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I have been remiss
I really do read an astounding amount of fic. Not always the whole fic unfortunately.... Anywho, I haven't posted a reading list in ages (possibly not since just after New Year's!) and so this could get a lot scary. I think the novel reading list is going to be a lot shorter. Heck, I'm sure of it. Anywho, unto the breach before I forget:
As a note: This isn't necessarily a rec list. I may or may not give opinions on the books and fics. This is primarily a reading list.
The Family Trade by Charles Stross - "British author Stross mixes high-tech with medieval trappings in this highly entertaining science fantasy in the "misplaced modern" mode. Reporter Miriam Beckstein, recently fired for exposing a money laundering scheme and threatened by the criminals involved, finds that staring at her mother's antique brooch can move her from contemporary America to a Viking-settled parallel universe, where she discovers her true heritage as a countess among the world-walking, goods-smuggling Clan." I was not the biggest fan of this book and at the moment I don't have a good reason for why not. However, I did finish it and I borrowed the next book to read it. My biggest issue, I think, was with some of the storyline? But the plot is so intriguing that I keep wanting to know what happens next. *shrugs* (This is the Merchant Princes series, btw.)
City of Bones by Martha Wells (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marthawells) - This has got to be my 4th time re-reading this book. I like it that much. I think the only other book I've read as many times are my Mary Poppins books. Seriously. Anywho: "Khat is a Krisman..., which places him even lower on the social scale than his foreign-born partner. The two are coerced into working with the Patrician Warder, Elen, who is searching out a specific relic... Warders have certain mental powers, although overusing these powers can cause them to go mad." Every time I read this, and I mean every single time I am invariably sucked in. I keep trying to get Mom to read. :D
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - this is the most recent Sookie Stackhouse Book. As a random point of interest for anyone who's just now coming to the books after watching the spinoff HBO series "True Blood"...these used to be called "The Southern Vampire Novels." I'm not sure when their designation changed, or whether it was b/c of the series or b/c it just made more sense to name it after Sookie. Anywho, the book was likable enough. I devoured it quickly enough, lol, but it's telling that even though I only read this a couple of months ago I don't remember much of the plot. There is a genuine mystery that Sookie gets, unfortunately, sucked into. Some nice people that we like end up dying and/or getting hurt. I dunno. We seemed to get one of everyone in this book. Maybe in the next book it, the series, will pull itself in some more? Don't get me wrong, not at all an unenjoyable book but definitely start with the first book in the series if you're a newbie. This book is not for the uninitiated.
And I'm going to cut here b/c, as I peruse my other reading list posts I was not nearly this wordy!
Onward: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. This is the latest in the Mercy Thompson novels. While Mercy may seem like the latest in an ever growing line of kick-butt heroines, and she is, she's doesn't know everything, she's not all powerful, and she'd be a lot happier if the weird and wonderful kept their weird and wonderful problems to themselves. She doesn't want to totally remove herself from that world--she's part of it--but she's not a fan of trouble knocking on her garage door either. I have loved this series exceedingly well and can't wait for the next "Alpha and Omega" book (a related series) to come out. I also feel like if Briggs does this well with these two series, her others are worth checking out. I have this same inclination for Harris' books as well. Like Briggs, though, I just haven't gotten around to picking anything else up.
White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison - I will admit to having become more and more dissatisfied with these books as they progressed and wasn't really sure if picking up the latest Hollows series book was worth it. Having had bad experience with following a series long after it's moved into places I never wanted to go (for me that would be Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books) I was ready to put the series down and let Harrison have her other loyal fans. But this was good. It had been too long for me between reading this book and the previous one The Outlaw Demon Wails and so some of the details and points of interest that should have mattered more for me didn't make much of an emotional dent at all, but this felt closer to what I'd been reading the first time around. Not as good as the first book, but better than the last couple.
Embrace the Night by Karen Chance - Can I first say that it's hard to find a non-serial book? Anywho, this is the "Cassandra Palmer" series. I've mentioned the two other fics, and I am apparently 2 fics behind. I like this one a lot, too. The books, if I remember right, were relatively short but very fast paced. You're almost breathing hard as you read through it b/c our protagonists are just jumping from one thing to the next constantly. There never seems to be very much down time. Anywho, don't remember offhand what this one is about b/c it's been just that long, but I went searching for the title and author b/c I did remember reading and liking it.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander - another one where it's been so long since I've read it that I don't remember much about it, though I do have the next book on request at the library. From Amazon: "The tale of Taran, assistant pig keeper, has been entertaining young readers for generations. Set in the mythical land of Prydain (which bears a more than passing resemblance to Wales), Lloyd Alexander's book draws together the elements of the hero's journey from unformed boy to courageous young man. Taran grumbles with frustration at home in the hamlet Caer Dallben; he yearns to go into battle like his hero, Prince Gwydion. Before the story is over, he has met his hero and fought the evil leader who threatens the peace of Prydain: the Horned King." Really good, not very long, go read.
And that's all I've got on the real-fic front, although I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it some more (I really wish the library would let me see what I've checked out). Talk about long winded. I'll try to make it shorter next time? Or put more under a cut?
As a note: This isn't necessarily a rec list. I may or may not give opinions on the books and fics. This is primarily a reading list.
The Family Trade by Charles Stross - "British author Stross mixes high-tech with medieval trappings in this highly entertaining science fantasy in the "misplaced modern" mode. Reporter Miriam Beckstein, recently fired for exposing a money laundering scheme and threatened by the criminals involved, finds that staring at her mother's antique brooch can move her from contemporary America to a Viking-settled parallel universe, where she discovers her true heritage as a countess among the world-walking, goods-smuggling Clan." I was not the biggest fan of this book and at the moment I don't have a good reason for why not. However, I did finish it and I borrowed the next book to read it. My biggest issue, I think, was with some of the storyline? But the plot is so intriguing that I keep wanting to know what happens next. *shrugs* (This is the Merchant Princes series, btw.)
City of Bones by Martha Wells (
marthawells) - This has got to be my 4th time re-reading this book. I like it that much. I think the only other book I've read as many times are my Mary Poppins books. Seriously. Anywho: "Khat is a Krisman..., which places him even lower on the social scale than his foreign-born partner. The two are coerced into working with the Patrician Warder, Elen, who is searching out a specific relic... Warders have certain mental powers, although overusing these powers can cause them to go mad." Every time I read this, and I mean every single time I am invariably sucked in. I keep trying to get Mom to read. :DDead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - this is the most recent Sookie Stackhouse Book. As a random point of interest for anyone who's just now coming to the books after watching the spinoff HBO series "True Blood"...these used to be called "The Southern Vampire Novels." I'm not sure when their designation changed, or whether it was b/c of the series or b/c it just made more sense to name it after Sookie. Anywho, the book was likable enough. I devoured it quickly enough, lol, but it's telling that even though I only read this a couple of months ago I don't remember much of the plot. There is a genuine mystery that Sookie gets, unfortunately, sucked into. Some nice people that we like end up dying and/or getting hurt. I dunno. We seemed to get one of everyone in this book. Maybe in the next book it, the series, will pull itself in some more? Don't get me wrong, not at all an unenjoyable book but definitely start with the first book in the series if you're a newbie. This book is not for the uninitiated.
And I'm going to cut here b/c, as I peruse my other reading list posts I was not nearly this wordy!
Onward: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. This is the latest in the Mercy Thompson novels. While Mercy may seem like the latest in an ever growing line of kick-butt heroines, and she is, she's doesn't know everything, she's not all powerful, and she'd be a lot happier if the weird and wonderful kept their weird and wonderful problems to themselves. She doesn't want to totally remove herself from that world--she's part of it--but she's not a fan of trouble knocking on her garage door either. I have loved this series exceedingly well and can't wait for the next "Alpha and Omega" book (a related series) to come out. I also feel like if Briggs does this well with these two series, her others are worth checking out. I have this same inclination for Harris' books as well. Like Briggs, though, I just haven't gotten around to picking anything else up.
White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison - I will admit to having become more and more dissatisfied with these books as they progressed and wasn't really sure if picking up the latest Hollows series book was worth it. Having had bad experience with following a series long after it's moved into places I never wanted to go (for me that would be Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books) I was ready to put the series down and let Harrison have her other loyal fans. But this was good. It had been too long for me between reading this book and the previous one The Outlaw Demon Wails and so some of the details and points of interest that should have mattered more for me didn't make much of an emotional dent at all, but this felt closer to what I'd been reading the first time around. Not as good as the first book, but better than the last couple.
Embrace the Night by Karen Chance - Can I first say that it's hard to find a non-serial book? Anywho, this is the "Cassandra Palmer" series. I've mentioned the two other fics, and I am apparently 2 fics behind. I like this one a lot, too. The books, if I remember right, were relatively short but very fast paced. You're almost breathing hard as you read through it b/c our protagonists are just jumping from one thing to the next constantly. There never seems to be very much down time. Anywho, don't remember offhand what this one is about b/c it's been just that long, but I went searching for the title and author b/c I did remember reading and liking it.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander - another one where it's been so long since I've read it that I don't remember much about it, though I do have the next book on request at the library. From Amazon: "The tale of Taran, assistant pig keeper, has been entertaining young readers for generations. Set in the mythical land of Prydain (which bears a more than passing resemblance to Wales), Lloyd Alexander's book draws together the elements of the hero's journey from unformed boy to courageous young man. Taran grumbles with frustration at home in the hamlet Caer Dallben; he yearns to go into battle like his hero, Prince Gwydion. Before the story is over, he has met his hero and fought the evil leader who threatens the peace of Prydain: the Horned King." Really good, not very long, go read.
And that's all I've got on the real-fic front, although I'm sure I could come up with more if I thought about it some more (I really wish the library would let me see what I've checked out). Talk about long winded. I'll try to make it shorter next time? Or put more under a cut?