I'm currently making my way through a couple of books right now!

Stephen King - On Writing
Claire Saffitz - Dessert Person (yeah yeah it's a cookbook but there's a lot of technical information in there that is very interesting :) )

What are you reading?

Im not sure yet but after I unpack my boxes of books I will make an extensive list!

I started The Good Lord Bird by James McBride two days ago. After that, I will be reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.

I started The Good Lord Bird by James McBride two days ago. After that, I will be reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss.

How are you finding the McBride book so far? Were these books Christmas gifts? :)

How are you finding the McBride book so far? Were these books Christmas gifts? :)

Nah; I checked them out from my nearby public library. (Hope you got some enjoying Christmas gifts, at any rate. :)) I'm enjoying The Good Lord Bird so far, though I will admit I've only gotten through the first chapter thus far. I'll be reading some more this afternoon.

I'm currently making my way through a couple of books right now!

Stephen King - On Writing
Claire Saffitz - Dessert Person (yeah yeah it's a cookbook but there's a lot of technical information in there that is very interesting :) )

What are you reading?

Stephen King's On Writing is legitimately one of the best books about writing fiction I've come across. Which is weird cos I'm not a huge fan of his fiction anymore, I used to be as a teenager, but the only one of his recent books I thought was any good was 11/12/63. But On writing and his other non-fiction on horror specifically, Danse Macabre, are both really good reads for anyone who wants to write.

I just finished reading 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson, the horror author of Haunting of Hill House fame. Really good dark mystery about early 20th century America, madness, poison, and witchcraft. The opening scene in particular has the most amazing depictions of complete and utter paranoia and it only gets weirder and crazier from there. The narrator is very unreliable, mentally unstable, sympathetic, and dangerous, all at the same time.

Right now I'm reading some non-fiction, 'The Common Stream' by Roland Parker, a social history of a single English village set over the course of two thousand years from the Pre-Roman Iron Age to the late 20th century. I just finished reading the Roman stuff, which is frankly a little dated and full of suppositions which my archaeologist brain was not a huge fan of. But I bought the book mainly because I was interested in its reconstruction of life under the feudal manorial system, which is based more off of surviving historical documentation, so I hope that will be somewhat better.

I'm currently making my way through a couple of books right now!

Stephen King - On Writing
Claire Saffitz - Dessert Person (yeah yeah it's a cookbook but there's a lot of technical information in there that is very interesting :) )

What are you reading?

Anther cookbook reader? I've been eyeing Dessert Person but since they were out of stock in my area I had Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast on my Christmas list. It's been a fun read so far and I'm planning on baking my first attempt later this week.

Been a while since I cracked open an actual book, but recently (especially with the whole 'rona situation) I've been reading more eBooks. For example, I recently wrapped up "The Kaiju Survival Guide" by Wes Parker, and I'm currently reading "Claw" by Katy Berry. My thoughts on both (mind you, I'm not terribly far into the latter).

Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

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Anther cookbook reader? I've been eyeing Dessert Person but since they were out of stock in my area I had Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast on my Christmas list. It's been a fun read so far and I'm planning on baking my first attempt later this week.

Definitely grab a copy when you can! There is some excellent technique and explanation in there and it’s clear that Claire wants it to be as easy or just... less intimidating. There are also some lovely anecdotes too. Not to mention that there are *so many* recipes in this book. It is just incredible value, probably my favourite dessert book!

Currently I am reading two books.

Battlemage, by Stephen Aryan. A neat book of war, where a coalition of nations descend upon a single country that has summoned Battle Mages, who are a dying breed, to protect the kingdom along with their armies. There's three main characters. Balfruss, the traveling court wizard and Battlemage who is summoned to the capital to help in the defense, Vargus, a legendary swordsman who is keeping his previous identities a secret for an unknown reason, and Taladra the Princess who is also master of spies and whispers, who seeks to undo the coalition set against them with diplomacy. I'm not too far in, but so far it seems a fair read. The world is somewhat vague, though it still provides enough info for me to not be lost. Enjoyable so far.

The Belgariad, by David Eddings. Never read this popular series, but I'm reading the first novel. It's a book that uses all of the classic tropes of fantasy. Essentially David Eddings way of saying "fuck you" to people who considered traditional arthurian fantasy boring or tiresome. It's a very good read and popular, and even though I am only a short way in I'm liking it. Reminds me of the Wheel of Time a bit.

The Belgariad, by David Eddings. Never read this popular series, but I'm reading the first novel. It's a book that uses all of the classic tropes of fantasy. Essentially David Eddings way of saying "fuck you" to people who considered traditional arthurian fantasy boring or tiresome. It's a very good read and popular, and even though I am only a short way in I'm liking it. Reminds me of the Wheel of Time a bit.

I own every book the Eddings' ever wrote. Belgarath the Sorcerer is great but for my money you just cant beat the Elenium. He really has his interpersonal banter down by then and he does a neat job of making the characters interesting even though the are essentially all Knights.

Currently I am reading Ruins of the Galaxy by JN Chaney and Christopher Hopper. Frankly it is formulaic and had not impressed me thus far.

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I own every book the Eddings' ever wrote. Belgarath the Sorcerer is great but for my money you just cant beat the Elenium. He really has his interpersonal banter down by then and he does a neat job of making the characters interesting even though the are essentially all Knights.

Currently I am reading Ruins of the Galaxy by JN Chaney and Christopher Hopper. Frankly it is formulaic and had not impressed me thus far.

I own the first three books of the Belgariad along with Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. I'll likely tear through all of his writing this year.

Oh I forgot to mention I'm halfway done with the Conan the Barbarian Anthology. No wonder I love writing novellas. This year I plan on knocking that out very soon too since I finally have more time.

The new book in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives series and there is a lot of foreshadowing in it that tells me shots about to get spicy as fuck. Great series and it just keeps building.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. It’s a really good dimension hopping sci-fi that is surprisingly hitting me right in the feels.

I recently finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Right now I'm working on Ward by Wildbow.

Been re-reading Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. Novel from the early 20th Century that has an almost post-modernist sheen to its writing. Like Salinger twenty years before he was relevant and without any of his flaws as an author. Witty and poignant.

The sociology instructor was new. He was married, and therefore taboo, but he had come from Boston, he had lived among poets and socialists and Jews and millionaire uplifters at the University Settlement in New York, and he had a beautiful white strong neck. He led a giggling class through the prisons, the charity bureaus, the employment agencies of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Trailing at the end of the line Carol was indignant at the prodding curiosity of the others, their manner of staring at the poor as at a Zoo. She felt herself a great liberator.

Okay:
-The Last Wish, and Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski.
-(Trials of Apollo) Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan.

And rereading my favorite medieval fiction:
-Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner.
(Apparently it was a LGBT thingy but I never knew it before looking it up)

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How is Swordspoint? I've always heard great things about the character work in it but have never actually gotten around to reading the book myself!

As for me, I'm currently working through Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, whose style of lyrical prose I really love, and Charles Soule's recently-released Light of the Jedi for a little lighter reading.

I believe it is by far one of my favorite books to read and reread because there is so much going on, there are also two sequel books. I'd highly recommend reading it.