January 2021 Reading Thread.

[Bick]

Those nature books look lovely Mouse. I don’t understand what’s nerdy about them though?

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

We had a secret santa at work and my present was a book. I'm reading The Overstory, by Richard Powers. So far it's not too bad.

After 150 pages I gave up, it was a very difficult read. I couldn't make head or tail with it.

Now looking for next read.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Re: Lud-in-the-Mist:

Good points, both. It's a book that intrigues as much as it frustrates, certain to remain in the memory much longer than a simpler, more straightforward story. Maybe a vague hint of the sort of feeling I get from Lafferty or Wolfe; the haunting sensation that, beyond the lapidary prose and, at times, sense of whimsey (more in Lafferty than Wolfe), there is something deeper and darker and more important going on beneath the surface.

 

[Don]

Sorry Heinlein but Glory Road is boring me to tears. No plot, no story, no point going any further. First DNF of the year.

It becomes easier and easier for me to DNF a stinker with each passing year...

 

[Don]

I got 'Secrets of a Devon Wood' by Jo Brown for Christmas and read it in a day (it's mostly artwork). I know there's a few nature lovers here, so here's a link if you're interested: Secrets of a Devon Wood by Jo Brown | Waterstones

I'm rather proud of Charlene's Cobweb Spider sisterhood, who garrison my garage against Black Widows.

A few years ago a colony of bees briefly bivouacked in my back yard.

 

[AE35Unit]

So the first story in the Mammoth book of Golden Age SF I'm reading is by Ross Rocklynne (Time Wants a Skeleton). Good story but I've not heard of that author. Pseudonym?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

So the first story in the Mammoth book of Golden Age SF I'm reading is by Ross Rocklynne (Time Wants a Skeleton). Good story but I've not heard of that author. Pseudonym?

Well, not really. It's just a different spelling of his "real" name.

Ross Rocklynne (February 21, 1913 – October 29, 1988) was the pen name used by Ross Louis Rocklin

 

[Hugh]

Rupert Everett "Vanished Years"
Second volume of memoirs, by turns funny, sad, poignant, depressing. I learnt from reading the first volume that they're best enjoyed a chapter or two at a time. He can write surprisingly well and could probably make an account of cutting his toenails interesting, but at times I feel he is overwriting just to fill up space and reach enough pages to satisfy his publisher.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm currently reading The Battles of Tolkien and The Heroes of Tolkien, by David Day. I know they are unofficial, however they are packed with plenty of information.

 

[Danny McG]

I've really extended my reading in the last couple of days, I've got two kindle SF books underway, also two SF epubs being read, and a paperback crime thriller and a hardback crime thriller (a lot of this is due to me getting a new tablet)

Interspersed with those books I'm also re-watching all of Firefly.

Winter lockdown is great for a genre fan.
The last one was too sunny!

 

[tobl]

I've really extended my reading in the last couple of days, I've got two kindle SF books underway, also two SF epubs being read, and a paperback crime thriller and a hardback crime thriller (a lot of this is due to me getting a new tablet)

Interspersed with those books I'm also re-watching all of Firefly.

Winter lockdown is great for a genre fan.
The last one was too sunny!

for me last year was a lot of anime to pass the confinement

 

[Pyan]

So the first story in the Mammoth book of Golden Age SF I'm reading is by Ross Rocklynne (Time Wants a Skeleton). Good story but I've not heard of that author. Pseudonym?

Well, yes - but not a disguise for a better known writer, just a gloss on his real name, Ross Louis Rocklin. Quite why he thought a homonym and two extra letters would make a difference remains shrouded in mystery...

 

[Pyan]

Just finished The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson.
If you like Bryson, you'll love this - if you don't know him, I'd advise you to read his Notes from a Small Island first.

 

[Bick]

I finished Fire with Fire, by Charles E. Gannon. Excellent stuff, very enjoyable. It’s not Tolstoy, but it is pretty well written, has an interesting plot, and is an intelligent book. One of Gannon’s skills is making it clear there’s more to be revealed and more going on than you know, without giving the game away. The only word of caution I would give is that this is quite clearly the first of a series, with an awful lot more to come - it doesn’t for that reason standalone especially. I’ll therefore be looking to get the sequel Trial by Fire, as it was certainly good enough to read more. If you like old fashioned adventure SF, with some real heroes, interesting aliens, and a thriller plot you’d probably enjoy it.

I’ve now started a collection of short stories by Alan Dean Foster - Exceptions to Reality. The first tale, The Muffin Migration, was great.

 

[HareBrain]

Just finished The Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson.
If you like Bryson, you'll love this - if you don't know him, I'd advise you to read his Notes from a Small Island first.

I do like Bryson, but I found this book too similar to NFASI. There's even an anecdote about a trip to McDonald's that appears in both. To be fair, the version in this book is funnier, but it did make me wonder -- surely he can't have had almost the exact same humorous conversation twice, twenty or whatever years apart? In which case, how much of either book is really true? I can't believe he didn't reread it before writing this one, but maybe he didn't.

I would definitely recommend the earlier book for those who haven't read it.

Anyway, I finished Susan Cooper's The Grey King, and realised I might not have read the whole thing for maybe thirty years. I think on previous rereads I might have veered aside when getting close to The Horrible Bit (which was indeed horrible). I thought after rereading Greenwitch recently that that book would turn out to be the best in the series, but no, this one beats it hands down. It must be one of the best children's books I've ever read, superbly atmospheric, emotionally gripping, and with some surprisingly mature themes.

 

[AE35Unit]

Well, yes - but not a disguise for a better known writer, just a gloss on his real name, Ross Louis Rocklin. Quite why he thought a homonym and two extra letters would make a difference remains shrouded in mystery...

Never heard of him till now!

 

[MartinChis]

My first book of the year was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. That was my fourth PKD book in a row (Time Out of Joint, The Man in the High Castle & Martian Time-Slip being the others).

I didn't care too much for Time Out of Joint & Martian Time-Slip. The Man in the High Castle was a good read but Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? tops that one. The Penfield Mood Organ and Deckard's interactions with Phil Resch were some highlights.

I've now moved on to The Expanse series, about half way through Leviathan Wakes at the moment. I can't put it down (reading around 100 pages a day, which is a lot for me). Hopefully the rest of the series holds up as well as this one.

 

[Vince W]

Re-reading what I believe to be the first science fiction book I ever read, Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein. It was either this or Starman Jones, but I read one on top of the other and my memory of them may be mixed together somewhat. Not far in, but it's very clear why this book would appeal to a seven-year-old boy.

 

[Vertigo]

Re-reading what I believe to be the first science fiction book I ever read, Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein. It was either this or Starman Jones, but I read one on top of the other and my memory of them may be mixed together somewhat. Not far in, but it's very clear why this book would appeal to a seven-year-old boy.

I daren't even think how long it is since I read that one!

 

[Rodders]

I finished the Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks.

On to Brian Turner’s Destroyer.