Beyond Reality discussion

It’s a new year! What are you reading in January 2023? All genres welcome.

I started The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker. Another Goodreads group to which I belong chose this series (Tide Child trilogy) for our official discussion, plus it fits the January prompt for the Better World Books challenge (author new to me).

I just started Fairy Tale for the group discussion, and my loan for The Humans just came in so that'll be next! Unusual that I manage to get both of the monthly books in hand at the beginning of the month :)

In Another World I Must Bury the Night Bone: A LitRPG Adventure by Miles English

Right now, I am reading Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb and Nine Princes in Amber (via The Great Book of Amber omnibus) by Roger Zelazny.

I am hoping to read Fairy Tale by Stephen King, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown, and The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley, next.

I love the Amber series! I have that giant anthology as well. I like the first five books better than the second series, but they're all worth reading.

Shel wrote: "I love the Amber series! I have that giant anthology as well. I like the first five books better than the second series, but they're all worth reading."

I read the first three about a decade ago (long enough that I don't remember a thing); I'm excited to revisit it! :)

I did end up starting Meddling Kids at the end of December. Its been interesting, though I haven't gotten far since my vacation was over the day after. Have been a few really great scenes that I can visualize so well as the Scooby Doo characters. :)

So I also started The World We Make in audio today. Don't know why I was so slow to start. I loved the first book and pre ordered this one and had it the day it released. The narrator is the same as the first book and she's really excellent.

I enjoyed the heck out of Meddling Kids! :)

I'm almost halfway through Fairy Tale. It is excellent so far, as I would expect from anything out of Stephen King.

Reading Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. Love his books and this has been great so far.

I finished The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker, 8/10. I found it original, with an interesting world and characters, and a fairly straightforward plot.

Next up are A Lily in the Light by Kristin Fields, Tales from Earthsea for our series read, and Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot for our Buddy Read.

Pickle wrote: "Reading Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. Love his books and this has been great so far." I love Alistair Reynolds as well. I read Eversion over Christmas and it was excellent. I wan't expecting the story at all.

Nyssa wrote: "Right now, I am reading Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb and Nine Princes in Amber (via The Great Book of Amber omnibus) by Roger Zelazny.

I am hoping to read Fairy Tale by Stephen King, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown, and The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley next."


I finished Nine Princes in Amber and the last two stories in the J.D. Robb omnibus.

I am now reading Fairy Tale and The Fairy-Tale Detectives.

The Brené Brown selection is on library hold via Libby.

I finished Fairy Tale today and just picked up The Humans from the library so that's next! Hoping to squeeze in Tehanu soon, too, since I'm a bit behind on the series read.

My first 2023 read was Children of Memory, which I adore (and will reread first in Series and read second), but I only got to 16% and read 6 others in the meantime. (including catching up on some past entries in Charles Stross' The Laundry Files Series). Started The Thing in the Snow last night, adoring it! (January 3 release)

Out of genre, I finished the short How to Keep House While Drowning (recommended) and am listening to This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (highly recommend the short audiobook, which includes examples of the musical arrangements/techniques he discusses). I also need to get through The One Thing for my IRL book club.

In genre, I finished up the excellent Scholomance series with The Golden Enclaves and am working on Half Sick of Shadows, The Lost Metal, and Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence. I'm just about done with Winter's Orbit for my online book club and we're reading Ninefox Gambit next.

On the off chance that I finish all of those in reasonable order, I'll move on to Tress of the Emerald Sea next.

Tales of Old Lusitania from the folk-lore of Portugal by Francisco Adolpho Coelho

Currently reading Children of Time and loving it - some of the most immersive worldbuilding I've ever read in sci fi.

Matt wrote: "Currently reading Children of Time and loving it - some of the most immersive worldbuilding I've ever read in sci fi."

Make sure to read Children of Ruin next, and then Children of Memory is being published in just a few weeks! :)

I just finished The Humans - a quick, fun read. I think Tehanu will be next.

Finally finished The World We Make. Wow, that went a direction I really did not expect.

Starting Tales from Earthsea this evening or in the morning.

A Lily in the Light by Kristin Fields, 7/10. I struggled to rate this book because I have mixed feelings about it. It’s not really a mystery, although there is a huge mystery at the heart of it (what happened to 4 year old Lily?). It’s not really the story of a ballet dancer’s path to success, although POV character Esme is a ballet student at the beginning of the story and a star at the end. It’s not really a family drama, although the family is torn and damaged by Lily’s disappearance in horrible and lasting ways. And because it is and is not all those things, the author seemed to have trouble deciding how to tell the story. Overall, the writing is excellent—evocative and impactful. The characters are interesting, especially Esme. Even though Lily is in the title, this is Esme’s tale. Only Cerise felt unreal to me, even before the disappearance. The ballet scenes, both practice and performance, seemed authentic. This is the passage with that contains the title: It always pained Esme that lilies were so beautiful from far away and disturbing up close. There was nothing harder to look at than a lily in the light. It really lends a different perspective to the title and the story.

Cricket For Dummies by Julian Knight, 5.5/10. I read this because my 2 grandnephews play cricket in Australia and I will be visiting them next week, so I wanted to understand at least the basics. The first half of the book was very helpful and there were great diagrams and figures, but the 2nd half was meant for aficionados, not novices.

And I read Tales from Earthsea, 7.6/10, comments in our series read folder.

Just started Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot for the Buddy read.

I'm reading Children of Ruin and the last book in the Vorkosigan series, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.

I really enjoyed Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen! Lady Cordelia is a favorite character of mine so it was fun to get back to a book centered on her.

I am between reads right now. Keep meaning to pick up Tehanu but I haven't managed to make it happen yet.

I do have some good bedtime reads going with my kiddos - I'm about 3/4 of the way through A Wrinkle in Time with my second grader, and just started reading Dragonflight with my sixth grader. I haven't read the Pern books in AGES so it's good fun to revisit them, although I'm finding them a bit dated (and not super surprised by that). It's good conversation fodder with an 11-year-old who is old enough to talk about how SF has changed for the better in terms of diversity and gender roles. Also there are dragons. :)

Haley and the Town of Refuge by M.C.A. Hogarth

Finished Tales from Earthsea and started The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet last night.

I finally finished Tehanu and am moving straight on to Tales from Earthsea.

Finished Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, comments in the Buddy Read topic thread. Read Talking God by Tony Hillerman during 2 kegs of our flight, 8/10. Starting Moving Mars for our February BotM.