What are you reading in July 2018?

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling, Book 2 in the Tamir Triad, for a different Goodreads group discussion. I am very impressed with this series so far, and hope it has a strong finish. I think A Discovery of Witches is up next for me.

[Jim]

Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) by Octavia Butler My first by this author, I'm embarrassed to say. Certainly a radical departure from the standard space opera fare I usually read.

[Joelle.P.S]

Jim wrote: " Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) by Octavia Butler"

I read that for the first time earlier this year. Loved the entire trilogy!

[Jim]

Joelle wrote: "Jim wrote: " Dawn (Xenogenesis #1) by Octavia Butler"

I read that for the first time earlier this year. Loved the entire trilogy!"

Just ordered the hardcover trilogy.

[Ken]

Just finished All Systems Red, and it was really good. Only problem is it was a novella so it was a quick read.

Started The Power That Preserves

[Chessa]

Just finished THE BEST duology by Alex Wells - first is Hunger Makes the Wolf and the second is Blood Binds the Pack. They are so excellent! Fantastic world building and characters, an evil corporate overlord that’s not boring, mysterious planet magic, a Western vibe, and oh a motorcycle vigilante crew. They’re sooooo good!

[Shel, Moderator]

Last week I finished Vallista, which was a ton of fun for Vlad Taltos fans. Definitely NOT the place to start in the series, though. Any other Vlad fans here? This one is definitely giving hints about the endgame, though there are still a few more books coming.

Then I just ripped through my re-read of Assassin's Apprentice for the new series read. I loved it as much as I remember loving it the first time. Summer vacation reading time!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shel wrote: "Any other Vlad fans here?"

I am! I started when this group did a read of at least one/some of the books in 2012. I have a few to go yet but might wait for the rest of the series to be done before I go back to them.

[Jim]

Kathi wrote: "Shel wrote: "Any other Vlad fans here?"

I am! I started when this group did a read of at least one/some of the books in 2012. I have a few to go yet but might wait for the rest of the series to b..."

I was in the beginning. I found them less engaging & memorable as the series went on, but some of that was the length of time between novels. Loved the first few & the Khaavren Romances were fun. I also really liked Brokedown Palace which isn't really part of it, but is in the same world, I think. Just on the other side of the mountains.

[Jim]

I found the Steven Brust tales to be entertaining. A good combination of film noir and fantasy. Didn't get too far into them though. Haven't read one in a while.

[Ken]

Shel wrote: "Any other Vlad fans here?

Yep, been reading them since a friend got me on to them in high school, probably 84 or 85. I went back and picked up all the ebooks last winter. I have a bad habit of buying them and not reading them because they are always good and dont want them to end.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Once the Vlad Taltos series is finished, I will likely reread the ones I have previously read (I think I got as far as Tiassa) and then the ones that are new to me. I like taking a break between books in a series, but not too long of a break. I agree that the long wait between books lessens the enjoyment.

I also liked Brokedown Palace, and I have the Khaavren Romances yet to read. So lots of Brust still waiting for me to enjoy!

[Jim]

The only thing of Brust's that I haven't liked was Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille.

[Shel, Moderator]

Kathi wrote: "Once the Vlad Taltos series is finished, I will likely reread the ones I have previously read (I think I got as far as Tiassa) and then the ones that are new to me. I like taking a b..."

The Khaavren Romances are great fun. Prepare to giggle. And read them before your re-read of Tiassa because there are some overlapping characters!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shel wrote: "The Khaavren Romances are great fun. Prepare to giggle. And read them before your re-read of Tiassa because there are some overlapping characters! "

Thanks for the tip.

I am waiting to read All Systems Red (eBook) and Assassin's Apprentice (smallish paperback) until we leave on vacation, since they will be good for airports & planes. I’m also taking Poor Richard's Game (another small paperback) and The Last Viking Trilogy: The Golden Horn, The Road of the Sea Horse, and The Sign of the Raven (eBook). Most of my reading time will be, as I said, in airports and maybe on the plane. Our actual vacation is a National Geographic expedition circumnavigation of Iceland. Any down time will be spent checking email from home, writing up the day’s adventures, editing photos, and sleeping!

But before that, in addition to reading up on Iceland, I am reading The Spine of the World and a few magazines.

[Silvana]

Finished with my favorite Mieville book to date, The Scar The setting, plot, characters, everything is just top notch. The fact that it is a stand alone should make it easier for everyone to get into. I can't wait for Iron Council to read next month.

Starting We, but I might put a novelette in between.

[Gary]

I finished reading The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book #1) by Robert Jordan. I am reading A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer. I plan to read Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway next.

[Shel, Moderator]

I was in a memoir kind of mood so I read Kate Mulgrew's memoir Born with Teeth, which I'd had loaded on my kindle for a long time. I was surprised at how lovely her writing is and how much I did not know about her - I only knew of her as Captain Janeway on ST:Voyager. I stayed up too late finishing it last night, which says a lot about it...although I have always enjoyed memoirs, I rarely find them completely un-put-downable.

Still in the memoir mood, so I'm now on to Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist (RIP).

[Christine]

Just back from two weeks in French Polynesia aboard the Lindblad ship Orion. I didn't get as much reading done as I expected. I read Bandwidth, An Excess Male, and started The Children of the Sky. I switched to Dragon's Egg as sson as I had internet access, as my library doesn't have it in book form.

[Mary]

Chivalry in Medieval England by Nigel Saul

[Leserling]

It's only the 9th and I've already finished four books. That must be a record this year (I'm 16 books behind my challenge).

I'm currently reading They called me Number One, and for some relief I'll start The Ladies of Ivy Cottage next.

[Jim]

Outcasts of Order by L.E. Modesitt Jr. was another great addition to the Recluce series. The bad news is that instead of finishing up Beltur's story, it's going to take another book & year to do that. I gave this one, like the last, a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Jim wrote: "Outcasts of Order by L.E. Modesitt Jr. was another great addition to the Recluce series. The bad news is that instead of finishing up Beltur's story, it's going to ..."

I have yet to read The Mongrel Mage and this book, and I guess I won’t hurry since there is a third book in this arc. Thanks for the info.

[Bill]

I just finished A Deepness in the Sky. Its the best book that I have read in a while. 5 stars. After I finished the book, I went back to re-read the prologue. The Prologue makes a lot more sense now that I know the characters.

[Lindsey]

Just finished In Fire Forged. I was travelling last month and managed to rack up quite a pile of started-but-not-finished books, so this month I'm trying to clear that stack. I'm in the middle of The English Breakfast Murder, Inkdeath, Debt of Honor, and On War (which I doubt I'll finish this month but I'd like to make some progress).

I'm rushing to finish as many of those as possible before Novik's Spinning Silver and Zahn's Alliances are published later this month.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished The Princess Diarist and now I'm back to the genre with Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America. I've read a few books by Robert Charles Wilson and I've felt that every one was really enjoyable but fell flat at the ending. I hope this one breaks the pattern!

[Mary]

The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett

[David]

Seeing the wild animals on safari in Tanzania got me in the mood to tackle the The Bear and the Serpent, the second book in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Echoes of the Fall series. I loved the first volume, the Tiger and the Wolf, which had more character development. So far, the second book is more plot driven, with plenty of conflict and suspense.

David

[Bill]

I am now reading Foundation and Earth, which is the last in the Foundation Universe. Nice to finish a series so that I can get going on all the other series that I started.

I still haven't read Strange Dogs and Persepolis Rising.

I am also reading Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. The plan is to finish this by the end of the year, reading a little bit at a time. This will give me plenty of time to intermix with other books.

Since I recently finished A Deepness in the Sky, I want to read the other 2 Zones of Thought books soon.

[Christine]

I just finished Dragon's Egg which I enjoyed despite the overwhelming science so exhaustively described. I skimmed over that to read the story. Now I'm starting Obsidio

[Silvana]

Reading Broken Angels, the sequel to Altered Carbon. Just 10% in and boy, this is definitely different.

[Mary]

I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 1 by Kisetsu Morita

[Bill]

After finishing Foundation and Earth, I started Burning Chrome. Since I couldn't find the paperback anywhere in my collection, I assumed that I haven't read this before. But then some of the stories seemed slightly familiar. Since some of them appeared in Omni magazine that must be where I read them. I tossed out my Omni magazines years ago. I prefer to read a real book, but the paperback was almost triple the price of the kindle version, so I am reading it using the kindle app on my tablet.

Since I started on William Gibson, I will likely go on to read the Sprawl Series. I also have the Bridge series of which I only read the first 2 before. I also have the Blue Ant series which I never read before.

[Ken]

Finished The Power That Preserves, the final Covanent book of the first series. I liked it, very well done

Started next months book
The Quantum Thief
So far pretty good, a mishmash of several different books

[Mary]

Superluminary by John C. Wright

[Christine]

I finished Obsidio which I loved; I loved the entire trilogy and highly recommend it (a bit sad it wasn't selected as a group read, but most of the books I like aren't selected). I've now started on Six of Crows

[Mary]

Christine wrote: "I finished Obsidio which I loved; I loved the entire trilogy and highly recommend it (a bit sad it wasn't selected as a group read, but most of the books I like aren't selected). I'..."

There's always a chance to nominate again!

[Mary]

The Ginger Star byLeigh Brackett

[Bill]

I finished Burning Chrome and Neuromancer.

I have started Red Rising. 14 pages in and it feels like it is going to be a 2 star book.

[Mary]

The Hounds of Skaith byLeigh Brackett