Wildfire Riders

Although it can't have the immediacy of what's being listened to, I'm curious as to what everybody is reading right now - as we have a rather diverse and literate group here.

Presently, I finished "Day Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko earlier this week and while waiting for the money to buy the third book ("Twilight Watch"), I started reading "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch.

What's on my e-reader*:
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (different. Thought it was going to be thief-lit, along the lines of Abercrombie or Lynch, but it's really, really not. More like a very gritty fairy-tale, where no one's all that likable. Jury's still out on it.)
The Swan Thieves -- Elizabeth Kostova's second novel. She wrote The Historian. Coming in January. This one is not about vampires.

Meatspace books:
Lisey's Story
Getting an itch to reread The Stand.

*e-reader stuff is work stuff, so it's probably about six months ahead of what's on the shelves. It makes going into bookstores and seeing our stuff REALLY WEIRD sometimes. "Hasn't that been out since, like, forever?" "No, we just got it in this week."

Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley - double biography (of sorts) of the two women and their relationship (Lizzie Keckley was a self-freed, black woman and became Mary Lincoln's dressmaker and one of her few friends). VERY interesting.

A Song of Ice and Fire - GRR Martin - about halfway through. Reading this takes a certain mindset, mostly due to reasons made available in Illi's flowchart.

Considering re-reading the Harry Potter series... for no good reason. Actually considering getting them on audiobook, so I can listen to them while I knit.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

Rereading the entire Commissar Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM) series of Warhammer 40k novels, by Sandy Mitchell.

FOR THE EMPRAH

Book form: the Sprawl trilogy - Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive - William Gibson. Old school cyberpunk - some of the first cyberpunk - and a significant reason why we got more of it. Conveniently borrowable phrases from Gibson's books: "jacked in", "the matrix", and, before the internets even existed commercially: "Cyberspace". Earns a minimum awesome score of 95%.

Forcing my mother to listen to in audiobook form for road trip of hell: Night Watch - Terry Pratchett. Not mappable on the scale of awesome due to too much awesome.

Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen.

_Wicked_ by Gregory Maguire.

I'm fascinated by the book, as he puts in an incredibly rich and diverse culture in the land of Oz.

It is also a bit disturbing considering I grew up watching "The Wizard of Oz" with my mom...

Images of the Wicked Witch as a sexual woman are...intriguing, but a bit disturbing all at once.

And then there are the Animals. ::twitch::

Wicked was a book that I'm really, really glad I read - but that I'd not pick up to read again I don't think. It's very dark - almost too dark. Sometimes it feels like it's being dark just for the sake of being dark, and then tries to out dark itself. However, the character of Elphaba is one that I really rather liked, and there was a lot of really good stuff in there too.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker: I attended a free lecture at the library, which then inspired me to go back and hack away at it. It's a pity Stoker wrote absolute shit before and after this classic.

Before they are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie: Damn you, Tarquin. I can't afford the 3rd book until next paycheque. I like this mans style of writing. Gritty, but not too dark, with a dash of clever humour. The characters are a refreshing twist on the typical fantasy stereotypes.

The Killing Ground, by Graham McNeill: The stories of Captain Uriel Ventris, 4th Company of the Ultramarines Chapter, continue. For the Warhammer 40k readers out there, I recommend it almost as much as I recommend what Dan Abnett has contributed to the 40K literature. McNeill puts an interestingly human face on Space Marines, and especially on the Ultramarines Chapter, one that, in my opinion, gets so little love. And I like his approach to Space Marines better than William King (OMG SPACE VIKINGS.)