Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?

I finished Silas Marner by Eliot, and found it a thoroughly good read. I preferred reading Middlemarch ,on the whole, but both are very good books, overall. On reflection, though ,I would only consider rereading Middlemarch .

Juat finished Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher. It is the sequel to Areonaughts Windlass . I'm really enjoying the series. As always, Butchers prose is top notch. It is a great setting with unforgettable characters. If your a fan of Cats, air ships, or great writing in general I recommend this series.

I think I might try something out of my comfort zone next. Blob: a love story. I'm not a fan of fiction with too much romance, but this sounds like it has just enough and is humorous as wel also good reviews. Or I might grab something off my bookshelf as there are many unread. Looking at you, Goblin Emperor .

Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Recommend to anyone looking for a great dnd style narrative with a lot of MMO added in.

Just finished Watchers by Dean Koontz. "Watchers" was the second Dean Koontz novel I read, some time back in the 90s, and it cemented my love for his work. As for many of his fans, it was my favourite of his and that Golden Retriever stayed with me even as other details faded. When I embarked on my project to chronologically read most of Koontz' novels, both previously read and unread, and it came time to revisit "Watchers", I was curious to see if it held up to my fond memories. I am very happy to say that it did. Oh yes, it sure did. Five easy stars.

New Rose Hotel was my palate cleanser from William Gibson's Burning Chrome short story collection. A simple story that felt simultaneously over-stuffed and insubstantial; not bad, but far from a favourite. Three stars.

As I was so incredibly taken with Dan Wells' "John Cleaver" series, I just have to sample some of his other works, so next up is the first entry in his "Mirador" sci-fi trilogy, Bluescreeen

Just started Chevengur by Andrei Platonov. Said to be the Russian answer to Don Quixote. Also, discovered Platonov through a reference to the writer in Osipov. It's great how one book can lead you on to another like that, like hip hop artists referencing American gangster movies in their lyrics.

I abandoned Chevengur , the vague politicism and lofty intellectualism, in political terms, of the book was too much for me as I am not that history-savvy, and a lot of it went over my head. So now I have returned to my current favourite author, Maxim Osipov, and his second collection of short stories, Kilometer 101 .

Edit: Osipov is a joy to read, I haven't enjoyed literature this much since I read Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain ,which is my favourite book of all time.

I finished both Klara & the Sun & The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Klara reminded me of Spielberg's A.I. and The Buried Giant still has me thinking about it after the ending.

Now I'm onto Rasputin by Douglas Smith, I'll be diving deeper into Russian history and literature as the year goes on, so I figured starting with a biography on Rasputin would be a good place to start.

Finished Bluescreen by Dan Wells, the first in the "Mirador" trilogy. Wells wrote the John Cleaver series, which I absolutely loved, but this cyberpunk "light" novel didn't quite live up to my expectations. As it is a YA novel, I didn't really expect a grizzly and harrowing tale with lots of casualties, but it still felt a bit too tame and safe. Even so, the story and characters, while hardly original, were interesting enough for me to enjoy the book overall and I will check out the next in the series as well. Far from Wells' best, though. Three and a half stars.

Next up is My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. I enjoyed the previous Hendrix novel I read, "The Southern Bookclub's Guide to Slaying Vampires", so I decided to check out his other works as well (I love those titles of his).

@MightyDemon82 Nice! Looking forward to "Klara & the Sun". "The Buried Giant" sounds interesting, too. Will add it if I like "Klara..."

Got through three stories of Kilometer 101 by Osipov, there are six short stories in the book, altogether, and the remainder chiefly consists of essays. I loved the first three and cannot rave about Osipov's writing enough, highly, highly recommended. But avoid if you dislike books that are wry, cynical ,meditative, and at times dark with minimal elements of violence (the latter comment is more true of his first book in English, Rock, Paper, Scissors and Other Stories).

Edit: I'm on the last story of the 'Short Stories' section of Kilometer 101 now. And I will be starting on the 'Essays' section shortly, the last section of the two-part book, so far it has been a riveting journey through Russia and beyond, through reflections on the life of the cultured medical man that is Maxim Osipov, apparently.

Breezed through My Best friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. This is my second novel by Grady Hendrix, after "The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires", and while they broadly follow the same formula - a girl/woman is ostracised by her peers due to her being the only one realising something is terribly wrong with an upstanding member of their community - I've enjoyed them both quite a bit. The story and characters keep things interesting throughout and it frequently takes slight turns when you think you know where it's going. I gave "Southern Book Club..." four stars, but with this one I think it is the coda regarding friendship that elevates it from four stars to top marks material. Great book, five stars!

The Winter Market is the latest I read from William Gibson's Burning Chrome collection, which was a somewhat sad (and bleak) novella that had some interesting views on biotechnology, but ultimately it couldn't measure up to the best stories in this collection. Three and a half stars.

Next up is the second book in the "Mirador" trilogy by Dan Wells, Ones and Zeroes

@breakneck For historical fiction I would absolutely recommend James Clavell's Shogun, but I expect there is a fairly high chance you've already read it. If you're really into historical fiction, you're most likely familiar with Ken Follett and have probably read his "Century Trilogy" (Fall of Giants, Winter of the World and Edge of Eternity), which is one of the most epic and satisfying series I've ever read. If you haven't read them, I heartily recommend them.

On the thriller side, I thought Dean Koontz' Servants of Twilight and Robert R. McCammon's The Five were fantastic thrillers. Both authors flirt with the supernatural and sci-fi elements in their novels, but these two books eschew that for natural threats, in case you prefer that.

These are more crime fiction than thrillers, but I really, really enjoyed Peter May's "Lewis" series. They are best read in order, so start with The Blackhouse. All four are very good, but somewhat bleak. His "China Thrillers" series were also good, I thought.

Always good to see new faces in this thread; welcome! Hope you'll stick around
What did you think of Conclave and, if you've seen the movie, how do the two compare? I've only seen the movie, which I thought was pretty good.

already mentioned Ken Follet, but he has also written Pillars of the earth and world wthout end. Highly recommended. Medieval times

So I currently have a few books on the go. Reading Shadow and Bone, as its my daughters fave series and I want to be able to share that with her.

For me, I have Count Zero by William Gibson. I fancied a re-read of thr sprawl trilogy ahead of the Neuromancer tv show. I've also got Calibans War by James S.A Corey on the go, as well as The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson in what must be my 6th or 7th read through. For Fantasy fans, I'd argue that it really doesn't get much better than the Malazan Book of the Fallen in my eyes.

And if we're counting audiobooks, I'm currently on Mechanicum from the Horus Heresy series while working and also while building and painting, badly.

@breakneck if you want a really easy to read set of thrillers to get you back in the flow (well... crime thriller/courtroom drama and at times kind of like an action movie in book form) I'd recommend anything by Steve Cavanagh. Pretty much everything he writes is really easy to consume in no time at all, and he is king of the hook, perhaps. If there is such an award. Each book usually has a killer hook, and from that point you just hoping on and enjoy the ride.

I'd also recommend his Eddie Flynn series' to any Better Call Saul fans who may be lurking, just for the pure fact Eddie Flynn is a lawyer and former con man, even if he is more like Bob Odenkirk in "Nobody" rather than like Bob Odenkirk in Saul. Although I actually came to imagine the character as if he was Bruce Willis/John McClane but if Die Hard was set at a law firm and he had to prove the terrorists were innocent 😅 Trust me, it works for some gripping light entertainment reading, even if the action parts are less entertaining to me than the courtroom parts, which are pretty darn good (writer is/was a Lawyer, so you're in good hands with that aspect, and he knows how to make the courtroom the main event to everything else supporting the story)

Thirteen was the book I first read, part 3 or 4 of the Eddie Flynn series, and it was a great read. Enough to make me go back and read all of the others and subsequent releases. The hook for that one is simple "the serial killer isn't on trial, he's on the jury" I mean, come on 😂 it's so brazen a hook that you have to appreciate it for that alone.

Finished Kilometer 101 by Maxim Osipov. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read, further to my previous comments I will reiterate that I can't recommend Osipov's books in English enough. Best literature I've read since Thomas Mann, with various references to Classical Russian Literature sprinkled throughout the text, as well as autobiographical essays on being a Jewish-Russian cardiologist in Russia and abroad. Excellent stuff.

Next, another Russian text, And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov, and then I think I'll indulge in the Literature of America! .

@breakneck No problem, hope you enjoy them
Your dad sounds like a person with discerning taste. I haven't gotten around to the other books in Clavell's Asia series yet, but they're on my to-read list.
As is Conclave, but when I'll get around to it is up in the air for now. As you will likely experience, this thread often curses its readers with ever growing to-read lists (mine currently stands at 988).
I was debating whether to add it to my list or not, considering it seems like it hews pretty close to the movie, but I decided that I will probably not remember all that many details from the movie when I get around to reading it anyway, and the fact that the book deals more with the crisis of faith than the movie does was a selling point.

@Ravix Added Kill for Me, Kill for You to my list

@dris83 "The Expanse" is a fantastic series. I'm still sad that it's over. Their new series, "The Captive's War", is off to a good start, but doesn't start as strong as "The Expanse" did, in my opinion.
I also recently read "The Sprawl" trilogy and I'm currently reading the Burning Chrome collection. I like the universe Gibson has built, but I felt the novels lacked something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I liked them, though, but I didn't love them. Looking forward to the series, though

I've read the first 100 pages or so of And Quiet Flows the Don ,now, the Russian Classic, so far it's shaping up well, definitely earning it's reputation in my estimation. Lets see how it develops. So far, a strong reflection of Cossack life some 100 years ago or so (I think? Not that great at history, although there is reference by an older character to a War of the past that took place in 1839, so feel free to correct me! .)

Finished the second novel in Dan Wells' "Mirador" trilogy, Ones and Zeroes and, like its predecessor, I'm awarding it three-and-a-half stars, even though I felt this one was quite a bit stronger. I would like some higher stakes, as I still think this is very tame even for YA fare, but once again the characters and story holds my interest. I also think that the story was quite a bit more engaging this time around, so it's closing in on four star territory. If the third book continues the trajectory, it may get an unqualified four stars from me. Either way, I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

For my Burning Chrome novella, this time it was Dogfight, which William Gibson co-wrote with Michael Swanwick. It was a fairly decent, straightforward novella, about letting one's competitive nature get the better of oneself. Three stars. Only one novella left in the collection now, and overall I think it's been fairly strong, with a fairly low amount of "clunkers".

I am now getting fairly close to catching up to Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch expanded universe, with only eight left, so I'll step up the pace and alternate between this series and other books until I'm all caught up. Next up is Dark Sacred Night, which is a Bosch/Ballard crossover.

Finished the first part of And Quiet Flows the Don (Peace) and am on to the second part now , 'War', so far it's a thoroughly, riveting, engaging read, have to hold off 'till I finish it before I can recommend it to anyone, but so far it's been very enjoyable Literature.

Today I put two more books on my "finished" pile.
First off, I completed Michael Connelly's Dark Sacred Night, which is the first Harry Bosch / Renee Ballard team-up and a thoroughly solid crime novel, with the pair working together to solve a nine year old case, whilst handling a smattering of other cases that flow their way. Ballard is becoming a character I like a lot and she pairs well with "old man" Bosch, who once again sees a career change. It's necessary, though, as the guy is way past his retirement, and the foundation this novel lays for his further crime-solving activities feels both solid and full of potential. Looking forward to their next team-up!

I also read the novella Burning Chrome, the final story in the collection with the same name from William Gibson. It is one of the first stories set in "The Sprawl", this novella follows two hackers going for the big score for all the wrong reasons. I give it four stars.
Overall, I'd give the entire collection four stars as well, as it is quite a solid collection with no real clunkers. Hinterlands was easily my favourite and all the stories set in "The Sprawl" were pretty good, with the best, Johnny Mnemonic and Burning Chrome bookending the collection.

Next up, I will finish "The Mirador" trilogy by Dan Wells, with Active Memory