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So, what books are you swooning over this June?

I'm currently reading:


Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett


The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven edited by Jonathan Strahan


Authority by Jeff VanderMeer


The Terror by Dan Simmons

I'll probably finish the first two this month, and I will probably start but not finish


Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames

The First Girl Child

Completed:
Mid to Longs:


Shorts:
A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Holdfast by Alastair Reynolds, Every Hour of Light and Dark by Nancy Kress, The Last Novelist, or a Dead Lizard in the Yard by Matthew Kressel, Shikasta by Vandana Singh, Wind Will Rove by Sarah Pinsker, Focus by Gord Sellar, The Martian Obelisk by Linda Nagata, Shadows of Eternity by Gregory Benford, The Worldless by Indrapramit Das, Build Me a Wonderland by Seanan McGuire, Quality Time by Ken Liu, Murmured Under the Moon by Tim Pratt, The Blue Fairy's Manifesto by Annalee Newitz, Bread and Milk and Salt by Sarah Gailey, Ironheart by Jonathan Maberry, Just Another Love Song by Kat Howard, Sound and Fury by Mary Robinette Kowal, The Bookcase Expedition by Jeffrey Ford, Work Shadow/Shadow Work by Madeline Ashby, Second to the Left, and Straight On by Jim C. Hines, The Buried Giant by Lavie Tidhar, Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind From the Era of Humans for the First Time by John Scalzi, Ostentation of Peacocks by Lila Bowen, All the Time We've Left to Spend by Alyssa Wong, Adriftica by Maria Dahvana Headley, To a Cloven Pine by Max Gladstone, A Fall Counts Anywhere by Catherynne M. Valente

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Authors:
Madeline Ashby, Josiah Bancroft, Gregory Benford, Olena Bormashenko, Lila Bowen, Peter Clines, Harlan Coben, Indrapramit Das, Jeffrey Ford, Sarah Gailey, Max Gladstone, Maria Dahvana Headley, Jim C. Hines, Kat Howard, Ellen Klages, Tal M. Klein, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Matthew Kressel, Ken Liu, Sarah J. Maas, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, Linda Nagata, Annalee Newitz, Dominik Parisien, Sarah Pinsker, Gareth L. Powell, Tim Pratt, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Alastair Reynolds], John Scalzi, Gord Sellar, Vandana Singh, Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky, Lavie Tidhar, Catherynne M. Valente, Jesmyn Ward, Navah Wolfe, Alyssa Wong, J.Y. Yang
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My library finally got a copy and I couldn't ignore my compulsion to finish a series, so here I am reading Dragon's Code by Gigi McCaffrey. Already 100 pages in and my fears are being confirmed, that it comes off as a kind of fanfic, only a fanfic would pay more attention to the details. Like Stupid doesn't have 6 legs (he's a runnerbeast, which is basically a horse and were brought to Pern from Earth, even a couple thousand years on Pern wouldn't have caused them to evolve an extra set of limbs), or the way Menolly and Piemur suddenly have the nicknames of Loll and Pie...how do the editors let this go through? So far it's really the details bugging me, but since details are easy to change in an edit, someone with at least some familiarity with the world of Pern should have given it a proofread...sigh.

On the other hand I'm really enjoying Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman :) The library had it on display and I was like "Huh, Gaiman...might as well give it a try".

Loll and pie? Puke.

But yes I read Odd to my girls recently - fun for all ages!

Finished Horus Rising yesterday I believe, rated 5/5. It was a great read, lots of fun and really enjoyed the writing and characters. Some rather cool aliens and humans alike too. Have moved on to False Gods, second Horus Heresy book.

Rachel wrote: "Loll and pie? Puke.

But yes I read Odd to my girls recently - fun for all ages!"

Fortunately I wasn't able to poke holes in the plot, perhaps those events *could* have fit in the time Piemur was wandering about Southern Continent, but ugh, the details bugged me and I blame the editor! In the end though, while calling it bad fanfic was a bit harsh, it certainly didn't add anything to the Pern world. Really should have picked her own timeline and built something new.

Odd was really good though. I'll need to read Norse Gods at some point!

Now I'm going to relax a couple days, read a couple unicorn books for kids, some manga too, before starting the series group read for this month...

I finished Oceanworlds, which definitely classes as hard sci-fi, and I've read another couple of stories in the anthology The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures. I'm still deciding on what to read next.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In this soft sci-fi story, people are groomed to be organ donors from the time they're children. I wanted the author to address the morality of this, but he really doesn't (at least not directly). 3 stars

My review: /review/show...

Though I read some manga as I said I would, instead of unicorn books I read The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Eragon by Christopher Paolini, which is a brief return to the Inheritance series. Been a while so I struggled to remember some of the terminology.

However now it's time to get started on the group series read Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher.

I finished


Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Rating: 4 stars
Review: /review/show...

and I started


The Bloody Crown of Conan by Robert E. Howard

I finished False Gods, second Horus Heresy book, and gave it another 5/5 stars. I've really been enjoying these books so far. Imo very well written military science fantasy with great characters and story.

I've now started The Lone Drow to continue my Forgotten Realms/Drizzt re-read, but already finding myself missing the Warhammer universe. I need to go buy another couple Horus Heresy books to binge on lol

Finally read the latest novel in the Expanse series, Tiamat's Wrath. Been wanting to read that since it came out 4 months ago, but it seemed it was always something of higher priority. Anyway, really enjoyable read if you're into space opera.

I guess Princeps' Fury is next up, since we're discussing that in a couple of days.

I've started The Ice Schooner by Michael Moorcock. Even when writing what is supposed to be science fiction, it reads more like fantasy.

I just finished the first six books (omnibus) in this series and I have 13 more to go! lol

The Dresden Files Collection 1-6 by Jim Butcher

Just finished The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, which I actually liked better than the trilogy opener The Three Body Problem, which was quite good. I'm now about to start the third book, Death's End.

Garyjn wrote: "Just finished The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, which I actually liked better than the trilogy opener The Three Body Problem, which was quite good. I'm now about to start the third book..."

Such a good series. 😊

I read The Queen’s Poisoner and Leviathan Wakes. Now I’m in Navigating the Stars. Next will probably be Reaper Man (Discworld). On audio I am listening to Cold Days and Sir Thursday.

Outpost is the first of an SF trilogy by W. Michael Gear. I read another trilogy by him about 15 years ago & liked it, so I'm not surprised that I was really impressed by this one. I gave it a 4 star review here:
/review/show...

I'm reading the kindred series by evangeline Anderson. I am on book 18

I finished reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I am reading read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow. I plan to read Port of Shadows by Glen Cook next.

Was just blown away by The only harmless great thing which I had been putting off b/c it seemed too sad/horrific. So powerful. Must read.

Rachel wrote: "Was just blown away by The only harmless great thing which I had been putting off b/c it seemed too sad/horrific. So powerful. Must read."

That was actually one of our group discussions last year.

Ah thanks for the link- I remembered (we referenced it during the hugo short group read) but I hadn't found it yet

I finished The Ice Schooner by Michael Moorcock - ok,but not one of his best. I have now started Where the Hell is Tesla?

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Finished The Lone Drow and was kind of disappointed by it. Through most of the book I was leaning toward giving it 2.5/5 stars mostly cause did not enjoy Drizzt's PoV and a couple aspects at all, but enjoyed the other PoVs and certain battle scenes enough to bump my enjoyment to 3/5. But this was definitely one of the weakest books in the series so far during this re-read, only just ahead of The Legacy and Spine of the World.

I'm going to read The Caves of Steel by Asimov next.

Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies by Moss Roberts

Finished Princep's Fury. The series really did get better as it went along, glad I kept with it.

My next read is non-SFF, should be quick.

The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics by Edward H. Schafer

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
A novella set in de Boddard's Xuya future scifi universe pairs a traumatized mindship who brews therapeutic tea to pay the rent with a oddball consulting detective. As with other Xuya stories, this is a mostly quiet, character-driven story that stands alone just fine.

de Boddard's Xuya stories are one of the nominees for the Best Series Hugo Award this year.

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
McGuire's 3rd book in her "Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children" series. This concerns a school for children who went through a doorway to another world (think Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Coraline, or even Platform 9¾) and then came back to our boring "real world", now pining for a second chance, a doorway back to where they "belong". This one, which is a bit of a quest story, isn't quite as good as the sentimental 1st Every Heart a Doorway, but a lot better than the nasty, ugly 2nd book (Down Among the Sticks and Bones).

I finished Where the Hell is Tesla?, which I enjoyed - it is lightweight, but funny. If you enjoy the Bill and Ted movies, you'll probably like this. I have started The Black Corridor

Finished The Caves of Steel and rated 3.5/5 stars. A good book that I enjoyed, but I had very high expectations for it after I, Robot and definitely didn't find it as brilliant as I, Robot. Still enjoyed it and still brought up interesting questions.

Haven't started it yet, but my next book will be Fool's Assassin...the beginning of the end! First book in the final Fitz trilogy :(

I finished The Black Corridor, which was surprisingly dark. I have started Brian Lumley's book of Cthulhu Mythos novellas - The Taint and Other Novellas: Best Mythos Tales No. 1

I just read Dinotopia: The World Beneath by James Gurney which I'll use for my BINGO slot because there can't be a better match than a lost civilization that finds yet another older lost civilization! It's actually quite a pretty book with gorgeous illustrations, though directed towards kids. It was the only Dinotopia book the library had and I read it as a prelude to reading the one I nominated which was more oriented towards adults.

Starting on The Unicorn Dilemma by John Lee

Just finished Six of Crows, and I really enjoyed it. Stole it from my son's shelves! It's YA, but I found it had a minimum of the requisite romance. I did have a hard time thinking of the characters as being teenagers, but aside from that I found myself loving so many of them. I love a good heist story, and this one really delivered. Eager to dive into the next book in the series.

Barbara wrote: "Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In this soft sci-fi story, people are groomed to be organ donors from the time they're children. I want..."


Just read your review, thanks for sharing! I read this one a while ago. I think the author was commenting on the morality of it just by showing the whole situation so we could see how horrible it was, but I also felt that the book was a little... distant somehow. I kept wanting one character to rebel, to rage, but it didn't really happen.

Have you watched the movie? You used a bunch of images from it in your review, but never commented on it. Anyway, I saw the movie before checking out the book and I think it's a little better but only because of some of the acting!!

And wow... this is the first I hear of Gigi McCaffrey... I thought it was bad enough when Anne's son Todd was playing around in Pern, now there's another one of her children doing it! haha

Started on Dead Energy, the first book in The Alex Cave Series

Kivrin wrote: "Just finished Six of Crows, and I really enjoyed it. Stole it from my son's shelves! It's YA, but I found it had a minimum of the requisite romance. I did have a hard time thinking ..."

We did that as a group discussion a couple of years ago.

I had no idea Never Let Me Go was a movie. How did that turn out?

I am now reading Reaper Man and am just about done with The Knife of Never Letting Go. I heard that one is going to be a movie, too.

Just finished Warbreaker.
Might try to find another Sanderson book to read now

How was warbreaker?

I enjoyed it. I don’t rate it as highly as The Stormlight Archive, but it is very good. The plot is simple but with enough intrigue to keep you guessing almost to end. Characters are likeable with enough realism to self-examine, change opinions etc. A few also appear in Oathbringer under aliases if you’ve read that. And as usual, a novel magic system.
I’ve always enjoyed Brandon Sanderson’s work.

It will be my first book by Sanderson. Thank you for the details!

Audrey wrote: "I had no idea Never Let Me Go was a movie. How did that turn out?

I really liked it. The actors were phenomenal in their roles. I especially loved the way they made the younger actors' mannerisms and stuff similar to the older ones so it really felt like they were the same people. And Tommy was played by Andrew Garfield who later did spiderman. His acting was great in my opinion, especially in one particular scene. I also liked Carey Mulligan's acting in it. I'd highly recommend the movie, especially if you already know of the book!

Noor wrote: "Audrey wrote: "I had no idea Never Let Me Go was a movie. How did that turn out?

I really liked it. The actors were phenomenal in their roles. I especially loved the way they made the younger acto..."

I give the movie a thumbs-up, too.

Noor wrote: “Audrey wrote: “I had no idea Never Let Me Go was a movie. How did that turn out?

I really liked it. The actors were phenomenal in their roles. I especially loved the way they made the younger acto…�

I did read the book a couple years ago.

I finished:


The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven edited by Jonathan Strahan
Rating: 3 stars
Review: /review/show...