What Are You Reading? (August 2015)


I try to get these posts out each month. But sometimes I just totally forget. Anyway, I wanna hear from you. What books are you currently reading? What books have you just finished reading? And what books do you plan to start next? If you’re an audiobook listener, let me know what’s on your radar as far as audiobooks go! Tell me about the book you’re reading, and why. Hopefully I or someone else will use it as a recommendation for a future read!

I just began listening to Fool’s Errand, a fantasy novel by Robin Hobb, which is the first novel in her Tawny Man Trilogy. It’s also the fourth chronological book of FitzChivalry Farseer’s life, as the character is part of her much larger Realm of the Elderlings series. I had to stop reading her books for a time, because they were just so stressful and torturous. Stressful in that they were entirely unpredictable. Torturous in that they broke your heart every chapter. I had to stop reading after her first trilogy (The Farseer Trilogy), because it was too much emotional drama for me while planning my wedding. Now enough time has lapsed since that period to get back into the thick of it. Robin Hobb’s eighth FitzChivalry book is coming out this year, so I’ll try to catch up.

I’ve also been very excited about the upcoming Star Wars film. So much so, that I’ve been cranking out novel after novel of the new canon Star Wars series. Easily the strongest so far was Dark Disciple, which novelized unfinished scripts for Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon but for an adult audience.

I’ve also recently read Go Set a Watchman, the official sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, which I quite enjoyed. My review has some spoilers, so beware.

As far as what to read next, I’m not sure. I have a number of paperback Tor ARCs (advanced reading copies) that I haven’t started, namely The Traitor of Baru Cormorant, Last Song Before Night, Updraft, and Barsk: The Elephant Graveyard. Any idea which of those titles I should get into next?

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If you need a new book to read, be sure to check out some of the reviews on my site, or check out the comments below for recommendations! Interested in an Audible account? Check out my post Is Audible Worth It? to see if it’s for you, and get two free books of your choice to listen to!

46 thoughts on “What Are You Reading? (August 2015)

  1. I recently finished the first book in The Breakers series by Edward W Robertson. Enjoyed it much more than another series I gave up on called Age of Power. First book in that series was rough to read but the second made me just put it down and walk away.

    Still trying to wade my way through The Dark Tower series. Stuck on book 3, The Wastelands for awhile now.

    Infernal by T Joseph Browder was good. If you’ve never read his work, I recommend picking up Dark Matters first to get a good taste of his style.

    And, finally, I’ve been enjoying the Critical Failures series of shorts by Robert Bevan.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I adore Audible! I’ve been listening to lots of books on meditation and new age-y “how to be happier” books while walking to and from work.

    Sometimes I even get home and mow on dinner while still listening rather than watching TV, reading comics, playing guitar or playing video games. For me, that says A LOT (since those 4 things are my favourite activities).

    I just recently listened to 10% Happier which is funny (in a self-deprecating way) and was good to assert my fears that everyone who tries meditation or other similar activities feels like just as much of a doorknob as I did/do–but it also outlined a lot of great ways to leverage such techniques in an 21st century context that lets them work in my fast-paced, work-filled life rather than in opposition to it.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. In recognition of the upcoming 65th anniversary of “Peanuts”, and the new movie coming out later this year, I started re-reading the entire comic strip — I have the first 8 years from Fantagraphics, which is now actually nearly done putting out hardback volumes of the whole run. I’ve been reading one month worth of strips every night. Fascinating to watch the evolution of the strip in Charles M. Schulz’s mind — in the opening months, Snoopy wasn’t yet Charlie Brown’s dog, and Charlie Brown wasn’t even the main character in the strip …

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Audiobooks and I are not friends. The first one I listened to was World War Z and it was absolutely amazing. After that experience, every other audiobook I’ve tried to listen to just didn’t work for me. World War Z just lent itself so well to the format. I’ve been spoiled.

    I’m currently reading Symbiont by Mira Grant the second book in the Parasitology series, Death Note, Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, and Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.

    I recently read both The Catcher in the Rye and Kindred and loved them. Foundation was a little bit too politics heavy for me.

    I’m planning on pick up Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood next.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You’ve got a heavy to-read list. Nice. Nothing like a steady stream of good books.
      Audiobooks work for me, because I work outside, and I’m by myself for 90% of the time. I’m also a damn slow reader, having to pronounce and read every accentuation as it were being read from an audiobook, so my mind already is attuned to it.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. No, Peter Wimsey is an English detective character. Dorothy Sayers wrote 11 novels about him in the first half of the 20th century, and several short stories. I don’t know how much of “Thrones, Dominations” is actually hers, and I don’t the depth of understanding to tell. I enjoy her work for how “literary” it is – you’re really reading fully developed characters and settings and situations, and not simply a “crime of the week”.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. After just finishing reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons I decided to pick up a series that I had parked on my bookshelf for a while, The Prince of Nothing series by R. Scott Bakker. I am currently reading the second book in the series, The Warrior Prophet and am enjoying it so far. It is perhaps a little on the brick side in terms of reading as there is always a myriad of characters (almost all of them with impossible-to-pronounce names) – but it is deliciously dark and thought-provoking Fantasy. : )

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Just finished Does My Head Look Big in This by Randa Abdel-Fattah (really good YA LIT and fun to listen to since the character has an Australian accent 🙂 ). About to start Attachments by Rainbow Rowell.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I haven’t started it yet but here is the summary pulled from Amazon:

        “Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . ”

        Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

        Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

        When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

        By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.

        What would he say . . . ?”

        Liked by 1 person

  7. I have yet to read Go set a Watchman, but it is on my list. I just finished The Lost Horizon (evidently the original paperback as well as a good read), and I am currently working my way through David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Talk about great characters…

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I just finished A Little Princess, and now I’m reading Arabian Nights…which is crazy perfect, since ALP mentions AN all the time. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m only on the first story, but it doesn’t waist any time getting started. There’s a betrayal and murder on the 3rd page! I hear you start to feel the length of the book after a while, so something tells me not all the stories are like that.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. I’m currently reading the books I bought at Preston Comic Con. I just finished The Poisonwood Shadows by Christina Crook and I’m now on Reaper’s Rhythm by Clare Davidson. My current audiobook is North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I just started The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi, having enjoyed his Windup Girl much more than anticipated. It’s very gripping, with great characters, and the desert water-wars setting is close enough to reality to be unsettling.
    I recently finished Karen Memory, which is excellent steampunk and very good fun, and the cast of characters is an unusual set of choices. I’ve also been reading a lot of comics: new Doctor Who, original Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Earth One Batman and Superman, a mixed bag to say the least.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I recently finished Leviathan Wakes by James A Cory, reading it on Kindle. This is the first in the Expanse series. I enjoyed it so much I purchased the paperback of the second in the series, Caliban’s War and am starting that now. They are great science fiction adventure books.

    I am relistening to Eldest, the second in the Inheritance Cycle by Christoper Paolini. I haven’t read any of the books, but have listened to all of them except the last one, Inheritance, so I started over with Eragon and am relistening from the beginning.

    On Kindle I am reading The Stainless Steel Trilogy by Harry Harrison. I started reading the Stainless Steel Rat series back in the 70s when I was in high school. I haven’t read all of them, but I love Jim Boliver DiGriz and his exploits. I began again with the Trilogy, which although not written first, come chronologically in the life of Jim.

    I have never read any Robin Hobb, but all that sounds complicated much like the Pern series of books (which I love).

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I can’t do audiobooks… probably because I have no ability for audio learning… unless there are pretty pictures to go along with the words then it’s useless to me… all for the books… I’m actually reading a memior but man I do wonder if this stuff can be real… it totally reads like a romance novel… but it has made it interesting because I tend not to like non-fiction…
    but next… I have no idea what I’ll read next… I kind of want to reread some books I have so that I can write some reviews for them because they’re awesome… and you know it’s hard to write a decent review for a book when it’s been a long time since you read them… I’m probably going to reread the Looking Glass series by John Ringo… the best scifi series I’ve ever read and I’ve only read them once… can’t have that now can I?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Man I’ve never read that series. John Ringo… Wonder if he’s a Beatles fan with pen name like that…
      Everyone says they can’t do audiobooks before they try them. Have you given em a shot?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. yes me and the hubs got The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for the a road trip… well I kept falling asleep during it… but mainly my mind drifts too much… I’m not joking when I say I suck at audio… my mind is just not wired for it apparently… it’s why I had trouble learning in school… if someone is just talking I have trouble processing it…

        John Ringo always makes me think of Johnny Ringo on Tombstone… but considering the stuff you’re interested in I think you should give it a shot… it gets better and better with each book… I’m still hoping he’ll write a 5th… plus I love that each book after the first is titled from the poem the Jabberwocky… which is very fitting…

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Nice. That’s so cool. About the Jabberwocky poem I mean.
        Yeah, it’s true. Some minds just race too much to listen to audiobooks. Haven’t given the Hitchhikers audiobook a try. Imagine that it’d be quite funny. Love that book.

        Like

      3. They did have a pretty good guy to read the book… he seemed to fit the story well… but I really need to go back and try the actual book…

        Liked by 1 person

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