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What are you reading in January 2012?
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Candiss
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Jan 01, 2012 11:04AM

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Next up for this month will be the next in Butcher's Codex Alera series, Princeps' Fury.
Unfortunately haven't got copies of either of January's BR books, but will make a start on both of February's so can get a head start on those discussions hopefully ;-)



I'm not letting myself start a new novel until I finish some important schoolwork, so I've been alternating between short stories in the anthology Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing and nonfiction science in The Mind's Eye.

I loved Night Cirus. You've got some good ones set up for this month.



After I've finished those...we'll see. There are 3 people ahead of me at the library for The Magician King, so although I'd love to read it, I probably won't get to it this month.

I really MUST read some Octavia Butler! One of those authors I never seem to get around to. So many books...
Oh, I'm also hoping to fit in a re-read of The Golden Compass. How could I forget about that! And have just started listening to a reading of The Night Circus on BBC Radio, which was broadcast last week.



Who Goes There?
Martian Time-slip
The Master and Margarita



And with a little sqweee I am now reading Skirmish
We finally get to see what happens to Jewel Markess after the events of the Sun Sword
I've been enjoying Rise of Empire, which is the second omnibus of Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria books. It's a ton of fun - not very deep or original, but very entertaining.
Kernos wrote: "I just finished the near perfect epic fantasy Kirith Kirian and have started The Ordinary its sequel."
Near perfect? I don't know anything about this book. Tell me more. I'm intrigued!
I finished The Mind's Eye the other day - fascinating stuff, as with all of Oliver Sacks' books.
Near perfect? I don't know anything about this book. Tell me more. I'm intrigued!
I finished The Mind's Eye the other day - fascinating stuff, as with all of Oliver Sacks' books.

Near perfect? I don't know anything about this book. T..."
I'm working on a review in which I hope to explain.
I finished City of Bones last night and will start the ebook of Honor Among Enemies soon... probably no reading time till next week.

I'll be starting House of Suns soon.

That this what happens when one finished a Haruki Murakami book. There is just something magical about his books.
Back when we did Classics Month here (which has been a while - maybe something to resurrect?) we defined it as books that are more than 25 years old and still in print. Of course that's a completely arbitrary number.

I'm still working my way through my Skolian Empire reread fest. Just finished Spherical Harmonic and that was a horrible slog. The book itself is good, but the narrator was awful and I couldn't find my dead tree edition anywhere.
Just started The Moon's Shadow and it has a different narrator. YAY!
I initially read the series all in text format, but my husband knows I love audio books so he picked up the audio editions over the years. Since most of my dead tree editions have been donated, eaten by my cat, packed away, buried in closets, hidden in book shelves packed two or three levels deep, or lost in the black hole under my bed, I figured audio editions would be less of a hassle. :)


I also read Master of Crows which was a surprising good Fantasy Romance.
And finished with Changing Planes, which is an awesome collection of short-stories by Le Guin. Really, really enjoyed them.
Also read Roverandom by Tolkien as a quicky, but was terribly disappointed by the Dutch edition.
Not sure what's in store next. Might reread some of the Foreigner series by Cherryh in preparation for the new installment in March, but other than that not feeling the groove for anything.

In the genre this month, I've read and enjoyed The Cabinet of Earths and Human for a Day. The former is a middle grade fantasy set in Paris which unexpectedly tied in with my non-fiction reading; the latter is an anthology where I was only bored enough to skip one of the stories. (Which, IME, is impressive.)
I tried to read the YA title Cinder (a science fiction retelling of the story of Cinderella) but bounced off it. I will probably start The Master and Margarita soon — within the next day or so. I want to read something that's at least a little bit silly first, so I've started Epic: John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and the Greatest Season in Tennis Ever.


In the genre this month, I've read..."
I've been doing a lot of non-fiction also recently. I just finished Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base by journalist Annie Jacobsen which speaks in many ways to the 20th century fascination with science fiction. From society's obsession and fears of alien invasions to stealth aircraft experiments to pilots wearing gorilla masks to Nazi scientists spreading their mayhem all over the planet -- it's all got a connection to Area 51 -- that place that officially doesn't exist.

I'm reading an advance copy of The Best of Kage Baker, a collection containing some of her best stories and novellas as well as a batch of previously unpublished stories. As expected, it's excellent, but so far I've only re-read the stories from her previous collections.

I didn't like most of the things she wrote near the end of her life — I don't know if she was going in a direction I wasn't as fond of or if her health affected her writing. But I'm still sad that she's no longer with us.

I really liked it. A lot of records before 1980 are now declassified and that's where Jacobsen gets most of her info -- that and interviews.

I had this on my radar till I read that most of the "Area 51" employee interviewee's were upset because Jacobsen when a bit off the reservation.


I just noticed that 1Q84 won the "Best Fiction" award by the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ readers in the year-end GR Choice Awards. However, the "Best Science Fiction" went to Stephen King's 11/22/63 which I just finished, and, frankly, I only marginally consider it sci-fi.



I just started The Space Vampires a SF/Horror crossover upon which the '80's Brit SF B-movie "Lifeforce" was based.
I finished Honor Among Enemies last night. I have a copy of The Art of Racing in the Rain, a Poul Anderson book from my shelf, and the Feb. BOTM by Brust. Decisions, decisions...
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Poul Anderson (other topics)Michael J. Sullivan (other topics)
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Michael J. Sullivan (other topics)
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