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?
It's great, she goes all in with the howling and barking :D It's literal howling at times, not just tiny ones either, I've had to turn the volume down, I'm seriously worried my neighbors think I have a new puppy or something. I don't love the voices she does for Margaret and Lady Constance, they're very shrill, but other than that it's fabulous.
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This seems to be pretty niche! Are you a kaiju fan? Monster film lover?
So the 1st of the month always sends me into a bit of a tizzy, since there's the two group books + bingo + maybe a buddy read that all start on the same day, and I can never decide what to tackle first. I'm never ahead from the month before, so I hardly ever have the chance to start early... How do people prioritize concurrent reads? Start them all, even if it means finishing slower? Read the shortest first?
I pick the one that interests me most at the time.
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I always have a plan but it's more important for me to read a story that keeps my interest. It's never a good sign when reading starts to feel like work. I already finished Three Body Problem & nearly done with Rosewater. However, I want to take time to speed read the books cause I did them by audio. On top of that, I am having a delightful time reading romance novels while I listen to the audiobooks. I needed to read books that were exactly as advertised. Easy, fun reads that aren't trying to be more than what they are. It's like pushing the reset button on expectations & getting back to a more balanced perspective. =)
Ariana wrote: "So the 1st of the month always sends me into a bit of a tizzy, since there's the two group books + bingo + maybe a buddy read that all start on the same day, and I can never decide what to tackle f..."Personally, I curl into a fetal position and mumble over and over, “Too many. Too many. Too many.”
All good suggestions! Especially that last one.
LOL! Trike's suggestion is great!I always go for the one, that interests me most. And skip the ones that aren't in my line of interest.
Reading "Making Money" by Terry P. One of my last 4 Pratchetts.Have been saving them for long, but not much longer. Sigh !!
My library was super awesome and bought me a copy of In the Vanishers’ Palace this week (seriously, recommending books to the library is one of my favorite hobbies other than reading), and I read it last night. Talk about intense. It's basically a fairy tale about autonomy, consent, and power with all kinds of weird post-apocalyptic world-building. I enjoyed it a lot, but I'll probably read it again before it has to go back because I know I missed a lot due to reading while tired.ETA: I've also been reading a lot of Aliette de Bodard's short Dominion of the Fallen stories, in preparation for reading the two novels. I'm planning to start the first of those tonight or in the morning.
Since my last post, I’ve read:* The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I enjoyed this pretty well. I particularly liked the unique/funny/strange/creepy first contact stories in the earlier half, and those are the stories I remember best now that almost a month has passed. Some of the later stories were less interesting to me, through no fault of the author, since I had read similar stories in more modern forms. My review.
* The Liveship Traders trilogy, the second subseries in Robin Hobb’s Realms of the Elderlings series. This was a re-read for me, as I’m working my way through the entire series and re-reading the older books before I read the ones I haven’t read yet. I really enjoyed this, and I think I got a lot more out of it thanks to having some of the knowledge from my original read to give things more context. This is a pretty different style from her first subseries, and I think each style has its strengths. I’m still partial to the Fitz books, but these are great too. My reviews:
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
* The Inheritance & Other Stories. This is a collection of short stories by Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb, two pseudonyms for the same person. I’m not really a big fan of short stories, but I enjoyed these quite a bit. She definitely uses a different style for her two pseudonyms. Lindholm writes shorter stories with a more conversational style, inserts more social commentary, and kills a lot of cats. Hobb writes longer, meatier stories, and doesn’t include quite as much cat carnage. The three Hobb stories in the book took up slightly more pages than Lindholm’s seven stories. The Hobb stories are all set in the Elderlings setting, and one of them added some great backstory about the first people who tried to settle the Rain Wilds. My review.
Now I’m moving on to my 4th quarter non-SF&F classic selection, which will actually be two selections this time. I’m going to read both a comedy and a tragedy by Shakespeare – Much Ado About Nothing and then Macbeth.
Just finished The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. Fun book.
Just finished The Outsider by Stephen King. Grewsome story/murder behind the ensuing investigation. Kept me riveted. Classic King reveals nothing until you’re grossed out and reading more.
I have been busy with my Halloween reading. This month turned into a month of Frankenstein and Lovecraft. I managed to hit my goal of 60 books for the year yesterday. I read both the 1818 and 1831 versions of Frankenstein. My IRL bookclub had a fantastic discussion of the book and the art based on it this past Friday. I much preferred the 1818 version. Oceans of ink have been spilled on this story, but my review is https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Just for fun, I read the movie novelization Young Frankenstein: A Novel. It is mostly the same as the movie, but it expands some of the backstory. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I also finally took the time to read some Lovecraft. He falls at that point before weird fiction diverged into science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I chose Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft, a book with 19 of his "best" stories. I liked a lot of the concepts, but felt his writing had serious flaws. My favorite story was "In The Walls of Eryx". My review (with notes on each story): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finally, I chose to read a modern take on the Cthulhu Mythos in The Ballad of Black Tom. The concept is a Lovecraftian story with a main character that was everything Lovecraft hated - a black Jazz musician who hung out with immigrants. LaValle uses this angle and a protagonist switch to subvert tropes. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
On to November reading. I just started Karen Memory. It seems promising so far.
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Jacqueline and Ken, I'm so glad you are finding books that you like! King's a master, for sure.
James, that sounds like a really interesting comparison, both internally for the work of the authors and with each other, as different predecessors to horror.
Finished Lovecraft Country - I gave it 4 out of 5 eldritch squiddy horrors. 🦑🦑🦑🦑
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals - 4 out of 5 dinosaurs!
🦕🦕🦕🦕
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also finished Howling at the Moon - 5 out of 5 dieselpunk robots!
🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Currently reading Marvelocity: The Marvel Comics Art of Alex Ross - which is already going to be 5 out of 5 Spider-men. 🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷
I'm having another go at Beartown. It's been months since I last picked it up. I'm still feeling a bit anxious about it.....
I managed a whopping 13 items in October, all of them from my massive Mount TBR! This might be a record for me. Granted 9 of them were brief-ish poetry chapbooks, a novelette, a short story and 2 kids picture books (one by LeGuin!), but still! They were:Wonder Woman - Rumbling in the Rainforest (Kids)
Jane on her own (kids)
Fully formed (poetry)
Your Molten Heart (p)
Howl’s Moving Castle (YA)
Dark Matters (p)
Violet Hours (p)
Dead Starships (p)
The Lady Astronaut from Mars (novellette)
The Seclusion (ARC)
Twittering the Stars (short)
Unrepentant Perdition (p)
Wool (audio)
Sorry, using the app, so no links.
I’ve now re-embarked on my quest to read Otherland Vol. 1. I’m listen to the new audiobook and it’s great! I’ve nearly caught up (in 5 days) to where I left off after 2 years with the Hardcover! Woot!
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Allison wrote: "YouKneeK, Much Ado is one of my favorite to read. There are so many jokes, I hope you enjoy it!"Thanks, I finished it yesterday and it was a fun read. :) Some of the Dogberry scenes had me in hysterics. I did enjoy Hamlet (last year’s selection) more, though. I’m looking forward to Macbeth.
Jacqueline wrote: "I'm having another go at Beartown. It's been months since I last picked it up. I'm still feeling a bit anxious about it....."I couldn't finish it. I skimmed the ending just to close things up for myself.
Allison wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "ReadingGodzilla FAQ: All That's Left to Know about the King of the Monsters by Brian Solomon"This seems to be pretty niche! Are you a kaiju fan? Mon..."
Yeah, to both!!
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This seems to be pretty niche! Are you ..."
Awesome!! How's the book, with your expert knowledge? :)
I think I’ll be the same Karen. It’s not a bad book it’s just that it upsets me. I picked up the new Jessica Townsend book Wundersmith last night instead of going back to it.
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I read the group read Rosewater, which was exactly down my line (I pre-ordered the second book and can't wait till it is published).I also read the bingo choice Passing Strange, which was very cute and evocative, but could have needed more plot for my taste.
Finished the first of the Gardner Dozois Short Story Collections The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection. It is great to dive into the diverse range of short stories - only 34 volumes to go ;).
Since I want to be on time for my own BR, I started Hyperion a few days early. Chapter 1 was like "The Sparrow" on speed - wow!
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I'm slowly getting through Stories of Your Life and Others. I'll likely finish it after Rosewater, which I hope to finish tonight or tomorrow.
I think Chiang's brilliant, but I think I'm missing something in many of his stories--a sense of history or meaning behind the science that I can't quite grasp. I'm also not as big a fan of the short fiction format, so I'm interested but not exactly the target for this book.
Rosewater though. Ahmahgah.
In classic fashion, all of my books have come in at once, so I'm trying to figure out how to read the following all at once:
The Song of Achilles
The Ophiuchi Hotline
The Cloud Roads
The Word for World is Forest
Passing Strange
At least most of them are short...
@Allison - the Le Guin, obviously!!😉
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I am leaning that way, actually! Then Passing Strange, Ophiuchi, Song, and if my hold hasn't run out, Cloud Roads...just in time to be late for Black God's Drum. >.<
Can we have a poll telling Allison what to read next lol 😆
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bwahaha!
It’s been buddy read central for me lately, and I’ve enjoyed them for the most part, but was wanting to be wowed by something, and finally The Word for World is Forest did just that. It’s probably the most brutal and blunt of Le Guin’s works that I’ve read, but as always it’s filled with her beautiful prose and her unflinching insights into the human condition. She was a wonder. Before that I read the very entertaining, pretty wacko The Ophiuchi Hotline and the wonderfully original but somewhat blandly-executed The Cloud Roads.
I’m continuing to enjoy The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection very much, with strong stories by James Tiptree Jr., Lucius Shepard, George R. R. Martin, Nancy Kress, and John Crowley. I’m very happy that my project of reading all 35 of these volumes has turned into a long term ongoing buddy read. Join us!
But because of all of these buddy reads, I am behind on the group reads, so I’m finally going to jump into The Traitor Baru Cormorant, albeit with some trepidation. Seems like it had a bit of a divisive response around these parts. We shall see...
Allison wrote: "Finished The Consuming Fire and it was...fun. Not as hilarious or hectic as the first book, but a good way to unwind from the serious things...."I am reading that at this moment. Scalzi's writing is like a soothing massage for me. It always makes me feel better and brings a smile to my face.
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I am reading that ..."
Yes! He's definitely one of my go-to "brain candy" authors. I know he'll make an entertaining story. I hope you like it! I think I had really high expectations because I loved Collapsing Empire.
I just started Greywalker, a very interesting book so far. I also heard that my library has the inter-library loan coming of Annihilation which I have been wanting to read for a while. Time to drive over to pick it up
For those of you in the US, I wish you all the best in today's election, make your vote count!Let's also vote in all our group polls:
December Runner-Up Sci-Fi
December Runner-Up Fantasy
2019 Group Rereads
Read Obsession by Ramsey Campbell and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577177885.
Yesterday I finished Record of a Spaceborn Few. It wasn't as tightly focused in terms of plot and characters as the other two books in her universe were. Yet it was still an intriguing exploration of the culture she's created. I did like how she tied the lives of the characters she introduces together. I hope she writes more in this universe.Pondering what I want to read next...
Forgot to post this review done a couple of weeks back for Ramsey Campbell's Nameless, The - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2577164207.
It's been a while since my last update, but I've read some buddy reads and some by myself.I read Rogue Protocol in just a couple hours, and it was another great Murderbot novella
Then it was on to another Martha Wells book for a buddy read. The Cloud Roads was great, and introduced me to a new world I'm going to enjoy exploring more of.
I read The Haunting of Hill House for a Halloween inspired buddy read, which was nice. It wasn't my favorite book ever, but I was never bored, and there were some parts I liked a lot.
I also just finished Rosewater the other day, and that was a very interesting read. I'll talk about that in the group discussion
Then I decided to read a short horror story novella from one of my favorite authors. Slaughter on Giggletime Mountain. This was just ridiculous and cheesy horror fun. Yes there is a lot of violence, but it is more making fun of horror tropes than trying to be serious.
Now I'm into The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and loving it. I've been wanting to read it for a while now, and it is exactly what I was hoping for so far.
I recently read Bobiverse #1-3, holy moly that was a good series. I was hesitant at first, as I'm always struggling to try new things. But I'm so glad I did.I also read Red Rising #1-3, and now I'm scared to try book #4, mostly because I read the author changed the format of the book. Now we're supposed to follow multiple people, when we love Darrow so much? Can anyone alleviate a concerns here?
Right now I'm trying Steel World by B.V. Larson, about 70% into the book. I'm not sold yet, which is not a good sign.
Read The Face That Must Die by Ramsey Campbell and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2585625271.
Read book 2 of the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher, Fool Moon, and reviewed it - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2585728458.
Not so much what I have read but more what I’m going to read....we’re off to Italy soon and I’m loading up my iPad mini ready for the trip. I’ve hit our library app and have downloaded Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly, Mister Monday by Garth Nix, The Good People by Hannah Kent, and The Lake House by Kate Morton to listen to. And our library network are not big on SFF so I didn’t have a great choice. We are travelling between places on high speed trains and it’s probably better to listen to stuff instead of trying to read. I have a heap of ebooks on there too including most of the buddy reads and books of the month from this and other Goodreads bookclubs. Really need to make a list of what I need to read.
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
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Exo (other topics)
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Samuel R. Delany (other topics)Samuel R. Delany (other topics)
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Aliette de Bodard (other topics)
George Mazurek (other topics)
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Ooh, yeah. It is a delightful series, I think. I haven't listened to the audio, though.