What Else Are You Reading - October 2017

[Louie]

Jordan wrote: "My current audiobook listen is Prelude to Foundation. I've been devouring Asimov's books this year and loving them all so far."

I remember when I did that, years ago. A very fun time.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Melanie wrote: "Something Wicked is my Favorite Bradbury story. It drags a little near the end, but it is still amazing!."

Agreed. I've read it many times. I must dig out my copy and read it again. Amazing.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Allison wrote: "Give it a minute. Can't wait to compare notes!"

Well I think I got to the part you're referring to. That kind of came from out of the blue.

[Walter]

Completed this month’s read, The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. It was okay, but for some reason I keep imagining a scenario where someone does a cable series version of this which (my intuition suggests) could kick serious butt, with the right casting.

Also read Chet Williamson’s Ash Wednesday, a haunting tale of a small town where, one day, ghostly images of the deceased appear, hanging in mid-air, unmoving. Reads like a Halloween version of Tales From Lake Woebegon.

Which finished my club reads for the month, so I rewarded myself with the memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. Written by Brook Busey-Maurio - better known by her pen name Diablo Cody, who won an Academy Award for her script for the movie Juno - the book is a memoir of the year she spent as a stripper/exotic dancer, told in an unapologetic, take-no-prisoners prose style as hilarious as it is brash.

To wit, here’s a brief quote:

“I spotted a blonde girl working the floor in an outfit so tight I could clearly see her nipples, labia, individual goose bumps, hair follicles and DNA helix.”

Now reading Those Across the River, the November read for a different Goodreads book club, while waiting for my copy of Doomsday Book to arrive at the library.

[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.

[Trike]

Started Uprooted which started somewhat slowly but then really took off. The first 90 pages were like going up the first hill on a rollercoaster, chack-chack-chack-chack, but the next 300 were zoomy. I'm only 40 pages from the end and she'd really have to screw up the final pages to keep this from being a 4-star read for me.

[Trike]

Joseph wrote: "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 tr..."

"Stunningly" is high praise indeed.

[Allison]

Randy wrote: "Allison wrote: "Give it a minute. Can't wait to compare notes!"

Well I think I got to the part you're referring to. That kind of came from out of the blue."

Yyyyup! That's how I felt about most of the back half. It just kept getting further from my expectations.

[Brendan]

Shards of Honor did have a pretty abrupt shift in tone but i can't say i disliked it. Nice to have some unpredictability in a narrative.

[Allison]

Brendan wrote: "Shards of Honor did have a pretty abrupt shift in tone but i can't say i disliked it. Nice to have some unpredictability in a narrative."

I like unpredictability. I'm less pleased with a shift from classic space opera to feminine horror, is the thing. I imagine lots of people agree with you though, that it was interesting rather than suddenly Bluebeard's Bride in space.

[Joseph]

Trike wrote: ""Stunningly" is high praise indeed."

And in this case I'd say it's entirely warranted. Seriously: I can't recommend these books highly enough.

[Brendan]

Allison wrote: "I like unpredictability. I'm less pleased with a shift from classic space opera to feminine horror, is the thing. I imagine lots of people agree with you though."

(view spoiler)[I did find that it got back on the original track after a while, and the horror interlude made the parts that could otherwise seem a bit overly cute easier to swallow. I thought it was somewhat balanced in that the universe that allows for very good things and very bad things to happen to the main character. (hide spoiler)]

[Allison]

Brendan wrote: "Allison wrote: "I like unpredictability. I'm less pleased with a shift from classic space opera to feminine horror, is the thing. I imagine lots of people agree with you though."

[spoilers removed]"

I can understand that. (view spoiler)[ For me, I have rigorous standards about how rape should be used in stories, and this did not meet them. In that, I found it exploitative--it wanted me to feel a certain way (these men are bad, Cordelia is strong, Bothari and Arral are tragic figures, Arral is here to Save The Day etc.) without actually dealing with the effects of the trauma. I think any torture would have served the same purpose, and in the instances it could not, we're missing the depth that allows me to continue suspension of disbelief. (hide spoiler)]

But again, I have exceptionally high standards.

[Brendan]

That's fair. I give a lot of leeway for that when the writer is a woman, since she probably knows better than I do what depictions are appropriate.

[Dara]

Lemmed Neuromancer at 47%. I just can't wait this book. My review. Now I'm burned out on reading anything.

[Rob, Roberator]

Dara wrote: "Lemmed Neuromancer at 47%. I just can't wait this book. My review. Now I'm burned out on reading anything."

Considering you didn't like Snow Crash, I was surprised to see you were reading that. Not surprised you lemmed it.

[Dara]

Rob wrote: "Dara wrote: "Lemmed Neuromancer at 47%. I just can't wait this book. My review. Now I'm burned out on reading anything."

Considering you didn't like Snow Crash, I was surprised to se..."

I think my expectations didn't match what Snow Crash was whereas Neuromancer just wasn't good to me. I started reading it because my friends and I are going to play a one-shot Sprawl RPG around the holidays.

[Rob, Roberator]

Oh. That sounds fun.