Monthly Group Reads: Reading the Poll Losers Instead?

[Daniel]

I think I will be sitting out on the group reads for june, can not get either easily and I am moving this month. Probably use it to read other books I have been meaning to get to (and pick up Odin's Wolves)

[Kimber]

I'm in the same boat. I'm interested but short on funds due to the fact I have guests for two weeks and then a two month trip to Canada immediately following. Going to try to knockout the 47 unread books on my Kindle. :D

[Dawn]

During mosquito season??? Crazy!! :D

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

if you can count on anything, it will be that there will always be next month. :)
Hopefully the stars will align better for you guys with whatever the July group reads end up being.

[Kimber]

Dawn wrote: "During mosquito season??? Crazy!! :D"

Lol! He moved out of Winnipeg awhile ago. We're in Edmonton now with occasional forays to the Okanagan Valley in BC. There are still mosquitos but they are hummingbird, rather than blue jay, sized.

[Dawn]

How about that, I have family in all three places you have mentioned. :)

Albertans going to the Okanagan, how typical! Sounds like a very nice 2 months though. And even Edmonton must be better than Texas in summer.

[Kimber]

I love the Okanagan! So gorgeous. If they had any good employment we'd be there in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Alberta is where the money is now. It's actually a lot like Texas...just an average of 20 to 30 degrees cooler during the summer. I've avoided July and August in Texas for the last four years. I'm getting spoiled :D

[Alicja]

I just read Fire in the East and then found it on the A&M list and since I couldn't find a thread about it in the group reads section, I'm assuming it was a poll loser. Anyone read it? What are your thoughts?

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

It was a loser. But it may end up in the polls again this year. I plan on putting some losers in the polls this year. To see if people want to vote for them in a second chance run around.

[Jane]

This series doesn't interest me, but Sidebottom's next Roman series might be worth a look...

[happy]

Alicja wrote: "I just read Fire in the East and then found it on the A&M list and since I couldn't find a thread about it in the group reads section, I'm assuming it was a poll loser. Anyone read i..."

I thought it was very good. Ballista is basically sent to defend a Roman city on the Euphartes and is basically there to be a scapegoat when it falls.

It's based on a real event and Ballista was an actual person (Very little is known about him however)

Good battle scenes and decent look at Imperial politics circa 250 AD

I've enjoyed to entire series and am a little disappointed that Prof Sidebottom has put it on a haitus (I hope it's just a haitus:)).

[Darcy]

happy wrote: "...on the Euphartes..."

Made my inner 12 year old giggle.

[happy]

Damn, I've got to proofread better :)

EUPHRATES

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Darcy wrote: "happy wrote: "...on the Euphartes..."

Made my inner 12 year old giggle."

Tee hee hee hee! Me too.

[Daniel]

Alicja wrote: "I just read Fire in the East and then found it on the A&M list and since I couldn't find a thread about it in the group reads section, I'm assuming it was a poll loser. Anyone read i..."

This one looks interesting

[Dawn]

Seeing as I've read both the poll winners for July, I think I'm going to try and read River God instead. Been meaning to read it for awhile and this seems as good a reason as any!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I hope to fit in a reread of River god too. It has been so long, decades, so I think it is time I reread it.

[Simona]

Terri wrote: "I hope to fit in a reread of River god too. It has been so long, decades, so I think it is time I reread it."

R alert: I distinctly remember a strong R current in the book!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I think I remember that too. I hope it is not the type of R I loathe.

By R, we mean romance people. Not sex and violence...although I think I recall plenty of that in it too.

[Dawn]

I got my copy of the River God from the library today. As soon as I polish off a couple of the other books I'm reading, I think I'll start on this one!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I can't join you. I have started Kingdom. An epic that will take me a while to read.

[Dawn]

Then I will let you now about the big 'R' stuff!! :D

I tried to read this book before and didn't get very far so I'm hoping it was just the timing and not that the book and me don't get along.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Keep me posted. I am definitely going to TRY and fit it in this month.

[Dawn]

I have a couple other books to finish before I start this but I will definitely let you know when I get to it.

[Dawn]

Ohh, now this looks bad. I haven't started River God yet from this month but I've started The Kingmaking from next month and the poll isn't even done yet!!

Thank goodness I have a three day weekend coming up, it's time to catch up with the reading. :)

[Dawn]

I am 30% into The Kingmaking. Reading it on my tablet as the library only had an ebook but it's working out quite well.
A fair portion of this has been the coming of age stories for Aurthur and Guinevere but it's interspersed with Uther Pendragon's story. It isn't giving me the usual 'get on with it' feeling I often get when the characters are so young and I really like Guinevere.

[Dawn]

Sigh, I feel like I'm talking to myself in here! Oh, wait....I am talking to myself! ;D

Anyway, I have finished The Kingmaking. A 3 star for me. It's a good book with quite good characters. Some of them may be a little one dimensional. The period was well drawn out, I particularly like how the Romans were constantly being brought up, in either what they left behind or that they may be coming back and the Latin they still spoke.
My version was 592 pages but it's an easy read. I read 85% of it in one day.
I think I miss Merlin in the story, I wonder if a Merlin type shows up in either of the other two books?? This one takes us from childhood to king. You meet all the characters from the myth, but not Merlin. Or at least no one I recognized as Merlin.

[Simona]

So, now you're going for River God? I'm a fan of Taita. Let us know if it works for you.

[Dawn]

Yes I am, I'm going to finish Terry Pratchett first and then straight on to River God. :)

[Simona]

Pratchett.. I should reread the Guards series. It has been a while.

[Dawn]

It's one of the series I'm attempting to catch up on. :)

[Simona]

I go in withdrawal if I miss my Guards fix once in a while!

[Dawn]

I just read Men at Arms for the first time. That is a great Watch story!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Dawn wrote: "Sigh, I feel like I'm talking to myself in here! Oh, wait....I am talking to myself! ;D

Anyway, I have finished The Kingmaking. A 3 star for me. It's a good book with quite good char..."

No Merlin in the first book?? Odd. You'd think, seeing as many readers would class Merlin as their favourite character in the Arthur myth, that Merlin would rate a mention in book one of the series.

[Dawn]

I'm not sure Merlin is in any of the series. It might be worth reading the rest of the series to see how some of the rest of the story is altered to be historical rather than myth.

[Jane]

Dawn wrote: "I'm not sure Merlin is in any of the series. It might be worth reading the rest of the series to see how some of the rest of the story is altered to be historical rather than myth."

I've only read #1 & #2, but I felt they were strictly historical.

[Dawn]

So there are other parts of the myth that don't show up in the books I assume?
There is no Merlin, though there is a sword (not drawn from a stone)...is there a Lancelot or Knights of the Round Table??

[Dawn]

So I finished River God yesterday. And I have the complete opposite opinion of everyone else, didn't like it at all. Didn't like any of the characters, thought the writing was too wordy/descriptive and the story melodramatic.

[Simona]

AGH! Taita has been fired...but I admit I didn't like the OTHER characters either, and the story IS over melodramatic. :)

[Dawn]

Taita is such a know it all, I just couldn't stand it. :)

[Simona]

Yes, he is so preposterous that I really loved him. You know, beautiful like a bulldog? So unsufferable that he was funny and cute.

[Dawn]

lol

Not quite how I found myself viewing him....

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Dawn wrote: "So I finished River God yesterday. And I have the complete opposite opinion of everyone else, didn't like it at all. Didn't like any of the characters, thought the writing was too wor..."

Oh, I am not sure everyone else liked it though. My impression was that opinion was mixed.
I liked it, but I also admit that I read it a couple decades ago and I am not the same person, so who knows what I would make of it now.

Those who are on my friends list have it rated positively and negatively. You are not alone. :)

[Dawn]

I only have one negative in my friends list. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Out of 19 ratings, there are 6 negatives on my list. And I also wonder how many of the 4 star ratings are people rating it from a long time ago. If they read it now they may feel differently.

[Simona]

Terri wrote: "Out of 19 ratings, there are 6 negatives on my list. And I also wonder how many of the 4 star ratings are people rating it from a long time ago. If they read it now they may feel differently."

I agree..so I won't re-read it after all.

[Dawn]

Always good to keep the fond memories...

[Lia]

I read this twice and dislike it in both occasions. Too melodramatic for my taste. What surprised me, I did manage to read it front to back without skipping nor skimming. So, to some extent there was a certain pull about this book. :)

[Simona]

Lia wrote: "I read this twice and dislike it in both occasions. Too melodramatic for my taste. What surprised me, I did manage to read it front to back without skipping nor skimming. So, to some extent there w..."

That' s it, Lia. It's a well told story. I think I'll remember it this way :)

[Dawn]

Lia wrote: "I read this twice and dislike it in both occasions. Too melodramatic for my taste. What surprised me, I did manage to read it front to back without skipping nor skimming. So, to some extent there w..."

Yep, you would be the one negative I mentioned! :)

But why twice??