What have you been reading this August?

[Tony]

I have started Red Inferno: 1945, which will fill the Alternate History slot in my Bingo.

[Andrea]

I really need to start working on my BINGO again, but I'm still working through series that I started because of the BINGO, and The Death Cure by James Dashner is one of them. Looking forward to figuring out what's going on in this world.

[Robin]

well, I have been busy but I couldn't tell anyone because I was without the internet for almost four days. (Thank you Virgin Media).

Anyway, I finished Mathew Hughes ' A God in Hiding' which was an enjoyable quick read but slightly disappointing due to some odd choices made in the last few chapters that rather undercut the story I thought. Others may disagree but it was all in all a decent read.

Then I picked up the first book in the Dresden Files, a series I have been meaning to check out since I caught a few isolated episodes of the short lived TV adaptation many years ago. I finally got around to it and it was good. I will likely read more. I read it all in a day, as I, at long last, had my tired and rotting, single glazed downstairs windows and doors replaced with nice new UPVC ones. (the upstairs next year perhaps, all being well). Having few options as to what I could do while a small gang of strangers noisily tore holes in my house, I read 'Stormfront.'

I will review both at some point when things settle down a bit. (I have a little DIY to do first ).

I am considering picking up Gareth Powell's, 'Embers of War' next, my phone randomly decided to show me an article about it, as phones do sometimes. Anybody read it and is it any good?

[Michelle]

I love the Dresden series!

[Robin]

Fool Moon is now on my ' Want to Read' Shelf :-)

[Andrea]

I love the Dresden Files too. As the series progresses it gets a bit more muddled (I miss his detective days) but I'm always looking forward to the next book and while I don't think I read any of them in a single day (the last Harry Potter is the only long book that I've done that with) it certainly doesn't take me long to get through a Dresden, they are so hard to put down once you start.

[Michelle]

Andrea wrote: "I love the Dresden Files too. As the series progresses it gets a bit more muddled (I miss his detective days) but I'm always looking forward to the next book and while I don't think I read any of t..."

I think Changes was the series turning point for me. I lost a lot of my love for the series with the books after that. But periodically I read all of the books up to and including Changes.

[NekroRider]

I have been back to less reading time lately, so I have gone into August still reading Tyrant by Christian Cameron. Still enjoying it!

[Andrea]

Finished The Death Cure. Guess I'm still a bit confused about everything that's going on (and I don't think the conclusion was a viable way of saving the human race...not with those numbers) but I've still got the two prequels to go which I'll get around to soon.

Reading a Kris Longknife novella next - Kris Longknife's Bloodhound by Mike Shepherd

Also reading Mages T11 - Guerres d'Arran: Arundill et l'ordre des ombres by Nicolas Jarry. This interconnected series of graphic novels has now surpassed 100 books, but I'll have to stop with this one until they publish more. Its an excellent series with complex plots and amazing art but only a few have been translated to English, have to read it in French.

[Harry-George]

started and finished my first book this August (47 Ronin) brilliant story but just not very well told. Still had something in it that grips you and keeps you reading. If you love Japan and it's history then it worth a read.

[NekroRider]

Andrea wrote: "Finished The Death Cure. Guess I'm still a bit confused about everything that's going on (and I don't think the conclusion was a viable way of saving the human race...not with those numbers) but I'..."

Will just say that the logic of the reasons behind the larger overarching plot in Maze Runner series is probably never gonna feel satisfying. At least it didn't feel that way to me after I finished the first prequel, Kill Order, when more background of how things ended up this way is revealed. I wrote a whole rant review on Kill Order for closure after finishing it lol.

I actually had a lot of fun reading the main trilogy when I read it in 2016ish, but I also think it's best enjoyed by accepting it's never going to be a logical commentary on any apocalyptic or dystopian topics.

[Pierre]

I finished Resurgence and I just started Divergence, penultimate book in the series.

[Audrey]

I started Famous Last Words, a horror/paranormal + serial killer story.

[Georgann]

I'm ready for the last 2 Dresden books, and since I want to read them together, I've been waiting for the right time. I love to be able to read a book in a day. When I get one I am excited to read, I wait until I have a free day with nothing else on the schedule. It feels uber satisfying to me!! My latest was the new Mercy Thompson book.

[NekroRider]

Finished Tyrant by Christian Cameron today and it was an awesome read. The author is a reenactor who has participated/co-organised a number of Marathon reenactments at the Marathon site, starting with the 2500 anniversary reenactment. Needless to say it leads to a great balance of historical accuracy and epic scenes.

Now started the next book in the series Storm of Arrows

[Andrea]

Finished Bloodhound, always fun when the author writes a side story from the POV of some secondary character.

Now on to Rebel by Mike Shepherd to keep the momentum going, still quite a few books in this series I need to read but I can still make it by the end of the year.

[Tony]

I finished Ozma of Oz, continuing my readthrough of Complete Stories of Oz. The second and third books in the series haven't been at the quality of the original, but they've been ok.

[Robin]

Decided to try another Dresden Files, so I am now reading book two, Fool Moon and so far so good. :-)

[Audrey]

Tony wrote: "I finished Ozma of Oz, continuing my readthrough of Complete Stories of Oz. The second and third books in the series haven't been at the quality of the original, but th..."

I read the first three as a kid and liked them well enough. I read the rest later, and they sucked for the most part.

[Audrey]

Robin wrote: "Decided to try another Dresden Files, so I am now reading book two, Fool Moon and so far so good. :-)"

I felt like it picked up quite a bit at the third one.

[Robin]

I'm already finding them to be fun and mildly addictive, so I will likely be picking up more. :-)

[Caleb]

Picked up The Tale of Tiernan by James Colson from a giveaway.

It's available as a free e-book on Smashwords at the moment should anyone desire it

[Andrea]

Robin wrote: "I'm already finding them to be fun and mildly addictive, so I will likely be picking up more. :-)"

My only complaint is that as the series progresses Dresden has to fight bigger and bigger baddies...which is ok, it'd be boring if he didn't progress, but then at some point your baddie is so big you can't really get bigger and then I found it went over the top. But the action remained addictive even if the stories were a bit more of a stretch to believe :)

[Audrey]

You can't take them too seriously. They're more of a serial monster of the week kind of stories.

[Michelle]

It really is a fun series. The one where Harry is on the set of a porn film really gave me the giggles.

[Andrea]

Audrey wrote: "You can't take them too seriously. They're more of a serial monster of the week kind of stories."

The get dark and serious as the series goes along though, with a strong story arc, less episodic. I liked the episodic aspect :D Maybe that's why I really love Star Trek Strange New Worlds (which is episodic like classic trek) but only sorta liked Discovery (which had one story arc per season) and didn't much like Picard at all.

Michelle wrote: "It really is a fun series. The one where Harry is on the set of a porn film really gave me the giggles."

Haha, I don't remember that one, but been a while since I read the early books. I liked him riding around on a resurrected tyranosaurus rex though. Now that's a cool use for necromancy!

[Audrey]

I ran into a Harry Dresden cosplayer at a comic con and asked if he was Dresden. He gave me a business card that said "Wizard" with the other stuff from his phone book ad.

[Robin]

I think Strange New Worlds is the best StarTrek in years. I really like the episodic nature of the stories but with the modern sensibilities that dictate that the events of the previous episodes do have consequences. In TOS horrific things happened that were just never mentioned again, almost every episode was entirely stand alone. Characters just vanished and were spoken of no more. SNW has the feel and atmosphere of TOS down pat but with the added sophistication of modern storytelling and VFX. It really works for me.

[Robin]

It may be just an old geezers point of view but I rather miss episodic monster of the week/adventure of the week storytelling. It is comparatively rare in TV and in books now.

[Robin]

Hey Audrey, are you sure he was cosplaying? :-)

[Audrey]

Well, we're not anywhere near Chicago ...

I just finished Famous Last Words, which was a lot of fun.

[Andrea]

Robin wrote: "I think Strange New Worlds is the best StarTrek in years. I really like the episodic nature of the stories but with the modern sensibilities that dictate that the events of the previous episodes do..."

I really love it too, I miss the long seasons with like 20-30 episodes across both fall and winter, I want more! But have to wait till 2025 for more SNW. Plus the humour in it, they don't take themselves too seriously!

The first 2-3 seasons of Discovery were so dark and depressing. It did get better so I was a bit sad it got cancelled after only 5 years, I thought the 4th season was great and making contact with an alien race and coming to an understanding was so much more "Trek" than a gritty Klingon war.

Discovery covered important topics like PTSD and depression but did it in such a way it made me depressed too. SNW covered some of that also but it ended on a happier note (since every episode was more or less self-contained you couldn't have a long running sad arc).

Lower Decks will have its final season in October, also sad to see that one go, I thought I would hate it but I ended up enjoying it more and more as it went along. But I guess the characters can't keep saving the world and yet not getting promoted, so they can't stay "lower decks" forever.

I only saw bits and pieces of Prodigy, I seemed to miss whenever a season started so only saw about half of each season and spent most of them confused as to what was going on. Now that Paramount+ moved/sold it, not sure I will even get the other episodes on cable going forward.

Well there's always Star Trek Academy series and the Section 13 movie in the future. That's a whole lot of Trek...

[Georgann]

I just finished The Book of Atrus for the game slot of our bingo card. I'd never heard of it, but the book was good. I could see the video game playing out through the travels.

I am not a video game player. When my son was about 7 or 8, back when you rented the player and the game from the video store, he wanted to try it out, so we rented said items, the game being a Mickey Mouse game. I tried and tried and killed poor Mickey at the end of level 2 every single time. That was almost the end of my attempts at playing. But after he grew up, and was about 30 or so, he invited his dad and I to play Guitar Hero. We failed miserably and we've gotten lots of laughs out of these two episodes over the years!

[Mary]

The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English by Hana Videen

[Mary]

Michelle wrote: "Andrea wrote: "I love the Dresden Files too. As the series progresses it gets a bit more muddled (I miss his detective days) but I'm always looking forward to the next book and while I don't think ..."

I read the two after Changes but I think that's the end for me. And perhaps that was too far.

[Andrea]

Georgann wrote: "I just finished The Book of Atrus for the game slot of our bingo card. I'd never heard of it, but the book was good. I could see the video game pla..."

Myst was a PC game and one of my favorite games ever. I saw they've released various remastered versions over the years to I was tempted to buy a newer copy to play it again. Or to dig out our Mac Performa so I can play the original again. There were several spinoffs like Riven and Exile but I could never make any progress in those, I just got stuck collecting little frogs...

Myst was also my game BINGO slot and I'm planning to read the other two books in the trilogy soonish.

But not just yet. I finished reading Rebel so now I'm tackling the prequel to the Maze Runner trilogy with The Kill Order by James Dashner

[Michelle]

Mary wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Andrea wrote: "I love the Dresden Files too. As the series progresses it gets a bit more muddled (I miss his detective days) but I'm always looking forward to the next book and whi..."

Yeah. They didn't have the same feel as the series before Changes, and that's what made me love the series in the first place.

[Kennedy]

Just finished a series called Twin Crowns that I got from Ireland!

[Mary]

The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe by Martyn Rady

[Tony]

I have finished Red Inferno: 1945, a solid alternate history of what might have happened had Stalin not been happy with the carve up of Germany agreed to in the Yalta Agreement, and decided to push for control of Europe.

[Robin]

So, I finished the Dresden Files book two, 'Fool Moon,' and really enjoyed it. I am going to (temporarily) say goodbye to the, (cough) 'wizarding world of Harry' (Dresden) but I will return to it for sure.

Next I am going to give 'Embers of War,' by Gareth Powell a go. I will let you know what I think...

[Mary]

Ghosts on an Alien Wind by Moe Lane

[Samantha]

Rereading The Timekeeper's Secret by iLana Markarov!

[Kennedy]

Rereading the Reckoners series.

[Tony]

I have started reading Spirit of Cahir Mullach: An Irish Ghost Story, which will fill the Ghost Story slot in my Bingo

[NekroRider]

I finished Storm of Arrows by Christian Cameron last night. It was even better than the first book and more action heavy imo. I like that Cameron always loves to show how miserable an army's march was with inhospitable conditions and depleted resources.

Am now reading book 3, Funeral Games The events of Storm of Arrows mean that this book is considerably different, but still enjoying it a lot. Definitely a quick start.

[Tony]

I have finished Spirit of Cahir Mullach: An Irish Ghost Story. It was enjoyable, without being exceptional.

[Robin]

Tom Gauld on how to manage your unread books pile – cartoon https://www.theguardian.com/books/pic...

[Robin]

thought this might be useful :-)

[Andrea]

Robin wrote: "Tom Gauld on how to manage your unread books pile – cartoon https://www.theguardian.com/books/pic..."

Good idea...except I have discovered 6 book exchange boxes in walking distance of my house (some just barely so) so even taking away all the ways I could pay or borrow for a book I can still stock up :D Of course those boxes help with getting books out of my house too so maybe they balance out.