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Posting a day early because I'll be camping tomorrow! Whatcha reading right now?

Fables for all ages, a mash-up of the two primary cultural influences from when Steve Sheinkin was a child, The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Wisdom and Wit in the Wild West. I see now that there are sequels! Yay!!

I finished Fast Track by John DeDakis, who is originally from my hometown. 8.5/10
This is an emotional ride, for both the main character and the reader; an excellent first novel with only a couple bothersome plot points. (See spoiler at the end of my comments.) It’s a mystery, with a window into the world of journalism, a hefty dose of politics (the typical governmental kind as well as church politics), and big helping of family and personal secrets. The details really ground the story in time and place, giving it atmosphere and authenticity. A very satisfying story.
(view spoiler)[Father Dan’s interest in and attention to Lark seemed a bit excessive, even given his history with Annie. Then his physical threats to Lark, when she confronted him about the accusations that he was having an affair with Annie, seemed yo come out of nowhere. It felt like a plot device to get her to be suspicious of him but didn’t seem to fit his overall character. (hide spoiler)]

Hoping to get to our Books of the Month later this week, but I have a couple other things to finish first.

I just finished "Our Crowd": The Great Jewish Families of New York by Stephen Birmingham, and have now started The Mountain and the Sea by Kwame Dawes.

Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story by Patrick McDonnell

The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 12 by Nekokurage

I finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane and have started The Lathe of Heaven

I' currently listening to Iron Flame -- and it is very good.

Finished Passage
That was a really hard read
rated 5 stars

Reading All This & More for our Time Travel group. It's a page-turner, but I'm really not sure what I'm going to think of it when it's done.

Recent reads:

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang - the same souls find each other in 3 different reincarnations. I actually thought the romance was kinda toxic, but I really enjoyed the fantasy and the time jumping aspects. I liked the way the author alternated chapters in different timelines and wove the big picture story together.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio - super weird, fun, magic realism. The main character (who starts the book single) has a magical attic that keeps sending down new husbands for her - if she doesn't like a guy, she can manufacture an excuse to send him to the attic and a different husband will come down, and her life immediately changes to what it would have been if she'd married him. It's bizarre and fun, until it's not. I really liked the ending.

I started The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, but was having a hard time getting into it. The author has a podcast which I enjoy, but her personality doesn't come across as much in her writing. So I'm just heading back to Shadows of the Apt and plan to start book six tonight.

Around the World in the Cinemas of Paris by Theodore Dalrymple

I read:
The Gates of Creation by Philip José Farmer, 5.5/10, A rather dated science fiction/fantasy/speculative fiction book (1966), this second book in the World of Tiers series is a pretty straightforward quest to save a damsel in distress and wreak vengeance on her kidnapper by a band of family members who basically hate each other. The author is credited with originating many of the tropes we take for granted in speculative fiction. It was a quick read but I found I didn’t much care what happened to any of the main characters, much less the secondary characters who inhabit the various worlds. However, I will likely continue with the series since I have the books on my shelf & some people consider them classics in the genre.
Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin, 10/10 and The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks, 10/10. These were our Books of the Month this month and my comments are in the topic threads for each of them.

I listened to:
The Mosquito by B.A. Paris, 6.5/10. A bit of a surprise ending, & another story where things would be resolved so much more easily & quickly if people would just communicate, but then, there would be almost no story & certainly no surprise ending. This was fine for listening to while I exercised; glad it was free through Amazon Prime.
The Pram by Joe Hill, 3/10. This was just an icky story. A little communication between husband & wife and maybe some grief counseling for both�
These Cold Strangers by J.T. Ellison, 7/10. A bit predictable in some places, but still, a excellent story.

I finished The Sunlit Man which I enjoyed (but I really like Brandon Sanderson). I've just started All This & More

Hope in time of abandonment by Jacques Ellul

Just finished Deep Black by Miles Cameron, totally wonderful sequel to Artifact Space - delivered a fabulous finish to one of the best SF reads I've encountered in years.

Janny wrote: "Just finished Deep Black by Miles Cameron, totally wonderful sequel to Artifact Space - delivered a fabulous finish to one of the best SF reads I'v..."

I had forgotten that he’s branched out into science fiction. I loved his Traitor Son series!

I’m reading the Greatcoats series with a different Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ groups, and this month’s installment was Saint's Blood by Sebastien de Castell, 9.5/10. As I was reading this book, it struck me that, although it was grim, it still managed to be hopeful. The main characters find themselves in dire straits, manage to somehow escape, only to be thrust into even worse scenarios. I kept asking myself how bad could it get, and then the author would show me! Yet there is loyalty, faith (both misplaced and true), and strength from even the weakest links. It’s a fast read for an almost 600 page book. Like a few other books, the author uses the idea that gods need the attention, worship, & faith of their followers in order to be strong & influential in the world. A twist on that trope is that the Saints exist the keep the gods from being too tyrannical—they act as a check on the power of the gods (“the Saints exist to stand against the tyranny of Gods who would make their worshippers into slaves.â€� p.426). It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here. This was the best of the series so far.
I also read A Private Cosmos by Philip José Farmer, 6/10. The main story is a rather breathless chase around the tiered world created by one of the Lords & now belonging to Wolff/Jadawin, & the home of the hero of this story, Kickaha (a transported Earthling). He is beset by enemies on every side, some who are inhabitants of this world & others who are invaders. This is 60’s pulp scifi; I’m reading this series as a dive into the classic past of the genre.
And I finished Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin, 8.5/10. I read this as a follow-up to our BotM. This story was absorbing, a little slow in parts, with a cast of interesting characters. Gavir’s journey to learn the truths about himself, his world, & his powers is the plot of the book; the reader experiences & learns only what he does, & so some things remain unknown & unexplained, which kind of bothered me.. Seeing everything from only Gavir’s perspective gives the reader a sense of intimacy with him but, unfortunately, that also means there is always a distance between the reader & the other characters. The author does a masterful job of creating the various settings in the story. They are almost like characters themselves. I highly recommend all 3 books of the Annals of the Western Shore. While they are sometimes listed as YA, I found them engaging and thought-provoking.
Currently reading our series discussion book, The Sea Watch by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Starquest: Space Pirates Of Andromeda by John C. Wright

Finished The Singularity Trap over the weekend. I really enjoyed it.

And, I am going to kill my reading for the rest of the year and likely for most of next year as I am starting/restarting Mighty Nein campaign of Critical Role. Between my second BG3 playthrough and my husband doing a Critical Role animated series marathon over the weekend in prep for the new season coming out soon, I'm back in the mood.

I am going to squeeze in a reread of A Night in the Lonesome October for next month. This time I intend to read it one chapter a day to match up the days. First time I read it, I was having too much fun to not do it all in one big go. :)

May manage to squeeze in a few horror-ish short stories as well. There are some I had gathered for last Halloween, but did not get to.

Halloween: the only holiday where I try to read something appropriate for the season. :)