug 19 2015, 8:15pm
Post #4 of 17
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Historical fiction and fantasy lands for me!
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I read Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks. I think it's historically accurate and she writes well; she just throws in a bit too much romance (I use that word loosely) for me. Anyway, I liked reading about the Plague Village, if you can believe that. I've read two other books of hers: Caleb's Crossing, which was last year's One Book, One San Diego selection, and March. I think that's probably enough Brooks.
I do that - I go on to read several of an author's works in succession if I like the first one. Sometimes that works out well and other times not so much.
Next was Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. I picked it up because I loved The Seeker, a TV show based on the series. It was a fun read, so I bought a used paperback of the second installment, Stone of Tears and will see if I get through it. It is massive. I think I would be thoroughly engrossed if I didn't already know the story; as it is, I'm enjoying it.
I read Uprooted by Naomi Novik and could not put it down. I loved it so much that I've started her Temeraire series.
No serious reading, but I rather need a break from all things serious so I guess these are okay for now!
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Aug 19 2015, 10:37pm
Post #5 of 17
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I found the first four or five books were really good but it gets nastily dark, then a bit plodding. I did finish the series (12 books) and its ending was intriguing but it's not a series I'll be re-reading. I hope you have a better time of it than I did. :)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Saurons master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Mikah
Lorien
Aug 21 2015, 1:00am
Post #6 of 17
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Martin has a brilliant imagination!
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With fantasy fiction I kind of prefer Patrick Rothfuss. There is no denying the imagination of Martin though. He is brilliant at dialogue as well. I found myself reading many paragraphs twice thinking "where on earth did he come up with this?" It really is a brilliant series of books. Are you planning to read them all? My favorite was A Dance with Dragons.
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Mikah
Lorien
Aug 21 2015, 1:04am
Post #7 of 17
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I am currently reading lore from Warhammer. Never played the game, but got kinda interested in the lore. The Book is called The Blood of Aenarion. Right now it is my guilty pleasure. Dragons, magic, mages, all that good stuff. At least if nothing else, I have now figured out why on every realm I played in WoW there was always an elf warrior named Aenarion. Sheesh...who knew?
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Aug 21 2015, 11:28am
Post #8 of 17
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Honestly, I'm much more familiar with the Wild Cards series that he edited than his heroic fantasy work. If I remember correctly, wasn't Wild Cards based on a Champions rpg campaign in which Martin was the gamemaster?
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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Tintallė
Gondor
Aug 21 2015, 4:25pm
Post #9 of 17
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Still waiting for Rothfuss to finish the Kingkiller Chronicle.
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I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for book 3 and thinking that I'll probably have to re-read books 1 & 2 beforehand because it's been so long!
I have learned my lesson at last, I believe, and after the LONG waits for Jordan's Wheel of Time and Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire I will no longer begin a series until it has been completed.
The only problem with that is trying to avoid spoilers. I could never have managed to avoid them if I'd waited until the final book was published to read the Harry Potter series!
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Tintallė
Gondor
Aug 21 2015, 4:36pm
Post #10 of 17
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and the dark parts to come, but as you might expect I'm finding some differences between the books and the TV version I enjoyed in Legend of the Seeker, so I may be in for some surprises. Plodding will definitely induce me to stop the series, though, as I have too many books I want to read and not enough time to read them all!
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Aug 21 2015, 7:06pm
Post #11 of 17
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Hamlet, The Sorcerer, A Breath of Snow and Ashes (*spoilers*)
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I decided to re-read Hamlet, what with my impending journey to London coming up next month so I can see Benedict C. in the play. I also literally skimmed through this last book in the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte. Bored to tears! Sad, since this series started out with a bang! But once it focused on Merlyn, it became increasingly dull, even with Arthur's eventual acquisition of Excalibur. Give me Mary Stewart's vision of the enchanter anytime!
I also started the next book in the Outlander series - A Breath of Snow and Ashes. SPOILERS!
I find the story intriguing although I still think Brianna is a spoiled, selfish child regardless of her age, and could very well do without her. I love the character of young Ian, and am glad he finally gets away from the Mohawks and rejoins Jamie and Claire! Jamie has just gotten better with age, methinks! I always relish the scenes with Himself. And his horse is a piece of work, isn't he?
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Aug 21 2015, 9:37pm
Post #12 of 17
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I never did find my "Red Dragon" book but my daughter finished up the first "Poldark" book rather quickly. I'm about halfway through it. Though next week I start a Nutrition course, so my next book will likely be on Nutrition. I haven't finished the "Fitness Illustrated" book yet, either, though I'm about halfway with that as well.
Someone mentioned historical fiction, and I love a good one! I wonder if some of the British TORners could help me out with one. I was in England back in the early 1980s and read a great one that was set in Edinburgh during the North Berwick trials. It was about a spy that was investigating the witchcraft claims and looking for conspirators, and he fell in love with this Catholic girl (turns out most of the accused "witches" were Catholic), and of course she is convicted of witchcraft & conspiracy to kill James I. She's supposed to burn at the stake, but he rescues her somehow. I'll be DARNED if I can remember the title, does it by chance sound familiar to ANYONE out there?
Proud member of the BOFA Denial Association
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Mikah
Lorien
Aug 21 2015, 11:06pm
Post #13 of 17
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Sigh. I wonder if they will ever be completed? When I started The Name of the Wind I did not even know the series had not been completed. I read it on a recommendation. I went to order the second and third books and much to my horror, no third book! WHAT? Imagine my disappointment . I kept looking and thinking this must be a horrible mistake. Friends do not let friends begin an incomplete book series? Do they? Needless to say I feel your pain.
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Mikah
Lorien
Aug 21 2015, 11:15pm
Post #14 of 17
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I was not familiar with Martin until A Song of Ice and Fire. But my husband is familar with Wild Cards and played Champions. He believes that you are correct in that. He explained Wild Cards to me and it sounds as strange and deviant as his current series. Did you like it?
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Aug 22 2015, 11:51am
Post #15 of 17
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I liked the Wild Cards shared world volumes very much, especially the early books. The series includes an interesting and varied group of writers, many of whom were players in his rpg campaign. There were: Martin himself; Howard Waldrop; Roger Zelazny; Walter Jon Williams; Melinda M. Snodgrass; Lewis Shiner; Victor Milan; Edward Bryant; Leanne C. Harper; Stephen Leigh; and John J. Miller. And that was only in the first volume. Apparently, the most recent reprint of the book adds several new stories and at least a couple of new contributers.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Aug 23 2015, 4:51pm
Post #16 of 17
(475 views)
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Been reading new authors lately - 'crept for one ;-)
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The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley which turned out to be a comic book disguised as a fantasy novel. Imaginative but not the sophisticated read I was hoping for.
J.K. Rowlings' Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Cause I'm excited for her new trilogy of movies (which just started shooting with Eddie Redmaune in the lead as Newt Scamander). I wanted to see if it suggested more about ER's character and the plot of the movies but it really doesn't. It's a slim little book, fun in typical Harry Potter style, but I think JKR actually wrote it as part of a Comic Relief UK appeal and well before she gave any thought to making it the base of a new film series.
Alice Hoffman's Museum of Extraordinary Things. I haven't read any of AH's books before and I may hesitate to pick up something of her's again. It's beautifully written, well-researched and much of it is fascinating, but the pacing threw me off. Most of it was languorous and then in the last, things started happening too quickly. (*shrug*) I'm glad I read it but I don't know that I'm gonna put AH on my list of must-read authors.
And that's kinda of what I'm looking for now, a new author to fall in love with.
Am currently reading Daisy Goodwin's The Fortune Hunter, a book I grabbed at Target because I was desperate for a new read and haven't been able to get to the library. It's one of those sly historical novels that uses real people in fabricated plots. Highly readable but not what I'd call a keeper.
If anybody has any suggestions on a new author to try, please post! I prefer historical, classic, fantasy and sf (I particularly enjoy short story anthologies of the latter). 
Hernevernen!!
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One Ringer
Tol Eressea
Aug 24 2015, 4:44am
Post #17 of 17
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Not a couple days later I ordered the box set off amazon as it was on sale for 30 bucks. Just a matter of working my way through them.
"You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain."
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