I thought I'd read pretty much all of hers, but that one I haven't. Her settings generally are brilliant.
I love that scene where Eowyn and Merry slay the Lord of the Nazgul in all his pride. Neither of them are "men"--- sorry about that, turkey!
I got partway through one of the last Tommy and Tuppence books and couldn't go on, it scared me so much. Not because of the plot, but because it was so clear that Miss Christie in her old age was losing it. The story was all over the place, all irrelevant blind alleys and loose ends. As someone who ain't that young herself anymore, that worries me. I've got at least four more books I want to write before I shuffle off this mortal coil, but how much longer do I have before my work goes off the rails like that T & T story?
I agree. I wrote 8 books on the trot (including critiquing and editing) in about 3-4 years, before running into a blank wall. =( Made a few false starts, gave up, tried again, gave up. I only got started on my current WIP last May, and finding it slow going. (The knock on the head I got in October, with accompanying whiplash injuries, probably didn't help much). I'm persevering. The outline and beat sheet took it out of me, and my last two chapters went through 4-5 drafts. The current one? Only 3. Yay, progress?
I’m a few chapters into Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan, and as a result I’ve learned where a certain — though I surmise no longer active — forum member got their username. So far it’s been an engrossing and especially atmospheric read. Very gothic. Very unique. It’s early, but I’m impressed.
I loved this, and Gormenghast, and I've got Titus Alone waiting on my shelf to read eventually. Such an odd, beautiful bit of story. Currently reading: The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan. I'm determined to finish it before the end of the year. I also recently read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Heartbreaking, but well told
Every once in a while, I defy my better judgement and queue up a short story collection, forgetting, or at least ignoring, the fact that I don't enjoy most of them. Still, sometimes it pays off, and Peter Clines's Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories (2017) was a rare treat. Most of the stories weren't quite as captivating as his better novels, but the majority featured everything I love about good shorts: unique and clever premises, quick pacing and satisfying payoffs. I only wish there had been more. 4 stars. I decided to let my luck ride and jumped into another collection, The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson (1949.) I read "The Lottery" in an English class somewhere around the sixth grade and it really stuck with me. I'd read "The Tell-tale Heart" and "The Monkey's Paw" and other scary stuff as a kid, but this was dark in an entirely different way. It was less fantastical and yet somehow more demented. I loved it. A few years ago, I read two Shirley Jackson novels: The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Both were brilliant, and between those and "The Lottery," I was sure I'd fancy this collection. I did not. It seemed like every story was more boring and pointless than the last. The prose was top notch and all that, but the stories weren't terribly interesting, and most just ended without a resolution. I was so bored. I heard 25 shorts, and I honestly thought the titular story was the only one worth the time I invested (about 8 hours.) 2 Stars.
I am Rebel by Ross Montgomery - Paperback I am sucker for a good book cover. This book is critically well received and apparently successful (aren't they all). I chose this book as my WIP is about a dog too. So it is about a dog named Rebel and its strong bond with its young owner Tom. There is a war and Rebel defines himself by the end of the book. I am a quarter way through and I can't complain. It is well written from the point of view of Rebel and as you may expect the dog sees things in a simplistic way which allows even complex scenarios to be explained simply. As any dog owner understands, dogs switch between positive, stressed, and usually energetic and docile states; Rebel fits the bill and is consistent with the average dog imo. However, I think the writer has possibly missed a trick here by not choosing a charismatic breed? I will be able to judge better by the end of the book... The story itself is told in a traditional way and is a little dull. Well it is a children's book so maybe that is why? Sometimes these plain books can be adapted into films. It wouldn't surprise me if it is as there is certainly room for another creative to adapt and embellish this story. Conclusion: Just a nice story about a dog and its owner. I don't regret buying it but not thrilled but I do keep turning pages. Maybe its a bit like Cold Play, dull as dishwater the first time you listen but in the end you get hooked, even if your a little resentful. Not a classic but a well written book so far that I will be sure to finish.
decided to put in my 2024 reading recap and 2025 TBR list! Currently Reading: Life on Delay by John Hendrickson Wild Seed- Octavia Butler TBR (my Christmas presents!): Tomie- Junji Ito Manboy- Vince Vawter Plus TBR books left over from 2024: Earthlings- Sayaka Murata Blessings- Chukwuebuka Ibeh The Book of Eve- Carmen Boullosa ALSO.... I'm a co-leader for a bookclub at work this year, and the reading list has already been sent out. So I have 6 more books on my 2025 To Be Read list. AND I'm entertaining the idea of starting another themed book club at my library (I already got the go-ahead from the boss, but I'm still on the fence).
I've been seeing book cover graphics like this on Facebook. Do you compile them from your Goodreads record or someplace like that, or do you have to pull them together for the purpose? If the latter, I'm impressed with your dedication. That takes time.
I've seen them too. Goodreads has one and all the other book sites have them. Im bad at updating my Goodreads. I have a reading journal/scrap book that i add to, so i grabbed my journal and made this from that on Canva. Copied and pasted the covers and areaged them on the page. Decided on a background and wanted to get fancy, so i added shadows Didnt take long to make
I finished reading "The Greatest Nobodies in History" by Adrian Bliss. A bit underwhelming, I thought. It was fun at the start but tapered off towards the end. Give it a try if/when it appears in libraries, you might like it. I also finished reading "The History of England in Ten Enemies" by Terry Deary (yes, yes, the Horrible Histories bloke). It's fun if you, like me, enjoy learning new things and unexpected puns. I knew most of this stuff already, but the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Anglo-Russian Wars were new to me. Recommended for kids, or people new to English history. Currently I'm reading "The Rest is History Returns" by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook (a sequel to "The Rest is History", their podcast). The original was lots of fun, and this sequel is also very fun. Highly recommended.
The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart not only has a great name, but also has a pretty good (aside from being perhaps too long) blurb: Time travel murder mystery? In a hotel where patrons visit all sorts of historical or perhaps even prehistorical moments? How the hell could anyone not want to read this? Unfortunately, it's the first book I've walked out on in a long time. Twenty pages in, the characters are unlikeable, the focus swings on to the mundanity of customer service, and the particular part I stopped at was when the main character and a side are gritting their teeth about an old white guy wearing bronzer for his time trip to Ancient Egypt because it's offensive in "the-year-goddamn-twenty-seventy-two." There was also confusing use of 'them,' but I won't get into it. I just don't care. I was promised time crimes, Ethan Hawke, dinosaurs holding magnifying glasses and wearing tweed hats, Cleopatra, ghosts, Cleopatra's ghost—anything interesting. I'm exaggerating, of course, but how does one manage to spend twenty pages not utilizing the compelling part of his setting? It could even just be a few short passages about the logistics of people vacationing to other periods. What are they allowed to bring? What happens if the leave something behind, or even die in the past? Do their actions affect the present? Now, I did of course suspect I was having a knee-jerk reaction, that my literary judgement was tainted by some innate 'antiwoke' sentiment. So I gave it some time. And while I did, I stumbled across... The Helm of Midnight by Marina Lostetter. Here's the whole blurb: I shy away from series, but the cover and the first few pages were good, so I bought it. And this thing delivers more than I could have expected. There's mystery, conspiracy, a complex relationship between two sisters, and time is literally money that's harvested from young people. I care about all of the characters. They have moments where they're strong, where they're vulnerable, where they're shy, where they're brave, and they're all in desperate spots in one way or another. The stakes are concrete, looming. There is a similarity to The Paradox Hotel, however: this author is also overtly progressive. There are pronouns for no gender and two genders, same-sex couplings are not taboo in spite of the setting's historical gilding, and so on. The only difference is that one is interesting and the other isn't, which is why I'm reading one and not the other. Here's a lighter excerpt from The Helm of Midnight which I think illustrates both Lostetter's progressiveness and skill. Her prose is rough at parts, but she knows how to tell a story. [Krona sees watchmen beating up her informant, Thibaut. They do not know she's there. Ellipsis are mine, for brevity] Bottom line? I just want to read a good story.
Been working on reading Robert Jordan's The Shadow Rising, the fourth entry in the Wheel of Time series. I have to say, being halfway through, I think Jordan really catches his stride in this one. It's exciting, wildly interesting, and finally consequential. Takes high fantasy and completely turns it on its head. Best in the series that I've gotten to, and also huge. The first book in the series was a solid introduction, but it felt so compressed at the conclusion, which didn't really conclude anything. The second novel was way better and more evenly paced. The third, however, was quite bad. Clearly just a novel putting people into places, and the inevitable whine fest of characters not understanding or wanting to handle themselves. But this novel everyone comes into their own. It's astounding. Don't get me wrong though, this whole series is unbelievable. The world creation is just so much beyond other fantasy writers that I'm gonna have to put it in an outlier box as to not compare other series to it. Best series I've read. And I think it's wild how many more books I have to go. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store. I know it's good.
I'm currently in the last third of the fifth book and it's taken me a year to get there. It's the biggest slog for me, and I don't know why that is. You mentioned a whine fest, and boy buddy do I want to punch Rand right in the nostril. I did like the fourth one better. Team Perrin forever, although Mat is a very close second.
Rand is an asshat every waking moment of his life. It's helped that I have them all on audiobook, so the books help me get through work. But who I really hate with a burning passion is Nynaeve. There isn't a single character more unrealistically annoying that I hope falls in a pit and never returns. Thom Merrillin though, he's a god. I love every single scene he's in. Mat I sort of hated for a couple books, but man he sure made a comeback. I find Perrin at the moment though to be an increasingly mopey ox that takes ten years to get on his feet and do anything.
I wish I could say Nynaeve gets more bearable, but I don't want to disappoint you. I think Thom and Loial are my favorite characters overall. My brother loves the series and I see why in a lot of the things that happen, so I'm hopeful the next books aren't as dragging as this one has been.
Reading a few things at the moment. First out is The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey, of Expanse fame. I never read the Expanse books but I have seen a good chunk of the TV show, so I kinda knew to expect a certain quality. And yeah, The Mercy of Gods does deliver. It's the most interesting Sci-Fi novel I've read in quite some time. I'm like three fifths through it, and I can just casually recommend it to anyone. It's a good book, not much to say beyond that. A bit too sciency for my tastes, which is something I should expect going into the genre. Anyone with real scientific knowledge and curiosity ought to love this. Secondly we have The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson. My first reaction is holy shyt. IT IS SO GOOD! How have I not been all over this writer already? Yeah, this is my introduction, and let's just generously say I'm impressed. I already own some other works by this author and you can be damned sure that from now on I'll pay close attention when he speaks. Traveling further back in time, I'm reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Someone recommended this book to me. You know that thing where someone you have the hots for recommends you a book, and you read it to impress them, and you end up falling in love with the book and not caring very much about the hottie? Yeah, it's one of those. This is fucking scrumptious. I hope to be able to one day sit down with the hottie to discuss this unit of literature, but that's so fucking secondary right now. It's good shit, is what I'm saying. Very tasty indeed.
I just finished The Hate U Give last night. It was intense. I've had run-ins with unconscionable bully cops myself, but I didn't feel like I was in much danger of being shot to death for no reason. This was a fictional account of something very real that happens in our country. I was well aware of the problem going into the book, but the telling of the story made it so much more real. The account from the perspective of a teen who experiences systemic racism and personal loss made the outrage I've felt in the past seem almost academic. I wouldn't say I learned much from this book that I didn't already know, but I certainly felt it all more clearly. Highly recommended read.
Finished "A History of the Late Roman Empire" by Stephen Mitchell this morning Next up is for me to finish "The Bull from the Sea" by Mary Renault. I have less than 100 pages left so I hope to fix this over the week.
"The Bull from the Sea" is done and I'm moving on to a book about railroads in 19th century Sweden I borrowed it some time ago but haven't got around to read the last half yet. This is something which I intend to fix now.
I finally finished Robert Jordan's The Shadow Rising and I honestly believe it to be one of the best high fantasy books I've ever read. It's an absolute titan though of a read. But the pacing is impeccable. With the other three novels I ran into very long periods of dullness, but this one managed to keep itself in line the whole ride. Most of the characters developed greatly. Even Rand was tolerable for most of the time. The only exception was Nynaeve. I truly hate that woman and how she is written. The only flub in the novel, I think, is the romance. Someone clearly told Jordan that he needs to make romances much more prevalent and he made an honest effort. Sometimes, it works. Especially when he makes more of it behind the scenes or in passing. Like Gaul and Chiad. Perrin's one was okay ish. But was a bit forced feeling. That was hinted at actually being a plot point so I'll let that pass. The Rand romance pyramid though is horrendous. Especially the Elaine bits. Avienda's part is a bit obnoxious, but Elaine's is just the worst. But overall, this was a phenomenal novel that just kept coming. I couldn't put it down most of the time when I picked it up, going for 4 to 8 hour stretches at a time. I really look forward to next. Which is exactly what I'm reading now. About a tenth of the way in. Robert Jordan's The Fires of Heaven. I've heard good things mostly, but it has the feeling of a very transitional novel setting up for something great in the next book. Excitement of other series readers over the book after seem to confirm this.
Finished Fires of Heaven yesterday. I ended up going to the audiobook version because I just could not get past some bits of it, and the audiobook was so much easier to digest. There's also a moment that had me absolutely ugly crying while trying to work. Good thing it was a work from home day yesterday, hah. Now I'm reading Approaching Shatter, the first book of the Echo series by Kent Wayne, and Atonement by Ian McEwan (still. I'm also writing a lot, so I don't give myself time for reading like I should).
I stopped reading the Wheel of Time some years ago, but recently downloaded Fires of Heaven onto my Kindle. I'm having a year of loooooong books, so it felt like an appropriate read. Please tell me it moves on from certain characters having certain views about women/men (delete as appropriate), and all thinking that other characters are the fount of all wisdom. Currently on the go, The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. Not my first Arthurian dalliance, but my first for some time. Very much steeped in the history of the dark ages - the late fifth century, when an Athurian figure may just have existed (didn't, but that isn't the point). In many regards it's typical Cornwell. Men are warriors, women are raped (a lot - a trope I have to admit to loathing), the writing is crisp and sharp and readable, the history is generally accurate and where it is played with fast and loose there is a believability to it that means you can overlook the inaccuracies. It's more a fantasy than a work of historical fiction, but the mythical elements are very much rooted in what really went on - druids and Saxons and fragmented nations under high kings (for some reason, I'm getting the name... Penda, which is oddly close to a certain title from myth). Enjoyable enough, but I don't want it to linger with the darker aspects.
