Sigh. I'm sad.  I love summer!!!  Oh, well, let's enjoy the last of it with some great books!

I'm still reading The Journeyer and am really liking it! 

How about you?

I am reading one of the Fantasy Challenge books the second in the Camber books by Katherine Kurtz.  Then I plan on settling into Outlaw.

The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb. Also reading Towards Zero by Agatha Christie for my "birthday" book for the challenge. Both are excellent reads.

BTW, If anyone on this forum is interested in Halcyon Crane, let me know. I can send it off when I am finished - which should be soon!

Calais by Kathleen Winsor. Yes that Kathleen Winsor - as in Forever Amber.

Still reading Gordon's The Physician -- 325 pages down; 390 to go....

I've started A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin for the historical fantasy challenge.  It's very good, but I am having some trouble keeping all the names/characters straight.  I'm hoping this will get a little easier as the book progresses.

I finished "Seven Up" by Janet Evanovich; I needed a 'fun' book after "The Kitchen Boy."  But I'm back in historical fiction mode.  And...I can't decide.

It's between:  "Firelord" by Parke Godwin  or "A Wicked Way to Burn" by Margaret Miles.  Or go back to "Pearl of China" by Anchee Min. 

It's very good, but I am having some trouble keeping all the names/characters straight.  I'm hoping this will get a little easier as the book progresses.

Oh, Cheryl, so glad to hear. I just finished this book today. I looooooooved it!

And, yes, keeping the characters straight gets easier at about page 100, 150. There are so many of them. Use the appendix. It really helps.

I'm going to start the second in the Nightrunner series today - Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling. No challenge. Just fun reading.

Still thoroughly enjoying Count of Monte Cristo here!

I finished up The Red Tent yesterday, which was my bonus book for the challenge.  Loved it!  We'll be heading to the Outer Banks at the end of the week for 10 days, and I plan to bring Outlanders with me.  I had picked it up awhile ago but never got past the first 50 pages because I was so distracted.  But I'm hoping it will be a good ready to entertain me on the beach!

I'm reading Plague of Doves.  So far it's interesting.

I'm still reading Roselynde.  It's funny because I'm not feeling in a huge hurry to finish it.  When I'm reading something mediocre, I want to read it every chance I get so I can hurry up and finish it and go on to something else.  But with this, if I get through 20 or 25 pages a day, I'm happy and can go on with my real life!  LOL!  However, I did just pick up Tuck at the library, so maybe that will light a fire under me to finish Roselynde.

Christa, who wrote Tuck? Sounds like a title I've heard, but maybe not... ETA: Oh, just ignore me, Christa! It's Lawhead and I have it on my shelf! Duh. No wonder it sounded so familiar.... I need to go to bed.

I'm working on "The Language of Stones" by Robert Carter. It's another King Arthur tale, but with a lot more magic than most of the other ones I've read. It is perfect for my fantasy challenge. I'm just really glad I'm enjoying it 'cause I bought the whole trilogy. ;-)

I'm also finishing up a contemporary novel that has turned out to be a really good one; "Rococo" by Adriana Trigiani. The characters make this story; they are quirky, outlandish, and just plain funny.

Valli..glad to know you liked the Trigiani books.  She's on my list of new-to-me authors to try. 

The Thirteenth Tale is another favorite. Glad you enjoyed it bigstone.

The Case of the Crooked Candle by Erle Stanley Gardner, my last selection for the HF mystery challenge was easily read in one day and completed my selections for the HF mini mystery challenge.  Began The City  & The City by China Mieville for the fantasy challenge.  It was a very good read.  However, I have a good many books to finish that challenge.  Just finished Outlander (my O read) July 31 so I need a change and time to reflect about Jamie, Claire, and the Scottish clan conflicts.  My next HF reads will probably focus on a finishing the challenges or moving into two Geraldine Brooks books that just arrived from PBS.  Of course, I am leaning toward the latter.  Who wouldn't want to read an award winning book  first?

Got sidetracked and read Mornings in Jenin.  It's heart-rending, fascinating and enlightening.  I could hardly put it down.  This is a story that shows another side of the war between Palestine and Israel and what happens to the people who get caught in the conflict.  Politics aside, the people in this novel are just trying to live and raise their families but the bombs keep dropping, the guns keep blazing and the people they love keep dying.   I've forgotten which one of you sent this book to me but wow it's a powerful read and rates 5 stars in my book.   I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to understand more about our world and what happens in other cultures.  

Also read The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip and am stuck in The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.  Don't know what to start next - so many books it's hard to choose sometimes so I just pick one up and begin.  Occasionally, one is a surprisingly wonderful read such as Jenin.  Did finish The Courtesan by Susan Carroll for the HF mini fantasy challenge.  It, too, was a good read - light and fun, just not as earthshaking as Jenin.  Only a couple more reads to finish that challenge.

Genie: You were soooo right...everything clicked into place at page 156, actually probably before then.  I was reading along and realized I wasn't flipping back and forth to figure out who everyone was.  A Game of Thrones is very good.  I catch myself trying to figure out who characters might have been in real life.  Some are obvious, others not. 

R.E.K:  Did you have a favorite in this series?

I've started Anya Seton's Avalon.  I'm not into it very far, but very interesting so far.  We see England, Cornwall, etc in the late 900s through the eyes of a young Provencial nobleman who goes visiting the English court.  It's an interesting perspective.

I am going away for 4 days and can't decide if I want to tote John Jakes' Homeland or some smaller books.  I also have Edmund Rutherford's The Forest.

I am reading a few non-fiction WL books so I can get them out to others ASAP.

I am starting The Demon Archer by P C Doherty for the HF mystery challenge. Should have this finished quickly! Another Hugh Corbett, which I love.

I catch myself trying to figure out who characters might have been in real life.  Some are obvious, others not.

I started to get confused when I did this. But although there are similarities, there are marked differences. Eddard Stark's appearance, for instance, leads one to think he might be Edward IV. But his actions are too disimilar. Plus, he's a Stark, not a Lannister. (And they call him Ned just to add to the confusion.)

Robert Baratheon acts more like Edward IV, and even has his weight problem toward the end. Cersei, his wife, could be Elizabeth Woodville, as portrayed in an evil way.

After I gave up trying to place everyone, I found the story easier to follow.

Picking up from the library and started later today,

For Ice and Fire series, I don't think one can really match up the characters to the real historical people, except in the most general of ways.  And even when you do, the family relationships don't fit with historical relationships AT ALL.  I thought Cercei was patterned after Elizabeth Woodville, too, although Cercei's ties to Lannister are far more direct than the Woodville ties to Lancaster.  I thought Eddard Stark was patterned after a blend of  R3 and his father, Richard, Duke of York.  The family overall more resembles the Duke's family, not R3's family, but the political situation is more R3.  And storyline goes in the direction of what the Woodvilles and Lancasters might have done, had they been able to foil R3 from taking control of the prince(es) and maintained their power. 

Anyway, it makes for a fascinating story, regardless of how one matches or doesn't match the history.  The ties to real history are an added bonus, and make you wonder how much more he'll tie in -- or not. 

Dagnabit, now I'm getting mad at him (again) for abandoning this series.  I SO wanted to see how the Starks children's storylines played out.

Dagnabit, now I'm getting mad at him (again) for abandoning this series.

I get the impression he hasn't abandoned it. But that he works at his own darn pace and damn the consequences. I can see me chomping at the bit by book 4.