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Tra la, it's May! So, what have you been reading?

Finishing up Herland and Nimona for group reads this month and also working in Shattered Pillars to work on finishing my unfinished trilogies.

I'm currently almost done with The Warrior Prophet by R. S. Bakker. Interesting, well-written series, but the represention of women is bugging me.
Next will probably be A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

Almost finished with Mars Crossing which I'm enjoying even though I'm hating a lot of things about it! Watney would kick these people's butts!

Next up, Way Station. (Went to the old book sale last weekend and found lots of older sci fi to add to my collection.)

Right now I'm reading:


Old Man's War by John Scalzi - my favorite Scalzi book so far (of course that's not saying much...)


Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance - #3 in the Dying Earth series


To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - very lighthearted SF time travel homage to the Victorian Age classic Three Men in a Boat

Non-genre reads:
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
March Violets by the recently deceased Philip Kerr
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

Continuing in my Every Heart a Doorway series with the third book; Beneath the Sugar Sky. Enjoying an old-fashioned romp with Undersea Quest.

just started off May with an intense short by Rich Larson: Our King and His Court: A Tor.com Original

completed:
Longs:
Shorts:

I've just finished Ruhanna's Flight, a collection of short stories by Jeanette O'Hagan. I really enjoyed them. :-)

So far, I'm still going with my Wot re-reads - up to Winter's Heart (book 10 woohoo!).

I've also decided to read the anthology Rogues and so far I've read 3, one was quirky but I didn't love it, the second gave me nightmares (way too out there on the creepy scale) and I quite liked the third one.... so I can't wait to see what the rest are like!

I'm also definitely going to get around to Herland shortly - it's booked in for my pre1918 bingo slot and if that isn't sufficient motivation, I don't know what is!

After that, I am planning on The Feline Plague which has been on my to-read list forever, I'm a bit terrified at this point that I've built it up so much that I'm not going to like it! So I'm writing it here because now I'm publicly committing to reading it, that means I'll have to take the plunge and just get on with reading....

Left Hand of Darkness

OK, totally off the subject, but how do you add in the image of the book cover on your post? I use the "add book/author", but that only adds the title, how do you put in the image?

Rosemary wrote: "OK, totally off the subject, but how do you add in the image of the book cover on your post? I use the "add book/author", but that only adds the title, how do you put in the image?"

When you're adding the book in the pop-up dialog, at the very bottom there's a "add:" pair of radio buttons, "link" (which adds the titles with a link to its Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page) and "cover," which adds a cover image, also as a link to its Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ page. (When you're adding an author, you have a similar choice of link or photo.)

I recommend if adding the book cover you also include the book link, since most cover thumbnails don't have legible titles.

SA wrote: "Currently reading - Brief Cases"

Time travel? It only comes out in June :) But thanks for making me look it up actually, been waiting for another Dresden (or any Butcher book for that matter) for a while now. Look forward to getting a hold of it soon.

Ahh, thanks G33z3r!

I've started Dune an I'm quite enjoying it.

Starting up on The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson. I'm going to pick up a short story collection by Clark Ashton Smith later on, and maybe get to The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany

Cat wrote: "So far, I'm still going with my Wot re-reads - up to Winter's Heart (book 10 woohoo!).

I've also decided to read the anthology Rogues and so far I've read 3, one was ..."

If I may ask, Cat, which story was the creepy one? I've been wondering if I should pick up that anthology soon, and if it has a cool creepy tale, I'm in!

Well I finished Mongrels which I'd rate 3.5/5 (3/5 GR rating). There was a lot I liked about it and was a pretty cool book, but there was also something about the writing that kind of prevented me from fully connecting with the story. Hard to put my finger on it but may have been the way the story jumped around a lot. It made sense to be written that way...but yeah not entirely sure what it was. Have to say I really liked the characters.

Now I'll be continuing on my Forgotten Realms re-read journey with Exile

I finished reading Ben the Dragonborn, for a free download it was very good!

Next thing on my eReader will be Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky for the group read since I found it at such a good price. The spider stuff start early on...I had to laugh actually because in the last week or so I saw a documentary on the Portia spider and I'm pretty sure Tchaikovsky saw it too since it was the exact same scene except for the male spider :)

And last night finished All the Weyrs of Pern. That one kept me up past midnight, I just had to know how it ended (I'm now in the books I hadn't read before). Was a another tear jerker! Must admit I really enjoyed (view spoiler)[ seeing the dragons in spaceships and in space, was very amusing though not entirely convinced they could go out into the vacuum without protection, what about the lack of pressure (even if air was explained by them able to hold their breaths for 15 mins, and the cold covered by the fact they are adapted to go between) (hide spoiler)]

Next on my list is my yearly visit to the world of Elantra with Cast in Honor by Michelle Sagara

Yes, even Arthur C. Clarke made that mistake about vacuum in a short story that he wrote in the sixties about astronauts quickly being ferried to safety from one spaceship to another without spacesuits and only getting bad sunburns in the process! Fact is, in the hard vacuum of space any organism will explode from the lack of pressure immediately, even dragons!

Saul wrote: "If I may ask, Cat, which story was the creepy one? I've been wondering if I should pick up that anthology soon, and if it has a cool creepy tale, I'm in! ..."

It was called 'What do you do?' by Gillian Flynn who according to the her bio writes mostly thrillers and mysteries. This particular story was about a fraudster and a creepy kid and I'm honestly not sure what I can say about it without giving the plot away. It was tightly and well-written, the kid just creeped me out and you're left at the end still not knowing quite who to believe. It was darker than I usually read and just so well written that it really gave me the creeps.

In the intro GRRM says that not all the stories can be any genre but just need to include a 'rogue'-style character. Mystery/thriller isn't my usual genre so it was definitely effective with me!

Finished Exile today and will be starting Sojourn next. Enjoyed Exile much more than Homeland actually. Was a fun jaunt through the Underdark.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic combined 2 fantasy clichés: the "dungeon" of random monsters, traps, puzzles, & magic treasure, with a school of magic. Like listening to some gamer describing their last D&D session. (There were times where I thought I was supposed to take out a piece of graph paper and map the rooms.)

Kivrin wrote: "Next up, Way Station. (Went to the old book sale last weekend and found lots of older sci fi to add to my collection.)."

FYI, we did a discussion of Way Station a couple of years ago. I've always enjoyed Simak.

Finished reading Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, which was just dreadfully dull at points, and Night's Master, which was weird but not bad.

Currently reading The Poppy War by Rebecca Kuang.

I’ve got Shattered Pillars, The Philosopher Kings, and Now just got Before Mars from library hold!

G33z3r wrote: "Sufficiently Advanced Magic combined 2 fantasy clichés: the "dungeon" of random monsters, traps, puzzles, & magic treasure, with a school of magic. Like listening to some gamer desc..."

I previously wasn't all that interested in this book based on other descriptions I'd read but yours pretty much sold me :D I love D&D or rpg-like books

"I will read Dune.
Dune is the mind-killer.
Dune is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face Dune.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where Dune has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."

Samuel wrote: ""I will read Dune.
Dune is the mind-killer...."

The Dune must flow.

😂😂

Cat wrote: "Saul wrote: "If I may ask, Cat, which story was the creepy one? I've been wondering if I should pick up that anthology soon, and if it has a cool creepy tale, I'm in! ..."

It was called 'What do y..."

Not usually my genre either, but Imma read it! I already have 3 short story collections lined up: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, Hellboy: Oddest Jobs, The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies, and two novels: The King of Elfland's Daughter and Stardust. Going old-fashioned fantasy this summer :)

Saul wrote: "The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories .... and Stardust"

There's a Stardust crossover in the anthology if I recall :)

The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett was kind of interesting & amusing. I gave it 3 stars in my review here:
/review/show...

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

In this follow-up to the 'Red Rising Trilogy', the rebellion that installed a democracy in the Solar System has been over for 10 years. There are now political problems....and the deposed 'Golds' are scheming to get their power back. Exciting and suspenseful, but I kind of wish the author had let the trilogy alone. 3.5 stars

My complete review: /review/show...

In the last days of April I finished The Three-Body Problem. Meanwhile the 2 Mistborn books by Sanderson, having been re-ordered from Amazon (the first order went lost), were delivered in time, so that I could start The Well of Ascension, which I am enjoying sofar.

Pierre wrote: "In the last days of April I finished The Three-Body Problem. Meanwhile the 2 Mistborn books by Sanderson, having been re-ordered from Amazon (the first order went lost), were delive..."

I love The Three Body Problem....and the rest of the trilogy.

Barbara wrote: "Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

In this follow-up to the 'Red Rising Trilogy', the rebellion that installed a democracy in the Solar Syste..."

I also wish he'd stopped at the original trilogy. I love those books, but I've completely stalled on Iron Gold (about half way through). It's a depressing read that seems to cancel out any good that came out of the original uprising. I'm sad that I'm having to force myself to finish it.

G33z3r wrote: "Kivrin wrote: "Next up, Way Station. (Went to the old book sale last weekend and found lots of older sci fi to add to my collection.)."

FYI, we did a discussion of Way Station a coup..."

Thanks. I'll check out the discussion. Right now, I'm enjoying the writing more than the story, but I'm only about 1/3 way through.

Finished rereading The Martian again. That book never gets old for me. Makes me laugh out loud every time.

I finished Sojourn earlier this morning and gave it 5/5 stars. Has been my favourite of these FR re-reads so far.

Am going to take a break from Forgotten Realms and move on to The Red Knight, first book of Miles Cameron's Traitor Son Cycle, next.

Andrea wrote: "Saul wrote: "The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories .... and Stardust"

There's a Stardust crossover in the anthology if I recall :)"

Ooh! I'm excited now!

Kivrin wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

It's a depressing read that seems to cancel out any good that came out of the original uprising. I'm sad that I'm having to force myself to finish it. ..."

I had the same exact reaction....that all the hard work Darrow and his cohorts did in the first three books was for nothing. Sad. 😪

Finished with Cast in Honor.

I actually won a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway after the longest time. So that's next on my list, if it's any good I'll nominate it when it gets published - The Mermaid by Christina Henry

I'm rereading some Pern books - currently on Dragonseye , also finishing up on Dies the Fire .

I finished The Graveyard Book a few days ago. I really liked it, although I felt that American Gods was a better book by Gaiman. I began reading The Philip K Dick Megapack after having it sitting in the Kindle for a year or so when it was Bookbub's daily deal.

Just finished Thunder & Lightning by Christopher Nuttall. Overall fun read and not a bad story, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet-- waiting a few days before I write the review.

I will say that if you like The Expanse, you'd probably like this as well.

Saul wrote: "Cat wrote: "Saul wrote: "If I may ask, Cat, which story was the creepy one? I've been wondering if I should pick up that anthology soon, and if it has a cool creepy tale, I'm in! ..."

It was calle..."

I read King of Elfland's Daughter when it was released years ago as part of Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series. Lin Carter and the folks at Ballantine sure released some great stuff in that series.

Unless there is a day of supernatural stories, I've gone way off-genre to read The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

David wrote: "Unless there is a day of supernatural stories, I've gone way off-genre to read The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio."

This is in my "to read" box. Let me know how hard it is to read. It's rather hefty!