Flights of Fantasy discussion

I started Stitching Snow this morning. Not very far in, but it opens with a female MMA-kinda fighter fighting a big dude and kicking his ass, so good so far. ;)

I love true crime, Beth. That one is on my TBR and I'm looking forward to reading it. :) The hubs and I also listened to the Catch and Kill podcast (well, the first several episodes anyway) and I really enjoyed it, so I'll have to pick up the book soon.

Otherwise, IF I EVER GET AROUND TO REVIEWING MY LAST BOOK, then I would feel like I could report that I'm reading Foundation, even though I have barely officially started it and keep not reading anything at all mostly.

Awesome.

I finished up Foundation and Pears and Perils this weekend.

Read a couple of shitty romances. IDK what's next.

Becky wrote: "I love true crime, Beth. That one is on my TBR and I'm looking forward to reading it. :) The hubs and I also listened to the Catch and Kill podcast (well, the first several episodes anyway) and I r..."

I first learned about Jensen's book through "My Favorite Murder," which I listen to off and on, and which has pretty much been my only true crime so far, aside from a couple of library books I read years ago. At this point I have no recollection who first introduced it to me. Karen Kilgariff, one of two women who run MFM, wrote the foreword for Chase Darkness With Me. I'll be sure to write up a review once I'm done!

Beth wrote: "Becky wrote: "I love true crime, Beth. That one is on my TBR and I'm looking forward to reading it. :) The hubs and I also listened to the Catch and Kill podcast (well, the first several episodes a..."

Ooh, well I could give you some recs of good ones if you want, and I would always be down for a buddy read! :D

Buddy read-ar activated! :D Sure, I'd love some recs. Are you saying a BR for this one, or another true crime?

Beth wrote: "Buddy read-ar activated! :D Sure, I'd love some recs. Are you saying a BR for this one, or another true crime?"

Another one, since you've already started that one and I've got the group read to finish (theoretically).

I already own A Killer Among Us: A True Story of Murder and Justice, but if you have another in mind, I can try to snag it from the library. :)

AND - we can do the BR whenever you want, if back to back true crime is a lot to take. LOL

I really only got into true crime in the last few years, but I think I really like the genre. (I like crime/thrillers in general though, too, so I'm down for those if you want to go fiction and not live in the real world a while lol.)

Some potential recs (and some caveats) - hidden behind spoiler tag so as to not derail the thread overmuch: (view spoiler)[
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - 3 stars BUT that's mostly because I think Non-fic writing is not John Grisham's forte. It's passable, but not up to his fiction level. The story that it tells is 5 star-worthy, though, for bringing to light how messed up our justice system can be, especially in small towns.

The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story - 3 stars. It's a really interesting and informative look at Ted Bundy, but I felt that Ann Rule's own relationship and friendship with Bundy was hard to reconcile, for me.

In Cold Blood - 4 stars. This is an oldie but a goodie. It's REALLY fascinating.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - 4 stars. This was fantastic and well-written, and my only regret was that McNamara passed away before she could conclude it. :( (hide spoiler)]

Nicki wrote: "I am now back to the novels with The Shadow of the Wind, which is riveting and beautifully written."

Isn't it though?

I'm currently reading a bunch of stuff not shown on my currently reading shelf. Yay for travel and indecision (and boredom)!

I still need to review the audiobook of Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, which I have put off for a FREAKING long time. :( Not even sure why.

Then I'm working on Foundation... Meh. I got bored/annoyed with it on my last flight so I picked up Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which I have had on my priority reads list for long enough that "priority" lost all meaning... But I got to a part that made me cry, so I had to set it aside so as to not be ugly crying on the plane and freaking out my seatmate.

I'm also listening to Not a Diet Book: The Must-Have Fitness Book From the World's Favourite Personal Trainer. Which I am really liking.

Been reading a bunch of comicbooks recently due to comixology and the Irredeemable Series is really good. I'm on Irredeemable, Vol. 3. I realized that I hadn't been reading any recently so I gotta catch up. Still need to finish Watchmen and Preludes & Nocturnes.

Having finished the YA spy thriller, Tracker Hacker, I'm now reading reading Wonder.

Oh apparently I moved on to a whole new bunch of things without updating here!

I finished Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power last night, which I really enjoyed. I'll write a review for it later.

I'm also listening to The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

And up next I have:
Women Talking
Grendel - been on my To Get To mental list forever, and I'm finally getting to it.
And then the BOTM Walking to Aldebaran

I finished Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power last ..."

That one looks really interesting! I've had Doyle's Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, and Fear... and Why on TBR for a while, too.

I've read a number of pages this month but didn't finish anything. DNF after DNF. Going to call February a wash and start fresh with a couple of group reads/BRs next month.

Currently reading This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab. Interesting so far. Sort of post-dystopian with kind of interesting take on monsters like sort-of-vampires.

Definitely on the more YA side of her books... and she really need to finish The Returned. (I know it's a publisher thing, apparently, but, like, she's written enough books now she could get crowd funding to finish that damn trilogy...)


ETA: Ok, so, apparently, it's a rights issue and she has to wait for the rights to revert for her before she can personally release the third book since the publisher decided not to. Assholes.

Read Paladin's Grace yesterday. Romance/Fantasy. I'd read and really enjoyed Swordheart which is set in the same world. This entry wasn't as good. I like the authors style, this story just a little too meh.

Decent enough for 3 stars.

Heart of the Ocean by Heather B. Moore in PDF form

I finished The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - 5 stars, highly recommended

Still reading Women Talking and having to take it slow because OMG FUCKING RAGE.

Somwhere around 2/3 done with Words of Radiance. This is my first read of the Stormlight Archive and I am in love with this series.

Started reading I Am Number Four a couple of days ago and am liking it so far. Had finished reading Wonder just beforehand - a five-star read for me! Also read the short story, Eight O'Clock in the Morning, yesterday as a stand alone publication online (3 stars - it reminded me of a Philip K. Dick story).

My planned audio BR was delayed slightly, so after finishing The Warden I've started on Children of Time. I always expect SF to be difficult to understand--let's just say science isn't a strength--but no problems here. So far, so fun.

I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman for the first time at the moment. My assessment so far - it's a strange old book, isn't it?

Katherine wrote: "I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman for the first time at the moment. My assessment so far - it's a strange old book, isn't it?"

It is. I hope you love it though. I did! It was one of those books for me that, when I got to the end, and saw the whole picture, I wanted to turn right back around and read it from the start again. :D

I finally finished a book the other day - First Class Murder. Took my 2 weeks to get through an MG book. :-/

Haven't started another book, yet. Been doing more shows and movies lately, but the next book slated is The Palace Job.

Wow... it's been a bit since I've updated here. Like many others, I'm not having a lot of luck with the whole "reading" thing. I'm too easily distracted these days. But I can do audiobooks, which is what I've been mostly doing lately.

Since my last update:
- Finished Women Talking - 1 star. (3/10/20)
- Read The Closers, Bosch Universe #14 - 3 stars (3/13/20)
- Listened to The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine - 5 stars (3/14/20)
- Listened to How to Stop Feeling Like Shit - 4 stars (3/15/20)
- Listened to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI - 5 stars (3/21/20)
- Listened to The Yiddish Policemen's Union - 3 stars (3/30/20). This one I also partially read along with, since I'm unfamiliar with Yiddish and there was a lot of it. But I listened primarily.
- Listened to People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo--and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up - Finished today, Review to come.

Currently listening to Funny, You Don't Look Autistic: A Comedian's Guide to Life on the Spectrum

Next up is a book I'm gonna read WITH MY EYES(!) for my HF group, since I committed to reading it. The Paris Architect

I’m almost done with The Fisherman which is so good and scaring me to death.

Are we going to do a group read for May?

Felina wrote: "Are we going to do a group read for May?"

Um...

Wanna read Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula with me?

I read a few pages last night! First time in awhile. So excited!

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Felina wrote: "Are we going to do a group read for May?"

Um...

Wanna read Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula with me?"

Sure. Let me see if I can find it.

Found it. ‘A more erotic version of Dracula’ ummm yes please.

w00t!

Felina - I'm going to try and start Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula tomorrow.

I current have nine books on my "currently reading" but I'm not removing a single one until I finish something, dang it. I don't care if there are 50 books there before it happens! Stupid international crisis brain.

Most recent additions are: Gideon the Ninth, Pyramids and A Curious Beginning.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Felina - I'm going to try and start Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula tomorrow."

I got it on my kindle. I’m like 5 pages in and I haven’t made much progress since I started back to full time, unfortunately. :(

Felina wrote: "I got it on my kindle. I’m like 5 pages in and I haven’t made much progress since I started back to full time, unfortunately. :("


I've been progressing very slowly.

The first several chapters were kinda boring, imo, and I was questioning the whole "Dracula, but more exciting" description.

It has picked up some recently, and gotten kind of weird, like, I'm trying to remember the original story and I'm like, "I'm fairly certain this is an entirely new addition to the story"...

I'm STILL with Harker and Dracula in the castle, though, so it hasn't really even gotten to the good parts... (Also wondering why they changed the names - Wilma instead of Wilhelmina (Mina)? It makes me stumble, because every time I come across one of these names changes my mind reads it but then substitutes the correct name.)

Felina - I'm gonna recommend not bothering. I finished this last night, and the best thing I can say about it is it's short... :-/

Most of the book is Harker at the castle. After that, it literally reads more like a synopsis of a story instead of a story.

The blurb completely oversells this. I mean, completely. I'm tempted to give it 1-star, it was sooo oversold, but I'll probably give it 2 out of apathy.

(Caveat, my reading hasn't been great in general of late what with the whole stress crisis depression thing, so... there's that. But, honestly, this was so disappointing.)

Actually, fuck it. 1 star it is.

Oh good to know.

Well, I’m going to walk away then. I wasn’t far at all but I trust your judgement.

Apparently today is World Dracula Day, and the 120th anniversary of the publication of Dracula.

Somewhat fitting, I suppose, that I read that Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula recently.

Maybe tonight I'll watch something Dracula related. The question is - do I go Coppola, or do I start a rewatch of the weird BBC series?

The Hollow by Nora Roberts in paperback
Magic and spells, demons and angels are not my usual genre, but Nora Roberts is the best of bringing this to me in a fantastic way. Book 2 of the trilogy. It brings together Fox, Gage and Caleb for the seven days of madness every 7 years at Hawkins Hollow. The evil storm is beginning to rage. This year they feel better prepared to final kill and finish the demon and return the Pagan Stone to one. Layla, Quinn and Cybil are somehow connected to the demon and each have a special gift. This is a story about the relationships of all of them. So more romantic than others. Layla is apprehensive of her gift. There is sexy romance, so much suspense, mystery and intrigue in this book. I so loved the bantering and teasing between the characters. This book kept me on the edge of my seat through the entire time. The creepiness of this story just gets better and better with every page. I would give this way more than five stars for review if I could. I can't wait to read the next one. BRAVO!! BRAVO!!

A Closer Look at Islam by Syed B Ali. I won it in a giveaway a while ago and I had a hard disagree with the author within a few pages (he was essentially excusing marital rape). I'm choosing to continue it because I want to give the book a complete and honest review and can't do that if I don't finish it. I am currently more active on The Storygraph rather than Goodreads if anyone wants to follow me there. The site is beta.thestorygraph.com.

My Storygraph: https://beta.thestorygraph.com/profil...

Currently reading The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams, and To Sleep in a Sea of Stars byChristopher Paolini. Despite liking them both, I seem to be taking forever to finish them! Just not a great week for reading.

I'm currently reading As Old As Time - a Disney twisted tale: "what if Belle's mother cursed the Beast".

It's interesting, but the writing's kinda bland, and it's taking me a really long time to get through it...

Then again, it could just be quaratine brain. *shrug*

I finished 'Old as Time' last night. I did like some of the twists the 'what if' idea presented, but the sort of seemed to sacrifice side characters to focus on those slight changes to the Beauty and Beast stories.

I'll read more in the series, though, and see how it goes. I wish they were written by different people, though.

***

I'm continuing Irregulars. I liked the first two stories well enough, but completely stalled on the third and thought about dumping the whole thing.

But I read some reviews which all agreed that the third was, by far, the worst, but the fourth was the best - so I skipped the third and moved onto the fourt (and last) story in the anthalogy, and I'm not very far in but it's already captured my attention WAY more than the third did after more pages.

I got more of the Twisted Tales books for Xmas. Read Once Upon a Dream and liked it better than the first.

Now reading A Whole New World.

Also finished The Library of the Unwritten on NYE. It's about a Library in Hell full of unwritten books that sometimes come to life. Not great, but a good idea and decent read. I liked the characters.

Those twisted tales look fun. That Library one does sounds really interesting. It’s always sad when a great idea goes to waste with average or bad writing or a failure in direction.

I remember about 10 years ago I was in a RL book club and a woman who had only attended once and never again told me a book premise she came up with that was so good it gave me goosebumps. I don’t know her name and I never saw her again but I want to read that book so bad.

I hope you have a dream or something where you remember her name!

I don’t think I ever knew it.

Oh, well, then maybe she'll become famous and you'll recognize her... :-/

That’s my hope.

Haven't posted in a while (sorry). Currently juggling three YA novels - The Outsiders, Chase: The Boy Who Hid (which I got free from the author), and Tales From Foster High - and I'm enjoying all of them so far.

One of the best books (5-star reads) I enjoyed last year was
Nightflyers and Other Stories, which I recently reviewed on Medium.

Two other 5-star reads last year were more traditional fantasy novels - Black Wolf and White Wolf. I'll be reading more books by David Gemmell and Dave Gross in the future.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Also finished The Library of the Unwritten on NYE. It's about a Library in Hell full of unwritten books that sometimes come to life. Not great, but a good idea and decent read. I liked the characters."

This looks interesting so I'll keep an eye out for it.