Wednesday: What Are You Reading?

[cap_ironman_daily]

In the spirit of new comic book day, Wednesdays are dedicated to discussing anything on your reading list right now! Have you picked up any new releases today? (Looks like there are some Wednesday spoilers that might be relevant to people's interests...) Finally started a novel you've been putting off for way too long? Keeping preoccupied with some fanfiction? Don't hesitate to talk about whatever story's on your mind!

Let us know what you've been reading this past week and what's next on your queue! If you have any spoilers in your comment, you can use the following code to help censor them:
<span style="background: black">YOUR SPOILER HERE</span>

Remember to stay positive and constructive in these discussions! If you're not a fan of the comic, book, fanfic, etc. that someone else is enjoying, there's no need to partake in that particular conversation.

Comments

Sci-fi and Dragons

[fluffypanda]

I've been casually rereading Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie. I just love the series and Ann Leckie's writing! I'm probably going to pick up her new book when it comes out in September.

I recently downloaded The Memory of Flames series by Stephen Deas. I haven't started reading it yet, but it sounded interesting. I'm hoping reading books about dragons will get me in the right mindset for my BB, since I'm doing a dragon rider au. If anyone has any recs, I'm open to it. (I'm already all over Temeraire and Pern as my main sources of inspiration.)

Re: Sci-fi and Dragons

[spikethemuffin]

There's always Robin McKinley's Dragonhaven, but I feel like I'm forgetting something major and perfect... may be getting back to you. What are you after, with dragonriders? Partnership with the other? Flight and power? Politics? Rumbly voices in your head?

E. Nesbit's The Book of Dragons is fun and public domain and has some very Tony moments. So is Tolkein's Farmer Giles of Ham, I think. Mercedes Lackey's Elvenbane series, and her Joust (Lackey's work has flaws, but such fun reads!). Mary Brown's The Unlikely Ones only involves dragons peripherally, but when she does speak from the dragon's viewpoint or have it connect with the eponymous exiles, it sears your soul. Wesley the Owl is non-fiction, but pretty good for a chuckle and the summoning of onion-chopping ninjas in the service of animal husbandry.

Re: Sci-fi and Dragons

[fluffypanda]

Thanks for all the recs! I'll check them out. If you think of the other thing I'd love to hear about it. I'm really after all of the above, they are all such important parts of fiction about dragon riders!

[spikethemuffin]

I was going to put the important bit at the last, but I'd like to lead with it: I will be starting my marvel.com membership later this month and I would appreciate any good leads on good places to dive in.

Just finished The Library at Mount Char. Highly recommended whodunnit: God/ Satan is dead and a bit of a bastard (as one must be, in the deity business), the Elder Gods are taking notice of the power vacuum and pushing at the edges of reality, and God's children are trying to keep the sun from going out (or are they?) and don't know how to dress for the suburban neighborhood where the clues to the mystery reside. Bit violent. My cosplay for the local con is just getting the finishing touches (my daughter and I are going as together as Frigga and Lady Loki from the movies), but I think I am compelled to dress up in crossplay as David, the god of murder and war, for the dance. (Anyone have tips for working with large quantities of fake blood?)

I have just started H is for Hawk in non-fiction, and my eyes are big and round at the revelations of T.H. White's life in the first chapter.

[fluffypanda]

I've heard of The Library at Mount Char! It's been on my reading list for a while, I'll have to bump it up.

[chemically_yours]

The marvel membership is how I've read most comics. Welcome to the rabbit hole! What specific characters or series are you most interested in reading? I always recommend Ultimates as a good place for new comic readers to start breaking in. If you want normal Avengers though, you could start from the beginning (i love the early silver age), or if you want some of the more recent runs, the New Avengers run starting in 2005 (and subsequent Avengers runs) is one of my favorites (it starts with naked bonding time in the Savage Land) and will take you through Civil War, Secret Invasion, and the other bigger events from the last decade.

The Library at Mount Char sounds fascinating btw. I'll have to add it to my list.

[alafaye]

Goodness I can't remember the year of it, but Matt Fraction's Hawkeye are great. They should be up on the marvel sight for reading! I also recommend the Scottie Young quick run of baby Avengers vs X Men as it requires no background knowledge and is a fun little read. I'm not sure if that's been made available yet. (It's been a while since I had a marvel account.)

[laireshi]

WEDNESDAY SPOILERS ARE VERY RELEVANT.

I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH TONY LOVES STEVE. Like really, TONY BABY. He's been lying to his friends, both to give them hope, and TO SAVE STEVE. And he's been SO DISAPPOINTED when they wouldn't continue his wild goose chase TO SAVE STEVE. Did I mention SAVING STEVE was the most important? Because SAVING STEVE. Tony can't think of anything else! I love it so much. And now Steve's attacking the compound, hmm. I'm hoping for another stevetony confrontation. Man, this comic is good.

Also today: Infamous Iron Man with more Sorcerer Tony! I think it's my favourite series right now and Bendis is just hitting all my kinks and then some. I can't wait to see more, and I really really hope sorc Tony will return in the next issue.

[clobeast]

Oh man Infamous Iron Man is absolutely my favourite series right now because of all the stuff we're getting with a more human side of Doom and all the Sorcerer Supreme Tony Stark we're getting out of it. Like. I really love how Victor's just this super overpowered dude, trying to play nice now, and THAT being so out of his element and how he's really stumbling under these new parameters. And also how he's a super low-key Tony fan and is so ready to listen to advice and direction from Tony in any capacity, as pertaining to the Iron Man legacy.

[navaan]

*sigh* Yeah, god, Tony. ;_; I'm still sighing.

I haven't caught up with that last one yet, damn. But it sounds like I should take the time and read it tonight.

[chemically_yours]

I've been reading Scar Night by Alan Campbell during my lunch break for the last two weeks. It's dark scifi built in this world of Angels/Demons suspended above an abyss where a god of chains claims the souls of the dead to build an army and ascend to heaven only the god isn't what the humans think he is.

I'm about to go on my beach vacation which means I'll be spending a week reading so I'm hoping to get to State of Fear by Michael Crichton and some more Stephanie Plum mystery novels. Plus I'll the comics I'm behind on. I think I may be caught up on Imfamous Ironman, which I didn't really care much about until that little multiversal surprise last issue. Has anyone else been reading Occupy Avengers?

[neurotoxia]

I've been re-reading the draft of my thesis on The Lord of the Rings. It hasn't done much to decrease my panic levels, but I think a thesis is the one paper you should maaaaybe proofread before handing in.

[msermesth]

Woah! A thesis on LOTR? That's so cool. What exactly are you exploring with it?

Also, yeah, proofreading my bachelors thesis may have been the most simultaneously stressful and boring thing I've ever done. So wish you tons of luck there.

[neurotoxia]

I'm looking at ecocriticism and living spaces in LotR, not sure if you're familiar with that theory? Basically, looking at the depiction of the environment and the characters interactions with it and seeing if maybe we can learn somethingfor real-life application from it.

I didn't proofread my bachelor's thesis because I was writing it until three hours before the deadline. I still want to hug the copy shop for printing and binding the thing within an hour. Turned out well for me, but this time, the thesis is in English and since that's not my native language I should not just rely on blind luck haha

[alafaye]

I am intrigued. What is your major?

[neurotoxia]

I'm doing postgrad in English Literatures and Media.

[alafaye]

Shiny.

[msermesth]

Comixology had a $20 off $30 purchase sale this week so I had the best excuse to catch up on both Invincible and Infamous Iron Man(s). I read both series today and really enjoyed them. Riri is a treasure and the perfect foil for AI Tony. I hope she stays around forever. And Doom... is Doom. which is apparently everything I need. He still views the world the same way, but his motivations are different and its really something special. I'm appreciating all the Fantastic Four stuff too. And OMG Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm were in the same room and for a second the world felt right.

And Secret Empire... is kinda crazy but also felt like a return to the status quo? One thing I appreciated about the jarring tone shift of the last issue was that it managed to drive home 'everything sucks and Steve is 10 steps ahead of everyone' while also being a little less defeating. Though don't get me wrong, a lot of the character moments here were great. Thor pulled my heartstrings and all the Tony stuff was shipping gold. I especially appreciated Bobbi (not sure how I feel about her being the traitor...) saying someone should talk to him because he wasn't doing so hot.

And besides that, I'm tearing through Fraction's run on the Fantastic Four, and it's... ok? Like totally solid comic book-ing, but for some reason not clicking with me.

[alafaye]

*fist bump to fellow Riri fan*

(But oh no spoilers. I have read the last few months. *shakes fist at universe*)

[navaan]

I enjoy both of the Iron Man line comics very much, too, although I miss Tony like burning! Riri really is perfect and I love how AI!Tony works with her.

[moonlit_lampshade]

I've mostly been reading random fanfic lmao. I did somewhat recently catch up on a series I'd read in high school which the last few books had come out for, but like....that was sad because apparently the author and I had different agendas re: the characters 8) And then I went on Goodreads to see other reviews and turns out my opinion was a minority opinion 8) 8)

so yeah it's back to fanfic for the ships/fandoms I've been reading for the past forever.

[navaan]

Haha, I think I'm your opposite there. I don't have much time to spare recently and when I do I always pass over fanfic and just jump into the next book or comic in my shelf. I've seriously accumulated a scary backlog of fic that I'll never catch up with. XD

[alafaye]

New member here :)

I'm currently at second half of the Amber Spyglass, the 3rd in the His Dark Materials series. I liked the first so when the second and third books made their way into my path, I picked them up, but I'm finding my want for the series is dieing down. I'll definitely be trading them for other books. (I love having a used bookstore nearby.) I'm hoping to finish this book soon though so I can get on with reading Kingsway West as well as a few months worth of Hawkeye, Occupy Avengers, Iron Heart, and some romance novels and cosy mysteries on my vacation next week.

Fanfiction wise...this week I have found myself suckered into reading 00Q. Reading the fic I feel like I've fallen down a rabbit hole. (I haven't been this excited for a pairing since I started shipping Steve/Tony!) I've been a fan of the Craig era of Bond for a while, but only just started shipping 00Q. My sibling however thought it was inevitable and was only waiting for me to catch on. *sigh*

(And oh the to be read lists in my house just got tense. There's three of us and we share a B&N membership. Coupons came in and there's only 2 20% coupons. Just two. I have no idea yet how we're settling this one.)

[navaan]

Hi and welcome to the comm! Always nice to see new faces here!

I've been rereading His Dark Materials recently. Always a bit of a comfort read for me.

Oh, I love Craig era Bond too.

Good luck with settling the Coupon situation, haha. XD

[alafaye]

*waves*

Eh, I finished it. So so. But that's why there are so many books -- so we all find something we enjoy :)

I actually didn't get into Bond until Craig, to be honest.

We got it sorted. The room mate who has the membership took the ones she wanted -- two 20% off for genre specific books and sibling and I got the general 20%! Phew.

[ellid]

Reading An Army at Dawn, Rick Atkinson's wonderful history of Operation Torch during World War II.

Also, planning a fall vacation to Germany after I get my Jeopardy winnings. Part of my itinerary is likely to be Munich, and I'm torn between just seeing pretty tourist things and visiting Dachau.