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?
Started and abandoned a couple of books yesterday: You've Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca and I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se-hee. I am not sure what readers would like LaRocca's writing, but I'm quite sure I'm not one. And I checked out Baek Se-hee's book because my library had it and I was interested in its topic, but I can't get into the pages and pages of transcriptions of her therapy sessions. I'm really enjoying my current Zodiac challenge selection, Seige of Darkness by R.A. Salvatore, so far one of my favorites in the Drizzt series, and my current spooky season read, Dracula by Bram Stoker, which I haven't read unabridged. It's rekindling my love for classic lit.
I also started Donna Tartt's The Secret History, not sure if it'd appeal to me, and was immediately engrossed. And started Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead as prep for reading his new book, Wicked Problems, and it's OK, a bit of a disorganized, overstuffed feel to it like the book equivalent of a clutter drawer. But this is one of Gladstone's early books and I'm told the writing gets better as the series progresses.
Some books I'm eying to read next:
Lone Women by Vincent LaVille
Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (yeah, I'm the kind of huge SF who who hasn't yet read this series)
Stephen wrote: "You're a reading champ CJ.The Secret History blew my mind when I read it several decades ago!"
Ha! I just have a lot of time on my hands, and also am trying to catch up after a reading slump that lasted several years because of my vision problems (yay, audiobooks and resizeable text in ebooks).
I wish I had read The Secret History sooner. I can see how influential it has been now. I remember when it came out and the big deal people made over it, but I was a kid all into space opera, Tolkien, poetry and WWII lit at the time, so I felt it wasn't for me. I feel so late to the game on it.
Wow, just finished Ursula K LeGuin's Lavinia. great freakin book! it's based on Virgil's Aeneid, the story of a great Trojan hero Aeneas's travels after the fall of Troy. But it's not about him, it's about an Italian woman's life, how she grew up as a princess of a minor Italian king (Latinus), who ends up encountering Aeneas.Not a scifi book, more of a historical fiction. just a good story!
Now, on to Cherie Priest's Boneshaker. been on my TBR for years, it's time!
Boneshaker is a fun one. Just finished GJ Meyer's, The Tudors (begun May 22). It was a fascinating read, and I'm interested in his similar work on the Borgias.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a post-apocalypse roll.
Mai wrote: "Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a post-apocalypse roll."I've loved dystopian/post-apocalypse stories since I was a kid. I grew up in the 80s so the idea of a nuclear war was a formative influence on me lol. Once in high school I convinced my classmates to vote for Alas, Babylon for a class read, and they all hated it! But it's a literary niche I keep coming back to. I loved Station Eleven, and have been meaning to read The Road ever since I saw the movie.
Marc wrote: "Wow, just finished Ursula K LeGuin's Lavinia. great freakin book! it's based on Virgil's Aeneid, the story of a great Trojan hero Aeneas's travels after the fall of Troy. But it's not about him, it..."Very pleased you enjoyed Lavinia, Marc! You are just racing through the books, aren't you?
CJ wrote: "Mai wrote: "Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a post-apocalypse roll."I've loved dystopian/post-apocalypse stories since I was a kid. I grew up in th..."
I had to read Alas, Babylon for school, no choice, but I remember loving it. And I'm sure it's contributed to my fondness for dystopian/post-apocalypse stories, too. I barely remember it though. Maybe it's time for a reread.
CJ wrote: "Mai wrote: "Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a post-apocalypse roll."I've loved dystopian/post-apocalypse stories since I was a kid. I grew up in th..."
I'll have to grab Alas, Babylon.
DivaDiane wrote: "I had to read Alas, Babylon for school, no choice, but I remember loving it..."We probably would have been friends if we went to high school together! Yeah, I barely remember it myself, I ought to reread it some day as well.
I'm currently reading Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries: almost finished, but I really enjoyed reading the story. It's fast paced with a lot of humor, especially Gobelino's humor if you like cat humor and suspense.Then I'm also reading BuyMort: Grand Opening: How I Became the Accidental Warlord of Arizona. It took a little effort into it, but it's good.
Saar The Book owl wrote: "I'm currently reading Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries: almost finished, but I really enjoyed reading the story. It's fast paced with a lot of humor, especially Gobelino..."I love Gobbelino
I recently read Ill Wind, the first of the Weather Wardens series. I thought the magic system was very interesting and I would like to know more about it, but the writing was sometimes clunky for me.Now I'm reading Impostor Syndrome, by Mishell Baker. This finishes the trilogy which has a really interesting relationship between our world and that of the Fae. Diving back into the world, I'd forgotten how complicated all the story threads were becoming as things developed.
Stephen wrote: "You're a reading champ CJ.The Secret History blew my mind when I read it several decades ago!"
At first I thought it was The Secret History of Procopius that blew your mind, and only then did I realise that the author of that Secret History was Donna Tartt. :)
Michelle wrote: "Saar The Book owl wrote: "I'm currently reading Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries: almost finished, but I really enjoyed reading the story. It's fast paced with a lot of ..."Great story! :)
@Michelle ander Ambereyes: I've just finished reading Gobbelino and want tot dive in in the second book right away. It was great!
@Saar... We started a Kim M. Watt discussion awhile ago in this community. You can find it here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Read through Queen of Sorcery by David EddingsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good continuation of the series, and a good way to spend a couple evenings.
My review here
And next up is Magician's Gambit as well as continuing the audiobook version of The Two Towers. Speaking of which it is time to go out for some more DIY and listen to that . . .
CJ wrote: "DivaDiane wrote: "I had to read Alas, Babylon for school, no choice, but I remember loving it..."We probably would have been friends if we went to high school together! Yeah, I barely remember it..."
I read Alas Babylon in high school too! I forget if I had to, or I picked it for a class project, or just read for fun. too many years ago! I recall loving the book at that time too
At some point, I'll have to re-read it, is it as good as I remember...
Mai wrote: "Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree"Loved that one!
I read two short works by Shirley Jackson earlier today while getting my infusion treatment--The Lottery and We Have Always Lived in a Castle and now am looking at academic analyses of Jackson's because I have questions! I will have to not let myself go too far down that rabbit hole--I have other books to finish and get to.
DivaDiane wrote: "I read Jackson’s We Have Always Lived… last year and loved it. Have yet to read the Lottery though."The Lottery is very short, and there are audio recordings of it around that are free, including several on You Tube!
Also for anyone interested in Jackson, I recommend the You Tube channel Books 'n' Cats--the creator, Dr Rosie Whitcombe, is a professor of literature and makes excellent video essays. I reread The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin this afternoon after watching her video on that short story. It's been a while (a couple decades) since I read it last. Still powerful. Le Guin was a genius. Everything I've ever read by her just gets into my bones and stays there.
Tonight I hope to finish Lone Women by Victor LaValle. I think LaValle is a very good writer but I feel this isn't the best he can offer. It's still a good story, but the historical fiction side of it works much better than the horror side for me so it feels a bit uneven.
finished cherie priest's bones boneshaker. a great book! gotta hunt down its sequels now.but in the meantime, reading Robert J Sawyer's the terminal experience. interesting premise, being able to detect the moment of death. his protagonist, as a student, participated in organ harvesting, and the body, declared brain dead, showed signs of pain during the surgery, which freaked him out, got him curious as to being able to detect brain function as a human dies, can he determine if the brain stops while the body still is alive. only he discovered something else... not gonna spoil!!
Finished the three "Sagacious" books. Sage Empress II, which begins with Tribute
. An Oriental society set in an empire of a thousand islands. Imperial malice, family, a clan of misfits tossed together. Demons and a charmed sword. Book one can almost be read as a stand alone. The second two books definitely tie together. Sherwood Smith is an excellent story teller.Five stars for book I. Four stars each for the last two.
Thanks for the recommendations, CJ! I recently read Le Guin’s second or third book of essays, A Wave in the Mind. It was so fantastic. What doesn’t come out so much in her novels is her sense of wry humor. Just an amazing writer.
woohoo! at Powells book store in Portland, buying my next batch of books to join my to-be-read pile!
Marc wrote: "woohoo! at Powells book store in Portland, buying my next batch of books to join my to-be-read pile!"Have fun!!
Oh I love Powells Marc. I made my Hubby take me to Portland especially so I could visit Powells when we were on one of our trips to the US. We live in Australia but have travelled to the US maybe 7 times so far and we like going different places each time. That trip was LA, San Diego, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and then home. Next trip we drove around New York State, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine for a couple of weeks. That was after Singapore, London, Paris, Queen Mary to New York and then after Maine we went to Vegas. It was my “I made it to 60 when everyone thought I’d be dead at 59” trip. Earlier this year we went to Florida after cruising from LA through the Panama Canal. Anyhoo….
Marc wrote: "woohoo! at Powells book store in Portland, buying my next batch of books to join my to-be-read pile!"So...what'd you buy?
I'll have to say what I bought Tuesday. my cell phone is acting up, two replies lost when goodreads crashes...
Eric wrote: "@Saar... We started a Kim M. Watt discussion awhile ago in this community. You can find it here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."
Thanks, Eric, I'll check it in a minute :)
Yeah our trips have been pretty amazing Marc. I’ve got China coming up in November, across the Pacific on a Princess cruise ship in April, Norway and the Northern Lights on the Queen Mary 2 November next year and then an Alaskan cruise booked for 2026. We’re doing it all while we can. My Husband retired early and that’s what we do. Travel. A lot of people leave it until it’s too late and they are too old to enjoy it. I’m enjoying being home right now though.
DivaDiane wrote: "Thanks for the recommendations, CJ! I recently read Le Guin’s second or third book of essays, A Wave in the Mind. It was so fantastic. What doesn’t come out so much in her novels is her sense of ..."
I've read some of her essays, but it was a long time ago. However, I remember that they were indeed written with a certain amount of humour.
Turned the last page of Magician's Gambit by David Eddings around 6:30 this morning.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good storytelling. new countries, more on Garion's hero's journey.
My review here.
Continuing the series with Castle of Wizardry.
South To Freedom, Alice L. Baumgartner. About slaves of the norteamericanos escaping into Mexico. Texas looms large in this story. It's nonfiction, but very interesting.
Finished some self-training on applying water-borne finishes and finished (!) The Two Towers by J.R.R. TolkienMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Now that I am paying more attention and thinking about a review, I think I like this one better than Fellowship. Cued up Return of the King for my next batch of projects.
My review here
Mai wrote: "Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip"This is one of my favourite books by this author. By the way, have you read The Changeling Sea?
I just put my currently-reading books on hold to read Drumindor. It popped up on my kindle with excellent timing!
I'm reading The Bone Witch and I had started The Prefect, but maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it. It's good, but I keep feeling almost like it's actually book 2 in a series and I'm struggling to catch up. I set that aside for a little while and read Somewhere Beyond the Sea. Maybe something light and completely different will reset my brain enough to focus better and I'll give it another try.
Midiain wrote: "... I had started The Prefect, but maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace for it. It's good, but I keep feeling almost like it's actually book 2 in a series and I'm struggling to catch up...."Even though it's the first book in this series and a prequel to much of the author's Revelation Space work, I remember thinking back when I read it that it seemed to assume some familiarity with world building concepts in the existing Revelation Space stories. They're not required, but they help. It had been a while since I'd read them and so I had a bit of that same struggle when I started. I did end up liking The Prefect quite a lot after I got past that.
Michelle wrote: "I just put my currently-reading books on hold to read Drumindor. It popped up on my kindle with excellent timing!"Thanks for the heads up. I had the release date as yesterday, but don't see it on Amazon yet.
Eric wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I just put my currently-reading books on hold to read Drumindor. It popped up on my kindle with excellent timing!"Thanks for the heads up. I had the release date..."
It was released early from the kickstarter campaign. Amazon won't have it for a bit yet, so that's why you don't see it.
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My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Between my own childhood, my younger sister's, and babysitting my nieces and nephew, saw the 1977 version many times, but this is the first time I read the book. Strongly recommend it.
My review here
Taking a break from my TBR list, decided to reread the rest of the Belgariad with Queen of Sorcery by Eddings.