You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Chit Chat About Books
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What Are You Reading? - 2017.1
Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy Lisa and I think I too will a reread if I'm going to read her newest stuff."Yes, I have heard the 3rd book is slow. I..."
I read Assassin's Apprentice way back before I'd even heard of GR. I picked up The Dragon Keeper in an audible sale a few years back and got hooked on that series. I only discovered lately that they are set in the same universe. I am usually quiet anal about reading series in order so I would never have done it knowingly!! I have to say that Rainwilds works as a standalone series. I've been warned that Fitz and the Fool does not - hence the threatened reread ;-)
Sarah wrote: "I started listening to Bad Science as I now have some really long bus rides as part of my commute. It's quite entertaining and insightful. A good narrator too so it's holding my atte..."When I read "Bad Science" my mind interpreted it to say "Weird Science" and I'm thinking I had no idea that old 80's - 90's movie/tv show was from a book. lol
In case you aren't familiar with this movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_S...And the TV show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_S...
Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy Lisa and I think I too will a reread if I'm going to read her newest stuff."Yes, I have heard the 3rd bo..."
I have heard that the Rainwilds is a good standalone series too. Same goes for the Liveship Traders trilogy. You could easily read one or both of those series and be done. The Fitz and the Fool books have to be read in order otherwise you miss so much. I know someone who picked up the first book in the most recent trilogy, not realising it was part of this huge 16 book series, and they tried to read it and had literally no idea what was going on! Lol.
KimeyDiann wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I started listening to Bad Science as I now have some really long bus rides as part of my commute. It's quite entertaining and insightful. A good narrator too so it's h..."Your comment made me smile. Yes I've seen the movie. A long time ago though now.
KimeyDiann wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I started listening to Bad Science as I now have some really long bus rides as part of my commute. It's quite entertaining and insightful. A good narrator too so it's h..."lol I enjoyed that movie ;-D
Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy Lisa and I think I too will a reread if I'm going to read her newest stuff."Yes, I have he..."
That nearly happened to me - it was nominated for a group read and I seconded it. Another person in the group asked whether we had read all the previous series 'cos it was kind of important - I didn't even that the she had built up an entire universe til then! Once I have finished the rainwilds I intend to set up a Robin Hobbs reading list". I can't decide if I need to relisten to the entire first series again - someparts I remember very well and, as you say, she does ramble on in parts! Might just google a plot summary ;-p
Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Margo wrote: "I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy Lisa and I think I too will a reread if I'm going to read her newest stuff."Y..."
Hehe, reading a plot summary would definitely be quicker! However, I was surprised as to just how much of Assassin's Apprentice I had forgotten and I only read it for the first time a year ago.
I have abandoned The Paying Guests. I was having real difficulty getting into it and was having to force myself to pick it up each day. This is the second Sarah Waters book on the bounce I have given up on, the previous one being The Little Stranger which I thought was absolutely awful. TPG wasn't awful, it just wasn't what I expected. My mood may not have helped either. I do plan on giving it another go at some point and hopefully I will have better luck with it then.
Roz wrote: "It annoyed me. The MC was just a bit too lame in his denial of Lily's condition. I kept wanting to reach out and smack him."It seems we have the same problem. I want to keep reading further, but I don't know if I will finish the book.
I finished The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit. It was an interesting book about a man who lived as a hermit in the Maine woods for 27 years. It raised a lot of questions about society and individuality, but I felt the writing was lackluster.Now I can get back to The Paying Guests and relax because I don't have Stranger in the Woods looming over me.
I finished Violets of March. It was okay. I read 4 books during my holiday and none of them met my expectations. It's not that they were all bad, but for all of them I thought I would have liked them more.Tomorrow I'll start Swords of Shannara for a buddy read.
I started and finished A Monster Calls for the group read. I also finished Kafka on the Shore for a buddy read and I also slotted it in to the yearly challenge as well as the monthly group theme. It was a 3 bird with 1 stone book. Now on to The Sword of Shannara for a buddy read.
I finished Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West today. I think Jacky and I are going to take a good long rest from each other. She's wearing on my nerves just a bit.I'm off for a more grown up adventure with The Sword of Shannara.
I'm joining the gang in the buddy read of The Sword of Shannara Trilogy which is good so far.I had a long drive yesterday so we listened to A Walk in the Woods. I usually enjoy Bryson but I'm finding this one fainly annoying. His travelogues are usually funny and interesting because his interest comes across to the reader. It is very obvious to me the only reason he hiked the appalachian trail was to write a book about it. He clearly hates hiking. I can sympathetic to a degree as it is a huge thing to take on but he chose to do it so stop whining about it!!
I put The Proof of Love back on my TBR pile. It's a nice enough story, but one I don't think I'm quite in the mood for right now.I'm about 70 pages into Child of the Prophecy and I'm already well and truly hooked.
I started listening and put on hold The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. Nothing wrong with the book, it just wasn't what I was in the mood for. And I think I would prefer to read it than listen to it. I started Matched on audio instead. It is holding my attention slightly better.
And for the visual/written form of consuming books, I have started on Let Me Go, the last book in the Gretchen Lowell & Archie Sheridan series.
I am trying to get more into the Sarah Waters book, The Paying Guests, but I was on an adventure with the Gentlemen Bastard series books. I had The Lies of Locke Lamora on my left over Geo Challenge book list and after I finished it, I had to buy Red Seas Under Red Skies and then The Republic of Thieves. Whew! I thought book #2 was the best, but I am definitely looking forward to book #4, when Scott Lynch gets it done. I visited John Scalzi's Old Man's War series and finished The Last Colony over the weekend.
I also finished listening to The Boxcar Children, Surprise Island, the Yellow House Mystery books over the weekend. I loved the way Phyllis Newman narrated the stories. It was like listening to my 3rd grade teacher reading to me again.
I started listening to The Novice but Ralph Lister's voice puts me to sleep.
I'm listening to Sleeping Giants and I hardly bear to put it down. It is hard Sci-fi with enough science fact in it to appeal to my inner nerd! I'm enjoying the way in which the story it told - it unfolds in a series of interveiws which is way more exciting than it sounds ;-)
Ooh. I've heard good things about that one Margo. It's on my wishlist already. I like a bit of hard sci-fi now and then.
I got an extra credit from Audible yesterday (the system was messing me about and I couldn't buy anything for a while). So, I've just spent it on Sleeping Giants. I'm intrigued. I need to finish listening to NOS4A2 first though - and listen to Garden of Fiends: Tales of Addiction Horror - I promised a review. And I have The X-Files: Cold Cases on pre-order for the end of July...
It's all vey exciting!
Sandra, now that I've actually read part of the Sullivan series. I think the way it's written and the feel of the writing that I would direct your son towards The Name of the Wind which I kind of hate to do because he would then be in the is book #3 ever going to be released crowd but I think the ease and flow are quite similar
Travis sivarT wrote: "Sandra, now that I've actually read part of the Sullivan series. I think the way it's written and the feel of the writing that I would direct your son towards The Name of the Wind whi..."I'm in that crowd Travis ;-D Book 3 Doors of Stone, is rumored to be coming out later this year but seeing is believing :-/
I think half of YLTO is in that crowd ;-)I think it has been promised/rumored to come out at same point every year for the past few years, but it never happens. I'm almost at the point of not caring anymore. And I think I would need to reread the first two books for sure because it's been so long, but they are very chunky and I don't like rereading.
I have gotten to the point of not caring. Yet I pretty well know when, if, it comes out I'll read it just to see how this whole thing wraps up.
Me too, I'm pretty sure I'll read it. I won't be in a hurry to get a copy as soon as it comes out though, it won't matter now to wait a few more months so that I can buy the paperback that matches the other two books.I suggest a reread challenge or something when book 3 is out, so that I can reread with a reason instead of feeling like I'm wasting time I could spend on new books ;-) I'm sure there are also websites that detail the story so far and that I can read to refresh my memory.
I am definitely in that crowd! I have also heard rumours that it might be published this year. However, I also heard rumours it would come out in 2016 and that never happened so I won't hold my breath! Like you Peggy, I reckon I will need to reread the first two books before picking up the third because it's been a few years since I read them.
I intentionally did not read the second book because of everyone waiting for the third book. I decided to wait for the third book, then read them together. I'm glad now because I'll also have to re-read the first one. Though I'm in the don't really care camp right now too.
I believe he's also had some mental health issues regarding the third book. I wonder if this is now a 21st century thing. I mean, Tolkien or Lewis for example, didn't have people tweeting/facebooking/tumblring/snapchatting etc them to ask them when their next book is coming out like Martin or Rothfuss. They didn't put up photos on their instagrams of hanging out with the family to people screaming at them to get back to work and write the book.Now. I am not saying that this is what we are doing. I am just reflecting, that it must be hard, and a completely new phenomena. Fantasy and scifi fans have always been "known" to be (read portrayed as) hard core, but imagine dealing with at all day, every day. I think I would have severe performance anxiety.
You definitely make a good point Rusalka. And I can imagine it's also more scary now to publish a book, as you can't really escape from (negative) comments or opinions of your fans. While only some decades ago, I suppose the only book reviews were in news papers and much easier to ignore. I guess all the new technology has its pros and cons, it must also be nice to interact with fans so easily.
Indeed. I have great conversations with Kevin Hearne about Australian coffee all the time. If twitter didn't exist, we would have never have chatted. There are great things too. Was just thinking out loud about how it could also suck a bit.
Valid points Rusalka. Scott Lynch also talked about severe anxiety stalling his release of The Thorn of Emberlain. It was initially to be published in 2015 and then delayed to 2016. It's now middle of 2017 with no further news as to when it's to be published.
I think these guys need to learn the Kevin Smith approach or attitude. Kevin Smith made movies such as Clerk's, Jay and Silent Bob, Dogma, Mallrats. Movies commonly referred to as stoner movies and he has more of a cult following than anything. Anyway. He always says he makes movies for himself. If he's happy with the end result that's all that matters. If you enjoy the movie as well he's glad you could share the experience but if you're a critic or a hater you can eff off these movies aren't for you and i just don't care if you like them. Authors need the same philosophy then they wouldn't have all this anxiety. Do it for yourself and ignore the haters
I think the problem wit a series is that people have already read the first one or two and love the story / characters. Some of those fans can be very critical and the authors don't want to let people down if they already love the story. Yet, I don't think you can really make everyone happy.
Ha - if he got on with the writing he could hire people to deal with his social media lolSeriously, mental problems are no joke and I think he puts a lot of pressure on himself to produse the "perfect" book.
Totally agree. Social media can be a problem for some. It's sad that it stops them from doing what they love. It almost turns it in to a fhore when they have to get it done. I don't think the publishing world with their deadlines help much either. After watching Rothfuss explain about his anxieties and the book and Lynch's troubles too, i'm trying to be more relaxed about future books from tgem. And others, like Martin. Sure i'm desperate for them. Yes i'll buy them immediately. I can't believe people actually email authors to hassle them. Well i can but it's so out of order. I might winge on here but that's it. Ha ha. I think that is a good attitute Travis.
Kristie wrote: "I think the problem wit a series is that people have already read the first one or two and love the story / characters. Some of those fans can be very critical and the authors don't want to let peo..."Totally agree, Kristie. Some people become very possessive over characters and books. I have seen a whole heap of nasty comments on social media where people have been rude or even outright threatened an author due to them doing something to a character that they personally didn't agree with. It's no wonder popular authors feel pressure to please everyone. Social media is good in many ways but it's also bad because it opens them up to personal attacks.
Oh you are right, Travis. Thank you. I should have thought of that series. I will tell my son he has to read it at his own risk. I myself decided some time ago to wait until all the books are published.
What kind of person attacks an author because they don't agree with a plot twist???? Jeez...
Sandra wrote: "What kind of person attacks an author because they don't agree with a plot twist???? Jeez..."My thoughts exactly! Unfortunately, there are quite a few of them out there!
There are crazy people everywhere.. Have you ever read comments on news items on facebook for example? It's insane what people think they are entitled to say. It's sad and pathetic.
Peggy wrote: "There are crazy people everywhere.. Have you ever read comments on news items on facebook for example? It's insane what people think they are entitled to say. It's sad and pathetic."Oh my gosh! I only hope those people talk like that because they aren't face-to-face with other people. I can't imagine those people are like that in real life. They are brutal! Just the worst.
Peggy wrote: "There are crazy people everywhere.. Have you ever read comments on news items on facebook for example? It's insane what people think they are entitled to say. It's sad and pathetic."Yes, I often read them, although I don't know why I bother tbh. The amount of vitriol is insane.
I noticed that MSN has disabled comments, which is good. It was insane the way people were basking each other over differing opinions.
My spouse and I were headed out for a bite to eat earlier this evening, and we stopped for a light behind a car with a bumper sticker spouting a long string of profanities. Something like "Eat s**t, g.d. mo-f'ing bastard." Another bumper sticker said something like, "you're lucky that murder is illegal." OMGIt reminded me of the kind of extreme responses people will post online these days. But this person was driving around in his/her car with this stuff on display. I do support freedom of speech, but this kind of overtly rude, aggressive reactiveness is scary.
Tejas, I also support freedom of speech when it comes to sharing ideas etc but words that are only used in an atempt to shock/indimidate/hurt are another thing. Bad language doesn't upset me personally but when you have small children asking "what does that word mean" it is difficult. You get people who think they invented these words - they didn't, they've been around forever :(
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
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The premise of her books are all so appealing to me that I want to pick them up, but I really need to ..."
Yes, it's definitely worth reading one of the books before buying them all. I now own all of the Realm of the Elderlings books, but I didn't buy them all until I knew I liked her writing and was interested enough in the world to want to read them all.
I hope you enjoy Assassin's Apprentice when you read it. I will be keeping an eye open for what you think.