What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? May 22
What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? May 22
Continuing Three Days to Never by Tim Powers, I was around first quarter mark before, but have crossed the half mark now. The books has gotten really interesting, will probably finish this week, if nothing comes up.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening lately?
A reminder about our Book Bingo. Take look, if you haven't already.
I'm reading Snowcrash again. Definitely one of my favorite sci Fi books of all time. It's a bit heavy to get through, but I'm taking my time instead of rushing through it like I've done in the past. Great read.
9I finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence (The Red Queen's War). Not sure what it is but this one didn't click with me as well as other Mark Lawrence books I've read. I will continue the series though.
I just started A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan. It's about the KKK in the 1920s. So far it's both interesting and infuriating. I think I will learn a lot from this book.
7I’m reading Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. It’s an epistolary novel where the author must continually use fewer and fewer letters of the alphabet due to actions within the story. It’s been pretty good so far. It is my experimental square.
6That's a good book. Very interesting
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Just finished Dämmerung (Twilight) by German police thriller author Marc Raabe. It's the second instalment in his Art Mayer series about the eponymous detective for the German federal police. It just ticks all the right boxes for me and I can't put the books down. Now I'll have to wait at least a year for the next one.
6Just a minute ago finished echopraxia, following blindsight on some rec here or there.
5TIL what echopraxia is.
How are you liking the books? Look interesting.
1Very opaque prose and narration, especially blindsight, but once you get used to what watts is doing, the story itself is extremely compelling.
It is hard science fiction, about as hard as granite, but it's still fun If you can survive all the perspective-driven jargon.
The story itself and the characters are comprehensively created; there's a lot of positives to both books, although I preferred blindsight.
They're independent, sharing a world of sorts and related but with a completely different set of characters and do not at all need to be read in order or as an original and its sequel.
I recommend diving into blindsight.
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Vinland Saga(almost done with volume 2 leather bound collection), and I keep putting off startingLast Argument of Kings(book 3 in the first law series) for no real reason.4Last Argument of Kings is nice, and it also brings the trilogy to an end, so that's always a good thing. 😀
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I'm currently reading REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. I love his writing, and this one holds up to the rest
4I have heard a lot him, but haven't gotten around to reading any of his work. What would you recommend the best starting point should be?
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Just finished Superforecasting. Pretty great!
4If I have time to sit up and read, I have been reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. Historical fiction about a woman in India. Otherwise, I just got my Kobo Libra Colour and have been reading The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett as I go to sleep. Fantasy.
For my commutes to work, I have been listening to Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. I have been reading heavy material from depressing articles to more serious books and needed a break from all of that. Its about a blogger whose cognition is so vastly different from anyone elses and its very humorous how her brain works.
4I was computerless for the better part of a week, so had lots of time to read! Currently 75% of the way through Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
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Finished The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August. Enjoyed this more than I'd expected: the first half led me to believe it was going to be breezy fluff the whole way through, but it actually turns fairly poignant in the second half, exploring the losses experienced by different characters. It's a little hamfisted in places (evil corporation is evil!), and a little YA in tone, but still very worth a read, imo. (Counts for Among the Stars HM, Minority Author, LGBTQIA+ Lead, Family Drama, Debut Work.)
Read The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed, which scratched an itch I had for dark fantasy. Really enjoyed it; reminded me a little of both Annihilation and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. My only real gripe is the last couple of pages feeling almost like sequel-bait, rather than letting the ending settle. This does have some horror elements, so do please check content warnings if it sounds good. (Counts for New Release, Minority Author, Mashup, It's About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.)
3Crazy Rich Asians sounds interesting, how are you liking it so far?
The Butcher of the Forest is a dark fantasy because of horror theme? Or because author is very sadistic with his characters? I don't mind horror, but not in a mood for the latter right now.
2I'm gonna post thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians in the new thread, but I enjoyed it well enough.
Re: The Butcher of the Forest: I wouldn't say the author's sadistic with their characters, no. From my (potentially desensitized) perspective, I'd say the horror is actually pretty mild, to be honest. The MC goes through a reasonable amount of trauma as she deals with the eldritch creatures (fae?) she encounters; my content warning... er... warning was mainly to do with a part of her past that she briefly recounts toward the end. It's only about 100 pages, so not a big investment if you try it and find it not to your taste.
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I am listening to the audio book versions of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells narrated by Kevin R. Free, and holy moly. They are so good. I listened to the first third one twice before moving on. I highly recommend.
3Murderbot Diaries are our most recommended books these past few weeks, maybe I should mention such books in the post...
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Well and Truly Pucked by Lauren Blakely.
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