Into the Forest discussion

Margaret wrote: "Oh, I also finished Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances...."

I really enjoyed that. I have always liked Gaiman's short fiction better than his novels for some reason, and this collection I thought was very good indeed.

Michele wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Oh, I also finished Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances...."

I really enjoyed that. I have always liked Gaiman's short fiction better than his novels ..."

I tend to prefer his shorter works too, both his short stories and his shorter novels--like Ocean at the End of the Lane, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.

Michele wrote: "I really enjoyed that. I have always liked Gaiman's short fiction better than his novels ..."

I've actually never read any of Gaiman's short stories. The only novel if his I really loved was The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I liked Stardust, but American Gods was meh for me.

Melanti wrote: "Awww, it's a fun book!
If it helps, it felt more like an alternate history rather ..."

I will definitely try it! Yes, the combination of it being in a "made up" place as well as the fact that it seems like it might be silly, made me reluctant!

I have another book from the library, Sister Mine. When I checked the reviews I saw that you had read it and liked it.
I've liked all Nalo Hopkinson books I've read up to now.

Jalilah wrote: "I have another book from the library, Sister Mine. When I checked the reviews I saw that you had read it and liked it. ..."

I've yet to meet a Hopkinson novel I didn't like.

Jalilah wrote: "I've actually never read any of Gaiman's short stories. The only novel if his I really loved was The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I liked Stardust, but American Gods was meh for me."

American Gods was meh for me as well, but I know so many people who consider it their favorite contemporary novel.

I started A Natural History of Dragons, and it's good! It's not too fantasy, more along the lines of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, except less dense and more fun (in my opinion. Wasn't a huge fan of Jonathan Strange).

Margaret wrote: "I forgot to mention that I also read Parable of the Sower this week--in two sittings! Thanks for recommending that one!

Michele, I've been having trouble with reading as well, given a..."

You might want to check out the music of Toshi Regan. She is working on a musical based on the novel. I was lucky enough to see the song run though last year. It is damn good. Her music outside of that is really good too.

Chris wrote: "You might want to check out the music of Toshi Regan. She is working on a musical based on the novel. I was lucky enough to see the song run though last year. It is damn good. Her music outside of that is really good too. "

Listened to a couple songs, and I like it. Thanks!

Welcome!

Goodreads just changed the settings again so that the discussion groups are no longer on my homepage! :(

Jalilah wrote: "Goodreads just changed the settings again so that the discussion groups are no longer on my homepage! :("

They did change the "Community" drop-down, though, so if we select "Discussions" there, we get the same, prior discussions format. It takes an extra step, though. I cared about the same thing. ..

Discussions are on their own page and it takes exra clicks and isn't very visible...

Whomever doesn't like it - make sure to take the survey and tell them so. The survey is very centered around the former discussions tab.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MWN8LVZ

My home page just changed too. I'll will like it once I get used to it, but sure is confusing for now.
I finished The Girl Who Chased the Moon. The characters didn't react to things in probable fashion IMO. When the secret was revealed, I was thinking "Really? They were ashamed of that? And people would have treated them badly for it?" Kinda makes the whole book fall apart for me.

I just started Son of the Shadows and, of course, Juliet Marillier does not disappoint. Many of you gave this book a great review.

Michele wrote: "...Now embarking on Ken Liu's short story collection The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. A friend pointed me to the title story when it was published in an SF anthology last year (?) and I was blown away by it, so am really excited to try more of his work. "

I read the title story, The Paper Menagerie, online at the link below and enjoyed it so much I bought the collection where it sits on my growing to-read list.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5958919/read-k...

Jalilah wrote: "I have another book from the library, Sister Mine. When I checked the reviews I saw that you had read it and liked it. "

I am considering reading this for the "Africa" item on the challenge list, so I look forward to your review. My library does not have it, so I would have to order it through ILL, so the question is whether I want to bother with that or just read something Egyptian from my own collection.

And I am one of those folks who adores American Gods -- I have not liked anything else Gaiman has written as much, and I've read a fair amount (Anansi Boys, Coraline, Stardust, The Graveyard Book, and M Is for Magic).

Carol wrote: "Jalilah wrote: ".They did change the "Community" drop-down, though, so if we select "Discussions" there, we get the same, prior discussions format. It takes an extra step, though. I cared about the same thing"

Oh okay, thanks! At least I can find it now, but I agree it's not going to be easy for new people to find the discussion groups.

Leann wrote: "I finished The Girl Who Chased the Moon. The characters didn't react to things ..."

I have a copy of that, but haven't read it yet. I'll have to keep an eye ot to see if it strikes me the same way.

Jalilah wrote: ", but I agree it's not going to be easy for new people to find the discussion groups. ..."

When I took the survey, there's a "further comments" box at the very end - and I brought up the same thing - that lack of visibility to groups might me an a decline in group activity long term as new users never realize that there's groups at all.

Melanti wrote: " that lack of visibility to groups might me an a decline in group activity long term as new users never realize that there's groups at all..."

Not only new users won't realize that there are discussion groups, but possibly people who are in the groups but are less internet savvy might not be able to find them. Honestly until Carol mentioned it I wouldn't have thought to look under "Community" !

It could be worse! It was hidden under "profile" during the beta test!

"Community" is an improvement.

Melanti wrote: "It could be worse! It was hidden under "profile" during the beta test!

"Community" is an improvement."

I never found it during the beta testing! I'm trying to be happy about something since the user experience of this landing page is so unremittingly subpar. Why I would need 30% of my screen allocated to books I am currently reading, my own year-long challenge and a list of my own shelves is beyond me.

Carol gets credit for mentioning that 'Discussions' are under 'Community'. She led me there. :)

Carol wrote: "I never found it during the beta testing! I'm trying to be happy about some..."

I found it then only cause I looked in the official feedback forum where their rep kept acting baffled that no one liked the stand-alone discussion page because they didn't change a thing on that page. Well, no... They didn't change it... but no one complained because no one used it!

Even now, if you look in their announcement about the home page, they couch the missing discussions as "good news! You can access the discussion page from any page now, not just the homepage!" Which is so dumb. The discussion page used to BE the homepage!

I find the official feedback forum and Goodreads staff in general rather infuriating. They're just so oblivious and do not listen to what people want at all! (Which is why I keep telling peole to take the survey... Maybe they'll listen to numbers more than they'll listen to rants in the feedback forum.)



Oh well.
Back to what we're reading... I needed something mindless today and picked up A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans which is a bit too mindless for my tastes. The plot, such as it is, is only now starting at the halfway point.

Sure, it's a middle grade level book, (9-10 yr olds is my guess) and kids would probably like it better than I do, but I expected a more...

It does talk about Eastern vs Western conceptions of dragons, though, and Miss Drake is more in the Eastern style.

Lacey wrote: " I am considering reading this for the "Africa" item on the challenge list, so I look forward to your review. My library does not have it, so I would have to order it through ILL, so the question is whether I want to bother with that or just read something Egyptian from my own collection.."

I don't know to what extent Sister Mine has African folklore or mythology in it. Nalo Hopkinson is born in Jamaica. Her other novels have a strong Caribbean influence in them, which obviously a lot originates in Africa. I will let you know! I'll be reading it this month.

Leann wrote: ". finished The Girl Who Chased the Moon. The characters didn't react to things in probable fashion IMO. When the secret was revealed, I was thinking "Really? They were ashamed of that? And people would have treated them badly for it?" Kinda makes the whole book fall apart for me.."

Although I enjoyed The Girl Who Chased the Moon, it was definitely not one of her more memorable books. I think I reacted as you did Leann.
I loved Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen.
I see Sarah Addison Allen has written 2 more books I have not read yet Lost Lake and First Frost. I will have to check them out! I like to read her books when I am on vacation, ideally on a beach!

Leann wrote: "Carol gets credit for mentioning that 'Discussions' are under 'Community'. She led me there. :)"

Yeah, I realized afterwards it was Carol and edited my comment!

First Frost has such a lovely cover and will hopefully be a winner of a story. I loved Garden Spells. Lost Lake was an enjoyable easy read.

Jalilah wrote: "I don't know to what extent Sister Mine has African folklore or mythology in it. ..."

Unfortunately, I don't remember either! Caribbean influenced - certainly! African? I just don't recall.

Jalilah wrote: "I see Sarah Addison Allen has written 2 more books I have not read yet Lost Lake and First Frost. ..."

I've read Lost Lake and really enjoyed it! It was just a tad bit meatier and substantial than Sugar Queen. Allen is a great one to save for vacations. I ended up reading Lost Lake at a lake inhabited by alligators. It was a great place to read it.

Leann wrote: "First Frost will hopefully be a winner. I loved Garden Spells. Lost Lake was an enjoyable easy read."

I probably would have liked Garden Spells better if I hadn't already read Practical Magic.

Melanti wrote, "I probably would have liked Garden Spells better if I hadn't already read Practical Magic."

Lucky for me I read Practical Magic long before Garden Spells, otherwise I might not have liked the second one at all. Alice Hoffman is at the top of my favorite authors list.

Melanti wrote: "I ended up reading Lost Lake at a lake inhabited by alligators. It was a great place to read it."

Location, location, location! That sounds magical.

Sister Mine is more Canadian than African, imo.

For an African setting and characters, I recommend Lagoon and Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. The first novel is set in Lagos, Nigeria and I'm not saying the setting of the second novella, because spoilers. Or Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, which is set in South Africa.

I don't remember any mythical/folkloric content in Zoo City

Leann wrote: "Location, location, location! That sounds magical."

I always seem to end up re-reading The Stand in July and August (same time in the book as when the initial plague hits). It's a little unnerving :)

Melanti, remember the main character's sloth, and other people's other animals in Zoo City?

Yes, but I don't remember anything folkloric, etc about them...

Michele wrote: "Leann wrote: "Location, location, location! That sounds magical."

I always seem to end up re-reading The Stand in July and August (same time in the book as when the initial plague hi..."

I bet it is unnerving!

Michele wrote: "I always seem to end up re-reading The Stand in July and August (same time in the book as when the initial plague hi..."

I can imagine!

Leann wrote: "Melanti wrote: "I ended up reading Lost Lake at a lake inhabited by alligators. It was a great place to read it."

Location, location, location! That sounds magical."

Lol! Sounds scary to me! I guess there is no swimming in the lake.....

Because I live in Canada I can't stand reading books that take place in the snow and cold in the summer. Our summers are short , so it seems like reading about snow would make them even shorter! I've ordered The Lost Lake for when I go to Lake Ontario later this month.

Jalilah wrote: "Lol! Sounds scary to me! I guess there is no swimming in the lake..."

Nope! No swimming, wading, boating, fishing from the shore, nothing. You can't so much as dip your pinky toe in the water.

That doesn't keep you entirely away from the alligators, though. The trails are right next to the water's edge. There's anywhere from 3"-10" of shore, and they like to sun themselves up on the edge of the trail. Luckily, the trails are relatively wide and the alligators are used to people walking by, so you can still get through on the opposite side of the trail... Unless it's laying right across the whole trail. In that case, you either have to wait for it to move or turn around and go back the way you came.

It's a really fun place to camp!
(No, there are no alligators in the campground portion of the park.)

If you can get past the cheesy intro, this video shows some of the scenery - including how close to the trail the alligators like to lie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Odwq...
(The hissing noise you hear from the alligator around the 4:30 mark is a sign that someone got too close to the alligator and it is NOT happy... I dunno if they were getting really close to get better footage or what, but when you hear that hiss, it's time to back off. I've never once heard that in person - not even when the dumb tourist decided to try to PET one...)

Jalilah wrote: "I've ordered The Lost Lake for when I go to Lake Ontario later this month."

I hope you enjoy the book and the trip!

Melanti wrote: "Nope! No swimming, wading, boating, fishing from the shore, nothing. You can't so much as dip your pinky toe..."

Okay that does seem a bit scary, but pretty too. We camped at Chicot State Park in Louisiana several years in a row. One year we spotted an alligator in the water by our site. I took loads of pictures, and kept our dogs away from the water. It looked so slow and benign in person though. Deceptive!

reply | flag *

Leann wrote: "It looked so slow and benign in person though. Deceptive!..."

Very! They're typically pretty slow when they're out of the water but they can move really fast when they have a reason to. A couple of years ago, I was walking past a gator that was lying with it's head up on the trail and when I was directly even with its line of sight, it lunged up out of the water, straight at me.

I screamed and started running, and when I looked back, I realized that there was another gator attacking it, and it hadn't been lunging at me, it'd been lunging to get its tail out of the other gator's reach. For a couple of seconds, I was really scared, though!

Melanti wrote: "If you can get past the cheesy intro, this video shows some of the scenery - including how close to the trail the alligators like to lie..."

Very cool! I went to college in Texas, and I had no idea this place was there. Wish I'd known!

Melanti wrote: " screamed and started running, and when I looked back, I realized that there was another gator attacking it, and it hadn't been lunging at me, it'd been lunging to get its tail out of the other gator's reach. For a couple of seconds, I was really scared, though! ."

Wow! That would've made me paranoid for a while!

Melanti wrote: "It's a really fun place to camp!
(No, there are no alligators in the campground portion of the park.)

If you can get past the cheesy intro, this video shows some of the scenery - including how close to the trail the alligators like to lie."

Okay, I want to go to this park now! Next time I'm in TX... :)

St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge in Florida is the only similar experience I've had--lots of gators! And lots of birds too.

Margaret wrote: "Melanti wrote: " screamed and started running, and when I looked back, I realized that there was another gator..."

Oh, yikes!

Now I'm even more anxious for a vacation, maybe not with alligators this time. :)

Melanti wrote: "Nope! No swimming, wading, boating, fishing from the shore, nothing. You can't so much as dip your pinky toe i..."
If you can get past the cheesy intro, this video shows some of the scenery - including how close to the trail the alligators like to lie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Odwq...

It looks pretty amazing, but I don't think it would be a place I'd stay for a vacation. I'd be too nervous!

Finally to help me decide I read a chapter each of A Natural History of Dragons and The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story, but ended up not being able to put down the later. It was so good!
I'll try Natural History of Dragons again. Yes, as Margaret mentioned it does have a similar feeling to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Unfortunately for me that's not good, as I am one of the very few people who actually didn't like that book! But I'll give it another shot tonight. If not, I've got Sister Mine

Let me know everyone, when you want to read Roofwalker. I'd have to order it.

I'll have to check out The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story!

Maybe Roofwalker could be a September read? I have a copy.

I'm a little more than halfway finished with A Natural History of Dragons, so I could be ready to read Roofwalker this weekend, or I can wait until September, or later in August. Since I loved both Sacred Wilderness and The Grass Dancer so much, I decided to buy Roofwalker.

Jalilah wrote: "Let me know everyone, when you want to read Roofwalker. I'd have to Oder it. ..."

Anytime!
I don't have any set reading plans for the near future.

Oh, I've always thought I would read A Suitable Boy! Time to put it into a challenge to read.

Kathy wrote: "Oh, I've always thought I would read A Suitable Boy! Time to put it into a challenge to read."

Katie wrote: "Funnily enough, I tried to set up a set reading list for myself, based on what's on my shelves, but I find my reading moods won't let me be so strict - I have to just read what I'm in the mood for...."

I Loved A Suitable Boy! It was one of those books that lingered with me long after I finished it.

Katie wrote: "Funnily enough, I tried to set up a set reading list for myself, based on what's on my shelves, but I find my reading moods won't let me be so strict - I have to just read what I'm in the mood for...."

I tell myself that's why I NEED to have such a big TBR pile - so that I can pick from it as the mood strikes me. But really, I'm just trying to justify my lack of willpower.

I know some people around here plan out their reading months in advance, but I can't do that. I just try to keep group and buddy reads in mind during those periods and make sure I don't get so many of those planned that I don't have time to read other books too.

Kathy wrote: "Oh, I've always thought I would read A Suitable Boy! Time to put it into a challenge to read."

I've been wanting to read that since Jalilah mentioned it a couple of years ago. But it's so long and there's neither a Kindle version nor an Audiobook! (I'm so spoiled.)

Katie wrote: "Funnily enough, I tried to set up a set reading list for myself, based on what's on my shelves, but I find my reading moods won't let me be so strict - I have to just read what I'm in the mood for...."

That's why I can only participate in one group. I tried multiple groups, but I need more freedom over my reading choices!

I'll fourth Suitable Boy. I will say that I got the edition where it was split into more than one book, and I think that is the way to go with that book.