Written Word Wed. - Millenium Hand and Shrimp!

Running a little late with the posting today because I got sucked into reading last night, and by the time I was able to make myself put it down, my brain wasn't really in "coherent thought" mode anymore.

Finished one book and got about 3/4 of the way through another this past week; probably would have finished it if I hadn't been compelled to watch Earl, Office, and Gilmore Girls; it's so sad when my obsessions get in each other's way, don't you think?

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman: On the whole, still not my favorite Gaiman novel; I enjoyed American Gods much more. However, after my wishy-washy feelings which I related last week, the book definitely took a turn for the better once Fat Charlie decided to become more proactive and stand up for himself. I also enjoyed it more once it started to delve deeper into the mythology of the world that Gaiman had created. In the end, I would still recommend this to fans of Gaiman's work; I think my dislike of the early goings was more of a personal taste issue rather than a reflection on the actual quality of the work itself.

Thud! by Terry Pratchett: The 31st (!) installment in Pratchett's excellent and hilarious Discworld series; I can't say enough good stuff about these books. I think I might devote a later post to exploring this series more in-depth; for now I'll just say that Thud! contains my favorite of Pratchett's characters, Commander Vimes and the City Watch. While I love pretty much all of the series, the Watch books are by far my favorites. One of the things I've enjoyed in reading this series is seeing it evolve; if you were to go straight from reading The Colour of Magic, the first book in the series, to Thud!, you would see a world of difference. Over the years Pratchett has managed to turn what was essentially a Sword & Sorcery satire into an insightful societal and political satire as well. I think the earlier books may have had more laughs per page (not to mention more silly footnotes), but the later books contain much greater depth, while still managing to make me laugh out loud constantly. I have about a 100 pages to go on this one, so I'll try to have a nice Discworld post up next Wednesday.

Once I finish Thud! I’ll probably start on either A Feast for Crows, the much-anticipate and even much-more delayed latest entry in George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, or possibly In the Ruins, book 6 in Kate Elliot’s Crown of Stars series which should be completed with the 7th volume in February *fingers crossed* And, at some point, I need to get around to those Robin Hobb books Rocket loaned me. So much to read, so little time not spent indulging my TV, movie, and blogging addictions. *sigh*