What are you reading?

Over the past three days I devoured my latest victim, "The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels", by Jon Meacham. I've read a number of his books, and this one lives up to expectations and, in some parts, exceeds. If this book doesn't set your mind to thinking as you are reading it and for quite some time afterwards, well, I would find that unbelievable.

I cannot recommend this one highly enough, if anything related to politics in the United States is of any interest. I'll go a step further and say that every book that I've read from Meacham has been nothing short of sheer enjoyment and a fount of information. There is only one of his books left that I've not read, and that one will hopefully soon be in my greedy hands.
 
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I think I'd rather beat my head against a wall than read a novel about American politics. ;)

I finally started reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant again.
 
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Bought Last Wish from audible, and it's pretty good so far. Should be interesting to get more background information about the setting.
 
Yeah the Covenant series is my current go-to when I have no library books to read. I'm halfway through the third book if I remember right, and really looking forward to getting back to that series. The first six books I've read numerous times, but the final four only once.
 
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Yea. Those books were fantastic. Alas we've been waiting forever for book 3. To be honest there are funnier portions in the book but i'm too lazy to invoke spoiler tags to start listing them... Still there was this one time....

Caddy said:
I just finished the first two Kingkiller books. Books don’t usually make me laugh unless they’re Terry Prachett but this part cracked me up:

Come listen all, and I will tell
A tale of brave and daring deeds.
Of wonders Kvothe the Bloodless wrought,
And of the time he bravely fought
A twigling girl no more than ten.
And listen how it came to pass,
The mighty blow he bravely dealt
That knocked her sprawling to the grass,
And of the glow of joy he felt

Anyways, Broken Empire was next on my list, so just started.
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But that is listening and not reading :)

More importantly I often wonder if the narrator plays a greater role in the book than the actual words-thankfully i avoid audio books though I have several friends who swear by them.

Darth Tagnan said:
Bought Last Wish from audible, and it's pretty good so far. Should be interesting to get more background information about the setting.
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you said:
But that is listening and not reading :)

More importantly I often wonder if the narrator plays a greater role in the book than the actual words-thankfully i avoid audio books though I have several friends who swear by them.
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To me it’s the same thing.
 
Darth Tagnan said:
To me it’s the same thing.
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Thats interesting. For some reason I don't like audio books. With audio books, you sort of have to keep up with the speed of the "narrator" and I don't like that. Yes you can pause the audio but that feels like huge hassle for me!

When I am reading, I will sometimes stop and imagine the things in my mind and sort of "navigate" this imagined world and I can't really do that with audio books.
 
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Same for me. I tried an audio book sometime in the nineties, I think it was a Stephen King offering. I just didn't like it, probably in the same vein that I don't care for reading a book on a computer, I just miss the tactile presence of the book too much. Had I been raised as a child to read in that manner, using a computer I mean, it would probably be more comfortable.
 
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I use audio books at night, before I fall asleep. It's very soothing when it's a good narrator (it usually is) - though I often fall asleep too soon, and that means it can take a while to get through a book. But if it's something special, I'll finish it pretty quickly.

When I read, I never have an actual book. At least, I can't remember the last time I had one of those. I read most of my books on my iPad - which is very pleasant and easy.

I also use it for the occasional comic book.
 
Carnifex said:
Yeah the Covenant series is my current go-to when I have no library books to read. I'm halfway through the third book if I remember right, and really looking forward to getting back to that series. The first six books I've read numerous times, but the final four only once.
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I think it's one of the top two fantasy-fiction series of all time. I put it right up there with LoTR + The Silmarillion.
 
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Rise of nine finished and fall of five begun. This is the Loren series; pretty decent but light reading. Definitely not as deep as Tad Williams books.
--
For those who like Tad WIlliams he started a new series a year or so ago; sort of a continuation of an old series some years in the future where the little boy is now and old man... pretty good.
 
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I finished Emperor of Thorns today, what a nice conclusion to Broken Empire. Quite a solid series, and in this current world of putting every bloody novel on telly or movies, I dare someone to translate this series into either medium. Just do not tone down Jorg, because I'm not sure I've ever encountered a more ruthless, conniving, despicable deviant in all my years of reading. He makes Elric look like some discard from an eighties hair band!

I hope we get more books set in this world. I think it's a far too rich place to just leave abandoned.
 
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Carnifex said:
I finished Emperor of Thorns today, what a nice conclusion to Broken Empire…
I hope we get more books set in this world. I think it's a far too rich place to just leave abandoned.
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Well, you have the The Red Queen's War trilogy to read next, which is set in the same world. Read it very soon, because you''re more likely to see the links if your memory is fresh. Also, you'll learn about a few characters who appear during the events toward the end of Emperor of Thorns.

The main character is kind of an anti-Jorg on the heroic scale; less driven and more "caught-up" in events than driving them. These events occur during a similar time period as the The Broken Empire trilogy; i.e. there is significant overlap. Overall, it's another excellent trilogy by Lawrence.

I'm starting his third trilogy (starting with Red Sister) soon. Apparently it's not set in the same world (?), which is a pity.
 
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I knocked out the Slow Regard for Silent Things yesterday, a Rothfuss book featuring just Auri from the Kingkiller Chronicle. It's a very different kind of book, but one I enjoy reading once a year or so.
 
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I've had the two big Rothfuss books for years, but still haven't gotten around to them. When I found out that the wait for the next was going to be long, they got bumped down the priority queue quite considerably.
 
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I finished the second novel of the Druid Chronicles a day ago, Hexed, and it was pretty good. Not only do you get new adversaries, the world gets fleshed out a bit more, and there are significant ties established to the prior book. I've already requested the third book, Hammered.
 
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