Read It and Steep!
Reading currently:
Lady Knight, Protector of the Small-Tamora Pierce
The 4th and last book in a series about a young woman, Lady Keladry who becomes the 2nd female knight in her realm in over 100 years. (The 1st being Lady Alanna, whose story was told in the Song of the Lioness Quartet.)I tend to read my good books over and over again, and yes this definitely a good book, I’ve yet to read a book by this author that I havn’t liked.
Summer at the Lake-Andrew Greeley
Romance, Mystery. Spanning 30 years; Leo and Jane grew up in love with each other in late 1920’s Chicago and despite familial pressures and dislike on both sides, it looks like they’ll marry. Then tragedy strikes, killing 2 friends of theirs, and is wrapped in a mystery. Both end up marrying other people but not happy until they encounter each other once again in Chicago in the late 1970’s.
Recent books that I’ve finished:
Theodore Boone;Kid Lawyer-John Grisham:
A plucky kid who already knows that he wants to be a trial lawyer when he grows up and even dispences law advice to classmates, teachers and other adults…though doesn’t charge. This book is about a murder trial. Amusing book, seems to be fairly realistic portrayals of courtroom drama, though intelligently pared down so a young adult could understand. I havn’t read the other books in the series, but so far, I am impressed that Grisham is versatile enough of a writer to write good stories for both adults and kids.
The Last Dragon Chronicles-Chris d’Lacey
6 book series, I’ve read The Fire Within,IceFire and Firestar. I enjoyed the 1st 2 immensely, but while I am not crazy about direction the books seem to be taking…I will continue reading them.
Dark Inheritence-Chris d’Lacey.
Though a different series then above, there seems to be parallel storylines. A teenage boy finds out about his strange abilities that apparently he inherited from his father who has been missing for a few years. A secret organization recruits him to be an investigator of strange phenomena, and in return for his help will reveal what happened to his father.
Percy Jackson books-Rick Riordan
2 series with the same lead protagonist. Percy Jackson discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, the Sea God of Greek Mythology. Both series are about Percy and a group of young heroes that try to stop Gaea, Earth Mother (Who isn’t very motherly.)from rising. Excellent series, both of them. the last book in the 2nd series is to come out in October …Argh! I don’t want to wait that long!
The Kane Chronicles-Rick Riordan
Though for various reasons I did not like this series as much as the above, I have really enjoyed reading them. 3 books in the series. About a brother and sister who have to try and get along enough to save the world a few times, which they do, recruit kids like them…and of course not get killed.
The Blue Girl-Charles deLint
Spunky teenage girl in a new school. She has a somewhat negative past but she doesn’t let that stop her from being herself. She comes across as confident, has her own sense of style and generally doesn’t life beat her down. Is is any wonder that her school’s resident ghost has a crush on her?
Ok I guess I read mostly kids books;) but I plan on getting into reading some classics as soon as Fall/Winter rolls around…(Perfect for long lovely evenings with a cup of tea sitting beside me.)
Ivanhoe,Any books by Louisa May Alcott (Read her biography a few years ago…fascinating!)Jane Austen…and a bunch of other stuff
Charles DeLint! A friend of mine is a huge fan and got me hooked. We met him during Word on the Street last year.
Have you read Graceling? I’m not sure but it seems like it might be up your alley. Very interesting, one of my many favorites:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3236307
Mandy, I did take a look at the Graceling series a few times, but I’ve yet to actually give them a try. I don’t know why, but just now thinking about the series I thought about Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley. lol. (That’s the only book I really liked by her, though the Blue Sword wasn’t to bad as it was kind of a sequel to Hero and the Crown.) I tend to not get into High Fantasy as much as Urban Fantasy…(High Fantasy is when the author writes about a place mostly or completely developed in their mind, usually resembling pre-technological Europe and often where magic is used in place of technological advances. Urban Fantasy is where the author incorporates fantasy elements with an urban setting. Parts of Harry Potter would resemble that…same with the Percy Jackson books.
LOL…sorry for the rambling…I don’t like to assume that everyone knows about the varieties of fantasy, so thought I’d include it in my post..you know since it was already alittle bit longwinded…
I’m currently reading three books:
Skin Game, by Jim Butcher. Urban paranormal mystery, the latest book in the Dresden Files series. It’s my ‘reading candy’ book, so to say— fun, fast, and easy to read through.
Dangerous Women, a cross-genre anthology of short stories, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. Very enjoyable so far. There were a few ‘meh’ stories in there but overall I’ve liked most of what I’ve read.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. It took me so darn long to settle on a translation for this book but I’m glad I got this one. I can see why it’s a classic. Tolstoy is a master at depicting humanity in many forms. It’s both fast and slow to read. I’m not even finished with it and I’m already planning to put it on my ‘re-read’ list.
I’m about to finish ‘The Swan Theives’ by Elizabeth Kostova, and planning on starting Odd Apocolypse by Dean Koontz next. I’m in love with Odd Thomas.
One of my friends recommended another book by Elizabeth Kostova (The Historian, I think?). Did you like The Swan Thieves?
I really did and it surprised me how much. It was recommended by a friend who loved it. Seems like goodreads is a bunch of mixed reviews. I don’t usually read this kind of heavy writing.I am more of a ’read a book a week type and this took me almost a month.
I think she only has the two novels but I loved both of them. I think I preferred Swan Thieves but it may be that is just because I read it more rece ntly.
The friend who recommended Swan Theives recently bought the Historian, I’m waiting to see her opinion on it before I ask to borrow it. I really enjoyed the book though, it was a bit hard to get into because I’m not an artist so some of the art stuff was a little over my head. But the characters were really enjoyable.
After a few books I’ve read recently having female characters I really disliked, I was happy to say that all the ladies in this book made me like them. Heck all of the characters did, even with their flaws.
Right now, I’m reading “People of the Book” by Geraldine Brooks. I read mostly fiction when reading for pleasure since I read so many scientific papers for school. I read pretty much anything and everything :-)
I just got home from the library, where I picked out three tea books!
The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook by Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss
The Story of Tea (same authors, didn’t notice until now! Hah!)
The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea by Michael Harney
Can’t wait to get started on these! :)
I have A Brief History of Tea by Roy Moxham but I’ve never gotten around to it. I don’t know why I’m not interested in reading books about tea given the amount of online research I’ve done over the years, but so it is.
I do almost all of my reading from the library (which I finally got a part-time job at a few months ago). I just finished Frog Music by Emma Donoghue which I was excited about as I love her stories, but this one didn’t keep me as interested as others. She is really good at taking a grain of history and spinning a fabulous tale around it though. I think my favourite so far is the story collection Astray.
Since then I have started an Alice Munro short story collection called Away From Her. I don’t know that I ever read Munro before which I think makes me a bad Canadian. I also haven’t read Margaret Atwood. Whoops. I am liking these stories so far but short stories aren’t really my preferred format. Somehow the brevity of the stories tends to lose my attention rather than hold it.
Because I am a sucker and only want to spend money when I can’t afford it (and I have been listening to way too many book related podcasts at my other job) I want to buy an e-reader. I rarely read e-books and I would never spend money on them since I library EVERYTHING but I want one. I also want to place orders for Mandala and Whispering Pines given their new awesome Canadian shipping policies. I am a disaster.
I have Nook Simple Touch. All the Radioshacks were phasing them out early last year so I got it for $20. Then I forgot it was in my backpack and basically cooked it all summer so it stopped working. I liked it enough that I ended up choosing it again when I decided to buy a new one. About $80 and worth every penny. Plus idk if your libraries do this, but the libraries around here have an ebook program.
I have a Kindle (1st gen HD) that I really like. They have the Kindle Lending Library, and just introduced Kindle Unlimited which offers access to audio and e-books for 9.99 a month after a 30 day free trial. I’m not sure if this is available in Canada, but it seems like a good deal since Audiobooks can be so pricey.
I wasn’t a fan of e-readers until I got one, but now I’m very happy I did. I think I probably read twice as much as I used to.
I’ve been researching and for my needs Kobo is the way to go. I would use the library for e-books so Kindle is out. I want the front light since I am unlikely to buy multiple readers. So, I’m looking at a glo for $130 plus tax. Too much to justify right now at least. And I would then feel worried taking it out of the house especially since I already have a smart phone and will carry a real book too because my library has way better selection of physical books than ebooks. So it really is silly.
Thanks for all the ideas though. I know people are passionate about their readers and the technology keeps improving. E-ink screens are really neat!
Nook Simple Touch was a glo front light option that’s only $10 more. Since you’re not buying yet I say maybe look into it. I really liked the fact that the whole screen is touch screen. I like that you can look up definitions to words from the page you’re on. You can touch anywhere one either side of the screen to turn the page, or you the physical buttons to turn pages. And I didn’t want to go LCD backlit screen because those cause eye strain after extended use, and with as much as I use my phone and computer I figured I’d give my eyes a rest with my books. Those were all things I considered when I bought mine, and simple touch seemed like the cheapest that fit the bill. Plus it uses regular old android charger cords to charge so chances are if you’re at someone’s house or something and it’s dying, they’ll have the right charger. And for me, even 30% charge can last me a few weeks and I read a lot. And it doesn’t take long to fully charge.
Just something’s to look into! (: It could potentially save you ~$50
@Mandy – I REALLY appreciate your thoughts on this! Many of the things you considered are the same that I was after. Somehow I ended up buying the Kobo Aura today (on sale, with gift cards) so unless I really hate it I am pretty committed now. I can return it within 14 days if I want. That said, I appreciate the viability of the Nook, but I think they are still harder to get hold of and use in Canada. I was able to walk into Chapters and try out the Kobo today, which I appreciated. I don’t actually like buying things online (one of the many reasons this may be a bad decision) so it is nice to have somewhere to take it if I have issues. If I were in the US though, a Nook would have been a very likely option. Thanks again to everyone for the thoughts and advice! Hopefully I can figure out what I’m doing. I know I need to get some library books on the go!
I usually read two books at once. I don’t know why, but it’s a habit I got into when I was younger and couldn’t decide which library book I wanted to read first, and it’s just stuck ever since.
Currently it’s Dance Dance Dance which is the last Murakami book I haven’t read. I’m almost sad to finish it because I know another one won’t be coming out for a while.
Also reading Blindness by José Saramago. I started it a few years ago, and somehow lost it in my car only to be found last week.
I really liked Blindness but it is really unsettling. Funny that you couldn’t see it in your car. ;)
I tend to read more then 1 book at a time too, especially if I had brought home quite a few. Alot of times it is only 2, but it’s been up to 8. I don’t like it being that high because I end up forgetting to finish a book.
Uniquity – Heh, kind of ironic right?
Lynx – Anymore than two and I tend to mix up the plots a bit. Especially with Murakami books where there are already two stories interwoven. I will re-read books that I’ve read previously though since it’s easy to keep them straight. Usually classics.
I’m reading a few books, which actually means I started a few, and when I decided which one I liked, I pushed the others to the side – which I suppose could mean I’m reading more, or just that I’m really bad at finishing most books.
So, the book I’m actively reading is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. Then I have The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, which I haven’t read more of because I’m in that weird transition from audio to ebook. And I suppose I have a few books to finish after that, mainly Dragon Riders of Pern, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. That, or I might start reading House of Leaves.
I read Stranger in a Strange Land a couple years ago. Can’t even think why it took me so long – I liked that kind of book but had just never picked it up. Husband & I both went on a sci-fi tear and binged on Heinlein & Card for a few months. He had read Stranger years ago but I never had. Absolutely loved it. :) Been decades since I read the Pern books but I remember liking them.
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