January 2023 Reading Thread

[Vince W]

Something Fresh by P. G. Wodehouse, but you could put your hand on any of his novels and be good.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (so you get a bonus author).

 

[Danny McG]

Tonight I'm having a go at A man lies dreaming by Lavie Tidhar.
So far it seems to be a weird alt history novel with Hitler scratching out a living as an impoverished private detective in 1930s London.

However there are a couple of hints that it isn't exactly like that

 

[dask]

Have to make a note of this one.

 

[pogopossum]

I was reading Stephen King's FAIRY TALE. On page 204 of 598. Just getting into the weird. Set it aside when I picked up Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes from the library. Just started it, but already into the irascible, opiniated, charming Sir Terry. When I read of his work ethic, I thought to check his and Stephen King's similarities. Huge productivity and popularity. Opinionated, - did not suffer fools lightly. Both with settled bedrock lifestyles and long term marriages.
Have not read King in a couple of decades. Read all Pratchett adult novels. Plan to pick around and read some of other stuff that I missed. And perhaps King, although not into horror.

 

[Elentarri]

I have started The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This may take a while.

 

[Vertigo]

Tonight I'm having a go at A man lies dreaming by Lavie Tidhar.
So far it seems to be a weird alt history novel with Hitler scratching out a living as an impoverished private detective in 1930s London.

However there are a couple of hints that it isn't exactly like that

I'll be interested in your thoughts. I read Central Station by Tidhar a while ago and found it very meh. It mainly struck me as a somewhat pretentious attempt by a non SF writer to write SF, whilst not bothering too much with plausible science.

 

[Vertigo]

I have started The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This may take a while.

I have a copy of that but keep getting intimidated by the size of it!

 

[Elentarri]

I have a copy of that but keep getting intimidated by the size of it!

I've had the book since October 2021. I decided I was going to start the year with it, but I've been faffing with Shakespeare plays and short stories instead. It starts off with a hanging and a curse. Writing so far is decent (so far). Found it in a used book store. Someone recommended it so I picked it up. I'm not really a historical fiction fan, but I like architectural/engineering stuff, so I hope there is a decent amount of detail about church construction. I was also pleasantly surprised at the bigger than microscopic text size of the paperback, so the novel isn't quite as long as it appears to be.

 

[Danny McG]

I'll be interested in your thoughts. I read Central Station by Tidhar a while ago and found it very meh. It mainly struck me as a somewhat pretentious attempt by a non SF writer to write SF, whilst not bothering too much with plausible science.

I had similar thoughts reading this book - I got maybe a quarter through it but DNF - total tripe....it was basically a poor rip-off of The Man in the High Castle

 

[Hugh]

Terry Pratchett "Witches Abroad"
Rolls along pretty well, doesn't it?
Only my second Pratchett, after "Wyrd Sisters", but I plan to dip into Pratchett every few months.
Next will be "Guards! Guards!": still following your listed recommendations of way back @Montero

 

[Montero]

@Hugh I envy you getting to read them for the first time. (Though they have kept me less stressed through many a crisis.)

 

[Hugh]

@Hugh I envy you getting to read them for the first time. (Though they have kept me less stressed through many a crisis.)

I'm going to enjoy reading one from time to time. I'll get round to the biography fairly soon though.

 

[thesoothsayer]

Managed to do some reading over the holidays.
"Songs of the Dark" by Anthony Ryan. Liked the short stories there from the Raven's Shadow world.
"The Fires of Vengeance" and "Rage of Dragons" by Ian Winter. Enjoyed the first two books. Think the third book isn't out yet.
Then went on to the "Left Hand of God", "The Last Four Things", and "The Beating of His Wings". DNF the last book in the trilogy. Thought the first book was promising, but it went downhill after that. Was thinking of stopping after book 1, but then decided to continue on to book 2. Then thought really hard about going on to book 3, and decided to give it a go, but decided not to go on after the first few chapters. It felt like it went from serious to comedic by the second and third book and it became sort of a joke to the bored author.
Finally, finished the "Maleficent Seven" and "The Traitor God" and "The God of Broken Things" duology by Cameron Johnston. The Maleficent Seven was a really fun read from the point of view of some monsters out to save their world from religious fanatics. The duology gave me a Harry Dresden in medieval times kinda vibe. Really liked all 3.

 

[Toby Frost]

I read "Pillars of the Earth" a couple of years ago: it was one of the things that helped keep me sane during the pandemic heatwave. It does contain a fair bit of cathedral-making detail, which I found really interesting. The plot can be a bit melodramatic, but it has a real sense of the weirdness of Medieval people, a mixture of superstitious fear and intelligence. Definitely worth a look.

 

[The Judge]

Then went on to the "Left Hand of God", "The Last Four Things", and "The Beating of His Wings". DNF the last book in the trilogy. Thought the first book was promising, but it went downhill after that. Was thinking of stopping after book 1, but then decided to continue on to book 2. Then thought really hard about going on to book 3, and decided to give it a go, but decided not to go on after the first few chapters. It felt like it went from serious to comedic by the second and third book and it became sort of a joke to the bored author.

That's the Paul Hoffman series? I read TLHoG a few years ago and really didn't get on with it, and had actually come close to dumping it, but when I skim-read the very end, with the obvious-what's-going-to-happen-battle (Hoffman seemed incapable of invention, I decided, since even dialogue was just ripped from other works) I was intrigued by the final relevance of the title and why the main character was of interest to the zealots. I'd actually bought TLFT some years beforehand, and it's still on my TBR pile on the strength of that reveal. But if, as you say, it's actually worse than the first book, I think I'll just chuck it out now.

 

[Vertigo]

I've had the book since October 2021. I decided I was going to start the year with it, but I've been faffing with Shakespeare plays and short stories instead. It starts off with a hanging and a curse. Writing so far is decent (so far). Found it in a used book store. Someone recommended it so I picked it up. I'm not really a historical fiction fan, but I like architectural/engineering stuff, so I hope there is a decent amount of detail about church construction. I was also pleasantly surprised at the bigger than microscopic text size of the paperback, so the novel isn't quite as long as it appears to be.

I just checked and I picked up an ebook copy on a cheap £0.99 deal but that was back in 2018

 

[Vertigo]

I had similar thoughts reading this book - I got maybe a quarter through it but DNF - total tripe....it was basically a poor rip-off of The Man in the High Castle

Well that sort of clinches it for me with Tidhar! I believe he's supposed to be a bit of a literary author which I usually enjoy but I didn't get any sense of that when I was reading it!

 

[dask]

mistake

 

[dask]

I had similar thoughts reading this book - I got maybe a quarter through it but DNF - total tripe....it was basically a poor rip-off of The Man in the High Castle

Well that sort of clinches it for me with Tidhar! I believe he's supposed to be a bit of a literary author which I usually enjoy but I didn't get any sense of that when I was reading it!

Sounds like it’s time to put The Man In The High Castle a little higher on my TBR pile.

 

[Foxbat]

I finished Tanith Lee’s Sabella. It is (I think) a well written book that does a very good job of camouflaging the fact that it is an enjoyable but fairly standard vampire/love/destiny type of story.

Now re-reading White Eagle Red Star: The Polish Soviet War 1919-1920