What do you like to read Friday? MKF 12-06-02

[Patches]

I'm curious to see what Kittens like to read. What genre (fantasy, romance, mystery, erotica, scifi, etc); type of character(s); no sex, lots of sex; surprises or predictable plots - good and bad; when you read, what turns your crank and turns you off; do you like series (JM Redmann's Micky Knight Mystry) or 'one off' (Sarah Walters Tipping the Velvet); who's your favourite author, why - and I think I'll stop there, 'cause this is beginning to sound like an English essay topic. Am curious, I love books and love to talk about them, so if any of you feel the same way.

My favourite is JM Redmann's Micky Knight series. The characters are very real, the story is always great and I'm dying for someone to make a movie from her books. Anyone got a spare couple of million dollars kicking around ...

(ps - I hope I did this properly - gulp.)

[wannabebad2]

I like to read fiction, mainly the classics. I also like Greek mythology and some gay fiction.

But a lot of the time I'll read Star Trek novels and I'm starting on some of the Buffy Novels. I just read the Spike & Dru book. The Gatekeeper triology was fun, and I've also read the Book of Fours, The Wisdom of War, and Tempted Champions.

[FlereImsaho]

Science fiction mostly, but some mystery also. In sci-fi, anything by Iain Banks, the original Uplift Trilogy by David Brin (and some of David's other works). Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" will appeal to any hacker, and it has one of my favorite characters, Y.T., a young female professional courier with a high-tech skateboard. She is so cool. Anything by Laurie R. King for mystery. Laurie has two series that I like, one about a gay San Fran detective, Kate Martinelli, the other is about Sherlock Holmes and his young apprentice Mary Russell. In the first book in that series, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice", the initial meeting of Holmes and Mary is priceless. Of course I gotta mention w/t fanfic, to which I seem to be addicted.

I like stuff that isn't real predictable, that takes me places that I have never been before and that evokes passion. I also like believable characters who don't do stupid things just for plot convenience.

I just got home from seeing the group HEM play at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle. It was fun. It's way past my bedtime now, but I needed caffeine for the drive home and now I can't sleep - so, good time to read some fan-fic right?

Edit: Yeah, the Harry Potter books definitely. Those books are fun, as was the first movie. We're going to see the 2nd movie on Sunday night.

[urnofosiris]

Interesting topic , my taste in books is as varied as my taste (or lack thereof ) in music and movies is.

It is hard to name a favourite genre or author. I have not read as much the past few years as I used to, but soon I will have time for it as I will be travelling by train to work again, what else can you do but read then? Heh.

Anyway, I am partial to fantasy novels, I love the works of Tolkien: the Hobbit, LoTR, Silmarillion. I am/was reading a fantasy series by Robert Jordan called the Wheel of Time. I loved the books right up until part 8 where it became impossible to read for me with too many characters and details and names, and not really any sex or gayness which the story was begging for, or so I thought even before I found this board and was spoiled by all the WT fanfiction.
Another Fantasy novel that I loved was Rhinegold by Stephan Grundy, it combined some of my favourite subjects, namely Scandinavian/Germanic mythology and fantasy. And last year I finally gave in and read the Harry Potter books. In 2 months time. Twice. So hum, I loved them.

I have read quite a few 18th and 19th century books by English authors, the standard stuff by Dickens, Emily Bronte, Tennyson, Oscar Wilde etc. but I especially love Jane Austen's novels. I like it when books have a snarky sense of humour in them and her books have that.

Since I found this board I have compiled a list of books which I never heard of or thought about that I would love to read now, starting with Tipping the Velvet, heh. I also have thousands of pages of great WT fanfiction by some amazingly talented writers waiting for me, as I am hopelessly behind on that and that is definitely my favourite subject now.

But first I must continue repainting my living room. [img:390f0bc06a]http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/cwm/3dlil/ugh.gif[/img:390f0bc06a]

[samiamiguess]

Absolutely anything that fascinates or intrigues me.

I grew up I guess from a fantasy, Sci-fi background. The first as a way of escaping whilst the latter probably due to my scientific nature. I read William Gibson's Neuromancer at an early age and thought, yeah, now there's a book. That being said I'm also partial to the classics and I'm an old romantic sod at heart. I also love Jane Austen's snarky sense of humour and hers are the ones I've probably re-read the most.

I'm currently reading Life of Pi by Yann Martell which I picked up a couple of days ago and haven't been able to put down since. I tend to have two or three on the go so along with that I'm just finishing Stalingrad (taken me a while) and Flesh and Bones a wonderfully bizarre book about the history of cannabalism. Odd I know but there you go.

The W/T fic writers here amaze me though. There's such diversity in style and plot and the quality is phenomenal. I'd never read any before and started with Final Exam. Good initiation.

Cheers
Sonya

[JulesP600]

Sci-fi, horror or humour! Anything really, there is not a book I have truly hated yet!

I must say though things like the Star Trek novels don't really appeal but I haven't tried reading them so, who knows?

[MaClayMagic]

I read pretty much any lesbian novel going. I love thrillers and romance and adventure. A while ago though I ended up being very disappointed with what books were out there for lesbian readers so I started my own, the kind of stories that I would like to read. Glad to say a publisher agreed with me and they are published or in the process!

The one lot of non-lesbian fiction I have found myself sitting quietly and just devouring is Harry Potter! These are brilliant and so very British!! I love tv-tie in's, I have just got the CSI novels, hope they don't prove to be a gruesomely graphic as the show is! I won't be able to sleep!!

And Patches, I have to agree, the Mickey Knight books are brilliant! A marvellous capture of a character who is not exactly the heroine you'd root for yet (very angst filled and angry) yet you still do anyway! They are almost raw in their writing tone. But it really makes me want to visit New Orleans to see where each character lives!

[gspiggott]

I like fiction and history mainly but I'll read anything that looks interesting. For some reason I have a bizarre fascination with books about polar exploration which is kind of odd since I can't stand to be cold,dirty or cramped. In the end they obsess about chocolate and caffeine so maybe that's why I like them.

[Tulipp]

Ooh, Patches! I hardly ever meet people who have read the Mickey Knight books; I went through a lesbian detective novel phase a couple of years ago and read everything I could get my hands on, the best of which are the Manda Scott and Laurie King mystery series, IMO.

I'm not much of a sci-fi or fantasy reader, although I think that's more a habit than anything else because when people (like, for example, certain people whose screen names sound kind of like cars) recommend stuff to me, I almost always love it.

Mostly, I'm a binge reader...I like lots of different stuff, but I like to read as much as I can find by a single author at once; right now I'm reading my way through Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield mysteries.

My all time favorites, the authors I read again and again: Jane Austen, E.M. Forster, Joanna Trollope, Christopher Isherwood, and Stephen McCauley.

[walker(d)]

I used to read tons of sci-fi and fantasy when I was a kid. My father firmly believes that every 8 year old should read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. So reading those pretty much got me hooked.

Now I go by author recommendations from friends more than anything else. I think this is a brilliant way to read as you don't have any preconceptions about what you're about to get into. A few years ago a friend recommended that I read some Janice Galloway and, "The Trick is to Keep Breathing", is still one of my favourite books. I also love A.L. JFK, particularly her short stories. I also like the book, "Trumpet", by Jackie Kay but that's the only thing I've ever read by her.

And I daresay I'm going to find some new authors to read after looking through this thread. So, Mickey Knight books seem to be popular, might give that a go.

[dizzysyd(d)]

I love Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Dean Koontz. Loooovve me some horror novels.

On the funny side, I find Robert Rodi quite hilarious. Once I started Closet Case, I could NOT put it down, and I think I was laughing so hard at one point that my neighbor contemplated calling the police about the noise. Damn...Now I want to re-read it. Hmm, I suppose that could be arranged. (Walks to bookcase) Yep. It can be arranged.

[theatremouse]

i'm a fairy tale person. myths. tales. all of it. particularly the novel kind. anything with its own mythology. wizard of oz....narnia....etc.
BUT i do also enjoy a good mary russell or nero wolfe mystery.
and plays. big shocker there. but 80% of what i read is plays.
peace.

[maudmac]

[quote:8000f2546a]Quote:

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I just got home from seeing the group HEM play at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle.

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[/quote:8000f2546a]

HEM!

FlereImsaho, weren't they great? I just saw them here in Birmingham a couple weeks ago. I first heard them on NPR and immediately ran out and got Rabbit Songs. There's just something about Sally Ellyson's voice. As much as I appreciate melody and lyrics, I think HEM would be nowhere near as successful as they are without her doing the singing.

As far as the topic goes, I don't prefer any particular genre, but I do tend to avoid fantasy and sci-fi. I like the idea of fantasy and sci-fi, that expansion of reality, and have read some that I liked, but I just can't get into it the way I do other things.

I like literary fiction. I love Amy Tan, even though she pretty much just writes the same story over and over, just changing the characters' names and the setting. I love her stories because they are stories I so badly need to read. It's like therapy. Cheaper, too.

I like crime novels and police procedurals.

Alas, I cannot deny my love for Stephen King. Reading his books feels like coming home in a way I can't really explain. His writing style is easy and friendly and comfortable. I just have to ignore his stupid stupidness. Like the payoff after more than a thousand pages being....what the hell?...a giant spider from outer space? Please.

Hope everyone's having a happy Friday. I'm going to have a fantastic day. I'm pretty sure there will be pancakes involved.

[darkmagicwillow]

I read mostly science fiction, fantasy, history, and historical fiction, though Tulipp's got me reading some mysteries recently. Right now I'm reading Manda Scott's [i:99df479b27]Night Mares[/i:99df479b27] and Shakespeare's [i:99df479b27]The Tempest[/i:99df479b27], the latter more for research than fun as I don't like reading scripts even his though I love seeing plays performed.

I've given a lot of recommendations on the Books thread, but I'll give a few more here. Patricia McKillip makes magic seem magical, weaving tales that feel as real and familiar as the ancient myths; [i:99df479b27]The Forgotten Beasts of Eld[/i:99df479b27] is my favorite.

Lois McMaster Bujold writes some of the best character driven science fiction in her Miles Vorkosigan series, with [i:99df479b27]Mirror Dance[/i:99df479b27] being my favorite, but she does have serious competition in Connie Willis whose [i:99df479b27]Doomsday Book[/i:99df479b27] is heartrending and wonderfully written.

I like Stephen King too, seeing him as a modern Charles Dickens, but as [b:99df479b27]maudmac[/b:99df479b27] points out he can't end his epic works well. His short stories ar his best IMO. For horror, I'd also recommend Clive Barker.

[Grimaldi]

i like to read sci fi, Star Wars novels, current event stuff, Tom Clancy, and history like World War II, the Civil War or ancient history. if a book has got a favorable review or looks interesting, then i tend to check it out

[SlayerSydney]

Well, I used to read a lot. Mainly the Stephen King stuff. After college, I went throught this dry spell where I didn't read much of anything. Until "The Celestine Prophecy" and "Conversations With God." Both were recommended by friends. Then, I stopped cracking open books again. Until recently that is. My gf insisted I read those Harry Potter books. Sadly, I did and actually enjoyed them. Nothing like a children's book to get me back into literature.
Anyway, I am currently starting to read "The Garden of Eden" by Hemingway. If I could only tear myself away from W/T fanfiction, I may finish this book by the end of the year.

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"I can try to pretend, I can try to forget. But it's driving me mad, going out of my head."-----"All the things she said" by Tatu. Sums up my feelings on this blasted song!!! It keeps "Running through my head, Running through my head"

[Spice Faerie]

Great topic. I love to read and do much anything I can get my hands on but I love sci-fi/fantasy. The Harry Potter books are by far my favorite followed by Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern series and Lisanna Normon's Sholan series. I also love Anne Rice and Nora Roberts. Also, since I'm a teacher I read tons of childrens literature.

Spice

[Wytchi Grrl]

Reading, I LOVE it!
I mainly read horror, I love Richard Laymon (anyone else read him? not for the faint hearted) and ofcourse Stephen King, James Herbert etc.
I'm also into Marian Keyes, witty and entertaining.
I like to read the Angel books more so than watch the show but I'm yet to read any buffy ones, be good to see some recommendations for those.

[Chino6069]

Patricia Cornwell. Stephen King. I used to read a lot of Anne Rice, not so much now tho'.

There are also a lot of great FF books out there too. Not ready many W/T yet so any recommendations will be welcome.

I was a huge fan of Xena so I love the work of Missy Good (who started off as a FF writer and ended up writing two eps for the show and went on to do some for another show, that jungle woman thingy with Gina Lee Nolan?!)

My favourite at the moment tho' is SX Meagher who has written "I Found My Heart In San Francisco" and Uber Xena and it's wonderful.... and looooong. It's one book per letter of the alphabet and we patiently await book 14. If you want a read and you have an iPAQ or similar (Microsoft Reader Ebook version) you can dowload the first few books from our site.... www.mokacreative.com and head for the Fiction section.
(all done with the self plug now!)

It's a great read. Give them a go. They will certainly warm up a cold Winter night

[nepthys12]

I read almost *everything*. The only kind of books I can't stand are Harlequin type romance novels, otherwise I'll give anything a shot.

One author I'd like to specifically recommend though is Jeanette Winterson. Her books are just amazing. I'd heartily recommand reading them all.

[Puff]

The only two authors I follow are Laurie King and Patricia Cornwell although I love things like Harry Potter and The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe as well. At the moment I am reading Affinity by Sarah Waters though as I loved Tipping the velvet.

[technopagan78]

This is such a lovely idea for a topic. Reading other people's entries has reminded me of authors whose work I truly enjoy: Laurie King and Neal Stephenson (especially Cryptonomicon, but also The Diamond Age). I was mesmerized by Nicola Griffith's The Blue Room and Stay (Aud, *sigh*) and Lisa Mason's The Golden Nineties and Summer of Love. I have a soft spot for Connie Willis; her Doomsday Book is one of my all time favorite novels, so its also not so surprising I also have a thing for those other two writers of manners, Jane Austen and Joanna Russ (especially her collection of short stories, Extra(Ordinary) People). Christopher Priest's fantasy/horror novel, The Prestige fascinated me and disturbed me in ways novels rarely do. I would be terribly remiss not to mention Sarah Waters. And right now I am reading Middlesex, the new novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Looking at my list, I see a mix of science fiction and non-genre fiction, which reminds me to mention fan fic and to take the opportunity to remind my dear friend Rane that we readers of Camp Flutie are in desperate need of an update.

[Imperfectly Me]

King, Rice, Saul, Buckland, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms...pretty much anything and everything I can get my hands on.

Aim

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-

Well, this could be tricky. I'll start with Pens, ExtraFlamey and Wiccan Ways. Then it gets extensive. Terry Pratchett and Pat McManus for humor. Heinlein, Pournelle and Drake for 'hard' SF. CJ Cherryh's Merovingen series. The first three novels of the 'Dune' series. S.M. Stirling and Mercedes Lackey are guilty pleasures along with JF Rivkin's Silverglass series. Bruce Alexander's Sir John Fielding series, A. Conan Doyle and Rex Stout for mysteries. History of nearly any kind. I had an O'Henry collection until my last move. Herriot's All Creatures series was wonderful for capturing the feeling of old time farming and animals. Just about anything on organic gardening (why I don't know-I'm just a balcony gardener) fishing, hunting, or camping (yet I haven't done any of those in years). Any reference book will get perused at least. And of course Tolkien.

Then I branch out. Let's not even get started on the magazines. Or cereal boxes.

Thank you for the memory jog. I need to make my Christmas list.

[LadyCallie]

I have a little of everything on my bookshelf- Most of the Star Wars Extended Universe Books (old obsession), everything Tamora Pierce every wrote, some old Young Adult series that deals with life threatening illnesses (don't get my started) and then my current favs- Early Embraces Vol. 1-3, anything and everything by Leslea Newman or Lea Delaria, Lesbian Bedtime Stories Vol. 1 & 2, Heather Has Two Mommies (never too soon to start memorizing!!) and just about any other lesbian book I can get my paws on.


-LC

[fallingstar]

Though I'll read anything. When buying bew books, Urban Fantasy (e.g., most anything from Charles DeLint) and Historical Mysteries (e.g, works by Peter Tremayne, Steven Saylor) get my attention first.

[Rosenberg]

Lesbian trash novels and smutfic! OK I dont want to give you the impression that thats the entire sum and substance of my literary exploration, but I do like to indulge occasionally. Actually, Im an eclectic and voracious reader. Ill read anything from the back of cereal boxes to War and Peace. When Im not immersed in W/T fanfic, I tend to read more than my fair share of true crime and detective novels (Ann Rule, Jack Olsen, and Patricia Cornwell). I also like horror stories by John Saul and Dean Koontz, although Im not real crazy about Stephen King. I also like to read history, New Age, fantasy, and sports books. I also love all of The Far Side collection by Gary Larson and Alison Bechdels Dykes to watch Out For. . Im currently reading Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell and They Fought Like Demons, which is a chronicle of women who fought in the military during the Civil War. Basically, I just like to read, which is probably why my original major was library science.

[tarawillow66]

ok i like magic, dragons, and beautiful girlys in shining armor coming to save the poor rich girl in distress.
yup that's about it,
love ya
megan


Well! It fell UP anyways!!
devon

[Xanadu21]

Yay, books, my all-time favorite topic!

My favorite genre has always been fantasy, especially Tolkien. I think I've read LotR about 3 times a year since I was 8. I also love Charles DeLint, Patricia McKillip, Madeline L'Engle, T.A. Barron, Jane Yolen, Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy(really, REALLY good), and Ursula LeGuin. I also still like a lot of children's fantasy, like Tamora Pierce's quartets and the Harry Potter books. I also really like myths and fairy tales and retellings of them. There's a good book called Kissing the Witch by Emma Donahue that has fairy tales retold, many with a lesbian twist.
I'm also a big fan of the classics, love Shakespeare, Jane Austin, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Edgar Allen Poe, Dorothy Parker, etc. More modern favs are Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jeanette Winterson, Arundhati Roy, and Sarah Waters.
Really, I'll read just about anything well-written, one of the main reasons I'm an english major.

[tommo]

I used to love Patricia Cornwell, but thought that her books became a little cliched and repetitive towards the last Kay Scarpetta that she wrote. Having been a teacher of English, I used to have to read all sorts of "classic" lit in order to teach it, so I'm well versed in Austen, Shakespeare, Steinbeck and every bloody thing else that's on the curriculum, heh heh. My personal taste veers towards Shakespeare's comedies rather than the tragedies or history plays. Probably because the comedies have such a rich sense of sexual identity in them, and he plays with conventions so well.

I used to love Stephen King and James Herbert in terms of horror writers, but again, having read some of their later novels, I've found that their style has veered towards the metaphysical rather than the literal. Seems to me that Herbert, especially, has started to explore psychological horror rather than physical horror. And I'm not sure that compliments his style as much as his publisher seems to think it does, heh heh. But that's my personal assessment, and he's still selling millions, so what do I know?

I do love the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, especially the ones with the witches in them. They're so sardonic as characters, I do love that about them.

I've taken to visiting the library regularly of late, which is great, as I'm actually reading something that was written after 1900 now, heh heh. I got My Legendary Girlfriend from a wonderful bookstall on the local market, but I haven't read it yet. Although it comes highly recommended. Other books I've got on my "to read" list are Anita and Me by Meera Syal, which has just been released as a movie, and a Fannie Flagg novel. I'm terribly lax though; they're sitting by my bed but I just haven't gotten around to starting them yet. I'm also only on the first few chapters of my Sylvia Plath biography, which I'm enjoying.

I'm just looking for variety right now. I read Tipping The Velvet almost overnight; I just couldn't put it down. My problem is that I read very fast, so I always need a stack of books around to challenge me. Although at the moment, there's a certain book about the history of female pirates that's waiting on the "to do" pile. It's called Bold In Her Breeches and you know, the title alone is enticing enough, never mind the fact that it's got lots of lovely pictures in it too!