What are you reading in March 2022?

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

New month, new books… Let us know what you’re reading this month (March 2022), and what you think of the books. All genres welcome here!

[Mary]

The Accidental Superheroine by J.R. Rain and Kris Carey

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I’m devouring Song of the Beast—80% done!

[Chris, Moderator]

I'm reading Mockingbird. It's about another robot apocalypse, but one where humanity has simply allowed robots to take over and run things. It has aged a bit, but I'm finding it an interesting juxtaposition to our monthly read, Sea of Rust.

[Mary]

The Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition, Vol. 1: Ocarina of Time Parts 1 & 2 by Akira Himekawa

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Starting The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin tonight.

[MadProfessah]

Just started RAZORBLADE TEARS by S. A. CROSBY.

[T.]

I'm finishing up Sundiver and looking forward to starting Sea of Rust.

I'm also almost done reading Legends. How did I never read this book before? These stories are amazing!

[Shel, Moderator]

I was away for an unexpectedly extended vacation and got to do a lot of reading there - finished Sundiver, Inversions, and a few out of genre - The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence and The Last Time We Say Goodbye.

I'm on a memoir right now, The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had): A Memoir, which was a free kindle read a few months back that I'm just getting around to, and then I'll get back to group reads (either Sea of Rust, Song of the Beast, or Startide Rising depending on mood/availability).

[Mary]

The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South by Robert D. San Souci

[Nyssa]

Right now, I'm switching between Blackflame by Will Wight and The Guild of the Cowry Catchers by Abigail Hilton - the latter taking me much longer to read than expected.

Once I have finished one of them, I plan to get a head start on whichever of my April selections wins the poll I started over here.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield are both in contention.

[Random]

Dark Matter was so good that when Recursion came out I grabbed it not only because the description sounded good but because he wrote it.

And Recursion blew my mind so much that he is now in the "I want to read anything he has written, is currently writing, will write sometime in the future" category. Looking forward to April.

[Shel, Moderator]

Random wrote: "Dark Matter was so good that when Recursion came out I grabbed it not only because the description sounded good but because he wrote it.

And Recursion blew my mind ..."

Recursion kept me up waaaaay past my bedtime. So good! I'm excited to read Dark Matter.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished The Stone Sky, book 3 in N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Wow! 10/10. Definitely reading more Jemisin in the future.

I’m doing a 2022 Reading Challenge through Better World Books, and this month’s genre is true crime—not something I usually read. But I had a book I had downloaded free from Amazon as one of their promotions for authors from outside the US, so my current read is The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator by Joakim Palmkvist of Sweden.

[Leticia]

I do want to start Sundiver soon. Apart from that I am hearing the audiobook of Signal to Noise. I'm in a bit of a reading slump too though.

[Shel, Moderator]

I started Song of the Beast last night. Not very far in but already loving it. No surprise, as I've loved the other books of hers that I've read!

[Random]

I have given up on Sundiver for the moment. I just don't seem to want to focus on it.

Went a head and started Pines last night. So far its been interesting.

[Shel, Moderator]

Sundiver is a tough one. And honestly, the next book takes place 200 years later so you can skip it if you want.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Back into The Dagger and the Coin series with The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham. Circumstances led me to read book 1 in Sept. 2021, book 2 in Dec. 2021, and book 3 now. I generally don’t like so much time between books in a series (and so many other books), but it hasn’t taken long for me to immerse myself back into this world and this story.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Well, that was good! The Tyrant's Law gets a 10/10–can’t wait to get to the next book, but I’m going to take a short break and finish up the Invisible Library series by reading The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Oops! I started The Untold Story and realized I had not yet read The Dark Archive! Huge spoiler in the first 2 pages of the book I shouldn’t have started—darn! Oh well, I quit that book and am backtracking to read The Dark Archive. (I think I was saving it so I could read the last 2 books in the series together, but then I forgot that I had planned to do that. Sheesh!)

[Shel, Moderator]

I just finished Song of the Beast, and have to decide whether to pick up Sea of Rust or Startide Rising next, both for our group reads. Decisions decisions!

[Mary]

Apples of Immortality: Folktales of Armenia by Leon Z. Surmelian

[Shel, Moderator]

My son is doing a book report on The Serpent's Secret and was having a hard time, so I read it this afternoon to be able to help him out. I can zip through your average middle grade book in a few hours so I read it while he was at a youth group event this afternoon. Nice to read a book for kids that's based on Indian and Bengali folk stories!

Startide Rising will be next.

[Random]

Finished Wayward and started The Last Town: Book 3 of the Wayward Pines Trilogy

Been enjoying them. Not sure yet what I'll want to hit after.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finished The Dark Archive, dove right into The Untold Story, and am about half done. NCAA March Madness will likely cut into my reading time, but I have Magnificat up next.

[MadProfessah]

Im trading “Your House Will Pay” by Steph Cha about the Latasha Harlins case we in LA.

Im planning and reading SEA OF RUST soon

[Mary]

Cloud-Castles by Dave Freer

[Mary]

The Lost War by Karl K. Gallagher

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished Startide Rising and have started Once Upon a River for next month's discussion (My library loan just came in - I had planned on Sea of Rust next, but we own that one so it can wait).

[MadProfessah]

I decided to try and finish the Koli trilogy first before starting SEA OF RUST. I’m on book 2 THE TRIALS OF KOLI…

[Christine]

I just finished The Starless Crown which I greatly enjoyed and recommend. I am now reading When the Sparrow Falls which so far is not as engaging

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Wrapped up my read of the Galactic Milieu trilogy tonight with Magnificat by Julian May, 9/10, and in doing so, finished the linked series of books (Saga of Pliocene Exile, Intervention, and The Glalctic Milieu). What an amazing set of stories—so imaginative, so wide in scope, so well-executed!

Not sure what’s next.

[MadProfessah]

@Kat I’d love to hear more about what you liked about Julian May’s work. I started the Pliocene era stuff about a decade ago and bounced off the first book really hard.

Maybe you can convince me to try again?

I’m reading book 3 in MR Carey’s Koli trilogy. This is my fifth book by him and I’ve enjoyed every one so far!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

MadProfessah wrote: "I’d love to hear more about what you liked about Julian May’s work. I started the Pliocene era stuff about a decade ago and bounced off the first book really hard.

Maybe you can convince me to try again? "

I can see where May may not be everyone’s cup of tea—she sometimes gets a bit wordy in her descriptions (especially of rooms/decor/clothes) and her plots unfold slowly but steadily. And I used a dictionary fairly often!

But I think she does a great job of exploring big themes of what it means to be human/humane, what independence and freedom mean (especially in terms of choosing one’s future/fate), the various kinds of love and loyalty, and the tension between vision and ambition. Metapsychic powers play a big role in the books and exploring those abilities was also interesting to me.

I committed to reading ALL the books and I really think that becomes necessary to get the fullest picture of May’s universe and the characters who people it, and for the overarching plot to become clear. It took me a year, but I read lots of other things in between the 8 or 9 books of this series (Intervention is sometimes divided into 2 books but usually not).

I think this series holds a unique place in the world of science fiction. But, as with all books, YMMV! 😁

[Christine]

I think I got to the third book of the original series; I quit due to extensive descriptions of so many objects

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Christine wrote: "I think I got to the third book of the original series; I quit due to extensive descriptions of so many objects"

Yes, the descriptions can get to be a bit much. But I got into the various plot threads and, as I went further in the books, the big ideas and themes really made me think.

[Shel, Moderator]

You all have me intrigued. I can handle a slow start - adding to my endless list :)

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shel wrote: "You all have me intrigued. I can handle a slow start - adding to my endless list :)"

I also found the connections to Celtic mythology in the Saga of the Pliocene Exile to be fascinating. My husband’s mother emigrated from Ireland and Irish/Celtic history, mythology, and music are big interests in this house.

[Random]

I just finished . Unfortunately I did not like this book nearly as much as the prior ones set in this world. This book is marred by an astonishing amount of obscenities. I mean almost every character in the book can't speak even 2 sentences without it. It kept breaking the 4th wall for me, reminding me I'm reading a book.

To top that off Gwena - the main POV character - is a really unlikable character who suffers from severe depression for the entire length of the book. Reading through her head monologues kept breaking the 4th wall over and over for me. Always being reminded I'm reading a book. Also, if you are someone who struggles with depression yourself you might want to consider giving this book a pass. The cursing and self-flagellation in the Gwena chapters is just wearying, not adding anything redeeming or humanizing to her character. All it does is highlight over and over that she needs to be on anti-depression meds.

I liked the chapters by other POV characters so their chapters managed to raise this book to a 3 of 5 when otherwise I would've given it a 1...maybe a 2 at best. Even so all the other characters also can't form a sentence without loading up on the obscenities.

I watched Petrik Leo's youtube vid and this is one time where I diverged greatly from his opinion of this book. My experience of it is that this is hands down Staveley's worst book to date. Such a huge let down. It's making me consider dropping the series altogether.

Thankfully it was a library book. I would've been really mad if I'd spent my own money on it. Definitely going to be more wary of future Staveley books now. What a bummer.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Random wrote: "I just finished . Unfortunately I did not like this book nearly as much as the prior ones set in this world. This book is marred by an astonishing amount of o..."

Ugh, thanks for the warning.

I blew through Dust by Patricia Cornwell, which was a solid return to focusing on the murders, the forensics, and the investigations like the early Kay Scarpetta books, so I rated it 8/10.

Now I’m finishing up the Long Earth series with The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.

[Christine]

Glad to hear that Patricia Cornwell has returned to her earlier focus; I'll get Dust

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished Once Upon a River for next month's discussion and thought it was lovely. Looking forward to discussing it with you all! Now I'm finally going to start Sea of Rust. (early on one, late on the other, so I'll average out to reading them on time?)

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Christine wrote: "Glad to hear that Patricia Cornwell has returned to her earlier focus; I'll get Dust"

There is still a lot of angst and internal musing, but I thought it was an improvement over several of books.

[Mary]

Folktales of Chile by Yolando Pino-Saavedra