What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome

[Claire G]

@Jonny Pratchett was clearly a genius but I've never been engaged by his stories either. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters.

 

[Jonny]

@Jonny Pratchett was clearly a genius but I've never been engaged by his stories either. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters.

Yes, I would agree with that, Claire. The whole Discworld concept is brilliant, but the stories leave me pretty cold. I have read 7 and only one or two chimed. But being honest, even they gave me a sort of irritated feeling as they went on. I found myself longing for the end and thinking "could this not have been at least 25% shorter?"

@LJ Beck "But to be fair, nothing ever holds a candle to Hitchhiker's Guide. Never has. Never will. It's in a league of it's own."

Absolutely, Lyse.

 

[Barbara]

For those fascinated by bodies in a suitcase ... (and I'm one of them) ...

I can recommend John Marrs' Keep It In The Family. It's a good way of spending a few hours. Dark, suspenseful and tense. Chapter 39 is ... I won't spoil it, but it's 'Chapter39-ing' effective (as John and his fans would say) although the literary inclined won't like it.

Like everything by John, it covers some disturbing themes, so ... just a heads up.

 

[RK Wallis]

Took me a few reads of Pratchett to get used to his style. The characters can leave me cold too (though not all) but I don't read him for that - and I have to be in the right mood, but his strength is writing this wild imaginary world that's mirrored off our own world, quite often so he can have a humourous dig at the real world (pretty specific super power when you think about it) - which, I admit, makes an immersive experience hard, but once I accepted that was his super power, I found him an enjoyable read. We can't be good at everything, that's too ambitious, and he's proof we don't have to be - we just have to find our audience and write to our superpower.

Adams is just sublime. Full stop.

 

[E G Logan]

Over the past month I have just revisited the entire Hitchhiker's Guide series. Never grow tired of it. Sublime.

Absolutely.

 

[Jonny]

For those fascinated by bodies in a suitcase ... (and I'm one of them) ...

There are some things which are simply a given.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Speaking of bodies, I recently listened to part of the audiobook of The Natural History of Crime by Patricia Wiltshire. She's a forensic ecologist, and the book has some fascinating info about all the ecological clues she works with at crime scenes. There are some gruesome details, so make sure you have a strong stomach. And I don't recommend the audiobook--she rambles a lot, taking long diversions into her opinions on life, the universe and everything. I gave up on the audiobook because of the rambling I couldn't skip over by skimming (even at 1.5 speed the ramblings were too long), but if I ever need to dispose of or investigate a dead body in a story (hehehehe) I'll search out the physical book--absolute gold there.

 

[E G Logan]

For those fascinated by bodies in a suitcase ... (and I'm one of them) ...

There've been a couple of instances in Italy in recent years. Usually one body per suitcase.

Out with the dog not long ago and realised that since someone had cut back the trees behind a car parking, and dog sniffing, spot, I could now see a large object, partly concealed by branches. A very big, hard-sided case, in a khaki colour characteristic of various bits of techy electronic equipment – they typically fit into slots inside the case, and the outfit costs a LOT. Not something to throw away.

Did I investigate further? Try to open it? Reader, I did not. Did I report it to the Carabinieri (Police) and risk them splitting their tight breeches laughing? What do you think? (If you want to give it a go, I can take you there...)

 

[Hannah F]

I recently finished Postcards from Valhalla, by Danny Weston. It's YA fantasy, and I include it here for those in that genre, though I don't exactly recommend it.

I read it for possible worrying overlap with my Dark Gothic WiP (no problem, very different), and interest in the publisher, UCLan Publishing (forget that, no unsoliciteds). For my purposes, it offered useful pointers as to what not to do – though I accept that in YA much may be different.

The story, edited from UCLan website:
'Viggo is 15, living in Edinburgh with his mum... His older brother, Magnus, has (just) gone missing on Shetland. Mum, (frantic, plans) to go and search for him. Five years ago, Viggo’s dad, Jonathan, ... disappeared (there). He's now ‘missing presumed dead.’ Viggo (opts) to go to Shetland with Mum – but from... (the off he's).. troubled by visions: armed warriors, mythical creatures and Viking longships.'

My main problem was Weston's almost total absence of detail, in a setting that must be heaving with it, and atmosphere – to the point where I wondered if he had actually visited the (real) places he names. [My setting is fictional, though I am trying as far as possible to nail the historical and geographical things. Also the fierce and changeable weather, a significant feature of life in the Northern Isles but hardly touched on by Weston.]

A bit of a spoiler:
The action winds up (predictably) with Viggo finding a portal on the real Shetland island with "the most Viking remains outside Norway" – haven't managed to check that one out – which are, however, tantalisingly undescribed. The ensuing Battle between Good and Evil is about as gripping as the back page of The Beano, though my 12-yr-old self might not have found it so.

It's never explained why a family of Scots living in Edinburgh should give their sons Nordic or Scandinavian first names, though maybe it's implied. And for a story about Vikings to dismiss Jarlshof, 4,000 years of continuous human occupation – ''The Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse settlements in Shetland are one of the most important and inspirational archaeological sites in Scotland," Visit Scotland – in a couple of sentences...

The stuff you point out is not supposed to be different in YA. Setting is hugely important. Historical fiction is not that common in YA (perhaps how they got their publisher) but readers use it as a point of learning so want historical detail and accuracy.

 

[E G Logan]

The stuff you point out is not supposed to be different in YA

I tend to start out from the point of view of 'this is a published author, after all, it must be me just not getting it'.
But this was definitely wanting in detail, particularly of the setting, and atmosphere/creepiness.

 

[RK Wallis]

I tend to start out from the point of view of 'this is a published author, after all, it must be me just not getting it'.

I do that too! but I wonder if it's that although we're readers, we're not the exact target reader? And some writers have something in their writing that touches the general reader?

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I just finished reading Here and Now and Then, by Mike Chen. It is a beautiful, character driven sci-fi story. It caught me from the first page, and the ending is perfect. I highly recommend it.

 

[MattScho]

Because of a great sale on Kindle ($1 a book) I'm reading Sanderson's The Frugal Wizards Handbook. It's one of his so-called secret books (I mean, this is one of the four which brought in the $45 million, so not a total secret). It's an interesting Sanderson does Brooks (Magic Kingdom for Sale, not Elfstone)or Pratchett type thing.

However, same sale, I got what find his most interesting character todate, a three novella set from Legion, called the Many Lives of Stephen Leeds. Haven't started yet, but I've read two of the three before

 

[RK Wallis]

The Frugal Wizards Handbook

That means I'll have access to it somewhere as I bought into the secret books. I'm almost finished Rhythm of War (Stormlight Archives). That's been a marathon. Nothing compared to the 101.39 kilometres my brother RAN on Sunday - 6am to 11.32pm. He's 50!

 

[tyes]

I'm struggling through William Gibson's Neuromancer. Third attempt in 5 years and gotten further than previous attempts, but still stuggling to enjoy story about an amazing world filled with uninteresting characters.

 

[MattScho]

I'm struggling through William Gibson's Neuromancer. Third attempt in 5 years and gotten further than previous attempts, but still stuggling to enjoy story about an amazing world filled with uninteresting characters.

A good lesson in world building, then. the world does matter, but it doesn't overcome boring characters and narrative arcs.
Question, if you don't like it, why return to it?
I did that as a younger person, with Moby Dick, because I thought I should read the whole thing and was angry at high schooll me for failing to get through it. These days, i'm more along the life is too short track

 

[tyes]

Probably a familiar story - I want to finish it because I feel like I should. Not the best reason. A part of me thinks that reading some of the classics in a genre is necessary homework to write effectively in that genre.

 

[MattScho]

Probably a familiar story - I want to finish it because I feel like I should. Not the best reason. A part of me thinks that reading some of the classics in a genre is necessary homework to write effectively in that genre.

Probably true, though with this one I think you've already learned the primary lesson: don't be boring.

 

[E G Logan]

These days, i'm more along the life is too short track

Absolutely. In my much younger days, I used to treat it as if there was some kind of badge for persevering with the unreadable. (Mind you, at least a couple of things on the university syllabus defeated me: Tristram Shandy and Spenser's Faerie Queen. And I did once hurl a Norman Mailer paperback across a room.)
But now, especially with a Kindle, if I think, 'Oh, unprintable, why did I buy this nonsense?' then I pack it in. If it's truly beyond the pale, I even delete it from the Kindle.