What book are you reading right now?

[runalong]

I would really recommend Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. A very fresh take on the classic noir detective story, except it's not a true detective, some characters have animal 'companions' and it may be urbanfantasy or even SF. Really interesting lead character who has fallen from grace and the setting of South Africa puts a new look at the genre rather than familiar London, New York or Chicago

[Cdr Shepard]

I am currently reading Embedded by Dan Abnett and I am totallly gripped.

[Daarck]

Brent Weeks, Perfect Shadow on Ipod (ebook only - hippies)
Mira Grant, Feed (at work) - less zombies and more blogging than I'd prefer;
Alan Dean Foster, Spellsinger - beside the bed. Read it when I was a kid and fancied a spot o' fantasy nostalgia. And at some point got rid of my Dragonlance books, like a plank.

And usually have a David Gemmell book handy too - for emergencies. Always nice to know there's someone worse off than yourself, and that's basically every character he ever came up with at some point in their stories

[pmyumjr]

Ender's game by Orson Scott Card

[runalong]

Was very bemused and sadly disappointed by Q & A aka Slumdog Millionaire

Interesting the barest bones of the film are there but to me characterisation and plot was both poorer and a bit simpler. Not often I feel the book is better than the film

[umopapisdn]

Neal Asher, The Skinner. Basically reads like Iain Banks with his M hat on impersonating Cordwainer Smith (or possibly vice versa) and it's hilarious. Why did no-one ever tell me how gloriously guignol Asher is? Every chapter or so I double up laughing and think he can't possibly top this. Then he does.

[Moloch]

I've recently read Doctor Who: Made of Steel by Terrance Dicks and just started on Kraken by China Miéville

[Wee Little Puppet Man]

Today I finished reading The Victors by Stephen Ambrose which followed events of the Second World War from D-Day to the surrender of Germany. A good and insightful read, if a bit long-winded in places but maybe that's just my concentration kept waning from time to time even though history is my favourite subject.

Originally Posted by Boo

Yeah, reader's block...come on there must be more of us out there?! I go through phases where I can burn through 20 books a month, then all of a sudden (usually after reading one which I couldn't get into or if I'm especially stressed or upset about something) I'll just stop and no matter what booky goodness I have on my to read pile (which by the way continues to grow even though I'm not reading...and yes I am thinking about seeking help for that - Bookaholics Anonymous possibly?) I can't get into any of it. Like Space Cadet I'll start a new one, then another, then another but nothing sticks never mind how good they are or how much I want to find out what happens.

Oh, you're not wrong. I've had a bad case of readers block for the last few years now. Sometimes I just can't motivate myself to read a book, especially when it's much easier to watch a dvd instead. For instance I'm currently rewatching Buffy and I know that in the next week and a half it takes me to watch a full season I could read a book instead. But I try to alternate between the two, and I set myself a target like reading 2-3 chapters a day if I can, even though I'm not always very good at sticking to it. In fact when I was on my way home from work today I decided to sit in the park for a while while the sun was still out and finish the last few chapters I was reading.

But that's not to say I haven't read any books in ages. I've read about 7-8 in the past year, but that is in the past year and I'm always telling myself I should read more as there are loads of books I want to read and loads of new authors I'd like to try. I tend to buy my books from charity shops as there'll always be something in there that'll arouse my interest and I know I could go just as nuts in a bookshop as I do in a dvd shop but I seem to restrain myself more with books than I do with dvds.

But next on the agenda is Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo which I recently picked up because I really liked the films. I'm gonna try and make a start on it tomorrow.

[Sass1]

I've just started Kate Griffin's The Neon Court

[napoleon]

I am currently reading a novel called A DARKNESS FORGED IN FIRE by CHRIS EVANS (no, fortunately not the radio DJ!), which is the first part of a trilogy.

The best way to sum up this novel is a mixture of fantasy and history, where magic and mystical creatures do battle with Napoleonic-style armies. Think Richard Sharpe in Middle Earth!

Anybody wanting to read a long story (this segment has over 560 pages and was first published in 2008) should give this debut novel a try, as EVANS is indeed a good storyteller.