Hi everyone,
I was just wondering what the rest of you are reading in the leadup to November. Is it an old favorite? something new? or something in your genre that is going to inspire your writing? I thought it would be great to see the different kinds of books everyone is reading, or just a favorite of theirs, and maybe you'll find a new favorite author or book you didnt know of.
I am currently reading "Hush, Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick, (on sale at Safeway!) :-D It falls into the fantasy category that I love. It is geared toward young adults and I find myself liking it much better than the first Twilight book. There is not a sparkle in sight! (so far.. fingers crossed.) The book centers around Nora, your average high school girl and Patch (not much for the name) who is a fallen angel. I am about a 1/4 through the book and can see this reaching the Potter/Twilight hysteria if it gets the right exposure.
As for a favorite book, one of many is "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind, a german writer. The book is a very dark tale of a perfumer's apprentice who murder's young women in the quest for the perfect scent. It has been a favorite since I've read it about 10 years ago.
Can't wait to see what everyone else is reading!
Cheers, Juans.
----------
our hearts are made to be broken by love
54,035 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 20 15
I'm always amazed by how my own writing style morphs based on what I read in October - no matter what style I'm consciously trying to use.
Anyway, one of my favourite books of all time is Barney's Version, by Mordecai Richler. If only I could be that great. But this year, I just picked up The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde a few days ago, and I'll be going through that this week.
I'll also have to start reading less safety manuals at work, to keep from imitating that writing style. I accidentally did that one year, and I wouldn't recommend the experience. : )
----------Denton, a.k.a. Aquadeo - ML for the Alberta::Elsewhere Wrimosaurs
I'm typing this year's novel LIVE on:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/late-write-featuring-aquadeo
85,433 / 50,000
Oct 18, 2009 - 21 23
The books I am reading, and just finished reading, are actually books a friend gave me to read. It was more of a, I need something read and I'm visiting you right now, gimme something. lol.
So I literally just finished reading 'Seize the Night' by Dean Koontz and I was surprised by how much I loved it. Not to mention it was great for seeing how another author does first POV. I have in my bag to read 'The Taking' by Dean Koontz and "Prophet' by Frank Peretti.
Open on my bed is Stephen King's 'Nightmares & Dreamscapes'. I was studying short stories of the horror genre, so I was just picking away at those again... And I have a book on writing that I've been picking away at as well. Those don't really count though, I just pick them up and read them when it strikes me.
Hmmm...Am I reading too much at once? lol
----------~CLicK~
NaNo 2008 Dawn of Eve - WON!
NaNo 2009 Memoirs of an Unlikely Assassin
Inspiration is a lie. Sleep is for the weak. Caffiene is a gift.
Seriously, giving up was never a choice.
37,150 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 05 52
Currently I'm reading [i]TSAR[/i] by Ted Bell. I've just started it, so I can't really comment on it yet other than to say that it seems fairly consistent with the first book from this author I read (Hawke) - a pretty typical spy-thriller type story.
In the car I'm listening to [i]Mutineer[/i] by Mike Shepherd, which I'm about 60% of the way through. It's okay, but like most military SF that I read, I feel like it is lacking any strong suspense.
I don't know that I have a single favourite book. I really liked James Lee Burke's [i]Tin Roof Blowdown[/i] - a detective thriller set in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes during Hurricane Katrina. I absolutely love Burke's style. He has a gift for creating precise imagery with his writing and I would recommend him to any writer. I also really liked George RR Martin's [i] A Song of Ice and Fire[/i] series.
An interesting non-fiction book that I've recently enjoyed was Malcolm Gladwell's [i]Outliers[/i]. Through a number of case studies he explores the hidden factors that he argues explain the success of people we generally just accept as exceptionally gifted. One of the biggest ideas I got from this book was the 10,000 hour concept - where it takes about 10,000 hours to truely master one's chosen craft.
----------"Because creative people aren't always in charge. And when they do their best work, they're hardly ever in charge. They're just sort of rolling along with their eyes shut , yelling Wheeeee." - Steven King, Everything's Eventual
5,000 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 09 11
I just got a copy of Rendevous with Rama - arthur c clarke.
Its one i read ages and ages ago, and wanted to reread for a while.
----------Sustainability - my kidbrother chased the same girl all year -Loesje
54,035 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 10 28
I remember Rendezvous with Rama... this is a fun question to ask of any novel, but this one kind of takes the flow of a NaNoWriMo novel, itself. Clarke obviously had Rama itself planned out to the smallest detail - that was October. But after that, it's a continuous string of:
"Now what do we do?"
"Let's do this."
"Okay. Wow, something just happened."
"Hm. Let's take a look at it."
and so forth.
Maybe it's just an example of the 10,000-hour masters being able to make it look easy. I still like the idea of Clarke desperately pulling ideas out of thin air as the deadline approaches. : )
----------Denton, a.k.a. Aquadeo - ML for the Alberta::Elsewhere Wrimosaurs
I'm typing this year's novel LIVE on:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/late-write-featuring-aquadeo
54,722 / 50,000
Oct 24, 2009 - 05 53
At the moment I am reading the novelization of Elfquest: Journey to Sorrow's End by Wendy and Richard Pini. I have read the comic a million times and was absolutely delighted to find this book at Value Village just the other day. But my favorite books are pretty much anything by Laurell K. Hamilton and Mercedes Lackey.
----------2004 - Angel Moon (Win)
2005 - Untitled (Fail)
2006 - Silver Wings (Fail)
2009 - And Who He Would Become
39,913 / 50,000
Oct 25, 2009 - 21 01
My favorite book is Lucas by Kevin Brooks. Pretty much anything else by him is amazing as well. Lucas is kind of a romance/drama thing, but Black Rabbit Summer, the first book I read by him, is more of a thriller, and fits with what I'm writing for my NaNo.
I'm currently reading, among other things, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I absolutely LOVED The Time Traveler's Wife by the same author, so I felt compelled to pick this up as well.