The "I am currently reading" thread

[taxman 12]

Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason.

 

The first of his Reykjavik detective stories. Slow paced, brooding but hard to put down.

 

I love the lack of car chases, gunfights, silly subplots, blind alleys and casually thrown red herrings. Just simply plotted, straightforward detective work set in a bleak, curious landscape full of odd people.

[Guest]

I'm reading Sleights of Mind - What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About our Brains by Stephen Macknik et al. It's an interesting run through of why what we perceive isn't an accurate and reliable representation of the world, and why we're so incredibly easy to deceive.

 

Also reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Ghosts, perhaps, and troubled minds.

[horribleblob 212]

Just My Type by Simon Garfield, which, as the dust jacket says, "...is a book of stories. About how Helvetica and Comic Sans took over the world. About why Barack Obama opted for Gotham..."

[Funky_Gibbon 42]

I'm about two thirds of the way through Surface Detail by Iain M Banks. Certainly the best M. Banks book in a long time.

[demoniac 10]

Ghost in the shell Vol 1 - The lost memory

[taxman 12]

I'm about two thirds of the way through Surface Detail by Iain M Banks. Certainly the best M. Banks book in a long time.

 

Absolutely agree.

 

If you've read every other M. Banks then the very end of Surface Detail will leave you gobsmacked.

[Cyclone 10]

I liked Surface Detail. I wish he'd write faster though, he only publishes about 1 book a year at the most.

 

I just finished "The Lies of Locke Lamorra", an excellent début and well worth purchasing if you like a bit of medieval fantasy/subtle magic (ie not your basic sword+sorcery).

[The Mush 10]

I liked Surface Detail. I wish he'd write faster though, he only publishes about 1 book a year at the most.

 

I just finished "The Lies of Locke Lamorra", an excellent début and well worth purchasing if you like a bit of medieval fantasy/subtle magic (ie not your basic sword+sorcery).

 

Loved Locke Lamorra - the second one "Red Seas Over Red Skies" is good too - maybe not quite as good as the first.

 

And one book a year sounds mega quick when you've been waiting for George RR Martin to write the next one in the Song of Ice & Fire saga for however many years!!

 

I've just finished the Joe Abercrombie The First Law trilogy and have to say i was very impressed. Great characters and good story.

[laura16 10]

My current book is harry potter again because I haven't been to get a new one. Before that I read One Day which is a brilliant book.

[Cyclone 10]

Loved Locke Lamorra - the second one "Red Seas Over Red Skies" is good too - maybe not quite as good as the first.

 

And one book a year sounds mega quick when you've been waiting for George RR Martin to write the next one in the Song of Ice & Fire saga for however many years!!

 

I've just finished the Joe Abercrombie The First Law trilogy and have to say i was very impressed. Great characters and good story.

 

I really like Abercrombie, a nice dark humour throughout. I'm not sure that the end lived up to the early promise, but still well worth reading.

 

I'll be looking for Red Seas Over Red Skies the next time I walk into Waterstones.

I've practically given up on Martin, he's taken so long that I've lost interest, I can't remember the plot or the characters, which is a shame as I remember enjoying the books.

[The Mush 10]

I really like Abercrombie, a nice dark humour throughout. I'm not sure that the end lived up to the early promise, but still well worth reading.

 

I'll be looking for Red Seas Over Red Skies the next time I walk into Waterstones.

I've practically given up on Martin, he's taken so long that I've lost interest, I can't remember the plot or the characters, which is a shame as I remember enjoying the books.

 

I know what you mean about the end - maybe a touch on the weak side but definitely enjoyed them. As you said - very darkly humourous! I will get the Martin book that just came out (when it's out in paperback) but if the next one takes as long i will definitely give it up.....

 

Currently about to start Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and am very excited about it as he's one of my all time favorite Fantasy authors!

Edited August 15, 2011 by The Mush
nonsensical sentence!

[Funky_Gibbon 42]

Absolutely agree.

 

If you've read every other M. Banks then the very end of Surface Detail will leave you gobsmacked.

 

I've about 100 pages to go. I might just have to take a couple of hours tonight to finish it now, I'm intrigued.