Otober! “From ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, Dear Lord protect us.” Or for us Urban Fantasy readers, BRING IT ON!
I am nearly finished with Aloha from Hell by Richard Kadrey. The first almost half was fast paced and tightly written but then Stark had to go on an adventure ™ and we meandered all over the landscape… literally.
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of the SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, and he started these monthly book threads. Sadly, he passed away in January 2013, and we decided to rename these monthly threads in his honor.
Finished Paths of Glory – It differed very little from the film. As I’ve mentioned, Kubrick added the scene with the German girl for the film; the book ends with the executions. One difference is that Colonel Dax is not the Defense Counsel --they combined the characters for Kirk Douglas to play both. (The commanding General gets his comeuppance earlier in the book, too) Another change is that one of my favorite lines, about the cockroach having a deeper connection to his wife than the condemned man will, is given as a line in a letter home to his wife. In the film, this gets a pithier, funnier treatment:
Finished the audiobook Brothers in Arms. On to some Clive Cussler.
Wow. Can’t believe I got in on Khadaji’s thread so early in the month. Yay, me!
Finished reading A Loyal Companion feeling kind of meh toward the end. Still, for a light read, it wasn’t bad.
Was going to get right on to Olive Kitteridge but got sidetracked with Crow Fair by Thomas McGuane, a series of short stories in which he explores the depressing realities of dysfunctional family life. Sounds bad but I like his writing style and will try to finish it if he doesn’t get too morose.
I’m about midway through Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs and I have to say that at this point I don’t like it as well as the other Miss Peregrine books. It’s getting bizarre, like Dark Tower bizarre, and it’s mostly focused on a couple of characters as opposed to the whole group. And they’re in a Bad Place, so when I read it I’m in a Bad Place too! It doesn’t suck, but I hope it changes soon.
I raced through The End of All Things, John Scalzi’s latest (and, he says, last) book in his fantastic Old Man’s War military-sf series, and it was pretty damn good. It’s a collection of four closely-linked short stories, one of which is the most deliciously satisfying revenge story I think I’ve ever read. It’s the first one in the book, “The Life of the Mind.” Some big changes for the Colonial Union and the alien Conclave in the book, almost certainly for the best. I was sorry not to have Perry, Sagan or Zoe put in an appearance, though, and nebbishy diplomat Hart Schmidt has much too small a part.
I also finished Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman, which I listened to as a Reese Witherspoon-read audiobook (and she was pretty good). It’s a disappointing sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird on a number of levels, but worth a read (or a listen), I’d say.
I’ve begun Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes, about a young African woman stolen into slavery in the 1740s. All the usual appalling tropes of the Middle Passage and American Colonial-era slavery, but told very well.
Close to finishing TS Hottle’s sf novella The First One’s Free, which isn’t blowing me away.
Oh no! I’m excited about this one, so I’m bummed to hear that it’s not as good.
I’m reading two great books, both of which I recommend.
One is Gold Dust by Kimberley Freeman. Kimberley Freeman is a wonderful author; I’ve read every novel she’s written and they’re all good. This book follows the lives of two sisters and their cousin as they attempt to escape the poverty of cold war Russia and build successful careers. These efforts involve criminal activity and betrayal, and god do I love the twists and turns of the plot!
The other book is called Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Katharine Schulz. It explores the human tendency to hate being wrong, as well as our attempts to justify whatever opinions we have to make ourselves seem smart and anyone who disagrees seem idiotic. It also points out how the advancement of humanity is formed around developing theories, making mistakes, and then adapting and refining these theories to improve upon our current situation, and that it’s therefore not healthy to be so scared of being wrong. I’m only halfway through, so I still have a lot to learn, but it’s already been a life-changing book that has transformed my outlook on the world and my place within it.
Working on a few things right now. I’m about 3/4 of the way through Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce. Light, humorous YA fantasy about a girl who lives in an historic house whose (demon?) butler has been disabled by her mother, to the decay of the house and the extra work of the eponymous Flora. She decides to undo her mom’s work as part of her overall, I-want-to-set-my-own-life actions. So far the book feels like dandelion fluff, pretty but not a lot of substance. I think I’m more in the mood for serious fantasy, like Graceling, so maybe it’s my issue, not the book.
I’m also reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I started out finding this a little slow and dry, but this academic thriller picks right up. I love the psychology involved, the way the little group of Greek scholars reacts to one another, the way they divulge their secrets and hide the terrible things they do. The only jarring thing is the time-frame; it’s supposed to be set in the 1980s, I think, but it feels much earlier. Because I read it first, I was reminded somewhat of The Likeness by Tana French (although that definitely was published later). Similar closed group of young scholars who cultivate airs and hide VERY dark secrets.
DZednConfused, Dung Beetle, I JUST picked up The Hollow Boy. So glad to hear your good reviews. I can hardly wait to start it!
Finished The Burning Room, by Michael Connelly. This was very good. I don’t feel any of his books were ghostwritten, and I’ve enjoyed all of them including The Drop, although I’ve liked some more than others. But I think this can definitely be considered one of his better efforts. With his new partner, Harry Bosch of the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit investigates two cases with his new partner. In one, the victim just died from complications of a shooting 10 years before, making it a case of homicide, but a politically fraught one. The other is a 21-year-old arson case that killed nine people, mostly children. FBI Agent Rachel Walling, the heroine in several of his books, makes a brief cameo.
When Tony Hillerman died, it left a little hole in my detective-story reading, and Michael Connelly has filled that. I hope he lives a long time and keeps churning them out.
Next up is American Tabloid, by James Ellroy, the first novel in his Underworld USA Trilogy. I recently read the second in the series, The Cold Six Thousand, before I even realized this was part of a series. Checking my library, I found this first one and checked it out.
I just finished Hiaasen’s Skinny Dip last night. As any Hiaasen fan knows, one’s (more or less) as good as the next. I’ve only read two now, the last one was Bad Monkey, in a year I probably won’t be able to tell them apart. Having said that, I just ordered Native Tongue (also by Hiaasen). I’ll probably read that either after my current book or whatever I read after that. They’re fun, easy books and a nice break from anything heavier then middle school required reading. I specifically picked this one because it’s a Skink one and I haven’t read any of his Skink books yet (technically Skinny Dip has a Skink cameo, but that doesn’t really count).
My current book, that I just started today, is The Paying Guests. I don’t have any kind of a feel for it yet since I’m only about 10 pages into it. Hopefully it’s good, it’s 550 pages, that’s a lot of pages for a not good book and I’m not good at putting a book down even if I don’t like it. At my typical pace this is probably a 45-60 day book so it’s a bit of a commitment.
I wouldn’t call it a disappointment, but not nearly as good. There’s a thread around here somewhere with a lot of good theories about it. I think it’ll got lost in the annals of history in the next 50 years or so. TKAM will still be required reading wherever it is now and many people won’t even know GSAW exists unless they read up on Lee. (I’d keep going but I don’t want think this thread should be derailed on that topic and I’d have to refresh myself with the other thread first).
There’s a few others and I thought there was a Whatcha Reading thread with a least quite a few posts (pre-realese) where we discussed it.
One thing that I’ll still stand by (because it’s not some big deal) is that if you hold Atticus as a personal hero and you just loooove Scout and it’s your bestest most favorite book in the whole wide world and you’ll unfriend someone for saying something bad about the movie that you watch every time it’s on…just take a pass on this book, you’re not missing anything. If you want a quick (more or less light) read, go for it and if it bugs you that much, rewatch the movie and remember Mockingbird the way you loved it. Something important, though, when it comes to the Finch Family, Watchman is NOT a standalone book. The thing that bothered me was (without going into it) Cal was a background character in this book. If you only read this book (or read it first) you’d have no idea how central she was to those kid’s upbringing and some of her storyline wouldn’t have made sense, or at least you wouldn’t have understood why Atticus took was so concerned with her son’s case.
After what felt like a lifetime I finished 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen series - with the shortest book in this 10-book series coming in at over 900 pages…anything I read I seem to fly through
I’m currently reading The heart goes last by Margaret Atwood - I greatly enjoy her dystopian novels. This one especially seems to be quite realistic (so far).
Finished in September: The mirror world of Melody Black - a quirky read about someone bipolar and how their mind goes. The Southern Reach trilogy - a bit too weird for my taste Someone comes to town, someone leaves town - loved it. Will definitely put some more Doctorow on my Kindle
Last night I finished On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. I’ve been reading it since I got it for Christmas last year. I enjoyed it, but it helps me sleep.
I finished Aloha from Hell the third Sandman Slim novel by Richard Kadrey. Not as good as two but so much better than one. The first half of the book was a tight well written missing persons mystery and the last fift was a decent, page turning action story, the bit between them was an almighty boring slog. Seriously, going on an adventure only works if the adventure is interesting and this was not. And of COURSE, his guide through this whacky not-quite-Hell was Jack the Ripper yawn Has been done much better (see Parke Godwin’s Waiting for the Galactic Bus )
And please can we STOP with the heroes dying and being brought back to life? It’s so far beyond cliche it’s ridiculous!Kevin Hearne has flogged THAT horse to death on his own.
Just finished Louise Penny’s new book, The Nature of the Beast, which had a few preposterous plot points, but was fun nonetheless. Now I’m celebrating October as I do every year, with a reread of The Haunting of Hill House.
I’ve been reading An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson. It’s a fascinating and well-written account of the Anglo-American invasion of Africa in WWII.
I was always surprised that America chose to invade Africa before Europe. But as I’m learning, we were so disorganized and unprepared that it’s a good thing we started with an easy objective.
