What are you reading?

[Inanna]

Wait till you get to the book that focuses solely on Ivan. Unpacks him very very well. Including that aspect.

[Túrin Turambar]

I joined the Kazuo Ishiguro club and read The Remains of the Day. I think the 1993 film adaptation is great, but I've loved films made from books I wasn't all that into before (e.g. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) so I didn't start the book with any preconceptions. That said, I thought it was great - both subtle and entertaining.

[Impenitent]

The Remains of the Day has become one of my more treasured novels.

[Inanna]

Really? I should give it a try. I didn’t like his “Buried Giant…” book AT all and I think it’s to do with his writing style.

Currently reading a short story collection “In Memory of Terry Pratchett”. Just started the first short story and already LOL-Ed. Looks like it’s what I need.

[Jude]

I went through two more Vorkosigan books. I could have done without the torture porn in Mirror Dance, and Memory felt slow in places, but overall they were solid. I feel like Ivan doesn't get enough credit from anyone, given how often he has to rescue Miles.

Torture porn? Maybe I'll drop this series.

[Frelga]

Well... It's a particular part of the book, not the whole book. And Memory is quite tame. But that part was intense, on my scale.

[RoseMorninStar]

Like Outlander/Diana Gabaldon? I hated that in the first book and almost stopped reading the series. ugh. *twitch*

[Inanna]

Get paid to read books!?!

https://www.newsweek.com/read-books-com ... sh-1705684

[Frelga]

Cool project.

I'm listening to Thud! now. It had always hit hard, but it hits harder today.

[Maria]

I went through two more Vorkosigan books. I could have done without the torture porn in Mirror Dance, and Memory felt slow in places, but overall they were solid. I feel like Ivan doesn't get enough credit from anyone, given how often he has to rescue Miles.

Torture porn? Maybe I'll drop this series.

That would be like dropping Buffy for a couple of questionable episodes.

[RoseMorninStar]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I really don't get the hype for this book. The story is simply told and it's easy reading before bed. I thought perhaps it would be much like Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day with it's with quiet storytelling and subtle yet poignant messaging, but no. It's a mystical story about a quest, which I enjoy, but it's religious allegory heavy which I have a strong aversion to. Still, I didn't want to discount the story for that reason alone. It held some (trite) aphorisms but it was much like a poorly made cream puff. Enticing to look at, but filled with far too much air and too little filling which, once consumed, leaves one disappointed at the hollowness. The ending (for me) was shallow.

I thought perhaps I was missing something so I went looking for reviews from other readers. There are many glowing reviews but for me this review on GoodReads comes close to summing it up.

[RoseMorninStar]

I just finished The Assignment by Lisa Wiemer. It was mentioned/recommended by Impy elsewhere on this site. It's based on actual events which took place in upstate New York (US) in 2017. The Assignment is a reminder of the responsibility we all have to call out injustice wherever we see it. I highly recommend it. Compelling.

[Impenitent]

I have The Assignment on the recommended reading list for our program delivery volunteers; it compels upstander action, which is what our program is all about.

[RoseMorninStar]

I think it's far too easy to be gaslighted or to second guess ourselves, not knowing others true intent (until it's too late or blatant).

Off topic (but mentioned a couple times in the book), Culver's is a real Wisconsin thing. So is frozen custard. I don't know if that is common elsewhere.

[Inanna]

Just finished “Anxious People” by Frederik Bakman.

Really liked it! Un-put-down-able. And funny and insightful. I got upset in between because it was you know, real life, and sad things were happening to real people in their real lives and I was like “I don’t read sad things! No. Don’t need this”. But the very next page was funny and I stuck to it. Glad I did.

[Frelga]

Finished Whose Body, a "cozy murder mystery" (what an oxymoron) by Dorothy L Sayers. This was a case of audiobook enhancing the experience. Wanda McCaddon is an absolute gem of a reader.

Now listening to Death on the Nile, also brilliantly read by David Suchet.

[Impenitent]

I really enjoy the Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series. Very well written, without plot holes and with all the clues scattered through the book that by the end you have the satisfaction of having deduced the villain.

[Frelga]

Got through another Dorothy L Sayers mystery, The Nine Taylors. Didn't enjoy it quite as much, as it was heavy on references to English church architecture, services, and history, which the reader is assumed to know. The mystery part is good, though.

Did someone here recommend Swordheart by T. Kingfisher? It was exactly the fantasy I wanted. No massive battles, no Dark Lord or the Chosen one, and the protagonist is a grown up woman doing grown up woman things.

[Inanna]

I love T. Kingfisher so might have been me.

[Maria]

I just finished Swordheart by T Kingfisher. It was really good! I'm now trying a different book by the same author, "A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking". The story is pretty good so far, but I don't much like the reader so that taints things a bit.