What Else Are You Reading - October 2018

[Rob, Roberator]

October means Halloween. Anyone adding a bit of horror to the mix this month (beyond this month's S&L pick)?

[Keith]

Rob wrote: "October means Halloween. Anyone adding a bit of horror to the mix this month (beyond this month's S&L pick)?"

I try to pepper in a couple short weird fiction tales every week throughout the month. This time around it's selections picked from the Weird Science Fiction Tales ebooks and, as is my annual tradition, random Robert E. Howard stories.

[John (Taloni)]

I'm a little light on Lovecraft, will go through the list of Mythos titles and read ones I've missed.

[Maria]

I was thinking about adding some horror too!

I basically never read horror (or watch horror movies), but for the sake of Halloween I think I could muster up the courage... so might as well start with the classic: H.P. Lovecraft. Which one of his works is the best place to start? I was planning on starting with the The Call of Cthulhu short story.

[John (Taloni)]

Yes on Call of Cthulhu. From there it's personal preference. I'd go with At the Mountains of Madness next, to get a overall feel for Cthulhu Mythos. Maybe then a few of the shorter, more rough early stories. Then you must must must read The Shadow Over Innsmouth. That one may be the best.

I'm using this reference btw. The section "List of Cthulhu Mythos stories" often provides links to the stories online.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecra...

[Stephen]

For whatever reason, My MP3 player put a few titles in an "unknown" file, so my October goal is to clean that out. So first up is Planetfall, then The Waking Fire. My lone dead tree book will be The Book of Swords. Plus the BOM. Since it is the start of hockey season and playoff baseball this goal might run into November.

[Iain]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Yes on Call of Cthulhu. From there it's personal preference. I'd go with At the Mountains of Madness next, to get a overall feel for Cthulhu Mythos. Maybe then a few of the shorter, more rough earl..."

They are good alt pick this month for those of us who have already read Lovecraft Country

[AndrewP]

I'm thinking of reading Stephen King's Joyland sometime this month.

[Phil]

Finished The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. This started out slow for me and I was a little "meh" about it then it really picked up around 50% and I got into it. The magic system is quite interesting and the description of the battles is well done.. There are several POVs, some of whom are compelling, but the 2 younger characters steer it into YA, angsty territory. I would have given the first half 2 or 3 stars but the second half brought it up to 4.
Starting Lovecraft Country.

[Ben George]

I wasn't going to, but you inspired me. I'll pick up a Peter Straub book and take that off my reading shame list.

[Matt]

Just finished Vengeful by VE Schwab and now onto Legion by Brandon Sanderson.
I do have a question on novellas. I couldn't find a thread and I am newer to the group.
Legion is made up of three novellas. Should my book count be one when I finish it, or should I count it as three? Personally I would think one, but I look at something like the Murderbot Diaries, should I even count that as a "book" read?

[Rick]

Slowly reading The Glorious Angels and for a change of pace, the spy novel Requiem For An Assassin, the 6th(?) John Rain book.

[Rob, Roberator]

AndrewP wrote: "I'm thinking of reading Stephen King's Joyland sometime this month."

That book was fantastic. Not really horror though, if that's what you were hoping for.

[TRP]

Just finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Can recommend.
Preferred it to Uprooted

[Rekka]

Just finished Vengeance and A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (both recommended) and just started The Apple-Tree Throne last night, and will also begin LC for the monthly S&L pick.

[Silvana]

Finished with Iron Council - politically charged, fantastical and poignant. China Mieville is my hero.

I too finished a short story by Scott Lynch, an updated version of In the Stacks. It was okay, with one annoying plot.

Starting Thrawn finally. Intriguing first chapters. Definitely using Lars Mikkelsen's voice in my head.

[Silvana]

Maria wrote: "I was planning on starting with the The Call of Cthulhu short story. "

Same here! Later on this month, together with The Haunting of Hill House.

[Erik]

Silvana wrote: "Maria wrote: "I was planning on starting with the The Call of Cthulhu short story. "

Same here! Later on this month, together with The Haunting of Hill House."

Also getting my Shirley Jackson game going this month. Got Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Been really wanting to read these.

[Joseph]

Rob wrote: "October means Halloween. Anyone adding a bit of horror to the mix this month (beyond this month's S&L pick)?"

I've kind of been hankering recently for a deep dive into Stephen King, so maybe Night Shift will be on the agenda after I finish a few other things.

[Ziggy]

I'm currently reading The Naturalist. Its a science based fantasy thriller about finding a killer beast or a beastly killer. A biology/computer science professor tries to solve the deaths of missing persons after he is suspected of killing a former student.

[Iain]

Just finished listening to Dracula which is a surprising book.

There is actually very little up front horror (unless you are religious and fear losing a soul) and it relies on creeping dread. Definitely a slow burn of a book that after a barn storming beginning takes forever to get going.

The characters have no real internal life and declare their feelings regularly in what now is definitely purple prose.

For all of this it is an intriguing book that held my interest to the end.

What is really interesting are the sections which apply the latest science and communication methods to fight. Particularly the efforts to save one character using blood transfusions and the latest medical techniques ((view spoiler)[OK she probably would have died of infection of a miss match of blood after four transfusion from different people, but great science (hide spoiler)]). In many ways this is a prototype for the detective novel (CSI eat your heart out).

That is before you look at the class struggle in the book which puts the British aristocracy at the top protecting their property right (women).

And of course brandy solves everything - even alcoholism (SMBC).

Really struggling with At the Mountains of Madness which is dreary and not very scary (or dread inducing). Think I will read something really scary, maybe The New York Times.

Having a palate cleanser with an Australian book called The Bush (a bugger of a book to search for in Good reads).

[John (Taloni)]

^Have you read The Shadow Over Innsmouth? Definitely creepy and a great sequence for the last quarter or so followed by an even better ending. Mountains of Madness is more like a somewhat-engaging encyclopedia entry. If you wanna know more about Cthulhu Mythos it's great, but not much of a story.

I had a laugh about the NY Times being scarier. Probably we'd pick different reasons, but it's a great line.

I don't love the storytelling for early Cthulhu Mythos stories, but they're interesting for their influence on later works. Pet Sematary rips ideas right out of Herbert West, Reanimator.

[Joseph]

My own recommendation for a scary Lovecraft story is "The Colour Out of Space" although it's only tangentially part of the Cthulhu mythosl

[Danielle]

I finally started listening to and am nearly finished The Fifth Season. It's so good (unsurprisingly, I've heard only great things about N. K. Jemisin) and will likely continue right through listening to the series this month. I'm also eyeball reading Muse of Nightmares. I picked up a library paperback of Midnight Riot too, so I'm not sure I'll commit to this month's read though it sounds like I'd enjoy it much more than the last two picks.

[TraceyL]

I have Interview with the Vampire downloaded and ready to go. Ive already read Dracula and Frankenstein in the past but I might pick them up again.

[Keith]

If I may -- if you want to read a really ridiculous Lovecraft story that touches sword and laser, I recommend THE CHALLENGE FROM BEYOND. In 1935, Fantasy magazine commissioned C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long to round-robin write a thrilling new weird tale. The results are hilarious. Not good, necessarily, but hilarious, especially the abrupt change in tone as Lovecraft hands off to "Two Gun Bob" Howard.

[Rik]

Finished up a listen of the LoTR trilogy by Tolkien. I read the series numerous times as a kid but only once in the last 30 years as an adult and never did a listen. Tough love here because even though they are the books that hooked me on fantasy they don't hold up well and the movies were FAR better. So many scenes in the books where I was comparing to the movies and near 100% felt the movie did it better, none more so than in Return of the King where in the movie near the end Frodo is about to bow to King Aragorn and instead Aragorn stops him saying something like "my friend, you bow to no one." I love the books for giving me a love of fantasy but I'm pretty sure I'll never revisit them and will instead from here out visit the much superior movies.

[Rik]

Started Super Powereds: Year 1 by Drew Hayes. Basically a Harry Potter type book only superheroes in training at a super hero school. I've always been a comic book fan so I'm loving this so far. Especially like that rather than having a primary protagonist the book has 5 primary protagonists who are obviously being set up to be a superhero team. None really outshines the others in terms of page time or importance.

[Jennifer]

I am reading Leviathan Wakes. I haven't thought about a horror novel, but have thought about some movies to watch. Netflix will be streaming The Haunting of Hill House as a minis series....

[Joseph]

Finished Chronicles of the Black Company and am starting Ari Marmell's The Iron Devils, which at least initially has a bit of a post-apocalyptic vibe to it.

[Sheila Jean]

Still plodding through the second Red Rising book, Golden Son. (Not sure how one actually plods though an audio book, but that seems to have the right feel to it.) I'm a little over 60% in now. I'm committed to finishing this one, but as of right now I think it's unlikely I'll bother to finish the series.

Read a good chunk of the novella Sightwitch by Susan Dennard last night, and I expect to finish on the plane today. I've also started this month's pick.

[Dara]

Putting my Harry Potter re-read on hold to read Lovecraft Country. The kindle sample really pulled me in.

[terpkristin]

I feel awkward that Lovecraft Country isn’t really pulling me in, after everybody else seems to be sucked in immediately. I’m not giving up, but I’m not to the point that I can’t stop listening/read on both kindle and audio for maximum reading.

[Ruth]

Nearly finished The Hate U Give which is essentially Black Lives Matter: the YA Novel. It should make an interesting contrast with Lovecraft Country. It’s a pretty good read although the 90s pop culture references feel a little out of place- eg the protagonist’s favourite tv show is The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Really??

On audiobook, I’m listening to Lock In as read by Wil Wheaton, and enjoying it a lot.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

terpkristin wrote: "I feel awkward that Lovecraft Country isn’t really pulling me in, after everybody else seems to be sucked in immediately."

I'm the same. I like the characters and I'm interested in their struggles against racism.

But as soon as the story goes into the horror sections It just loses me.

I'm about 40% in and it's about a 3 star book so far.

[Trike]

terpkristin wrote: "I feel awkward that Lovecraft Country isn’t really pulling me in, after everybody else seems to be sucked in immediately. I’m not giving up, but I’m not to the point that I can’t stop listening/rea..."

Maybe you’re in the control group.

[terpkristin]

Tassie Dave wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "I'm the same. I like the characters and I'm interested in their struggles against racism.

But as soon as the story goes into the horror sections It just loses me.

I'm about 40% in and it's about a 3 star book so far.”

This, almost exactly. But I’m almost halfway (49%) through and would lean to 2.5 stars.

[John (Taloni)]

Read the second Moving Castle book, Castle in the Air. Decent kid-level book. Lots of twists and surprises. The writing style is a little much for adults, but that goes along with the territory.

[Silvana]

Finished with Thrawn by Timothy Zahn. The best SW book I have ever read by far; the others look like amateurs' works, really. Glad the next one is out already.

Starting Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan. Didn't know this is a six-book series... 😆

[Mike]

I am reading lovecraft country by matt ruff, so far not bad. I might have to go back to Jim butcher beacuse i cant find anything else.

[Rob, Roberator]

I'm finally back to reading with my eyeballs again! Also I finished my Harry Potter reread so I'll be back to inundating you with my reviews once again.

Most recently I finished Ghostwater, which after a bit of a slow start was really enjoyable. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

[Allison]

Oh man, it's been a minute since I posted!

Since then I read:

The Book Thief- I expected sadness and it still got to me. 5 stars.
Tehanu- Probably one of the best metaphors for living as a woman I've ever read. 5 stars.
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery- Utterly hilarious and beautiful. 5 stars.
Poppy War - there were bits I liked but most of it felt pretty standard. 3 stars.
The Calculating Stars - Really well researched and fun. 4 stars.
Midnight Robber - Utterly devastating. One of the most uncomfortable books I've read, but well done. 4 stars.
The Curse of Chalion - a cute take on a gothic tale. 3 stars.
Tigana - absolutely beautiful. Extremely poignant epic fantasy. 4 stars.
The Fated Sky - a much faster paced sequel to Calculating Stars. I enjoyed it. 4 stars.
Ammonite - had some great writing and ideas, but it didn't really add up for me. 2 stars.
Rat Queens, Vol. 2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth - art was still great, but the plot and humor was weaker for me. 3 stars.
Babel-17 - Hella fun. Great use of language. 4 stars.
The Eye of the World - FINALLY!!! God that was work. 2 stars.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant - I don't get the hype. 1 star.

Now reading Dreadnought which so far is very sweet and has a good set up.

[Trike]

Rob wrote: "I'm finally back to reading with my eyeballs again!"

How retro! Are you making your own clothes, too?

[John (Taloni)]

^ It's not "using technology" if someone turns the Kindle on for ye, English.

[Rob, Roberator]

Uh, I meant instead of just listening exclusively to audiobooks

[Trike]

Rob wrote: "Uh, I meant instead of just listening exclusively to audiobooks"

In my day we called that radio, whippersnapper.

[John (Nevets)]

One of my first memory's of audio cassettes (and an early one overall) was my dad using a brand new "boombox" style radio to record the Star Wars radio drama as it aired on NPR for I believe it's first run.

I much latter received a commercial version of these (and eventually the rest of the series), they were great for driving cross country before podcasts and internet everywhere. Library books on tape also helped with this before Audible, but few were as long as that Star Wars audio drama.

[Phil]

Just finished Lovecraft Country and really enjoyed it. This is probably my favorite S&L fantasy pick in about 3 years. The straight forward writing style reminded me of the old Heinleins that I like to read and the episodic format appealed to me. I kept thinking "this would make a good Netflix series" and then saw in the afterword that it was originally conceived as a t.v. series.
Starting World-Building

[Ruth]

Finished Lock In by John Scalzi (as read by Wil Wheaton) which I really enjoyed, and moved straight onto the audio book of Head On.

Also just started The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy sequel to The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtuewhich is very good so far.

[Matt]

Finally reading Obelisk Gate. I have been putting it off for too long and plan on jumping right into The Stone Sky after