What Else Are You Reading in 2018? Showing 2,951-3,000 of 3,893

[Soo]

A Closed and Common Orbit was fun. I enjoyed this one more than the first. You can definitely put this one on the Feel Good shelf. =)

Alright! Moving onto The Poppy War. Hope this one is good.

[Jacqueline]

I saw the series before I started reading again so Ashley was my Aggie but I still love book Aggie.

[MadProfessah]

CHILDREN OF TIME is great but part of my enjoyment was being so utterly surprised by the unexpected plot. I knew a little about the plot that spiders were significant but not much more.

[Soo]

I do believe the Frontlines series has become my audio listening book while I do stuff & read other books. =D

Luke Daniels did a fantastic job narrating Terms of Enlistment by Mark Kloos. 90% of the book is about boot camp & battles. If you enjoy military SF, you'll probably like this series. The whole thing is on KU Read & Listen.

[Mareike]

Finished MaddAddam today and started The Power and am absolutely loving it. Will have to force myself to put it down now so that I can finish some work that needs to be sent out today.

[Travis]

I read The Traitor Baru Cormorant much more quickly than I thought I would. (It helped that I was able to check both the physical and the audiobook from the library and toggle back and forth.) The book was, for me, a three-star read, a bit short of my expectations. Will have more to say in the group threads.

And I just started Dreadnought for the buddy read that begins tomorrow. YA and I always don't get along (and, for whatever reason, particularly YA told in the first-person present tense), but 40 pages in and I am having so much fun with this one.

[Gabi]

HOLY COW! Just finished Children of Time, and it was absolutely perfect! A childhood dream come true.

[Dawn F]

So happy about all the love Children of Time is getting! It's fully deserved, such a well developed plot that just gets more and more intense. One of my favorite of newer books.

[Dawn F]

Sooo I've just finished Up the Walls of the World. What a breathtakingly beautiful, ethereal, transcendent and life affirming experience this book was. The way the three events we follow intertwine and the affect the lives have on each other is described with such poetic emotion I thought of Shakespeare. My heart and my mind feel ready to burst with the tenderness, curiosity, and potent vigor of this story <3

[Alondra]

Finished 28 Days Later, Vol. 3: Hot Zone; continuing on with Assassins Quest and starting Dust.

[Ariana]

Folks who've just read Children of Time: I'm sooooo looking forward to reading it! I was planning on starting it mid-month with the monthly rereads. Hopefully you all will join in with discussion!

[Dawn F]

Been looking forward to talking about it, so I definitely will! :D

[Gabi]

Ariana wrote: "Folks who've just read Children of Time: I'm sooooo looking forward to reading it! I was planning on starting it mid-month with the monthly rereads. Hopefully you all will join in with discussion!"

Absolutely! I intended to wait for mid month … but then I got just too curious. This book was written for me (well … I guess, it wasn't ;) - but it felt that way :) )

[Kaa]

I read Viscera, which I would recommend to anyone looking for something a bit gory for Halloween reading. Warnings for all kinds of blood, guts, and death. It also has some really interesting things to say on birth and creation.

The book I read immediately afterward, The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, touched on many of the same themes (including a bit of gore), and the politics were even closer to the surface.

I enjoyed both of these books individually, and I appreciated them even more reading them back-to-back and being able to reflect on the similarities and differences. I think they both draw on queer discourse and culture in some really interesting ways.

I also read the most recent volume of Saga, Saga, Vol. 9. I have lots and lots of feelings, both good and bad. It's an intense book, which I think is about the only non-spoilery thing I can say about it.

[Beth]

Provenance: this has a very different protagonist from the Ancillary series... or does it? I suspect they are very similar beyond their perceptions of themselves. (not-much-of-a review)

I've read all of Leckie's novels to date now. My favorites in order are Justice, [Mercy and Provenance about equal], Sword. Very much looking forward to The Raven Tower early next year!

Unlikely to be of interest to anyone here is vol. 2 of light novel series* The Irregular at Magic High School. My friend loaned me the first three, and I feel some obligation to him and these books. Well... hate reading will probably carry me that far. (review Content warning: me telling a book to eff off.)

*basically Japanese YA. Almost all that have been translated into English were obviously written for boys.

[Kirsten]

I just started reading Jell-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I really must try Saga. And probably get back to Leckie at some point. Justice didn't blow me away, though. I liked the gender experiment, but a lot of the story was lost on me, I think.

Argh, sorry you have to hate read for a friend, Beth! That was me and the godforsaken Wizard's First Rule. Not even gonna link. Still mad at the friend who recommended it.

Kirsten, are you enjoying it so far?

[Beth]

Allison wrote: "Argh, sorry you have to hate read for a friend!"

Yeah, me too. :D Aside from a bad translation they are easy to read (kind of like our YA), so my suffering won't go on for too much longer.

[Dawn F]

I’m also in the middle of a book a friend wrote and it’s terrible, but I can’t tell her that, nor do I feel like finishing any time soon 🙈

And then I promised another friend I’d read a book (which turned oout to be three in a series) and review if for their site (The Baker Street Babes, they review anything Sherlock Holmes related), but it’s also so godforsakenly badly written I can’t get through it. Why did I ever say yes!

[Gabi]

Dawn wrote: "I’m also in the middle of a book a friend wrote and it’s terrible, but I can’t tell her that, nor do I feel like finishing any time soon 🙈

And then I promised another friend I’d read a book (which..."

Uh oh … that's a tough situation.

[ALLEN]

Does my reading ANGELS IN AMERICA count here?
It is not sci-fi but it is fantasy, incuding a winged Angel and the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shomeret]

I decided to read the short stories in the same continuity as The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky before these novels. So I checked out Word Puppets from the library and have ended up reading other stories in the anthology that have caught my attention.

Right now I'm reading "Body Language" which isn't in "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" continuity but I'm finding it unusual.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Allen, we welcome all books, even out of genre! That sounds depressing, though. Is it?

Shomeret, good unusual or not sure yet?

[ALLEN]

Allison wrote: "Allen, we welcome all books, even out of genre! That sounds depressing, though. Is it?
. . .
"

Tell me what you mean by "depressing" and I can give you a better answer.

[Shomeret]

Allison wrote: "Allen, we welcome all books, even out of genre! That sounds depressing, though. Is it?

Shomeret, good unusual or not sure yet?"

Allison wrote: "Allen, we welcome all books, even out of genre! That sounds depressing, though. Is it?

Shomeret, good unusual or not sure yet?"

I think it's good unusual. It's cross genre combining science fiction with crime in a futuristic context.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

ALLEN wrote: "Allison wrote: "Allen, we welcome all books, even out of genre! That sounds depressing, though. Is it?
. . .
"

Tell me what you mean by "depressing" and I can give you a better answer."

Anytime Ethel Rosenberg shows up in text, I expect lots of conspiracies, brutal deaths, unfulfilled dreams, bigotry and fear.

Though I guess if the writing isn't good, that is also possibly depressing ;-)

Shomeret, cool! That does sound unusual but interesting.

[ALLEN]

Ethel and husband Julius were executed in 1953 for espionage. Roy Cohn apparently went to great length to have Ethel executed, as opposed to a life sentence.

Ethel appears as a ghost in the 1980s, but in a way she gets her revenge on Roy Cohn. (I can't elaborate for fear of introducing a major spoiler.)

Bad news: Someone dies of AIDS. Good news: It was Roy Cohn.

Really an interesting play, full of humor and fantasy as well as drama.
I loved reading it ANGELS IN AMERICA, as I loved the HBO production of it.

[Jordan]

Finished The Ruin of Angels and loved it despite the fact that it took me months to finish. I love the Craft series so much.

Read The Descent of Monsters, which is probably my favorite of the three so far. I'm lamenting the wait for the next one though.

Making progress on The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. I like it, but I'm worried I'm going to find it too gimmicky at some point.

Started Bird Box, which is creepy so far. I made the mistake of reading it in a dark room before trying to go to bed.

[Dawn F]

Horror, you say? I have to add Bird Box to my tbr list now. The Descent of Monsters is already on it, I'll get to it eventually.

[Sabrina]

Jordan wrote: "Started Bird Box, which is creepy so far. I made the mistake of reading it in a dark room before trying to go to bed. ..."

Oh yes, definitively creepy!

[Kirsten]

ALLEN wrote: "Ethel and husband Julius were executed in 1953 for espionage. Roy Cohn apparently went to great length to have Ethel executed, as opposed to a life sentence.

Ethel appears as a ghost in the 1980s..."

That happened to me yesterday. I was reading Jell-O Girls: A Family History and was surprised that the Rosenbergs came up. I'll bet a lot of people reading that had to Google it. I mean, I run into people that haven't even heard of the Manhattan Project. Which is funny as I live 45 minutes away from one of the original sites - Hanford!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

ALLEN wrote: "Bad news: Someone dies of AIDS. Good news: It was Roy Cohn. "

LMAO

[Kirsten]

Allison wrote: "ALLEN wrote: "Bad news: Someone dies of AIDS. Good news: It was Roy Cohn. "

LMAO"

He was STILL ALIVE??????

[ALLEN]

Yes, he died in 1986. He was in his late Fifties. He first achieved national notoriety as a lawyer who had skipped a couple of grades in the educational system.

He probably strong-armed the NEW YORK TIMES into calling it "liver cancer," but we know now it was AIDS. The countours of his illness and death are sketched fairly realistically in ANGELS IN AMERICA.

[Julia]

Roy Cohn was still alive in 1985 when Angels in America is set.
(I have read both plays, seen both plays, when they were on Broadway the first time, and have each of them autographed by Tony Kushner.) Oh and I've seen HBO version, too.


Allen's right. It's good theater, good literature, and worth reading.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Ah, I feel bad for having laughed at that, but you caught me with the set up, Allen. Ugh. I think this is what lolcry was designed for.

[ALLEN]

Thanks for the affirmative words, Julia!

Allison, one would have to have a heart of stone not to rejoice at the death of Roy Cohn. When even arch-conservatives heard how and of what he had died, some were known to mutter, "So there is a God."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-roy...

Extra Credit: Who mentored Donald Trump early in his career?

[Kaa]

@Allison (3015): Saga is the BEST. Probably my most recommended book ever.

For any of Leckie's books after Justice, I recommend the audiobooks - Adjoa Andoh is an amazing narrator and I found the books more engaging that way. (I've heard that the person who originally narrated Justice wasn't as good, but it looks like there's a new version with Andoh coming out in November.)

[Kaa]

@Jordan: I'm excited to hear what you think about the Alchemist's Daughter. Fingers crossed it's not gimmicky.

Also, argghhhh about the wait until the next Tensorate book. That ending was amazing but so frustrating!

[Travis]

Julia wrote: "I have read both plays, seen both plays, when they were on Broadway the first time, and have each of them autographed by Tony Kushner. Oh and I've seen HBO version, too.."

Ditto. Though I didn't see them on Broadway. They are utterly incredibly works. The HBO miniseries is a fantastic introduction for the curious.

[Alondra]

Still reading Assassin's Quest. I put it down for graphic novels and a quick mystery, but now I am back at it.

Just picked up The Deep and am enjoying it, so far. :)

[Jordan]

Kaa wrote: "@Allison (3015): Saga is the BEST. Probably my most recommended book ever.

For any of Leckie's books after Justice, I recommend the audiobooks - Adjoa Andoh is an amazing narrator and I found the..."

Agreed, the audiobooks for the last two of the Ancillary series are fantastic. The first one isn't bad, but I do like Andoh's narration better.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Oh, sorry, Kaa, I didn't see this! Thank you for the recs, and great tip from you and Jordan about the audiobooks. Good audiobooks really can just make the words pop.

I definitely want to read Saga, I'd just heard it was in a rough part of the story and I am hopeful it gets somewhere a little less rough?

[Kaa]

Allison wrote: "I definitely want to read Saga, I'd just heard it was in a rough part of the story and I am hopeful it gets somewhere a little less rough? "

Unfortunately it just went on hiatus for at least a year, but yeah, it left off at a pretty rough spot.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Kaa wrote: "Allison wrote: "I definitely want to read Saga, I'd just heard it was in a rough part of the story and I am hopeful it gets somewhere a little less rough? "

Unfortunately it just went on hiatus fo..."

Argh! Why don't creators cater immediately to my needs! This is most vexing!

Maybe I can dip my toe in? Is there a volume that feels like a decent end to an arc?

[Nathanael]

Over the last few days I finished Spinning Silver and Wake of Vultures. I really enjoyed Uprooted, but I think I loved Spinning Silver even more. I was really impressed by the way Novik was able to juggle so many different PoVs and make them each distinctive in voice. Wake of Vultures felt a tiny bit YA to me, but fairly enjoyable. I've got a soft spot for weird westerns and Nettie was a strong, interesting protagonist.

[Kaa]

@Allison: Hmm, I'd have to go back and look. Each volume is more or less its own story, but there are some that are more closely connected than others, I'd say.

[Atlanta]

Drewked wrote: "I am just about finished with the Foundation series. Loved seeing the transition in Asimov’a writing style from his youth to older years. Just a shame it’s coming to end so soon, next series will p..."

I'm trying to get into it, its hard.

[Jacqueline]

I finished Magnus Chase The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan at 2.30am this morning. Started it yesterday arv, was rudely interrupted by my Father in law expecting dinner, and got back to it around 8.30 last night. Then I couldn’t (or is that wouldn’t) put it down until I was finished. Really loved Percy Jackson and now we can add Magnus Chase to that list as well. Pity the second one is sitting on my shelves out in the Outback house. Oh well.

Now for something completely different. I’ve just picked up the Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village by Joanna Nell to read today. It only came out last week. Hopefully it’s ok. I might get some tips on growing old disgracefully 🤪

[Soo]

The Incrementalists by Steven Brust & Skylar White was a good start to a new series. The story is told in two POV's of Phil & Renee. It was not what I expected. A lot of people have labeled this book as a SF. Nah. Going by this book, I put it in Fantasy. The story is about a small group of immortals. They are able to keep going by inserting into a new body. They make changes in the world with small influences. Cool concept. Oddly enough, this was a love story with quirky characters. If you are a Brust fan, don't go into this one thinking it'll be like his other books. I liked it, snagged the next book & hoping that more of the main plot will occur.

I have the Murderbot Diaries. I'll start them either today or tomorrow. =D