I didn't read a single chapter this past week.

What the f@+@ am I doing with my life?!?

[Bubble bubble bubble]?

Well, that and trolling Paizo.

"the anubis murders," by someone named gary gygax...

Still working through The Sound and the Fury.

While waiting in the airport on Saturday, I decided I needed something lighter (my plane was delayed for 5 hours, and I don't think I could handle 5 hours of Faulkner) so I started reading The Summoner, Part 1 of Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Martin. Maybe it's just because the book was unfortunately compared to Faulkner by virtue of juxtaposition, but it reads like a 6th grader's creative writing assignment. At least there's no confusion as to who the bad guy is; 15 pages in and he has assaulted a maid, beat up a little girl, and tortured a puppy. I kid you not. We get it. He's Eeeeevil. Please move on.

Maybe she's just setting you up for an Anne Rice style POV reversal; turns out the girl, maid and puppy were the real bad guys?

I was sick the other day so I finally got around to reading my copy of A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters and found it to very enjoyable. I'm going to hunt for more Brother Cadfael books.

Finished J.M. Thompson's Robespierre and the French Revolution. Old book from the '50s and have never heard of the dude, but I liked it quite a bit.

I'm going to have to make flashcards, though.

Tom Piccirilli's The Last Kind Words and Altar of Bones by Phillip Carter. Then it'll be back into textbooks.

Finished Simon Schama's Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.

Very well-written and jam-packed with details, but, well, the guy prefers Talleyrand and Charlotte Corday to Marat and Danton.

But I am not done with 1789 quite yet, gonna revisit my Georges Lefebvre books, maybe look for some of the 19th-century chronicles.

In the meantime, it's back to Conan.

Just finished Forged In Fire by J. A. Pitts.
(Finally, a book unrelated to work!)

I recommend a book called "Truth in Comady" to all of my gamer friends, and I re-read it often. Autors Del Close, Norna Halpern and Kim Johnson. Book on how to make Improv work. If you don't see the connection between gaming and improv you are dead to me. Read it!!!
Also reading "The Accidental City" by Powell- an early (1718-1803) history of New Orleans, as well as a number of Osprey books- mainly early firearm books. I really dislike how Pathfinder does gunpowder and am looking for a more historicly accurate idea of how to run guns. This starts at learning about early firearms, and going from there.

Just finished "Pretty Monsters" by Kelly Link and just started "The Eyre Affair" or whatever (book one of the Thursday Next series) by Jasper Fforde.

I don't know if it's because Conan the Warrior has a higher percentage of primo Howard, or if it's because short stories work better in small doses, but I really liked this one.

Moving on to Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende.

Finished Redshirts. Meh. About as appealing as a self-obsessed teenager and twice as snarky. All of Scalzi's characters are starting to sound identical to me.

Moving on to Imager by Modesitt.

just finished randezvous with rama, by arthur c clarke. what a great book! my only problem was that the simps were introduced, but played no role.

Well, the first third of Of Love and Shadows gets the Doodlebug Anklebiter seal of approval. In not named post-Allende Chile, a couple of young journalists (hot and sexy, of course) discover a little girl out in the countryside performing miracles. Magical realist hijinks ensue.

Meanwhile, in D&D-land, moved on to Conan the Usurper and am right in the middle of some kick ass faux-Indian-fighting (Conan as Natty Bumpo?).

Finally, in Vive le Galt!-land, re-reading Georges Lefebvre's The French Revolution: From Its Origins to 1793. Vive le Galt!

just finished randezvous with rama, by arthur c clarke. what a great book!

Yup. Not long ago, I joined a thread on these boards discussing the major ideas of sci-fi published in the late 60's and 70's. I named a bunch of books, and mentioned that of all of them, my favorite was Rendezvous with Rama. In those days, Clarke could really give you that certain sense of wonder, which I think is an major element of a lot of sci-fi.

Yeah the really good authors can paint not just an image but a true sense or emotion of a place.

Currently reading Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, the crime novel which was made into the film Die Hard; and Lord of Silence by Mark Chadbourn, well-written fantasy.

Better Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.

The Crown of the Blood by Gav Thorpe.

The Way Home by George Pelecanos and a re-read of the Sanderson-written Wheel of Time novels. (Damnit Sanderson, why did you have to turn Mat into a goofball? He's snarky and a bit oblivious, not stupid and incapable of self-reflection.)

Finished the first volume of Lefebvre and Conan the Usurper. Have to finish Allende and then I'm moving on to A Game of Thrones finally, but only because my friend bought the DVD box set.

C. S. Friedman's Madness Season is an interesting bit of Sci-fi that I'm not sure how to describe without dipping into spoilers.

I'm also reading The Essential Neruda, Selected Poems since I came across his work when I was learning Spanish and am trying to get back into practice with the language. Can anyone recommend any other Spanish language poets?

For pleasure - Wind Through the Keyhole, Stephen King.
For work - The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Still working through The Sound and the Fury.

While waiting in the airport on Saturday, I decided I needed something lighter (my plane was delayed for 5 hours, and I don't think I could handle 5 hours of Faulkner) so I started reading The Summoner, Part 1 of Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Martin. Maybe it's just because the book was unfortunately compared to Faulkner by virtue of juxtaposition, but it reads like a 6th grader's creative writing assignment. At least there's no confusion as to who the bad guy is; 15 pages in and he has assaulted a maid, beat up a little girl, and tortured a puppy. I kid you not. We get it. He's Eeeeevil. Please move on.

I need something new to read. I finished The Sound and the Fury a couple weeks ago, and picked up The Summoner again a few times, but every time the prose makes my stomach turn. It's not often that I consider money spent on a paperback to be money wasted, but in this case, it is.

Hmm...

Can anyone recommend any other Spanish language poets?

Federico Garcia Lorca.

Currently reading Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, the crime novel which was made into the film Die Hard; and Lord of Silence by Mark Chadbourn, well-written fantasy.

I had no idea Die Hard was based on a book.

Yippie-kye-aye, m&@~*$!*+&@$!

I need something new to read.
Hmm...

Would you like more pretentious highbrow shiznit, or more pedestrian fantasy stuff?

Celestial Healer wrote:

I need something new to read.
Hmm...

Would you like more pretentious highbrow shiznit, or more pedestrian fantasy stuff?

Since my pedestrian fantasy stuff did not go over well, maybe that's a sign I'm still in a pretentious highbrow shiznit frame of mind.

Might go for some Gore Vidal.

Lots of books are in the process of being read, but I did finish Master of Devils the other day and started Death's Heretic.

Master of Devils was excellent, and Death's Heretic is starting off very cool.

Aegypt by John Crowley. I've had my eye on this since I read and loved Little, Big years ago, but somehow never got around to it.

@CH--Well, Empire features Henry Adams and Henry James sitting around chatting about the state of society. Potential for some pretty pretentious prose, if you ask me.

i can't believe it's taken me this long to get to it, but 1984 by george orwell. it's one of the most brilliant books i've ever read.

Aegypt by John Crowley. I've had my eye on this since I read and loved Little, Big years ago, but somehow never got around to it.

Little, Big took me a really long time to get through, but was very rewarding. Now there is some quality prose. How is Aegypt thus far?

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

thejeff wrote:

Aegypt by John Crowley. I've had my eye on this since I read and loved Little, Big years ago, but somehow never got around to it.

Little, Big took me a really long time to get through, but was very rewarding. Now there is some quality prose. How is Aegypt thus far?

Similar. It's started off slow. I'm just starting to get to the neat magic realism stuff. It's all a matter of how the payoff at the end works out.

Better Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.

Finished The Heroes a couple weeks ago. Great characterization, but ultimately unsatisfying finish.

Currently picking my way through the Captain Alatriste books by Arturo Perez-Reverte. They're nice in that you really can read them in any order.

Federico Garcia Lorca.

Good stuff, Thanks!

Timothy Zahn's Triplet. Some interesting ideas there.

"Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson. The best book I've read about the american civil war, recommended:)

"Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson. The best book I've read about the american civil war, recommended:)

There's a reason it's pretty much the standard text twenty plus years later. His Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief is also very good.

Ordeal by Fire is pretty great, too. Covers Reconstruction as well.

Just started the Iron Druid Chronicles and I'm already in love with it. I'm been drifting towards urban fantasy as a greater love then traditional and I'm also a big fan of first person viewpoints. Plus he's Irish, so SOLD!

Reading "Ulysses", by james Joyce

Show off.

Well, the first third of Of Love and Shadows gets the Doodlebug Anklebiter seal of approval. In not named post-Allende Chile, a couple of young journalists (hot and sexy, of course) discover a little girl out in the countryside performing miracles. Magical realist hijinks ensue.

Finished the 2nd third, and there has been nowhere near as much magical realist hijinks as I thought there was going to be based on the end of the 1st third. We'll see how the 3rd third pans out.

Will probably finish Ready Player One on the trip home from work today.

Matt_Scudder wrote:

Currently reading Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, the crime novel which was made into the film Die Hard; and Lord of Silence by Mark Chadbourn, well-written fantasy.

I had no idea Die Hard was based on a book.

Yippie-kye-aye, m@&$&*++##%#!

It's actually pretty good. The main character is a retired New York cop, and it's his daughter held hostage, not his wife. And it's much darker than the movie, all the great action though.

the annotated alice.