Man Booker prize nominee:

Still working my way through Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I should have finished it by now, but for some reason there've been a few nights since I started reading it that I just didn't feel like returning to it. The phonetic dialect ("dis sho' hain't pooty") gets a bit tedious, especially since it's not just employed in dialogue, but rather throughout the book since it's all told in Huck's first person. And while each chapter has so far been enjoyable, I'm about halfway through the book and I can't say I get any real sense any of this is actually going anywhere (other than, literally, up the river).

Finishing up...

Just Finished
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Now Reading
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The Passage By Justin Cronin
No Country For Old Men By Cormac McCarthy
A Game Of Thrones By George R.R. Martin

In The Heart Of The Sea - Nathaniel Philbrick.

I listened to both Huck and Tom and they were both a joy to listen too, I'm not sure I could read them that way that Mark Twain intended them to be read as I'm not familer with Civil War era Southern speak.

After being side-tracked by two books I'm finally on my way to finishing:

Finished the first nine Pendragon books (D. J. MacHale) last month and have the tenth on order from my library (Inter-Library Loan program). The ninth was getting a bit tedious, but I did like the ending and teaser for the next one, hence the decision to continue.

Also have the third volume of The Sharing Knife (Lois McMaster Bujold) on order via ILL. Really liked the second one but since it made for a satisfying ending to the first two volumes, I don't expect the third to be as good. I'd like to be surprised though. Definitely want to check out some more of Bujold's book series.

Currently nearing the end of The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd—a first novel, I believe. It is a bit difficult going because of a complex web of plots, as well as unfamiliar place and character names, none of it explained except by "immersion". Interesting enough to keep reading though.

Book 6 of the Dresen Files books.

I quit watching Alice in Wonderland about 40 minutes in, so I really want to read the book to see what it is all about. Never read it before:

Just started:


Trying to wade through, but quickly losing interest in:

Just finished:

Currently reading Jimmy Carr's & Lucy Greeves' "The Naked Jape: uncovering the hidden world of jokes".

I have finally finished Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and reviewed it in my blog. For those who don't care enough to read the whole thing, I read it because Roger Ebert made me feel guilty for not having already done so. I found much of it lacked momentum; there was no compulsion to begin the next chapter for most of the book. And, as I've already mentioned, the various regional dialects being presented in phonetic form became tedious.

Those caveats aside, though, I really enjoyed it and I see now why it's considered such a special work of fiction. When Huck eventually reaches his moral crossroads and makes the choice to help Jim escape slavery, it was a genuinely thrilling moment for me as a reader. I likened it to being a literary equivalent of when Rick commits himself to helping Lazlo get out of Casablanca.

Up next...no idea. The same day I bought this, I also bought an old copy of Pierre Boulle's Planet of the Apes. Not sure if that's what I'll read or not. A friend of mine lent me her copy of Charles Pierce's Idiot America, and I feel like I ought to read that so I can return it. Then again, I may start something entirely else.

About to start the final book of the Camulod Chronicles:

Started

Same Kind Of Different As Me - Ron Hall & Denver Moore.

The sub title is 'A Modern Day Slave, A International Art Dealer, And The Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together.' About 50 pages in and it's already heartbreaking.

Based off of all the fans here, I decided to give the series a try. I'm about 150 pages into Book 1. I certainly don't mean to be condescending to the fans -- to each their own -- but I am finding the writing to be pretty amateurish (every metaphor draws me out of the book), and have little interest in the main character (detective who reader senses is super-cool and enviable, but somehow is also uncomfortable around girls, dating-scene, etc.). I keep feeling that I am not the target audience for this book. Reading about teenage angst, etc., if done well can be quite fun (e.g. Catcher in the Rye); I feel like this character is built up on pretty shallow narrative observations and a stack of cliches.

I am fine with fantasy, sci-fi, etc., but this doesn't feel that far off from the formulaic Dean Koontz books of the 90's, which I haven't really enjoyed since.

Any thoughts on whether Book 1 is representative of the series? I do know that Storm Front was written almost 10 years ago, so maybe I should skip ahead a couple of volumes.

I picked up the first few of these because of recommendations here. After Book One I admit I was thinking:
"Hmmm. What was all the fuss about? It's not BAD but...".

Anyways, I remembered that several folk had said that each was better than the last and persisted.

Book Two was more enjoyable, as was Three and Four.

I don't know if they peaked at any point but I can say that I now eagerly awake the paperback publication dates.

They are gripping yarns and, because there is an ever-unolding story arc, not really touched upon in the first book, I would recommend against skipping any.

However, if you find that you don't like Book Two you are probably best jettisoning the series as being not right for you.

Just Finished


Now Reading

just started to read I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, it looks interesting.