What Else Are You Reading in 2023? Showing 251-300 of 1,880

[Mel]

Haha, I love the solidarity!

Also, finished T. Kingfisher's Illuminations and found it much in the same vein as A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I find it likely if you're a fan of one, you'll like the other. I personally think I preferred Illuminations, but that could be the recently-finished bias speaking, since I have all the little witticisms fresh in my head, or my love of art and art history edging out my fondness for gingerbread.

Although baking also made its appearance in this one too, come to think of it! Stress-baking, anyone?
She snagged a muffin on the way out though. It tasted of blueberries and anxiety.

[Tyler]

For anyone who likes SciFi found the order to read Star Wars.

https://austin.bibliocommons.com/list...

[Brandon]

Tyler wrote: "For anyone who likes SciFi found the order to read Star Wars.

https://austin.bibliocommons.com/list..."

A more comprehensive guide to both canon and Legends is starwarsreadingorder.com. Wookieepedia would probably also tell you which books are set in which time. Since there is so much Star Wars published, I would suggest people just start with something that looks interesting to them that they can lay their hands on and expand out from there.

[Lana ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ]

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

[Kirsten]

Allison wrote: "Haha it's Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor!"

Thanks guys! My "add book/author" function was not functioning yesterday.

[Rick]

I finished Nettle & Bone by the unknown T. Kingfisher. We should talk about them more... :)

Oddly, some of the 3 star reviews made me dubious but it came off library hold very quickly so I dove in and it was quite good.




(Yes, I know they get a lot of play here. )

[Tyler]

Brandon yes there a TON of Star Wars books lol

[Ellen]

I finished The Mists of Avalon. It was a bit like work to get through it. Very repetitive . I also found it was hard not to be prejudiced by Marion Zimmer Bradley's history. I did not find it to be the awesome fantasy book I always heard it was.

[Dj]

Ellen wrote: "I finished The Mists of Avalon. It was a bit like work to get through it. Very repetitive . I also found it was hard not to be prejudiced by Marion Zimmer Bradley's..."

problematic artists are part of the reason I don't read their bios. Now mostly, for me, this applies to music artists, since by and large they tend to be more problematic than writers. Especially since my music tastes tends to be 70s guitar rock. While the 70s (in my less than humble opion) came out with some of the best music ever, it also had bands and companies that didn't have a really good sensor on moral fortitude. I hate giving up things I enjoy because the artist is pond scum

[Ian]

I tried Mists of Avalon when it appeared, and did not like the take on Celtic culture or the Arthurian legend, and also found it repetitive. I stopped reading partway through.

Which was unusual for me because I was a Marion Zimmer Bradley fan. I even published her account of writing the Darkover books in a fanzine I edited. (It has been reprinted elsewhere, sometimes with acknowledgment.)

I now have serious problems with reading her: I can’t avoid what came out about her treatment of her children., in particular.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

We have a thread for this topic! :)

Problematic Authors

[DivaDiane]

I just finished Neom, by Lavie Tidhar.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

I’ve been meaning to read something of his forever. I may have read a short story or two listening to SF fiction podcasts, but I don’t remember which ones. At any rate Neom is a wonderful novella set in a far future Earth with robots, space travel and far-flung settlements, Wild AI, uplifted Jackals, miniature black holes used as power and so much more. I’m looking forward to reading Central Station in the same setting.

[Michelle]

I finished Gobbelino London & a Worry of Weres last night. I hope the next one will be published post-haste 🐱. After that I started another Netgalley read, but it turns out that it's horror with a smattering of sci-fi. I am not a fan of the horror genre, so I'm not enjoying it. It's entirely my fault for missing that tag in Netgalley. I'm sticking with it at the moment because I would really like to avoid another DNF. Besides that, the author writes well so I should give it a fair shake.

[Kirsten]

Tyler wrote: "Brandon yes there a TON of Star Wars books lol"

I've only read one Star Wars book and I could not put it down: Splinter of the Mind's Eye

[Lizzie]

Just finished Zone One by Colson Whitehead and starting re-reading Thirst by Benjamin Warner

[Lizzie]

Also to climb on the Star Wars discussion a bit if that's ok I really enjoyed the collection of short stories Star 'A Certain Point of View'

[Oleksandr]

I've finished 2022 fantasy novella High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson, which is already in Locus longlist and may end-up among Hugo/Nebula nominations as her previous works. I hasn't worked for me. Review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jan]

I've started Children of Time. My first Adrian Tchaikovsky. Yeah, late to the party, I know. The book's intriguing so far, although I admit I'm not a fan of (view spoiler)[spiders (hide spoiler)]. Will see where it goes.

[Michelle]

Lizzie wrote: "Also to climb on the Star Wars discussion a bit if that's ok I really enjoyed the collection of short stories Star 'A Certain Point of View'"

I have that book although I haven't gotten around to it yet. Good news that it's enjoyable!

[Oleksandr]

Jan wrote: "I've started Children of Time. My first Adrian Tchaikovsky. .."

Welcome to the club!

[Phrynne]

I finished Under the Whispering Door. I thought it was a nice book but not a brilliant one. Maybe a little bit too sweet and definitely overloaded with platitudes. But still very readable.
My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Oleksandr]

Phrynne wrote: "I finished Under the Whispering Door. I thought it was a nice book but not a brilliant one.."

Agreed

[Brett]

Stephen Graham Jones' Mongrels and Liu Cixin's The Dark Forest (latter is taking me way too long for a novel).

[Eric]

I completed Remnant Population. My first by Elizabeth Moon. Four stars. I will have to check out other by this author.

[Alexandra]

Eric wrote: "I completed Remnant Population. My first by Elizabeth Moon. Four stars. I will have to check out other by this author."

I've read it about a month ago. I was very impressed, a great book.

[Colin]

Eric wrote: "I completed Remnant Population. My first by Elizabeth Moon. Four stars. I will have to check out other by this author."

If you are interested in other books by Elizabeth Moon, try Sheepfarmer's Daughter. This is the first of a series and well-worth the read.

[Eric]

Thanks for the tip.

[David]

Also check out the series Vatta's war by Elizabeth Moon if you liked her SF

[Lizzie]

Michelle wrote: "Lizzie wrote: "Also to climb on the Star Wars discussion a bit if that's ok I really enjoyed the collection of short stories Star 'A Certain Point of View'"

I have that book although I haven't got..."

I really recommend it! Some of the short stories are brilliant and the points of view really add to the lore and the characterisation was good!

[Kaia]

Eric wrote: "I completed Remnant Population. My first by Elizabeth Moon. Four stars. I will have to check out other by this author."

I am reading this right now and really enjoying it! It’s my first book by Elizabeth Moon also. Thanks, David and Colin, for the recommendation for other works by her.

[Christopher]

At the end of last year I read The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham and it starts with a series of unexplained objects hurtling through the sky to crash into our oceans which are dismissed in various ways by the media. So it's weird to hear about these recent unexplained objects being shot out of the sky in Alaska & Canada although I'm sure there's good explanations for them all.

[Jan]

Oleksandr wrote: "Jan wrote: "I've started Children of Time. My first Adrian Tchaikovsky. .."

Welcome to the club!"

:)

[Kirsten]

I've been reading The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan.

[Jan]

Eric wrote: "I completed Remnant Population. My first by Elizabeth Moon. Four stars. I will have to check out other by this author."

Yeah I really liked that one too.

[Marc]

Finished PK DIck's Ubik. a slow start at first, trying to get into his universe, the lingo, the setting, but once I got into it, an interesting story, plenty of twists and turns.

Anyhoo, now on to Daniel Keyes' Flowers For Algernon!

[Najaf]

Babel, terry pratchett, Caimh McDonnell and ken bruen.

Probably get back to aquila rift and blake crouch's upgrade.

[Sam]

Completed the third space odyssey which occurs less than forty years from now...I was very impressed when Mount Zeus was revealed to be a volcano. Yes, a volcano on Jupiter. And the discovery of diamonds on Europa seemed interesting as they referenced it in a 1981 Nature article. Soon, maybe sometime next month, I will have completed the entire space odyssey with 3001, which is less than a thousand years from now. Arthur C. Clarke is a real genius, and a favorite one at that! Also, I am still looking at old works of the legendary Philip K. Dick and Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov and still enjoying them. I might continue reading them into the spring, but I may have moved onto other exciting SF writers by then.

[Oleksandr]

I've finished the debut novel by David Brin - Sundiver (1980) - an interesting mix of space opera, hard SF and murder mystery. I guess it shows the unused path SF could have gone, but it went to cyberpunk instead. My 4-star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Michelle]

I re-read The Thief again last night since it's one of my comfort series, and I needed comfort :) Tonight I'm about to begin Resolute, and I am so excited to read it!!

[Meredith]

Oleksandr wrote: "I've finished the debut novel by David Brin - Sundiver (1980) - an interesting mix of space opera, hard SF and murder mystery. I guess it shows the unused path SF could ..."

This sounds really interesting!

[Rick]

Reading Ada Hoffmann's The Fallen which is a bit slow to start but picks up nicely. Second in a series.

[Marc]

Oleksandr wrote: "I've finished the debut novel by David Brin - Sundiver (1980) - an interesting mix of space opera, hard SF and murder mystery. I guess it shows the unused path SF could ..."

the next two are even better! Startide Rising then Uplift War! I haven't read the remaining books in that universe yet. But you are in for a treat reading those two!

[CBRetriever]

I seem to remember trying to read Sundiver back when it first came out and couldn't make it through the book

[Mel]

Have never gotten around to the Uplift Saga, but I remember David Brin's Glory Season introducing me to the Game of Life. I was maybe in junior high at the time, and thought it was the coolest thing, trying to imagine the frenzied clatter and flipping of tiles. Like Go in it's strategy of laying tiles, I even pretended to play games by myself using black and white stones.

It wasn't until years later that I realized it was a Real Thing. (!) Not as a competitive game perhaps, but still, to see the shooters come to life as pixels broke my brain a little. It was like discovering a fantastical creature or bit of magical lore from your childhood actually exists.

Maybe someday I'll get to the Uplift Saga.

@CBRetriever - it seems like some people skip over Sundiver entirely and start off with Startide Rising. Maybe you'd have better luck with that one.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

We should really get Brin on our shelf this year...

[Oleksandr]

Meredith wrote: "This sounds really interesting!"

Yes, it has some flaws a lot o debut novels have - like being all over the place and some tech is obsolete even now (it is great how some tech progresses in 40 years!)

CBRetriever wrote: "I seem to remember trying to read Sundiver back when it first came out and couldn't make it through the book"

I also tried it initially a decade or so ago and could move thru the 1st chapter. Now I know that the story really starts up a bit later.

Ryan wrote: "We should really get Brin on our shelf this year..."

I suggest The Postman, it was written a tad later, in 1984 I guess, and got a Hugo nomination

[CBRetriever]

Oleksandr wrote: "I suggest The Postman, it was written a tad later, in 1984 I guess, and got a Hugo nomination ."

that one I thought was pretty good though the Costner movie made a hash out of it

[Stephen]

I am currently about halfway through Sundiver myself. I’m finding it interesting and readable enough.

[Ryan, Your favourite moderators favourite moderator]

I'm a big fan of The Postman! It's actually three short stories that were collected together as a novel, which goes someway in explaining why... it is how it is. I'd love to talk about it with the group. . I've tried to get it on the shelf twice and have already laid plans for my third attempt. :)

[CBRetriever]

Ryan wrote: "I'm a big fan of The Postman! It's actually three short stories that were collected together as a novel, which goes someway in explaining why... it is how it is. I'd love to talk about it with the ..."

I'll second when someone nominates it