What Else are you Reading - 2025

[Tamahome]

All finished with The Devils by Abercrombie. It's like 4 Marvel movies, with a boss battle at the end of each section.

[Trike]

Scott wrote: "My youngest was a Mystic camper for 8 summers and a counselor for 6, the last time in 2021. I don't think most people have a frame of reference for what that camp has meant for so many. I only know from listening to my youngest talk about it, the people, the way they took younger campers under their wing, the traditions and bonds, and the way that camp allowed them to thrive and grow and escape their struggles in other settings like school. I found this segment from a local station that might help, A river runs through my dreams."

This tragedy is so heartbreaking. I don’t know how people will ever come to grips with it.

[Ruth]

Finished my audiobook of A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré. Not the best book to do in audio tbh as it’s so dense and multi-layered, with frequent switches of PoV and time periods, that I found it a bit confusing at times. I may need to re-read at some point to make sure I’ve “got it”.

Meanwhile, my pre-order of Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch has arrived, so I’ve started listening to that, and as I’m sure you’ll all know, audio is the best way to experience the Rivers of London books. This one is set in sunny Scotland, for a change.

[Daniel]

Real stuff that actually teaches or sharpens you. Economics, psychology, old classics, and solid longform journalism. Skip the fluff and clickbait.

[Phil]

Just finished Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber. It's the third book in the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
It's actually 3 short stories and a novella, originally published between 1947 and 1963, tied together with a couple interstitials. I really enjoyed this one and it had never occurred to me before how much Terry Pratchett had been inspired by these stories. Apparently he confirmed it in an interview, particularly the Thieves Guild which is a term Leiber invented. Others have pointed out that Lankhmar sounds similar to ANKH MORpork. The humour in some of the stories is similar as well; Lean Times In Lankhmar could be wholly dropped into a Discworld book and you wouldn't know the difference.
Some of the stories are more straight adventure and some have more humour but either way it's worth a read.

Next is The Downloaded by Robert Sawyer.

[Trike]

Daniel wrote: "Real stuff that actually teaches or sharpens you. Economics, psychology, old classics, and solid longform journalism. Skip the fluff and clickbait."

But daaad, I was going in to Tosche Station to get some power converters!

[Clyde]

Just finished Flybot by Dennis E. Taylor. (A fun near-future thriller with, as we have come to expect from Taylor, lots of future tech speculation.)

Now reading:
—The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold. (Loving the Penric and Desdemona series. Most books in the series are novellas. But, the audio version for this one is about 10 hours long; so, I reckon it is a novel.)
—Badwater by Toni Dwiggins. (As I was a geologist earlier in life, how could I pass up books in which the MC is a forensic geologist. (I still manage to bore folks by picking up random rocks and speculating on their genesis. 😁))

[Aaron]

@Clyde, as the recovering son of two geologists, I may have to check that out. Do you recommend starting with the first in the series, or just jumping in with Badwater?

[Tamahome]

Oh Flybot isn't Bob.

[Clyde]

Aaron wrote: "@Clyde, as the recovering son of two geologists, I may have to check that out. Do you recommend starting with the first in the series, or just jumping in with Badwater?"

Either way will do as the stories pretty much stand alone. That said, I recommend starting with the first book to get better character grounding. (But then, I am a completest. 📚😁)

[Clyde]

Tamahome wrote: "Oh Flybot isn't Bob."

Nope. No Bobs—different world.
🎭

[Martin]

Clyde wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Oh Flybot isn't Bob."

Nope. No Bobs—different world.
🎭"

Although, it did feel a little like Bob was reading me the book...

[Phil]

Just finished The Downloaded by Robert Sawyer. This one was very short, only 184 pages As usual, I enjoyed his writing except for the Deus Ex Machina ending. The plot involves a couple small groups, consisting of astronauts and convicts, are in cryogenic suspension when a disaster destroys civilization and they are revived 500 years later. The story is told through interviews of the survivors by a mysterious figure. I'll give it 4 stars.

Next is Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber.

[Clyde]

Martin wrote: "Clyde wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Oh Flybot isn't Bob."

Nope. No Bobs—different world.
🎭"

Although, it did feel a little like Bob was reading me the book..."

Heh! Ya know, that feels kinda spot on. 🤗

[Tamahome]

I'm flirting with James S A Corey's Expanse book 7 Persepolis Rising (not adapted yet, movie?) and Robert McCammon's psycho killer rock story subtle horror The Five that Brian Lee Durfee reviewed.

[Gary]

I read An Autumn War (Long Price Quartet Book #3) by Daniel Abraham. Otah Machi’s country is protected by the magic of the andat. The best Galt general learns how to take away their andat. Will Otah Machi defeat the Galts, or will they destroy him and all the cities of Khaiem? I also read Gerald's Game by Stephen King. Jessie has a problem. Her husband, Gerald, likes to play games, the ones that end up with her handcuffed to the bedpost. What happens when they are at their isolated lake house, Jessie is cuffed to the bed, and Gerald is incapacitated? I am reading Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold and Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson. I plan to read Towers of Midnight (Book #13 of the Wheel of Time series) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson next.

[Stephen]

A new Penric & Desdemona novella came out without my knowledge. The Adventure of the Demonic Ox is book 14 of the reasonable priced novella series. By Lois McMaster Bujold the series gets props from me keeping the price at $3.99.

[Scott]

I got sucked in and binged Hearing Red by Nicole Maser over the weekend. I listened to the audio version, which I think is Audible only. I don't do Kindle Unlimited, but I think it's part of that too.

It's a zombie apocalypse novel, but the emphasis is on the characters and their relationships with each other as they navigate the new world in which they find themselves. While the MCs, Saff and Maddie, are the two POV characters and thus have the most depth, all the side characters encountered feel real and the family relationships truly matter.

The part that made this one truly stand out to me is that Maddie is blind. I've known and worked with visually impaired people (and for a blind person once in their side business making and replacing window screens) and the disability representation in this novel felt top notch to me. And unfortunately, for all sorts of disabilities, that's less common than it should be. Maddie isn't superhuman. Her lack of vision creates significant obstacles for her, especially in a dystopic world. But the novel also gives her significant agency and ability and demonstrates her ingenuity at navigating through a host of different challenging situations. The descriptions of her experience when she is the POV character really take you as a reader inside her experience of the world.

The slow burn romance works really well too. The reader is fully onboard with it long before either character drops their defenses enough to truly acknowledge it. The ending is definitely climactic and things mentioned in earlier acts become critical to the plot during those closing moments. There were parts of the story climax that had me tearing up for lots of different reasons.

If any of the above sounds like it might be interesting to you, this is a book I highly recommend.

[Phil]

Finished Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber. It's book 4 in the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser series. This one is basically a couple novellas with some connective tissue. It didn't grab me as much as the last one but it was still good. It does seem to have a lot of body horror and I know that's a problem for some people.

Next is Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman.

[Chris K.]

I finished The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, the third DCC book. I found it overly complicated (view spoiler)[all those trains! (hide spoiler)] and too long. I still like the characters so I'll continue the series after a bit of a break.

I also finished Sword of Damocles. I haven't read any TNG Trek is a while. I've mostly been reading Discovery tie-ins so it was fun to dip back into TNG.

I finished listening to Dead Beat. Marsters is a great narrator of the Dresden Files. I'm taking a break from this series too. I listened to too many in a row and the info dumps on how magic works are getting repetitive. I ran into this problem when I binge read the Kate Daniels series.

I'm currently reading Grand Conspiracy, book 5 of Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. Still loving this series.

[John (Taloni)]

^ Have you tried Fred the Vampire Accountant? Good premise, fairly short books, gets a little convoluted but never anything particularly long. Good fantasy.

[Chris K.]

I haven’t but I’ll check them out. Thanks.

[Ruth]

Just finished reading a deliciously spooky novella, Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. I enjoyed it so much I have just requested If We Were Villains by the same author from my local library

[Trike]

John (Taloni) wrote: "^ Have you tried Fred the Vampire Accountant? Good premise, fairly short books, gets a little convoluted but never anything particularly long. Good fantasy."

I love those books. I particularly enjoy the audiobooks read by Kirby Heyborne. His voice is so perfectly suited to Fred’s I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.

[John (Taloni)]

Ruth wrote: "Just finished reading a deliciously spooky novella, Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. I enjoyed it so much I have just requested If We Were Villains by..."

And it's on KU! So, mix this in to the October reads perhaps?

[Trike]

I finally got around to reading Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell. This has to be the lowest-stakes cozy space novel I’ve ever read. It’s about a spaceship crew that runs a trade route between various orbitals and the tension is whether they’ll make 10% or 12% profit at the various space station flea markets.

Seriously, that’s it. I enjoyed every page of it. There are a couple of offscreen bits of violence — the main character’s mom dies in an airspeeder accident, one of the crew gets mugged, and another crewman starts a fight, but we don’t see it.

I kind of wonder if Lowell was riffing on some space sim trader game. Anyway, I liked it and started the next one, Double Share. Half Share

[Trike]

Ruth wrote: "Just finished reading a deliciously spooky novella, Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. I enjoyed it so much I have just requested If We Were Villains by..."

Is this a serial killer book?

[Ruth]

Trike wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Just finished reading a deliciously spooky novella, Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio. I enjoyed it so much I have just requested [book:If We Were Villains..."

Not serial killer, no. More spooky science and general creepy vibes.

[Tamahome]

Trike wrote: "I finally got around to reading Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell. This has to be the lowest-stakes cozy space novel I’ve ever read. It’s about a spaceship crew that runs a trade route ..."

Holden from The Expanse would liked the coffee maker scene.

[Phil]

Just finished Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman. It's a collection of short stories and poems. They're fine except they tend to be more about feelings and atmosphere than plot. Generally, I preferred the poems to the stories. The last 50 pages or so was a novella featuring Shadow from American Gods and it was probably my favorite story in the book.

Next is The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber.

[Chris K.]

I finished listening to The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant. It was wonderful. I greatly enjoyed it and will be adding this series to my listening rotation.

Thank you to John (Taloni) for the recommendation!

[John (Taloni)]

^ Welcome! I heard about it from the OC club branch. It was pretty popular with the group.

[Trike]

Chris K. wrote: "I finished listening to The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant. It was wonderful. I greatly enjoyed it and will be adding this series to m..."

I’m a huge fan of the audiobooks narrated by Kirby Heyborne. His voice is perfect for Fred.

[Chris K.]

I listened to the Heyborne. He’s excellent. My library also has the GraphicAudio full cast edition but I’m not a fan of those. I prefer a single narrator (or at the most two).

[Trike]

Normally I really enjoy the GraphicAudio full cast productions, but in Fred’s case I prefer Kirby’s narration.

[Ruth]

I’ve finished the audiobook of the latest Rivers of London book, Stone and Sky. Now I’m resuming my circumnavigation of the globe with Captain Aubrey and Dr Maturin, with the audiobook of The Reverse of the Medal. Set the foremast top s’ls!

[Scott]

A local book club at an independent book store near my home is meeting tonight. I decided before my trip last week I would check it out, so I had to read the book in a few hours yesterday evening and today to be ready. Fortunately, The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a delight and almost impossible to put down. If you love portal fantasies, I have no doubt you'll enjoy this tale of two boys who had been "lost", returned home six months later, and now, 15 years later, have a return journey to make. Emilie, Jeremy, and Rafe grabbed my heart and never let go. I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't love this book!

"My sister must have been so brave to have survived all this time ... I'm not brave. I want to be brave like her. I want to look death in the face and boop his nose."

"You want to 'boop' death? These are the actual thoughts you think?"

She stuck out her finger and booped the imaginary nose of death, "Boop."

[Stephen]

I am reading the The Winter King Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian tale.

[Tamahome]

I actually just finished Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (formerly Ten Little Indians). 10 people trapped on an island and they get mysteriously killed off one by one. The best part is the explanation at the end. It's quite an achievement.

[Chris K.]

^One of my favorite Christie mysteries. It was the first one I ever read. I was around 11 yrs old. One of her best IMO.

[Tamahome]

I feel like in one of the movies they made a man and woman more likeable.

[Tamahome]

Started Blindsight. Wish me luck. I got past the part with the date where I dnf'd last time. I'm impressed it was a past S&L pick.

[John (Taloni)]

Some books you read because they have a great plot, or worldbuilding, or..yanno.

Some books you read and push through the slow spots for some brilliant insight. Blindsight is one of those books. Push forward. Also, Echopraxia has some great aspects and more than a few slow spots. Also worth the read.

[Tamahome]

Thanks for the advice. I think of it as reading a victorian novel and ignoring the parts I don't understand. I'm using Tristan's finger reading method to help move along.

[Aaron]

I started listening to Blindsight today on my run. This will be my 3rd or 4th time experiencing it. I just finished a read through with another podcast that was stretched over a couple months, so I wanted to go back and binge it.
I think it has grown on me with each successive experience.
It is the type of book that can get confusing if you are listening while multitasking, or anything preventing you from giving it your full attention on the first go-round.

[Clyde]

Ruth wrote: "...Now I’m resuming my circumnavigation of the globe with Captain Aubrey and Dr Maturin, with the audiobook of The Reverse of the Medal. Set the foremast top s’ls!"

Oh you are surging ahead of me. 🏃‍♂️
My next up Aubrey and Maturin reread is Treason's Harbour.

[Stephen]

I read all the Patrick O'Brian book back when they first came out. I was working at a bookstore at the time. Got a few free boat rides out of talking up the novels. Best series to understand what it was like to be a sailor on a Napoleonic Era ship of the line,

[terpkristin]

I'm still going through Maas' Throne of Glass series. I'm now on Queen of Shadows. I'm enjoying it, though am very curious how it will all resolve. I mean I have hunches but there are a lot of little parts that we shall see.

I also finished Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone which was cozy-adjacent. I enjoyed it, though it did drag in a few places.

And now I'm reading Automatic Noodle with my eyes. I think it will also be cozy or cozy-adjacent, at least based on chapter one.

[Tamahome]

Aaron wrote: "I started listening to Blindsight today on my run...It is the type of book that can get confusing if you are listening while multitasking, or anything preventing you from giving it your full attention on the first go-round."

This is why you need multiple personalities like Susan James to multitask. Supposedly old humans did it all the time. I'm also reading it now. Siri just got "Jack Ryan'd" into the field. There's certainly a lot of literary athletics and scientific name dropping.

[Aaron]

I didn't pick up on the Moby Dick parallels until my most recent read through of Blindsight. Still not sure if that was intentional, or if I am just projecting.

I definitely need to go read the sequel (sidequel?).