So what are you reading?

[selenay]

After my little moan earlier, I've deiced that I need a slightly more cheerful topic to think about while my reports do nothing. I really don't talk about books often enough on this LJ, particularly in light of how much time I spend with them, so I thought that I'd pose a bookish question to my f-list and see what happens.

What book(s) are you reading at the moment and are you enjoying it/them? Why?

What was your most recently completed book and did you enjoy it?

To start the ball rolling, I currently have three books on the go:

Harry Potter a l'ecole des sorciers - JK Rowling: It's the French translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, so it's somewhere between being a re-read and a new book. I'm surprising myself with how much I'm able to pick up without my dictionary (knowing the story well helps) and I'm enjoying it a lot. The translator seems to have caught the spirit of JK Rowling's writing and, although I'm not an expert, I'd say that this is a good translation. Although I am a little puzzled about why the title got changed.

The Struggle for Mastery: Penguin History of Britain 1066-1284 - David Carpenter: I'm enjoying this one a lot. It's not a dry, dusty history tome although it's also not a book that glories in the gore and murder of the period. It's covering a good chunk of history and discusses Wales and Scotland in addition to England. A lot of the Welsh and Scottish history is in the context of the struggle to remain independent from England, but it also discusses the internal struggles for dominance within those countries. The focus of the book isn't really on the wars and battles. The author mentions them, but doesn't go into detailed discussion of the tactics and progress of every individual battle. He's focusing on the politics and economics of the period, the development of legal and governmental systems and some of the social history. For me, this makes it a much more interesting book than some of the other books on the period.

Shaman's Crossing - Robin Hobb: This book has kind of stalled for me. Robin Hobb is one of those authors that I feel I should like, but I can never quite get into her books. I picked this one up because it's completely seperate from her usual world, but that doesn't seem to have helped. If anything, I'm finding it tougher going than the other books I've tried and I'm wondering whether I really want to finish it.

My most recently finished book is The Traitor's Sword by Amanda Hemingway. It's the middle book in a trilogy that began with The Greenstone Grail and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. The books are technically Young Adult (that's where my local bookshop puts them, anyway), but it's one of those books that can be enjoyed equally by adults. The books are set in our universe with a teenaged boy called Nathan at the centre. He dreams himself into other worlds (we're not certain yet how...) and that's where some of the adventures start. It bleeds over into our world, though, and the books manage both aspects very well. Hemingway doesn't pretend that it's any kind of alternate to our universe - there are plenty of pop culture (and political) references. The characters are interesting and well developed, they're allowed to grow and the adults are given as much fleshing out as the young people. The first two books have a self-contained adventure and threads that are developed across them. Information is provided at the right pace so it's not a Robert Jordan level of frustration but we still don't know everything and the threads that have been left for the last book, The Poisoned Crown, mean that I'm not going to hold out long against buying it even though it's still in trade paperback.

So, that's my haul. What about you?

Comments

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

I'm a very bad person and don't read as much as I should or would like. It's mostly slash, although I did buy three Torchwood novels on sale at Borders and hope to start those soon. I'm also reading The Hobbit to my eldest. She's capable of reading it herself but it makes a nice way to end the day. I go part way through a chapter and she finishes it. I thought it was time she started Tolkein :)

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

ooooooh, nice questions. :) Good for redirecting my post-interview nerves. *g* I'll post the answers on my LJ, spread the questions around. *beams*

Oh, and the French seemed to take an annoying page from the US Publishers' stupid tendency to rename everything foreign. In the US, it's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and when I saw that, I asked, "What the hell are you doing changing the title?" I suppose that when JK was selling her first book, she didn't have too much in the way of clout, or money, to be able to tell a publisher, "You can't do that," so that might explain why there was no fight over it, but it still doesn't explain why the idiots here felt they had to liven up the title. *shakes head*

[selenay]

Have you tried Lynn Flewelling's books? The Night Runners series - slash right there on the page and it's terrific :-) I pimp these to all my slash friends!

Let me know what the Torchwood books are like? Then I'll know whether I need to invest or just read the fanfic :-)

She's capable of reading it herself but it makes a nice way to end the day.

My father read to me until I started secondary school and we couldn't get the time anymore. It's a fabulous way to spend time together and he introduced me to some wonderful books. Including The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. You're never too young for Tolkien :-)

[selenay]

spread the questions around. *beams*

Very cool :-) I love hearing what other people are reading because it gives me ideas for the next thing to read!

but it still doesn't explain why the idiots here felt they had to liven up the title.

I heard that there were concerns that Americans might not "get" the concept of the Philosopher's Stone. Which seemed to completely underestimate the intelligence of the average American, but sadly sounds like a probable explanation.

I'm not sure why the French title got changed, though, because it makes even less sense that substituting Sorcerer for Philosopher!

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

It's so ffffffrustrating when people assume it's okay to dumb things down. It's not okay and it makes me want to break a vase over their heads. We see this stupidity every bloody day, and of course the most obvious non-literary example being the dumbing down of Jack O'Neill... Grrrrrrrrrrr...

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention your books. Bad me.

My roomie has the HP books so I've read those twice, but always in English.*gg* I am both dreading and anticipating HP7.

British history is hit and miss for me(the war of the Roses bored me to tears, for example), but I loved reading this book called The Queens of England(forget the author). The one you've read sounds equally intriguing. :)

Shall put Amanda Hemingway on the list because that one sounds interesting. :)

[notsoshygirl.livejournal.com]

I'm immersed in all of the lovely books I received for Christmas. I've been reading two authors - both mystery/action-type writers. The first is Catherine Coulter. She writes a series starring two FBI agents - a husband and wife team. The basic plot outlines are all similar: character is in deep trouble, second character helps out first character. In the meantime, said characters fall in love in a ridiculously short period of time. Weave in the two FBI agents and a good dose of action/mystery-thriller, and they've all been good reads so far.

The second author, J.A. Jance, has two different series - one featuring a lady sheriff in a small town in the southwest; the other a homicide detective in Seattle, Washington. I've enjoyed both series very much.

I also recently read the latest by Dick Francis, my favorite author. I'm very glad that he came out of retirement to write another book.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

Funny you should bring up books. I'm keeping a running tag of all the books I'm reading linked from my information page.

Currently I'm reading two books, 'Lion of Macedon' from the recently deceased David Gemmell, and 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman.

I'm finding Gaiman interesting, he reminds me distinctly of Stephen King, especially the Americana lore type feel. I reading Gemmell's 'Lion of Macedon' years ago, but never got around to completing the series, so I'm trying again, so it's odd to read two books (although I'm taking turns) about the Gods interference in human affairs, albeit in different times.

Gemmell's book is about Philip of Macedon.

After these ones I'm planning on reading 'The Persion Boy' by Mary Renault and the Duncton Wood tales by William Horwood.

And in about 9 hours I'm flying to England ;)

[margec01.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind if I take a page out of riverfox's book (no pun intended!) and answer this question over on my lj. A neat idea and I'm actually reading some books for a change in addition to fanfic--which means I'm falling behind on everything! (g)

No matter how much my friends have raved about Harry Potter, I just haven't been interested to read them. Then again, I got bored with reading Tolkein and never read the LOTR books, either. I know, I know--I need to have my fandom card revoked!

I think it's because I've always been more into "hard" science fiction (Asimov, Heinlein, Brin, etc.) than fantasy-type stories. I do have a fondness for the early Pern books and I recently read most of Terry Brooks' Shannara books, so perhaps I ought to try HP or LOTR again.

[selenay]

*grrrr* Dumbing down to suit a theoretically stupid audience is both insulting and offensive.

[selenay]

I am both dreading and anticipating HP7.

Same here. I've got it on pre-order already, but I'm going to approaching with trepidation. I don't even know how I want her to end things. I'm hoping that means I'll be satisfied with whatever she does, even if it's painful.

And there's always fanfic to take the sting out :-)

British history is hit and miss for me

I think it helps that a lot of the places involved are around me all the time - gives things a bit more reality. I'm much more interested by medieval history than more modern stuff. I think the Wars of the Roses depends a great deal on who's telling it. For me, it's a fascinating period because there was so much outright plotting, treason, deviousness and greed. A lot of the events read almost like a pulp fantasy novel (dastardly uncle locks his nephews in the tower, kills them and takes the throne! Is slaughtered shortly afterwards amidst persistant rumours that the nephews are alive - it's the starting point of dozens of fantasy novels) and the politics of why it all happened is equally fascinating. It very much depends on the who tells the story and why, though.

The book I'm reading is much more interesting than I thought it would be and it's throwing up some interesting ideas for books. The author ocassionally glosses over something that I would have liked more detail on, but he's trying to cover two centuries and lots of people so it's understandable. I'm reading the book to get a general understanding of the events, politics, people and society of the time so that I can read more detailed accounts of particular people or periods with the background knowledge. On that level, it totally works and the writing style keeps it lively.

Amanda Hemingway is definitely one to check out :-) She hasn't disappointed yet.

[selenay]

Weave in the two FBI agents and a good dose of action/mystery-thriller, and they've all been good reads so far.

Those sound like fun reads :-)

one featuring a lady sheriff in a small town in the southwest; the other a homicide detective in Seattle, Washington

Sound interesting. I may have to check these authors out the next time I have a crime craving.

I also recently read the latest by Dick Francis, my favorite author. I'm very glad that he came out of retirement to write another book.

You're the second person answering this thing to have read that one :-) Obviously I must now read Dick Francis to find out why everyone likes him!

[selenay]

David Gemmell

I tried to read David Gemmell a couple of years ago, but couldn't really get into him. I might have tried starting with the wrong book though - do you have a title of his that's good for a newbie?

'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman.

That one is currently on my to read pile :-)

And in about 9 hours I'm flying to England ;)

Woo! Which means you probably won't pick this up for a while...

[selenay]

I hope you don't mind if I take a page out of riverfox's book (no pun intended!) and answer this question over on my lj.

Not at all :-)

I think it's because I've always been more into "hard" science fiction (Asimov, Heinlein, Brin, etc.) than fantasy-type stories.

I think people do often go for one or the other. I'm more of a fantasy reader than a hard SF, although I do enjoy the odd bit of SF if I'm browsing my father's bookcases for something new to read. I'm often more attracted to space opera stuff than hard SF, though. I've thoroughly enjoyed most of Anne McCaffrey's writing, whether it's Pern or sci-fi, because she seems to bridge that divide so well.

so perhaps I ought to try HP or LOTR again.

Give them a try. If you've managed to get through Shannara, you'll probably cope with LotR :-)

I need to have my fandom card revoked!

Pfft! Never! You've watched more than one episode of Star Trek, right? You've been devoted to Atlantis? And Doctor Who? I think you're fannish enough to qualify!

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Remember in episode 200, when Mitchell said to Martin pretty much the same thing? While I loved that comment, I couldn't help but think, "So if you knew what you did was wrong, why did you do it? Does n't that make you the dumbass?" *shakes head*

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

You know, you've just made the War of the Roses a lot more palatable in terms of reading. All I ever saw before was the civil war between the aristocrats while the 'peasants' got trampled on from both sides.

Now, when I said "British history is a hit and miss for me" I should have added that "on the other hand, it's a helluva lot more interesting than my own." And it is. By far. Not to mention that there's a *lot* more of it. ;)

I'm reading the book to get a general understanding of the events, politics, people and society of the time so that I can read more detailed accounts of particular people or periods with the background knowledge. On that level, it totally works and the writing style keeps it lively.

That's usually what I do when I'm reading the history of something, getting the general feel of it and knowledge of the people involved so that I can do further research/reading after. :)

About HP. Whatever JKR does, I'll just be hoping she doesn't knock off several people, including Harry. I don't want some big duel at the end where both of them die. I keep remembering that prophecy, and then Dumbledore's words of advisory to Harry: it's just a guide of what may come, not what will. Paying attention to that has me afraid that JK will pull a Hamlet. *clears throat* I hope not. There are some people, of course, I want her to get rid of and others I'm not so sure *should* be gotten rid of, like Snape or Draco. I'll just hope Voldemort is the one to go, whatever happens. :)

[margec01.livejournal.com]

Let's see--Star Trek: ALL episodes of TOS and TNG, most of Voyager and Enterprise, about half of DS9. And gaga over Stargate (both varieties) and Dr. Who. Whew! I guess I can still claim to be an SF fan. (g)

And you mentioned McCaffrey's sci-fi. How could I possibly have forgotten about all The Ship Who... books which are some of my alltime favorites? I think I liked the Pern books so much because they were based in sci-fi fact, at least to begin with. When they headed more over into the realm of fantasy, I became less interested in reading them.

Ah, too many books, too little time!

[selenay]

I guess I can still claim to be an SF fan. (g)

Definitely!

The Ship Who... books

I've read two of those and loved them. Must hunt down the rest!

I think I liked the Pern books so much because they were based in sci-fi fact

I think that I liked the Pern books because they blended sci-fi and fantasy so well. I started with the more fantasy oriented books (I started with Lessa's first story) and only read the more sci-fi oriented books (think I found Dragon's Dawn first) after I'd devoured five or six Pern books. That changed how I viewed what I was reading and I loved it. I'm more of a fantasy fan than a sci-fi fan, so the Pern books are perfect for me :-)

Ah, too many books, too little time!

*sigh* Too true. And often too little space to store them all! My bookcases are overflowing again :-)

[selenay]

I haven't seen the episode yet :-( I realised part way through season 9 that I just wasn't invested enough in the new episodes because I kept forgetting to watch them - I had ten backlogged by that stage. This year I haven't even worked out when I should be recording them. I plan to catch up when they come out on DVD.

It's frustrating me that I'm not feeling what I did for the show back in season 3. I don't think it's that other shows have taken me away, more that SG doesn't have some of the things that kept me for so long and I don't have as much time to keep up with shows so I'm only watching things that really pull me in. The new SG episodes haven't had that "must watch" feel for me for a while.