EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi all, sorry for the late post. Work's been a bit annoying, and I don't get on my computer tons outside it.

I finished the book for book club, I still need to write questions. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be reading guides with handy questions, boo haha. I'll have to think them up myself.

This week I finished:

The Once and Future Witches - I really loved this, will save anything else for the discussion threads. Like I said, I'll try to get it set up soon! Used for booknerds book that gave me goosebumps, and ATY for book posted in the aty best book of the month threads

Milk Blood Heat - read for Roxanne Gay's book club. I never really love short story collections, most short stories leave me going "....and?" I like a meatier story, not just a fragment. Counted for book nerds genre I don't read much.

Currently reading:

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - still doing audio book, need to get a wiggle on it since I have 6 days left and still another 16 hours i think. whoops. So long! I like it though, Jennifer Hale is an amazing voice actress.

Lightless - this will be my locked room mystery. intersting so far.


1Q84 - no progress

QOTW:

Are there any authors, living or dead, that you'd love to meet and hang out with? Either based on their work, social media presence, stuff you know about their history, etc.

Modern authors, I feel like Seanan McGuire would be fun to hang out with. She seems funny, and weird along the lines of myself and most my friends. I love her writing in general.

For historical authors, just from what i know of Mary SHelley (which isn't much) I'd like to meet her. If nothing else, she founded a new genre!

Just one read for me last week - I finished The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are. yesterday. It was a slow read for me because it was written in such a dry academic style. The history of it all was interesting, though! I used it for the book with illustrations prompt - lots of photos and patent diagrams for items that I never questioned the design of.

I'm now about a third of the way through One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, the second Jackson Brodie book. I liked the first one well enough to read the second, but I have a hunch I'm going to use it for the "character that frustrates you" prompt, because come ON Jackson don't be a doofus! Ahem.

QOTW: I want to go back about fifteen years and hang out with Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett before his death. I think I would just laugh for hours. I'd also love to meet two of my favorite nonfiction authors, Mary Roach and Malcolm Gladwell, or Oliver Sacks before his death.

I got to meet Tamora Pierce once very briefly. That was cool. It was at a conference about using SF/F as a teaching tool.

Got my second shot yesterday and feeling OK! Now for the two weeks of waiting...

I also read The Once and Future Witches. I thought it was well-written and interesting, but it was not a "love" for me. I will save further thoughts for the discussion, and I'm looking forward to what everyone has to say.

My next book was From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century. I heard about this from a discussion on NPR that involved one of the authors, which mentioned that they were among the few who put forward an actual plan for the implementation of reparations. Unfortunately when I read the introduction I learned that this was in fact only the last chapter of the book. Most of the book was the detailing of the harms for which the reparations would be made, which I think has already been done in other works, and the past opportunities for redress that were not taken, which could have been condensed into a chapter or two, and then they could've greatly extended the discussion of the practical plan with whole chapters going into more depth on the different aspects. Basically I wish they had written a different book.

QOTW: I think often the qualities that make a fun social media presence differ from what I would appreciate in person, so I'm not sure I'd want to meet some of the authors I follow. I might like some who are more primarily scientists or science communicators, like Katie Mack or Rosemary Mosco.

Historically, I think I would like to meet Poe, just to kind of see what his deal was? Like, he wrote all this weird stuff and died fairly mysteriously, so I think that influences the modern impression of him, but there are contemporary reports that describe him as handsome and charming. I'd like to experience his actual personality.

This week I finished:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January - since I enjoyed The Once and Future Witches so much and I have had this on my to-read list for awhile, I went for it. I'm glad I did, because it was fantastic. Reminded me a little bit of McGuire's Wayward Children. I used it for my Popsugar "ugliest" cover prompt; I don't absolutely hate the cover, but it's busy and a little hard to read, and I didn't really have anything else on my immediate TBR list that would fit that prompt.

Fugitive Telemetry - the new Murderbot novella is actually a murder mystery set prior to the full-length novel from last year. I loved it, as usual. Rearranged a couple of prompts to use it for genre hybrid.

Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower - another novella, by the author of Gideon the Ninth. I listened to this one on audio. The narrator was great. The book is a sort of twisted fairy tale where the princess imprisoned at the top of the tower full of monsters has to save herself after no princes are successful. It was fun, if a bit gruesome at times. Used for my Popsugar shortest book prompt.

I also read a bunch of manga from the library: Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 29, Queen’s Quality, Vol. 11, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 25, Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 17, Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 2, Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 3, Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4

I'm currently reading Soulstar, which is the last volume in a series I've really been enjoying. It'll be my Popsugar book published in 2021.

QOTW: I agree on Seanan McGuire - I've heard her speak at conventions and she's absolutely hilarious. (Fun fact: she lives in this area and I'm 99% sure I've seen her at local movie theaters in the pre-COVID times.) I feel like N.K. Jemisin would be fascinating to talk to. I'd love to meet some of the authors who were such a huge influence on me when I was younger, like Mercedes Lackey and Tanya Huff.

Surprised to see I have four finishes since last checkin. My 2-weeks past vaccination day was the 24th, so I have run more errands in the last weeks than the previous 3 months.

I read Spider-Gwen, Vol. 0: Most Wanted? as my graphic novel for the book nerds challenge. While I liked the story, I have decided my brain isn't wired right to enjoy graphic novels. I am a really fast reader normally, so the process of reading the text then switching to look at the illustrations feels choppy to me. And now I want someone to scan my brain reading regular books and graphic novels and compare to someone who is a graphic novel enthusiast.
I read How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge and liked it but not as well as the original. I'm not a big fan of using made-up words when regular ones would be sufficient (teslas instead of lights), because I'd rather use my brain power to enjoy the story. It seemed like there was a little more of that here than the first one, which I loved. Would still recommend though. This is going to be my book in space or with a princess.
I requested the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because it was suggested as a "book about hope." I had low expectations because realistic fiction is not my favorite, but I really enjoyed it. Post WWII, written as a series of letters.
Last one was the novella The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means that I enjoyed as much as the first. I like scifi set in our world with a twist, and this certainly fits. I've been waiting for awhile to read this; it was first only available through an audible subscription (because they commissioned it); then a limited edition signed print (couldn't justify $40 for a novella); and they finally released a kindle version last week.

For QOTW, I have been able to meet John Scalzi at a book signing, and Gail Carriger at a local con. For Gail, it was small enough panels (and several of them) so I got a good impression of her personality (or at least her author persona) and she answered two of my questions. I would also like to meet Elizabeth Peters-I always regret not sending her a note of appreciation before she died. (I was actually rereading a favorite by her on the day she died which was a little spooky.)

oh gosh, when was my last reply?
the last few books i've read:
*A Warrior's Choice - three short stories in the world of the Warrior cats
*The Sands of Time - working my way through my Sidney Sheldon reread
*The Place of No Stars - the latest novel in the Warrior cats series
*The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - and I put my comments on the discussion threads
^guess that's where I left off! XD

QotW: i'd love to have tea (cause i don't drink coffee) with Sherrilyn Kenyon or Maria Snyder. historical? i was thinking HP Lovecraft, if only to whack him upside the head for his racism .... and even creating a race to be racist against! ugh.

Hello again! Given I only just posted to the last check in, not much to report now.

Currently reading The Psychology of Time Travel - time travel murder mystery, my kind of thing, so far so good.

QOTW: Honestly, I'm really not sure. I'm a terrible conversationalist with people I don't know, so even if it's someone I think is awesome and would be interesting, I find it hard to imagine that scenario being pleasant or successful. I also don't tend to learn about authors at all, so don't have a lot to go on for what they'd be like as people. I'd maybe just pick someone like Neil Gaiman and see if I could get them to tell me a story.

I finally finished Babylon's Ashes on audiobook! It was good and interesting but not stellar. Every chapter is from someone's POV and there were several threads that were completely unnecessary and should have been edited out. I found the final "conflict"/resolution a bit unsatisfying too. It seemed like the easy way out for the authors and too convenient.

Since I had to return the physical book to the library, I got The Once and Future Witches on audiobook now. I am making decent progress. It was a bit of a challenge to find my saved page number in the audio file because I didn't write down the chapter just the number. Moving along on that now.

I am still reading The Brothers K to finish for my daughter's visit. While I'm more invested in the story now and will finish, it has been a slog. I am really not seeing the "greatness" that others apparently see in it based on reading the reviews.

QOTW: Off the top of my head, I'd like to meet people I'd consider more writers than authors such as Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin. A favorite author in my younger days was Isaac Asimov. His non-fiction was also interesting to read and very approachable. I should probably reread him sometime to see how his work has aged.