Always meant to read some Cornwell at some point, but keep getting distracted by spaceships. Apart from now, when I'm being distracted by Stalingrad and the rest of the preparatory reading I'm doing for the masters. But it might become relevant and useful to read some Cornwell at some point, especially if I end up doing something on the British Empire. Fictional background, and all that.
The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I picked up a copy of the original paperback in 'very fine' condition and subsequently downloaded the ebook from Amazon. The ebook was free, no less. Published in 1963. It's a fun, youthful read, but it's hard for me not to give the young protags voices akin to a young Tony Dow. There's an aw, shucks, and golly, that's just swell, feel to the whole thing.
Just finished reading a book called Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. Great book. I started reading it because of Sanderson's other books, Mistborn trilogy as well as The Way of Kings.
Alice Hartley's Happiness, Philipa Gregory. I didn't expect much at all. But was pleasantly surprised, incredibly funny and fast moving. Clever use of motifs and internal dialogue. Contemporary is not my thing at all but I picked it up on a whim. Can honestly see why this author sells.
Finishing up reading Dreamcatcher by Stephen King. It was very fun, and there are some decent little moments in the prose, but oh my what a silly little book! Aliens that make you fart! There is an attempt here on King's part to work his way through the van accident that almost cost him his life before writing this novel. In a way that's good, but also in a way it is so clear he was living under the shadow of his earlier self and work. Especially IT, which is referenced constantly throughout, twice overt, many times subtly. It's a bad novel, saved only by virtue that it is an easy read. It is important if you want some sort of grasp on how King developed throughout his career, but unless you are wanting to have a window on the psychology of Stephen King, I would say it is functionally a pointless read. Currently reading Scottish Ghost Stories, a collection of Scottish folklore and fantasy stories that has nothing to do with ghosts. It's a bad collection. A very bad collection. The only reason I'm reading it to the end is because of some sort of vague compulsion.
Agreed, sinister horses....right oh. Just picked up The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Four pages in and decided I love this author already. Right amount of fairytale and snark rolled into one. If only I could be so brilliant.....
I'll be reading some of the Sherlock Holmes books after I finish this last book in the Circle Trilogy.
Finished that collection Scottish Ghost Stories. The name of the book was a lie! And what a steaming load it was! There was maybe one ghost in a collection of 22 short stories, and he wasn't even the focus of that story really. There were some folklore stories, mildly interesting actually, a load of boring horror stories, and two stories that didn't make any sense. One story the editor flat out admitted wasn't even a folk story or story of the macabre, but one he thought was pretty neat. It was a woeful collection, and frankly I'm amazed it was ever published. The publisher, Lomond Press is a small publisher I've never heard of before, but still, where was the quality control? I'm glad I've been reading Mason and Dixon piecemeal on the side, it is my favourite novel. Now I can focus on that, I need Pynchon to sooth my soul after some really awful pieces of writing.
I read her The Other Boleyn Girl last year and immediately bought the rest of the series. I was quite thrilled with her treatment of George Boleyn (fictitious as it probably is) because though it did not make it to the film version, reading it in the book gave me full license to fantasize over the exquisitely beautiful Jim Sturgess in all his 16th century glory. Just look at him on those puffy sleeves next to that 15th century cupboard in that 11th century room. I go all noddy just thinking about it. ETA: I do wish they had found two British actresses to play the Boleyn girls, though. Scarlet Johansen is sublime, but I cringe every time I hear her say her prospects will be woowend in the film. No. Just no.
Now I will have to read the series...damn you! I couldn't watch that film for entirely other reasons. Eric Bana was a comedian here before he ever had anything to do with Hollywood, and not a very funny one either. So I cannot watch a film with more than 10 mins of him in it.
First literature to read for my MA. Shakespeare's sonnets. Yey. I have to read a lot of literature around the sonnets too. Ah...
I went to the Book Depot the other day and browsed their scratch and dent section I picked up Camp Camp: where Fantasy Island meets Lord of the Flies. It was a funny old-school homage to camp. I was so one of those girls ( I packed junk food, make up, hair mousse, boom box and mix tape featuring hits from the Footloose soundtrack and Billy Idol.) Also I picked up an amazing book of poems - In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys by Campbell McGrath and The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark, the most painless grammar book I think I've ever read.
Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea. It's terrible. Absolutely terrible. The book is a parody book made by 40 or so authors that weren't able to interact with each other while writing it. With only a basic outline of plot and characters, they had to write a chapter each, as well as writing as badly as they could. The final product is a complete mess and without a doubt a Travis Tea. I love it.
The Beetle: A Mystery by Richard Marsh Apparently it's one of the great, long-lost horror classics. So far it's rather interesting.
@Lemex : In an effort to get some perspective of my pitiful reading progress, how many books do you burn through? You can use whatever metric you want to answer.
On average I'll read somewhere around maybe 40 to 60 books a year. It depends on the size, and also the quality, and how much I'm interested in the book. I can read a small book, like a collection of poetry or 100-or-so page novel, in an afternoon, while some books can take months. I am either reading it very carefully, or doing almost anything beside even looking at it. Why? How many do you read per annum?
I'll be honest; I'm incredibly wimpy. I lack discipline, and if it weren't for my fantastic literature courses, I fear I'd barely finish some quarter of a dozen annually. I've been attempting to rectify this through quota-setting. It helps. No, but you seem very knowledgeable, and because of your educational direction (MA, what not) I was curious. I might consider such a route. I think, therefore, I ought apply rigor to myself to expand myself. I also want to, of course. With everything, though, I would exist as a creature who commits nothing, but I can't stand this in myself, so I create these standards. I will set you as an example, maybe then, as I lecture myself to not be quite so poor a Stoic and learn some Duty.
I'm reading "Swords Of Good Men" by Snorri Kristjansson. It's his debut novel. It's a mix of historical fiction and fantasy set in Viking Norway. I've only read a few pages and I'm liking it. I got for £2, what a bargain!