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1lohengrin
2016's thread was kind of a disaster.
I still hope to at least talk about the books I read in the last quarter of 2016, but if so I'll do it here. I just don't want to touch the old thread anymore at this point.
In the mean time, fresh start! Here's to hoping for a better year, even if only a little.
I still hope to at least talk about the books I read in the last quarter of 2016, but if so I'll do it here. I just don't want to touch the old thread anymore at this point.
In the mean time, fresh start! Here's to hoping for a better year, even if only a little.
4majkia
My thead trailed off to nothing last year as well. Let's hope we both do better this year. Happy New Year!
6Marissa_Doyle
Following! Have a have new reading year!
7Sakerfalcon
Happy new year! I hope that even if you don't manage to keep up the thread you still read some great books! That is the most important thing.
8lohengrin
Thank you all for the well wishes!
So, the bigger problem (seven months worth of book and manga purchases to add to my library) I'm still not feeling up to tackling, but covering the books I read September-December last year I think I can handle. So here we go!
1. The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler was another enjoyable installment in the series. I liked a lot of what happened, and other things made me sad but made sense. The ending... the ending I don't know how I feel about. It will depend, I think, on how long it takes other characters to figure it out in the next book--if the deception drags on too long it will probably bother me. :/
2. Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire was the latest of the Toby Daye books. It's a longer-running series and I'm definitely still enjoying it. I had no quibbles with the quality, though I worry that McGuire has written herself into a bit of a corner with the "raising the stakes" issue--it seems like Toby needs to suffer more and more extreme injuries in each book in order to make it feel like she's really in danger.
3. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh was... okay. I knew it was going to be basically a steamy romance novel with fantasy/sf trappings, but the wordbuilding was enough to lure me in when it went on sale. And the wordbuilding was definitely really interesting! Not interesting enough to overcome my complete boredom with romance, though. I won't be continuing the series.
4. Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold was another fun novella in her Chalion/World of the Five Gods setting. I liked it better than the second Penric novella, though not as much as the first. I don't have a lot more to say about it? It was short, fun, and while I would personally love an actual new *novel* in the setting, I'm happy to be getting these novellas on a regular basis, too.
5. Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers was a book bullet from here in the GD, and well worth being hit! It wasn't deep but it was a lot of fun, and actually set off a period of reading almost nothing but sf for me (which is super weird, I'm usually much more into fantasy). I look forward to the sequel... coming down in price enough for me to get it.
6. Translucid by Zen DiPietro was another book bullet, and another enjoyable bit of not-very-scientific sf. The pacing was a little odd, and there wasn't really a climax, but I did still have fun with it, which was good enough for me at this point in an awful year.
7. The Martian by Andy Weir continued my sf binge, and I liked it just as much as the movie, if not more. It was a lot more focused on realistic science than the more space-opera-ish sf I read otherwise, but the POV character's voice was entertaining enough that I didn't zone out on the math bits.
8. Ghostworld by Simon R. Green, meanwhile, is at the exact opposite end of the sf spectrum--realism, what realism? And I eat it up with a spoon, okay? It was a dark little novella, don't get me wrong, but there was still just something so FUN about it that I zipped right through it in a few hours.
9. Fragments (touchstone not cooperating) by Zen DiPietro continued the story from Translucid, and was also enjoyable. A little more happened than in the first book, and the relationship between the team members was really great, so I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.
10. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman broke my sf streak, but was very much worth it. Really cute little novella (?) drawing on Norse mythology.
11. Fool's War by Sarah Zettel served as sort of the last gasp of my sf binge, but it was a good one. A bit more dense than a lot of what I've been reading lately, it was still very much enjoyable. The big twist was somewhat predictable, but I got the feeling that it was supposed to be, and I really liked the characters and the worldbuilding.
12. Seeking Sorrow by Zen DiPietro was... interesting. Not bad, but definitely a first book. I didn't connect to the characters nearly as well as in Translucid/Fragments, and there were things that were pretty over the top in a way I couldn't really take seriously. But there were definitely good elements, so I may or may not continue the series.
13. Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani was short but really interesting. I like settings that have vampires and werewolves but also creatures and powers I don't see in every other book. The main character was great, too, so my next book ended up being...
14. Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani, which was basically a full-length novel instead of the novella length of Sunbolt. I think I may have read it almost as quickly as I did Sunbolt, though... I liked seeing more of how magic works in this world, and some of the other creatures in it. Still liking the main character quite a bit, and with the greater length there were more supporting characters that I also quite liked. I'm really enjoying these books and will be keeping my eye out for more!
And that was it for 2016!
Whew. One bit of catching up done.
So, the bigger problem (seven months worth of book and manga purchases to add to my library) I'm still not feeling up to tackling, but covering the books I read September-December last year I think I can handle. So here we go!
1. The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler was another enjoyable installment in the series. I liked a lot of what happened, and other things made me sad but made sense. The ending... the ending I don't know how I feel about. It will depend, I think, on how long it takes other characters to figure it out in the next book--if the deception drags on too long it will probably bother me. :/
2. Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire was the latest of the Toby Daye books. It's a longer-running series and I'm definitely still enjoying it. I had no quibbles with the quality, though I worry that McGuire has written herself into a bit of a corner with the "raising the stakes" issue--it seems like Toby needs to suffer more and more extreme injuries in each book in order to make it feel like she's really in danger.
3. Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh was... okay. I knew it was going to be basically a steamy romance novel with fantasy/sf trappings, but the wordbuilding was enough to lure me in when it went on sale. And the wordbuilding was definitely really interesting! Not interesting enough to overcome my complete boredom with romance, though. I won't be continuing the series.
4. Penric's Mission by Lois McMaster Bujold was another fun novella in her Chalion/World of the Five Gods setting. I liked it better than the second Penric novella, though not as much as the first. I don't have a lot more to say about it? It was short, fun, and while I would personally love an actual new *novel* in the setting, I'm happy to be getting these novellas on a regular basis, too.
5. Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers was a book bullet from here in the GD, and well worth being hit! It wasn't deep but it was a lot of fun, and actually set off a period of reading almost nothing but sf for me (which is super weird, I'm usually much more into fantasy). I look forward to the sequel... coming down in price enough for me to get it.
6. Translucid by Zen DiPietro was another book bullet, and another enjoyable bit of not-very-scientific sf. The pacing was a little odd, and there wasn't really a climax, but I did still have fun with it, which was good enough for me at this point in an awful year.
7. The Martian by Andy Weir continued my sf binge, and I liked it just as much as the movie, if not more. It was a lot more focused on realistic science than the more space-opera-ish sf I read otherwise, but the POV character's voice was entertaining enough that I didn't zone out on the math bits.
8. Ghostworld by Simon R. Green, meanwhile, is at the exact opposite end of the sf spectrum--realism, what realism? And I eat it up with a spoon, okay? It was a dark little novella, don't get me wrong, but there was still just something so FUN about it that I zipped right through it in a few hours.
9. Fragments (touchstone not cooperating) by Zen DiPietro continued the story from Translucid, and was also enjoyable. A little more happened than in the first book, and the relationship between the team members was really great, so I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.
10. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman broke my sf streak, but was very much worth it. Really cute little novella (?) drawing on Norse mythology.
11. Fool's War by Sarah Zettel served as sort of the last gasp of my sf binge, but it was a good one. A bit more dense than a lot of what I've been reading lately, it was still very much enjoyable. The big twist was somewhat predictable, but I got the feeling that it was supposed to be, and I really liked the characters and the worldbuilding.
12. Seeking Sorrow by Zen DiPietro was... interesting. Not bad, but definitely a first book. I didn't connect to the characters nearly as well as in Translucid/Fragments, and there were things that were pretty over the top in a way I couldn't really take seriously. But there were definitely good elements, so I may or may not continue the series.
13. Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani was short but really interesting. I like settings that have vampires and werewolves but also creatures and powers I don't see in every other book. The main character was great, too, so my next book ended up being...
14. Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani, which was basically a full-length novel instead of the novella length of Sunbolt. I think I may have read it almost as quickly as I did Sunbolt, though... I liked seeing more of how magic works in this world, and some of the other creatures in it. Still liking the main character quite a bit, and with the greater length there were more supporting characters that I also quite liked. I'm really enjoying these books and will be keeping my eye out for more!
And that was it for 2016!
Whew. One bit of catching up done.
9Sakerfalcon
Some great books there! I'm glad you enjoyed Behind the throne as much as I did; the sequel is good too. And Translucid was a good read too.
