Flights of Fantasy discussion

No worries. :)

I recently read The Book of Life - finale to the All Souls trilogy. While I found the book somewhat anti-climactic, I'm looking forward to the TV shows adaptation of it, having found the show better than the books in general.

I'm now reading Siege and Storm - book 2 of the Shadow and Bone trilogy. This is a reread for me, as I recently learned that this is also being turned into a show. (Here's hoping it's another example of the show being better. I mean, the trilogy is ok but definitely has it's issues...)

Since my last post, I finished reading Tales From Foster High, which I loved - gave it 5 stars! I also finished Chase: The Boy Who Hid, which was a three-star sci-fi read for me. In addition, I read a couple of downloadable MG fantasy short stories - Journey of Soul: The Beginning by Kyle Jantjies, a young undergraduate writer from South Africa (3.5 stars rounded up to 4), and The Grandfather Clock by Phyllis Wheeler, another three-star read. Will now focus on more adult reading for a bit, starting with Gary Gibson's Our Lady of Holy Death.

Sounds like you've had some decent luck. :)

Since my last update:

Finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy reread, in prep for the TV show. This trilogy is such a "good potential, meh writing" series, so I'm so hoping the show actually improves on it.


The Will and the Wilds - 4-stars, but on my guilty-pleasures shelf, because I probably shouldn't like it as much as I did. I'm a sucker for dark, brooding bad guys who become reformed love interests, even though I know it's so bad for me.


The House in the Cerulean Sea - was recommended in a book group I'm in, and was not what I was expecting. Based on the cover, I was expecting something geared much younger than it was. It dealt with prejudice and bigotry - but lacked subtlety and ended up being pretty anvilicious with weird monologues that would never happen in real life. BUT I LOVED the romance/ boring guy meets wild family and becomes a better person because of it aspect. (Kind of a Manic Pixie Dream Person vibe, with a gay couple.)

I think I'll check out The House in the Cerulean Sea when I get a chance, Colleen. The Shadow and Bone trilogy looks interesting too.

Since my last post, I've read Our Lady of Holy Death (action/horror, 4 stars), Then There's You (YA LGBT romance - also 4 stars), and a middle grade short-story Roswell Incident (sci-fi, another 4 stars). I seem to be on a roll with 4-star reads! I'll certainly be reading more by Gary Gibson and F. N. Manning, maybe also D. Robert Pease! I also zipped through a comic - Free Comic Book Day 2019 Stranger Things - which was colourful but not great story-wise (2 stars). It was a free read at least.

Currently, reading a fantasy/historical/LGBT novel - Deathspell - and I'm enjoying it so far.

Recent reads:

Lion Knight saga: The Knights of the Brotherhood by C.A. Tedeschi

This is a solid self-published action/adventure fantasy with a Conan kinda feel to it. Started a little slow, what with the world-building, but by the end its wall-to-wall sex and violence.
- - -
You're all familiar with CS Lewis on some level, so I won't go into it much, but I've started the Narnia Chronicles with

It was fine. But let's face it, I'm about 40 years too old for this book.
- - -
After reading a couple of the Drizzt books at random, I wanted to begin the series at the beginning, so I recently read and enjoyed R.A. Salvatore's Homeland

Looking forward to reading more.

A year or so ago we started to do a Narnia read as a group(ish) thing, and I got through the first few books but never finished. I don't think it's because they're MG - I read a lot of books written for younger audiences - but I just didn't love them, and the allegory is at least some of the reason. Felt it was a bit too heavy-handed in places...

***

Speaking of, I recently finished A Tale of Magic.... Another MG book that just didn't work for me. A lot of telling vs showing, "She was very brave" kind of stuff... and no subtlety. Definitely spelling out the moral lesson in big letters - metaphorically speaking.


I also recently read Shakespeare for Squirrels, a decidedly not MG book. A continuation of the bawdy Shakespeare reimaginings with Moore's lewd Fool, Pocket - this time turning Midsummer Night's Dream into a murder mystery. It was alright, but lacked some of the wit of prior installments.


Now I'm reading The Archive of the Forgotten - Book Two of Hell's Library. Not very far in, yet, so not sure what I think of it.

Jason wrote: "Recent reads:
You're all familiar with CS Lewis on some level, so I won't go into it much, but I've started the Narnia Chronicles with
The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6) by C.S. Lewis
It was fine. But let's face it, I'm about 40 years too old for this book."

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "A year or so ago we started to do a Narnia read as a group(ish) thing, and I got through the first few books but never finished. I don't think it's because they're MG - I read a lot of books written for younger audiences - but I just didn't love them, and the allegory is at least some of the reason. Felt it was a bit too heavy-handed in places..."

I enjoyed reading the Narnia Chronicles as a kid but the Christian allegory would annoy me now as well. I enjoy reading YA and some MG books/stories but I think I'll just be disappointed if I return to books I read so long ago and tarnish the "feel good" memories I have of them. In general terms, I think a lot of kids' books written in the last twenty to thirty years are more secular and not as overtly didactic as many of their predecessors. They are also not overly burdened with moral messages, and tend now to appeal to a more diverse audience - all good things IMO.

Jason wrote: "After reading a couple of the Drizzt books at random, I wanted to begin the series at the beginning, so I recently read and enjoyed R.A. Salvatore's Homeland..."

I've read only one Drizzt book so far (!) - The Crystal Shard - and that was 15 years ago! I think it's the first written novel in which Drizzt appears though it's now the 4th book in The Legend Drizzt series. Although it was a 3-star read for me, I wouldn't mind reading a bit more about the dark elf.

Colleen - Yep, I think you've hit the nail on the head there. I think a younger me wouldn't have minded/noticed the heavy-handedness.

Greg - Yes, The Crystal Shard is now the 4th book in the Drizzt series. I'm also currently reading D&D's Out of the Abyss, which takes place almost entirely in the Underdark, so that's also a reason for my recent interest in the Drizzt books.

I recently finished The Archive of the Forgotten - book 2 in Hell's Library. There was a lot in this book about 'what is a story' and how stories have souls because they're not just paper and ink, but each have a small sliver of the soul of their author. I couldn't help but feel it was a little, um, indulgent, we'll say, on the part of the author of the book to wax on about it, but I also kinda get it.

My biggest gripe with the book, really, was that there was so much, "people refuse to talk to each other and so cause more problems" trope that annoys me.

Still, gave it 3-stars overall.

***

Next up is King of Scars, another Grishaverse book about one of my favorite secondary characters from the Grisha trilogy. I was gonna start is last night, but got sidetracked by doing my nails. *sparkly*

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: ""people refuse to talk to each other and so cause more problems" trope..."

This is the worst. Misunderstandings happen all the time and are a part of life, but when there's ample opportunity for characters to relay info, and no good reason for them not to (other than that it makes plotting way easier on the author), and THEY DON'T TALK...oh sweet baby jesus, does that ever annoy me.

I recently finished two 2-star books:

King of Scars is a spin-off/continuation of the Grisha trilogy which was, itself, a mixed bag. But this book was ostensibly about Nikolai, but favorite character of the original trilogy, so I had, well, not high hopes but, like, I expected not to be bored for most of the book... It's a duology, so I guess I'll read the finale, just to finish it, but, damn, the ending pissed me off so bad. I was telling my husband and he was like, "why did you give it 2 stars instead of 1?" I don't even know... I'm being generous in my old age...

City of Villains. I saw this one in Target and was drawn to the cover. I mean . But I was expecting a noir type story set in fairy-tale land, not a story set in our world with a random magic piece called the Scar. It was just... it says it's a sort of origin story, but it totally takes the characters out of the context of any semblance of their stories and makes them fucking high school kids. And annoying ones at that.

Anyway -

I was lamenting to hubs about my lack of luck in the book department lately, and he told me it was my fault 'cause I picked them to read. HAHAHAHAHA!

He's dead now...

Meanwhile, I haven't picked up another book and am making an amigurumi Grogu (Baby Yoda) instead.

I'll be your alibi. No worries. Just tell me where and when you weren't, and I got you. :P

I've been reading a ton of nonfiction lately, and so have had not much to report here. I listened to The Song of Achilles last month, which I really loved, and DNF'd IT for being a fat-shaming bitch back in February...

I'm GOING to be reading Andy Weir's new book soon, maybe tonight or tomorrow, and here's hoping that it is more Ares than Artemis. Or more Mars, less Diana if you wanna go Roman style. :P

Becky wrote: "I'll be your alibi. No worries. Just tell me where and when you weren't, and I got you. :P"

:D

"and DNF'd IT for being a fat-shaming bitch back in February..."

I haven't read IT, but I heard that there's a lot to not like about it.

Speaking of fat-shaming, I recently watched Fate: The Winx Saga. I never watched the original cartoon, and I kinda liked the show, despite it being CWy, but the fat -shaming bugged me. I mean, on the plus side, it was at least presented as a bad thing, but, on the other side, there's literally one plus sized person in the entire school just so that they can be a target of ridicule? Like, what?

Ugh.

"I'm GOING to be reading Andy Weir's new book soon, maybe tonight or tomorrow, and here's hoping that it is more Ares than Artemis. Or more Mars, less Diana if you wanna go Roman style. :P"

I don't know what any of these means, but trust other people might... :-/

LOL I mean that I loved The Martian by Andy Weir, but then was really Meh about his follow-up Artemis, so I hope the book is more like the former than the latter. I was making a joke regarding their celestial names being Greek and Roman.

Mars - Roman = Ares - Greek
Artemis - Greek = Diana - Roman.

And now the joke is dead. :P

Ohhh.

Sorry.

It would probably have helped if I knew who Andy Weir was. LOL

LOL I can see how that would cause confusion. :P

This is a thread that exists!

I'm about 80% of the way through three different books right now, so my GR friends should be seeing reviews for them soon.

The Emperor's Wolves (paper): this is a prequel to Michelle Sagara's "Chronicles of Elantra" series. A reader would probably want to read a few of the original series before taking this one on.

The Duke and I (audio): this romance series was the basis for the Bridgerton TV show. Cute central family, and the hero having a disability adds some interest. Otherwise, it doesn't particularly distinguish itself among the few regencies-with-sex that I've read.

Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders (audio): author Billy Jensen was one of the folks who helped complete I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer after Michelle McNamara's sudden death. An interesting overview of his early interest in true crime, and how he parlayed it into his media career, and a number of cases solved through the power of the internet! It isn't always evil, I guess!

Chase Darkness With Me is on my list. Looking forward to what you think of that one, Beth. :D

Beth wrote: "This is a thread that exists!

...

The Duke and I (audio): this romance series was the basis for the Bridgerton TV show. Cute central family, and the hero having a disability adds some interest. Otherwise, it doesn't particularly distinguish itself among the few regencies-with-sex that I've read."

I watched the show, but never read the book. Is the disability his (view spoiler)[stutter (hide spoiler)], or did they change it for the show?

Yep, Colleen, the same one.

Having watched the first two eps of the show, I think the show is better. And I keep tripping over the blue-eyed, brown-haired hero. :D

I finished Child 44 last night, and enjoyed it. Then I started Project Hail Mary and I'm already liking it pretty well. It definitely has the same kind of feel and tone as The Martian (which I loved).

Becky wrote: "I finished Child 44 last night, and enjoyed it. Then I started Project Hail Mary and I'm already liking it pretty well. It definitely has the same kind of feel and to..."

Are you reading, or listening to the Weir? I see that the audiobook is narrated by Ray Porter, one of my current favorite readers. To my wish list it goes.

I'm still annoyed with Audible about The Martian. Awhile back they removed the original recording by RC Bray and rerecorded it with Wil Wheaton. Bray's narration was perfect.

I'm reading it. I read The Martian too. I cancelled my Audible and the hold list for the audio from my libraries are crazy long.

I agree with you just in general on Wil Wheaton though. I just don't really enjoy him as an audiobook reader. I know lots of people love him... I just don't agree with them. LOL

I've listened to a few Scalzi books where Wheaton was reading, and liked him well enough. But Bray had that character down pat. I've hesitated to even watch the movie because Bray isn't in it lol

You didn't miss much. I love Matt Damon in a lot of things, but not this, and I just didn't like the movie much. It really didn't capture the things that made the book great, and hyped up a lot of the stuff that seemed unnecessary.

Chris wrote: "I've listened to a few Scalzi books where Wheaton was reading, and liked him well enough. But Bray had that character down pat. I've hesitated to even watch the movie because Bray isn't in it lol"

Oh, and I tried listening to Redshirts, which Wil Wheaton read, and I didn't care for either his reading or the story, and ended up DNF'ing it. Since then, I've listened to samples of others he's read, and wasn't impressed.

He's one of those readers that has all the nerd-cred and people love him, but I just don't.

I'm starting to read Thunderhead - Arc of the Scythe Book 2. I didn't love the first book, but I kind of waved away some of the world building stupidity and I liked the story well enough, so we'll see how it goes. I only read, like, 5 pages last night, though.

Good luck. I hated Scythe... SO MUCH... so I am really unlikely to ever pick up any more of them. But if you weren't bothered by the first one, then enjoy! :)

Becky wrote: "Good luck. I hated Scythe... SO MUCH... so I am really unlikely to ever pick up any more of them. But if you weren't bothered by the first one, then enjoy! :)"


LOL, yeah. I remembered, I think, you and Chris really hating it. I think it was Chris.

I don't disagree with any of the issues in the world building, 'cause it really is kinda stupid and doesn't make any sense... but I just sort of shrugged and let it go.

Sometimes I get hung up on it, but sometimes I just don't care enough. LOL

LOL Yep, I know that feel.

Well, I hope you enjoy it. Middle book can go either way!

Ugh, i know.

I'm currently reading... Nothing!

Thunderhead was put on hold so I could finish this Phanatic for my aunt's b-day (July 5), and it's taken me FOREVER and I'm STILL not done, so...

Yeah.

I did buy two books recently, though, from the Royal Ranger series (sequel to Ranger's Apprentice), and the first series was one of my faves, so I'm looking forward to getting those eventually.

This is why I love audiobooks. I can knit AND read. :D

I'm currently working on a footstool cover because the vinyl/pleather whatever stuff is cracking and peeling off of it. And I have a sweater that I started 39.3 years ago and will likely never finish.

I've been listening to a TON of audio this year. I've read 45 books so far, and 33 of them were audio. With a bunch more lined up.

I've just started An Unkindness of Ghosts today... It's my second of Rivers Solomon's books, and their work is... different. I read The Deep a few months back and liked and appreciated it, but still somewhat feel like I didn't really GET it. So we will see how this goes.

One day I'll break and try audiobooks again. The only time I tried audio I feel like I missed chunks of the story while I zoned out. Not sure how much I can count and listen at the same time. I'm not a good multi-tasker.

That definitely is tricky... but my knitting projects right now are pretty mindless.

While I'm not as experienced or as good at audiobooking as some others, I've found that audio sections that I'm zoning out to, more often than not, are sections I'd also be zoning out to and/or skimming in text form. It's really interesting! Anyhow, if you zone out in one part of the book, try listening to it one more time. If you zone out that second time, just power through to the next bit and don't feel guilty about it!

As for my own reading, I've been on vacation for a couple of weeks and read a couple of extremely trivial books that aren't worth talking about in detail. (basically pro published versions of an original fic net serial.)

Other than that, I flailed around with some other things that didn't stick. Now that I'm back and my brain is ready to settle in for some "real" reading, maybe I'll finish some of this stuff:

Spirit Gate - fascinating world, but that was a lot of frontloading on the worldbuilding, too much for vacation brain to want to deal with all at once.
Horrorstör - this one was promising, but the net serial books overtook it on my interest-o-meter.
Cast in Silence - I've read two other books by Michelle Sagara this year, so it isn't too much of a surprise that I felt kind of supersaturated with her style about 100 pages into this one. I'll need more of an "other authors" buffer before getting much further with it.
Capture the Crown - a YA fantasy. I have no recollection of having signed up for a GR giveaway for this one, but I guess I must have, 'cause I won. Haven't started this one yet, but I'm hoping to finish it before too much time has passed. I've been so, so bad about finishing my tiny pile of giveaway books (5 over the years I've been on GR) in a timely manner, but since I'm not a book-tube-stagrammer-whatever, I doubt my little contributions make the slightest difference to sales anyhow. so... (shrug)
So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 3 - this is the 3rd pro published volume of the net serial mentioned above. of course it's the only one of this long list I've made any real headway with, because my brain is bad and broken. >.<
The Fire Next Time - BR with Becky-buddy. At a mere 100 pages or so, it might stand a chance of being finished! Go me!

'Capture the Crown' sounds pretty cool. I'll be interested to hear how it ends up being.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "One day I'll break and try audiobooks again. The only time I tried audio I feel like I missed chunks of the story while I zoned out. Not sure how much I can count and listen at the same time. I'm n..."

Counting and listening is a no-go for me. But if I'm doing housework, watering the garden, exercising, and other brainless activities, I'm locked in. In fact, I almost have to have an audiobook to listen to, otherwise those chores ain't gettin' done, lol!

Jason, it really does feel unproductive if you're not reading while you do something else doesn't it?

Becky wrote: "Jason, it really does feel unproductive if you're not reading while you do something else doesn't it?"

Completely time wasted. "What am I even doing with my life," I've been known to whine while washing dishes sans book.

Jason wrote: "Becky wrote: "Jason, it really does feel unproductive if you're not reading while you do something else doesn't it?"

Completely time wasted. "What am I even doing with my life," I've been known to..."

Just don't wash the dishes! :P

Becky wrote: "Just don't wash the dishes! :P"

I'm a Solution Engineer. That's what they pay me for. O_O

I finished my Phanatic Friday night, and I finished the Thunderhead over the weekend! I feel so accomplished!

I wish Thunderhead was better... but, hey. Middle-of-a-trilogy book when the first was only ok in the first place. Expectations were low. LOL

My recommendation for getting go at audiobooks is doing rereads where if you miss something it’s okay because you know where it’s going anyway.

Cross stitch and audiobooks are an old married couple who finish each other’s sentences. It’s a perfect combination and also a perfect way to spend a Saturday night.

I cannot listen to audiobooks when I’m working because I pay more attention to the story than my work. I remember doing audiobooks at work several years back and thinking I’d come up with something brilliant and then a week or two later I found all the mistakes I made cause I was not paying attention. That’s when podcasts took over as my listening choice at work. Now I can’t concentrate at work unless I’m listening to a podcast. Stakes are pretty low on a podcast. If you miss something, you’ll still be okay.

Wesley is now old enough for us to read chapter books without pictures. He’s barely reading himself but doesn’t like to since it’s still work for him. But he loves to be read too. We’ve started The Chronicles of Narnia. I love introducing him to books that I’ve loved. The problem is figuring out when to do Harry Potter.

What is he reading?

Basically Dick and Jane types. His school gives him little paper books with one to two syllable words. It’s work getting him to read and he acts like he can’t but when he barely tries he reads quite well. We’re just waiting for it to click. Right now it’s all phonics and sounding out. I think once he starts to read even small words in sight he’s going to pick it up quickly. We’ve always read to him a ton even when he was a little tiny baby. I want a reader, dammit!

Yeah, that's how Zach was too at first... Now that he's 7 he reads EVERYTHING and so well. Wesley will get there!

I hope so!