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What We've Been Reading
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What have you been reading this July?
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Rachel
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Jul 18, 2025 01:46PM
ive been trying to focus on a single series quest academy
and
and its ok there are parts where the action is well paced and there are parts where the mc spends several chapters describing his crafting method for advanced weapons' and armor for other characters and himself. if the crafting sections take too long i start skimming them. general idea is the kid lives in a world where dungeons and towers spontaneously appear with demons/monsters in them and the kids must learn how to function in an essence rich world and master there powers. MC is born a skill master where he can copy anybody's power but at a better quality then the original person. its to OP for him to handle as a crafter class so he doesnt start using it seriously until college. then he copies the crafting ability of a professor and accidentally merge's it with the restoration and appraisal skills of his parents giving himself the OP mythcrafter skill. he never sleeps because he is always making something. story is good but to much workshop time between action scenes. but i'm invested now so i skip around when it gets overly descriptive.
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Andrea wrote: "So I'd been going through a lot of the Sandman spinoff/tie-ins like Lucifer (there is a LOT of that, I'm only part way through) when I decided to take a break and look at [book:Locke & Key, Vol. 1:..."I enjoyed volume 1 of Locke & Key. I have 6 volumes plus some spin-offs that I picked up in a Humble Bundle deal some time ago, but I haven't read past volume 1 yet. I agree that I don't think there is a Lovecraft connection beyond the town name, but it was enjoyably creepy. Joe Hill also wrote Horns, about the half-human son of the Devil. Given his parentage, his ability to write deeply unsettling books is not a surprise.
It's not until volume 7 of Locke & Key that he ties it in with the Sandman.
Finished Isles of the Emberdark. Loved it. Currently watching the Netflix adaptation of Locke & Key, and enjoying it. Had no idea it crossed over with Sandman. Nearly done with season 2 with one more season to go.
Tony wrote: "I enjoyed volume 1 of Locke & Key. I have 6 volumes plus some spin-offs that I picked up in a Humble Bundle deal some time ago"I liked the second volume better, the Dodge character is creepy, and I guess technically human, but he's also something other so doesn't give me the same ick factor the first volume did. It's seriously bizarre, where there is a key that will pop your head open so people can poke around in your memories and you can take stuff out and put stuff in. Brilliant yet disturbing idea (especially the facial expressions of the people getting their brains scrambled).
Let's just say Hill has a very very strange mind. Mind you, The Dark Tower series was seriously weird at times too but I think the son cranks it up another level.
I'll keep going with this series. It almost feels like its for kids, 'cause its kids in a magic house with magic keys, like so many other kids books, but its definitely for adults.
Talking of TV shows, I loved the Lucifer TV series and have to admit I'm a bit disappointed that the comics actually take place after the time period of the TV show, I liked him going around with a cop solving crimes. It was this TV show that led me to The Sandman and this year I'm diving into all those spinoffs and crossovers.
Constantine's Hellblazer is another one that crosses over with The Sandman (he shows up fairly frequently actually). I actually like the movie, so of course I've got this image of Constantine looking like Keanu Reeves. Anyway will get into that series once I wrap up one of the others I'm in the middle of.
There's also the Dead Boy Detectives which was spawned from one of the Sandman tales.
And The Books of Magic....which I read the three most recent issues and was confused since it seemed to reference things I knew nothing about, only to find out there was stuff that came before that I'm hunting down.
Andrea wrote: "Constantine's Hellblazer is another one that crosses over with The Sandman (he shows up fairly frequently actually). I actually like the movie, so of course I've got this image of Constantine looking like Keanu Reeves. Anyway will get into that series once I wrap up one of the others I'm in the middle of."I think the Constantine movie was probably better appreciated by people who hadn't already read the Hellblazer comics from the late 80s / early 90s, which was the first time Constantine got his own title. Prior to that he had just appeared as a guest in other titles, mostly in DC comics that dealt with supernatural issues, and often in the Swamp Thing title - which also had a TV series based on it, but it was nowhere near as good as Sandman.
Sandman was my intro, and what got me hooked, on graphic novels. I never had an interest in them, not into reading about men in tights saving the world. But Gaiman convinced me that graphic novels could be magical and fantastical and amazingly complex storytelling. I mean who else could invent a Death who is a cute, happy, friendly goth girl and you'd probably want as a friend? Or have Shakespeare as a recurring character. Or delve into the world of cat dreams.You know...I think I watched the Constantine TV series.
I'm taking my time with my reread of A Civil Campaign- it's always been my favorite of this series. It's so funny!
I just read Shards of Honor. Still on Seraphina and The Bad Place. I heard that Patrick McGoohan had to flee the country when the last episode of The Prisoner aired, people were so mad. There are still some very good episodes and some not so good. I rewatch them every few years.
Got my Redwallaudiobook from the library. Very charming, after Hobbit I think I have a thing for cozily written children’s fantasy.
@Audrey how are you liking Seraphina so far? I found the opening itself wonderful.
I have finished The Last TechShack. The book has an interesting premise but was ultimately disappointing. It drags on a bit and the author really needs to pay attention to his continuity. Still, it features a portal, so it fills that Bingo slot.
Yeah, I heard someone say a good premise really isn’t the reliable marker of a good book
Jules Verne and the Invention of the Future by Laurence BergreenBergreen provides an overview of Jules Verne's life and work with LOTS of excerpts from Verne's best known novels. Verne is considered the father of sci-fi. 😊
Interesting and informative. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hurrah! I have *finally*, painfully, at a snail's pace finished Dragon Mage!!!!! It had really good, gripping parts, and some disappointing parts. I will write my review after my thoughts have had time to settle.Also!! I opened a generalized "what are your favorite books?" request for reccomendations here with a lot of clarifying questions that I usually have about those types of responses. I keep finding new books at random and only have, like, 2 books I'm actually sure I'll enjoy reading so far, so if you have the patience to type out a response to that topic, thank you in advance! I will also be adding my own recommendation there eventually, but alas my brain cogs are overloaded and come back online at unpredictable variables. (It should be some time today or tomorrow).
Books finished in the past month (june 5-jul5)
Dropped:
Inversions
by M.V. MelcerIn 2400 the Earth is hardly able to sustain human life and corporations in space are maneuvering for money and power. Can humanity on the planet be saved?
Good story. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have started reading The House on the Borderland This is the second in Hodgson's Abyss trilogy, although they are a trilogy by theme rather than by sharing a story. Written in 1907, this will fill the pre-1940 slot in my Bingo.
Finished Vampire Vow...guess that one falls under grim dark fantasy, there wasn't a single redeeming feature for the protagonist.Switching to Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire which given the darkness of Wicked will also be a bit on the depressing side. I read the first chapter, which was just a few pages long and already a caravan was travelling about finding dead bodies everywhere and having to stop and bury them...fun fun!
Tried out the newly published retranslation of “The Twelve Kingdoms Book 1 - Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea: Part 1” (as I’ve heard it reccomended a lot for worldbuilding, and the first translation is apparently a butchered summary of the actual text) and I do not know what I should have expected, but the opening scene is psychologically horrifying so I’m already on a break for my heart. I don’t know if such a strong reaction is a good or bad thing. I knew I wasn’t the hardest-shelled kind of girl, but I didn’t know a *book* could leave me wanting to cry. My own imagination has grown too powerful…
I have started reading Batman Archives, Vol. 1. This is a compilation of the first two years (1939-1941) of Batman stories.
Finished the 3rd and 4th books of the Locke & Key series, lots of graphic violence, I mean there's pretty much every possible trigger in these books (rape, alcoholism, abuse, murder...you name it). But its still a good story and I'm halfway through, so I'm going to keep with it. At the library I had also picked up Les Normaux: A Graphic Novel, it had vampires and stuff so I though why not. It was cute, the exact opposite of Locke & Key. What I would do was read the scary one in the evening, but then take a little time before bed to read the cozy one so I wouldn't get nightmares :) This one fills my 2025 BINGO slot.
I reread Something Wicked This Way Comes
for my Grim Readers library book group, and I enjoyed it even more than I did in 2017. So good and deep and amazing and creepy. I LOVED the writing!
July reads included: Ursula Le Guin's The Language of the Night: Essays on Fiction, Science Fiction, and fantasy (excellent book)
Nnedi Okorafor's Just Out of Jupiter's Reach
A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death (by my mentor Valerie Burns)
A Court of Thorns and Roses -Sarah J. Maas
I was in the midst of reading Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy when -- Lois McMaster Bujold dropped the lil' novella: The Adventue of the Demonic Ox on me! What to do?
I've almost finished it, probably will today.
And more, but these are the SFF highlights.
!Ciao!
OK, So, I have finished Jeff Noon's 'A Man of Shadows' which I enjoyed but despite that feel I must categorise it as 'flawed but fascinating.' To give you a feel for it, here is the recipe. Picture if you will, a standard old school noir detective novel, in which a hard boiled, hard drinking, down on his luck PI finds himself embroiled in a dastardly plot to kidnap a young woman by a sinister cult. Throw in a serial killer mystery, stand for thirty minutes, then preheat the oven to melt down, cook to a technicolour puddle and filter the result through a psychedelic Sci-Fi prism until your brain melts. So, glad I read it but it is an oddity for sure. 😁
Next, for a complete about face from the above, it's back to fantasy. I am a sucker for dragons, always have been and this next book promises to do something a little different with them. So, I will be reading 'The Sky on Fire,' by Jenn Lyons.
Began The Children of Llyr. The writing in the beginning was so well done omg. Literally felt like it healed my brain from some kind of brainrot. ...And then came along (tw) (view spoiler) idk why the universe keeps intersecting to make me write those specific trigger warnings, it's weird that it's happened thrice right? I could also give the same warning for The Elvenbane, which I have also begun for the purpose of seeing dragons being parents which sounds super fun, but like why is there so much violence against women in these stories??? And that in all 3 times (including bookworm) it was in an otherwise normal fantasy book written by women... so is this just the collective trauma of society bleeding out onto the pages or something? Creative freedom I guess, though, they're not sensationalizing it or writing it graphically or anything. Anyways, Elvenbane isn't so good so far--the writing is lovely, but I loved the writing in the beginning of the last book of Lackey's I read, Magic's Pawn, but that fizzled out near the middle, so hoping the writing style stays solid. I'm also completely fed up with 'evil elves' and have almost 0 stamina left for reading about evil societies. Morally grey, I can understand, but evil is just so boring to me.... yeah. I need to get into some interesting books whose trigger warnings don't make me sound like a weirdo. As for Elvenbane, I know one author is dead and the series won't be completed, so I'm not planning to finish this book, just to get to the fun bits with dragon relationships. I want to see if the authors did anything interesting with their psychology--I'm always interested in that. If I don't find it in fantasy, I might veer off into scifi.
Still reading Dragonbone Chair, LOTR, and The Last Unicorn, and.... yk what, here's a list. I don't have enough of an opinion on most of these to say much, except that I want to keep reading:
Peony wrote: "yk what, here's a list."And I thought I read a bunch of books in parallel :) I usually have one dead tree book, one eReader book, one graphic novel/manga/anthology to hop in and out of when I want something quick, and sometimes one non-SF/F on too.
Andrea wrote: "And I thought I read a bunch of books in parallel :) I usually have one dead tree book"..
*glances at my to-read and reread plans*
(...see 26 more)(and my audiobook)
(I did say I was "scouring" for books)
Well...if we're talking about to-reads, at least for this year, I've got a measly 135 on it right now...and that's after some pruning I did a month or so ago.And that doesn't include the random things that catch my eye when I visit the library, I'm terrible at such temptations.
I need to quit my job, not enough time to read...
Andrea wrote: "Well...if we're talking about to-reads, at least for this year, I've got a measly 135 on it right now...and that's after some pruning I did a month or so ago.And that doesn't include the random t..."
Haha. That's a once-a-day multivitamin schedule. I hope they're quick reads.
@Faith Couldn’t comment on your review itself—Oooh, was the Shrouder POV done well you think? Is it only a short glimpse?
Dropping Elvenbane around 45%. It’s interesting but not nourishing; the character work falls flat for me.
Nurgle conspired to hit me with a horrendous plague this past week, to the point where I could not even focus on reading. Before Nurgle struck, I did finish Witch Killer, the final book in the Mathias Thulmann series by C.L. Werner. Overall I loved the series quite a bit, though I did wish it had remained more focused on certain preferred plots. I wish there were more Mathias books, but this is pretty much it for his character. I plan to eventually visit similar Warhammer Fantasy series like Brunner the Bounty Hunter, as well as the Blackhearts books, which I already own the omnibus for. Shortly after Witch Killer, I jumped into some OG gothic fiction with Ann Radcliffe's Sicilian Romance. I have previously read and loved Mysteries of Udolpho and Romance of the Forest, and Sicilian Romance is proving to be another good one. Now that I'm quite familiar with her writing, it's interesting to see how she plays and experiments with different methods of story telling. And her prose, is of course, wonderful as ever. That said, I didn't get much reading done during the week thanks to Nurgle, but finally started to catch up some this weekend as the brain fog clears!
Tony wrote: "I have started reading The House on the Borderland This is the second in Hodgson's Abyss trilogy, although they are a trilogy by theme rather than by sharing a story. Written in 190..."
I have been wanting to read House on the Borderland for a while, myself. How are you liking it?
I had to look up "Nurgle" 👵 I'm glad you're getting over it.
I usually have a paper book, audiobook, ebook, and nonfiction going at once. As I am out of town this week, I haven't read much at all. I did finish two books on the train.
Started Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. What a mischievous writing style, I didn’t realize this was allowed!
NekroRider wrote: "I have been wanting to read House on the Borderland for a while, myself. How are you liking it?"It's interesting. Even a hundred years ago (or closer to 120 in this case) English was a slightly different language, so I find the writing a little stilted in places - Hodgson uses so many commas. I wonder if Lovecraft had read any Hodgson? There are some similarities in concept and I think that Hodgson is a better writer, although Lovecraft is perhaps the more imaginative of the two. It is available as a free download from Project Gutenberg.
FinishedThe Moorchild. Hated the ending, but the rest of it was quote good. Lots of ‘folk’ lore, a surprising amount. The folk felt real, which is more than many stories can make of their human characters. Filled the fairy book starvation a good bit. Gave it a solid 4/5, though it isn’t ambitious, it chews *very* well on what it has bit off. I did not like the writing style, but that’s mostly a matter of taste this time. The language is vaguely folky in an immersive way. Every time Saaski said “Da” or “Mumma” I felt a little punch in the gut. The author did *not* have to make (view spoiler)
Tony wrote: "NekroRider wrote: "I have been wanting to read House on the Borderland for a while, myself. How are you liking it?"It's interesting. Even a hundred years ago (or closer to 120 in this case) Engli..."
There was a lot of interaction between all the horror authors of the time, each of the influencing each other. It seems that:
Lovecraft discovered Hodgson's work relatively late, around 1934, but was deeply impressed by it, particularly by The House on the Borderland and The Night Land. Lovecraft appreciated the sense of cosmic horror, existential loneliness, and the vast, indifferent universe presented
I ended up finishing gothic fiction classic from 1790, A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe pretty soon after my last post. Another very good book by her if you are a fan of early gothic fic. and genuinely beautiful descriptions of nature and musings about the beauty of nature. This one was actually pretty fast paced and it was interesting to read an earlier stage of her evolution as an author.I then went on to read The Scarlet Citadel by Robert E. Howard, his 2nd ever Conan story. I haven't read any Conan since high school, so this is a slow read (or reread in some cases) of the Complete Chronicles of Conan in between other reads. Unsurprisingly I loved the Scarlet Citadel! The final battle in particular was just so damn epic!
I'm now still deciding what to read next. The contenders are The Tainted Cup (which I know is hugely popular right now), City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, or The Black Company (which has been a long time coming for me, as I've been collecting the books for some time).
Michelle wrote: "I had to look up "Nurgle" 👵 I'm glad you're getting over it."
Just some Warhammer nerdery 😅 And thanks, it was a horrid one! Seems it's making the rounds around our neck of the woods, everyone seems to be getting it lately.
Tony wrote: "NekroRider wrote: "I have been wanting to read House on the Borderland for a while, myself. How are you liking it?"
It's interesting. Even a hundred years ago (or closer to 120 in this case) Engli..."
Would not be surprised at all if Lovecraft read him! At the very least because we could probably ask the question "did Lovecraft read it" and answer "yes" to just about any horror, gothic, speculative or general dark fiction published during or within the 100 years preceding his lifetime lol The guy was such a voracious reader of anything "weird"! That makes me think about just how obsessed so many authors of that age were with actively engaging with as much literature as possible - I sometimes wonder if as many popular authors today are as engage/obsessed in the same way. Or maybe there just isn't as much obvious essay writing, correspondence etc. Random thought of the day!
im reading shield heart the last of the rune heart series by Celeste Baxendell its a ya romance and at the last 20% of book five the main couple finally gets over the drama and says i love you. great story for books 1 and 2, FMC is a total prejudiced bitch in book 3 to MMC after finding out what kind of mage he is even after he saves her life again and again. He has a mental break down in book 4 and she is half way across the continent dealing with her messed up shit and trying to find him again. and book five she comes begging again to his door so they can stop a magical natural disaster from wiping everyone out and end the civil war. good story line but both characters are convinced they are unlovable and must sacrifice themselves for the other and it is so good but painful also. These 2 need therapy cause i think their emotionally codependent.DNF a second book where the premise sounded great but the execution was vanilla. the main character spent the first 100 pages by himself also so no character dynamics when i stopped reading .
Replaced with Unintended Cultivator: Volume One and this is much more enjoyable. Standard wizard takes an apprentice set up with martial arts and spirit world animals in the wild . also sounds like their is going to be other sects of wizards fighting for political dominance once MC finishes training?
Rachel wrote: "im reading shield heart the last of the rune heart series by Celeste Baxendell its a ya romance and at the last 20% of book five the main couple finally gets over the drama and says i love you. gre..."I got the giggles from your synopsis!
Started Malice from The Faithful and the Fallen. I wouldn’t think it was my cup of tea, but it seems to be well-praised for good character work, and man do I need some of that in my life… As a side-note, I wish newer fantasy books had better cover art. Also going to pick up Silver in the Wood around next time I get bored. I feel like it’ll need a lot of concentration for some reason.
Dropping Discworld’s Guards! Guards!for now. It’s just not what I’m looking for. Also putting off Redwall for similar reasons, but mainly my library loan ran out and I don’t particularly want to renew it.
Unhappy with The Children of Llyr and Knife, but still trudging on. Only 14%(page 37) and 34%(page 92) in, respectively, and my main gripe with Llyr is the *poof, giant timeskip to new characters*, mixed with ‘this is it?? This is the great evil??’ which could be fickle of me, we’ll see. Knife… feels like a (not well done) ripoff of ‘Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue’ mixed with ‘Arietty.’ So far, it hasn’t been interesting. Compared to The Moorchild, its lore is very lacking. It could be the lack of magic, but Arietty was interesting without magic, so..
My problem with The Last Unicorn is that I keep putting it off to savor it and absorb every single paragraph. I hope I don’t forget about it at this snail-rate. Page 70. 70!!! 20%!
Wanda wrote: "Have you read the new short fiction by Martha Wells, part of the Murderbot Diaries? You can find it for free here: https://reactormag.com/rapport-martha......"I just read it, and I really liked it! It was interesting to see from ART's crew's perspective, and to see how ART changed after meeting Murderbot. Do you also like the Murderbot Diaries?
Peony wrote: "Started Malice from The Faithful and the Fallen. I wouldn’t think it was my cup of tea, but it seems to be well-praised for good character work, and man do I need some of that in my..."Let me know how Malice goes, I won it through Goodreads but my copy never arrived so I still haven't read it and of course am very curious about what I missed. Its one massive brick of a book so was never something I could "squeeze in" on the side if I borrowed it form the library :)
And sounds like The Last Unicorn is going well if you're talking about savouring. Beagle wrote beautifully in that one, there's a lot to savour!
Andrea wrote: "Peony wrote: "Started Malice from The Faithful and the Fallen. I wouldn’t think it was my cup of tea, but it seems to be well-praised for good character work, and man do I need some..."Will do! I've heard the beginning is the best part of the Last Unicorn, so that's contributing to my speed probably.
Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
Malice (other topics)Malice (other topics)
The Moorchild (other topics)
The Last Unicorn (other topics)
Guards! Guards! (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Adrian Tchaikovsky (other topics)Gregory Maguire (other topics)
M.V. Melcer (other topics)
Laurence Bergreen (other topics)
Michael Schiefelbein (other topics)
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