What have you been reading this November?

[Robin]

Hi Audrey, "If it was the author that got the difference I'd consider it." I can't speak for trad publishing but with my indie books, I actually used to make more on the e-books. Well meaning chums would say, "I bought the paperback, you know, because you'll make a bit more on that." I would politely thank them for their thoughtfulness but in fact I would earn about 30 to 50pence more from the Kindle edition (depending on the size of the book). This was partly because of Amazon's pricing rules but mostly because I wanted to keep the hard copy books affordable. Many people (my nephew for one), refuse to buy e-books on principle.

[Robin]

Hi Bonnie, thank you (and welcome to the group by the way). My reading crisis is averted for the time being( I picked up V E Schwab's ' A Darker Shade of Magic' ) but I am always on the lookout for titles to add to my WTR shelf.🙂

Yes, the Amazon deals vary wildly by country. I have picked up titles at 0.99p that are full price in the US or Australia and vice versa.

[Bonnie]

Robin wrote: "Hi Michelle. Yes, that does look like my kind of thing and I already have a Kingfisher on my 'want to read' shelf (Hemlock and Silver). But... Clockwork Boys is currently £9.99 for the Kindle editi..."

I loved Nettle & Bone

[Robin]

A Darker Shade of Magic is pretty impressive so far by the way (but it 's early days yet)😁

[Audrey]

The writers I know say they get more (in royalties) from ebooks than paper books and even more of the cut if you buy from them directly. (Not all are set up for that.)

I did get Hemlock & Silver back over the weekend; just have to finish it before it's due. I have liked every Kingfisher so far.

I keep trying V E Schwab because the premises always sound so good, but I am always terribly disappointed.

[Andrea]

Finished reading Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Documentary Journey into Vampire Country and the Dracula Phenomenon so I can finally knock off another BINGO slot (I'm soooo behind). This is my Non-Fiction SF/F book. It was actually pretty interesting, going into Stoker's biography, his writing process, vampires in folklore and in tales written pre-Dracula, and then covered publishing history and then the influence Dracula has had on us ever since (to the dismay of Romanians, heh).

Its always fascinated me how one book, say Dracula, goes essentially viral (even if it takes 50 years before it really kicks in) and others like say Varney or Ruthven, don't. I mean, Varney is a terrible example since the writing is pretty terrible but you know what I mean :)

Also finished Allies of the Night

Starting on The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin which will fill my Dreampunk BINGO.

[Pierre]

I finished The Silent Hand (2), which I liked a lot less than the first book in that series. Nonetheless I am starting the third volume, The Presence Malign.

[Tony]

Michelle wrote: "Oh, darn it. the U.S. kindle version is only $3.99! Sorry about that, Robin."

It is a constant source of irritation the number of e-books on sale or just cheaper in the US compared to Australia and Canada.

[Tony]

I am about 3/4 of the way through Hot Moon, which has been fun to read, although some of the political decisions made in this alternate history seem a tad unlikely - Nixon pulling out of Vietnam in the late 60s to concentrate on the moon race because the Soviets were ahead. Which led to no Watergate and Nixon completing his second term and Reagan becoming President in 76 instead of 80. Anyway, it hasn't had a major impact on the story. Due to problems with either the headset I had, or the in-flight system, the movies on my trip back from Thailand were unwatchable - plenty of volume on the music, no volume on the dialogue - so I churned through a significant number of the 700 pages of the book.

With the announcement of the upcoming Prime Video series, I picked up a copy of Fourth Wing. Due to a Prime Day deal, the paperback (at $14 AUD) was cheaper than the Kindle version ($16.99 AUD), so I bought that. No real hurry to read it though, as I believe the series won't debut until 2027.

[Tony]

I have finished Hot Moon. Certainly an interesting alternate history, with some plot twists I didn't see coming. The author provided several pages at the end discussing the events that he changed from our history, and how he thought they would develop, which was an interesting read. There are two sequels, but I think they will be getting more into being SF rather than alternate history, and I don't feel a real need to dive into them straight away.

[Bonnie]

Acorna: The Unicorn Girl since I'm deciding which series I want to start for me 12 plus 4 challenge this month (which I will also be mostly able to use on this groups Bingo/series challenges in 26 as they are mainly going to be fantasy/sci fi series.) I'm not loving it, though I am liking it. I'll probably include it in the challenge as I recently got books 4 and 5 really cheap on kindle.

[Tony]

I have started reading Welcome to the Occupied States of America, which is part of Peter Cawdron's First Contact series - these are almost all standalone and only related through involving first contact between humans and aliens. This one also seems to be a dystopian post-invasion book.

[Mary]

Kill the Villainess, Vol. 4 by Haegi

[Rachel]

DNFed the last book in the spider series i was reading for now might pick up later.
finished the students have more of an adventure then i was expecting based on the fact the a good bit of book 1 was studying books in a library. we learn what a Librarian errant actually is, how it fits in the wider world, and how the students powers are kind of OP even under trial and error training. the bits where author explains hughs magic are info dumpy so skim but otherwise good pacing.
replaced some non starters for me with
and some other funny options to pick from
and book 2 in a fantasy spycraft story. has been a quick read.

[Andrea]

Bonnie wrote: "Acorna: The Unicorn Girl since I'm deciding which series I want to start for me 12 plus 4 challenge this month (which I will also be mos..."

I read the whole series, honestly I think I liked the first one best and didn't much care for the rest of the series. The unicorn/human hybrid kind of form just didn't work that well. The dragons of Pern worked much better as alien fantasy creatures.

I read the graphic novel These Savage Shores by Ram V which I thought was really well done. A different take on vampires, and a different view of British colonialism.

[Mary]

Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 and Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 2 by Ichigo Takano

[Andrea]

I was in the library, I saw Cthulhu Cat, it looked weird and cute at the same time so I grabbed it. I'd been reading various manga/graphic novel adaptations of Lovecraft's work this year so why not add a goofy one to the list.