SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2018?
I finished The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary - which was an interesting story, but very dry. Giving it 2.5 stars, I think - debating about whether to mark it up or down for goodreads.Now I've started Garment of Shadows, a Mary Russell novel. I'm a bit leery because (view spoiler). But I enjoy the series, overall, so we'll see.
I finished reading Iron Gold by Pierce Brown Red Rising series. Then read Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson. Now I'm reading Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson and holy crapoly is epic. I'm not nearly done with Oathbringer but I would give 6 stars! lol
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I don't know how to agree with this hard enough. So good!
I finished and quite liked The Man in the High Castle. It was the 4th book I've read from the sf/f shelf and the first one I've liked and finished. (I don't force myself to finish books I don't like or that I aren't in the mood for.)Then I read two Black Panther graphic novels. They are gorgeous, but I was bummed that I didn't love them. Black Panther: World of Wakanda and Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 3.
Then I read a YA novel Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. And a historical fiction novel Sister of Mine by Sabra Waldfogel and I'm currently rereading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
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The Black Tides of Heaven was absolutely gorgeous! A little stilted because it's so short, but still rich and compelling.
Now reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir which is pretty igry, if I'm honest. I love Jenny Lawson, but this is much more anxiety-producing than Furiously Happy for me.
Dark Matter is going really quickly. I just needed something to read on a train ride and my other books were too big for my bag. But now I might just finish it, cross it off my list. Enjoying it so far but I'm not sure I get the hype. I guess I almost never get the hype though, so maybe that's a worthless statement.
And of course Winter Tide which is so far nice but not gripping. I'm enjoying its slower pace and its creepy mysticism.
colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I finished The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary - which was an interesting story, but very dry. Giving it 2.5 stars,..."I couldn’t even finish that book. A fascinating topic featuring two genuinely insane characters with a bizarre relationship, and it was boring as hell.
The new 5th season of Drunk History on Comedy Central just did a bit on it and their 6-minute re-enactment was a hundred times more entertaining. The episode was called “Dangerous Minds”.
Julia wrote: "Then I read two Black Panther graphic novels. They are gorgeous, but I was bummed that I didn't love them. ."Same here. I don’t know why it’s so hard to write a decent Black Panther story, but they’re just so boring.
Just finished Stay with Me which lived up to its hype and Central Station which for me was not quite as good as I expected.
Michael wrote: "To commemorate Charles Darwin's 209th birthday today, take a break from Sci-Fi and read an actual science book today. The Origin of Species is free here: https://books.google.com/books/about/......"I just finished In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality serendipitously. It is better to be lucky than good.
I finished Blood and Fire (Star Wolf, #4) by David Gerrold, a fun space adventure which would make a fun movie.
Bill wrote: "I finished Blood and Fire (Star Wolf, #4) by David Gerrold, a fun space adventure which would make a fun movie."They’ve certainly tried over the years. Starlog had a story about an adaptation back in the 80s, and 5 or 6 years ago someone ran a Kickstarter to get another attempt going. I think they raised enough to cover the catering.
Just finished Wrinkle in Time. How is this everyone's favourite book? Pretty ordinary in my opinion.
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Yeah...I think nostalgia is a lot of it. I could see it feeling pretty amazing if you read it when you were 8. But as an adult, it's, well, childish, in my opinion. Not bad, just not for me.
Dj wrote: "I started reading Neverwhere and came to a somewhat disconcerting discovery. No, it has nothing to do with the book itself or the writing, which is very good. It has to do with the fact that I ha..."
I've had that experience with movies/tv shows. It is so weird. My hubby has an excellent memory, so he remembers details from movies we saw together like a decade ago. Lol.
I have read a lot of books for kids over the last 30 years with my kids and even though they were written for kids they are in no way childish. This one definitely is. I must admit I'd never heard of it before joining Goodreads recently. American children's literature is a complete mystery to me unless it's been made into a movie.
I would still like to see the Wrinkle in Time movie that's coming out soon though. It looks lovely.
My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because we don't have one anywhere near us but will swear blind that he's never seen a movie before that we have definitely seen sometimes more than once. Damned annoying some days.
Allison wrote: "Jacqueline wrote: "Just finished Wrinkle in Time. How is this everyone's favourite book? Pretty ordinary in my opinion."Yeah...I think nostalgia is a lot of it. I could see it feeling pretty amaz..."
I felt this way as well, and I still read a lot of MG books. Wrinkle of Time just didn't do anything for me when I read it as an adult.
Hank wrote: "Michael wrote: "To commemorate Charles Darwin's 209th birthday today, take a break from Sci-Fi and read an actual science book today. The Origin of Species is free here: https://books.google.com/bo..."I got a tee shirt from six dollar tees, that said. Wanted Dead or Alive Schrodinger's Cat.
It is amazing how many conversations that starts.
Jacqueline wrote: "Just finished Wrinkle in Time. How is this everyone's favourite book? Pretty ordinary in my opinion."Not high on my list either. Could be an interesting movie though. Will have to wait and see.
B.K. wrote: "Dj wrote: "I started reading Neverwhere and came to a somewhat disconcerting discovery. No, it has nothing to do with the book itself or the writing, which is very good. It has to do with the fac..."
Wow, that would be amazing. Might make me feel like I need to let something out though so I could more stuff in. LOL
Jacqueline wrote: "My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because we don't have one an..."I only do that they second time someone asks me about a plot to a movie or a book that I haven't seen or read.
It is amazing how many people will buy into it even though you have told them you don't know the first time.
Jacqueline wrote: "My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because we don't have one an..."We were sitting in the theatre watching the Gwynneth Paltrow movie Country Strong and I remarked during the opening scene, “Too bad she kills herself at the end.” Which she does. The people I was with were like, “WTF?!” It seemed obvious to me that’s where the very paint-by-numbers movie was going, and I was surprised by their surprise.
At some point you consume so much media that you can tell how something is going to play out. I always tell people to not pause TV shows when I leave the room, because I always know what’s going to happen next. There’s only so many ways to peel a banana.
Trike wrote: "Jacqueline wrote: "My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because w..."LOL. All to true. Remind me not to go to any movies with you. LOL
There's that and that does happen often too but he really swears black and blue that he's already actually seen it not just knows what will happen. Maybe he astrally projects himself into movie theatres 120km away and watches it without me.
Jacqueline wrote: "There's that and that does happen often too but he really swears black and blue that he's already actually seen it not just knows what will happen. Maybe he astrally projects himself into movie the..."Ohhh, Astral Projection, now that sounds like fun. I wonder if I would use that to just watch movies though. It would be less expensive that much is for sure.
I would think that there would have to be a way to make money using it though. Have to consider that.
If it were that easy we'd all be doing it eh
Trike wrote: "Jacqueline wrote: "My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because w..."I'm the same way. One of my most common criticisms about...well, any form of storytelling, really...is that the story was predictable, but really, that's more my problem than the storyteller's problem. I can't shut off my brain and just "be in the moment" while watching or reading something, so I'm always thinking ten steps ahead of what's actually happening. Even The Sixth Sense, perhaps the most infamous twist-ending story of all time, failed to surprise me; in fact, I ruined it for a group of friends when I predicted the ending during the opening scene (on opening day), and they still haven't forgiven me for that. Heh. Oops!
Trike wrote: "I couldn’t even finish that book. A fascinating topic featuring two genuinely insane characters with a bizarre relationship, and it was boring as hell.The new 5th season of Drunk History on Comedy Central just did a bit on it and their 6-minute re-enactment was a hundred times more entertaining. The episode was called “Dangerous Minds”. "
Glad I'm not the only one. So many 4 and 5 star reviews, but I couldn't get more than a few pages during a reading session without my eyes drooping.
The 5 page diversion about whether there could be more than one protagonist and the history of the world was like, ugh, I get it... move on!
I'll have to look out for that Drunk History episode, though. Thanks. :>
Finished Zero Hour, probably the best book in the series so far. It continues the fine tradition of being the most redneck(or whatever term you use for rural person from Maine) science space adventure yet.Read his first 2 books of his fantasy series too, 1st book was 3/5, second 2/5, I'm currently a bit disappointed.
Been going through Dies Irae now that it's on steam finally, action scenes are top notch, comedy is surprisingly on point as well, other parts go from good to passable.
Other than that it's just the continuing large pile of webnovels I'm going through some of which are very good,cough...Cultivation Chat Group...cough, and a few more KU books that have all been ugghh nos so far and DNFs so I don't even feel comfortable rating them.
Earlier today I finished Dan Moren's The Caledonian Gambit. It was a good science fiction novel of espionage with two interesting POV characters. I've heard Dan on a number of podcasts, mainly "The Incomparable." I'm glad I enjoyed his first novel. Probably back to fantasy for my next read.
This one is classified middle grade children's fantasy but it is good for adult readers too.My review of The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Trike wrote: "Jacqueline wrote: "My Hubby will inform me of the plot of a brand new movie and reckon he's seen it before when it's only just come out yet and I know he didn't go to the cinema to see it because w..."Some films I can 'quote' the next line of dialogue even when I haven't seen the film before because they are just so predictable.
If the film is good it doesn't bother me but it makes the bad ones so much worse.
When DH is channel hopping I can frequently tell what the film is from a couple of seconds even if I haven't seen it before but that is probably because I love film reviews.
Mike wrote: " I can't shut off my brain and just "be in the moment" while watching or reading something, so I'm always thinking ten steps ahead of what's actually happening..."Luckily I am the opposite. If I think about it I know the twists and turns but when I really enjoy the writing, acting or direction I just go with the flow and let myself be 'surprised'.
Haha Ester I'm like that too. Couple of seconds and I tell hubby what it is. Even if I've never seen it. Also get most of the movie questions right on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I put it down to a good knowledge of general knowledge. He reckons I watch too many movies. Most of them I haven't seen though. I just know about them.
Luckily I am the o..."Fully agree, I like to just sit back and enjoy, then again I read in the boring bits where I know what will happen: usually chase scenes, fights and sex scenes.
I also like to re read a book, or re watch a movie. SO annoying to others .
I love to reread books and my husband and i often watch movies/tv shows over and over
Finished Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi - fascinating, but he really could have used a better editor. The wording is often clumsy and there are some outright errors in terms of SPAG.Now reading Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt, which is oddly compelling (same author who wrote Strangers on a Train and the original The Talented Mr. Ripley).
CBRetriever wrote: "I love to reread books and my husband and i often watch movies/tv shows over and over"Me too! Rereading a good book is like a visit with an old friend :)
CBRetriever wrote: "I love to reread books and my husband and i often watch movies/tv shows over and over"That’s so weird.
:: watches Doctor Strange for the 14th time ::
Trike wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "I love to reread books and my husband and i often watch movies/tv shows over and over"That’s so weird.
:: watches Doctor Strange for the 14th time ::"
Only 14?
Pfft. Amateur.
;P
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I picked up Dear Fahrenheit 451 again yesterday. Read a few of the letters and put it down again. I don’t want to it be a DNF. I’ve invested time in it that I could have used for something else. I’m determined to finish it. Eventually. Earlier this week I finished Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the Art of Racing in the Rain as well as a Wrinkle in Time. Still also listening to Wil Weaton reading me Armada and reading Name of the Wind. I really need to get back to that. I feel like I’ve been slack. I’ve only seen Doctor Strange once. At the cinema. Same with Deadpool. And I did love them. But I’ve seen all the other Marvel movies at least 5 times. Some more. I saw that they’re on Netflix so I’ll have to watch them. As well as Guardians 2 before the next Avengers movie comes out.
And even though I’ve seen episodes IV-VI of Star Wars at least 100 times and I-III about 10 I still haven’t rewatched Rogue One or Episode VII even once. I suppose some just speak to you and others, even though you watched them and loved them, just aren’t the ones that keep you company when you need it.
I've made a New Year's resolution to read as much as possible Neil Gaiman's books and that's maybe the best thing that happened to me :D I'm reading The Graveyard Book and it's perfect!
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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the first historical, set in Cromwell's Commonwealth by S G MacLean - The Seeker - review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2286720286.
and Val McDermid's - Fever of the Bone - review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2293439001.