What are you reading? 2015

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sivyaleah

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I just finished Patti Smith's new memoir The M Train.

I wasn't thrilled with it.  I love her as a musical/poet/visual artist but seriously the book is pretty awful; turned out to be incredibly boring.  I plowed through it hoping it would get better.  It did not 
 
 
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stewball

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The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman.
Not bad. British book.
 

plan

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I just finished reading "Aurora" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's a science fiction novel about the people aboard a generation ship on a 170-year journey to the Tau Ceti star system, where they plan to colonize an Earth-like planet.

I'm currently reading "Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene, although I'm looking for a novel to get into because Greene's book is essentially explanatory physics in layman's terms, and while that's all good, it isn't exactly page-turning fun.

I am most looking forward to is The Slade House by David Mitchell, the author of Cloud Atlas, Ghostwritten, The Bone Clocks, etc. I can't wait!
 

plan

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i love to read too!

right now i'm just finishing a book of short stories -- Riding the Mainspring: A Collection of Steampunk Short Stories, by Andrew Knighton. genre:  steampunk.  i have one short story left to read, and i should get that read today.

i'll be reading another Derek Longden book next -- Radio Times:  Take 2. genre:  humor (not really comedy).
I like steampunk and that sounds interesting! Would you recommend that story collection, or would I have to read the author's other stuff to get into it?

Have you heard of George Mann? He writes a series called The Newbury and Hobbes Investigations, which are steampunk novels set in an alternate Victorian-era London, where Sir Maurice Newbury is a gentleman investigator for the Crown, and Miss Veronica Hobbes is his partner in solving crimes. It's chock full of crazy steam-powered inventions, steam cars, steam automata, even a steam-powered "life giving chair" that allows Queen Victoria to live past her normal lifespan. It's bizarre and a lot of fun.
 

happybird

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Thanks @Winchester
!!! I look finding new books to read. It's hard for me to stay interested so a book has to capture my interest right from the start. There are lots of good books listed for me to check out.
Someone on TCS once posted a link to the Literature Map (I cannot remember who posted it :anon: ). It is awesome! You type in the name of a favorite author and the map shows you 'hits' of other authors you might like. It's kind of like a Literature Bullseye, and it gives better suggestions than many of the other recommendation engines I have tried. Here's a link: http://www.literature-map.com

As for my current reading, I'm still stuck in Harry Potter fanfiction land. There is so much of it out there! It's nearly inexhaustible. I've been searching through it and reading for months now and still finding excellent stories/authors.
 
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micknsnicks2mom

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I like steampunk and that sounds interesting! Would you recommend that story collection, or would I have to read the author's other stuff to get into it?

Have you heard of George Mann? He writes a series called The Newbury and Hobbes Investigations, which are steampunk novels set in an alternate Victorian-era London, where Sir Maurice Newbury is a gentleman investigator for the Crown, and Miss Veronica Hobbes is his partner in solving crimes. It's chock full of crazy steam-powered inventions, steam cars, steam automata, even a steam-powered "life giving chair" that allows Queen Victoria to live past her normal lifespan. It's bizarre and a lot of fun.
yes, i would recommend Andrew Knighton's Riding the Mainspring....     the book is short stories, mostly with different characters in each one. no, you wouldn't need to read the author's other books in order to get into this book. i 'bought' this book at amazon at a cost of $0 (free). a really cool thing is that at the end of the book, the author includes links to his website/blog as well as a link so you can subscribe to his weekly (every friday) emails of at least one short story per week. i receive those weekly emails, and enjoy the short stories in them.

nope, i haven't heard of George Mann. but thank you for mentioning him! i'll check out his novels.

i like the steampunk genre partly because it's 'different', than other more common genres. but then, i have eclectic tastes.
 

rubysmama

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Someone on TCS once posted a link to the Literature Map (I cannot remember who posted it
). It is awesome! You type in the name of a favorite author and the map shows you 'hits' of other authors you might like. It's kind of like a Literature Bullseye, and it gives better suggestions than many of the other recommendation engines I have tried. Here's a link: http://www.literature-map.com
That's a really cool website.  I'll definitely bookmark it for future reference.

I'm still checking the NY Times best sellers list, then borrowing the e-book from the library.  Most have a couple month wait, but you can put 30 on hold at a time, so I always have something to read.

Currently I'm reading

ORPHAN TRAIN, by Christina Baker Kline

And recently I've read:

THE GOLDFINCH, by Donna Tartt (Back Bay/Little, Brown)

BIG LITTLE LIES, by Liane Moriarty.
 

anneno2

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been awake since 3am Reading yes a book yes again about a cat yes, throw in some magic yes, and what do you have. My book that I am writing and editing and writing and editing. It is now ten am I'm tired perhaps a nanny nap. That's what I am reading and writing. Thank Heavens for cats. They level out all the BLAR!  Even if they do belong to the girl next door and cost $900 a cat. He escaped when visitors weren't vigil enough and he took his first steps on grass and nearly died of fright. So as I'm the heroine I slipped through a hole I the fence and picked up a shivering quaking cat, who made no attempt to  fight or for that matter get back on the grass. So what am I reading Gifted if you would like to read the first edited chapters send me a buzz on this channel. anneno2
 

stewball

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been awake since 3am Reading yes a book yes again about a cat yes, throw in some magic yes, and what do you have. My book that I am writing and editing and writing and editing. It is now ten am I'm tired perhaps a nanny nap. That's what I am reading and writing. Thank Heavens for cats. They level out all the BLAR!  Even if they do belong to the girl next door and cost $900 a cat. He escaped when visitors weren't vigil enough and he took his first steps on grass and nearly died of fright. So as I'm the heroine I slipped through a hole I the fence and picked up a shivering quaking cat, who made no attempt to  fight or for that matter get back on the grass. So what am I reading Gifted if you would like to read the first edited chapters send me a buzz on this channel. anneno2
I'd like to read it.
 

stewball

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I've just started reading a British book called Someone Else's Wedding by Tamar Cohen.
It has started very well and very readable.
The blurb said Dark, compelling and breathtaking!!!!
 

rubysmama

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I recently finished "The Invention of Wings".  It's fiction, but the 2 sisters in the book were real women who lived in Charleston before the Civil War and the author based the novel on some of their real-life experiences and some she made up. 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18079776-the-invention-of-wings

Also read "Orange is the New Black" which is the real-life story the tv show is based on.  Interesting read about US women's prisons.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...black?from_search=true&search_version=service

And currently reading "All the Single Women" which coincidentally also takes place in Charleston, albeit in current times.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...adies?from_search=true&search_version=service

What's everyone else reading these days?
 

anneno2

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Me I have 6 books from the library and I am stuck on my computer trying to write a novel in thirty one days. I've just sent chapter four away. I'm dreaming up the plot as I go along, then edit for the next half hour. Looks like I'll be here for awhile yet. That's what I'm reading. Regards annenot2
 

natalie_ca

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I'm reading the latest Star Trek Voyager novel called "Atonement."  Well, actually, I started to read it but forgot what happened in the previous book because it took so long for this one to come out, so I'm actually skimming through the previous book to refresh my memory.
 

Winchester

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Just finished The Solomon Curse by Clive Cussler. Big Cussler fan here. 

Reading The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
 

rubysmama

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Just finished The Solomon Curse by Clive Cussler. Big Cussler fan here. 

Reading The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
I'm not familiar with either author.

The Winter People isn't available as an e-book through my library.

However, The Solomon Curse, as well as all the others in the Fargo Adventure Series are available as e-books.  

What are the books like?  Are they light adventures that are easy to read?  Or dark thrillers with gore and other disturbing descriptions that get stuck in your mind?
 

Winchester

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I am a big Cussler fan and I like all of his series. They are all some kind of technothriller and they all deal with the seas in one way or another. The National Underwater and Marine Agency is an organization founded by Clive Cussler in his Dirk Pitt series. 

Dirk Pitt - NUMA adventures

Oregon Adventures - The Oregon is a huge ship that looks pretty much like a derelict on the outside, but is very new and technologically-capable of anything on the inside. Her captain is Juan Cabrillo, who is also the Chairman of the Corporation (a group that does what the US Government cannot do)..

Fargo - Sam and Remi Fargo are wealthy fortune and treasure hunters and they always end up in some kind of trouble.

The Issac Bell series is an older (circa later 1800s, I think) series based on Issac Bell as a detective for the Van Dorn Detective Agency (think Pinkertons, kind of). I really like this series; I think there are eight books now in all.

None of them are really gory, I don't think, but they are kind of involved. And while you can read them separately, your best bet might be to choose a series, start with the first book and work your way through the lot of them that way. They do kind of build on each other and you learn things about the characters personally that way. People don't generally interact from series to series, but some of the characters may appear in more than one series. Julian Perlmutter, for example; I think he's basically a Pitt character, but, if I'm not mistaken, Sam Fargo might "talk" to him once or twice. Dirk Pitt is the main character in the Pitt series, but he may show up talking on the phone with the Fargos. Things like that.

I've read all of his books and have enjoyed them.

Ever hear of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs? They have a great series, featuring Aloysious Pendergast, an FBI agent. Excellent books. They really should be read in order. They're all really good. The Relic (the first book) was a movie. They also write the Gideon Series. And they both write separately as well. Good books with a bit of the supernatural/science fiction. 
 
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