Two thumbs up for the Betty White book, now back to The Wheel of Time with The Great Hunt
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What'cha Reading?
- Thread starter Falselogic
- Start date
So Iron Widow was fun.
I'm sure it started as a Pacific Rim AU, because it's Chinese History with mechas - it's the rise of Empress Wu Zetian in a China where the Great Wall is used to keep kaijus at bay and mechas are controlled with a twin pilot system like Pacific Rim's but with a man and a woman; yet women don't always survive since their psyche can get consumed by the male pilot's while powering their mechas. But Wu Zetian is an Iron Widow, she consumes the male pilots, and the militaristic, patriarchal society she's living in doesn't like that a bit.
The book is fun even though it has its drawbacks. Sometimes it tells too much instead of showing (a good deal of Zetian's training gets glossed over, for example) and I wouldn't have minded a few extra pages. Feels a bit Ex Machina at times. But it has its strengths - Zutian is a good protagonist (doesn't mean she's likeable - this is a woman who has no use for being nice, and you might even call her the villain in this story), the sci-fantasy setting is cool, the story is fairly self-contained even though it's the first of a duology, and the author keeps the inevitable YA love triangle drama to a minimum (and points out the obvious solution - just go poly. Another evidence this was on its way to AO3 at some point)
I'm sure it started as a Pacific Rim AU, because it's Chinese History with mechas - it's the rise of Empress Wu Zetian in a China where the Great Wall is used to keep kaijus at bay and mechas are controlled with a twin pilot system like Pacific Rim's but with a man and a woman; yet women don't always survive since their psyche can get consumed by the male pilot's while powering their mechas. But Wu Zetian is an Iron Widow, she consumes the male pilots, and the militaristic, patriarchal society she's living in doesn't like that a bit.
The book is fun even though it has its drawbacks. Sometimes it tells too much instead of showing (a good deal of Zetian's training gets glossed over, for example) and I wouldn't have minded a few extra pages. Feels a bit Ex Machina at times. But it has its strengths - Zutian is a good protagonist (doesn't mean she's likeable - this is a woman who has no use for being nice, and you might even call her the villain in this story), the sci-fantasy setting is cool, the story is fairly self-contained even though it's the first of a duology, and the author keeps the inevitable YA love triangle drama to a minimum (and points out the obvious solution - just go poly. Another evidence this was on its way to AO3 at some point)
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Yay, I'm glad someone else read and liked it. I had a lot of fun with it.
Getting into my first horror of the year with In the Hills Above the Gristmill by Kalvin Ellis
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Finished the sequel to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tales from the Cafe. Loved it, but the first one is a bit better and definitely needs to be read before the second. Re-explaining how the time travel works and re-introducing the characters was clunky and didn't really work to well. Still a lovely, beautiful, short read.
The Maleficent Seven by Carmen Johnston
this was awesome. My favorite book of the month so far. Anyway, I want to eventually read the Rebirth run of Superman, but I saw I had to do a bit of homework, so I ended up reading Convergence by Jeff King, Lois and Clark by Dan Jurgens, and The Final Days of Superman by Peter J. Tomasi. The latter two I thought were excellent, Convergence less so. I'm tentatively looking to start the Rebirth run next weekend. For right now, I'm looking to squeeze in one more book for the month with Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Murakami T, which is Haruki Murakami's short essays on random T-shirts he's collected over the years. It is oddly peaceful and random, even he acknowledges it:
Definitely not something I expected my library to have but glad they did.
Somewhat belatedly (compared to the rest of the SFF sphere) finished Piranesi a couple days ago. Atmospheric and fascinating, with a surprising emotional punch at the end. I had an online discussion of it this morning that added even more layers, which is always cool.
Finished All the Marvels, which is an easy (maybe even required) recommendation for anyone even passively interested in the history of Marvel comics, and how reality and dozens of creative teams affected the way the story played out.
It’s also a good example of why someone would like superhero comics at all, and a primer for how to get your feet wet in the medium.
It’s also a good example of why someone would like superhero comics at all, and a primer for how to get your feet wet in the medium.
Death on the Nile didn't work for me. Had to DNF it, might try to catch the movie though. Anyway, time to be ambitious. On top of me continuing my read through of WoT with The Dragon Reborn, I am trying some late 18th Century Chinese lit with The Story of the Stone, Vol. 1: The Golden Days by Cao Xueqin
Well, you caught my attention just with the title, let's see what it's abo-
...SOLD!
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Finished MacBeth for my classics book club. First Shakespeare our group has ever read in the 3-4 years we've been going which I'm proud of, we do a lot more diverse classics than most. Anyway, this was one of the tougher Shakespeare plays I've read for sure but glad to finally do it. There were several lines I'd heard before but I'm happy I now know the context and/or that they are from this play specifically.
FelixSH
(He/Him)
You made me curious, which books did you read? Do you remember a few of them? Or, specifically, which ones do you recommend? But then, considering they are classics, they were probably all worthwile, even if one doesn't like a specific one.
Not very far into it; but I started reading All Those Explosions We’re Someone Elses Fault*, and I can already tell this is going to be something I enjoy.
It’s a Superhero v. Monsters book with the conceit that being a monster is exclusively the purview of the absurdly super-rich, and also all the main characters are Canadian and furthermore, queer PoC.
Only a few chapters into it but I’m really enjoying it so far.
Feels like a Dresden Files book, if Harry were a non-binary geologist who appreciates the difference between an Albertan and Ontario winter
It’s a Superhero v. Monsters book with the conceit that being a monster is exclusively the purview of the absurdly super-rich, and also all the main characters are Canadian and furthermore, queer PoC.
Only a few chapters into it but I’m really enjoying it so far.
Feels like a Dresden Files book, if Harry were a non-binary geologist who appreciates the difference between an Albertan and Ontario winter
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
It's through a bookstore and they actually have all the books we've read back to 2019 on their website which is cool.
I've liked almost every book we've read, but here's the ones I'd especially call out:
- I have already gushed about Maria Dahvana Headley's Beowulf translation on this forum a bunch but absolutely will again. If you haven't read Beowulf before I would recommend checking out a more traditional translation first. I like Mitchell's but there are so many in so many languages, I would just see what your library has.
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Just an amazing profile of a young woman growing up in the early 1900s, and the polio vaccine scenes are especially interesting to revisit now.
- I'd already read it and it's on the short list for my favourite book ever but 100 Years of Solitude, which I wrote a ton about recently since it was the TT January book club book!
- The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar. This was probably the first book I've ever read from a Turkish author? Absolutely loved it.
- Another I'd already read but loved revisiting: Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. A short one but his most famous story I think and for good reason. Another one with a few different translations in different languages but I would just check out what your library has, I doubt any of them are bad.
- Madame Bovary was just whiny Victorian boring-ness
- The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende made no sense to me and I kept trying to re-read sections but couldn't keep track. I still can't really tell you what it was about. We also didn't think it really qualified as a classic but no one could remember who submitted it so the whole thing was odd.
- I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal. Obnoxious characters, I didn't like the writing style, weird/gross descriptions of women/sex.
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Ending up reading the first Deluxe volume of the Superman Rebirth arc. I am enjoying it for the most part, although I wasn't that fond of the Damian/Robin issues (I'm not a fan of him in general). Will be most likely reading volume 2 this weekend.
Finished my third reading of The Dragon Reborn. For me, it's a slight step down from the last book, but I still enjoyed it. Will be reading The Shadow Rising next month
For now though, starting on my next trilogy of the month with The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. I love King Arthur stuff, so I expect this will be good
Finished my third reading of The Dragon Reborn. For me, it's a slight step down from the last book, but I still enjoyed it. Will be reading The Shadow Rising next month
For now though, starting on my next trilogy of the month with The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. I love King Arthur stuff, so I expect this will be good
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Started reading Mary Roach's Fuzz, and it's just super-depressing so far. Sounds like it doesn't improve, and since I've lived in wildlife-heavy areas I already know a lot of it. Very well-researched and written but I may not be the target audience for this one.
It took a couple chapters to grab me, but once it did Zoe Hana Mikuta's Gearbreakers didn't let me go and I finished it in practically one sitting. It helps that the damn woman knows how to write an enemy-to-allies-to-lovers slow burn rom-com.
So, in a dystopic future, the Evil Empire's iron fist takes the form of an endless army of mecha piloted by cyborgs, and there's this resistance that specializes on taking down these Windup mecha by opening a hole in their armor, sneaking in and destroying the mecha from the inside out - they call themselves Gearbreakers. The book centers on a rookie Windup Pilot that secretly hates everything the Empire stands for and has ever touched (including herself) and a young Greabreaker squad leader who accidentally gets herself captured. Together, they fightcrime 150-foot mecha.
I had lots of fun. The author doesn't shy from the psychological scars of having young teens being soldiers (without getting as grim and raw as, say, The Poppy Wars). But when you read it you notice the parallels in both sides and it's chilling. You know which side it's supposed to be sympathetic, but the characters understand and come to grips with the fact that, yeah, war is crap. That doesn't keep them from, you know, playing Shadow of the Colossus against mechas with laser guns and then longingly sigh and look at each other.
Only complaint? It's a duology, so the end is a cliffhanger. And did I mention it is a slow burn? So the cliffhanger is not only action related, there's also an emotional one. Godammit, I need to pre-order the next book.
So, in a dystopic future, the Evil Empire's iron fist takes the form of an endless army of mecha piloted by cyborgs, and there's this resistance that specializes on taking down these Windup mecha by opening a hole in their armor, sneaking in and destroying the mecha from the inside out - they call themselves Gearbreakers. The book centers on a rookie Windup Pilot that secretly hates everything the Empire stands for and has ever touched (including herself) and a young Greabreaker squad leader who accidentally gets herself captured. Together, they fight
I had lots of fun. The author doesn't shy from the psychological scars of having young teens being soldiers (without getting as grim and raw as, say, The Poppy Wars). But when you read it you notice the parallels in both sides and it's chilling. You know which side it's supposed to be sympathetic, but the characters understand and come to grips with the fact that, yeah, war is crap. That doesn't keep them from, you know, playing Shadow of the Colossus against mechas with laser guns and then longingly sigh and look at each other.
Only complaint? It's a duology, so the end is a cliffhanger. And did I mention it is a slow burn? So the cliffhanger is not only action related, there's also an emotional one. Godammit, I need to pre-order the next book.
Still slowly making my way through The Fall of Babel, but also have started listening to the audiobook of The Blacktongue Thief with my girlfriend. She recently listened to it and liked it so much, and was convinced I'd like it, that we started again together almost immediately after her first listen.
It very much feels like "Yes, I play a lot of D&D too" —the main character is very clearly a rogue, small magic spells are called cantrips, etc.—but it doesn't feel quite so much like a reskinned campaign and has a unique enough world and setting that it doesn't become conspicuous or feel overly generic. The writing has gotten some genuine laughs out of me. There's also a lot of obscured scene-setting; I think we're a third of the way through the book and 1. The narrator still has basically no idea what's going on in the big picture, and 2. it feels like (potentially?) major characters are still getting introduced.
If I had one complaint, it'd be that it feels like I miss a lot of plot points in half-sentence resolutions. For example, in the aftermath of the opening scene, the main character is helping the other wounded people of his soon-to-be-former party back to their camp, musing that the two archers who'd run away instead of stayed to fight and get their asses kicked probably stole a bunch of stuff from their camp. This seemed to occupy a decent amount of time, but before I knew it, he was in town; I had missed whether the deserters had actually stolen the stuff, and furthermore missed that he'd dropped off the wounded at the camp and then gone off on his own. Other times include "Wait, why is that person traveling with them now? When did they mention that?" or "When did he go back to the other room, I thought he was talking with the people in the first one?" and I'd say two-ish others.
Now, it's absolutely a possibility that my own attention span is to blame here, because lord knows ADHD isn't kind to me. But it does feel like it happens relatively frequently while listening to this book, yet isn't something I've experienced all that often in listening to others, so, I guess it could go either way? Or be a combination? It might also be that this happens more frequently than I realize, but in a book I just look back a page or two, see what I overlooked, and go on my merry way where with an audiobook (and another person) I have to pause to ask for clarification and/or rewind, so it stands out more.
Anyway. Enjoying it so far, though haven't been deeply impressed just yet.
It very much feels like "Yes, I play a lot of D&D too" —the main character is very clearly a rogue, small magic spells are called cantrips, etc.—but it doesn't feel quite so much like a reskinned campaign and has a unique enough world and setting that it doesn't become conspicuous or feel overly generic. The writing has gotten some genuine laughs out of me. There's also a lot of obscured scene-setting; I think we're a third of the way through the book and 1. The narrator still has basically no idea what's going on in the big picture, and 2. it feels like (potentially?) major characters are still getting introduced.
If I had one complaint, it'd be that it feels like I miss a lot of plot points in half-sentence resolutions. For example, in the aftermath of the opening scene, the main character is helping the other wounded people of his soon-to-be-former party back to their camp, musing that the two archers who'd run away instead of stayed to fight and get their asses kicked probably stole a bunch of stuff from their camp. This seemed to occupy a decent amount of time, but before I knew it, he was in town; I had missed whether the deserters had actually stolen the stuff, and furthermore missed that he'd dropped off the wounded at the camp and then gone off on his own. Other times include "Wait, why is that person traveling with them now? When did they mention that?" or "When did he go back to the other room, I thought he was talking with the people in the first one?" and I'd say two-ish others.
Now, it's absolutely a possibility that my own attention span is to blame here, because lord knows ADHD isn't kind to me. But it does feel like it happens relatively frequently while listening to this book, yet isn't something I've experienced all that often in listening to others, so, I guess it could go either way? Or be a combination? It might also be that this happens more frequently than I realize, but in a book I just look back a page or two, see what I overlooked, and go on my merry way where with an audiobook (and another person) I have to pause to ask for clarification and/or rewind, so it stands out more.
Anyway. Enjoying it so far, though haven't been deeply impressed just yet.
Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell
FelixSH
(He/Him)
Still far from finished, and I should write an actual post about my experience with Les Miserables. But the short version is, that this book is amazing, and that it's already one of my favourite pieces of literature. Hugo didn't just write a story, he created a world. Full of the most excellent characters.
Except Marius, who would complain about being friendzoned, if this book was written in modern times, or something.
Except Marius, who would complain about being friendzoned, if this book was written in modern times, or something.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Eponine is the one getting friendzoned
Dangit; my backlog is already big enough!
Or harder, depending how you look at it.
It's the kind of book that inspires fanart this good.
It's the kind of book that inspires fanart this good.
*sigh*
Into the queue it goes
Into the queue it goes
Enemy of God was going to be a really solid 4 star read, until that last section, and then I had to give it all the stars. I have a feeling Excalibur will stick the landing for sure
Excalibur was good, but could have been shorter. Now reading The Science of Stephen King by Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence