To go along with the “What song are you listening to” thread, here’s one for books.
I’ve been re-reading the books I have by Anne McCaffrey and before I get back into the Pern series, I found a couple I hadn’t read before. The one I’m currently reading is The Kilternan Legacy. It’s tagged as a science fiction book, but so far it’s not since it takes place in the 1970s in Ireland and there’s plenty of contemporary references. It’s about a divorced woman who inherited an estate from an aunt she never met. She has to deal with the wishes of her aunt and a family she never knew, plus family and friends amongst the tenants of her new property she seems to be developing beyond her twin son and daughter that she brought with her.
Anne’s son, Todd, released Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern last year, filled with stories about her from many authors. In the foreword, he revealed that his mother had been an opera singer but a vocal coach forced her to overstress her voice to try and get rid of a burr in one note. Anyone that’s read the Crystal Singer books know that a burr that can’t be removed prompts Killashandra Ree to abandon her singing career for a different and better singing career. Irene in Kilternan was also an opera singer with a bad coach.
So it sounds like there’s at least some of Anne in Kilternan, especially since Anne also moved to Ireland in 1971 with two of her children after a divorce and had to struggle to make ends meet.
Book: The Lost Fleet: Courageous
Author: Jack Campbell
This is the third book in the series, and the first one was good, the second one more of the same, and I’m kind of getting bored by more of the same in the third book. I’ve been told that it gets good again once the fleet gets home, but that doesn’t happen until the fifth book. I’m wondering if I’m going to get that far.
Now that it’s finally complete, I’m plowing through a Grand Unified Wheel of Time re-read, start to finish. This’ll be my first time going through the series since book 10 was new.
Presently in book 5. Things are still great, but there are hints of the drudgery to come already showing up. Book 7 was the first one that really slogged for me, and I remember books 8-10 are all a single big mixed-up bowl of boring garbage.
Starting in about book 7 is where I’m going to need to keep the WoT wiki open to be able to keep the exponentially-expanding supporting cast straight.
Reading Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly… Read the other 2 Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln. Interesting take on history, very little commentary or conjecture by the authors. Actually having my 11 y.o. reading the Lincoln one for advanced reading for class.
Pratchett in some form is always on the list. I haven’t picked up the new one yet (‘Raising Steam’) but I’m slowly listening to ‘Dodger’ during my commute when I remember it’s on my phone. I just finished Wil Wheaton’s ‘Just a Geek’, re-read Asimov’s ‘Caves of Steel’ and finished ‘Old Man War’ by John Scalzi. Currently looking at the next 4 books of that series on my to-read list. Also finished John Steakly’s ‘Armor’ for the umpteenth time. ‘Libriomancer’ by Jim C. Hines was okay too.
For actual reading that I’m still going through, ‘Invasion - Book 1 of the Secret World Chronicle’ by Mercedes Lackey and ‘Vehicles" Experiments in Synthetic Pyschology’ by Valentino Braitenburg are tops. I also have a couple other AI and Make books that I’m reading.
Right now I’m on the last book of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series. I’ve loved this series so much. After this I am looking for new authors in several anthologies I’ve bought lately. That’s pretty much how I roll with new material.
Not reading… but I got 2 new coloring books. 3 actually. This technically should also go into the ‘What made me happy’ thread too. I made need to pick up some more colored pencils as Gratch has been eyeing the set I just got.
Never read anything by Coreene Callahan if you’ve already read the works of JR Ward. It’s almost word for word copy of characters and plot. Thrown away 4 books in disgust.
As I think I’ve mentioned, I pretty much only read cookbooks and novels where people are killed in the first 5 pages. JD Robb, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Jeffrey Deaver, authors like that. And Janet Evanovich for fun. Just picked up the new Jeffrey Deaver short stories collection - plan on spending my day off today reading that. And I’ve just gotten into Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” series. And, of course, I’m plowing my way through all the Dean Koontz and the few Stephen King novels I’ve yet to read.
And don’t get me starting on the long list of free books from the Kindle store - found some awesome authors that way that I would never have read otherwise. Simon Toyne comes to mind - a trilogy involving a secret society within the Church, but (IMNSHO) much better than Dan Brown.
Huh. It almost looks like I do nothing but read. Which isn’t true. I read instead of sleep.
That just ends without any kind of resolution. I was angry.
I’m about 1/3 into About Face by Col. David Hackworth (ret. & RIP). It’s a really good read, but pretty depressing. All of the things that suck about the Army now? They sucked in 1953, too. We can’t seem to fix anything for very long.
I just started a new series about an Urban Shaman. Since I just started it I don’t have a real feel for the author’s style, but so far I am enjoying it. Plus, I just finished Patricia Brigg’s latest Mercy Thompson book. Awesome as usual. Plus, my own writing is stalled until my muse gets back from Mexico with my landscaper.
I’m just about half-way through Catalyst by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. It’s a spin-off or follow up to the barque cats introduced in her “Talents” series (To Ride Pegasus, The Tower and the Hive, etc.). In those books, barque cats are prized and intelligent companions, pretty much standard equipment on space ships as they will hunt vermin and detect problems like air leaks. In this book, it looks like it’s going to be about telepathic cats.
There’s only one other book in this series, Catacombs, due to Anne’s health starting to fail at that point (both were published in 2010) and she died the following year.
IMHO she is a very gifted writer. I await each of her books with baited breath, pre-ordering them as soon as that option is available. I like that in this latest book Mercy was not constantly being beaten up.
Is it ironic that a character named Mercy is such a punching bag?
I just finished the Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Corriea, and am now reading Darkship Thieves by Sarah Hoyt.
Finished a book about powder mages and such called Promise of Blood by Brian McClellen, first of a series, and he’s got short story fever right now, so I don’t know when the next is coming out. But it was cool.
I’d like to buy and reread Jim Butcher’s books, but the E-Book price is ridiculous. I’m not paying $9.99 for a 10 year old e-book. I’m running into that a lot. Pratchett, I’ve stopped reading him since I’ve gone digital, his e-books are the same price as the print, and I just don’t really buy print anymore, unless it’s totally awesome.
I would buy real books if they came with the e-book included. Then I could have my shelf copy, and my reading copy.
It helps that I’ve been doing a lot of travel with work, which has given me a lot more reading time.