What fiction are you reading? What are you eagerly awaiting?

[NewHampshireDem]

After reading two non-fics this weekend--"Nickle and Dimed" and "the Culture of Fear"--I'm finishing up "The Crow Road" by Iain Banks and starting "Jennifer Government" by Max(x) Barry.

I am very, very eagerly awaiting "The Iron Council" by China Meiville.

What about you?

[LynzM]

1. Nickle and dimed was good, interesting

I'm starting "The 16 Crucified saviors of the World" and heading to the library to pick up some more Orson Scott Card...

[burrowowl]

20. Nickled and Dimed

is NOT fiction.

[terrya]

2. "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides is up next.

I bought this a while ago and haven't started it yet. This weekend I'm going to. :-)

[Richardo]

3. Just got done with the new Lawrence Block "Burglar on the Prowl"

Just what you'd expect - an entertaining and witty who-, why- and how--dunnit. :)

Now: Non-fiction: "Worse Than Watergate" by my hero John W. Dean. :thumbsup:

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. I'm reading 'Violin', by Anne Rice.

GREAT book! :)

[SiobhanClancy]

5. The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford

I've read his previous books..such as "Sarum". Good if you like those epic,Michener-type books.(I do)

[HuckleB]

6. Currently, Vargas Llosa's "Captain Pantoja and the Special Service" and...

Tomas Eloy Martinez's "The Peron Novel."

Recently finished:

Lawrence Thornton's "Imaging Argentina"

Ricardo Piglia's "Artificial Respiration"

Osvaldo Soriano's "A Funny Dirty Little War"

and Viken Berberian's "The Cyclist"

(all wonderful, poignant reads!)


I'm awaiting the arrival of:

Bruno Schulz's "The Street of Crocodiles"

Jorge Icaza's "The Villagers: A Novel (Huasipungo)"

Mario Vargas Llosa's "The Storyteller"

Nicholas Shakespeare's "The Dancer Upstairs"

and

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The General in His Labyrinth" and "The Autumn of the Patriarch"

(it's heavily weighted to south america, as we're heading that way for a vacation...)

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Ringworld Engineers is my current fiction

almost done! Great book, as good as Ringworld.

Then I'm doing Rendezvous With Rama and then some SJ Rosen mystery i picked up, but I can't remember the name.

[Liberal Christian]

13. I'm listening to McCullough's biography of John Adams

And Rabrrrrrr, the S.J. Rozan book you picked up was Mandarin Plaid, I think.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. That sounds right!

And I'm gonna open that Adams book soon!

[mike_c]

8. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville....

Not my usual cup of tea-- I prefer harder SF-- but Perdido Street Station is fascinating.

[NewHampshireDem]

11. I agree on Perdido ...

I'm usually a SF guy myself, but Mieville really impressed me ... I went out and bought "The Scar" and "King Rat" as soon as I was done with it. Both were as good as "Perdido."

[bain_sidhe]

9. Oddly appropriate... Brin's "Heaven's Reach"

the third book in the second "Uplift" trilogy. It is a time of troubles in the Five Galaxies, some even believe that it's a "Great Change" - an event that occurs every few billenia and spells the end of this cycle's galactic civilization.

Harry is a neo-chimp working in a kind of galactic "coast guard" called the Navigation Institute. They've noticed that the "hyperspace lanes" have become increasingly unstable, with ruptures and detours becoming common. Yet when his boss asks headquarters if they know what's going on or have any ideas, the response was:

These events are not unexpected.

Provisions have been made (long ago) for dealing with the phenomena.

Agents at your level should not concern themselves with causes, or long-term effects.

Perform your assigned tasks. Protect shipping. Safeguard the public. Continue reporting data. Above all, discourage panic.Hearten civil confidence.

Maintain your equipment at high levels of readiness.

Cancel all leaves.

In other words, "nothing to see here, move along. Oh, and be ready."

This was written in 1998. The first book in the trilogy was written in 1995. Filed in "Things that make you go 'hmmm.'"

[bain_sidhe]

10. Looking forward to Broken Angels

the new Richard K. Morgan novel featuring "Takeshi Kovacs — flawed hero of the hit novel Altered Carbon — meets explosive action head-on in a military SF thriller that’s been described as The Matrix meets Apocalypse Now." (per SFBC)

Plus, The Reaches by David Drake, Blood Pact - the book that completes my collection of Tanya Huff's Victory Nelson horror/detective novels - three early Eve Dallas novels by "J.D. Robb" (real name, Nora Roberts - she writes romance novels under that name), and Alta the second in Mercedes Lackey's YA series about "Vetch" the Tian serf turned dragon-rider. Ok, I admit it, I'm a sucker for Dragon Riders!!

Plus of course, my non-fiction political books, INCLUDING!!! Against All Enemies and Worse than Watergate. (And, as recommended here, Up From Conservatism.)

All are on the way, as of today!!!!!

[Blue-Jay]

12. Re-reading the "Homecoming" series by Orson Scott Card

I read them when they originally were released, and waited patiently for each one as well. A few days ago, I saw the first (Memory of Earth) on the shelf and couldn't resist picking it up again.

[absyntheNsugar]

14. JD Salinger's work to be released

Not that I want him to die, but I would love it if he suddenly opened up that vault....

[BigMcLargehuge]

15. sadly nothing

but I am writing a novel... does that count?

I am eagerly awaiting more time to write without interruption.

FWIW, the draft title is "Tears of Amaterasu".

[Arugula Latte]

17. Just finished "Secret Life of Bees"

...wonderful book about a young girl in the south in 1964.

Also recent: Da Vinci Code (now that was a fast read -- love the "restore the feminine divine" message -- Good Goddess, do we need that) and Middlesex (very good).

Recently finished Dude, Where's My Country (not fiction, but satisfying) and I've got the first Harry Potter going, too. (I haven't read any of the series yet...I'm waaaay behind the times.)

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. I LOVED secret Life of Bees

So beautifully written, from a technical standpoint, and also a great story with wonderful depths of meaning.

I highly recommend it to anyone. Except freepers, who would get too caught up with asking, "But she's white - and she's with old black women, who might be lesbians - and she's against her father. I don't get it. Why did she do that? Was she a liberal? Satanic?" Their heads would explode. Oh, wait - then I *would* recommend it to them!

[Triple H]

19. I'm reading Nickel and Dimed right now for Sociology...

it's ok. It's not telling me anything new.

The latest fiction I'm reading is Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice.

[Rabrrrrrr]

21. Two people offering Nickel and Dimed on a FICTION thread

I'm not angry, but I am constantly amazed (though I shouldn't be any more) at the number of people who really don't bother to read the subject of a thread before posting. And also the number of people who obviously don't bother to read the thread before posting.

[Triple H]

22. I was simply stating that I was reading Nickel and Dimed..

to the original poster. It's kinda like a "too" thing (eg I'm reading it too).

[NewHampshireDem]

24. No Worries Mate ...

I too mentioned "Nickle and Dimed." You can see my thoughts about it at my site: The Altbergs Report.

I only specifically asked about fiction because I have a pretty good idea of what non-fic most Du'ers are reading. I have been wowed by the wide range of fiction folks here are reading--much of it is stuff I've never heard of, and I read fairly widely myself.

BTW, just finished "The Crow Road" last night. If you haven't read Iain Banks, I highly recommend him ... he writes standard fiction under that name and SciFi under Iain M. Banks. His SciFi is readily available in the US, but his other work is pretty much available only in Great Britain. I get it through amazon.co.uk myself.

[Sufi Marmot]

23. "Justine" by Lawrence Durrell...

I'm hoping it starts to make sense sometime soon...And if it doesn't I'm also reading "Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell and "The Conference of the Birds" by Attar...

-SM

[non sociopath skin]

25. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

The Skin

[SCDem]

26. "Surfacing" by Margaret Atwood

Couldn't sleep last night and started to read the book. Made myself put it down 2 hours later. Hope tonight I can have some time to delve into it again. Atwood is such a wonderful author I wish there were more like her.

[left_wing_literati]

27. The fluff I'm reading

Currently Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash -- witty and bizarre. Just finished Brown's Deception Point.

Also rereading the poetry I'm teaching -- Robert Browning today and Gerard Manley Hopkins on Monday. Two of my faves!





edited for capitalization

[RebelOne]

28. Dean Koontz's "The Face"

I'm looking forward to his newest "Odd Thomas."

[Moriarty]

29. Currently reading Lord of the Rings...

and The Scar. The Da Vinci Code and The Myth of Sissyphus(sp)is next on the ToReadList.

I'm anxiously waiting for The Iron Council and A Storm of Crows, the next George RR Martin book.

[grannylib]

30. Reading Tolkein, awaiting Chimpy's memoirs for upcoming fiction