Hey Beehaw, whatcha reading right now?
Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.
Gibson is tough to get into, personally, but his stories are very cool!
The eyes of the dragon by Stephen King
I read this so many times that my hardback copy started breaking. You know how the edges of the outer cover about 2/3 of the way down start getting fuzzy from being held when you’ve taken off the dust jacket? Almost fuzzy enough to make into a rope for escaping from a tower.
Just started Howl’s Moving Castle. Liking it so far!
Not exactly like the movie, but it’s pretty close.
I legitimately did not know there is a book. It’s my favorite movie so I might pick this up.
A lot of Miyazaki’s films are based on books! Kiki’s Delivery Services is a book as well, and Secret Life of Arietty is based on The Borrowers.
My current read is Abarat by Clive Barker.
I’d not heard of it until last week, when folks on r/books were singing its praises in a thread, so figured I’d give it a shot. Yeah, it’s enjoyable. Definitely aimed squarely at the middle of the YA crowd, but it’s an easy read at a time when my brain isn’t letting me really get into any books.
Barker has a fascinating imagination. I finished Coldheart canyon recently. I almost walked away repulsed many times but there was good story under all his signature flair. After Imajica I will try to read anything he writes.
Currently reading “Brave New World”, Aldous Huxley. Next up Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
Foundation books are great! Go for it!
The Murderbot Diaries.
I’ve been enjoying it, it has a surprising amount of heart for a series about an emotionally damaged not-robot.
I was put off by the pricing on these. Full price for novella length. I really enjoyed the first one, I’ll grab the rest if they go on sale
Currently reading Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy really fun reads though it got weird in some places
Hello, first post here. :D I’m reading A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford.
Welcome!
I finished A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford, feel like it was an interesting snapshot of the life and mannerisms of rich European nobility ~WW1, but Bedford was part of that group and doesn’t seem to realize her intensely spoiled characters might not be so sympathetic to people outside of it. I read A Compass Error, the sequel, first, which includes a lengthy chapter summarizing the plot of A Favourite of the Gods.
Also finished Translation State by Ann Leckie - if I could go back in time and DNF’d this at ~75% I would, I had a really great time with the first part but did not think the ending was well thought out and it irritated me. This is the newest book in her Radch series but they seem to be advertising it as a standalone.
Also reading Dare to Go A-Hunting by Andre Norton, Palimpsest by Catherynne M Valente, and End of Watch by Stephen King.
I’m rereading Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje. I read it when it came out and was deeply moved by it. Even though it was a huge success when it was released it feels like it feel off a cliff of people’s consciousness a year or two later.
I finally managed to read through Gardens of the Moon recently which I really liked, so now I’m on to Deadhouse Gates.
I’m reading The Stranger, by Albert Camus. It’s a short read and I’m already focusing on some of The Atlantic’s recommendations in the Summer Reading Guide.
I usually have a print/ebook and an audio book (for the car) going at the same time.
For print book, currently reading Crooked Kingdom, one of the books in the Grishaverse series/world. I, uh, got a little obsessed after watching the first season of Shadow and Bone a year or two ago.
For audiobook, currently listening to Children of Ruin. Not too far into it yet, but I loved loved loved Children of Time (also listened to the audiobook version), so I’m excited to see where this one goes.
I really want to read Children of Time. I actually did start it and got half way through, but I have such an intense arachnophobia that I had to give up because I kept dreaming of spiders and waking up terrified. I enjoyed his writing style, though, and am curious about his new trilogy coming out.
You should try getting through it. Arachnophobia is a big part of resolving the plot A beautiful end.
I figured. I got to the part where they captured a woman and she sort of starved to death. They weren’t doing anything evil intentionally; she was completely foreign to their way of life. I assumed the ending would revolve around learning from each other or cohabitation - some type of mutual respect. Maybe not. I’ll get back into it. I have the audiobook on my waitlist for the library.
I just completed The Terror by Dan Simmons and I am currently reading the second book in the Malazan series by Erikson, Deadhouse Gates.
Malazan is amazing.
I found quite difficult to assess the Terror. It was quite a long read for the first 700 pages, then I really enjoyed the last 2 hundreds. But in retrospect I appreciate this slow pace so … I am not sure about my judgement. In the end I am glad to have read it. I also learned a lot about people and cultures of the Artic circle.
After the Malazan novel I will probably follow upon the third one, but I could also switch back to (re) reading Iain M. Banks or reading Peake’s Ghormenghast for the first time.
I am 3/4 with the books you mentioned so you appear to be a kindred spirit. Haven’t read Iain M Banks.
I’ll be interested to hear what you think on how Deadhouse Gates comes together. Have fun!
Hi! Nice to hear that :-) Malazan is capturing me so much that I am worried of rushing it! I deliberately take the time to enjoy it at as many levels as I am capable of (e.g. writing style, choice of words etc).
For Iain M. Banks, you can’t go wrong. Use of weapons is an incredible book, but maybe I would think it’s better to start from Consider Phlebas. UoW punches… And punches hard.
My ‘big read’ this year is Finnegans Wake - which I am (or have been) reading week by week along with the TrueLit sub on reddit. It would be a profoundly different experience to read it without the analysis and discussion going on there, so that is something…
Otherwise, I am reading The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is engaging and entertaining, as was her The Hollow Places which I read immediately before. I am also dipping into a collection of the Para Handy tales by Neil Munro, which are a cosy - if stereotypical and patronising - glimpse into another time and pace of life.
I have just returned from a couple of weeks away during which I finished an anthology of Clarke Ashton Smith short fantasy tales (all about the atmosphere: story and worldbuilding are very much secondary and character scarcely features); Haldor Laxness’s The Atom Station (a sparse look at the clash of modern - written in 1948 - and traditional Icelandic values); and Blackwood’s The Willows (an extrapolation of the original idea of “panic” - as several of this other tales are).
