What Else Are You Reading in 2019? Showing 501-550 of 3,237

[Nathan]

I am currently reading Beren and Luthien by JRR Tolkien and Chris Tolkien. Im currently not really sure what to make of it. It has a weird mixture or prose (which is not really my thing), story, and commentary by Chris Tolkien. Really doesn't create a flow.

[Doubledf99.99]

Im rereading one of my favorite SciFi books, Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

[Pam]

A catchup of recent reads -

Patricia Briggs' Raven's Strike - reviewed https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2715528753

Clifford D Simak's City - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2726428122

Clark Ashton Smith's short story collection - The Abominations of Yondo - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2723480061

[Trike]

Currently reading Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant who, it turns out, is aka Seanan McGuire, and I am more convinced than ever that she has never met a human being.

I only picked this up because it was on the group bookshelf, and I wouldn’t have done it had I known who she was. What is it with this woman writing her characters having sex at the most inappropriate times? “Hey, my best friend and coworker of 5 years just got his face eaten off by a mermaid because of my actions, so wanna hook up? And make Star Trek jokes?” Who does that?!

[Jacqueline]

What? Isn’t that normal? You don’t have sex straight after your friends face has been eaten off? You’re strange.

[Gabi]

Trike wrote: "Currently reading Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant who, it turns out, is aka Seanan McGuire, and I am more convinced than ever that she has never met a human being.

I only pick..."

Damn … now I must read this. This just sounds too funny!

[Karen]

Trike wrote: "Currently reading Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant who, it turns out, is aka Seanan McGuire, and I am more convinced than ever that she has never met a human being.

What is it with this woman writing her characters having sex at the most inappropriate times? “Hey, my best friend and coworker of 5 years just got his face eaten off by a mermaid because of my actions, so wanna hook up? And make Star Trek jokes?” Who does that?! "

BEST ARGUMENT E.V.E.R for reading this book. Trike, you win!

[Jacqueline]

Yep...I just searched my computer and it seems I have it and Rolling in the Deep so now they're on my ipad.

I also found a heap of others that I've seen mentioned lately that are a tad weird and fun. But first I have to make a dent in my "currently reading" pile. Or not.......

[Joelle.P.S]

I quite enjoyed the murder-mermaid duology :-D

[Trike]

Jacqueline wrote: "What? Isn’t that normal? You don’t have sex straight after your friends face has been eaten off? You’re strange."

Not all of us are Australian where everything is poisonous/carnivorous.

[Trike]

Joelle wrote: "I quite enjoyed the murder-mermaid duology :-D"

THERE ARE TWO OF THEM? WHAT.

[Jacqueline]

Yep....Rolling in the Deep and Into the Drowning Deep. Into the Drowning Deep is sort of the second one. Goodreads has it as Rolling in the Deep 1 and Rolling in the Deep is Rolling in the Deep 0.5 or something. The list I got it off Rolling in the Deep was 1 and Into the Drowning Deep was 2.

And yeah....what can I say.....we can be a little bit extreme down here ;P New Zealand doesn't have poisonous animals to contend with so they invent extreme sports like bungee jumping so yeahhhh That's what you get for sending people to live so far away from everything else. We have to make our own fun.

[Rachel]

I enjoyed her take in mermaids. However I also enjoyed B SyFy movies pre-children so ...

[Phrynne]

Late to the party on this one but I did enjoy it. I don't usually cope with talking animals but I managed to get past that.

My review of All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Esther]

I am reading and enjoying a scifi novel from netgalley Dalí. I was a little surprised by the amount of sex though I shouldn't have been considering the narrative centres around a third gender and the sex is more or less integral to the world building and plot.
As a complete change I started a childhood favourite The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. It is just as good as I remember and even though the writing style was easy for me to comprehend as a child it doesn't seem simplistic now I am an adult

[Sarah]

Yesterday I forsook all adulting to read almost all 500 pages of The Wolf in the Whale. It's been awhile since I did that.

It follows an Inuit two-spirit shaman over the course of his life circa 1000 AD and tells what happens after vikings come to the land. It was part survival story, part romance, and part spiritual journey. Extremely rich in mythology and folklore and heavy on the magical realism.

I absolutely loved every second of it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Inuit or Norse mythology or for people who enjoyed the atmospheric story-telling of The Bear and the Nightingale (this is all those books have in common, the stories are not alike).

Content warnings: (view spoiler)[scenes of rape, scenes of violence between the two cultures, one of which was particularly difficult as women and children were killed very violently, animals are frequently killed- it's never done cruelly or needlessly, but could be difficult to read, loss of parents, loss of siblings, and partners. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah, this sounds like it's quite down my alley!

[Sarah]

Gabi wrote: "Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah, this sounds like it's quite down my alley!"

I hope you love it as much as I did! I'll try to get an actual review up soon, right now I'm still thinking on it.

[Anna]

As often happens I got pulled into an internet vortex yesterday. I spent hours looking at books and adding them to my TBR. I also looked on Audible for books narrated by Robin Miles (I do this periodically), and found one that was the third in a series. While investigating why she didn't narrate the whole series, I found out that the series was already on my TBR, and the author had a cool sounding novelette. It sounded cool enough that I clicked over to Amazon, and found out it was free. Of course I then had to read it.

So, The Grove is free on Amazon, and about a sentient plant/animal/alien hybrid, whose new best friend is a tentacled sea creature. It's not the best writing ever, but it certainly gets into the plant details! From what I understand, her story continues in book three (the one Robin Miles narrates) of the Confluence series, starting with Fluency (which was on my TBR already). I'm now considering diving into this five book series.

[Gabi]

The last weeks, among others I read some books I enjoyed a lot. The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay and The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor were all 4 stars reads for me - all for completely different reasons.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler was a 5 star read, put me emotionally through a meat grinder.

And to further stall picking up A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe again, I started Blackfish Cityby Sam J. Miller, one from the Nebula list that I hadn't read. So far I love it.

[Rob]

I finally finished Witches Abroad which I started back in January on my way back from PAX. It was fun at times, but it took me along time to read something so short. I liked it better than the Rincewind books, but it may be my least favorite Witches book so far. - ★★★☆☆ - (My Review)

I also finished listening to Siege Tactics, which I enjoyed but not as much as the last book. I found it dragged a bit in places. It doesn't help that the last book focused on Rogues (which I love) and this book focused more on Paladins (which I don't). Still it's a fun series and I'll be picking up the next one just as soon as it's done. - ★★★½☆ - (My Review)

[Axel]

I recently finished The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi Volume I: Homecoming, an action filled adventure book with great characters and worldbuilding. Absolutely worth giving a chance.

I'm currently reading an ARC of The Yoga of Strength. Only 15% in, but so far so good. This books has some really hilarious out-of-context quotes.

[Trike]

I am not having an enjoyable reading experience lately. I paused the inanity of Into the Drowning Deep to listen to The Gunslinger and I hated it.

It’s like King got stoned one day and watched a bunch of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns but forgot to include the climactic duel he promises with that stupid opening line. Instead the gunslinger and the man in black basically sit around going, Dude, what if, like, the solar system is just an atom in a giant’s fingernail?” “Whoa... mind blown, bro!” Ugh.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Lol, Trike, I felt very similarly! I was told it gets better in the second book...I have not rushed out to verify.

[Trike]

Allison wrote: "Lol, Trike, I felt very similarly! I was told it gets better in the second book...I have not rushed out to verify."

Yeah, I’m not reading multiple books on the off chance that it might, maybe, get somewhat better.

[Chris]

What do those who have read The Dark Tower series think of skipping The Gunslinger, reading a plot summary, and starting with book 2?

[Jen]

lol. what's the point of reading a series if you already want to skip book 1?

Also, the Gunslinger is the quickest read of the lot.

[Sarah]

Chris wrote: "What do those who have read The Dark Tower series think of skipping The Gunslinger, reading a plot summary, and starting with book 2?"

I haven't made it to book two yet, and I already own it....

Trike's assessment seems accurate, although I do eventually plan to continue the series.

[Jen]

I liked the Gunslinger. Book 2 & 3 were good, memory is hazy, but I do remember I liked book 4 the best. I'm glad I read the whole series but I don't plan to ever re-read the whole thing. I might do books 1-4 again sometime.

[Alexander]

I actually really liked The Gunslinger. I barely had a grasp of what was happening most of the time, but for some odd reason I couldn't put it down. I read it with a "I'm sure it'll all make sense eventually" mentality. Nearing the end of book three and that feeling hasn't left yet. I'm giving the series a break after I'm done, not sure if my head can take book 4 just yet. (I'll be diving into The Last Wish, book 1 of The Whitcher Series.)

[Robert]

Yesterday I finished The Calculating Stars. I really enjoyed it. I'd like to get to the other "Lady Astronaut" works, but I want to clear a few titles off my wish list first.

[Rob]

I'm a huge Dark Tower fan. I've read the series multiple times.

I'd rank the books as:

Wizard and Glass (Book 4)
The Waste Lands (Book 3)
The Drawing of the Three (Book 2)
Wolves of the Calla (Book 5)
The Gunslinger (Book 1)
The Dark Tower (Book 7)
Song of Susannah (Book 6)

So it's definitely one of the weaker books in the series. Part of the problem in my opinion is it was written as a series of short stories in a magazine instead of as a book.

He revised the book before book 5 came out, which it likely the version you read, but it still has some of the same issues.

That said, I like all the books and if you didn't like the first one at all, while you might like the rest of the books better, it's probably not worth your time.

[Trike]

Alexander wrote: "I actually really liked The Gunslinger. I barely had a grasp of what was happening most of the time, but for some odd reason I couldn't put it down."

There’s no question that King is an excellent prose stylist, and any selection from most of his works will be compelling when taken in isolation. It just doesn’t hang together as a cohesive narrative and he doesn’t keep the promises he makes.

[Lost Planet Airman]

Chris wrote: "What do those who have read The Dark Tower series think of skipping The Gunslinger, reading a plot summary, and starting with book 2?"

The Gunslinger is allegory, with Roland and the Man in Black and others sharing human and symbolic natures. When the story picks up in The Drawing of the Three, the story is much more a low fantasy tale, and things seem to be much more what they seem to be.

You could probably go happily from The Drawing of the Three through the series to Song of Susannah (end-minus-one) having skipped The Gunslinger. But to really come to understand and hate the ending of the The Dark Tower, I think it would help to have read The Gunslinger.

Just my tu'pence; I am not a King scholar nor possess deep insights into literature, arts, human nature nor supernatural arts. (More's the pity.)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Mike wrote: "Chris wrote: "But to really come to understand and hate the ending of the The Dark Tower, I think it would help to have read The Gunslinger.
"

I real life LOLed there. I think I even guffawed!

[Lost Planet Airman]

Allison wrote: "Mike wrote: "Chris wrote: "But to really come to understand and hate the ending of the The Dark Tower, I think it would help to have read The Gunslinger.
"

I real life LOLed there. I think I even ..."

Ah, the small pleasures afforded to members of the Society of Curmudgeonly Sociopaths! But I really do intensely dislike the way Mr. King ended the series. Conversely, at least he finished it. [cough] Jordan. [cough][cough] Martin.

[CBRetriever]

Jordan had a good excuse (he died). Finished a book in 2005, Diagnosed with cancer 2006, died in 2007. Since it appears he was publishing a book every 2-3 years towards the end, he wasn't late, just "resting in peace"

Martin and Rothfuss, on the other hand, I'm still waiting on their next installments

[Jonas]

CBRetriever wrote: "Martin and Rothfuss, on the other hand, I'm still waiting on their next installments"

Rothfuss does take his time. Book number 2 was given out in 2011, in 2012 he said he was writing the book. He said the book was at that time "a 3,5 star book". So it's taken a long time for the book to come from 3,5 stars to 5 stars. But I'm not complaining just yet, I recently just finished book 1 & 2, so I've only waited a few weeks :P

[Eric]

I finished, thank goodness, The Glass Gargoyle. Having another Abercrombie, Half a King, already on my Kindle, I'll give this a shot.

[Rachel]

Enjoying Glasshouse by Stross more than I expected- I think he needed better blurbs!

[Christopher]

I’m also a fan of Glasshouse — I thought it had so many interesting concepts. I ran out and read Neptune’s Brood afterward and found it less compelling despite also having a few cool new ideas. I’d rate them 5 stars and 3 stars respectively.

[Anna]

Anna wrote: "So, The Grove is free on Amazon, and about a sentient plant/animal/alien hybrid, whose new best friend is a tentacled sea creature. It's not the best writing ever, but it certainly gets into the plant details! From what I understand, her story continues in book three (the one Robin Miles narrates) of the Confluence series, starting with Fluency (which was on my TBR already). I'm now considering diving into this five book series."

Soooo... in case someone read this comment and thought they'd check this series out, don't! The free novelette is still what I said it was, but the series? It's space erotica, and not even good space erotica. It's also got all the stupid tropes you could ever think of, and then some. Really can't recommend XD

[Sarah]

Oh Anna that’s such a disappointment! I read The Grove too and enjoyed it. Never did get around to checking out the other books though. Guess I won’t now!

[Jacqueline]

Does erotica have to be good? Look at Fifty Shades of Grey....

[Joon]

I read Fluency, and didn't really have a problem with it, and fully intend to continue the series. I can only assume the "erotica" comes in later books because I don't really remember any at all in the first book.

I thought it was a good effort by a new author.

[Trike]

Listening to The Road. Super happy fun book.

[Anna]

Sarah wrote: "Oh Anna that’s such a disappointment! I read The Grove too and enjoyed it. Never did get around to checking out the other books though. Guess I won’t now!"

I'm going to finish the first book and maybe read the second, just so I can read book three. I'm still hoping maybe book three will have more of the plant creature from The Grove, and maybe these are first book problems. The romance subplot will probably still be there, but I'm hoping at some point we'll actually get to the good stuff. There are things to like in this world, if only we were focusing on those, not the two lusty POV characters. But this first book really isn't something that will draw people in, the only reason I didn't DNF this very early on is that I'm hoping to get more of the plant creature.

Jacqueline wrote: "Does erotica have to be good? Look at Fifty Shades of Grey...."

I've never looked at it, and I hope I never will. Yes, it has to be good if you're making me read it in the middle of a first contact story!

[Anna]

Joon wrote: "I read Fluency, and didn't really have a problem with it, and fully intend to continue the series. I can only assume the "erotica" comes in later books because I don't really remember any at all in the first book."

Oh there's so much thinking and talking about sex, it starts in chapter one! I don't like reading erotica, though, so maybe someone else will think it's great. It's just one of those scenarios where everyone's life is in peril and two people stop to make out and wax poetic about the other one's ass.

[Jacqueline]

Oh I haven’t read it either but snippets I have read aren’t good erotica but many women read it, got horny and loved it. They need some real erotica not just some jumped up Twilight fan fiction.

[Trike]

Anna wrote: "It's just one of those scenarios where everyone's life is in peril and two people stop to make out and wax poetic about the other one's ass."

My exact issue with Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire school of terrible writing.