SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading in 2024?
Last night I finished The Crown of Bones by Jocelyn A. Fox, tonight I'll start The High Crusade by Poul Anderson.
It was a great book! I too am a music fan, a wishful musician (I plink around on guitar, but not serious enough to master the instrument, gotta practice...), love going to concerts, and yeah, this book really strikes close to home, a covid like disease that was more deadly, and apparently no vaccines which left the survivors gunshy about being near other people. Highly recommended!Now, on to a more happy book, Margaret Atwood's the Handmaid's Tale... (I'm being sarcastic here, in preparation for later on, watching the tv series)
Beginning Dune. Enjoyed Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, and hope there's a sequel.
Continuing my Jules Verne micro-study by listening to audiobook 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I am amazed by all the detailed technology. I wish long ago that I had thought to read my to my technologically-minded son when he was a boy.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through Marag. I was hoping to finish this tonight but I don't know if I will. I keep getting distracted! Little Snoopy (the holy terror of a kitten) is continuously tackling all of the adult cats tonight. They're Not Amused. My poor oldest cat in particular can't get away. There must have been something in those kitten treats that I gave him, because holy crap he's hyper 😹
Brett wrote: "That's just him kittening."He's very good at it! Little Tasmanian devil he is, lol.
Well that was a fun book, Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale. Not gonna spoil, makes me quite curious about the TV series! For those of you who don't know, it's a kinda dystopian future, things happen and women of child-bearing age become property to 'Commanders'. Of course, there can only be a few Commanders. And it happened 'recently' that the women remember how it was, careers, education, choices. Won't talk about the ending, again, no spoilers!!Now, on to Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio!
I completed City of Stairs
. A bit slow to start. The author uses annoying, fine print, interludes to fill in story gaps. Interesting characters, so enjoyable. Three stars.
Steadily reading my way through Penric and his amazing travels. This book was Mira's turn to shine. Mira’s Last Dance https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A couple days ago finished up Mort by Terry Pratchett.My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Prefer this Death to the one in The Colour of Magic.
This is a many-times reread for me. And it is still a blast. Peak Pratchett. It goes straight back onto the Reread Shelf.
My review here
Trying something new, started two books at once.
The double-book Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. My copies of the individual novels: Shards of Honor and Barrayar are falling apart from all the rereads over the decades.
Also began Magician: Apprentice Volume 1 by Raymond E. Feist. Gifted the "author's preferred edition" by my wife, it has many of the scenes deleted in the original publication. Hope those add to this wonderful tale.
am on Percy Jackson series then I be moving onto the divergent series
i need help, I have a new step grand daughter who is 11 and loves reading but is shy. I dont see her that much but would really like to encourage her reading as her mum and dad arent readersI think she is an average reader. So any suggestions
@Kate I think there are some threads for kids recommendations around, but I have a daughter who is 11 also.Some series we have enjoyed:
Pseudonymous Bosch’s books
Goosebumps series by RL Stine
Skandar and the Unicorn Thief
Sarah wrote: "@Kate I think there are some threads for kids recommendations around, but I have a daughter who is 11 also.Some series we have enjoyed:
Pseudonymous Bosch’s books
Goosebumps series by RL Stine
S..."
There is a thread! Anna had started it looking for book recs for her niece, I think? I'll try to find it.
And Kateb, I loved The Chronicles of Prydain and The Chronicles of Narnia at that age. Also, Charlotte’s Web.
Still looking, but came across this thread for young readers in the meantime:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And this thread is for several different ages. There are some great recs in it!https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Kateb wrote: "i need help, I have a new step grand daughter who is 11 and loves reading but is shy. I dont see her that much but would really like to encourage her reading as her mum and dad arent readers"The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson is a fantasy story suitable for that age. Predates Harry Potter and Platform 9 3/4, actually, but apparently still a popular book.
thank you all, that should be enough for now, i get the impression she is the only one that reads in the family for entertainment and thus has to find time to readat her age i would carry a book with me everywhere, yet i saw her yesterday and no book. We were watching her sister play soccer, but still i would always have a book
so i have an old touch kindle and i hope to put books on it for her.
Kateb wrote: "thank you all, that should be enough for now, i get the impression she is the only one that reads in the family for entertainment and thus has to find time to readat her age i would carry a book ..."
Hopefully she'll develop a love for reading, Kateb.
I think this is the thread Michelle was thinking of:Books for Children
But!
Please do start a new thread in the Recommendations folder asking for specific types of books, if you want! That way you might get better recs for the particular kid :)
Currently reading Brandon Sanderson's 'The Way of Kings'. I am enjoying it, but the book is so massive I have decided to pause from time to time to read something else!
Chris wrote: "Currently reading Brandon Sanderson's 'The Way of Kings'. I am enjoying it, but the book is so massive I have decided to pause from time to time to read something else!"I'm taking this on my beach vacation in May. Hoping to get thoroughly lost in it.
Finished Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. An interesting book, especially in light of our recent pandemic. It has two main protagonists, a kinda disgraced archeologist who inadvertently got caught up in a theft of mummified remains of what may have been neanderthal's, and a female biologist who happened to be near a crime scene where families were massacred and covered up, and how it ramps up into, well, that's a spoiler! A good book, different than most typical scifi, in that it's biological sciences instead of the typical physics-related science fiction.Anyhoo, now reading it's sequel, Darwin's Children!
Marc wrote: "Finished Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear.i..."Greg Bear writes books that spark and keep my interest. Just good, clean writing about interesting characters and situations.
April reading roundup, since I won't be finishing anything by tomorrow:Armada by Ernest Cline (audio): a serious sophomore slump, in my opinion. (review)
Beware of Chicken 2 by Casualfarmer (audio): this serial's quality has dipped slightly since the first volume. There are quite a few additional point-of-view characters, and in some cases, neither the character nor their story is particularly interesting. (review)
A rather anemic reading month, with no completed "black and white" books. That was mostly because I took on a manga reading challenge in April. I succeeded and was happy about it, but I'm also very ready to get back to my regular reading. :)
Once again, could not put down the Vorkosigan saga once begun. Ripped through Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a double-book of Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Bought the double-book because my originals are falling apart from repeated readings. My rating is 5 stars for Shards and 4 for Barrayar.
My review here
Next up is The Warrior's Apprentice. Magician by Feist went back on the reread Shelf and it looks like a full reread of the Vorkosigan saga.
Marc wrote: "Finished Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear. An interesting book, especially in light of our recent pandemic. It has two main protagonists, a kinda disgraced archeologist who inadvertently got caught up i..."I read and liked that one last year. Yes it is interesting and a little different. Wasn't sure about the sequel though, so I haven't tried it yet. Hope you enjoy.
John wrote: "Charlton wrote: "John wrote: "Charlton wrote: "Just started readingServant of the Shard byR.A. Salvatore. The story of Artemis Entreri,Jarlaxle and the Crystal Shard."..."Those are great :)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
April wrap up outside current group reads:- The Expectant Detectives by Kat Ailes: I listened to this one on audio. A nice cozy mystery. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series.
- The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi: It wasn’t as kaiju focused as I would have liked. A quick, mostly lighthearted read though, in my opinion, the end didn’t really seem to fit. I don’t know, I was just expecting the kaiju to be doing more.
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: My sister-in-law loves this book and gifted me both this one and the sequel. I thought it was okay. I loved the dragons, and the main character was okay for a while, but about halfway through she started to feel annoying. The romance, for me, didn’t feel particularly like enemies to lovers. I never felt like he was much of a threat to her. It’s hard to explain without giving massive spoilers.
- Kindling by Traci Chee: It was disappointing. I didn’t dislike it per se, but I was hoping for more use of the magic system than there actually was. And, while I knew it was inspired by Seven Samurai going into it, it felt too close to the movie for me. The second person, especially where it jumps between 7 characters (and one chapter following an 8th), made it feel a bit disjointed to me. It never felt like I really got enough time to spend with a singular character.
- The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie: I enjoyed it more than the first Hercules Poirot book. I still dislike Captain Hastings. He feels to pretentious to me.
- The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai: This felt a little dry for me. There was a fair bit a liked, I wish it just focused more on the solving parts of the food mysteries.
- Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum: Reminded me a bit of a non-fantasy version of Legends & Lattes. A nice slow-paced story of finding one’s footing and learning as they go.
Top 3 favorite comics/manga I read this month:
- Cat Massage Therapy Vol. 1
- Always Never
- Issunboshi: A Graphic Novel
Currently reading: Your Shadow Half Remains
Currently listening: Murder at Everham Hall
Currrent digital comic: Survival Street
Current physical comic: Third Shift Society, Vol. One
Continued my Vorkosigan saga reread with The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Was going to rate this as 3 stars until I reached the ending. Love the ending. Definitely worth the reread and has me fired up for more.
My review here
Next up is The Vor Game.
Economondos wrote: "Continued my Vorkosigan saga reread with The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Was going to rate this as 3 stars until I reached the ending. Love the ending. Def..."
This series gets better as it goes.
Sneaked in Legends & Lattes because life, and I needed a nice and cozy read. It was soooo good!Picked up Song of the Six Realms in paperback at the train station yesterday.
I already wanted to read an asian inspired fantasy, a standalone, and have you seen that gorgeous cover art?!
Anyway, read the first four chapters on the train, and so far so good!
No worries, The Shadow of the Gods, I'll come back soon, I promise!
Mod
Because I seem to gravitate towards the most outlandish titles, I'm starting Florian Huber's Promise Me You'll Shoot Yourself: The Downfall of Ordinary Germans. The Language of the Third Reich was outstanding. Should be required reading for serious students of media literacy.
Finished Greg Bear's Darwin's Children. it's the sequel to Darwin's Radio. I liked it, hard to describe without spoiling it, since it is a sequel. It did continue the story of the two main protagonists, plus added two more. I think some people might have found it a little improbable pre-pandemic, on how society reacted to the main situation that both books are dealing with. But now post-pandemic? Yeah, I can see something like that happening.Really, the question is, what do we think happens if we humans (aka homo sapiens) evolve? I kinda felt we'd progress towards a more star trek-ian society. But would that really happen? I mean think about it, evolution implies children evolving away from us all towards, hopefully, something better than us. But that doesn't really mean only the enlightened/educated evolve. Nope! And how would we really react if the children do have different capabilities than we do, not superhuman, just a bit different. I suspect many would treat the evolution as some of us do towards those of us with a different race, gender, sexual preference, etc. Interesting questions come up, some of which we may find quite uncomfortable!
Anyhoo, now moving on by going backwards in time, to Gene Wolf's Sword of the Lictor. I've already read the first two books, just now trying to complete the series. Still gotta get book 5, but do have book 4!
Tonight I will start reading The Dark Throne by Jocelyn A. Fox , this is the 3rd in the Fae War Chronicles. The first 2 were really good so I got my hopes up.
Finished up The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold before breakfast today.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a good bit of space opera. I like the character of young Miles. If this isn't my favorite Vorkosigan book, it is because I know that some really excellent ones are waiting in the wings. But this one sets up so much of the later stories.
My review here
Next up is Ethan of Athos. A book about a man among men confronting for the first time one of the great unknowns: women.
I loved Ethan of Athos. It was my first Miles book, but Miles only makes a cameo appearance. It’s actually about, who would have guessed, Ethan of Athos.
I am also working my way through the Vorkosigan Saga. I've decided 2024 is the year of Lois McMaster Bujold for me because I spent the first few months reading all of the World of the Five Gods books. :-) I recently finished Shards of Honor and Barrayar - both as audiobooks. I was so excited that Grover Gardner did the narration, since he also narrates the Penric and Desdemona series. Does anyone know if he does all of the Vorkosigan audiobooks, too?
I am currently waiting for the audiobook of The Warrior's Apprentice to come available at my library, so I'm taking a short detour from Lois McMaster Bujold to read / listen to Among Others by Jo Walton, which I'm enjoying so far - the narrator is great, too. I'm also reading The Steerswoman as my eye-read for the May group re-reads.
I believe Gardner does almost all of the Vorkosigan books
Rachel wrote: "I believe Gardner does almost all of the Vorkosigan books"Thanks, Rachel!
Beginning The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman, about toxic household products in the early modern period. And poisons, of course.
I just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie - what a beauty it is!
Stephen wrote: "I just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie - what a beauty it is!"I loved that book! It was just incredible. Makes me want to go back and try to read Ancillary Justice again. (Had trouble the first time.)
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I really like the Tiger & Del series.