Didn’t get time to read at all this week, so still at the same place as last week.
- Reading Three Days to Never by Tim Powers. A standalone sci-fi book.
Some of you may remember the post about Bingo card a little while back? Well, @JaymesRS@literature.cafe and @misericordiae@literature.cafe are cooking something up, which we will unveil in upcoming weeks.
Stay tuned!
Without further ado, what have you been reading or listening lately?
I discovered Tim Powers way too late and his stories are super great.
I’m chugging along with Murderbot, I finished up through Network Effect and am on to Fugitive Telemetry and then System Collapse. I realized I had those two swapped in order in my Kobo halfway through reading them. 🤦🏻♂️
Edit: maybe not swapped? Every Goodreads and Fantastic Fiction both show Network Effect before. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Edit 2: written after but per https://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm set before.
I’m not sure where I’ll go next yet, maybe further into Theodora Gross’s Athena Club books. I stared that for a past bingo and ended up enjoying the 1st book. I’m super excited for our bingo to start, but I could be biased.
How are you liking Murderbot?
I am enjoying it. I understand I think why they were split, but the 1st 2 novellas really should be read as 2 parts of the same book, imho. You need to see what Murderbot does with their new independence.
Oh interesting, good to know. I’ll plan to read them back to back when I get to them then!
I read the first book in the series and found it… nice, but certainly not up to all the hype. Is it because it is just setting things up? Does it get better, more compelling, in subsequent books?
When Tor gave them away a few years ago, it gave away the first 4 novellas. And I think that was smart. The first one is fun, but like leaving the restaurant after just appetizers. I’d say give the 1st 2 (or even 3) a go to get a solid feel for them. If you are still not into it, it’s ok to drop it. But it really pays off to see what Murderbot does with itself and its new freedom.
In Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen. It’s about the fist 2 hours of a nuclear war. Probably the scariest book I’ve ever read.
Just looked it up, it’s non-fiction, for some reason that makes it scarier.
Adding it to my list.
- Just finished The Silmarillion, by Tolkien. Difficult to read but this is really a must read for better understanding of Tolkien universe. I, of course, read several times LOTR and the hobbit but first time for this one.
- Started The Gathering, by C.J. Tudor which was just published a few days ago.
I get lost in all the similar sounding names, and forget who is who. Thinking about keeping notes / make genealogy graph next time I start it.
Yes this is what is difficult, so many characters (and sometimes named differently based on the language). I had to use websites to help me keeping track.
I finished A Crown of Swords (wheel of time book 7) and loved it but now I’m taking a short break from the series.
Currently reading Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. Thrillers are not generally my cup of tea, but it’s nice to read a fast paced book to break up the super long epic series.
Once that’s done, I’m going to reread To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Haven’t touched that book since middle school so I think it’s time for a revisit.
No Dig by Charles Dowding
A vegetable gardening book emphasizing the merits of no dig growing.
Is this for general public, or only for those interesting in doing the gardening?
I would say it’s primarily for people who are interested in growing vegetables.
Ahan, cool. Thanks for the info!
I started Southern Gods by John Horner Jacobs. Not really far enough to get a good feel for it yet, but I couldn’t pass up a Lovecraftian-Southern-gothic-noir-horror kind of thing.
Just started Dirge of Empire as a precursor to reading Disquiet Gods.
I’ve absolutely loved the Suneater books - I’ve still some of the short story collections to read as well
Just started Admiral Hornblower In The West Indies yesterday. Finished off the Foundation series and am about to finish Hornblower, which is sad, but i am excited to get started on my next set of books for the year!
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead.