What book are you reading?

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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    The Glass Castle, a reread for me but absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. IMO

    I loved two of her other books too, the Silver Star & Half Broke Horses!
  • steph6556
    steph6556 Posts: 575 Member
    @melaniedscott, I loved Name of the Wind so much I had to keep going. Did you read the third? I’m gonna be sooooo sad when this is all over. If you enjoy this genre, what did you move to after?
  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
    steph6556 wrote: »
    @melaniedscott, I loved Name of the Wind so much I had to keep going. Did you read the third? I’m gonna be sooooo sad when this is all over. If you enjoy this genre, what did you move to after?

    I haven't gotten to the third but I did read the. Slow Regard of Silent Things. Liked it a lot. What with, you know, 2020 and all, I'm not out as much and haven't been to the library...

    So my taste is pretty eclectic. I really enjoyed The Expanse series (haven't finished it quite yet, but loved what I have...first 5?l. I liked The Quantum Thief (didn't read subsequent, but may still, takes a mood for me...love that he actually knows what an oubliette is). Rothfuss doesn't fit well in a 'genre' for me. Feels like what LeGuin (who I respect but don't like) should have done but didn't. Less whiny, more robust storytelling.

    But I also like Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, L. E. Modesitt, Steven Barnes, Laura Anne Gilman, Emma Bull, Charles DeLint, David Weber, JD Robb, Jaqueline Winespear (?), David Duncan, Anne Bishop, David Drake, Julie Czerdena, Jim Butcher, Benedict Jacka, Eric Nylund (non-Halo), Kim Harrison, Patricia Wrede, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood....well, I could go on.

    I read or have read just about anything (except Steven King, westerns and crappy romance--not to be confused with non-crappy romance). I don't read anything by Stuart Woods, Hillerman(s), any Kellerman(s), or Koontz, Saul anymore.

    Planning on The Testaments by Margaret Atwood next (very excited!) and then a return to the Weber/Ringo March series. Never got around to We Few but it has been so long since I read the rest, I want to start at the begining.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Tyler Perry Higher is Waiting
  • steph6556
    steph6556 Posts: 575 Member
    @melaniedscott, WOW!! Ask and you shall receive! 😆 You’ve given me a lot of good stuff here. I’m not a big Atwood fan but I loved the Expanse series so I’ll just have to pick around with some of your recommendations and see what clicks, eh?

    I’m not ALL about sci-fi at all times but it’s kinda nice, “getting lost out there” these days. I just finished the Vanishing Half right before starting Name of the Wind and though it was good, it pushed me over the edge to sci-fi bc I was just sick of heavy/deep. Thank you for all the names!! And thank you for Caring so thoroughly 🙂
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Remain in Love by Chris Frantz was a long slow drag after the first 100 pages or so. I'd only recommend it if you're a HUGE fan of Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club or love memoirs with tons of boring name-drops.
  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
    edited October 2020
    steph6556 wrote: »
    @melaniedscott, WOW!! Ask and you shall receive! 😆 You’ve given me a lot of good stuff here. I’m not a big Atwood fan but I loved the Expanse series so I’ll just have to pick around with some of your recommendations and see what clicks, eh?

    I’m not ALL about sci-fi at all times but it’s kinda nice, “getting lost out there” these days. I just finished the Vanishing Half right before starting Name of the Wind and though it was good, it pushed me over the edge to sci-fi bc I was just sick of heavy/deep. Thank you for all the names!! And thank you for Caring so thoroughly 🙂

    I just had to glance at my shelves. My hubs & I read a lot. If you like chick-lit (good stuff, not the mediocore stuff that is all over) you might check out Jennifer Cruisie. Solid characters, lots of humor, frequently ridiculous...I love Agnes and the Hitman. She writes a creepy-cool ghost story, too. A friend of mine read the Altered Carbon series and loved it...me, not so much. The idea was intriguing but not the execution. It takes quite a bit to squwick me and he managed (and I've been known to read Laurel Hamilton...if you haven't, I don't recommend you start).

    You might check out Dennis McKiernan (Caverns of Socrates, esp, virtual reality game challenge gone bad). Also really like Sharon Shinn (ALL of it...she has yet to truely disappoint me). Really liked the Twelve Houses series and her *recent* werewolf books Shape of Desire, Still Life with Shapeshifter, the Turning Season. They're possibly too subtle for people who like full on supernatural. I have what I call the Sneaky B*tch award for writers who slide major stuff by you and then spring them on you later...she got it.

    Another Sneaky B is Connie Willis. For the time travel/alternate history books, always best to start at the beginning (To Say Nothing of the Dog and/or Doomsday Book).

    And Sharyn McCrumb for straight fiction (well...blended with a bit of mystery). She caught me with Bimbos of the Death Sun. It isn't anything like it sounds...Her Ballads series is really good and loosely based on real events. Series is the wrong word, honestly...they don't generally share characters or plot lines, they all happen to occur in the Appalacians (ish).

    Tanya Huff can be fun; her series are never the same thing twice...and Wen Spencer is fantastic. Can't go wrong with Wen.
  • steph6556
    steph6556 Posts: 575 Member
    @melaniedscott, HOW did I get soooo lucky to meet you??? You are a wealth of good info! Thank you so much for your in-depth responses. When you said werewolf I was instantly on the hook. That is so my scene and so are vampires though I’ve already done all the Ann Rices and even the Twilights ( blushing) but I’m sure you probably know something I don’t about a hidden vampire gem series??? I like sexy stuff too without getting cheesy. You’ve already given me soo much. You’re the best!!!!
  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
    edited October 2020
    steph6556 wrote: »
    @melaniedscott, HOW did I get soooo lucky to meet you??? You are a wealth of good info! Thank you so much for your in-depth responses. When you said werewolf I was instantly on the hook. That is so my scene and so are vampires though I’ve already done all the Ann Rices and even the Twilights ( blushing) but I’m sure you probably know something I don’t about a hidden vampire gem series??? I like sexy stuff too without getting cheesy. You’ve already given me soo much. You’re the best!!!!

    There's nothing wrong with Twilight...it speaks to everyone's inner teenage girl. And it is funny (not necessarliy on purpose). No much of a Rice fan...Lestat is a whiner and I'm not fond of whiny protags.

    If you like vampire/werewolf stuff, try Anne Bishop (The Others series); not werewolves/vampires per se...but in that vein (ha ha).

    P N Elrod does a very noir detective vampire series. They're a bit...intropective...but in the noir style it is probably fitting.

    Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series is mostly werewolves with a bit of vampire thrown in...watch out for the third book though...brutal. Bit of a traumatic read, really.

    Tanya Huff's The Silvered is good.

    The Black Wolves of Boston by Wen Spencer is pretty good.

    Tanith Lee did a well written but quite disturbing vamp series in the 90's starting with a book called Dark Dance...that might be hard to find. Pretty sure they're out of print.

    Ilona Andrews Magic series is predominantly shapeshifter. Love all their stuff...

    Kim Harrison's books include vampires, witches, demons, fey, and shapeshifters...alternate history. Her main character, Rachel, gets a bit whiny toward the last 1/3 of the series but the storyline is fun.

    Have you read anything by Gail Carriger? Her books are a hoot. Steampunk, vampires, werewolves...

    Oh, yeah, and Carrie Vaughn...werewolf named Kitty. Heh. Kitty and the Midnight Hour is the first book, I think. Good storylines, social awareness, character development.

    Earlier, I mentioned Laurel Hamilton. Sigh. She's known for the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, which is vampires, shapeshifters, witches, necromancers, etc . First 8 books were decent, if sometimes graphically gory. Then they devolved into graphic sex (one book was 325 pages long with 30 pages of actual story, the rest is the main character tripping on the sidewalk and falling on male members (do they kitten that word?)...it got so tedious, I counted). At this point, her books are polygamy propaganda/paranormal romance. If that sounds okay...well, I never recommend her books...but they're out there.

    I've been reading a long time.

    editing note...if you think psychic, alien vampires intent on subjugating earth sound interestingSeason of Passage by Christopher Pike. Possibly the single creepiest book I've read.

    If you want something romance and shapeshifter/alien, Nancee Cummings. A shoutout for her, 'cuz we're pals and she is a good writer.
  • steph6556
    steph6556 Posts: 575 Member
    ^^^^^ im literally screen shotting all your recommendations bc it’s wayyyyy too good. I’m pretty sure the shapeshifter stuff is going too far for me. As soon as True Blood went there it was over for me! I get the whiny Lestat feeling but he was sooooo sexy I couldn’t resist , haha. I mean, the situation does kinda suck so I kinda forgave him 😏

    Anything alien is definitely a plus! But please, you’ve already given me a years worth of catching up to do!!! I wish you were in my book club. We tend to read heavy stuff that puts me to sleep and then I come home and get off on sci fi 🤣
  • forestfreek
    forestfreek Posts: 5,770 Member
    Revival by Stephen King
  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
    edited October 2020
    Just finished The Testaments by Maragret Atwood. Wow. Really good. Less subtle than The Handmaid's Tale, which is pretty obscure sometimes (esp the implication that the chapters might be out of order, having originally been audio cassette tapes the (obscure) labels had fallen off of).This one is written from several perspectives and, again you've got an ending that questions the authenticity of the story...

    It's like reading a book where the story makes sense and you've got no reason to doubt the narrator...and then later find out the narrator is a compulsive liar...unlike Martin Amis' London Fields, where you (SPOILER)know there is something off but don't know what.

    I love Margaret Atwood.

    And, @steph6556, you're welcome. As I said before...fiendish reader here...I don't like Charlaine Harris much, either...though I've read...hmmm, probably 3/4 or more of her books, including the Amelia Teagarden's (rather painful & insipid) and the Lily Bard's (which might have more social value than most of her work). Have fun!
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  • steph6556
    steph6556 Posts: 575 Member

    And, @steph6556, you're welcome. As I said before...fiendish reader here...I don't like Charlaine Harris much, either...though I've read...hmmm, probably 3/4 or more of her books, including the Amelia Teagarden's (rather painful & insipid) and the Lily Bard's (which might have more social value than most of her work). Have fun!

    For my book club we are currently reading Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano and it’s good so far...... just not the kind of good I’m reading in the evening before bed with Wise Man’s Fear. That book makes me wanna head to bed early and I find myself comparing everything to it.
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  • beagletracks
    beagletracks Posts: 6,034 Member
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  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
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    OMG. That sounds brilliant. In that, "I'm pretending to be sci fi from 1957 while poking fun at current crap going on..." way...just from the cover

  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    Someone suggested I read this here on MFP awhile back. Finally getting to it; I like it so far!

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  • slessofme
    slessofme Posts: 7,744 Member
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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Someone suggested I read this here on MFP awhile back. Finally getting to it; I like it so far!

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    I liked this one!

    I just finished reading Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey. Her writing was waaaay too flowery for me but the book was interesting (and sad, because of the true story of her mother's murder).
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    Someone suggested I read this here on MFP awhile back. Finally getting to it; I like it so far!

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    I liked this one!

    I just finished reading Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey. Her writing was waaaay too flowery for me but the book was interesting (and sad, because of the true story of her mother's murder).

    I am really enjoying it so far! It's so interesting how he just wandered off without any real explanation or plan and survived for as long as he did!
  • melaniedscott
    melaniedscott Posts: 1,478 Member
    March to the Stars Weber/Ringo

    See, I said I'd read through the whole series. Next up is We Few and then I'll likely reread some Jennifer Crusie.
  • tuddy315
    tuddy315 Posts: 11,641 Member
    The Blue Tattoo
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 3,089 Member
    "Snowdrift and Other Stories" (Georgette Heyer)
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    edited December 2020
    I just started Untamed by Glennon Doyle and I'm hooked.

    Before this one, I read Firestarter by Stephen King, Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah and The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah, and last one I finished was Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewel.

    The Stranger in the Woods sounds really good.
  • Heavy Artillery by DeeDee Boobers
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I just started Untamed by Glennon Doyle and I'm hooked.

    Before this one, I read Firestarter by Stephen King, Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah and The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah, and last one I finished was Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewel.

    The Stranger in the Woods sounds really good.

    Untamed and Invisible Girl have been two of my favorites this year. Nice!
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I just started Untamed by Glennon Doyle and I'm hooked.

    Before this one, I read Firestarter by Stephen King, Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah and The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah, and last one I finished was Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewel.

    The Stranger in the Woods sounds really good.

    I was pleasantly surprised by Stranger in the Woods. He (the subject of the book) is a pretty interesting person, considering he was alone in the woods for 25+ years in Maine.