November 2019 reading thread

[tobl]

In another thread I posted:
I've started reading it now, but haven't got far yet. No one replied much to that post and I can't see anyone else talking about it here, thought there is a discussion of other Robert Harris books. I had to laugh because that second page mentions the damnable Indian ring-necked Parakeets that have invaded southern England. Then he smokes a pipe, seemingly 100 years before tobacco was brought to England. But by page 22 it is obvious to every reader that 'We're not n Kansas anymore.'

so , i just read your paragraph about being in the future and i thought: hum.. isn't there a syfy book similar at least in , this part? and i remembered that there was at least a small tale in this general disposition.

 

[DannMcGrew]

@tobl I've got The Second Sleep on order from my library, but since it was just released here I won't have it for a week or so. I'll certainly get back to you when I've got it. I appreciate the frustration of wanting to talk and there's nobody on the same page. Harris, in particular, does that.

 

[Pyan]

Don't come here often, and don't generally foist my choice in reading matter on others - but I will say that if you like gothic/steampunk/fantasy /adventure, but don't like The Invisible Library series, by Genevieve Cogman, then I fear for the future of the genre. I read the first seven pages of the first of the (so far) five-book series, and promptly bought the next four...

 

[The Judge]

Hmm. Looks like I'm responsible for the genre's demise then...

I read it earlier in the year, and my thoughts at the time (with a potential spoiler deleted): Lightweight fantasy with the premise of an enormous magical library which sends out people into “alternate” worlds to obtain specific books by any means possible. Our heroine, Irene, is sent on a mission into a steampunkish Victorian London where the fae are important and chaos reigns, and is thrown into dangers from the Library’s defector and now arch-enemy, with mechanical centipedes, electricity-driven alligators, suffocating whitefish, hansom cabs, zeppelins, Liechtenstein, vampires and a Sherlock Holmes figure. Lots of parentheses and a would-be humorous voice, with simple word use, clause construction and linear plot suitable for YA. Reads like a downmarket Ben Aaronovitch – less funny, less interesting, less dramatic. Not bad, but not particularly memorable.

But then, truth be told, I'm not a great fan of gothic or steampunk really, so perhaps the genre is safe after all.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm reading Nightingales in November, A Year in the Lives of Twelve British Birds, by Mike Dilger.

 

[Pyan]

Hmm. Looks like I'm responsible for the genre's demise then...

I read it earlier in the year, and my thoughts at the time (with a potential spoiler deleted): Lightweight fantasy with the premise of an enormous magical library which sends out people into “alternate” worlds to obtain specific books by any means possible. Our heroine, Irene, is sent on a mission into a steampunkish Victorian London where the fae are important and chaos reigns, and is thrown into dangers from the Library’s defector and now arch-enemy, with mechanical centipedes, electricity-driven alligators, suffocating whitefish, hansom cabs, zeppelins, Liechtenstein, vampires and a Sherlock Holmes figure. Lots of parentheses and a would-be humorous voice, with simple word use, clause construction and linear plot suitable for YA. Reads like a downmarket Ben Aaronovitch – less funny, less interesting, less dramatic. Not bad, but not particularly memorable.

But then, truth be told, I'm not a great fan of gothic or steampunk really, so perhaps the genre is safe after all.

To be fair, that’s not a bad summary of the first book in the series, but I’m onto number three now, and they’re getting a lot more complex (and darker...)

 

[HareBrain]

I read the first seven pages of the first of the (so far) five-book series, and promptly bought the next four...

They sell individual pages?

 

[Randy M.]

Finished Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson, a collection of twelve short stories about his recurring character, Sheriff Walt Longmire, and the community around Absaroka County, Wyoming. I was looking for a tonal change from the last book I finished, The Last Seance a story collection by Agatha Christie. This was certainly that. While Johnson's novels are mysteries, not all of these stories are, though most key off Longmire's work as a law enforcer. Johnson is that lucky author who found his voice and it fits his main character, and what makes the stories -- and the two novels I've read so far -- engaging are the sense of humor and basic decency of Longmire, his friend, Henry Standing Bear, and most of the other recurring characters. Since these stories were written as holiday gifts for friends and fans, most have some connection to a holiday which made them fun reading for this time of year.

Now reading another story collection, Sleep No More by P. D. James; more mysteries. The longest story, "The Murder of Santa Claus" is turning out to be a really enjoyable English country manor murder mystery.

Randy M.

 

[Elckerlyc]

They sell individual pages?

I would be in favor of that!
Don't pay for more pages than you're willing to read.

 

[vanye]

“I opened a book and in I strode.
Now nobody can find me.
I've left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.
I'm wearing the cloak, I've slipped on the ring,
I've swallowed the magic potion.
I've fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.
I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.
I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.”

Thank you for sharing, @althea Much appreciated!

 

[Parson]

Thank you for sharing, @althea Much appreciated!

Ditto! I printed it out.

---

Ditched Lonesome Dove. I was about 100 pages in and there still was no story. There was no character I found interesting. And there was no one I would consider anything approaching good or noble. Serious thumbs down for me.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Thank you for sharing, @althea Much appreciated!

Ditto. And am working on a translation.

 

[hitmouse]

Don't come here often, and don't generally foist my choice in reading matter on others - but I will say that if you like gothic/steampunk/fantasy /adventure, but don't like The Invisible Library series, by Genevieve Cogman, then I fear for the future of the genre. I read the first seven pages of the first of the (so far) five-book series, and promptly bought the next four...

Great fun. Read the lot.

 

[Rodders]

I finished Dark City and am now reading a series of Repairman Jack Short stories,

 

[Nozzle Velocity]

Got back into reading and finished Bram Stoker's collection. Now ripping through producer Ken Scott's From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust.

 

[Bick]

Ditched Lonesome Dove. I was about 100 pages in and there still was no story. There was no character I found interesting. And there was no one I would consider anything approaching good or noble. Serious thumbs down for me.

That's a shame! Lonesome Dove is generally considered to be one of the finest, most compelling and gripping stories of the last 50 years, noted for its wonderful, rounded characters. The whole tenet of the story concerns nobility, honor and keeping promises. Pea-Eye, Deets and the Captains are among the most interesting and honorable characters I've ever read, and I'm not sure how you missed their inherent 'goodness'. I also note that it scores 4.5 average from 135k votes on Goodreads, making it one of the most highly acclaimed novels on the site. It's my favourite novel, period.

 

[DannMcGrew]

That's a shame! Lonesome Dove is generally considered to be one of the finest, most compelling and gripping stories of the last 50 years, noted for its wonderful, rounded characters. The whole tenet of the story concerns nobility, honor and keeping promises. Pea-Eye, Deets and the Captains are among the most interesting and honorable characters I've ever read, and I'm not sure how you missed their inherent 'goodness'. I also note that it scores 4.5 average from 135k votes on Goodreads, making it one of the most highly acclaimed novels on the site. It's my favourite novel, period.

Yah, but Parson just plain don't like it. LOL I tried to convince him too. Happens... (I think it was the pigs.)

It reminds me. I once was shocked, I tell you shocked, that my local librarian hadn't read a book I consider a masterpiece. She drew herself up to full height and said, "How dare you tell me what I must read?" Put me in my place all right. Different strokes....

 

[Parson]

Pea-Eye, Deets and the Captains are among the most interesting and honorable characters I've ever read, and I'm not sure how you missed their inherent 'goodness'.

Honorable? inherent goodness???!!! They are former law men who are now cattle rustlers, horse thieves, and liars, who joke about shooting Mexicans, and continually consort with a prostitute! and that's just in the first 100 pages! --- I wanted to shoot a few holes in their abominable sign. --- They just about killed a kid by trying to get him to drink two bottles of tequila as fast as he could, (they even suggested a funnel to drink faster) and those are just the things I remember.

 

[soulsinging]

Wow, The Poppy War really took a dark turn. This is not YA material. In the early going, precocious teenager improbably makes it to elite school and becomes favorite of eccentric teacher. Then the war they're studying/training for comes and you're plunged into horrors that make GRRM seem like grimbubblesandrainbows. Not really a plot spoiler but I'll err on the side of:

Spoiler

My initial reaction was it was too over the top, even by grimdark standards, and the characters were veering too much into Mark Lawrence anti-hero for my liking. Turns out much of one of the pivotal battles was based on the Nanjing massacre and after some rudimentary reading up on an event I was embarrassingy ignorant of... this only barely scratched the surface.

The way history blends with fantasy here is deeply unsettling, as is the reinforced notion that the cause of these horrors is humans, not magic, gods or technology. All are used as tools for atrocities here.

I definitely need a break and am not sure I'm rooting for these characters, but I'm pretty likely to read book two.

I'm going to probably not sleep great tonight, and will have to decide what to read next once my hope for humanity returns.

 

[Bick]

Honorable? inherent goodness???!!! ... continually consort with a prostitute!

Hardly made one a ‘bad’un’ in that day and age; I’m not sure why this is an issue. They weren’t Puritans, parson, they were frontiersmen of the 18th century. Likewise stealing horses from Mexicans was okay by their rules - they were stealing them back, essentially. I think you’d have to read it to form a balanced view. With regard to personal morals they were highly ethical in my opinion. Some of the great quotes regarding how one should live life are to found in this book.