What Else Are You Reading - January 2019

[Colin]

Got this year's Sword challenge off the starting blocks with Blood Rites. James Marsters really is the ideal narrator for these books. I can't imagine my Dresden any other way. It felt to me like the slickest of the series so far.

Going to listen to Tom's Gallium next. It's only short, so I figure I can get through it before the next book pick is announced.

[Kev]

Finally picked up Revenger. Interesting universe it's set in.

The description of the sequel made me want to read that - so I wanted to read this first.

[John (Taloni)]

I may be the only person to dislike Revengers. While it was a capable if by the numbers YA plot, I just couldn't stand
(view spoiler)[ the silly justification for the MC cutting off her hand. Gross, grotesque, and unnecessary. (hide spoiler)]

[AndrewP]

Dara wrote: "Trike wrote: "I also went with Fantasy. I also did not like it."

+5 for similar tastes to me."

I liked it even less and it went into Abandoned :)

[Misti]

Trike wrote: "Misti wrote: "Went to our local library's grand re-opening this morning (it looks great)"

Are there photos online of the renovation?"

Our library finally has pics on Facebook from the grand re-opening.

Click!

[Jonathan]

Finished reading The Faceless Ones. Totally love this series. I listen to this one on audio and have really enjoyed the audiobooks. It is more of a middle grade/early teen urban fantasy series, but it is a lot of fun. Just started Dark Days

[Anne]

I'm currently reading The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton and loving it. It feels kind of like an old point & click adventure game in prose and is one of those books where I am annoyed by all the everyday stuff (including sleep) that keeps me from reading it.

[Joseph]

Finished up Heavy Time and am moving to Hellburner, its immediate sequel.

[Maria]

Background info: I rarely read fantasy these days. It's funny, because back in the day it was my main genre and only very little scifi. Now that I'm older, the tables have turned for some reason.

But now I suddenly got a thirst for fantasy! Tolkien-fantasy, to be precise. So I'm currently reading The Children of Húrin and it's been excellent so far. Now I'm thinking I could try these other "Great Tales" too that have been posthumously published. I've read The Silmarillion but it was years ago, I had absolutely no memory of reading about Túrin before... So maybe The Fall of Gondolin next?

[Scott]

I just started reading The Poppy War along with the Team Hooman book club. Only about 20% through, but I'm enjoying it so far.

[Silvana]

Finished Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach. A fun novella, might go in my Hugo noms.

Starting The Summer Tree. This is my first Kay but I am not impressed so far.

Maria wrote: "Background info: I rarely read fantasy these days. It's funny, because back in the day it was my main genre and only very little scifi. Now that I'm older, the tables have turned for some reason.
..."

I loved CHildren of Turin. It's Tolkien going grimdark.
I have scheduled both Beren and Lúthien and The Fall of Gondolin this year.

[Robert]

I found a couple weeks ago that I'd read "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" years ago, and had only started "Through the Looking-Glass." I re-read the first and yesterday finished the other. I quite enjoyed reading both of them. Fun little books, and two more classics are taken care of. I'm going to pause for a bit to think about what I want to read next. It will probably be something much more recent.

[Colin]

Just finished Whispers Underground. Another thoroughly enjoyable entry in Peter Grant / Rivers of London series. Bumping volume 4 up nearer the top of my TBR list! Just loving the easy-going storytelling style.

[Jonathan]

Finished Dark Days. It was another fun read! Starting a re-read of Son of the Black Sword before the next book in the series comes out at the beginning of February.

[Silvana]

Finished The Summer Tree and was sorely disappointed due to many reasons: characters, plots, and the excessive use of New Powers as the Plot Demands trope. I don't think I will read another portal fantasy in a very long time.

Finishing Sci-Fi Chronicles: A Visual History of the Galaxy's Greatest Science Fiction which has been uneven work in terms of page allocation for certain SF entries since it seemed to favor TV/movies than literature, as well as omission of some female writers, but still informative.

[Rob, Roberator]

Here's the latest books I've finished. One with my eyeballs and one in audio.

The Fall of Io - Another good entry in this world, although I still enjoyed the original Tao trilogy better. It started a bit slow, but then it got really good and finished strong. - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)

Bloody Rose - I ended up not liking this as much as I expected. Many people seemed to enjoy this more than the first book, but for me it was the opposite. I found it a bit slow at times, but overall still enjoyable. - ★★★☆☆ - (My Review)

[Anne]

I just finished The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg. It's a short read and I basically ploughed through it in one day, because I liked it so much. Reminded me a lot of Uprooted, maybe a little less refined and more YA, but still really, really good.

[Silvana]

Finished some shorts from Uncanny Magazine Issue 21: March/April 2018. the RF Kuang's essay on Chinese ghosts is my fave.

Starting Swordspoint for my diversity challenge.

[Sky]

I finished Autonomous a while back, just haven't had time to update goodreads. I'm almost done listening to the follow up to Zeroes, Invasive. While i miss the hacking motif, Invasive feels like a better written book. I'm going on a trip to Tahoe and hope to get a lot of reading done, next up with be Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. 8: Desolation.

[Dara]

I'm reading The Traitor Baru Cormorant which I'm enjoying but my attention span is crap lately so I've been reading it in fits and spurts. It feels disjointed now.

[Allison]

I'm having a generally good start to the year but I'm a bit stalled at the mo'.

So far I've read:

The Gospel of Loki was a cheeky rendition of all the classic Norse myths told in one, rather repetitive narrative.

Catseye confirmed that maybe Norton isn't my cuppa.

Gardens of the Moon was like a poem. When it was good, it was very, very good, and when it was bad it was horrid.

Skyward was a really delightful younger book. Not as Sandersonian as his adult works, but I'd definitely recommend this to kids both in the developmental sense and by choice.

Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening was absolutely stunning and I think the world has a lot of promise.

The Witch in the Wood and The Ill-Made Knight are probably my two favorite books in The Once and Future King, so I read them again and fell in love anew.

Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience was brilliant and riled up my blood.

Hit a pretty big speed-bump in Deadhouse Gates so I put it to the side. Unfortunately, I'd given it plenty of time so I could finish it and umm...I...don't have a backup book I can read quickly!

[Brendan]

Currently reading Cherryh's new novel Alliance Rising. I love that the cover depicts a handsome action figure with a sun exploding in the background for a novel that has up to this point been exclusively merchants discussing economics in a bar. Not that I'm disappointed, long treatises on economic reverse neocolonialism is exactly what I want from Cherryh.

[Tina]

Allison wrote: "
...Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience was brilliant and riled up my blood...."

LeVar Burton read this on his podcast and it was amazing:
http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/

[Joseph]

Brendan wrote: "Currently reading Cherryh's new novel Alliance Rising. I love that the cover depicts a handsome action figure with a sun exploding in the background for a novel that has up to this ..."

Yes! Nobody does those treatises as well as she does!

[Mark]

Tina wrote: "Allison wrote: "
...Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience was brilliant and riled up my blood...."

LeVar Burton read this on his podcast and it was amazing:
http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/"

Does Mr. Burton read the complete short story for his podcast? The list of titles and authors is intriguing. I picked up Rebecca Roanhorse's first novel Trail of Lightning after reading Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience and enjoyed it.

[Tina]

Mark wrote: "Tina wrote: "Allison wrote: "
...Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience was brilliant and riled up my blood...."

LeVar Burton read this on his podcast and it was amazing:
http://www.levarburt..."

I believe he reads the full stories (but I haven't read them in print so I can't compare). Sometimes he does live performances & interviews the author on stage at the end. His readings are outstanding, IMO.

[Colin]

So, having quickly consumed Tom's Gallium (with enjoyable narration from Veronica) I've moved on to a rather chunkier listen with Cibola Burn. I seem to get round to one of the Expanse books about once a year, so at this rate I'll still be enjoying this series for several years!

And while many of you will be reading The Calculating Stars, I'm moving on to the sequel, The Fated Sky instead, having read the first book recently enough that I remember it pretty clearly.

[Misti]

Finished up The Aeronaut's Windlass last night. I really liked it. Now for the indeterminate wait until the sequel is released. Uuuugh!

I started listening to The Calculating Stars yesterday morning. I'm really liking it so far. I didn't realize when I downloaded it that Mary Robinette Kowal reads it herself. So that was a pleasant surprise.

Wanted something fun to read next so it's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World. Hope to make the leap to the comics soon.

[Iain]

I should update my reading.

Just finished Raven Stratagem which I enjoyed. Very similar to Ninefox Gambit so if you liked the first the other books continue in the same vein.

Previously I finished The Mortal Word which I did not think was as strong as previous entries in the series. I may just have read too much of this type of book recently and have had my sweet tooth sated.

Varied the palate with The Body Farm which is appropriately gruesome.

Slowly listening to The Clan Corporate which I had originally pegged as a fantasy but is definitely SF (even if the main diversion from our world is the ability to jump between alternative time lines).

Also reading my son Royal Assassin which is as good as I remembered.

[Dara]

I finished The Traitor Baru Cormorant. It was Not Good and I'm angry that I wasted my time on it. My review.

Going to start The Magicians after work.

[Lou]

I just finished Super Powereds Year 2 and wow this is such a fun ride. Ive been on such a Grimdark binge that these books books are a ray of fun sunshine. I started Corpies before I finish year 3 and 4 and I already don't want this ride to end any time soon!!!!!

[Trike]

Finally read Fahrenheit 451, which is as good as everyone says. The predictions he makes are eerily prescient, especially the ones about TV and the anti-intellectual beliefs infecting society. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Trike wrote: "Finally read Fahrenheit 451, which is as good as everyone says. The predictions he makes are eerily prescient, especially the ones about TV and the anti-intellectual beliefs infecti..."

It would make a good S&L pick and would make up for us, amazingly, not yet reading a Ray Bradbury.

Though I prefer to call it "Celsius 233"

;-)