Whats everyone reading?

[JohnW]

a lady in a bikini, a jungle, a temple, a vehicle exploding or a giant wolf / crab / snake / lion etc.

All of the above, on the one cover. To be sold exclusively at motorway service stations.

[Barrington Boots]

That's like my holy grail book.
Especially if it's a paperback, with less than 250 pages.

[JohnW]

I'm determined to read two books a month this year.

Years ago I went for a book a week, and ended up rushing through books just to achieve this arbitrary goal. I was reading just for the sake of reading, and can't remember half of what I got through.
These days I'm far more slapdash and I'm happier for it. I don't read books as if I have to sit an exam afterwards, and I tend to ditch books before I get to the end if they stop entertaining me.

Two books a month is far more reasonable. And yeah – as Boots says – keep us in informed.

[Rara Avis]

I had a NY resolution before to read one book a month and that was a success. I meant to keep it up but found myself spending more time online scrolling reddit mindlessly. I'm try to spend more time reading and less time on the computer so I picked a few books that looked interesting and got them for myself for Xmas.

January's reads were:

I'm with the band - Pamela des Barres
The Drivers Seat - Muriel Sparks

February:

The long way to a small angry planet - Becky Chambers
The Witchwood Crown - Tad Williams (It's a sequel to The Dragonbone Chair Trilogy ((in four parts!!))

March:

You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat
Malleus - Dan Abnett

Nothing pencilled in after that so recommendations welcome.

[Tjm86]

Kinda bouncing around different series at the moment.  I've just finished the fourth volume of Dark Tower.  Part of my efforts to re / read Stephen King's complete-ish oeuvre.  Onto the 2nd Moorcock volume of his definitive complete work.  For my sins I have never read any of his works (forgive me, I know how sacrilegious this is).  Depending on where I'm at, may take in the next volume of the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant before another volume in Brin's Uplift saga.

If you're looking for recommendations and haven't taken them in yet, Rara, I would say go for it.  I'd be inclined to say that if you got on with Tad Williams, you'd probably get on with most of them.  I've not read the Last King of Osten Ard sequence yet but it is on my list.  I'm also feeling a hankering for a re-read of Feist and Wurtz's Daughter of Empire trilogy.

[Rara Avis]

Hey TJM,

I hope you're well. I re-read those books a few years back so I say go for it. They don't hit the same way they did when I was 15 but it was nice to re-immerse myself in that world for a while.

[Tjm86]

I know what you mean (assume you're talking about DofE).  I recently re-read the first Riftwar books.  They always strike me as a little idealised.  Based on a feudalistic world that is populated with 'benevolent rulers' rather than the brutal, exploitative reality of those times.  Always ending with key 'lower order' characters being rewarded with promotions.

There seemed to be a bit too much structural repetition in the later series and I kind of gave up after a while since it felt like nothing new was being added to the 'saga'.  Might have another crack in a while but I've got quite a list of books to go through before I do that.

[Doing a bit better.  Not as bad as a while back when I cratered.  Keeping a bit of a distance from the Black Dog thread while I get my head fully together although I fully appreciate other folks are dealing with a hell of a lot more than me.  Doesn't help though that the company I recently signed on with is now going through a difficult time and looking at 'efficiencies' so dealing with another redundancy situation potentially.  Hey Ho ...]

[Rara Avis]

Yes I was. I love those books when I was younger but reading them as an adult I find Mara ... almost insufferable .. she is such a Mary Sue. I don't think I'd want to go back and read the other books after that.

Also read some distressing stuff about Feist who was apparently abusive to his children but I can't find anything to support that online.

[I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Suffering is not a competition or a race to the bottom so don't feel like you don't have the right vent, that's what that's there for. Wow that's awful - life really loves to creep up behind you and kick the legs out from under you just when you think you're finally getting on top of things. Reach out if you need support.]

[Barrington Boots]

If after a book recommendation from me that's not pulp / trash, I'm also reading The City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I felt rather at sea with it at first, as it's a book with no exposition, changing character viewpoints and some very unique concepts but I rapidly became addicted to it. It's beautifully written and the setting has a touch of Gormenghast about it.

Another, more straightforward Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read a while back was Guns of The Dawn. The story is sort of a cross between Napoleonic war (but with wizards) and Jane Austen. This is better than it sounds: I picked it up from a charity shop and found it both charming and engrossing.

[pictsy]

I've been consuming a lot of Terry Pratchett lately.  I recently got around to reading the first two books and was surprised with Light Fantastic.

[JohnW]

The Goddamned, by Jason Aaron and RM Guéra.
This is the same pair that did Scalped (the modern American crime comic that 100 Bullets should have been). The only thing modern about The Goddamned is the language, which is contemporary and profane, even though the story is set in biblical times. Specifically, these are stories set in a literal interpretation of the earliest chapters of Genesis, with an angry god in heaven, giants upon the earth, and a corrupt humanity about to be swept away in a great flood. Its flavour is something of a stone age Mad Max: Fury Road.
I've just read the second series, The Virgin Brides.
Beautiful art, ugly plot, but compelling.

At the other end of the spectrum I finally finished Bleak House after 11 or 12 weeks.
I had an epiphany a few years ago when I realised that these big worthy 19th-century 'classics' weren't necessarily designed to be worthy. They were meant to be read rather than revered; liked rather than just appreciated. Moreover, a lot of them were originally published in instalments, which speaks to my lifelong taste for serials as it does to my wavering attention span.

As I said somewhere upthread, I no longer read like I'm expected to sit an exam at the end. That being the case, I just happily read until I get bogged down and chuck it or until I get to the end – whichever comes first.
So during lockdown I read War And Peace, always keeping in mind that no one was going to care whether or not I finished it. The new Penguin Classics translation was so highly recommended that I gave it a whirl, and it held my interest for the million plus pages it runs.
Also, I've now secured lifetime bragging rights.
Which is nice.

[Colin YNWA]

The Goddamned, by Jason Aaron and RM Guéra.
This is the same pair that did Scalped (the modern American crime comic that 100 Bullets should have been). The only thing modern about The Goddamned is the language, which is contemporary and profane, even though the story is set in biblical times. Specifically, these are stories set in a literal interpretation of the earliest chapters of Genesis, with an angry god in heaven, giants upon the earth, and a corrupt humanity about to be swept away in a great flood. Its flavour is something of a stone age Mad Max: Fury Road.
I've just read the second series, The Virgin Brides.
Beautiful art, ugly plot, but compelling.

Couldn't agree more with this accessment. Enjoyed this series, well as much as its hard brutal truth allowed! Hope we get some more some day.

[Barrington Boots]

At the other end of the spectrum I finally finished Bleak House after 11 or 12 weeks.
I had an epiphany a few years ago when I realised that these big worthy 19th-century 'classics' weren't necessarily designed to be worthy. They were meant to be read rather than revered; liked rather than just appreciated. Moreover, a lot of them were originally published in instalments, which speaks to my lifelong taste for serials as it does to my wavering attention span.

Fully behind this kind of mindset! Did you study English by any chance, JWare? I did, and it took me a while to get out of the idea of reading for an exam, as you so eloquently put it.

For my commute reading, who knew that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote 24 books about Tarzan? Not me, until I saw a lurid pulp cover in Oxfam and went in and bought a bundle of 20 of the things for £15.

[JohnW]

Did you study English by any chance?

Nope. History all the way. My feeling at the time was that I just wanted to enjoy literature rather than study it. That's turned out to be one of the very few decisions of my teenage years that I can still stand behind. Whoda thought?

I've never been tempted by Tarzan, but I'm interested to hear your verdict.
Outside of comics, I'm rarely in the mood for pulp these days. However, ever since you mentioned your father-in-law's tastes, I've been yearning for a story in which a bloke hijacks a submarine.
I know I'd only be disappointed, but it's such a strong concept.

[Tjm86]

I've been yearning for a story in which a bloke hijacks a submarine.
I know I'd only be disappointed, but it's such a strong concept.

Not sure if it would fully fit your tastes but there is an old Cold War novel, "The Gold Crew" by Scortia and Robinson.  One crew of a US missile submarine slowly goes insane ... Not read it in years but it is a passable piece of work.  IIRC they made a film version of it.