Soo's Tracker of All Bookish Things ~ Lair of Paradox (2025)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Online gaming romances seem to be a growing genre... Netflix has one from the Uk, called Kiss Me First... and it's not the only other one out there...

[Soo]

Love 020 is a Chinese drama on Netflix. It's about two game programmers that meet in a MMORPG game and end up dating in real life. Based on an Asian comic. Only 3 episodes in but I like it! Plus, I am totally curious about the Mandarin spoken in the show. It is harder and shorter than older Mandarin.

[Soo]

Rise of Phoenixes

While predictable, I love the main characters and the way the actors portray them. Quite good!

[Soo]

Rise of Phoenixes C-Drama

Man if these two aren't allowed some clean joy before the end of the series, I'm gonna be upset.

[Soo]

I knew it!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! The ending was too bittersweet. *sigh*

[Soo]

Ok, okay. I'm finally watching this one. I need some romance that's not stupid. There's a lot of stupid Xmas romance movies on Netflix right now. Granted the romance in this is like 2%.

[Virginie]

Haha. I wondered if you somehow posted about the wrong show before reading the last sentence. Yup, 2% seems about right when you look at the promotional picture :p

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It's Tom Clancy... I actually thought this was a movie when I saw commercials about it earlier this year...

[Soo]

Same character used in movies with different actors. This is the show and pretty good. The smidgen of romance in this show was better than the silly romantic movies or the book I'm listening to right now. LOL

[Soo]

WOOHOO! Can't wait to get my hands on this one in a few days!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

me too

[Soo]

I bet it'll be weird. Look at the RV graveyard in the cover & Indian skull in the moon! =D

[Soo]

December 2018 Buddy Reads ~ 5 BRs

12/01 Chains of the Heretic #3 by Jeff Salyards ***

12/01 Jade City #1 by Fonda Lee *** Hop in for Talks

12/02 The Red Knight #1 by Miles Cameron ***

12/04 King of the Road #2 by R.S. Belcher ***

12/20 Godsgrave #2 by Jay Kristoff ***

[Bea]

Soo wrote: "
December 2018 Buddy Reads ~ 5 BRs


12/01 Chains of the Heretic #3 by Jeff Salyards ***

12/01 Jade City #1 by Fonda Lee *** Hop in for Talks

12/02 The Red Knight #1 by Miles Cameron

12/08 In..."

Ooh, I absolutely loved Godsgrave! Hope you'll like it, too :)

[Soo]

I have my fingers crossed! I enjoyed the Illuminae Files but I'm not sure if I will enjoy either of the authors by themselves. Heh

[Soo]

Penric & Desdemona Novellas ~ World of the Five Gods

Finally getting into the novellas & loving it! I really like the alternate cover for Penric and the Shaman.

[Soo]

LitRPG Recs ~ List Made 12/10/18 ~ Updated 12/02/23

Delvers Inc: Welcome to Ludus
Ascend Online: Ascend Online
The Completionist Chronicles: Ritualist
System Apocalypse: Life in the North 2/3 of series, soft ending.
Threadbare: Threadbare Volume 1: Stuff and Nonsense (1st Trilogy)
The Divine Dungeon: Dungeon Born
Crystal Shards Online: Dodge Tank
Cradle: Unsouled
Spells, Swords & Stealth: NPCs
Dungeon Crawler Carl: Dungeon Crawler Carl
Master Hunter K: Initialization


Slice of Life:
Wandering Inn: The Wandering Inn
Beware of Chicken: Beware of Chicken

Good Start:
Unorthodox Farming: Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer


Standalone LitRPG

- Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon

[Soo]

Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson

I'm a fan of the TV show and decided to check out the books this year. I'm glad I did! All of the elements that I loved about the show are present in the series. While there are differences between the show and books, I believe the heart of the books are in the show.

Recently, I've read a few books with okay characters and bland criminal cases. I don't read Longmire for the mysteries. I read it for the great characters, relationships and the dollops of Native American folktales mixed in with the trials of military service & being a small town police officer.

While I may not love each book, I always love the characters. =)

[Soo]

Spotify: I enjoy a wide range of music. Trying out a new playlist called Intro to Gothic Symphonic Metal and it's awesome! =)

I already listen to several of the artists & bands on the list but it's usually mixed in my whole list rather than topic generated like this one. Good times!

[Soo]

January 2019 Buddy Reads ~ 9 BRs

01/01 Gardens of the Moon #1 by Steven Erikson Audio*** & Book

01/01 Darkest London Series by Kristen Callihan

01/07 The Reality Dysfunction #1 by Peter F. Hamilton

01/10 The Alloy of Law #4 by Brandon Sanderson

01/12 The Wicked King #2 by Holly Black

01/14 Justice Calling #1 by Annie Bellet

01/15 On the Shoulders of Titans #2 by Andrew Rowe

01/15 System Apocalypse Series by Tao Wong

01/16 The Paper Magician #1 by Charlie N. Holmberg

[Karishma]

Do remove the question mark from Ember 😋

[Soo]

LOL - I don't have it and not sure I want to buy a short story. I read Firelight a long time ago. Did you see that people think the prequel should be read after book 1?

[Soo]

It shall be mine on 01/29/2019!!! =D

[Karishma]

Soo wrote: "LOL - I don't have it and not sure I want to buy a short story. I read Firelight a long time ago. Did you see that people think the prequel should be read after book 1?"

Oh, the prequel was the book I read some years back amazing efficient got me interested in the story. If that's the case I will ask Virginie if she wants to read 1 first.

[Soo]

I got the prequel short and should be good to go either way. I already read the first book a while back. So that one will be a re-read for me. =)

[Karishma]

Great :-)

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Soo wrote: "LOL - I don't have it and not sure I want to buy a short story. I read Firelight a long time ago. Did you see that people think the prequel should be read after book 1?"

I read Darkest London a year or 2 ago, but never the prequel... just read the blurb and some semi-spoilery reviews, and I agree... wait to read it... it sounds like it spoils some of the secrets of the first book... namely what the male lead is afflicted with, and maybe the backstory... that's something you don't find out until near the end of Firelight...

[Soo]

I'm going to have to try this out. =)

[Soo]

2018 FBR BR History

October
November
December

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Didn't you want to Buddy Read On the Shoulders of Titans when it releases on audio next week?... I just remembered, while updating my New Release spreadsheet to share with Sonja...

[Soo]

Did you read book 1? Totally down for BR on book 2. I tried reading the book and that was a bit painful.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I BR'd book 1 with Scott & Yanique back in August, I think...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

First 100 pages or so reminded me of the Cube movies... then they escaped the tower and it became a Magic School story with an asexual MC... the ending was interesting, tho... interested to see how other towers play out...

[Soo]

Sweet. Yeah, let's roll into book two. I think audio intake is the way to go for this series.

[Soo]

LitRPG Recommended List 1/11/19 ~ Books to Try

- Lion's Quest - Undefeated
- The Gam3 - Opening Moves
- The Greystone Chronicles - Io Online
- Anthem of Infinity - First Song, Book One
- Steamtown Chronicles - Steamtown Chronicles 1: The Dark Market
- Nora Hazard - Mitigating Risk
- New Era Online - Life Reset
- Dark Elf Chronicles - The Land of the Undying
- Camelot - Camelot Overthrown
- The Dark Herbalist - Video Game Plotline Tester
- Eden's Gate - The Reborn
- Super Sales on Super Heroes - Super Sales on Super Heroes
- Greenwood - A Player in the Greenwood
- The Rogue Dungeon - Rogue Dungeon
- Viridian Gate Online - Cataclysm
- Peaks of Power - Beginnings
- New Era Online - Life Reset
- Puatera Online - Desert Runner
- The Weirdest Noob - The Weirdest Noob
- Somnia Online - Initializing
- Deck of Souls - Fateseal
- Lewd Saga Omnibus
- A Touch of Power - Siphon
- The Wandering Inn: Volume 1
- The Realms - Barrow King
- Reality Benders - Countdown
- Persephone Saga - Persephone Falling
- Twenty-Sided Eye - You're Not Allowed to Die

Try Again List
- Emerilia - The Trapped Mind Project
- Chaos Seeds - The Land: Founding

Standalone
- Hero of Thera
- Lord of the Apocalypse
- Dante's Immortality: Beginnings
- Dead Man Gaming: A LitRPG Series

Finished
1) Archemi Online - (Prefer Audio)
2) Stonehaven League - (Prefer Audio)
3) *System Apocalypse* -
4) VeilVerse: Asgard Awakening - (Prefer Book)
5) Awaken Online - (Prefer Book)
6) World of Chains -
7) Eden's Gate -
8) Threadbare -
9) Chronicles of Rithmarck -
10) The Dark Herbalist -

[Gavin]

Great LitRPG list, Soo:) I'll hunt through it and see if anything is on the old KU audio deal lol.

I actually have a few of them already but have not heard of most of them so it will be a helpful list.

Have you tried any GameLit?

[Soo]

I throw GameLit under LitRPG but I don't have any titles in particular come to mind. You read one you liked?

I'm on a few LitRPG groups on FB and I asked one to give me recs based on books that I enjoyed. These are the ones that came up the most and or rated highly on one of the big writer/reviewers of the genre.

I think LitRPG will be my in between reading books this year and this is a nice list to read from without me doing a search every time I want to try a new book.

[Gavin]

Soo wrote: "I think LitRPG will be my in between reading books this year and this is a nice list to read from without me doing a search every time I want to try a new book. ..."

I'm using the genre as in between reads as well:) They tend to be fun but simple reads so I get to recharge between the more epic and intense stuff.

I've not read any specific GameLit but I did really enjoy the likes of Ready Player One, Into The Abyss, and Sufficiently Advanced Magic and felt like Ancient Ruins was OK and they all seem more GameLit than LitRPG to me. I think I like it better without all the stats and gaming references.

[Soo]

I read RPO and SAM. I think of all of those as LitRPG. It's the role playing factor that is consistent for me. The books that don't go in depth with specs are what I labeled as lite LitRPG.

Ah, right. So as far as I know GameLit is what some of the authors want LitRPG to be called. GameLit = LitRPG but I prefer LitRPG. I understand why they want to re-label stuff but I like it the way it is.

There are sub-genre maps that link all kinds of styles. I've looked at a few of those but most of them don't mean that much. Subcategories of a subcategory.

Like the group I joined was LitRPG Society and it's now GameLit Society.

Writing related politics.

[Gavin]

This is the official Wikipedia description of LitRPG and it mentioned the difference between LitRPG and GameLit.

LitRPG, short for Literary Role Playing Game, is a literary genre combining the conventions of RPGs with science-fiction fantasy novels.[1] LitRPG is a literary genre where games or game-like challenges form an essential part of the story and where visible RPG statistics (for example strength, intelligence, damage) are a significant part of this world. This in contrast to GameLit which involves game-like worlds but do not provide visible statistics. At least some of the characters in a LitRPG novel may understand that they are playing a game or are in a game-like world: they are 'meta-aware'. So, while Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel, a book about people creating avatars and interacting in a Lord of the Rings MMORPG would be a LitRPG novel.

I get what you mean about politics though as I'm sure sure author has a trademark pending on the LitRPG term!!! I do like the idea of LitRPG and GameLit being separated on those divisions though as it is a helpful way to separate them. Like separating fantasy and sci-fi even though the genres are pretty similar;)

[Soo]

There are crossovers between SF and Fantasy but I don't consider them to be very similar.

GameLit doesn't mean the same to me as LitRPG and they're trying to redefine the main genre label into that. There are other reasons behind it but I feel like the ones I read about have more to do with Amazon and the policies of how books are put & defined on Amazon. It sucks that Amazon is one of the easiest ways to get books. They're known factor of treating authors like crap.

I like the word mash of LitRPG. It works for me. This is my preference.

[Gavin]

There is no way to be rid of the LitRPG tag now. It has already stuck! 100s of books already have it in the title as a draw to suck in readers lol.

I feel you on Amazon. They are great for me personally as they offer plenty of cheap books (I pay less now for my audio credits than I did for a paperback 20 years ago!!!) and have made a massive difference to the audiobook world since they took over Audible but I'm not unaware of how they treat authors and what a nightmare they can be with their restrictive practises in general. It is such a pity that the big monopoly companies have gotten there by having zero morals!

I'm totally fine with LitRPG as the title but do love GameLit as a way to define the Lite LitRPG like Ready Player One from the hardcore stuff with the stats and full gaming experience. I love subgenres as they guide readers to their perfect type of read:)

[Soo]

February

Series Continued BR

01/01 Gardens of the Moon #1 by Steven Erikson Audio*** & Book

01/07 The Reality Dysfunction #1 by Peter F. Hamilton

01/17 The Paper Magician Series by Charlie N. Holmberg

New BRs

2/08 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2/10 Shadows of Self #2 by Brandon Sanderson

2/15 The Martian by Andy Weir

2/25 Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

[Em Lost In Books]

Question - Does Kings of Scars has a new plot? I haven't read the original trilogy. Will it effect my enjoyment of reading this latest Bardugo?

[Soo]

I forwarded the question to the thread. I haven't finished the Shadow & Bone trilogy either. So if we need that, I'll have to play catch up. In which case, it will have to wait.

[Em Lost In Books]

Soo wrote: "I forwarded the question to the thread. I haven't finished the Shadow & Bone trilogy either. So if we need that, I'll have to play catch up. In which case, it will have to wait."

I saw. I read Natalia and Tatiana's review and they just ruined the books for me. :( if reading the original trilogy is a must then I will give it a pass.

[Soo]

Well boo! It sucks when you're predisposed to by reviews to not like the story. If that happens to me, I try to let time pass and give it a go at the book much later. That way I can be more open to the story.

Ya know, as long as I'm in the right mood for it. lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Em Lost In Books wrote: "Soo wrote: "I forwarded the question to the thread. I haven't finished the Shadow & Bone trilogy either. So if we need that, I'll have to play catch up. In which case, it will have to wait."

I saw..."

Soo wrote: "Well boo! It sucks when you're predisposed to by reviews to not like the story. If that happens to me, I try to let time pass and give it a go at the book much later. That way I can be more open to..."

This is why I stopped reading reviews, for the most part... I'm too swayable...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

@Soo: You know you can sort your Competition reading list with a couple mouse clicks?... it's one of my favorite features of spreadsheets, and why I moved my Incomplete series to a spreadsheet...

For example: highlight A16 thru J55 (click, scroll down, shift click)... THEN, click Data, Sort Range..., column D, sort A->Z... this will sort your highlighted section alphanumerically by date read...

Unless you're using the Author column as a start date (you can always rename the header, if so)... then you can just ignore me... just thought I'd mention it, since I sort my own sheet every week or so...

In a similar fashion, you can automate that pink coloring (assuming you are using it to track books you are reading or want to start soon)...

I just adopted a similar setup with conditional formatting...

1) Right click a cell: Conditional Formating:

Range: A16:J
Formula: Custom Formula...
Custom Formula: =$D16="Reading" (or whatever text you prefer)... needs to start with that first equal sign
Background color: None (so it's left unchanged from whatever is controlling the background of that row)
Font color: pink

Then whenever you write the specified text in the Date Completed column, the text will change color... this will also make the points column show you how many points a book is worth, including bonus points, without adding to the total in the top row, since the top row requires the hidden month tracker column to have a valid response (1-10), which requires a real date in column D...

[Soo]

Thanks for the head's up! The books are organized by when I start them. I don't mind starting a bunch whenever but I want to keep my Current Reading list around 10 or less. The way I have it setup lets me know when I sidetracked too far and need to go back wrap up a book.