What Else Are You Reading in 2021? Showing 1,451-1,500 of 2,230

[Michelle]

I tried that book twice, and gave up twice. Does the blame fall on the translation, then? I just thought it was lousy execution, but now I'm wondering.

[The Joy of Erudition]

I'd say the best way to find out for sure is to try the second book with the better translator.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I've heard it's pretty good in other European languages. I'm trying to source it in French.

[Morgan]

The Joy of Erudition wrote: "Travis wrote: "Now I'm thinking of starting the Witcher books. Am I right that the best place to begin is The Last Wish?"

Yes, because that book contains the earliest-published stories. It has a d..."

Sword of Destiny was beautifully translated.

[Beth]

I didn't think The Last Wish's translation was that bad, but then again I read a decent amount of translated manga and light novels, and maybe my sensibilities in that respect have been numbed.

[Anna]

Allison wrote: "I've heard it's pretty good in other European languages."

Yes, a strong 1 star in Finnish.

I think Aga was eager to discuss the translations during the (most likely) upcoming reread, so perhaps if there is more people have to say on the subject, the Last Wish first impressions thread would be a great place to talk about it for those who haven't read it yet, and the Last Wish spoiler thread for those who have.

[Aga]

Yes. If for any reason "The Last Wish" won’t get to This round of RRs I think I’ll try to create a BR. Translations are my main point of interrest this time. I’ve read only the Polish oryginal edition.

[Phrynne]

I just finished Perelandra and I was really disappointed. The story and the characters just disappeared under the weight of so much theological debate. I really enjoyed the first book. Do I risk the third???

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

[CBRetriever]

I wouldn't especially as C.S. Lewis was first and foremost a theologian

[Michelle]

Am I the only that that appreciated "A strong 1 star in Finnish"? I thought that was pretty good!

[CBRetriever]

Michelle wrote: "Am I the only that that appreciated "A strong 1 star in Finnish"? I thought that was pretty good!"

nope, I got it and snickered

I just read Adventures of a Dwergish Girl by Daniel Pinkwater which is a very, very YA book that was free from Tor recently. I think middle schoolers would adore it, but I found it a bit saccharine.

[Stephen]

Phrynne wrote: "I just finished Perelandra and I was really disappointed. The story and the characters just disappeared under the weight of so much theological debate. I really enjoyed the first book..."

It’s decades since I read it but I can confidently say that “That Hideous Strength” is in important ways quite unlike the other two books in the trilogy. It is set on earth, in postwar England, in a sort of bureaucratic research establishment. Central characters are a young couple whose marital relationship is an important aspect of the book. I don’t know what I’d make of it now but at the time I didn’t care for it.

[HeyT]

Today I finally conquered Pandora's Star. I'm exhausted because it took me 20 days but I still enjoyed all 988 pages of it? I will be taking a break though before I read the sequel because I need to read more than two books this month lol.

I think I'm just spoiled by Stormlight chunksters only taking me a week.

[CBRetriever]

I'm working on a 800+ opus right now: Outside the Gates of Eden but I'm racing through it because it's so interesting.

What happened to the idealism of the 1960s? This question has haunted a generation. Outside the Gates of Eden follows two men from their first meeting in high school to their final destination in the twenty-first century. Alex is torn between his father’s business empire and his own artistic yearnings. Cole finds his calling at a Bob Dylan concert in 1965. From the Summer of Love in San Francisco to Woodstock, from campus protests to the SoHo loft scene, from a commune in Virginia to the outlaw country music of Austin, the novel charts the rise and fall of the counterculture—and what came after. Using the music business as a window into half a century, Outside the Gates of Eden is both epic and intimate, starkly realistic and ultimately hopeful, a War and Peace for the Woodstock generation.

the blurb omits the female character that is very well written and who also comes of age through those times. I've read half the book and I started on August 19th.

On the SF&F side I've started on both Apocalypse Nyx and Oath of Fealty. Nyx is 5 novellas in one book (yay! It will count towards the short stories) and has an insect fueled economy and a culture that is at least partly based on the Middle East culture. Oath is a continuation of the Paksenarrion Trilogy and is fairly slow going

[Don]

HeyT, Hamilton can be like that wait until you travel "Great North Road"

[Don]

few things like "The Blacktongue Thief" to get Mr. Rothfuss a-writing.

[CBRetriever]

Don wrote: "HeyT, Hamilton can be like that wait until you travel "Great North Road""

I've read that one too - it was loooooooong

[Christopher]

I walked by an older, white-bearded, bespectacled man the other day and only half-glancing noticed that his t-shirt had the word "Science & Fiction" on it along with an atom symbol -- I turned around to say I was a fan too, but then read the entire text of the shirt which read: "More Science less Fiction".

I'm all for more science, but this seemed like an unnecessary knock on the genre!

[Marc]

Just found this group, I used to be a heavy sci-fi/fantasy way way back when I was in high school, and occasionally read some till this year (red shirts, neuromancer, harry potter series, american gods and it's sequel), but this year, I decided to read Hugo award winners. Just finished Kim Stanley Robinson Mars books. Now, onto the first hugo award winner, Alfred Bester's Demolished Man...

[Faith]

My review of Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

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

[Michelle]

Welcome, Marc!

I'm over my hissy fit and my anger with Douglas Jackson after his last book. Well, sort of! It helped that I read some really funny books about Fred the Vampire Accountant after Saviour of Rome:. So cover me, I'm going in...I began Glory of Rome last night.

[Ozsaur]

Ozsaur wrote: "Fly with the Arrow - Bluebeard retellings are uncommon, and this one is turning out to be really good."

Ines said: That sounds very interesting. Would you say it's a book that might also appeal to non-romance readers?

There's only hints of romance so far, which will probably be developed through the series.

But the first book ends on a big cliffhanger, and the next book doesn't come out until mid-September. I enjoyed the book very much, but that cliffhanger... oof!

[Ines, Resident Vampire]

Ozsaur wrote: "Ozsaur wrote: "Fly with the Arrow - Bluebeard retellings are uncommon, and this one is turning out to be really good."

Ines said: That sounds very interesting. Would you say it's a book that might..."

Thank you for the info! I guess I'll check it out ... when the second book is available. :D

I'm finally through Dead Space by Kali Wallace which I did not enjoy as much as I had wanted or expected. I don't know why, it has a lot of things that I love. Maybe it's the writing, possibly part of it is the audiobook production - I'll have to think about it a little more.

Next, I was planning on doing some buddy and group reading, which I am behind in, but on a whim I bought Survive the Night by Riley Sager, because I am a hopeless mood reader and a terrible buddy reader. I've already listened to 3 hours of it yesterday, exactly what I need after Dead Space, which took me a long time to get through.

[Stephen]

I spent yesterday driving, and I have another few hours in the car today. I thought I’d try an audiobook, which I don’t normally do. The CD player in my 7 year old Mazda handles mp3 CDs fine. I’ve been listening to Sands of Mars, The. It’s very dated, but I think excellent for its time, and I’m enjoying it.

[Faith]

My review of The Noise: A Thriller by James Patterson

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

[simon]

I am currently reading Terra Nullius. I am finding it a good read. The writing gives a good active pace and the subject matter of colonialization is well done as a Sci-Fi book. Written by An Indigenous Australian author, it is interesting to learn her perspective about the harshness of colonialization.

[Mary]

Ozsaur wrote: "Fly with the Arrow - Bluebeard retellings are uncommon, and this one is turning out to be really good."

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7...

[Feliciana]

AMG wrote: "I got A Master of Djinn from the waitlist finally, so I'm starting that now. I haven't read any of the novellas, so I expect it will be fun to be introduced to Clark's Cairo."

I really enjoyed A Master of Djinn
I enjoy most of his novellas too. I hope you like it!

[Beth]

Wishful Drinking (audiobook): this is a modified transcript of Carrie Fisher's autobiographical stage show of the same name, narrated by Fisher herself. I didn't read any of her books before she passed, and the two I've read have both have been funny, and also brought on a sense of loss. 61 is too young! (review)

Next non-fiction audiobook will be The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, which is about a (rather illicit) speed run by rowboat down the Grand Canyon in the early '80s.

[Anna]

I *finally* got the third and final Tea Dragon Society book from the library, and of course I read it immediately! I then did what I did with the previous two, went straight to my brother's place, placed it in his hands and told him to read it immediately. He then proceeded to read it immediately, after which we both sobbed and messaged heart/crying emojis back and forth.

Surely most people know about Tea Dragons, but if not, treat yourself to this magical journey! ^_^

The Tea Dragon Society
The Tea Dragon Festival
The Tea Dragon Tapestry

[Monica]

Beth wrote: "Next non-fiction audiobook will be The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon, which is about a (rather illicit) speed run by rowboat down the Grand Canyon in the early '80s..."

An interesting and fun one! I hope you enjoy it!!

[Beth]

So far so good, Monica. I had a predisposition--even after reading your review--that it'd be a book about men's men doing man things. And while there is that element to it, there's plenty else that is keeping my interest. Lovely descriptions among them.

[Rachel]

Anna - we just got Tea Dragon last week and my girls and I loved it!

[Phrynne]

I just finished Shards of Earth and enjoyed it totally. Idris is a wonderful new book hero. I hope he stays through the series although I can never trust Tchaikovsky not to kill off even major characters.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Henry]

I finished reading Academs Fury by Jim Butcher a few days ago and I am very excited to read the next book in the series. I may am definitely behind on some of the older, more well know series’s since I’m only 13 and I haven’t read that much until the pandemic started, but I would really like to catch up.

[Gabi]

@Phrynne: ^^' Some time ago he tweeted about his final work on the 3rd book and said something along the lines of: killing off those characters that survived the other two books ^^'.
I prepare for not getting too involved with the characters.

[Phrynne]

Gabi wrote: "@Phrynne: ^^' Some time ago he tweeted about his final work on the 3rd book and said something along the lines of: killing off those characters that survived the other two books ^^'.
I prepare for..."

I guess Idris can't live forever:) He has already survived longer than he should in book one:)

[Anna]

Rachel wrote: "Anna - we just got Tea Dragon last week and my girls and I loved it!"

Yay! ^_^

[Meredith]

Anna wrote: "I *finally* got the third and final Tea Dragon Society book from the library, and of course I read it immediately! I then did what I did with the previous two, went straight to my brother's place, ..."

This looks super cute and my library has it. I'll definitely check it out, especially since your last tea-themed book recommendation (Teacup Magic) worked out so well.

[Anna]

Hmm, I wonder if I have other tea books I could rec?! :D

edit: I have Séance Tea Party on hold at the library, maybe it'll be cute :)

[Meredith]

That does look cute.

[Navigator]

I've started Luck in the Shandows

[CBRetriever]

Anna wrote: "Hmm, I wonder if I have other tea books I could rec?! :D

edit: I have Séance Tea Party on hold at the library, maybe it'll be cute :)"

The Tea Master and the Detective
Tea with the Black Dragon

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yay Navigator! A delight!

[Anna]

I actually went into Tea Master, back when it was new, thinking it was about a tea master, and I was so disappointed :( I mean sure, it *kinda* is, but not how I thought it would be. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is definitely a tea book, and also The Cybernetic Tea Shop, but neither of them come anywhere close to the cuteness of Tea Dragons :)

edit: I've read tons of books that have something to do with tea, but they're not exactly similar to Tea Dragons, so I didn't want to start listing them. My favorite adult tea book is 100% Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta, which is called "The Tea Master's Book" in its original Finnish. Also not at all similar to Tea Dragons, but beautiful and one of my favorite books! And it's on the group shelf.

[Marc]

finished Alfred bester's Demolished Man, a good book a classic murder where cop knows who the murderer was, but needs to prove it (with a sci-fi flavor of people who can read minds), then Fritz Leiber's the Big Time (short, very odd compared to most sci-fi books, but good! funny, makes you think a little (like wtf did I just read). Now, on to Clifford Simak's The Way Station...

[Michelle]

I just finished Glory of Rome, and it was riveting. The MC was given the Ninth Legion Hispana, back in Britannia, in 77 AD. That particular legion has always facinated me. Excellent reading.

[CBRetriever]

I just started Ship of Smoke and Steel by Django Wexler and am racing through it.

it has shades of Mark Lawrence - the main character has the ethics of Jorg
it reminds me a bit of Cage of Souls in the setting within the ship
it reminds me of (view spoiler)[Alec and Seregil from the Nightrunner series but the main character is female (hide spoiler)]

it's a quick, fast paced book with a lot of action and interesting character

[Michelle]

I'm re-reading The Crown Conspiracy for the sheer fun factor.

[Navigator]

Hey Allison! Well by far book is all right so I'm proceeding with cautious optimism.