littlegeek's 2019 reads

Happy New Year! I'm hoping 2019 is better than last year. It was a rough one. But not for reading, that was great.

I'm still working my way through Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente. I'm enjoying it, but I do have to say that sometimes I'm finding it hard to visualize the characters. Some of the fantastical creatures are kind of vague in my mind, and then there's the whole "everyone has 8 names" thing that is so very Russian. I have to remind myself "the one whose name starts with N is the one that somehow is made of gun parts or something?"

Happy New Year! I wish you a great 2019 with plenty more great reading!

Happy New Year and happy new thread!

Happy new year and new reading!

Happy new year! I hope it is a great one, in books and in life.

happy new year with new books!

I wish you a fantastic 2019!

>1 littlegeek: Happy new year! I think I mentioned in your last thread that I have Deathless on my list. It has people/beings/characters made out of gun parts? That sounds… interesting? :)

>8 YouKneeK: It's trippy.

Happy New Year! Glad to be imbibing books with you in the pub again.

Thanks to all for the new year wishes!

Finished Deathless. It's a unique blend of fairy tale and 20th century Russian history. Poignant, terrifying, touching, bewildering. I think if I was more familiar with Russian fairy tales I would have been less confused. I really liked it, tho!

Then I read The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. Pretty basic mystery, quick read. Might be good for an airplane!

I had trouble sleeping last night so I'm already on my 3rd book of the year! Wanted something long and involving so I'm now reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

>12 littlegeek: Your comments on Deathless have made me all the more curious about it. :) Maybe I can fit it in sometime this year.

>12 littlegeek:, >13 YouKneeK: I thought Deathless was excellent when I read it a few years ago. Very dark, as you'd expect, but a really skilful blend of history and fantasy.

>12 littlegeek: I greatly enjoyed fairyland, so I'll have to try her other works.

>15 reading_fox: I have to read those fairyland books now.

>1 littlegeek: Happy New Year, my friend. I hope you get your wish and 2019 is a wonderful one for you.

>17 clamairy: thanks, clam!

Still working my way slowly through Pillars of the Earth. There's a major tennis tournament going and that cuts significantly into my reading time.

Anyhoo, it's keeping my attention but it's so average in every way. No attempt at interesting style, plot elements that are very obvious, characters pretty much central casting. I guess this is the kind of book that makes bestseller lists. The story is just engaging enough and it demands almost nothing from the reader.

One thing that is disturbing: violent rape scenes from the POV of the rapist.

The setting in the middle ages makes it feel like reading a high fantasy novel without any fantasy elements, which is kinda weird for me.

I'll probably finish it, but for me it's a 1000 page palate cleanser.

Now off to catch up on all your threads!

>19 littlegeek: I read Pillars of the Earth when I was a young teen. The sex parts I read when I was in a private place. They were quite an eye opener for me. Other than that, and the dirt, there isn't much I remember, except they were building a cathedral.

>19 littlegeek: & >20 MrsLee:

Pillars of the Earth was a DNF for me. I was going to give up after 22 pages but I felt guilty (Catholic upbringing) that I had not given it a good enough chance. I gave it to page 125 and then called it a day. I just checked my review and I obviously sanitised the review. A couple of extracts from my review are below. I think they demonstrate that the three of us were disappointed in this tedious book.

The characters were wooden, and endless detail was presented on the tools of a mason; the architectural details of a cathedral; the layout of an earl's castle; the social hierarchy; etc...

Unfortunately, I was looking to be entertained and the characters were not interesting enough to make me care; the story was drawn out and predictable; and the endless detail was tedious.


The final straw for me was when one character was trying to get into the cathedral at night. He tried every door and window. Unfortunately, Follett took the opportunity to describe in detail the architectural details of every door and window as his character visited them. It took six pages of excruciating detail for the character to get into the cathedral. He then when up to the rafters. On arrival there we got a lecture on how the beams were designed... That was when I had had enough. I decided life was too short waste time on the rest of this book.

>21 pgmcc: I don't mind the architectural detail, but the lack of compelling characters is the real issue for me. I've been watching a lot of tennis and not really reading much, once the tournament is over, I might bail.

Today I used "DNF" on another website and nobody seemed to know what it was! I thought it had more generalized use than just book websites.

So yeah, I bailed on Pillars of the Earth. Life is too short and there are too many books to read mediocre fiction.

Now reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Way more worth my while already!

I vividly remember being steered away from Pillars of the Earth by my favourite local independent bookshop owner. Having read A Place Called Freedom I havr a pretty good idea why, but all the hype around the Pillars of the Earth had led me to believe that it would be better.

>19 littlegeek:, >20 MrsLee:, >21 pgmcc: & >25 -pilgrim-: I enjoyed it! It was way over-the-top in a bunch of places, but it was still entertaining. I lugged around a hardcover from the library, too. Great upper body work-out.

>26 clamairy: Maybe I would enjoy an adaptation, but as a book it was meh for me. A lot of people like it tho!

>27 littlegeek: Looks like I read it for a book group, so I had added incentive.

>28 clamairy: Admit it, you were 14 and doing a school project on 11th century life in England. You had to read it for your project and it had all the details you needed.

>29 pgmcc: Sorry to disappoint you. I was 49, but it was for a group that was sort of a "Wine Club with Books."

>30 clamairy: Maybe the wine helped! :-)

Thank you for making sure I'll never trick myself into reading Pillars of Earth ;-)

Finished The Miniaturist and quite enjoyed it. The setting of 17th century Amsterdam and the whole East India Company stuff was interesting. Some of the character's attitudes were a little "modern" for the time frame, but I was willing to overlook that.

Now I'm reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. I really enjoy Nigerian scifi/fantasy and this one seems good so far.

>33 littlegeek: I just finished Rosewater which is SF by a British-Nigerian author, set in Nigeria, and it was excellent. I've seen lots of recommendations for Children of blood and bone so will have to seek it out.

>33 littlegeek: I did a book group discussion on the Miniaturist and I personally felt it was the setting that was the most compelling element of the novel.

>35 jillmwo: Agreed. I saw all the plot elements coming from a mile off. I have read so many novels that I usually don't dock a book too much for that, tho.

In addition to my Kindle book, I am now listening to The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. It's on the short list for the Tournament of Books. https://themorningnews.org/article/the-2019-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and-ju...

I love the Tournament, I follow it every year. I usually only manage to read a few of the books before the tourney begins, but it gives me good ideas. I was surprised what made the short list this year, given what was on the long list. They seem to be going for the most obscure.

I've added Children of Blood and Bone to my list for later in the year. Good shooting!

Finished Children of Blood and Bone. It's good for YA. I think I'm not the audience for YA anymore, at least not the adventure, feels-like-a-video-game kind of YA. It's like the book is yelling at me all the time, there is no subtlety or nuance. Which is fine if you're a teenager and you need everything spelled out (every 10 pages they reiterated the goal "to bring magic back." I get it!). But I'm old and I like things that are calmer and more measured. All that said, I'd definitely recommend this book for the intended audience. Good themes, lots of action, female protagonists, etc. One caveat: what was up with renaming all the animals?

Now I'm reading a book from the Tournament of Books shortlist: The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea. Saga of a Mexican family on both sides of the border. I'm really enjoying it.

>39 littlegeek: In regards to your spoiler, I thought they were different animals, kind of like hybrids of the animals we know. The ones they were riding for part of the story seemed to be part horse and part big cat, I thought? But maybe I misunderstood or am misremembering. I agree that the goal was unsubtle. My main problem with the book was"Got to get to the place, got to get to the place, got to -- wait, let's have a party!" It seemed out of character for them, having been so driven up to that point, and knowing that they were under a pretty tight deadline, to stop for something so frivolous.

>40 foggidawn: yeah, that, too. As for the animals: I don't think they were described well enough for it to make sense. At one point I was imagining them as big cats with horns along their spines, but then she describes riding them and I was lost. She also just gave new names to pretty much every animal without describing it. "batlogs" or something, I dunno.

>41 littlegeek: Yeah, I agree, more description would make those choices go down easier.

I was sick last week so I haven't had the wherewithal to deal much with the internet but I did manage to read a couple of books.

The House of Broken Angels was quite good. It's more a series of vignettes than a real novel, but it's full of love and humor. And sometimes that's just what you need.

Next I read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. What a weird book! I think my enjoyment was enhanced by the fact of my illness (just a cold). The protagonist is so messed up, but I loved the dark humor. My criticism is the ending was perfunctory. It's all setup, like the author really didn't have a plan and just started writing about a funny idea, got a page count and tied it off with no context. In my addled state I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to the average reader. Only those with a twisted sense of humor would enjoy it.

I'm now reading Warlight by Michael Ondaatje. His writing is so opaque, like there's a gauze over everything, but that's part of the charm and adds to the mystery. At this point in my reading life, plots and characters are often very familiar so style and tone are more important to me. This one has those in spades.

>43 littlegeek: Glad to hear you're enjoying the Ondaatje. That was a DNF for me, but I wasn't hating it. It just showed up on my Kindle at the same time as about three other books, and I wasn't loving it enough to stick with it.

I ended up really liking Warlight. I'm a sucker for delicate prose.

Now working on my "leftovers on my Kindle" project. Reading Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. I had completely forgotten what it was about and why I bought it. I'm enjoying it so far. I'm trying to have the characters speak in an Irish accent in my head but not really succeeding, I'm afraid.

>45 littlegeek: I remember enjoying Skippy dies quite a lot. The theme of the Irish involvement in WWI was unexpected and gave the book a depth I didn't expect.

I haven't been around the Dragon much lately as my baseball team is in the mix for a big free agent which has taken over my internet time, but still reading books.

Finished Skippy Dies. This book has everything: romance, heartbreak, revenge, string theory, Irish folklore, WWI (as noted by Sakerfalcon), eating disorders, donuts! A little overlong, but very entertaining.

Now reading Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. Too soon to know what's going on.

>47 littlegeek: I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was long, but I couldn't think which parts I'd have left out. Kind of like The goldfinch in that respect.

Finished Asymmetry. Meh. It's got lots of first novel issues, one I find especially egregious is using cultural references as character development. That and it's just too clever by 3/4.

I think I've been reading too many books striving to be "literary" lately. I just downloaded Dark Matter, a scifi thriller. That should help.

Also, I have pinkeye so I'm stuck at home for a few days, although I will have to give my eye a rest from time to time.

Well, that was silly. I mean, I knew what I was getting into reading a best selling thriller, but LOL.

So many issues with the plot and so much science to hand wave away, but whatever, it was ok for an airplane read or, like for me, a sickroom read.

Spending the year reading TBRs and library books only, I haven't forgotten the paper books. I am now reading a book I received years ago as a Santathing book (I forget from whom), Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger. There's like 18 books in this series, too, and most of them are available in my library so that's pretty cool if I like it.

I enjoyed Iron Lake, altho I'm not sure it lived up to the enthusiastic fuss when it came out. As I recall, I liked the image of the lake and the pacing. I haven't read any of the sequels.

Hm, well, Iron Lake was only meh for me. I did finish it, but I found that I didn't like the protagonist at all. Too macho, too emotionally clueless. And the romance stuff fell really flat for me. I did like the incorporation of Native American culture.

Anyway, I felt like I needed something light and kind (no murders), so I'm reading A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler. I haven't read her since the 90s. It's so white and middle class (like me) so it's all very familiar. I've not been going for that in a few years so it almost seems novel in its familiarity. (huh?)

>50 littlegeek:
Spending the year reading TBRs and library books only
That was my resolution too.
Then I discovered some books for £1 as a discount bookstore sold off renaindered stock...The temptation was too great.

I felt the same way about Iron Lake, littlegeek. Not interested enough in the characters or writing to continue. I chose it because it's semi-local (northern MN is close enough to where I live) and the Native American aspect, but I have too many other things to read.

>53 -pilgrim-: I totally understand. So far I've been "good" but that new Elizabeth McCracken might send me over the edge.

Finished A Spool of Blue Thread. Read more like a series of short stories than a novel, and seemed to have a very different idea of which characters were compelling enough to spend time getting to know. I was particularly annoyed with the super bossy woman and her super milquetoast man, they both made me cringe. Another book where the small details were great but the greater vision was lacking.

Now reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

>56 littlegeek: Ooooo, I very much liked Cutting for Stone.

I have found a workaround for my Elizabeth McCracken problem - I found $65 worth of amazon gift cards lying around the house so I entered them. This is not my money so I don't feel bad about spending it! I will only use in case of emergency.

New McCracken Bowlaway is waiting for me after I finish Cutting for Stone (which I am really enjoying, btw).

. >58 littlegeek: This is not my money so I don't feel bad about spending it! I
Neat solution. ;-)

>59 -pilgrim-: Feel free to borrow or steal.

I finished Cutting for Stone and enjoyed it immensely. It's definitely NOT for anyone who is squeamish about medical procedures, but I personally find that stuff fascinating. It kind of reminded me of John Irving a little, but not as funny. The plot hinges on coincidence a little too much, but I didn't really care.

Now reading Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken. I love the weirdness.

General announcement: I am so far behind on Green Dragon. One of these days I'll catch up with all your threads, and I will not bump them up with my comments, but if you had a birthday or something notable that you shared recently, know that I care and I'm sending good vibes to you all.

>61 littlegeek: I know the feeling of being behind. Sometimes keeping up feels like a Sisyphean task.

Well, this morning I finished Bowlaway. I enjoyed it, but it's not without flaws. It seemed to run out of steam in the latter third. I feel like I say that about a lot of modern "literary" novels these days. They are great at the micro level, wonderful sentences, and often have great characters (as this book did). But they're missing something at the macro level, like an intriguing plot or a point, even. It's like they're long short stories instead of crafted novels.

In any case, Bowlaway was good if you accept it on that level. McCracken can really write a wonderful sentence and she has lots of small insights. I loved the quirky characters. But in the end, a bunch of stuff happened and then the book stopped. If you know what I mean....

I'm still working my way through this years shortlist of the Tournament of Books. (Which is all "literary" novels, what am I thinking?) Now reading Milkman, which right away is very stylized, but at the same time, I'm kind of digging it. It's stream of consciousness, which is not everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy getting into the rhythm of a character's thoughts. I am not going to expect a story, tho, lol.

Ok, I got about half way through Milkman, and while I admire what it is doing, I just can't go on. The oppression is weighing me down, and I just need an escape more than social enlightenment. It really sucked to live in Belfast in the 1970's.

I didn't really love Ancillary Justice, and didn't read the other two, but I like the author enough to try her standalone fantasy (which I got super cheap), The Raven Tower. I think there should be more standalone fantasy, I don't always want to invest in several books, especially if they are expected to be 1,000 pages long (I'm looking at you, Brandon Sanderson).

>64 littlegeek: I agree with you on standalone fantasy. I'd definitely read more, or at least try more, books/authors if it didn't feel like I had to commit to several thousands of pages before arriving at some kind of resolution.
Of course, fantasy isn't really my favourite genre, so the threshold is rather steep.

Minor spoiler alert ahead (extremely minor, I'd say - anyone who have read beyond the opening paragraphs would know what I am referring to...)

The Raven Tower I felt to be a fair step away from what she'd previously written, while at the same time being a natural next step, if that makes any sense. Looking back all her main characters has been somewhat enigmatic, and this one even more so. And I think maybe the fantasy genre allowed her to explore that in a more innovative way than her previous sf permitted, were sentient machines/avatars, et al, has become norm rather than the exception.

Definitely agree with you both about standalones - for any genre really. On the other hand I can see the appeal to authors and publishers for series. And when I really love a world/characters I want to read more of them....

A tagmash of fantasy and standalone is https://www.librarything.com/tag/fantasy,+standalone and I've read (and recommend) most of the top hits.

>65 Busifer: Exactly. I have indulged in many series and enjoyed them (especially Robin Hobb's Elderings series), but sometimes I just don't want a long commitment.

As for The Raven Tower, I know exactly what you mean and at this point it's intriguing...

>66 reading_fox: I do read a lot of fantasy and have read many of those titles, but it's great to have such a convenient list. Thanks!

Finished The Raven Tower. I enjoyed it very much. One thing I really liked was that by the end it was unclear who was a hero and who was a villain. I wasn't really sold on the use of 2nd person for a person of ambiguous gender, because it was pretty obvious that was the reason why and it ended up being no big deal anyway. I did like the pacing and the way other things were obscured. Thumbs up!

Last night I borrowed News of the World because MrsLee liked it and that's enough recommendation for me! Haven't started it yet, tho.

>68 littlegeek: *blushes*

>68 littlegeek: Glad that you enjoyed The Raven Tower. I agree with you on the uncertainty of who really was the hero. I'm thinking maybe this ambiguity is part of the "message", so to speak, in days like these with an ever more polarized debate...

>70 Busifer: Indeed, and it's a good message, imho.

>One thing that I was confused about was that it seemed like Eolo was in some way special to the god in the rock, but in the end, not at all. Not sure what to make of that.

>71 littlegeek: Agreed.

>68 littlegeek: So glad you enjoyed The Raven Tower.

>72 littlegeek: I think Eolo was favored due to his intellect. And the rock let him flee before it destroyed everything, which is part of his favor even if he didn't protect him outright.

So, Libby sent me 3 books from my holds all at once, even though a few days ago it showed them a staggered. Oh, well, I will read them as fast as I can. Too much sports lately, tho. OMG those SHARKS!

>61 littlegeek: Not to drag you back in time, but I too enjoyed Cutting for Stone. And I hadn't made the John Irving connection, but now that you mention it I do see it... especially his A Son of the Circus, which I loved. (Though I might be the only person on the planet to freely admit this.)

>75 littlegeek: Sharks? You follow KZN rugby?

>76 clamairy: I gave up on Irving a while back but his early novels were great reads.

>77 hfglen: NHL, Sharks all the way to the Stanley Cup, baby!

>78 littlegeek: Our lot have been painful this year; lose every home match and win overseas. Useless!

>79 hfglen: My baseball team (Giants) is similarly hapless this year. I feel you.

Finished News of the World and I was crying at work. What a sweet story. Plus, I have an affinity for Westerns, anyway. Thank you, MrsLee, that was a good one.

OK, now I have to try to get through the 2 books that landed at once from the library (I sent one back because there's no way). Next will be My Sister, the Serial Killer byOyinkan Braithwaite. It won the Tournament of Books, so it's gotta be good, right?

>81 littlegeek: So glad you enjoyed it! Sweet is a good description.

Finished My Sister, the Serial Killer in one sitting. What a ride! Much deeper psychologically than you'd think from the tone. I really liked it.

Now reading The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai.

Finished The Great Believers. I wish I liked it more. It's kind of hard to criticize a story about the AIDS crisis, but the characters weren't well developed (I kept getting the male characters confused) so the tragedy didn't land for me as well as it could. Also, there was a lot of detail about a deal procuring some art for a gallery and I found it soooo boring I almost bailed.

Now reading There, There by Tommy Orange.

There, There was ok. Some first novel issues, but he writes well so I would read something by this author again.

Now reading Titus Groan and LOVING IT! It's so up my alley, I have no idea why I have not read it before. Feeling grateful.

Finished Titus Groan and what a great book! Hard to categorize, full of incredible imagery, quirky characters, and strange goings on. I love authors that really know how to do description (a dying art). I can see Gormenghast castle in my mind's eye so clearly.

Anyhoo, I will definitely be reading the other two books, but I have a library hold to read: The Overstory by Richard Powers. I see what he is going for here, but I remain skeptical that it's working. Reading on, tho.

I think I'll save the other Gormenghast books for my vacation next month.

>86 littlegeek: The overstory is on my TBR pile. I look forward to seeing what you think of it.
I too loved Titus Groan and must get around to reading the rest of the trilogy. I also enjoyed the BBC adaptation of the first two books, with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Steerpike.

>86 littlegeek: That Gormenghast trilogy is getting higher and higher on my TBR.

>87 Sakerfalcon: Good casting.
>88 MrsLee: I hope you enjoy it.

Finished The Overstory. What a beautiful but depressing book. It definitely has an agenda of changing consciousness about the world around us. I'm not sure if it succeeds, as I'm already pretty aware of trees and biomes and appreciate their value. IOW, he's preaching to the choir in regards to me personally. But he is preaching, and that might not be to everyone's taste. So much beautiful prose about the natural world, but still a compelling story for the human characters. I really enjoyed it, but it might be challenging for some.

I needed a palate cleanser after that, so I'm now reading The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters. OK, this one has an apocalypse, too, but not a man-made one! It's mainly just a murder mystery.

Finished The Last Policeman. It was ok, easy to figure out the mystery. It was just a palate cleanser anyway.

Began reading Transcription by Kate Atkinson. I really enjoy her writing and this one is short which is why I chose it because I was waiting for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to come through library hold.

And now I see that it came through yesterday even though I checked last night. What do they send them at 11:59 pm or something? Already lost a day! I will put the Atkinson aside to read GRRM because that one has people waiting.

I have to say I don't like how the books just magically appear when you least expect it. It's hard to plan.

>91 littlegeek: I read The Last Policeman a year ago and had a similar “it was ok” reaction. Most people I know liked it quite a bit better than I did. Do you plan to read the sequels at some point? I decided against it.

>92 YouKneeK: I'm not that inspired to read the sequels.

I thought the first two were decent enough for the genre, but the third one was a chore.

(Is Pre-apocalyptic a genre?)

Finished A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and enjoyed it. Fun little stories, I would read more if GRRM wrote some (but finish ASOIF first, please!)

Back to Transcription. I should be done with this one in a day or two and then I need to find something to fill in before Gormenghast, which I am saving for my camping trip. hmmmm

I was waiting for a call from the car mechanic this morning so I finished Transcription. It was diverting. Spy thing, loosely based on some real events from WWII. Not her best, but worth finishing.

Next I will be reading Washington Black, as it finally arrived from library hold. I have heard good things.

Finished Washington Black. I quite enjoyed it. Story of a slave rescued from a Barbados plantation in the 1830s. He travels the world and has adventures. There's also romance, science, intrigue, etc. etc. Recommended.

Off to the woods tomorrow and I will be off the grid. I've got Gormenghast and Titus Alone queued up for vacation. See you all when I return.

Have fun!

Vacation. Always a good thing. Have fun!

>86 littlegeek: I am delighted to see you are enjoying the Gormenghast trilogy.

>100 pgmcc: It's right up my alley! The suspense right now is killing me while I have to be at work.

>101 littlegeek: I know the feeling.

I know a lot of people don't like the depth of descriptive detail, but that's a feature for me. I can see it all so clearly in my mind!

>103 littlegeek:
The Gormenghast trilogy was the first time I appreciated good characterisation and description. I loved the teachers in the second book. Titus Alone was written when Peake was suffering from an illness and is not regarded as up to the standard of the first two. I still enjoyed it but "Gormenghast" would be my favourite of the three.

>104 pgmcc: While I enjoy the teachers and especially Dr. Prunesquallor, Steerpike is a masterpiece. And Fuchsia (a silent tear falls, pouring one out for you, Fuchsia).

>105 littlegeek: You are making me want to re-read it. :-)

Well, I finished Gormenghast and what a great read. I can't recommend it highly enough, especially if you're into goth or all around weirdness. Completely original.

I started Titus Alone, but I wasn't feeling it. The castle itself is a character in the first two books and I missed it (more than the people!). I will go back and read it later.

Now reading The Clockmaker's Daughter. It's one of those "archivist/librarian digs up info and solves a mystery from the past" kind of books. Those should have their own genre name. I'm enjoying it so far.

Interesingly, The Clockmaker's Daughter also has a building as a major character.

Finished The Clockmaker's Daughter and I quite enjoyed it. I knew nothing about it when I selected it and that was good. It's actually a ghost story which I had no idea. If you like old English country manors, and stories that travel back and forth in time, you'll probably like it.

I spent like 2 hours on Libby today and didn't find anything that floated my boat so I broke down and got the new Guy Gavriel Kay novel, A Brightness Long Ago. I have read a few of his books and like his writing style a lot. I remember liking Tigana and I think I read another one I didn't like as well, but I wanted something involving and well written so it seems it would fit the bill.

Hope everyone is well, I'm kinda behind on lt rn.

I remember a discussion far back in time when we disagreed on The Lions of Al-Rassan? I don't remember the particulars, but I got around to that one after a Tigana group read here at the pub...

>Yeah, I think that was it. My memory is faulty but I remember being annoyed for feminist reasons, the details escape me.

>111 littlegeek: Yeah, that's how I remember it, too, and with equal lack of detail.

I didn't realize there was a new GGK. I'll have to check it out. I was pretty disappointed by the last one, Children of Earth and Sky. But he's been a favorite over the years, so I'll always give him a chance.

>113 Jim53: Yeah, it's the same for me. I no longer pre-order his books, but wait a little. I've yet to acquire A Brightness Long Ago. I expect to get around to it sometime during fall.

>114 Busifer: FWIW, I'm enjoying it so far.

>110 Busifer: Oh, I'm going to have to read that thread at some point. I only read the book for the first time a couple of years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not quite as much as Tigana, but close. I definitely liked it more than A Song for Arbonne.

>86 littlegeek: Libby only offers the first Gormenghast as an ebook, but all three in the series as audio books. Isn't that a bit odd?

>116 clamairy: yeah that seems weird. Who is the narrator?

>115 littlegeek: I’ll take that as a recommendation!

>117 littlegeek: None other than Simon Vance!

>119 clamairy: That makes it worth it! I want to listen to that.

>119 clamairy: Temptress! I think I've called you that more than once.

>121 MrsLee: 😁 Don't you use OverDrive to borrow some of your Kindle or audio books?

>122 clamairy: Not yet, I've never jumped that learning curve. One of these days, if I ever find time to listen to books again, I may look into it. Life is a bit stretched out at the moment.

I do have the whole trilogy of Gormangast sitting by my chair waiting to be read though.

Overdrive/Libby is the best thing since sliced toast.

Haven't had much time to read this week, but A Brightness Long Ago has a great horse race sequence. Just FYI. Enjoying this one a lot.

Finished A Brightness Long Ago. It was good, not great. Although, yeah the horse race was pretty cool. I know it's based on real historical events, so I understand that can affect the plot, but it did drag in parts. I really enjoyed the female characters, they were all interesting and none of them spent most of their time mooning over boys. Doesn't QUITE pass the Bechdel test, but still good.

Now reading Legend by Marie Lu for a group read on another website. Good thing it's short, but it's pretty decent for YA.

Finished Legend. Would not have chosen it if not for group read, it's ok for YA. Again, I'm not the audience for this, I saw every plot point coming. And video game action just isn't that compelling to me. Kids will love it, tho!

Now reading The Priory of the Orange Tree, following a hail of bullets.

>126 littlegeek: That hail hit me too, and I just picked it up at the library. Almost needed help to lift it.

>126 littlegeek: & >127 Jim53: Oh, I bought the ebook when it was on sale a few weeks ago. I never looked at the page length! :o(

>127 Jim53: and >128 clamairy: I read it in print, at great risk to my wrists and elbows!

Finally finished The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I found it a mixed bag.

I enjoyed the LGBTQ and feminist stylings; the characters and set up were great. The world building was a little lazy (there was a Japan-like country and an Englandish place, etc.) but I liked the magic system and its ties to the past. But about a third of the way through, the author chose to rather perfunctorily dispense with the political intrigue and went for a macguffin hunt/video game style plot, complete with cartoonish action scenes. I'm sad to say I struggled to finish.

Anyhoo, I'm now reading Sula because Toni Morrison.

>130 littlegeek: Hope you enjoy Sula as much as I did!

>130 littlegeek: U-hu, I had placed Priory on my "to watch out for" list but now I'm not so sure. Too many books, too little time.

>131 clamairy: I really am. Her sentences sing!

>132 Busifer: I mean, a lot of people do love it, it didn't work for me. I find fantasy that feels like a video game to be tiresome. Some people really enjoy that approach.

>133 littlegeek: The video game feeling is not something I enjoy either, which is why I appreciate you mentioning it. I'll not discard it entirely, but it has lost its "gotta go get this IMMEDIATELY" status.

>134 Busifer: It's funny to me because I was reading some other reviews and most of them were completely opposite from me: "it was really boring in the beginning and then the action picked up" kind of thing. To each hir own, I guess.

>135 littlegeek: Well, that is so. I'd rather have political intrigue than video game action, though. Generally speaking.

I wouldn't describe most of it as video-game action. I see what you mean by applying that term to some of it. My primary complaint was that we seemed to get visits from Deus ex Machina Airlines a little too often.

>137 Jim53: haha, yeah, especially in the final climax.

FYI, work has gotten very tedious this week, so I'm now also listening to Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley.

>130 littlegeek:, >132 Busifer: & >137 Jim53:

I saw The Priory of the Orange Tree on a stall in the dealers' room at Worldcon and considered buying because I recalled favourable comments about it on LibraryThing. If it were not so big I would have picked it up, but given I had already acquired several tonnes of books to carry home I thought it would be the tome to break my back. I was feeling a bit reticent about not having picked it up when it was there at reduced price but reading your comments has given me a sense of relief. :-)

Thank you!

So, I finished Sula on my lunch hour. What I love best about Morrison is her sentences. What I find challenging is how mean her characters are, like pretty much all of them. She seems to conflate strength with orneriness, at least in a character like Sula. What I really liked was the revelation Nel makes at the very end. Sula was right: their friendship was worth more than that man.

Not sure what to read next.

>141 littlegeek: I hadn't noticed that very thing about her work until I read this book. There wasn't anyone I actually liked, with the exception of Shadrack*. Yet I was rooting for all of them.

* Even that was more sympathy than it was actual liking.

>142 clamairy: Shadrack was sympathetic, if not exactly likable.

I'm thinking about debut novels now, so I decided to read the debut of one of my favorite authors, Kate Atkinson. Behind the Scenes at the Museum has just been borrowed.

>143 littlegeek: I love her, too. I have her Big Sky on hold with my Libby app right now.

>144 clamairy: I think I'm behind on Jackson Brodie novels. I will have to remedy that.

Finally finished Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Snarkier than other novels of hers I've read, but pretty decent. Family saga, with skeletons in closets, etc.

I just downloaded Vicious by V.E. Schwab.

I've been busy but I did finish Vicious and enjoyed it enough to move right on to Vengeful, which I am also enjoying. I really love how the author twists the super hero genre in bizarre ways. None of them are heroes, for one thing.

I've been out of town for 2 weekends in a row so I haven't been here in a while. I finished Vengeful and quite enjoyed it. It does set up another book, but I don't think there's a third installment?

Now reading The Angel's Game, the 2nd book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Very entertaining books, I must say.

Vicious and Vengeful intrigued me, but when I checked the descriptions of the books I changed my mind. Are the characters as disagreeable as it sounds? I mean, I have no issues with morally grey characters, but some of the reviews makes them sound less grey and more dark/evil. What is your take?

>149 Busifer: It's a takedown of super hero genre, and as such, the "super" characters are all broken inside and not heroes at all, although I wouldn't call them completely dark. There are other characters who are more sympathetic, if that's your concern.

I really liked how the author played with the tropes of the genre.

Finished The Angel's Game and quite enjoyed it. It's a perfect book for October: dark, goth, mysterious....I will definitely be continuing this series, but glad that the only connective tissue is the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, each book stands on its own.

Now reading Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield.

I'm once again way behind on GD posts, I will catch up soon.

>150 littlegeek: I think I'll see if I can find Vicious, then. Thank you.

Hi guys, I've gotten behind on GD again, mostly due to health issues. I passed a kidney stone last week and I'm dealing with something gastrointestinal as well. Doctor today, I hope to get some answers on the stomach thing.

Anyhoo, I finished Once Upon a River. I ended up liking it quite a bit, although, like a river, it meanders around in the middle. It has an odd tone, it's kind of like a fable, but kinda not. Everything got tied up at the end, even if the journey wasn't as thrilling as one might hope.

Now reading The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett and boy am I glad there are 5 more novels like this. So fun!

>153 littlegeek: Ouch!!! With some gallstones hovering round an inflamed biliary duct, I can sympathize. Hang in there.

>154 -pilgrim-: yeah, it hurt like hell!! But 12 hours later it was almost like nothing had happened. A little irritation in the bladder the next day, but nbd.

My stomach issues, while not nearly as painful, are very annoying. It's something I've had off and on forever. The ER doc did say that my pancreas was inflamed, so maybe there's something beyond "well, we think it's GERD, take Zantac, I guess."

Good luck with the gall stones, those hurt too!

>153 littlegeek: Kidney stones are no fun!! I've had two. Hope you start feeling better soon.

>156 Narilka: The kidney thing is really not bothering me now, although the doc said I do have a UTI and I am taking antibiotics for it. She's also trying to figure out what the deal is with my pancreas. More tests, and Prilosec in the meantime for the acid.

It sucks to get old, kids!

>153 littlegeek: Sending gentle hugs. Glad you checked in with us, and may your reading provide a happy distraction from the health issues until they are resolved.

>158 MrsLee: Thank you.

>153 littlegeek: Yikes! Mend quickly on all fronts. (And backs.) Yes, getting old sucks. Even on my good days I hobble like a nana getting out of bed in the morning.

Are you getting plenty of time to read while recuperating at least?

>160 clamairy: I'm still going to work, but yes, all those sleepless nights have afforded lots of reading time.

The tests found nothing, which is good, but I'm really leery about the anti-acid drugs like Prilosec and Zantac because the keep being linked to things like dementia and cancer. They work, tho. I am beginning to feel better.

Anyway, The Game of Kings is so, so fun, I am enjoying it so much.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, everyone, it means a lot.

>161 littlegeek: Prilosec and Prevacid, etc are defintitely not great long term, but a low dose of Zantac should be okay. I cut the OTC dose in half and take it with my tea in the morning. What's the skinny on Pepcid? Will that kill us, too? Or just make us want to die? :o(

I'll keep The Game of Kinds on my look-out list. The name sounds like a GoT rip-off. LOL

PS Upon Googling a bit I'm going to switch back to Costco's version of Pepcid until this issue is clarified. :o(

On anti-acids: What about Omeprazol? Seems to work well for me, but I only take it as needed.

Otherwise, what >158 MrsLee: said. I'm holding my thumbs for everything to turn out well, fast, and without ruinous effects to your wallet.

Omeprazole is the generic name for Prilosec.

>162 clamairy: Zantac has been called out recently for being linked to certain cancers. Pepcid doesn't work for me at all.

I'm taking Prilosec right now and it's marginally helpful but I was still up for about 2 hours last night with stabbing pain. (although, after having had a kidney stone, it didn't seem that bad, lol)

I have asked my doc if she'll check my gall bladder just in case. My dad had his out so who knows?

>164 jjwilson61: Prilosec certainly isn't a name used in Sweden, that is for sure, though it was formerly known as Losec, when it still was trademarked by Astra, so maybe I should had made the connection.
Known for blocking the absorption of certain vital vitamins linked to brain function, so should be used with caution. For me they do their job, though, and I only uses it occasionally (maybe TMI: I have a hernia on the cardia, I mostly control acid levels by dietary means but sometimes it just doesn't work).

>165 littlegeek: I hope they'll find out what's causing the pain.

>162 clamairy: btw, The Game of Kings predates Game of Thrones by about 3 decades.

>167 littlegeek: Damn! Was it well known back in the day?

I tried switching to generic pepcid this week because of this info, and discovered that it's basically useless for me. So I'm back to the half of a Kirkland's own Zantac. I'm just going to keep taking it until they produce a version without the NDMA.

>168 clamairy: I'm finally feeling better, it's been a week since I started taking the Prilosec. I'm giving it another week, then I'm going off it. I still want them to look at my gall bladder just for my peace of mind.

We are out of power again, but not our neighbors across the street. It's so frustrating! My workplace has power so I'm at work today and brought all my devices. Luckily, we have some good solar chargers that work well for the phones. They say they MIGHT turn the power back on today but also that they MIGHT turn it off again tomorrow until Thursday or Friday.

This is no way to run a railroad. I'm not sure what needs to be done but "well, we figure to be doing this for the next 10 years" is not a solution.

At least my Kindle holds a long charge and has a light in it. :-)

>169 littlegeek: The brown outs sounds extremely irritating. Good that there's power SOMEWHERE, but, well.

Also, good that you feel better. Going off the Prilosec seems like a good plan: I think the recommendation is to not take it for longer periods than 14 days, at least over here.

>169 littlegeek: Sounds like home! You have my sympathy, but it's both amazing to see the world's leading first-world country suffering the third-world problems we are afflicted with.

>171 hfglen: Yep I never expected to live in a 3rd world country, but here we are.

I got a little more vocal over on the Sustainability group if you guys want more ranting about the outages.

In that case I saw your future on the news tonight.

First item: half the Free State goldfields are dark because of theft of transformer equipment and cables ... while they were still in use!

And then: The Minister of Water Affairs is threatening us with water "load-shedding" because of the drought.

May you have strength to deal with it.

>173 hfglen: Thanks, I feel better already!

You know how sometimes you wake up a little before your alarm goes off? I use that time for reading. This morning I happened to reach a very swashbuckly part of the book, and I was late to work because I just had to finish the scene.

I love books that make me late for work.

>169 littlegeek: - yay kindle!

>176 reading_fox: One reason among many!

I forgot to mention, work has been exceptionally tedious lately so I am listening to The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware. I knew nothing about it when I picked it. Enjoying it so far, it's very Agatha Christie or DuMaurier. The reader is excellent and there's something soothing about an English accent while you're typing up lists of names and dates...

Finished The Game of Kings and what a ride! Reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo in that the hero/antihero is better than you at everything. Set during 16th century, just after the death of Henry VIII and concerns war between England and Scotland. Chock full of intrigue and action - swashes were buckled! Definitely recommended highly, I'm now reading the 2nd in the series Queens' Play, which takes place a few years later in the court of Henry II of France.

Also switched over to the print version of The Death of Mrs. Westaway and finished that as well. I enjoyed it, although I did figure out the mystery.

>179 littlegeek: Another thing to mention about The Game of Kings - even though it was published way back in 1961 (yes, it's as old as I am), it passes the Bechtel test. Female characters are given their due as full human beings with their own motivations and their actions play into the plot. They are not just there to look pretty and faun over the hero.

>179 littlegeek: >180 littlegeek: According to a debate among historians, as reported in the November issue of History Today, Dorothy Dunnett is considered one of the best historical novelists for historical accuracy.

>181 -pilgrim-: I am not so worried about that myself. I don't check up on the accuracy, I'm interested in a good story. But it FEELS accurate.

>182 littlegeek: For me, it is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. If it is not a good story then I would rather read a history book, but if it has inaccuracies then it is liable to start impacting some walls!

If you want to just make your setting up, then write it as fantasy, IMO .

>183 -pilgrim-: That's fair. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, a lot of it is more romance which isn't my thing. My favorite series is the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brien. (Although that has the "endless 1805" problem.)

>184 littlegeek: I can sympathise with both parts of that statement! I was thinking recently that most historical novels seem to be really crime fiction these days - and of course, the romantic novel is an equally ubiquitous subgenre, and one that I avoid like the plague.

And I Iove the Aubrey/Maturin sequence; they are beautifully researched, and have well-rounded, plausible characters - if you ignore Aubrey crossing France disguised as a bear! By the "endless 1805" problem, do you mean trying to fit a lot of books into a short war? I thought O'Brian does rather well at pacing himself, and filling the years plausibly; he even manages to have Aubrey beached at one point, IIRC.

I would recommend The Crow Garden to you. It is (naturally) very well researched, in its portrayal of Victorian attitudes to mental illness. It is not exactly a mystery, not exactly a romance, and not exactly a ghost story (although some of the characters get quite badly frightened). And the wonen in it are notably strong personalities, without being in any way anachronistic.

>185 -pilgrim-: Thanks for the rec! GD is great for that.

I think with O'Brien, he didn't mean to write 20 books so he used up a lot of time in the first 3 and then had to kind of fudge the timing for the rest.

Also, I love the bear sequence! It's very silly, though, I grant you.

>186 littlegeek: My favourite sequence: the "affectionate and discriminating sloth", that loathes Aubrey... until the latter gets him drunk, prompting the immortal reproach 'tu as compromis mon paresseux"

>178 littlegeek: Never heard of Ware before last week, but my niece recommended her, so I have her latest on hold through Libby.

>179 littlegeek: Dagnabbit. I don't think this kevlar vest is up to snuff.

>188 clamairy: You're welcome! :-)

>187 -pilgrim-: There's so much to love in those books.

Haven't posted in a while. I finished Queen's Play, what fun! I can't recommend these books highly enough. If you like an author that holds everything close to the vest until everything snaps into place in the end, you'll love these books.

Now reading The Nickel Boys because it came onto my Kindle when I wasn't noticing. I only have 5 days to read it!

>191 littlegeek: Ahhh, hope you enjoy the Colson Whitehead as much as I did.

>192 clamairy: I did! I was apprehensive about it because of the subject matter, but it wasn't as horrible to read as I feared (the events were still horrible). I liked that it followed events after the school. Very affecting, but all his books are. One of my favorite authors.

Now reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Ashamed to say I have never read it. How did I not know it was post-modern? It's amazing.

OK, well, Invisible Man is indeed amazing, but I'm having trouble getting through it because of the weight of day-to-day life right now (which I will not mention because it violates GD policy).

I am going to start the new Ann Patchett novel, The Dutch House because I love her writing and I just need to be reading something else. I hope to return to the Ellison one day.

I hear ya. I can't force myself to read anything at the moment. When the mood isn't right, it isn't and it only ruins what may be a perfectly good book to try.

Finished The Dutch House, and while Patchett is one of my favorite authors, this one didn't do it for me. I did finish it, but it was decidedly meh. I get what she was trying to do, but the execution wasn't there. We didn't get to see into the lives of some of the more interesting characters so their motivations were still fuzzy at the end.

Anyhoo, the library plunked Normal People into my Kindle and I had completely forgotten having asked for it and why. I got about halfway through and gave up. I had no interest in these people at all.

I decided then that I need to give a rest to "literary fiction" for a while. I tend to suffer a bit from Winter blues so maybe that has something to do with it? In any case, I'm now reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. SF will cure what ills, I hope.

>196 littlegeek: I loved A memory called Empire, hope it does the trick for you!

>198 clamairy: & >197 Sakerfalcon: It's on sale through Tor for $2.99 right now, and I think I'm going to snag it.

>198 clamairy: I bought 3 books at that sale!

>199 littlegeek: Which three?

Hope you're feeling better, btw.

A Memory Called Empire, The Stars Are Legion, Magic for Liars, and The Border Keeper. So, I was wrong, it was 4!

Working my way slowly through A Memory Called Empire. I am enjoying the intrigue, but I have to say the language is challenging. I get wanting to make your alien language sound, well, alien, but the words are so complicated it's like trying to parse Finnish or something. TG for the glossary.

Oh, and I'm still stick but I came to work today. Perhaps I'll leave early...Still coughing and feeling tired.