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Now reading [books]
14.02.2009 @ 00:08 #1
If you're a bookworm, like me, post here what you're reading. Discussion also free about books but don't spoil the plot of stories or anything like that. ;)
Now reading:
H.P. Blavatsky - Key to Theosophy
14.02.2009 @ 00:13 #2
15.02.2009 @ 07:49 #5
15.02.2009 @ 15:28 #6
Bone Crossed (fourth book in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series)
Cry Wolf (first book in Briggs' Alpha & Omega series)
The Dresden Files short story 'It's My Birthday Too' by Jim Butcher, published in Many Bloody Returns
The short story 'The Star of David' in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe by Briggs (set in the Mercy/A&O universe)
The Last Wish (shouldn't need to tell anyone here what that book is ;) )
Re-read sections of FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War II
Various chapters of legal textbooks for school (post-degree paralegal certificate program)
Sections of Writer's Market's Guide to Literary Agents (see section below quotes in this post)
Story segments/short stories by folks in my weekly writing group (one of whom I've been pestering that they should try getting published with their fantasy story)
Yes, I'm a very fast reader. ;)
Currently reading:
Alpha and Omega by Briggs in On the Prowl (a friend pointed out to me that the reason the start of Cry Wolf felt like I was walking into a story in progress was because the story actually began in a short story in this multi-author compilation)
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (latest book in Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series)
The short story 'Il Est Ne' in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe by Vaughn (set in the Kitty universe, prior to book 3)
As to the short story compilations listed above: Many Bloody Returns is vampire stories with a Valentine's Day setting by various authors. Wolfsbane and Mistletoe is werewolf stories by various authors with a Christmas setting. ...I picked up both pretty much for the Dresden, Mercy-universe, and Kitty stories listed above.
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Pratchett's great. Though I think some of his others have been better than that one, personally. For example, I found Vimes' little beserk incident in Thud! quite amusing. :) (not a spoiler: Berserkers do not usually chant things like that.... ;) )
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My uncle's a King fan, I never really got into his books myself, though. Course I tend to stick more towards fantasy/sci-fi/urban fantasy/military sci-fi in my fictional reading preferences.
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Ayup. Currently starting to look for an agent to try marketing my stories (read as: Working my way through a list trying to figure out who I should try sending to, and trying to work up the courage to do so).
I've got the final draft of one urban fantasy book done (a little over 100,000 words), along with the first drafts of two sequels (currently around 90-93,000 words each) and started on a third (actually, I know roughly what's going on up through the end of what would be book 7 in the series).
Also have a semi-final draft of another book done in a related series (same universe, different location and characters, tho. Approx. 100k words again) and half a sequel written in first-draft (and ideas for several others).
Have a steampunk-fantasy one about 1/2-2/3 done that I need to get back to work on at some point and occasionally play around with post-apocalypse settings, though not recently.
...oh and completed the NaNoWriMo challenge this year, with a first draft story at around 53,000 words after starting 4-5 days late.
...yes, I write nearly as quickly as I read (a 90wpm typing speed helps) ;)
16.02.2009 @ 10:21 #7
16.02.2009 @ 23:39 #8
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Ayup. Currently starting to look for an agent to try marketing my stories (read as: Working my way through a list trying to figure out who I should try sending to, and trying to work up the courage to do so).
Sounds interesting! Let us know when it's available, would love to read.
Can't get enough of books nowadays. In high school I hated reading novels, hah.
18.02.2009 @ 17:44 #10
18.02.2009 @ 18:15 #11
18.02.2009 @ 20:42 #13
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Have you gotten to the part about the banana yet? Somehow the idea that the banana was intentionally invented cracks me up out of all proportion to its true humor value. :D
My husband just brought Harold Bloom's Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds home from the library. Bloom can be disgustingly full of himself, but his books often manage to be interesting in spite of that.
I've made three new adventures for TW1; you can get them at corylea.com/.
I've also made a bunch of mods that fix bugs, kill annoyances or tweak gameplay; you can get those at the Witcher Nexus.
19.02.2009 @ 11:52 #14
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Have you gotten to the part about the banana yet? Somehow the idea that the banana was intentionally invented cracks me up out of all proportion to its true humor value. :D
I have indeed slipped on the banana.
20.02.2009 @ 17:56 #15
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Have you read "Consider Phlebas" from Iain M. Banks, Simon?
20.02.2009 @ 20:15 #16
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Have you read "Consider Phlebas" from Iain M. Banks, Simon?
Yes; it's another good one. Recommended. Also Against a Dark Background, Excession, Look to Windward, Complicity - all of these are very good. I was less impressed by Feersum Endjinn and The Player of Games. He's a very clever, witty, inventive, experimental writer. And (having just recommended Look to Windward and Excession), I don't think his really big cast of millions space opera is his best work (although he does it better than almost anyone else). I think he's at his best when dealing with smaller, more intimate pieces - like Inversions and Against a Dark Background (and, indeed, Complicity).
I haven't yet read either Matter or The Steep Approach to Garbadale but they're both on my reading list.
(edited to add)
Indeed, thinking particularly about Excession, I'm reminded of the old saw that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Banks' universe almost stands that on it's head - any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. Banks is very good about keeping the physics of his universe consistent, but nevertheless when his General Systems Vehicles have such nearly unlimited power it makes plots very difficult to construct - deus ex maccina become just too easy (although, to his credit, he never really succumbs to that temptation).
But the fetishism of technology draws both the reader's and the author's concentration away from the interplay between characters, and it is that interplay which is, in my opinion, at the heart of narrative.
20.02.2009 @ 22:32 #17
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What Lord of the Rings Trilogy? I assure you that Tolkien never written any trilogy. :wall:
Now im reading "Flowers for Algernon" by Keyes Daniel - hundredth time.
And im going to read "The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents" by Pratchett again
21.02.2009 @ 05:47 #18
21.02.2009 @ 13:13 #20
Now; decided to put Blavatsky on hold and read Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars
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