rhian_of_oz Reads in 2024 - January to June

TalkClub Read 2024

Join LibraryThing to post.

rhian_of_oz Reads in 2024 - January to June

1rhian_of_oz
Edited: Jun 29, 6:04 am

I'm Rhian from Perth and this is my sixth year in Club Read. My participation was sparse the last couple of years as I went back to uni full-time, so now that I’ve finished my studies I’m hoping to do better this year.
In past years my “plan” has been simply to reduce my TBR pile, but this year I thought I might change things up a bit and try and come up with monthly plans. We’ll see how long it lasts!
Given that the intention is still mainly to shrink Mt TBR, the starting count is 161.

Currently reading:

Next up:

6rhian_of_oz
Edited: Jun 29, 6:07 am

7rhian_of_oz
Edited: Feb 2, 10:09 am

Planned January reads:
Bookclub - The Future by Naomi Alderman
Group Read - Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (January) - The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter
HistoryCAT (North & South American Wars & Conflicts) - Horse by Geraldine Brooks
PrizeCAT (Long-running prizes) - All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
MysteryKIT (short story mysteries) -
RandomKIT (Early Birds) - Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healy
SFFKIT (swords & sorcery/epic fantasy) - Age Of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
AlphaKit (A and Y) - Anne Of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery, Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
ScaredyKIT (Psychological Thrillers) - My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
Historical Fiction Challenge (real historical figure) - The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley
First book in a series (Dead Djinn Universe) - A Master Of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
Next book in a series (The Expanse) - Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey
Wishlist - Fury by Kathryn Heyman

8labfs39
Dec 26, 2023, 12:48 pm

Welcome back to Club Read for another year, Rhian. I'm looking forward to hearing more from you this year, now that uni is done. Good luck job hunting!

I read Horse this year and have some confused feelings about it. I'll be curious as to your take when you get to it.

9WelshBookworm
Dec 26, 2023, 1:31 pm

Wow - that's a lot of books just for January. Good luck!

10kjuliff
Dec 26, 2023, 4:04 pm

>1 rhian_of_oz: welcome! Another Aussie. That is if WA is has still not seceded 😉.
I’m from Melbourne but live in New York.

I want to know why so many good writers come from WA? What’s the news? Has Tim Winton still newsworthy? Is there an up-coming young novelist on the horizon?

So good to find another Aussie here. I’ve only found one other.

11rhian_of_oz
Dec 27, 2023, 12:13 am

>9 WelshBookworm: I don't actually expect to make it through the whole list, so I guess this is more in the way of the list of books to choose from in January.

I have a credenza near my desk that is currently covered in uni stuff that I'm going to clear and then use to assemble these books for easy access.

12rhian_of_oz
Dec 27, 2023, 12:39 am

>10 kjuliff: Hello! I noticed you in the 2023 group as I was catching up on threads but hadn't had a chance to make myself known.

Some might say there's so many good WA writers because there's nothing better to do ;-).

I must confess that I don't follow local writers as much as I probably should. The ones I have read include Amanda Curtin, Craig Silvey, Annabel Smith, Susan Midalia, David Whish-Wilson, K. A. Bedford, Ash Harrier, Brooke Davis, Felicity Young, Shaun Tan, Dervla McTiernan, Juliet Marillier, Greg Egan, and Claire G. Coleman.

I don't really like Tim Winton's writing so I don't know what he's been up to lately. I did enjoy the film adaptation of Breath and the play of Cloudstreet though.

13markon
Dec 27, 2023, 3:17 pm

Welcome back Rhian. Wishing you good luck in the job hunt.

14kjuliff
Dec 27, 2023, 3:44 pm

>12 rhian_of_oz: Ha! I was going to say that about WA writers but have been in the US too long and have become over-sensitive. Really!

I hadn’t heard of any of those Australian writers you mentioned. I’m so out-of-date. Now I’ll try to see what’s available here.

Glad you’ve made yourself known. I wonder if there are any Victorians lurking out there. Or have they all moved to Brooklyn?/

15rhian_of_oz
Dec 27, 2023, 10:28 pm

>8 labfs39: Thanks Lisa. I've been dropping stars left, right, and centre and am hoping I manage to keep up-to-date in 2024.

I'll be sure to go back and read your review once I've read Horse. Geraldine Brooks is an auto-read for me so hopefully I won't be disappointed.

16WelshBookworm
Dec 27, 2023, 10:30 pm

>15 rhian_of_oz: Rhian, Horse was one of my best books of 2023...

17rhian_of_oz
Dec 27, 2023, 11:01 pm

>16 WelshBookworm: Well that's reassuring :-).

18dchaikin
Jan 1, 7:38 pm

Welcome back and happy new year. That’s a fun January reading plan.

19rhian_of_oz
Jan 2, 2:18 am

>18 dchaikin: Thanks Dan.

Funny thing about that plan ... I've already gone off piste :-). I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. As I haven't yet put away my new books they were what was easily available and so I started The House in the Cerulean Sea.

20dchaikin
Jan 2, 7:19 am

Well, surely you can go off plan in the middle of the night. That doesn’t count, right? Like a midnight snack when you’re counting calories? Hope Klune was good.

21rocketjk
Jan 4, 9:26 am

>19 rhian_of_oz: Ha! Roads (and lists!) are for wandering off of! Belated Happy New Year and happy reading to you!

22rhian_of_oz
Jan 4, 9:43 am

>20 dchaikin: and >21 rocketjk: Enablers, the pair of you :-).

23rhian_of_oz
Jan 5, 12:24 am

The Wolfe trilogy
The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry by Markus Zusak

I'm not sure how to descibe these weird little books. Our narrator is Cameron Wolfe, the youngest of four in an Australian working class family. In the first book he says "I don’t really know that this story has a whole lot of things happen in it. It doesn’t really... I guess things happened, but nothing out of the ordinary." and I think that well describes all three. They're pretty introspective.

I guess the trilogy could be described as coming-of-age, though a pretty gritty one. Cameron reads fairly genuinely to me, though I have never been a 15-year-old boy.

This is *nothing* like The Book Thief - not only are these Zusak's first published works, the overall tone is completely different.

I definitely liked the third one the best, and I think you need to have read the first two to properly appreciate the last one. Would I recommend them? Yes? I looked up LT Recommendations and of the ones I'm familiar with I feel like The Outsiders is the one that best matches in mood of this trilogy.

24dchaikin
Jan 5, 9:10 am

>23 rhian_of_oz: Interesting about Zusak’s first books. Did The Book Thief draw you to this trilogy?

25rhian_of_oz
Jan 5, 10:19 am

>24 dchaikin: I can't remember :-). I bought the third book first in 2014 and I suspect I didn't realise it was the last in a trilogy at the time.

The Messenger was the first Zusak I read and I suspect this is what led me to this trilogy even though I had also read The Book Thief by 2014.

26dchaikin
Jan 5, 10:37 am

Do you have a favorite by Zusak? I read and enjoyed The Book Thief, but it’s not my usual type of book.

27rhian_of_oz
Jan 5, 10:49 am

Hmmm, I'm not sure. I recall really liking The Messenger which is very different to The Book Thief (which I also liked a lot).

I haven't read Bridge Of Clay which is currently hiding somewhere in Mt TBR. I started reading it but I think that was in 2020 and I didn't have the headspace for it (it's quite a chunkster).

28dchaikin
Jan 5, 12:06 pm

Thanks for answering my pestering questions. 🙂

29rhian_of_oz
Jan 6, 12:12 am

>28 dchaikin: Thanks for asking.

Question for you: how did you get a proper emoji in your post?

30dchaikin
Jan 6, 2:57 am

>29 rhian_of_oz: I mainly use my iPhone. 🙂 I think in Windows use window button plus “.” … or right click

31rhian_of_oz
Edited: Jan 6, 4:33 am

>30 dchaikin: Brill thanks. 👌

32rhian_of_oz
Jan 6, 4:47 am

Inheritance by Nora Roberts

This is the first in a new supernatural contemporary romance trilogy.

Sonya, our heroine, inherits a haunted mansion under a curse. With friends old and new, and a new love interest, Sonya needs to investigate the hauntings and break the curse. And presumably, eventually, live happily ever after.

Readers of Ms Roberts' will recognise elements of her prior work in this one. So if you like those then you will probably like this.

I liked it. I like the characters and their relationships. I'm happy to suspend my disbelief about ghosts and curses. It was a fun, easy read and I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy when it comes out.

If you're new to Ms Roberts and you think this might be your jam, I recommend her Inn Boonsboro trilogy as something similar.

33rhian_of_oz
Jan 6, 11:03 am

The silver lining of being unemployed and having sleeping problems is more reading. Hurray?!

The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

This was adorable. Though I am a little confused about the intended audience because it reads like middle grade but the protagonist is an adult.

Linus Baker is a caseworker for the Department In Charge Of Magical Youth (DICOMY) who lives by the Rules And Regulations but doesn't seem particularly happy in his life. Extremely Upper Management (EUM) sends Linus on a month-long investigation of the Marsya Island Orphanage where a number of highly classified children reside under the care of Arthur Parnassus. It is clear the EUM has an unspoken agenda, though possibly not to Linus.

This not a subtle book, which is one of the things that made me think this is aimed at middle schoolers. And we are definitely being manipulated. But I didn't care. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh, was outraged and touched when I was supposed to be, and cried when I was supposed to cry.

Regardless of who this was meant to be written for, if you don't like middle school books then this is not for you. I, on the other hand, will look at other work by this author, including the sequel when it comes out.

34labfs39
Jan 6, 1:13 pm

>33 rhian_of_oz: I am a little confused about the intended audience because it reads like middle grade but the protagonist is an adult.
You and everyone else! But I too was charmed by it. I loved "Extremely Upper Management".

35BLBera
Jan 6, 2:41 pm

Happy New Year, Rhian.

>33 rhian_of_oz: Great comments. I wonder who the audience is? I read with my granddaughter so might give this a try. It sounds like one she would like.

36labfs39
Jan 6, 4:08 pm

>35 BLBera: In my book club, I voted for adult audience, since the protagonist is a 50-ish year old man. If you do read it with Scout, I'll be curious as to her take.

37rhian_of_oz
Jan 7, 10:26 am

>35 BLBera: Thanks Beth, happy new year to you too. I was sorry to hear you were only visiting CR rather than having your own thread (completely understandable). I checked out your thread in the 75ers and it was quite overwhelming! I've starred it to keep up with your reading but I will likely be silently lurking in the corner.

I too will be interested if you end up reading THitCS with your granddaughter.

38AlisonY
Jan 10, 12:44 pm

Welcome back! Looks like you're off to a great start already.

39FlorenceArt
Jan 13, 3:33 am

>32 rhian_of_oz: Noting your recommendation about Nora Roberts. I haven’t read anything by her but and it sounds like I could enjoy it.

>33 rhian_of_oz: Whoever the intended audience is, I think I’m not part of it. I read an excerpt from TJ Klune’s latest and it just felt too childish. And I’m easily manipulated but hate lack of subtlety, so.

40kjuliff
Jan 13, 7:54 pm

>27 rhian_of_oz: I didn’t like The Book Thief or All the Light We Cannot See. They both felt very unauthentic. I’m fussy about WWII novels that seem to use the Holocaust in simplistic ways.

41dchaikin
Jan 13, 10:39 pm

>40 kjuliff: i thought The Book Thief did a nice job of establishing tone and maintaining it. I thought it was well done. But i bailed on All the Light We Cannot See. Couldn’t stand it on audio. I know all this is subjective…

42labfs39
Jan 14, 8:10 am

I too enjoyed The Book Thief, primarily because of the character Death. I thought that was creative. The Holocaust treatment was less noteworthy. Although I finished All the Light, I did not like it. To me that was the more juvenile of the two, despite being written for adults.

43Julie_in_the_Library
Jan 14, 10:26 am

>33 rhian_of_oz: >39 FlorenceArt: The intended audience seems to be adults who like middle grade/YA but want adult protagonists. I know people who are part of that audience. It's bigger than you'd think. But I agree, it's definitely not for everyone.

>40 kjuliff: >41 dchaikin: >42 labfs39: I'm with kjuliff on The Book Thief. I haven't read the other.

44rhian_of_oz
Jan 19, 11:25 pm

We're having an intermittent summer holiday at the moment (a few days away, a few days at home, a few days away, etc) so I'm not reading as much as normal. I also haven't been spending much time online, so I'm off to catch up on some CR threads.

45rhian_of_oz
Jan 26, 1:35 am

Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer

This is the first in the Terra Ignota series and I am rereading the first three books before tackling the (unread) fourth one.

Sometimes when you reread a book you pick up on things you missed the first time. I didn't find that with this. I found I remembered most of what occurred even after five years.

I liked this well enough but it didn't have the impact that it did when I first read it. There are a number of reveals (I wouldn't call them twists) throughout the book that of course aren't shocking when you know they're coming.

I enjoyed reacquainting myself with the world Dr Palmer has created and am looking forward to the next book and seeing how much I remember of it.

46wandering_star
Jan 26, 8:11 pm

>45 rhian_of_oz: I have read the first two of this series and am thinking that I should re-read before I hit the third. The trouble is they are such monsters. I need a longish period that I know is going to be quiet at work so I can keep the momentum up!

47rhian_of_oz
Jan 26, 11:01 pm

>46 wandering_star: Yes the size is a bit of a disincentive. I decided to give myself a month to finish it and read a little bit each day. But I'm not working at the moment so it is easier for me to find the time.

48FlorenceArt
Jan 27, 2:57 am

>45 rhian_of_oz: This sounds interesting! I will wishlist it but I already have a series under way (backburnered really) made of huge tomes with a gazillion characters and constantly changing viewpoints that I find myself unable to concentrate on. Is this one of those? I think my problem is mainly the changing viewpoints. I tend to put the book aside every time there is a switch.

49rhian_of_oz
Jan 27, 3:30 am

>48 FlorenceArt: This is mostly narrated by one character but there are lots of people and situations to keep track of (though I wouldn't say gazillions 🙂). The upside is there are only four books in the series.

50rhian_of_oz
Jan 27, 4:10 am

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

This is about an apparently legendary horse named Lexington (my partner had heard of him) told in three timeframes - the present (well 2019), the 1800s (when the horse was alive), and the 1950s (explaining the provenance of a painting of Lexington).

If you're familiar with People Of The Book then this reminded me a little of that book in structure in that we learn something in the present and then go back to the past for the detail and explanation.

I'm a bit torn on whether I think this structure was the best way to tell this story. The 1950s sections were perhaps the weakest and I don't think really added anything to the overall narrative. And while I liked the present sections, I feel like Lexington's story could've been told without them. The romance between Jess and Theo felt a bit contrived. I think it would've still worked if they'd had a friendly professional relationship. I think the death of Theo would've still impacted Jess even if they hadn't been romantically involved.

I am a fan of Ms Brooks and have mostly liked everything she's written. I enjoyed this and thought it's strengths outweighed the weaknesses.

51dchaikin
Jan 27, 9:26 am

>50 rhian_of_oz: i think I’m done with Brooks, but I enjoyed your review.

52labfs39
Jan 27, 11:54 am

>50 rhian_of_oz: I have mixed luck with Brooks and had mixed feelings about Horse. I agree with you about the 1950s portion being weak and unnecessary, and while I liked Jess, I found the sections when the author pontificating for Theo and other young black men to be disconcerting.

53rhian_of_oz
Jan 30, 3:39 am

>51 dchaikin: I had a look at the CR mentions for Horse and saw that you've given her away. Good thing there's eleventy billion other books you can read 🙂.

>52 labfs39: I didn't mind the 'pontificating' (though I agree it was a little heavy handed) because I'm always keen to see other points of view. And while yes she is a middle-aged white woman like myself, she mentions in the afterword about getting insights on the lived experience of POC. I'm not going to recap the very interesting discussion in Dan's thread, other than to say that I think it's better for me to read these insights from Brooks than to not read them at all.

54rhian_of_oz
Feb 1, 4:01 am

Fury by Kathryn Heyman

When we first meet Kathryn she is standing on the boom of a fishing trawler in the middle of a storm. And while the rest of her story is not always so dramatic, it is very often as harrowing.

Kathryn joins the crew of the Ocean Thief because she had "nowhere else to go", and during her months on board she can't hide from the memories of her unhappy past. This memoir interweaves the stories on the boat with those of her life and how she got there.

This is excellently written but it is not an easy read. As an Australian woman of (I'm guessing) a similar age, many of her experiences were familiar. I can only hope that it is not as bad for young women of today.

I'm glad I read it but it was very confronting and (for me) slightly triggering. It's a difficult book to recommend because while I think it is excellent it was very hard to read her story.

I will be checking out her other books.

55rhian_of_oz
Edited: Mar 2, 11:08 am

Planned February reads:
Bookclub - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Group Read - Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (February) - Gilded by Marissa Meyer
HistoryCAT (Georgian/Regency/Victorian Britain) - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
PrizeCAT (A Prize from Australia) - The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley
MysteryKIT (true unsolved mysteries) - Bereft by Chris Womersley
RandomKIT (escape or rescue) - The Secret River by Kate Grenville
SFFKIT (critters/creatures) - Children Of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
AlphaKit (F and E) - Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler, The Book Of Etta by Meg Elison
ScaredyKIT (Gothic) - The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
Historical Fiction Challenge (real historical figure) - The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
First book in a series (The Legends of the First Empire) - Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
Next book in a series (The Expanse) - Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey
Wishlist - The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

56kjuliff
Feb 1, 4:07 am

>55 rhian_of_oz: Looking forward to your take on The Marriage Portrait

57rhian_of_oz
Feb 1, 4:30 am

>56 kjuliff: I'll have to make sure to read it! I only managed to read of my planned reads for January so it will be interesting to see how I go for February and how "off piste" I go.

58ELiz_M
Feb 1, 8:25 am

>55 rhian_of_oz: I like this post -- listing all the planned reads. I do this in my thread, but in a static post. Hmmm....

59rhian_of_oz
Feb 1, 10:10 am

>58 ELiz_M: I've just started doing it this year. My TBR pile is a little overwhelming so I like that doing this gives me a smaller, less intimidating pile to choose from. I even physically moved the books to a shelf behind my desk.

60dchaikin
Feb 1, 11:20 am

>55 rhian_of_oz: fun list. I really liked The Red Tent (a while ago).

61rhian_of_oz
Feb 2, 10:15 am

Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery

I liked Anne of Green Gables enough to read this, which I liked well enough. But I think this is where Anne and I part company. There's something about this, that I can't articulate, that is not for me.

62rhian_of_oz
Feb 4, 10:08 pm

Random in Death by J. D. Robb

This was not on the planned list for February but I walked into a bookstore and there it was.

This is number 58 in the series and I don't think it would work as a standalone as there's too much unexplained backstory in the characters and their relationships.

I consider these comfort reads in the sense that I know what I'm going to get, there are characters I like and look forward to "catching up with" and Ms Roberts does have a style that is easy to read. They're my go to reread when I don't have a lot of time but do want to read something but don't want to have to pay too much attention.

63dchaikin
Feb 5, 1:38 pm

>62 rhian_of_oz: have you read all 58?!

64BLBera
Edited: Feb 5, 5:09 pm

Good luck with your February plans, Rhian. That is a long list!

Don't worry about lurking, I tend to lurk on many threads as well.

The Palmer books sound interesting. I might give the first one a try to see...

I had mixed feelings about Horse; I found the horse's story the most interesting and would almost have preferred that she write it as nonfiction. The different timelines didn't really work for me.

65rhian_of_oz
Feb 5, 11:53 pm

>63 dchaikin: I have indeed! As well as some of the novellas and short stories.

The first one was published in 1995 which is nearly 30 years ago. This horrified me (so long!) and then I remembered that this is not the longest series I read.

As far as I can tell I've been reading the Alex Delaware and Vorkosigan series since 1990. Though neither of these writers is quite as prolific as Ms Roberts.

66rhian_of_oz
Feb 6, 12:06 am

>64 BLBera: Yes it is a long list which I use less as an aspiration and more of a way to make book selection easier. Even this goal is questionable - my first read wasn't on the list and I'm about to head to the library to pick up two books that also aren't on the list 🙂.

I'd be interested to see what you think about Too Like The Lightning if you get around to reading it. I've started the second one but it's too early to tell how well I remember it.

I didn't mind that Horse was fiction but I think I would be more positive about it if the later two timelines had been better handled. They didn't *quite* feel like padding but they weren't far off.

67dchaikin
Feb 6, 6:28 am

>65 rhian_of_oz: 1995 is just yesterday. 🙂 That’s pretty cool you have read them all! I’m impressed!

68rhian_of_oz
Feb 7, 12:18 am

The Future by Naomi Alderman

I read this for bookclub so I wanted to wait until after our meeting before writing my review because talking about the book helped me clarify my thoughts, and sometimes hearing other perspectives can change mine.

We start the story with three tech billionaires receiving notification that the world is ending and for them to enact their "evacuation plan". The rest of the book then describes the before and after of this event.

I really liked a lot of the components of this book, but when I'd finished it I was less sure that I really liked it overall. It's non-linear which I don't mind, but there were no indications of *when* we were, so often when I started a new chapter I had to take the time to figure out where it was in the timeline.

I felt most of the characters were almost cardboard cutouts or caricatures, though apparently if you're more familiar with real-life tech billionaires and their nearest and dearest then these are realistic portrayals.

I don't want to go into detail about the parts I liked because I don't want to give away the story so this review seems more negative than I feel about it, but the book does raise some interesting points/questions. It is also, in parts, a little naive.

On the very last page there's a cryptic message and an email address which gives you more of the story if you email it, which I found both fun (it was a good aha moment) and annoying (I want all the story to be in the book that I am reading). It hadn't occurred to me send an email so thankfully one of the bookclubbers did and shared the result.

One of the bookclubbers referred to this as a romp and I would agree with that description. I do recommend this book but maybe read it with a less critical eye. Ms Alderman is a good writer and has interesting ideas (I liked The Power) so I would read other work by her, though maybe I would get it out of the library or at least not buy it in trade paperback.

69dchaikin
Feb 7, 12:39 pm

>68 rhian_of_oz: interesting. Curious if billionaires really do match cardboard cutouts.

Not sure how I feel about that email. Seems ok for an ebook with a live link; clever once maybe. But not for a paper book.

70kjuliff
Feb 7, 1:00 pm

>69 dchaikin: And it probably won’t work in 50 years. It’ll be like - see a clue in the papyrus scroll under the palm tree by the river.

71labfs39
Feb 7, 4:52 pm

>68 rhian_of_oz: >69 dchaikin: Although I haven't read the book, I've known and worked with some billionaires, and they varied widely in personality, values, and lifestyle. It's easy to lump people we don't know into stereotypical caricatures, the true is usually more complicated, IMO. But billionaires are easy targets.

72rhian_of_oz
Feb 7, 10:26 pm

>70 kjuliff: There was a general agreement at bookclub that this book is very much of its time (i.e. now) and might not hold up in the future, but we didn't consider the email. We had an interesting discussion about needing the context of when a book was written versus it being self-contained, someone even mentioned Dante!

>71 labfs39: This was the problem I had with the portrayal of the billionaires - that even though the actions/words attributed to them may be those really performed/spoken by actual billionaires, they came across as cartoon villains. Don't get me wrong, I think the existence of billionaires is disgusting, but I expect more nuance in a book for grownups.

73rhian_of_oz
Feb 12, 11:28 pm

I received an email from a local bookshop saying they're having a sale for their birthday and I thought it would be churlish not to help them celebrate!

The books I ordered are:
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Babel by R.F. Kuang

74kjuliff
Edited: Feb 13, 5:45 am

This message has been deleted by its author.

75dchaikin
Feb 13, 2:08 pm

>73 rhian_of_oz: Nice! those all interest me.

76rhian_of_oz
Feb 14, 5:03 am

>75 dchaikin: Some of them won't be available until May so I chose the option to have all of them come together. It will be like Christmas, plus it will give me a chance to read some of my existing books and make room on the TBR shelves. Theoretically 🙂.

77rhian_of_oz
Feb 17, 8:21 am

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

This is a rollicking, ridiculous romp and lots of fun. It has pirates and magic and literary references and romance. Yes it is as bonkers as it sounds.

I don't always like silly slapstick but for whatever reason this worked for me at this time.

I'm not going to rush out and get the next in the series, but I will read it when I'm in the mood for some light entertainment.

78BLBera
Feb 18, 2:01 pm

>68 rhian_of_oz: Hi Rhian. I bought this one when I saw Alderman at the Portland Book Festival, so I skimmed your comments because I hope to read it soon. She was very amusing. She told us that she would write in the morning, read the news and write fueled by rage in the afternoon. It sounds like she may have included a lot of various issues that annoy/infuriate her. I really liked The Power and look forward to this one.

79rhian_of_oz
Feb 18, 10:36 pm

>78 BLBera: Beth I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it.

It would be amusing to read it again and try and guess which bits were written in the morning and which in the afternoon 😆.

80rhian_of_oz
Feb 21, 2:40 am

Wifedom by Anna Funder

I think this is excellent.

I had no particular feelings about George Orwell one way or the other before reading this but I do now!

While this is the story of Eileen and George, it is also an illustration of how biographies are not unbiased (I realise how naive that makes me sound) and how spouses/partners (mostly women) can be erased from a famous person's life. A related theme is how the uncompensated and unrecognised labour of (mostly) women allows (mostly) men to do what they want. Grr.

One criticism that I read, and agree with though it didn't occur to me while reading the book, was even though this supposed to be about Eileen, it continues after her death (by page count 17% of the book) and so becomes about George in the absence of Eileen.

Another criticism is about how Ms Funder inserts herself into her narrative. I agree to some extent in that some of these parts don't add anything, but on the other hand they show the context within which the research for this book occurred.

If you're not a "woke feminist" 🙄 then this probably isn't the book for you. I am interested in exploring Ms Funder's other works.

81dianeham
Feb 21, 5:27 am

>80 rhian_of_oz: What is a "woke feminist?"

82wandering_star
Edited: Feb 21, 9:13 am

>80 rhian_of_oz: interesting comment about Funder inserting herself into the narrative - this was a problem I had with her previous book, Stasiland.

83rhian_of_oz
Feb 21, 11:02 am

>81 dianeham: It was in at least one of the negative reviews that I read online about this book.

I Googled it and read a couple of the results and I'm not much clearer than I was before. As far as I can tell it seems that if a feminist mentions anything about how men benefit from the current systems and structures then they are woke.

84rhian_of_oz
Feb 21, 11:06 am

>82 wandering_star: Thinking about it a little bit more, I don't mind it as much because it shows a recognition that biographers are not neutral, objective observers, and this way she shows her perspective which affects her writing whether consciously or not.

85kjuliff
Feb 21, 12:14 pm

>80 rhian_of_oz: I’ve read two books by Funder both literary non-fiction and in both her views are unashamedly inserted into the descriptions of historical events.

I’m not a great fan of her work so probably won’t read Wifedom .

I liked your review - it’s good that the book was written, but I’ve lost any interest now, in reading it.

86dchaikin
Feb 21, 5:15 pm

>80 rhian_of_oz: one from the new Women’s Prize longlist! I adored Vera, Stacy Schiff biography of Vera Nabokov. That’s one reason why this interests me.

>83 rhian_of_oz: how does one differentiate a woke feminist from whatever a normal feminist is? (there is a quiz online somewhere that i tool recently. I came out less feminist than i thought i was.)

87kjuliff
Feb 21, 5:18 pm

>86 dchaikin: I think a woke feminist is a woke person who happens to be a feminist. Def not you Dan 😊

88dchaikin
Feb 21, 9:28 pm

Wait, am i definitely not feminist? Not woke? Or not woke feminist? 🙂 (For wife and daughter’s sake, I hope I’m feminist!)

89kjuliff
Feb 21, 9:39 pm

>88 dchaikin: Not woke. Second generation feminist.

90dchaikin
Feb 21, 9:53 pm

Good, i think i can live with that. (Sorry Rhian!)

91rhian_of_oz
Edited: Feb 22, 1:52 am

>86 dchaikin: - >90 dchaikin:

The references I looked at for "woke feminist" were all disparaging, so when I used it in my review I was being sarcastic. Sorry that it didn't quite come across the way I intended it.

As far as I can tell, people that use woke feminist as an insult say they agree with equality for women, as long as men don't have to give up their privilege to achieve it. /sarcasm

>85 kjuliff: Yes I saw some of your comments about Funder's work around about the place so I wasn't surprised by this book as I otherwise might've been.

>86 dchaikin: I thought the one place I would be safe from BBs is my own thread but apparently not 🙂. Vera is now on the wishlist.

92dianeham
Feb 22, 3:32 am

>83 rhian_of_oz: I googled it too and was not enlightened or awoken.

93cindydavid4
Edited: Feb 24, 12:21 pm

>80 rhian_of_oz: Im almost finished and just love it Its making me angry on her behalf and changes my opion of wells in a big way (in orwells roses he comes across as a gentle soul that just wants his roses, Doesnt mention his wife much)

>80 rhian_of_oz: "While this is the story of Eileen and George, it is also an illustration of how biographies are not unbiased (I realise how naive that makes me sound) and how spouses/partners (mostly women) can be erased from a famous person's life. A related theme is how the uncompensated and unrecognised labour of (mostly) women allows (mostly) men to do what they want. "

good summary; also how clueless men can be; really, go fight in Spain and disappear from wife, or what really got me, how he basically killed his wife and didnt seem to notice

I didnt mine the author inserting herself; thoses m oments were few but when done she makes another point from her own life that goes with the subject. At all times she was focused on Eilenn

94dchaikin
Feb 25, 11:54 am

>91 rhian_of_oz: ☺️ book danger everywhere

95kjuliff
Feb 25, 2:51 pm

>91 rhian_of_oz: My friends back home were over the top about her a few years back. She seemed v popular in Oz. Is she still?

96rhian_of_oz
Feb 26, 2:46 am

>93 cindydavid4: I'm glad you're enjoying it.

>95 kjuliff: I'm not sure. Most of my offline book friends read primarily science fiction and fantasy. The recommendations I get for non-SFF books mostly come from CR.

97rhian_of_oz
Feb 26, 2:47 am

The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec

This was okay, but it didn't blow my skirt up.

I like the relationship between the three young women, though admittedly it's more an idea than properly shown. I liked the magic and that it's female-centred. There were other things that I didn't exactly dislike but didn't sit right with me.

This is described as historical fantasy and what I would add to that description is YAish. It's not wholly in that space, but it certainly isn't what I'd describe as well-developed or mature fantasy.

My book guy recommended this and usually he's a bit more spot on. Oh well, I don't regret reading it but I'm not going to rush out to read anything else by this author.

P.S. Slightly annoying but I don't know who "the weaver" from the title is supposed to be - the non-witch queen protagonist is a healer.

98BLBera
Feb 26, 9:12 am

Wifedom sounds like one I would enjoy, Rhian. Great comments, too!

99rhian_of_oz
Feb 29, 12:57 am

Tiamat's Wrath by James S. A. Corey

This the penultimate book in The Expanse series and most definitely *does not* stand alone.

Hoo boy, there's a reason The Expanse won a Hugo for Best Series and this instalment is a worthy addition. I don't try and figure out things as we go, I just go along for the ride.

I'm torn between wanting to read the last book straight away to see how it all ends, and not wanting it to be over after all these years (I read book 1 in 2013).

If you like space opera then I wholeheartedly recommend this series.

100rhian_of_oz
Edited: Apr 3, 9:48 pm

Planned March reads:
Bookclub - A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
Group Read - Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (March) – Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
HistoryCAT (Science and Medicine) – The Body by Bill Bryson
PrizeCAT (A Prize that’s New to Me) – The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams
MysteryKIT (historical mysteries) – The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
RandomKIT (world wildlife day) - The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley
SFFKIT (space opera) – Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey
AlphaKit (H and R) – Hel’s Eight by Stark Holborn, Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
ScaredyKIT (True Crime) -
Historical Fiction Challenge (over 500 pages) – The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
First book in a series (Monk and the Robot) – A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Next book in a series (Rivers of London) – Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch
Wishlist – Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson


101rv1988
Mar 1, 3:10 am

>100 rhian_of_oz: Looks like a great month of reading planned. I'm looking forward to your thoughts, especially on the Stuart Turton book. It's been lying on my shelf for several months now!

102rhian_of_oz
Mar 1, 7:06 am

>101 rv1988: Given how poorly my actual reading has matched my planned reading so far this year, there's a better than even chance I won't end up reading The Devil and the Dark Water in March 😁. We might have to organise a group read to get it off both of our TBR shelves.

103markon
Mar 7, 10:45 am

The only one on your list I've read is Emrys A half-built garden. I'll be interested to hear your take on it. Good luck with your list - I only have two on my list for the month, and I've already dived into a third In the upper country by Kai Thomas.

104rhian_of_oz
Mar 7, 10:45 pm

>103 markon: I'm three chapters in and so far so interesting.

I've also already gone "off list" after a visit to the library yesterday.

105rhian_of_oz
Mar 15, 3:27 am

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

I read this because I liked Agnes Grey enough to want to read more by this author.

I'm not a fan of the device of telling a story by writing it as a letter (as opposed to proper epistolary novels which I love), especially when over half of it is supposed to be entries from someone else's diary. I'm not entirely sure why she wrote it this way as I don't think it added anything to the story.

Setting that irritant aside I liked this at the beginning but the diary section is far too long and therefore became quite tiresome. I started out liking Helen, then feeling sorry for her that her youthful stupidity ended up having such dire consequences, and ending up feeling annoyed with her for her (to me) ridiculous piety.

Actually now that I think about it, I didn't like Gilbert much eitherespecially after he beat Frederik and left him to die.

It is a good commentary showing how trapped women were, even rich ones.

106dchaikin
Mar 16, 10:02 pm

>105 rhian_of_oz: interesting review. (Someday Anne! Eventually I’ll get to you and your (less feminist?) sisters.)

107rhian_of_oz
Mar 25, 4:43 am

All The Dead Shall Weep by Charlaine Harris

This is the fifth book in the Gunnie Rose series and definitely does not standalone.

On the plus side there is a lot of action in this so it moves at a cracking pace, almost too fast. On the negative side this action is driven by behaviour of two characters in particular that doesn't make any sense and which I couldn't ignore.

I liked that this story is told from the POV of both Lizbeth and Felicia. But the last sentence made me roll my eyes a little.

According to Charlaine Harris' blog there is another Gunnie Rose book planned so I'll read it when it comes out and hopefully we won't have another repeat of inexplicable behaviour.

108rhian_of_oz
Mar 27, 10:35 pm

Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

Rivers of London is an urban fantasy series set in present-day London. Our narrator is DC Peter Grant who works in the Special Assessment Unit of the Metropolitan Police, so the series is essentially a paranormal police procedural. This is book number nine.

I liked it. The tone is lightish and the pacing is good. The worldbuilding has expanded in a way that makes sense, and there are also developments in the characters personal lives.

A few reviews I read suggested that the feel of this is transitional as we await the appearance of the series' next Big Bad, which I don't disagree with but if you like this series then it's definitely worth reading.

I'm not sure when the next one is due but I will be reading it when it does.

109rhian_of_oz
Mar 28, 12:14 am

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson

Our narrator Lillian is living in her mother's attic and working two cashier jobs when she receives a letter from her high school friend Madison with an interesting yet unnamed job opportunity.

The job turns out to be Lillian looking after Madison's 10-year-old stepchildren for the summer, with the catch being they spontaneously combust.

I'm ambivalent about this book. On the positive side it was well written and easy to read, and the story was compelling enough that I wanted to know what happened in the end.

On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about Lillian. I mostly didn't like her though I did love her interactions and relationship with the kids.

I'm not sure whether the relationship between Lillian and Madison actually is a deep, enduring bond (which I didn't believe) or that it's only Lillian who believes that and which Madison takes advantage of. Which is a bit ick.

I also found the ending pretty meh.

I recognise that the main problems I have with this book are quite specific to me. In general I struggle to sympathise with adults who "fail to launch" and are passive participants in their own life. I have a strong aversion to vulnerable people being taken advantage of, even when it's supposed to be funny (e.g. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian).

Would I recommend this book? Hmm maybe? I certainly wouldn't warn people away from it. Would I read anything else by this author? Hmm maybe if someone whose opinion I trusted recommended a specific work.

110rhian_of_oz
Mar 28, 3:53 am

A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

It's 2083, Earth is slowly recovering from environmental disaster, and humanity is separated into three groups when the Ringers arrive. The Ringers are excited to meet a civilisation that is not yet extinct and offer to save humans by moving them off Earth and into space before it's too late. Two of the human factions are all for this, while the faction that has been actively working to save the planet wants to stay and continue their work.

What I like about this take on first contact is the idea that paternalism can be just as dangerous as outright hostility. I also like the worldbuilding and found the idea of the three human groups to be a reasonable extrapolation.

Where I feel this falls a bit short is how unbalanced it is. Most of the story is told from the POV of Judy, the literal first contact and member of the 'save the planet' faction. This society is well-developed and explained. But the other two human factions and the two alien species are not so well-defined. And the "villains" aren't even cartoonish, they're cardboard cutouts.

Also, the resolution is so obvious I'm not sure we needed so many pages to get to it.

I saw some descriptions of this as earnest and someone called it smug and I would agree somewhat with both of these.

I am looking forward to discussing this with my bookclub.

A number of reviews I read mentioned The Dispossessed or Dawn so I'm going to see if I can hunt those down.

111labfs39
Mar 28, 2:07 pm

>110 rhian_of_oz: I hope you have a good book club discussion of A Half-Built Garden, will make it more worth the reading.

112rhian_of_oz
Edited: May 10, 8:21 am

Planned April reads:
Bookclub - Yet We Sleep, We Dream by JL Peridot
Group Read - Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (April) - Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
HistoryCAT (Riots, Revolution, & Mayhem) - Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
PrizeCAT (Women's Writing) - Home by Marilynne Robinson
MysteryKIT (series) - The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
RandomKIT (Enchanting Garden Visitors) - A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
SFFKIT (Time Travel) - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
AlphaKit (U and O) - The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie, Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
ScaredyKIT (Witches, Evil Spirits, and Black Magic) - The Good People by Hannah Kent
Historical Fiction Challenge (set in Australia) - The Secret River by Kate Grenville
First book in a series (Chaos Walking) - The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Next book in a series (The Expanse) - Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey
Wishlist - The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

Four of this month's books I have previously started and then set aside so I feel like I have to attempt at least one of them to see whether I can finish it this time.


113labfs39
Apr 2, 7:38 am

I love Doomsday Book and Written in My Own Heart's Blood was another great Gabaldon. I want to reread it before I read Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone.

114rhian_of_oz
Apr 2, 11:39 pm

>111 labfs39: The discussion was good. I was on the "small" table (we had a relatively large turnout for this one) but we still had a range of opinions from strongly negative to reasonably positive. For those of us in the middle, we liked some of the ideas but didn't think the potential of them was properly realised. My feeling is that if a reader is looking for "feel good" or "soft" scifi Becky Chambers does it better.

115rhian_of_oz
Apr 2, 11:48 pm

>113 labfs39: It's been over 12 years since I read An Echo in the Bone so I'm going to need to find a non-spoilery synopsis of the series to remind myself who everybody is.

My Own Heart's Blood is one of the books I'd previously started and out aside. From memory, I think Ms Gabaldon assumes the reader has knowledge of the American Revolution and I could tell I was missing things with the casual mention of places or dates, which bugged me. It's interesting to see that this is the best rated of the series on LT.

116BLBera
Apr 4, 12:03 pm

>112 rhian_of_oz: What a great April list, Rhian. The Dictionary People is on my list. I recently read a memoir by a woman who writes definitions for the dictionary, and it was fascinating Word by Word.

117rhian_of_oz
Apr 4, 11:00 pm

>116 BLBera: Ooh, thank you for your recommendation - straight onto the wishlist!

118rhian_of_oz
Apr 4, 11:35 pm

Hel's Eight by Stark Holborn

This is the sequel to Ten Low and definitely doesn't stand alone.

I read a description of these as "dystopian space western" which I feel is an excellent encapsulation. There is the isolation and desolation of the "old west" coupled with outlaw gangs reminiscent of Mad Max. There is also a touch of the supernatural in the mysterious Ifs.

There are two storylines here. One told in the present from the POV of Ten "Doc" Low, five years after the events of the first book. This is in the nature of getting the gang back together to oppose a Big Bad who wants to take over Factus (the moon they live on) in an attempt to control and monetise the power of the Ifs.

The second story is from the past, told from the POV of Pec "Eight" Esterhazy and fills in the backstory of the Seekers - also mysterious but not supernatural.

I liked this a lot. I think the worldbuilding is well done, as are the characters. The interweaving of the two storylines also worked, as did the pacing of the action.

I was excited to discover another book in the series is due out later this year and will definitely be purchasing it when it becomes available.

119dchaikin
Apr 6, 10:56 pm

Sounds like a great book club.

Love your April plan picture. I really embraced Marilynne Robinson’s Home. Hope you enjoy if you get to it.

>109 rhian_of_oz: i appreciated your commentary on your main problems here.

120rhian_of_oz
Apr 17, 12:33 am

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Ms Morton has a formula where we have some sort of mystery to be solved in the present and then we go back and forth between the past and the present until the mystery is solved.

In this book the present is 1992 (presumably set then to avoid the existence of the internet) and the past is 1941. Edie's (our present day narrator) mum Meredith receives a long-lost letter and reveals that she was an evacuee during WW2, staying with the Blythe family at Milderhurst Castle. Meredith has a strong emotional reaction to the letter but refuses to discuss it further, so Edie goes poking around on her own and uncovers mysteries and secrets.

There's a lot I liked about this book - I thought the arcs for Percy and Saffy (the oldest Blythe twin sisters) were interesting and well done, and I liked the story of Juniper (the youngest Blythe sister) and Tom. I also liked Meredith's story, the little we saw of it. I mostly liked the way the layers of the story were revealed.

The parts I wasn't as keen on include a "tell rather than show" big reveal, one part of the denouement which I thought was clumsily done, and I didn't really like the epilogue. This story could probably have been told better in less than 600 pages.

If you like Kate Morton then I would say this is not one of her best but it's not awful. If you think you might like to read Kate Morton then I would try one of her others.

Having said all of that, I will be purchasing Homecoming when it comes out in a smaller size.

121rhian_of_oz
Apr 18, 10:49 pm

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence

This is the first in The Library fantasy trilogy.

Livira is living in the Dust when her settlement is invaded by sabbers and she ends up working in the Library. She is clever, curious, tenacious, and a rule-breaker.

Evar lives in the Library with his three "siblings" who are the only ones left after sabbers slaughtered their people. He doesn't have as strong an identity as the others due to memory loss (this is the best way I can describe it without giving too much away) except that he has lost someone that he needs to find.

The story is told in not-quite alternating chapters between these two characters, though in third person rather than first.

There is a lot going on here which is expected in the first book of a trilogy, and it does get a little confusing toward the end. It's quite long and I'm torn between thinking it could've been trimmed and identifying what could've been cut and not affected the overall story.

There are a lot of pages dedicated to the setup of the characters and the world and therefore I think requires some patience. I think the effort is worth the payoff.

I liked this well enough to continue with the trilogy.

122labfs39
Apr 19, 7:41 am

>121 rhian_of_oz: This sounds interesting, but I think I'll wait to see how you like the series before committing.

123rhian_of_oz
Apr 21, 12:02 am

>122 labfs39: It may be awhile. The second book came out recently and my library has it on order. According to something I read by the author, number three has been submitted to the publisher so presumably that means it may came out later this year or early next year.

124labfs39
Apr 21, 2:03 pm

>123 rhian_of_oz: Ah, I didn't realize that. I won't hold my breath then.

125rhian_of_oz
Edited: Jun 11, 11:01 am

Planned May reads:
Bookclub - 36 Streets by T. R. Napper
Group Read - The Will To Battle by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (May) - The Life of Elves by Muriel Barbery
HistoryCAT (Middle Ages) - Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
PrizeCAT (Two or more prizes) - All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
MysteryKIT (The Golden Age) - The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
RandomKIT (Art and Architecture) – The Muse by Jessie Burton
SFFKIT (Archaeology) - Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
AlphaKit (N and P) - Notes From The Burning Age by Claire North, The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
ScaredyKIT (Graphic Novels and Short Works) - The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Historical Fiction Challenge (specific historical event) - The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
First book in a series (The Inheritance Games) – The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Next book in a series (Imposters) - Shatter City by Scott Westerfeld
Anthology - Feet To The Stars by Susan Midalia
Wishlist – When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

I got a job (yahoo!) which means travelling time which (theoretically) equals more reading time.


126rhian_of_oz
May 1, 5:31 am

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

In 1634 the Saardam sets sail from Batavia to Amsterdam. While still in dock a leper warns the ship won't reach its destination before bursting into flames. Before too long various sinister things happen, seemingly caused by Old Tom (AKA the devil).

This is essentially a 'locked room' mystery with two investigators. Sara Wessel is the wife of Governor General Jan Haan (a nasty piece of work). Arent Hayes is the offsider of Samuel Pipps who is the world's greatest detective and currently the prisoner of the Jan for some unknown crime. Arent is also Jan's nephew.

There are a lot of characters in this and I often lost track of who was who and had to keep referring to the list of characters at the front (which was annoying). What was done really well was conveying the claustrophobia of the ship and the increasing sense of doom.

I thought the who and howdunnit was well thought out and executed, but the resolution/ending I was all "um, what?".

I read a few reviews that described this as like Holmes and Watson which I strongly disagree with. There's also a romance that is quite unconvincing and, I think, unnecessary. It's quite a long book and probably could've been shorter without losing anything important.

I read this because I really liked The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle but I didn't like this as much. I didn't dislike this as much as my comments might suggest but the ending has disproportionately coloured my overall opinion.

I will probably read his next one but I might borrow it from the library rather than purchasing it.

127labfs39
May 1, 8:32 am

>125 rhian_of_oz: Congrats on the new job, Rhian! I take it you can take public transit for your commute? Or will you be listening to audiobooks?

128cindydavid4
May 1, 2:43 pm

>125 rhian_of_oz: congrats on the job Lemme know what you think of notes from the burning age Im trying to catch up on her books, this one looks good

129rhian_of_oz
May 2, 12:48 am

>127 labfs39: Thanks! I'll be taking buses to and from work and will be reading with my eyeballs 🙂. I don't know whether I'll need to be in the office every day (which I haven't done since long before covid) or will be able to work from home some days. I'm hoping for hybrid which means less travel time (and therefore less reading) but I'll be able to read chunkier books at home during lunch 🙂.

130rhian_of_oz
May 2, 12:52 am

>128 cindydavid4: Thanks! I'm also trying to catch up on her books so I might make this my first commute book.

131labfs39
May 2, 7:38 am

>129 rhian_of_oz: Sounds ideal, Rhian. I hope the job turns out to be a rewarding one.

132rv1988
May 3, 9:38 am

>126 rhian_of_oz: Congratulations on the new job, and on more reading time! I enjoyed your review of The Devil and the Dark Water. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for months, too - this has motivated me to give it a shot.

133lisapeet
May 3, 12:51 pm

Congratulations on the new job! I don't miss my hour's commute each way to our old office, but I do mourn the reading time a bit. While theoretically I should have those two hours back, somehow I... don't.

134rhian_of_oz
May 4, 10:28 am

>132 rv1988: Thanks! I'll be interested to see what you think about The Devil and the Dark Water.

135rhian_of_oz
May 4, 10:34 am

>133 lisapeet: It seems counterintuitive doesn't it? Even when I was working I read less when working from home. There are more ways for us to spend our time when we're at home - chores and other hobbies.

136rhian_of_oz
May 10, 8:59 am

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon

This is book number eight in the Outlander series and it had been over twelve years since I'd read the previous instalment so I "cheated" and read a synopsis mostly to refamiliarise myself with the characters.

Despite that I still found the beginning of this book confusing and chaotic - too many things happening to too many people - and reading it was a chore. This may have been intentional on the author's behalf to reflect what would have been a confusing and chaotic time as the British left Philadelphia.

It wasn't until the first Roger and Brianna section that I started to actually enjoy this.

This is a chunkster and there is probably plenty that could've been cut without impacting the overall story.

I am curious to know what happens next, but I'm not sure I have it in me to read Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone, especially after finding out that it isn't the last in the series.

137labfs39
May 11, 8:22 am

>136 rhian_of_oz: It's been years since I read this one, but I rated it as one of my favorites. I have, but haven't yet read, Go Tell the Bees. I was thinking of rereading this one first. I wonder what I will think of it now?

138WelshBookworm
May 15, 12:11 am

>136 rhian_of_oz: I have several of these yet to read. I think I have made it through 6 of them, and the last one I read had too many threads, and then of course all the books are cliff-hangers. Same reason I quit reading The Eye of the World series years ago, but I sure did like the ones I read... I keep telling myself I'm going to go back and read all of them from the beginning again before I continue with the ones I haven't read. I'm not making a lot of progress on that!

139rhian_of_oz
May 22, 9:37 am

>137 labfs39: I'll be interested to know what you think if you reread MOBY.

>138 WelshBookworm: I'm not surprised you haven't progressed re-reading this series - it's a daunting prospect! You could always do what I did and consult the Outlander Wiki instead 🙂.

140rhian_of_oz
Edited: Jun 29, 6:08 am

Planned June reads:
Bookclub - It Starts With A Kiss by J. L. Peridot
Group Read - The Will To Battle by Ada Palmer
CalendarCAT (June) - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
HistoryCAT (Historians) - The Good, The Bad, and The History by Jodi Taylor
PrizeCAT (Book Lists) - The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
MysteryKIT (An Author New To Me) - White Heat by M. J. McGrath
RandomKIT (Initials R, J) - Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
SFFKIT (Monsters) - Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
AlphaKit (J and B) - The Body by Bill Bryson, The Muse by Jessie Burton
ScaredyKIT (Serial Killers) - My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
Historical Fiction Challenge (speculative element) - A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
First book in a series (Chaos Walking) - The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Next book in a series (Inheritance Games) - The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Anthology - Feet To The Stars by Susan Midalia
Wishlist - Murder At Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong

141labfs39
Jun 13, 7:25 am

>140 rhian_of_oz: Wow, that's a lot of challenges! Have fun!

142rhian_of_oz
Jun 13, 11:09 am

>141 labfs39: I definitely don't expect to read all of them, but I find it makes picking a book to read easier by reducing the available choices. Plus I am enjoying coming up with the list each month.

I haven't had much time to hang out online so I've neglected CR quite terribly. I'm hoping to do better from now on.

143labfs39
Jun 13, 1:36 pm

No problem, Rhian. How's the new job going?

144rv1988
Jun 15, 5:20 am

>140 rhian_of_oz: Sounds like a fun list! Looking forward to your thoughts on the Jasper Fforde.

145rocketjk
Jun 15, 11:56 am

>140 rhian_of_oz: & >144 rv1988: "Looking forward to your thoughts on the Jasper Fforde."

Yes, me, too. But I hope that's not your first Thursday Next book. This is one series that really should be read in order. I highly recommend that you start at the beginning with The Eyre Affair if you haven't read any of these books yet.

146rhian_of_oz
Jun 18, 7:13 am

>143 labfs39: The new job is great! I'm still trying to adjust my life around not having so much non-work time.

>144 rv1988: and >145 rocketjk: I have read the previous Jasper Fforde books but over a decade ago, so I should probably do a reread. Hmm, I might make them their own category for the second half of the year.

147rhian_of_oz
Jun 18, 7:36 am

Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer

This is the second in the Terra Ignota series which is a reread in preparation of tackling the (unread) fourth book.

I wasn't enjoying this to begin with so I put it aside for a while. For whatever reason it was a better read once I picked it up again.

Unlike when I reread the the first book, I remembered very little about this one. I suspect the difference is in mostly due to the fact that I read the first for bookclub and the subsequent discussion embedded the memories better. It may also be because there is a lot going on in this which is occasionally confusing and therefore hard to remember.

I have vague memories of the third book, and after a break of a couple of months I'm looking forward to once again immersing myself in the world.

148rhian_of_oz
Jun 18, 8:00 am

Yet We Sleep, We Dream by J. L. Peridot

I really wanted to like this because the author is in my bookclub and she is very nice.

The blurb on the back describes this as romantic space-fantasy inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream. I very much enjoy romance and SFF, but I very strongly dislike AMND so this could've gone either way.

Unfortunately the influence of AMND outweighs the genres I enjoy, so this didn't really work for me, but it might for others as long as you don't share my strong aversion.

The other thing that didn't work for me arose from an expectation about space books that I didn't realise I had. Most of the characters are young adults (university age) with the associated (im)maturity, which made me realise that I expect astronauts to be older and more mature. I blame Chris Hadfield 🙂.

This was also described at the book launch as "spicy" but it wasn't as smutty as I was expecting (which was neither a positive or a negative). I did notice the difference in the level of detail between describing hetero sex compared to same-sex sex.

Unusually, I think this book would've benefited from being longer so that the characters could be a bit better fleshed out.

If you're looking for a fun read and your jam is YAish AMND then this is the book for you.

149rhian_of_oz
Jun 29, 6:43 am

A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

I'm a massive fan of Becky Chambers but it took me a while to come to these, mostly because they're relatively expensive and I was on reduced income.

I liked these little books a lot. One of the things I like most about Ms Chambers is that her non-human characters (in this case a robot) aren't just humans in a (robot) suit. She somehow properly imagines what someone's worldview would be if they weren't human.

These are apparently solarpunk (which I didn't know was a thing) and often described as cozy which I think is accurate. A complaint about these that I read was that they are overly optimistic about human nature, and I don't disagree. The dedication in the first book is "For anybody who could use a break" and it is absolutely lovely and a balm to read a story without villains.

These are very much comfort reads and I can see how they wouldn't be for everyone, but they are definitely for me.

150BLBera
Sep 1, 2:35 pm

I hope the new job continues to go well, and that your commute time is good reading time.