What are you reading?

[Arawis]

I am also working on buffing up my YA creds in anticipation of working in a school library somewhere.

Please tell me you've read Rick Riordan's work! I love love love Percy Jackson & the Olympians as well as what I've read so far of the follow-up series, Heroes of Olympus (there are 2 out right now). I just started the Kane Chronicles, so I can't vouch for it yet... It didn't suck me in as immediately as PJ did, but it has potential.

*Disclaimer: One of my minors in college was Classical Studies, so I'm clearly an ancient history/mythology nerd*

[sir archely]

In response to fizz earlier, I have read The Mysterious Benedict Society, and enjoyed it. Reminded me a lot of Matilda. Or a lot of Roald Dahl actually, what with the generally horrible adults and horribly precocious children who somehow remain likeable even though in real life they'd probably be insufferably annoying.

I did read The lightning thief at some point, but I haven't gotten back to the rest of the series. If you like that, I'd guess you'd probably also enjoy Michael Scott's Alchemyst series, which also does the mythology mash-up bit. I think it's a little bit more adult than Lightning Thief.

I am putting off, dreading, reading the Eragon series and the Twilight series, which are basically required reading for a school librarian. I am so happy that the trend in YA lit right now is towards dystopian fiction, and away from the angsty, brooding, sparkling vampire romance. Thank you Hunger Games. Which is another awesome series.

[AquaFizz]

You know...

I haven't read Eragon, and I've heard whats-is-face is a huge douche. BUT, my dad has read the first three books and dearly loves them. He's a pretty well-read nerd. So, I think they might not be as bad as everyone says.

I think a vast majority of readers also fancy themselves to be writers, so I have to wonder how much of the Eragon hatred is really called for and how much of it is just sheer jealousy. You know?

[Eyreplenh]

You know... I really can't agree with your dad on this one

I read Eragon, and the book that followed it. I'm not sure whether I've read the third or not, is there maybe a forth as well?

Anyway, I feel that the only way Eragon comes away with being OK, is when you take into consideration it's a young author and all that. Take that away, and I would call it rubbish. I'm sure I've could have fallen into the jealous hating category at some stages in my life, but I don't think it's true today. And my verdict, being that Eragon/inheritance is really quite mediocre stuff, is still the same. Actually, I had some of the same feelings about Eragon as I had when I first read Harry Potter, and that was that it was fantasy for people who don't read fantasy. But where the latter redeemed itself as true fun and adventure as the series progressed, I've yet to loose that copy/paste feeling I got when I read young Paolini. But then again, if it can push a few kids who wouldn't otherwise stumble into the world of books over the threshold, I forgive everything. As long as there is dedicated librarians to nudge them in the right direction once they're on the inside

Also, not everything has to be great. I actually loved David Eddings and Terry Brooks when I was young, and I grew up allright. Well, you know... mostly

[Arawis]

I read the first 3 books of the Eragon series and thought they were pretty enjoyable. It's been a few years so I can't speak to any details, but I feel like my memory of the experience was positive. I wouldn't nominate them for any awards, but I found the story decent enough that I wanted to continue reading (there have been books that I just couldn't get through, as much as I hate not finishing things, because they gave me headaches). I agree with EP that it's probably better for people who don't normally read fantasy, and definitely closer to the David Eddings style of recycled plot elements than what you're used to, but overall not bad.

Also, not everything has to be great. I actually loved David Eddings and Terry Brooks when I was young, and I grew up allright.

I agree. The Sword of Shannara was the first fantasy book I ever read because my mom was trying to get me into reading when I was 10 (I don't think she was prepared for the monster she created ) and after that I read every single Terry Brooks book... And a lot of David Eddings. But I think it's important for people to read those things, too (not just high fantasy), so they can 1) simply enjoy them, and 2) become familiar with common fantasy themes. In the end, this helps readers not only improve analytical skills, but also cultivate taste

[Eyreplenh]

I've been reading some different things lately. I'm working through one of our finest bibliographies, namely that of Karl Ove Knausgård (I should think that for anyone just about nerdy enough, it might be possible to have heard of an norwegian forty something that's been writing his own autobiography in six giant tomes the last years. No?) and I'm plain and easy swept away. Some of his things are translated into english, and if you're curious, I'd recommend A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven...

Also been reading some "green" books. One is called "The economical environmentalist" and is about the author, Prahant Vaze, and how he in two years time halved his carbon output, and saved money and time on top. What I liked about it was that mr Vaze was no big gas guzzler to start with, but he shows that quite significant reductions were possible even for him. A downpoint was that it was written and intended for the UK market and all calculations and advice are given on that grounds. But most of it is pretty general, so I picked up a point or two.

Hah, and now I'm reading a real gem. I'll even say "Gem". It's a book by James Lovelock, called "The revenge of Gaia". Sigh. The man is clearly mad. The title says what it's about, I guess. From the style and whatnot, I first guessed it was a reprint of a book from the seventies or something, but it's actually quite new, 2006 I think. What I realized, was that even though I think he's quite up there, madness-wise, I think more people should have access to his writings. He's the Glenn Beck of environmentalism (that is not a compliment), but I think more people should read him, because he'd equal out those mad people of the right-wing I don't believe it camp. At least over here, the usual run of an environmental/climate discussion is that serious research is put forward, rabid deniers spam the discussion, and after a little while the scientists usually finds better things to do with their time. If we had the rabid believers participate too (which I see very little of), it would cancel out the input from the so called think-tanks that has spent their last fifty years denying everything from the holocaust to cancer. Then maybe the scientist would hold out a little longer, get the last word once in a while and finally get people moving and grooving. Either way, I recommend the book, it's highly entertaining. Anyway, as entertaining as reading about the systematic collapse of every system we got on the planet can be

[Jennifer]

I'm almost through Wheel of Time!!! Only three more books to go. I've actually started enjoying it again, especially the relationship between Mat and Tuon. Once I'm done, I have quite a few books on my list. The Millennium Trilogy, Warhorse, and the Gregory Maguire Oz series are just a few. By the way, has anyone read Guillermo Del Toro's Strain Trilogy?

[Arianna]

I'm taking some time for fantasy. reading some david b coe. I'm getting into it.

[sir archely]

Jenn, I read the Strain trilogy and enjoyed it a lot. I may have mentioned it around here somewhere... but maybe not. Who knows. In any event, I would recommend it if you like modern vampire stories. I love the style of vampire in these books (not your cape and widow's peak style, or even your brooding sparkly style) and once you get there, the origin story really ties everything together. Before that you have hints, but mostly it's just a everything just went FUBAR.

[Jennifer]

Arch, I've read the first two books and I can honestly say the beginning of the first book with the plane REALLY creeped me out! I'm waiting until I finish WoT and those other books I listed above to buy the third book in the series. It IS an interesting take on vampires though....I like it.

[Eyreplenh]

I've recently read Stendahls "On love". Not sure if Stendahl is considered canonized around the world, but the french poff certainly is going as a must-read in europe. Sense some ambiguity? Well, I have some. Granted, the long essay "on love" is by no means his main piece of work, but given that I did not like the essay one bit, that main piece of work (The black and the red/white and the red/something and the red), which I have... somewhere, appears a frightening task. I had high hopes though! I mean, a classic, on love. But it was quite dull, extremely narcissistic, not very funny or witty, and the style and way of thought have not stood the test of time at all (I guess, unless you are a right-wing conservative in the US). Avoid it.

Also, I've read Junot Diaz' "The brief and wondrous life of Oscar Wao". It came highly recommended to me, and, in part, it delivered. Sometimes a kind of frustrating novel, as the focus of the story seems to constantly turn when things get interesting (GRR Martin, anyone?), but overall it was a nice story. About dominican-turned-american Oscar Wao, intense nerd and writerlike fatso, who struggles through life and, shockingly, virginity, throughout most of the book. (I seem to not write sufficiently these days. I've even forgotten how to use a comma!) Witty, cute and melancholy, I guess, and it's also a lot of fun for other people with nerd-like aspirations to try to get all the references. I had fun, anyway. Also, I had fun because I was able to follow some of the domincan references (because I've read The feast of the goat by Vargas Llosa -now that you really should read!). Overall... not a book one would have to read I think.

But now, GREAT NEWS. I was picking up the Susan Beth Pfeffer books yesterday, and what did my dark blue perceive? It was new stuff from Malaz! Orb Sceptre Throne, by mister Esslemont, had snuck into the store without me as much as catching a whiff of it! Daring! Now, while Esslemont definitively is a small step down in comparison to Erikson (especially when tackling the finer nuances of that world, such as Kruppe), but it's still far better than most other stuff in the field, at least in my opinion. For anyone interested, there's lots of Seguleh, and I believe also Moranth. Interesting

[Amos]

I've recently read Stendahls "On love". Not sure if Stendahl is considered canonized around the world, but the french poff certainly is going as a must-read in europe. Sense some ambiguity? Well, I have some. Granted, the long essay "on love" is by no means his main piece of work, but given that I did not like the essay one bit, that main piece of work (The black and the red/white and the red/something and the red), which I have... somewhere, appears a frightening task.

Le Rouge et le Noir. Not difficult at all, trust me. Proust sez he wrote badly. Och. Julien anyway is a fascinating character, conceived before 3D implied a sham consistency or mere confusion of motive. Maybe. I'm drunkobviouslty. Lessee... Julien has mnemonic superpowers and idolizes Napoleon. I half-remember the plot, but more-so I remember the sad indecision of Julien Sorel, which was my own. Good book.

[Kalle al'Tear]

I just started reading We the Living by Ayn Rand. Can't really say much about it so far except that I like it a lot as far as I have read..

[sir archely]

Just finished A Wrinkle In Time, which I adored as a pre-teen who liked sci-fi. Apparently when I first read it I didn't latch on to all of the religion/God themes though. Kinda ruined the nostalgia a bit with this reread, since I much prefer it as a wacky sci-fi novel. Oh well.

Also, I will keep my opinion of Aynwasafuckinghack​Rand to myself.

[Eyreplenh]

Orb Sceptre Throne lived up to it's malazan tag. Definitively had an air of finality to it, so maybe that's the last we'll see from Erikson and Esslemonts wonderland.

Recently, I also finished Pierre Bayards "How to talk about books you haven't read", which was highly amusing and educating. I actually did not know who Bayard was when I picked up the book, so I had no idea what kind of book this was. When it turned out he was an university professor, the pieces fell into place. This is not a book for anyone unfamiliar with reading (One of my theories it was it would be a rough guide to some central pieces as well as a "bestseller formula" or something that would allow any illiterate to make the proper sounds. However, this book is more for the big-reader who is in doubt whether or not reading Proust is actually necessary if you don't want to. I really enjoyed it, he had some interesting ideas and references, like how Musils librarian maybe had the best outlook on books of us all. He refused to read books further than their cover page, as that would drag him so far down he would lose his overview. The idea is that by knowing one books relative position to others, you know enough. Other favourites was passages from the life of Jean Valery, a notorious french author who read as little as he could, but did not hesitate to give lenghty euologies to collegues and their work. I'd recommend it to anyone fond of books.

At the airport, I picked up The name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's the first of what he's called the Kingkiller Chronicles. It was pretty good. I enjoyed it, even though I did not experience euphoria... It's a bit different from other fantasy I've read in that it takes on the retrospective; the story unfolds through Kvothes (protagonist) final retelling of his own story, in order to get it straight. Other than that it's pretty basic fantasy mechanics, but the world, magics and characters were well wrung out and inventive, and the story had a melancholy feel I fell for. Come summer, I'll definitively pick up the next book. Worth a try, if you're fantasy-dry.