what are you reading?

[Spectral Knight]

Currently reading the sublimely titled "Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick" by David Wong, which is the sequel to "Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits".

[Milkshake08]

I’ve read one Sanderson novel and that was enough for me. Granted it was a YA novel, but similar to Shakes, I really hated that he seems to lack the ability to highlight a word, right-click, and use the thesaurus function when he realises he’s used a word two or three times in a paragraph.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed. It literally drove me nuts.

I'll have to try Underland, Wings! That sounds interesting. I'm now onto "Into the Woods" by Tana French, which is a murder mystery and it's pretty good so far.

[tokenBG1009]

Currently listening to Nameless by Matt Rossi, he's one of the writers on a website I used to frequent and I had the spare Audible credit. It's fine so far.

[Cable]

I have been not just reading but also ranking all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. I have about 10 more to go. It has been enjoyable but I also find Doyle to be a bit overrated to be honest.

[EvilMonkeyPope]

The Agony & The Ecstasy by Irving Stone covers so much more of Michelangelo's life than the movie adapted! You could easily wring a multi-season television series out of it!

[BardicOne]

I have been not just reading but also ranking all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. I have about 10 more to go. It has been enjoyable but I also find Doyle to be a bit overrated to be honest.

I have a two-book "All the Doyle" Holmes. There are some blah Holmes stories to be sure but all in all I find them a fascinating study of how to keep characters consistent over many stories. Plus the jumping up and down the timeline. Non-linear continuity at it's finest.

[Spectral Knight]

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.

[grief]

Read Patrick Rothfuss' "the Name of the Wind" and Susan Dennard's "Sightwitch" this past week. Sightwitch is an in-between novella for books 2 and 3 of Dennard's Witchlands series and provides some nice background for the world while telling a cute story of love and loss and finding one's path. It hit me at one of those "I needed to read EXACTLY THIS" kind of moments, so big preesh.

The Name of the Wind was suggested to me a few years ago and I just finally got around to reading it. It was a slow start, but by the time I got to the final 1/4 or so, I was HOOKED.

Moved on to C.S. Friedman's "This Alien Shore".

[Anna Raven]

The Name of the Wind is great. Now you can read A Wise Man's Fear and then join the throngs of us waiting for him to never finish the third book...

[Magnus]

The Name of the Wind was suggested to me a few years ago and I just finally got around to reading it. It was a slow start, but by the time I got to the final 1/4 or so, I was HOOKED.

I am so sorry...

[grief]

I've gotten a number of condolences from friends regarding Name of the Wind and don't worry ya'll, I've been reading comics since I was 12, I'm used to stories not finishing. *thumbs up* I'll enjoy what ride there is.

[Anna Raven]

I've gotten a number of condolences from friends regarding Name of the Wind and don't worry ya'll, I've been reading comics since I was 12, I'm used to stories not finishing. *thumbs up* I'll enjoy what ride there is.

I also thoroughly enjoyed The Slow Regard of Silent Things - which is a very short spin off book about Auri, so at least you have that to read as well.

[smaug007]

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.

What did you think? I recently finished it and have some mixed feelings about it, not all which line up to some of the online commentary...

[Spectral Knight]

I liked the focus on Kira and she became less of a historical footnote, and Halliday's flaws were brought to the fore a bit more but in my opinion, it was less of an enjoyable read.

For me the pop cultural elements were a major miss... the John Hughes planet, the focus on Prince, it was all too much. I kinda preferred the first book's much broader look at retro culture where as this seemed to be a bit tighter in its scope on very specific themes which if you have little interest in it was just a bit plodding.

Wade also seemed to be much, much more self loathing and the fun seemed to be gone. Rather than the simple thrill of the chase through the Oasis that escalated the Higher stakes kinda made it a chore and I didn't feel his enthusiasm or sense of achievement.

[das_boot]

Well, I got gin drunk while falling into a YouTube hole the other night and it turns out I ordered a compendium of the first three books in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.

So. That’s a thing I’ll be reading and judging myself for— since I haven’t read them since my goth days

[Cable]

I have been not just reading but also ranking all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. I have about 10 more to go. It has been enjoyable but I also find Doyle to be a bit overrated to be honest.

Realize I never followed up on this. If anyone cares to see the rankings I gave the top 10 were:

The novels

1. Hound of the Baskervilles (best of Doyle's detective work overall, masterfully combines all the elements that makes Sherlock Holmes stories great)
2. Sign of Four
3. Valley of Fear
4. Study in Scarlet

The short stories

1. Adventure of the Speckled Band
2. Adventure of Black Peter
3. Adventure of the Reigate Squire
4. Adventure of the Dancing Men
5. Adventure of the Red Circle
6. Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
7. Adventure of Silver Blaze
8. Adventure of Thor Bridge
9. Adventure of the Dying Detective
10. Adventure of the Six Napoleons

If you are wondering at the worst, the bottom of the list looks like this

47. His Last Bow
48. Adventure of the Yellow Face
49. Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
50. Red-Headed League
51. Adventure of the Creeping Man
52. Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
53. Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
54. Adventure of the Stock-Broker's Clerk
55. Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
56. Scandal in Bohemia

[Cable]

The ranking I did above I plan to do with all of Christie's Hercule Poirot stories. It will take considerably longer!

But first I am catching up on some things for the sake of future media. I re-read Dune (for the millionth time, my favorite novel ever) ahead of that movie in October. Now I am reading Wheel of Time for the first time ahead of that show's debut in November (in a huge flea market victory this summer I picked up the first six books in hardcover for $1 each ). Then I think I may finish the Witcher books ahead of that show's season 2 in December (I have read all of the short stories and the first novel but not the rest).

[BardicOne]

Just finished my yearly read of Frankenstein. Started on Dracula.

[EvilMonkeyPope]

I really like "The Red Headed League!"
The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde is a superlative allegory topped off with a frontispiece of Lola Bunny.

[AntiBody]

I'm about 2/3 the way through A Wizard Of Earthsea and I cannot believe I hadn't read this decades ago!! Loving it!!

[das_boot]

I have been not just reading but also ranking all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. I have about 10 more to go. It has been enjoyable but I also find Doyle to be a bit overrated to be honest.

OMG, I’m sure we had to study The Speckled Band at school

Spoiler: show

LOL@spoilers for a century old story, but that’s the one with the venomous snake, isn’t it?

[Cable]

I have been not just reading but also ranking all 60 Sherlock Holmes stories. I have about 10 more to go. It has been enjoyable but I also find Doyle to be a bit overrated to be honest.

OMG, I’m sure we had to study The Speckled Band at school

Spoiler: show

LOL@spoilers for a century old story, but that’s the one with the venomous snake, isn’t it?

Yes that is the one. The finest of his short stories.

[Anna Raven]

I'm about 2/3 the way through A Wizard Of Earthsea and I cannot believe I hadn't read this decades ago!! Loving it!!

Im checking this out too. I'm about halfway done. It's kind of crazy seeing how many fantasy stories especially, "magic school" stories were inspired by this book.

[AntiBody]

It's kind of crazy seeing how many fantasy stories especially, "magic school" stories were inspired by this book.

Right?? I can see why this is a very influential book. I was reading up on LeGuin's inspiration and I love that she was trying to go for non-white characters, especially in the time this was written. She was definitely pushing against the Tolkien-esque norm there.

Overall I loved the story! I'm thinking I'll eventually do the whole series!

[Anna Raven]

It's kind of crazy seeing how many fantasy stories especially, "magic school" stories were inspired by this book.

Right?? I can see why this is a very influential book. I was reading up on LeGuin's inspiration and I love that she was trying to go for non-white characters, especially in the time this was written. She was definitely pushing against the Tolkien-esque norm there.

Overall I loved the story! I'm thinking I'll eventually do the whole series!

I just got to the part where

Spoiler: show

Hoeg died, I was gutted.

I'm laughing at myself a little, because the non-white characters, the archipelago, the idea of dragons and monsters being way out on the fringes of society, those are things I have put into my own fantasy world for D&D. I thought I was being so clever and unique, it turns out I was half a century behind the times.