May 2015 Reads

[aceluby]

If you're not enjoying it, I would still give the third one a chance. For me, personally, it was by far the best. It's pretty rare that a book can shock me, but the end of that one did.

Yeah, I'll most likely read it regardless, just not back-to-back like I've done w/ ASOIAF, Hobb, or Dagger & Coin. I already bought it, so I might as well read it :) just might need a break.

[Happy Ent]

Finished Pratchett’s Guards, Guards!. I believe that’s my first TP book in more than two decades.

Genuinely funny, as expected, but I feel that I’m getting too old for this.

[ljkeane]

I just finished the first two books of Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, which I think I saw because someone in last months thread mentioned them although I can't remember who. I really enjoyed them, just some good, entertaining science fiction.

[Iskaral Pust]

I just finished the first two books of Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, which I think I saw because someone in last months thread mentioned them although I can't remember who. I really enjoyed them, just some good, entertaining science fiction.

I mentioned them (possibly others did too). I'm glad you enjoyed.

I finished Colum McCann's This Side of Brightness. Beautifully written, sad, intimate look at life and relationships. Quintessential literary fiction rather than genre fiction. This guy is a great writer. I fully expect that I'll read everything he writes, but I'll need a good break between each one because they do seem to be pretty consistently sad in tone.

Then I moved on to Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train. I enjoyed it. It felt like a mix of Gone Girl, Bridget Jones' Diary (without the humor) and perhaps the tone/style of the Cormorant Stryke novels. All of the POVs are women but with very distinct personalities, outlook, etc. They do perhaps define themselves a little too much by their relationships with their spouses but that's necessary for the plot. The central POV is a slightly unreliable narrator but is unreliable to herself rather than just to the readers. It's a relatively quick read but it chugs along well. I think this was a rec from someone in last month's thread, so thanks for that.

Over the weekend I actually tried one of those free Kindle books that Amazon offers to Prime members each month: ®evolution by Manney. It's a near-future tech thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton. I read a third of the book and then dropped it. It was so wooden: the prose, the characters, the situation. It regurgitated everything that I hate about Dan Brown and Clive Cussler. Although I'm sure the author would be very happy with that comparison.

So I have moved on to Abercrombie's Half the World. He's such a good story-teller. Nice continuation of the trilogy, with a shift in POV despite keeping the same central character from the first volume. Still clearly YA compared to his other series but enjoyable nonetheless.

I have been going through books really quickly lately. I need to buy some more. Neal Stephenson's will be available in two weeks and I have some non-fiction that I am apparently less motivated to read just now. More fiction needed now.

[PyroclasticFlow]

Nic Pizzolatto's collection Between Here and the Yellow Sea

Jack Finney - Time and Again

Bernard Cornwell - The Empty Throne

[williamjm]

I finished Lois McMaster Bujold's The Spirit Ring. I probably wouldn't rank it among Bujold's best books but it was still a good read. It felt like a more straightforward and traditional historical fantasy than her Chalion books and didn't have as much depth but I did find the story compelling and the ending was very entertaining. The main characters were likeable but not as memorable as Bujold's other protagonists, although I did like some of the supporting cast, particularly the Abbot/Bishop/occasional Sorceror Monreale, and the Duke Ferrante was a despicable but complex villain.

[SkynJay]

I am working through Trailer Park Fae, new from Lilith Saintcrow. And it is surprising the hell out of me. I still don't know if it is good, but it is very different from expected. I guess I was thinking something like Blood Oranges, with some humor and wink wink stuff going on. Instead this is a serious take on some nasty fae. I think I like it, it just caught me off guard at first.

[Maester Llama]

Finally finished Robin Hobb's Fool's Assassin. All the feels. Hobb is great. There was a period about eight or nine years ago when Hobb was my favourite fantasy writer, and then I od'ed on her stuff a little bit and, while never thinking her material was less than very good, started a long break from reading her that just kind of never ended. When this final Fitz trilogy was announced I was intrigued but not totally over the moon; I figured I'd check it out, sure, whatever. I expected to enjoy it absolutely, but I wasn't sure to what degree I was still a Robin Hobb fan deep down and didn't know if I had it in me to get fully attached again. I'm fully re-fannified now though. Really great book, satisfying in and of itself while also casting some earlier material in interesting new lights and laying fascinating pipe for the future. Very interesting to get a fantasy novel from a hero -- specially a well-known hero -- moving very much into middle age, as well.

Also finished Gail Carriger's third Finishing School absurdist steampunk ya, Waistcoats & Weaponry. I love these. They bring me joy. There are competent young lady spies trained on an airship. There's a werewolf with a tophat. There's a clockwork wiener dog. There's a villainous organization called the Picklemen. And in this one there's a train heist! This third book starts off feeling more focused and tightly-constructed than do the first two, though this structure's gotten a bit muddy by the end. The political situation that initially prompts the characters to action ends up being mostly an excuse for them to do things, rather than something they're ever really able to effect directly, while the focus of the book turns out to be something quite different that will extend into the next [and final] installment. This story shape gives the end of the book a slightly rushed, unfinished feeling, and leaves the original insighting incident / situation hovering in an awkward place that feels too undeveloped for a major part in the story but too built up for the background deal it's ultimately turned out to be. Still, structural wobbles aside this is fun and exciting and more focused than previous installments moment-to-moment, I think, and it also starts to delve into slightly more serious territory in terms of the character relationships that Carriger brings off quite poignantly. There are some unexpectedly sober moments that hit the ya themes of self-discovery and early romance very well and movingly, and in effective ways that don't feel recycled or at all over-angsty. An excellent installment in a series that's really growing on me.

And, finally, I have also finished Bujold's The Curse of Chalion. Yes, this. This very much. Compelling kingdom-level fantasy plot, enjoyable and heroic but flawed characters who are fun to spend time with, nice enough world enhanced by fascinating and well-thought-out theology and numinous elements. I loved it -- in last month's thread I commented that the age gap in the romance was creepy -- not to mention the teacher / student vibe, but the former is acknowledged dead on enough and the book backs off the latter enough, and Bujold is a good enough writer of people who genuinely like each other, that I think it squeaks by. Good political maneuvering, great numinous / fantastical stuff, and a compelling sword fight or two without becoming an "action" book. Sadness that there's no direct sequel and probably never will be aside I really like this, like it in the kind of way that I could see myself rereading it. It grew on me hugely throughout.

Half-way through Gibson's The Peripheral. It's weird: The book is great, but for the last week or so I've had next to no desire to actually in fact read it. I don't think this is a reflection on my enjoyment. I think it's a combination of A: digesting -- I read a bunch of it in just a few days and it's a dense, idea-rich book, and B: doing some more thought-intensive work over the last little bit and not being quite up to the workout The Peripheral provides in leisure reading time. Have also just started Brian Ruckley's The Free, which is enjoyable military fantasy so far with hints of some gravitas to it in addition to the wicked cool people being hardcore. Up soon for me will be City of Stairs, Memory of Water by Aitaranta, perhaps Smiler's Fair by Levene, and perhaps Golden Son, which I expect will be dumb, but not as dumb as Red Rising, and very fun.

[RedEyedGhost]

I just finished the first two books of Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, which I think I saw because someone in last months thread mentioned them although I can't remember who. I really enjoyed them, just some good, entertaining science fiction.

I think I mentioned how much I disliked it in the December thread ;)

Finally finished Robin Hobb's Fool's Assassin. All the feels. Hobb is great. There was a period about eight or nine years ago when Hobb was my favourite fantasy writer, and then I od'ed on her stuff a little bit and, while never thinking her material was less than very good, started a long break from reading her that just kind of never ended. When this final Fitz trilogy was announced I was intrigued but not totally over the moon; I figured I'd check it out, sure, whatever. I expected to enjoy it absolutely, but I wasn't sure to what degree I was still a Robin Hobb fan deep down and didn't know if I had it in me to get fully attached again. I'm fully re-fannified now though. Really great book, satisfying in and of itself while also casting some earlier material in interesting new lights and laying fascinating pipe for the future. Very interesting to get a fantasy novel from a hero -- specially a well-known hero -- moving very much into middle age, as well.

Get out of my head! Now I feel like I should read it right away, but I still think I'll stick with my original plan of waiting until the final book is published.

[aceluby]

I think I mentioned how much I disliked it in the December thread ;)

Get out of my head! Now I feel like I should read it right away, but I still think I'll stick with my original plan of waiting until the final book is published.

That's my plan as well. When I get grabbed by Hobb I just can't let go.

[HexMachina]

That's my plan as well. When I get grabbed by Hobb I just can't let go.

Have you read any of her stuff as Meghan Lindholm? I've recently made a start, and while I don't enjoy it quite as much as the Fitz stuff, it's still very good. Got the Reindeer People as my next planned read, and I want to start the Harpy books too

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I found Beyond the Blue Horizon by Brian Fagan repetitive in themes but some sections were fascinating to me. I was struck by how the climate and the nature of the sea created the type of boatbuilding design. For instance, the Mediterranean with its frequent storms and rough seas, a wooden boat with framed, rigid hulls fastened with iron nails were well suited. Whereas in the gentler seas and predictable breezes of the Indian Ocean, the sewn and flexible hull design was perfect for the conditions.

Up next is Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan.

[Words-Are-Wind]

Then I moved on to Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train. I enjoyed it. It felt like a mix of Gone Girl, Bridget Jones' Diary (without the humor) and perhaps the tone/style of the Cormorant Stryke novels. All of the POVs are women but with very distinct personalities, outlook, etc. They do perhaps define themselves a little too much by their relationships with their spouses but that's necessary for the plot. The central POV is a slightly unreliable narrator but is unreliable to herself rather than just to the readers. It's a relatively quick read but it chugs along well. I think this was a rec from someone in last month's thread, so thanks for that.

I just finished The Girl on the Train recently, as well. It was enjoyable but after a while felt a little predictable. Similar to Gone Girl but missing the "wow" factor I was hoping for.

Currently re-reading The Pillars of the Earth, my all-time favorite novel. It honestly never gets old. I highly recommend it (as well as the mini-series that Starz did several years ago).

[Larry of the Lawn]

I just finished The Girl on the Train recently, as well. It was enjoyable but after a while felt a little predictable. Similar to Gone Girl but missing the "wow" factor I was hoping for.

Currently re-reading The Pillars of the Earth, my all-time favorite novel. It honestly never gets old. I highly recommend it (as well as the mini-series that Starz did several years ago).

One of my biggest disappointments. I'd heard good things, and being a mason was hoping for some more stone-porn, but:

Spoiler

the villain was so cartoonish and rapetacular that it got lame after awhile. The priest character was kind of interesting but the rest of them seemed so flat. I really liked the scene where Ellen(?) urinates on the bible or monk's book or whatever, but overall it felt kind of hamfisted.

[Darth Richard II]

Well there was porn In it alright, just not stone porn. :(

[williamjm]

I've started Ian McDonald's Sacrifice Of Fools, a murder mystery set in Belfast after Northern Ireland has become home to a hundred thousand members of an alien race who have been resettled there, presumably because Northern Irish politics isn't complicated enough (inevitably some of the locals seem to be trying to work out whether the aliens are Loyalist aliens or Nationalist aliens). It seems a more straightforward story than most of McDonald's novels, but it does have the novelty of an unusual setting for a SF story.

[lessthanluke]

Finished off the 3rd Omnibus of the Vorkosigian Saga. Now onto book 2 of the expanse.

[Starkess]

Still reading Deliverer, the ninth Foreigner book (or the third book in the third Foreigner trilogy). It's interesting but I've kind of lost the flow of it. There is a non-Bren POV which is really throwing me off after being deep in his head for eight books!

I started C.J. Cherryh's Cyteen a few days ago. It's been great so far. Cherryh is such an underrated writer.

Cherryh is awesome and that is one of my favorite books!

[Peadar]

I've started Ian McDonald's Sacrifice Of Fools, a murder mystery set in Belfast after Northern Ireland has become home to a hundred thousand members of an alien race who have been resettled there, presumably because Northern Irish politics isn't complicated enough (inevitably some of the locals seem to be trying to work out whether the aliens are Loyalist aliens or Nationalist aliens). It seems a more straightforward story than most of McDonald's novels, but it does have the novelty of an unusual setting for a SF story.

Haven't even heard of that one! Might give it a go next, as my current reads are too dull to break through the flu' funk. :thumbsup:

[Tellus Explorer]

I've just started reading The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell.

Also I'm finishing the two books from my April read;

The Wasp Factory

All the Kings men