What are we reading in March?

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What are we reading in March?

1dustydigger
Feb 28, 2023, 12:05 pm

Another month,another climb up Mount TBR. What lies ahead in March?

2dustydigger
Modificato: Mar 29, 2023, 5:04 am

Dusty's TBR for March
Crazy Dusty is doing March of the Mammoths AND March Mystery Madness. Looking forward to great rereads and some vintage crime. A little break from SF,will jumped back in in April.

SF/Fantasy reads
J R R Tolkien - Lord of the Rings
Roger Zelazny - Nine Princes in Amber
Roger Zelazny - The Guns of Avalon
Roger Zelazny - Sign of the Unicorn
Roger Zelazny - The Hand of Oberon
Roger Zelazny - The Courts of Chaos
C S Lewis - Out of the Silent Planet
C S Lewis - Perelandra

from other genres
Judith Cutler - Drawing the Line
Delano Ames - Murder,Maestro,Please!
Phoebe Atwood Taylor - The Crimson Patch
Elizabeth Ferrars - Zero at the Bone
Robert Van Gulik - Chinese Maze Murders
Judith Cutler - Life Sentence
Judith Cutler - Murder the Boys
Judith Cutler - Silver Guilt
Judith Cutler - Ring of Guilt

3ScoLgo
Feb 28, 2023, 12:24 pm

I am a big fan of Tim Powers but have never read any of his partner-in-crime's works for some reason. Remedying that by starting into The Digging Leviathan today.

Also e-reading What Lies Beneath, (which is a very popular title for books, if LT touchstones are any indication).

4rshart3
Feb 28, 2023, 12:34 pm

I'm starting to feel like an unintentional stalker. I too am about to start an Amber reread.

5paradoxosalpha
Modificato: Feb 28, 2023, 6:24 pm

Finishing Perhaps the Stars will possibly be mammoth enough for me, but I also want to get back to my one-volume Ambergris and read the remaining two books there. 2666 remains an outlier possibility. Hopeland has attracted my attention, and if I can borrow a copy from the public library, I might go for it.

On the fantasy front, I'm in the second half of a re-read of Death's Master, and I've got the new Elric book The Citadel of Forgotten Myths queued up.

I'm in the middle of a couple of non-fiction reads, and I expect to finish at least one of the two: Noble Dreams, Wicked Pleasures and Strange Rites.

6Shrike58
Feb 28, 2023, 12:51 pm

I have more novels lined up than I'm probably going to get read. But right now it looks like The Infinite, The Terraformers, The Atlas Paradox, Quantum of Nightmares, and, just maybe, The adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. The Library-Hold Fairy came through in a big way!

7ChrisG1
Feb 28, 2023, 1:27 pm

March Reading Plan:

Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Three Body Problem - Cixin Liu
The King of Elfland’s Daughter - Lord Dunsany
The Iron Dream - Norman Spinrad
Cage of Souls - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Childhood’s End - Arthur C. Clarke
Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor
All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) - Martha Wells
The Color of Magic - Terry Pratchett

Currently in the middle of Neuromancer & finding it a bit of a slog, although it's impressive that he came up with so much of it in the early/mid 80's. Some of the above are a result of suggestions from this group (Murderbot Diaries, Discworld & Damned Thing). Others are Kindle Unlimited finds - I love free books!

8Neil_Luvs_Books
Feb 28, 2023, 6:00 pm

I am about a quarter of the way through Station Eleven. Still enjoying it. After that… not sure yet.

9dustydigger
Modificato: Mar 2, 2023, 6:25 am

>4 rshart3: lol! Nope,the more the merrier. I started Nine Princes in Amber last night and whizzed through 80 pages before reluctantly going to bed. Its amusing just how much they all drink and smoke. Tut,tut. We are the new Puritans today,no one even noticed or cared back in the 70s when the books were written.Oh well,they are all semi- immortals,no sweat. Corwin healed two broken legs in a matter of days! :0)
Its all forests with me at the moment. The beautiful majestic forests of Amber,but also the tangled Old Forest in Fellowship of the Ring,where Old Man Willow grabbed Merry and Pippin. Hooray for Tom Bombadil! Its 15 years since I read LOTR but it was like slipping on a cozy old sweater.And I had read it so often it all came back to me. The early parts of Fellowship still lean towards The Hobbit ,in style,YA before YA was a thing.

Hey Tom Bombadil,Tom Bombadillo!
Bright blue his jacket is,and his boots are yellow. :0)

10Sakerfalcon
Mar 1, 2023, 8:19 am

I'm still reading Changing vision and enjoying it. Next up will be The terraformers.

11Karlstar
Mar 1, 2023, 1:18 pm

I'll be starting The Dispossessed soon-ish. That was supposed to be a February read but life happened.

13vwinsloe
Mar 1, 2023, 2:41 pm

>11 Karlstar: I am planning to get to The Dispossessed next, too.

14karenb
Mar 1, 2023, 3:16 pm

Two different book groups are discussing Station eleven this month, so I will get to that when it comes around in the library queue.

16rshart3
Mar 1, 2023, 11:31 pm

>9 dustydigger: One of the things I've always admired about LOTR is how skilfully he builds up from a "The Hobbit" atmosphere with just a touch of darkness, gradually to the climax where it's mostly darkness with just a few gleams of light.
I think Peter Jackson was smart not to include the Bombadil episode in the films. It's one of those things that couldn't be done properly; only our own minds can experience it just right. (Another example is Rider Haggard's "She": nothing could capture that. Ursula Andress? Give me a break.)

17dustydigger
Modificato: Mar 2, 2023, 5:07 am

>16 rshart3: Great minds think alike! I was about to do a post about Jackson's wise omission.In my reread the hobbits are just leaving Tom's house to cross the Barrow Downs,and I supposed its from here on things get darker.
Yeah,cant imagine any actor bouncing about in a blue jacket and yellow boots ,singing and spouting poetry. :0) It was a good decision. But I love the sequence,the beautiful descriptions of the forests,streams and rain,the beautiful sweep of the land sparkling in the distance.. Since we have had rain for days here,I am being more forgiving of the miserable situation. Goldberry may be dancing in the rain just out of my sight! :0)
And of course,Tolkien takes the quiet time as a chance to tell of the sweep of history,and more about the ring. His usual masterful story telling.

18vwinsloe
Mar 2, 2023, 7:17 am

>15 seitherin: Although Rumer Godden was a prolific writer, I had no idea that she wrote any speculative fiction.

19Sakerfalcon
Mar 2, 2023, 8:31 am

Finished Changing vision and will read the final book, Hidden in sight, after taking a break for The dispossessed and The terraformers.

20rshart3
Mar 2, 2023, 8:36 am

Yes, that section expresses an entirely different attitude about rain than the more common one; very beautiful and also more ecologically aware. This also reminds me of the scene in That Hideous Strength by JRRT friend C.S. Lewis, where characters are discussing which kinds of weather they like, and someone says no particular kind -- they just like weather.

21seitherin
Mar 2, 2023, 10:02 am

>18 vwinsloe: In a very broad sense this qualifies. The story is very time fluid, sometimes within the same paragraph.

22dustydigger
Mar 2, 2023, 11:04 am

With relatives like these,who needs enemies. Once again thoroughly enjoyed Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes in Amber. Too many battles for my taste,but as ever the last section of Corwin being captured ,punished and imprisoned totally gripped me. I have never forgotten that first read,back in 1970,which totally shocked me. It still packs a punch on rereads. Will go straight on to Guns of Avalon

24ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 2, 2023, 12:32 pm

25dustydigger
Mar 2, 2023, 5:06 pm

>23 ChrisRiesbeck: What a hoot! So so true to what we were thinking.
Thanks Chris,you made my day,cheered me up on a cold wet windy day.

26ChrisG1
Mar 2, 2023, 5:38 pm

>22 dustydigger: To my recollection, Nine Princes is the most battle-heavy of the set. Amber is still one of my all-time favorites after all these years!

27rshart3
Mar 2, 2023, 10:20 pm

28RobertDay
Mar 3, 2023, 10:57 am

Finished The Prisoner: A Televisionary Masterpiece. The Internet has mainly made this sort of book obsolete; and as an early example of the type (1989), there are some instances where the delivery is a bit flawed - the episode summaries, for instance, lack the sort of analysis and insight that many later fan/professional crossover works for other shows offer. There are also fairly gross production errors - sentences or blocks of text either missing or duplicated. But there is interesting detail of the actual production process, such as the division of filming for blocks of episodes between Portmeirion and the studio; and the background to the show's genesis, coming out of the earlier Danger Man* series, is illuminating. It was never directly stated that The Prisoner was a direct sequel to Danger Man, but it seems that everyone connected with the shows, including Patrick McGoohan himself, worked on that assumption. The show certainly started out as a thematic sequel, putting a prime-time family entertainment spy story on tv screens; but as time went by, McGoohan pushed the allegorical and philosophical sides of the show further into the foreground.

The show was actually cancelled as from episode 13, but for contractual reasons four more episodes were commissioned, including McGoohan's controversial final episodes, Once Upon a Time and Fall Out. In retrospect, revealing Number One to be some fiendish James Bond-style villain who we had never previously seen would have been a cop-out. Number One had to be someone closely connected with the story of the Prisoner himself; ultimately, finding out that Number Six's captor is Number Six is the only possible ending.

Now taking a break with some Irish transport history before diving back into Gene Wolfe's Solar Cycle with Return to the Whorl.

*Secret Agent in the USA.

29paradoxosalpha
Modificato: Mar 3, 2023, 11:10 am

>28 RobertDay: the only possible ending
I don't know ... have you read The Third Policeman?

I was recently bewildered to encounter "Be seeing you!" in Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, written before The Prisoner aired, but not translated into English until afterward. The atmosphere is rather similar there.

Enjoy Return to the Whorl; it's amazing.

30RobertDay
Modificato: Mar 3, 2023, 11:48 am

>29 paradoxosalpha: Coincidentally, The Third Policeman is within about ten books of the top of Mount TBR.

"Be seeing you!" was colloquial English from the late 1950s/early 1960s, but was a bit un-hip by the time it was coined in The Prisoner. Since when, it has fallen completely out of use (until arch-fan Joe Straczinski put it in the mouth of the PSI Cop Bester in Babylon 5). So Lem - or his translator - could well have used the phrase for Memoirs in the belief that it was current. I don't know what Patrick McGoohan's reading tastes were, but the themes in The Prisoner were very much of their time. Just one of those coincidences, I suspect.

31Stevil2001
Modificato: Mar 3, 2023, 11:45 am

>28 RobertDay: As far as Internet guides to the Prisoner go, I used to pore over the Anorak's Guide: https://www.anorakzone.com/prisoner/ I had read every entry multiple times long before I actually got to see the show. Such a fascinating story.

The one Prisoner reference book I have read is Fall Out, which I don't really remember but my decade-old LT review of it is positive.

32RobertDay
Mar 3, 2023, 11:50 am

>30 RobertDay: I suppose I ought to elevate my copy of Fall Out towards the top of the pile. And then re-watch the series. And actually go to Portmeirion.

33ChrisG1
Mar 3, 2023, 12:39 pm

Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson. This one was a struggle for me to get through. I found the author's prose style difficult to follow & confusing. It was perhaps by design, the story being a constant alternation between physical and virtual reality. But in the end, there was very little for me to like. The characters didn't interest me. I know the cyberpunk element was new & fresh at the time, but it's well worn territory now, so I'd say it doesn't hold up well. Moving on to an old school Arthur C. Clark novel - Childhood's End.

34elenchus
Modificato: Mar 3, 2023, 3:04 pm

>28 RobertDay:
>32 RobertDay:

Coincidentally, earlier this year I completed my first run-through of the series after finding a fine set of the DVDs. Had long wished to see the full series, having screened a few episodes and stumbling upon various pop culture references (including The Times classic, "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape"). (This version has classic visuals to go along.)

The DVD set has some interesting trivia and behind-the-scenes interviews / documentaries, but I felt the same overall sense of "well, this is rather incomplete compared to what I probably could find online". I understand the later Blu-Ray set didn't add much more content.

35RobertDay
Mar 3, 2023, 6:27 pm

>34 elenchus: I was able to replace my DVD set with the Blu-Rays a few years back and can report that the benefits are mainly in space-saving (fewer discs) and picture quality.

36ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 4, 2023, 12:14 pm

Finished The Girl Who Drank the Moon and started The Dispossessed. The latter has definitely improved with (my) age. When it came out, I kept waiting for "the plot". The one bit that I think has dated badly are the conversations about women on Urras. I find that dialog as heavy-handed as similar passages in The Left Hand of Darkness. Fortunately, there's so much more going on.

37dustydigger
Mar 4, 2023, 12:53 pm

Whizzed through Guns of Avalon,straight on to The Sign of the Unicorn Cool.

38pgmcc
Mar 4, 2023, 1:10 pm

Half way through Ian McDonald’s Hopeland.

39elorin
Mar 5, 2023, 3:01 am

I'm currently reading fantasy (The Mage-Fire War) but the Star Beast is lined up as my next Heinlein juvenile and then my Santa thing scores, A Master of Djinn and The Mountains of Mourning novella.

40vwinsloe
Mar 5, 2023, 8:08 am

Finally reading (or re-reading?) The Dispossessed.

41Shrike58
Mar 5, 2023, 1:49 pm

Finished The Infinite: The Outside, Book III, the conclusion of what has been one of my favorite SF confections of the last five years or so.

Next up: The Terraformers.

42AndreasJ
Modificato: Mar 5, 2023, 3:58 pm

Finally got around to finishing the last couple stories in Northwest of Earth. It's taken me much longer than there's any good reason for.

43Sakerfalcon
Mar 6, 2023, 8:55 am

I've just started The terraformers.

44ChrisG1
Mar 6, 2023, 8:44 pm

Just finished Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. A sci-fi classic from 1953. A bit dated, but Clarke could always present interesting ideas. Earth has been quietly subdued by a race of aliens, to what purpose, nobody knows. They are benign overlords, leading humanity into a period of unprecendented peace & prosperity. Yet there is a hidden agenda, eventually revealed & totally unexpected...

45karenb
Mar 7, 2023, 8:16 pm

Just finished rereading Artificial condition, in which Murderbot travels alone & looks into its past.

46andyl
Mar 8, 2023, 6:34 am

Currently reading Noumenon Ultra.

47pgmcc
Mar 8, 2023, 6:42 am

I am about 100 pages from the end of Hopeland by Ian McDonald. It is a good read, well thought out, and dealing with issues such as gender recognition and the consequences of climate change. The characters are well drawn and their growth is a key element of the book.

48ChrisG1
Modificato: Mar 8, 2023, 10:56 am

Well, I finally took my shot at Terry Pratchett's Discworld - the first volume The Color of Magic and....it didn't do much for me. He can certainly write creative silliness & it was all mildly amusing, but that's about it - at least for me. Oh well...

49RobertDay
Modificato: Mar 8, 2023, 12:26 pm

>48 ChrisG1: The Colour of Magic isn't the best place to start; it's an early work and lacks the depth of his later Discworld books. (Not that the later books aren't funny as well.) Suggested starting places would be Wyrd Sisters, Mort or Night Watch. Others may have different suggestions.

50AndreasJ
Mar 8, 2023, 1:21 pm

I wouldn’t suggest reading Night Watch before the earlier watchmen books.

Guards! Guards! would be a better place to start.

51elorin
Mar 8, 2023, 1:45 pm

>48 ChrisG1: If you're looking for Sir P Terry's best discworld, I would not start at the beginning. Rincewind is an acquired taste, or was for me. I hope you'll give the Disc another shot, though.

52elorin
Mar 8, 2023, 1:46 pm

>50 AndreasJ: That was my first thought.

53haydninvienna
Mar 8, 2023, 1:54 pm

My own favourite is Thief of Time, but it would make more sense to someone who already knew about Susan Sto Helit.

54ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 8, 2023, 2:25 pm

I'd go for either Mort or Small Gods.

55wbf2nd
Mar 8, 2023, 9:02 pm

>48 ChrisG1: Ddon't give up on Discworld. I too found the first couple amusing but not brilliant, but later ones are both funnier and more profound.

56Stevil2001
Modificato: Mar 8, 2023, 9:19 pm

I started with Guards, Guards! and worked through the City Watch sequence. I really enjoyed it, and the sequence works on its own just fine. (My favorite is Jingo.) Recently, I've been working through the Tiffany Aching sequence (done three of five so far), since my wife owns all of that one, and then I figure I'll loop back and fill in everything else.

57ChrisG1
Mar 8, 2023, 10:32 pm

>49 RobertDay: Thanks for the suggestions - I may give that a try.

58AndreasJ
Mar 9, 2023, 1:08 am

(Tangentially, my first Discworld book was The Light Fantastic, which may well be the worst place possible to start - it shares the relative weakness of the first one, and it's a direct sequel to that one, less standalone than most later entries in Discworld subseries.)

59elorin
Mar 9, 2023, 1:43 am

>56 Stevil2001: Since the last book in the series is a Tiffany Aching novel, maybe read the books about the witches before you read book 5 The Shepherd's Crown? Maybe that's just me.

60Shrike58
Mar 9, 2023, 6:49 am

I'd go with Small Gods.

61dustydigger
Mar 9, 2023, 6:53 am

Working my way through my March of the Mammoths brick,rereading the Amber cycle books 1-5. Now starting the last part,The Courts of Chaos. . Not sure if I will complete my other mammoth reread of Lord of the Rings. I'm in Moria with the travellers. We have seen Balin's monument and the Orcs are outside.Of course I know the awful thing that is going to happen. Still remember the shock way back then,1968. I had my lovely one volume paperback copy.. I carried it around all summer,because when I finished it the first time,I had to reread it at once! :0)I then went abroad to a place wityh no library or bookshop for 12 years,so blissfully I missed all that Swords of Shannara rip off,and the growth of a whole new sub genre still going today.
I had Dune at the same time,and though I would say I am much more a SF fan,rarely a fantasy lover,I couldnt take to Dune,found it rather dull and boring,didnt like Paul Atreides much,etc etc etc.My heart and mind were in Middle Earth,and a hot dusty desert with large worms couldnt compete! Oh dear,I have never brought myself to reread Dune since.
About the events in Moria,I did suffer a similar big shock back in 2014,in Jim Butcher's Changes. Authors seem to enjoy testing just how strong how hearts are! :0)

62Cecrow
Modificato: Mar 9, 2023, 7:01 am

Balin's Tomb is a good place to pause. I think I read in his introduction that Tolkien stopped exactly there while he was writing, until picking it up again several months later.

I read Dune at almost the same age as LOTR, they are closely linked for me too - but I thought Dune was fantastic.

63spaceowl
Mar 9, 2023, 8:19 pm

Just finished Growing Up Weightless by John M. Ford - quite an impressive book. I like a piece of writing that cuts you very little slack (and Ford certainly expects you to keep up), one that encourages active reading rather than just waiting for the next loud noise.
Impossible tech aside, I thought the Lunar society that he creates was absolutely believable and very immersive. Quite clear why it was a Hugo nominee back in 1994.

64spaceowl
Mar 9, 2023, 8:23 pm

>60 Shrike58:
Seconded. The Truth, Night Watch and Making Money as well. All four say profound, often angry things about our society while being funny, a truly hard trick to pull off.

65Stevil2001
Mar 9, 2023, 8:33 pm

>63 spaceowl: I've been buying the new Tor editions of John M. Ford's work as they come out, but haven't actually got around to any of them yet.

66majkia
Mar 9, 2023, 8:49 pm

We've just finished watching the TV version of The Expanse. Sad that it ended before the denouement but thought the series was excellent. So fun to see rocks thrown at planets and rail gun shots arcing across space. Made me wish they'd make a series based on the Lost Fleet. Sigh.

And, of course, now I want to reread the whole Expanse series. I've read everything but the last book, but hope to reread it all before I do get to the finale.

67dustydigger
Mar 10, 2023, 3:01 pm

Finish the Chronicles of Amber good fun. This weekend will be devoted to Out of the Silent Planet and a vintage crime novel,and probably the last 90 pages of Fellowship of the Ring From next week I will focus on The Two Towers of my other mammoth read for March.

68Stevil2001
Modificato: Mar 10, 2023, 4:33 pm

Waiting at the courthouse to find out it if I had jury duty this morning, I got about eighty pages into His Majesty's Dragon, the first part of Temeraire: In the Service of the King.

69paradoxosalpha
Mar 10, 2023, 5:26 pm

>67 dustydigger:

Lots of Inklings action there. Have you read any Charles Williams?

70Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 10, 2023, 5:38 pm

>66 majkia: I thoroughly enjoyed The Expanse, both the TV series and especially the books. I have been saving the last three for when I finally get my hands on the final volume in paperback. I read the first 6 so quickly I knew I could not start the final trilogy until I had them all available to me on my bookshelf. This will be good summer reading I am sure.

71rshart3
Mar 11, 2023, 12:43 am

>67 dustydigger: "This weekend will be devoted to Out of the Silent Planet "
Have fun! Favorite scene: where Weston is dangling beads and making funny sounds to the "natives" when actually they have a high civilization & advanced technology.

72Shrike58
Mar 11, 2023, 7:54 am

Finished The Terraformers. Rather "old school" in that the characters are very secondary to the ideas; "slight" is that the overall impact I'm left with.

Next up: The Atlas Paradox.

73mnleona
Mar 11, 2023, 8:05 am

I won a set of J. R. R. Tolkien books from my library. I should start reading them. I had not thought of them as science fiction.

74majkia
Mar 11, 2023, 8:27 am

>70 Neil_Luvs_Books: Yeah, I tore through the first 5 or so also. It's rare I think a movie or TV series is as good as the books, but this one was close.

75anglemark
Mar 11, 2023, 8:57 am

>73 mnleona: I'm not sure what you are referring to, but Tolkien certainly never published any science fiction, although he did write some that he never finished.

76mnleona
Mar 11, 2023, 9:03 am

>75 anglemark: Some of the messages had his name . I have watched the movies but not yet read the books. Thanks for the info. Like I said, I had not thought of them as science fiction.

77Stevil2001
Modificato: Mar 11, 2023, 9:22 am

>76 mnleona: Though this is the "Science Fiction Fans" group, some members, myself included, do sometimes discuss fantasy they are reading.

78Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 11, 2023, 11:00 am

>77 Stevil2001: And I really appreciate it when SF fans here post about the F that is truly excellent. That is how I stumbled into reading The Broken Earth trilogy last summer which was well worth reading. Thanks my SFF reading compatriots! 😀

79ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 11, 2023, 11:20 am

Finished The Dispossessed and starting the Norton Critical Edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with all kinds of additional material.

80anglemark
Mar 11, 2023, 12:11 pm

>77 Stevil2001: Yes. This is the "What are science fiction fans reading in March" thread, not the "What science fiction are we reading in March" thread. But thanks for explaining, I didn't get what you were referring to.

81Stevil2001
Mar 11, 2023, 2:23 pm

>78 Neil_Luvs_Books: Yes, I think when we discuss fantasy, it's the kind of fantasy that sf fans like, if that makes sense. I'm much more a sf guy than a fantasy one, but there's some fantasy I enjoy (Jemisin is a good example).

82nx74defiant
Mar 11, 2023, 5:33 pm

I read The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster

Fun to read classic pulp.

83ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 11, 2023, 6:39 pm

>82 nx74defiant: I always loved that cover.

84ChrisG1
Mar 11, 2023, 8:15 pm

Just finished Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. A very entertaining read - it's got time travel, humorous dialogue & narration, bad guys, romance & adventure. What more could you ask for?

Next I'm going to tackle the first installment of the highly popular Murderbot series - All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

85Karlstar
Mar 11, 2023, 11:26 pm

>67 dustydigger: I just replaced my ruined copies of the Amber books, I'll be reading them soon-ish.

86UncleMort
Mar 12, 2023, 5:43 am

Reading the second trilogy of the the Praxis series by Walter Jon Williams. Good solid military SF dealing with a multi-species empire that falls apart after the last of the Alien Overlords dies.

One the things I find interesting is that although the spaceships are capable of high speed and acceleration, there is no gravity control. The crews have to suffer high G and the effects that causes.

(One of my bugbears is Grav-plates or some such handwavium on many SF films and TV shows, especially when the power goes off.)

87dustydigger
Mar 12, 2023, 7:50 am

Finished Fellowship of the Ring reread. It amazes me just how Tolkien makes landscape so solid,so real,all so distinct and particular. The Old Forest,Mirkwood,Fangorn and Lothlorien are all forests,but so different. JRRTs shadowis still so immense,so powerful and so important that ,just as academia scorned and dismissed him ,I now see so many detractors blaming him for the whole fantasy genre and its faults.. But look at the incredible furore over the Rings of Power! lol.
Still a myriad of usually fans of SF fans out there like me who rarely read the fantasy genre,but still have a major liking for Middle Earth.

88dustydigger
Mar 12, 2023, 8:06 am

>69 paradoxosalpha: Coincidently,I will be reading a little Charles Williams this year. starting with The Greater Trumps because I have just been to Amber with its tarot cards. Then probably War in Heaven, and Descent into Hell.It may be late in the year,as I have LOTR,and Gawain and the Green Knight,and probably Beowulf on the Tolkien agenda,plus the Ransom trilogy and a couple of other C S Lewis works to get to first. Definitely the year of the Inklings!

89pgmcc
Mar 12, 2023, 10:04 am

>87 dustydigger:
I attended my first SF convention in 1992. It was in Trinity College Dublin and there were 21 big name authors. I had only read the work of one of them, Iain Banks, and my purpose in attending was to meet him. (Other guests included Harry Harrison; Storm Considine; Terry Pratchett; Bob Shaw; Greg Bear; Ramsey Campbell; et al...)

During the convention there was a panel on Fantasy. It was a well attended session (about 400 present). After the panel members had their say and opened up to questions from the floor, my friend asked the first question. He said, "Surely LOTR is the definitive Fantasy story and everything else is either derivative or striving to attain the quality of LOTR?"

Silence followed. After what seemed a prolonged wait the panelists started talking, confirming the excellence of LOTR but not quite answering his question before moving on to some less contentious query.

Your post reminded me of that moment.

90dustydigger
Mar 12, 2023, 12:47 pm

Love the Terry Pratchett quote -
J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.

91UncleMort
Mar 12, 2023, 1:53 pm

>90 dustydigger: Excellent quote: never heard it before.

92paradoxosalpha
Modificato: Mar 12, 2023, 4:47 pm

>88 dustydigger:
I found The Greater Trumps to be the least of Williams' novels that I've read. War in Heaven is fun and an important touchstone in the larger world of fantasy, I think. I'm partial to All Hallows' Eve and Many Dimensions. Descent into Hell is certainly the most literary and introspective of his novels.

93paradoxosalpha
Mar 12, 2023, 4:49 pm

I finished Terra Ignota and posted my review of Perhaps the Stars.
Now it's on to Shriek: An Afterword.

94ChrisG1
Mar 12, 2023, 4:58 pm

Finished All Systems Red by Martha Wells - more of a novella than a novel & a quick and enjoyable read. I'll be reading the entire series at a pace one every month or two (my usual approach), assuming the quality continues. Next is something a bit "out there" - The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad.

95anglemark
Modificato: Mar 13, 2023, 2:50 am

>94 ChrisG1: It is a novella. It has never been marketed as a novel. It won the Nebula for Best Novella, the Locus Award for Best Novella, and the Hugo for Best Novella. I'm starting on Exit Strategy tomorrow!

96rshart3
Mar 12, 2023, 10:57 pm

>88 dustydigger: Despite the reputation of Descent into Hell, I would recommend Place of the Lion or Shadows of Ecstasy before it. The Greater Trumps is one of my favorite Williams novels; partly because of an interest in tarot, and partly because it has one of his best "saint" figures (a specialty of his). It's often someone very quiet who's underestimated by other characters but ends up saving the day.

97ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 13, 2023, 2:10 pm

>86 UncleMort: This is in the Expanse series as well. There's a medical intervention to mitigate high-G effects while they're happening, but it has its own costs.

98Petroglyph
Mar 14, 2023, 11:30 am

Finishing up Elizabeth Bear's space opera Ancestral night. Fun, contains a number of great ideas and set-pieces, but I'm not convinced all the parts fit together.

99Sakerfalcon
Mar 15, 2023, 7:12 am

I'm enjoying The terraformers.

100Shrike58
Mar 15, 2023, 7:33 am

Finished up The Atlas Paradox, which while being a very "middle" book, does end with a satisfying bang, and the closing book (I'm presuming that this is a trilogy) looks like it will be very dynamic.

Have now moved on to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, which starts in a very promising fashion.

101AndreasJ
Mar 17, 2023, 6:13 pm

Finished Tainaron, which is hardly sf but which I suspect would appeal more to some here than it did to me.

There’s a discussion of it going on over in The Weird Tradition.

102ScoLgo
Mar 17, 2023, 6:47 pm

I started March with both The Digging Leviathan and Too Like the Lightning but have temporarily set both aside to focus on a library hold that arrived quicker than expected. I am currently about halfway through Beholder's Eye and it is quite a good read so far.

I was also really enjoying Blaylock's novel but I don't like to have more than one print book going at the same time so will come back to it after I finish the Czerneda.

The reason I set aside Ada Palmer's novel... I had picked up the freebie TOR e-book of Too Like the Lightning back when it was on offer. After reading a handful of early chapters, I quickly realized this was a book to experience in print, so have ordered all four Terra Ignota novels in hardback. I plan to start the first volume over again once the shipment arrives.

103anglemark
Mar 17, 2023, 7:04 pm

>101 AndreasJ: Hmm, perhaps I should put it on my TBR shelf.

104ChrisG1
Modificato: Mar 17, 2023, 11:52 pm

Just finished The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany. A classic fantasy by a master prose stylist. Now for a turn back to the second installment of the Murderbot series...

105dustydigger
Mar 18, 2023, 6:51 am

Finished a reread of Out of the Silent Planet,brought on by reading Paradise Lost. I will carry on with Lewis's Ransom series.
I'm now riding out to Helm's Deep for the battle with Saruman in The Two Towers section of Lord of the Rings. This read is bringing on the need to read some Eddas and doom laden northern sagas. This year it seems all my reading is going back to sources and influences,and of course I'm doing it the wrong way round. Certainly after LOTR I must read The King of Elfland's Daughter. And then Beowulf. Would get more out of things if I read the influential sources FIRST,dont you think? :0)

106Stevil2001
Mar 18, 2023, 12:42 pm

Started the second Temeraire book, Throne of Jade.

107Neil_Luvs_Books
Modificato: Mar 18, 2023, 5:18 pm

Just finished reading Station Eleven. What a good read. Written in 2014 it is a story of how the COVID pandemic could have been very much worse. I like how Emily St. John Mandel writes very personal stories around very small acts and small things that her characters embody with their own desires despite everything around them falling apart. No zombies at the end of the world, yet no less fascinating.

109ChrisG1
Mar 18, 2023, 9:30 pm

>107 Neil_Luvs_Books: Just put a copy on hold at the library - been meaning to read this!

110wbf2nd
Mar 18, 2023, 11:18 pm

>105 dustydigger: I think you are going about it the usual way, getting inspired by the LOTR (or Percy Jackson for that matter) to hunt down the sources. I went from LOTR to Lin Carter's book on Tolkien to the Elder Edda to the Icelandic sagas and Beowulf, detouring to the Kalevala for a bit, Iceland and Norway, and am now nibbling on the Heimskringla (the first chapter being a fine source for innovative ways to kill off a king, if you need ideas). The literary journey has been great fun, andI am not sure I would have ever gotten to LOTR if I had started from the other end.

111ChrisG1
Mar 19, 2023, 10:39 am

Finished Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - #2 in the Murderbot series of novellas. Good fun & nothing too involved - perfect for a change of pace from heftier reads.

112seitherin
Mar 19, 2023, 12:02 pm

Finished Count Zero by William Gibson. Meh. Added Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo to my rotation.

113RobertDay
Mar 19, 2023, 6:02 pm

114elorin
Mar 20, 2023, 12:20 am

Finished the (fantasy) L.E. Modesitt, Jr. novel The Mage-Fire War and picked up the light hearted Robert Heinlein juvenile The Star Beast. Dear Lummox!

115ScoLgo
Mar 20, 2023, 12:39 am

Finished Beholder's Eye today. My first Julie E. Czerneda won't be my last. I enjoyed this one.

Now back to The Digging Leviathan.

116ChrisG1
Mar 20, 2023, 9:59 am

>115 ScoLgo: Have a copy of Beholder's Eye on it's way, due to recommendations here...

117Sakerfalcon
Mar 20, 2023, 10:24 am

I've started Station Eternity, an SF mystery set around a heroine who seems to attract murders wherever she goes. I'm enjoying it but the heroine is a little annoying to me, being one of those people who "doesn't do planning".

>115 ScoLgo: Glad you enjoyed Beholder's eye! I like most of what I've read by Czerneda so far.

>101 AndreasJ: I loved Tainaron so going to check out the discussion!

118Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 20, 2023, 6:19 pm

Today, I started reading Nova by Samuel R. Delany. This is a novel that I gazed at so many times as a teenager but being low on allowance I had to choose, so I bought Dhalgren first and then never got back to reading Nova until now. Triton and Babel-17 are also on my TBR list. I read The Einstein Intersection last year and did not enjoy it as much as I remember enjoying Dhalgren. Einstein was fine... I just did not grab me the way it seems to have grabbed others.

119Shrike58
Modificato: Mar 21, 2023, 7:49 am

Wrapped up The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, and it pretty much met all my expectations; it's nice to run into a novel that I don't feel the urge to nickle-and-dime to death for a change.

Next up: Quantum of Nightmares.

120pgmcc
Mar 21, 2023, 8:54 am

>119 Shrike58: Nice to hear a good report on The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi; I have it lined up to read soon.

121seitherin
Mar 22, 2023, 9:47 am

Finished Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo. Enjoyed it.

122Stevil2001
Mar 22, 2023, 2:03 pm

Starting the third Temeraire book, Black Powder War. And then it will be a little break to read different things!

123majkia
Mar 22, 2023, 3:31 pm

Just finished Gridlinked a sort of sci fi police procedural with AI and robots and aliens. Very nicely done, I thought.

124Karlstar
Mar 22, 2023, 11:16 pm

>122 Stevil2001: I thought I'd read that one, but LT says not. I may have to catch up, I have read the first two.

125elorin
Mar 23, 2023, 12:00 am

Finished with dear Lummie, starting A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark tonight. I got it from Santa Thing and I'm curious how it will go.

126UncleMort
Modificato: Mar 23, 2023, 7:25 am

Started Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer Written in a faux 18th Century style, dull and incomprehensible. DNF

127paradoxosalpha
Mar 23, 2023, 10:34 am

>126 UncleMort:

I thought it was great. LT reviews and ratings show that it's pretty polarizing!

128ScoLgo
Mar 23, 2023, 12:56 pm

> 126 >127 paradoxosalpha: As mentioned above in >102 ScoLgo:, I also recently set aside Too Like the Lightning - but for the opposite reason; I was pleasantly lost and befuddled during the first few chapters and was looking forward to gaining more understanding as the story continued. I did find the e-book formatting a bit lacking though so had decided to postpone continuing until I receive the books in print.

For me, the early going gave the impression of a mashup between Neal Stephenson and Gene Wolfe, two authors that inhabit a fair amount of shelf space around here.

129paradoxosalpha
Modificato: Mar 23, 2023, 1:23 pm

>102 ScoLgo: I quickly realized this was a book to experience in print, so have ordered all four Terra Ignota novels in hardback. I plan to start the first volume over again once the shipment arrives.

Good call, I think. I read them in hardcover as a series of loans from the public library, and often wished I had an earlier volume to reference while reading one of the later ones.

130ChrisG1
Mar 23, 2023, 1:34 pm

Just finished Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A near future sci fi novel which depicts biotech advancements enabling the creation of super soldiers from animals, particularly dogs. The main character is Rex, who just wants to be a Good Dog. At the beginning, that's defined by whatever Master says. But he becomes decoupled from his connection with Master and must begin making choices for himself. Tchaikovsky explores these implications and more, with other related biotech developments. Recommended.

131Stevil2001
Mar 23, 2023, 4:06 pm

>124 Karlstar: I really enjoyed the first two. I have known about this series since around the time it started, but never got around to it. I am pretty sure I checked His Majesty's Dragon out from the library over a decade ago, but had to return it before I began. What finally pushed me into reading it was receiving the ninth(!) book as a Christmas gift, so I picked up an omnibus of the first three to see if I would like them.

They are so very much my jam. Novik utterly convinces in her worldbuilding, prose, and characterization that you really are reading about the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. But also I am only two-and-a-bit books in and it's clear they are doing much more than they have to: she could have churned out nine exciting books of naval/aerial battles, but she is setting up something more.

132rshart3
Mar 23, 2023, 10:48 pm

I'm finally reading The Man in the High Castle after all these years. I've never been a big fan of Philip K Dick. I think his output is very spotty, with a few good ones; and I'm not much in sympathy with either his worldview or his writing. So far this seems to be one of the good ones. I'll wait to see if he goes off the rails.

133UncleMort
Mar 24, 2023, 4:19 am

Just started To Your Scattered Bodies Go. Read it and the rest of the series back in the 70s and 80s and it made a long lasting impression on me. I haven't seen any of Phillip Jose Farmer's in print for a long time. If I can find his World of Tiers series I'll grab them.

134elenchus
Mar 24, 2023, 2:49 pm

>133 UncleMort:

I'll be eager to hear an update from you, my take of PJF is similar though Tiers left a vaguer impression than did Riverworld.

135ScoLgo
Mar 24, 2023, 5:40 pm

Finished The Digging Leviathan last night and have posted my short 3-star review.

Next up is Agents of Dreamland.

136rocketjk
Mar 24, 2023, 6:55 pm

I dipped into my pulp paperback shelf to grab The River of Dancing Gods, the first book in Jack L. Chalker's 5-book Dancing Gods fantasy series, vintage 1980s. It was an entertaining light read, though I felt that some corners were cut in the world building and storytelling. At any rate, I'm not motivated to continue with the series. I might have enjoyed it more when I was in my teens or even twenties, I guess. Anyone got a time machine?

137dustydigger
Mar 25, 2023, 9:01 am

So far in March reread Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra Good stuff. In April I shall read That Hideous Strength
Working my way through LOTR for my March Mammoth,about 100 pages left of The Two Towers Frodo,Sam and Smeagol are in the Dead Marshes. No hope of finishing LOTR this month,but after all I did read one mammoth,the Chronicles of Amber,plus a fistful of crime fiction for March Mystery Madness,so all in all I've have a great reading month :0)
Looking forward to light nights, (UK clocks go forward tonight), as I find reading by artificial light really hard.

138ChrisG1
Mar 25, 2023, 11:19 am

>137 dustydigger: I did my Lewis Space Trilogy reread last fall, finally actually reading That Hideous Strength. I don't know why that one always escaped me. Very worthwhile. I've reread LOTR many times, last time 2 years ago.

139dustydigger
Modificato: Mar 25, 2023, 1:30 pm

>138 ChrisG1: I remember the first time I read That Hideous Strength,aged about 14 I think ,around 1962. It was so different from the other two. I read it again in the 80s and understood it better,but its been an awful long gap,I hope to understand it better still this time. Of course.no matter how long the reading gap,everyone remembers the talking head! lol. Once in the brain,never forgotten!

140ChrisG1
Mar 26, 2023, 10:08 pm

Just finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. It unseated her most recent book Sea of Tranquility as my favorite book of the year. No time travel, but the effect was similar as she showed scenes jumping around covering an approximately 40 year period, gradually revealing what tied them together. Highly recommended!

141Stevil2001
Modificato: Mar 27, 2023, 7:06 am

Have gone from one book of dragonriders to another, with Dragonsong, the first book in Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy.

142vwinsloe
Modificato: Mar 27, 2023, 7:54 am

>140 ChrisG1: I'm about ready to start a reread of Station Eleven after having read The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility in the wrong order. I didn't think much of Station Eleven back in 2015 when I read it, thinking that perhaps I was just too old for it. But after reading the other two in reverse order of publication, I saw some sort of The Matrix simulation hypothesis going on. So I'll reread Station Eleven to discover whether it was going on there, too.

I'm reading A Song for a New Day now, which begins with a very 1990s cyberpunk vibe.

143Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 27, 2023, 8:23 pm

>140 ChrisG1: I just finished Station Eleven a couple weeks ago and also really enjoyed it. I am now watching the HBO series and so far I do not like how they are developing Kirsten after two episodes.

144Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 27, 2023, 8:25 pm

>141 Stevil2001: i haven’t read the Dragonriders of Pern for years. I loved that series up until McCaffrey started coauthoring them with her son. I lost interest at that point.

145Karlstar
Mar 27, 2023, 11:44 pm

>133 UncleMort: I really enjoy the first two books of the Riverworld series, I did a re-read of To Your Scattered Bodies Go a couple of years ago. I hope you still enjoy it.

>136 rocketjk: I like that one too, but after that the series gets a bit sketchy.

146Stevil2001
Mar 28, 2023, 8:02 am

>144 Neil_Luvs_Books: My wife was a big Pern fan when she was young, and she has given me some advice on where to stop!

147ChrisG1
Modificato: Mar 28, 2023, 11:33 pm

Just finished Rogue Protocol (Murderbot#3) by Martha Wells. A nice light, fun read. I had started a heftier Alastair Reynolds book, but my work-addled brain was having none of it.

148dustydigger
Mar 29, 2023, 5:36 am

Chris has a work addled brain,my brain is just lethargic and unfocused! lol
I think everyone is in a kind of brain fog at the moment. Lots of people - including myself - seem to be doing a lot of rereading,or reading lighter stuff. I managed one mammoth read for March,the Amber books 1-5,but have slowed to a crawl with my LOTR reread,plodding along to find a way through to Mordor. Looking forward to meeting Faramir,and seeing oliphants!.
Couldnt read LOTR in a sustained fashion however,so have been reading vintage crime for the March Mystery Madness challenge or old fave rereads,enjoyable but not needing much brain power!
Only read 2 SF books this month(unless you stretch the remit to class Amber as SF,because of alternate worlds? Doesnt really work) And next month is going to be Beowulf and Grendel and the like. Better look out for at least 2 or 3 SF genre books,or you will be kicking me out of the group! :0) But Pandora's Star and Cryptonomicon are going to be pushed way way down my TBR pile.
And as for Delany's Nova that will be late in the year,if not next year. Still recovering from reading Dhalgren in January! lol.

149RobertDay
Mar 29, 2023, 6:51 am

Finished Return to the Whorl this morning. Next up is Ken Macleod's Dissidence.

150pgmcc
Mar 29, 2023, 7:24 am

>149 RobertDay: I loved The Corporation Wars trilogy. I am currently reading Beyond The Reach of Earth, the second book in his latest trilogy. Book three is out next year.

151elorin
Mar 29, 2023, 8:32 am

I'm making a lot of progress with Master of Djinn. I thought it was science fiction but there's very much a fantastical element. Yet the steampunk elements make it kind of a crossover. Turns out it was a Hugo nominated novel.

152paradoxosalpha
Mar 29, 2023, 11:38 am

I'm nearing the end of Shriek: An Afterword, but won't be posting a review until I finish the whole omnibus volume where it forms the middle third.

153Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 29, 2023, 6:33 pm

>149 RobertDay: Wolfe’s Book of the Short Sun trilogy is on my TBR list for summer 2024. I know! Planning my reading that far in advance. My friends and family think I am a bit batty. But this summer once the teaching term is done I want to read Wolfe’s Book of the Long Sun quartet (tetralogy?) and also finish the final trilogy of The Expanse series. And if I find the time read Delany’s Titan and Jemisin’s The Inheritance Trilogy. Does anyone else plan their reading that far in advance? So many good books to read. So little time.

154ScoLgo
Mar 29, 2023, 7:46 pm

>153 Neil_Luvs_Books: I plan my SF/F reading out for the year as part of Worlds Without End Annual Reading Challenges. For 2023 I have signed up for six challenges with a current total of 62 planned reads. That number may change as the year progresses. I also read non-genre titles between the challenges so this year's total will likely land somewhere around 80 books... with the caveat of 'best laid plans' & all that. I too may be a bit batty. ;)

155rshart3
Mar 29, 2023, 11:08 pm

>148 dustydigger:
Yes, I've been doing much more re-reading -- basically comfort reading.
If you're heading for Beowulf: are you aware of Grendel, by John Gardner? A wonderful retelling from the monster's viewpoint, with the bonus of an appearance by a cynical dragon. I love that genre -- I"m not sure what to call it -- but classics retold from the viewpoint of a different character. I did a booklist of them once, titled "Both Sides Now". Things like Wide Sargasso Sea and Wicked.

156Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 30, 2023, 12:19 am

>154 ScoLgo: Well that’s reassuring to know that I am not the only batty reader that plans their reading a year in advance. 😀

157AndreasJ
Mar 30, 2023, 12:48 am

I often make plans along the lines of after thus I’ll read that, and then yon. But I don’t try and guess how long it’ll take to get there.

(And it’s not like I then invariably follow those plans.)

158anglemark
Mar 30, 2023, 2:47 am

And I use a twenty-sided die to select the next book from Mount TBR after I finish one. ;)

159SChant
Mar 30, 2023, 4:20 am

>155 rshart3: "Both sides now" is a great idea - mind if I pinch it? I've read a lot of stuff picking out the stories of the women sidelined in the Greek myths and enjoyed most of them but not yet ventured into other mythologies much. Grendel sounds like an interesting place to start.

160Shrike58
Mar 30, 2023, 7:54 am

Right now I plan to read five novels and novellas a month this year. Much of this gets driven by the availability of what seems new and hot, or where the book seems to be important enough to make the short list of a major award. I will be nominating for the Hugos this year, but since the Chengdu convention has basically shambled from one mess to another I suspect that the awards process will be the same; hopefully the local fans take the business halfway seriously, and it's not just an exercise in "slating" by the commercial forces that seemed to have preempt control of the convention.

161ChrisG1
Mar 30, 2023, 11:02 am

>158 anglemark: I love that! Perhaps I should try it. But I do find I need to gauge my mood - am I up for something heavy/challenging, or do I need something lighter?

162Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 30, 2023, 11:18 am

>161 ChrisG1: That’s true. After a particularly challenging read I will often look for something light and purely entertaining. Something like a palate cleanser.

Staying with the gourmet eating analogy… has anyone put together lists of readings that make good pairings like we do with cheese and wine?

163Karlstar
Mar 30, 2023, 4:01 pm

>148 dustydigger: >155 rshart3: Wonder if it has something to do with the season?

>158 anglemark: Wait, really?? I have to admit that while I've rolled a d20 to select pizza toppings, I haven't (yet) used it to select my next book. Not a bad idea.

>162 Neil_Luvs_Books: Interesting idea, can't say I know of any such lists. Wouldn't it be highly subjective?

I'm working my way through The Lost Metal. It is good, but a little sloggy in spots, but mostly it is about me having time to read that's holding me up.

164Shrike58
Mar 30, 2023, 4:58 pm

Finished Quantum of Nightmares, which is the best "Laundry" novel that Charlies Stross has come up in awhile, and I'm now looking forward to more of the "New Management" books.

Now plowing through The Mountain in the Sea, which I'd like to get back to the library before I go on a trip for most of the coming week.

165rshart3
Modificato: Mar 30, 2023, 8:24 pm

>159 SChant: Pinch away! And yes, there are numerous mythological ones, like the recent Circe. I'm especially fond of Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis: the Cupid & Psyche myth, from the viewpoint of one of the jealous sisters.

166rshart3
Modificato: Mar 30, 2023, 8:32 pm

>162 Neil_Luvs_Books: (Neil_Luvs) "Staying with the gourmet eating analogy… has anyone put together lists of readings that make good pairings like we do with cheese and wine?"

That's a great idea! It would work other ways too -- I once found an annotation in a copy of Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring, saying something like "listen to Switched-on Bach while reading this", and the person was right, it was the perfect background music.
I also like palate-cleanser books; besides rotating genres, I try to vary between weighty/literary titles and potato-chip reads.

167UncleMort
Mar 31, 2023, 4:33 am

Finished To Your Scattered Bodies Go and ready to join Sam Clemens on The Fabulous Riverboat

The first book was an enjoyable read but it became a scene setter for later books. It reads very much like the author wrote it on the fly with little idea where the narrative was going and stopped when the ideas dried up. I remember from my first reading that it did lead me to interest in Richard Burton and his exploits, especially his travels in Africa.

I did like the way he inserted himself as a character, Not as hero but a fairly ordinary person, "warts and all"

Overall the premise of the novel does make you think about life, death and existence.

I would recommend it.

168anglemark
Mar 31, 2023, 7:15 am

>161 ChrisG1: Yeah, that's the thing, I'm not a mood reader. I'll happily plug away at something complicated and dark when on a beach holiday.

Actually, it's a little bit more sophisticated than just a d20. I have two shelves for my TBR pile, and I sort the books chronologically by original publication date. Then I select every fourth book from the first quartile using the d20, after that one from the second quartile, then the third quartile and then from the fourth quartile, the most recently published books. And then back again to something originally published before 2000, etc.

169justifiedsinner
Mar 31, 2023, 10:47 am

>168 anglemark: Only two shelves? I envy you.

170ChrisRiesbeck
Mar 31, 2023, 11:48 am

Finished The Last Witchfinder which was fantastic (in both senses) though not fantasy. Doing J is for Judgment before something in SF that is TBD.

171anglemark
Mar 31, 2023, 1:17 pm

>169 justifiedsinner: Ha! It's artificially restricted to two shelves. All the overflow goes directly into the stacks, never to be seen again. If everything I buy because I really want to read it was added to the TBR pile, it would be at least 1,000 books.

172paradoxosalpha
Mar 31, 2023, 1:31 pm

A few years back, I designated two cases as TBR, and books passing through that location have accounted for less than half of my reading since then.

173AnnieMod
Mar 31, 2023, 1:37 pm

>171 anglemark: That sounds like my "read soon" table - deliberately kept to a single end table so that there is some order in the disorder... :)

174AndreasJ
Mar 31, 2023, 3:09 pm

One of the more dubious pleasures of ebooks is that a thousand-book TBR pile takes no more space than an empty one.

175dustydigger
Mar 31, 2023, 3:35 pm

>155 rshart3: Already started first chapter of Grendel,Beowulf next week probably

Neil_Luvs_Books.
Like ScoLgo,I use WWEnd challenges. My Pick N Mix challenge aims for 80 books in the year. I publish my planned list each December here in this group,but most years I dont read half of them,instead read lots of different books instead! lol
I did attempt to sign in to WWEnd earlier to check how many books I've read this year,but despite repeated attempts have failed to log in. Hope its sorted out soon! I need to set up my April reads thread there.

176karenb
Mar 31, 2023, 4:02 pm

I must say, I am glad for the library's role in helping determine my TBR stack, with due dates helping with "what's next". Fewer decisions for me to make, what with the external randomness.

177ScoLgo
Mar 31, 2023, 5:32 pm

Finished The Starry Rift by Tiptree last night and posted my 7/10 review.

Currently about halfway through Agents of Dreamland. Kiernan's writing style is just my sort of thing so I'm enjoying this short novel quite a bit. I have Black Helicopters already lined up on the TBR shelf and am waiting for USPS, (my dog calls it 'The Cookie Truck!'), to bring The Tindalos Asset within the next few days. In the meantime...

My copies of Terra Ignota arrived this week so I am back into Too Like the Lightning. As I suspected, tackling this complicated novel in print is a much better experience than e-reading it.

178nx74defiant
Mar 31, 2023, 9:26 pm

I read We're not from Here a Middle Grade Sci-fi

179Neil_Luvs_Books
Mar 31, 2023, 10:22 pm

>175 dustydigger: The WEEnd challenges sound like fun! Something to check out when I finally retire in a couple of years.

180justifiedsinner
Apr 1, 2023, 11:17 am

>171 anglemark: That's more like it.

181Karlstar
Apr 1, 2023, 11:09 pm

>167 UncleMort: Glad you enjoyed it!

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