# (December) What are you reading?



## Aus_Snow (Dec 1, 2005)

Well, it's December here anyway. 

So, what _is_ everyone reading?


Apart from catching up on some history (via non-fiction) - particularly Mesopotamian - I'm nearly done with A Feast for Crows (by George R. R. Martin).

Damn, when's the next one in ASoIaF coming out? Yeh, yeh, I know. Next century. :\


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## Elf Witch (Dec 1, 2005)

I am reading Jim Butcher's Grave Peril which is book 3 in the Harry Dresden series I plan to continue on with the rest of the books.

Then I have a couple of Buffy novels I want to read.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 1, 2005)

I just finished up Pratchet's _Monstrous Regiment,_ so I'm looking for something to read. I picked up the first issue of Cyber Age Adventures (They'd been promising this for so long I figured it was dead, but I just happened to go glancing at the magazines when I was in B&N a couple weeks ago and there it was). Hopefully it does well. 

I'm looking for several Koontz titles, which I've usually found remaindered in 3-in-1 sets, but now that I actually want to buy them they are nowhere to be found....


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## Agamon (Dec 1, 2005)

_Bu$ting Vegas_ by Ben Mezrich.  Great non-fiction book written in a fictional style about a group from MIT that used a (rather ingenuative, I must say) non-card counting system to beat blackjack.  Even better than his other somewhat similar book that's getting made into a movie, _Bringing Down the House_.

That's almost done, and then I'll finally be getting around to reading _The Da Vinci Code_.


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## Lazybones (Dec 1, 2005)

_War of the Flowers_, by Tad Williams. _Days of Infamy_ by Harry Turtledove is waiting at the library. As a historian I'm sure I'll be shaking my head, but his alt-histories are usually amusing, if nothing else.


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## Bloodstone Press (Dec 1, 2005)

I''ve been reading some short stories lately. The best ones have been "Vandy, Vandy" by Manly Wade Wellman, "The Crowd" by Ray Bradbury. "The Reach" by Stephen King, and "A Little Something for us Tempunauts" by Philip K. Dick. 

 I'll be working my way deeper into my short story collection in December.


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## Pants (Dec 1, 2005)

I finished _A Feast for Crows_ a couple days ago and I've started on Kurt Vonnegut's _Slaughterhouse Five_ (reading it for the first time).


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## Mark CMG (Dec 1, 2005)

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman


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## Wombat (Dec 1, 2005)

Just finished two books by Kim Harrison:  _Dead Witch Walking_ and _The Good, The Bad, and The Undead_ -- if you like the Harry Dresden books, you'd like these!  

And doing a lot of article and partial-book reading on Europe between 1760 and 1830...  background research for my larger _Regency Magica_ project


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## Eosin the Red (Dec 1, 2005)

Cornwell's Arthurian saga is 1/2 a book shy of being in the can. I am 6 books into Whyte's Camaluod-Skystone series. I am debating about picking up Uther and Lance Thrower tonight (my favortie Arthurin series so far).

I am knee deep into Life in a XXX series (I am on Villiage right now).

And I am always toying with The Medieval Fortress but have yet to read the whole thing.


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## sniffles (Dec 1, 2005)

Re-reading _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_ for some light reading.


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## Cursed Quinn (Dec 1, 2005)

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud, and a A Feast for Crows.


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## CarlZog (Dec 1, 2005)

The Nautical Chart by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

A gift from a friend who was wowed by it. So far, I am too, but I just started it. Really well written. Here's the amazon summary:

A treasure hunt for a Jesuit ship sunk by pirates off the coast of Spain is the plot on which Perez-Reverte's new novel turns, but a love story is the real heart of this nicely crafted, carefully told adventure. A suspended sailor happens on a maritime auction in Barcelona, where he meets the beautiful Tanger Soto, a museum curator whose winning bid buys her a 17th-century atlas that may reveal the final resting place of the Dei Gloria. Coy, the sailor, is totally smitten, so it's no surprise that he signs on to help Tanger track the sunken ship to its grave in waters he's sailed since childhood. Enlisting the aid of a diver friend, Coy and Tanger stay a few steps ahead of the crooked salvagers who've been trying to get the atlas, outmaneuvering the attempts on their lives and the efforts to keep them from the treasure.

Carl


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## Angel Tarragon (Dec 1, 2005)

Halfway through A Small Death in Libson by Robert Wilson. Next up: Yellowstone by Gary McCarthy.


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## Desdichado (Dec 1, 2005)

A lot of books, actually, although I've read most of them before at some point.

_The Dinosaur Heresies_ by Robert Bakker
_The Complete T. rex_ by James Horner and Don Lessem
_Master Mind of Mars_ (why isn't Mastermind one word?) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
_A Warrior of Two Worlds_ by Tim ...uh... whatsisname.
_Transit to Scorpio_ by Alan Burt Akers
_The Tar Aym Krang_ (sic?) by Alan Dean Foster
_The Book of Skaith_ by Leigh Brackett
_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ by J. K. Rowling

I'm also selectively reading parts of _Dinosaurus_ by Steve Parker and _Dinosaurs: A Global View_ by Sylvia and Stephen Czerkas.  The latter's text is absolute rubbish, but it has incredible illustrations by Doug Henderson, Mark Hallett and John Sibbick, which is the real reason I bought it.


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## Flyspeck23 (Dec 1, 2005)

Just finished _A Maze of Death_ by Philip K Dick half an hour ago. Next up: _Ubik_.


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## Phaedrus (Dec 2, 2005)

HP Lovecraft's collected stories. For the first time. CREEPY! That guy was quite a writer.


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## barsoomcore (Dec 3, 2005)

_Iron Kingdoms Character Guide_ - second time, just finished the IKWG (second time) recently. Gearing up for my IK campaign next year...

_The First World War_ - John Keegan's classic, second time.

_How The Universe Got Its Spots_ - science/autobiography from a physicist.


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## Chimera (Dec 3, 2005)

Stephen R. Donaldson's _The Runes of the Earth_.  "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"

When that's done, I have Flint's _1632_ waiting on the shelf, then I need to go out and get Terry Brook's _Tanequil_.


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## Tetsubo (Dec 3, 2005)

MAN AND MICROBES: Disease and Plagues in History and Modern Times by Arno Karlen


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## Flyspeck23 (Dec 3, 2005)

Mark CMG said:
			
		

> The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman




"This title will be released on August 8, 2006."
May I borrow your time machine?


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## CCamfield (Dec 3, 2005)

Well, I just finished a very good book - Ancient Seige Warfare by Paul Bentley Kern.

I'm now reading a book about the religion of Mithras in ancient Rome.  Forget the title.


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## Pielorinho (Dec 3, 2005)

I started _Anansi Boys_, Gaiman's latest novel, last night.  Finished it about fifteen minutes ago.  It's a very fun, very quick read, and he's definitely improving as a novelist (_American Gods_ annoyed me--I know most folks loved it, but the climactic scene just annoyed me).   It was kind of fun realizing that he's read the same nonfiction book about ravens that I have .

Daniel


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## Pielorinho (Dec 3, 2005)

Flyspeck23 said:
			
		

> "This title will be released on August 8, 2006."
> May I borrow your time machine?



I'm guessing he was referring to this book, not that one .  I listened to it on CD, and was alternately impressed by his insight and irritated by his bloviating (if he told me one more time how impressed the Saudi Prince was with his perceptiveness, I was gonna hurl).

Daniel


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## Wormwood (Dec 3, 2005)

I'm a 35-year old geek and I've been gaming since I was 10, but I've never read a single _Dragonlance _book. Shocking!

So I'm about finished with _Dragons of Autumn Twilight. _Fun stuff. Got the rest of the trilogy to keep me busy until Christmas.


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## Neo (Dec 3, 2005)

Currently Reading *Crossroads of Twilight* by Robert Jordan, which is book 10 of the Wheel of Time.

also reading * Realms of Shadow* return of the Archwizards anthology by R.A. Salvatore


Think I might start re-reading the DUNE books once these two are out of the way.


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## devilbat (Dec 4, 2005)

I just finished *Thunder and Lightning*, the autobiography of Phil Esposito.  I've  started *A Storm of Swords*, by George RR Martin, and I've been working on *Overtime*, the biography of Guy LaFleur.


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## Testament (Dec 4, 2005)

A Storm of Swords, by George RR Martin.

Man, and I thought things were getting bad during ACoK.  The whole place is going to hell in an express elevator.


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## Job (Dec 4, 2005)

Mark CMG said:
			
		

> The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman



I'm reading it too.  Apparently my time machine is also working.    

On a lighter note, I just finished the book version of John Carpenter's film "The Thing", written by Alan Dean Foster.  I loved the extra detail and the scenes that were quite different from the movie.  $7 on ebay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Job (the tortured one).


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## danbuter (Dec 4, 2005)

Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin - really good, so far


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## ShrinkyLink (Dec 4, 2005)

The Call of Cthulu Sixth Edition--a very fun read, a good companion piece to playing Bethesda's 'Call of Cthulu' videogame.

The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks--high octane space opera. Fun stuff.


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## Aus_Snow (Dec 5, 2005)

And on to some historical fantasy: Sailing to Sarantium (by Guy Gavriel Kay).

Gee, these days, if it's not history or fantasy. . .


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## JoeGKushner (Dec 5, 2005)

Just finished the Secret Books of Venus I & II from Tanith Lee. Good writing but a  bit thicker than I'm used to as opposed to say David Gemell or Terry Brooks where it's pretty much X, Y, and Z.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 5, 2005)

Started back on Jim Butcher's _Academ's Fury_, second in the Furies of Calderon series. Pretty darn good, as the politics start to get thick and the knives are whipped out from under cloaks in the capitol.


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## ShadowDenizen (Dec 5, 2005)

Child of Flame, Book 4 of the "Crown of Stars" series by Kate Elliot.
It's frustrating: the books are definitely interesting enough to keep me reading, but I'm not sure if I actually _like_ them or not.  It certainly didn't grab me the way Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow & Thorn", or Martins' "SOng of Fire and Ice", or Jannny Wurts' "Wars of Light and Shadow".

There's so much potential, but A) she seems to fall into the Jordan camp of introducing new characters each book and making them important.  They never really overshadow the three (or so) main characters, but it's still annoying.  and B) she REALLY seems to focus on the "Alternate History" themes, which, to me, anyway, is kinda annoying.  If I wanted to read alterante history, I'd read Harry Turtledove.

When I finish this series (3 more books to go, the last one out in Feb. '06!!), I have "The Historian" waiting on ym bookshelf.


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 8, 2005)

Recenty finished Umberto Eco's Mysterious Flame Queen of Loana and currently reading Jeffrey Ford's Cosmology the Wider World and Paul Auster's Leviathan.

Thus far this month fiinished and was underwhelmed by Tim Lebbon's forthcoming (January) Dusk, the first part of a planned duology;  read and enjoyed Martin's A Feast for Crows. and  very much enjoyed the first installment of a new series coming out in 2006 kicking off with Temeraire (aka His Majesty's Dragon in the U.S.) a trilogy that will begin and end in 2006 that's getting some good buzz, written by Naomi  Novik.


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## Flexor the Mighty! (Dec 8, 2005)

Phillip Dick - A Scanner Darkly


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Dec 8, 2005)

Keeping to my namesake...

_The Last Continent_ by Terry Pratchett. Going to pick up _Thud!_ whenever its out in softcover.


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## Ibram (Dec 9, 2005)

Just finished reading the "Bloody Crown of Conan" which contains the last Conan stories that REH wrote before his death (Red Nails was finished less then a year before his death I think).  I've also reread "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in prep for the new movie.

I've also been reading "Abraham" by Bruce Fieler.  a truely amazing book, I'm going to reread "Walking the Bible" once my brother finishes.


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## Aus_Snow (Dec 9, 2005)

Also reading 'A Secret Country' by John Pilger (non-fiction). Brilliant stuff.


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## James Heard (Dec 9, 2005)

*Reading Grimmer Than Hell* by David Drake while staring at *There Will Be Dragons *wondering if I can stomach another repetitious John Ringo novel. I've been blowing through some collections of short stories recently too: *Tuf Voyaging* by George R.R. Martin (which was one of my favorite serials ever in Analog), *Years In The Making: The Time Travel Stories of L.Sprague de Camp*, by ..., and *The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century* edited by Turtledove and Greenberg (which to be honest felt really uneven as a collection). 

Other fairly recently read books include: *The Shadow of Saganami* by Weber, *Reflex* by Steven Gould, *Destroyer* by CJ Cherryh and *Orphan's Destiny *by Buettner (which wasn't nearly as bad as I was afraid it would be). 

I'm eagerly waiting for *At All Costs*, *The Way To Glory*, and *We Few* (if I can stomach the Ringo bits) to hurry up and get themselves mailed here, because honestly I've got a few hundred books sitting on the shelves I haven't read - but they're the same few hundred books sitting there that I never read. One day I'll get down to reading the rest of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro novels I've got but they're so exhausting that I'm usually in no hurry.


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## Starman (Dec 9, 2005)

I'm rereading Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. For gaming stuff, I've been (re)reading Eberron, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Five Nations, Explorer's Handbook, and Mage: the Sorcerer's Crusade.


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 9, 2005)

Putting other books down as I just got The Thousandfold Thought by R. Scott Bakker.


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## Firebeetle (Dec 9, 2005)

*Bud, Not Buddy*

Being a teacher of 10 year olds, I read a lot of children's literature. . .

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis- Brilliant book with very witty dialogue and narration.  An orphaned black boy in the depression tries to find the father he's never known. Mostly, though, it's about Bud's view of life.

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo.  Clever little series that is an enjoyable read.  Probably Harry Potter inspired without being a rip-off, a school for gifted children includes students who are all descended from the same magical ancestor, the Red King, and have one of his many talents. The clan elders are all rotten and are up to constant shenanegans.  Lots of ideas for roleplaying, especially having a party of characters who are children of the Red King (or homebrew equivalent.)

Just finished Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Opal Incident, I have to admit the Artemis Fowl books are a guilty pleasure.  Fairies with high-tech, a boy criminal genius who can't relate to other kids, and a martial-arts mountain of a man for a butler.  These books are awesome.


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## Asmo (Dec 9, 2005)

"The Shining Ones" by David Eddings

Asmo


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## John Q. Mayhem (Dec 10, 2005)

Firebeetle said:
			
		

> Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo.  Clever little series that is an enjoyable read.  Probably Harry Potter inspired without being a rip-off, a school for gifted children includes students who are all descended from the same magical ancestor, the Red King, and have one of his many talents. The clan elders are all rotten and are up to constant shenanegans.  Lots of ideas for roleplaying, especially having a party of characters who are children of the Red King (or homebrew equivalent.)




Oooh, I think I've read that. 


I'm reading Stanislaw Lem's _The Cyberiad_ and some more Richard Sharpe books. I also recently read _Amusing Ourselves to Death_, _Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight_ (again), and a really cool poem called _The Wanderer_.


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## Angel Tarragon (Dec 10, 2005)

Finished Yellowstone last night. Great read.

Tomoroow I will be reading Inkwell, by Cornelia Funke. My sister just gave me the hardcover of this book on Thnksgiving, I am looking forward to devouring it.


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## NiTessine (Dec 10, 2005)

Now going through Philip Athans' _Annihilation_, the fifth book of the War of the Spider Queen. I'm of two minds about the novel. On one hand, Athans' prose is sometimes jarringly bad and his combat descriptions overly gory and explicit. However, there's plot is strangely gripping and his action scenes have a certain energy to them that was not present in his earlier work. If this keeps up, I'll have to get _Whisper of Waves_...

Then I've got _The Political History of Finland, 1809-2003_ that I must read for an exam. Really interesting. *Nod nod*

Next fiction book in line is probably Susanna Clarke's _Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel_, followed by Conn Iggulden's _The Gates of Rome_.


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## Dion Ritter (Dec 10, 2005)

The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard.


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## Roudi (Dec 10, 2005)

After just recently discovering how *amazing* of a writer David Drake is, I am nearly done The Tank Lords (thank you, Baen Free Library!).  If anyone can recommend more of his novels, or other authors who write in a similar vein, I'd be much appreciated.


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## Express (Dec 10, 2005)

The Conquering Sword of Conan. 

Alas its the last of the yearly Conan reprints. Whatever shall I do now


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## warlord (Dec 11, 2005)

Cold Mountain by Charles Fraizer, I'm surprised how good it is and am very tempted to have the players in my Wild West campaign encounter Inman some time soon.


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## Micah (Dec 11, 2005)

Somehow I doubt anyone out there is willingly trying to wade through Dostoevsky, but my new years resolution is to try and get through Crime and Punishment before next December.  
(and yes I'll probably get through Bakers version before that.)


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## Pielorinho (Dec 12, 2005)

Micah said:
			
		

> Somehow I doubt anyone out there is willingly trying to wade through Dostoevsky, but my new years resolution is to try and get through Crime and Punishment before next December.
> (and yes I'll probably get through Bakers version before that.)



I'm not currently reading him, but I read a book of his short stories a few years back, after a roommate of mine highly recommended him.  He's aight.

Daniel


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## Banshee16 (Dec 12, 2005)

Personally, I just finished the first two books of the "Last Mythal" series from FR, and I've started reading "Shadowmarch" by Tad Williams.

Banshee


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 12, 2005)

Finisihed the concluding chapter of R. Scott Bakker's _Prince of Nothing_ series, The Thousandfold Thought last night - powefrul concluson, readers won't be disappointed come January.

Back to reading Jeffrey Ford's Cosmology of the Wider World.

-----------------------------------
The Bodhisattva

Fantasybookspot.com


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## JoeGKushner (Dec 12, 2005)

Just got a  folio edition of the Hobbit. Reading it again, I see that I've got some questions I'll have to pop up on the general board.


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## Viking Bastard (Dec 12, 2005)

I'm reading _The Naked Woman_ by Desmond Morris.

I recently finished _Watching the English_ by Kate Fox and before that _In Praise of Slow_ by Carl Honoré.


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## orbitalfreak (Dec 12, 2005)

I am currently reading "King of Foxes," sequel to "Talon of the Silver Hawk," from Raymond E. Feist's new trilogy, Conclave of Shadows.  It's the last book of his Midkemia world series that I own (Need book 3 of CoS, Exile's Return, soon), having read every other book in series-chronological order over the past few months.  This man can write.


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## Desdichado (Dec 12, 2005)

_The Hounds of Skaith_ by Leigh Brackett--I intend to finish that soon, though, and finish up the series with _The Reavers of Skaith_.

Also reading _The Horned Dinosaurs_ by Peter Dodson, a dinosaur paleontologist from Philadelphia.  This book is really the definitive one on ceratopsians.

Also reading James Gurney's _Dinotopia_ books again, but I really think I'd be a lot happier if all the text were removed and we just had the art to look at.


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## Desdichado (Dec 12, 2005)

Micah said:
			
		

> Somehow I doubt anyone out there is willingly trying to wade through Dostoevsky, but my new years resolution is to try and get through Crime and Punishment before next December.



Why do you doubt that?  I've read _Crime and Punishment_--it's a good book.  It's considered a classic for a reason.


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## dravot (Dec 12, 2005)

I'm reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" (about 80 pages to go), and enjoying it immensely.

Every night, I also read "Bear Stays Up For Christmas" and/or "The Very Quiet Cricket".


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## WayneLigon (Dec 12, 2005)

I finished up Butcher's _Academ's Fury_, which was quite a good book, and I'm casting about for the next thing. I started on _The Iron Tree_, but the narrative style.. is a little offputting for some reason. I ordered Charlaine Harris' Grave Sight  which seems excellent from the sample chapter, but it won't be here for a few days.


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## danbuter (Dec 13, 2005)

I'm now reading "The Last Citadel" by David L. Robbins. Really good book set during the battle for Kursk in WW2.


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## Nikosandros (Dec 13, 2005)

Just finished "Atonement" by Ian McEwan.

Currently reading "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman.

I'm also reading (very slowly) "Lectures on Phase Transitions and the Renormalization Group" by Nigel Goldenfeld... I don't know if that counts...


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## Ferret (Dec 13, 2005)

Reading Seize the night by Dean Kootz. The writing inside is brilliant, truely, the descriptions are poetic and witty, they paint a perfect image in the minds eye.


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## TwistedBishop (Dec 14, 2005)

Ferret said:
			
		

> Reading Seize the night by Dean Kootz. The writing inside is brilliant, truely, the descriptions are poetic and witty, they paint a perfect image in the minds eye.





That's a great series.  I wish he would finish it already.


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## John Q. Mayhem (Dec 14, 2005)

In the middle of _Sailor on the Seas of Fate_ after finishing _Elric of Melnibone_. Good stuff, although the Four-In-One was kinda off-putting in that I thought it (and Agak and Gagak) was silly.


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 15, 2005)

Crytsal Rain by Tobias Buckell and Summer Isle by Ian R. Macleod


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The Bodhisattva

Fantasybookspot.com


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## Nighthawk (Dec 18, 2005)

Fantasy books: I just finished The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme and will be starting Traitor General by Dan Abnett.


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## Captain Tagon (Dec 18, 2005)

Working my way through David Weber's Honorverse series.


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## lrsach01 (Dec 18, 2005)

Finish Salvatore's Promise of the Witch King and Jordan's Knife of  Dreams and am now enjoying Martin's Feast for Crows.


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## danbuter (Dec 18, 2005)

Finished "Last Citadel". It was a very good book, and I recommend it to anyone remotely interested in WW2.

Now starting "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon.


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## Jdvn1 (Dec 19, 2005)

Firebeetle said:
			
		

> Just finished Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Opal Incident, I have to admit the Artemis Fowl books are a guilty pleasure.  Fairies with high-tech, a boy criminal genius who can't relate to other kids, and a martial-arts mountain of a man for a butler.  These books are awesome.



Those books sell like nobody's business, too. Crazy how many of those I see go through my store.

I recently finished _Shadow of the Giant_, so I've finished both companion series of _Ender's Game_! Phew! That took a while, but it ended with a number of unanswered question.  :\ 

Ah well. I think I'm not going to continue the two other series I've started (I may consider restarting Pullman, but likely not). I'm starting _Queen of the South_ by Arturo Perez-Reverte. You like mystery books? Try this guy out. Lesser-known name in the states, but he's really big in Spain. He writes slightly more intellectual mysteries, according to a blurb on the back.

Anyway, I'm excited about this kick I'm on.


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## MonsterMash (Dec 19, 2005)

_Programming Perl_ by Wall, Christiansen and Orwant.

_Kidnapped_ by Robert Louis Stevenson - gives me some ideas for a 1-2 player campaign.


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## Brakkart (Dec 19, 2005)

Just finished a trio of Forgotten Realms novels (I go through 1 a week, reading them on my breaks in work), which are Whisper of Waves (5/5), Master of Chains (2/5), and Queen of the Depths (5/5). Skint at the moment, so no money for new books, guess I'll just have to re-read something on my shelf.

Still I know I'm getting Thud! by Terry Pratchett for Xmas, so I'll be reading that next week.


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## Wombat (Dec 20, 2005)

I took a long train trip this weekend.

On the way down I read Kim Harrison's _Every Which Way But Dead_ -- very fun, in a Harry Dresden kinda way.  Certainly not "serious" reading at all, but quite amusing.

On the way back I had been handed an early Xmas gift -- Neil Gaiman's _Anansi Boys_.  Read it all on the eight-hour trip.  I am now shoppin' me for a green fedora with a feather in the band.


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## Storminator (Dec 20, 2005)

I've been reading First Man, Neil Armstrong's bio. It's very interesting in an odd way. Armstrong reads as a kind of boring guy that did a lot of amazing things, and the technical detail is pretty good. So it's a mix.

PS


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## DarrenGMiller (Dec 21, 2005)

I have just finished Ken Hite's excellent _Nightmares of Mine _ guide to horror gaming and am now reading _A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century _ by Barbara Tuchmann.  It is a great read thus far.

DM


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 21, 2005)

As I'm making my way through Tobias Buckell's forthcoming Crystal Rain, I just received another book that on my 2006 most wanted list, Daniel Abraham's A Shadow in Summer, the first book in _The Long Price Quartet_ - really been looking forward to this seies.

GRRM had great thing to say about it from the blurbage:



> "he tells their stories in an elegant style that reminded me by turns of Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, and M. John Harrison"



 -*GRRM*

He invoked MJH and Wolfe!   Huge expectations.


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## possum (Dec 21, 2005)

December really cut into my reading because of finals and such, but I was able to get some good reading in.

New Jedi Order: Force Heretic trilogy: Let's be honest here, despite what others may say I love the New Jedi Order series and I have found almost every single book in it to be enjoyable.  Let's just say that despite the important plot points in these three books, the Force Heretic trilogy has to be the worst in the series that I have read.  It's not really _bad_, but it's just slow compared to the other books.  The best book in the trilogy had to be _Refugee_, while the worst was _Reunion._ _Reunion_ was bad to me because the action on Zonama Sekot itself was boring to me.

New Jedi Order: The Final Prophecy: I haven't really gotten far into this book yet, but so far it's pretty good.  I loved Greg Keyes work on the Edge of Victory duology and so far his work on this book is on par.

Unifying Force: I haven't read it yet, as I'm only on the above book.  

Dark Nest III: Swarm War: It hasn't been released yet, but I'm waiting to get this book in my hands next Tuesday.


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## John Q. Mayhem (Dec 21, 2005)

Finished Thud!


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## frankthedm (Dec 22, 2005)

The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham. I Heared [from here abouts] That this was what *Surface*[TV] was based on.

He also authored The Day of the Triffids.


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## Jay Tomio (Dec 23, 2005)

Just starting  the first book in a new series coimng out next year, A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham, which got sterling comments from GRRM.


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