What Are You Reading Now?

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

I'll bet that you've picked up by now that I juggle a lot of reading. I CAN stick with a book, but more often than not, it depends on my mood, which fluctuates really easily. Sometimes this is related to something I'm looking over online or a TV show I've watched or even a specific title on my Amazon wish list that I've been eyeing for some time. Whatever the case, I have a difficult time making up my mind. It's not that I don't have enough to read, it's that I can't make up my mind. I don't know if anyone else goes through this.

Well, I'm in a situation right now. I've shelved Stevenson, Hawthorne, and Heller for an indefinite period, but I'm keeping Dune around, though I haven't been at it for perhaps a couple weeks. I've also got a library book out which I've barely started - Dickens and the Invisible World: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Novel-Making by Harry Stone, a now-out-of-print work that explores the influence of fantasy and folklore in the works of Charles Dickens; consider it research for "Masters of Fantasy" as well as personal edification. Having been looking up and researching Zelda games online, I suddenly have a taste for epic adventure fantasy piqued, so I've read a couple pages of my copy of Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetralogy, but I also have Peake's Gormenghast omnibus out again - I REALLY WANT to read those books! Finally, I just started a purchase I just got today: a brand new translation by Lawrence Ellsworth of Alexandre Dumas's classic The Three Musketeers. If you only count the physical copies, that's 5 books at once! Yeah, it's probably too much, but I can't really make a solid choice. They all interest me.

Well, that's what I'm reading. How about you?

[Raven]

I've been reading some spiritual works, one on the topic of the baptism of the Holy Spirit by Derek Prince, and I also read Basic Training for the Prophetic Ministry by Kris Vallotton. The latter book was given to me for possible use at church in something I've been asked to be involved in. Both books were beneficial and had a lot of good info. Had some concern over a couple points that I will have to think about more.

Just started Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. I think it'll take me a bit to get used to his distinctive writing style but I'm too early in to make any calls about enjoyment. I just got to chapter 4 this evening, I believe.

I tend to read one book at a time. I think I have juggled more in the past, but if so they tend to be very different types of reading, such as a history and a novel or something like that. It's not something I do often, though. For the two books I mentioned at the beginning, the Kris Vallotton book was given to me while I was reading the Derek Prince book. I more or less stopped reading the Prince book, read the Vallotton book, and then finished the Prince book.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Well, with some reshuffling, I've narrowed down my books. I've set aside my fantasy/sci-fi momentarily to focus on The Three Musketeers, which I've cracked the first 100 pages of; I partly wonder why I've never picked this up before, because I'm loving it so much already, but then I remember that it's probably the translation that gives such a connection. Anyway, it's a classic that worth its fame. I haven't looked at my Dickens nonfiction library book since I mentioned it, but I've going to take it out again for another month and see if I can give it another go (otherwise, I'll just take it back and wait for another time).

I've also picked up yet another book - R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone. Despite having gotten only 50 pages through it, I have an impression that I'm really going to like it. There's also an interesting story behind it: I have two versions of the book, both of which I intend to keep - the one I'm reading, the black-spine Penguin Classics version (a recent purchase), uses the text of the 1869 first edition, which keeps a lot of the antiquated style, while the other one, the white-spine Oxford World's Classics version (which I've had for a few years), uses the 1883 revised 20th illustrated edition, which it says that Blackmore himself preferred. Rather than keeping one and donating the other to the library (my usual method), I intend to read it now as it was originally published and, in time, read the other eventually and see if I can pick up on the revisions; sure, both versions come with explanatory notes regarding the revisions, but I want to read the text itself and see which one I like better.

[Raven]

I intend to pick up a copy of Lorna Doone. I haven't read it yet, but my sheep (collectively called the "Doonies") bear the names of Lorna Doone, Maire Doone, and Hector Doone. When/if I introduce a new bloodline to the sheep down the road, I intend for the next family name to be the Poldarks. . .

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Well, like I said, there are at least two versions to look out for:

-Here's the Penguin Classics version, based on the first edition (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143039326/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
-This one's the Oxford World Classics version, which uses a stylistically revised edition (https://www.amazon.com/Lorna-Doone-Romance-Exmoor-Classics/dp/0199537593/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=)

Oh, you don't have to get them now. I'm just linking to these for future reference. Feel free to look elsewhere, as I believe you have less of a preference looking for newer copies of books than I do, but a used copy of either should be available for a good price.

Slightly off topic, I take it you haven't read any of the Poldark novels. I've seen a little bit of the BBC show when Mom watched a few episodes of PBS's Masterpiece, and it seemed alright, but I'm not exactly sure that I personally would want to read a novel sequence like that. Maybe it just seems too melodramatic for continued consumption. But I'm not against sequences - I'd love to read Forester's Horatio Hornblower, O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin, and Cornwell's Sharpe in their entirety. I guess it's something about war novels....

Anyway, back on track, how is Gormenghast going? I'm HOPING you like it, but I knew it was a risk pointing you towards them. Are they any good compared to other fantasy works? On their own merits? Do you have any opinions on Peake's writing style now?

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Well, AGAIN, my reading has changed, but only slightly. While it's been some time since I picked it up (due to preoccupation with updating some of my lists on my computer), I'm still reading Dumas, and through him, I now have a serious taste for historical fiction - I'd love to discuss it some time. In the interim, I've picked up a couple more books, and, wouldn't you know it, they're both doorstoppers. One is Stephen King's The Stand, which has been sitting around my house for quite a while now, and I'm glad to finally be getting to it; the other, still riding the history kick, is James Clavell's 1975 bestseller Shōgun, the third published but chronologically first of his celebrated Asian Saga, which, if you don't know, is a fictionalization (complete with name changes) of the story of Protestant navigator William Adams of the Dutch East India Company, who became the first Englishman to reach Japan in 1600, eventually adopting the ways and customs of the nation, becoming a legitimate samurai and key advisor to legendary shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu - I'm only 45 pages into it as of this post, but I'm enjoying it quite highly. Interestingly, both of these books were made into miniseries in the 80's and 90's (Shōgun in particular, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune, is held in high esteem).

Man, we've been dead here for a long time. What's going on with everybody? (Not a complaint, just curious.)

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

I can't say that my reading has CHANGED so much as it has STEADIED. By which I mean, I have put down Shōgun for the time being but have also given most of my energy to The Stand - as of this writing, I've cracked the first 400 pages, and I intend to finish it. However, I also want to take a small break to lighten the mood.

I still plan on finishing Dumas - I know where I left off, and I'll simply pick it up again at that point - but I want to try something shorter for a bit. Originally, I was going to try out Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds, but after flipping through it, I think it's a bit too complicated to juggle, so I'm going to wait until I have time to focus on it exclusively. I read the first chapter of Jack Finney's classic time travel fantasy Time and Again, which I really feel I want to pursue, but I've also tried out a book that I didn't feel that I would enjoy all that much - J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. I had gotten my own copy of it quite some time ago, and it was just sitting on my shelf, so I felt now would be as good a time as any. I've put the first five chapters behind me and been quite pleased with it, so I'm planning on focusing on it for some time. I'm thinking that Finney might wait.

So it's been quite a while. What's on everyone else's reading list?

[Raven]

I've not been doing well with reading for quite a while, now, but I'm trying to push again on getting my next book finished. The title is Those Who Dwell. I'm going to fail at getting it out this year but I hope to release it before Spring at any rate and move on to the Adventures Series, which is a set of books I started working on back in my teens.

I haven't felt up to any serious reading, lately, but I've started Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George for some light reading and so far I'm enjoying it. It's a fun kids fantasy book about a castle that is more or less sentient and constantly changing.

[Raven]

Doing the final read-through edits and checks for Those Who Dwell and hoping to get it out soon. In the meantime, I finally finished Tuesdays at the Castle. It was a very simple sort of story, but enjoyable and just the low-energy type of read that I could creep through during grad school. . . Because school is kicking my butt a little right now.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Looking forward to reading it when it comes out. Also, I'd love to hear your opinion on Peake's Gormenghast if you've gotten any farther on it.

Personally, this is probably the most juggling I've ever done with books. My mood changes so much and I've trying to find the right book. Granted, I intend to finish all those that I've started, but it can really feel overwhelming.

I've still got The Stand on hold, I'm about halfway through both George R. R. Martin's Fevre Dream and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, I've got a good few chapters down on The Catcher in the Rye, and I've just completed Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. Rather than finish any of those left hanging, I've gone and started another book as well - A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle.

Again, I do intend to finish everything. But I've got to be in the right mood on some occasions. Otherwise, I just got to commit.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Well, it's taken a bit of juggling, but I've currently narrowed things down. I've still got half of Fevre Dream to go, but I've put down Beagle and Salinger and finished both Jackson and Patricia A. McKillip's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, which I've already recommended. As my chief focus, I've picked up Dumas's Musketeers again (I'm now halfway through it), restarted Dickens's The Pickwick Papers and FINALLY made substantial headway on it (REALLY enjoying it), and started the big one, the mother lode - Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, complete and unabridged (I was worried, but I never knew I would enjoy it so much - currently got 167 pages behind me already).

I think the most significant thing to come out of this selection is that I really enjoy the process of reading - I'm completely entranced with my choices, and none of the three are fantasy related.

[Raven]

I've been reading a lot lately.

I read two historical memoirs of the pacific front in WWII, A Helmet for My Pillow and With the Old Breed On Pelelieu and Okinawa. Those were interesting, to say the least. I read recently the second book of the Locke Lamora series and I just finished the second book in the Six of Crows duology. I'm going to probably start the third and final book in the Locke Lamora series. Both these series are similar -- heist and con stories in a fantasy world. I will say I feel the Locke Lamora series is better written, but both are enjoyable and a different experience of fantasy worlds. I am finding I have less and less interest in the epic scope of grand high fantasy books and I am more interested in character driven fantasy such as the above and novels like the Kingkiller Chronicles.
I've gotten a bunch of used books lately so I've got a lot to keep me reading for a while.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

I can go both ways with fantasy. I still love epic grand adventures, having been raised on Zelda games, but smaller, character-driven fantasies can be quite magnificent as well. For me, a good story is a good story, regardless of genre. As long as I'm quite entertained, I'm satisfied.

As for my own reading, I'm juggling a bit more. I'm still reading Dickens, Dumas and Hugo, and I intend to finish them, but I've also tried shifting some of my focus to Pulitzer-winning works. I'm making headway on two in particular - John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), regarded as one of the funniest books ever written, at least in the English language, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's 1938 classic The Yearling, which is an INCREDIBLE book - I wish I read it when I was younger.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Normally, I would say that I've been setting aside what I've mentioned in the last post and juggled a few more books...but while that's technically true, I have to admit that it's been taken to new extremes. I've spent the past few months picking up and starting SO MANY books that I've had to make a list for it, to the point that it's pretty much a moot point to say what I'm currently reading at this moment. It's probably more than any normal person would take on.

While I partially regret that, on the other hand, I've been sampling some pretty good works, and when I'm not surfing the Internet, I'm loving diving into my books. My mood is particularly mercurial right now, but I actually HAVE been able to stick with and complete a few of them, and I've enjoyed every one so far. Still, it bugs me that I've still got what I've mentioned before on hold. It's not that I don't like them, far from it, but when the mood strikes, I have this urge to pick up another book.

I've been on a horror kick recently, among other things. So far, I've completed:

-The Incredible Shrinking Man (1956) by Richard Matheson
-Rosemary's Baby (1967) by Ira Levin
-Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut
-A Stir of Echoes (1958) by Richard Matheson

If you really want to know, I've started and made considerable progress on:

-Blood Sport (1974) by Robert F. Jones
-The Exorcist (1971) by William Peter Blatty
-The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953) by Isaac Asimov
-Ghost Story (1979) by Peter Straub
-The Puppet Masters (1951) by Robert A. Heinlein

There are several others that I've picked up, but I've only put a few pages behind on them. What I've listed already is what I've gotten the most into at this moment. I'll tell you what the others are in the future when I've read more of them.

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

It's been a long time since I've posted in this topic. Part of the reason for that is because, ever since I've started reading more than one book at a time, it's a gamble whether I can finish it or not in a reasonable amount of time. All the the books that I said I made considerable progress on in the last post have been set aside for quite some time now; I think I may have to restart a couple of them or at least read a synopsis or brush over what I've read before to refresh my memory. And there are others that I've read that I've run into the same problem with. The cynical part of me wonders whether tis topic is even worth continuing.

But it's not that I've found I don't like the books. It's just that my mood changes rather quickly and it's a toss-up just how long the peak is going to last. I have every intention of finishing everything I've started at some point.

If there's any good thing to come from this, it's that I've been able to branch out into other genres. I've acquired a taste for crime fiction some months ago, and just recently, for what I feel is the first time in my life, I've been significantly enraptured with science fiction. I think I'm going to make a post or two about those genres in a while, because I want to share my enthusiasm with everybody.

Regarding those genres, as of this post, I've subsequently gotten halfway through Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest and, I believe, about a third or so of the way through Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me, as well as a quarter - 64 pages, at least - into Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama (and yet I made that a monthly recommendation). Finally, I just put the first complete third of Frank Herbert's Dune behind me (and absolutely loved it); I've been juggling that book for years, and yet now it looks like I might be able to finish it at last.

So that's where I'm at. Is anyone else doing any reading, or are things a bit too busy right now to be occupied with leisure?