Sensitive boy needs a girl in a flowery dress

[venta]

Reading recommendations sought!

I am off to hospital on Monday, so am looking to stock my e-reader up with extremely lightweight reading matter. (I'm not opposed to proper books, of course, but during non mobile periods the simplicity of download vs. shop and clicking next vs. going to the bookshelf is quite appealing.)

So, what should I be reading?  I think, for mental bubblegum my tastes run rather more towards (say) YA sci-fi than they do towards chick-lit. Everyone keeps telling me I should be stocking up on T.V. boxed sets, but T.V. isn't really my thing.

I'm currently reading The Screaming Staircase and sadly finding it a little unsatisfying. I'm not sure what age range it's aimed at, but it does seem very simplistic. I loved the Bartimaeus books, but have been a bit underwhelmed by Lockwood & Co.

EditJust for clarity, I don't require YA sci-fi. It was intended as a frinstance, not a demand. Thanks for all suggestions!

Comments

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I recently read and loved The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, by Natasha Pulley. It's Steampunk(ish) rather than sci-fi, set in 19th century London and some other places. I recommend it!

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you haven't read everything by Connie Willis, she's awesome too.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I haven't, though I did also like The Watchmaker of Filigree Street(which I mostly judged by its cover :)

Thanks!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Slated/Fractured/Shattered, Teri Terry (YA dystopian SF). The St Mary's Chronicles, Jodi Taylor (comedy history/SFish). Anything by Tom Holt, particularly the JWWells series (start with The Portable Door) or the Youspace series (start with Doughnut).

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks, not read any of them!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Reading order for St Mary's here, though IMO I would not start with The Very First Damned Thing but read Just One Damned Thing After Another first, and probably the first 4 books or so ideally. Although chronologically the short story comes first, there's stuff in it that just won't make any sense otherwise.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I was about to suggest the St Mary's Chronicles. A lot of fun.

Irritatingly, the Mrs Pollifax books are not available for Kindle (in this country) so I won't suggest them...

[venta.livejournal.com]

Actually I have a Kobo, not a Kindle, so it's a bit hit and miss anyway :)

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I don't think they're in print, whether electronic or paper, at the moment. I have sourced second-hand paper ones for the first four in the series...

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I ended up liking 'Unwind' by Neal Shusterman a lot, although the first couple of pages were so dystopian-YA-by-numbers I almost put it down again.

I'd also recommend something consumable in short bites, like Nick Hornby's '31 Songs' or Toby Litt's 'i play the drums in a band called okay'.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I love Gail Carriger, who has a variety of adult and YA steampunk urban fantasy (someone described her as writing 'urbane fantasy' which is about right). The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman was a rolicking parallel universe whodunnit, might be worth a try? A Discover of Witches by Deborah Harkness, urban fantasy set in the Bodleian, with plenty of tea, may or may not suit, too.

None of which is sci-fi. Hmm. Looking through my Goodreads recently read list, apparently I don't read sci-fi. Maybe I should fix that.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

"urban fantasy set in the Bodleian"? *buys*

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Only the first book and only a chunk of it is in Oxford, sadly. The second and third go off to other places. (Still good, but "set in" is stretching it a bit IMO.)

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

It went into my head as 'set in', but my memory is a bit off sometimes. I described the book of Tobit as being 'about wlaking a dog'. Well, the dog gets two sentences - Tobias set off with his dog. Tobias returns with his dog.

I hope you like it anyway. despite my rubbish description.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I do like that summary! smallclanger acquired his name from there, of course.

I just didn't want bibliogirl to get the wrong idea about Discovery of Witches, that's all. The lasting memory of the book is definitely the Duke Humfrey scenes for most people, but there's a lot of book outside that. :D

[venta.livejournal.com]

A rollicking parallel universe whodunit? Sounds brilliant :)

I really liked the sound of the Deborah Harkness, but got really annoyed by it when I read it. Just in that "there is an ancient treaty forbidding... Oh. Look" kind of way.

[kauket.livejournal.com]

The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch is excellent (urban fantasy)

If you want a series with lots of books, you could try Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld - again, urban fantasy.

Some sort of dystopia/post-apocalyptic stuff you might like (some maybe YA, not sure) - The Girl With All the Gifts, Station 11 - both not as bleak as you'd think. I love Only Ever Yours by Louise O Neill, but some people despise the style, and it's also pretty bleak in places (see also Asking For It, which I think is fantastic but is as far from cheery as I've seen YA get recently).

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've read the first 3 or 4 Rivers of London books, but thanks for the reminder as it looks like there's at least one more out :)

[lathany.livejournal.com]

Shame about Lockwood & Co - I really loved it. You could try Emma Newman's Planetfall which is YA sci-fi.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I haven't finished Lockwood yet, so maybe I'm misjudging it. I just had higher hopes for it.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

There's always Douglas Hill for YA SF (e.g. the Last Legionary series, the Colsec series).

And I've been enjoying the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, too.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Last time I asked for book recommendations someone suggests Lois McMaster Bujold. Now I just need to furtle about and work out what it was and whether I liked it :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ah, there were two. The Curse of Chalion, and The Paladin. Apparently I liked them :)

[rapperaddict.livejournal.com]

Can't remember whether you've read them or not and not Sci-fi but the Robert Carey detective novels by P F Chisholm are awesome. First one is A Famine of Horses. Also The Black Cauldron Series by Lloyd Alexander (Technically kids' fantasy but I still think they're brilliant)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, I read Famine of Horses on your recommendation but the rotters are out of print. Hadn't thought of questing for e-copies though!

[rapperaddict.livejournal.com]

Poisoned Pen Press (American I think) still publish them all. The covers aren't as nice but they are available from on-line things like The Book Depository etc should you want physical copies at some point. (I curse them because I have the first 4 in the original publishers and have had to get the rest as poisoned pen press and the buggers are a different size and design and everything. It drives me slightly batty and I am going to have to get copies of the first 4 in the new design as well.)

[ceb.livejournal.com]

Seanan McGuire's Incryptid series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seanan_McGuire#InCryptid
which is urban fantasy with various mythical non-human species as characters.

Fun, fluffy, and also worth reading (I like her other series less, apart from the Newsflesh trilogy which is awesome but less light & fluffy).

[venta.livejournal.com]

Your recommendations have always been top in the past :)

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

I may have mentioned The Time Traveller's Wife to you in the past. If not, I'll mention it again. I think that makes for a paradox.
Also, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
I also suggest catching uo on stuff you meant to read but never got round to. Things that were on my list were things like A Christmas Carol, Alice, Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mocking Bird.
If I mention Jeffrey Archer's short stories, you will point and laugh, but you shouldn't. The short story is all but lost as an art, and he is responsible at least in part for its resurrection. So is Stephen King. Try his short stories too.
You will note that my suggestions are all fairly short. Maybe your eyesight is better than mine.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think the books I've never got round to reading are usually those that are (or are perceived by me to be) harder work. So exactly what I'm not after :) Is The Time Traveller's Wife a simple read? I don't think that was the impression I had of it.

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

All i can saybis that a combination of eyesight and not reading too much hard stuff when I was young means that it is rare fir me to get through a whole book if it is challenging, but I did get through TTW and enjoyed it. I have not seen the movie, but I have heard it is not that good.
Exactly the same comments can be made about Chocolat, by the way. Add that to the list too, or not.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Not, because I've already read Chocolat :) I haven't seen the film, though.

[shermarama]

I'd say that The Time Traveller's Wife is a very emotional sort of book, so once you get hooked you get really drawn into and carried along with it. I thus can't say whether it's a simple read, as I was too busy with All The Feels to think about how they were being achieved. (I am not the sort of person who believes in a Love Of Your Life, but I think I do for the duration of this book.)

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Some of the things I've enjoyed most over the last few years. Links are generally to reviews of multiple books so maybe scroll down.
Alif the Unseen. Middle-eastern urban fantasy.
God's War and its sequels (Infidel, Rapture). Complicated SF thriller in a fairly horrific environment.
Ancillary Justice and its sequels. Social justice space opera.
Wool and its sequels (Amazon link, thought I'd reviewed but can't find it quickly). Locked-civilization mystery.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think my goal for now might be easier-going books than some of those sound (especially the one you described as "complicated"!) but they look like great reads for other times, thanks.

[lnr]

My complete brain-fluff books of choice are usually re-reads ofJane Eyre and anything by Jane Austen.

My favourite book of the last 12 months or so is still Station Eleven.

And I just bought myself the Tripods Trilogy prequel on a whim because I've never read it - but it looks like it will be good fluff.

Last time we were in a library Matthew picked me a book to borrow, so I did. Or actually the one next to it that it was apparently the sequel to, since it made sense to read the first one first. I've only read the first couple of chapters but it's dreadful. It's called Very Valentine. Put that on the avoid list unless you like bad romance novels with a shoe theme. (And I speak as someone who actually *enjoyed* Bridget Jones).

Oh, but the last book I borrowed on his library card (I don't routinely carry mine) was The Demon Dentist, and that was *great* fun.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Rereads are usually my go-to for brain fluff, too, I'm trying to branch out!

[shermarama]

Jasper FForde's Shades Of Grey? It's a dystopian alternative future, but an amusingly absurd one that feels a bit like the 1950s, not the grindingly dark sort. It's fun pinning together all the bits of the set-up but then there's something surprisingly interesting there once you do.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ooh, is that Thursday Next, or a standalone? I've read the first few Thursday Next novels and enjoyed them.

[shermarama]

It's a standalone, although technically the start of a series which I'd now really like him to continue. I liked the Thursday Next ones more than I'd expected (I probably haven't read enough literature to get all the jokes) but I liked this one even more.

[beckyl.livejournal.com]

Seconding the St Marys. The heroine strongly reminds me of the Uitlander for some obscure reason...

Most recent bit of fluff I enjoyed was 'The Rook' by Daniel O'Malley. Amnesiac powerful paranormal agent of the Supernatural Secret Service has to work out what is going on and defend Britain against enemies within and without. There's a sequel called Stiletto which I haven't quite got round to yet but is on my list for 'treat when I need a pick-me-up'.

Craig Schaefer had a number of entertaining things in Kindle Unlimited which I read and enjoyed, but was perfectly happy 'borrowing' rather than owning.

Kim Harrison wrote a series (The Hollows) which I have bought all of, across second hand dead tree and electronic format. It reads like a much less sex obsessed Laurell K Hamilton/Anita Blake crossed with a much less misogynistic Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and is about a dozen books. I recommend it - and google reminds me the first one is called Dead Witch Walking.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I like books by comedians for light brain stuff. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Caitlin Moran, Francesca Martinez, Magda Subanski, Sara Pascoe, David Sedaris are some I've enjoyed recently.