Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[gmw]

Since my last post...

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley. This was good. It feels very much like her first novel (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street), but this is a simpler story and easier to follow; it is even set in the same alternative world/history (a young Keita makes an appearance). There is a gentleness to this and the previous book that seems to be a mark of the author, which means it is not exciting as such, but I did find it compelling. 4/5.


The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. This was rather strange, more like someone reciting a dream rather than story. It was easy enough to follow, but the events felt rather random and since this was very short there was not much time to get acquainted with any characters so I never really felt involved. It was okay, an easy read, but not something I'm be inclined to recommend. 3/5.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Analog SF for Jan/Feb 2020. Now in it's 90th year of publication! (And I have 17 of those years in ebook format. Wow.)

Which was its usual excellent self. As was the Jan/Feb issue of Asimov's SF Magazine.

Next up: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch. The Seventh Peter Grant novel.

[gmw]

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (pub 2007). (What would happen to the world if we suddenly disappeared.) It was very interesting. It covers a vast amount of ground and was obviously well researched. Much of it is written in what I've come to think of "human friendly scientist" mode (if you read Scientific American articles you will know what I mean). I find this a bit condescending but I guess it does make some of the presentation seem a little bit more real. I had hoped the conclusion might do more to bring the many topics together in a comprehensible way ... but perhaps that was expecting too much, there are too many unknowns in the subject to summarise clearly. 3.5/5

Edited to add (since no one had posted in the mean time):

Dance of the Goblins by Jaq D. Hawkins. Seemed like a book with potential when I bought it earlier in the year, but I couldn't deal with the prose. Everything was over explained so that it read like an excessively condescending children's story that not even kids are likely to enjoy. So this becomes the second book I did not finish this year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch. The Seventh Peter Grant novel.

Excellent, as always. There's a novella I haven't yet read, but I'll get it next time it goes on offer.


Next up: The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri. I read the first in this series early in 2018 and I really liked it. But somehow I hadn't got to the second one. So now I shall.

[astrangerhere]

Reading my wife's favorite book of the year - On Swift Horses by Shannon Pufahl

[ReadingManiac]

Started Elements of Horror: Water. First two stories so far and I think this one might exceed the others in the series.

[PurpleStar]

Just finished Star Trek: The Next Generation: Collateral Damage by David Mack while I was riding home on the bus.

Then I started Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. Finally bought it instead of trying to read a library copy.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Terracotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri. I read the first in this series early in 2018 and I really liked it. But somehow I hadn't got to the second one. So now I shall.

Good, and it's fascinating seeing another country from inside. It didn't grab me as much as the first, perhaps.

Next up: Oathbreaker by Martin Jensen. This will be my first book finished in 2020, so I now know that I start 2020 with 997 books on my TBR. Down 21 from the start of the year! (But only down because I discarded 30 books from my TBR that I was never going to read.)

[Dngrsone]

Tried to squeeze one last read in for the year, but als I am a couple chapters short, so my first read of the next year will be Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Oathbreaker by Martin Jensen.

A most enjoyable historical murder mystery set in the days of King Cnut.

Next up: Grantville Gazette #87, edited by Bjorn Hasseler.

[astrangerhere]

I am reading:

• Message to Adolf by Osamu Tezuka in print
• A Monk's Guide to a Clean House and Mind by Shoukei Matsumoto on my Kobo
• Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald in audio (though I am close to dropping it)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

ANext up: Grantville Gazette #87, edited by Bjorn Hasseler.

Slightly disappointing. Some very short Grantville stories, a interesting non-Grantville story, and some 'fact' articles I skimmed over. I'm not certain I'll get the next bundle.

Next up: F&SF for January/February 2020.

[Apsalar]

Originally Posted by Apsalar

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

Lambs To The Slaughter by Debi Marshall

Er... I still haven't finished these. I hit a bit of a horror / crime wall and needed a palate cleanser. So instead, I've just finished:

Dark Imperium by Guy Haley, which was a pretty decent entry into the Warhammer 40K universe. I expect I'll start the sequel soon.

The galaxy has changed. Darkness spreads, warp storms split reality and Chaos is everywhere – even Ultramar. As Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade draws to a close, he must brave the perils of the warp to reach his home and save it from the depredations of the Plague God.

I've just started The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas Morris. I love this so far -- it's a shocking blend of hilarious, cringe-worthy and impressive!

A mysterious epidemic of dental explosions.
A teenage boy who got his wick stuck in a candlestick.
A remarkable woman who, like a human fountain, spurted urine from virtually every orifice.

These are just a few of the anecdotal gems that have until now lain undiscovered in medical journals for centuries. This fascinating collection of historical curiosities explores some of the strangest cases that have perplexed doctors across the world.

[fantasyfan]

H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction Omnibus
The Early Years
1909–1925
Edited and annotated by
John J. D. Finn

This is the first volume of the Lovecraft Omnibus set of three books. It deals with the early years of Lovecraft’s writing career up to his 1926 thesis “Supernatural Horror in Literature”, for there is no doubt but that Lovecraft’s work does show a significant improvement after this essay was written.

But these works from the early years have a great deal of interest. Some are reasonably well written and entertaining. There is certainly a continuing improvement. We can see the enormous influence of the Irish fantasy writer, Lord Dunsany but also how Lovecraft still infuses his own personality and vision into these pieces. “Herbert West Reanimator” is a six part parody of horror literature which has distinctly comic overtones. And the appendix contains a number of unusual works such as “Sweet Ermengarde: or the Heart of a Country Girl”—a satire of the Horacio Alger books and the Prohibition Era, the “History of the Necronomican” and the complete text of “Supernatural Horror in Literature”.

The volume concludes with a Timeline of H.P. Lovecraft’s Life and Work.

One of the features that makes John Finn’s edition very useful is the presence of introductory material preceding each story and accompanying biographical details.

Finn also does a competent reading of the entire volume—including the introductory notes to the individual stories for Audible.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: F&SF for January/February 2020.

I'm also reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. The second in his Stormlight Archive series.