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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - March 2019
message 51:
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Jessica
(new)
Mar 08, 2019 02:58PM
I plan on starting Arm of the Sphinx, sequel to Senlin Ascends, tonight.
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Alexander wrote: "I'm reading a couple things right now - I'm reading Boogiepop Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (I'm through Boogiepop and Others/Boogiepop Doesn't Smile and will be starting Boogiepop vs. Imaginato..."The angel of death is named Boogiepop? Is he cousin to Taserface? 😂
https://youtu.be/_7tP-R-90SU
Trike wrote: "Alexander wrote: "I'm reading a couple things right now - I'm reading Boogiepop Omnibus Vol. 1-3 (I'm through Boogiepop and Others/Boogiepop Doesn't Smile and will be starting Boogi..."Well, the name is (in story) selected by a Japanese teenage girl - and is also a secondary personality of that girl (it's kind of complicated), so it becomes less of an issue.
That and there's enough more serious elements in the stories that I kind of move past that.
(Besides, there's a character later in the series that is named after Prince's negative personality - Spooky Electric).
Those names remind me of Beta Ray Bill and his sentient spaceship Skuttlebutt from Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson, Vol. 1.
Went to a book reading by Genevieve Cogman and Jen Williams.. Had a fun time hearing about their influences (which are typical of English people of the era, Sherlock
I left with a book I now have to read (if I can extract from my son), The Ninth Rain which sounds as though it was inspired by Pern (and Pratchett).
Looks like we will have to wait till the end of the year for the next Invisible library book.
I’m guessing that’s a British term of endearment?
I just finished Afterwar by Lilith St.Crow. Finished it in 4 days and really loved it. However, when I tried a couple of her other books they didn't even come close.
Read a really fantastic nonfiction book recently. But before I give the title, some context. I'm checking on my holds at LA Public Library and on the login page they have suggested readings. It was February so they were promoting books for Black History Month.I'm a geek reader through and through and even have trouble with adventure classics like Treasure Island. Nonfiction is usually a nonstarter for me. But I saw an eyecatching title: 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro. At first I thought it had to be a gag. Nope, totally on the up and up.
Seems in the 1930s the writer Joel A. Rogers had a column that amounted to an effort to educate about black history. This eventually led to the first book with that title. The current one is a tribute done by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
I hadn't heard of either author, but wow was this book compelling. It's an unflinching look at slavery and Jim Crow. The book doesn't hold back on how Africans sold other Africans to white traders, or that 20% died on the "middle passage" over. It covers in detail how George Washington, having won the Revolutionary War, then went after his "property" in the form of an escaped slave. It also describes how an educated African slave won his freedom, then went back to Africa to own slaves and run the local office of a slave trading company.
Plenty of the information in this book was news to me, perhaps not to others. The Spanish encouraged slaves to escape to Florida before they sold that land to the US, and many escaped there. Some freed slaves bought family members out of slavery, and a few sold them back in. In one breathtaking passage, a son is tired of being disciplined by the father that he and his mother bought out slavery, so the son sells him to work on a Georgia corn plantation where, so he says, "perhaps they will learn him some manners." There's discussion of how freed Southern slaves were screwed out of "forty acres and a mule" and how that unfulfilled promise could have changed the course of US history.
And then there's the literary figures. Russian great Alexander Pushkin was the great-grandson of an African slave brought to the Russian court, who eventually rose to the rank of major-general. Alexandre Dumas, whose grandfather Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie had four children with a slave in what would become Haiti, then sold her and those children to pay his way back to France. The article is matter of fact and doesn't make a value judgement, but wow, what a scumbag. Eventually Pailleterie brought Dumas' father to France, where he had an illustrious military career before falling out with Napoleon. His father's example let Alexandre Dumas directly to the Three Musketeers books and its sequels, and the revenge fantasy Count of Monte Cristo is informed by those days. (Gosh, why would Dumas have a revenge fantasy?)
Anyway, the book goes on and on and stunningly on. Five stars, because I can't give it ten. Read this book!
I’ve been having a rough month reading-wise, so I finally started on my long-ago purchased copy of We Are Legion - We Are Bob and I am loving it. Read 25% of it today.I’m pretty sure Dennis Taylor reads my posts because he talks about the movie Cast Away the exact same way I do. Or just that GMTA.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Read a really fantastic nonfiction book recently. But before I give the title, some context. I'm checking on my holds at LA Public Library and on the login page they have suggested readings. It was..."Color me intrigued.
Sorry, not sorry.
terpkristin wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Decided to lem Tigana. I just could not handle more Kay's writing. I know people love him but I am happy to be in the minority."I'm also in that minority. .."
Me too! I tried Sailing to Sarantium because my stepdad wouldn’t stop talking about it, but I really didn’t get on with it at all!
I’ve just started The Sealwoman's Gift for my meatspace book club.I’m also reading Consider Phlebas but tbh I’m really struggling with it - it’s simply not engaging me and I don’t like any of the characters. If anyone can persuade me to keep going with it I will, otherwise I think it’s for the Lem pile!
Ruth wrote: "terpkristin wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Decided to lem Tigana. I just could not handle more Kay's writing. I know people love him but I am happy to be in the minority."I'm also in that ..."
I'm working my way though GGK's catalogue (currently listening to Children of Earth and Sky) and while some of the books are gems, literally nothing happens in Sailing to Sarantium. Nothing. At all. And I didn't care enough to pick up the sequel where, presumably, the story happens.
Ruth wrote: "I’m also reading Consider Phlebas but tbh I’m really struggling with it - it’s simply not engaging me and I don’t like any of the characters. If anyone can persuade me to keep going with it I will, otherwise I think it’s for the Lem pile!"Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but...
I struggled with Phlebas as well and barely finished. Too much nasty violence and implausible characterization. The rest of the Culture books are a good deal better, although I found none of them great. Some people completely love them. Am now reading Hydrogen Sonata, the 10th and final Culture book and it opens well. So there is a modest payoff to finishing. TBH I read them as fill-in when other books weren't available as my insomnia leads me to read a lot.
Just read an interesting short story from Tor.com about a dog detective and a crow sidekick: Knowledgeable Creatures: A Tor.com Original Yep, two of my fave animals in one story. And finished with Umbernight. If you like colony/survival SF, check it out!
Reading some non-fictions including this one: The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World which reminded me of New York 2140.
Starting When Gravity Fails tomorrow.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Ruth wrote: "I’m also reading Consider Phlebas but tbh I’m really struggling with it - it’s simply not engaging me and I don’t like any of the characters. I struggled with Phlebas as well and barely finished
I think this one is destined for the “dnf” shelf!
It’s a shame because I like Iain Banks’ writing, but Iain M Banks just hasn’t done it for me.
Ruth - Try The Player of Games. I've always said the Consider Phlebas is simply not the place to start the Culture books, even though it's the first.
Finished Cyteen, which was stunningly good, and am starting Regenesis, which I haven't actually read before.(And I'm also very happy because I can go back to reading on my Kindle rather than reading ink printed on paper like some kind of caveman.)
Listened to River of Teeth, which was terrible. I don’t get how a hippo eating a dog is “fun” or a hippo tearing an orphan boy apart is “charming”, two things Kirkus has said about it.
Mod
First up was the The World of Warcraft Diary, which I got from backing the kickstarter. I really enjoyed it, but it's hard for me to gauge how much someone who isn't both a WoW junkie and a software engineer will enjoy it. - ★★★★★ - (My Review)
I continued my SFF break in audio with The Black Echo. I liked it enough that I plan to continue on with the series (and thankfully was able to pick it up with a sale) - ★★★★☆ - (My Review)
After the WoW book, I all but devoured Underlord. It might be my new favorite book in the series. I already can't wait for the next book. - ★★★★★ - (My Review)
Finally I continued on with the Vorkosigan series with Brothers in Arms I really like the Miles books more than the others.- ★★★½☆ - (My Review)
Rob wrote: "After the WoW book, I all but devoured Underlord. It might be my new favorite book in the series. I already can't wait for the next book. - ★★★★★ - (My Review)"I’ve never seen so many effusive reviews for a book. Surely it can’t be that good? I downloaded a sample of the first one to see what all the fuss is about.
Mod
Well the only people who have read/reviewed the book so far are Kickstarter backers, so we're going to be biased.
Also for me it's worth noting a 5 star book isn't a perfect book so much as a book that I enjoy so much as to overlook any flaws it might have. See Ready Player One
As I stated in my review this book really hits a sweet spot for me personally that makes it hard for me to be objective about it.
If you're looking for a sample of what the book is like, he posted a few stories on Wowhead to promote the book. These are NOT included in the book, as they cover topics after the release of WoW (where the book stops).
Warsong Gulch
Schlomance
Various dungeon/raid anecdotes
I'm not sure when the book will be broadly available to non-backers, but I expect the average rating will go down at that point, although I suspect the target audience for this will be small enough that most who read it are really going to enjoy it.
Mod
Well Will Wight is an up and coming (or maybe he's been around too long/written too many books) indie author with a pretty devoted fanbase.
Wight puts out a few books/year and is actively writing "three" series. I put the three in quotes because 2 of the series are connected and he always seems to release those books in pairs. So far I'm mostly just reading his Cradle series.
I got the first book (Unsouled) for free last year when the 5th book was coming out. I liked it enough to pay for the second book and kept going from there. For me they really scratch an itch. It probably helps to that all of his books are included in Kindle Unlimited.
I had a few friends of mine offline both independently recommend him and his first trilogy to me, but because I got Unsouled for free.
I did end up buying his older trilogy too, and have read the first book House of Blades, but didn't like that nearly as much. I do plan to finish it eventually though.
Another indie author I like Andrew Rowe has been posting on his blog in the last few weeks calling the kinds of books he and Wight "Progression Fantasy".
I don't really think a new "subgenre" is necessary but he at least did a good job in his blog post with explaining the structure: https://andrewkrowe.wordpress.com/201...
Finished The Calculating Stars and ordered The Fated Sky as well as other sequels Raven Stratagem and (preordered) Jade War.Started The Golden Compass to read with some friends this month. Very excited for this one and timely considering I just picked up a copy last weekend.
Rob wrote: "Oh, and after I posted that stuff about the WoW book, I think you were talking actually about Underlord. Lol.Well Will Wight is an up and coming (or maybe he's be..."
Yeah, that’s the one I meant.
I’m struggling to see my Kindle (stupid cataracts) to finish We Are Legion, which I am loving, but last night I switched over to the audiobook of Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan which is read by Alan Cumming. The book is great fun so far (3 hours down, 5 hours left) but Cumming’s performance is SPECTACULAR.
Mod
Although the entire series is above 4 stars, which is impressive, even if the number of ratings is only in the thousands
Unsouled - 4.27 stars from 6,047 ratings
Soulsmith - 4.45 stars from 4,880 ratings
Blackflame - 4.56 stars from 4,534 ratings
Skysworn - 4.44 stars from 3,953 ratings
Ghostwater - 4.63 stars from 3,575 ratings
Underlord - 4.80 stars from 1,810 ratings
Book 6 was released 10 days ago, and considering book 5 had only 3,575 1,810 ratings is pretty good. But it's going to mostly be people like me who were eagerly awaiting the next book.
I think Skysworn is the weakest book of the series, which is probably why the rating dropped off for that book compared to the otherwise upward trend of rating as the number of ratings trends downward.
I know Michael J. Sullivan wrote a blog post commenting how Underlord hit the top 5 on Amazon's Best Seller's list. Not in fantasy, for all books (I believe). https://riyria.blogspot.com/2019/03/w...
Pretty impressive for such a little-known author. He has only ~1,500 followers on Goodreads.
Rick wrote: "Ruth - Try The Player of Games. I've always said the Consider Phlebas is simply not the place to start the Culture books, even though it's the first."Thanks for the suggestion although I don’t know when I might get round to it, with so many other books to read!
So I finished The Gray House and it's definitly a book that will stick with me I guess. Very weird, very intense, interesting set of characters. I'm not sure if I understood everything and might need a support group or something.It seems like a book that could gather a cult following with time and I'm glad I pushed through.
Anne, it is a very intense & weird book, I agree! Feel free to poke me on any questions--one of my friends is very very very into that book and she's even gotten in touch with the translator to ask questions.
Whew -- after a month I finally finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Anybody else reading this? I notice it got kicked in the first round of March Madness which might be good because it's definitely not for everybody. It is a wild book -- very inventive in its language and its use of African mythology and folklore. Ultimately it wasn't for me because it's insanely violent and the plot is paced quite slowly. But it's a book that will stick with me and that I'll be thinking about for a while.
I'd be curious to know what anyone else who has read it thought of it.
Bill wrote: "Whew -- after a month I finally finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Anybody else reading this? I notice it got kicked in the first round of March Madnes..."I just got my copy from the library this afternoon.
Bill wrote: "Whew -- after a month I finally finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Anybody else reading this? I notice it got kicked in the first round of March Madnes..."Around half way through. it's very long and my reading schedule has been sporadic. My impression is that it's very good and should have been about half the length.
Still 1/3 way into When Gravity Fails and enjoying the world and the murder mystery. Interesting that almost all cyberpunk I read are noir.Starting Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion . . . So Far and while I am amused with the encyclopedia, the fact that I do not read Rincewind and the Witches subseries (I only read Death, Night Watch, Industrial Revolution and the first two Tiffany Aching novels) makes me wonder whether I'll be annoyed with the spoilers.
About halfway into Spinning Silver on audio from the library. I expected to be waiting another 6 months for it, so that was a surprise. With my eyes I'm reading book 3 in Otherland: Mountain of Black Glass. I'm surprised at how into it I am.
re: Black Leopard, Red WolfBrendan wrote: "My impression is that it's very good and should have been about half the length."Totally agree. It's about 600 pages and it's a long 600.
Sheila Jean wrote: "About halfway into Spinning Silver on audio from the library."Let us know what you think! It's been on my tbr list for a while.
Bill wrote: "Sheila Jean wrote: "About halfway into Spinning Silver on audio from the library."Let us know what you think! It's been on my tbr list for a while."
I loved it. It's one of the best books that I read last year, and if it's already on your TBR list, it should definitely move up.
I'm listening to The City in the Middle of the Night, and to be honest, I'm really struggling with it. I haven't completely settled on why yet. This is my first Charlie Jane Anders book, and I'm definitely planning on eventually reading All the Birds in the Sky. I just feel awkward not fully embracing a popular and visible author's latest work.
I started The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon. It’s part of this SerialBox project where you can subscribe or buy a "season" like a tv show, or wait until they turn it into an omnibus in book form. Cool collaboration! Set in a solar system with a dying sun, turning every planet into huge masses of refugees.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon. It’s part of this SerialBox project where you can subscribe or buy a "season" like a tv show, or wait ..."I have that in my TBR. I really liked the other Serial Box collaboration with Max Gladstone et al, Bookburners: The Complete Season 1, so I’m looking forward to reading Vela.
Trike wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I started The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, S.L. Huang, Rivers Solomon. It’s part of this SerialBox project where you can subscribe or buy a "sea..."Loving it so far!
The pubic library called. Murderbot books #3 and #4 are ready for me to pick up. W00t!
Matt - I bounced off All The Birds... so don't feel bad. Writing was good, but there were a bunch of things I didn't like about it. Charlie Jane has a lot of prominence but a lot if that is due to her time at io9.
Mark wrote: "The pubic library called. Murderbot books #3 and #4 are ready for me to pick up. W00t!"Bomp chikka wah-wah...
Just finishedDawn of Wonder on audio for the 2nd time. It is narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds and he is great! I rate the book at 4 stars. Classic fantasy with most of the time being spent at a fantasy school, but I love the characters. Started listening to Age of Assassins for the 2nd time. Love this series! Joe Jameson is a fantastic narrator as well. Still reading Skyward and enjoying it so far. It listen to audio books far more quickly than I read them. I have six kids and our lives get hectic!
Just finished reading The Portable Door by Tom Holt. British comic fantasy, very much in the vein of Robert Rankin, if slightly more contemporary than his books. Was feeling a little pressure to enjoy it, since it came higly recommended from some IRL friends. Took a while to catch my imagination, but was definitely caught up in the story by the end ofthe book. Will give the next book in the series a shot sometime.
Matt wrote: "I'm listening to The City in the Middle of the Night, and to be honest, I'm really struggling with it. I haven't completely settled on why yet. This is my first Charlie Jane Anders ..."I haven't read this one yet so I'm not sure how similar they are but All the Birds was very polarizing. While it can be said for any author to some degree, that book had a strong amount of absolutely love it or absolutely hate it. I thought it was great but reading other's opinions can see what rubs people the wrong way.
Rick wrote: "Matt - I bounced off All The Birds... so don't feel bad. Writing was good, but there were a bunch of things I didn't like about it. Charlie Jane has a lot of prominence but a lot if that is due to ..."Same for me. I did not click with All The Birds in the Sky either and found a lot of issues with the novel.
OMG, The Kingdom of Copper audiobook is available on cloudLibrary. Everything else goes on hold for me.
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The Sword and Laser
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