What books are on your nightstand?

[Gem , Belle]

In other words, what are you currently reading?

[Shanna]

Besides our group book I am listening to A Crown of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass and also Renegades by Melissa Meyer. I’m also reading the graphic novel edition of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

[Kyle]

Oh, I just picked up Renegades a couple days ago at the local used book store! I've heard good things about Meyer and it will the first book of hers I've read when I get to it.

After Once Upon a Dream, I plan on reading the Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, a YA fantasy written in the 70s. My mother gifted it to me a couple months back, it was among her favorites from when she was younger and I've been meaning to get to it.

[Gem , Belle]

I am reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky as I'm the discussion leader for that in another group. I've also started Fairy Tale by Stephen King and of course Once Upon a Dream.

I just went to the library today to pick up other books for other groups for November: Take My Hand, Eight Perfect Murders, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and The Satanic Verses. I'm not sure I'll get through The Satanic Verses, I tried reading it once before and lost interest in it. I have a couple more books I'm in the queue on.

[Kyle]

King's Fairy Tale has been an anticipated read for me, will be curious to see how you like it. And I see that Shanna read and loved it. I'm a fan of his Dark Tower series (especially the first four books) so I was excited to see another dark fantasy title from him.

[Shanna]

I did! It’s a stunning work of art of a book. I did listen to it and it was 25 hours I believe so it’s quite hefty but I love when King delves into fantasy. It seems a bit meandering I’m the beginning but it’s so good.

Renegades is ok. It’s not anything spectacular or riveting but I am enjoying it.

[Lisa]

I generally have three or four books going at once, but one is always an audiobook. I just finished A Doomful of Sugar last night. That is a cozy mystery and was good, but not anything phenomenal. I am currently reading The Ugly Princess, which I was lucky enough to win from one of the giveaways here. I am loving it so far. The audiobook I will be starting next is The Slow March, a historical fiction about East and West Berlin. So far I am only on page 25 of Once Upon a Dream, but will be reading more in a bit. Heavy books are a bit of a chore for me to read, but it is intriguing and enjoyable so far. Fairy Tale was put on my to read list too, but that one will have to be audiobook for sure. Looking forward to see how Kyle likes Riddle Master. It sounds cool, so put it on my list too.

[Bonnie]

I usually have a few going, too. I'm early into Rosemary and Rue, the Four Agreements and need to pick another one.

[Gem , Belle]

Kyle wrote: "King's Fairy Tale has been an anticipated read for me, will be curious to see how you like it. And I see that Shanna read and loved it. I'm a fan of his Dark Tower series (especially the first four..."

It was fabulous. Let me tell you it read to me like a YA novel. The protagonist was a 17-year-old high school student. That doesn't bother me but my love does like YA books so he passed on this one. The other thing is that a lot of folks shelved this as "horror" and I have to question if that was simply because Stephen King wrote it and he's known for horror? There were some dark aspects of it, good vs. evil, but no more so than The Lord of the Rings.

[Shanna]

Did you listen to it? I absolutely loved the narrator. I think certain aspects of the story are so much better being listened to. Like Claudia, God love her. 😆

[Gem , Belle]

Shanna wrote: "Did you listen to it? I absolutely loved the narrator. I think certain aspects of the story are so much better being listened to. Like Claudia, God love her. 😆"

No, I read it. I actually want to buy this book. I'll wait a while and try to get one used because I want to read it again. I'll see about getting on the list for the audio book since you are recommending it.

My favorite narrator is Jim Dale who did the Harry Potter series. I loved the various voices... right up my alley.

[Kyle]

Thanks for letting me know. YA is definitely not a bother to me and I was guessing it was more just along the dark fantasy lines rather than horror (a lot of Stephen King feels more like suspense to me than straight-up horror anyway... just his reputation I guess that gets all of his books labeled that way maybe).

Will certainly look to pick up a copy to read if it goes on a good sale or I see it in one of the used bookstores I frequent.

[Gem , Belle]

I'm still reading Crime and Punishment and will be through the end of December, I'm leading the discussion in another group.

I finished Eight Perfect Murders and Winnie-the-Pooh. What a joy Winnie-the Pooh was, so many memories. I started reading The Satanic Verses but abandoned it... maybe too soon but I didn't understand what I was reading. Maybe it was due to cultural differences but I couldn't make sense of it and to stop and look things up would have taken far too long. Maybe another time.

I'm halfway through Take My Hand and it's really ticking me off. Being young, black, and poor should not be a reason for others to slap the label "feeble-minded" on you or for them to make decisions about your reproductive abilities/rights. I was completely unaware of these injustices prior to beginning this book. That said the book is well written and I'll likely read more written by the author.

I started reading Catch-22 but I'm going to switch to audio when I finish A Court of Thorns and Roses which I'm currently listening to and really enjoying.

Additionally I've checked out The Once and Future King which has been on my TBR list forever. I've picked up some of the books for my group reads in December, the rest are on order: Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker, The Bell Jar, Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery, and Suttree. Another personal selection is Emily of the New Moon. I hope to get the rest of my December selections within the next week or so.

[Lisa]

Wow! Gem, some of those are "heavy" books. I admire that you choose what you are going to be reading in advance. That is something I rarely do. As I finish one book, I choose the next one I want to read. Occasionally, I will have audio books borrowed in advance from Hoopla because there is a limit of 6 per month and they are borrowed for 21 days, so if I am getting close to the end of the month and have loans still available (rare) I go ahead and look through my to be read list to try to find some. In fact, I have two loans left this month, so will be doing that this weekend.

[Gem , Belle]

Lisa wrote: "Wow! Gem, some of those are "heavy" books. I admire that you choose what you are going to be reading in advance. That is something I rarely do. As I finish one book, I choose the next one I want to..."

I find if I don't have a plan then I don't get through the books I want to read. I love to read and having a plan helps.

[Lisa]

Gem, I totally get that because there are so many books I own, both ebooks and physical books, that I haven't gotten to yet. Often one of my daughters and I will be talking and I will remember that I still need to read a certain book, but already have three or four going and then just grab another one when I'm finished with one. I don't do a lot of physical books any more (and I really miss that) because even with my book pad, they are hard for my hands to handle. That is the main reason it took so long reading Once Upon a Dream.

[Lisa]

Right now I am reading A Tropical Frontier: The Last Resort on my kindle. This is one of a series of books that I started when I won the first one from Goodreads and I fell in love with the series. I have been fortunate to win three of the titles in the series! I am reading Just So Stories to my grand-daughter in England with an app we use and will be finishing that soon. After I finish that I will be starting Half Magic by Edward Eager with her. I will be starting The Nutcracker today even though it isn't December yet (need to get a jump on that since I am discussion leader). For my audio book I am currently listening to The Hunger Between Us, which is a historical fiction about WWII Russia. The next audiobooks I will be listening to are The Last Ever After, which is the third book in the School for Good and Evil series, A Curious Beginning, and Curse Undone, which is the second of a Rumplestiltskin retelling. The first of that series was Gold Spun.

[Susan]

Nightstand: Daemon Voices
Non-fic: Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës
Re-telling: just finished Nocturne
Audiobook: Jimmy The Kid This one is for my 2023 RAD (Read All the Dortmunders) challenge. (Stumblebum heist stories do make the household chores fly by.)

[Bonnie]

Nightshtand: Eyes of the Void
Non-Fic: Still working through Caste