Sounds like a perfect time to start listening to Just King Things.
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What'cha Reading?
- Thread starter Falselogic
- Start date
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Making It So was fantastic. Highly recommended.
Interesting! I'll have to check this one out.
I DNF'd Making It So, unfortunately. It was so slow for my taste
Carrie reread was a huge success. Actually improved for me the second time around. Now, finally reading The Lost World by Michael Crichton
After rereading Dune, I got curious about the sequels (and my girlfriend owns them), so I read Dune Messiah. I don't know what the general consensus about this book is, but...I think it's kinda bad? I think it's kinda bad. That hasn't stopped me from picking up Children of Dune, but I dunno if I'll go past that one.
Was not that impressed. Very meh. Now, reading A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie and Still the Greatest; The Essential Songs of The Beatles' Solo Careers by Andrew Grant Jackson
jpfriction
(He, Him)
Read the first Murderbot novella by Martha Wells. Fun way to kill an hour (quite short).
Funny thing, I was wary about reading these because I had it my head that I had read some other Wells sci-fi and it was extremely dry and technical, which isn’t really my jam, but this was super breezy and looking through her bibliography I was definitely thinking of the wrong author. I actually read a few of her fantasy novels long ago and enjoyed them. No idea who I was thinking of. My kindle library is no help, must have been library books.
Funny thing, I was wary about reading these because I had it my head that I had read some other Wells sci-fi and it was extremely dry and technical, which isn’t really my jam, but this was super breezy and looking through her bibliography I was definitely thinking of the wrong author. I actually read a few of her fantasy novels long ago and enjoyed them. No idea who I was thinking of. My kindle library is no help, must have been library books.
I think Whalefall (Daniel Kraus) is a mostly successful merging of a 'man vs wild' story and a familial conflict story. Though it is an uneasy success. The two halves being in tension the entire time, and only failing when the 'Man vs Nature' half must be near broken to further the familial conflict half.
I can't speak to the scientific accuracy of the scuba diving and the whale anatomy, I can say that it all feels 'right.' I was never taken out of the story when these elements were on stage. Which is good as they're on-stage quite a bit.
I can't speak to the scientific accuracy of the scuba diving and the whale anatomy, I can say that it all feels 'right.' I was never taken out of the story when these elements were on stage. Which is good as they're on-stage quite a bit.
Just picked up Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, which I am very excited to get into. Ninth House was my favourite thing of hers that I've read to date (though it definitely comes with some content warnings) and I am quite keen to see where she takes things in the sequel. Before I crack that one open, though, I'm reading through The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams. I actually grabbed this from a roommate who was moving out nearly 20 years ago and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. Probably not essential reading, but it has been a long time since I read anything by Adams and it's nice to get reacquainted with his writing. So far, it's mostly short articles that were published in various newspapers and magazines, but there's supposed to be most of a Dirk Gently novel in the back half of the book. I never actually read the other books in that series, but this is the one I've had on my bookshelf for two decades, so here we are.
Yeah, it's a taste of Dirk but not a meal. The first Dirk book is actually my favorite thing by Adams.
jpfriction
(He, Him)
I recall it being quite good, but you’ll definitely walk away wanting more.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
This book was stunning. It is not a light read, both because the topic is difficult to read about and that there are a lot of connections between folklore and the real world that require full attention. But I haven't been so moved by a book in a long time. There's a passage about halfway through the book about the gathering of witch people and the start of white people arriving and I had to put the book down. A summary: it's a witch conference of all tribes and a sort of contest to see who can do the most powerful/evil magic. They're showing all sort of objects/charms but one witch tells a story, which is in verse and predicts the genocide and environmental destruction from the European invasion. The other witches agree that wins but demand the witch take their story back. And the response is that no, it's set in motion by evil in general and can't be called back. The language in the book is of course much better than this but I can't even pretend to summarize that. It's astoundingly powerful.
Everyone in the book club said they're glad they read it and they recommend it, but also said it's a hard book to describe as one they "liked". I didn't expect such complexity from a book that's only about 200 pages long with the more folklore-heavy portions being in verse. So glad I read it and one I want to re-read, ideally after reading up a bit more on Laguna history as I know there were references in there I didn't understand.
I finished Children of Memory, which I liked but I think I liked less than Ruin and Time. It was very different, in that it went for a mystery to lean heavily on, but the resolution felt a little rushed and matter-of-fact, and I'm not sure I gelled with what it was saying about the main character.
I don't know what to read next! ahhhhhh
I don't know what to read next! ahhhhhh
Both of these were absolute winners. Before moving on The Trouble With Peace, I decided to give The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins a try
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Funny timing on titles because I just received a book of poems called Whale Fall by David Baker from my mom and I'd heard about it from other people too. Just starting it but the blurb sounds really interesting:
That does sound interesting. Whale Falls are known events. That create entire, if temporary, ecosystems in the deep of the ocean. I might have to check this one out too. I love poetry and science.
Finished with both The Trouble With Peace (really enjoyed, but first book was slightly better) and Barbra Streisand's autobio (it was good, but could have cut off about 200 pages). Now, reading Devil's Gun by Cat Rambo. Really enjoyed You Sexy Thing last year. Hoping I like the sequel just as much
Picked The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan out of the to-read backlog on my Kindle almost at random, I know absolutely nothing going in. I must have thought it sounded interesting at some point when I picked it up, I guess!
The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O. Paxton. Trying to finish this up since I've been reading it since last summer.
The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I liked this, thanks for bringing it up. Of the shows written about I've only seen episodes of Fresh Prince and Dawson's Creek so I was prepared to not click with this book, but she did a fantastic job of walking me through the shows without it feeling like I was being caught up. Enjoyable and a very good length too, didn't last too long.
I know I've already pushed it, but Beowife got a B&N exclusive special edition of her book that's on sale today and tomorrow. So if you haven't already preordered Dreadful, you can get the fancy edition.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Starting Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, the fourth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I really love these and am happy there are more.
Man, Children of Dune very suddenly goes to some Places in the last 100 pages, huh? Now I'm interested in reading the next book again.
Anyway, after that I read Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly McGee. This was good, but I wanted to learn more about Abernathy's employer than we're given. Which I know wasn't really the point of the book, so I'm going to choose to take it as a sign of interesting worldbuilding. A pretty solid sci-fi parable of late capitalism.
I started reading Organ Meats by K-Ming Chang, but I couldn't really get into the style after 80-100 pages. It's too bad, because I remember liking Bestiary a lot. Maybe I just have to be in a certain frame of mind. I put that down and picked up Paul Auster's new one Baumgartner instead, currently about halfway through it. I'm enjoying it, but I feel like I need to finish the book before I can really make a call about it.