Read Die Trying by Lee Child. Book 2 of Jack Reacher series. It was a fun book, though I wasn’t fan of how passive Reacher was in most of the book, most of the action happens near the end. Was hoping for more action throughout the book. Still fun though, going to get more of these.
Now, continuing with my Mistborn re-read. Started The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. It’s Book 2 in the series, and for some reason I don’t recall much of what happens in this one. While I didn’t recall the details of the first one either, I recalled most of the plot, for this one though, I only remember the ending, and maybe one other scene. Everything else I thought happened in 2, would happen in 3. So, looking forward to reading it and finding out!
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
(No bingo squares this week)
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There’s a Midyear Bingo check-in post, do take a look. Even if you haven’t started this year’s Book Bingo, you can still join, as there are still 6 months remaining!
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I’m almost done The End and the Death part 2 by Dan Abnett from Warhammer’s Horus Heresy.
Read about a book and a half more of Red Rising. Something about it makes me want to take breaks, even though I do want to see the story play out. I’m not sure if it’s his writing style or the narrator, but it seems I need to read it one book at a time, which isn’t my norm.
Still reading Shaye Archer book 3 on ebook, started Altered Traits as a physical book after reorganizing my bookshelves (because of the buying spree I’m hopefully almost done with? Maybe I’ll share a new picture of the silliness once all my outstanding orders get here), decided to go back and do some lighter reads as audiobooks and am up to C is for Corpse in Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone series. I’ve read some in the past, but will probably just bust them out until Wind and Truth comes.
I’m rereading Red Rising now. I had a hard time with it when I first read it too. I had to take breaks because it was too intense.
I also didn’t like the narrator at first, but after 5 books, I think I’d be upset if it wasn’t him.
No spoilers, but there are a lot of moments in the whole series that are hard to read. Not bad, I mean overwhelming. That said, it’s now one of my favorite set of book.
I like the intense parts. It’s more the way it flows in between. It’s kind of janky and abrupt.
I definitely have every intention of finishing. It will just be more spaced out than I’m used to. My habit is usually to read lengthy series from start to finish where possible. I read Stormlight in ~ 2 weeks on audiobooks, then mistborn 1-7 consecutively after that, read 20+ Karen Rose books back to back, however many Jack Reacher, 30 Stephanie Plum (and often follow it with Janet Evanovich’s shorter series), etc. Spacing them out is just usually not how I read, especially audiobooks.
I could still see getting them on my bookshelf once I finish though.
I hear you. I hope you like it!
Just looked up Karen Rose, what’s “romantic suspense”?
Also looked up Stephanie Plum and apparently (from wikipedia): Before this novel, Evanovich wrote 11 category romance novels. She then “ran out of sexual positions and decided to move into the mystery genre.” She sounds fun.
How are these series? I am assuming since you read so many of these books back to back, you like them all.
So for Karen Rose, it’s something between mystery/crime procedural/thriller basically? The main plot is the same broad strokes genre as Reacher. The “romance” part is that each book is told from the perspective of a new pair of people. They’re generally pretty damaged, they’re thrust together in the course of the mystery, and the “romance” explains/heals some of their issues. It’s very important to the character development, and is the “focus” of the book from some perspectives, but I don’t think you have to be interested in pure romance books to be into it. The villains are genuine (human) monsters. (I feel the need to warn that, while offscreen, there are people assaulting, sexually assaulting, selling kids, and some characters have experienced similar, because that’s a hard line for some people). There are also explicit sex scenes between the consenting adults, but it already wasn’t a book for kids.
Anyways, the reason I like her so much is very similar to the reason I like Sanderson so much. You get into the head of her characters, and can really understand them. She also (whether deliberate or just because of the way each story focuses on two new people) does an excellent job of showing the dichotomy between how we see ourselves and how other people see us that we call spotlight effect. Some kind of similar genre authors I can think of are Catherine Coulter, Leslie Tentler, Sandra Brown
I read a little of Evanovich’s romance, but her other series I meant were Lizzy and Diesel, Knight and Moon, and Gabriela Rose mostly. Her stories are just whacky. A little more grounded than like South Park, and not as actively provocative, but characters as weird and the tone is just generally in that ballpark. Stephanie Plum’s world is crazy, she’s an intelligent and persistent bounty hunter who’s not super talented, but she just kind of accepts everyone’s insanity and keeps moving forward. She doesn’t bat an eye when her partner thinks she’s a vampire (OK, so she rolls her eyes a little, but then she rolls with it). It’s kind of like how Jack Reacher’s tone downplays the trail of brutality he leaves behind him, but she downplays outright ridiculousness.
The style of the others is similar, with different characters and different stakes. There are moments that are real, but basically they’re comedy. Reading Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone series (well, until yesterday when I stopped because Wind and Truth released), I can feel that Stephanie Plum took a little inspiration from her (they both think a peanut butter and pickle sandwich is good?), but only in terms of the character herself. The Milhone books are aiming more for old hard boiled detective stories and far more grounded in reality. The only other series that quite feels the same to me as Stephanie Plum (and I’ve read a lot chasing the style) is Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune series. Her character is way more skilled and just generally badass, but it very much captures the absurdist, slapstick, almost three stooges comedy feel a lot of the time.
(Is it a wall of text yet? This format doesn’t lend itself super well to my habit to talk a lot.)
Thanks for such a detailed response. Adding both series to my list!
Lol, that’s me trying to rein it in. It’s why I want to eventually get to a good way to self host my reading history with series as focal points. I won’t go into specific books very often, but I could very easily write some walls of texts about what it is about specific authors/series that I like.
And book recommendations posts are even worse, because I’m trying to boil all 100 authors with different styles I want to suggest into like a sentence each, and decide who to actually include. (Or get boring and suggest Karen Rose every time). It’s way easier for me to have some idea what someone is into to so I can provide variety that might be relevant to what they like to read.
lol, no need to rein in. Go wild! You can optionally provide a TL;DR for people who may not be interested in specific topic / author / series, but this group is full of readers, so I doubt most people would be annoyed by long posts.
Yeah, recommending something is difficult, specially when you don’t other people’s interest and what kind of books they like.
If talking about me, I read pretty much everything, though my main interest is in fantasy / sci-fi. I’ll pick any book by Brandon Sanderson, Jim Butcher, Terry Pratchett, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, even if I don’t know what it’s about. Nowadays though, trying to expand my reading horizon, with some mystery and crime, started with Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series, but for some reason didn’t like them too much. Switched to Reacher after that, but want to add 2-3 other series into the mix.
For Karen Rose, I wouldn’t necessarily go way back to the beginning. Her early stuff is still good, but each city is almost standalone, and she has mastered her craft over time. There are characters from the first book who are in later ones, but I wouldn’t worry about that. If you get hooked you can think of them as a prequel.
Sacramento is really good and 3 books (Starting with Say You’re Sorry). Cincinnati has my singular favorite book because something about one of the characters makes me like her especially (I couldn’t tell you what). That starts with Closer than You Think. Baltimore (You Belong to Me) or New Orleans (Quarter to Midnight) are also good entry points.
I love them all and usually read them chronologically, but think of it kind of like the Cosmere books. Rose’s individual stories can be read standalone, but the cities have a stronger narrative connection within each arc. They’re each cohesive series that happen to be in a universe where characters can move between them. (Except pretty strictly grounded in reality. They’re taking planes and cars and phone calls, not perpendicularities.)
(Plum you can do whatever. They’re very like Reacher in terms of having a little continuity between stories but expecting most readers not to read sequentially.)
Ah cool. I feel umm… uncomfortable if not starting any series from the start, and in correct published order. So, unless I am having difficulty finding the books, I would try to start from the first one, but I’ll keep it in mind that her work improves with time.
I am doing the same thing with Reacher, reading them in the published order.
This is off topic, but I mentioned getting the Warbreaker leatherbound in a previous post, and the pictures on the store are limited.
Still waiting on the Secret Projects I ordered a week before that though lol.
Wow. It’s so beautiful. I don’t want it. If I had it I would want all the leatherbound versions, and I can’t afford that. Don’t share such pretty pictures!
There’s a reason I held myself to a standalone (ish) story and not Mistborn or Stormlight lol. Though if I’d read Elantris when I ordered it might have been a tougher decision.
I probably would have stuck with Warbreaker for the purple aesthetic and because he happened to have a run of it signed available when I ordered, but even as good as Warbreaker is, Elantris might be better.
Yeah, that would be bad, getting one from a big series.
Do share if (when?) you get them.
lol I just bought the regular hardcovers for the rest. (Except secret projects, which I’m still waiting on, because they’re cheaper and I think the mass market hardcovers are a lot worse.) Hopefully that limits the urge.
If I win the lottery or something, though, you’d better believe I’ll buy everything they have lol. Because they’re a work of art.
Pretty much everything but the secret projects now
Nice! This looks a lot prettier than my bookcase 😀
Took me longer to finish Lud-in-the-Mist than I hoped. I don’t know that I enjoyed it, but I appreciate having read it.
On to Dungeon Crawler Carl and I’m about halfway through it already.
Dungeon Crawler Carl gets many mentions, how are you finding it?
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a great series. It’s one of the best LitRPG style books I’ve read. Most of the humor can be actually laugh out loud funny at tjmes, but also the overall theme of the series is relevant and it can even get pretty deep. I think I even cried once.
If you’re mildly interested in it, jump in. I don’t think you will regret it.
Cool, will check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!
Pretty enjoyable and a quick read. It’s pretty standard LitRPG fare so far. The humor doesn’t seem forced like it can with some others.
I’m most of the way through Hold the Dark by Frank Tuttle. It’s the third in a series of (mostly) lighthearted fantasy P.I. mysteries that I occasionally go back to.
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Finally finished City of Stairs. As I’ve said in previous weeks, this was kind of a “it’s not the book, it’s me” read; it was enjoyable enough to read. One other thing, though, this was billed as a fantasy spy novel, but if you’re expecting Le Carré with magic, you’ll be disappointed; the espionage aspects feel very superficial.
Bingo squares: What’s Yours Is Mine, Family Drama, Mashup (HM), (alt) A Change in Perspective
- The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
- God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn
I started them over Thanksgiving break and am really enjoying them so far.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve been reading the Twilight books and I actually love them. Just started Book 2 last night.
We as a society put too much shame on certain book choices. A reader is better than a non-reader* and what you enjoy is valid.
I’m glad you found something you enjoy!
*-for various definitions of reader, including audiobooks
Currently reading Black Sun, a murder mystery set in a cold war secret soviet research city. Dripping with interdepartmental politics, but I was hoping for a bit more immersion in the world of a hidden science enclave.
Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings
It is the equivalent of comfort food to me. When everything becomes too much… I pull this book out and read it. It’s got just the right amount of sarcasm, wit, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and isn’t so dark and depressing as more recent high fantasy stories
I’m also listening to Well of Ascension, however this is my first time listening to the Mistborn series, as well as my first foray into Brandon Sanderson’s writing. I love the series so far.
Without spoiling anything, I’m at the part where they’ve just introduced a very mentally ill character and I’m very curious to see how the author handles this subject matter later on. Interestingly enough, I have faith in him to be respectful with the character, which is a faith I wouldn’t afford many writers without prior evidence that they’d do the subject justice.
Would recommend Mistborn to anyone who likes fantasy, complex magic systems (plural), in-depth worldbuilding, and engaging political drama.
All The Light We Cannot See
It’s quite wonderful
Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. It’s about a near-future maverick geo-engineering operation that hopes to protect Netherlands and other low countries from flooding and rising sea levels. It might also affect global weather systems. The organizers aren’t very concerned about that, but India and China might get upset if it screws up their monsoon seasons.
It probably won’t even get me a bingo square, but I’ll read and recommend it anyway.
I’m taking a break from catching up with my son’s reading of Wings of Fire. I’m about to start book eight, Escaping Peril
During this break from the grade school fantasy, I’m currently reading The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz. It was a random choice for me, served up by the algorithm and a few filters on Libby.
Not sure if I’m going to see this one through to the end as 10 more Wings of Fire Books beckon.
As for a recommendation, the last two “5 out of 5” books I read were, The Message and The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The latter title, his first novel, is just as accessible as his articles and his latest reflection on America and her role in world affairs, the former title.
How’s Wings of Fire? Son is getting interested in Dragons, has asked me for Songs of Magic series by S. A. Patrick, which apparently has dragons.
Both books by Ta-Nehisi Coates look interesting, will check them out.
It’s pretty much what it says on the tin, “Harry Potter meets Hunger Games.”… but with dragons as the main characters. The storytelling is good. The characters are tangible, well-developed, and relatable. There are three arcs, the first about wartime, the second is post-war, and the final arc — (which I’ve not started — appears to be about the Undiscovered Country. Reading it as an adult, it’s easy to blitz through. There are fights, stabbings, broken necks, decapitations, and torture. None of it described in visceral gruesome detail, but more as a statement of fact. The stakes feel real. There is also magic, betrayal, surprise, and reconciliation. It’s pretty good stuff.
Target audience, grades 3 to 8 says Scholastic. My little reader is a little younger than that, and he’s obsessed. He still likes Captain Underpants, and he’s starting to get into Pokémon. This feeds the need he has for dragons.
This week I did the fourth book in the Infinite series of books, Tribe by Jeremy Robinson. It was another good read in the series, no as obvious a tie in but I think I know how it relates having started with the 13th book which I believe it relates to. Either way it was a good book in its own right.
Continued with some Deathlands as well, the last fee books had felt a bit different, a bit off, so I decided to look up and apparently a few books ago the original author stopped writing (except for one more book in the future) and from now on it is a mixture of authors. The books so far have been good but more separate stories where as to begin with the books were pretty much all running into each other. I’ll stick at it for a while as I’m still enjoying the characters and world but I’m not sure if I will lose some interest now, I just need to see how it is going forward I think.
Just finished The Croning by Laird Barron, because I saw it being recommended by multiple blogs as Lovecraftian horror. I am still angry at how bad this damn book is. It is Lovecraftian, but it’s not horror. It’s incredibly boring. So, so boring.
I’m reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s essentially a modern retelling of David Copperfield and I think that actually hurts the book. So many times I’ve been enjoying the commentary on poverty cycles and foster care only to be brought completely out of it by the author trying to shoehorn the next David Copperfield plot point in. I think this book would really be shining if it was just told its own story instead.
