The New What Are You Reading Thread

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 5:03 pm

So I just finished up The Damned Highway Fear and Loathing in Arkham, which is supposed to be nine chapters excised from Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail detailing his trip into Lovecraft country and all the bad craziness that drugs, guns, and gonzo journalism can get into with regards to shoggoths, Deep Ones, shrooms from Yuggoth (of which the doctor of course partakes) in the 70s - of course, Cthulhu is backing Nixon - as well as my latest toe-dip into bizarro fiction, Carlton Mellick III's I Knocked Up Satan's Daughter, a romantic comedy which isn't a major motion picture but by Ghost should at least be a SyFy channel movie. While still continuing the research for my essay on Sex in the Cthulhu Mythos, I have decided to take a small break and read Joey Comeau's short novel Lockpick Pornography.

So what are y'all reading?

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 6:07 pm

Just started Charles Stross' Laundry series.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:47 pm

That's a good series. You should know that Stross put some free short stories in the series up on his website, I think they're set between the second and third books.

Tiny Deev · Post by **Tiny Deev** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:47 pm

Prospero Burns, by Dan Abnett. Warhammer 30k.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 1:13 am

Is that the good Prospero one or the Space Wolves version of events? I don't think I'll ever get the appeal of Space Wolves. They make Ultramarines look exciting. That's a serious accomplishment.

Tiny Deev · Post by **Tiny Deev** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:56 pm

So far, looks like the Space Wolves. I like the space wolves, they're like vikings!

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:13 pm

Sure, if Vikings are exactly like the badly stereotyped caricatures from the movie Pathfinder. I'm weird though. I find the best 40K fiction to be the ones that don't deal with Space Marines.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:39 pm

Not much, and definitely not what I should be reading. I'm having a hard time maintaining interest in anything right now, and keeping up with my Shadowrun Campaign, my kids D&D campaign and playing in another Shadowrun game I just can't seem to bring myself to concentrate on a book right now. And that's kind of shameful really.

DrunkenMaster · Post by **DrunkenMaster** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 5:47 am

Christopher Hitchens' obituaries.

Crazy Elf · Post by **Crazy Elf** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:58 am

Still reading the latest Song of Ice and Fire, A Dance of Dragons.

Heavy_D · Post by **Heavy_D** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:17 pm

About to start in Deliverance Lost. Warhammer 30K

DrunkenMaster · Post by **DrunkenMaster** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:19 pm

Kim Jong Il's obituaries.

Nicephorus · Post by **Nicephorus** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:57 pm

Dark Days, the 4th book in the Skullduggery Pleasant series. My 12 year old daughter started reading them and I read them a bit after she does, though she has already finished book 5 as she has more time to read.

In some ways, it's standard urban fantasy, magic has always existed in secret behind the mundane world, yada yada yada. But it's not as "Oh how wonderfully precious that would be" that Harry Potter and many others of the genre are. The series is about a girl who gets apprenticed to a smart assed skeleton wizard. She ages a year each book, each time fighting a new group of bad guys. But there are recurring good guys and bad guys and the larger plot builds each time.

It differentiates itself in a few ways. There's quite a bit of physical violence, with punching and kicking. It's set in modern Ireland and is realistic enough that the characters still drive cars and shoot guns when those are the best options. There are a few vampires but they are genuinely scary bestial predators. The author is also a good writer so there's no struggle to get through it and the plots are genuinely interesting. As teen fiction goes, it's quite good.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:01 am

Working my way through several supplementary volumes of HP Lovecraft's letters, as sources for my bloated essay (now around 40,000 words...and at least 10,000 more to go).

Tiny Deev · Post by **Tiny Deev** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:14 am

Jeff Hauze wrote:Sure, if Vikings are exactly like the badly stereotyped caricatures from the movie Pathfinder. I'm weird though. I find the best 40K fiction to be the ones that don't deal with Space Marines.

I loved the book Nemesis, which was about the Officio Assassinorum. And also Mechanicum, which was about.. well, the Mechanicum. They were a lot more epic than the books about Space Marines, I agree.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:35 pm

I just recently finished the Ravenor and Eisenhorn Omnibus editions. Abnett is the best thing to happen to 40K in the past decade, other than Fantasy Flight Games taking over the RPG.

WillyGilligan · Post by **WillyGilligan** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:55 am

Started reading Republic Lost. So far I like the guy's style of writing, but he's trying real hard to not blame people so far. But his descriptions of the corruption situation seem pretty solid so far.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:49 am

I just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi on my shiny new Kindle. I think I'll pick up the other two in the series, and I may have found a new writer worth checking out.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:11 am

If you like Scalzi, you may enjoy David Drake's Hammers Slammers series or some of John Ringo's military sci-fi.

Jeff Hauze · Post by **Jeff Hauze** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:23 pm

I've read a crapload of Ringo, and mostly fallen out of love with him. His politics are rather frightening, and he can't seem to keep them out of his fiction.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:38 pm

If you can find it, consider reading Barry Sadler's Casca series - particularly the first two books he actually wrote before they just started ghostwriting them under his name, Eternal Mercenary and God of Death.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:40 am

I'm reading Altered Carbon by Richard. K. Morgan and I'm enjoying the fuck out of it.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:51 pm

So because of this thread I went out bought a pile of crappy Shadowrun novels! I just finished Lone Wolf; and now I'm reading Never Trust an elf. I also snagged an Earthdawn novel but I forget which one.

I am also reading the first volume of Power Man!

Salvation122 · Post by **Salvation122** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:30 pm

Jeff Hauze wrote:I just recently finished the Ravenor and Eisenhorn Omnibus editions. Abnett is the best thing to happen to 40K in the past decade, other than Fantasy Flight Games taking over the RPG.

My girlfriend finally "got" 40k after reading Ravenor and a couple brief discussions. Her reactions to some of the stuff that 40k players take for granted were amusing:

Her: "I think I understand GRIMDARK after reading these books."
Me: "No you don't. Trust me."
Her: "Sure I do!"
Me: "Uh huh. What are servitors?"
Her: "Like, little robotic dudes that perform manual labor."
Me: "No. Servitors are Imperial citizens that have been lobotomized and left with the intelligence of a particularly stupid dog so that they can work longer without complaining. Or, you know, eating."
Her: "Holy shit."
Me: "Reasons for conversion to servitor range from bad test scores to felonies to being an incredibly valued and honored contribution to society."
Her: "Wait, what?"
Me: "I KNOW, RIGHT?"

Tiny Deev · Post by **Tiny Deev** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:57 am

I am now halfway through A Song of Ice and Fire's second book, A Clash of Kings.
I finished the warhammer book Legion before this.

UncleJoseph · Post by **UncleJoseph** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:34 pm

The Paleo Diet, by Robb Wolf
The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
When All Hell Breaks Loose, by Cody Lundin

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:10 pm

UncleJoseph wrote:The Paleo Diet, by Robb Wolf

We've actually been doing this, although I didn't know it had a name until recently.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 1:07 am

Working my way through the many, many volumes of letters of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard.

Heavy_D · Post by **Heavy_D** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:24 pm

About to start on the first of the Millennium books to see what the fuzz is all about.

DV8 · Post by **DV8** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:40 pm

Serious Paul wrote:So because of this thread I went out bought a pile of crappy Shadowrun novels! I just finished Lone Wolf; and now I'm reading Never Trust an elf.

Oh god, they are so bad. So, so bad.

sinsual · Post by **sinsual** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 5:32 pm

Serious Paul wrote:So because of this thread I went out bought a pile of crappy Shadowrun novels! I just finished Lone Wolf; and now I'm reading Never Trust an elf. I also snagged an Earthdawn novel but I forget which one.
[/url]!

Sadly, Paul, I just donated my entire Shadowrun Novel Collection which started with the initial Anthology and ended with the three fresh releases from a couple of years back.

Currently I am reading a couple of Western Steampunk Novells. Hunter and Wilder's Mate. Been asked to offer a male review of the books. Also reading the Touched by an Alien series by Gini Koch, which is a blast since I get to work with her at book conventions when ever they are close by. The next one is Tuscon Festival of Books.

On the Non-Fiction side of the equation, I am working my way through the AINS21 text book so I can start working on moving up the Insurance Claims handing side of my job. Instead of being the behind the scenes support, I will be working claims in full. Means about a $20g per year pay raise starting. Bout time I got my ass in gear.

paladin2019 · Post by **paladin2019** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:00 pm

FYI, folks.

http://www.librarything.com/

You might find it useful.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:53 pm

Who did you donate them to Sal?

sinsual · Post by **sinsual** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:49 am

Serious Paul wrote:Who did you donate them to Sal?

Do you mean Sin?

I donated them to Phoenix Children's Hospital

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:41 am

Sorry I was posting from my mobile device. Small screen plus dumb Paul='s wrong poster name!

sinsual · Post by **sinsual** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:20 pm

Serious Paul wrote:Sorry I was posting from my mobile device. Small screen plus dumb Paul='s wrong poster name!

uh huh, sure it wasn't auto correct?

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:41 pm

Heh, it'd be easier to blame that-but nope I'm just a dummy is all.

Anguirel · Post by **Anguirel** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:43 am

I (relatively) recently read through Lois Bujold's Vorkosigan books. I liked them. Currently reading random free e-books, like The Art of War and The Problems of Philosophy and other such classics I always said I'd read some day, but never did. Also, various Lovecraft collections, and a few World of Warcraft books (all terrible, but my fiance is reading them, so I need to keep up some to answer her questions about why they are all so terrible and to try to figure out the convoluted-and/or-arbitrary-and/or-nonsensical timeline). I'm also part way into Bright of the Sky. Again. Part way, that is. I keep reading half, then getting busy and forgetting about it for months while I read other things after the busyness ends.

3278 · Post by **3278** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:53 pm

Something wrong happened to my head somewhere, and I stopped reading. This would be a little like a drunk not drinking water anymore: I own thousands of books, have spent decades always with a book in my pocket, read while I'm walking, the whole nine yards. Don't know what the deal is, but just haven't been doing it the last couple of years. So I haven't participated in many of these threads, but, I finally started reading a bit again, so I can join in:

Casting Fortune by John M Ford
Heat of Fusion and Other Stories by John M Ford
Shadowplay by Nigel Findley
Web of Angels by John M Ford

Next up:
Lament by Maggie Stiefvater
The Scholars of Night by John M Ford