March Reading 2017

[williamjm]

I finished Bujold's Mira's Last Dance. The fourth Penric story was shorter and less eventful than the previous novellas in this series, but still entertaining and featured some good character moments for Penric and Nikys, as well as an amusing bit of farce that gives the story its name.

Next I think I'll read another novella, Black Dog by Neil Gaiman. Since the American Gods TV series is starting soon, it seems like a good time to return to Shadow's story.

[Westerosi Coast Gangster]

1 hour ago, mgambino said:

Well, you might as well just rip your eyeballs out now. It's one of the worst things I've ever read. Its existence is a stain on the fantasy genre.

ok, who needs eyes anyway with audiobooks. unfortunately I won't be able to read your hilarious comments on asoiaf.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished off Philosophy in the Boudoir. Very strange read - you're uncertain whether de Sade is actually advocating this stuff, whether he is playing devil's advocate, whether he's just out-and-out trolling, whether he is just masturbating on the page, or a combination of all the above. Apart from the truly daft stuff, the book is notable for its staunch defence of a woman's right to abortion (in 1795!), though it rather gets lost amid the promotion of infanticide generally.

Next up is Titus Awakes, by Maeve Gilmore.

 

[SeanF]

30 minutes ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

Finished off Philosophy in the Boudoir. Very strange read - you're uncertain whether de Sade is actually advocating this stuff, whether he is playing devil's advocate, whether he's just out-and-out trolling, whether he is just masturbating on the page, or a combination of all the above. Apart from the truly daft stuff, the book is notable for its staunch defence of a woman's right to abortion (in 1795!), though it rather gets lost amid the promotion of infanticide generally.

Next up is Titus Awakes, by Maeve Gilmore.

 

I don't know how it's possible to finish a book by the Marquis de Sade.

I once tried reading Justine, but after a while, the atrocities just became utterly boring.

[The Marquis de Leech]

There are actually comparatively few atrocities in Philosophy. This one is really just an extended and (mostly) consensual orgy, interspersed with lengthy rants about philosophy, the evils of religion, and why there should be no such things as crimes (essentially, one's own innate desires are natural, and what is natural must dictate human interaction, therefore following innate desires - no matter how twisted - is the only good).

The major atrocity takes place at the end:

 

Our 15 year-old protagonist rapes her own mother with a dildo, has her infected with syphilis via another rape, then sews up her vagina with needle and thread.

[Iskaral Pust]

I finished Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, the first of his LA Quartet.  I can see why it's well regarded but the classic noir period feels like a cliche, plus it's not a period I enjoy particularly -- too heavily steeped in racism, misogyny and corruption.  My biggest impression was that the plot relied too heavily on unearned (for the author) obsession from too many characters.  Even the attempt at explaining Blanchard's obsession due to a missing sister was a bit weak because she and her disappearance were nothing like the case.  Then at the end of book there is an afterword, written many years after first publication, that explains the author had a personal obsession with this murder for a pretty deep reason.  This explained a lot but also weakened the novel because the author had so many of the characters adopt his obsession without similar motivation. 

Now reading a non-fiction The Lost City Of The Monkey God.  A recounting of an archeological expedition to Honduras.  Pretty good so far. 

[Guinevere Seaworth]

The Barbary Pirates was just pure fun.  Having William Smith (father of geology), Georges Cuvier, and Robert Fulton all together and getting into one escapade after another with the hero, Ethan Gage, made this pure entertainment. 

Now starting Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.

[Mark Antony]

Been reading A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel. Took me a while to get into it cause I felt like I needed to refamiliarize myself with The French Revolution. But now im loving it. 

[Paxter]

Finished Isherwood's A Single Man. This is a beautifully written novel that traverses considerable thematic ground considering its small page count. It was also much funnier than expected, since I remember the film adaptation to be quite serious. Overall I strongly recommend this one, especially as a seminal piece of LGBT literature.

I'm now about halfway through Austen's classic Sense and Sensibility. It won't take me long to finish this - I'm already so invested in the characters that I'm finding it difficult to put down. It's definitely a step up from the only Austen I'd read previously (Persuasion).

[SeanF]

I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately.

I read Kingdom Asunder a promising self-published novel by Thaddeus White.  I'd call it an entertaining, rather than a great, read.  It has a good plot, but the novel is really too short to cover the amount of ground that the author wants to cover.

I've also started The Witcher series by Andrej Sapkowski, and it's got me hooked. 

[SeanF]

On ‎3‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 10:44 PM, Cataldo said:

Wonderful novel

Hobb gets worse with each novel, she's Goodkind tier these days

Hardly.

I think Fitz and the Fool is excellent.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished Titus Awakes. Calling it a lost Gormenghast book is a misnomer - there is no Gormenghast here. The book is really Gilmore's lament for her husband, Mervyn Peake: a melancholy, reflective piece about what might have been. 

Next up is Little Star, by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

[red snow]

Babylon's Ashes by SA Corey. Part of the appeal of "the expanse" show is the hope it gets enough seasons to cover the shit that goes down later in the books.

 

[RedEyedGhost]

13 minutes ago, red snow said:

Babylon's Ashes by SA Corey. Part of the appeal of "the expanse" show is the hope it gets enough seasons to cover the shit that goes down later in the books.

 

[D_P]

On 12/03/2017 at 6:44 PM, Cataldo said:

Wonderful novel

Hobb gets worse with each novel, she's Goodkind tier these days

Holy shit...Shirley, you must be joking.

Anyway, I am still working my way through the kings blood by Abraham.  I believe he may have become my favorite author...this series has been outstanding so far...been a while since I've read a multi POV book and not been let down by certain characters.

I recently finished senlin ascends and had my mindhole blown...a tremendous read really.  I'm very happy about being able to move right on to book 2.

Also, I am in the early stages of calibans war.  The tv show has been awesome and has reminded me that i needed to return to the source material.

[Astromech]

Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven was a fine read. However, I found myself much more interested in Arthur Leander's story and the past than in Kirsten Raymonde's, to the point my mind was wandering a bit during her current arc and then snapping to attention when her past was mentioned. There were certain mysteries I wanted answers to.

Spoiler

The prophet reveal was no surprise, but I was expecting Kirsten to be the daughter of Arthur's or an ex at least.

Next up is Fred Anderson's A Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754 - 1766.

[Garett Hornwood]

I didn't mean to take two weeks between the OP and this one, but here's what I've done so far this month...

I first completed Lighter of Gospel Fires, a short young adult biography of a 19th century preacher.  Next I finally completed The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume II), it was very good but I still haven't figured out why it took me so long to finish it.  Last weekend I read A Bold One for God, a short young adult biography of Scottish Reformer John Knox which was not very good.  And yesterday I completed Scars of Independence: America's Violent Birth, a book looking at the bloody events that the varnish and gloss of popular history has hidden about the Revolutionary period in the United States.

Today I started The Night Circus, this is actually my first full fantasy book of the year.  While I love history, it's refreshing to step away for a while.

[Darth Richard II]

Uh, excuse me, The Night Circus isn't fantasy ts SPECULATIVE FICTION.

Also it sucks. Yeah I went there.

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley on Friday.  It was fantastic.  

I think I was about 23% of the way through before I figured out Zan's identity.  Not sure if it was supposed to be a book long mystery or not, but she didn't know until about 90% in.

I'm now 41% through Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.  Absolutely dreadful.  I'm thinking of dumping it for Robert Newcomb's The Fifth Sorceress.  Totally serious.  

I haven't read the synopsis, so I really don't know what the book is supposed to actually be about.  I'm shocked at how much time has passed, 12 years so far.  Which is why I'm unsure of where it's going.  Will we get to Bee's adulthood?  I can't imagine it will spend the rest of the time around where I am now (right after Molly's death - I read that at work today... do not recommend!)  I'm guessing it's about White Prophets, because it seems quite obvious that Bee is one, and the messenger at the start, and the dead one a year before the book started, and the one that Chade's spy network heard a tale of... but are those truly WPs, is Bee (yeah she is, but why hasn't Fitz seen it?  She's described as pale but if she were as pale as the Fool surely Fitz would have figured it out), what was the Fool's message?  Looking forward to getting some answers.  Will read book 2 next month, so that I'm ready to read the finale when it's out in May.

[Isildur's Mane]

Finished reading The Ice Dragon by GRRM. I loved it - I loved Adara. 

Almost finished The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling - should finish that in the next couple of days, if not then, by the weekend.

Started reading The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty until I can get Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams. 

 

On 3/13/2017 at 1:04 AM, williamjm said:

Just don't expect the plot of the books (or setting or any of the characters, with the possible exception of Dirk himself) to be anything like the TV series, although they're both good.

Yeah I know they are loosely based on the books. Should still be a good read, if not better.