Alexandra_book_life: Booklife in 2026 part 2

I think it's time to start a new thread! 😊 I hope there will be nice books here 😉

>1 Alexandra_book_life:
Happy New Thread and Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

>2 pgmcc: Thank you! 😊
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

>3 haydninvienna: Thank you! 😊

>4 Narilka: Thank you! 😊

>1 Alexandra_book_life: Happy New Thread! I'm sure you're going to find some nice books stuffed in the cushions around here. ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 🍀

>8 terriks: Thank you! I'll see what I can find...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I would like to welcome the first book of this thread - Cursed Daughters

>1 Alexandra_book_life: Happy new thread!

>11 Karlstar: Thank you! 😊

Happy New Thread!!!

>13 clamairy: Thank you! 😊

My book club will discuss When the Moon Hits Your Eye next week. I had fun, but it's not my favourite Scalzi.

>15 Alexandra_book_life: Definitely not my favourite Scalzi and pretty much for the reasons you express. Felt like a bunch of vignettes tacked together and not enough time spent with the characters to make them meaningful enough to care about. Some nice/fun moments just about make it worth reading.

>15 Alexandra_book_life: Great review. I just went back and reread my review from March 2025. I gave it ½ star more than you did in my rating, but like you it's definitely not one of my favorite Scalzi books. Perhaps it resonated more with me because I live in a country with a enormous amount of scientifically illiterate people, and this book does poke fun at them.

>16 AHS-Wolfy: I suspect that this book was put together too hastily. I don't regret reading it, but I hope that the next Scalzi novel will be better. Thank you for stopping by 😊

>17 clamairy: Thank you 😊

Certain parts of the book would resonate more with some readers, I can understand why. I did like a lot of the satire. Our book club discussion will be interesting for sure!

Happy new thread! When the moon hits your eye is on my TBR pile. I will lower my expectations having read all your comments.

>10 Alexandra_book_life:. Happy new thread. I think you're right. That curse on the family seems a bit odd, as curses go. Hmmmm.

And maybe it's just me, but I don't think most of Scalzi's books offer much for purposes of discussion in a book group. They're a lot of fun, but I'm not sure there's a lot to chew on otherwise.

>20 Sakerfalcon: Thank you! 😊

Maybe you will enjoy When the moon hits your eye more than I did, you never know...

>21 jillmwo: Thank you! 😊

It seems that the family curse was kept alive by the people it affected, in a kind of vicious circle. It's my interpretation, anyway.

I remember that we had a lot of fun discussing The Kaiju Preservation Society in our book group, but we might have just veered off and talked about other books 😉

>15 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you for this review!

I can accept a 3.5 star review for a Scalzi - I wasn't especially enamored with the Lock In/Head On series. It can happen!

I also see how Scalzi's character banter can sometimes have a sameness to it that may irk people - to me it's just part of his brand. I chortle every time.

I have a copy of this one on my shelf, and haven't been in a hurry to get to it. But I will temper my expectations based on this - we'll see! ;)

>24 terriks: You are most welcome 😊

You might end up liking it better than I did, right?

>25 Alexandra_book_life: Exactly! I put myself in a Scalzi mood before I pick up anything. ;)

I DNFed When the Moon Hits Your Eye because I found it too philosophical—and not in an enlightening or thoughtful way. I like Scalzi better when he's in full-on zany snark mode.

>17 clamairy: I browsed my library's digital collection of science books this morning. It was distressing how many of them were written by know-nothing cranks or, worse, by scientists abusing their expertise. Also bad: My political party currently is engaging in slop economics to impress voters. Does no one care about how things actually work anymore?

>27 libraryperilous: Scalzi's zany snark mode is a very nice thing indeed :)

>27 libraryperilous: People's attention spans in the US have shrunken so perhaps our party is trying to shrink its info dumps to match but leaving out crucial data.

>29 clamairy: Definitely. I also think that the party genuinely has bought into some bad data. :(

>28 Alexandra_book_life: Especially if cats are involved ;)

>30 libraryperilous: Absolutely :)

I finished another issue of Clarkesworld. Some of the stories were middling, but the good ones were really good 😊

Look, isn't this lovely? Despite having two e-books, I decided that I really wanted The Iliad as a physical book, preferably a hardcover, in yet another translation. I found one on AbeBooks. Happy, happy.

Reading updates:

I am almost at the end of The Traitor by Kobo Abe. I am glad I requested the ARC, it is certainly interesting and very complex. I'll share some thoughts soon.

I am also rereading Bujold's second Chalion book, The Paladin of Souls. I have forgotten 99% of it, lol, and I am enjoying it very much.

I finished The Traitor and had some time to think about it. (LT refuses to let the touchstone work for this one, unfortunately.)

>33 Alexandra_book_life: That's a nice copy!

>36 Karlstar: I am very happy with it, thank you 😊

>37 Alexandra_book_life: Strangely enough, this version came up on Jeopardy last week. One of the contestants was also a big fan and mentioned that he bought himself a copy. I think he said he also had it signed?? Not sure about that.

>33 Alexandra_book_life: That is lovely.

>38 Karlstar: This is a nice coincidence :)

>39 clamairy: Thank you! :)

I am done with my reread of Paladin of Souls, and a very nice reread it was :)

My book club is very keen on reading Children of Strife in May. I've only read the first book in the series and asked if I need to read book two and three. They all said no no no no no. Just in case my book club friends had exaggerated, I am now reading Children of Ruin 😁 I'm 45% in, and I am enjoying it - maybe not quite as much as Children of Time, but I'll see what happens.

>42 Alexandra_book_life: A few of us read this book a couple of years ago. I liked it a lot more than the first in the series. I really need to keep going, though. Glad you enjoyed it, again.

I'm editing in a link to our group read. It's short: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331008

>44 clamairy: Thank you! I enjoyed the group read thread 😊

I am planning to reread The Hallowed Hunt soon.

>43 Alexandra_book_life: I want to get to Strife soon. A mantis shrimp spaceship captain!

>46 libraryperilous: This is tempting indeed! :)

Reading a manga that you like while having a nice weekend breakfast is a very good thing.

I am catching up on some of my manga series :)

>42 Alexandra_book_life: Paladin of souls is one of my favourite books! I love following Ista's journey, both literally and as she discovers herself.

>48 Alexandra_book_life: I've fallen behind on this manga, I think I'm up to volume 9. I agree that the artwork is incredible.

>42 Alexandra_book_life: I prefer The Curse of Chalion a little bit, but both are great books, glad you enjoyed it.

>42 Alexandra_book_life: and >51 Karlstar: Both are excellent, in my view.

>50 Sakerfalcon: I will read Paladin of Souls again for sure!

Bujold never disappoints :)

I'm envious, you have so many volumes of A Bride's Story left to read :)

>51 Karlstar: I think I also like The Curse of Chalion slightly better. But I agree, they are both great books.

>52 jillmwo: Indeed :)

More manga coming right up ;)

I'm really sad about having had to put Children of Ruin aside for a couple of days so that I could finish a book club book, An Arcane Inheritance. Not recommended :(

I finished Children of Ruin! It was excellent :)

>57 Alexandra_book_life: Thanks for the warning. I will stay away.
>58 Alexandra_book_life: And now this series is going on my wishlist! I guess I bought the first book for Kindle when it was on sale a few years ago so I have no excuse.

>58 Alexandra_book_life: I read Children of Time years ago and loved it! I believe I have the next two on my shelves. They are big, though, so they are summertime reads. Glad you liked this one. Maybe I’ll make it my first summer read. :)

>59 clamairy: You are most welcome! I am still a bit upset with this book 😁

Good luck with Children of Time series! It's so, so good. I hope you will like it.

>60 catzteach: I am happy to hear that!

I think Children of Ruin will make a great summer read 😊

>57 Alexandra_book_life: Ewww, that prose 👎

Tangentially, one of my pet peeves is that studios consistently cast twentysomethings as teenagers in films precisely because it otherwise would be obvious that teenagers are children. The plots would have to be toned down!

>63 libraryperilous: I am glad you understand why I wanted to run screaming 😁

Movies with twentysomethings playing teenagers are annoying.

>64 Alexandra_book_life: How about 47 years olds? Anyone else remember Robert Redford in the earliest scenes from The Natural? Now they would just CGI a younger face onto an older actor, or find a younger look-alike!

>65 clamairy: I don't think I've seen this one! Oh dear 😁

>58 Alexandra_book_life: I really need to find my copy of Children of time and read it!

>67 Sakerfalcon: I am very curious to see what you will think of it :)

>68 Alexandra_book_life: I've enjoyed everything else I've read by Tchaikovsky, so my expectations are pretty high!

I went to such a wonderful concert yesterday evening! To be precise: Rachmaninoff's piano concert no.2 and Dvořák's 9th symphony. Wow! Thunderous applause! As the audience was leaving afterwards and the orchestra was still on stage, I saw two exhausted violinists happily fall into each others' arms. Awww. It was a nice moment.

I still hear music, no matter where I go.

>70 Alexandra_book_life: Oh, I'm envious! Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto is one of my favorite pieces of classical music. Powerful stuff! I'm not familiar with that Dvořák symphony off the top of my head. I will have to remember to ask Alexa to play it while I'm eating dinner tonight.

>70 Alexandra_book_life: That seems like a wonderful experience, I'm glad you are still hearing it.

>70 Alexandra_book_life: That sounds like a lovely experience!

>71 clamairy: Ah, I am happy to hear that you love Rachmaninoff'! Something tells me that you will enjoy Dvořák's 9th symphony as well...

Thank you :)

>72 Karlstar: Thank you! :)

>73 catzteach: Thank you! :)

>70 Alexandra_book_life: Orchestra, conductor and soloist please? The concert seems like a match made in heaven. Theoretically I don't much care for Rachmaninov, but I'm a sucker for the 2nd (and the Paganini Variations) regardless.
ETA and I'm hearing the Dvorak 7th right now, streamimg.

>74 Alexandra_book_life: I recognized the piece as soon as it started to play. I stream some of the Prime classical music stations quite a bit. That also means I don't know exactly what I'm listening to half the time, because there is no announcer. 🤣

>76 Alexandra_book_life: >77 haydninvienna: >78 clamairy:. Have any of you tried Gregorian chant at all? I find it works well when settling into writing or concentrating on a difficult read.

>79 jillmwo: I have but it brought back too many flashbacks from my childhood. (One of my brothers became a priest so the only family trips we took when I was young were to visit him at his various monasteries.) They weren't necessarily bad flashbacks, but I couldn't concentrate at all.

>78 clamairy: I was sure you'd recognise at least part of Dvorak's 9th!

>77 haydninvienna: Oh, with pleasure:
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Emmanuel Tjeknavorian
Soloist: Sergei Babayan

It was a match made in heaven :)

>78 clamairy: I thought you might! It's gorgeous, right?

>79 jillmwo: I love Gregorian chant!

When it comes to listening to music while doing something else, though, I cannot do it at all. I have tried it while reading, working, doing chores... My brain goes into some kind of sensory overload mode. If I want to listen to music I have to focus only on the music. This is just how my brain works, I guess.

>84 Alexandra_book_life:
I am the same. The book is forgotten and the music is the focus.

>82 Alexandra_book_life: Been to Sweden a time or two for musical reasons (a St Matthew Passion in Adolf Fredriks kyrka¹, fabulous; a Candide in Linköping,² also fabulous; something in Gothenburg I can't place³), but not so far encountered the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

I don't really do music before about 1600, but I don't mind listening to Gregorian chant or plainsong. And just FYI: Over the next year, Bachtrack shows 28 performances of the Rach 2 and 40 of the Dvořak 9th. Yes, they're popular. I would cheerfully go to either, if there were a performance available.

¹ While we were waiting, two women came into the churchyard and laid a sheaf of flowers on Olof Palme's grave.
² By Bernstein, during the Bernstein centenary in 2019. And learned the peculiar (to my ears) pronunciation of the city's name ...
³ I probably still have the program: I'm thinking about adding my concert programs to my LT catalog.

>86 haydninvienna: These are all very good reasons for a trip to Sweden! The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic is an excellent orchestra :) They have not always been (that's imo), but have improved tremendously in the last five years or so. Unfortunately, I am allergic to their current conductor, so I've been skipping those concerts ;)

Oh, and if anyone at the Pub is ever in Linköping, the Swedish Air Force Museum there is pretty great.

>85 pgmcc: Yay, I am not alone :)))

I found a magnolia yesterday! It's beginning to look a lot like spring.

>71 clamairy: It's beautiful, isn't it? I love all of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos. A pianist whose name I've forgotten once described the Rach 3 as "painfully beautiful" both to hear and to play: a perfect description, I thought.

I finished my latest book club book, Pushing Ice. I am very disappointed. I am also an outlier, it seems.

>91 Alexandra_book_life: Ouch! You might need to add this one to the Do Not Read Thread!

>90 libraryperilous: I could never play a piece that powerful. I would be a blubbering mess. Same with a lot of Chopin.

>91 Alexandra_book_life: Thanks for saving me from reading that one!

>92 clamairy: It's a good idea :)

>93 Karlstar: You are most welcome! :)

I finished issue 222 of Clarkesworld, it was a good one :)

>91 Alexandra_book_life:. Now see, when someone grumbles about a reading experience such as you had with Pushing Ice, I become intrigued. Can it really have been that bad? I am tempted to snag a copy and read it, just so that I can either come into the Pub and validate your review. Or otherwise -- so that I can come back and challenge you to a duel. (Although it needn't be a duel. Anything that will invite people to grab their popcorn and place bets on the winner.)

>91 Alexandra_book_life:
I warn you, >97 jillmwo: is quite the duelist. Prepare yourself well for any challenge that might come your way.

However, I do see her motivation to read Pushing Ice. There is a natural reaction to a bad review to think “It can’t possibly be that bad! I must check this out for myself.” This is the reason why I do not post comments about the worst books I have come across; I do not want to give them any air-time. There is no such thing as bad publicity.

I am sure @jillmwo will be chomping at the bit to point out that I have given some damning reviews in my time. While I have written such reviews I have not been of the opinion (in most cases) that those books should never have been written or published. The books that I put in that category are cloaked in darkest lest anyone is attracted to access these dreadful volumes.

This is also the reason I do not contribute to the “not recommended” thread. It is like a list of banned books. Someone will see the thread as a reading list.

Now, excuse me while I get some popcorn and find a comfortable ringside seat. I am sure @clamairy and a few others will be along shortly. At what time do activities begin?

>97 jillmwo: You are most welcome to snag a copy, I'll be waiting.

What kind of duel did you have in mind? I am good at pillow fights, for example.

>98 pgmcc: There are people out there who read books they think they are going to hate on purpose. "372 pages we'll never get back" podcast is one example... (This is not my cup of tea.)

>100 Alexandra_book_life: Mine either. In fact I always check ratings here on LT before I buy or borrow a book. Anything less than a 3.7 usually does not make the cut.

>100 Alexandra_book_life: Life is too short for that. I want to read books I’m going to enjoy.

>102 catzteach:
That is my view of reading too.

>100 Alexandra_book_life:
Nor mine.

>102 catzteach: >103 pgmcc:

Yes, and yes, and yes.

Sometimes I wish my book club knew that. On the other hand, our best discussions happen when everyone hated the book/some people loved and some people hated the book. There have been exceptions, of course, such as The Hands of the Emperor :)

I have now read @Tane's short story collection. I am glad I got it from NetGalley :)

>105 Alexandra_book_life: So glad you enjoyed this. 'Weeping Stone' was a heartbreaker, but so much food for thought. All I could think of was how we drain the sap out of maple trees here, and drain the blue blood out of horseshoe crabs. :o(

>106 clamairy: Thank you :)
'Weeping Stone' was a very memorable story, it made me sad...

>98 pgmcc: >100 Alexandra_book_life: >101 clamairy: >102 catzteach: While I know everyone has different tastes, I trust the opinions of the folks here, if you think something is not recommended, why would I waste my time? There are millions of books that are worth my time!

@pgmcc Please save us from wasting time on books!

>108 Karlstar:
The clue is in my ratings. Rather than not rate a book I will give it a half point.

>109 pgmcc: But then I have to remember to look up the book to see if you've read it! That will be useful if I remember.

I finished Antarctica! It was excellent and heartbreaking.

>111 Alexandra_book_life: I'm glad you enjoyed this! It's going on my wishlist but I will be waiting a while.

>112 clamairy: Thank you :)

I think it's good to not read all of Keegan all at once...

>113 Alexandra_book_life: Definitely!

I started my day with something new and short from Victoria Goddard :)

I was at a lovely concert on Friday, I am still thinking about it with pleasure :)

Esa-Pekka Salonen: Nyx

Richard Strauss: Burleske

Witold Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini

Robert Schumann: Symphony no. 3

Soloist: Yeol Eum Son, conductor: Maxim Emelyanychev, orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

I am not usually impressed by modern orchestral pieces, but I really liked Nyx! The rest was wonderful, of course.

>116 Alexandra_book_life: I would walk a few miles for the Schumann 3rd. Burleske is a bit too much like a piano concerto for me. My feelings about Romantic piano concertos are mixed; I like the Rach 2, but I can live without the Tchaikovsky or Grieg ones, say. Didn't know the other two works, so looked them up on YouTube.

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Nyx: Probably not going out of my way to seek performances of this, but interesting (which is often my response to modern orchestral pieces).

Lutosławski, Variations on a theme by Paganini for two pianos (was that it?): Fascinating. Cheeky to use the same theme as Rachmaninov did.

And thank you for specifying the performers!

>117 haydninvienna: I was not familiar with Nyx and Lutoslawski either, so it was an interesting discovery.

And you are welcome :)

>115 Alexandra_book_life: Goddard!!! So glad you enjoyed it.

And I'm glad you got to enjoy another wonderful concert.

>105 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you so much! (Sorry, coming into this a little late!) Your review was incredibly helpful. I'm glad you enjoyed it overall. Weeping Stone appears to be one of the favourites of most people who have reviewed it so far. Which is encouraging, and also (interestingly?) it was the last story to be written for the entire collection.

>106 clamairy: Thank you! My next book (still very much under construction) is set within this era, and technically within the same world... although we'll be travelling somewhere very different. A novel this time, but I aim to continue the same sort of atmosphere.

>121 Tane: That sounds very promising! Happy writing!

>120 Tane: I am happy to know that my review was helpful :) You are most welcome!

>121 Tane: I am very curious now! Good luck :)

>124 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you... I'll keep you all posted!

I finished Children of Memory and I am a very happy reader :)

>126 Alexandra_book_life: I guess I'd better get moving on that first book. Your review might just be the push I need...

>127 clamairy: I really hope you will like this series!

>126 Alexandra_book_life: I've read the first one, maybe I should continue that series.

>127 clamairy: Depends on how much you like spiders!

>129 Karlstar: I think it's worth reading :)

I finished a good mystery this morning - The Decagon House Murders

>126 Alexandra_book_life: I plan on finishing that series this summer. I read the first one forever ago and am wondering if I should reread it….

>129 Karlstar: I like them. I've been catching and releasing spiders over a certain size for years only to learn recently that I'm most likely dooming indoor spiders to death. :o( So now I will be putting them in my shed or garage.

>132 catzteach: I wish you very happy reading!
I've become very fond of this series :)

>131 Alexandra_book_life:
I felt that book bullet hit me hard.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

>135 pgmcc: You are most welcome! 😁

I hope you will like it!

>136 Alexandra_book_life:
Well, I know where to complain if I don’t!

:-)

You mentioned “Then There Were None”.

The title of the Ayatsuji novels looks like a play on “Then There Were None”.

Decagon Ten Gone

>137 pgmcc: It's really cool, right?

This thread is open for complaints about BB's 24/7 😁

>138 Alexandra_book_life:
It arrives Monday…with The Clock House Murders. It was beside The Decagon House Murders when I went to order. This will also be a BB hit put down to your sharpshooting.

>131 Alexandra_book_life: Been There. Read That. It's a serious read but certainly worthwhile. While you're at it, >139 pgmcc: you might also consider The Labyrinth House Murders by the same author.

>140 jillmwo:
Way ahead of you. I have had it since January 1925. Thank you for thinking of me. I saw it when ordering The Decagon House Murders and recognised that I had it. Had I not recognised the book as one I already owned it too could be arriving Monday.

The Labyrinth House Murders was one I acquired during that period when I was binging on Japanese murder mysteries. It was one of the few that I did not read at the time.

I am delighted to see you are forging your way through books in translation.

>139 pgmcc: Veeeery nice 📚📚📚

>140 jillmwo: I am glad to hear that 😊

>141 pgmcc:. You couldn't possibly have had it since January 1925. Unless you are like 101 years of age as we speak. I don't care what you did in covert operations; as a rule, spies don't age well.

>144 jillmwo:
Oops! I have let slip about our top secret time travelling capability.

>144 jillmwo: I am cackling and chortling. :o)

>146 clamairy:
Go ahead, laugh at the old man.

>147 pgmcc: I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at Jill... who just happens to be laughing at you.

>148 clamairy:. I'm still trying to work out what year he MEANT to type.

>147 pgmcc:. Lest I be thought of as unkind, I am not laughing at you because you are old.

>149 jillmwo: He added it to his library in January of 2025.

>145 pgmcc: Ooops indeed 😆 I hope your superiors are ok with that.

>151 Alexandra_book_life:
I was going to tell you a time travel joke but you didn't like it.

>150 clamairy:
OK, so it was one of the books I had in my library for a hundred years and forgot to catelogue.

>152 pgmcc: How rude of me!

I found out that a new Penric & Desdemona novella was out. Of course I had to read it :)

>155 Alexandra_book_life: Oh yay! More to look forward to! This would make a great mini-series, I think.

>153 pgmcc: :oP~

>152 pgmcc: Very timely.

>131 Alexandra_book_life: This was already on my wishlist but now I'm moving it up!

>158 Sakerfalcon:
That is at least two of us she has hit. @Alexandra_book_life is becoming quite a marks-person.

>158 Sakerfalcon: I am glad to hear that! :)

>159 pgmcc: He he he :D I do try.