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What Else are you Reading - 2025
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Finished The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber, the 5th book in the series. I believe it's the only one that's a novel, albeit a short one; the rest are all short story and novella collections.I really enjoyed this one. It involved some wererats leading sentient rats to plague (ha!) Lankhmar and one of our heroes shrinking down to rat size and the other gets mixed up with a ghoul girl. It was good fun and adventure.
I kept thinking it would make a good basis for a D&D adventure and remembered they did make some Lankhmar supplements for the game around 40 years ago. I'll have to go dig into my boxes.
Next is Anima Rising by Christopher Moore.
Rereading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Maybe after this I'll try Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang or a scifi book. Or maybe straight to the new R.F Kuang novel Katabasis which will be released three days from now.
I am reading two books that are the 3rd in the trilogy. Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell, the 3rd inn his take on the Arthurian Myths and The Damned King by Justin Lee Anderson, the 3rd book in the Eidyn Saga.
I finally finished Blindsight. I feel like I just caught a ball without seeing it.
I've said it before but I'm pretty sure Blindsight is the book I dislike the most but have finished. It's been so long now, I don't remember what upset me so much, but I remember disliking it so much, but felt I should finish for the book club. I think it was one of the first times I was trying to read along with the pick. Since then I've learned to either not start or lem books that are that much not my thing. That being said, I'm glad there are folks out there that enjoy it, and it's just important to remember that not everything has to be for everyone.
I didn't really understand it, but maybe one of my three other personalities will decode it for me in the background. Actually, the Methods of Rationality podcast just did 12 episodes on it called "Blindsided".I'm trying to read Gaskell's North and South, which has the first girl boss, Margaret Hale. It has a good tv adaption. Turn and look at me!
Just finished The Overstory by Richard Powers for a local in person book club. I doubt I would have picked it to read on my own initiative, but I'm glad I read it. It's hard to categorize. Its complex structure, rich characters, and deep exploration of its theme mark it as literary fiction. The book cover describes it as "eco-fiction" and that label also fits. I would say it ventures at times into an almost surreal sense of magical realism.The novel begins with Roots, which read almost as separate short stories of families and people with no connective tissue between them beyond an underlying thematic one. The next section, Trunk, is a wild plot ride that at every step leaves you wanting to know what happens next. It builds and builds and any comment I make could spoil the journey. The aftermath of Trunk spins into Crown, which slows the pace and explores a number of things, but not least what comes after an intense shared experience when people go their separate ways. And as the stories of the main characters in the novel wind down, we move to Seeds, hints and pointers at what comes next and perhaps that some of the messages in the novels characters understood one way at the time really held a pretty different meaning.
I struggled a bit through Roots because it felt more like thematically related short stories and while I can enjoy that format it doesn't tend to be my favorite. But then Trunk swept me away and I never looked back. Read the rest of the book today. The novel is not a light or easy read, but I found it well worth the effort.
I feel like it's been a while since I read a new book that I really liked, but it happened - The Raven Scholar is pretty fun. It's got a bunch of elements that seem to work well together - a tournament of magicians, lots of political intrigue, a murder to solve, the past coming back to haunt characters, plenty of twists and turns. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Ok, I started A Fire Upon the Deep. Hard sf like Blindsight. In fact they go right next to each other in the bookstore. I could live without the primitive society the doggies are in.
Seth wrote: "I feel like it's been a while since I read a new book that I really liked, but it happened - The Raven Scholar is pretty fun. It's got a bunch of elements that seem to work well to..."100%. This is my favorite read of the year so far.
Just finished my annual Heinlein reread. This year it was The Menace from Earth. It's a collection of 8 unconnected short stories, published between 1941 and 1957 in various magazines.The title story is part of his Future History series while the rest are not. It involves a teenage girl, who lives on the moon, getting jealous when her boyfriend pays attention to a visiting older woman from Earth.
I think the best known story here is By His Bootstraps. It's a time travel story that examines causality and time loops.
My favorite in the book is Goldfish Bowl which is a little Twilight Zone-ish.
I first read this book 50 years ago and again around 30 years ago but I didn't remember that most of the stories were pretty depressing. They're all very well written, in the Heinlein way, if a little lecture heavy, in the Heinlein way, but don't expect to be uplifted.
Now back to Anima Rising.
Just finished Anima Rising by Christopher Moore. This book takes place mostly in 1911 Vienna. You start out thinking the main character is going to be the artist Gustav Klimpt but it quickly shifts to "Judith", the bride of Frakenstein. The rest of the characters are a similar mix of real and fictional people like Freud and Jung and Frankentein's monster. There's also a fair bit of Inuit mythology thrown in.I enjoyed this as I always do Moore's books but this one feels a little less frivolous even though there's plenty of bawdy humour. Maybe it's the addition of real people that threw me off a little.
I still strongly recommend it. As a side note, I had at least 3 people at work comment on how pretty the cover was. I don't remember that happening before.
Next is The Hexologists
Finished Red Rabbit. It is an epic grimdark weird western horror fantasy with witches, ghosts, demons, cannibals, and shapeshifters with so, so much murder. Don’t get attached to anyone. I mean that. 4 stars.
Just finished The Hexologists. It was ok. The first 30 or 40 pages I strongly disliked it; I found the main character, Isolde, annoying but she eventually grew on me a little. I thought the writing was pretty amateurish; a good editor would have redlined two thirds of the adjectives and told the author to ease up on the obscure, archaic language. It did seem to get better as the book went on.
On the plus side I did enjoy the characters of Warren and the dragon and some of the magic was interesting.
I'll give it 2 or 3 stars.
Next is Tangents by Greg Bear.
Gave up on The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. It had some interesting ideas but it was just... kinda boring. Moving on to Starter Villain by John Scalzi.I'm also listening to the audiobook of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, and from the library I have Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, her new book that takes Dark Academia to the next level... the next level down that is, as it's a story about a literal journey to Hell in search of a dead Professor.
Starter Villain is teh awesome. Love love LOVE the dolphins!
I have just over 100 pages left in Katabasis. Love Kuang's writing. There's an undercurrent of sarcasm that I enjoy. (view spoiler)
I read Consider Phlebas (Book #1 of the Culture series) by Iain M. Banks. I read Use of Weapons first, so this novel wasn’t as good in comparison. I could appreciate the effort of the world building creating the Culture found in this novel though. I also read Towers of Midnight (Book #13 of the Wheel of Time series) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson next. The book does a great job setting up the final volume of the series. All the characters are ready to fight the Dark One in the Last Battle. I am reading The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (Book #7 of the Old Man’s War) and The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Book #6 of the Robert Langdon series). I plan to read The Female Man by Joanna Russ next. It was released in 1975, fifty years ago.
I finished Katabasis.I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I love Kuang's writing. It's her main strength I think. The plot was pretty straightforward and the weakest part of the novel. I liked all the literature, philosophy, and logic references even if I didn't understand them all. I would recommend this to those who liked Kuang's other works or dark academia in general.
Going through the Scholomance series in audio because they were all available without a wait on my library's Libby. They're still good. Only weirdness is that the reader says "soph-a-more" which might be an English thing but still sounds funny.
I'm almost reading Anna Karenina. Researching all the translations is a huge rabbit hole. Oprah liked this very Russiany translation. There's also a Maggie Gyllenhaal audiobook.
Just finished Tangents by Greg Bear. It's a collection of short stories. The most well known is the original short story version of Blood Music. I think I enjoyed this more than the novel version that I read a couple decades ago. The book also includes several other Hugo and Nebula winners and nominees. My favorite was Sisters whose main character is a naturally conceived teenage girl in a future where most of her peers were genetically designed. It's a good look at acceptance and empathy.It turns out I like Bear's short story writing more than his novels.
Next is Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.
Been reading quite a lot of crime fiction lately. The latest being Skeleton Sea by Toni Dwiggins and People of Darkness by Tony Hillerman—both quite good.Most recent fantasy was The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett—damn good story with interesting characters and a unique magic system (or is it alternate reality science?).
On the SF side, now reading Peter F. Hamilton's Salvation Sequence. As usual with Hamilton, very intricate plot(s) and very big ideas.
The first Salvation book is cool. It has the same structure as the first Hyperion or Canterbury Tales, with different characters telling their own stories.
Tamahome wrote: "The first Salvation book is cool. It has the same structure as the first Hyperion or Canterbury Tales, with different characters telling their own stories."👍 That seems to be continuing in the second book.
It’s sequel, The Strength of the Few, comes out in November.
The selection for an in person Local Authors book club at an independent bookstore I support is meeting tomorrow to discuss last month's selection with the author. The book is The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace by Megan Okonsky. I loved the book. There are so many elements in the novel that intersect with different aspects of my life going back to childhood in unexpected but delightful ways. If the orange VW van on the cover were changed to blue it would look exactly like the one I spent hours on the road with my brother and mother throughout my childhood to many destinations and ... interesting people and events. I suppose in many ways my mom was often one of the more "interesting" people. My childhood was many things, but it couldn't be described as boring.Pinky Swear is trying to hold a memorial service for her cat, Sweet Potato Grace, with her family and friends in a small conservative Texas town. She has worked on her speech and has decided she's going to come out to them during the memorial. The second half of her speech is written to do that.
On her way to the park for the memorial, Pinky is surprised by an orange VW van filled with strangers. In particular her attention is captured by one of its occupants. "My eyes locked onto the woman's in the passenger seat and I almost yelped a second time. She was blonde, with big green eyes and a crooked, blushing smile. She had longer hair than the woman in the Westclox ad, but I immediately thought I was looking at the same person. I shook my head. This was 2022. That ad was from 1922. I was just seeing all blonde women the same. I wondered if face blindness was a symptom of grief. I wondered why a woman from an old alarm clock ad was still at the front of my mind."
Pinky proceeds to the park and begins the memorial for Sweet Potato Grace. But she's interrupted halfway through by that same orange VW van pulling up and disgorging its occupants, all of whom seem to have stepped out of the 1970s and all of whom are barefoot. They start a cookout and seem genuinely interested in Pinky's cat.
The small town is consumed with curiosity about the barefoot strangers who decide to take up residence in the town. Shenanigans ensue and there's a genre related twist toward the end, though exactly what that might be needs to be discovered reading the book. The book is quirky and off-beat but it's also a reflection on the different things it means to be a human being and the ways our lives intersect and intertwine with those around us.
I’m continuing my dark academia reading with If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. It’s giving strong vibes of The Secret History, only with Shakespeare instead of Ancient Greek. Which is a good thing.I am also reading The Terror by Dan Simmons which is perfect for reading curled up in a nice warm bed while it’s cold outside.
Reading the new fancy new We Are Legion (We Are Bob) hardcover with spredges. I guess they're trying to get in on the Dungeon Crawler Carl hardcover action.
Trying to listen to A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, but so far it's tough.I'm having a hard time not losing interest mainly because of the performance and how the story is narrated. I actually find myself not listening and have to go back when I start paying attention to it again.
^ I know it's well loved, but I also struggled through that book. I think there's a bunch of followups but I never went on. For my money her best is Left Hand of Darkness. Which is SF and not Fantasy like Earthsea.
Adam wrote: "Trying to listen to A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, but so far it's tough.I'm having a hard time not losing interest mainly because of the performance and how the story is narrated. I ac..."The one I listened to was narrated by Harlan Ellison and he was predictably over the top.
Just finished Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.I really liked this. It drew me in and kept me engaged although I did find it bordering on slow at a couple places. I thought I had guessed the bad guy's big secret about half way through but it turns out I was mostly wrong, so well done. I also found myself getting emotional at the end.
Some friends will be getting this for Christmas.
Next is The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters.
I just read The Last Gifts of the Universe by Riley August. A sort of cozy scifi but also exciting archeology adventure, and it has a cat in a space suit!
I've let a few podcasts go, so I've had a lot more time to read lately. Here are some that made an impactM R Carey's Infinity Gate and Echo of Worlds Pandominion series is a good read. It does have a slow start but has some interesting ideas and goes places you don't initially expect.
I have read a lot of Adrian Tchaikovsky this year. The series that stands out is The Tyrant Philosophers, of which City of Last Chances is book 1 (of 3 with 4 being published next year). The books all circle around the same individuals, but change POV. Book 1 has a lot of characters which was confusing on the audiobook, but Book 2, House of Open Wounds scaled this back and was the best of the 3 so far. A little repetitive, re-enforcing the same facts again and again, but I recommend it.
I also read his Empire in Black and Gold, the first book in a decalogy. It's ok but at the moment I'm not planning on reading any more. Seems exhausting.
The The Third Rule of Time Travel wasn't for me. Almost lemmed it, but stumbled to the end. Nope.
A few others have read The Raven Scholar and enjoyed it but I'm not sure. I didn't really like the protagonist - she was supposed to be bad at everything, but was actually good at everything and yet failed at pretty much all she did (until the end). Plus, everybody's motivations seemed a little off.
Intertwined with these, I have been listening to the series that starts with The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant. I almost feel guilty reading these books - there is ZERO jeopardy in any of the stories.
Phil wrote... Most recent fantasy was The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett—damn good story with interesting characters and a unique magic system"A Drop of Corruption, the 2nd in the series, is good as well.
I read Joe Hill's King Sorrow 🐉 for about an hour. It reminded me of Locke & Key. I'm not sure why the audiobook has so many narrators. As far as I can tell on Spotify, it's one guy in most parts. I thought the audiobook would be longer too, but it's 25 hours.
Martin wrote: I have read a lot of Adrian Tchaikovsky this year. The series that stands out is The Tyrant Philosophers, of which City of Last Chances is book 1 (of 3 with 4 being published next year). I’m a big fan of the Tyrant Philosophers series, I have the audiobook of the fourth volume, Pretenders to the Throne of God on preorder.
My other audio preorder should be available this week: the long awaited third volume in the Book of Dust trilogy by Philip Pullman, The Rose Field.
I’m also reading The Terror by Dan Simmons which is great at creating a sense of dread and biting cold, but a little strange in some respects, especially how Simmons writes about women (spoilers for nsfw content) (view spoiler)
I’m also reading another historical book about a naval expedition, this one comparatively cheerful (and a lot more tropical) : The Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian
(view spoiler)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Pretenders to the Throne of God (other topics)The Nutmeg of Consolation (other topics)
The Rose Field (other topics)
The Terror (other topics)
King Sorrow (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Philip Pullman (other topics)Patrick O'Brian (other topics)
Dan Simmons (other topics)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)
M R Carey (other topics)
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This is up next for me as well.
I want to get another take on the King Arthur legends — I just finished Taliesin ( I don’t know if I’ll read more in this series or not) and The Hollow Hills (2nd in Mary Stewart’s Arthurian series — I may read more in this series).