SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I am currently reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower

And then I'm going to try reading: Eldest and Cinder

Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England by David D. Hall

1. Why would you bring callused hands to my attention?? Because that's definitely familiar and now I suspect I'll be seeing it everywhere, too XD

2. Dracula's gut problem is a fascinating tidbit, thank you!

3. Anyone else read Angel Mage? I'm about 200 pages in and I was expecting amazing things but so far it's mediocre and weird and mostly disappointing.

Am currently reading "Heartshaped Box" by Stephen King And Starting a ReRead of "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin... Stephen King doesn't suit me before sleep.

I read Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang and liked it a lot, it was well written, smart sci-fi about clones.

Leticia wrote: "I read Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang and liked it a lot, it was well written, smart sci-fi about clones."

I've read this some weeks ago as well, and I was positively surprised. A good read indeed.

I just finished Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin, which was just wonderful and the perfect book for the moment. It was like being wrapped in loving arms.

I have finished reading Skywardby Brandon Sanderson. Only took me like 2 hours to finish the last 30%. Super enjoyable book.

Thought I'd give Stormhaven Rising and its sequel a try. A Kindle deal for both books.

Joe wrote: "I have finished reading Skywardby Brandon Sanderson. Only took me like 2 hours to finish the last 30%. Super enjoyable book."

This is in my TBR for my 2020 Brandon Sanderson Cosmerealong.

I really enjoyed Skyward. It was my first Sanderson.

I’m somewhere in the last third of Network Effect. Still love Murderbot. It goes along at breakneck speed though.

Finished "Heartshaped Box" by Joe Hill and it was very good as death curse books go. definitely a rated "R" cruelty to animals, violence, adult situations and references to unlawful deviancy.

Don wrote: "Finished "Heartshaped Box" by Joe Hill"

We had a Buddy Read for that, as well as for The Fireman (my favorite by Joe Hill so far!) and NOS4A2.

Heartshaped Box is my favorite of the three also.

Just started reading “The Memory Police” by Yoko Ogawa. This is a dystopian tale. If one thinks “1984” or “Fahrenheit 451” then you would be in the right genre. It caught my attention since this dystopian novel is on the list for the National Book Award as well as the Booker Prize. The last time I recall a book about dystopian being so highly regarded was either “The Road” or “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Memory Police is in the July scifi poll which opens in two days! :)

Now I am up to date on Murderbot I went looking for Martha Well's other books. I found the Raksura and finished the first book in no time!
My review of The Cloud Roads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Cloak of Ashes by Jonathan Moeller

Elowen wrote: "OK, thank you, I'll check out the Kindle preview. I could read it in German, but in German I'm a very slow reader :-)

And yes, I heard that too, that she wrote the character with Brendan Fraser i..."

I don't speak German and generally find prose translated from German to be heavy going. I don't find Scandi translations easy reading either.

That is so strange about Brendan Fraser. I don't dislike him as an actor but he is the last person I would have cast as the father after reading the book.

Jacqueline wrote: "I really enjoyed Skyward. It was my first Sanderson.

I’m somewhere in the last third of Network Effect. Still love Murderbot. It goes along at breakneck speed though."

Leticia wrote: "Joe wrote: "I have finished reading Skywardby Brandon Sanderson. Only took me like 2 hours to finish the last 30%. Super enjoyable book."

This is in my TBR for my 2020 Brandon Sand..."

You can't go wrong with reading Skyward. That was my first Sanderson novel I read, too. Absolutely loved it! Are you going to read Starsight? It's one great read!

I have Starsight at home but I haven’t got around to it yet. So many books and so little time. The usual excuse for not reading something yet.

My recently completed books are One Word Kill and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet both of which I really enjoyed. I thought they were both light reads with good pacing and humor. I'll definitely look at reading more of these series.

I'm currently reading The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters which I'm finding a bit meh. But I'm 60% of the way through and may as well finish it up. It's definitely not as engaging as Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows was. That book I couldn't put down but this one I keep telling myself it'll get better.

I've just started The Paper Magician and so far, one chapter in, I'm curious about the story.

I've also started listening to Fall, Or Dodge in Hell. Only an hour into it so no real opinion yet.

The Shergill Sisters wasn’t as good as Punjabi Widows but I did really enjoy it too. Sorry it’s not doing it for you but it’s a worthwhile read that gives us more insight and understanding of Indian culture and the expectations of the women in that culture.

The Impossible Times and Wayfarers books are great. I’m glad you enjoyed them. I haven’t finished a lot of series in the last couple of years since I went back to reading but I have made the effort and finished these. Well worth the effort.

The last two books I finished were from Octavia E. Butler’s Earthseed: Parable of the Sower (from our group shelf) and Parable of the Talents. It’s set in the near future on Earth, primarily in California, where global warming has caused resources to become scarce. Most people are barely scraping by and are in constant danger from others who are trying to steal what little they have. It’s told in the epistolary form, written by a teenage girl who’s 15 when the first book begins.

Both books both well written, of course, with plenty of meat for the reader to chew on as one would expect from Octavia Butler. The first book is more of a survival story with an apocalyptic feel, whereas the second book feels more like a dystopian and focuses heavily on religious extremism supported by the government. I cared about the characters and the stories held my interest well, but I had mixed feelings about some aspects of them. I liked the first book better than the second, not because it wasn’t as well written, but just because its subject matter wasn’t something I typically enjoy reading about. Each book has closure, so you can stop after either book without feeling like you’re missing out. The series only has two books, although I learned it was intended to be a longer series.

My longer reviews:
Parable of the Sower
Parable of the Talents

Now I’m reading The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo, our group’s fantasy pick for June.

I believe that the movie of Ghost Bride is on Netflix. How close is it to the book does anyone know?

Just finished When the English fall - an apocalypse (tech not zombie) from perspective of Amish Farmer.
Surprisingly powerful and relatable during current times. I really want a larger veggie garden now. And hens.

Started reading Clade - another apocalyptic novel - this a slower piece spans generations regarding climate change. Both a thinking womans apocalypse book - involving characters rather than lots of action. Much more powerful

Also started listening to my first ever ARC!! Knox from serial box is a lovecraft-noir mystery

Rachel wrote: "Just finished When the English fall - an apocalypse (tech not zombie) from perspective of Amish Farmer.
Surprisingly powerful and relatable during current times. I really want a larger veggie garde..."

When given the choice of keeping my childhood home in a town close to Sydney or selling it to pay off our small acreage 6 hours away I have gone for the small acreage for just such a reason. I've read way too many apocalypse/dystopian books to kid myself that the world as we know it will keep going along unhindered. Especially since even the best authors couldn't write what we are going through right now. One side of me says that everything will go on just the way we are used to for a while but while I watch America in the grips of a pandemic and burning from the relative safety of Australia I know that growing my own vege and being off the grid is probably a good way to go.

Jacqueline wrote: "I know that growing my own vege and being off the grid is probably a good way to go...."

I worry that I would struggle in an apocalypse as my touch is fatal to all plant life. Unfortunately my husband is the same. This is despite the fact that my Dad is a trained gardener.
When I was a child I was always tempted to grow things and this poor vegetation would be subjected to two weeks of thriving under my Dad's care followed by two weeks of dying with me. A cycle which was repeated until I gave up and let my Dad takeover completely.

I am good with animals though. My chickens and goats would be plump and content.

Apples for Eggs is reasonable.

Jacqueline wrote: "I have Starsight at home but I haven’t got around to it yet. So many books and so little time. The usual excuse for not reading something yet."

I understand that. I have a huge TBR pile and trying to balance Life, in general, prevents me to take more time to read.

Esther, if you have a good local owned nursery, they are a great resource if you're having trouble growing. Also there is a great new show out "Grow, Cook, Eat" short and sweet segments to get you going.

I'm currently reading Cinder and Eleanor & Park

A sad personal farewell to Terry Pratchett as I read the last of the Long Earth series.
My review of The Long Cosmos: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished Perchance to Dream, by master of "weird fiction" Charles Beaumont. Next up, a Stephen King from 2002 which I thought was a short story collection I'd read, but turns out to be a novel I haven't: From a Buick 8. Bonus! In the background, taking my time with my re-read of LOTR, currently onThe Two Towers

Phrynne wrote: "A sad personal farewell to Terry Pratchett as I read the last of the Long Earth series.
My review of The Long Cosmos: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I miss him. So many great books unwritten, I'm certain.

Thanks Elowan.

Amazon Accidentally CONFIRMS Doors of Stone Release Date: Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles Final Book is Here?


why the games ?

Don wrote: "Amazon Accidentally CONFIRMS Doors of Stone Release Date: Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles Final Book is Here?"

Finally!! I was afraid he was going to pull a GRRM and never finish it lol

Still reading Network Effect by Martha Wells (ebook) and The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence (paperback). Might get some read today. I was going to drive from the Farm to the Beach for a couple of days but I woke up to snow so I’m not risking the drive. It had settled but it’s melted now but we’re still getting small falls now and then. And it’s bloody freezing. The temp is around 0.5C but it feels like -7C. The road from here to the beach goes through higher places than here and it’s sure to be snowing there too.

I’d let the fire go out since I was leaving and had to go out in the snow to find some kindling and wood to relight it. Might need to light the range as well since the wood heater in the lounge room isn’t quite cutting it. I’m almost tempted to plug in my heater throw rug.

The dog has never seen snow before and was skirting the white bits and keeping to the trees and shrubs where we it hadn’t settled. He got braver later and walked on the snow but then insisted on me drying his little icicle paws when he came inside.

Don wrote: "Amazon Accidentally CONFIRMS Doors of Stone Release Date: Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicles Final Book is Here?


why the games ?"

where?

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/gizmo...

Also book depository has it available for preorder with a release date in August.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Doors-...

they had it lasted as August 2020 sometime last year on amazon.com.uk

and it is the same one - it's on amazon.co.uk here and has been for some time

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doors-Stone-...

Yeah it’s still August on Amazon too. I guess we shall just have to believe it when we see it. I’m not reading 1 and 2 yet because I don’t want to be disappointed that there isn’t a 3. I did start 1 ages ago though I didn’t get too far because some other shiny new thing distracted me. I liked it but I get distracted easily. Oh look....shiny...

here's two of the "fuss" threads from a year ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerCh...

https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerCh...

both state the initial post was a year ago

and another one

https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads...

He said ages ago (last year or the year before) in an interview that he’d finished it but it was only 3.5 stars in his opinion and he was going to rewrite bits and tweak it until it was 5 stars. He wasn’t going to be happy releasing it until it was a 5 star read. There’s a lot of pressure for this one to be amazing.

I'm looking forward to it - I read the first book 6 times one summer as I was away at a French Immersion class and I only had two books with me (the other one was Agincourt which I read two times). I appreciated it more each time. I even have a French edition and the language is beautiful in that.

I hope the date is right then Chessie.

I was feeling nostalgic so re-read an old favourite. Had a look at some of the other reviews and was just stunned at how some people can get a book so wrong. Especially those that boast they DNF.

For me The Zero Stone (and its sequel) by Andre Norton is one of the great SF feats of story telling.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...