Category: Currently Reading Page 8 of 71

What a difference a week makes–after talking about a few lackluster (or worse) books at the end of February, I ended the month very strong and the first books of March have continued that streak. It’s a nice place to be.

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 Library Game by Gigi Pandian	Every Tom, Dick & Harry by Elinor Lipman, read by Piper Goodeve

I just started The Library Game today. I thought Pandian had wrapped up this series with the last book, I’m glad to see that I was wrong and I’m eager to see where the series goes from here.

Lipman’s Ms. Demeanor was entertaining enough (although it had its drawbacks), and I’m curious to try something else by her.

What did you recently finish reading?

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis	Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow, read by Wil Wheaton

Perelandra blew me away this week, just as much as it did 20+ years ago when I read it the first time.

A couple of weeks ago in a Saturday Miscellany post, I said something about getting around to trying Doctorow sometime, the manager of Shared Stories told me that I really should start with Red Team Blues. He was right.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind by Alan Jacobs	Ashes Never Lie by Lee Goldberg, read by Eric Conger,Nicol Zanzarella

It’s time for me to wrap-up my review of Jacobs’ trilogy.

And I’ll be tackling Ashes Never Lie on audio. Sharpe & Walker + Eve Ronin = fun.

How’s March starting for you?

I’ve hit a run of not-great books lately. Nothing horrible, just books that I wanted more from. I’m sure that streak is about to end, but for now, getting through them (in the hope I’m about to be proven wrong) is such a slog. It actually saps some mental energy

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?

Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan	Good Material by Dolly Alderton, read by Arthur Darvill & Vanessa Kirby

Ryan’s latest adventure is both more-of-the-same (but it’s still fresh enough to keep working) and I-can’t-believe-she’s-doing-this. In short, I’m enjoying this–it’s possible I’ll have just finished this about the time this posts–I imagine I’ll be pretty satisfied about now.

I don’t know why I’m still listening to Good Material, I have to say. Andy is very likely the least likable protagonist I’ve come across in months. And I’ve read/listened to books with murderers and assassins as the main characters. Andy is just a whiny man-child whose stand-up had better be a lot funnier than his narration. I’ve yet to see any reason for this story to be told–or what the story is, really. Maybe it’s the narration by Arthur Darville, and my subconscious recognized him and kicked in the loyalty he’s earned from screen roles (the rest of my brain caught up as I was putting this post together). Also, I’m at 56% and have yet to run into Kirby (and was surprised to learn I’m supposed to).

What did you recently finish reading?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade, read by John Pirhalla

I’m so glad that I finally finished Snow Crash (although you could argue that Stephenson didn’t actually finish it, he just stopped writing). A lot of it fell flat, but when it worked? It was so money, baby…

Similarly, there were some really good starts to short stories in Passageways, but few of them delivered on the end (or middle, too often).

I’m not sure that I’m going to muster up the energy required to say much about Johnny Careless, it’s a thing I listened to. I wouldn’t rail against it, but I’m sure not going to encourage anyone to give it a shot.

What do you think you’ll read next?

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Where the Bones Lie by Nick Kolakowski	Dead Money by Jakob Kerr, read by Rachel Music

For years, all I’ve needed on a cover is “Nick Kolakowski” to want to read it. But I know that most of you need more than that to get convinced–okay, this is a modern PI noir set in the seedy side of Hollywood–where so much of the best PI noir from the last 100 years comes from. I expect this to be fast, furious, and a little unnerving.

Yeah, Dead Money was in this spot last week, too. But I decided I wanted a genre break, so I put it off. This debut thriller still looks pretty good to me.

Is February ending on a high note for you?

How is it that January seemed to be 450 days long, and we’re over halfway through February in maybe 6 days? It just makes no sense…

I wasn’t able to translate the holiday into extra reading–or furniture buying (not that I was thinking about it, but what else are you supposed to do with Presidents’ Day?). I did get some quality time with some family members, so I’m not complaining at all. And wherever this paragraph was headed, I lost my path. So, let’s just get on with the 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?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade, read by John Pirhalla

Last week, I said that I’d tried Snow Crash a couple of times before–I’m pretty sure that if I’d read another chapter or two, I wouldn’t have stopped. This is fun.

Passageways is an uneven, but interesting, collection that I should have wrapped up by the end of the month.

Wade’s first novel has promise, and still has a few hours to make me a fan. But it has to overcome a couple of serious deficits (and odd switches between 1st and 3rd-person narration that I don’t understand).

What did you recently finish reading?

Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us by George Zaidan

McGuire’s latest was duly impressive. I need to come up with another 200+ words to express that by the end of the week. But that’ll do for a start.

Zaidan’s book is a great mix of information, cynicism, analysis, careful explanation, and goofy humor. Highly recommended.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan	Dead Money by Jakob Kerr, read by Rachel Music

It’s the third adventure for Morgan Carter. I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes about this creature hunt.

I apparently have another debut thriller on deck. Hopefully, this one makes a better first impression.

Are you in the middle of something good right now, or are you waiting for something to convince you it’s worth your time?

It’s the 43rd day of the year, also known as February 12. And you know if I’m resorting to counting the days, I don’t have a lot to say by way of introduction. So let’s just get on with it.

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?

Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire	Passageways by Rebecca Carey Lyles, Editor	The Greatest Nobodies of History: Minor Characters from Major Moments by Adrian Bliss

I just started the ARC for the upcoming InCryptid novel from McGuire, and am eager to see what kind of mess was left after the last book.

1.5 years after I was given this short story collection by Becky Lyles, I’m done putting it off.

This book by Bliss is an interesting mix of humor and history (heavy on the former, but informed by the latter). Love the concept, if nothing else.

What did you recently finish reading?

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman	Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch

Backman’s Anxious People was hilarious, touching, sobering, heart-warming, and wise.

I appreciated going through Stevenson’s book again, I was able to better appreciate the structure, the way he set everything up, and so on without being distracted by all the twists, turns, and reveals.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher, read by James Patrick Cronin

Snow Crash is the selection for the SciFi Book Club this month–somehow, I’ve yet to make it past the first third of the book in the decades I’ve spent trying, as much as I’ve enjoyed that third. That streak ends soon.

I remember being thrown by the way Butcher’s second novel ended. It’ll be good to revisit this and to see how he laid the groundwork for it.

Do you have a date with a book for St. Valentine’s Day, or are you going for something more conventional?

This was supposed to be the second post of the day. Pretty sure the other one won’t be finished today after all. It’s more difficult than it should be to talk about a book you didn’t enjoy, didn’t think was well-executed, but has some good points. But anyway…let’s focus on the WWW Wednesday.

Also, let me remind you that you can Donate to my American Cancer Society fundraiser here.

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?

Promise by Christi Nogle	How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Alan Jacobs	Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire, read by Emily Bauer

Nogle doesn’t stray too far from her Horror-norm in a lot of these short stories (at least those at the beginning of the collection), but at the halfway point, there hasn’t been a dud in this batch of creepy SF shorts.

Jacobs’ book is one of those that were I king for the day, I’d make everyone read. (which probably violates some of what the book is trying to convey).

And Aftermarket Afterlife is just as hard to take the second time, which is why I haven’t written about it yet. The wounds are still fresh. (that’s all a compliment, btw)

What did you recently finish reading?

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis	The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong, read by Phyllis Ho

Lewis’ second novel is outrageously laughable if you think of it as SF, if you don’t, it’s a pretty good time.

I expected Leong’s book to be light entertainment—and it was. But it was more that that, too. One of my favorites in months.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman	Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, read by Barton Welch

My fourth foray into “Read everything Backman writes ASAP” since 2016. Clearly, I’m not so good at the ASAP part. But, whatever.

I want to dip my toe back into Stevenson’s brilliantly creative take on murder mysteries before I try the second in this series.

How are you kicking off February?

It’s entirely possible that by the time this posts, every bit of this will be out of date–but the way this week is going, I can also see me repeating this entire post next week. This grandpappy isn’t complaining at all, but books are being shoved to the side more often than I’m used to. Still, for the sake of argument, let’s go with this…

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?

Hit The Ground Running by Kate Ashwin	The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire, read by: Raphael Corkhill

Ashwin’s first novel is so fun and self-assured that I’m expecting that I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the sequel (with 23% to go, I assume there’ll be at least one sequel) and probably am going to have to hunt down some of her comics, too.

Last week, I said, “It is going to be so weird hearing the voices Toby, Tybalt, et. al. in a voice that doesn’t belong to Mary Robinette Kowal.” I underestimated just how strange it would be. I’m able to put that aside (mostly) and enjoy this.

What did you recently finish reading?

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger	Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher

Enger’s novel is one of the most engaging and hopeful dystopian novels I can remember reading. There’s no plucky young woman in a love triangle coming to save the world–but there might something better going on.

There are so many things that could be said about Kasher’s book that I don’t know where to start–but since this isn’t a full post about it, I can let myself off with a “it’s entertaining, educational, and will make you laugh.”

What do you think you’ll read next?

Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp	The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong, read by Phyllis Ho

This Karp ARC looks like a return to his roots–dark comedy and thrillers. This is exactly what I want to see out of him (even if the premise is a bit…odd).

A cozy-looking fantasy about a found family and a search for a lost child. It looks charming, and worth a shot.

How are you closing out January?

So, this is the Winteriest week we’ve had here this Winter, and all I want to do is huddle down with a book and a gallon of tea. How about you? Hopefully, it’s a bit more comforatble (although a quick glance at the news suggests that it isn’t).

Now let’s get on to the WWWing.

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?

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger	Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes by Moshe Kasher

I don’t know that I fully grasp everything that Enger is up to in this book–but I don’t care because the prose is just great (although it would be nice if I could put it together before the end). This dystopian world feels all too real (even if there’s magical realism lurking around).

Kasher’s second memoir is much funnier than his previous one (shocking that a memoir that ends with a teenager finally getting sober wasn’t a hoot). This is provocative, thoughtful, and entertaining. For example, I never cared about “Rave culture” and am okay with that–but the approx. 90 minutes he spent talking about it was really engaging.

What did you recently finish reading?

Sword & Thistle by S.L. Rowland	The Accidental Joe: The Top-Secret Life of a Celebrity Chef by Tom Straw

Rowland’s cozy fantasy is less cozy than it’s predecessor–but it’s close enough that it shouldn’t bother those who want the coziness, but it should also appeal to those who prefer more “stabby stabby” (to quote someone).

Tom Straw’s first (I think) book under his own name (instead of Richard Castle’s) is a hoot. It’s going to be hard to express how fun this was.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Hit The Ground Running by Kate Ashwin	The Innocent Sleep by Seanan McGuire, read by: Raphael Corkhill

An “offbeat” or “humorous” cyperpunk? Is that allowed? Should be fun to find out.

It is going to be so weird hearing the voices Toby, Tybalt, et. al. in a voice that doesn’t belong to Mary Robinette Kowal. Still I’m looking forward to giving it a shot.

What’s keeping you company as you try to get warm?