- Enter a bookshop.
- Do what comes naturally.
So what am I reading at the moment? Far too much, and I have far too much to say on them to keep to comment conversations. So here's a blog post about some of the books on my shelf. These are what I have finished recently:
The Wise Man's Fear- Partick Rothfuss
Not particularly enamoured with Rothfuss' writing. The story and world bases set down in The Name of the Wind got me willing to read this eventually, but something that was massively foreshadowed in the first book and should have happened at the beginning of the second so the plot could develop freely still hasn't happened. I fear another fantasy author following the GRRM path of fretting out after book, full of words, characters and magic: signifying nothing.
Ender's game- Orson Scott Card
Obviously read it because of the film and I've wanted to read it for ages anyway. It's so good. Thematically it reminds me of the Hunger Games, but with rather better intentions behind it and less death. Still brutal treatment of children for the sake of survival and stability. Plus space. Gotta love the bit about it being set in space! Anyway, it's well written, thematically interesting and compelling plotwise, so this one makes me happy.
The Books of Magic- Neil Gaiman et al.
I had never read a graphic novel before and I wanted to give the genre a shot. Someone mentioned this one, so I found it and bought it. It took some time to get used to reading speech bubbles and using the pictures as part of the story telling. It was amusing, but I don't think I'm going to return to graphic novels, especially considering the price. I understand why they are more expensive, but I still feel I am buying less.
______________
And this is what I'm actually picking up at the moment. It's a little much to be coherent in my mind. I don't tend to read one book straight through (except books which are badly written; really don't know why that is), so it's a longer list than such a one should really be.
Let it Snow- John Green et al.
Saw it on a shelf, stirred something in my memory, bought it. 1st print English ed. paperback. What took you so long Penguin? It was only published in the States 5 years ago... I've read Maureen Johnson's story. Rather good, although I'm going to wait to get into something of a more Christmassy mood to keep on reading.
Les Miserable- Victor Hugo tr. Norman Denny
I've only seen the musical 3 times (plus the film, but... doesn't really count does it?) I figured it was time to read the original. Well... a translation anyway. If I had been told how it began I would have been apprehensive about it. Chapter after chapter exploring the intricacies of a single character. But somehow it works. It was a joy to read about Monseigneur Bienvenu and learn of his brief encounter with the wretch who is to become the main character. To quote the translator's introduction, "[Hugo] was incapable of leaving anything out. The book is loaded down with digressions, interpolated discourses, passages of moralizing rhetoric and pedagogic disquisitions." This and more is already obvious from the short way I've travelled in this book, and I am really looking forward to continuing.
The Dark is Rising- Susan Cooper
This was suggested to me by a Nerdfighter Primary School teacher friend of mine due to my taste in fantasy. I'm not particularly impressed yet, but that might be the age of the target audience rather than the actual quality of the book. That said, I was told that it gets better in the rest of the series, so we'll see if I manage to get far enough to find out.
The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien
Because I've always something from Tolkien on the go. My university room didn't feel like home until my LotR and Hobbits arrived. Nothing's changed. It's still as brilliant as last time I read it.
