Sci-Fi & Fantasy Girlz discussion
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What are you reading now?
Just read Theodore Sturgeon's Venus Plus X from 1960. As far as I can tell the whole book is about how gender is a construct. It may lack a bit in plot and story, more or less a study of gender, and how bad it's been for us, with arguments that it's in no way innate to the species. I liked it, certainly found it worthwhile to read. A bit hippy-happy idealistic, as I remember Sturgeon from his Godbody.
I recently finished a few of Sarah Addison Allen's books -- The Sugar Queen, The Peach Keeper, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Garden Spells. Waiting til Lost Lake is at a library near me to check it out. I don't like romances but I really do enjoy her books. I'm listening to Frankenstein and was reading The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson but a page or two at a time (my sleep meds would kick in by that time) was apparently too slow and my loan for it expired. There is another giant waiting list for it. Just glad I'm not in a hurry to finish it up. I like what I've read so far but I'll live.
Jori wrote: "I recently finished a few of Sarah Addison Allen's books -- The Sugar Queen, The Peach Keeper, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Garden Spells. Waiting til Lost Lake is at a library near me to check it..."Sometimes we like books regardless of genre. Its good to branch out sometimes.
How is the Frankenstein audiobook going?
I just finished reading Valor's Choice and loved it! Its a military space opera with an awesome female lead, Staff Sargent Toren. I just cracked open the next one, The Better Part of Valor.
Still with Assassin's Apprentice, but hopefully I'll finish it today. This actually went from 'yeah well, that poor kid' to 'oh wow, I wonder what will happen next and WHO IS THE FOOL'.
Sparrowlicious wrote: "Still with Assassin's Apprentice, but hopefully I'll finish it today. This actually went from 'yeah well, that poor kid' to 'oh wow, I wonder what will happen next and WHO IS THE FOOL'."I know, it started slow and my attention was waning and then the ending happened and I was like, "holy shit." And yes, I do want to know more about the fool. Let me know when you read the next one, I may join you and we can do a buddy read.
Alicja wrote: "Jori wrote: "I recently finished a few of Sarah Addison Allen's books -- The Sugar Queen, The Peach Keeper, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Garden Spells. Waiting til Lost Lake is at a library near m..."The Frankenstein eAudiobook "reading" wise was wonderful. I can't hold a book sometimes..and I've found it makes exercising fly by vs. listening to music.
I try to venture into other genres. Romances are still wobbly for me. I don't like how the women/men in the relationships are often portrayed so it's hard. It's often the only type of book I try to avoid.
Jori wrote: "Alicja wrote: "Jori wrote: "I recently finished a few of Sarah Addison Allen's books -- The Sugar Queen, The Peach Keeper, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Garden Spells. Waiting til Lost Lake is at a..."I found the same issue in hetro romances, usually I can't stand the way women are portrayed. So instead I'll read gay or lesbian romances. It makes for very different dynamics.
Alicja: I'll try to remember that. :)The ending was quite a wild ride. I like that!
Topic:
Started with The Word for World is Forest today. Well, that escalated quickly.
(sigh) I rarely answer that question, because what I read is so wildly eclectic, nobody will care. Right now I am reading the two volumes of INCEDENTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS AND YUCATAN by John L. Stephens. This was published in 1844 and is one of the seminal works of Mayan exploration. Next up: THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME.
Brenda wrote: "(sigh) I rarely answer that question, because what I read is so wildly eclectic, nobody will care. Right now I am reading the two volumes of INCEDENTS OF TRAVEL IN CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS AND YUCA..."I've heard about the one that's up next for you to read. Let us know how it is.
Even if it is not a genre someone would like, its still interesting to see what everyone is reading (book genre voyeurism?). And sometimes I've found things I want to read in these threads.
And no worries, I am also very eclectic in my reading. Right now I just finished our fantasy read Dragonflight, and am working through a historical fiction classic I, Claudius, a queer/lesbian literary science fiction The Stone Gods, a dystopian gay romance King of Dublin, and a 1950s HF Let Him Go.
A great deal of what I read is for research purposes. Nothing like writing an H. Rider Haggard-style adventure to force you to read historical explorers.
Brenda wrote: "A great deal of what I read is for research purposes. Nothing like writing an H. Rider Haggard-style adventure to force you to read historical explorers."I really liked King Solomon's Mines!
Oh, it is one of the best novels of all time. I am not really going to top it. I am doing something different...
Started The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30) today.Aww.
I missed a tram stop because of this book ... *sigh*
Sparrowlicious wrote: "Started The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30) today.Aww.
I missed a tram stop because of this book ... *sigh*"
I can completely understand that :)
Just binge-read The Paradox trilogy by Rachel Bach in three days. I was supposed to be doing other things, but they were just so enjoyable that once I dived into Fortune's Pawn I couldn't stop till I'd finished the series.
I recently read Warchild, female author, male protagonist but it was awesome. Just ordered the next one in the trilogy from the library. Same with Fuzzy Nation, just read it too. Both of these ended up on my all-time favorites list. Its rare I hit the literary jackpot one after another.
Marina wrote: "Just binge-read The Paradox trilogy by Rachel Bach in three days. I was supposed to be doing other things, but they were just so enjoyable that once I dived into ..."That is a great series. I haven't read the last one yet because I'm pacing myself to one Paradox book a month. Devi Morris is now one of my favorite sci-fi characters. Have you read any of the other Rachel Bach books?
Yoly wrote: "... Have you read any of the other Rachel Bach books?"I've read the first of her Eli Monpress series, The Spirit Thief, which she wrote under the name Rachel Aaron. I think the Aaron name is for fantasy and the Bach name is for sci fi, and the Paradox trilogy is the only thing she has out under the Bach name so far I think.
Strangely enough, since I usually prefer fantasy to sci fi, The Spirit Thief didn't do much for me. There was nothing wrong with it, it just didn't grab me like the Paradox trilogy did. Partly I think that's because, as you say, Devi is an awesome character. Eli Monpress is a thief -- a very charming and often amusing one -- but still not an altogether admirable character. I was hoping some more heroic motivation might appear for his actions other than just the joy of stealing, but as of the end of the first book there's nothing. There are four more books, so something might yet come up, but I'm in no rush to read them.
I'm all for a flawed hero, but if the only thing at stake is his ambition to be the best thief in the world, it's not really my cup of tea. Your mileage may vary, of course. As I said, he's very charming, and his magic is interesting. There are other good characters too, and it's well written. But very different to the Paradox books.
I finished/read these books over the weekend:The Magpie Lord
Interlude with Tattoos (okay, that's a free+very short ebook)
A Case of Possession
Hmm. I have to say, while I really liked these books they did feel like something was missing. Maybe it was simply because the solution to all problems came a bit too quick in the first one. The second book (not counting the interlude here) had things a bit more complicated but was still quite short and quick.
Anyway, I'll just call them 'the magic gays'.
Maybe the author will fix the problem of all the mysteries getting solved too quickly and too easy? I do like it when characters have to investigate.
Currently reading (this will take forever to finish):
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
I had this book forever on my amazon shopping list thing but only bought it last year. I went to a class in my free time once that was about civic education and the lecturer mentioned this book. Unfortunately it's been some years since then so I don't exactly know anymore what it was with the book.
It's very interesting.
Marina wrote: "Yoly wrote: "... Have you read any of the other Rachel Bach books?"I've read the first of her Eli Monpress series, The Spirit Thief, which she wrote under the name..."
I hope she writes more books in the Paradox universe. I loved how she described the female xith'cal in the first novel, I even sent her a tweet about it. I would really like to read more about the conflict between terrans and paradoxians. Of course if she writes this Devi probably won't be part of those stories, but I would love to see another female protagonist from her like Devi. Or she could just write more Devi stories, I wouldn't mind :)
I bought her self published book Nice Dragons Finish Last but I haven't read it yet.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... shows everything I am either currently reading or listening to in the case of the single audio book.
Amber wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... shows everything I am either currently reading or listening to in the case of the single audio book."Currently as in currently reading or as in I read a few pages and will probably finish it later? Yikes 14 books. I feel like I'm never going to finish either one if I'm reading more than 3.
Yoly wrote: "Amber wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... shows everything I am either currently reading or listening to in the case of the single audio book."Currently..."
I read a chapter of each book until I run through the whole pile. The whole pile takes one to two days to run through once...that's why I'm 15 books behind schedule for my self imposed 2014 Goodreads.com Reader Challenge of 427 books...
Then I start the pile over...as many times as it takes to read each book.
If it's a relatively short book, less than 200 pages, I just read the whole thing all at once like I did with BOTH volumes of STAR WARS: VECTOR and the graphic novel based on the life of the Soviet dog, Laika...obviously called LAIKA.
Amber wrote: "I read a chapter of each book until I run through the whole pile. The whole pile takes one to two days to run through once...that's why I'm 15 books behind schedule for my self imposed 2014 Goodreads.com Reader Challenge of 427 books... "Nice system you have going. I guess that way you never get bored with what you're reading.
Amber wrote: "Yoly wrote: "Amber wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... shows everything I am either currently reading or listening to in the case of the single audio book..."CRYING.
That's very fascinating though. I bet you have a very good memory to keep the stories from mixing up. I mean, it's easy with 3 or 4 books at once but with 14? Woahh.
Amber, is this your usual reading style or what you're doing temporarily? Either way I'm impressed at how you keep the stories straight!
No, I don't get bored with what I'm reading, Yoly.It's easy for me to NOT confuse the details, Sparrowlicious. I have been reading since I was approx. 4-1/2 years old. In other words, I've been doing this for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time. :D *BG*
It's my usual style, actually, Eilene.
Amber wrote: "No, I don't get bored with what I'm reading, Yoly.It's easy for me to NOT confuse the details, Sparrowlicious. I have been reading since I was approx. 4-1/2 years old. In other words, I've been..."
I'll have to try this system, sounds interesting. I can juggle 4 or even 5 books at a time, but it's usually in reading chunks, not this one chapter round robin you have going. Sounds like a fun thing to try, haha.
Yoly wrote: "Amber wrote: "No, I don't get bored with what I'm reading, Yoly.It's easy for me to NOT confuse the details, Sparrowlicious. I have been reading since I was approx. 4-1/2 years old. In other wo..."
When you get as many books going as I do, it helps to write down a single word from each book's title on a piece of paper in a notebook and write down the last page number you read in each book.
I usually write down the starting date and the ending date and update daily or weekly. For example, my first page for this year was dated 12/29/13 to 1/2/14 because the 29th of December 2013 was the last day before New Year's Eve the public library was open and 1/2/14 was the first day of this year that the library was open.... . One of the books I was reading at that time was THE LAST TEMPLAR by Michael Jecks ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... ) which I had actually started reading on approx. 12/21/13 and finished on 1/1/14. (That's probably not what really happened, but I'm merely using it as an example.)
These are the 300+ books I have already read for the year: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challe...
I'm currently reading Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson for a group read and just getting started on Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Both are sci-fi/fantasy by female authors.I'm eally surprised by the casual sexism in Alif the Unseen but I have to keep reminding myself that it's set in the Middle East and it's most likely a deliberate choice by Wilson. At one point a male character tells his female friend that she handled herself so well in a tricky situation that he thought of her as a man... It's a little frustrating
That's one reason I try to avoid fantasy written by women. The casual sexism is easier to swallow (for me) if I'm reading stuff written by a man... .
I hate to admit it but I'm more forgiving of casual sexism by male authors too. It's sad that we expect it to be that way. But that doesn't stop me from reading sci-fi/fantasy by women; I go out of my way to read works by women.
Well, you've seen that I have books written by women on my list of books read for the 2014 Reader Challenge....or as in the case of SNEAKY PIE'S COOKBOOK FOR MYSTERY LOVERS, by pussycat! ;)https://www.goodreads.com/user_challe...
Amber has read 307 of 402 books in 2014
Now I feel like I have been wasting my time...
And here I was, feeling smug because I completed my measly 52 books challenge :(
I'm curious, how many hours does it take you to read a 300 page novel?
Amber wrote: "That's one reason I try to avoid fantasy written by women. The casual sexism is easier to swallow (for me) if I'm reading stuff written by a man... ."Giggity.
Yoly wrote: "Amber has read 307 of 402 books in 2014
Now I feel like I have been wasting my time...
And here I was, feeling smug because I completed my measly 52 books challenge :(
I'm curious, how many ..."
As long as it takes, Yoly. I don't read that way. I read each book one chapter at a time. LOL. As to why I have such a high # of books in my challenge: You would too, if you couldn't afford to go to a movie very often because you're on Supplemental Insurance and your SSI check is only $721 but your apartment's rent $410 a month and also don't have an antenna for your TV (because you also can't afford a cable or satellite bill).
I can only do internet because my public library offers the service. I get 3 hours a day, Monday through Saturday.
I finished 5 books over the 2 days my library was closed for Internet updates.
Unfortunately I'm not reading much these days. My attention has been sucked up mostly by making art. Which is good, because it gives me a way to vent. At the same time, I don't really feel like reading much. ):Also, I've been reading more japanese comics lately. Mh. Not that that's bad or anything.
I'm currently reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and just finished the lovely Updraft by Fran Wilde. I don't know what the Up theme is, but both are excellent.
Yes, BONESHAKER is lovely. Read them all, and then tell me if you don't think there's room for another trilogy in there.For what seems to be years now I have confined my reading solely to research. I have even given up reading comics. But now I am contemplating THE PHOENIX GUARDS by Michael Swanwick.
Amber wrote: "SPRINKLE WITH MURDER"Is that a book title or your plans for the weekend? :D
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Girlz
Books mentioned in this topic
Dreadnought (other topics)All the Birds in the Sky (other topics)
The Short Drop (other topics)
The Dragon Throne (other topics)
The Oracle's Queen (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rachel Aaron (other topics)Rachel Bach (other topics)
Rachel Bach (other topics)
Shannon Mayer (other topics)
K.J. Bishop (other topics)
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I just finished Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space, the new biography. Great book. I remember her first flight so ..."
That sounds really interesting. Adding to my tbr.