What Are You Reading? Third Quarter, 2023

[Underfoot]

17 hours ago, Madame deVenoge said:

THANK GOD that the new Daniel Abraham Kithamar book was released, or I would be rather joylessly reading either Book 4 of Michelle West’s “Sun Sword Series” or the Accounting Standards Codified and / or the Code of Federal Regulations (which I shall soon be referencing both of the latter seriously once again, it’s earnings season), take your pick.

 

I'm still on my Age of Ash re-read. So many little things I'm picking up on that I hope are clues for Blade of Dream  Can't wait to dive in!

[JGP]

17 hours ago, Madame deVenoge said:

THANK GOD that the new Daniel Abraham Kithamar book was released, or I would be rather joylessly reading either Book 4 of Michelle West’s “Sun Sword Series” or the Accounting Standards Codified and / or the Code of Federal Regulations (which I shall soon be referencing both of the latter seriously once again, it’s earnings season), take your pick.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Knew it was coming, but great surprise. Going to grab that now. 

You'll may also be pleased to know Seth Dickinson has a scifi book called Exordia coming out in 24, with the offset to that being godamnit yo, what's going on with Baru?

[Mexal]

I recently read The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang and it was fantastic. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be but something deeper and more personal to the characters. Major climaxes happen mid way through the book but the impact of those are felt throughout. Really moved me in a ways I really wasn't ready for.

I also read The Will of the Many by James Islington. In a lot of ways, this felt very much like Red Rising rehash (albeit with an interesting magic system based on Will) in terms of the storyline but the last chapter or two really opened up some insane possibilities. I'm very interested to see where this goes.

[Teng Ai Hui]

I recently finished the first 2 books of Rachel Aaron’s DFZ trilogy, and now I’m on the third.

[JGP]

10 hours ago, Madame deVenoge said:

I know he has a very difficult time writing Baru, and it’s not great for his mental health, apparently.

I am not 100% sure we will see another Baru book…

I wasn’t aware it was writing the Baru books that was so hard [if so, that sucks, spectacular series] I thought Seth was struggling with personal, gender identity issues— least that’s what they said in a few twitter exchanges some time ago, before deactivating their account.
 

Edited July 22, 2023 by JGP

[RhaenysBee]

I’ve had a listicle streak on Audible… listookle?  Whatever made up term there is for a book that’s titled and structured as a list of X number of things. 
 

48 Laws of Power was a rather interesting one. To this point I can’t decided how sarcastic it was intended to be. You can either listen to it from a sarcastic angle and have a smile at the often ridiculous suggestions. And you can take it seriously with the necessary grain of salt and think about how the toned down version maybe be useful (but also ethical) in your ordinary everyday life. I didn’t hate it, it was an odd but interesting one. 

Beyond Order 12 More Rules for Life this one actually resonate a lot more with me than the first Peterson book, which I didn’t particularly like. Maybe it has to do with my life events that I see his thoughts through a different light, maybe it’s just that the ideas I related to happened to be grouped in this book. It’s not the most helpful self-help book I read and I didn’t find it groundbreaking, but it was worth the listen. 

21 Lessons for the 21st century - this one was a bit of a disappointment for me, because Sapiens was in the top 5 best books I’ve read/listened to in the past 3 years and I was expecting the same mind blowing experience. The author did state that he was trying to touch on the present in this book while Sapiens was past focused and Homo Deus was future focused. I didn’t get the sense that he did manage to grasp the present which may have to do with the fact that 2018 present isn’t 2023 present. Either way the book reached too much into the 20th century and then swung over to the AI train of thought from Homo Deus, while completely ignoring topics that are super publicized and relevant today. I would have very much liked to hear about these through the perspective of his values and scientific method. It was perfectly all right, I just expected something a bit more extraordinary.

I read Secret Weapon from the Alex Rider series and started Nightshade. Secret Weapon is all over the place, some of the novellas are pretty strong, some are very basic, you can feel that some of them were written a long time ago and dusted off for this release. If Alex Rider needed a short story collection, the stories could and should have been more creative exploring the past (the best short story in the book did this) and the future of Alex to delivery the prequel and sequel interest. I would have loved to see a young adult (say 18-19 year old) Alex or a more about his uncle and dad. I would also have loved different perspectives (this does appear to a small extent in Nightshade) and go through the events from the point of view of supporting characters. 
Nightshade seems to be addressing the morality of the basic premise of the novels (which I assume must have been a criticism Horowitz received over the past couple years) in an incredibly creative and intelligent way. It has an amazing flow and it reads adult, I love Horowitz’s style and I’m a huge fan of this one. 

Edited July 22, 2023 by RhaenysBee

[Zorral]

Stories of Southern Italy (2022); edited by Ella Carr. Everyman's Pocket Library - Knopf.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712447/stories-of-southern-italy-by-edited-by-ella-carr/

This is a lovely little book for those who find southern Italy of perennial interest.

 

[ljkeane]

20 hours ago, Madame deVenoge said:

Blade of Dreams update - REALLY good, gives you a different perspective of what was going on in Book 1. 

I'm interested to see how it all fits together. There were things mentioned/hinted at in the first book which weren't followed up on, presumably because they're going to be covered in this book or the next one.

I just read Ben Aaronovitch's Winter's Gifts. It was entertaining enough on it's own merits but there did seem to be a lot of set up for further US based books.

Next up I'm going to read Miles Cameron's Storming Heaven.

[Iskaral Pust]

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is the first in a series about British espionage, focusing on the cadre of unwanted & disgraced within MI5.  The pacing is torturously slow to convey the frustration of the tedious make-work and Kafka-esque punishment.  I disliked it.  Perhaps if I was in a different mood I would have been more receptive, but it felt like a cryptic, joyless slog — faithfully capturing the intended tone but not at all enjoyable to read.

Gentlemen Don’t Run by Alister Austin is a comedic historical novel set in 1920s England.  It reads like Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas turned into a P.G. Wodehouse escapade.  Very funny and wacky.  Like any farce, you have to accept the silliness and many derailments of the plot.  Recommended for humor and something quite different.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child is a Jack Reacher novel.  (I feel like I posted this one here before a while ago but GoodReads says this was my next book in the order I read them).  Reacher novels are always well written for what they are.  The first half was quite good with the close tension of the group in the car together.  It lost cohesion in the second half and the ending was slightly silly. 

[Iskaral Pust]

A Certain Threat by Roger Burnage is the first in his historical fiction series The Merriman Chronicles.  Here a young lieutenant/commander in the Royal Navy takes command of a sloop to foil some French plot in England’s home waters before war has even formally started.  It’s enjoyable enough although it would be improved if everything didn’t progress quite so smoothly and easily for the hero.

Disoriental by Negar Djavadi is literary fiction about Iranian immigrants in Paris, contrasting the Iranian cultural history with the modern sensibilities of the current day character.  DNF.  I tried this during a very busy period in work and I just found myself unable to care for the prose, characters or the message the author is hammering home.  Shockingly high reviews on GoodReads appear to come from an audience with heavy selection bias.

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby is a gritty fantasy novel about a grizzled (woman) warrior doggedly trying to complete a journey/mission as she is beset by attacks and betrayal.  Too tropey and not enough quality in the prose.  Mostly I was bored.

[Peadar]

11 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is the first in a series about British espionage, focusing on the cadre of unwanted & disgraced within MI5.  The pacing is torturously slow to convey the frustration of the tedious make-work and Kafka-esque punishment.  I disliked it.  Perhaps if I was in a different mood I would have been more receptive, but it felt like a cryptic, joyless slog — faithfully capturing the intended tone but not at all enjoyable to read.

I doubt I would enjoy the book either, but the TV series on Apple TV is enjoyable.

[3CityApache]

13 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is the first in a series about British espionage, focusing on the cadre of unwanted & disgraced within MI5.  The pacing is torturously slow to convey the frustration of the tedious make-work and Kafka-esque punishment.  I disliked it.  

I enjoyed both the show and the books (the first five I read so far). The first one is indeed the slowest one, but I liked it nevertheless, so it's probably just not your cup of tea.

[hauberk]

14 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Slow Horses by Mick Herron is the first in a series about British espionage, focusing on the cadre of unwanted & disgraced within MI5.  The pacing is torturously slow to convey the frustration of the tedious make-work and Kafka-esque punishment.  I disliked it.  Perhaps if I was in a different mood I would have been more receptive, but it felt like a cryptic, joyless slog — faithfully capturing the intended tone but not at all enjoyable to read.

I recently wrapped up the series and  collection of short stories.  I think he occasionally gets a bit self indulgent with the structure of the intros but overall found them quite enjoyable. 

[dog-days]

Finished Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris, which I read authentically and genuinely with my eyes following printed lines on a page, in the correct manner. A photo can be provided as proof if necessary.

This novel, which follows the life in America of the fugitive regicides Edward Whalley and William Goffe, and their pursuit by the fictional Richard Nayler, is slower-paced and more loosely plotted than the previous works I've read by the author. If your sort-of heroes spend a lot of time hiding in attics, they have little opportunity to be leading exciting, eventful lives. The sense of confinement is as oppressive as it's intended to be; Nayler's chapters in London offer no escape – you're just trapped along with an awful man surrounded by awful, empty people. The Puritans in the America sections at least have their narrow faith and care for each other; Nayler has nothing, and doesn't seem capable of attaining anything. 

Spoiler

As you may have gathered, Harris's tone is rather bleak. Whalley and Goffe are attached to each other, but through necessity and duty rather than through natural inclination. Nayler finishes the book much as he starts it, having learned nothing. Goffe likewise is unchanged, clinging to his extreme Puritan faith without examination or criticism, a nice zealot but still a zealot. Whalley is more inclined to examine and question his past conduct and the rights and wrongs of the war he fought in; he does seem to reach a higher level of insight, but whatever might have been retained of that is destroyed when Goffe burns his memoir. Goffe's wife Frances is Goffe's wife Frances and doesn't have enough personality to be worth describing. 

The end – a single, short violent confrontation – was disappointing. Harris seemed to have been trying to write a more complicated book, so the simple thriller lid he stuck on in the last pages seemed out-of-place.

There were some pretty sickening descriptions of Charles II's revenges on the people who signed his father's death warrant. It's the kind of thing that didn't bother me back when I was a child/teen learning about the English Civil War/Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but does now. The main problem with historical fiction is all the damn history.

It prompted a splurge on renting fluffy movies on Amazon. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by dog-days

[Zorral]

I too found this one a hard go, so much so, I didn't finish it.

7 minutes ago, dog-days said:

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

 

[IlyaP]

I'm curious, has anyone read Leo Damrosch's Life and Times of Giacomo Casanova? Was wondering which text on Casanova might be considered, if not the most authoritative, then at least the most memorable? 

[RhaenysBee]

Trying to pick my next audible listen. Anybody read or listened to The Earth Transformed by Peter Frankopan? I’ve seen mixed reviews. I loved Silk Roads and I have high expectations. 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Recently read a non-fiction, Why the West Rules- For Now. It’s almost like a companion piece to Guns,Germs and Steel and Saipans. World history, with an emphasis on the great divergence between Western and Eastern civilisations and how the future bodes for both. Highly recommended to all the history/anthropology nuts.

I wanted to start Paul Kearney’s The Monarchies of God next, any views on him ? I’m a huge fan of Matthew Stover and I’ve heard Kearney’s style is similar. But I’ve also heard Monarchies feels very rushed and short.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[shortstark]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:20 PM, Madame deVenoge said:

Ooooh, also, I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I subscribed to J.V. Jones’s Patreon page after having thought about it for…a year? Regardless, I finally got around to it, and I am not disappointed. Her writing has gotten even better, and I also enjoy hearing about her personal life. Her roommate stories are hilarious, and her dog is adorable!!!

Good to hear, can you give us a heads up as to how close to completion the book is..plz....

 

On 11/1/2022 at 9:38 AM, TormundsWoman said:

Finished The Sympathizer. A very strong anti war manifesto. It had consistently excellent writing and very interesting subject too. It’s good to see the Vietnam conflict through the eyes of the Vietnamese people rather than American counterparts (which is how most of novels I know about the subject are written like). Not a novel for the faint of heart or for people who feel offended when American foreign policy is in question.

Also finished Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro. Loved the book. Highly recommend especially if you read it in the Spanish. Not sure how you translate some very specific Argentinian idioms but I figure the translator should know. 

It is a very powerful story that touches on suicide, abortion,  how one lives with an incurable degenerative disease and what are the psychological consequences for the ones who care for the sick. It’s a very short book but it is beautifully structured to touch on all these subjects without being superficial about any of them and I think it makes sense it was short listed for the International Booker prize.

 

 

[Fragile Bird]

I saw a write-up of the top books of summer pop up in my email, and the book of the summer is supposed to be Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I thought, great, I’ll reserve the audio book at the library for now because there had to be a line-up, but no, both book and audio book were available.

Eek. 30 minutes into a 20 hour and 45 minute audiobook that people are raving is suspenseful, sexy and entertaining storytelling, and I am bored and wondering just how much of the book I’m willing to withstand before giving up. Maybe the book version would be better.
 

The heroine is a 20-year old, 90 pound weakling, studying to be a scribe, like her late father, but being forced to enter training to be a dragon rider by her tough-as-nails and seemingly heartless mother, The General, who runs the dragon riders. Her older sister, a top dragon rider, tries to get her mother to back off, but she refuses, all her children have to be dragon riders. The older brother was killed in battle, an event that broke the father and probably led to his fading away and dying. The prologue warns of language, bloody fights and battles and lots of sex. Yup, the fragile, terrified scribe is gonna be the champion dragon rider?

Now, supposedly this should get me all excited, right? Two problems. First, this sounds like someone inspired by Sarah J. Maas, and I’ve gotten thoroughly fed up with descriptions of how many fingers he starts shoving up there, how big his dick is and how many different places and ways they find to fuck. Secondly, the heroine is 20 and the reader of the audio book makes her sound like a whining 12-year old. Her voice is so grating I may have to abandon the audio book, something I don’t think I’ve ever done for voice alone. Oh, and thirdly. These girls swear like sailors. Hey, I know all the words and sometimes I even use them freely, but these guys are not thieves working as highwaymen in the forest (what’s that book that annoyed some folks with the language, The Swearing Thief or something? I actually found it funny and in character). I’ve come to think of some of these tactics as sheer laziness. If the first 30 minutes are an example, probably more than 2 hours of the book will be taken up by swear words. Do my ears need to withstand the pain?

Anyone else here actually read the book?