Karlstar's 2026 Road of Reading 2

2nd quarter, time for a new thread!

December/January reading
The Fellowship of the Ring
Limits of Power by Elizabeth Moon
A Conversation in Blood by Paul S. Kemp
City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas by Roger Crowley
City in Glass by Nghi Vo
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

February Reading
Sassinak by Elizabeth Moon and Anne McCaffrey
The Death of Sleep by Jody Lynn Nye and Anne McCaffrey
Generation Warriors by Elizabeth moon and A. M.
The Masters of Solitude by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin
Old Mars by G. Martin and G. Dozois
Clockwork Destiny by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart

March reading
White Wolf by David Gemmell
Homegoing by Frederik Pohl
Stolen Crown by Dennis McKiernan
The Soul of America by Jon Meacham
Tigana by G. G. Kay (re-read)

April reading
The Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen
War and Peace - up to 13%!
A Pilgrimage of Swords by Anthony Ryan
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Worth Dying For by Lee Child
2113: Stories inspired by the music of Rush by Kevin J. Anderson

May reading
The Kraken's Tooth by Anthony Ryan
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Penric's Demon by L. M. Bujold
Penric's Shaman by L. M. Bujold
The Hallowed Hunt by L. M. Bujold
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Human Division #3 We Only Need the Heads by John Scalzi
Human Division #4 A Voice in the Wilderness by John Scalzi
Rapport by Martha Wells (non-Murderbot short story)
Human Division #5 Tales from the Clarke by John Scalzi
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

The usual explanation of my rating system, with updated statistics from my library here on LT.

I use a 1 to 10 rating system because I started rating books on the internet using a 10 point system and because I like the additional granularity. Checking my LT ratings, I have given out over 600 8+ ratings, but I don't think I should make it even harder give out 8/10 ratings, so it is now a Top 600. I only have about 134 books rated 9 stars or higher, so either I'm being too tough or there just aren't that many 9 or 10 star books. My most common rating is 6, I like most of what I read. Here's my rating scale explained.

1 - So bad, I couldn't finish it. DO NOT READ!!!
2 - Could have finished, but didn't. Do not read. This one means I made a conscious choice not to finish, usually about halfway through the book. Something is seriously wrong here.
3 - Finished it, but had to force myself. Not recommended, unless it is part of a series you really need to finish.
4 - Finished it, but really didn't like it. Not recommended unless you really need something to read.
5 - Decent book, recommended if you have spare time and need something to read.
6 - Good book, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it.
7 - Good book, recommended for everyone. I may have read it more than once, and would consider buying the hardcover edition.
8 - Great book, I would put it in the Top 600* of all time. Read more than once, I probably have the hardcover.
9 - Great book, top 100* all time. Read more than once, if I don't have the hardcover edition, I want one!
10 - All-time great book, top 50 material. Read more than twice, I probably have more than one copy/edition.

My ratings also include the Slogging Through The Mud (STTM) rating/index. This goes back to one of Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion books where she spends WAY too much time actually describing how the army spent days slogging through the mud. If there is a lot of travel in the book and too much time describing the traveling, the STTM rating will be high. The STTM rating also encompasses non-slogging travel and character growth, if there is any.

* My 8 star and 9-10 star ratings now exceed 600 and 100, but close enough.

Catching up on reviews.

Clockwork Destiny by Kevin Anderson and Neil Peart
STTM: 7 out of 10 - but this is a travel story!
Rating: 8 out of 10

This is the third and final volume in the Clockwork* series. These books were never intended to be a trilogy, Mr. Anderson was apparently a fan and friend of Neil Peart and Rush and together they decided to turn the concepts in the Clockwork Angels album into the first novel. When they had material left over, they came up with the second book, Clockwork Lives, which was really a collection of short stories. Then, near the end of Neil's life, they collaborated again on this book to finish the story. For some reason LT doesn't consider them a trilogy, though it should.

Some of the characters from previous books, such as Owen Hardy and Merinda Peake, re-appear in this novel, along with either children or grand-children. The Watchmaker is finally running down and so is his Stability, so Owen and others are tasked with going on one more airship voyage to find a supply of 'quintessence'. Adventures ensue, while once again Anarchists threaten the capital and the entire Stability.

Like the previous books, there are ton of lines and references from Rush albums. I like the world they've created and the steampunk feel. Of the three books, this one felt the most like a single, coherent story. I thought the Snow Dogs were completely misused, but I guess we can't have everything.

Like the previous books from ECW Press, this is a beautiful book, with a great cover and cover illustration and quality paper.

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Yes.
Would I read it again? Probably.
Would I recommend it? If you like Rush, steampunk or Kevin Anderson's work, what are you waiting for?

Happy New Thread!

Happy New Thread! Have a wonderful Quarter Two!

Happy new thread!

>3 clamairy: >4 pgmcc: >5 haydninvienna: Thanks! @pgmcc, I see @clamairy beat you by a minute.

The independent bookstores in the Buffalo area are having a fun contest for 2 weeks in April. They are going to give out a passport and stamp it, for every bookstore you visit, no purchase required. If you get enough stamps, it appears you can then turn in your passport to have a chance to win bookstore gift cards. One of the stores is here in town, one is not far away, but there's a bunch I have not been to yet, I may have to do some driving around.

>6 Karlstar:
@clamairy is just too fast for me.

Happy New Thread! :)

>8 Alexandra_book_life: Thank you!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

Happy new thread! And Happy Easter :)

>11 Narilka: Thank you!

Happy new thread!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Easter. :)

Happy new thread!

>6 Karlstar: That sounds like a very fun contest! I wonder how many people manage to leave a bookstore empty-handed ...

>13 terriks: Thank you! It was fine, I hope your weekend was good as well.

>14 Sakerfalcon: That is my dilemma! I know I don't *have* to buy something at every bookstore, but it will be difficult to walk out with nothing. I do know the bookstore right in town here is mostly a children's bookstore and I think a couple of the others are as well, but the grandkids may score some books.

Not the greatest picture, but we have a blooming helleborus 'True Love'! Other than crocus, our first blooms of the year and the first year this one has bloomed.

>16 Karlstar:
Very nice.

>16 Karlstar: I love hellebores! Thanks for sharing yours.

>16 Karlstar: That is lovely!

>17 pgmcc: >19 clamairy: Thanks, I was happy to see it bloom for the first time.

>18 tardis: I don't have a lot of experience with them, this is only the second one I've planted, and the other was left behind at the old house. I like that color and I was very happy to see it blooming this early.

>16 Karlstar: That’s a lovely sight! Wonderful to look down and see something you've planted coming up and blooming. Spring is here!

>21 terriks: The calendar says spring, but the weather hasn't gotten the message yet. It was 30 and lightly snowing yesterday morning, but had stopped well before I took that picture. Sunny and 34F now.

>22 Karlstar: Happy new thread. We had weather in the 80s last Saturday, but then woke up with the temp below freezing this am.

>16 Karlstar: Lovely! Thank you for the photo :)

its still last summer here, we barly had a fall and less a winter. Supposed to have garden party on Sunday I was hoping spring would last a little longer but I guess not It's going to be 90 .Tempted to cancel it if I don't I have to clean my house

>24 Alexandra_book_life: Welcome!

>25 cindydavid4: You folks have been getting hit with the heat early this year.

i think we'll be hitting some records unfortunately. seems to be the trend

I am not doing well at the tinycat hunt. Too many tinycat specific questions and I have never followed it at all.

>28 Karlstar: There's another hunt? Edited to add: I just spotted the banner. I'll check it out tomorrow, but I don't have high hopes.

>28 Karlstar: >29 clamairy:
I gave up after reading the first four clues. It is not an area of LT I am familiar with at all.

>29 clamairy: >30 pgmcc: I have one right so far. I thought two other would be easy to figure out, but after a bit of poking around on the site looking at potential answers, I wasn't coming up with another answer.

I think I got a 2nd tinycat answer correct and missed the message, so I'm up to 2. I tried a lot more poking around today, I even signed up for tinycat and created a catalog, but no luck, no more tinycats.

>31 Karlstar: Yeah, I've figured out one clue so far too. Like you I know very little about TinyCat. I'm going to have to get some help in the forum discussion so I can at least earn the badge.

>28 Karlstar: not sure I even want to give it a try. I know nothing about TinyCat. I might poke around tomorrow if the weather is awful and I feel like a challenge.

>34 catzteach: i decided not to join in this one, for basically that reason.

Clues 4, 7, and 8 are garden variety books, tags, or CK if you just want to answer enough for the badge.

>36 libraryperilous: Thank you!

>33 Narilka: >34 catzteach: >35 haydninvienna: I'm up to 4, but it was tricky.

>36 libraryperilous: 7 is the one that made me stop trying. You'd think that one would be obvious, but trying books, tags, CK, other links came up with nothing, so I must be looking for the wrong keyword/title.

As mentioned in >6 Karlstar: above, today is the start of the Buffalo Bookstore passport, you can read about it here:

https://www.buffalospree.com/buffalo-independent-bookstores-celebrate-indie-book...

The homepage is here: https://www.bflobookstores.com/ibd-passport on that page is a link to a pdf of the passport brochure.

We did a north/central group today, trying to be smart with the driving, so we visited, in this order:

Alice, Ever After Books (2) - children's books
Em and Em's Books (7) - LGTBQ and Indigenous authors focus, plus some used
Griffon Pop Comics (10) - graphic novels and comics, we found two books for the grandkids.
Read It and Eat Bookshop(11) - books about food or chefs and cookbooks.
Fitz Books and Waffles (9) - not a waffle in sight, but we did find a book

We bought books for the grandkids at 10, a book on canning/preserving at 11 for my sister; and a Kate Atkinson book Transcription off the $1 used shelf at (9).

These are all indie bookstores and they all had a lot in common. 7 had far too few books, even with half of them used. I hope they have dedicated customers. 9 was in a terrible part of the city, but had a good number of customers and a bunch of people there for a book club. 10 had a surprising number of graphic novels, in total the biggest selection of any of the stores. 11 was far too small and in a building that looks like it was a really old office building they are trying to turn into retail/food - but the bakeshop was unattended (not closed, just unattended?) the retail store was closed and the bookshop was too hard to find.

I guess it wasn't a surprise that starting with the 2nd stop, Em and Em's, we ran into the same 2 couples at the next 3 shops.

>39 Karlstar: That sounds like a wonderful outing! I'm glad to hear that you found some books to purchase.

>39 Karlstar:
Wow, a bookstore crawl. Brilliant.

Pub crawls tend to be more common.

I must suggest the bookshop crawl idea to some of the independent bookshops in Dublin.

>36 libraryperilous: >38 Karlstar: I'm up to 3 now. Found #7, 8 & 9. I'm good for the badge at least :)

>39 Karlstar: A bookstore crawl sounds like great fun!

>39 Karlstar:. I'm with @pgmcc on this. A bookstore crawl like that sounds as if it would have made for a good day out! (But you only bought books for the grandkids? Nothing for yourselves? C'mon. Fess up.)

>41 pgmcc: I agree, it is a fantastic idea! We will most likely be back on the trail on Tuesday, hitting another 4 or 5. Some of them are quite a drive from us, so we may not get to them. At least one doesn't appear to even be a bookstore, more of a poetry/music studio, I'm not sure why they are on the list and one appears to be a yoga studio?

>40 clamairy: >42 Narilka: >43 jillmwo: It was great! I did buy myself one book, the Kate Atkinson one. Trish so far has not bought any, but we may have hit some of the stores with the most limited selection. I almost bought a second book from the $1 shelf, but I couldn't get to LT to see if I'd already replaced it (I hadn't) and it was the wrong cover anyway.

We had high hopes for the cookbook store, but the only thing that caught my eye there was the canning book for my sister.

>42 Narilka: I am at 5 tinycats, 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8.

>39 Karlstar: This sounds like a blast - even though (as with several of the indie bookstores I visit) the inventory seemed a little thin. But they're always charming to walk through.

And - hey! You've given me a new Kate Atkinson title to look for. I've not heard of this one.

>46 terriks: one of my faves early in her carreer

>47 cindydavid4: And here I thought I'd seen the whole list!

Good to know you liked it!

>39 Karlstar:
Transcription was the first Kate Atkinson book I read. I loved the story.

>45 Karlstar: I found two and I'm giving up for now. I may go back.

I have not read that particular Atkinson yet. Hope you enjoy it.

>47 cindydavid4: >48 terriks: >49 pgmcc: >50 clamairy: I picked it up due to the many good reviews from you folks here regarding her books, though not that one particularly, good to know I picked a good one.

happy reading!

I have gotten some reading in. I'm about 80% done with The Berserker Throne, which was an old paperback sitting on the shelf, unread.

I also read A Pilgrimage of Swords by Anthony Ryan on my Kindle, I picked that one up to read while waiting at appointments and finished it Saturday. That one was good, standard quest fantasy with some of Ryan's dark touches, but not too much. Interestingly (to me), the kindle version was just $4.99, but the hardcover Subterranean Press edition is $499.00!!!

As mentioned in my reading history in post 1, I'm also up to 13% done with War and Peace, I also read that a bit while waiting.

Done with The Berserker Throne, I started Transcription, so that's next.

>53 Karlstar:. Have you any particular reactions to or thoughts on the 13 percent of W&P you've completed thus far?

>55 jillmwo: So far I'm enjoying it, but I don't think I would enjoy it as much in larger portions, just yet. None of the characters have grabbed my attention, but I think that's about to change.

Transcription is going fairly well, though slow at this point. I did like Juliet's observation that it is easier to be earnest than it is to be flippant. I'm not sure that's actually true, but it has stuck in my head.

We visited a few more of the independent bookstores for the 'passport' (see >39 Karlstar:) today. I'm up to 10 stamps on my passport.

https://www.buffalospree.com/buffalo-independent-bookstores-celebrate-indie-book....

The homepage is here: https://www.bflobookstores.com/ibd-passport - on that page is a link to a pdf of the passport brochure. The numbers in () are the number in the passport listing, that's about the only way I can keep track of them when planning.

We did 5 on the west side of town today, as they were relatively close together.

Burning Books (5) - their site blurb says "Radical, independent bookstore in Buffalo, NY. Books and events on activism and politics. Great selection of radical kids and young adult books too!"
Black Rock Books (4) - small store focused on little known sets from small press publishers
Rust Belt Books (12) - a used bookstore crammed with all sorts of goodies
West Side Stories (14) - a very nice, new shop with a small, good selection and an outdoor reading area
Talking Leaves...Books (13) - from their site "distinctive and unusual selection of the finest writing and thinking bound into books"

We bought a cute book on animal tracks with flash cards at 5, 2 old Burroughs paperbacks at 12 and Foundryside at 13. I've been to Talking Leaves before, multiple times, it is a great store with an excellent selection, also the largest selection of any of the stores, except Rust Belt books. We also stopped at a great small bakery shop next to Black Rock books and got a couple of great cinnamon buns.

Rust Belt books was one of those used book stores with multiple rooms, books to the ceiling, books piled on the floor, etc. They also take in books, so I'll be visiting again. I'll also likely go back to Black Rock books again, while I didn't recognize a lot of the books, I'm interested to take a longer look and the sets were tempting me. One of them was the New York Book Review 'classics' set. Can't say I recognized many of the books.

15 more bookstores to go, though I'm sure I will not get to them, even the ones that actually are bookstores.

>58 Karlstar: I'm glad you hit a few more! I think it's such a great idea. I'm a bit envious you have that many stores on the list, but I have no idea how far you are going to visit some of these. We have a tiny one in town but the selection was grim when I stopped in.

>59 clamairy: It is nice to get to know all of the stores available! I think on both trips, the farthest was just under 30 miles away, and the others within a couple of miles of each other, all generally in the direction back towards the house, so the closest was probably 22-24 miles. Talking...Leaves and the Penzey's store near it are the same distance, basically, we generally go there twice a year.

Some of the stores had a very limited selection, but I've found that with the exception of I think two, they all picked a different niche, so there's little duplication of inventory. If we were only visiting one or two a day, I'm sure we'd buy more - which is one of the reasons we do it this way.

Some of the remaining stores are considerably farther away, so I'm not as confident we'll get to them all. The one that is in town here I know won't have a thing I'm interested in.

Below freezing and snow overnight! We actually have snow on the ground, roofs, trees, etc, about 1". Hopefully the few tulips that have come up already will survive it. I think the hyacinths will be ok and the daffodils don't mind, at least not 1 or 2 days of this. Supposed to be below freezing again tonight, but all the way up to 50F tomorrow.

After further review, I don't think either the tulips or hyacinths will tolerate this well. We had a period of rain/snow mix before it turned to all snow and they are covered with about 1" of mostly snow, partly ice that's stuck on.

>61 Karlstar: & >62 Karlstar: Oh no!!! I did wonder if you were getting snow. It went down to 33° here last night and it is supposed to be just as cold tonight, but I do not have that many things blooming yet. Best of luck.

>61 Karlstar: and >62 Karlstar:. I'm just worried about my azalea bush. The two days of 90 degree weather last week encouraged the buds to begin. My husband tells me not to worry but we're under a freeze warning ourselves here overnight. BTW, your Passport bookshop crawl sounds like so much fun.

>63 clamairy: After a day of sunshine (but no warmth) there is still snow on the north side of the house but not on the blooming flowers. I think they all came through all right, the hyacinths are bowed, but not broken and the few tulips that are blooming (early) are fine. The mid and late tulips seem unaffected. What few crocus we had still blooming were finished off by Saturday's upper 70's temps anyway.

>64 jillmwo: I think your azalea should be all right, unless it is a warmer zone variety. Ours typically ride through the cold/warm time of year, like now, with no issues.

>61 Karlstar: The same thing happened here yesterday - it was chilly, damp and spitting snow during the afternoon - but we were lucky to see it pass before any accumulation. It dropped to 29°F last night.

It's sunny and much better today, but the hyacinths are toast. It is supposed to be in the 70s F for much of this week.

>66 terriks: Some of our hyacinths had just started blooming, new ones I planted last fall, I think that helped. Unfortunately we discovered that our rhododendron must have been in full bloom after this weekends warm weather and lost almost all of the blooms.

>64 jillmwo: Our azaleas have been destroyed by the deer, we'll be lucky if they survive at all.

We have had a nice few days. It is chill in the morning but by afternoon it is in the high teens or even twenties. The warmest day reached 26 C which was quite warm for April here. Last evening it reached 19 C. We are in for a cooler period.

It was 28F this morning, but no more snow! The tulips and hyacinths seem fine, if a bit battered.

I finished Transcription. I enjoyed it, it kept me engaged, but I do wish there had been more suspense.

I started reading 2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush, edited by Kevin J. Anderson. I'm on his FB page and when he mentioned this, I was interested and Trish picked up a used copy for me. Unfortunately what he said about it on FB and what it says in the introduction are not quite the same. The introduction says that while these stories may have been inspired by Rush songs, if you read the story in some other collection, you wouldn't notice. Sure enough, the first two stories are very, very loosely inspired and the third one may as well be a re-telling of Fahrenheit 451. Rats.

Two more bookstores today! We actually tried to get to three, but one of them wasn't actually a bookstore and also was not open.

We visited Actual Books and The Velvet Bookmark. Actual Books was a small bookstore with good variety, a little of almost everything. Another bookstore with sets, or parts of sets I don't often see.

The Velvet Bookmark was even smaller and is being run as a side business by 3 partners, according to the owner. They had a used book side of the shop and a new book side. The selection was very slim.

I picked up Slaughterhouse Five from Actual Books and Worth Dying For by Lee Child. I know I said I was probably done with Reacher books, but it caught my attention.

We are up to 12 bookstores and our target is 15! Having two 'non bookstores' that were on our list has slowed us down a little, but we still have the 1 here in town to visit.

>70 Karlstar: Oh, congrats! Nice score with that Vonnegut.

>70 Karlstar:. What a wonderful expedition you've been on with this Buffalo Bookstore passport! It seems to get you into some lovely trouble. Actual Books seems like one you'll want to keep on visiting!

>72 jillmwo: Thanks, it has been fun. I might actually go back there!

I have started two of the books I started on the passport visits - 2113 and Foundryside. Foundryside is fine, but a little too dark for me at the moment, I guess. When I needed a book to take for an appt, I picked up Worth Dying For, which was a mistake, because now I'm hooked. Reacher hasn't killed anyone in this one yet, he doesn't even have a gun, he just keeps beating up ex-football players who are sent after him.

>74 Karlstar: he just keeps beating up ex-football players who are sent after him. As one naturally does. ;>)

>75 jillmwo: That was temporary, now he has a gun, after he killed someone in a fight. I constantly wonder in these books and the show, why doesn't he ever get in trouble for all the people that end up dead?

Good thing I went on the passport trip, I did not notice that my 19th Thingaversary was last month. I would not have said it has been 19 years.

Belated happy thingaversary.

>77 Karlstar: Belated Happy Thingaversary :)

>77 Karlstar: Happy Belated Thingaversary!

>77 Karlstar: Well that was a lucky coincidence! Happy Thingaversary!

>78 pgmcc: >79 Alexandra_book_life: >80 clamairy: >81 Sakerfalcon: Thanks, folks! You'd think after 19 years I'd remember it is in March, but I guess I enjoy the surprise. I am probably slacking on my book purchases a little, but not much.

I did get a free book today while organizing books at the library for this week's book sale, hopefully that will complete the appeasement of the Enforcers. There was a good copy of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, so I brought it home.

>82 Karlstar: May I add my own belated congrats to you on your Thingaversary? But only a single book at the book sale? The enforcers may expect at least a few more, simply because you DID overlook the celebration of your nineteenth...

>84 jillmwo: I believe you have forgotten about all the books he's gotten completing that bookstore passport project.

Well that's odd. I only posted once...

>84 jillmwo: Thank you. Today was just unboxing, sorting and putting the books out. I was informed, a bit confidentially, that if we saw something we liked we could put it aside for ourselves, so I did that for just one. I'll likely buy more Thursday/Friday during the sale itself.

>85 clamairy: Is correct, I was counting all the bookstore passport purchases, too.

>87 Karlstar: I used to leave with a stack! One of the only perks of volunteering to sort. I hope you're enjoying it.

>88 clamairy: I did enjoy it, I'll try to keep track and do the same next sale.

I finished Worth Dying For, I liked it a lot better than Persuader. Still not great fiction, but a page turner.

I still have two books in progress, so I'm back to Foundryside for the moment.

>89 Karlstar: Good for you.
>90 Karlstar: Sometimes page turners are just what the brain needs.

>91 clamairy: My daughter is back in the hospital, so page turners are what fits the bill right now. I've actually been catching up on reading some of my magazine back issues and I'm almost done with Foundryside.

>92 Karlstar: Oh no. I'm sorry, Jim. Yes, you need something distracting but not too complicated, I suspect.

>92 Karlstar:
Sorry to gear that. I wish her a short stay and rapid recovery. You certainly need some respite reads.

>92 Karlstar: Yikes. I hope your daughter recovers quickly.

>92 Karlstar: Chiming in to say I hope your daughter gets better!

>93 clamairy: >94 pgmcc: >95 Narilka: >96 ludmillalotaria: Thanks everyone! After a 4 day stay, she was finally discharged today. Still some recovery to go, but she's much better.

I finished Foundryside last night, I enjoyed it enough that I'll pick up the next one soon. I think I got this on my bookstore passport visits, so that's a win for one of the bookstores! I'll likely finish The Mysterious Affair at Styles next, if I can find it again.

>92 Karlstar:. Sounds as if you're on something of a roller-coaster. Best wishes for her recovery.

>97 Karlstar: I am really happy to hear that your daughter is feeling better! I wish her a speedy recovery.

sending best wishes to your daughter, and wishing calm in your stressful life

>92 Karlstar: I'm glad your daughter is home again, and I hope she recovers quickly.

>98 jillmwo: >99 Alexandra_book_life: >100 cindydavid4: >101 Sakerfalcon: Thanks all.

I needed a Kindle book, so I picked up the next in Anthony Ryan's seven swords series, The Kraken's Tooth. Apparently these are/were Subterranean Press editions, now in e-book.

Happy Mother's Day!

I finished The Kraken's Tooth yesterday, those are short novels, really novellas. I picked up The Mysterious Affair at Styles again. Also, from the discussion in @tardis thread, I purchased a 3 book e-book bundle of the first 3 Penric books.

>105 Karlstar: Your mention of The Mysterious Affair at Styles is going to send me on a hunt through my shelves. I'd like to say I remember it, but I don’t so I can't!

Happy to learn your daughter is back home and improving.

>106 terriks: Thank you.

I hope you find the Styles book. I'm enjoying it.

I'm most of the way done with Penric's Demon, I didn't realize it was so short (129 pages). Also nearly done with Styles and I started Slaughterhouse Five.

Oh, I'd say enjoy the Vonnegut, but parts of it are brutal. Enjoy the humorous bits at least. Is this a reread? I think I've read it twice.

>107 Karlstar: Miracle of miracles, I did find it! A lovely old hardcover which also contains "Curtain," which if I recall correctly is the last mystery featuring Hercule Poirot, so someone was being clever.

Have you read Slaughterhouse Five before? Agree with @clamairy's assessment - a thoroughly good read, which gets very heavy at times.

ive read it a couple of times, in HS and college, and for a book group i enjoyed it as much as you couls a book like that but i found myself learning more from each read

Just chiming in to say I’m glad your daughter is back at home. I hope she’s feeling way better!

>108 clamairy: >109 terriks: >110 cindydavid4: I'm 21 pages into Slaughterhouse Five and I'm now sure I have not read it before. It was a question on Jeopardy tonight!

>111 catzteach: Thank you. It has been an interesting week. On Sunday she was in a significant highway accident, luckily without injury other than a possible concussion. On Monday she started a new job. Dad is her chauffeur since she no longer has a vehicle.

>112 Karlstar: "I'm 21 pages into Slaughterhouse Five and I'm now sure I have not read it before. It was a question on Jeopardy tonight!"

That's hilarious!

It's a terrific read, you’ll just grip your chair a few times.

I finished both The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which I enjoyed, and Penric's Demon. I'm now about 50% done with Penric's Shaman and a little farther along in Slaughterhouse Five.

>114 Karlstar: I had never read Styles before I listened to the dramatization last week. I thought it was awesome. Glad you enjoy it, too. The fact you've started the second Penric right away means you must have enjoyed that first one. I'm happy to hear that as they are a lot of fun.

>116 Karlstar: I did like Penric's Demon, even if it was a bit short on activity. It was a fascinating story and I was surprised to see it fits into her World of the Five Gods.

>116 Karlstar: Yes but in my experience they are generally lighter in tone. That's not to say serious stuff doesn't happen, but there's usually quite a bit of humor.

>116 Karlstar: I have always enjoyed the Penric novels -- they're short adventures, frequently offering commentary on the experience of women in societies, both real and imagined. But don't read too many of them in a row. It might risk their flavor.

And there is much to be said for The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It's imperfect, but it's also rather fun. She hadn't yet learned all the skills that make Christie's work so good during the 1930s.

>116 Karlstar: I have always enjoyed the Penric novels -- they're short adventures, frequently offering commentary on the experience of women in societies, both real and imagined. But don't read too many of them in a row. It might risk their flavor.

And there is much to be said for The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It's imperfect, but it's also rather fun. She hadn't yet learned all the skills that make Christie's work so good during the 1930s. I am moving over to the shelf in order to revisit it.

>117 clamairy: There is humor, certainly. They just seem to move along well, too.

>118 jillmwo: Good advice, I'll pause after Penric's Shaman, which is almost done. Good description of Styles.

I followed the advice in >119 jillmwo: and did not start the next Penric book after Penric's Shaman. However, in the afterword of the Penric editions I have, Bujold lists her various World of the Five Gods in chronological order, and I realized I hadn't read The Hallowed Hunt, so I borrowed that one from the library and I'm about halfway through. The library has an excellent selection of her books.

I drove down to the Washington DC area this weekend and visited my other daughter and grand-daughter. On Saturday we took the metro to DC and hit a game store (they love card games like Exploding Kittens) and a used bookstore, Capitol Hill Books. I picked up a C.J. Cherryh I did not have, Finity's End. The store was too crowded with both books and people and way too hot, otherwise I would l have picked up more books, but we all found at least 1 book.

>121 Karlstar: That's sounds like a lovely (if toasty) outing. I look forward to your review of The Hallowed Hunt, as that's on my wish list.

>121 Karlstar: Sounds like a bookstore to return to on a cooler day!

>122 clamairy: We had a great time, just wish the heat had held off one week. We also visited a really great Indian restaurant for lunch and had a great meal.

>123 Sakerfalcon: I'll have to try and get back during the late fall, hopefully it will be cooler in DC.

>121 Karlstar:. Now Finity's End would be a fun read. I must go look for a copy. (And yes, DC is usually more fun when they aren't doing weird weather things.)

>121 Karlstar: A lovely weekend! (Sorry to hear about the too hot weather, though.)

I am planning to reread The Hallowed Hunt soon 😉

I finished The Hallowed Hunt and one of the Scalzi short stories from The Human Division, #3 We Only Need the Heads. It was free from the library and one of the few Scalzi titles available, but I've read it before. I think that means I'll be going back to Slaughterhouse Five.

>127 Karlstar:. Yes, do read Vonnegut. There is concern that Slaughterhouse Five may soon be banned in Utah public schools.

>128 jillmwo: WTF? Why?

>127 Karlstar: How was The Hallowed Hunt?

>129 clamairy:. Utah has a legislative statute that says if 3 school districts in the state deem a particular book title to be pornographic, then the book will be banned across the state in all school libraries. The problem is that there are some very conservative school districts in the state and two of them have already deemed Slaughterhouse Five to be pornographic. Only one more is needed to remove the book from schools. I would have to rummage around for the reporting on it, but it's a valid news story.

Edited to say that it didn't take me all that long to locate the story. originally published earlier this year. See:
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5672578/author-kurt-vonneguts-estate-files-...

>129 clamairy: I really enjoyed The Hallowed Hunt. After reading 3 Bujold books lately, I have to say I just enjoy her writing style and her characters. The writing isn't overly elegant or descriptive, but it pulls me along and makes me want to keep reading, so it is high on the immersion factor. I'll try to catch up on reviews the next couple of days, but we're into prime garden season, so I've been working on that.

Apparently I've just abandoned doing reviews for the last couple of months. For those of you who come here to read reviews, I apologize and I will work on catching up.

White Wolf by David Gemmell
STTM: 6 - a lot of slow travel and character growth.
Rating: 8 out of 10

This was one of the few Gemmell books I had not read and didn't own. When I discovered that a few months ago, I picked up a used copy from ABE Books. I'm glad I did, this is one of the best of the Drenai series. The sub-title makes it obvious this is also a Druss book, but I think that was just for marketing.

The title refers to Olek Skilgannon, a master swordsman, former general, former lover of the Queen and perpetrator of atrocities. He dreams of a White Wolf that destroys him. Now both the Queen and the mysterious warrior Ironmask both want him dead - according to an evil sorceress. If he goes after the warrior, he'll likely die. If he doesn't, he'll likely die. He also bears the magical Swords of Night and Day.

While trying to decide what to do, Skilgannon keeps getting involved in a local war and while helping to save some refugees, encounters new companions, all of them with tragic tales. Eventually, he even meets Druss, the legendary axeman, while Druss is also saving refugees. Druss joins Skilgannon on his quest to find answers and magical solutions to their problems - but Gemmell never hands out magical solutions that don't come with a cost.

After they meet Druss, this is as much a book about Druss as it is about Skilgannon, which is never a bad thing. Chronologically, this book comes just before Legend. I really enjoyed this one and I still remember the plot and the characters, though not the names. The companions were all interesting and the plot was excellent. About the only thing I questioned was the swords - supposedly they were created to do evil, but since Skilgannon masters them pretty much without effort, what's the point?

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Yes.
Would I read it again? Probably.
Would I recommend it? To any fans of Gemmell, Druss or sword-and-sorcery fantasy.

Some quick reviews of a couple of books that don't need a longer review.

Homegoing by Fred Pohl
STTM: 3 - despite the title, no travel.
Rating: 5 out of 10

This was an old book on my TBR pile, so I gave it a try. It wasn't terrible, but I could have just skipped it. The story is from the POV of a young human man, the only human on an alien ship. The aliens are vaguely kangaroo-ish, but omnivores. The aliens say they found him and his dead parents on a spaceship in our solar system, and now they are bringing him back to Earth to help them negotiate with humans. The aliens have a strict caste system where the lower castes don't question the upper castes at all - and the lone human is at the bottom.

This is partly a first contact story, partly a warning about ozone depletion, nuclear war, climate change and over-population. The Earth of Pohl's future is flooded and sparsely populated, due to multiple disasters. The book was fine but too preachy.

Was it immersive: In a limited way, yes.
Was it memorable? Only in a negative way.
Would I read it again? Definitely not.
Would I recommend it? Only to Fred Pohl fans.

Stolen Crown by Dennis McKiernan
STTM: 8 - so much slogging, so little anything else.
Rating: 5 out of 10

I think this is the last of the Mithgar books written by McKiernan. The plot is super familiar - an usurper captures the throne of the High King, and only a single child is smuggled away to be raised by faithful... you know the story. When the young true king's hiding place is discovered, the war to take back his throne starts, pitting loyal forces against the 'evil' forces, the elves, warrows and dwarves get involved, etc, etc. The good forces win all the major battles, the bad forces are all nameless hordes, there is a 'ride of the Rohirrim' type moment, etc. Nothing bad, just nothing original and I could have just skipped to the end instead of reading all the slogging.

Was it immersive: Only a little, mostly hoping it would get better.
Was it memorable? No.
Would I read it again? No.
Would I recommend it? Only to Tolkien fans and fans of McKiernan's Tolkien-ish world.

>131 Karlstar: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I understand. I've been trying to work outside all day when I can as well.

>130 jillmwo:
Do you now see what I mean about a literary backwater?

Rolls eyes and gives up.

>136 pgmcc: So speaks the man who never read Jane Austen until he hit retirement age. I'm married to a man of Irish heritage and he'd admit that Ireland has some backwater communities as well.

>130 jillmwo: So far I haven't read anything in Slaughterhouse Five to make me see what they are getting at, but I'm still only about 60 pages in. So far, it is just strange.

>137 jillmwo:
And that makes you feel good how?

>137 jillmwo: & >139 pgmcc: Now now... Every part of the world has pockets of 'denser than normal' citizenry. It does feel like parts of this country have taken these book bans to such extremes that it's become simply ridiculous. To counterbalance this Utah story I hear the governor of Illinois has made book banning illegal. So the news isn't all bad, just mostly bad.

Some of ABE's notable sales over the last 30 years. I found ABE Books way, way back when I asked a co-worker about finding a book and he mentioned that he had a family member who sold books via ABE. That must have been some time soon after the site started.

https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/30-years-of-extraordinary-sales?ref_=pe...

Speaking of Kurt Vonnegut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDLzLUmtU3w

>142 Karlstar: Bwahaha....

Still catching up on reviews.

The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
STTM: 1 - lots of mud-slinging, but no slogging.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

I'd give this one a 9 or 10, but I only read it once and I only own one copy, so far.

Essentially, this is a book about previous times of change and upheaval in American politics and how the Presidents at the time handled being a true leader. Meacham quotes Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and others. All Presidents who met challenging situations and rose to the occasion, unlike some I won't mention. Further discussion would lead to political discussion. Great book.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
STTM: 4 - a good amount of travel.
Rating: 8 out of 10

I have seen many people claim that Tigana is Kay's best novel. For me, it is one of his best, but not the best.

I picked up a 30th anniversary e-book edition recently, when it was on sale. I believe I started this book soon after it came out, via the library, probably nearly 30 years ago. The only part that stuck in my head was the 3 colors of wine, from that reading.

The first part of the book is a bit slow, as he introduces the characters, the villains, more characters, more minor characters, more nobles, more towns. A bit of a slow start, even if there is a tense scene at the beginning. Even then, it is extremely well written, so while waiting for something to happen, it was worth the wait.

I liked all of the characters and the plot, once it unfolded. As is usual for a Kay book, this is all about how people who love something strongly enough can make true changes and good will triumph over evil. Extremely well written. The 'smoking' coffee and wine did bother me a bit, but that's just a quibble.

Was it immersive: Yes, very much so.
Was it memorable? Yes.
Would I read it again? Possibly.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Go get a copy if you haven't read it yet!

>144 Karlstar: I am so glad to hear you appreciated it. I got a lot out of this book. I did not love his book on Thomas Jefferson. I think I gave it 3½ stars. I couldn't even finish his book on Andrew Jackson, but that's probably because my dislike for Jackson was turning into hatred as I read. But this one was great, and his Abraham Lincoln book was even better. I think I need to squeeze more Meacham onto my dance card.

>145 Karlstar: I prefer his The Lions of al-Rassan by far.

The Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen
STTM: 2 - very little travel
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

This was an old paperback that had been on my TBR pile for a long time. Not sure why, I like Saberhagen's work, usually.

I thought this was good. Set mostly on a prison 'planet' (a Dyson sphere) a young man arrives as a prisoner and becomes entangled with Prince Harivarman, the exiled berserker fighter. The Prince has reason to think he's going to be assassinated and enlists a squad of berserkers that he thinks he controls. What could possibly go wrong??

Not a very sophisticated plot, but I enjoyed it.

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Not really.
Would I read it again? Probably not.
Would I recommend it? If you like his berserker novels, yes.

I'm going to put 2 reviews together, as these books are essentially chapters in a long novel. Each one is a very short novel, 110 pages or so. I read them in e-book form, looks like they started out as Subterranean Press editions.

A Pilgrimage of Swords and The Kraken's Tooth by Anthony Ryan
STTM: 5 - a lot of travel, but well done.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Both of these books are about the same character. In the first book, he is just called 'Pilgrim' and we gradually learn more about his past in each book. Another hero, villain, swordsman, etc (like Olek Skilgannon) he bears a sword that contains a demon, that gives him superhuman speed and magical damage, much like Elric's Stormbringer. Pilgrim controls the sword, but wants it gone.

In book one, Pilgrim joins others on the last pilgrimage to the 'Mad God' to wish for a boon - but the trip is one endless struggle. The other pilgrims are nearly as powerful or strange as he is, but he does befriend Seeker. She is a beast-tamer, on the pilgrimage to ask the Mad God about her long missing daughter.

Lots of adventure, traps, intrigue and some battle. Well done, strongly in the traditions of Lieber and Moorcock. Also only 110 pages, quite short, like those early fantasy novels.

The Kraken's Tooth picks up right after Pilgrimage, effectively the 2nd part of a longer novel. We continue to learn more about Pilgrim, including his most recent actual name, as he sets off on what is now a new quest. More intrigues and powerful characters, more stuff destroyed, etc. Still good.

>146 clamairy: I'm grateful to you for bringing The Soul of America and Meacham in general to my attention. Such great books, I hope they are mandatory reading somewhere.

I agree, Lions is better, I think his writing was a little more refined by that point. My favorite is Sailing to Sarantium.

I am still reading Slaughterhouse Five, but I keep putting it down to read just about anything else. I read another of the short stories from The Human Division, "Tales from the Clarke", which is really just one story and not that much of a tale, actually. I also read the short story "Rapport" by Martha Wells. Both were available free from the library. "Rapport" appears to explain the start of the relationship between Peri and Murderbot.

I also picked up the third Dungeon Crawler Carl book, The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook. I was avoiding buying any of these, but the library doesn't have them.

>142 Karlstar:
LOL

>150 Karlstar: Uh oh... Never a good sign when you're hiding from a book. I'll have to look for Rapport via Libby. I think I balked at buying it when it was released because they wanted a lot of money for a short story.

>150 Karlstar: the third DCC book is when the plot really gets going, I hope you enjoy it. One thing to know is that there is a section that is like a train/subway, and it's notoriously difficult to visualize. It's not really important to the story to be able to follow the design of it.

>140 clamairy: The editor of Bolts, Daniel Nichanian, covers elections extensively, including local school board races. A number of book banners ate their lunch recently, even in Texas. So, a bit of additional good news.

>150 Karlstar: I had more patience for Vonnegut when I was a teenager and aesthetically cynical. He's a brilliant author, but not right for me as an adult.

I hope your daughter's new job goes well, Jim!

>151 pgmcc: :)

>152 clamairy: Good call, there wasn't much to it.

>153 Darth-Heather: I see that! All the train lines are quite confusing.

>154 libraryperilous: I probably would have too. I see the point, but don't really enjoy how he's getting there.

>155 libraryperilous: Thank you. Unfortunately that was just training, they hired someone else. The job search begins again. Meanwhile her car is 3 hours away, maybe being repaired. Maybe.

More catching up to do!
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
STTM: 1 - almost zero travel
Rating: 6 out of 10

I picked up this book on the 'Buffalo bookstore passport' tour and I'm glad I did. After so many folks here mentioned her books, it wasn't much of a risk.

This book mostly follows a young woman in London during WWII, after she gets enlisted as a typist for the domestic anti-spy service. She and a small crew are spying on suspected collaborators and she quickly graduates from typist to spy, getting more actively involved. The book does time jump a bit, going back and forth from early 1940's to the 1950's, as she keeps encountering her old comrades and gets pulled back in to a new situation. Most of the focus is on what happens in the 40's, though the mystery is about the situation in the 50's. I'm not sure what to call this, it wasn't exactly a spy thriller.

I liked the characters and the plot and the story. This was her first book and I suspect her writing and plotting have improved. I did like the way that Juliet would observe to herself that sayings such as "keep an eye on him" are quite gross if taken literally.

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Somewhat.
Would I read it again? Probably not, but I will read more of her books.
Would I recommend it? To anyone who likes WWII historical fiction.

>157 Karlstar:
I am glad you liked it. It was the first Atkinson novel I read and, as you know, I have enjoyed more of her books.

>144 Karlstar: It's been ages since I touched anything by Jon Meacham and I suspect it would do me good to pick up this one!

>159 jillmwo: You can't go wrong with that one!

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
STTM: 3 - very little travel, mostly to the point.
Rating: 7 out of 10

At first, I was put off by the prospect of reading yet another book about a homeless orphan thief and the dark tone of the book, but it pretty quickly caught my attention.

Our heroine is hired to steal something from a very high security storage facility (to be paid in paper money, no less! Why is that good?) she has some great magic trinkets to help her and also the ability to read/talk to anything she touches. Both of these things introduce us to the magic system very quickly, which is a bunch of babble about stringing together symbols to fool objects into doing things and since the magical language is long and complicated, a series of symbols represents a an even longer series of symbols held in a lexicon, which is some super powerful thingie which can overheat and blow up and you can't be too far away from it. Not the most elegant magic system. The society is extremely divided - either you have magic stuff or work for people who have magic stuff and are rich, or you don't and you are poor. Merchant companies/corporations are bad, bad, bad.

The thing she steals is super valuable A talking key that is an artifact of an older, more powerful magic system and now everyone is after her, including the security chief of the facility she stole it from, who actually seems like a decent person. Instead of just arresting her, they team up to try to discover what is rotten in Denmark, find a couple more friends, blow up a bunch of stuff, etc.

I liked the characters and the plot. Unfortunately, I can't remember a single name. The magic system was clunky, the action was super powered and apparently the characters are not memorable. I could see where this style would lead to the much improved The Tainted Cup.

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Somewhat, see above.
Would I read it again? Probably not, but I will likely read the next one. Someday.
Would I recommend it? If you liked The Tainted Cup or A Drop of Corruption, but it isn't the same quality.

Worth Dying For by Lee Child
STTM: 5 - a lot of car driving
Rating: 5 out of 10

Reacher shows up in the middle of Nebraska and checks into a very strange space-themed motel. He quickly discovers that the people in the area (there's no town) are dominated by the Jones family - and they can be very violent. He's on his way to Virginia, just passing through, he says, far too frequently, which I guess is a cheap replacement for actually talking about what he's done lately or what he might want to do next.

On the surface, the Jones family ships the output of all of the local farms, so they have a monopoly on the livelihood of everyone and they enforce it by hiring former University of Nebraska football players as enforcers. As Reacher demonstrates over and over, just because they were good football players does not mean they are good at extreme violence. At least he doesn't kill them right away.

There's a dark secret that the Joneses are protecting and Reacher has to help the innocent victims in the area find out the current secret and the one from years back. As usual, Reacher is on the side of right, but the obliviousness of the authorities to his path of destruction while he pursues it is just too much.

Better than Persuader and this plot will probably show up in the TV series someday, but still not that great. Good reading if you just need to kill some time.

>161 Karlstar: "a lot of car driving" made me LOL. It definitely can be a slog.

>156 Karlstar: Boo on that employer! I hope she finds something soon and gets her car back!

edited: numbering

>160 Karlstar: I thought Founders was a relatively weak trilogy from Bennett. Have you read his The Divine Cities? It is, in my opinion, even better than The Ana & Din books, which I have also really enjoyed. I am reading Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence now and find that it shares DNA, (in a way), with The Divine Cities as both are urban fantasy with interesting gods-driven magic systems.

>163 ScoLgo: I haven't read The Divine Cities, but I do recall folks here mentioning it, now that you remind me. Maybe I'll switch over to those books.

>144 Karlstar: Nice review on The Soul of America! I read it some years ago, likely right when it came out.

I remember thinking how soothing Meacham is (I think most historians are), with his matter of fact, "we've seen this type of thing before" delivery.

Like you, I won't comment further than to say I don't know if he could have that same effect on me now. But - good book. Good review!

>144 Karlstar: Suddenly realised that I have a copy of this. I probably should dig it out and read it.

>166 haydninvienna: It's a doorstop.

>166 haydninvienna: You should! I think you would find his observations applicable.

>167 clamairy: LT says my edition is 416 pages, but I think there's at least 40 or 50 pages of notes.

>168 Karlstar: Interesting. My paper copy has 676 pages, and my Kindle copy has 686.

>169 clamairy: Mine is the trade paperback edition and I just checked, it has 400 pages - LT says 416. I don't see any sign that I have an abridged copy, if there even is such a thing.

>170 Karlstar: Is it itty bitty print? LOL Mine is also a trade paperback, and the Afterword is only 10 pages.

From Google: The page count for Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana ranges from roughly 670 to over 800 pages depending on the edition. This variation is driven entirely by formatting and binding choices rather than any cuts or additions to the text.

>171 clamairy: I think we are talking about different books? I thought Richard was referring to The Soul of America, which has 400 pages. My e-book copy of Tigana has 676 pages.

While talking to someone else about large books the other day I picked up Words of Radiance and checked, it has 1087 pages.

>172 Karlstar: I'm an idiot. I scrolled up and thought he was talking about Tigana.

>166 haydninvienna: >171 clamairy: >172 Karlstar: Is it rude of me to be laughing? Talk about a floor show...

>174 jillmwo: I was laughing, too. (Also shaking my head.) Most of my mistakes lately have been due to not proofreading my messages carefully enough before I hit post. This was a nice change of pace.

My turn to pull up a chair and grab a bag of popcorn.

>175 clamairy: That's usually my mistake! You actually made me go find The Soul of America to double-check the page count.

>174 jillmwo: Not at all! I'm still waiting for Richard to let us know what book he was actually referring to!

For those in the USA who watch TV - have you noticed the tremendous number of Morgan and Morgan commercials? If so, have you noticed the tag line at the end?

>177 Karlstar: I'm glad you checked your copy and verified that The Soul of America was, in fact, what was under discussion. Fun fact: my copy is a hardcover and the last chapter ends on page 262, but Meacham has an impressive Author's Notes section, followed by an equally impressive Bibliography and Index, all of which extends the page count to 402!

>178 Karlstar: I do watch some TV, but can't say I've noticed the tag line you're referencing here. Now you have me curious!

>160 Karlstar: I thought Foundryside was a big disappointment after the brilliance and originality of the Divine cities trilogy. It felt quite YA in some aspects, such as the made-up (and very annoying) curse words, but was also quite violent. It seemed like Bennett was trying to do a Brandon Sanderson with an unusual magic system, but he info-dumped so much about it, rather than showing us how it worked.

>163 ScoLgo: I agree with your comparison of the Craft sequence to Divine Cities. Both are among my favourite F/SF worlds.

>179 terriks: At the end of the Morgan and Morgan commercials, they say "For the people". That also happens to be how the Syndicate World leaders in Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series sign off their communications. Campbell makes it very clear that those leaders absolutely do not mean what they say in any way, as they are all about exploiting their workers. The Syndicate Worlds are a sort of capitalism gone wild with a strong dose of authoritarianism, the bad guys of the Alliance-Syndicate War.

I know it is a coincidence, but it just feels appropriate.

I think your page count on The Soul of America matches mine, all in all, it is actually not very long.

>180 Sakerfalcon: I think you folks have convinced me to switch over to Divine Cities, before continuing (if I do) with the Foundry series. They were quite violent, in an Avengers movie way.

>181 Karlstar: Appropo of absolutely nothing, I am so sorry to learn that you get those same dreadful Morgan & Morgan commercials up where you are. They're a sufficiently large law firm that I'd think they could afford to pay a decent spokesperson.

>183 jillmwo: They started a couple of months ago. We've always been inundated with lawyer commercials, but at least they were for 'local' law firms or ones with at least some connection with the area. M&M, not so much, so they bug me more than the others.

Today LT posted about JFK's legacy library: https://www.librarything.com/catalog/JohnFKennedy/yourlibrary

Our libraries only have 1 book in common.

>185 Karlstar: I've got 6, including Nabokov's Lolita.

I have 4, again including Lolita. I actually skimmed the list to see if there was anything by J K Galbraith. There was — The Liberal Hour.

>186 clamairy: >187 haydninvienna: Most of my history books are relatively recent, so there couldn't be any overlap. I checked his library to see if there were any books about the PT109, but didn't see any. I don't have any listed in my library now, but I've read several. I didn't actually expect there would be any, but I was curious.

I've read three of the six I share with JFK. It's a lot easier to post a screenshot than to try and cut and paste with all the other info that ends up mixed in.

I could have sworn I read A Bell for Adano, but there's no rating. It looks short so I'm going to have to remedy that.

>189 clamairy: I think I've read The Longest Day but I don't have it cataloged.

>190 Karlstar: Was it good?

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
STTM: 2 - all the action is in one village
Rating: 7 out of 10

I enjoyed this family murder mystery. Set in a small-ish village, everything essentially happens in one manor house. The narrator is a guest of the family, staying for a visit when the lady of the house dies overnight, while locked in her bedroom. The main suspect is her younger husband of just a few years, all evidence points to him. The narrator has of course met Poirot some years back, and the semi-retired Poirot is conveniently living in the nearby village!

When and how to solve the case become as important as finding the culprit.

Was it immersive: Yes, I enjoyed it.
Was it memorable? Somewhat. I don't remember names but I do remember the plot.
Would I read it again? Maybe?
Would I recommend it? To anyone who likes Christie mysteries.

I read three Bujold novels almost back to back, so these reviews will have a common thread.

Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold
STTM: 3 - there is travel, but not too much slogging
Rating: 7 out of 10

This is a short, but enjoyable fantasy novel, the first in a long series. In this series, Bujold returns to her World of the Five Gods, the same worlds as The Curse of Chalion, but quite some time afterwards.

Penric is the son of a minor lord, traveling to meet his bride to be, when he and his small party encounter what looks like an ill person on the road, not close to a town. Stopping to check on her condition, he is shocked when she dies and her demon passes on to him.

The rest of the book deals with how Penric handles this sudden change, the very mature/experienced demon and now that he is technically an untrained temple sorceror - what does the church do with him?

I like the setting and the characters and it was nice to see her magic system from the POV of the sorcerors. Something about her writing brings the characters and setting to life and makes them very immersive.

Was it immersive: Very much, I read this one quickly and moved right on to the next.
Was it memorable? Somewhat. I remember the character and situation, but not a whole lot happens.
Would I read it again? Possibly.
Would I recommend it? To anyone who likes well written, shorter fantasy novels.

I did finish Slaughterhouse Five, it certainly was memorable. I also finished The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (not what it sounds like at all) and The Gate of the Feral Gods, books three and four in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Carl still brings the mayhem and he's as determined as ever to get back at the alien universe that created this monstrosity.

Not sure what is next, I have a Early Reviewers book to read and there's another on the way.

>193 Karlstar:. You put it very nicely. Penric's Demon is quiet enjoyable for anyone who likes well written, shorter fantasy novels. I was working when I first encountered the series and the fact that the books were short -- readily finished over the course of a weekend -- was a major selling point for me.

>194 Karlstar:
Slaughterhouse Five is all the more poignant when you realise Vonnegut was a prisoner of war in Dresden under the allied bombing that triggered the fire storm.

>194 Karlstar:. In my mind, the bombing of Dresden is right up there with the bombing of Monte Cassino. One realizes why it was done, but it's still so sad that we lost those physical hallmarks of history.

>196 pgmcc: I've been to Dresden. The slaughterhouse building is still there, but it's a convention centre now. Tours were not offered when I was there, but apparently now are: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/slaughterhouse-five. Then there was a sign that told you little more than "Kurt Vonnegut was here".

>198 haydninvienna: I did not know that! Not sure it's a place to tour, but....that's a lot of history. The B&W photos from the website sure look bleak.

>194 Karlstar: I so love the Carl books! I started reading them in January and have gotten through four of them. I’ll be reading 5 soon. May have to buy it, though. My friend says the audio books are amazing. The narrative does exceptional voices, I guess. I may do a trial to Audible to listen to the first one; can’t find them anywhere else.

>195 jillmwo: Thank you. I did appreciate her succinct way of getting to the point with enough style to make the story come alive.

>196 pgmcc: >197 jillmwo: >198 haydninvienna: >199 terriks: It must have been difficult for him to have to relive such a tragedy in order to write the book.

>200 catzteach: I'm going to take a break before book 5, but I'll request it from the library soon. I'm interested to see where he's going to go with this, now that he's created the possibility for the crawlers to cause some difficulties for the corporations.

>202 Karlstar: Btw, the author Matt Dinniman recently announced that the series will wrap up with book #10 (#8 was recently released).

>203 karspeak: Good to know there's an end in sight!

I thought these editions may interest some folks here, if you don't already have them.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/196/puffin-in-bloom/

>205 Karlstar: Yowzer! Those look lovely, and I tapped on Pride and Prejudice and it's only $15 from Target. I will probably wait until I can hold one in my hands, but I might be upgrading some of my Austen. I think I only have Sense and Sensibility in a tiny paperback my mother-in-law sent me 35 years ago.

>206 clamairy: I was surprised at the prices. What's the catch?

While looking into those, I found an Everyman's Library edition of the first 3 Foundation novels in one volume, for only $20 at Walmart. That also seemed too reasonable.

>205 Karlstar: Aw, these look lovely! I haven't thought about Heidi in years, though I read it repeatedly as a kid. Same thing with The Secret Garden.

I think they're pretty enough to lure in some young adults.

That's an impressive lineup and price, to be sure.

>206 clamairy: You sound like me. :) I found my battered old pink paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice and realized I wanted to upgrade. And I tore through all my bookcases and can't find the equivalent paperback copy of Sense and Sensibility anywhere. One move too many...?

But I do have an excuse to upgrade!

>207 Karlstar: & >208 terriks: Perhaps the print is microscopic. I am definitely going to have to look at them in person before I decide. But my tongue was hanging out at the design on the edges...