Saturday, January 10, 2015

Day 5 Bout of Books - continuing a series

I am nearly finished with McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories....and I have to say I am really enjoying it! In my experience with short story anthologies, usually the selections are hit or miss.....some I like and some fall flat for me. Too many stories in sci-fi or horror anthologies are old hat, cliche rehashings of been-there-done-that-before. But in this anthology, so far I haven't read a single story in it that I didn't find interesting and new. The stories are bizarre....but what can you expect from a book with a title like that?? :)

In keeping with my switch-up style for this read-a-thon, as soon as I finish the last story in this book I am moving on to something different. Different, but the same. I have been reading a fantasy series for several years. I read a book or two in the series, and then move on to other books/authors/genres and then come back for more. I don't like to marathon-read a series....it loses it's freshness after a book or two. Just like I love pork chops, but if I ate them every day, after awhile I would get incredi-tired of them. So, when I find a series I like, I take a bite or two, then come back later for more.

I thought through all my series-in-progress......Simon Green's  Nightside series, The Iron Druid books
by Kevin Hearne, or the Dresden series by Jim Butcher. I decided on Dresden, mainly because my husband has finished the entire series and wants me to catch up before he accidentally blurts out any more spoilers. I will start Book 7 of the series, Dead Beat, once I finish these short stories.  I like the urban fantasy genre with a nice splash of humor and wit. My favorite of the 3 series would be Simon Green's Nightside, but my husband is chomping at the bit to have runaway discussions on Dresden so I need to catch up. Only 8 books behind!My husband is not a bite here and a bite there series reader.....he is one that starts at book one and barrels through to the very end before thinking of reading anything else. I try not to read any series at the same time because he will inadvertently give away plot points if he gets ahead of me (which he invariably does because I only read one or two books in a series before taking a break). "He sees dead people. Oooops" :) When I told him the basic plot line for the series, he grabbed them off my shelf and read through the series at lightning speed. Modern day wizard in Chicago who assists the police and deals with supernatural chaos and intrigue. What's not to like? And I don't mind the accidental spoilers. I'm glad to see him reading!! It took me YEARS to get him to read anything but gaming rulebooks, comic books and Forgotten Realms novels. :) The Game of Thrones series (books, not the TV series) got him reading non-FR....and then my bookshelves started to beckon to him. I'm hoping now that he is caught up with Dresden that he will try the Nightside or Iron Druid series.

Bout of Books Reading list:
1. Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott
2. Gracie: A Love Story by George Burns
3. Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth 1 by Jake T. Forbes
4. Return to Labyrinth 2
5. Return to Labyrinth 3
6. All New McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories by Various.
7. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. In Progress

1 comment:

  1. I love the Dresden Files. I plan on picking them back up once I'm done with Game of Thrones. Amazon had a sale a while back, all the books for 99 cents each on the Kindle

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