October is here! Time to get the skellys out of the basement and hang the ghosts on my porch. If you’re up north, it’s time to bust out the long sleeved shirts and comfy hoodies. Down south, time get out the shorts and make sure the AC is working. And the one thing that binds us together is PUMPKIN SPICE!! Haahahaha, nah, I’m joking, it’s reading and I have T. Kingfisher’s latest book hot off the presses!
Currently reading:
Print: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. One of the books I remember the twist because it was so spectacularly evil to my teenage mind.
Kindle: Monsters and Manners by Tilly Wallace. Bless her heart she is trying SO hard to channel Gail Carriger and failing so badly. I’ll finish it but it’s just not hooking me.
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of 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, who started these threads 'way back in the Stone Age of 2005. Consequently, when he suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away in January 2013, we decided to rename this thread in his honor and to keep his memory, if not his ghost, alive.
I took a trip recently and read some stuff that was on my Kindle, a couple short stories by Joe Hill, and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. That one was just okay, I think I’d read it before.
Currently I’m reading
It passes the time, but it’s not compelling. Saturday it goes back to the library, finished or not!
Re McMahon: I always appreciate it if people are trying to write the kind of stuff I like to read. And she’s not a bad writer. It just doesn’t jell somehow.
Re Highsmith: I liked Strangers on a Train. But when Ripley ended, I was like, “oh, is that all then?” Maybe it was shocking in its time.
Well, anyway, this is the time of year when all my library holds come in at once. Plus Stephen King’s new one comes out next week! So I have plenty of books, not enough time. The story of my life!
Reading Star Wars Edge of the Abyss. Novel set at the height of the Empire about a year before Andor and 10 years or so after the founding of the New Order. This one is not bad but I’m enjoyed the first of this trilogy more (which took place days after the Republic became an Empire). It is fun seeing Mon Mothma and Bail Organa in action though. I enjoy the politics of Star Wars
Finished Elysium Fire, by Alastair Reynolds, which was okay, and Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children, by Mac Barnett, which was one big cliche’ except for his analysis of Goodnight Moon.
Next up: Catfish Lullaby, by A.C. Wise; and Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family, by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudycz. Lupescu.
I finished Manners and Monsters by Tilly Wallace and I didn’t hate it, but I’m not really inclined to go on with the series. I felt she was trying to be Gail Carriger and was falling dismally flat. The story was lackluster, the characters unengaging and the plot wandered all over the landscape.
Finished Kill All Wizards, by Jebediah Berry. A Conan-like barbarian named Gotchimus deals with polite society, a society run by wizards.
I bounce off of most comic fantasies, but love the good ones enough that I keep trying.
This one? Sure. It wasn’t as silly as I expected, which was good, because the humor in there didn’t really do much for me. The story itself was moderately entertaining, and it was brief enough to be good popcorn.
I finished Kate Atkinson’s novel Our Noble Selves, which is set at a 1951 festival in Britain. Sort of a mystery, sort of a historical novel, sort of a sendup of festivals that take themselves a little too seriously. A terrific book. Atkinson writes so well, and has the gift of describing characters in just a few deft strokes. Also, this one is just so much fun to read. I looked forward to every reading session I had with the book. Recommended.
Finished Catfish Lullaby, by A.C. Wise, which I enjoyed, and Geek Parenting: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us About Raising a Family, by Stephen H. Segal and Valya Dudycz Lupescu. Meh.
Next up: Leech, by Hiron Ennes; and Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry, by Arthur Sze.
Finished Alone by Lisa Gardner. A decent murder mystery featuring a flawed protagonist, who’s surrounded by equally less-than-perfect secondary characters.
Now I’ve started A God in Ruins by Leon Uris. It’s okay so far, but it really jumps around with no warning.
Finished Obstetrix. It was brief, and could have gone deeper, but I enjoyed it.
Today, in an effort to keep the decks clear for my new Stephen King book arriving tomorrow*, I’m re-reading T. Kingfisher’s Thornhedge. It’s brilliant, of course.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - just finished.
A very thought provoking book. Story told from the perspective of an artificial friend with the dystopian world never fully explained. One I think I’ll reread at some point.
I finished Thornhedge, but couldn’t sleep last night, so I got up and re-read the next shortest book I could find: The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket. It was clever and cute, and I remembered reading it with my kids, who both enjoyed it although they’re five years apart in age.
Finished Leech, by Hiron Ennes, which is the best book I’ve read so far this year. Brilliant use of language, great plot, and outstanding SF worldbuilding. I don’t normally do trigger warnings, but I will this time just in case my recommendation makes someone read it who might otherwise be turned off just by the cover art: Major body horror and some sexual abuse. Also read, and enjoyed, Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry, by Arthur Sze.
Next up: The Reavers, by George MacDonald Fraser, and Infinite Life: The Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution, and Life on Earth, by Jules Howard.