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Talk about all the books you're reading!

Instead of merely linking to a book/review, please tell us a little bit about the book(s) and how you're liking them to give us something to discuss.

Also check out Group Book Discussions if you're reading a book that's on the group shelf. Even if it's a book the group read several years ago, you're very welcome to add to the discussion!

We also have lots of buddy reads, you can find all of those in Buddy Read Recruitment.

Happy reading! :)

I've ended 2023 with a Victoria Goddard book, and I am starting 2024 with a Victoria Goddard book, Stargazy Pie. Because I can, because I want to. It's a delight so far (at 9%). Apparently, I can't get enough of the Nine Worlds universe ;)

Happy New Year! I'm reading Wings of Redemption by Craig Andrews. 3rd in the Forgotten Fleet.

Kick off the new year with a book about a very old year: The Battle of Maldon together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth and 'The Tradition of Versification in Old English' by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is Tolkien's translation of the existing fragment of the poem about the Viking attack in AD 991 along with verse that he wrote about two men picking up Beorhtnoth's body after the battle to bring it home. The editor (Peter Grybauskas) provides discussion and traces the trope of comitatus and doomed resistance from the original poem to Tolkien's LOTR, making it possibly the oldest trope in English literature. I would call this a must-read for Tolkien fans and would also recommend it to readers of epic fantasy.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm starting the year with Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee as my eye-read book, Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold as my audiobook, and my son and I are reading together the latest in John Flanagan's Rangers Apprentice extended series (The Royal Ranger #6).

So far, they are living up to my expectations. :-)

Wishing you all a wonderful reading year of amazing new authors and great books by old favorites!

I finished my first book of 2024, Rachel Neumeier's The Year's Midnight. She couldn't write a lousy book if she tried!

Finished >The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


While I didn't get invested in the video game portion, found the Chinese historical aspects really interesting. Pace and intesity really picked up in the second half of the book.

Now starting some challenge books with Assassin's Apprentice.

Economondos wrote: "Finished >The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I didn't get invested in the video game portion, found the Chinese historical aspects really interesting. Pace and intes..."

I loved Assassin's Apprentice!

Yes, I agree Assassin's Apprentice, one of the better books I've read.

Still enjoying Golem and Jinni, even though it's sagging a little in the middle.

Began an oral history of D-Day by Gerald Astor that's not bad, though needs to be read with some skepticism since he repeats some myths uncritically and misidentifies some other things.

Blanning's bio on Frederick the Great is interesting, doing a good job of explaining the gist of each battle and why it was important, but keeping the bulk of the content on things other than military.

Started a book on the Red Baron as well.

Got like seven others going but those are the most current.

I finished 2 books (albeit short ones) and a short story on December 31st, so I’m starting slow. I read another short from The Very Best of the Very Best (SF): “Dead Men Walking�� by Paul McAuley, which I really liked. Inexplicably, I had never even heard of him! Now I’m going to have to see about reading more.

I’m still working on The Terraformers. Hopefully, I can find motivation to finish it now that I have finished all the ones I wanted to read in December.

Finishing up A Memory of Light. This will finish my Wheel of TIme re-read.

Hi!
I’m reading quite a lot in 2024 (as of right now) I finished Tress of the Emerald Sea this year, which turned out to be a 5 star for me! Tress has really motivated me to read more than I normally do, with my current reads being 4 different books right now!

Jonathan wrote: "Finishing up A Memory of Light. This will finish my Wheel of TIme re-read."

That is a great accomplishment. Them there's a lot of words. And good ones.

Jonathan wrote: "Finishing up A Memory of Light. This will finish my Wheel of TIme re-read."

Nice!

Brett wrote: "Still enjoying Golem and Jinni, even though it's sagging a little in the middle.

Began an oral history of D-Day by Gerald Astor that's not bad, though needs to be read with some skepticism since ..."

Astor just writes what he was told and doesn't go back and add notes about why what he had been told might have been in error. It is a common enough interview folly amongst WWII authors of this type.

Jonathan wrote: "Finishing up A Memory of Light. This will finish my Wheel of TIme re-read."

I hoping to start The Wheel of Time series this year.

Currently, listening to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet while I make sciency diagrams for work. It feels very cozy so far. Perfect for work!

@Dj - giving him the benefit of the doubt as it's a 30 year old book. Everyone was rushing to pounce on the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

I'm continuing Messenger, The Giver BR turned out to be a bit of a rabbit hole for me, I devoured the second book the same day I finished The Giver, taking y time with Messenger (mostly because it's an eye read).

Also each year I promise myself to read more in Russian and in January I actually do that :) This year it's Братья Карамазовы. I just started yesterday, but it already has some things I love Dostoyevskiy for. He can tell a story of a whole lifetime in just 20 pages. And you're left with a feeling that you already know the characters well enough.

And I'm almost done with my third Harry Potter read-through, this one in Italian. I've been reading it for almost two years (on and off) and I have about 35% left in book 7. This is going to be my first finished series of the year :)

a non-scifi book, just finished Jennifer Ackerman's Genius of Birds. Not too technical, but an enlightening set of chapters on bird's intelligence, which she admitted is kinda tough to define, we all keep anthropomorphizing birds and bird behavior.

Anyhoo, now, back to scifi, starting Michael Swanwick's Stations of the Tide.

I've added several books from last year to my list that were in the ŷ������ awards:
The Wishing Game
What the River Knows
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
The Unmaking of June Farrow, and
Hall of Smoke

All of them are pretty popular at the library, so it might be a while before I get to them. Glad to find more possibilities for the future, though!

I discovered that The Riddle-Master of Hed is in an omnibus edition at the library (and available) as The Riddle-Master's Game. I'd also like to read A River Enchanted, as Celtic fantasy is my fave, and the third book in the Cradle series, Blackflame. Our library is really good with getting books requested/recommended by patrons, so if that one's still as good as the first (I was a bit less interested in no. 2), I'll recommend the next.

How's your book year looking?

I liked Riddle-Master! I've read that trilogy several times.

I finished #5 Fields of Fire in my re-read of Marko Kloos' Frontlines series.

Then I began an eARC of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series: Sharpe's Command. I love being back with these characters! This one takes place in Spain in 1812.

Marc wrote: "a non-scifi book, just finished Jennifer Ackerman's Genius of Birds. Not too technical, but an enlightening set of chapters on bird's intelligence, which she admitted is kinda tough to define, we a..."

Marc, do you like birdwatching? My husband and I set up all of our birdfeeders on the other side of our kitchen breakfast bay window because we love to watch them!

Riddle-Master, the omnibus is only $4.99 on amazon.com in Kindle format now

Now at last her renowned Riddle-Master trilogy–The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind–long out of print, is collected in one volume.

Just completed Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is how a fantasy series should begin. The book ends with a satisfying conclusion to this phase of the story. But it is easy to see that the journey continues.

I will be ordering the next book right away.

In the meantime, time to read The Princess Bride and join the tail end of the discussion.

I finished Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee (my first completed book of the year), which I enjoyed and thought was a good ending for the series. I am now waiting for Hexarchate Stories to come in through my library - not quite ready to leave this world behind yet. :-)

Beginning The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism, Gerald Horne. I flew through The

I'm going to be starting off the year with a few reread, and then the first new read will be Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Joveanna wrote: "I'm going to be starting off the year with a few reread, and then the first new read will be Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer"

Oh! I have Annihilation on my TBR short list also. It sounds really strange.

Michelle wrote: "I liked Riddle-Master! I've read that trilogy several times.

... I began an eARC of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series: Sharpe's Command. I love being back with these characters! This one takes place in Spain in 1812."

What do you love about these characters and the series?

Tamara wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I liked Riddle-Master! I've read that trilogy several times.

... I began an eARC of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series: Sharpe's Command. I love being back with these characters! Th..."

It's historical fiction and features a band of Riflemen during the Napoleonic Wars. I love the "band of brothers" feel among the characters, the setting, the battles, Wellington,...For whatever reason it checks all of my boxes!

Cheryl L wrote: "Joveanna wrote: "I'm going to be starting off the year with a few reread, and then the first new read will be Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer"

Oh! I have Annihilation on my TBR short list also. It..."

Only about 30% in right now, but I can say there's a lot of atmosphere. There's a foreboding feeling,but honestly it's compelling.

finished Michael Swanwick's Station of the Tide. an interesting read, the protagonist a guy with no name, only referenced as 'the bureaucrat'. he's tasked to find a guy who stole illegal tech back to his home planet. kinda think about Star Trek's prime directive, a planet that's not that advanced, and now... some new tech. A strange book, you might think it might be a straight forward kind of book (guy goes on mission, hits roadblocks, overcomes them, and completes his mission). Yet it's kinda weird!

Anyhoo, now onto an older book, Michael Bishop's 'No Enemy But Time'. then probably go to day of triffids after that, then I think I'll read Naomi Novid's Uprooted. some good books on deck!

Triffids and Novik! A good time indeed!

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
and
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey = mystery set in 1920s India
and
Cage by Lilja Sigurðardóttir = thriller set in Iceland
and
Servant of the Crown by Duncan M. Hamilton = pretty good trilogy
and
Natural Ordermage by L.E. Modesitt Jr. = book 15 in a 23 book series. This is my car book.

one is for the monthly read and only one of these goes to any challenges (the Hamilton book)

I'm reading The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. This one's pretty good. It's a bit of a sequel 20000 Leagues Under the Sea in that it tells the end of Captain Nemo's story. It's an interesting fast read that starts out like a Robinson Crusoe story albeit with 5 people and a dog and not just one person.

some one in one of the forums where the Year of the Dragon Series Project was posted, someone recommended I try Jules Verne for a volcano habitat and the book has delivered on that topic.

Just finished the late Michael Bishop's No Enemy But Time. A quick read, a story about what seems to be a rare set of people who dream about the past, in the protagonist's case, he dreamed about Pleistocene Africa, as if he was actually going there. And as an adult, meeting a physicist who had the same issues, and designed a kind of time machine (read the book as to why I meant a kind!). The book then moves where one chapter is his history in the present (1980s) and the next the distant past, and flips back and forth. Actually, a pretty good read, the few n words make sense in the context of the book (even then, it's not a good word). Apparently Michael passed away November 2023, so pretty recently. Was curious, was he an African American author? Answer: no.

Anyhoo, now, on to the triffids! John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids!

Just started Zombies From The Deep in which a couple even if they do have a bunker, start the book with them in a nice hotel. It's the middle of the night,all power goes off and they can't find a living soul but they do see zombies!
Oh well let's see where this takes us.

Just finished The Princess Bride by William Goldman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first time I found a movie version to be better than the book. The book isn't bad, but the movie really came across better to me. Perhaps it is the amazing cast who did a better job with the material than my imagination. Maybe Goldman is better at screenplays than novels (as he bemoans in his asides).

The Zoo was better in the book. The friendship between Fezzik and Inigo was better explored. But the rest of it was no better than the movie, and in some cases worse. I found the asides too heavy-handed in the book - Peter Falk handled them better.

Finished Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Woah! for a book written in 1951, it held up quite well! I can see elements that might have been borrowed for films like 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead and Blindness. Not a spoiler, all this is at the beginning, but humanity suffered two major crises, earth passing through comet 'dust' that lit up the sky and blinded everyone who saw it, and an accidental release of a bio-engineered plant that can walk and can/does whip deadly poisonous stingers at people. A one-two punch! Anyhoo, I thought it'd be a fun book, and it's not. It ain't no 'troubles with triffids'! A quick read!

Now, on to Naomi Novik's Uprooted!

@Colin - I remember studying The Battle of Maldon at university. I've not read Tolkien's version but given how epic the poem is already I can imagine he had great fun with it! Hope you enjoy it. 😊

@Economondos - I read the Farseer Trilogy for the first time last year and fell absolutely in love with it. I'm so glad you enjoyed Assassin's Apprentice and hope you enjoy the rest of the series 😊

@Marc - I have literally just finished Uprooted myself! Must be a year for it 😊

There are so many things I'm hoping to read this year and my *physical* TBR is currently groaning under 126 books so I really do need to get through some of them. I've nearly finished How High We Go in the Dark, then hopefully finishing The Wind on Fire trilogy. The Wind Singer was decent children's fantasy but book 2, Slaves of the Mastery, really surprised me with how good it was. Now I can't wait to read book 3, Firesong.

I feel like this is going to be a really good book year!

Just started readingServant of the Shard byR.A. Salvatore. The story of Artemis Entreri,Jarlaxle and the Crystal Shard.

Finished reading The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner. This is not an easy book to read - it has an emotional impact that has both peaks and cumulative effect. The main story follows the lives of three daughters of a rabbi and his wife from Trnava (in modern-day Slovakia). Set in the 14th century (note that all dates are given in the Jewish calendar), this is part historical fantasy and part fairy tale (with components of Jewish and Eastern European folklore), along with some Jewish mysticism. This is not Fiddler on the Roof! It is a painful story. It is worth reading and I do recommend it, especially for those who like historical fantasy.

I hadn't heard of that one! nice

Finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer & Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, both 4 ��.

Now reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, and Uprooted by Naomi Novik

reading the new Penric, Demon Daughter by Bujold. It is, unsurprisingly, quite good.

Joveanna wrote: "Now reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, and Uprooted by Naomi Novik"

Great books! (Especially Ancillary Justice, imo). I hope you'll enjoy them.

Rick wrote: "reading the new Penric, Demon Daughter by Bujold. It is, unsurprisingly, quite good."

I have in on my kindle, yay. I just have some other books to finish first ;)

Collecting the Penric books, will continue reading as soon as they arrive. Unsurprisingly, there aren't a lot of used copies available. Everyone keeps them!

Charlton wrote: "Just started readingServant of the Shard byR.A. Salvatore. The story of Artemis Entreri,Jarlaxle and the Crystal Shard."

Excellent books By Salvatore as I've read all of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, over 30 books and not a bad one in the bunch. I hope that you started from "Homeland" which will give you some excellent perspective on the series.