What Else Are You Reading - May 2019

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

We are getting book 6 next year one way or another ;-)

“I tell you this,” GRRM wrote, “if I don’t have The Winds of Winter in hand when I arrive in New Zealand for worldcon, you have here my formal written permission to imprison me in a small cabin on White Island, overlooking that lake of sulfuric acid, until I’m done.”

worldcon NZ is late July 2020.

That means we can look forward to Book 7 after 2030 sometime :-?

and if it grows to a Book 8, that will be out by about 2045 when George is 96 :-? and I'm 83 :-o

[Stephen]

I am already a attending member of New Zealand's WorldCon 2020 and am saving up my drinking money. It will be held in the rainy season, so I have already purchased a fine Gore-Tex outer layer.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Finished Red Sister. Loved it :-) ★★★★☆

Started reading the sequel Grey Sister

[Sheila Jean]

So, I've given up on Skyward. Maybe I'll read the print version at some point, but I just couldn't stomach the audio. I tried to listen to it again after finishing Whispers Underground yesterday, and Spensa's words/actions immediately reminded me of why I paused in the first place. (No complaints with regards the quality of the audio book or the narration, but this is a story i need to be able to skim.)

I'm now listening to Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

I also have the ebook of Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh checked out from the library. Going a bit slowly, but i expect to finish.

[TraceyL]

I just really a super weird sci-fi book that I LOVED:

Super Extra Grande by Yoss

It's about a veterinarian that specializes in enormous alien species. He starts out the book walking through the intestines of a worm the size of a mountain, waist-high in poop, looking for a bracelet that belongs to the wife of an important politician. It's kind of a parody of other sci-fi books, but is also a great example of one. And the author is a Cuban heavy-metal musician with a degree in biology. It was crazy.

[John (Taloni)]

^ Possibly you would also like Prostho Plus, an early Piers Anthony book about an Earth dentist recruited to be dentist to aliens. One memorable scene has him treating a whale-style alien with huge teeth.

[TraceyL]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^ Possibly you would also like Prostho Plus, an early Piers Anthony book about an Earth dentist recruited to be dentist to aliens. One memorable scene has him treating a whale-style a..."

That looks like a fun read. Thanks!

[Tina]

Dara wrote: "Finished Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster. I really enjoyed the book. It was informative and also horrifying. My review.

Now I'm re-..."

I've been watching the Chernobyl series on HBO and it's excellent and terrifying.

[Silvana]

Finally finished with Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, an extensive biography that I think it worth reading for all SF lovers.

DNFed Revelation Space after halfway. I don't like Reynolds' writing, characters and plot, though the world looks interesting.

Starting Artificial Condition which should be and hopefully good.

[John (Taloni)]

Silvana wrote: "DNFed Revelation Space after halfway. I don't like Reynolds' writing, characters and plot, though the world looks interesting."

FWIW Reynolds lifted heavily from Niven's "Known Space." The civilization-destroying ancient struggle is very reminiscent of the Tnuctipun war that destroyed intelligent life in the Milky Way galaxy referenced in World of Ptavvs, requiring intelligent life to literally evolve all over again. Not saying you'd like that book, but wanted to mention the source. It's more than a bit dated, but...also has intelligent dolphins!

[Stephen]

I am doing the European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman in audio.

[Trike]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Silvana wrote: "DNFed Revelation Space after halfway. I don't like Reynolds' writing, characters and plot, though the world looks interesting."

FWIW Reynolds lifted heavily from Niven's "Known Spa..."

I really like classic Niven and can’t stand Reynolds. I guess I prefer the real stuff to the knock-off, too.

[Bill]

I just read Space Opera. It is totally wacky screwball Sci-Fi in the vein of Douglas Adams. But for me, it was kind of a pale imitation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and its descendants. I laughed a few times and there were some great passages here and there, but it felt like every sentence wanted to be an elaborate gag and many of them didn't land.

[Meaghan]

I'm doing an "Extreme Reader" challenge (50 books in a year, each counts toward one specific category) with my public library and am reading a bunch of stuff to meet category requirements at this point.

The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering Your Personal Style and Building Your Dream Wardrobe - this is good for anyone who needs a simple overview of how to step-by-step build a wardrobe. It's the Stylebook Book-of-the-Month and was, honestly, a little too basic for where I am but is a great explanation, in hindsight, of how I got there.

Heat Wave - I don't know what I was expecting. I will not read any of the others in this series. If you liked the show, reading one will make some of the in-show jokes about the books a smidge funnier. Cute but very formulaic, which I should have expected.

The Kingdom of Copper - second installment in the trilogy; third yet to be published. I really enjoyed the first book, this one is enjoyable but hits some second-book stumbles, which the author mentions in her acknowledgements. Looking forward to the final book.

the witch doesn't burn in this one - Modern feminist poetry - I didn't expect much here, honestly, as modern poetry isn't my thing usually. I really enjoyed this one.

The Gunslinger - I missed this one for years, despite numerous recommendations. I've read a few of King books but he's never been an author I seek out. This one fell really flat for me.

Currently reading:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union

[Bill]

Stephen wrote: "I am doing the European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman in audio." Did you read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter first? I was wondering if you needed to start there to follow European Travel, or if they're more or less standalone?

[Stephen]

yes I read the first and it is better if you read it first,

[Brendan]

Meaghan wrote: "The Kingdom of Copper - second installment in the trilogy; third yet to be published. I really enjoyed the first book, this one is enjoyable but hits some second-book stumbles, which the author mentions in her acknowledgements. Looking forward to the final book. "

I liked this book but I found that by the end of it I kind of didn't like any of the characters as people? Liking characters isn't usually necessary for me, but this story is in many ways a romance so being invested in the characters is sort of a necessity. I hope it's just second book stumbles as you say and she finishes the series strong, because i think the setting is very cool.

[Misti]

Overcame a slight reading slump and finally finished A Natural History of Dragons. I'm going to read The Fall of Io next.

I have less than two hours left of Rise of Empire on my Audible read and most likely will start listening to Vol 3 of that series. I love it so much.

[Colin]

I've been unusually fickle lately, leaving books half finished to start something else. (With every intention of coming back to finish them. Probably.)

But I loved (and raced through, uninterrupted) Foxglove Summer. It's a great series and I'm starting to worry about how quickly I'm catching up the end of what's been published so far.

Next up is Artificial Condition.

[Joseph]

Finished The Dragon's Path and am continuing on to The King's Blood.

[Erik]

Got about 5 and a half hours into Calypso on audiobook during my Memorial Day weekend travels. As I've heard Sedaris read some essays on podcasts before (This American Life I think?) I knew that I would enjoy it but did have some doubt about exactly how long I could marathon these. Well no problems there although my right car door speaker stopped working during my first hour or so making the whole trip feel like the author was reading the stories while leaning over my left shoulder. This one is very solid and there are plenty more of his collections on Libby.

[Silvana]

Finished with Artificial Condition. While it's good to be back within the Murderbot's mind, I found the side plot distracting and the conclusion anticlimactic. Love the other bots though.

Now back to fantasy with Witchmark.

Bill wrote: "I just read Space Opera. It is totally wacky screwball Sci-Fi in the vein of Douglas Adams. But for me, it was kind of a pale imitation of [book:The Hitchhiker's Guide to..."

Agree. Overrated.

[Silvana]

Trike wrote: "John (Taloni) wrote: "Silvana wrote: "DNFed Revelation Space after halfway. I don't like Reynolds' writing, characters and plot, though the world looks interesting."

FWIW Reynolds lifted heavily f..."

I can't stand both actually, but at least Ringworld is not 598 pages so I could push myself into finishing it.

I am almost dreading to start another 500-page book now. Lucky the next ones on my list are all novellas: The Black God's Drums and The Tea Master and the Detective

[Bill]

Silvana wrote: "Now back to fantasy with Witchmark."

I will be curious to hear what you think of it. I thought IT was quite overrated.

[Dara]

Tina wrote: "I've been watching the Chernobyl series on HBO and it's excellent and terrifying."

As am I. It's super good and I really liked the book. It provided a lot more information on the subject.

[Trike]

Erik wrote: "Got about 5 and a half hours into Calypso on audiobook during my Memorial Day weekend travels. As I've heard Sedaris read some essays on podcasts before (This American Life I think?..."

Listening to Sedaris while driving can be hazardous to one’s health. I very nearly drove off the side of a Vermont mountain while listening to the essay “Six to Eight Black Men” from Holidays on Ice. Almost LOLled to death.

[Ruth]

Bill wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Now back to fantasy with Witchmark."

I will be curious to hear what you think of it. I thought IT was quite overrated."

I loved Witchmark, although it did feel very fanfic-y to me - this is a compliment not an insult but I think if you’re not well-versed in the fanfic style of storytelling it might not land for you.

I’m currently on the audiobook of Six of Crows and I’ve just started Godblind.

I’m also theoretically still listening to Rosemary and Rue but it’s not really doing it for me so I’m thinking of DNF’ing it - a shame as I was looking forward to reading my first Seanan McGuire,

[Bill]

Ruth wrote: "I loved Witchmark, although it did feel very fanfic-y to me"

Interesting. I admit I haven't read or written too much fanfic. What would you say defines a 'fanfic-y' style of storytelling?

In Witchmark, I felt like the magic system was confusing -- I never quite understood what powers the magicians had, beyond (view spoiler)[being able to control the weather. (hide spoiler)]. The politics behind the war -- an important background for the novel -- felt muddled to me too. But I liked the Edwardian vibe, and the bicycles!