Saturday, May 23, 2009

Update

Well, I mostly stuck to my reading plan for this month. Amazon was shipping Jacqueline Carey's Santa Olivia earlier than I'd expected so I got a copy of that a couple of days ago and stopped reading The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle to read that one. It was a quick read and I finished it today so I'll go back to reading The Mote in God's Eye. I noticed today that there is a sad lack of science fiction in the books I've read this year.

On Tuesday (the 26th) there will be a book giveaway! For those of you who love free books (and who doesn't?!), be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Tomorrow I plan to get started on that Santa Olivia review. For reading, I have a partial plan for next month and the end of this month (if I happen to finish The Mote in God's Eye before then - it's longer than it looks and I'm only three chapters in so I may not). I was going to squeeze the second of the new Wild Cards books, Busted Flush, in this month if I had time and if not read it next month. Also, I want to read The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie before reading my copy of his Best Served Cold (it's a stand alone set in the same world as the First Law books but I have heard it gives away the ending of the trilogy, which I have already read 2/3 of). Other than that, I'm not completely sure what I'll read next month. A friend is sending me some books and she only told me what one of them is but said I must read it soon so that one will most likely be on next month's list (Tanith Lee's Silver Metal Lover). I think I might just pick something that's been sitting on my shelf unread for a long time for my challenge book of the month.

10 comments:

Nephtis said...

Good on you for keeping to a schedule?

Would Silver Metal Lover be the first Tanith Lee book you read?

Kristen said...

Nephtis - Yes, that will be the first Tanith Lee book I have read. I think I read a short story by her quite a while ago, but I've never read a full novel by her. When I got The Secret Books of Paradys, I started to read it but decided I wasn't in the mood for something slow-paced and atmospheric at the time.

I have Biting the Sun and had been thinking about starting that one soon since it sounds very interesting, but I guess I'll start with Silver Metal Lover instead.

ediFanoB said...

Reading schedule is a difficult topic for me and I'm "only" reader. Anyway I hate when somebody says I must read a book. I have a kind of reading list but I change very often depending on my mood.

Everything is fine as long as you enjoy reading.

Kristen said...

ediFanoB - I know what you mean about scheduling reading. It's something I don't normally do, either, because I do like to just pick something based on my mood at the time. After next month, I'll probably be doing more of reading whatever I feel like, though.

This month setting a schedule worked well because I ended up really enjoying all the books I told myself I had to read this month. :)

orannia said...

*shudders* Sometimes reading schedules scare me - I start panicking that I'm getting behind.

I've never read in Jacqueline Carey....should I?

Oh, Kristen, if you need a science-fiction recommendation (although I haven't read many of late and I'm realising as I keep reading your blog that I'm massively behind with fantasy books as well :) what about The Outback Stars (Sandra MacDonald)?

Happy reading!

Thea said...

Ooh, I've had Silver Metal Lover on my radar for a while now but haven't picked it up. I think now I'll wait on your reaction to make the purchase ;) No pressure! Heh.

And I eagerly await your Santa Olivia review as well! So far, I am really into it. I feel like a kid in a candy store: TWO Carey books in one year...it's got me all giddy :)

Benjamin said...

I'm planning to pick up Santa Olivia this week so I too am looking forward to your review.

You haven't read Last Argument of Kings yet? What's the matter with you?! :-P I have no idea if Best Served Cold spoils the ending or not, but I'm really looking forward to Abercrombie's next book!

Kristen said...

Orannia - Yes, you should read Jacqueline Carey, starting with Kushiel's Dart. (Or maybe Santa Olivia if you want something shorter - the length of Kushiel's Dart is a bit intimidating.) Here's the review I did of Kushiel's Dart a while back (if you scroll to the bottom there are links to some other reviews as well).

Thanks for the recommendation; I actually have The Outback Stars in the massive to read pile. Along with several other science fiction books, which is why I'm not quite sure I haven't read more of them this year. Last year I read almost as much science fiction as fantasy.

I am reading one now but I think it's going to take some time to get through this one.

Thea - Silver Metal Lover is one I've had on my radar for a while as well. The friend who is sending me said it is now one of her favorite books ever and we tend to have very similar taste so I'm really looking forward to it. :)

Glad you're enjoying Santa Olivia. I'm going to continue working on the review in a couple of minutes, but I liked it too - couldn't put it down. All day Saturday I kept telling myself I'd just read one more chapter, then I'd go do something else. Have you read the other new Carey book yet? I'll probably wait on that one since I still have the rest of the Kushiel series to read.

Benjamin - Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with me! I was waiting for my fiance to finish The Last Argument of Kings but he ended up too busy and his bookmark remained at chapter 2 for months. I saw in a thread on wotmania in which someone posted their book review that Best Served Cold spoils the ending of the First Law trilogy. So I guess I'd better hurry up and read the end to the trilogy so I can read the new book!

orannia said...

Thank you Kristen! I'm guessing Santa Olivia is a stand-alone book then? Or at least stand alone enough that I don't need to read Kushiel's Dart? *small voice* Yes, the size of KD does scare me...

Kristen said...

Orannia - Santa Olivia is a stand alone book and is completely unrelated to the Kushiel series. I don't blame you for being scared of the size of Kushiel's Dart since I was too. Thea finally convinced me to read it, though, and even though it took me forever I'm glad she did.

Santa Olivia is also very good, though, and is a much quicker read (Kushiel's Dart took me 2 weeks to read but Santa Olivia took me 2 days). I did prefer Kushiel's Dart, but Santa Olivia is definitely much less of a time investment.