recent reading #9

[adelaidesean]

So many books, so little time...

Still overloaded with boofy old blokes, and finding female thriller writers remains difficult (as opposed to female crime writers; there's a ton* of those). I have a Fred Vargas lined up soon. She is awesome, but I wouldn't call her a thriller writer, really. Same with Sarah Waters, who I've been meaning to read for years. (It was worth the wait.)

• Phobos: The Robot planet by Paul Capon (thanks Jeff!)
• Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks (thanks Mondy!)
• Choke Point by Barry Eisler (even better than the first two in the series)
• Elidor by Alan Garner
• There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly by Jeremy Holmes (cute)
• Envy the Night by Michael Koryta (a surprisingly beautiful entry in a field that's full of so much average crap--highly recommended)
• Dapper Caps & Pedal-Copters and The Annotated Wondermark by David Malki (with bonus illustrations, huzzah!)
• The Philosopher's Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy by Peter Marshall (a bit credulous, and therefore not as good as that book on the Masons I read a while back, but contains loads of material for a new project I'm working on)
• The City & The City by China Mieville (probably the only Hugo nominee I'll get to before Worldcon, alas)
• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud (like Ways of Seeing but with better pictures--thanks, Scott!)
• Bride Flight by Marieke van der Pol
• Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham (awesome, his best yet)
• Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger (didn't finish--too much set-up for what was obviously going to be a long-running series)
• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (like Envy the Night, I didn't want this to end)

* That's clearly not the right collective noun, but something witty refuses to come to me. Any suggestions?

Comments

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

My primary school had a copy of Phobos: The Robot Planet even before it had a real library. I've probably read it almost as often as I've read The Lord of the Rings, Childhood's End or Between Planets.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

That's very cool, Stephen. And Jeff Harris will be pleased when he next wanders by. He's the one who tracked a copy down and loaned it to me.

[(Anonymous)]

Guess who's wandered by? I'm chuffed that someone else knows, and has read Capon's Phobos the Robot Planet. It was the first sf book I borrowed and read from a library. Actually the Children's Library, a wonderful library for young kids, and housed in what were the former stables of the South Australian Mounted Police (that was in the 19th century, so there was no chance of horsey residues among the books). They had a great selection of science books, a wide range of magazines, and a comprehensive swathe of children's fiction. Capon's book stuck in my memory and out of curiousity I sought out a copy. Not without flaws, but in some ways it was better than I remembered. The South Australian connection (in the story) was a plus. What did you think of it, Stephen?

best,

Jeff

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Still reading the Jack Aubrey novels, plus a book on the creation of modern witchcraft (with very small print) called Triumph of the Moon

[(Anonymous)]

A ton of female crime writers?

How about a 'sashay' of female crime writers.....

I've been reading lots of 30s pulp fiction.