Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Just finished She Who Became the Sun. This is historical fiction/fantasy set in 14th century China. I liked the book, though I will note that it was a sad story in many ways. I see it as the story of two anti-heroes (view spoiler)[ each bound to their fates and entangled with each other because of their fates - and they pursue their fates in opposite ways (hide spoiler)]. I thought the writing was excellent in conveying the setting and the characters. Highly recommend to those who love historical fiction, court intrigue, pre-tech warfare, and anti-heroes.

Colin wrote: "Just finished She Who Became the Sun. This is historical fiction/fantasy set in 14th century China. I liked the book, though I will note t..."

I really enjoyed that but it is definitely bitter sweet.

I’ve read Dracula several times but I’ve also signed up for the emails. should be fun.

OK. I started the topic here.

/topic/show/...

I have never read this novel, so I don't know what it is about. I know it has remained popular for a long time, so I suspect it is about human mating.

Ed wrote: "OK. I started the topic here.

/topic/show/...

I have never read this novel, so I don't know what it is about. I know it has remained popular for a..."

It's about a charming man from the local blood bank.

Read City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab It was pretty good but aimed at middle school level it was not really scary
/review/show...

I've put aside my sci-fi reading for a moment. I just finished "The Murder of Roger Akroyd". I've decided to keep going with my Agatha Christie introduction so I've moved on to "The Mysterious Affair at Styles". This one is a little harder to follow.

Agatha Christie is so valid a choice though. I should read more. They're always fun, even if they start a bit slow

Deathless Divide - sequel to Dread Nation. It's been on my TBR for a while, so I'm glad I'm finally reading it. Good so far.

After severly getting bored by certain Fantasy series I spoiled myself with the second part of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Architects series. The first part just deservedly has won the BSFA award for best novel, and the second part was able to keep up the tight, action packed, character deep pace of the first book. No middle-book-dragging-syndrom for sure. Eyes of the Void was fascinating, mysterious and with a multiple POV cast where I liked each one of.
I had the pleasure of listening to it narrated by Sophie Aldred who is such a wonderful match to Tchaikovsky's style.

And now I will dive into Sea of Tranquility, after I've heard that I am already missed in the BR (which was so kind <3)

Anyone else who wants to get in on the Sea of Tranquility action, the buddy read is here! :)

I am currently reading "Birdman" by Mo Hayder. It is my first time reading this author. Fingers crossed.

*crosses fingers*

Day of the Oprichnik: A Novel by Vladimir Sorokin. It's going to be my first try on this author. I'm a little nervous since it is translated from Russian and that is a difficult language to convert (well) to English. But I read an article in the NY Times about Sorokin and I fell in love with how 'offensive' he is.

Anyone else read Sorokin?

I haven't read "Oprichnik" yet, but it is on my list.

Just finished Verner Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky, and wow! while not quite as good as book one his series, it was still a great book!

While my order for the replacement of Connie Willis's All Clear is being processed, going back a few more years, starting CJ Cherryh's Downbelow Station

CJ Cherryh's books are almost always excellent!

W. wrote: "Day of the Oprichnik: A Novel by Vladimir Sorokin. It's going to be my first try on this author. I'm a little nervous since it is translated from Russian and that is a difficult language to convert..."

Interesting. I mostly enjoy the writing of novels translated from Russian. German translations are heavy going and Italian sometimes seems a little off.

Eric wrote: "I completed Spinning Silver. My first read by Naomi Novik and gave this "Fairy Tale" five stars. I will read more of Novik."

I also started (on this author) with Spinning Silver, and then read Uprooted, as you did. I might actually have liked Uprooted better... can't quite remember. There were some quite uncomfortable things in Spinning Silver; but 'good' uncomfortable, in a way. As well as a couple of elements I didn't enjoy. But otherwise, such a good story.
She has a wonderful way of writing, and I particularly like with her that what I read will be unexpected. She's really not like everyone else (although this story was taken from the same folktale(s) as Katherine Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale stories - and they're friends, so must've known that. Both had a different take on it, aside from the common base elements from the original).

CBRetriever wrote: "if you're looking for another good French translation try Le Nom du vent by Patrick Rothfuss. The translator did a wonderful job and it's almost like reading poetry in that the words flow so well"

Would you suggest reading it before the original, or after? I'm planning to read that at some point.

I enjoyed Ben Aaronovitch's latest book Amongst Our Weapons. He's a Monty Python fan which pleased me very much!
My review
/review/show...

Phrynne wrote: "I enjoyed Ben Aaronovitch's latest book Amongst Our Weapons. He's a Monty Python fan which pleased me very much!
My review
/review/show......"
Added to the list.

Esther wrote: "W. wrote: "Day of the Oprichnik: A Novel by Vladimir Sorokin. It's going to be my first try on this author. I'm a little nervous since it is translated from Russian and that is a difficult language..."
Your post puts me more at ease. I'll be sure to comment on it and let everyone know how the translation rolls.

Tamara wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "if you're looking for another good French translation try Le Nom du vent by Patrick Rothfuss.

Would you suggest reading it before the original, or after? I'm planning to read that at some point ..."

depends on your level of French - I was a beginner and it helped having read it in English beforehand

Ed wrote: "Not sure where best to mention this....
I've been wanting to read "Dracula", and now there is an interesting project called "Dracula Daily" to read it gradually over the next six months..."

Thanks for the thread!
/topic/show/...

I've been reading Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin� A’s by Jason Turbow

I’ve had a bit of an old SF bender: I finished Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut a few days ago and am almost finished with More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Both are on the group bookshelf. They couldn’t be more different. The Sturgeon is definitely more SFF than Vonnegut’s, but also in style. I’ve enjoyed them both immensely.

Finally diving into Brent Weeks with his Night Angel series prequel Perfect Shadow.

Jason wrote: "Finally diving into Brent Weeks with his Night Angel series prequel Perfect Shadow."

I liked that series way more than the Lightbringer series which I didn't finish

Since message 384 above I’ve continued to read/reread Tolkien. I’ve reread The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in recent weeks and just read Tree and Leaf: Includes Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth. I think I’m about ready to start The History of Middle-Earth Boxed Set, which I got myself as a birthday present last year.

Just finished "Birdman" by Mo Hayder. Now reading "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch.

Finished reading All Men of Genius by Lev A.C. Rosen. I found it an enjoyable if light steampunk book. The writing style, in terms of tone and presentation, reminded me a bit of His Dark Materials in a way. Nothing terribly deep, and felt aimed at a younger reader, but it was fun the whole way through and had some nice character development by the end. A nice pleasure read, I'd say.

Gonna be busy with the monthly reads for a bit now.

Kirsten wrote: "I've been reading Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin� A’s by Jason Turbow"
Diehard Baseball fan and old enough to remember those teams. I'll have to check that out.

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Quite a few of my GR friends have posted lukewarm reviews for this one, but I'm gonna give it a go. Their reviews may have tempered my expectations to the point where I have a better chance of enjoying it, rather than if I went in blind.

i hope you do! i had fun with that one

Allison wrote: "i hope you do! i had fun with that one"

I enjoy myself some Victorian era fiction and historical-fiction, so I think I'll dig this!

I've finished my read-aloud-athon of the Stormlight Archive with my boys. We started November last year and the intention was to keep slowly going through the books (we read mainly in the half hour during breakfast) to bridge the time till book 5 is released (or even written ...) - but well ... best laid plans and such ...
So this morning we read the last lines of Rhythm of War and Sanderson still is only at the 6% (or so) mark for the next installation ^^'.

But what a wonderful journey this has been! My boys completely got sucked into the fantastic storytelling. They understood and figured out the complexities of the plot so much better than I did (with my 4 reads so far) that in the last book it was actually them who explained connections to me when I got confused.
We have two new Sanderson fans for sure. And the love that shines in the eyes of my older son when he talks about Kaladin is everything!
I will hard miss this time.

That's awesome, Gabi! I wonder when vol. 5 will be announced, but you'll have a lot to discuss and speculate in the meantime.

That’s really wonderful, Gabi! I can’t recommend reading aloud to your kids enough! I still do it, although not as often now that my son has gotten obsessed with watching YouTubers. But it’s so rewarding!

Just finished "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch. It was fantastic! It's about the multiverse. Would you change places with another version of you? Good stuff. Currently I'm reading "The Kind Worth Killing" by Peter Swanson.

Beth wrote: "That's awesome, Gabi! I wonder when vol. 5 will be announced, but you'll have a lot to discuss and speculate in the meantime."

I hope he manages it before the release of his Secret Project #4, because that sounds a bit like it's based on the next going ons in the Stormlight Archive.

DivaDiane wrote: "That’s really wonderful, Gabi! I can’t recommend reading aloud to your kids enough! I still do it, although not as often now that my son has gotten obsessed with watching YouTubers. But it’s so rew..."

Let's see how long they allow it. They are 12 and 14 now and I want to at least introduce them to Adrian Tchaikovsky before they have enough of me XD.

I started House of Leaves in January already, but boy is it taking me forever.

It's also going somewhat against everything that's been drilled into me since I was a kid about respecting books, since it does require some margin scribbling (and sticky notes) - it's definitely not the easiest book after a long day.

The concept is fantastic, and I'm really enjoying the story about the house itself so far, but I'm really struggling with the pages long footnotes from Johnny - I can honestly feel my energy drain every time I see one coming up.

finished CJ Cherryh's Downbelow station. It certainly took it's time go get going, but things got quite interesting towards the end.

Still gotta go pick up my replacement to Connie Willis's All Clear, so I started reading Dan Simmon's Hyperion.

I finished The Winnowing Flame Trilogy The Poison Song. Three stars for the first two books. Four stars for the last.

Just finished The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. This is, well, different. It is, of course, a retelling of The Great Gatsby, as told by Jordan Baker. The Jordan of this book is, however, a queer Vietnamese adoptee. The story is also suffused with a magic system, ghosts, and a touch of Hell. There is, in addition, a political subplot. The book has its ups and downs. The prose is terrific. The characterizations are also great, in particular Jordan, who is phenomenal. The magical/fantasy elements are under-developed, though. Call it fantasy-light. It's too bad, because it is important to the originality of the story and to Jordan's heritage and the author doesn't provide enough detail or background. The political subplot also feels under-developed. So mixed feelings overall. I would recommend to readers who like Gatsby, 1920's historical fiction, LGBTQ novels, or a terrific 1st person protagonist.

I'm rereading The Lady of the Sorrows. I'm near the end with all the revelations and the restart of her adventure.

I've read this before and remember really like everything that happens after this part. I think she makes a realistic and resourceful heroine. Just had to go through a lot to get to this point.

Reading standard authors and the classics, but really looking for something new - new authors or innovative stories.

LaTrica wrote: "I'm rereading The Lady of the Sorrows. I'm near the end with all the revelations and the restart of her adventure.

I've read this before and remember really like everything that happ..."

Oh, I loved the Bitterbynde Trilogy. Do you know about the alternate (real) ending to the last book on the author's website?

I'm reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

I'm reading about psychoanalysis for uni and I'm getting crazier