Category: Currently Reading Page 5 of 71

With August winding down, I’m scurrying to finish some books by Saturday. I probably won’t get all of my 20 Books of Summer done, but I’m going to be close. And…eh. I’ve read so many good things that I really don’t care. For example:

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation by Jim O’Heir	Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride by Will Leitch, read by Chris Andrew Ciulla

Jim O’Heir’s book about the making of Parks & Rec starts off strong and will probably keep going that way. It feels as comfy as the show. And after some of the stuff I’ve read lately, I could use that.

By the time this posts, I’ll have barely scratched the surface of Will Leitch’s newest. But the mix of sentiment and humor seems like a good time, I’m finding out if I’m right as you read these words.

What did you recently finish reading?

Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson	The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Lisa Hartford, read by Erik Davies

Gibson’s book is as weird and good as I expected it to be. I’ll try to come up with a better take on it than that, but it’ll do for now. (yes, it took me a long time to finish it, but that’s because I interrupted reading it for Ryka Aoki’s beautiful Light From Uncommon Stars for book club on Monday)

I don’t know that I’ll come back for more of Dept. Q’s mysteries (in print, anyway). But I just might–if only to see how it works without me constantly comparing it to the adaptation. It was a good read, maybe too long. But a solid read.

What do you think you’ll read next? (and I’m stressing the “think” more than usual here)

The Lords of the West End by Peter Blaisdell	Dead Beat by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I don’t remember much about The Lords of the West End. All I remember is that this post from Witty and Sarcastic Book Club led me to buy it.

Dead Beat was my entry point into The Dresden Files. Can’t wait to revisit such a dear friend (even if it’s a really messed up book).

Are you getting in some good reading this long weekend (in the US, anyway)? Or do you have another way to spend the last gasps of Summer?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson	The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson, read by Eric Burgher

I’m finally dipping into Gibson’s first book. This is a dark and messed-up world. Really enjoying it so far.

So far, The Dragon and the George is doing a lot of things right. It’s doing a lot of things so-so as well. Still, it’s plenty of fun.

What did you recently finish reading?

Leveled Up Love by Leveled Up Love by Tao Wong & A. G. Marshall	Blood Rites by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

Wong & Marshall’s SF/LitRPG/Rom-Com mashup was feel-good fun.

I don’t know that Blood Rites ranks up with Butcher’s best, but the high points of this are so high, I just don’t care.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki	The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Lisa Hartford, read by Erik Davies

Aoki’s book seems to be quite the genre mashup, looking forward to seeing how/if it works.

Netflix’s Dept. Q got me interested in the source material, The Keeper of Lost Causes. Time for some Nordic Noir.

Are you working through anything good?

Family and the need to do things to “make money” to “pay bills” like my webhost and “buy books,” really limited what I could do today. But hey, I got this up.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi	Blood Rites by Jim Butcher, read by James Marsters

I’m probably going to finish Scalzi’s latest tonight–it’s delightfully weird and plenty of fun. Not his best, but it’s good enough.

Blood Rites has a lot of cringe-y moments. More than I remember. But…some fantastic lines, and a story that makes up for the winces.

What did you recently finish reading?

(I was really hoping this wasn’t just going to be a rehash of last week’s “What do you think you’ll read next?”)

Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor	This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Weiss Friedman

I’m very curious about how Cranor builds on this book for a series–but hey, I like Special Agent Rae Johnson that there’s no doubt that I’m back.

Was The Dogist’s book a little much sometimes? Yes. But it was sweet and full doggie goodness.

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Crew by Sadir S. Samir	The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson, read by Eric Burgher

I’ve heard nothing but good (if not great) things about The Crew, and I’m glad I finally get to dive in. If only so my friends who are harassing me for not getting to it yet have to quiet down.

While browsing at the library, this title jumped out at me. The premise looked promising, hope it was a worthwhile gamble.

Are you reading anything good?

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman	The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

For the sake of time, I’m trying something different and jumping back and forth between audio and paperback. I don’t know that it’s something I’ll do in the future, but it’s working pretty well. Doesn’t hurt that this is such a great read.

What did you recently finish reading?

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett	I Think I’m in Love with an Alien by Ann Aguirre, read by Faith Clark & Cary Hite

I can’t believe I was ever a doubter in Pratchett. Men at Arms was a great read.

I Think I’m in Love with an Alien is very much an odd choice for me, but I’ve enjoyed Aguirre in the past (in different genres) and I thought the premise was cute. The execution was, too. Very cute, very fun, spicier than I prefer–but the result was heartwarming.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor	This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Weiss Friedman

Cranor kicks off a series with this book, which is one of the 2025 releases I’ve been most looking forward to.

Title alone sells Friedman’s book for me. The thesis sounds pretty good, too.

Who’s read any of these? You reading anything good?

I’m on a streak of really good reads lately–which is great, except it makes it hard to put them down to tend to things like a blog about books.

Woe is me, indeed. ‘Tis a hard knock life, ya’ll. So here’s a quick look at what’s keeping me from writing as much as I feel I should be in this little thing we like to call WWW Wednesday.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Lirael by Garth Nix	Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words by John McWhorter

Lirael is great sequel (through 3/4 or so, anyway)–not repeating the beats of the first book, but building on the first book and by addressing one of the elements mentioned by never explored.

I’m in the middle of one of those moments where 360 Libby holds became available within 4 days of each other. Which is annoying when it comes to books I had plans to listen to, but great because I’ve been wanting to listen to McWhorter read this book since I heard about it. Someone remind me when I’m panicking about my Dresden Files progress in November that I said this, okay?

What did you recently finish reading?

Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper	The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, read by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler & Various

I’m telling you now, if we talk at all for the next 6 months and you’re into Crime Fiction–I’m going to talk too much about Everybody Knows without trying to say a word. I am so angry with myself for putting off reading this as long as I did (but since I just finished it, I’m feeling pretty magnanimous toward myself, too). It’s just devastatingly good–I feel like I’m close to overhyping it. But…I’ve read it, it’s hard to properly hype.

I absolutely get the hoopla over The Correspondent as much as I don’t share it. I enjoyed the book, just not as much as everyone else I’ve encountered. It was a solid, slow-burn of a read (or listen). Some good heart-tugging moments, some genuine smiles, too.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Guard in the Garden by Z S Diamanti	The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne by Ron Currie, read by Lisa Flanagan

From the first tweet I saw from Diamanti describing this cozy fantasy about an injured Dwarf warrior having to adjust to civilian life, I knew I had to read it. Now I get to. Really looking forward to this (and I still need something to help me recover from Harper’s book–Nix is a good step down from the intensity, but some cozy goodness will really help).

I don’t remember putting the novel about Babs Dionne’s death on my holds list, but the description sure sounds like something I’d like. Thanks, past me!

How are you closing out July? Hopefully with something cold to drink and a stack of good books.

Let’s take a quick break from Appreciating Self-Published Authors to take a quick look at some authors who definitely aren’t self-published (you’d think I’d plan things better for this week, right?)

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone	Rift in the Soul by Faith Hunter, read by Khristine Hvam

Epistolary romance + SF adventure (and I’m guessing some time travel) + dynamite prose. I really don’t know much about This Is How You Lose the Time War beyond that. Oh, and it’s the Book Club pick for this month. So, I guess we’ll see what I’m in for.

I’d planned on listening to the (too soon, but also probably timed-just-right) end of the Souldwood series last month, but a rush library holds came through, so it got pushed back. I should be finishing this today, which will allow me to tackle the next batch of library holds that have come through. It’s like Libby does this to me on purpose.

What did you recently finish reading?

Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito	Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic	The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon, read by Kate McKinnon & Emily Lynne

Samurai! was a great look at the War in the Pacific from the other side.

I learned a lot from Algospeak, now I just have to figure how to talk about it–and what to do with this knowledge.

Kate McKinnon’s narration is the only thing zanier and more brilliant than the text of this book that I can think of lately. This was a delightful read that I’ve been recommending like crazy.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper	The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, read by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler & Various

I’ve been intending to read Harper’s latest since it was released in ’23. A Hollywood fixer trying to solve her boss’ murder. Sounds pretty cool. Coming from Harper? It’s practically guaranteed to be more than that.

A list of narrators that long “& Various”? That seems like a lot. The owner of Shared Stories recommended this to me, will be giving it a shot.

What are you reading this week? Bonus points if it’s self-published.

Who’s got time for an introduction? Not this guy! Let’s dive right into this week’s WWW Wednesday!

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch	Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic	Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, read by Jefferson White

Almost the entire cast of The Rivers of London series goes on holiday to Scotland (and to look into a strange cat), and at the rate things are going, ol’ Peter is going to find himself banned. There are just so many good things to mention here I could get carried away in this paragraph.

I didn’t mean to start Algospeak Saturday, I was just making sure that it’d loaded onto my e-reader, and before I knew it, I was at 16%. (is there a link between that and the lack of new material on Sunday? Well, yes). It’s utterly fascinating.

I’m remembering why I (like so many people) got really into The Hunger Games back before the movies. Collins is not messing around in this prequel. Allyson, I was with you on this one–but caved to peer pressure, and I think I’m going to be glad about it (but not sure I’d tell you to to give it a shot…yet).

What did you recently finish reading?

A Tail of Mystery by Paul Regnier	Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite & Gail Shalan

Paul Regnier’s cozy-adjacent mystery is just fun. Silly, but fun. I’ll be back for more soon.

I’m still deciding what I think about Of Monsters and Mainframes–cool concept, some good characters, and overall an enjoyable story, although a lot of the plotting/pacing annoyed me. The narrators did not do this book any favors–in fact, I think they hurt it. Still, you might want to give it a shot.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Samurai! by Saburo Sakai with Martin Caidin and Fred Saito	The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon, read by Kate McKinnon & Emily Lynne

I’ve said that I was going to read Samurai! more than once over the past couple of years. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to stick this time.

I’m going to need something light and fluffy after Sunrise on the Reaping (if not sooner), and McKinnon’s MG fantasy should fit the bill. Celeste pushed me to it.

What are you using (along with your A/C) to help you ignore the July heat?

I took the day off from work for some family stuff, which ended up not taking as long as I’d expected–so I got a novel read yesterday. It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to do something like that. It’s pretty nice, I have to say.

This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words—and shown to me by Aurore-Anne-Chehoke at Diary-of-a-black-city-girl.

The Three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Seems easy enough, right? Let’s take a peek at this week’s answers:

What are you currently reading?

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland	Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove, read by Chris Devon, Emana Rachelle, Charlie Albers, Eve Passeltiner, Zura Johnson, Cary Hite & Gail Shalan

I’ve barely scratched the surface of Five Broken Blades, but everything I’ve heard makes me think I’m going to love it. It’s for Monday’s Book Club, so I’d better make some haste.

I’m 20% into Of Monsters and Mainframes, the story and characters are winning me over–but the narrators are making it difficult. There are some odd choices being made. Truelove didn’t do them any favors with all the strings of binary code, either.

What did you recently finish reading?

Sabriel by Garth Nix	Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Sabriel was a lot of fun–I can see why my friend thought I’d like it. I should’ve listened to him years ago.

Obviously, I got a little more of Amongst Our Weapons as I revisited it–having listened to the series as a whole so recently helped, too. It’s amazing to see how the series has grown and changed from its beginnings. It’ll make the next title mentioned in this post all the sweeter to start.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch	Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, read by Jefferson White

One more Rivers of London book for this summer–this time I’ll only hear Holdbrook-Smith in my head occasionally as I read.

I really thought I was done with Panem, but a couple of things I read about this book–and the urging of a coworker led me to put my name on the Library’s waitlist. Guess I’ll find out if the weeks of waiting were worth it.

What do you have on your bedside table (literally or figuratively)?