May 2016 reads

[First of My Name]

Carry on, hopefully we'll get more done than last month.

This morning I finally finished The Book Thief and I loved it to bits. Beautifully written, great story and characters, and I'm still thinking about the final scene hours later. This one's going in my top 10 for sure.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

April was horrible for reading.

 

Hopefully May will be more productive.I've started on the first of four books that came out in April,Saint's Blood (Greatcoats #3) by Sebastien de Castell.

[polishgenius]

I read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children this morning (well, and yesterday evening). Not mindblowing, but pretty entertaining.


Before that in the week, which was April but oh well, I read Career of Evil by Robert Galbrowling, which was entertaining but had some irritations, and Four Kings, the boxing book about the Duran/Hagler/Hearns/Leonard rivalry, which was interesting to read but, because except for Duran the boxers involved were more interesting as fighters than personalities- they were basically normal, basically- the book was less interesting than other boxing books about less successful but more eccentric personalities.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who had a poor April in the reading department (misery loves company, I suppose). 

Anyway, am about halfway through The Hungry Moon, by Ramsey Campbell. It has a vivid setting and decent enough plot (albeit a bit predictable at this stage, I think). My problems are twofold - (1) too many POV characters in what is only a 300 page book, which means losing track of who is who. (2) having a religious fundamentalist take over a British town in the 1980s stretches my suspension of disbelief. I mean, I know sinister magic is involved, and that it is supposed to feel unnatural, but the discrepancy between the setting and crazy Christianity keeps jolting me out of the story. 

[HexMachina]

1 hour ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

April was horrible for reading.

 

Hopefully May will be more productive.I've started on the first of four books that came out in April,Saint's Blood (Greatcoats #3) by Sebastien de Castell.

I saw that while doing my usual browse of monthly new releases but haven't read the previous novels. Sounded interesting though, what are your thoughts on the series? 

I am currently reading Sharp Ends, by Joe Abercrombie. At the same time I am also reading Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

14 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I saw that while doing my usual browse of monthly new releases but haven't read the previous novels. Sounded interesting though, what are your thoughts on the series? 

It's swashbuckling fantasy dealing with a band of roaming Kings's Justicars/magistrate warriors who are last of their kind,carrying out a last mission from their King etc.World-building is thin but if you like the focus to be on plot/character than these are entertainingly fun and fast reads.Author is a former fight choreographer,so expect lot's of swordplay.And lot's of banter during sword-fights, à la Princess Bride

[beniowa]

Reading Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn.

[Starkess]

I am still reading Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. I am about 20% in and it is so far lacking a decent story, interesting characters, or anything to pull me in at all. Contemplating dropping this one. Has anyone read it? Does it get any better?

[Procrastimancer]

Just about finished with The Traitor Baru Cormorant. I've thoroughly enjoyed it thus far, which is good since I haven't been able to finish anything else in the past six months. 

[Darth Richard II]

21 minutes ago, Procrastimancer said:

Just about finished with The Traitor Baru Cormorant. I've thoroughly enjoyed it thus far, which is good since I haven't been able to finish anything else in the past six months. 

Ack. I hated that one. Worst book I read last year by far.

[Westerosi Coast Gangster]

the theifs daughter, book 2 in the kingfountain series.book 1 the Queens poisoner, was really good I thought.

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, Starkess said:

I am still reading Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. I am about 20% in and it is so far lacking a decent story, interesting characters, or anything to pull me in at all. Contemplating dropping this one. Has anyone read it? Does it get any better?

I thought it had some interesting ideas about the impact of technology on our society (at least at the time it was written, I wonder whether any of it will seem dated now?). I did the plot to be a bit unexciting, it probably gets a bit more interesting later on in the book but I didn't find it to be compelling.

I like Vinge's books (it's a shame he's not a bit more prolific), A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my favourite SF novels but I thought this wasn't one of his best efforts.

[kairparavel]

I'm halfway through The Rose and The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh. The second and I think concluding book in this particular retelling of Arabian Nights/Bluebeard etc.

I also have The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry on the go.

[RedEyedGhost]

70% through The Incorruptibles by John Horner Jacobs, and I'm absolutely enamored with the book. It's the best thing I've read recently and it's very hard to put down.

[Starkess]

1 hour ago, williamjm said:

I thought it had some interesting ideas about the impact of technology on our society (at least at the time it was written, I wonder whether any of it will seem dated now?). I did the plot to be a bit unexciting, it probably gets a bit more interesting later on in the book but I didn't find it to be compelling.

I like Vinge's books (it's a shame he's not a bit more prolific), A Fire Upon The Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my favourite SF novels but I thought this wasn't one of his best efforts.

Thanks for the info. I think I am going to set it aside for now. Too many other books to read that I might actually enjoy! I won't blacklist Vinge entirely, though.

[polishgenius]

4 hours ago, Starkess said:

Thanks for the info. I think I am going to set it aside for now. Too many other books to read that I might actually enjoy! I won't blacklist Vinge entirely, though.

 

Definitely don't. I enjoyed Rainbows End quite a bit (per williamjm's thought- I read it last year and while some ideas are obviously innaccurate it hasn't really dated - but then it's only ten years old. The most glaring thing in it was not his technology but his attempts to invent then-future additions to the Discworld, which made it painfully obvious that he'd never read any Pratchett) but at the end of the day it's quite a good techno-thriller whereas A Fire Upon the Deep and particularly A Deepness in the Sky are imperious space opera, so it's not representative really.

6 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Ack. I hated that one. Worst book I read last year by far.

I think the ideas outstripped the execution, but I reckon it's worth a read. I'll pick up the sequel, maybe not immediately when it comes out.

[Maia]

6 hours ago, Starkess said:

Thanks for the info. I think I am going to set it aside for now. Too many other books to read that I might actually enjoy! I won't blacklist Vinge entirely, though.

Ah, yes, I remember being rather lukewarm towards "Rainbow's End", which was very disappointing to me, since, like  williamjm  and polishgenius I loved  "A Fire Upon the Deep" and  "A Deepness in the Sky" , though I am in the minority among SF fans in preferring the former to the latter. But then, complex, but clearly psychologically non-human aliens are my jam and IMHO "Fire" does them better. Anyway, it is a huge pity that Vinge hasn't been to write anything comparable since...  

As to my own recent reading:

"Lock In" by John Scalzi, "Trials" (second book of the "Red" trilogy) by Linda Nagata,  "Wool" by Hugh Howey and "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard. Wow, for some reason the authors really latched onto the color red for titles/themes in the last few years! Taking into account Pierce Brown's disappointing (IMHO), but seemingly popular "Red Rising" trilogy too. It is almost like )☭ )  - where is that marching with the Soviet flag emoticon when I need it? Brown's books even feature a sickle as an important symbol in the struggle for freedom, heh.

Gotta run, so my reactions in brief in order of titles:

OK,

liked quite a bit and will finish the trilogy soon,

mostly liked and will probably try other works by the author at some point

and entirely forgettable YA, won't be picking the sequels even if they show up at the library (as this first book did).

More later.

[Garett Hornwood]

I finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, I thought it was pretty good and a nice quick read.

I started Jingo as part of my read through of Discworld, I hear many good things about this book so I hope people aren't all hype.

[First of My Name]

I'm reading The Long Walk by Stephen King, which has been waiting on my pile for ages (part of an omnibus called the Bachman Books, four novellas King wrote under an alias). Enjoying it so far, the premise is like the Hunger games without any violence. It's a pretty old story but already very typical of King in what he focuses on in the prose.

[Darth Richard II]

16 hours ago, polishgenius said:

I think the ideas outstripped the execution, but I reckon it's worth a read. I'll pick up the sequel, maybe not immediately when it comes out.

My problem is was so ham fisted with the message, it completely took me out of the story, plus I found the main character to be insufferable.

It seems to be one of those love it/hate it books. There was a thread for it that I think got eaten when the board updated.