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What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome

Claire G said:
@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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
Barbara said:
For those fascinated by bodies in a suitcase ... (and I'm one of them) ...
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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...)
 
E G Logan said:
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...
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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.
 
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
 
tyes said:
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.
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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 said:
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.
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Probably true, though with this one I think you've already learned the primary lesson: don't be boring.
 
MattScho said:
These days, i'm more along the life is too short track
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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.
 
Just finished Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary. Coming of age tale of two neglected kids who find sanctuary with one another in 1980s Dublin. Heartbreakingly brilliant.
Possible comp for my own WIP, although that's not why I read it, but feels like a bonus.
 
Sedayne said:
Possible comp for my own WIP, although that's not why I read it, but feels like a bonus.
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Definitely a plus. Sadly, the main two I'm using are, although very successful, not the best written. The subject is quite niche, so the choice is not wide.

And here is a question for us generally, re comps:
Which is better, a couple of comps that are close-ish, also well-known/successful, but not good examples of writing, per se?
or two or three less well known, better written (i.e. fair to good) novels which are, however, comparators in only one or two respects?
 
E G Logan said:
Definitely a plus. Sadly, the main two I'm using are, although very successful, not the best written. The subject is quite niche, so the choice is not wide.

And here is a question for us generally, re comps:
Which is better, a couple of comps that are close-ish, also well-known/successful, but not good examples of writing, per se?
or two or three less well known, better written (i.e. fair to good) novels which are, however, comparators in only one or two respects?
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Difficult isn't it? I've yet to take the plunge with querying agents, but the whole comps thing bothers me. There's that contradiction of what might be thematically similar but the writing is a different vibe, and the writing style that you feel is kindred, but the story isn't. Agents want to know how to sell it, i.e. what would appeal to readers who buy such-and-such. But yeah, I don't think I could bring myself to comp with writing I think is poor or a book I couldn't finish no matter how successful.
 
Sedayne said:
Difficult isn't it? I've yet to take the plunge with querying agents, but the whole comps thing bothers me. There's that contradiction of what might be thematically similar but the writing is a different vibe, and the writing style that you feel is kindred, but the story isn't. Agents want to know how to sell it, i.e. what would appeal to readers who buy such-and-such. But yeah, I don't think I could bring myself to comp with writing I think is poor or a book I couldn't finish no matter how successful.
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I wouldn't comp bad writing either, but I would choose comps that the prospective agent/publisher is likely to know. I also research their client list to see if any of those would make a good comp (which has introduced me to stories I'd never otherwise have read, some of them great.)
 
Hannah F said:
I wouldn't comp bad writing either, but I would choose comps that the prospective agent/publisher is likely to know. I also research their client list to see if any of those would make a good comp (which has introduced me to stories I'd never otherwise have read, some of them great.)
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Yes, me too. Discovered some great reads from looking at client lists. And it works the other way round. Having enjoyed the Karl Geary book, I saw who his agent is in the acknowledgements and have added her to my 'wishlist' for when I get around to querying.
 
Finished Eruption by Michael Chrichton (yes back from the dead) and James Patterson. I had to read it because it takes place here on the Big Island. Not a fan of james Patterson; his typical 5th-grade reading level and short chapters and very predicable. BUT, he's sold tens of millions of books...
 
tyes said:
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.
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I read this trilogy ages ago and for the life of me I can’t remember any of it. So that tells you something I guess. I mean I do have a bad memory, but I can usually remember at least how a book made me feel. And all I remember was that the cyber-ideas were interesting. I think Gibson throws a bit too much into his stories with multiple threads and chars and lots of ideas. Which is fine, but it makes the stories go wide, not deep.
 
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