What are you reading in October 2020?

[Jo]

MadProfessah wrote: "I understand lots of people like the Temeraire
Books but I bounced hard off book #2 when it seemed indistinguishable from book #1. DNF and Never looked back!"

Same here

[Jo]

Jo (Mixed Book Bag) wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "I understand lots of people like the Temeraire
Books but I bounced hard off book #2 when it seemed indistinguishable from book #1. DNF and Never looked back!"

Same here"

Kathi wrote: "Jo (Mixed Book Bag) wrote: "Three of my must read authors have released books this month. Thieves (Diving Universe #8) by Rusch, Kristine Kathryn."

I have her Retrieval Artist books on my shelf bu..."

[Jo]

She does sci-fi with a twist. Diving is different from Retrieval but both have great characters and intricate plots

[Random]

Melissa wrote: "Short stories are like an espresso shot of emotion to the gut. The good ones at least. I need time to process and ponder them; I can't simply the flip the page and move on. ."

I like the description. I tend to think of short stories like this.

Sometimes I want that big Thanksgiving meal. You know with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, fresh rolls, pie and a billion and one other sides.

And sometimes I want sliced cucumber with herbed cream cheese and a cold glass of iced tea.

Finished The Hollow Places and enjoyed it a lot.
Started Auberon and haven't gotten very far.

More items have been added to my "must learn before the end of the year" list, so reading for enjoyment has dropped by the wayside.

Tomorrow evening I'll be curling up with Ghosts and Goblins and a pot of tea. :)

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Random wrote: "Started Auberon and haven't gotten very far.
"

I forgot I had this on my Kindle app—thanks for the reminder. I just added it to my “read soon” list.

[Jo]

I forgot to mention Pets In Space 5/ great collection of sci-fi romance stories. Some short story length some novella length. Each with a interesting pet

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

End of the month reads:
I wrapped up Diana L. Paxson’s Westria series with The Golden Hills of Westria, 8/10. This was a book that didn’t really need to be written; the author had fashioned the Westria series in 2 arcs. The first arc was Faris and Jehan’s story, and the second was Rana and Julian’s quest for the Jewels. But this “addendum” is a surprisingly good story in itself, and while solidly a fantasy tale, it delves into the issues of multiple personality disorder, religious fanaticism, and the timeless theme of becoming oneself.

Then it was the next book in the Kay Scarpetta series, The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell, 8/10. Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s personal life takes as much space in this book as the murder(s) she is helping to solve. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I hope the complications don’t overshadow the investigations and forensic science in future books. Cornwell’s characters, law enforcement personnel as well as “villains”, are complex and flawed, making them interesting as well as exasperating.

Last night I finished Tau Zero by Poul Anderson, 7/10. This SF tale from the 1970s was better than I expected it to be. The author breaks his technical infodumps into manageable bites, but I still found some of it hard to grasp. Yet, because the main focus of the book is on the lives of the crew and scientist-passengers of the Leonora Christine spaceship, in-depth understanding was not necessary. The characters could comprehend what was happening, and the reader could watch and empathize as they dealt with those realities. I gave the book a slightly lowered rating because there was no attempt to share the perspective of the inhabitants of Earth and the solar system to what happened to the colony ship, and because (view spoiler)[I didn’t think the entire crew would have been likely to actually survive all the crises (hide spoiler)].

Tonight I plan to read the Expanse novella Auberon.

[Ken]

MadProfessah wrote: "I understand lots of people like the Temeraire
Books but I bounced hard off book #2 when it seemed indistinguishable from book #1. DNF and Never looked back!"

I liked the first few books were wonderful but the later ones have been a slog. I have two more to read and I really have no interest in finishing them.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Well, Auberon (7/10) was such a quick read that I also managed to read Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (9/10) tonight. My first book by Okorafor, but definitely not my last. A rich story packed into that novella, and I am looking forward to the other Binti books.

[Mary]

Sinister Magic by Lindsay Buroker

(Started in October, since the November topic isn't open yet.)