Still reading The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Book 2 of The Passage trilogy, so no change there.
It has become quite interesting though (or maybe it’s just the Stockholm syndrome talking), I am in last 1/3 or maybe 1/4th of the book, and things have started to get together, though I still don’t know what’s the goal in this book. From all I have read, this seems to just be a ‘middle’ book whose purpose is to explore the world and take us from book 1 to book 3 where everything will be concluded.
Let’s see how I feel by the time I finish it.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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Howls Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones
Have heard great things about her, but have yet to read any of her work.
How are you enjoying it? I heard it’s a bit different from the movie.
I like it so far. I love the movie and its cool to read the story in more detail. There are some differences in the events and things that happen and of course since you get the thoughts of Sophie on top of that its nice.
Also I like the writing style, its very easy to visualize and pretty straightforward
About to start reading Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed after finishing Frederik Pohl’s The Merchants of Venus, which was an incredibly well done little novella about a shady tour guide giving rich clients a chance at discovering riches on Venus.
The Dispossessed is generally regarded as some of the best Anarchist sci-fi around, depicting how that society could potentially look like in practice. I anticipate It’ll be quite good.
Just finished a book called DarkFever. Its part of the Fever series. About to start book two BloodFever. Written by Karen Marie Moning.
I have read some of Ursula Le Guin’s, but I don’t think I have read The Dispossessed. Or any book in the Hainish Cycle. Should check them out.
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. I loved his Thursday Next series, the Nursery Crimes books were good, and Shades of Grey was fantastic. I’m having trouble getting into this one, but it might be worth it if I can stick it out.
Idk why the following description is written in second person, when the book is in first person. If you’re a fan of Douglas Adams, I recommend Jasper Fforde.
Every Winter, the human population hibernates.
During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, and devoid of human activity.
Well, not quite.
Your name is Charlie Worthing and it’s your first season with the Winter Consuls, the committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses.
You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky artefact borne of the sleeping mind.
When the dreams start to kill people, it’s unsettling.
When you get the dreams too, it’s weird.
When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity.
But teasing truth from Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping and stamp collecting, ensure you aren’t eaten by Nightwalkers whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food, and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk.
But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you’ll be fine.
I have only read his first Shades of Grey, and loved it, but then he didn’t write the sequel for 15 years.
I have first book in his Thursday Next series, but haven’t started it yet.
The sequel was published this year and it was . . . disappointing. You won’t be disappointed with Thursday Next.
That’s sad to know. Maybe it also explains why it took so long for him to write it.
I’ll read the first Thursday Next book, and if I like it will get the rest of the series. Thanks for the recommendation!
I finished Infinite. It was decent but not amazing, not something I would go out of my way to recommend but also if the blurb takes your fancy I’d still say give it a try.
After that I’ve gone right back to Deathlands. Halfway through 19 now :)
You are killing all the Deathlands books!
Yeh, I just can’t stay away for some reason. I’d planned to fit them in between other books, not buen through 5 at a time xD. I have the next book after Infinite ready for when I can force a break xD
Hehe, it’s a good thing. Means they are really good.
I am currently about halfway through the fourth book of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. A sort of historical fantasy set in a version of the Napoleonic wars in a world with dragons, which are used by the nations of that world as a sort of airforce. This one in particular is about a disease threatening the british dragons and the search for a cure.
How are you liking the series? I have seen it recommended many times, but haven’t gotten around to getting it yet.
I also recommend them, they are great. Some things that i especially like is the connection between the two main characters, the books giving you a very believable idea on how dragon-based warfare could work and showing different ways various cultures interact with dragons. While the major european powers mostly stick to the air force part mentioned in my earlier comment and generally don’t interact with people outside the military much, china for example has dragons more integrated into society and holding a wider variety of jobs. Book 4 showed a lot about dragons in southern africa, though i won’t spoil the specifics.
I have completed book 4 since my previous comment and am now deep into book 5.
Ahan, thanks for the info. Will check it out.
Finally got through Karen Rose again.
For some reason Stormlight Archive is super intimidating even though I just finished a series way longer. But two days into the week and still only 2/3 of the way through one book just feels like it’s taking forever for audiobooks lol. Though I’ve read The Way of Kings and a chunk of Words of Radiance in the past, so maybe it’s because I want to know what’s next where I was. I read plenty of longer books, but not usually full on epics. It’s usually more like a main story per book with through lines between them.
Wow 45h to 57h! That’s really long.
They’re paced pretty well, too. It feels a little longer so far because the entire last week has only just barely brought me close to where I was reading the ebooks, so I’ve been chomping at the bit to get some of the questions where I was answered.
But holy hell does it feel longer as one big storyline though. It’s fantastic, but even though I listen to a lot of audiobooks (and just finished a 30 book series with a bunch of them pushing 600 pages/30 hours) and do it at 2x speed, the length feels different lol.
Heh, I can understand. I haven’t read Rhythm of War, but want to re-read the whole series to prepare for the 5th book, and it feels pretty daunting.
I think I might have to break my habit and not start from scratch before book 5. It just feels like so much.
I love all extra myths and fairy tales as part of the story. I feel like you could pull those out and sell it as standalone for people intimidated by the whole giant thing who still want a flavor of his worldbuilding.
Well, I didn’t read book 4 when it released (though I did buy it). Wanted to read when the series was complete. So, I haven’t read the series since 2017-18, and 6 years is a very long time for my brain to remember stuff. I need a re-read to understand what’s happening now.
Well, I don’t even remember why the books were so long, but I recall I wasn’t bored when reading them. There are some books (like King’s) which I feel can be just as good if half of it is taken out. Don’t recall feeling like that with these. Though, don’t know what I’ll think after the re-read.
It’s a little different on a second read. The way it’s set up is excellent at building a tension where any scene can be pivotal, and you don’t have that on a re-read. But I did pick up details I missed the first time on the second pass (about through words of radiance), and the scenes that don’t progress you through the main arc still feel purposeful.
If I’d read 6 months ago instead of finishing probably a month before the new one I’d probably start from the beginning again. I reread a lot, though. A lot of other series (even with less of an arc) I’d read from the start even after just finishing it lol.
Continuing the endless cycle of Lois McMaster Bujold.
Currently listening to The Assassins of Thasalon from the “Penric and Desdemona” novella series.
Listening to “The Message,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Not that far into it, but just beautiful writing.
Reading Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I’m not really sold on it yet, but we’ll see.
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Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’m glad to have read it to see what so much media took inspiration from, but overall, it wasn’t my favorite.
Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1984), Award Winner (HM), Debut Work (HM), (alt) A Change in Perspective
Just started reading I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I never watched iCarly or anything else she’s been in, but I have heard of her story before. Seems like a good book if you are interested in abusive parents and unhealthy family dynamics.
if you are interested in abusive parents and unhealthy family dynamics
Taken out of context, it seems very weird thing to be interested in. 😀
Do share your review when you finish the book.
Playground by Richard Powers! Enjoying it
I just began Homo Juridicus by Alain Supiot. I’m still trying to grasp it, but I think it describes how the ‘legal man’ (homo juridicus) grasps the universe of signs through a specific set of legal (occidental) conceptions. It also references the philosophy of language.
Now I am reading ‘Amadeo Bordiga in the Italian Communist Party’ by Agustín Guillamón. I recently finished ‘What Is to Be Done?’ by Lenin.
