Q: What book are you currently reading? Is it good so far?

I don’t do memes, because once I start, I doubt I’d be able to stop. That wouldn’t end well for anyone, especially my cat who is bacon-averse.

This morning, though, while I was Propelling, I stopped at SF Signal and saw Quick Meme: What are You Reading?

Q: What book are you currently reading? Is it good so far?

Oh! Good question. I’m so glad you asked. I love to read, and I love to talk about books, so I’m going to go ahead and hop onto this one. Don’t worry, I won’t be tagging anyone, because that’s just silly.

Until last year, I’d limit myself and only read one book at a time, but as the pile of things I wanted to read grew ever larger, I decided that it made more sense to go ahead and read a few books in parallel, sort of like watching different channels on different nights. So far, this has worked out pretty well for me, and allowed me to read more books than I normally would without making me feel like I’m sacrificing anything in each individual book.

Does anyone else do this? Is this the normal way people read books, and I’m just figuring it out now? I wonder about these things. Enlighten me.

So, to the meme! Right now, I’m reading The Living Dead anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams. I just love it, but it’s huge. Also, as John at SF Signal observed, because it’s an anthology, it takes longer to read than a book of equal length, because you have to adjust to a new author’s style and find the groove of each new story. I never thought about that very much, but it explains why I don’t read anthologies with the same enthusiasm that I read novels.

I’ve read a few stories in The Living Dead, and I especially liked Kelly Link’s Some Zombie Contingency Plans, Dan Simmons’ This Year’s Class Picture, David Barr Kirtley’s The Skull-Faced Boy, and Dale Bailey’s Death and Suffrage.

I’ve wanted to write a zombie story for years. The last one I wrote was the 7th grade tale of turgid terror “The Land of the Zombies” and I’m anxious to revisit the genre. The Living Dead has inspired me, and I have an idea that I’m outlining right now.

Is it good so far? Oh, you betcha, my friends. It’s fantastic.

I’m also re-reading, for the first time in over fifteen years, Ender’s Game. Nolan has a Sci-Fi class at school, and when he told me that he’d picked Ender’s Game from the reading list, I thought it would be fun to grab my copy out of storage and read it with him.

Nolan isn’t a voracious reader like Ryan is, but when he finds a book that he likes, he pretty much drops everything else in the world until the book is finished. After two days, he had read over 100 pages of Ender, while I was still in the third chapter. He’s agreed to give me a day to catch up, though.

Is it good so far? Yes. Ender’s Game is as fast-paced and accessible as I remember it, and I’m picking up on all sorts of stuff I missed when I was a kid. I loved this book when I was a teenager – I think I first read it when I was 14 or 15 – but I never got into any of the sequels. I find Orson Scott Card’s recent raging homophobia and associated ignorant ranting pretty reprehensible, and I have no interest in giving him any of my money or spending any time reading his current work, but I didn’t know about any of that when I was a kid, and none of that changes how great Ender’s Game is.

Soon I Will Be Invincible. (I’m updating because I forgot to add this one. I’m kind of stupid today.) I still love this. I’m taking my time, though, because I don’t want it to end.

I keep finding myself picking up and skimming through The Pirate’s Guide to Freeport, the 4th Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, The World of Darkness, and a bunch of old GURPS books: Cyberpunk, Horror, Autoduel and Space. I really want to teach Nolan Car Wars, but I don’t think he has the patience. Goddamn video games.

Are they good so far? Um. Duh.

I’m taking this one step beyond (with the rockingest, rocksteady beat of MADNESS!!) and adding the books I can’t want to start:

Zoe’s Tale. This one is at the top of the pile, because I love the Old Man’s War universe, and Scalzi is my friend. I think it’s another one I can read with Nolan, too.

Pattern Recognition. I was trying to decide if it was going to be this or Spook Country, and everyone I know who has read them both says Pattern Recognition is the way to go.

The Terror. I’ve had this one on the nightstand for months, and I’ve gotten about 2 chapters into it. It’s nearing that point of no return where I know I won’t be able to put it down. I can’t risk losing even more productivity than I already have, though, so it’ll have to keep waiting.

Carter Beats the Devil. My friend Yuri says that I shouldn’t even open this book unless I can clear my life of everything else until I finish it, because it’s that good.

The Graveyard Book. I bought this the day it came out, and it’s going to be my reward when I finish . . . something. I haven’t decided what it is, yet.

House of Leaves. A friend of mine knows the author, and gave me a copy a million years ago. I was intimidated by its size, but I understand that it’s worth it.

Spin. Recommended by a friend, as well. I made it about 100 pages into the book and got distracted by a red balloon. I was intrigued enough to finish it, though. Maybe I’ll get to move it up to the Stuff I’m Reading list.

I’ve been acting more than usual lately. (I know, I know, it’s weird for me, too.) It uses the same creative energy and inspiration sources in my brain as writing, so I just haven’t had anything left at the end of the day to work on the stories I have in various stages of creation. This is frustrating and a little demoralizing to me, but Stephen King says that writers have to read, though, so I’m going to go ahead and give myself permission to . . . uh . . . draw some inspiration . . . from some other writers.

Okay, let’s throw it open in comments: What book are you currently reading? Is it good so far?

182 thoughts on “Q: What book are you currently reading? Is it good so far?”

  1. I’m reading Javascript: The Missing Manual right now and it is very good.
    I am waiting on my copy of The Last Colony (paperback) to arrive from Amazon. I love the OMW universe also – but I am a bit behind as I haven’t been able to cost justify the hardback editions. They are definitely worth the wait though. In the meantime I’ve been slogging through all the free e-books tor made available earlier this year.

  3. I’m seriously reading of Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking but I keep flipping through 924 Gilman to look at the pictures and read snippets here and there.
    Brief History of Time is amazing. Stephen Hawking is amazing. It seems like it would be a difficult book to read but it’s totally not. Pick it up sometime.

  4. I’ve mostly been doing some rereading lately. Took another trip through “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series. Revisited some David Sedaris stories. And I finished the last book in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series, which was GA-mazing. If “A Dance with Dragons” doesn’t come out soon, I … don’t even know what I’m going to do. As much as I want to reread the first four books before it comes out, I just really need to know what happens next.

  6. I’m currently reading Watchmen cause I somehow never read it and its OMG HAWESOME. Thanks for pimping it so much Wil. 🙂
    Also reading Mass Effect: Revelation. Its good if you liked the game Mass Effect as it is an awesome Sci-Fi Universe, but probably less awesome to those who haven’t played the game.
    Just finished Pattern Recognition not too long ago, and I agree its a fantastic book. Took me a little bit to find the groove of it, but when I did I couldn’t put it down.

  8. I just finished reading the Twilight series, and though it is cheesy and the main character is a bit dense at times, it’s totally worth it. Perhaps not a complex book to read in terms of writing style, but if you actually think about the storyline, well… You wonder how it would work when taking “in real life” stuff into consideration. Absolutely recommended – read it before the movie comes out!
    Also, I’m about to start Ken Folley’s Pillars of the Earth, which I’ve heard from several people is absolutely amazing. Which is why I haven’t started it yet, because I’m sure I’ll get really into it and become even less productive, if that’s possible. I think I might cave today though…

  9. Funny, I’m re-reading Ender’s Game too with my 11 year old daughter. Loving it. My paperback is signed by Card “To a friend of Ender” – cool!
    Also started The Graveyard Book by Gaiman last night and am way into it!

  10. Currently reading Poul Anderson’s ‘A Midsummer Tempest’ — alt-universe fiction set in a universe based on Shakespeare. No, ALL of Shakespeare. 😀

  12. Wow, just finished updating my goodreads.com acct to hook up with my twitter, so I have books on the brain.
    I often read a few things at once, though I’ll read the one I like the best most often. Hm, weird sentence, that.
    Currently reading Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, which is cool but I’d probably be getting more out of it if I had more intimate knowledge of the Marvel characters.
    Also just barely started Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, and am also reading Real Boys : Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood by William Pollack, which has some really important and powerful stuff, and some lame stuff. Mostly it just makes me want to hug my boy tight.

  13. The Last Colony (John Scalzi), Spin (Robert Charles Wilson), The Outstretched Shadow: The Obsidian Trilogy: Book One (Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory), and a graphic novel — Batman Vampire (Dough Moench, Kelley Jones, John Beatty, Malcom Jones III). I just finished Mark Millar’s Superman: Red Son graphic, too. I keep jumping back and forth. I just don’t have as much time to read anymore. Sadness.

  14. Right now, I’m bouncing back and forth between reading “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and “Brisingr” by Christopher Paolini.
    The former is a pretty good read, although a bit dry. It’s good if you like that sort of thing.
    As for the latter, I’m having a hard time really getting into it. I read both the other 2 Eragon books in marathon sessions. I never really thought any of them were good, just entertaining.

  15. This is funny as its something I was debating with myself for a few days last week. I dev=cided to read 3 books at the same time. I was already reading “The art of happiness” by Dalai Lama, I have now started reading “On the road” by Jack Kerouac. Both very good so far 🙂 My problem now is that today I recieved a book by the Barefoot doctor….shall I try and read all 3 at the same time?

  17. Night Train to Lisbon (Pascal Mercier) – very very awesome novel. One of the few times that picking a book by title and cover has worked for me.
    Strip Tease (Carl Hiaasen) – stupid detective-type thing . . . it’s okay for its genre
    American Prometheus (biography of Robert Oppenheimer) – I guess I’m still reading it since I haven’t finished it but still plan to. Good book about a really interesting person, but a little dry.

  18. I’m about half way through “Here Comes Everybody”. Nothing earth shattering so far but certainly some insights into social networks that I’d only given a cursory thought about before. The book doesn’t have ‘all the answers’ but then I think a good book encourages the reader to think about things and come up with their own answers and ideas. This one has done that so far.

  19. I’m currently reading, coincidentally, Ender’s Game. I read the three original sequels before I learned of Card’s homophobia. Still really good sequels.
    Also, I’m reading the Dark Tower series, by Stephen King, for the first time. It’s … interesting. The stories are good (well, excellent, really), but I’d never read any King before these novels. His style takes some getting used to. And I’m reading Peter Hamilton’s Reality Disfunction. This one is okay. Not great so far, but I’m not even half way through.

  20. Oh, yes, everything I’m reading is absolutely fantastic. I’m engrossed fully in each wildly different story and in the case of Red Son I can’t stop raving about how good it was. I don’t even really care for Superman stories and I thought it was an intriguing take on the mythos.

  22. I read once about a professor who has his students read many books at once. He pointed out that when you read a book, you enter that universe. Your thought habits and vocabulary change just a little. And when you mix that up with other books, you’re bound to stir up creativity and new ideas.
    So now I don’t feel like I’m unfocused for reading 4 or 5 books at once. I feel Smart and Creative.

  23. I’m reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. I like his show, and my mom got me the book for my birthday. And I’m starting to read an online novel called Mister Abernathy by a guy who taught my creative writing class a couple years ago. Good so far.

  25. Currently reading The Hollow Hills, 2nd in Mary Stewart’s trilogy that chronicles the life of Merlin, parallel to all the famous Arthurian legends. Ready to start the Twilight series again, cheesy as hell but so fluffy you can’t help but enjoy it.
    One of my favorite zombie books, “World War Z”. It’s a collection of interviews with people who lived through the time of zombies. Fun story but more impressive than anything is that the author fully develops a character that you identify with in the span of 2 – 10 pages, then ends the interview and does it again. Seems pretty masterful to me. 🙂

  26. I just finished re-reading Carter Beats the Devil. It’s fantastic. Definitely one of my favorite novels.
    I’m about a third of the way through the Hot Zone by Richard Preston. It’s an account of an Ebola outbreak in Virgina about twenty years ago. It’s terrifying.

  27. I’m currently reading Lisey’s Story by Stephen King. I’m only on page 75, so so far it’s kind of slow but I know it will pick up.
    I just finished Bag of Bones by Stephen King. As with all of his books, I really liked it. My husband was away over the weekend and after spending a few hours reading, I had trouble going to sleep alone.
    I’m on a King kick so I might reread the Dark Tower series again (which I LOVED).

  28. I’m reading four books (I normally do this; just keep them in rotation):
    1. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, it’s a novel about Mormons
    2. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (yeah, I’m going there)
    3. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (getting my classic on)
    4. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (a bio on Teddy Roosevelt)

  29. My current nightstand reads:
    “E Pluribus Unicorn” by Theodore Sturgeon
    “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream” by Barrack Obama
    “The Practice of Everyday Life” by Michel de Certeau
    “Player’s Handbook 2nd Ed.” by David Zeb Cook

  30. I just finished Altered Carbon by Morgan, and I loved it. I finally got around to attempting to read Neuromancer by Gibson, b/c I love the cyberpunk/”Shadowrun” genre, but couldn’t get into it. I gave Altered Carbon a try, and found it to have everything I missed in Neuromancer. The characters are really interesting and 3 dimensional, and the plot keeps twisting until the very end of the novel. While he does drop the “C” word a few more times than I’d prefer, it is a great start to what I hope is a wonderful series with Takeshi Kovacs as the lead character.

  32. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. No, I hadn’t read it before. Yes, I’d heard of it, but hadn’t really paid much attention until he died recently. It’s massive and I’m not far enough into it yet to know if I like it or not.
    I’ll add to the group who recommends Pattern Recognition over Spook Country.
    I also picked up Snuff, Chuck Palahniuk’s new one. I’m not expecting much. Lullaby is still his best post-Fight Club book as far as I’m concerned.

  34. I just started “When You Are Engulfed In Flames” by David Sedaris, which is of course made up of pure awesome. Last thing I read that really rocked my sox was “The Poisonwood Bible.” The way the author created each characters inner thoughts and made them unique was astounding.

  35. I too read several books at the same time and do audio books count?
    I too read several books at the same time and do audio books count?
    Currently I’m reading:
    Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (For the umpteenth time)
    Generation of Swine Gonzo Papers VOL 2: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the ’80’s by Hunter S. Thompson
    (For the… lost count on this one)
    Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins (for the third time)
    The Glance by Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks)
    The Art of Living by Epictetus translated by Sharon Lebell
    I am listening to The History of Everything by Stephen Hawking and to any number of Jack Flanders Audio books.
    Wow… that’s too much some would say. Given the current state of the union, I needed the political humor or Vonnegut and Thompson in particular.
    OH, I was reading The Historian, but chapter 74 pissed me off so bad that I haven’t finished it yet. I let someone borrow it. Perhaps I’ll finish it when I get over my dismay with chapter 74 ha ha. Does anyone else do that?

  36. I was reading “Quicksilver” and then “Anathem” came and I am completely absorbed in that. In between, I read “The Gypsy Morph”, which was light and pretty fun, “Devil in the White City”, “Soon I will be invincible”, and I re-read “Consider the Lobster” in light of our current losses. Good essay about McCain as of 2000 in there.

  37. I’m currently reading Ringworld by Larry Niven. Really good so far. I’ve noticed it plugged a few times here:-) I also have just recently finished Old Man’s War, Ghost Brigades and Last Colony. Again, thanks to Wil for plugging these books:-) Also read Starship Troopers for the 1st time recently. that was pretty cool too.

  38. I am currently reading The_Cleric_Quintet, a classic fantasy book in the Forgotten Realms genre written by R.A. Salvatore. Kind of cool to read a series centered around a Cleric and his Monk Girlfriend. I so want a Monk girlfriend!!!

  39. I recently completed Just a Geek. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. I’m normally not a NF-for-fun reader, but it was such a fun read. Thanks!
    Before that, I read Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs, and Tigerheart by Peter David. Tigerheart was just a sweet, sweet story. Made me want to have kids just so I could read it to them.
    My reading list is long and varied, and I’m so behind. I’m looking forward to Gaimen’s latest, but it might be years before I get around to reading it. I only get time to read those old school book thangs when I’m traveling to conventions.

  40. I just finished “Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow yesterday. Wow. Could not put it down. I highly recommend it because it really makes you think about how our freedoms could be (or are being?) taken away in the name of fighting terrorism. Also, it’s available to read for free at Daily Lit (dailylit.com), which I discovered thanks to you Wil. Thanks.

  41. I used to read one at a time, but that was before kids and a career when I had the time to finish a book in a couple of nights. I started the several-at-once approach and it’s taking me forever to get through anything, so I may need to revise.
    Right now I’m reading No Logo, by Naomi Klein; The First Immortal, by James Halperin, and am rereading for the nth time Pastwatch, by Orson Scott Card.
    >>I find Orson Scott Card’s recent raging homophobia and associated ignorant ranting pretty reprehensible, and I have no interest in giving him any of my money or spending any time reading his current work<< This made me a little sad. I completely agree with you about the man's homophobia and resulting politics, and when I read his first reprehensible screed a few years ago I swore off as well -- but honestly, Speaker for the Dead, The Worthing Saga, and Pastwatch are among the most compassionate and important books I've ever read. I think that's why reading his essays on the imminent downfall of civilization -- both in 2004 and now -- was such a crushing blow. It's so hard to reconcile that raving, paranoid madman with the author who could create such complex, sympathetic characters, and make me care about even the worst of them. Anyway. I can understand not wanting to line his pockets, but I hope you might consider buying them used or picking them up from the library. Cheers.

  42. “Naked Lunch” is my work desk book, and is taking a long time to get through because its very strange and written in a very non-linear fashion, but I suppose it might be good. I haven’t decided about it yet.
    “In Cold Blood” is my car book and so far it is very good. Almost too good, I can’t put it down during my lunch break even when I really want to be napping instead of reading.
    “New Moon” is my home office book and is okay but not great. I read the first book in the Twilight series to see if it was really worth all the craziness and it too was okay but not great. I only bought the second one because I heard the fourth is insanely strange and I can’t wait to get to it.
    “Vile Bodies” is my book in my boyfriend’s car, and its great fun because it is so old school in its language and writing style.
    “Watchmen” is my livingroom book now that I’ve finished “Howl’s Moving Castle” (which was a really good fantasy novel and which I loved almost as much as the movie version by Miyazaki) and it is a great book but very intense and taking me a while to get all the way through.
    “Eldest” is my bedroom book and unfortunately not as good as its precurser, “Eragon.” I’m sure I’ll finish reading it eventually so I can get the third book in the series, but it might take a while.
    I thought everyone read several books at one time, isn’t that what you are supposed to do? 😉

  43. I just finished The Graveyard Book. It was really really great! Not as good as Good Omens or Neverwhere, but then again those books rule the world…
    Am also reading the new Angel graphic novel, After the Fall. And the Doctor Who Graphic novel we have at work (I WORK in a bookstore, can that GET any cooler???)
    Just finished (and surprisingly enjoyed) The Host by Stephenie Meyer
    What I plan to read next:
    A book on making Webcomics, The second book in the Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind (how they’re planning on making that into a tv series, i dont know… but i look forward to seeing it!!!) and I just borrowed Neuromancer again from a friend of mine.
    Favorite books EVER: Good Omens, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, The Talisman by Stephen King, Bag of Bones, and The Elfblood Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey. The Harry Potter Series is always fantastic (not the movies, the BOOKS) and The Northern Lights series. erm… I just outted myself as Ubernerd mach I didn’t I? I can’t help it, I love to read.
    Books that disappointed me (see, I can go one up too!): Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and unfortunately… Neuromancer. I really looked forward to reading that one. But the character development fails, although the story is nifty.

  44. currently reading the blind assassin by margaret atwood. it is awesome as everything by her always is. 🙂
    and yes, carter beats the devil is most excellent.

  45. The last book I read was Charles Stross’s “Glasshouse”. It is set in a world similar to the post-singuarilty one in Accelerando. Very good.
    I am about 2/3 of the way through “Godel Escher Bach”. Have a computer science degree made a lot of that reading easy. My library check-out expired on in and I’m on the waiting list to get it again so I can finish reading it.
    I also started “I am a strange loop” by the same author as GEB. It has a more focused exploration on the phenomenon of consciousness than GEB. I had wanted to finish GEB before starting this one, but… well… library…
    I have a long term project to get through “Probabilistic Robotics” (http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10668). But that is more of a textbook and I’m implementing the algorithms in it to help understand them better so it doesn’t really qualify as “reading”.
    The next fiction book on my reading list is “Halting State” — again by Charles Stross. Others on my “to read” list include: “Soon I will be invincible” and “Nano comes to clifford falls”. I’ve read one of the stories in Nano about how nanotech assemblers change society in a small town. It answers the question: What happens when everyone is economically independent?
    As far as OSC goes, I don’t remember “Lovelock” revealing any homophobic tendencies in the author. There are some political leanings, but they are in the same direction as “Little Brother” and a bit more subtle.
    I reread “Ender’s Game” as an adult. It was very interesting seeing the protagonist as a child instead of a potential peer. (Although Ender was a good 8-10 years younger than I was when I read it as a teenager — not really a peer…)

  46. Right now, I’m just about finished with Douglas Coupland’s “Hey Nostradamus!”. There’s just something comforting I find about Coupland’s works.
    And thanks to angelkirie’s comment reminding me that I own it but have yet to read it, “World War Z” will be next.

  47. OH! And I’m working on a book of poetry and a story I’ve worked on for five and a half years now (I keep rewriting the first seven chapters *shrug*). I’ve always wanted to make an epic dark fantasy novel, but I wonder if my descriptive imagination would be up to it.

  48. On a related note, people should take a peek at an interesting blog (not mine, I promise) I stumbled upon called “People Reading” at http://www.peoplereading.blogspot.com, where the author interviews one person she sees reading in the San Francisco Bay Area and talks about them and their book. As a resident of the area, I almost want to see if I can get this author to find me reading somewhere. It’d be a fun adventure, to say the least 🙂

  49. I am reading Michelle Sagara’s Cast in Fury, the latest in a series. Before this was Tanya Huff’s Quarters books.
    These books I read alone, because theyr’e gripping and thinky enough that I want to devour them without distraction. Sometimes I need a brain break and I’ll read several less intellectually demanding novels simultaneously, or a seriously thinky book alongside some brain candy reading. I will also sometimes read an e-book at work (Baen’s Free Ebook library!), another on my handheld on the streetcar, and a paper book at home.

  50. I was on a historical kick for a while (all nonfiction biographies of people from the 1780s — my brain looked like a Kate Beaton comic), but now I’m rereading Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Warrior’s Apprentice. It’s the third of a series (but the first with the main character, who proceeds to dominate the rest of the saga). If you want a fast read and a lot of swashbuckling space romp, this book is it. Kid fails medical test to get into military school, goes on vacation, accidentally starts mercenary army while hoping nobody notices. The rest of the series only gets better, but this one is definitely fantastic light-hearted SF fare.

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“The library is a safe place.”

In order to survive, I disassociated for much of my childhood, but I clearly remember the books. That's where I found comfort, companionship, inspiration and validation. It's where the imagination that powers everything I do creatively in my life today was born. And it all started in that library, with that librarian. She was one of the first people I can remember asking me, "What do you like? What's important to you? What do you want to know more about? How can I help you find it?"

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