Struggling to read due to eye surgeries, recovery, and medication. :D Started Twelve Months when it came out. Restarted it a few days ago. Now I have to stop myself from mentally editing it as I'm reading. :D Writing for the time being with a huge pile of books to read.
The "stay up past midnight, then wake up at 4am and resume reading" stories are a draft novel from Dorothy Grant, and Last Guardian of Everness from John C Wright.
I'm also working on Ventus (Karl Schroeder), and a LitRPG book that I'm probably going to DNF because at 11% finished nothing of consequence has happened and we've just barely gotten a hint that there IS a plot coming up eventually.
The non-fiction that I *should* be working on is Gunpowder & Galleys, about naval warfare in the Med in the 16th Century.
I am reading an advanced copy of the Mark M. Yarbrough and Jerry Jenkins novel "The Battle for Heaven and Earth." It is set for release on November 2, 2026, and in a nutshell, it's about the angel-against-angel Holy War Lucifer started in Heaven.
I just finished Ross Thomas's 'Out on the Rim' and I have his "Chinaman's Chance" and "The Procane Chronicle" on deck for vacation next month. What the 20s & 30s were for pulp fantasy novels, the 60s and 70s were for action and crime novels.
I also recently read "A Murder in Tarsis' by John Maddox Roberts. I wouldn't say it was great, but I'm still curious/impressed TSR managed to get the author of SPQR series to write a mystery set in the Dragonlance universe.
For non-fiction, I've finally gotten around to reading Tony Senik's 'A Man of Iron', the biography of Grover Cleveland.
I'm reading "Mark Twain" by Ron Chernov...a great historical writer. It's not an easy read...that is a lot of incidental findings about Twain. It took me a while to read his Hamilton book, too. But in the end, learned a lot. I read a lot for entertainment, from Grisham, Patterson to Monica Wood...a whole mulligan stew if you will. I believe it helps my writing as I tend toward mysteries or crime but don't stick to generic formulas.
I started reading book 1 of the Dragonforged saga, Shadow of Legends, by J. D. L. Rosell. I love reading Rosell's books, he's a very talented storyteller.
on Book 3 of Red Rising currently. I did enjoy Twelve Months when it came out, Dresden is one of my 'drop everything' when a new one hits. I'm simply invested at this point.
Same here, with both Dresden and the Black Company books. There was a time when I would prep for a new book in those series by re-reading everything that came before. Until both of them got to the point where if I kept doing that, they would be the ONLY things I ever read!
My main reading right now consist of "Five Proofs of the Existence of God" by Edward Feser, the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, "1636: The Ottoman Onslaught" by Eric Flint, "A Call to Duty" by David Weber and Timothy Zahn, and "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. This is my third time reading that last one. My wife and I are reading it as part of the Socrates and the City Book Club that meets up in Salado. Other than that, I read First Things, Touchstone, and Commentary magazines just about daily.
Struggling to read due to eye surgeries, recovery, and medication. :D Started Twelve Months when it came out. Restarted it a few days ago. Now I have to stop myself from mentally editing it as I'm reading. :D Writing for the time being with a huge pile of books to read.
So sorry, ma'am. I get the "mentally editing" thing. It is hard to turn off your editor brain!
I have a sign on my desk that says "I'm silently checking your grammar," which applies to over 85% of the modern fiction I read.
Only that indy publisher in north Texas employs competent editors, anymore. 🫡
The "stay up past midnight, then wake up at 4am and resume reading" stories are a draft novel from Dorothy Grant, and Last Guardian of Everness from John C Wright.
I'm also working on Ventus (Karl Schroeder), and a LitRPG book that I'm probably going to DNF because at 11% finished nothing of consequence has happened and we've just barely gotten a hint that there IS a plot coming up eventually.
The non-fiction that I *should* be working on is Gunpowder & Galleys, about naval warfare in the Med in the 16th Century.
Oooooh, a Wright novel! Yeah, that'll keep ya reading. :)
I am reading an advanced copy of the Mark M. Yarbrough and Jerry Jenkins novel "The Battle for Heaven and Earth." It is set for release on November 2, 2026, and in a nutshell, it's about the angel-against-angel Holy War Lucifer started in Heaven.
I just finished Ross Thomas's 'Out on the Rim' and I have his "Chinaman's Chance" and "The Procane Chronicle" on deck for vacation next month. What the 20s & 30s were for pulp fantasy novels, the 60s and 70s were for action and crime novels.
I also recently read "A Murder in Tarsis' by John Maddox Roberts. I wouldn't say it was great, but I'm still curious/impressed TSR managed to get the author of SPQR series to write a mystery set in the Dragonlance universe.
For non-fiction, I've finally gotten around to reading Tony Senik's 'A Man of Iron', the biography of Grover Cleveland.
I've heard of "A Murder in Tarsis" (well, the title, anyway) - the rest are all new to me. Thank you!
"For Want of a Rivet." The majority of the stories hit the X-ring for storytelling and historical verisimilitude. 🫡
Also reading a serialized progression fantasy on Royal Road, "Sky Pride," which has awesome characterization and storytelling. 👍
The rest is research.
The characters (Tian, Liren, Grandpa Jun especially), the wonder, and the author's commitment. Five chapters a week for at least two years now.
Holy cow! You're right, that is commitment.
IIRC, he just hit 250k followers.
What about "Sky Pride" is drawing you in?
I'm reading "Mark Twain" by Ron Chernov...a great historical writer. It's not an easy read...that is a lot of incidental findings about Twain. It took me a while to read his Hamilton book, too. But in the end, learned a lot. I read a lot for entertainment, from Grisham, Patterson to Monica Wood...a whole mulligan stew if you will. I believe it helps my writing as I tend toward mysteries or crime but don't stick to generic formulas.
I keep thinking I should read some Twain... maybe "Following the Equator"?
I started reading book 1 of the Dragonforged saga, Shadow of Legends, by J. D. L. Rosell. I love reading Rosell's books, he's a very talented storyteller.
Oh, now that looks like a cool book. What is it about his writing that clicks with you?
on Book 3 of Red Rising currently. I did enjoy Twelve Months when it came out, Dresden is one of my 'drop everything' when a new one hits. I'm simply invested at this point.
Same here, with both Dresden and the Black Company books. There was a time when I would prep for a new book in those series by re-reading everything that came before. Until both of them got to the point where if I kept doing that, they would be the ONLY things I ever read!
I reread The Cosmere before Wind and Truth (Stormlight book 5) came out. I don't know if i can do that again.. ha.
My main reading right now consist of "Five Proofs of the Existence of God" by Edward Feser, the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, "1636: The Ottoman Onslaught" by Eric Flint, "A Call to Duty" by David Weber and Timothy Zahn, and "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis. This is my third time reading that last one. My wife and I are reading it as part of the Socrates and the City Book Club that meets up in Salado. Other than that, I read First Things, Touchstone, and Commentary magazines just about daily.
I need to re-read "The Screwtape Letters". Both for the educational value, and for research...
I've seen some episodes of Muderbot - how do the books stack up to the show?
I have never seen the show Murderbot, since it's on AppleTV, but the first book in the series is hilarious.