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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - November 2017
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Jessica
(last edited Nov 16, 2017 02:14PM)
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Nov 16, 2017 07:26AM
A word on Maggie Stiefvater - the first book I ever read by by her was Shiver, which left me extremely underwhelmed. Years later I gave her Raven Cycle a try after all the hype, and wow, those books are pretty good! Now I'm reading All the Crooked Saints, and I have to say, she has developed into one masterful writer. Good storytelling, but also the writing itself is pretty amazing at times.
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Finished up The Boy on the Bridge on Audible. A very worthy successor (it's a prequel, but you know what I mean!) to The Girl With All the Gifts. I'm not normally a fan of Zombie fiction, but these two books are just great stories with a real emotional punch. Fantastic narration in the audio book by Finty Williams - who, Google informs me, is Judy Dench's daughter. It's not fair the way some families hoard all the talent!
Started reading Willful Child. It is bad enough that it is just a so so book, all of the sexual harassment by the captain is cringeworthy. I will be lemming this one.Thinking about trying The Bloodline Feud.
Trike wrote: "Be tough. Rip it to shreds."That can be expensive when it is an ebook.. Damn you electrons!
(I did once burn a book that had infuriated me)
Ruth wrote: "Now starting Oathbringer by [author:..."
I bought it on Audible the day it came out. FIFTY FIVE HOURS. Holy crap. I listen at 1.5 speed but that still going to take me a while. I spend a lot of time driving at my job which is where I listen but this could take me a month as some days I can get 5 hrs in and others I'm lucky to get two. I'd probably do it faster in dead tree form but I decided on Audible.
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Doomsday Book - ★★½☆☆ - (My Review)
Artemis - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)
I also realized I never reviewed Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection for some reason back when I read it. ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
John (Taloni) wrote: "I'm reading The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August which someone here recommended a while back. Surprisingly good, and just the antidote I needed after the, well, doom of Doomsday ..."I love that book. Have read it twice.
Jennifer wrote: "I just finished The Fifth Season. Amazing. Really Amazing."Yeah I read it recently too and it's easily the best book I read this year.
Rob wrote: "Finished up a pair of audio books this week:Doomsday Book - ★★½☆☆ - (My Review)
Artemis - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)
from all reviews I read it seems that Artemis is not as good as The Martian.
Anyway, I am moving Something Wicked This Way Comes to the backburner for a while (25%, so hard to get into the story with all these poetic stuff!) to make way for Shaman's Crossing.
Mod
Yeah. It's a hard act to follow. I probably like the world building of Artemis more, but I liked The Martian's story much more.
In some ways Artemis feels derivative of the Martian. The protagonists share many similar attributes for instance.
Silvana wrote: "from all reviews I read it seems that Artemis is not as good as The Martian."N. K. Jemisin's review of it convinced me to take it out of the tbr, and nothing I've read since has convinced me to put it back on. Sounds like it may make a better movie than book.
Rick wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I just finished The Fifth Season. Amazing. Really Amazing."Yeah I read it recently too and it's easily the best book I read this year."
^^
Rik wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Now starting Oathbringer by ..."
I bought it on Audible the day it came out. FIFTY FIVE HOURS. Holy crap. I listen at 1.5 speed but that still going to take m..."</i>
I wanted to whispersync it as I did with [book:Words of Radiance but apparently the audio book won’t sync with the ebook until after they’ve done some testing and stuff and I was too impatient to wait for that so I’m reading it in ebook format only. It’s a shame because I bet the audio book is amazing.
Travis wrote: "Silvana wrote: "from all reviews I read it seems that Artemis is not as good as The Martian."N. K. Jemisin's review of it convinced me to take it out of the tbr, and nothing I've read since has ..."
That review pretty much sums up how I felt about it. The world building is pretty damn cool, but Jazz fails as a character. She ends up feeling like a woman who was clearly written by a man who has no idea how to write women.
Still on the audio book of Frankenstein. Had a wobble about 40% through and nearly Lemmed it because I was finding it just so dreary and depressing but I soldiered on. Now about two-thirds done and I think I will finish it. It’s still dreary and depressing but the quality of the writing and the story are carrying me. I think it picks up once (view spoiler) If we read it for S&L it’ll be interesting to see what everyone else makes of it.
I tapped Artemis at the LA Library. Now at #287 in queue. Fortunately they have 79 copies.I don't know how Weir could possibly follow up with a book as good as The Martian. A self pubbed book that gets pulled and rereleased as a blockbuster, then turned into a major motion picture? He hit the lottery. It was a great idea and Weir ran with it well. But The Martian was a single home run smash. It can't be duplicated.
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N. K. Jemisin's review of it convinced me to take it out of the tbr, and nothing I've read since has ..."
Yeah, I guess since I'm a (nearing) middle-age white American I didn't notice/think the main character was as badly written as Ms. Jemisin did. I can see her point about a city of Mark Watney's too.
I still enjoyed the book well enough, but it will probably make for a better movie than a book.
Jordan wrote: "That review pretty much sums up how I felt about it. The world building is pretty damn cool, but Jazz fails as a character. She ends up feeling like a woman who was clearly written by a man who has no idea how to write women."That's been the overriding opinion in reviews I've read so I removed it from my TBR list. If it's on sale, perhaps I'll get it.
Ruth wrote: "Still on the audio book of Frankenstein. Had a wobble about 40% through and nearly Lemmed it because I was finding it just so dreary and depressing but I soldiered on. Now about two-thirds done and..."I know people are sensitive about spoilers -- and I am one of those -- but I think in this case you shouldn't worry too much about it. The book is 199 years old, after all.
Trike wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Still on the audio book of Frankenstein. Had a wobble about 40% through and nearly Lemmed it because I was finding it just so dreary and depressing but I soldiered on. Now about two-th..."It is always new to someone, and the book is quite different from the movies.
Just finished 'Kings of the Wyld' which was an excellent book. Came out this year too.
I have been catching up on some non-fiction with:Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything,
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,
The World According to Clarkson
and am now on Stacy Keach's auto-bio All in All: An Actor's Life On and Off the Stage.
Signed copy of Oathbringer just arrive but I'm going to save that for the holiday week between Christmas and New Year:)
Putting Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files...well, to the side. My library hold on Artemis is available. Glad I was reading a book of short stories so I can jump right into this one. ;)
Finished Frankenstein today thanks to a 3-hour “power listen”. A powerful (if very bleak) story. It reminds me of Greek tragedy - an association encouraged by the “Modern Prometheus” subtitle.Next up - Dracula!
Ruth wrote: "Finished Frankenstein today thanks to a 3-hour “power listen”. A powerful (if very bleak) story. It reminds me of Greek tragedy - an association encouraged by the “Modern Prometheus” subtitle.Nex..."
Another good read that is different from the pop culture version.
Assassin's Fate, the final book in Robin Hobb's Fitz and the Fool series. It's very slow and taking me forever to get through, as the last one did.
Shad wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Finished Frankenstein today thanks to a 3-hour “power listen”. A powerful (if very bleak) story. It reminds me of Greek tragedy - an association encouraged by the “Modern Prometheus” s..."Agreed! I was surprised with how much I liked Dracula. Hope you have a similar experience, Ruth!
I'm on Oathbringer. Trying to manage my expectations and also read it as fast as possible. Neither goal is progressing quite as planned.
Finally finished The Science Fiction Century, Volume 1 edited by David Hartwell. This seemed to be a lot longer than it looked and it took me a couple months to get through with some breaks for club picks and it is only volume 1. This is a collection of what Hartwell thought was the best literary SF of the 20th century although I'm pretty sure I don't agree with a lot of his choices. It seemed pretty hit and miss and pretty arbitrary. What's most conspicuous was who wasn't included; Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Niven (probably not literary enough) but not even any Le Guin or Bradbury. Considering what was there, it's a mystery to me.Some of my favorites were Hot Planet by Hal Clement, Mother by Philip Jose Farmer, Veritas by James Morrow, Fire Watch by Connie Willis, and Goat Song by Poul Anderson.
Special mentions to The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster for predicting smart phone addiction 100 years before smart phones were invented and The Scarlet Plague by Jack London for predicting we'd still be using a lot of horse and buggies and dirigibles in 2013.
I'll be reading more of Xanathar's Guide To Everything until the December pick is announced.
Re-read Ancillary Mercy, read the new Penric novella The Prisoner of Limnos and the short novel by Spencer Ellsworth, A Red Peace. Off to read Mandelbrot the Magnificent. Need a space opera/far future SF fix.
Phil wrote: "What's most conspicuous was who wasn't included; Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Niven (probably not literary enough) but not even any Le Guin or Bradbury."A review I found from Library Journal says that Hartwell purposely excluded some heavily anthologized authors to give a different look. That's something I can get behind... expose myself to a different set of authors. Hartwell probably didn't have the space like the VanderMeers did to do a giant book like The Big Book of Science Fiction
Ruth wrote: "Finished Frankenstein today thanks to a 3-hour “power listen”. A powerful (if very bleak) story. It reminds me of Greek tragedy - an association encouraged by the “Modern Prometheus” subtitle.Nex..."
Yeah, I read it a couple of months ago. It was very heavy. I had to read something light-hearted afterwards.
Finished The Punch Escrow which is based completely on page 54 of David Wong’s This Book Is Full of Spiders.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Allison wrote: "I’m on Oathbringer. Trying to manage my expectations and also read it as fast as possible. Neither goal is progressing quite as plannedSnap!
Rick wrote: "Need a space opera/far future SF fix." Have you read House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds?
Just finished reading Good Omens to my son. Just as good as I remember it. Well worth another read, so much fun. Slouching towards Tadfield...
Joseph wrote: "Rick wrote: "Need a space opera/far future SF fix." Have you read House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds?"
Yep. Love that book. If you liked it and haven't, try the novella Thousandth Night which is the same world and some of the same characters.
That's a good idea though - there are some Reynolds I've not yet read.
Lena wrote: "Finished The Punch Escrow which is based completely on page 54 of David Wong’s This Book Is Full of Spiders.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Uh... you should spoiler warn your review. I've read the book but you have a huge spoiler in the first quote.
Since my last update:Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation. Might be one case where I enjoyed the adaptation more than the original.
Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening. One of the most beautiful comics I've read in awhile, but I had a hard time getting into the story.
I finally plunged into The Stormlight Archive and am so glad I did. It is just as amazing as so many people here have been saying. I read The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Edgedancer straight through and just started Oathbringer. CANNOT. STOP. READING.
I'm also halfway through the audio of La Belle Sauvage, which is reminding me of all the reasons I loved the original trilogy. Lots of descriptions of food, including pastry, so it was particularly fun to listen to it while spending a couple of days in the kitchen cooking Thanksgiving food.
Some non-SFF: The Hate U Give, an engrossing and incredibly smart YA novel that had my students (mostly college sophomores and juniors) staying after class to prolong discussion; and History of Wolves, which read like and was as engrossing as a horror novel, even though the evil it confronted wasn't a bit supernatural.
Rick, that quote is not from The Punch Escrow.
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Lena wrote: "Finished The Punch Escrow which is based completely on page 54 of David Wong’s This Book Is Full of Spiders.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
The idea of "transporter as disintegrator" is not original to David Wong. (I don't think Pargin has advanced an original idea yet. He just synthesizes existing work into slightly new shapes.) This is a concept I first encountered in the 1970s and I'm sure it existed before that.
Someone with a better memory for specifics might be able to recall if there's an award-winning (or nominated) story based on this idea, because my brain insists there is.
The SF Encyclopedia entry: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/...
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys features this type of destructive teleportation, published in 1960.
Finished A Closed and Common Orbit. Wanted to get through this as it was loaned to me by a friend. I liked it a lot more than I expected. My review. Hopping back into Hyperion. Man, this book is a total sausagefest.
Lena wrote: "Rick, that quote is not from The Punch Escrow."I know. But as you make clear, it's a key point in the book. Come on...
Been multi-tasking my reads a bit more than usual and ended up finishing a few all at once. Gluttony Bay The penultimate entry in the Sin du Jour novella series. Didn't quite live up to the earlier volumes, but I still have high hopes for the finale next year.
La Belle Sauvage Initially enjoyed being back in the Dark Materials universe, but ultimately thought the book took a long time to not get very far. Also a little hard to tell who the target audience is. Doesn't really feel exactly like it fits in children's, YA or adult.
And finally, I whizzed through the Audiobook of Dark Matter as recommended in this thread a couple of weeks ago. Some thought provoking ideas, but also a few where I wanted to shout at the author for not following through sufficiently. A mostly fun take on the parallel universes trope.
Read Doomsday Book: Enjoyed the second half of it, glad to get a chance to read Willis finally after seeing her mentioned for many years. ★★★☆☆.The Sisters of the Crescent Empress: Sequel/conclusion to The Five Daughters of the Moon. Very good, i'd recommend this duology. ★★★★☆.
This World is Full of Monsters: Begins with one of my favourite concepts i've ever read in a short story. After that it gets really weird, trippy and surreal. ★★★☆☆.
Ready Player One: Earns the first one star rating i've given since joining this web site. Dubious distinction of being worse than Helliconia Spring. ★☆☆☆☆.
Currently reading: Ice by Anna Kavan.
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The Warded Man - I had the ebook of this for a few years, but more recently got the audio version as well. That was apparently enough (not to mention the final book coming out) to get me to finally pick it up. I really enjoyed it and have already jumped into the second book. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
Rat Queens, Vol. 4: High Fantasies - I didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous 3 trades, but still a lot of fun. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
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