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What are You Reading in May?
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2014-05-05 8:01 AM (#7513)
Subject: What are You Reading in May?



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Started The Margarets, my first Sheri Tepper novel. Liking it so far.
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pauljames
Posted 2014-05-05 8:14 AM (#7514 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: scotland		Am currently finishing off a mainstream book by Andy Mcnab.

Bought Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb and also bought Under The Dome by Stephen King a couple of days ago. So will be starting Assassin's Quest very soon. Really excited about it. It has been over a year since I finished Royal Assassin and am keen to get back into the story and find out how it continues. I am also looking forward to getting stuck into a longer book, most of what I have read this year has been short. Short books are good but I do enjoy getting stuck into a large story.
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Rhondak101
Posted 2014-05-05 8:22 AM (#7515 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: SC, USA		Currently reading Unnatural Creatures, short stories selected and edited by Neil Gaiman and Lauren Beukes' Moxyland. I'm having trouble getting into Moxyland. The setting and characters are okay, but there's no plot. Already working on the review in my head.
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splunge52
Posted 2014-05-05 11:34 AM (#7517 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: Rhode Island		Just finished "Downbelow Station" by C.J. Cherryh. I enjoyed the story very much. My favorite charactors were the "Hisa" the natives of the the planet Pell.
On deck "Windhaven" by Geo. R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle.
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Scott Laz
Posted 2014-05-05 1:39 PM (#7520 - in reply to #7517)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: Gunnison, Colorado		Halfway through Franz Kafka's The Castle--weirdly fascinating and tedious at the same time, but I think that's part of the point. Also, for something completely different, Jungle Tales of Tarzan.
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DrNefario
Posted 2014-05-06 7:16 AM (#7525 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: UK		I've just finished Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds, which was a lot of fun, and started Joanna Russ's The Female Man, which I don't know what to make of just yet, although I've barely started it and I was struggling to keep my eyes open last night.

Currently bubbling to the top of my in-tray are The Snow by Adam Roberts (because it's a tatty paperback I can immediately dispose of when I've finished it), The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (likewise, and it also counts for a lot of challenges - I wouldn't mind if I could find a better copy of this one, it's a really poor paperback, but it was only 50p), and The Heir of Sea and Fire by Patricia A McKillip (I'd like to read the whole trilogy this year, so I'd better get on with it). Some combination of those might get read in May if I'm not distracted. That list also includes no ebooks, and it seems unlikely that I'll leave my ereaders alone for that long.

Non-genre wise I'm reading less than usual, while I try to get ahead in my challenges, but I am attempting to read an Agatha Christie short story every day. I'm currently in the middle of The Mysterious Mr Quin, which is almost genre.

Edited by DrNefario 2014-05-06 7:18 AM
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Rhondak101
Posted 2014-05-06 8:53 AM (#7526 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: SC, USA		Dr. N, I love Harley Quin. I wish she'd have written more of those.
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-07 1:23 AM (#7540 - in reply to #7526)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Currently reading three books, which pretty much never happens, but it's a unique circumstance:

Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, by John Scalzi. Books about epidemics are my literary kryptonite, y'all, so I started this at midnight when my pre-order downloaded. I've read half in the last hour and I'm testing my grownup skills to see if I can go to bed and wait til tomorrow morning to read the second half (don't hold your breath).

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, by Catherynne M. Valente. I love the Fairyland books, and while I'm ordinarily a binge reader, giving books three to four sittings at the max, something about these makes me want to read a just few chapters just before bed every night. It's so much more about the journey than the getting there, I guess? And they're so visual, and I'm not a visually-oriented person.

Boy, Snow, Bird, by Helen Oyeyemi. The premise of the book is intriguing and it belongs to my favorite subgenre (mythic fiction), but I just don't find these characters very relatable. I've read about a third and may just have to put it down in favor of checking out another novel of hers.

Possibilities on the table for the rest of May: Mary Doria Russell's Children of God, Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo, Nicola Griffith's Hild, Mary Robinette Kowal's Glamour in Glass, and something as-yet-undecided by both Tananarive Due and Andrea Hairston. Just depends on what strikes my mood; they're all in my TBR pile.

Edited by FeminineFantastique 2014-05-07 1:25 AM
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daxxh
Posted 2014-05-07 1:53 AM (#7541 - in reply to #7540)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: Great Lakes, USA		I just finished Hild by Nicola Griffith - excellent book. I am halfway through The Children of Men by P.D. James - much better than the movie. I have The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata (Nebula nominee) and The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan (sequel to A Natural History of Dragons) waiting. Authority by Jeff Vandermeer should be here shortly as it was just released today. It's the sequel to Annihilation, my favorite book of the year so far. I can't wait for that one.
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-07 2:31 AM (#7542 - in reply to #7540)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Good to hear more positive opinions about Hild. Given all the books (and life stuff) on my plate its length is intimidating, though I am ordinarily a doorstopper reader. Been in the mood for something historical though, so I suspect I'll begin that one sometime this month.

FeminineFantastique - 2014-05-07 1:23 AMUnlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, by John Scalzi. Books about epidemics are my literary kryptonite, y'all, so I started this at midnight when my pre-order downloaded. I've read half in the last hour and I'm testing my grownup skills to see if I can go to bed and wait til tomorrow morning to read the second half (don't hold your breath).


Uh, yeah, that ship sailed. This was a companion novella and sort of a prequel to Lock In, a novel set to come out later this summer, but it worked surprisingly well as a stand-alone.

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francesashton
Posted 2014-05-09 1:31 PM (#7566 - in reply to #7542)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: Cheshire, England		I've just finished up a couple of the Masterworks: Tau Zero by Poul Anderson (great story, though I got lost in the science), and The Maze of Death by PKD (interesting, if odd as usual). I also knocked off Mur Lafferty's Shambling Guide to NYC (easy read, nice enough, nothing special). Currently finishing up the Everness series by Ian McDonald - I'm on book 3 at the moment. Then there's Luke Smitherd's new book A Head full of Knives which is waiting to be read and Trudi Canavan's Thief's Magic is out next week so that will take precedence when I get it.
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-15 7:43 PM (#7674 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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So I finished the second Fairyland book, which was even better than the first, and started The Other Half of the Sky, the anthology containing Aliette de Bodard's The Waiting Stars (which was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus this year).

The premise of the book is so cool. The editors were tired of the fact that protagonists in science fiction (specifically space-oriented SF) are usually male and issued a request for stories with female protagonists. But it didn't stop there. They wanted stories in worlds that were wholly different from ours and not reminiscent of earthly social structures -- Manifest Destiny-type conquest stories, heteronormativity, patriarchal systems of governance. The results are some of the most inventive sci-fi I've ever read.

I've only read two stories so far, and in one the protagonist was bisexual and in the other the protagonist was transgender, so I think it is a viable pick for the LGBT challenge (if anyone is still looking for another selection) as well as WoGF and short fiction (obviously -- though it's a pretty long book in the aggregate).

Edited by FeminineFantastique 2014-05-15 7:45 PM
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Scott Laz
Posted 2014-05-15 8:50 PM (#7675 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: Gunnison, Colorado		The Other Half of the Sky sounds like one to pick up -- SF that challenges the future.

Just finished The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson. Reading early '50s issues of Galaxy and F&SF, and about ready to begin Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard.
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2014-05-16 8:51 AM (#7679 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Finished 'The Margarets' bit of a mess but interesting. Started 'No Enemy But Time', not really for a challenge (although it fills 2) but more as it is a Nebula winner.
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pauljames
Posted 2014-05-18 11:06 AM (#7719 - in reply to #7679)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: scotland		170 pages into Robin Hobb's Assassin's Quest, really enjoying it but it will take a long time to read as it is very detailed very dense and quite slow. I know a lot of people are put off by this kind of writing. However I seem to be able to adapt to any author I read. The only downside I find to long books or books that take a long time to read is the extra time you have to wait to carry on with the next book I have on my bookshelf.
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-21 6:00 PM (#7769 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Began Karen Lord's Redemption in Indigo. Fantastic example of magical realism.
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DrNefario
Posted 2014-05-22 8:05 AM (#7776 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: UK		My plan didn't survive contact with the enemy, as usual. I found The Female Man pretty hard going, and felt I needed an antidote after I finished it, a nice simple action-oriented story. I went for Sporting Chance, by Elizabeth Moon, which suited pretty well. Nothing amazing, but a bit better than the first Serrano book, I thought.

After that I did manage to read one of my planned books: Heir of Sea and Fire by Patricia A McKillip, which was very good. I look forward to the final part of the trilogy. Then I decided I hadn't used my Kindle for far too long, and decided to start Dorsai! by Gordon R Dickson, a Hugo runner-up and a book one.

I have also managed to find a better copy of Handmaid's Tale, and squeezed in a quick Agatha Christie novel last weekend (The Murder at the Vicarage). I keep buying second-hand Christie paperbacks, and I thought it was time I freed one up for recirculating.
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-22 8:50 PM (#7790 - in reply to #7776)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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I took a break from novel-reading for some short fiction and dudes. "Among the Thorns," by Veronica Schanoes -- a novella of hers was nominated for the Nebs this year but this one is her newest. So. Much. Win.
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valashain
Posted 2014-05-24 11:26 AM (#7801 - in reply to #7790)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Location: The Netherlands		I'm having a go at Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It seems to be sweeping the awards this year so I thought I'd have a looksee what the fuss is about.
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justifiedsinner
Posted 2014-05-24 3:09 PM (#7802 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Finished "Ship of Fools" and started "The Time Traveler's Wife".
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FeminineFantastique
Posted 2014-05-29 12:48 AM (#7855 - in reply to #7513)
Subject: Re: What are You Reading in May?



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Read Mary Rickert's The Mothers of Voorhisville, which was superbly written but dark and sad. Leaves me ambivalent about the book but looking forward to more of the author.

Just began Caitlin Kiernan's The Ape's Wife and Other Stories, which is a Locus finalist this year. It includes a feminist lesbian retelling of Beowulf and I am tempted to just skip the rest of the stories for now to read it because awesome.
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