What Are You Reading? January 2013

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Fri January 11th, 2013, 11:58 am

[quote=""Misfit""]I did soldier through them, but I was so curious to see how EL James managed the Pacific Northwest setting. FAIL. One of the funniest was when they helicoptered out of Portland, Oregon and she's mentioning that they are now entering US Airspace. WTF?

I assume everyone knows this was originally fan fiction of the Twilight books? Worse yet, now 50 Shades is spawning fan fiction of its own, many becoming popular and attracting the attention of the publishers. All edited by said publisher before they slap them on the shelves.

[/quote]

And all to the detriment of other, better books that real readers want

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 12:14 am

Starters by Lissa Price, the latest buzz in teenage fiction. A twisty, suspenseful story set in a dystopian future where a biological weapon of war has killed all but the young and the elderly- and the elderly are recapturing their youth by "renting" the bodies of the dispossessed young...

Just for fun I downloaded the free Starters app which turns the book's cover into electric blue holographic imagery when you point your device at it - pretty cool and kids would love it

princess · Post by **princess** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 12:48 am

[quote=""Susan""]About 30% done with The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch and enjoying it![/quote]
Oh I loved this, and The Dark Monk - very shortly I'll be starting The Beggar King

princess · Post by **princess** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 1:02 am

[quote=""emr""]Finished Blackhouse by Peter May. Excellent. Very interesting the part about the Guga Hunt and the insight in Lewis customs. It's funny how I've just zoomed with Google maps to a random street in Stornoway and I've got a church, a seller of religious books, some shop saying "Christian care for body and soul" which I have no idea what they sell and this in the first minute of wandering lol. Love google.[/quote]

I can thoroughly recommend The Lewis Man and The Chessmen - the latter being the weakest of the three, but good nevertheless

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 1:27 am

[quote=""princess""]Oh I loved this, and The Dark Monk - very shortly I'll be starting The Beggar King

[/quote]

Reading The Beggar King now. Enjoying learning about a time period and place I do not know a lot about. I was in Bavaria this past summer, but in Munich and Nuremberg, not near the setting for these novels.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 2:01 am

Posted by Princess

I can thoroughly recommend The Lewis Man and The Chessmen - the latter being the weakest of the three, but good nevertheless

Loved this series and can't wait for the next one. I think Peter May's extensive experience in TV shows up here - the sort of pace, cinematic eye and character development through dialogue central to good television are evident in his novels. I agree with John Lanchester when he says "All you want from a novel is for it to be as well written as telly. Really good telly."

emr · Post by **emr** » Sat January 12th, 2013, 8:24 am

[quote=""annis""]
Loved this series and can't wait for the next one. I think Peter May's extensive experience in TV shows up here - the sort of pace, cinematic eye and character development through dialogue central to good television are evident in his novels. I agree with John Lanchester when he says "All you want from a novel is for it to be as well written as telly. Really good telly."[/quote]

Before Blackhouse I had only read The Firemaker from Peter May and I thought it was so-so. I think his writing has improved a lot in the last 10 years. Got the other two books but I want to space them a little.
Finished The Cold, Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty set in 1981 in Belfast. The summer of Lady Di's wedding. Violent, witty, paranoid, poetic, excellent.
Now I think I'm going for Sacrilege (Giordano Bruno #3) by S.J. Parris...

princess garnet · Post by **princess garnet** » Sun January 13th, 2013, 12:07 am

Finished reading The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James on the Metro ride home last night. This novel is companion to James's earlier novel The Lost Memoir of Jane Austen.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Sun January 13th, 2013, 9:06 pm

Finished A Dance with Dragons and needed something light (both literally and figuratively), so reading Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates: Using Philosophy (and Jokes) to Explore life, Death, the Afterlife, and Everything in Between. Will also be spending more time on my Nook book, The Winter Sea.

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Mon January 14th, 2013, 12:33 pm

Just started The Maid by Kimberly Cutter.