I'm reading The Thames Path Killer by Biba Pearce. Really enjoying it. Tense, but it was recommended by @fleurb75.bsky.social who I think likes a good pile of corpses in a book.
Good morning Womble! I’m currently reading Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Not my usual fare and I’m not sure I like it but it’s nice to experiment sometimes.
Hiya Womble, I'm reading Talonsister by Jen Williams. Had it on my TBR shelf for a while now, but since we just saw it win an award figured I should actually read it (not that that is how I usually decide what to read next).
The second book in Anna Smith Spark's Empires of Dust trilogy, The Tower of Living and Dying! It is mind-meltingly, dream-state-inducingly good and the complete opposite of second book syndrome. 👍
Morning Womble! My current read is Heretics of Dune. I'm about two thirds of the way through. It's very enjoyable but like all the Dune books, it's taking me a while to get through 😄
Good morning... my fiction is Gorse a perfectly autumnal magical tale and also been poring through my herbals one of the upsides of rain in that it makes it easier to sit and read rather than do 😀
I'm reading an ARC by a well-known horror writer that I can't really talk about, but it's great so far. And 'Mood Swings' by David Jeffrey when I get the chance.
I'm actually reading Authority by Jeff VanderMeer! I loved the first book in the southern reach Trilogy but this one has been a bit harder for me to get through, I'm about halfway through though and hope to finish it later today!
I'm finishing up Sinophagia at the moment, from your recommendation! Finding it an excellent collection; I've just read the novella from Zhou Haohui, which was particularly powerful.
Also got Matheson's Hell House on the go on audio!
I’m spoilt for choice this week as all my library reservations have come in - I have Palin’s There And Back, Fry’s Odyssey on the go for non fiction and an advance copy of the second Dallergut Dream Department Store for a fiction read.
A longish wet walk before lunch means reading all afternoon!
Morning. I’ll be listening to Critical Role: Bells Hells - What Doesn’t Break written by Cassandra Khaw and read by Robbie Daymond, Marisha Ray, Grey DeLisle & Laura Bailey.
Good morning Womble. I'm reading "100 Poems That Make Grown Men Cry", edited by Anthony and Ben Holden. So far, none of the poems has made me cry, but everyone knows I'm an insensitive git anyway.
Afternoon Womble! I am currently finishing some library books, The Magpie Coffin is a splatter western from Dead Sky Press, and also reading Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Whilst on audio I am listening to Fever House by Keith Rosson.
I'm about to start Bloodmarked, by Tracy Deonn. It's the second in the series, after Legendborn. I enjoyed the first book, so I got the second. The third one comes out in March. It's a modern retelling of the King Arthur legend, set in the South with a black female protagonist.
I’m determined to finish this today, then maybe draw the next book from my mile long TBR out of a hat? Currently in a state of existential dread over all the books I’ve yet to read
I've been trying to get back into reading longer stories, as I got quite into flash fiction for a while
Slow going, but I am 90% finished on "This Is How You Lose the Time War", it's really good, but the time travel does mean you kinda have to keep a lot of information in your head 😂
I've been reading Osman's Thursday Murder Club books, which the patrons at OFJ are keen on. Enjoyable entertainments, though insubstantial. They remind me of Bond's Monsieur Pamplemousse. In Pamplemousse, the food is real and has weight; in Thursday Murders, it seems to be the thoughts on dementia.
I don't mean insubstantial in a bad way! One of those desserts made with lemon and eggwhite and gelatine, "fresh lemon snow" or a bavarian or the like, that you have after Christmas dinner.
Reading Your Blood and Bones by J. Patricia Anderson and The Binding by Bridget Collins (just started both)
Ah, I read the first two of the Southern Reach books a long time ago, now that the fourth is coming I'm gifting them to myself with their shiny new cover editions and will re-read soon!
I'm exactly where I was last week, but closing in on the finish of the Bujold. (Sadly the blurb on one of the other books I bought at the same rather gave the ending away. Although it did make reading Miles and Ekaterin at odds less stressful.) In my defence, Voyage and Invincible are v big books!
Today I'm reading Old Moon Quarterly 7. So far have most enjoyed James Enge with a further-out-than-usual Morlock story, and E. Catherine Tobler with a sword's love for its mistress, sword's point of view.
I've just finished reading Hummingbird Salamander, also by Jeff VanderMeer! Currently reading The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty.
Good morning Womble. I’m making fairly slow progress through The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Atomic Radiation by Margot Bennett (1964), a concise, slim Penguin Special which is dense with technical physics and biology.
Good morning Womble! Home for a day between flights, my face is a bit sore from masking.
Still reading Slow River by Nicola Griffith and I still love it intensely. she covers difficult and even arcane topics with gorgeous language and a breathtaking eye for detail.
Pynchon's 'The Crying of Lot 49'. Just for fun. I'm looking out of the window and definitely not seeing California. Will attempt to spend the rest of the day inside.
I'm currently reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Not that far in yet but the prose is good and she is genuinely funny which is a great place to start with a book.
Just finished Piranesi and started Hilary Mantel's Bringing up the Bodies this morning. Read it before but want to reread it because I reread Wolf Hall recently and have the Mirror and the Light waiting on my shelf.
I’m rereading Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy (1976). Themes of reproductive rights, gender roles, racism, and abuses in mental health treatment are still relevant today. Although her vision of a post-racial society didn’t age well. Audiobook is included in Audible Plus until October 30.
Not got much reading done this week as I’m recovering from an op so still reading American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Morning Womble - Still reading Promise of Blood, but thoroughly enjoying it. Should have it finished in a day or two, after which ... I'm not sure. We'll see.
I've recently started The Fortunes of War, the sixth book of my re-read of Patrick O'Brian's addictive twenty book series of Aubrey and Maturin novels.
Blimey - a re-read! And you a self-confessed slow reader, as I recall. You must really love 'em. You read all twenty before, and you're doing the same again?
Morning! Can't sleep this AM, but got bit of a mystery from a book summary, from the other series listed (Harry Dresden, Iron Druid, So You Want To Be A Wizard), it's modern day urban fantasy/suburban magic: "a hot-tempered maker who hates Girl Scouts". Guesses appreciated! https://bsky.app/profile/serenajenk.bsky.social/post/3l6wlowor342a
Hey Womble! It's been a while, hope you're well. I'm reading Hell House by Richard Matheson. It's good so far but I can see that things are about to take a turn for the very weird (in a good way hopefully)
currently reading the losg world by michael crichton!! finished jurassic park last month and thoroughly enjoyed it. imagine writing dino books so good you get a dinosaur named after you
Good afternoon Womble, I'm reading Andy Weir's Artemis. Just started reading it, and the early vibe is reminiscent of Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress so far.
Good afternoon (eep!) Womble - I'm enjoying Last Winter Sun by the always-enjoyable G R Matthews. Sorta like a fantasy A-team set in a post-apocalyptic South West (England).
Good afternoon Skylarks.
Concentration is still erratic, so I am reading "The Forest of lost Souls" by Koontz. I know he is wildly popular and I do enjoy his books, but he is light read. Okay, serves a purpose but never really satisfying. Like a cheap burger for lunch 😉
Morning. I was reading The Last Good Man by @lindanagata.bsky.social , but kobo app got an update & broke page scrolling for me. So i have now started The Hunters by @davewragg.com on a different app. This year has been hard for reading lost one device, now apps breaking, + always slow reading.🤦♂️
Morning Womble!
I'm re-reading Harrow the Ninth. It's much more enjoyable second time round as I'm just reading it, rather than reading while also wondering what on earth is going on.
Just started Postwar by Tony Judt. I've been randomly picking books off the NYT 100 best books of the 21st century list. Working out pretty well so far, but i couldn't get into A Brief History of Seven Killings
We solve murders by Richard Osman. Really enjoying it. Hoping all the sci-fi & fantasy books I’ve pre-ordered will be in my kindle library by the time I finish it!
The Allelluia Files by Sharon Shinn, finishing off, and then starting The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon to get caught up before the release of book 5 in January!
In print I’m making my way through The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln for #readsofawe, my book in translation. It’s been sitting on my shelves since college and I’m glad I hung onto it; I’m learning some really interesting things about Jewish life in the early 18th century!
Currently reading The Very Short History of the Israel - Palestine Conflictby Ilan Pappé, narrated by Jonathan Todd Ross for #readsofawe, a book outside my comfort zone. I can’t put a word to the emotions it’s bringing up beside “betrayed.” (By Israeli leadership, not the author.)
Continuing my all-horror october with Sinophagia, edited by Xueting C Ni. The range! Everything from quiet, psychological weirdness where the villain just turns out to be greedy to big ghastly monster action to headline-anticipating scifi dystopia (haunted variety)
Good morning! Was just reading VanderMeer’s Borne last week, having never actually read any of his.
Currently on to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. Not far in, but very promising!
I've been voyaging through the lives changed by the growing peripheral myths of St Cuthbert.
It's no wonder this book received so much praise. It's a jigsaw of prose styles, densely researched histories & compelling lives. But it also keeps you reading, hooking you deeper into Cuddy's strangeness.
I loved Gallows Pole & The Perfect Golden Circle. The only Benjamin Myers book I've struggled with is Pig Iron, but I think I was in the wrong frame of mind when I read it. I'll be going back for another go.
I've heard Turning Blue is worth a go if you're the mood for something bleak & unflinching
Will check those out, other than Cuddy and The Gallows Pole I've only read Rare Singles which was still good but perhaps faltered on me not being a particularly big music person.
I'm reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, a book on the ebola virus outbreak of 1989. It's all nonfiction, but it's written in the style of a thriller!
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio in paperback and The Way of Kings by Brandysandy in audiobook. I'm desperate to finish my two in-progress books so I can finally start on my Fantasycon hauls 😁
Hi Womble, happy Sunday! After having an awful lot of fun with Sebastian de Castell's Traitor's Blade, I bounced off Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees, though I'd wanted to love it. Currently enjoying the heck out of Network Effect by Martha Wells.
Good morning Womble! I have started reading the second George Smiley book, A Murder of Quality. As the title suggests, it’s more of a murder mystery than a spy thriller. It’s set at an exclusive public school. Enjoying it so far.
I read Tinker Tailor many years ago, and I’ve seen the movie, but I haven’t read the sequels. I’m slowly working my way through the Smiley books. I also have the audiobook of A Perfect Spy in my Audible library awaiting my listening pleasure
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, queer romance set among trading clans in a secondary world.
The main character has employed the love interest to act as best man at his wedding to someone else and defend him in any duel challenges, so I'm sure that's going to go well
Comments
Only a couple of chapters in but mildly positive reading noises so far
Sacred and Terrible Air by Robert Kurvitz.
💙📚 #BookSky #AmReading #Romantasy
I think next I’ll start Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218679754-sleeping-worlds-have-no-memory
Also got Matheson's Hell House on the go on audio!
A longish wet walk before lunch means reading all afternoon!
https://bsky.app/profile/edoffannyside.bsky.social/post/3l6f5pd6flv24
Slow going, but I am 90% finished on "This Is How You Lose the Time War", it's really good, but the time travel does mean you kinda have to keep a lot of information in your head 😂
Ah, I read the first two of the Southern Reach books a long time ago, now that the fourth is coming I'm gifting them to myself with their shiny new cover editions and will re-read soon!
Such a powerful story, masterfully written. But unrelentingly dark, not a glimmer of hope, and tbh I’m dreading the ending.
(Usually I stay away from grimdark but couldn’t resist.)
What is about the book you mentioned?
In the eyes: River East River West by Aube Rey Lescure
In the ears: The List of Suspicious Things by Jenni Godfrey
OR
.....
Still reading Slow River by Nicola Griffith and I still love it intensely. she covers difficult and even arcane topics with gorgeous language and a breathtaking eye for detail.
I'm currently reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Not that far in yet but the prose is good and she is genuinely funny which is a great place to start with a book.
Still trying to recover from the last chapter 🐦⬛
For my sins.
my dad told me the book is better than the movie that we watched like when it was out
Concentration is still erratic, so I am reading "The Forest of lost Souls" by Koontz. I know he is wildly popular and I do enjoy his books, but he is light read. Okay, serves a purpose but never really satisfying. Like a cheap burger for lunch 😉
Acceptance is an *excellent* book.
https://bsky.app/profile/adrijjy.bsky.social/post/3l6vaveo5nw2f
I'm re-reading Harrow the Ninth. It's much more enjoyable second time round as I'm just reading it, rather than reading while also wondering what on earth is going on.
So far, so excellent.
Currently on to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. Not far in, but very promising!
It's no wonder this book received so much praise. It's a jigsaw of prose styles, densely researched histories & compelling lives. But it also keeps you reading, hooking you deeper into Cuddy's strangeness.
If you've not read The Gallows Pole I'd definitely recommend it as another of his to check out.
I've heard Turning Blue is worth a go if you're the mood for something bleak & unflinching
The Surgeon’s Mate by Patrick O’Brian (audio)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (kindle)
The Story of China by Michael Wood (kindle)
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske, queer romance set among trading clans in a secondary world.
The main character has employed the love interest to act as best man at his wedding to someone else and defend him in any duel challenges, so I'm sure that's going to go well
In terms of books I'm reading, James Corey's Bablyon's Ashes isn't quite doing it for me. I'll keep going - Nemesis Games was sooooo good.
💙📚
I'm reading The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia, which is very good but stressing me out due to very specific triggers.
The worldbuilding gives that "wait, is this magic actually ancient tech?" feeling, which I love, and the characters are compelling.