What are you reading at the moment?

[Smitty]

Random, coz I read it ages ago, but We by Yevgeny Zamyatin was fucking amazing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_(novel)

[Mallet]

Just finished the latest Jack Ryan novel, Dead or Alive, and it's ok. You really see Clancy's personal political opinions coming through though

[sweetdaddyg]

Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

My first King book, I always had a negative view of him based on the thought he might actually live up the the Garth Marenghi stereotype.

I am so far, pretty surprised at how much I am enjoying it.

And it was only a quid from a charity shop so result all round.

[sweetdaddyg]

Plodding through the incredibly boring Consider Phlebas by the overrated mister Banks.

Next up is Dune and then Dune Messiah. I've read Dune a few times and loved it. I've tried to get through Messiah twice and never managed it though. I always lose interest about five pages in.

Dune is a work of unmitigated genius...messiah just feels like its setting up the next book.

I am currently re-reading the whole Dune saga, reading a book in between as a sorbet to cleanse the pallete.

I have all three of the Prelude to Dune series sitting on my shelf which I received for nowt. I am making every attempt to resist them though as I flicked through a few pages and Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's writing style is entirely unlike Frank Herberts... THey should have just finished off Dune 7 as they originally set out to do and then left it.

[minkee]

I haven't seen the film due to being thoroughly unimpressed by the trailer, but I ended up reading the novel a few weeks ago and it really wasn't that bad. From what I've heard of the film the novel is sufficiently different to make it worth reading if you've seen the film. Of course, if you're referring to the less-than-pleasant moments, then discard this!

Yeah - I got it because I asked my friend-who-works-in-a-bookshop to recommend me some reads. She said it was 'actually very uplifting', but I know that those unpleasant bits are coming and my reading it will make it happen. I don't want it to happen!

I quite fancy reading Dragon Tattoo, too. Hopefully I'll get a bunch for christmas :3

[neoELITE]

First post in this thread \o/

just read 'Pandaemonium' by Christopher Brookmyer.

It was written for folks like us, you'll love it.

I've just ordered this on Playtrade at £3.62 delivered. That's cheaper than a KFC meal. Thanks for the recommendation, it looks like my kind of plot.

[Scribblor]

Jacked Consider Phlebas in. I really can't bring myself to be interested in it at all. I think I just don't like the way Banks writes.

Anyway, now I'm listening to the audiobook of Shadowrise, by Tad Williams, which I'm enjoying much more, but the narrator is awful. He's American, and he seems to be trying to read the book in a sort of British accent. He's failing abysmally. I've heard him do other books and he's not got this bizarre affectation on any of them. I think it's because he's narrating a fantasy book.

Anyway, his accent is really grating - he pronounces 'calm' as 'korm', 'green' as 'grain' 'not' as 'naught' 'god' as either 'guard' or 'gord', 'last' as 'laaaaaast'.... I don't understand why he's doing it like this. It's not as though any of the characters are British - the book's set in a fantasy world. And if the voice director wants it done in a British accent, why didn't they hire a British person?

[Yasawas]

Just finished Life of Pi! It was about a wee boy and a tiger, or maybe it wasn't. It was decent.

Now Wizard and Glass I think it's called, volume four of The Dark Tower. Woo.

[Silent Runner]

Over the weekend I read Outsourced by Dave Zeltserman. It’s the story of a bunch of computer programmers who lose their jobs and so plan a bank job to make some money. Needless to say the robbery doesn’t go according to plan.

I enjoyed Zeltsermans previous novels and I really liked this. He’s very similar to Jason Starr in the way a little thing will happen that will cause the best laid plan to come apart. This could make a really good heist movie.

Recommended for crime fiction fans.

[Eats hoops and leaves]

I am reading Gogol's Dead Souls and it is extremely compelling. As ever, I worry that the translation is not doing the story justice. Aside from the deep characters and well-observed attacks on high society, I've heard that what is especially impressive about this book is the sophistication of the literary techniques Gogol used and the poetry of his metaphors.

If only I could read a handful of certain languages. The more foreign literature I read the more I feel I'm cheating myself.

It's even worse with Japanese fiction. It's even more alien. All of that complex wordplay and allusion to ancient history - studying a culture only gets you so far - you have to know the language to really get what the writer is really trying to say. On the other hand, I suspect that the air of mystery and symbolism would be eroded if I truly 'got' it.

[LittleJoe]

Reading Grossman's Life and Fate instead of doing sensible reading revolving around my dissertation.

It's basically War and Peace with tanks.

[Ivanho]

Have just been given the new Iain M Banks, Surface Detail, as an early present. Yay! (although I do accept that you either get the Culture universe or you don't. It can get very confusing )

[toythatkills]

I'm not going to have broadband until the end of January, so I read Crime and Punishment (amazing) and have ordered War and Peace for £2 from amazon.

Is that genuinely an essential read or is it just one of those books people like to say they've read cause, ya know, it's War and fucking Peace?

[Kingpin]

I just read The Stars My Destination, purely because of this thread. I had really high expectations from reading this thread and a few of Bester's short stories which were really enjoyable.

Erm.....I'm a bit nervous to admit that I enjoyed certain parts

jaunting, the prison, the tattoo reappearing, the burning man

but it certainly didn't blow me away. I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't feel that the whole story held together very well. I'll get my coat.....

[Eats hoops and leaves]

I'm not going to have broadband until the end of January, so I read Crime and Punishment (amazing) and have ordered War and Peace for £2 from amazon.

Is that genuinely an essential read or is it just one of those books people like to say they've read cause, ya know, it's War and fucking Peace?

Yes it's amazing and fully deserving of its canonical status. There's loads written about it in this thread.

I'm reading King's Full Dark no Stars and the guy is one sick little man! It's as compulsive as I thought it would be. And grim as fuck.

[Eats hoops and leaves]

I just read The Stars My Destination, purely because of this thread. I had really high expectations from reading this thread and a few of Bester's short stories which were really enjoyable.

Erm.....I'm a bit nervous to admit that I enjoyed certain parts

jaunting, the prison, the tattoo reappearing, the burning man

but it certainly didn't blow me away. I can't put my finger on it, but I just don't feel that the whole story held together very well. I'll get my coat.....

A shame. I've always thought that it's one of the more coherent sci-fi stories. Instead of getting your coat I think you should read 'The Demolished Man' and see what you think of that.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

I'm continuing my James Ellroy binge at the moment. Finished The Big Nowhere and am now halfway through LA Confidential.

The Big Nowhere was fantastic. The central murder investigation was actually shocking in its gruesome nature and the race to find the killer was fascinating. The three protagonists were very flawed but sympathetic human beings, particularly Danny Upshaw, who's as well-realised a character as I've seen in anything.

LA Confidential is also excellent so far, and shows the genesis of the 'press clippings' device that Ellroy would go on to use for American Tabloid, but there's one thought at the forefront of my mind all the time: how in the fuck did they make a film out of this? I've resolved to see the film as soon as I can once I've finished the book, because it does seem rather unfilmable to me. It'd be perfectly suited to a Wire-style TV series but a film? Man.

[sammy]

I've just started The Passage by Justin Cronin. So far, so The Stand, which is no bad thing.

[Oracle]

Went on a binge during the holiday:

Dune

Surface Detail

Player of games

The girl with the dragon tatoo

The girl who played with fire

I've got the final book of the millenum trilogy and Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy to finish on the list as well.

Then I'll have to dive into some high brow stuff to counteract it

[Jonnysaxc]

Im ashamed because I can't get to grips with James Ellroys style of writing at all

[Eats hoops and leaves]

200 pages into Surface Detail and it is scorching! I know it's by-the-numbers but I just lap this stuff up.

[Wickedkitten]

Jacked Consider Phlebas in. I really can't bring myself to be interested in it at all. I think I just don't like the way Banks writes.

How far in did you get? That was the first Iain Banks book that I ever read and I jacked it in the first time as well. Went back to it a few months later and got past the bit at the beginning on the ship and absolutely loved it.

Anyway, I'm reading this at the moment

along with

and

[moosegrinder]

Anyone read the Pax Britannia series of novels? They sound like a good old steampunk romp but I hate buying blind.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

Finished LA Confidential. What a book. I'm now jonesing to read White Jazz, but I've got other books to work through first - starting with I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, for a complete change of tone and pace.

[Froettmaning]

My Ellroy experience last year was very similar, torn between the desire to devour it all without interruption and the need to take a step back and imbibe something a little less rich. I'm very excited about the next LA quartet, although I appreciate it's probably several years away.

[Savour]

Just started Alastair Reynolds Revelation stuff..promises to be fun!

[Silent Runner]

Finished LA Confidential. What a book. I'm now jonesing to read White Jazz, but I've got other books to work through first - starting with I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, for a complete change of tone and pace.

I think I'd read something else before getting into White Jazz. It's my favourite of the LA Quartet and I think it's my favourite Ellroy. Amazing, amazing book.

My Ellroy experience last year was very similar, torn between the desire to devour it all without interruption and the need to take a step back and imbibe something a little less rich. I'm very excited about the next LA quartet, although I appreciate it's probably several years away.

He's 62 now. I wonder if it's possible for any writer (even the demon dog himself) to write with the same intensity as he gets older?

[OogyBoogy]

Jack Vance - The Demon Princes, pressently starting book 3.

[Yasawas]

Finished The Dark Tower IV - Wizard & Glass just now. Woaft. The contrast between the young King who wrote The Gunslinger and this is absolutely staggering and I'm loving the series like no books I can think of previously. Will try and finish them all over the next few months in case I die suddenly and never get to find out what happens, images of Roland in my head just before the bus hits me.

Now the comparatively pamphletesque The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which has been repeatedly recommended by a friend since she read it a month or two ago.

[merman]

And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer, the sixth book in the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy...

Enjoyed it, felt there were some very good setpieces and knowing nods to existing characters/races. Don't know if it really needed the stereotyped Irish character though. But all in all a good way to continue the series. I also loved the timeline at the back of the paperback edition.