What are you reading in July 2023?

[Shel, Moderator]

What books are keeping you busy this month? Let us know - all genres welcome!

[Christine]

I finished Wrong Place Wrong Time which I enjoyed and am now reading The Maid

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am about halfway through Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky—didn’t read as much as normal on the plane because I actually slept!

[Chris, Moderator]

The 2023 Hugo nominations are out (books published in 2022). Several books that we've read have been nominated:

* Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree is nominated for Best Novel
* The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is nominated for Best Novel
* The Childen of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky is nominated for Best Series (we read all three books)
* The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir is nominated for Best Series (we read Gideon the Ninth)

[Ken]

been tardy posting
Finished A Brightness Long Ago
Kay is an amazing writer, this one wasnt one of his best but it was unputdownable
Slowly still working through Decent Interval, about the end of the Vietnam war, which was worse than I thought

Started another John Rebus book
Saints of the Shadow Bible

[Shel, Moderator]

I started The Mountain in the Sea and was having a hard time getting into it, so I took a break to read a few out of genre that I'd picked up from the library. One was excellent (Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, which I've been meaning to read for a while - highly recommended) and the other was meh (Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti, which tried to be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and failed). I'm going to give Mountain in the Sea another try next. I've also just picked up my copy of The Spirit Ring from the library.

[Leserling]

I am re-listening to the Farseer series by Robin Hobb. Currently on book 2, Royal Assassin

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Leserling wrote: "I am re-listening to the Farseer series by Robin Hobb. Currently on book 2, Royal Assassin"

Ooh, one of my all-time favorite series!

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Let’s see, I finished Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 8.5/10, and put some comments in our BotM thread from back when the group read it.

Then I read MaddAddamby Margaret Atwood, 10/10, and put some comments in our series read folder.

Now I’m reading Shadowheart by Tad Williams for a different Goodreads group, and then I’ll be reading The Spirit Ring for this month’s BotM discussion.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Shadowheart by Tad Williams, 9/10. A happy ending to the Shadowmarch series? Not really, but a satisfying one, and one that feels right, given the overall arc of the whole story. The main characters appear to have accepted who they now are in this changed world, growing over the 4 books into the people they must be going forward. Many, but certainly not all, questions were answered, which allows the reader to speculate a bit. (view spoiler)[Like whether there are Qar in the southern lands, how Vash and Prusus do in ruling Xi/Xand, whether Briony and Vansen ever marry, if Barrick succeeds in awakening Qinnitan, and what Flint discovers as he wanders the world. (hide spoiler)] Certainly there was a lot of death and destruction and I would not have missed some of the details of the more gruesome deaths if he had left them out, but the author seemed to realize that he had a lot of characters to bring together and a lot of loose ends to tie up, so there seemed to be a bit more emphasis on moving the plot(s) and less on the more tedious descriptions. The author has again shown he can take a story with many diverse threads and weave a marvelous, complex tapestry. His characters have depth and are multifaceted, his plots have surprising twists but he lays the groundwork for those unexpected moments so they make sense, and his world-building is excellent.

The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold, 6.5/10. My comments are in our BotM folder.

The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman, 7/10. Good mystery although Bernie Manuelito had center stage rather than Chee or Leaphorn. And there was a truly unlikely hero in the end.

Now about halfway through The Wild Irish by Robin Maxwell, and then I’ll be back in genre with Alchymist: A Tale Of The Three Worlds by Ian Irvine and Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

[Shel, Moderator]

I finished both The Mountain in the Sea and The Spirit Ring, and have commented on both of the spoiler threads with my thoughts.

Now I am (finally) reading Ancillary Justice, which I've been meaning to read for AGES - I finally got a kick in the pants to read it when we voted on Translation State for August, since it takes place in the same universe. I'm not very far in but I'm already hooked!

[Mary]

Sword of Sorrow, Blade of Joy by J.F. Lee

[Mary]

Fangs of the Black Tiger by J.F. Lee

[Mary]

Arranged Companions: Marriage and Intimacy in Qing China by Weijing Lu

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I am still only halfway through The Wild Irish by Robin Maxwell, so that book will likely carry over to August, as will Alchymist: A Tale Of The Three Worlds by Ian Irvine and Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, both of which I had hoped to finish this month.

Instead, I’ve been listening to audio books—I had eyelid surgery and am on an icing schedule that requires closed eyes, so very little reading. I listened to The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (9.5/10, comments in our discussion thread for past Books of the Month) and a Neil Gaiman story, Click-Clack the Rattlebag (8/10). I have another shortish story queued up, Slow Time Between the Stars by John Scalzi that I hope to finish by the end of the month.

[Peta]

I finished Fairy Tale by Stephen King, a couple of autobiographies by Mark Cavendish (in preparation for Le Tour de France) and Sam Neil. Also the Ferryman by James Cronin and I am now about 200 pages in to Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton.