Fourth Quarter 2019 Reading

[ljkeane]

Since the last time I posted I felt like reading some space opera and I saw The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham, whose time travel/alternative history/ WW2 books I remember sort of enjoying, so I decided to give it a go. It's really not great. I've also read Sword of Justice by Christian Cameron which was ok but this series doesn't hold my attention as much as his other books. I'm not quite sure why, the time period they're set in is quite interesting, it might be because they're a bit unfocused. I just finished Age of Assassins by RJ Barker which is pretty good.

[Starkess]

Finally finished up Saturn Run. I had never read anything by John Sandford before (apparently he's a well-known thriller novelist), so I had no idea what to expect. I really enjoyed it, although it could definitely have been tightened up in places that really dragged. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was good.

I'm woefully behind in my yearly challenge but that's okay. I don't have anything on the docket now, so I think I am going to start re-reading the Lightbringer series and then go on to the final book.

[IlyaP]

On 12/6/2019 at 1:46 AM, End of Disc One said:

I read The Dragonbone Chair earlier this year--I feel like I'm the only person who loved the first 1/3 and even though it was the best part of the book.  The last 1/3 was quite good too.

I've been stuck on this for a year now. 

Am at the point in the book where Simon's found a rather famous "prisoner". 

Struggling to understand why the book isn't working for me. 

I suspect, probably, that it's the font, of all things, that's really causing me problems. The font is very blotchy, and thankfully serif-based, but I get *constant* eyestrain from reading it. (Daw edition with the green-tinted wrap-around cover.)

[Starkess]

I forgot I had started The Lathe of Heaven, so I finished that last night. A very strange and in many ways unsatisfying book, but very well-written (no surprise, LeGuin is a master) and a quick read.

[Raja]

I'm 3/4 of the way through 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara and holy shit this book is sad as fuck.

It is very good though.

[Peadar]

12 hours ago, IlyaP said:

I suspect, probably, that it's the font, of all things, that's really causing me problems. The font is very blotchy, and thankfully serif-based, but I get *constant* eyestrain from reading it. (Daw edition with the green-tinted wrap-around cover.)

Time for reading glasses? I found this happening to me more and more. The last straw was a monster edition of Aldiss's Helliconia Trilogy with smallish print. Following that, I went to the optician...

[williamjm]

I finished Peter F. Hamilton's Salvation Lost. It was a fairly typical Hamilton book, the usual mix of high-concept space opera, action, mystery and bad sex scenes. I liked the way the first book in the series had gradually revealed the nature of the threat facing humanity and the second book did a good job of developing that and introducing a few new twists as it became clear some of the characters were a bit over-confident in terms of how much they thought they knew about what was going on. The far-future part of the story was the more compelling this time around (I thought the opposite was true in the first book). I think the weakest subplot was the one focusing on a criminal gang in London who find themselves entangled in an alien conspiracy, all the characters in that part of the storyline were unlikeable and although it does intersect with the main plot towards the end most of what happened in the subplot felt irrelevant.

Next up I think I'll start Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea.

On 12/5/2019 at 2:46 PM, End of Disc One said:

I read The Dragonbone Chair earlier this year--I feel like I'm the only person who loved the first 1/3 and even though it was the best part of the book.  The last 1/3 was quite good too.

It's been well over a decade since I read the series so I can't remember exactly how far into the book certain things happen but I remember liking the initial part of the story and thought it was a good introduction to the characters, however the pacing really slowed to a crawl later in the book before it got more compelling again towards the end.

[IlyaP]

12 hours ago, Peadar said:

Time for reading glasses? I found this happening to me more and more. The last straw was a monster edition of Aldiss's Helliconia Trilogy with smallish print. Following that, I went to the optician...

Already own a pair. Haven't tried reading with them, since nothing's really required it of me thus far in life. 

Might give it a go today at a cafe. 

Have ordered the big TPB version at my local deale-erm, I mean, supplier. 

[Zorral]

Alan Furst has released a new installment in his historical espionage series of those who know the German invasion and war is coming, and planning in their own ways to create effective spy and resistance networks, before and after. 

Under Occupation (Nov., 12, 2019), is set in 1942 occupied Paris and Germany. In the previous books, the United States alliance against Germany is what, they are all, in the end, hoping for, and / or sending people to for safety (as well as London).

These days, the reader can't help but think about, despite how cruelly the US refused landings of Jewish refugees so much of the time, escaping Hitler, this time around, as the global catastrophes expand, that option isn't available for anybody -- nor is London now either -- which rather colors how one will read this novel, perhaps?  We shall see. It does seem pertinent already that, as much praise and regard there is for Furst's series in the past, nobody is talking about this one.  I don't think this is because the book is inferior -- certainly the first chapters I've read say otherwise.  It's because we're embarrassed by the difference between then and now.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I was working through it at three plays a day.

[Peadar]

I'm starting A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.

[Iskaral Pust]

I started The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding because I thought I saw some positive reviews for it around here.  But I dropped it at 50%.  It wasn’t terrible, just generic and therefore dull.  Now I’m wondering if I confused the title with something else. 

Too much fantasy feels repetitive these days.  Joe Abercrombie is one of the few who stands out, even though there seems to be dozens trying to copy him. 

[Infidel]

On 12/9/2019 at 9:27 PM, Iskaral Pust said:

I started The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding because I thought I saw some positive reviews for it around here.  But I dropped it at 50%.  It wasn’t terrible, just generic and therefore dull.  Now I’m wondering if I confused the title with something else. 

Too much fantasy feels repetitive these days.  Joe Abercrombie is one of the few who stands out, even though there seems to be dozens trying to copy him. 

I love Wooding (Ketty Jay!!!), but I have to agree. It was just...ok. And I think I'd have trouble picking it out of a lineup of the 20 or so fantasy on my kindle published in the last few years. The field just feels sort of flattened right now, which is why Abercrombie, e.g., stands out.

[Myshkin]

Been a long time since I’ve posted in this thread, but I just finished Milkman by Anna Burns and I feel compelled to sing its praises as far and wide as possible. Seriously one of the best novels I’ve ever read. 

[Astromech]

Reid Mitenbuler's Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey. Interesting and revealing look at bourbon's history. Mitenbuler cuts through the invented history to reveal the true history. 

[Inkdaub]

I finished Ruiz Zafon's Labyrinth of the Spirits and loved it.  It brings the Cemetery of Forgotten Books which makes me sad.  

Now I am about a third of the way into Shannon's Priory of the Orange Tree.  My favorite title in years.  I'm enjoying it so far.  My only minor qualm is the chapters can be a bit too short to really settle in. 

[unJon]

1 hour ago, Inkdaub said:

 

Now I am about a third of the way into Shannon's Priory of the Orange Tree.  My favorite title in years.  I'm enjoying it so far.  My only minor qualm is the chapters can be a bit too short to really settle in. 

Thanks for reminding me about this book. Just went to Amazon and the kindle price is currently $1.99. What a deal!

[HexMachina]

7 hours ago, Inkdaub said:

I finished Ruiz Zafon's Labyrinth of the Spirits and loved it.  It brings the Cemetery of Forgotten Books which makes me sad.  

Now I am about a third of the way into Shannon's Priory of the Orange Tree.  My favorite title in years.  I'm enjoying it so far.  My only minor qualm is the chapters can be a bit too short to really settle in. 

Agreed, excellent book and my qualm is similar to yours in that I wished it were longer or part of a series or something because i wanted to spend more time in the world (and the final act is a bit rushed). I guess some more stand alones in the same world is always a possibility.

i am just kind of assuming Priory was a stand alone bu the way, though i could see fairly easy ways to continue some of the character’s into new stories

[Starkess]

On 12/15/2019 at 4:09 PM, Leap said:

* First I wrote "italian authors" but that was hardly right, since Rome is not Italy. Then I wrote "born on the Italian peninsula" but I had a funny feeling - turns out Calvino was born in Cuba. I am now checking every other author I've read something by this year to see if they ever stopped in Italy for more than a few weeks. Fortunately I don't have my copy of Keats' poetry to hand!

Off topic but, what?

[Peadar]

Today, I will start a soon-to-be-published YA by Ben Oliver, called The Loop.