Have You Read?

[Kathleen]

I quit Ghost of a Chance after a chapter or so.

HYR Thirst* (Ava Delaney, Book 1) by Claire Farrell ?

*Just finished it and I gave it 4 stars.

[Julia]

HNR, but it looks like it could be fun.

HYR Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang ? (I just saw "Arrival" last night and it was based on the title story. Now I want to read it. I really liked the movie.

[Kathleen]

HNR, don't think I've seen "Arrival" either.

HYR Kindergarten* by Peter Rushforth

*I have not read, but have heard of this book which combines Holocaust themes and global terrorism.

[Julia]

HNR, but it looks really good!

HYR The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy ?

[Kathleen]

I have heard of this book, but have not read it.

Do you plan to read Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent (one of my favorite authors) ?

[Julia]

I hadn't planned to read it, because I had never heard of Brave New Girl. Looks neat! Thanks.

Have you heard of/ HYR The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli ?

[Kathleen]

HNR (or heard of it)

I know your like graphic novels. HYR Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi ?

[Julia]

It looks like one I'd like a lot! Thanks, I have put it on my TBR list. No, I hadn't heard of it.

HYR or heard of Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie ?

[Kathleen]

HNR (or heard of)

HYR The Queen's Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet by Celeste Davidson Mannis ?

After the author had written over a thousand pages (and still wasn't done), she turned her nonfiction book into a children's picture book. I gave it five stars on Goodreads.

[Julia]

HNR or heard of and it looks great!

HYR, I just heard about this one today: The Evil Wizard Smallbone by Delia Sherman ?

[Kathleen]

HNR, but love the concept of a sentient magical bookstore! I'm adding it to my tbr list.

HYR Only The Good Die Young* (Jensen Murphy, Ghost for Hire, Book 1) by Chris Marie Green ?

*This is my current book.

[Julia]

HNR, it looks interesting. Are you enjoying it?

HYR Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire ?

[Kathleen]

So far, but I'm only in the first chapter.

Yes, yes, yes on Sparrow Hill Road. Definitely, yes. Rose Marshall also pops up in the later InCryptid books, also by Seanan McGuire.

HYR Discount Armageddon (InCryptid, Book 1) by Seanan McGuire ?

[Julia]

HNR, she says writes sheepishly.

I don't know why, I guess because I haven't finished the October Daye series, which admittedly makes no sense.

HYR Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer *?

* This is my current book.

[Kathleen]

HNR, but it looks interesting. One reviewer compared his style to that of Ursula K. Le Guin, one of my favorite authors. Let me know if you like it.

HYR Memory of Morning (Dr Cliff and Lord North, Book 1) by Susan Sizemore* ?

*Another of my favorite authors.

[Julia]

Annihilation wasn't for me. I didn't see any stylistic similarities to Ursula K. Le Guin, also one of my favorite authors.

HNR Memory of Morning, but it looks like one I might like.

HYR Shards of Honor aka Test of Honor (Omnibus: Shards of Honor \ The Warrior's Apprentice) by Lois McMaster Bujold and ? It sounds a bit like the Sizemore book, in a science fictional setting. There's even a novella in this series called The Mountains Of Mourning.

[Kathleen]

Don't think that I've read anything by Lois McMaster Bujold. No particular reason. I just haven't gotten around to it.

HYR Watchmen by Alan Moore ?

[Julia]

Yes, I have read it and I didn't care for it. It happens, sometimes.

HYR Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ?

[Kathleen]

HNR

HYR Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly ?

[Julia]

I'm reading Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race now. HYR it yet? Or seen the movie?

[Kathleen]

Have not it read it, hope to see the movie soon.

HYR Fated* (Alex Verus, Book 1) by Benedict Jacka ?

*I just started it a few days ago.

[Julia]

Nope, HNR, but it looks like one I'd like. Are you liking it?

HYR To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis ? I'm reading it this week for a RL book club Friday. It's one of my favorite books; I hope my friends don't hate it.

[Kathleen]

Loved Fated and have books two and three in this series on hold at my library. Just need to get there to pick them up.

HNR To Say Nothing of the Dog and probably won't because of the time travel element.

HYR Some Girls Bite* (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 1) by Chloe Neill ?

*Started this one the day I finished Fated. Only a few pages into it so far.

[Julia]

Oh right, you don't read time travel. Sorry! Forgot!

Nope, I HNR Some Girls Bite.

HYR The Regional Office Is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales ?

[Kathleen]

Enjoyed Some Girls Bite, a different take on vampires and great start to an urban fantasy series. Vamps in this series are not dead, but are genetically altered. After conversion, they enjoy an extended life span, only occasionally need blood, but are light sensitive and must avoid the sun. The vamps have just come out of the closet (not dead so coffin does not work) and Chicago is adjusting to the presence of blood drinkers even if they are law abiding and not killing people.

HNR The Regional Office Is Under Attack!

HYR Sleeping Giants* (Themis Files, Book 1) by Sylvain Neuvel ?

*This is the second book in the stack in my tbr pile.

[Julia]

No, but it looks like I might like it.

HYR Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs by Ron Koertge ?

I liked it. It's a short novel written in different poetry forms, about a 14 y/o baseball player, who also likes poetry a lot. (I taught #1 in the series in a poetry unit about a 100 years ago.)

[Kathleen]

HNR, but it sounds interesting.

HYR The Book of Night with Moon (Feline Wizards, Book 1) by Diane Duane ?

[Julia]

No, about 1,000 years ago I read maybe two of Diane Duane's Young Wizard series and I've read several of her Star Trek books, but I hadn't heard of this series. It looks fun!

HYR The Women Who Made New York by Julie Scelfo ?

[Kathleen]

HNR

HYR Crocodile on the Sandbank* (Amelia Peabody, Book 1) by Elizabeth Peters ?

*A traditional mystery, but without a murder.

[Rebekah]

Yes! Love that series!

HYR Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels ?

Same author as above but uses this pen name for her more ghostly, gothic mysteries

[Julia]

HNR

HYR The Turn of the Screw by Henry James ?

[Kathleen]

Too many moons ago in high school.

HYR Fire Country* (Country Saga, Book 1) by David Estes ?

*Yet another first book in a series on my tbr list.

[Julia]

Sounds good, HNR.

HYR We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie by Noah Isenberg ?

[Kathleen]

No, and Hollywood stories really don't interest me. So, I probably won't read this one.

HYR Dirty Magic (Prospero's War, Book 1) by Jaye Wells

[Julia]

Nope, I HNR, but it looks like one I might like. Thanks.

HYR Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews ?

[Kathleen]

HNR, I read the first three books or so in the Kate Daniels series, Magic Bites (Book 1), by the same author and then lost interest. I probably won't be starting this series.

HYR A Kiss Before the Apocalypse (Remy Chandler, Book 1) by Thomas E. Sniegoski ?

[Julia]

Oh yes! I think I'm even caught up with this series. I really like Remy Chandler, the main character.

HYR The Fallen and Leviathan by Thomas E. Sniegoski the same author's YA series that may or may not be in the same universe. I've owned them for so long I bought them from Borders, but haven't gotten around to reading them. Yet.

[Kathleen]

HNR

HYR Empire Games* (Empire Games, Book 1) by Charles Stross ?

*This is a follow-on series to Stross' Merchant Princes series, The Family Trade book one, set 17 years after the end of that series.

[Julia]

HNR

HYR The Merchant Prince by Armin Shimerman ? It's pretty fun!

[Rebekah]

No, I haven't!
Have you read The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker

[Kathleen]

Have not read this book, but it sounds interesting. I only think that violence has declined in the number of one-on-one encounters (not too many duels at dawn in the modern age). When one considers horrific events such as the Holocaust, I don't think that the case for a decline in violence can be argued. Glad that you posted this title!

HYR The Floating Island (The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme, #1) by Elizabeth Haydon ?

[Rebekah]

Well read it and you might change your mind. Genocide was rampant in Bible times and up to the American genocide of multiple Native tribes. The fact we were actually horrified by the Holocaust on a world wide scale is a modern concept and now we actually get upset if civilians especially children die in a war! Totally unheard of to criticize a government for having juvenile casualties in the past!
I've been very depressed by world events but this actually gave me hope. It's a long book but he covers every aspect from spanking to torture to battles.
Haven't read book you posted but sounds interesting. Love those "fragments of old books" adventures!

Have you read The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark

[Julia]

HNR, but it looks interesting!

HYR The Alienist by Caleb Carr ?

[Kathleen]

Rebekah wrote: "Well read it and you might change your mind..."

Actually I added it to the list of books that I plan to give my husband for his birthday in July. It sounds exactly like the kind of thing that he would enjoy.

HNR The Alienist

HYR Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi ?

[Rebekah]

Yes, read this and The Alienist! Loved them both!
HYR Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo ?

[Kathleen]

HNR

HYR Silence Fallen* (Mercy Thompson, Book 10) by Patricia Briggs ?

*Just finished this book and found it one of the most moving books in the Mercy Thompson series. I especially enjoyed the parts with Bran Cornick, the Marrok, and would love to see him spun off into his own series. He is the best tragic, flawed hero in the entire series.

[Julia]

I have. I almost went back and read all the Matt Smith parts, as a "Doctor Who" follower, and a follower of this series.

I would read books about Bran, absolutely.

HYR Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs ?

[Kathleen]

Julia wrote: ". . . I almost went back and read all the Matt Smith parts, as a "Doctor Who" follower, and a follower of this series. I would read books about Bran, absolutely. . ."

I figured out early on that Bran was incognito as "Matt Smith," but that only made those scenes more delightful!

Yes, I love Charles and Anna and have actually recently reread Cry Wolf. It was better the second time around--always a reflection of a great story.

You used Changing Planes in one of the games today. I am an Ursula K. Le Guin fan, but must have missed this one. HYR it? How did you like it?

[Julia]

One of my friends who is in my real life book club is a giant Ursula K. Le Guin fan. It's why I'm reading Changing Planes. I'm not loving it. So much that I'm putting it aside after reading around half of it, to read something else. I will come back to it, but I want to read something fun first. The concept is cool, the reality is off- putting, so far, this week. (Hopefully next week I'll like the book more.)

What are you reading now and what do you think of it?

[Kathleen]

I am reading Bound (Alex Verus, Book 8) by Benedict Jacka . This is a fantastic urban fantasy series about London mage Alex Verus. It's one of my new favorite series. Definitely would recommend starting with the first book, Fated.

HYR Brave New Girl by Rachel Vincent ?