I have to say it, but maybe we should condense the "What Are You Reading?" threads to a single one for the calendar year? Each one averages about 1-2 pages, so the overall thread length will still be pretty manageable. And it might be more accessible in that it would be easier to browse through the reading of others over time. Anyway ...

Finished:


One of those books that sounds like I should love it (twisty sci-fi noir mystery with some great concepts and lots of action, violence, and sex), but it just didn't happen. I didn't connect with the characters (especially the narrator) or the writing style. I didn't hate it, but finishing this felt like a bit of a chore. I haven't seen the tv series, but this might be a case where the adaptation is better (to me at least) than the source novel.

Currently in the middle of Foundation (Asimov).

Finished Tales of the Peculiar a couple of days ago, started Swan Song (for about the 4th or 5th time)...





856 pages of hellish goodness...

Just started The Hobbit.

Finished:



Another "good but not great" read for me. The novella Rolling in the Deep (a prequel to this story) was a lean mean read that left me wanting more of that world. This felt a little too bloated leading up to the "good stuff" when the killer mermaids run amuck. I'm all for good character development, but when you have point-of-view chapters from the perspective of fish (who get eaten at the end of the chapter) that's going a bit too far. And despite being overlong, the ending ultimately felt abrupt ... quickly blowing off what seemed like the most interesting expansion of the monsters:

Just finished 2 books this weekend:



and

Oh man, I LOVE that book, I've probably read it at least four times since I was a teenager.

I'm currently reading "Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day" by Joel Selvin.

Man, I knew some of what happened, including the murder during the Stones' set, but holy shit, the whole event was so fucked up, with huge mistakes made by all parties involved, it's a fascinating read.

Finished

Is now in my top five Stephen King books and top 10 books of all time.

Starting for a second read


and Continuing:

Finished:



Really like this one. As much as I like and make use of Goodreads, books like this are an example how the 5-star reader rating system is pretty useless. A great daring book by a new author that gets some "buzz" will almost always get lower scores than a generic book cranked out by an established author.

Though I can see how this won't be to everyone's taste. Although it begins as if to be scientific about the phenomena going on (an epidemic of people losing their shadows, and shortly thereafter their memories), it's a full-blown fantasy story that isn't shy about getting really weird (with ship-sized alligators, kite-monsters, singing clouds, talking tattoos, and a giant Statue of Liberty monster laying waste to NYC to mention just a few). And the fact that it gradually transitions from realistic post-apocalyptic drama to whacked-out literary fantasy loses some readers by the midway point. But I've seen grim dramatic stories about a "memory disease" before and was very glad this went somewhere different.

Just finished:

I liked the tv series, a lot. Maybe not loved, but I really, really, liked it. I've only read the first couple chapters of the first book and then started something else, but I will get back to it.

I’ve been reading Stephen King off and on since I was a teen, so there’s now just a small handful I’ve never read. I’m going to start tackling those. First up is Duma Key.

I've never read a Stephen King book, but have been curious about tackling one. Any suggestions on what would be a good "first" book?

Check out the Stephen King thread. There are a few titles that come up over and over.

Finished Rat Race by Jay Franklin. I found it by accident. It's a brutal satire of corruption in government and Wall Street during WWII. The Army will sabotage the Navy if it means that they get the atomic bomb first, SEC investigators make business proposals, and a Nazi spy has protection. The main character is dropped into the body of a millionaire stock broker and has to handle his wife, mistress, and secretary, and the FBI and SEC. Written in the early 50s by someone who had reported to President Roosevelt.

I liked The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, so now I'm reading his Ashenden. Good spy stories; far more cynical than Ian Flemming. Maugham had been a spy, so he tell stories about his experiences.

Thanks! I'll take these into consideration!

I didn't bother to scan far enough to see a thread! Now I know!