September Reading Thread

[Elentarri]

As a break from fiction I'm gonna read Trilobite by Richard Fortey

Not enough trilobite pictures!

 

[AE35Unit]

Not enough trilobite pictures!

Ha
The first chapter is a rambling diatribe about rocks, time and Thomas Hardy. He seems obsessed with the author, and not having read any Hardy I didn't get the references.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Short biography on David Hume.

 

[williamjm]

I am currently reading Ann Leckie's Translation State.

I recently finished Jade War, the second book in the Green Bone Saga trilogy. While I did like it, I did feel it was a little slow and only really picked up properly towards the end of the book. I'd say so far I give the series a 3/5.

Given the online press this book series seems to get on places like Reddit, personally I have found it pretty overrated. I'm going to read some other books before I give the third a read, but I am determined to finish the series in the future.

I read the first book a few months ago and feel much the same as you. It was fine, but I didn't think it was anything special and I'm not in a rush to read the rest of the trilogy.

 

[Berlyn]

I read the first book a few months ago and feel much the same as you. It was fine, but I didn't think it was anything special and I'm not in a rush to read the rest of the trilogy.

I definitely felt like the second book was better than the first in terms of character development and world building, but the series hasn't grabbed me like I expected to. I will give the series credit for it's unique setting, I haven't read an urban fantasy like it before.

 

[Yozh]

Finished The Onion Girl by Charles De Lint. I alternated between being captivated and frustrated. I loved the world of this book and the central plot and characters, and the writing is often just beautiful. It's a modern fantasy set in late 20th Century U.S. in a made-up midsized town where a group of mostly middle-aged misfit artistic types all have some connection to a dreamworld/faerie land inhabited by spirits, deities, and fairytale creatures. The "rules" of this other world and how to get there vary by person and circumstance, but with an internal logic.

This book was far from the first in a series set in the same world (though it was the only one at my neighborhood library branch). I would read more of this series if they turn up, but probably won't actively seek them out because I am lazy like that. However, I ran into a lot of the frustrations discussed in this thread: The problem of sequel-first readers .

Only maybe 2/3 of the book is the core story, and then the rest is paragraphs and pages of digressions about a huge cast of characters who do not have any real role in this story. I found myself skimming these parts. It got me thinking that maybe modern authors have been influenced by television series, where actors' contracts guarantee screen time so that the writers have to give all the core characters their own subplots. Authors, your literary creations cannot sue you for benching them!

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I am about to start Destiny's Road (1997) by Larry Niven. Like the Poul Anderson novel I just finished, it's got a long list of characters at the front and I believe it will have narrative sections many centuries apart, like Anderson's book.

 

[Elentarri]

Richard Fortey is an old professor. Of course he rambles a lot! He actually rambles less in the trilobite book than the other books. I also enjoyed Fortey's "Horseshoe Crabs & Velvet Worms"

 

[Elentarri]

Finished The Onion Girl by Charles De Lint. I alternated between being captivated and frustrated. I loved the world of this book and the central plot and characters, and the writing is often just beautiful. It's a modern fantasy set in late 20th Century U.S. in a made-up midsized town where a group of mostly middle-aged misfit artistic types all have some connection to a dreamworld/faerie land inhabited by spirits, deities, and fairytale creatures. The "rules" of this other world and how to get there vary by person and circumstance, but with an internal logic.

This book was far from the first in a series set in the same world (though it was the only one at my neighborhood library branch). I would read more of this series if they turn up, but probably won't actively seek them out because I am lazy like that. However, I ran into a lot of the frustrations discussed in this thread: The problem of sequel-first readers .

Only maybe 2/3 of the book is the core story, and then the rest is paragraphs and pages of digressions about a huge cast of characters who do not have any real role in this story. I found myself skimming these parts. It got me thinking that maybe modern authors have been influenced by television series, where actors' contracts guarantee screen time so that the writers have to give all the core characters their own subplots. Authors, your literary creations cannot sue you for benching them!

Charles de Lint's collection of short stories are better than his novels (IMO). On the other hand, I did really enjoy his novels Memory & Dream, and Yarrow when I was a teenager. I haven't re-read those in years. The other novels didn't hold up on adult re-reading, so I'm hesitant to ruin what I think were really good books by reading them again.

 

[Rodders]

Finished the audio book of Iain M. Banks's Excession.

Excellently read be Peter Kenny, who did a great job of keeping the voices very distinct. I'll take a break from my "re-read" of Banks's SF works and am now listening to a Blakes Seven audio Drama.

 

[Dave Vicks]

THE DIRECTORS:TAKE THREE, by Robert J.Emery.2003 Interview's;
Robert Altman
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Clint Eastwood
Wes Craven
Roger Corman
And others.

 

[Randy M.]

THE DIRECTORS:TAKE THREE, by Robert J.Emery.2003 Interview's;
Robert Altman
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Clint Eastwood
Wes Craven
Roger Corman
And others.

That sounds interesting. If you like it, you might want to track down Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors, based on interviews of famous directors by Peter Bogdanovich, including Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang, Joseph H. Lewis, Sidney Lumet, Leo McCartey (copied from Amazon, I think that should be McCarey), Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, Frank Tashlin, Edgar G. Ulmer, and Raoul Walsh.

Just finished Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I enjoyed both Certain Dark Things and Mexican Gothic, but I think this might be an even better sustained novel. She is certainly doing a good job of making Mexico City the center of her supernatural world.

 

[HareBrain]

To my other not-yet-finished reads, I've decided to add Sicily '43 by James Holland.

 

[Dave Vicks]

MIRACLES AND MAYHEM IN THE ER:
Brent Rock Russell, M.D. ,2016.

 

[Berlyn]

I just finished reading Esrahaddon by Michael J. Sullivan, the third and final book in The Rise and Fall series.

The man who became known as Esrahaddon is reported to have destroyed the world’s greatest empire—but there are those who believe he saved it. Few individuals are as divisive, but all agree on three facts: He was exiled to the wilderness, hunted by a goblin priestess, and sentenced to death by a god—all before the age of eight. How he managed to survive and why people continued to fear his name a thousand years later has always been a mystery...until now.

I backed this one on Kickstarter, so I've been excited to jump into it. I gave the book a 4/5. I really enjoyed it, although I think it could have easily been split across 2, maybe even 3 books. I'm surprised it ended on such a huge cliffhanger given it was supposed to wrap up the entire Riyria universe. I think it's likely we will see more books in the future.

 

[Dave Vicks]

On deck OUR FRIENDS FROM FROLIX 8,
By Philip K. Dick,1970.

 

[Danny McG]

The war against the Rull now, with my old fave "The Mote in God's Eye" to follow

 

[Ubergeek]

That sounds interesting. If you like it, you might want to track down Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors, based on interviews of famous directors by Peter Bogdanovich, including Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang, Joseph H. Lewis, Sidney Lumet, Leo McCartey (copied from Amazon, I think that should be McCarey), Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, Frank Tashlin, Edgar G. Ulmer, and Raoul Walsh.

Just finished Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I enjoyed both Certain Dark Things and Mexican Gothic, but I think this might be an even better sustained novel. She is certainly doing a good job of making Mexico City the center of her supernatural world.

Randy M , just bought Certain Dark Things on ebook and requested Silver Nitrate from local library !


Presently , about 30 pages into How to sell a haunted house ( Grady Hendrix ) and enjoying it so far.

 

[Dave Vicks]

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, Shirley Jackson.

 

[pogopossum]

Looking forward to two books on order.

The Scalzi is supposed to be out this week.
Quote from a library blurb.
"Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. "
Seems as if Scalzi is continuing to have fun - as he did with his Kaiju Preservation Society.
Supposed to be out later this month.
Also due in a month: