What Are You Reading Currently?

What Are You Reading? (October 2014)

Hello again. It’s a new month, we’re well into autumn, and (hopefully) you’re onto a good new book or two. This is your chance to tell us all about what you’re reading, what you’ve just finished reading, or what you will be reading this month. And if you’re a writer, take the time to tell me about your book.

I’ll be featuring an interview with new author, Rae Elliot, sometime in the next few weeks, as well as introducing her new book to you. If you’d like your work featured in the future let me know.

Currently I’m reading two books. Or rather, reading one book and listening to the other. The first I’d like to mention is an Advanced Reading Copy (or ARC to the initiated) of Elizabeth Haydon’s The Tree of Water, the fourth adventure in her acclaimed young adult fantasy series, The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. Odd enough this is my first time receiving an ARC of anything, so it’s exciting, but the drawback is I’ve yet to read the previous three novels. So far I’ve found that it’s easy to jump into and I’m having a fun time. This book will be released on October 28th.

And I’m currently listening to Brent Weeks’ The Black Prism, the first in the Lightbringer fantasy series. I’m having a blast with it. The best way I can describe the series in a nutshell is Avatar: The Last Airbender mixed in with Green Lantern. It’s a very unique book. I’ll be reviewing both books soon.

After I finish, I plan to give the fourth and latest Expanse book a listen, Cibola Burn, by James S.A. Corey. And then I’ll go right back into the Lightbringer series, with The Blinding Knife. And then perhaps I’ll give Patrick Rothfuss’ upcoming novella, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, some of my attention.

What’s on your reading list this month?

Grab something I’m reading!
Preorder Elizabeth Haydon’s The Tree of Water for $13.43! (Out October 28th!)

Buy Brent Weeks’ The Black Prism for $16.00!

Or stay ahead of my reviews!
Buy James S.A. Corey’s Cibola Burn for $27.00!

Buy Brent Weeks’ The Blinding Light for $17.00!

Preorder Patrick Rothfuss’ The Slow Regard of Silent Things for $11.37! (Out October 28th!)

Recent (and Decent) Book Reviews:
The Expanse, #1 – Leviathan Wakes: 8.4/10
The Expanse, #2 – Caliban’s War: 9.4/10
The Expanse, #3 – Abaddon’s Gate: 8.5/10
To Kill a Mockinbird: 10/10
Raven’s Shadow, #1: Blood Song: 9.0/10
The Riyria Revelations, #1-2 – Theft of Swords: 7.9/10
The Riyria Revelations, #3-4 – Rise of Empire: 8.3/10
The Riyria Revelations, #5-6 – Heir of Novron: 9.3/10

76 thoughts on “What Are You Reading? (October 2014)”

  1. I’m rereading the entire Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series so when I get the new one on Tuesday I’ll be fresh in the world. Btw, I recently finished The Broken Eye and might review it soon. It was awesome.

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      1. Well, Percy basically shares the spotlight in Heroes of Olympus. But it’s about Roman gods. The Broken Eye was great! I didn’t know he had decided to do four books so I thought it was the last one, but definitely glad it’s not.

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  2. Not reading any fiction at the moment, but imagine that will change soon. Just started two non-fic books: “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm than Good” by James Davies, and “Mindfulness on the Go” by Padraig O’Morain.

    I’m also planning to do NaNoWriMo, but the “Rulebreakers” version, so I can get some work done on my wip, “Three Drops of the Cauldron”. If you enjoy dark fantasy, please check out my novel “The Woodcutter’s Son”.

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  3. Have you ever heard of Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo… this whole series has been awesome… maybe the best alien invasion sort of book ever… exciting and funny…

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      1. first of all I love it cause it actually does deal with real scientific theories… though the author says that there are some intentional mistakes in the physics but still… and some lab working with the higgs boson theory blows up and opens all these gates they end up calling looking glasses… by the way all the names of the books are derived from Alice in Wonderland through the Looking Glass where there’s a poem the Jabberwocky… and through some are just other places on earth and others are other planets… and of course then the aliens start coming through… some good some bad some we’re not too sure about… of course that’s all the first book… and then the rest of the series is a team going out into space to figure out what all is out there and fight more of the bad aliens and meet some more good ones…

        I’ve only put up reviews for the first 2 books and it pretty much just says what I just said there but still… https://dolewrites.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/this-aint-no-alice-in-wonderland/

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  4. October should be an interesting month for me reading wise. I’m currently reading Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. Next up will be Ex Heros by Peter Clines. Followed by Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I’ll finish up the month with Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and either Prodigy by Marie Lu or Scarlet by Marissa Meyer or Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. I haven’t decided.

    What I really need to do is stop reading quite so much and work on my own stuff. But that can wait.

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    1. I feel the same way. Everyone’s gearing up to start writing. I’m all about reading as much as possible. The only book I’m familiar with is Steelheart, just by author association.

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      1. Sanderson is kind of fantastic based on what I’ve read from him so far. The idea of him writing a book about heroes is intriguing.

        As for the writing, it’s almost NaNoWriMo time. I know I have a space opera spy novel I’m nailing the kinks out of in prep.

        If you ever come across some good books let me know. I’m always trying to expand my list.

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      2. Well, I’ve got a few book reviews coming your way in the next week, so keep a look out. I don’t know if you’ve read Sanderson’s new series, The Stormlight Archive. Only two books have been released and the second, Words of Radiance is perhaps my all time favorite book. Essentially it’s the origin story of a superhero team, but in a fantasy/magical setting.

        Interesting prompt idea. Guess I’ll hear more about it soon.

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  6. I’m currently working on a novel inspired by “An Adventure In Space And Time” and the Omnirumour. The afterlife is a film studio where dreams are made. And since there are infinite dreams, they have an archive of infinite film. So why are some of them missing? And, more importantly, where did they go?

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    1. Oh that’s interesting. You’re giving the omnirumour a twist I’ve yet to hear. Keep me updated. I like the sound of it.

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  7. I’m reading three books: I’m rereading “Franchise” by Cameron Stauth, an excellent book I’m certain no one here will be interested in (it’s about the 1989 Detroit Pistons), “Mr. Majestyk” by Elmore Leonard, and “Disgrace” by J.M. Coetzee. So far I am enjoying the Leonard (I’m a huge fan and never read that one) and Coetzee books.

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      1. I really love the book “Lonesome Dove” by Larry McMurtry. A funny thing about McMurtry’s books for me is that I can never get into any of his other books involving any other characters than McCrae, Call, and those guys. It’s a western, but doesn’t read like a typical western and doesn’t have a typical western ending or style. Another favorite western I’ve read is “True Grit” by Charles Portis. If you like crime fiction, Elmore Leonard is outstanding. My favorite books by him are “Swag,” “Glitz,” and “Stick.” The “Game of Thrones” series is about the only fantasy I’ve ever read. The first three books are pretty good if you like Martin’s style, but some people don’t like his style of writing and if you don’t it’s best not to try and plow through it. My favorite nonfiction books are written by David McCullough and “The Civil War” by Shelby Foote. Let’s see… I like “1984” by Orwell, early Stephen King (pre-1989 mainly, but I LOVED “11/22/63”). I’m sure there’s a lot I’ve overlooked, but those are a few I’d recommend. If you have a specific genre, I can probably recommend something from it as well!

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      2. Been meaning to read 1984 since the day I landed on this planet, so that’ll go on my list certainly.

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    2. I’m originally from Detroit (in S Yorkshire now). If it was about the Tigers, I would really be interested – not so keen on basketball. Is “Franchise” mainly about the team, or is there much about Detroit itself?

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      1. It’s all about the 1989 Pistons team. It’s quite good… hope you’re enjoying the nail-biter going on with the Orioles. I’m from Flint!

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      2. If you like the ’84 Tigers and Sparky Anderson, his autobiography (written with Dan Ewald) is worthwhile. It’s like sitting down and listening to him.

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    1. Haha nice. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is being adapted to film. And Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter has been there done that. How is it so far?

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      1. I like it! I love many things ocean-related and old books, of course I would! The characters are interesting too, I haven’t read the original but this Mrs Dashwood is awesome, which is good because older women are often neglected as characters

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  9. I’ve given up on Game of Thrones Book 3 for a while, the chapter/writing style just frustrate me to no end. (I put book 2 down for six months too)
    I’m about a third of the way through Gone Girl, then I’m either going to read Naked Sun (Asimov) or Jo Nesbo’s Cockroaches

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      1. I will get back to it, just not sure when the mood will strike. I know I’ve yet to read the infamous “red wedding” but boy, I hate having to wait 200 pages to see what happens to someone!

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      3. No, haven’t watched the show yet. I’ve been told it is extremely faithful to the books, so much so one friend of mine said you could read it or watch it but it wasn’t necessary to do both. I figure I’ll watch it once I finally finish the books

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      4. It’s kind of incredible how faithful it is really. If you’re going to watch it, I totally agree, the books aren’t necessary. But it’s completely addicting. They do take some liberties. For the sake of drama.

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  10. Just wrapping up the third book in the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. I also recently finished the Cyteen trilogy by C. J. Cherryh and am hoping to read the 4th installment that came 20 years later, plus a few others she wrote taking place in the same universe. YEAH BOOKS.

    P.s. Gone Girl was really good, and I’m very curious to see how the movie turned out… what with it being Affleck and all.

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    1. Mistborn is on my list! Can’t wait. Currently Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series is my favorite actually, so that’s right up my alley.

      Everyone’s talking about Gone Girl.. What is it?! I’m out of the loop.

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      1. It’s a crime fiction / thriller I guess, but not at all what I expected. It’s not as formulaic as other novels of the genre, which is what made it so cool. You should read it!!

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      2. I will be starting it if not next month then in December. Just a matter of getting through the rest of my list.

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  11. I’ve read so little in September, but as usual the books I did read where books that got adapted for movies, such as “Hector and the Search for Happiness” or “This Is Where I Leave You”. Both were great, but I am loving the one I am reading right now most, and that’s “Gone Girl”.

    Other than that I also ordered a book that might help me to participate in NaNoWriMo next month. Let’s hope I get it in time, it’s called “No Plot! No Problem!”

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  12. Not much going onfor me at the moment. I’m slowly making my way through The Black Prism also, and I’m hoping to finish Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light before the end of the month, even though I only have 40 pages left to go. Not much reading time to spread around these days. I doubt I’ll be finishing The Black Prism before December. Maybe even as late as January!

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    1. I find that so hard to believe with the amount of book reviews you push out haha. But hey, I understand. Life gets crazy.

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      1. Hah, yea. I’ll probably max out at 5 reviews between now and late December at best. Unless I manage to find the time to retro-review the Wheel of Time, which I doubt I can.

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      2. Have you gone through Wheel of Time yet? It’s the series I’m putting off the longest, due simply to its daunting length.

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  13. Reading Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath. His book Blink is on tap to read next. I also picked up a bundle of writing-related resources, the StoryBundle NaNoWriMo Writing Tools. 9 books for whatever price you feel they’re worth to you. I won’t post a link lest I look like a spammer, but your google-fu is probably good enough to find it if interested.

    Beyond that, reading up on some poetry, news, and classics to prep for my overly-ambitious NaNoWriMo project.

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    1. Everyone’s doing the NaNoWriMo! I’m totally in the dark about this. It’s not every day I feel so out of the loop haha.

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      4. No, no. Sorry – I probably came off dismissive. I just try to get back to all my commenters in one fashion or another. I really will check it out hahaha.

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  14. I finished reading Paul E. Cooley’s THE BLACK yesterday, which was a terrific horror read. I’ll be starting in on an ARC copy of Chris Evans’ OF BONE AND THUNDER, which I’ve heard lots of good things about.

    In terms of my own work, I’m releasing a short horror story on Oct. 14 called CONSUMPTION. Pre-orders are available at most etailers currently. It’s a gory little piece of culinary excellence gone awry. Links and description are up at my site.

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    1. I’m going to assume Chris Evans isn’t also Captain America. Let me know how that is. The title is intriguing.

      Ah very cool. Good for you. Have you published anything prior?

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      1. I just got started a couple days ago (I’m at the part where the boys are in the woods), but so far I really like it. From what I’ve seen so far, King is great at creating suspense by choosing just the right things NOT to tell you.

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      1. It’s an audiobook from 2004, but it’s the same material as the original 1975 release. I hear there’s a 2005 release with “deleted scenes” and some extra short stories. I may try to track that down when I finish this one.

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    1. Oops! I wasn’t finished with that, but hit post accidentally. I was trying to say The Only City Left by Andy Goldman, both science fiction.

      Amidst reading, I’m gearing up with ideas and outlines for NaNoWriMo next month. Last year I used NaNoWriMo to work up book Two to my currently published POURING THE CUP.

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