EPBOT Readers discussion

Hope it's ok that I start a check-in post-miss seeing what everyone is reading! (And slightly worried about Sheri-hope you're ok and sending virtual hugs if that would be helpful.)
I finally got and finished The Once and Future Witches from the library-only a few months behind everyone else. I enjoyed it and liked the ties between women's rights and witchcraft. I also liked My Lady Jane which is an alternate history of Lady Jane Grey with magic/shapeshifting and a pleasant does of snarkiness.
My favorite book of the year so far was Not Your Average Hot Guy which was a fun romance/save the world book. The hot guy happens to be a Prince of Hell. Happy to see a sequel coming out soon.
QOTW: Are you a fan of series? If so, do you always recommend someone start at the beginning, or pick a favorite to start?
For me, there are few things more exciting than enjoying a new book and finding it's the first in a series. The characters become like old friends. I have a few authors I started reading in the 1990s and they are still going. I usually recommend people start with the first book, but there are a few series that I began based on FoE recommendations that didn't click; I was wondering if the first one was a little shaky and the authors didn't hit their stride until later. The other reason I asked this question is that I'm the only one in my real life book club who really likes series.

Yes, I hope you are ok, Sheri!

My recent reads: The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had): A Memoir. It was ok - some parts were very funny, other parts dragged.

Song of the Beast by Carol Berg: My first standalone from this author, although I really enjoyed her Rai-Kirah trilogy. I've been purposely trying to diversify my reading, but it's sometimes nice to get back to my first love of dragons and high fantasy!

I finished reading The Throne of Fire to the fifth grader, and we are now on to The Serpent's Shadow. I'm hoping he'll be willing to take a break from Rick Riordan for our next bedtime book because this is the sixteenth of his books in a row we've read! At his urging I also read The Serpent's Secret - I guess we're into Serpents this month - because he was writing a book report and having a hard time with it, so I read it so I could help him.

Currently reading Startide Rising, book two of the Uplift series, for my other GR group.

QOTW: I LOVE a good series. In general I'm a purist about reading them in publication sequence, and I usually do so even if someone tells me it's ok to read them in any order. There are a few exceptions (like Discworld) but I will die on the hill that the Narnia books start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

I think what I love most about a series is how deep it can go with worldbuilding. You couldn't create such a complex society with shifting factions as in the Expanse series with just one book, for example. Or the depth of character that can be explored by following one individual through his entire lifetime, like FitzChivalry Farseer in Robin Hobb's Realms of the Elderlings books. Even though some of the books took a break from Fitz to detail events elsewhere, they kept coming back.

The wait for the next book can be excruciating, so for the most part I like to hold off on starting a new series if not all of the books are published yet, but I've yielded to temptation a few times :)

Shel wrote: "Yes, I hope you are ok, Sheri!

My recent reads: The One You Want to Marry (And Other Identities I've Had): A Memoir. It was ok - some parts were very funny, other parts dragged.

[..." May I suggest the [book:Leviathan|6050678] trilogy by Scott Westerfield as a break from Rick Riordan? Alternative WW1 history. I really enjoyed them.

I'll check them out! Thanks!

Yes, I hope you're OK, Sheri!

Some of my recent reads:
Bluebird - a fun, popcorn action sci-fi story. For Popsugar's "sapphic book" prompt.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown - I liked this romance, and I really liked that it focused on a woman dealing with chronic pain. For Popsugar's "book with the name of a board game in the title" (Life) prompt.

Unintentionally, I went off on a boyband theme in late Feb/early March: I read XOXO, a cute YA k-pop romance for a "book you know nothing about" prompt, and then right after, If This Gets Out, about a romance between two members of a boyband for a "book about a band or musical group" prompt. (And then not long after, we watched Turning Red, the new Pixar movie which has fandom for a boyband as a major plot point). Of the two, XOXO was fluffier, while If This Gets Out had some darker themes, including toxic parents and abuse in the music industry.

One Last Stop - mostly I enjoyed this one, but I thought the characters were occasionally a little too out there and quirky. I'd definitely read more from this author, though. Read for Popsugar's "book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship" prompt.

I really enjoyed Marissa Meyer's latest fairy tale retelling, Gilded, but it's definitely not going to be for everyone. This was a Rumpelstiltskin story, and pretty dark, with on-screen murders, ghosts. There are lots of trigger warnings for this one: (view spoiler)[Murder of children, animal death, forced marriage/pregnancy, threat of forced abortion (hide spoiler)]. For Popsugar's "book about a secret" prompt.

My most recent finish was the incredible novella The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Gorgeous writing, and I loved how the plot slowly unfolded. Read for Popsugar's "Hugo Award winner" prompt, and I can 100% see how this won.

I'm currently reading the sequel, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. I haven't gotten too far yet, but if it's anything like the first one, I will be very happy with it. For the prompt of a book with a tiger on the cover or "tiger" in the title.

QOTW: I love series, but sometimes I do get frustrated with the wait. I don't really have the patience to re-read long series before the next installment comes out. (Looking at The Dresden Files here.) I also sometimes fall behind on series, so then I need to make time to catch up. Right now, this is me with Seanan McGuire's main series (October Daye, Incrpytid, Wayward Children). I think those are going to be my project once I finish the Popsugar challenge prompts.

I used to do that, hold off until all the books in a series were released to start reading. Now that I follow multiple authors on social media, I've changed my tune, since I've learned that that kind of thought can actually lead to the series never being finished - if book sales for the first few books aren't good, the publisher will often just not contract the author for additional series books and not give them a chance to finish in a satisfying way.

i also hope sheri's all right as well... i was just thinking about this discussion the other day.

since last check-in, i read:
Endless Nights (Sandman)
Eaves of Destruction (Fixer-Upper #5)
Overture (Sandman)
The Dream Hunters (Sandman)
A Wrench in the Works (Fixer-Upper #6)
Shot Through the Hearth (Fixer-Upper #7)
Premeditated Mortar (Fixer-Upper #8)

i'm currently reading Daemon by Daniel Suarez, and it's the first book of a series of two... XD

QotW: *looks at all the series i've been reading and plan to read* that's most definitely a yes. and yes, start with the first one. even if they're stand-alones, there's bound to be some references to something that happened in a previous book.

I can confirm that Sheri is alive. I think she's just had a lot going on lately. I know she's mentioned before that she's fine with other people posting, but I've been too lazy to do it, so thanks, Kathy!

Since it's been a while, I'll limit commentary.
The Wall
The Anthropocene Reviewed - Basically John Green's YouTube videos in book form. When I picked it up from the library I realized it said "signed edition" and I remembered that he signed the whole first run, but it's kind of weird borrowing an autograph.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built - This was absolutely the book I needed when I read it. It's dedicated "for anybody who could use a break" and really, is that not everyone right now? It's very short and there's not a whole lot to it, but it was absolutely delightful and all of the blurbs on the back are correct. I read it about 2.5 times before I returned it. I might have to buy it.
Mortmain Hall
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - This year's public domain Christie; I'd already had it spoiled, but it was still great.
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language
Guards! Guards! - My first Pratchett; fun, very Hitchhiker's Guide to Fantasy, probably will not read a ton more of these.

QOTW: I don't really like series, but I think it's largely an overreaction to my experiences as a teen with series that went on too long and declined in quality. I don't want to have to read all of something, particularly if it doesn't all exist yet! I'm OK with things like mystery series (or, apparently, the Discworld books) where each book is more of a standalone story, and I don't feel like I'm committing to seeing a whole arc through, but I'm not really willing to sign on for an unknown number of future books with a resolution hopefully to be provided. I do generally feel like I'm in the minority, though, so I'm surprised by Kathy's book club. Based on the number of series in existence, clearly plenty of people read them!

Rebecca wrote: "I can confirm that Sheri is alive. I think she's just had a lot going on lately. I know she's mentioned before that she's fine with other people posting, but I've been too lazy to do it, so thanks,..."

Isn't a tea monk the best idea for a job ever? I want one at my neighborhood coffee shop. Thanks for the update on Sheri!

Now that you've pointed it out, most of my series are mysteries with continuing characters, but distinct endings with each book. As I've branched out more to fantasy, I've definitely been frustrated with 500+ epics that don't really end nicely.