What Else Are You Reading in 2021? Showing 1,701-1,750 of 2,230

[Don]

Just completed a reread of "Beyond the black stump" by Nevil Shute. I liked it but will not recommend it. It is set in the United States and Australia. Inside of a portrait of the 1950's is lot's of good stuff and lot's of bad stuff. An accurate account of the time and places.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Colin wrote: "Beth wrote: "Colin wrote: "Finished "Harrow The Ninth". I am not entirely sure what I think. It may take a while to digest. Complex and multi-layered, that's for sure, with plenty of open issues fo..."

Not only allowed, encouraged! Summon forth your so far latent necromantic powers and ressurect this post!

[The Joy of Erudition]

Colin wrote: "Hi, I didn't mean to imply that you liked the terms and if my post came across that way, please accept my apology."

No, no, it didn't. I just wanted to express my agreement that we both don't like them. 🙂

[Ozsaur]

Strange Gods - the main character underestimates herself. Interesting so far.

[Eric]

Finished Child of Light. A freebie in return for a review, which I'll write shortly. Sad to say, I think Terry Brooks spent way too much time with Shannara. Child of Light read like a book for children. Predictable with impossible scenarios of the heroes escaping danger. Two stars.

[Beth]

Mary wrote: "It's amazing the semantic drift of "punk.""

The commonality between the work of Sid Vicious and Becky Chambers isn't super obvious, for sure. :D

[Gabi]

I finished my SciFi September Bingo Card. This was a fun way to read a range of SF books, tackle some of the oldies I always wanted to read and get my storytel tbr list a wee bit shorter (14 books were audiobooks, 2 eye reads)

Last prompts:

alien presence: Brightness Reef by David Brin - this was the only one from the bingo books that I didn't enjoy. Brin does fantastic worldbuilding, no question, but his plot, character writing and story structure already tired me in another book I've read and it was downright sleep-putting in this one.

popular/hyped: Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis - this was a cute surprise. It had such a strong x-files vibe that it got me all nostalgic and I enjoyed reading this aliens-visit-earth-government-cover-up story a lot.

steam punk: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve - this one has such a good worldbuilding with cities that roam around the land and hunt each other (municipal darwinism), keeping in mind that the writing is more for a MG audience the story is really good and exciting. But there is a lot of death in the later part.

classic/older book: Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon - I think this is the only Sturgeon that I had never read before. For readers who enjoy his high level quality writing this is quite interesting. For readers who look for an exciting plot it probably is downright boring.

short story: The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - a fun little read set in a Nigeria of the future where men are expected to stay at home and be good, devote house-husbands.

and to my utter joy I found two pearls (although both on the depressing side - since it is me):

recommended to you: Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer - this author is a writer par excellence. I was in awe about this story of a character slowly falling apart while hunting clues that apparently came out of nowhere. I was so deep in the skin of this woman, whose real name we don't know, that I physically felt the oppression and anxiety. What an author!

global south: The Old Lie by Claire G. Coleman - I was already completely sold by Coleman's first novel 'Terra Nullius' and she does it again with this one. The reprocessing of the hurt and pain of the colonization of her aboriginal community is projected into a military SF where Earth is but a minor non-citizen ally to a mighty federation in a galactic war. She writes so blunt and visceral about the idiocy of war that it hurts. Perfect!

[Anna]

Gabi, I'm so happy you liked Old Lie! I've been thinking of rereading it (and Terra Nullius).

And happy to hear that Hummingbird is good! I really wanted to read it when it came out, but since it took its sweet time coming to Storytel, I wasn't in the mood anymore. I'll get to it eventually.

[Gabi]

Anna wrote: "Gabi, I'm so happy you liked Old Lie! I've been thinking of rereading it (and Terra Nullius).

And happy to hear that Hummingbird is good! I really wanted to read it when it came out, but since it ..."

Anna, the audiobook narration for Hummingbird Salamander is spot on. But I'm not sure if it needs a warning. I had some real-life anxiety attack over reading it, because I identified so much that it became nearly unbearable.

[Anna]

Oh OK, I'll try to remember that! Thanks for the warning ^_^

[Ellen]

Started my yearly read of A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

[Don]

I just read this article and hope that the example it sets is repeated.

Multimillion-dollar beach property taken from Black owners in Jim Crow era is cleared to be returned

By Cheri Mossburg, CNN

Updated 11:05 AM EDT, Fri October 01, 2021

[Don]

Currently reading "The Pariah" and doing a reread of "Tigana"

[Anna]

Ellen wrote: "Started my yearly read of A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny."

Everyone who is *not* reading it (yet), it's not too late to join the Daily Read 2021!

(Yes, it's very last minute, that's why I haven't done a show and dance this year.)

[Henry]

I Just got a copy of Kingdom of Shadow and Light, by Karen Marie Moning through a drawing, but I don’t know what to do with it, it’s the 11th book in a series Of books I’ve never read, I’m trying to decide if it’s worth starting the series or just giving the book I have to the library?
Is it a series worth reading?

[Jacqueline]

I’m fond of the series. I think I’ve read the first 4 so far. It’s not for everyone though. Lots of lust and some sex and yeahhhh

[Michelle]

Henry, what Jacqueline said. I only read the first two, and gave them up because of the story had so many raging hormones.

[Henry]

I recently finished A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers, Mother of Eden by Chris Beckett, and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.

A Closed and common orbit was amazing, arguably better than the first book in the series.

Mother of Eden was not quite as good as Dark Eden, but it was still a very good book.

The Well of Ascension wasn’t as good as Mistborn: The Final Empire, but it was still a good book.

[Jacqueline]

They rage even more in 3 and 4 Michelle lol

I’m currently doing a reread of Closed and Common Orbit. Well a relisten anyway. It’s my car audiobook. I relistened to Long Way to a Small Angry Planet a few months ago and found I had the next two as well. I eye read all of them years ago but they make me feel good and are perfect for long car trips. I hear lots of stuff that I missed last time when I read it. I suppose I am guilty of skimming over a lot when I eye read sometimes.

[Jan]

Henry wrote: "I Just got a copy of Kingdom of Shadow and Light, by Karen Marie Moning through a drawing, but I don’t know what to do with it, it’s the 11th book in a series Of books I’ve never read, I’m trying t..."

I did read most of the series a few years ago, but yeah, there is plenty of UST and lust along with the adventure so be warned. It's a popular series with paranormal romance readers.

Unfortunately it was one of those series that started off with some great ideas and characters, but the writing and plots deteriorated as the series wore on. I eventually gave up and I never got around to finishing the last couple of books.

I haven't made up my mind whether to try this new book and see if it's a return to early form, or just to let it lie.

Maybe you could try the first book and see what you think of the world? Nice work on winning a book, anyway :)

[Michelle]

Jan, I had to Google UST ;)

[Dj]

Beth wrote: "Mary wrote: "It's amazing the semantic drift of "punk.""

The commonality between the work of Sid Vicious and Becky Chambers isn't super obvious, for sure. :D"

So glad I wasn't drinking anything, would have been cleaning the monitor off for a week. LOL

[Jan]

Michelle wrote: "Jan, I had to Google UST ;)"

:) Been there, done that.

[Nicky]

I had a most wonderful September in terms of reads (13 books). Surprisingly, there was some amazing 4 and 5 star books.

My 5 star ratings:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
The First Mountain Man

My 4 star ratings:
The Crown Tower
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster
Watership Down
The Last Mountain Man

My 3 star ratings and below, descending in rating:
Shadow and Bone, 3*
The Epigenetics Revolution, 3*
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 3*
Stoner, 2*
Siege and Storm, 1*
Kissing the Coronavirus, 1*, this was part of a bet, so go easy on me, 🤣.
The Final Girl Support Group, 1*

I don't think I've ever read 13 books in one month. And I think I've posted reviews for every single one. It was amazing.

October won't be so easy though. I'm aiming for 4 to 5 books. I started The Rose and the Thorn a few days ago, on my e-reader, and yesterday I also started Lonesome Dove. That one will take me a while.

[Anna]

Amazing Nikki! I am in total awe of anyone who manages to read Kissing the Coronavirus XD

[Raucous]

Anna wrote: "Amazing Nikki! I am in total awe of anyone who manages to read Kissing the Coronavirus XD"

Yay Nikki! That's an amazing range of content. This one is perhaps more disturbing. I wonder what it's like to be a model for these covers.

Oh - "readers also enjoyed" Baby Beluga, Dream March: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the March on Washington, and Put Me in the Zoo: A Book of Colors. At least that last one makes some kind of sense.

[Nicky]

Hahaha well it was a tough ride, I'll tell you that. It was part of some sort of challenge; friends of mine told me it was so horrible and kind of dared me to read it too. It was only 16 pages so it took me all of 15 minutes; but that's 15 minutes of my life I'll never get back. XD

[Anna]

I think I spent way more than 15 minutes reading all the reviews and play by play descriptions of the plot back when it came out XD

[Nicky]

Oh but the reviews are so much more fun than the book. Admit it. ;)

[Anna]

I loved the reviews! :D Haven't read the book, I may be entirely bonkers, but not *that* far into madness :P

[Nicky]

That's a very sensible decision. XD I regret reading that book.

[CBRetriever]

I finished the third book in Jack Campbell's Pillars of Reality: The Assassins of Altis. I got the three as part of a Humble Bundle and I've decided not to continue on with the series.

Instead I've decided to finish Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series starting with White Night and so far it's been far more interesting than the Pillars of Reality series.

[Jacqueline]

Hubby finished Brief Cases by Jim Butcher the other night. He liked it. He’s onto Ready Player Two now. I feel like reading some Harry Dresden but don’t have the second one here with me and didn’t want to read Brief Cases. Actually last night I read Derive Life by Elizabeth Bear from a Best of Tor anthology that I got a while back. It was really good.

[Don]

Just Finished "The Pariah" by Anthony Ryan. I've read four of Anthony Ryan's books this is by far my favorite. It is comparable to Joe Abercrombie's good stuff.

[Don]

Nikki, Lonesome Dove might get finished faster than you think. That book made me laugh, cry and fear Comanches.

[Jan]

Don wrote: "Nikki, Lonesome Dove might get finished faster than you think. That book made me laugh, cry and fear Comanches."

Me too Don. A powerful and wonderfully written book. Unforgettable characters.

[CBRetriever]

Don wrote: "Just Finished "The Pariah" by Anthony Ryan. I've read four of Anthony Ryan's books this is by far my favorite. It is comparable to Joe Abercrombie's good stuff."

thanks for the recommendation - I've been holding off on it but as it's cheaper than most new Kindle books ($9.99 vs $14.99) I've been tempted

[Ed]

Mary wrote: "... It's amazing the semantic drift of "punk." ..."

I hadn't thought much about the "punk" part of the term "cyberpunk" until recently. For me the cool part of cyberpunk was the cyber part. I didn't much notice the punk aspect at the time. I noticed some criticism of capitalism and corporations but just thought of that as normal SF.

But this year I read an issue of a French magazine devoted to one of my favorite authors Bifrost n°97 : Sabrina Calvo : cybermagicienne. And one of the articles said something about how she keeps the "punk" in "cyberpunk". Thinking about it a while, I do now see the "punk" in the original cyberpunk and in Calvo's writing. Especially the most recent two novels. In both cases it is low-income people living under pressure from gentrification, etc., and fighting back.

I still don't understand why the title says Cyber magician, though. She's punk, and magical, but not cyber.

[Ed]

Last month there was an online conference FutureCon
https://www.futureconsf.com/futurecon...

I didn't watch most of it, but did tune in for the discussion "WHAT PUNK ARE YOU? Past, Present and Future Trends in Anti-capitalists Science Fiction"

If you are interested, you can still watch the recording.

One thing that all of the participants (I think!) agreed on was that "Steampunk" has nothing to do with punk, but all the other "punks", including "solarpunk" are legit. I don't think I agree. Steampunk has been taken over by the mainstream culture as just a type of dress-up, but that happens to any genre/style that becomes popular.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

ohh punk as anti capitalist is a fascinating definition, thanks for sharing that

[Mary]

The problem with "steampunk" not being legitimate is that it's one of the oldest ones -- indeed, the second oldest, after cyberpunk. It would be odd indeed if it were the odd, illegitimate one.

[Nicky]

Thanks Don & Jan. I'll soon find out for myself. I'm only on page 32, so I obviously have yet to make a good dent in it. (Metaphorically speaking, of course... oh that would be a shame.)

[Esther]

A great second book in a trilogy
The Second Rebel
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sarina]

I'm still reading the ebook of Canellian Eye : Prophecy, but I'm also starting the audibook of Neverwhere today! I tend to read ebooks or paperbacks on my lunch breaks, so audiobooks are ideal when I'm commuting.

[Beth]

So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 4: the fourth volume of a translated "light novel" (Japanese YA) series that has been adapted into a very popular anime series. Scattershot, seat of the pants storytelling--and probably massive retconning, at some point--marks this as a story that started off as a web serial. It's enjoyable, funny and sometimes frustrating. My review of this volume is largely about how I enjoy nitpicking at it. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lost Planet Airman]

A little above-and-beyond the usual Club books this month:

Y: The Last Man series in preparation for the streaming television adaptation. Not sure how well live-action Yorrick Brown will do against the version of his voice that's inside my head...

I found dead-tree book editions of Marvel Zombies: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 (and 2 and 3) in my local library, and am attempting a reread in October...

I have a challenge to finish a book of 150+ pages this week, and it so happened that the Maryland One Book for 2021 is The Book of Delights by poet Ross Gay, so trying to knock _that_ off my Friday midnight... (but it is a delight in itself, so this one is easy).

[Beth]

Raucous wrote: "I wonder what it's like to be a model for these covers."

A lot of self-pub cover images are from stock photo sites*, so much so that I've frequently seen the exact same image on multiple covers. The models might not have any idea what uses their photo from that modeling session years ago, might have been put to.

*I am convinced a lot of them come from adult sites, too, photoshopped to conceal the naughty bits.

[Esther]

I was so looking forward to reading something by this author - my mistake - 2 stars.

Under the Whispering Door

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

[Divya]

I am trying to read more of Japanese Literature in 2021 than I did in previous years.

[Beth]

The Princess Diaries: I had a great time with this book, despite being somewhere between 20 and 40 years late to the party. (review)