What Else Are You Reading in 2019? Showing 1,451-1,500 of 3,237

[Judy]

Hi, I'm new to the group but have been reading sci fi and fantasy for years-since I was 13 and I'm 63, almost 64, now. I started a classic sci fi book today and am loving it so far. It is Nightwings by Robert Silverberg. It was originally published as a novella and it won the Hugo for best novella. Silverberg wrote two additional novellas featuring the same main character and he then wove the three novellas together and published them as a novel. I'm reading the novel. It is about earth many aeons from now. A group of travelers is entering Roum (Rome.) One of the travelers belongs to the Watchers guild and four times a day, armed with advanced telescopic equipment, he searches the sky for an impending alien invasion which has been foretold for centuries, if not millennia, but has yet to materialize. Another traveler is a flyer who has been genetically modified to be able to fly at night when the solar wind is gone. The third traveler is a guildless man, a mutant. The book reminds me of Gene Wolfe's series The Book of the New Sun but Nightwings actually predates that work by a decade. I think I know now where Wolfe got some of his inspiration (although he took it, transformed it, and then ran a mind-bending marathon with it.) I have only read the first eight chapters of Nightwings but I think I will be reading a lot more of Silverberg after finishing this novel. Luckily, he was extremely prolific, and a beautiful writer to boot.

[Anna]

Hi Judy, welcome! :)

[Krystal]

Finally gonna give Assassin's Apprentice a crack! My first taste of Robin Hobb so fingers crossed.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Anthony, good choice. I am interested in your thoughts--Rosewater was another divisive read in our group. (I really enjoyed it though!)

Jacqueline, I'm so glad you liked it and that you read it with us!! I'd love to hear some of your thoughts in the full discussion thread. It's been oddly quiet this month, go wake us up!

Judy, great to have you! One of my favorite things is finding a new (to me) author that opens up hours and hours of good reading ahead! I hope you continue to be impressed and connect more dots between various ideas. We're actually doing a challenge somewhat related to that this year (if you care to join us). You can find more here!

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

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Krystal wrote: "Finally gonna give Assassin's Apprentice a crack! My first taste of Robin Hobb so fingers crossed."

Oh yay! I've been trying to find time to continue this series, report back what you think of the first one!

[Dawn F]

Anthony wrote: "which of these titles you would recommend I tackle next:

Rosewater
Semiosis
Brown Girl in the Ring"

Three very different books but I loved them all, but especially Brown Girl was rather unique and not at all what I expected. Rosewater is fascinating and fresh and certainly generated some debate, and Semiosis is the only one taking place on another planet than earth. It's a sort of generation/evolution story.

[Judy]

Krystal wrote: "Finally gonna give Assassin's Apprentice a crack! My first taste of Robin Hobb so fingers crossed."

I really enjoyed the Assassin books by Hobbs but I only read the first trilogy. Very original, particularly at the time they were written. I also read her trilogy about the intelligent ships (forget the name of it.)

[Judy]

Allison wrote: "Anthony, good choice. I am interested in your thoughts--Rosewater was another divisive read in our group. (I really enjoyed it though!)

Jacqueline, I'm so glad you liked it and that you read it wi..."

Thank you for the welcome and for sending the link! This seems like a great group.

[Judy]

Anna wrote: "Hi Judy, welcome! :)"

Thank you!

[Judy]

Brick wrote: "I finished The Fold. I think I gobbled that one up in 5 days...lol. Good read! Gotta search for another one to read and, that being said, today my wife and I are going to the local ..."

Hi, I'm Judy, new to the group. I enjoyed The Fold but I loved 14 by Clines. I listened to them and have done so several times for each book (a ridiculous number for 14.) The narrator is fantastic for both books.

[Jemppu]

Judy wrote: "Krystal wrote: "Finally gonna give Assassin's Apprentice a crack! My first taste of Robin Hobb so fingers crossed."

I really enjoyed the Assassin books by Hobbs but I only read the..."

Liveship Traders ^^ Few of us are in process of consuming them right now. Welcome aboard.


Also interested to hear Anthony's take on Rosewater. I remember having been left quite ambiguous myself.

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*]

Krystal wrote: "Finally gonna give Assassin's Apprentice a crack! My first taste of Robin Hobb so fingers crossed."

Hope you like it! I just read it for the first time ever as well and I loved it, but I realized reading it that fantasy coming-of-age just speaks to me. I found it to be a refreshingly straightforward fantasy, no kooky nomenclature or complicated magic systems to get in the way of just consuming the text. It was published after the first few Wheel of Time entries for publishing history context; I am working my way back to older decades of fantasy novels to get a sense of the path the genre has taken, and this was a welcome experience.

[Wen]

I don’t remember why I put Rosewater as my DNF. I guess I will try again, somehow it’s like encouraging energy conservation among here. You are all so nice.

[Gabi]

Judy wrote: " ... I have only read the first eight chapters of Nightwings but I think I will be reading a lot more of Silverberg after finishing this novel. Luckily, he was extremely prolific, and a beautiful writer to boot. "

I used to read a lot of Silverberg in my youth. I've got half a dozen books by him on my shelf and am looking forward to re-reading them.

[Beth]

YouKneeK wrote: "I survived Neuromancer. This is really all I have the energy to say right now. ;) There is a review on my profile page if anybody wants more words."

It's a good thing it was less than 300 pages, eh? ;)

I think there was a BR on SFFBC for this not too long ago. I got about 40 pages into it (for now?). Cool scenery aside there wasn't enough to keep me interested. Certainly not the plot or characters.

[Mareike]

I finished the first part of A Canticle for Leibowitz this morning and so far I absolutely love this book. The world building, the irony it's suffused with, poor Brother Francis....

[YouKneeK]

Beth wrote: "It's a good thing it was less than 300 pages, eh? ;)

I think there was a BR on SFFBC for this not too long ago. I got about 40 pages into it (for now?)."

LOL, yep. Its low page count was one of the motivating factors that kept me pushing through. On the other hand, if it had been longer, I might have finally been pushed over the edge and discovered the art of book abandonment.

I saw that BR, and had fun reading the discussion about it. I was happy (in a sympathetic sort of way!) to see I wasn’t the only one who struggled, and that even some people who like cyberpunk better than I do had trouble getting into it.

[Trike]

Just finished The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World and this book really pissed me off, from its BS title to its crap content. 1 angry star.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Semiosis was all right for sci-fi neophytes and non-science folk but I wasn’t terribly impressed. 2 meh stars.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished off the Vorkosigan saga with the last two novels, only one novella left. Both were extremely good 4 star reviews. CryoBurn is another cool Miles adventure. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen feels like a pleasant epilogue to the whole series, landing everyone gently. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I loved bingeing this entire series and I actually appreciated reading the majority of them over the period of a couple months, rather than the three-and-a-half decades they were published. I don’t have any of that wistful feeling of “boy, I wished I read this back in the day.”

I’ve also read a bunch of graphic novels, the standout being the retro spy thriller Velvet series written by Ed Brubaker. Velvet, Vol. 1: Before the Living End.

[Chris]

I'll have to read Gentleman Jole one of these days, but I've found every novel in the series after A Civil Campaign lackluster. I guess Bujold is still stretching her genre boundaries.

[Karen]

I've got a variety going on as usual and, for the most part, enjoying each one.

Currently listening to Johannes Cabal the Necromancer and The Hanging Tree. Found a new series to love in Johannes Cabal and continuing a series I can't get enough of with The Hanging Tree.

Still reading Bellman & Black. It's a mediocre book at best but I'm so invested in it I want to know what it's all building up to. Or should I just read the last chapter and call it done...?

Picking The Book of Life back up now that I'm home from vacation. I need to finish it since I'm holding up the request line at the library. #sorrynotsorry

Finally getting to Six of Crows and wish I wouldn't have waited so long! I really enjoyed the author's world building in her Shadow & Bone trilogy and this book continues it but with a new set of characters.

I did finish one chick lit while on my vacation California Girls. Not too bad, a bit repetitive and somewhat predictable. It's not my usual genre but I wanted a book where I didn't have to think too hard while reading. lol

[Dj]

YouKneeK wrote: "I survived Neuromancer. This is really all I have the energy to say right now. ;) There is a review on my profile page if anybody wants more words."

Survived? That seems like damning with faint praise

[M.L.]

I read Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It's interesting, different. Civilizations grew up around rivers. This story doesn't happen without it.

[Jacqueline]

So today I started listening to Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey while I was driving to the next town to buy food (yeah I’m in the Outback again for a week or two). About 2 1/2-3 hours in. Really enjoying it so far.

[Brick]

This week I tried digging into The Long Earth and just couldn't get into it. I'm going to have to shelf it and return to it at a later date. I absolutely love reading Terry Prachett's work, though, especially his Discworld series; but The Long Earth story he wrote with Stephen Baxter is different. Not bad; just...different content and such. I started The Blood Books, Volume I and so far it's a good read. I had the pleasure of meeting Tanya Huff about 8 years ago at a writing convention and she was pretty awesome. Great person. She spoke to me for about 30 minutes on writing, trying to find an agent, and even encouraging me to keep doing what I'm doing. You can't go wrong when you have those moments.

[Leticia]

I finished an ARC of One Word Kill and I liked it a lot, I will surely be reading other books by the author soon enough.
I also read a graphic novel X'ed #1 that reminded me of the film Inception and it was very interesting and I read a funny humor book with Greek Gods Gods Behaving Badly that was very light and funny.

[Jacqueline]

One Word Kill is great. Mark Lawrence is a brilliant writer. Limited Wish, the second in the trilogy, is out in the US and UK now. End of next month here in Australia though. His Book of the Ancestor trilogy of Red Sister, Grey Sister and Holy Sister is brilliant in my opinion. He’s currently writing another trilogy set in the same world as the Book of the Ancestor series.

[YouKneeK]

Dj wrote: "Survived? That seems like damning with faint praise"

It wasn’t intended to be praise at all, faint or otherwise. :)

Brick wrote: "This week I tried digging into The Long Earth and just couldn't get into it. I'm going to have to shelf it and return to it at a later date."

I wasn’t a big fan of that one either. I read it this past May. There were some things I liked, including the main concept, but it was a pretty average read for me and I didn’t continue on with the rest of the series.

[Judy]

Mareike wrote: "I finished the first part of A Canticle for Leibowitz this morning and so far I absolutely love this book. The world building, the irony it's suffused with, poor Brother Francis...."
First of all I love your name. It is the name of one my favorite songs by Jacques Brel. I read Canticle years ago and really enjoyed it.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Karen wrote: "I've got a variety going on as usual and, for the most part, enjoying each one.

Currently listening to Johannes Cabal the Necromancer and The Hanging Tree. Found a n..."


I really like Cabal. Keep trying to get hubs to read them.

[Beth]

I've got the first Johannes Cabal lined up for an October read! :)

After a couple of false starts with other books, it looks like The Kingdom of Gods will be the one that sticks. I haven't finished any of Jemisin's series yet, and now is a good time to remedy that!

In audio, there's Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which let's just say is not a cheery uplifting book. They chose a really good narrator for it and that helps.

[Travis]

Been awhile since I updated:

I just finished Daughter of the Forest, which was just wonderful. It's been awhile since I felt so transported by a book.

I also read the new Guy Gavriel Kay, A Brightness Long Ago, which I found pretty meh. Lots of great scenes and characters, very little holding it all together.

A super fun graphic novel mm slow burn romance: Fence, Volume 1 by C.S. Pacat.

Foundryside was just a three-star book for me, but it was also one of those sorts of three-star books that I enjoyed lots (even as I cringed at a good deal of the writing and dialogue).

Finally, two others that were five-stars for me:

The Book Thief was such a remarkable way to tell a story about WWII and the Holocaust. It took my breath away and punched me in the gut.

And, as others have said, The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice completely increased my appreciation for what epic fantasy can do: what kinds of stories it can tell, what kinds of political and historical arguments it can make, what kinds of claims it can have on us. I found it so remarkable and brilliant, and I am flabbergasted that it seem so infrequently read.

[Dj]

YouKneeK wrote: "Dj wrote: "Survived? That seems like damning with faint praise"

It wasn’t intended to be praise at all, faint or otherwise. :)

Brick wrote: "This week I tried digging into The Long Earth and just..."

Oh, well then you hit the Mark. Kudos all around. LOL

[Alondra]

Just finished Into the Drowning Deep and had fun with the killer mermaids....4 stars.

Currently reading An Ember in the Ashes and Black and Blue.

[Lesley]

Travis wrote: "And, as others have said, The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice completely increased my appreciation for what epic fantasy can do"

Yes to everything you said about this book! Since reading it, I feel like I’ve been bringing it up constantly with everyone I meet, readers and non-readers. I even brought it up in conversation at work recently, totally in context, relative to some pretty controversial issues involving tribes. There is just so much to unpack here and so much that remains relevant today. I’m totally on Gabi’s bandwagon to add it to the group shelf.

[Anisha Inkspill]

[Travis]

Lesley wrote: "Travis wrote: "And, as others have said, The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice completely increased my appreciation for what epic fantasy can do"

Yes to everything you said about th..."

I'm not sure if you follow Justice on Twitter. If not, here's a link to a thread he posted about the Treaty of New Echota, which ties into the novel ways that capture some of the novel's nuance: https://twitter.com/justicedanielh/st....

[Lesley]

Travis wrote: “I'm not sure if you follow Justice on Twitter. If not, here's a link to a thread he posted about the Treaty of New Echota"

Thanks for sharing this! What he says here resonates so strongly and I’m still very much in awe of how skillfully he portrayed this in his novel:

“This history isn't ancient or theoretical. It's still very much alive in the politics, family memory, and conversations of Cherokee people today. It's complex, and challenging, and painful.“

[Andy]

I'm enjoying The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America—though I'm not sure "enjoying" is an appropriate word to use for the Devil half of the book.

[Anna]

I'm currently reading Turning the Hourglass by Matthew Keeley. It's a Sci-Fi time travel story with a new twist and approach.
I'm about halfway through and am really enjoying it so far. It's the author's debut novel. Has any of you read it or heard of it?

[Christopher]

I managed to finish three books in June (giving all 4 stars).

1) Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea: Stories by Sarah Pinsker
2) Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
3) Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman

I also had a nice surprise while on holiday. I grabbed a used copy of Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold I had picked up a few years ago thinking the old paperback would be okay to get a bit sandy, but when I opened it up on the beach I saw that it was signed by the author! Sure, it says "For Liz" at the top, but still pretty cool.

I also picked up a few more used books on the trip to add to the TBR. (Nine Princes in Amber, Doomsday Book, Catspaw, Remnant Population, and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighth Annual Collection)

All that and I'm continuing to do the short fiction reads with the group, we've almost read all the Hugo nominees! I'm voting this year so it's helped to have company to discuss as I go.

[Don]

just read "Aching God" by Mike Shel didn't like it much. it felt like someone was watching a D&D game after taking a creative writing course and this book was the love child.

[Gabi]

I read quite a lot those last 10 days:

The Stars My Destination I read for the timetravel challenge and I was surprised how many ideas following authors apparently picked from this work. A fascinating Count of Monte Christo like revenge story with a completely unlikeable MC.

The City in the Middle of the Night was a quite dark story about the struggle of four more or less lost souls in a society of two cities on a tidally locked planet. Charlie Jane Anderson has this wonderful way with words that already made "Birds" into something special and personal for me.

A Sense of Shadow was one of the books of my youth from my physical shelf that I want to re-read bit by bit. It was one of those subtle horror stories where a certain number of protagonists has to stay in a house for an amount of time to qualify for a reward. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a good read nonetheless.

With Ship of Magic and The Mad Ship I started the second trilogy of The Elderling Realms. And I liked them very much.

Exhalation: Stories was a terrific experience in intelligent and inventive SF short story writing. I can't praise Ted Chiang highly enough.

And today I read A Different Light, a book that was deeply important to me in my youth and where I feared to re-read it after all those decades. Yes, it did age, but I still felt the tug at my soul that was so prominent when I was 15.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I also read Anders recently, Gabi!

All the Birds in the Sky was a science fantasy I quite enjoyed, though it really stresses how shitty humans can be, especially when you're young.

Strange Practice was cute and I think the series has potential but I also thing the author made a lot of choices that will make it hard to keep the tone that so tickled me.

The Prisoner of Zenda was surprisingly good fun. I was chuckling and swooning pretty regularly. It was the set up for The Henchmen of Zenda which started off exactly how I wanted it to, and then got a bit south-of-the-navel-gazy. Still a fun read and a good lesson to wear earbuds when working in my yard.

The Wrong Stars was definitely wrong for me. I'm led to believe the author is a very nice, funny dude who either missed the mark with his book or has a vastly different understanding of what makes sense than mine.

Now reading Dawn which I'm liking better than Fledgling or Wild Seed but also is freakin' me out, and Becoming which is making me long intolerably for a time machine.

[Judy]

Andy wrote: "I'm enjoying The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America—though I'm not sure "enjoying" is an appropriate word to use for the Devil half of..."

I read it several years ago and I agree it is very interesting but at the same rather horrifying to read.

[Jacqueline]

Picked up Children of Time last night. You know what one of my great fears are don’t you.....bloody spiders. Squished a big one making a beeline for the dog just before starting it too. I want to get it finished while I’m still out here in the Outback so I can leave it for Hubby to read.

He finished Beartown by Fredrik Blackman last night after sitting up reading for 3 hours at midnight the night before because he couldn’t sleep. He said it was “alright”. High praise from him lol When I’m not here he goes to bed early and reads. I bought him a copy of Good Omens the other day instead of bringing mine out here. We can give it to our middle son at Christmas time. He said he’ll read it when he forgets the TV series so it will probably be the next book he reads lol

[Don]

After reading Dean Koontz's "The City" I thought Me & Dean were through! I've decided to give his "Jane Hawk" series a chance because the world needs forgiveness as much as it needs undying grudges.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I'm currently reading Dreaming Spies, which is one of the more ho-hum Mary Russell books so far...

[Eric]

Finished Ravenstone: The Complete Saga. Enjoyable. Almost started The Witchwood Crown, but learned it was a sequel to the trilogy, Memory, Sorrow & Thorn. So, I bought the first three book set for my Kindle and have The Witchwook Crown already loaded. I'll be set for reading for awhile.

Thank you, daughter Stacey, for the Father's Day gift card to Amazon. You purchased the books for me. :))

[HeyT]

I've been binging the Lady Trent's Memoir Series in audio because for most of the month of June I was participating in a gaming grind fest. I'm currently on Within the Sanctuary of Wings and will be sad when it's done because I've had such a good time with the series as a whole.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Aw, what a nice gift, Eric!

HeyT, I've heard so many great things about that series, I'll really have to try to push it up the list...