What are you reading in October 2017?

[Jim]

We're glad you did too, Liam. Excellent insights.

[Heather]

idiffer wrote: "Half Bad
Pretty good, but the gay romance threw me off in the second book.

A Darker Shade of Magic
Generic and lifeless.

Nevernight
Some reviewers ..."

I liked Nevernight and just finished Godsgrave right now. I find it an entertaining style. The end of Godsgrave is a real reveal!

[Tnkw01]

Finished Stiletto great story. Rated it a 4.5 stars. Hope we get more from this series. Started Shield and Crocus. Not real impressed so far. Kind of like Steelheart except not as good. Which is saying a lot because I didn't think Steelheart was one of Sanderson's better stories.

[idiffer]

@Bruyere
Agreed. I gave nevernight four stars in the end. Reading godsgrave right now. Looking forward to the reveal, I love those)

[Femmy]

I'm halfway through Storm Front. It's pretty funny, but it reads like a detective novel with a little of the supernatural thrown in. I'm not much into detective novels, but I'll see where the story goes.

[Marc]

I did a bookselling event last week at a library, and picked up a bunch of their discards while I was there. Looked brand new, maybe read once. Some of Laura Resnick's Esther Diamond series, a few Anne Bishop (never read her work before, but I keep hearing good things about Jewels) and the entire Traitor Spy trilogy by Trudi Canavan. So far I've read Disappearing Nightly in the DAW edition, but I'm working on a short story now and am focused on that.

[Lára]

I have so many books open right now (6 actually). My mood changes quickly and I really wanted to re-read Daughter of the Blood so that's what I'm doing now. I'm very slowly making progress with A Night in the Lonesome October and The Unconsoled and The Fall of the Kings for example and I'm enjoying those the most. It's just that I'm currently in the mood only for Daughter of the Blood.

[Elise]

I finishedSkullsworn last night. I never fully engaged with Chronicles of Unhewn Throne for some reason, but I really liked this one. Kind of heartbreaking though. I’m now wondering if Staveley has any more books in the works. Haven’t been able to find anything about that online.

I’m starting Range of Ghosts now.

[Marc]

I finished my short story, working on Unsympathetic Magic now.

[Tnkw01]

Finished Shield and Crocus. Here's my review. Started Briar Rose.

[Joseph]

Finished Collected Fiction Volume 2 (1926-1930): A Variorum Edition and will be concluding the Great Lovecraft Reread with Collected Fiction Volume 3 (1931-1936): A Variorum Edition.

[Femmy]

I just finished Cinder and I loved it! I loved the twists the author made from the story elements.

I'm now starting Half a King.

[Femmy]

A question for those who have read the Dresden files. Two people now have said (in the reviews that I read) that the series starts to get better from book 4. Do you agree?

[Jim]

I quit on book 6 Blood Rites because the copy editing was so poor. If half a dozen instances of things like Harry putting his car into drive or his staff being 2 places at once don't bother you, it may. My son & several friends just shrugged it off or didn't notice & continued on with the series. Indeed, they said it got even better at some point.

I thought about it, but never have. Perhaps that book was a fluke, but I'd seen other series get sloppy & not recover, so I dropped it for too long. I'd probably have to reread the earlier books & it's been too soon for that.

[Sam]

I read Red Sister. I loved it. So much so that I've temporarily diverted off to fluffy YA fantasy and historical fiction so as not to spoil the afterglow.

[Tnkw01]

Finished Briar Rose and was highly disappointed. It was not a fantasy of any kind. It was simply fiction about the holocaust. What made matters worse was it wasn't even a good story. Gave it a 2 stars. Started The Way of Shadows.

[Kevin]

Femmy wrote: "A question for those who have read the Dresden files. Two people now have said (in the reviews that I read) that the series starts to get better from book 4. Do you agree?"

I have read them all. They do get better as you go along in the series, probably as the author gets more experience writing. I listened to the audiobooks and they are great. I am not an english teacher so didn't notice any editing issues. Give them a try.

[Tnkw01]

Kevin wrote: "Femmy wrote: "A question for those who have read the Dresden files. Two people now have said (in the reviews that I read) that the series starts to get better from book 4. Do you agree?"

I have re..."

I agree, the audiobooks are great. They are performed by the actor who played Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The way he performs the books give it a very good air of realism.

[Jim]

Kevin wrote: "...I am not an english teacher so didn't notice any editing issues...."

Copy editing doesn't require a degree in English, just attention to the story. Harry drives a stick shift VW, so having him put it in 'drive' makes no sense. He should have put it into first gear.

[Kevin]

Jim wrote: "Kevin wrote: "...I am not an english teacher so didn't notice any editing issues...."

Copy editing doesn't require a degree in English, just attention to the story. Harry drives a stick shift VW, ..."

I can see where you are coming from but at the same time play devil's advocate on that example... Harry thought put the car into drive because language is fluid and people understand that involves changing gears. Would it have been better if they said Harry puts it into first gear than shifts to second gear than on to third gear or can the reader just go with he put the car into drive?

[Jim]

Kevin, Butcher makes a pretty big deal of Harry driving a stick throughout the series to that point. Perhaps it depends on what you grew up with, too. I remember when manual shifting was called 'standard' the way someone ran a car through the gears was a way to show mood & skill. It's comical when they let the clutch out too fast & stall the car. It's pretty cool when they tear off in first & catch second expertly sometimes tearing the rear wheels free. Anyone can slide a car into drive in any mood without revealing anything, though.

By itself, that wouldn't have been a big deal, but there were a couple of others & I don't think I'd noticed any in the previous books. It's been quite a while now, so I don't recall for sure. I can't say I have a 3 strike rule, but I definitely have a limit on such errors. That limit might be reached a little earlier in series since I've seen so many go down hill after they reach a certain point, either in popularity or number of books.

I can also be picky about the errors themselves. When an author writes badly about something I know on a visceral level, the errors can be more jarring, thus more memorable & knock me out of the story eventually losing me entirely.

For instance, I was ARC reading a popular fantasy series & the author had a horse whinny when a rider hauled it to a stop. I see that happen in movies all the time & it doesn't bother me too much since I expect such idiocies, but in a book where I'm projecting the story in my imagination it was a huge error that knocked me right out of the groove. I hear horses talk all the time & I know they'd never do that. They might grunt or squeal, but a whinny is a greeting or call. Thankfully, the goof didn't make it into the published edition.

[Heather]

Elise wrote: "I finishedSkullsworn last night. I never fully engaged with Chronicles of Unhewn Throne for some reason, but I really liked this one. Kind of heartbreaking though. I’m now wondering..."

I don't see anything on his facebook, either, regarding what is up next.

[Kevin]

Jim wrote: "Kevin, Butcher makes a pretty big deal of Harry driving a stick throughout the series to that point. Perhaps it depends on what you grew up with, too. I remember when manual shifting was called 'st...
Ahhh. So it was something that took away your suspension of disbelief. It really sucks when that happens and it can ruin an otherwise good story. I wish you many good reads in the future.

[Angela]

I've been reading Ruin. I am finding The Faithful and the Fallen to be a great series.

[Marc]

Finished the last of the Esther Diamond series that I got at the craft fair, Vamparazzi. By far the least of the books of the books I had. An infodump not so cleverly disguised a walking the dog, where the only action in the chapter is the dog circling a bush. An attempt to explain Max' constant questions about Lithuanians in other books of the series that didn't ring true, to me. Romantic angst because the heroine won't tell her almost-lover why she won't see him (he wouldn't believe a word of it but she doesn't even try). The villain isn't revealed, he just exposes himself at the end. The play was funny, and the comments about it, which is good, since so much of the story revolves around the play.

[Jason]

Finished the Words of Radiance. Third time through and its still one of my favourites. I think that's one of the highest compliments you can give a book. In my experience, a re-read doesn't always live up to the memory of the first time. This does. Even though i knew what was coming in the story i still discovered parts i hsd forgotten completely and realised the signiticance of comments and details that had previously passed me by.
I have, however, allowed far too much time for my Stormlight catch-up. I was hoping to be done just as Oathbringer is released but I'd forgotten how utterly immersed i become in this world and have finished nearly 3 weeks early! Bah!
Not sure what to do now.....

[Joseph]

Jason wrote: "Finished the Words of Radiance. Third time through and its still one of my favourites. I think that's one of the highest compliments you can give a book. In my experience, a re-read..."

My biggest success along those lines was finishing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them while standing in line for the midnight release of ... I think it was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

[idiffer]

still reading The Instructions. The premise is pretty cool, but holy shit is this book slow. 1000 pages describing four days worth of events. Yeah. You can have a 3 page tangent on scarves, or how about a page about a jewish food-thing?
The Curse of Chalion - pretty good; smart protagonist, but many boring dialogues + what is up with the romance here? It just pops up out of nowhere and... pops back whence it came from. But the writing is super good.
The Music Shop - god, ppl are stupid and cowardly in this one. and there's a 20-year timeskip. Wtf? + Many cheesy moments.

[Lára]

I´m slowly moving this year. I finished Queen of the Darkness yesterday (or day before) and it was just ok. I´ve been collecting Anne Bishop´s books for about 6 years now and have 3 now. It was supposed to be a trilogy but it appears it´s more than 5 books... Sad but whatever

I´m still reading A Night in the Lonesome October, The Fall of the Kings, The Unconsoled and The Greatest Knight

[Tnkw01]

So after reading The Way of Shadows, which was absolutely great, I've started Words of Radiance, and I'm also going to try and get To Ride Hell’s Chasm in before Oathbringer.

[Helen, I·ᴍ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪʙʀᴀʀʏ]

Only two days left in our lonesome. It's been such fun reading and chatting daily.

[Elise]

I finished House of Leaves last night. Main story was pretty good, the footnotes, not as much. I'll admit that the crazy changing topsy-turvy text made it entertaining. Definitely one of the weirdest books I've ever read.

I'm reading The Death Cure now.

[Joseph]

Finished the final volume of Lovecraft and started Elizabeth Bear's stunningly good The Stone in the Skull, a follow-on to her equally stunningly good Eternal Sky trilogy.

[Lára]

November thread is up.