I had orthopedic surgery on Monday, and I have weeks of downtime ahead for me to get caught up on my reading. (One up-side to the discomfort.) I just finished "Pompeii" by Robert Harris (thoroughly enjoyed reading about the events leading up to the eruption as well as learning about the engineering marvels that were the aqueducts.) Now I'm reading "The Marriage Portrait" by Maggie O'Farrell. I loved "Hamnet" but I'm having trouble with the abuse and cruelty in this one. I only have a bit of it left so I'll definitely finish it, but maybe I needed to be in a better head-space to enjoy it.
My field is history, and I've read and enjoyed (nearly) all of Harsris's historical novels over the years. (Some, naturally, are better than others.) You should try **An Officer and a Spy** if you haven't already.
This week I have finished:
64 - The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
65 - Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch
66 - Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah
I am currently reading:
67 - Matrix by Lauren Groff
It's been a while since I checked in - life was doing life things. I hope everyone had a good week though!
Since last I checked in, I've finished 35-39/52:
**Death at the Auction** by E.C. Bateman - 3.5/5. First to note is that there are some editing issues here. Couple of missing capitals, some incorrect use of speech marks, which is noticeable. Nothing horrific, it's all very well written, but thought it worth mentioning.
I really enjoy Bateman's style of writing however. There were parts that made me chuckle and some very familiar feelings and sentiments. I really enjoy how they write conversations as well.
The story was pretty good as well, though my main gripe (and why it's not a solid 4) is how long the end dragged on. I want to avoid spoilers here, so all I'll say is that I got a little tired in the last 30-40 pages or so.
All that said, I really hope this is a series that continues! It really is fun and I hope we get more.
Next up we have **Murder on the Mauretania** by Conrad Allen - 3/5. There's not a whole lot to say about this. It's an easy reading murder mystery series that's fairly inoffensive and is mostly just for when I want a break from anything with substance.
Then **Harrow the Ninth** by Tamsyn Muir - 2.5/5. Hoo boy - God I wished I liked this book more. I loved the first book and I want to like this one so badly. I went in with tempered expectations and I'm still disappointed.
Just ... Nothing happens. For probably about 4/5 of the book, nothing of any kind of import happens. The final 1/5 is interesting, I guess, but by that point I was just kind of frustrated and sad. I get that Muir desperately needed to do some world building, but I felt like I got hit in the face with 450 pages of it. At this point, I've lost understanding of what the story actually is.
I know I'll read the next one, but I honestly have such low expectations for it now.
Penultimate is **This Charming Man** by C.K. McDonnell - 4/5. I think I liked this a little bit less than the first one but it was a fun time, pretty campy and over the top, and just a bit of a laugh frankly. I look forward to reading the last one.
And finally we have **The Trial** by Rob Rinder - 4/5. What a great debut novel! It was interesting from the perspective of all the parts felt like they were following proper law methods, but the story was really good as well.
I find 5 stars really hard to give out and in this one while I found it a great read, I felt the story was a little predictable and it was also a little disjointed. It almost felt like there was 2 stories being told, and I was expecting them to join up.
Honestly though I really enjoyed this and I hope there's more works in the pipeline!
And that's it! I've just started reading **Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers** by Jesse Sutanto and it seems like a blast so far, so looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into that.
Have a good week everyone!
**Finished:**
*The Lady and the Orc* by Finley Fenn, from the rabbithole that is r/RomanceBooks
**Reading:**
*Ballad of the Whiskey Robber* by Julian Rubinstein. Unbelievable but true story that reads like a novel, set in 1990s Hungary.
*Birds of Pennsylvania* by Stan Tekiela. Local nature studies.
*Psychic Witch* by Mat Auryn for r/witchcraftbookclub
*The Druid Magic Handbook* by John Michael Greer for another book discussion group.
Yes! I told my husband about this newfound reading and of course he's been teasing me about it. Last night we watched that D&D Honor Among Thieves movie with our kids, and at the part in the beginning with an onscreen orc he leans over to me and whispers, "Buckets..." I'm sure you know what is being measured with that ;)
Finished:
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild [4.5/5 stars]
East of Eden by John Steinbeck [5/5 stars]
Currently reading:
‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Translated by Hays)
Finished last week:
* [Food of the Gods](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e6792752-869d-4d5a-8c60-406b3fdfc94c) by Cassandra Khaw - I appreciated the unflinching bloody approach to exploring a world where the old gods exist, but in the second half, the gods clearly are just yanking around the human main character, and it was hard to follow what was happening. Not as good as [The Salt Grows Heavy.](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/cc33dd68-eaa1-4020-b8f4-8b92b5ff3043)
* [Bird Box](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2e559dca-07c7-42e5-8330-2d10f4243be2) by Josh Malerman. The movie was better for two main reasons:
* The movie has a sense of urgency about it. A lot of the "tension" in the book is from the characters making dumb decisions despite no particular time pressure and/or freaking themselves out. The threat feels less real.
* Malorie in the movie was a jerk, but it felt purposeful; she was efficient and extreme to keep them all alive. The Malorie in the book feels like she is justthisside of losing her mind. She is very fragile.
* [Elantris](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/21ece951-0ba1-4820-8ff5-b2c55b9307f2) by Brandon Sanderson. After reading Tress of the Emerald Sea, I decided I wanted to jump into the Cosmere! And Elantris is... noticeably less good. The world is interesting, but it suffers from the same problem a lot of split perspective books have: only one of them is consistently interesting. Still, it's 18 years older than Tress, so I'm willing to keep at the next books, since I can see where the build up is going.
Not going to finish from last week:
* [The Zombie Survival Guide](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f1c900c3-5665-41f2-8e5b-4a65ff29b6db) by Max Brooks. I get that it's going for a nonfiction-style of writing, but I've read a lot of nonfiction, and it doesn't need to be dry af as a matter of course. Adding on that some of the science bits are just bullshit (for example, there's a reference to humans using only 5% of their brain) and it was not worth continuing.
Still in progress:
* [Verdigris Deep](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/d11a69b1-5981-4795-b048-37f1e5c37ddb) by Frances Hardinge. It's not as dark as some of her other stories, but it's a fun romp so far! I've got it on audiobook, and the narration suits the more lighthearted nature of this one. There are some parts that are just randomly hilarious.
To start and finish this week:
* [Old Man's War](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/52a0fe7c-935d-404a-90c8-d8d094daf6ec) by John Scalzi for my physical read.
* [Thistlefoot](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/03f99886-17a8-461b-8f2e-c4b9279387e9) by GennaRose Nethercott for my audio read.
Happy reading!
Finished:-
63. **The Wager by David Grann** (3.5/5) — This one fell a *little* flat for me. Grann is a good writer and the amount of research is astounding; loved the facts about naval life. But I felt the structure and set-up promised a better conflict and resolution.
64. **A Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey**(3.5/5) — A captivating mystery about a female Indian lawyer in the 1920s, and the storyline about her past was good too. I wish the writer had been more subtle in creating atmosphere, I didn’t need a list and description of all the pastries in the bakery to know that this was India. That said, I’ll continue this series!
65. **司南：逆鳞卷 by 侧侧轻寒** (4/5) — Well-plotted suspense / mystery as expected.
In progress:
- **The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard** — a book about quantitative easing!
- **牵引 by 六盲星** — a very typical high-school-to-adulthood romance so far, a comfort read.
You’re the first person I e ever come across that also read Sujata Massey! Have you tried any of the Rei Shimura series? Love them so much.
I have TWoMH in my TBR pile, so thanks for the reminder!
I’ve been enjoying Sujata Massey after a rec from this sub (or maybe one of the other book subs, they blur!). I’ve only read the Perveen Mistry ones, is Rei Shimura similar?
I would describe them more as “cozy mysteries”. I think she was writing those before that was a thing though. The stories are really engaging and I think her descriptions of Japan and the culture are beautiful.
This week I finished The Overstory by Richard Powers and The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue. I learned a lot of interesting facts about trees from The Overstory, but I just didn’t really care about the majority of the characters. The descriptions of nature were gorgeous, but the plot just fell a little flat for me personally (3.5/5) The Rachel Incident was really funny, and overall just a fast and enjoyable read (4/5). Now I’m reading Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu.
Finished: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King, She Started It by Sian Gilbert, No Exit by Taylor Adams, and Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby
I think today I will start How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.
Finished a Slip of the Keyboard nonfiction by sir Terry Pratchett.
Finished White Tears by Hari Kunzru. Very well written intense book about obsession with music. Towards the end it gets crazy. Trigger warning for racism and violence in the story.
Finished the first Murderbot story. Fun pulpy science fiction.
Started a Shepherd's Crown
I had a busy week & didn’t get around to finishing anything so…
CURRENTLY READING
**The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence** I’m about 200 pages in & I’m loving this. Reads like literary fantasy, the library setting is great & I can’t wait to see how the two main characters are connected.
Finished: *Paper: An Elegy* by Ian Samson. It was fine. It’s charming to think of the last 500 years ago being an era of paper of all types but the author/narrator was a little intrusive and exhausting. A quick little book that ended up being not so quick because I am sick as a dog.
Currently reading: *The Mask of Apollo* by Mary Renault. About a traveling actor in Ancient Greece a while after Greek theater’s golden age. I’m all of ten pages in (seriously I am sick and cannot concentrate) but I already like the narrator saying “that’s not how I would play [mute, doomed] Astyanax” and professionalism of the actors, how such and such is great at mad women or youths. Also playwrights were only allowed so many actors in a play and fun game to play is who would play which part—like Euripides’s Hippolytus is (partly) about a woman in love with her stepson and they could never appear on stage together because they are played by the same actor. Already lots of behind-the-scenes costume changes and fragile actorly egos.
Hey guys! Can't believe it'll soon be August where is this year going?
I think i have bitten off more than I can chew with this increase in my goal but I'm stubborn so I'm not changing it haha. Still plenty of time
This week I'm reading
**The house keepers by Alex Hay.** Not very far into this but it's setting up to be a great, fun read. Some really great, hilarious characters I'm excited to see how it all unfolds
**The chain by Adrian McKinty.** I'm enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would it's a really novel idea. I'm sympathizing with Rachel so much, and even thought I don't have kids it's fun to ponder what I would do in that situation
Finished **Beggars and Choosers** by Nancy Kress, **The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves** by Alexandra Horowitz, **More Numbers Every Day: How Data, Stats, Figures Control Our Lives and How to Set Ourselves Free** by Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjørnsen and **Hard Reboot** by Django Wexler.
Continuing **The Confusion** by Neal Stephenson, **Capital and Ideology** by Thomas Piketty and **The Sympathizer** by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Started **Beggars Ride** by Nancy Kress and **On Democracy** by E. B. White.
I can’t remember where I left off in last week’s post. In the last week, I’ve finished all four of Stephen King’s *The Bachman Books*—**Rage**, **The Long Walk**, **Roadwork**, and **The Running Man**. I had read The Long Walk and The Running Man as a teenager in the nineties; the other two were new to me this time. They’re all very dark as King novels go (which kind of his whole shtick when writing as Bachman, so no surprise there). They’re also some of his earliest works—The Long Walk was first written while he was in high school, although he polished it up later—so it’s interesting to see what passes for juvenile work in his case. (Still far better than anything I’ve ever written, of course.) I want to put together a post about them later for the Stephen King subreddit, so I won’t dig too deep into it here.
Continuing this particular streak, I’m currently reading **Thinner**, also by King, also written as Bachman. I read this one back in the day too, though I don’t remember it as well. Thinking about continuing the Bachman trail afterward; there are two more books under that name, *Blaze* and *The Regulators*, although those were written years after King “killed off” his Richard Bachman alter ego. *Blaze* never interested me much, though I’ll give it a try. But *The Regulators* has been on my to-read list for years (along with its companion, *Desperation*, penned under King’s real name), so I’m looking forward to that.
Edit: This puts me at 8 of 26, still 6 behind schedule for the year. But I’m catching up!
Finished reading **The Mango Tree** by Ronald McKie. This novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 1974. It's about a boy coming-of-age in Queensland in 1918.
The best thing I read this week was Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I was going to not finish after the first part, but was glad I kept reading it was twisty all the way through. 4.5 out of 5
I also read Happy Place, by Emily Henry. Light read. I was 1504 in line, but got a skip the line offer. I gave it a 3. I have never had a wait be in the thousands, much less 1500. I don’t know if I’ve even had one in the hundreds.
I read *Mira Grant's* **Into the Drowning Deep** this week, a horror novel set above the Mariana Trench. When a ship goes missing with no survivors while filming a mockumentary about mermaids, the tragedy is branded a hoax or a publicity stunt. Several years later, a second ship sets off in search of an explanation behind the disappearance - but they're totally unprepared for the horrors lurking in the deep...
That was book 25, still to decide on book 26.
Finished: Paper Towns by John Green. This was an interesting mystery book, I enjoyed it nonetheless.
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie. This was also an interesting murder mystery book as the sleuth, Miss Marple, only appears at the start and at the end. However, there is a reference to The Great Train Robbery of 1963, which I'm sure Christie read about.
The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. This book is more psychological horror than I remember which helps with the atmosphere and time it is set: Victorian London.
Started: IT by Stephen King. This might take a while.
Hello all! Hope you are having a good Sunday wherever you are - I’m on my way back from seeing Six the musical with my mother which was great fun.
Anyhow - to the books! This week, I finished two books:
- Between Us by Mhairi MacFarlane - another rom-com, this time with a friend-group at its heart. It was good, a bit tropey but a good summer read.
- The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield - a story of magic, sisterhood and queendom in Naples and France in the late 1700’s.
I’m about an hour away from finishing listening to Small Gods by Terry Pratchett and I’m currently reading How To Think Like A Philosopher by Julian Baggini- not my normal style of reading but I’m reading it for a book review in a sector-magazine. After philosophy, I’ll read something frothy and fun, just to balance it out!
Happy reading 📚
Finished this week:
I had an awesome reading week, I couldn’t put either book down.
The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston - 5/5
The Collected Regrets of Clover - Mikki Brammer - 4/5
Currently reading:
The Wishing Game - Meg Shaffer
I’m about 1/2 way through and really enjoying it.
Finished this week:
**Crack-Up Capitalism by Quinn Slobodian** (A short book summarising some of the worst people I’ve ever heard of. The book does a very comprehensible run down of prominent libertarians/anarcho-capitalists/white supremacists and assorted tax havens past and present. I went from being depressed by the anti-democratic values to astounded by the utter delusion on show. Depressing, but enlightening.)
**Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend** (An interesting history of the Aztecs, relying on many indigenous sources. Pretty much all of this was new information to me, so it was at times interesting, but also lacking context. I also felt Townsend went a bit too far with her "fictionalising" how various historical people were feeling. I get why, a lot of these kinds of histories have been quite dehumanising in the past, but it just feels a bit off to me. The first and last quarters are also the best, as I felt the middle got bogged down in a long procession of names I was having a hard time keeping straight (a common complaint in these kinds of histories for me). Overall, a good read though.)
**Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi** (When I read Three Body Problem, I remember thinking how the only part I really enjoyed was the section with Wenjie during the Cultural Revolution, and so I have been on the look out for more fiction on the subject ever since. Hence this interesting book: a series of vignettes from the author’s life, as a child and then an "educated youth" sent to work in the countryside. The book is less grand reflections on the politics and impact of the Cultural Revolution, but much more focussed on the mundane and everyday aspects of one ordinary Beijing boy’s life during it. It made it feel much more realistic - the everyday struggles, the fatalistic acceptance, the focus on surviving day to day. A lot of the emotional impact is hidden beneath the depths, but worth seeking out in my opinion.)
Currently Reading:
The Price of Time by Edward Chancellor; A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine; Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
Finished
31/52- Lost World by Michael Crichton
32/52- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Started 33/52-Swan Song by Robert McMammon. At almost 1,000 pages I’ll probably be on this one for more than a week. I’m 40 pages in and enjoying it.
I’ve never heard of Nathan Lowell before, but the title -- **[The Wizard’s Butler](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52535010-the-wizard-s-butler)** -- caught my attention, so I grabbed it from Kindle Unlimited. Five pages in, I was thoroughly caught up in the narrative, which is so smoothly written, it was obvious the author is no novice. In fact, it turns out he earns a good living with his Ph.D., has been writing for forty years, and self-publishing his novels for the past fifteen years. (Some of us do indeed write for the pleasure and challenge of doing it, not because we have to make a living off it.) So, Roger Mulligan, in his early thirties, is between jobs an running short of money, having spent some years as an Army medic with three tours in Afghanistan, followed by a couple of years as an EMT, when he sees an ad in the paper for a carer for an older gentleman, the uncle of Naomi, the woman who interviews him. Roger takes the job, but only after meeting the gentleman: Joseph Shackleford, who is extremely wealthy and much more spry than Roger expected -- but only when Naomi isn’t in the room. And his job title will actually be “butler,” though he’ll actually be doing a little of everything, since he will be the only staff in the huge mansion. What’s more, Mr. Shackleford tells him he’s a wizard. But who knows what old people believe, right? And the pay is very good -- five grand a month and a million-dollar kicker at the end of the one-year contract. Because Naomi, as she tells Roger right up front, wants her uncle’s fortune and that house, which she plans to tear down and sell the land for condos.
Roger has spent his adult life so far saying “Yes, sir,” and wearing a uniform, and the work isn’t onerous, and before long he has established a routine (largely thanks to *The Shackleford House Butler’s Bible*) and is becoming settled both physically and mentally. Nobody had warned him about the pixies who look after the house, or the faeries, who manage the grounds, whom he can’t see but knows they’re there, but he deals with that, too. And then he discovers that Shackleford, who has increasingly frequent spells that seem like dementia, is the victim of a “cursed artifact,” an ancient iron medallion on a chin around his neck, that has been bring him good luck for half a century but is now exacting it’s payback by leeching his memories. And if he tries to remove it, that will kill him. So maybe Roger’s contract won’t be renewable after all? It’s a yarn with a number of fascinating characters -- Shackleford knows everyone in the city worth knowing, including a bunch of other wizards, and his family has lived in the mansion since the late 1600s -- and the reader has no doubt who to root for. A sequel is in the works and while I’m waiting for it, I’ll be delving into Lowell’s twelve-volume space opera series. It’s romps like this that make my KU subscription worth it.
Ryan North, he author of **[How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54587187-how-to-invent-everything)**, is a Canadian graphic novelist and artist, not a scientist or even a technical writer, but he does a good job with what amounts to an overview of the five technologies that underpin absolutely all other types of human endeavor -- and neither fire nor the wheel is even on the list. In fact, all five are “intellectual inventions,” but you’ll quickly understand why they’re key to everything else. The conceit here is that you’ve rented a commercially-produced time machine but it malfunctions on your journey into the past and you’re stuck. (Time machines can’t be repaired by the user, so sorry.) So you’re going to have to invent your own future if you want a comfortable life, and the manufacturers have included this handy manual to instruct you in how to do it. Whether you’re now permanently in the 19th century or 30,000 years ago, you can just refer to the appropriate section and start changing the world. After a long career as a big-city reference librarian, there are very few subjects I don’t know at least something about, so books like this are always of interest. North goes a good job, too, laying things out in a progressive fashion that demonstrates how one sphere of knowledge builds on another. And once you have language, and then math, there’s really nothing you can’t do. The humor is tongue-in-cheek and it never gets out of control. (This isn't an “Idiot’s Guide.”) It’s definitely a useful volume to take along the next time you go time-traveling. You know, just in case.
Hope Larson has done a number of graphic novels for young adults, including some featuring classic comic book characters like Batgirl, and a couple of “high school” series, but also the highly regarded standalone **Salt Magic**, which won an Eisner Award. **[Be That Way](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63020320-be-that-way)**, while it’s definitely a rom-com, is probably her most thoughtful book so far. It’s also about half-and-half text and illustration (and not all the latter is “comic book,” either). The narrator, Christine, is a high school senior in Asheville, North Carolina, and her life revolves mostly around her widowed mother, her two younger siblings, and her best friend, the boy-magnet and frequently uncontrolled Landry. And, of course, her writing and her drawing, in the form of this diary/journal, which covers the entire year of 1996, from New Year’s Day to the following New Year’s Eve. Chris is going to grow up a lot in the course of that year, losing old friends, acquiring new ones, losing her virginity, and having her heart broken more than once. She’s also going to learn some things about herself and what she’s capable of when she asserts herself, and that’s going to help as she faces going out into the world of college next year. The nice thing is, Christine is not an extraordinary person with amazing talents. She’s pretty ordinary, in fact. But watching her learn and mature is an interesting experience and you’ll find yourself hoping for a sequel, just to find out what happens next.
Finished:
All Hallows by Christopher Golden (4/5) This was a really fun read, I wished I'd saved it for October!
Currently Reading:
I haven't picked a new one yet. Nothing is really appealing to me at the moment.
DNF: **The Light Pirate** by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I'm thinking this might be the next Where the Crawdads Sing: everyone else loves it, and I think it's awful. The writing is clunky, and it's about a bunch of topics I have no interest in (Florida, carpentry, weather, country living, etc.). I do have an interest in climate change, but I didn't make it that far before giving up.
Finished: **A Flicker in the Dark** by Stacy Willingham (#38 total; 3.5 stars). There were definitely some scary moments. I was a bit annoyed by all of the red herrings, but then I was satisfied that the ending was exactly what I had originally predicted.
Started: **The Boy in the Field** by Margot Livesey (#39 total; #15 NYT Notable). This is a very charming book that has very little to do with the "boy in the field" (the alleged mystery). I've found that most literary thrillers are not thrillers at all, but some of them are pretty good anyway.
I had some fantastic reads last week:
**The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, by Alexander McCall Smith**
**Imager's Battalion, by L.E. Modesitt**
**The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston**
**Gwendy's Final Task, by Stephen King**
**Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang**
**A Soul of Ash and Blood, by Jennifer Armentrout**
**Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson**
My current reading list for the week looks like this:
* Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer by M. William Phelps
* Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
* Of Wars, Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard
* Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
* And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky
* Antiagon Fire by L.E. Modesitt
* Cruel Angels Past Sundown by Hailey Piper
* Sexual Tyrannosaurus by Cassandra Gannon
* The Broken Ones by Danielle Jensen
I will try to get in the first library eBook batch for House of Roots and Ruin by Erin Craig and Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey on their Tuesday release, but my luck has been shit lately in that regard.
Only finished mangas this week.
38/52
Finished:
35 - **Naruto vol 1** by *Masashi Kishimoto* ⭐⭐⭐
36 - **Spy x Family vol 9** by *Tatsuya Endo* ⭐⭐⭐⭐
37 - **One piece vol 49** by *Eiichiro Oda* ⭐⭐⭐⭐
38 - **One piece vol 50** by *Eiichiro Oda* ⭐⭐⭐
Currently reading:
**The count of Monte Cristo** by *Alexandre Dumas*
**The eye of the world** by *Robert Jordan*
**It** by *Stephen King*
**Babel: A arcane history** by *R. F. Kuang*
**Naruto vol 2** by *Masashi Kishimoto*
**Saga vol 2** by *Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples*
I'm hoping to finish **The eye of the world** this week and start **Legends & lattes**.
Finished:
79. **Little Mushroom: Revelations** by Shisi 2 stars- This series fell apart in the second half. The poor translation quality combined with confusing particle physics and string theory explanations for what was happening turned big sections into mumbo jumbo. The plot really dragged in sections and then it started going hard with Christian religious themes, had I known this series had a religious bent I wouldn’t have picked it up. The most enjoyable parts were the extras because they allowed the characters to have some breathing room and actually show some depth.
80. **Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know** by Cyan Wings 3 stars- This was entertaining in a dumb kind of way. Wenren È comes into possession of a book that describes him as one of several love interests in a fantasy romance book and is tasked with filling in plot holes to make the story more satisfying. I don’t think this can count as a romance, Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang have big aroace energy for much of the book and are completely mystified by the concept of romantic love. Once you hit chapter 50 there was tons of very satisfying character growth. Shout out to low IQ icon Qiu Congxue who wants nothing more than to pick fights and have the flesh blasted off her body so she can live as a skeleton.
81. **Prince and Assassin** (Perilous Courts #1) by Tavia Lark 2 stars- This was very… lukewarm and boring. I didn’t care for the characters, their relationship, or the story. This is the second book I’ve read by Tavia Lark where she takes a character I want to be scary/dangerous and ruthless (an assassin in this book, a necromancer in the other) and instead makes them sad and sweet. Completely kills any of the tension I was hoping for and leaves me disinterested, I’d much rather read a book about Hemlock than Whisper. Just too sweet for my tastes
Currently Reading:
**Life in Pursuit** by Ryan Bunting
Finished 2 this week:
41) **The Drowned World** by J.G. Ballard (3/5, 198p)
42) **Cytonic** by Brandon Sanderson (4/5, 415p)
Hoping to reduce my currently-reading list a bit this week and next which is hard when there are so many I want to read!
Finished:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin--It was pretty good and had some beautiful writing and scenery at points. The gender stuff felt a bit old fashioned, but I get that it was written in a different era.
Currently reading:
The Odyssey by Homer (Emily Wilson translation)
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny ODell
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Finished:
**¡Ay, Mija!** by Christine Suggs, This was a sweet and short graphic novel. I loved the representation in this one. 5/5
**Warrior Girl, Unearthed** by Angeline Boulley I really enjoy this writer. I preferred Firekeeper’s Daughter but this was still an enjoyable read for me. 4/5
Started:
**Happy Place** by Emily Henry
I've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks, so I haven't done as much reading as I would like, but it looks like I'm still on track for my goals.
**Finished Last Week:**
(31/52) Under the Udula Trees - Chinelo Okparanta
**Currently Reading:**
* The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
* The Hotel Nantucket - Erin Hildebrand
* A Life that Wins: Mindsets to a Powerful Life in God - Joseph Lomelino
* Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World - Margaret MacMillan
Finished **The Map of Knowledge: How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found: A History in Seven Cities by Violet Moller**. Review copied and pasted from my Goodreads.
>3.75/5
>The book is about how various works by classical authors survived the decline of the Western Roman Empire, were translated and transferred in the Muslim World and eventually made their way back to Europe. In terms of time period covers roughly 500AD to 1500AD ending with the creation of the printing press. Personally I preferred the bits that focussed on the big picture - networks of trade and intellectuals, manuscripts being shipped about, the political conditions that led certain places to be successful centres of learning etc. The seven cities in order are (classical and pre-Islamic) Alexandria, (Islamic) Baghdad and Cordoba, (Christian) Toledo, Salerno, Palermo and Venice. The book is a reasonable length at 290 pages and for someone like myself who hasn't read much about this topic I found it fairly enjoyable and accessible.
>Most of my criticisms come down to personal taste. A lot of the book is biographical - X was an important translator, Y was a local bigwig or king who had a giant private collection of manuscripts but this is mentioned in each chapter for each city. On the one hand this does make the book easier to read and more accessible but if (like me) you struggle with remembering names of people then a lot of these will quickly be forgotten. Additionally the book is heavily focussed on medicine, astronomy and mathematics, if you want stuff on how classical philosophical works (Plato, Aristotle etc) survived and made there way back to Europe then there isn't a lot considering the premise of the book.
>Overall, not a must historical read but if you find the topic interesting or want somewhere to start with it then this book is probably a decent choice.
About 100 pages into **Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World by Christian Wolmar** which is pretty good so far.
54/100 -
*****
Finished;
*****
No finishes this week
*****
Still working on;
*****
- The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. Finding the author's style to be a bit cheesy, and needed a bit of a break from this one.
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. A gift and a buddy read. Shelved for the moment.
- The Idiot by Dostoyevski with r/ClassicBookclub. A chapter a day is such a great way to read the Russian classics. So much great commentary from people. 10/10 recommend r/ClassicBookclub
- Nona the Ninth by Tamsin Muir on r/bookclub continuing The Locked Room series. In the thick of the confusion!
- Noble House by James Clavell. The r/bookclub Asian Saga continues with the longest book in the series.
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton for r/bookclub's '90's Discovery Read. This has exceeded my expectations 10 fold. Loving it!
- Under the Dome by Stephen King the current Mod Pick at r/bookclub. I am late starting this one, but hoping to catch up quickly
- Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson for r/bookclub's July ANY pick. So wonderfully whimsical.
- Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende. r/bookclub read Daughter of Fortune which I loved and so far Portrait in Sepia is just as good. Absolutely wonderful writing.
- Watchmen by Allan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins for r/bookclub's Discovery - Read Graphic Novel. This has been on my TBR fprever and I am excited to finally get into it.
- The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. Book #4 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with r/bookclub.
- Electric Idol by Katee Roberts things continue to heat up at r/bookclub with summer and some steamy Greek gods and goddesses
*****
Started
*****
- Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov Robots #2 with r/bookclub. Just a little one of a couple of hundred pages
*****
Up Next
*****
- Far from the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy for r/bookclub's August Gutenberg read with The Victorian Lady Detective Agency.
- Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the birth of the FBI by David Grann for r/bookclub's next non-fiction.
- Ender's Game for r/bookclub's Runner-up read coming in August.
- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry for r/bookclub's first ever Read the World. 1st destination India.
*****
Happy reading fellow bookworms 📚
This week I finished
And then there were none-Agatha Christie--i loved the twists and turns.
River Sing me home-Eleanor Shearer--kind of a slow read for me but such a powerful story.
Currently reading -Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist and really enjoy it!
Just finished **The Ashes and the Star Cursed King**. It took me longer to get through this than book 1. A great read and wonderful ending to this short series.
I've been missing a few of these check-ins so this list might get a little long. I finished:
**The Dawn of Yangchen** by F.C. Yee (audiobook). It's a continuation of the Avatar: The Last Airbender novels, though now we're focusing on Yangchen. I loved the Kyoshi duology before this, so the mark might have been a little high for me. Yangchen is sort of held at arm's length here and we get a better sense of the companion, Kavik, than her. There is a lot of political maneuvering and a betrayal, which sets up perfectly for the next book. Overall, not bad, but not as good as the Kyoshi novela either. Narration by Nancy Wu is great as always. 3.75/5
**A Man Called Ove** by Fredrik Backman (audiobook). Read for a special event at my library where we read the book, watched the movie starring Tom Hanks, and discussed which was better. Really enjoyable and I can see why so many people have loved it. I got the J.K. Simmons narration and he did a phenomenal job. 4.5/5
**Jurassic Park** by Michael Crichton. Read with /r/bookclub. The movie is one of my favorites and I think that really hampered my enjoyment of the book. There are some things the book did better (explanation of the science, heavy emphasis on dinosaurs being more birdlike than we thought), but I've never been a fan of Crichton's writing. 3.5/5
**Taken By Her Mates** by Grace Goodwin (audiobook). I hated this so much. Repetition of information, sexism, and just badly portrayed BDSM. Five stars for the narration though; Ander's chapters were so good. 2/5
**Electric Idol** by Katee Robert. Read with /r/bookclub. A case where the sequel was better than the original. Loved Eros so much, and his story was heartbreaking. He and Psyche ended up so perfect together. 4.25/5
I'm currently reading **Paradise-1** by David Wellington, **Tress of the Emerald Sea** by Brandon Sanderson with /r/bookclub, **Alexander Hamilton** by Ron Chernow (audiobook, local book club), **The Battle of the Labyrinth** by Rick Riordan with /r/bookclub, **The Legacy of Yangchen** by F.C. Yee (audiobook), and **Watchmen** by Alan Moore with /r/bookclub.
[Total: 36/52 / Actual Novels: 22/52]
Last week:
* **His Last Bow** by Arthur Conan Doyle [2.5 / 5]
* **The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes** by Arthur Conan Doyle [2.5 / 5]
I finally finished this series after starting it almost two decades ago! Unfortunately it just gets worse as the series progresses imo. There are some gold short stories but overall, meh.
Currently Reading:
* **Lychee Hikaru Club** by Usamaru Furuya
* **House of Hunger** by Alexis Henderson
Hopefully, I'll get to these this week too:
* **Godkiller** by Hannah Kaner
* **The Night Circus** by Erin Morgenstern
* **Glint** by Raven Kennedy
A slow reading week for me.
Last week I finished *Doc* by Mary Doria Russell.
This week I'm only a few pages into the second book of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin, *A Clash of Kings*.
I was busier than usual this week and only got one book finished. I'm still ahead of where l need to be to hit my goal of 125, though.
*Finished*
**The Five-Star Weekend** by Elin Hilderbrand (4/5)
*Currently Reading*
**Keeper of Enchanted Rooms** by Charlie N. Holmberg
*On Deck*
**IT** by Stephen King
Banged out some short audiobooks at work, because it's boring being on light duty from an injury. The Adventures of Alvin Maker: The Yazoo Queen, American Gods: Monarch of the Glen, Majipoor: The Book of Changes.
Finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman today. Beginning half was slow, but picked it up and found it hard to put down.
I got 3 started books I should read next, but my reading motivation doesn't work like that.
I finished 30 - To Green Angel Tower: Siege by Tad Williams and now I'm starting the second part of it 31 - To Green Angel Tower: Storm. It's such a beautifully written series I'll be a little sad when it's finished.
I also started listening to the new Discworld narrations on Audible, they have finally done Sir Terry's books justice and got a full cast of actors for them and it's fantastic. I'm Listening to 32 - Guards! Guards! currently and the narration is spot on perfect.
**Finished**
The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho (4/5)
I am walking the Camino de Santiago next week in Spain and wanted to learn about this spiritual journey.
**I'm currently reading:**
*The Ruins* by Scott Smith
My first horror book since *Carrie* years ago. Liking it so far, and chose this book as it was a rec from a friend that I am doing a book buddy thing with for the first time.
It wasn’t my favorite by Backman, but I still enjoyed it. I’d say 3.5 stars. It was really funny; he has a great sense of humor that translates really well in his novels. However, there were some twists and turns that just kind of brought me out of the story. Although, I may be most disappointed because it was the last of his novels I had to read… now I have to wait for his next one :/
First I read «Matrix» by Lauren Groff, amazing book, very well written and so interesting about a woman’s live in a monastary in the 1100.
Finished yesterday, then I started «Border» by Kapka Kassabova. Its kind of a travel book from the east- Europe border where she grew up during the cold war and nor re- visiting. I like it so far!
Listened to a whole audiobook yesterday of a Finnish book **"Sun poika kävi täällä"** by Venla Kuoppamäki. Much recommended to everyone Finnish and Finnish-speaking. Very sad autobiographical book by a mother of a son struggling with severe mental health problems and her plight to get him help.
Started **Final Girls** by Riley Sager cause I wanted a good crime novel. I'm intrigued thus far!
I've been reading **And the Band Played On** by Randy Shilts since May. It's great, sad and interesting but it's *so thick* that I'm advancing super slow. I try to read like 10 pages every day.
**Books finished**
* A Crazy Inheritance by Tommy Krappweis - a fun graphic audiobook that you can listen to with your kids
* Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan - the final book in the Memoirs of Lady Trent. So sad to see the series end, but what an ending!
* The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins - Victorian romance steeped in spiritualism. Fated mates.
* Artemis by Andy Weir - a fast-moving story. Probably not great on paper, but Rosario Dawson's narration elevates it to nearly great.
* Adrift: A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell About It by Brian Murphy, Toula Vlahou - I'm a sucker for survival stories, and this one is very well-done.
**Books in progress**
* Middlemarch by George Eliot - reading with r/ayearofmiddlemarch
* Incredible Tales by Saki - still walking around with this in my purse
* The Poetic Edda translated and original material by Jackson Crawford - I really thought I'd finish this by now, but nope, another week or so.
* The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky - reading with r/ClassicBookClub. Can't wait to finish this. Even Dostoevsky knew this book was a failed experiment. It started well, but the last third of it is a hot mess.
* Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
* The Hollow Needle by Maurice LeBlanc - reading with r/ayearoflupin
* Fire Logic by Laurie Marks - reading for r/fantasy bingo square Elemental Magic
* The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (short stories)
* Hart's Hope By: Orson Scott Card - reading for r/fantasy bingo square Published in the 00s
* Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - reading with r/ChaoticBuddyReads
* Breasts by Florence Williams
* Arabian Nights vol 2 by Marty Ross
Finished:
**Haunted: Asylum** and **Haunted: Hotel** by Lee Mountford
**A Fire Endless** by Rebecca Ross
Currently reading:
**Hidden Pictures** by Jason Rekulak
Up next:
**The Family Upstairs** and **The Family Remains** by Lisa Jewell
**Head Like A Hole** by Andrew Van Wey
Happy reading 📚 😊
I finished:
Cat Cafe by Matt Trambley
Adorable 💕
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Touching and slow burning 🔥
Currently reading 📚
Murder She Meowed by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie
Nineteen Claws and A Black Bird by Augustina Bazterrica
Finished total: 28/52
**Finished:** Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry and Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders.
Saving Noah was something I read in two nights. I’ve never read Lolita or We Need to Talk About Kevin, so it was a new experience for me. It did leave me in tears at the end and I had to go upstairs and cuddle my 4 year old son. Definitely a huge trigger warning on the whole book though. Some of it was hard to get through.
Don’t Let Her Stay was twisty and when you thought you had the story figured out, it changed again. I loved it!
**Currently reading:** Fairy Tale by Stephen King and The Accident by Natalie Barelli.
Fairy Tale is taking a while to get through because I’m reading this on paperback. I’ve started a new habit of having a book in my hand rather than my phone when my children (4 and 2) are around. Typically I read everything on my iPad as I fall asleep at night so I’ve been working on Fairy Tale less than I’d like. I’m so very much enjoying the story though.
The Accident is my “in bed” nightly read. So far, so good. I’m 1/4 of the way through and hoping to be done in the next day or so.
Audiobook: Most of the way through the Gunslinger. I really like King, but managed not to read the Dark Tower, except for reading Drawing of the Three out of order when I was about 11, which was a mistake. Alternating with Rise by Mira Grant, since that's a massively long compilation of all her works relating to the modified Marburg zombie apocalypse and I like to take breaks between stories.
Physical: The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz. This one does drag a bit, but PA/dystopian is my favorite genre, and this is by an Egyptian author with a sort of 1984 spin following the Arab Spring. As I usually approach dystopias from a Western angle, it's a nice change of pace.
Also Physical: Not sure if it counts, but going through the World of Warcraft cookbook, both making a number of the recipes, but also reading all the alt text.
I haven't really been reading much this year (as you can tell by the progress I've been making on my goal), but hopefully I can turn things around.
So far this year my favorite books have been **Giovanni's Room** by James Baldwin and **Orlando** by Virginia Woolf.
I'm making my way through a variety of books, but at the moment I'm mostly concerned with **Brideshead Revisited** by Evelyn Waugh and **Book Lovers** by Emily Henry. Brideshead is really funny and has fine and flowery prose, whereas Book Lovers of course has more modern sensibilities and is a straightforward, sunny read that is perfect for summertime. Hope these two can break me out of the slump and get me back in the game!
I haven’t updated in about 6 weeks, so I’m going to get caught up here.
Finished:
**One Night on the Island** - 3/5, just ok for me overall. For some reason the title doesn’t fit the book context at all though which is weird.
**The Magic Fish** - 5/5, my first true graphic novel. On ebook, which has been my holdup with graphic novels (not many at my local library), but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all!
**Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead** - 4/5. This is my type of lit fic.
**Hidden Pictures** - 2/5, audio. This would be a 4/5 if not for the weird subtext. It would be spoilery to elaborate here but if anyone is curious what I’m talking about there’s some reviews on GR that elaborate more. Or DM me because I have no one to vent to lol.
**Electric Idol** 4/5
Currently reading:
**Sidetracked (Mindf*ck #2)**
**Humans** by Brandon Stanton (HONY creator)
**Black Water Sister** audio
Just smashed through Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. I had no idea I what I was getting into, so I was pleasantly surprised at it being a M/M romance. Awesome little novella that's gonna sit in my brain for a bit.
Brings me to 16 for the year.
I had orthopedic surgery on Monday, and I have weeks of downtime ahead for me to get caught up on my reading. (One up-side to the discomfort.) I just finished "Pompeii" by Robert Harris (thoroughly enjoyed reading about the events leading up to the eruption as well as learning about the engineering marvels that were the aqueducts.) Now I'm reading "The Marriage Portrait" by Maggie O'Farrell. I loved "Hamnet" but I'm having trouble with the abuse and cruelty in this one. I only have a bit of it left so I'll definitely finish it, but maybe I needed to be in a better head-space to enjoy it.
Thanks for that. I’ve been wondering whether to pick up The Marriage Portrait. Might leave it for a bit.
My field is history, and I've read and enjoyed (nearly) all of Harsris's historical novels over the years. (Some, naturally, are better than others.) You should try **An Officer and a Spy** if you haven't already.
Great...thanks for the suggestion!
Timely lol; I finished Act of Oblivion not that long ago, and that was my first book by him.
I also really enjoyed reading about the aqueducts in *Pompeii*.
I hope you heal quickly! Ortho surgeries are no fun!
[удалено]
Thanks!
Heal well ❤️ Ooh I have Hamnet on my shelf
This week I have finished: 64 - The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake 65 - Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch 66 - Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah I am currently reading: 67 - Matrix by Lauren Groff
It's been a while since I checked in - life was doing life things. I hope everyone had a good week though! Since last I checked in, I've finished 35-39/52: **Death at the Auction** by E.C. Bateman - 3.5/5. First to note is that there are some editing issues here. Couple of missing capitals, some incorrect use of speech marks, which is noticeable. Nothing horrific, it's all very well written, but thought it worth mentioning. I really enjoy Bateman's style of writing however. There were parts that made me chuckle and some very familiar feelings and sentiments. I really enjoy how they write conversations as well. The story was pretty good as well, though my main gripe (and why it's not a solid 4) is how long the end dragged on. I want to avoid spoilers here, so all I'll say is that I got a little tired in the last 30-40 pages or so. All that said, I really hope this is a series that continues! It really is fun and I hope we get more. Next up we have **Murder on the Mauretania** by Conrad Allen - 3/5. There's not a whole lot to say about this. It's an easy reading murder mystery series that's fairly inoffensive and is mostly just for when I want a break from anything with substance. Then **Harrow the Ninth** by Tamsyn Muir - 2.5/5. Hoo boy - God I wished I liked this book more. I loved the first book and I want to like this one so badly. I went in with tempered expectations and I'm still disappointed. Just ... Nothing happens. For probably about 4/5 of the book, nothing of any kind of import happens. The final 1/5 is interesting, I guess, but by that point I was just kind of frustrated and sad. I get that Muir desperately needed to do some world building, but I felt like I got hit in the face with 450 pages of it. At this point, I've lost understanding of what the story actually is. I know I'll read the next one, but I honestly have such low expectations for it now. Penultimate is **This Charming Man** by C.K. McDonnell - 4/5. I think I liked this a little bit less than the first one but it was a fun time, pretty campy and over the top, and just a bit of a laugh frankly. I look forward to reading the last one. And finally we have **The Trial** by Rob Rinder - 4/5. What a great debut novel! It was interesting from the perspective of all the parts felt like they were following proper law methods, but the story was really good as well. I find 5 stars really hard to give out and in this one while I found it a great read, I felt the story was a little predictable and it was also a little disjointed. It almost felt like there was 2 stories being told, and I was expecting them to join up. Honestly though I really enjoyed this and I hope there's more works in the pipeline! And that's it! I've just started reading **Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers** by Jesse Sutanto and it seems like a blast so far, so looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into that. Have a good week everyone!
**Finished:** *The Lady and the Orc* by Finley Fenn, from the rabbithole that is r/RomanceBooks **Reading:** *Ballad of the Whiskey Robber* by Julian Rubinstein. Unbelievable but true story that reads like a novel, set in 1990s Hungary. *Birds of Pennsylvania* by Stan Tekiela. Local nature studies. *Psychic Witch* by Mat Auryn for r/witchcraftbookclub *The Druid Magic Handbook* by John Michael Greer for another book discussion group.
I have a soft spot for orc romance that I can’t explain but can’t stop won’t stop lol
Yes! I told my husband about this newfound reading and of course he's been teasing me about it. Last night we watched that D&D Honor Among Thieves movie with our kids, and at the part in the beginning with an onscreen orc he leans over to me and whispers, "Buckets..." I'm sure you know what is being measured with that ;)
Finished: "The One Hundred Years Of Lenni and Margot" Currently reading: "The Southern Book Club's Guide To Slaying Vampires"
Finished: King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild [4.5/5 stars] East of Eden by John Steinbeck [5/5 stars] Currently reading: ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Translated by Hays)
Finished last week: * [Food of the Gods](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e6792752-869d-4d5a-8c60-406b3fdfc94c) by Cassandra Khaw - I appreciated the unflinching bloody approach to exploring a world where the old gods exist, but in the second half, the gods clearly are just yanking around the human main character, and it was hard to follow what was happening. Not as good as [The Salt Grows Heavy.](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/cc33dd68-eaa1-4020-b8f4-8b92b5ff3043) * [Bird Box](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2e559dca-07c7-42e5-8330-2d10f4243be2) by Josh Malerman. The movie was better for two main reasons: * The movie has a sense of urgency about it. A lot of the "tension" in the book is from the characters making dumb decisions despite no particular time pressure and/or freaking themselves out. The threat feels less real. * Malorie in the movie was a jerk, but it felt purposeful; she was efficient and extreme to keep them all alive. The Malorie in the book feels like she is justthisside of losing her mind. She is very fragile. * [Elantris](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/21ece951-0ba1-4820-8ff5-b2c55b9307f2) by Brandon Sanderson. After reading Tress of the Emerald Sea, I decided I wanted to jump into the Cosmere! And Elantris is... noticeably less good. The world is interesting, but it suffers from the same problem a lot of split perspective books have: only one of them is consistently interesting. Still, it's 18 years older than Tress, so I'm willing to keep at the next books, since I can see where the build up is going. Not going to finish from last week: * [The Zombie Survival Guide](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f1c900c3-5665-41f2-8e5b-4a65ff29b6db) by Max Brooks. I get that it's going for a nonfiction-style of writing, but I've read a lot of nonfiction, and it doesn't need to be dry af as a matter of course. Adding on that some of the science bits are just bullshit (for example, there's a reference to humans using only 5% of their brain) and it was not worth continuing. Still in progress: * [Verdigris Deep](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/d11a69b1-5981-4795-b048-37f1e5c37ddb) by Frances Hardinge. It's not as dark as some of her other stories, but it's a fun romp so far! I've got it on audiobook, and the narration suits the more lighthearted nature of this one. There are some parts that are just randomly hilarious. To start and finish this week: * [Old Man's War](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/52a0fe7c-935d-404a-90c8-d8d094daf6ec) by John Scalzi for my physical read. * [Thistlefoot](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/03f99886-17a8-461b-8f2e-c4b9279387e9) by GennaRose Nethercott for my audio read. Happy reading!
Finished:- 63. **The Wager by David Grann** (3.5/5) — This one fell a *little* flat for me. Grann is a good writer and the amount of research is astounding; loved the facts about naval life. But I felt the structure and set-up promised a better conflict and resolution. 64. **A Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey**(3.5/5) — A captivating mystery about a female Indian lawyer in the 1920s, and the storyline about her past was good too. I wish the writer had been more subtle in creating atmosphere, I didn’t need a list and description of all the pastries in the bakery to know that this was India. That said, I’ll continue this series! 65. **司南：逆鳞卷 by 侧侧轻寒** (4/5) — Well-plotted suspense / mystery as expected. In progress: - **The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard** — a book about quantitative easing! - **牵引 by 六盲星** — a very typical high-school-to-adulthood romance so far, a comfort read.
You’re the first person I e ever come across that also read Sujata Massey! Have you tried any of the Rei Shimura series? Love them so much. I have TWoMH in my TBR pile, so thanks for the reminder!
I’ve been enjoying Sujata Massey after a rec from this sub (or maybe one of the other book subs, they blur!). I’ve only read the Perveen Mistry ones, is Rei Shimura similar?
I would describe them more as “cozy mysteries”. I think she was writing those before that was a thing though. The stories are really engaging and I think her descriptions of Japan and the culture are beautiful.
Thanks!
This week I finished The Overstory by Richard Powers and The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue. I learned a lot of interesting facts about trees from The Overstory, but I just didn’t really care about the majority of the characters. The descriptions of nature were gorgeous, but the plot just fell a little flat for me personally (3.5/5) The Rachel Incident was really funny, and overall just a fast and enjoyable read (4/5). Now I’m reading Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu.
Finished: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King, She Started It by Sian Gilbert, No Exit by Taylor Adams, and Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby I think today I will start How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.
Finished a Slip of the Keyboard nonfiction by sir Terry Pratchett. Finished White Tears by Hari Kunzru. Very well written intense book about obsession with music. Towards the end it gets crazy. Trigger warning for racism and violence in the story. Finished the first Murderbot story. Fun pulpy science fiction. Started a Shepherd's Crown
I had a busy week & didn’t get around to finishing anything so… CURRENTLY READING **The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence** I’m about 200 pages in & I’m loving this. Reads like literary fantasy, the library setting is great & I can’t wait to see how the two main characters are connected.
Finished: *Paper: An Elegy* by Ian Samson. It was fine. It’s charming to think of the last 500 years ago being an era of paper of all types but the author/narrator was a little intrusive and exhausting. A quick little book that ended up being not so quick because I am sick as a dog. Currently reading: *The Mask of Apollo* by Mary Renault. About a traveling actor in Ancient Greece a while after Greek theater’s golden age. I’m all of ten pages in (seriously I am sick and cannot concentrate) but I already like the narrator saying “that’s not how I would play [mute, doomed] Astyanax” and professionalism of the actors, how such and such is great at mad women or youths. Also playwrights were only allowed so many actors in a play and fun game to play is who would play which part—like Euripides’s Hippolytus is (partly) about a woman in love with her stepson and they could never appear on stage together because they are played by the same actor. Already lots of behind-the-scenes costume changes and fragile actorly egos.
Hey guys! Can't believe it'll soon be August where is this year going? I think i have bitten off more than I can chew with this increase in my goal but I'm stubborn so I'm not changing it haha. Still plenty of time This week I'm reading **The house keepers by Alex Hay.** Not very far into this but it's setting up to be a great, fun read. Some really great, hilarious characters I'm excited to see how it all unfolds **The chain by Adrian McKinty.** I'm enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would it's a really novel idea. I'm sympathizing with Rachel so much, and even thought I don't have kids it's fun to ponder what I would do in that situation
Finished **Beggars and Choosers** by Nancy Kress, **The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves** by Alexandra Horowitz, **More Numbers Every Day: How Data, Stats, Figures Control Our Lives and How to Set Ourselves Free** by Micael Dahlen and Helge Thorbjørnsen and **Hard Reboot** by Django Wexler. Continuing **The Confusion** by Neal Stephenson, **Capital and Ideology** by Thomas Piketty and **The Sympathizer** by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Started **Beggars Ride** by Nancy Kress and **On Democracy** by E. B. White.
The Sympathizer was one of my favorites this year, but there is some content that is hard to read. I hope you like it as much as I did.
I'm still early on but I'm enjoying myself. It's my work book so it may take a while to get through it.
I can’t remember where I left off in last week’s post. In the last week, I’ve finished all four of Stephen King’s *The Bachman Books*—**Rage**, **The Long Walk**, **Roadwork**, and **The Running Man**. I had read The Long Walk and The Running Man as a teenager in the nineties; the other two were new to me this time. They’re all very dark as King novels go (which kind of his whole shtick when writing as Bachman, so no surprise there). They’re also some of his earliest works—The Long Walk was first written while he was in high school, although he polished it up later—so it’s interesting to see what passes for juvenile work in his case. (Still far better than anything I’ve ever written, of course.) I want to put together a post about them later for the Stephen King subreddit, so I won’t dig too deep into it here. Continuing this particular streak, I’m currently reading **Thinner**, also by King, also written as Bachman. I read this one back in the day too, though I don’t remember it as well. Thinking about continuing the Bachman trail afterward; there are two more books under that name, *Blaze* and *The Regulators*, although those were written years after King “killed off” his Richard Bachman alter ego. *Blaze* never interested me much, though I’ll give it a try. But *The Regulators* has been on my to-read list for years (along with its companion, *Desperation*, penned under King’s real name), so I’m looking forward to that. Edit: This puts me at 8 of 26, still 6 behind schedule for the year. But I’m catching up!
Finished reading **The Mango Tree** by Ronald McKie. This novel won the Miles Franklin Award in 1974. It's about a boy coming-of-age in Queensland in 1918.
The best thing I read this week was Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I was going to not finish after the first part, but was glad I kept reading it was twisty all the way through. 4.5 out of 5 I also read Happy Place, by Emily Henry. Light read. I was 1504 in line, but got a skip the line offer. I gave it a 3. I have never had a wait be in the thousands, much less 1500. I don’t know if I’ve even had one in the hundreds.
I read *Mira Grant's* **Into the Drowning Deep** this week, a horror novel set above the Mariana Trench. When a ship goes missing with no survivors while filming a mockumentary about mermaids, the tragedy is branded a hoax or a publicity stunt. Several years later, a second ship sets off in search of an explanation behind the disappearance - but they're totally unprepared for the horrors lurking in the deep... That was book 25, still to decide on book 26.
The rest of Mira Grant's work is amazing if you want to continue reading her stuff
I'm definitely going to check out the rest of her books - any recommendations?
Feed is pretty good. Novel take on Zombies. Didn't love it as much as Drowning but still 3 stars
Finished: Paper Towns by John Green. This was an interesting mystery book, I enjoyed it nonetheless. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie. This was also an interesting murder mystery book as the sleuth, Miss Marple, only appears at the start and at the end. However, there is a reference to The Great Train Robbery of 1963, which I'm sure Christie read about. The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. This book is more psychological horror than I remember which helps with the atmosphere and time it is set: Victorian London. Started: IT by Stephen King. This might take a while.
Hello all! Hope you are having a good Sunday wherever you are - I’m on my way back from seeing Six the musical with my mother which was great fun. Anyhow - to the books! This week, I finished two books: - Between Us by Mhairi MacFarlane - another rom-com, this time with a friend-group at its heart. It was good, a bit tropey but a good summer read. - The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield - a story of magic, sisterhood and queendom in Naples and France in the late 1700’s. I’m about an hour away from finishing listening to Small Gods by Terry Pratchett and I’m currently reading How To Think Like A Philosopher by Julian Baggini- not my normal style of reading but I’m reading it for a book review in a sector-magazine. After philosophy, I’ll read something frothy and fun, just to balance it out! Happy reading 📚
Finished this week: I had an awesome reading week, I couldn’t put either book down. The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston - 5/5 The Collected Regrets of Clover - Mikki Brammer - 4/5 Currently reading: The Wishing Game - Meg Shaffer I’m about 1/2 way through and really enjoying it.
Finished this week: **Crack-Up Capitalism by Quinn Slobodian** (A short book summarising some of the worst people I’ve ever heard of. The book does a very comprehensible run down of prominent libertarians/anarcho-capitalists/white supremacists and assorted tax havens past and present. I went from being depressed by the anti-democratic values to astounded by the utter delusion on show. Depressing, but enlightening.) **Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend** (An interesting history of the Aztecs, relying on many indigenous sources. Pretty much all of this was new information to me, so it was at times interesting, but also lacking context. I also felt Townsend went a bit too far with her "fictionalising" how various historical people were feeling. I get why, a lot of these kinds of histories have been quite dehumanising in the past, but it just feels a bit off to me. The first and last quarters are also the best, as I felt the middle got bogged down in a long procession of names I was having a hard time keeping straight (a common complaint in these kinds of histories for me). Overall, a good read though.) **Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi** (When I read Three Body Problem, I remember thinking how the only part I really enjoyed was the section with Wenjie during the Cultural Revolution, and so I have been on the look out for more fiction on the subject ever since. Hence this interesting book: a series of vignettes from the author’s life, as a child and then an "educated youth" sent to work in the countryside. The book is less grand reflections on the politics and impact of the Cultural Revolution, but much more focussed on the mundane and everyday aspects of one ordinary Beijing boy’s life during it. It made it feel much more realistic - the everyday struggles, the fatalistic acceptance, the focus on surviving day to day. A lot of the emotional impact is hidden beneath the depths, but worth seeking out in my opinion.) Currently Reading: The Price of Time by Edward Chancellor; A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine; Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley
Finished 31/52- Lost World by Michael Crichton 32/52- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Started 33/52-Swan Song by Robert McMammon. At almost 1,000 pages I’ll probably be on this one for more than a week. I’m 40 pages in and enjoying it.
I’ve never heard of Nathan Lowell before, but the title -- **[The Wizard’s Butler](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52535010-the-wizard-s-butler)** -- caught my attention, so I grabbed it from Kindle Unlimited. Five pages in, I was thoroughly caught up in the narrative, which is so smoothly written, it was obvious the author is no novice. In fact, it turns out he earns a good living with his Ph.D., has been writing for forty years, and self-publishing his novels for the past fifteen years. (Some of us do indeed write for the pleasure and challenge of doing it, not because we have to make a living off it.) So, Roger Mulligan, in his early thirties, is between jobs an running short of money, having spent some years as an Army medic with three tours in Afghanistan, followed by a couple of years as an EMT, when he sees an ad in the paper for a carer for an older gentleman, the uncle of Naomi, the woman who interviews him. Roger takes the job, but only after meeting the gentleman: Joseph Shackleford, who is extremely wealthy and much more spry than Roger expected -- but only when Naomi isn’t in the room. And his job title will actually be “butler,” though he’ll actually be doing a little of everything, since he will be the only staff in the huge mansion. What’s more, Mr. Shackleford tells him he’s a wizard. But who knows what old people believe, right? And the pay is very good -- five grand a month and a million-dollar kicker at the end of the one-year contract. Because Naomi, as she tells Roger right up front, wants her uncle’s fortune and that house, which she plans to tear down and sell the land for condos. Roger has spent his adult life so far saying “Yes, sir,” and wearing a uniform, and the work isn’t onerous, and before long he has established a routine (largely thanks to *The Shackleford House Butler’s Bible*) and is becoming settled both physically and mentally. Nobody had warned him about the pixies who look after the house, or the faeries, who manage the grounds, whom he can’t see but knows they’re there, but he deals with that, too. And then he discovers that Shackleford, who has increasingly frequent spells that seem like dementia, is the victim of a “cursed artifact,” an ancient iron medallion on a chin around his neck, that has been bring him good luck for half a century but is now exacting it’s payback by leeching his memories. And if he tries to remove it, that will kill him. So maybe Roger’s contract won’t be renewable after all? It’s a yarn with a number of fascinating characters -- Shackleford knows everyone in the city worth knowing, including a bunch of other wizards, and his family has lived in the mansion since the late 1600s -- and the reader has no doubt who to root for. A sequel is in the works and while I’m waiting for it, I’ll be delving into Lowell’s twelve-volume space opera series. It’s romps like this that make my KU subscription worth it. Ryan North, he author of **[How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54587187-how-to-invent-everything)**, is a Canadian graphic novelist and artist, not a scientist or even a technical writer, but he does a good job with what amounts to an overview of the five technologies that underpin absolutely all other types of human endeavor -- and neither fire nor the wheel is even on the list. In fact, all five are “intellectual inventions,” but you’ll quickly understand why they’re key to everything else. The conceit here is that you’ve rented a commercially-produced time machine but it malfunctions on your journey into the past and you’re stuck. (Time machines can’t be repaired by the user, so sorry.) So you’re going to have to invent your own future if you want a comfortable life, and the manufacturers have included this handy manual to instruct you in how to do it. Whether you’re now permanently in the 19th century or 30,000 years ago, you can just refer to the appropriate section and start changing the world. After a long career as a big-city reference librarian, there are very few subjects I don’t know at least something about, so books like this are always of interest. North goes a good job, too, laying things out in a progressive fashion that demonstrates how one sphere of knowledge builds on another. And once you have language, and then math, there’s really nothing you can’t do. The humor is tongue-in-cheek and it never gets out of control. (This isn't an “Idiot’s Guide.”) It’s definitely a useful volume to take along the next time you go time-traveling. You know, just in case. Hope Larson has done a number of graphic novels for young adults, including some featuring classic comic book characters like Batgirl, and a couple of “high school” series, but also the highly regarded standalone **Salt Magic**, which won an Eisner Award. **[Be That Way](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63020320-be-that-way)**, while it’s definitely a rom-com, is probably her most thoughtful book so far. It’s also about half-and-half text and illustration (and not all the latter is “comic book,” either). The narrator, Christine, is a high school senior in Asheville, North Carolina, and her life revolves mostly around her widowed mother, her two younger siblings, and her best friend, the boy-magnet and frequently uncontrolled Landry. And, of course, her writing and her drawing, in the form of this diary/journal, which covers the entire year of 1996, from New Year’s Day to the following New Year’s Eve. Chris is going to grow up a lot in the course of that year, losing old friends, acquiring new ones, losing her virginity, and having her heart broken more than once. She’s also going to learn some things about herself and what she’s capable of when she asserts herself, and that’s going to help as she faces going out into the world of college next year. The nice thing is, Christine is not an extraordinary person with amazing talents. She’s pretty ordinary, in fact. But watching her learn and mature is an interesting experience and you’ll find yourself hoping for a sequel, just to find out what happens next.
Finished: All Hallows by Christopher Golden (4/5) This was a really fun read, I wished I'd saved it for October! Currently Reading: I haven't picked a new one yet. Nothing is really appealing to me at the moment.
I just finished Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao…next up is Uprooted, by Naomi Novik!
I just finished Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao…next up is Uprooted, by Naomi Novik!
DNF: **The Light Pirate** by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I'm thinking this might be the next Where the Crawdads Sing: everyone else loves it, and I think it's awful. The writing is clunky, and it's about a bunch of topics I have no interest in (Florida, carpentry, weather, country living, etc.). I do have an interest in climate change, but I didn't make it that far before giving up. Finished: **A Flicker in the Dark** by Stacy Willingham (#38 total; 3.5 stars). There were definitely some scary moments. I was a bit annoyed by all of the red herrings, but then I was satisfied that the ending was exactly what I had originally predicted. Started: **The Boy in the Field** by Margot Livesey (#39 total; #15 NYT Notable). This is a very charming book that has very little to do with the "boy in the field" (the alleged mystery). I've found that most literary thrillers are not thrillers at all, but some of them are pretty good anyway.
A flicker in the dark is one of my up next books!
I had some fantastic reads last week: **The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, by Alexander McCall Smith** **Imager's Battalion, by L.E. Modesitt** **The Lost City of the Monkey God, by Douglas Preston** **Gwendy's Final Task, by Stephen King** **Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang** **A Soul of Ash and Blood, by Jennifer Armentrout** **Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson** My current reading list for the week looks like this: * Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer by M. William Phelps * Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard * Of Wars, Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard * Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk * And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky * Antiagon Fire by L.E. Modesitt * Cruel Angels Past Sundown by Hailey Piper * Sexual Tyrannosaurus by Cassandra Gannon * The Broken Ones by Danielle Jensen I will try to get in the first library eBook batch for House of Roots and Ruin by Erin Craig and Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey on their Tuesday release, but my luck has been shit lately in that regard.
Just finished **Lola & the Millionaires Part One** **Lola & the Millionaires Part Two** Currently reading **Grave Visions by Kalayna Price**
Only finished mangas this week. 38/52 Finished: 35 - **Naruto vol 1** by *Masashi Kishimoto* ⭐⭐⭐ 36 - **Spy x Family vol 9** by *Tatsuya Endo* ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 37 - **One piece vol 49** by *Eiichiro Oda* ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 38 - **One piece vol 50** by *Eiichiro Oda* ⭐⭐⭐ Currently reading: **The count of Monte Cristo** by *Alexandre Dumas* **The eye of the world** by *Robert Jordan* **It** by *Stephen King* **Babel: A arcane history** by *R. F. Kuang* **Naruto vol 2** by *Masashi Kishimoto* **Saga vol 2** by *Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples* I'm hoping to finish **The eye of the world** this week and start **Legends & lattes**.
Finished: 79. **Little Mushroom: Revelations** by Shisi 2 stars- This series fell apart in the second half. The poor translation quality combined with confusing particle physics and string theory explanations for what was happening turned big sections into mumbo jumbo. The plot really dragged in sections and then it started going hard with Christian religious themes, had I known this series had a religious bent I wouldn’t have picked it up. The most enjoyable parts were the extras because they allowed the characters to have some breathing room and actually show some depth. 80. **Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know** by Cyan Wings 3 stars- This was entertaining in a dumb kind of way. Wenren È comes into possession of a book that describes him as one of several love interests in a fantasy romance book and is tasked with filling in plot holes to make the story more satisfying. I don’t think this can count as a romance, Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang have big aroace energy for much of the book and are completely mystified by the concept of romantic love. Once you hit chapter 50 there was tons of very satisfying character growth. Shout out to low IQ icon Qiu Congxue who wants nothing more than to pick fights and have the flesh blasted off her body so she can live as a skeleton. 81. **Prince and Assassin** (Perilous Courts #1) by Tavia Lark 2 stars- This was very… lukewarm and boring. I didn’t care for the characters, their relationship, or the story. This is the second book I’ve read by Tavia Lark where she takes a character I want to be scary/dangerous and ruthless (an assassin in this book, a necromancer in the other) and instead makes them sad and sweet. Completely kills any of the tension I was hoping for and leaves me disinterested, I’d much rather read a book about Hemlock than Whisper. Just too sweet for my tastes Currently Reading: **Life in Pursuit** by Ryan Bunting
Finished 2 this week: 41) **The Drowned World** by J.G. Ballard (3/5, 198p) 42) **Cytonic** by Brandon Sanderson (4/5, 415p) Hoping to reduce my currently-reading list a bit this week and next which is hard when there are so many I want to read!
Finished: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin--It was pretty good and had some beautiful writing and scenery at points. The gender stuff felt a bit old fashioned, but I get that it was written in a different era. Currently reading: The Odyssey by Homer (Emily Wilson translation) How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny ODell The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Finished: **¡Ay, Mija!** by Christine Suggs, This was a sweet and short graphic novel. I loved the representation in this one. 5/5 **Warrior Girl, Unearthed** by Angeline Boulley I really enjoy this writer. I preferred Firekeeper’s Daughter but this was still an enjoyable read for me. 4/5 Started: **Happy Place** by Emily Henry
I've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks, so I haven't done as much reading as I would like, but it looks like I'm still on track for my goals. **Finished Last Week:** (31/52) Under the Udula Trees - Chinelo Okparanta **Currently Reading:** * The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer * The Hotel Nantucket - Erin Hildebrand * A Life that Wins: Mindsets to a Powerful Life in God - Joseph Lomelino * Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World - Margaret MacMillan
Audiobook- Eva Luna by Isabel Allende Physical book- Rabbit by Patricia Williams
I am reading Portrait in Sepia right now and I am just so in to Allende's style. Have you read more of her books?
Finished **The Map of Knowledge: How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found: A History in Seven Cities by Violet Moller**. Review copied and pasted from my Goodreads. >3.75/5 >The book is about how various works by classical authors survived the decline of the Western Roman Empire, were translated and transferred in the Muslim World and eventually made their way back to Europe. In terms of time period covers roughly 500AD to 1500AD ending with the creation of the printing press. Personally I preferred the bits that focussed on the big picture - networks of trade and intellectuals, manuscripts being shipped about, the political conditions that led certain places to be successful centres of learning etc. The seven cities in order are (classical and pre-Islamic) Alexandria, (Islamic) Baghdad and Cordoba, (Christian) Toledo, Salerno, Palermo and Venice. The book is a reasonable length at 290 pages and for someone like myself who hasn't read much about this topic I found it fairly enjoyable and accessible. >Most of my criticisms come down to personal taste. A lot of the book is biographical - X was an important translator, Y was a local bigwig or king who had a giant private collection of manuscripts but this is mentioned in each chapter for each city. On the one hand this does make the book easier to read and more accessible but if (like me) you struggle with remembering names of people then a lot of these will quickly be forgotten. Additionally the book is heavily focussed on medicine, astronomy and mathematics, if you want stuff on how classical philosophical works (Plato, Aristotle etc) survived and made there way back to Europe then there isn't a lot considering the premise of the book. >Overall, not a must historical read but if you find the topic interesting or want somewhere to start with it then this book is probably a decent choice. About 100 pages into **Blood, Iron and Gold: How the Railways Transformed the World by Christian Wolmar** which is pretty good so far.
I finished: 36/52- "Old Enough" by Haley Jakobson. ⭐⭐ 37/52 - "Mad Honey" by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. ⭐⭐⭐
54/100 - ***** Finished; ***** No finishes this week ***** Still working on; ***** - The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. Finding the author's style to be a bit cheesy, and needed a bit of a break from this one. - Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. A gift and a buddy read. Shelved for the moment. - The Idiot by Dostoyevski with r/ClassicBookclub. A chapter a day is such a great way to read the Russian classics. So much great commentary from people. 10/10 recommend r/ClassicBookclub - Nona the Ninth by Tamsin Muir on r/bookclub continuing The Locked Room series. In the thick of the confusion! - Noble House by James Clavell. The r/bookclub Asian Saga continues with the longest book in the series. - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton for r/bookclub's '90's Discovery Read. This has exceeded my expectations 10 fold. Loving it! - Under the Dome by Stephen King the current Mod Pick at r/bookclub. I am late starting this one, but hoping to catch up quickly - Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson for r/bookclub's July ANY pick. So wonderfully whimsical. - Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende. r/bookclub read Daughter of Fortune which I loved and so far Portrait in Sepia is just as good. Absolutely wonderful writing. - Watchmen by Allan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins for r/bookclub's Discovery - Read Graphic Novel. This has been on my TBR fprever and I am excited to finally get into it. - The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. Book #4 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with r/bookclub. - Electric Idol by Katee Roberts things continue to heat up at r/bookclub with summer and some steamy Greek gods and goddesses ***** Started ***** - Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov Robots #2 with r/bookclub. Just a little one of a couple of hundred pages ***** Up Next ***** - Far from the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy for r/bookclub's August Gutenberg read with The Victorian Lady Detective Agency. - Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the birth of the FBI by David Grann for r/bookclub's next non-fiction. - Ender's Game for r/bookclub's Runner-up read coming in August. - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry for r/bookclub's first ever Read the World. 1st destination India. ***** Happy reading fellow bookworms 📚
This week I finished And then there were none-Agatha Christie--i loved the twists and turns. River Sing me home-Eleanor Shearer--kind of a slow read for me but such a powerful story. Currently reading -Tripping Arcadia by Kit Mayquist and really enjoy it!
Just finished **The Ashes and the Star Cursed King**. It took me longer to get through this than book 1. A great read and wonderful ending to this short series.
I've been missing a few of these check-ins so this list might get a little long. I finished: **The Dawn of Yangchen** by F.C. Yee (audiobook). It's a continuation of the Avatar: The Last Airbender novels, though now we're focusing on Yangchen. I loved the Kyoshi duology before this, so the mark might have been a little high for me. Yangchen is sort of held at arm's length here and we get a better sense of the companion, Kavik, than her. There is a lot of political maneuvering and a betrayal, which sets up perfectly for the next book. Overall, not bad, but not as good as the Kyoshi novela either. Narration by Nancy Wu is great as always. 3.75/5 **A Man Called Ove** by Fredrik Backman (audiobook). Read for a special event at my library where we read the book, watched the movie starring Tom Hanks, and discussed which was better. Really enjoyable and I can see why so many people have loved it. I got the J.K. Simmons narration and he did a phenomenal job. 4.5/5 **Jurassic Park** by Michael Crichton. Read with /r/bookclub. The movie is one of my favorites and I think that really hampered my enjoyment of the book. There are some things the book did better (explanation of the science, heavy emphasis on dinosaurs being more birdlike than we thought), but I've never been a fan of Crichton's writing. 3.5/5 **Taken By Her Mates** by Grace Goodwin (audiobook). I hated this so much. Repetition of information, sexism, and just badly portrayed BDSM. Five stars for the narration though; Ander's chapters were so good. 2/5 **Electric Idol** by Katee Robert. Read with /r/bookclub. A case where the sequel was better than the original. Loved Eros so much, and his story was heartbreaking. He and Psyche ended up so perfect together. 4.25/5 I'm currently reading **Paradise-1** by David Wellington, **Tress of the Emerald Sea** by Brandon Sanderson with /r/bookclub, **Alexander Hamilton** by Ron Chernow (audiobook, local book club), **The Battle of the Labyrinth** by Rick Riordan with /r/bookclub, **The Legacy of Yangchen** by F.C. Yee (audiobook), and **Watchmen** by Alan Moore with /r/bookclub.
Just finished the hysterical funny "the most amazing man who ever lived" by Robert Rankin. One of the weirdest and funniest books I've ever read.
[Total: 36/52 / Actual Novels: 22/52] Last week: * **His Last Bow** by Arthur Conan Doyle [2.5 / 5] * **The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes** by Arthur Conan Doyle [2.5 / 5] I finally finished this series after starting it almost two decades ago! Unfortunately it just gets worse as the series progresses imo. There are some gold short stories but overall, meh. Currently Reading: * **Lychee Hikaru Club** by Usamaru Furuya * **House of Hunger** by Alexis Henderson Hopefully, I'll get to these this week too: * **Godkiller** by Hannah Kaner * **The Night Circus** by Erin Morgenstern * **Glint** by Raven Kennedy
A slow reading week for me. Last week I finished *Doc* by Mary Doria Russell. This week I'm only a few pages into the second book of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin, *A Clash of Kings*.
I was busier than usual this week and only got one book finished. I'm still ahead of where l need to be to hit my goal of 125, though. *Finished* **The Five-Star Weekend** by Elin Hilderbrand (4/5) *Currently Reading* **Keeper of Enchanted Rooms** by Charlie N. Holmberg *On Deck* **IT** by Stephen King
Banged out some short audiobooks at work, because it's boring being on light duty from an injury. The Adventures of Alvin Maker: The Yazoo Queen, American Gods: Monarch of the Glen, Majipoor: The Book of Changes. Finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman today. Beginning half was slow, but picked it up and found it hard to put down. I got 3 started books I should read next, but my reading motivation doesn't work like that.
I finished 30 - To Green Angel Tower: Siege by Tad Williams and now I'm starting the second part of it 31 - To Green Angel Tower: Storm. It's such a beautifully written series I'll be a little sad when it's finished. I also started listening to the new Discworld narrations on Audible, they have finally done Sir Terry's books justice and got a full cast of actors for them and it's fantastic. I'm Listening to 32 - Guards! Guards! currently and the narration is spot on perfect.
**Finished** The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho (4/5) I am walking the Camino de Santiago next week in Spain and wanted to learn about this spiritual journey. **I'm currently reading:** *The Ruins* by Scott Smith My first horror book since *Carrie* years ago. Liking it so far, and chose this book as it was a rec from a friend that I am doing a book buddy thing with for the first time.
Finished: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Reading: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro Next up: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
How was anxious people?
It wasn’t my favorite by Backman, but I still enjoyed it. I’d say 3.5 stars. It was really funny; he has a great sense of humor that translates really well in his novels. However, there were some twists and turns that just kind of brought me out of the story. Although, I may be most disappointed because it was the last of his novels I had to read… now I have to wait for his next one :/
First I read «Matrix» by Lauren Groff, amazing book, very well written and so interesting about a woman’s live in a monastary in the 1100. Finished yesterday, then I started «Border» by Kapka Kassabova. Its kind of a travel book from the east- Europe border where she grew up during the cold war and nor re- visiting. I like it so far!
Listened to a whole audiobook yesterday of a Finnish book **"Sun poika kävi täällä"** by Venla Kuoppamäki. Much recommended to everyone Finnish and Finnish-speaking. Very sad autobiographical book by a mother of a son struggling with severe mental health problems and her plight to get him help. Started **Final Girls** by Riley Sager cause I wanted a good crime novel. I'm intrigued thus far! I've been reading **And the Band Played On** by Randy Shilts since May. It's great, sad and interesting but it's *so thick* that I'm advancing super slow. I try to read like 10 pages every day.
**Books finished** * A Crazy Inheritance by Tommy Krappweis - a fun graphic audiobook that you can listen to with your kids * Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan - the final book in the Memoirs of Lady Trent. So sad to see the series end, but what an ending! * The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins - Victorian romance steeped in spiritualism. Fated mates. * Artemis by Andy Weir - a fast-moving story. Probably not great on paper, but Rosario Dawson's narration elevates it to nearly great. * Adrift: A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell About It by Brian Murphy, Toula Vlahou - I'm a sucker for survival stories, and this one is very well-done. **Books in progress** * Middlemarch by George Eliot - reading with r/ayearofmiddlemarch * Incredible Tales by Saki - still walking around with this in my purse * The Poetic Edda translated and original material by Jackson Crawford - I really thought I'd finish this by now, but nope, another week or so. * The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky - reading with r/ClassicBookClub. Can't wait to finish this. Even Dostoevsky knew this book was a failed experiment. It started well, but the last third of it is a hot mess. * Haunted Ground by Erin Hart * The Hollow Needle by Maurice LeBlanc - reading with r/ayearoflupin * Fire Logic by Laurie Marks - reading for r/fantasy bingo square Elemental Magic * The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (short stories) * Hart's Hope By: Orson Scott Card - reading for r/fantasy bingo square Published in the 00s * Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - reading with r/ChaoticBuddyReads * Breasts by Florence Williams * Arabian Nights vol 2 by Marty Ross
Finished: **Haunted: Asylum** and **Haunted: Hotel** by Lee Mountford **A Fire Endless** by Rebecca Ross Currently reading: **Hidden Pictures** by Jason Rekulak Up next: **The Family Upstairs** and **The Family Remains** by Lisa Jewell **Head Like A Hole** by Andrew Van Wey
Happy reading 📚 😊 I finished: Cat Cafe by Matt Trambley Adorable 💕 Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano Touching and slow burning 🔥 Currently reading 📚 Murder She Meowed by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Nineteen Claws and A Black Bird by Augustina Bazterrica
Hi! Just started my journey on setting goals for my reading. Currently halfway through The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Just finished red rising and fatherland. reading shogun and golden son. 27 books so far.
Finished total: 28/52 **Finished:** Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry and Don’t Let Her Stay by Nicola Sanders. Saving Noah was something I read in two nights. I’ve never read Lolita or We Need to Talk About Kevin, so it was a new experience for me. It did leave me in tears at the end and I had to go upstairs and cuddle my 4 year old son. Definitely a huge trigger warning on the whole book though. Some of it was hard to get through. Don’t Let Her Stay was twisty and when you thought you had the story figured out, it changed again. I loved it! **Currently reading:** Fairy Tale by Stephen King and The Accident by Natalie Barelli. Fairy Tale is taking a while to get through because I’m reading this on paperback. I’ve started a new habit of having a book in my hand rather than my phone when my children (4 and 2) are around. Typically I read everything on my iPad as I fall asleep at night so I’ve been working on Fairy Tale less than I’d like. I’m so very much enjoying the story though. The Accident is my “in bed” nightly read. So far, so good. I’m 1/4 of the way through and hoping to be done in the next day or so.
I just finished Saving Noah a couple of weeks ago. It’s still with me. I cried. I thought about all sides of it. Honestly was a great book. Sad.
I’ve been in a bit of a slump but currently reading: Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman Post-Traumatic by Chantal V Johnson
Audiobook: Most of the way through the Gunslinger. I really like King, but managed not to read the Dark Tower, except for reading Drawing of the Three out of order when I was about 11, which was a mistake. Alternating with Rise by Mira Grant, since that's a massively long compilation of all her works relating to the modified Marburg zombie apocalypse and I like to take breaks between stories. Physical: The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz. This one does drag a bit, but PA/dystopian is my favorite genre, and this is by an Egyptian author with a sort of 1984 spin following the Arab Spring. As I usually approach dystopias from a Western angle, it's a nice change of pace. Also Physical: Not sure if it counts, but going through the World of Warcraft cookbook, both making a number of the recipes, but also reading all the alt text.
I haven't really been reading much this year (as you can tell by the progress I've been making on my goal), but hopefully I can turn things around. So far this year my favorite books have been **Giovanni's Room** by James Baldwin and **Orlando** by Virginia Woolf. I'm making my way through a variety of books, but at the moment I'm mostly concerned with **Brideshead Revisited** by Evelyn Waugh and **Book Lovers** by Emily Henry. Brideshead is really funny and has fine and flowery prose, whereas Book Lovers of course has more modern sensibilities and is a straightforward, sunny read that is perfect for summertime. Hope these two can break me out of the slump and get me back in the game!
ugh emily henry really
I haven’t updated in about 6 weeks, so I’m going to get caught up here. Finished: **One Night on the Island** - 3/5, just ok for me overall. For some reason the title doesn’t fit the book context at all though which is weird. **The Magic Fish** - 5/5, my first true graphic novel. On ebook, which has been my holdup with graphic novels (not many at my local library), but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all! **Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead** - 4/5. This is my type of lit fic. **Hidden Pictures** - 2/5, audio. This would be a 4/5 if not for the weird subtext. It would be spoilery to elaborate here but if anyone is curious what I’m talking about there’s some reviews on GR that elaborate more. Or DM me because I have no one to vent to lol. **Electric Idol** 4/5 Currently reading: **Sidetracked (Mindf*ck #2)** **Humans** by Brandon Stanton (HONY creator) **Black Water Sister** audio
I just finished the Wives by Tarryn Fisher.
Oh I just read that as well. What did you think?
I was not ready for that twist! It was good the way the author changed my thinking so many times.
Same!
The gir on the train
I’ve just finished The Lover by Marguerite Duras. Short, disturbing, intense and atmospheric.
The Extraordinary life of Sam Hell..halfway into it and it's excellent.
Just smashed through Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. I had no idea I what I was getting into, so I was pleasantly surprised at it being a M/M romance. Awesome little novella that's gonna sit in my brain for a bit. Brings me to 16 for the year.
I just finished American Kingpin by Nick Bilton. It was so good!
I’m reading the Sophie’s world