Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March Reading

Since I don't think I'll be finishing any books in the next hour (especially considering I only just started a new one and have only read the 3 page long prologue), I may as well put up the monthly summary. Some day I hope to actually have links to reviews of at least most of the books by the end of the month, but with the way this year has been going so far, that may be a while... But at least about half of the Changeless review is done so I should be able to put that up soon! And sometime after that, I'll get the other three that do not have links to reviews written up.

Read in March:

11. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
12. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
13. The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee
14. Changeless by Gail Carriger
15. World's End by Joan D. Vinge
16. Tsunami Blue by Gayle Ann Williams

That's four new to me authors and one book I set a goal of reading in 2010 (Magic Bites). Only one science fiction book but I just started a space opera.

Favorite of the month: Changeless. I thought it was better than the first book in the series, and it left me with that feeling of series addiction - just can't wait to read more. The runner-up would be World's End. It's not as excellent as The Snow Queen, but I did really enjoy it and love Joan Vinge's writing.

What did everyone read in March? What were your favorites?

8 comments:

Memory said...

CHANGELESS is better than SOULLESS? Now I'm even more anxious to read it!

My favourite March read was THE MAGICIANS AND MRS QUENT by Galen Beckett. In fact, it's my favourite book so far in 2010.

Benjamin said...

What I read in March:

Servant of the Underworld, Aliette de Bodard
The Great Bazaar and Other Stories, Peter V. Brett
Seeds of Earth, Michael Cobley
The Adamantine Palace, Stephen Deas
Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth, Simon R. Green
The Folding Knife, KJ Parker
Eric, Terry Pratchett
The Return of the Sorcerer, Clark Ashton Smith

My favorite was probably The Folding Knife, followed by the Pratchett and Servant of the Underworld.

orannia said...

My favourite book this month was a m/m romantic suspence entitled The Hell You Say (Josh Lanyon).

I must get around to reading Souless!

Benjamin - what did you think of The Adamantine Palace? I couldn't finish it...I just didn't feel connected to the characters :(

Kristen said...

Memory - I thought Changeless was better than Soulless at least. Don't know if everyone else would agree with me or not. ;) It was so good - I am so glad the next book comes out in the fall!

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is still languishing unread on the bookshelf - it does sound excellent!

Benjamin - I still need to read The Folding Knife; I keep hearing how good it is.

Orannia - I've been following your comments on the Josh Lanyon series on Goodreads - it sounds very intriguing!

Benjamin said...

orannia, I thought The Adamantine Palace was decent, but nothing mind-blowing. I know what you mean about the characters and that did bug me a little. I'm interested enough to continue with the series for now. We'll see if Deas improves at all with the second book.

Kristen, I liked The Folding Knife quite a bit. It's nice character-driven story following Basso's political career. Very heavy on the politics obviously. The main character isn't really likable, but Parker writes him so well that it's very easy to identify with him. I loved how he had multiple reasons for everything he did. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of the first Roman emperor, Augustus.

Kristen said...

Benjamin - Thanks for the information on The Folding Knife; it sounds fantastic! I love character driven stories and politics. And unlikable characters, too, as long as they are written well.

orannia said...

Kristen - thank you (for following my comments :) Personally, I think the Adrien English series is AMAZING. It's very well written IMO. I'm not sure if you've ever read m/m, but if you'd like to try it I think this series would be a good place to start (says the person who hasn't been reading the genre that long :) The romance is there, but it is seemlessly melded into the suspense. And the characters - they are very 3D. OK...I'll stop raving now.

Benjamin - thank you. I have put The Adamantine Palace back on my TBR list for a time when I'm not so in need of a heavily characterized book. It had promise, but not being able to connect with the characters was a death knell for me. Obviously, I'm in need of character- rather than plot-heavy books ATM :) And I do like the sound of The Folding Knife.

Kristen said...

Orannia - The Adrien English series does sound like fun. 3D characters and some romance but still lots of suspense sounds great to me! I'm not sure that I've read books that really count as m/m before - I've read some that include it but are still more fantasy books than anything else (such as Wicked Gentlemen).