What are you reading in October 2022?

[Chris, Moderator]

Please share what you're reading this month (October 2022), and any comments you'd like to make about the book(s).

All genres welcome here!

[Shel, Moderator]

I have Upgrade out of the library and ready to start, but I've been feeling a little out of it this week and not up to a book that's as intense as this probably is, so I've been re-reading the Belgariad series, an old favorite.

[Chris, Moderator]

I just finished On Juneteenth. This is a nonfiction collection of essays by a black woman who grew up in a small town about ten miles north of where I live in Texas. I thought it was wonderfully written, recounting the history of slavery and segregation in Texas from a much more individualized and inclusive viewpoint than what we think of as "mainstream" Texas history.

[Random]

Woops, I think I posted to the wrong thread initially. :D

I lost track of time and what was being read when and with my utterly frazzled brain in September, didn't realize that we were reading Upgrade this month until 2 days ago.

I started yesterday evening and so far have been enjoying it quite a bit. I'm already 20% in so its been going fast.

After this, I'll be hitting The Tombs of Atuan (my favorite Earthsea) and then Nona the Ninth.

After that, we're back into who knows territory. :D

[Mary]

Lord of Beasts by Kit Sun Cheah

[Ken]

Finished a couple of books
Thunderball, it was good. A bit different than the other Fleming Bonds. Apparently he cribbed it from a spec script he was writing with a few other folks. Hence the issues with SPECTRE and the two versions of Thunderball movies
Read General Practice
It is an omnibus, I read the first book, Code Blue - Emergency
It was really really good. The Sector General books are all very good

Started The Runes of the Earth
The first book in the final Thomas Covenant series
Starting out pretty good

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Ken wrote: "Started The Runes of the Earth
The first book in the final Thomas Covenant series
Starting out pretty good."

I plan to reread the Covenant books before tackling the final series. But slowly, with other things interspersed. It’s a bit dark, as I recall.

[Nyssa]

I am currently reading The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin and Bloodline by Will Wight.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished my Belgariad re-read - was tempted to go straight on to the second series, the Malloreon, but I have a ton of library loans that are all in at the same time. Going to start Upgrade next.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I’m currently reading The Annals of the Heechee by Frederik Pohl as I continue to work my way through his Heechee Saga.

[Ken]

Kathi wrote: "I plan to reread the Covenant books before tackling the final series. But slowly, with other things interspersed. It’s a bit dark, as I recall.."

I did, last time I read them was high school. So the last couple of years I have been doing a reread

[Random]

Shel wrote: "I finished my Belgariad re-read - was tempted to go straight on to the second series, the Malloreon, but I have a ton of library loans that are all in at the same time

The Belgariad and Mallorean are favorite rereads for me. light simple and fun :)

So finished Upgrade a few days ago.
Finished The Tombs of Atuan during lunch.

Was about to start Nona the Ninth, but then started thinking maybe I want to reread the previous 2 books first. Haven't made up my mind yet.

[Mary]

Spear of the Night by Kit Sun Cheah

[Shel, Moderator]

Random wrote: "The Belgariad and Mallorean are favorite rereads for me. light simple and fun :)."

EXACTLY. A bit dated and I probably wouldn't love them so much if I read them for the first time today, but the nostalgia factor is strong :)

I ripped through Upgrade in a day - just as un-putdownable as his others. Now I'm on The Atrocity Archives, the first of the Laundry books by Charles Stross, which I've been meaning to read for ages.

[Nyssa]

Nyssa wrote: "I am currently reading The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin and Bloodline by Will Wight."

I completed the above novels a few days ago, and I am now reading Seven Cleopatra Hill by Justin Holley and Reaper by Will Wight; the latter of which has most of my attention at the moment.

The Cradle series is quite enjoyable. Book #11 (the next one) came out a few months ago, and I believe there is just one more expected after that. A part of me wishes we (the buddy-reads group with whom I'm reading the series) had waited until the series was done, but that could be a year from now.

[Nyssa]

Shel wrote: "Now I'm on The Atrocity Archives, the first of the Laundry books by Charles Stross, which I've been meaning to read for ages."

I have also wanted to read this for ages, but it will have to wait a bit longer as I am reading a few other series right now.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I finally finished The Annals of the Heechee by Frederik Pohl. Comments in our BotM folder since I started this series with our group read of Gateway.

The Tombs of Atuan is next.

[Mary]

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art and Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud

[Random]

and I decided to start at the beginning

Finished Gideon the Ninth
Finished Harrow the Ninth and really glad I reread it as a lot happens, especially in the last about 1/3 of the book.
Started Nona the Ninth last night and so far, I'm really curious as to what is going on. Enjoying myself however.

[Shel, Moderator]

I liked but didn't love The Atrocity Archives - it never quite grabbed me, so it took me more than a week to read (that's a long time for me, especially since the book wasn't especially long). A little too much technobabble that made my eyes glaze over a bit. That said, I will likely continue the series someday, just not right now.

I then zipped through Artificial Condition, coming very late to the Murderbot novellas. I read the first one just earlier this year. Such fun!!

I don't remember where I learned about this book, but my next read was out of genre, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. It's a captivating and heartwrenching story of a situation where no one was in the wrong and no one was in the right, and the lack of communication had tragic consequences. I also learned quite a lot about the Hmong, their culture and their history. It was excellent.

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas is up next, for another group I'm in.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

My comments about The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin are in our discussion folder for the Earthsea series.

Witch of the North by Courtway Jones, book 2 in the Dragon’s Heirs series, earned a 8/10. Such an interesting twist on the most common version of the Arthurian legend and the story of Camelot! While the first book in this trilogy followed the life of Arthur, this one is Morgan’s story, although the two tales intertwine. The different perspective does not alter the bitterness of the dissolution of The Fellowship of the Round Table and the betrayals that lead to Camelot’s downfall. Life away from the High King’s court is the focus of most of the book and it’s an entertaining story. It will be interesting to see what the third book brings.

Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman was another 8/10. Navajo Tribal Police officers Leaphorn and Chee together—so good! The ending was a bit abrupt and there were still unanswered questions, at least for me, but it certainly held my interest and I read it in one sitting!

Another mystery/thriller to finish off October and fulfill this month’s prompt in the Better World Books 2022 Reading Challenge: The Devil's Teardrop by Jeffery Deaver. I’m about 30% done but hope to finish it by the end of the month. We’ll see.

[Ken]

Finished Runes of the Earth, the first book of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
It was very good. Donaldson has definitely become a better writer
over the years.
Started a Jack Reacher book, The Hard Way