Awesome, thanks!
also misericordiae@kbin.social
Awesome, thanks!
Dang.
Would love to know more. What are the starred ones? Which did you like most or least?
I’m not sure how helpful this will be, but generally speaking, I tend to only buy books that I’ve already read and enjoyed enough to want a copy of my own, with exceptions being sequels and authors I know I like. (I also usually buy used, when I do.) Depending where you are, you probably have a few (legal) ways to do it this way, too.
If you want to read something specific:
If you just want to try a variety of things, risk-free, to see what you might like:
–
As to your other question: I find paperbacks way more comfortable to hold one-handed; no need to choose between eating and reading! They’re also usually smaller and lighter than hardcovers, so you can 1) fit more in less space, and 2) carry more at once when you move or rearrange.
Finished To Catch a Thief by David Dodge. Enjoyable suspense mystery, but definitely of its time (casual Roma racist stereotypes, side couple with an age gap we might side-eye today). Definitely a more methodical, serious story than the movie, which I watched after.
Bingo squares: Older than You (1952), What’s Yours Is Mine, Eazy Breazy Read-zie, Now a Major Motion Picture, (alt) A Change in Perspective
–
I tried reading The Gathering by C.J. Tudor, a horror police procedural in a world where vampires publicly exist, because I like horror and police procedurals, but… all I did was remind myself that vampires just really aren’t my thing most of the time. The writing was compelling, so I might go back to it at some point, or try something else by that author.
Started The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson.
Did a quick search, looks like ExeKiller, which isn’t out yet. Hope you find something good to play in the meantime!
Finished Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child last night. One of the authors worked in the real-life counterpart of the book’s museum setting for a few years, and it shows: there was lots of interesting detail about the parts the public doesn’t get to see. In general, I thought this was a fun enough popcorn read, although the first 60% seemed a little slow for something billed as a mystery horror thriller. Not sure I want to read any of the sequels, but I’ll probably check out the movie to see how good an adaptation it is.
Bingo squares: It Takes Two; Disability Representation; Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; Now a Major Motion Picture; Mashup (debatable); Institutional HM; (alt) A Change in Perspective
–
I’m planning to start To Catch a Thief by David Dodge next.
Coincidentally, I just saw a new releases list from February that had the sequel on it: it’s called Red Side Story.
Currently about 60 pages into Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It’s alright so far, but I’m not super invested.
I also read Strange Dogs by James SA Corey, which I’d been putting off. Unlike some of the other Expanse novellas, the show followed this one pretty closely (from my memory of it, anyway). Luckily, it was short, and I can move on to Auberon without feeling guilty I’d skipped something.
I’ll second all of these, especially the lack of scrollbar and “expand text post in feed” button, and the hidden like/dislike buttons. The like/dislike vs upvote/downvote thing is tricky; I don’t have a good solution for it, but maybe different icons that don’t read as up/down would work.
Also, from a quick poke at things:
Overall, though, this is super impressive!
@Dresden I haven’t decided where I’m putting any of the books I’ve read for bingo yet, either.
–
Finished Crazy Rich Asians over the weekend. I was expecting an Asian drama in book form, and that’s pretty much exactly what it is, complete with a number of common tropes. The characters have a bit more depth than your standard drama fluff, however, and the amount of discussion on Singaporean high society and culture elevates it further. On the negative side (for me), the narration–like many of the characters–gets very caught up in luxury brands, which I found kind of dry and unnecessary; I guess it might enhance the experience if you’re familiar with the names, but most of them went over my head. Additionally, the first third introduces a confusing number of characters. Thankfully, it gets easier later on, but at first, it’s hard to tell who’s important enough to keep track of (especially given the extensive family tree provided at the start).
Overall, this was a quick, fun read, and I liked it enough to add the next book in the series to my TBR.
(Bingo squares: Family Drama hard mode; Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; maybe Stranger in a Strange Land hard mode; Debut Work; (alt) A Change in Perspective.)
–
Still trying to decide what to read next.
I’m gonna post thoughts on Crazy Rich Asians in the new thread, but I enjoyed it well enough.
Re: The Butcher of the Forest: I wouldn’t say the author’s sadistic with their characters, no. From my (potentially desensitized) perspective, I’d say the horror is actually pretty mild, to be honest. The MC goes through a reasonable amount of trauma as she deals with the eldritch creatures (fae?) she encounters; my content warning… er… warning was mainly to do with a part of her past that she briefly recounts toward the end. It’s only about 100 pages, so not a big investment if you try it and find it not to your taste.
I was computerless for the better part of a week, so had lots of time to read! Currently 75% of the way through Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.
–
Finished The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August. Enjoyed this more than I’d expected: the first half led me to believe it was going to be breezy fluff the whole way through, but it actually turns fairly poignant in the second half, exploring the losses experienced by different characters. It’s a little hamfisted in places (evil corporation is evil!), and a little YA in tone, but still very worth a read, imo. (Counts for Among the Stars HM, Minority Author, LGBTQIA+ Lead, Family Drama, Debut Work.)
Read The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed, which scratched an itch I had for dark fantasy. Really enjoyed it; reminded me a little of both Annihilation and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. My only real gripe is the last couple of pages feeling almost like sequel-bait, rather than letting the ending settle. This does have some horror elements, so do please check content warnings if it sounds good. (Counts for New Release, Minority Author, Mashup, It’s About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.)
It ended up being Miyazaki’s son’s first movie, and is a mashup of the entire series and some other stuff. Famous for this tidbit (quoted from Wiki):
During a private screening prior to the film’s release, Gorō’s father, Hayao, was asked what he thought of the film. He said, “I was looking at my kid. He’s not an adult yet. That is all.”
Le Guin was also not a fan, so…
Finished A Wizard of Earthsea for bingo. I wasn’t really in the right headspace for the narrative style, which made reading it more of a slog than I think it deserved, but I did enjoy the story. It’s not hard to see why Hayao Miyazaki wanted to adapt it: the themes, presentation, and all the little slice of life moments really feel tailor-made for a Ghibli film. (I haven’t seen Tales from* Earthsea.)
Definitely qualifies for: Now a Major Motion Picture, Older Than You Are (1968), Local to You hard mode (Oregon), (alt) A Change in Perspective
_
Started The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August last night. Only a few pages in, but it’s light and quippy so far, without being annoying.
I found full matches on youtube! I was expecting like an hour-long, large-scale hockey brawl, but most of what I watched was players standing around, squaring up, or on the ground in wrestling holds, punctuated by brief moments of the ball-holder actually trying to score. It sounds like the current rules (rightly) forbid a lot of the stuff that would get people too badly hurt. The ref and pre-game procession wear period clothing, though, which is cool.
Excellent, ty!
Powered through the second half of Stargazy Pie over the weekend. Tentatively starting Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin tonight for bingo.
Does “One Less” hard mode include alternate squares, or just the base card?
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, with the caveat that her early work is a bit racist. Styles, for example, I recall having an n-word casually dropped into a conversation, along with a couple of antisemitic remarks. If you don’t mind reading around that, however, it’s a nice little Poirot case.
Finished The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. I had heard this was a good early horror, and an inspiration to Lovecraft, and I definitely glimpsed that in a few places. The rest of it, however, hoo boy, was that a slog to get through. I’d expected the of-the-period prose style/voice, but it really felt like he smooshed several separate stories into one, with excruciating detail in some parts, and a complete lack in others. The only bright spots, for me, were aspects that seemed like proto-versions of things I’m familiar with (namely, the Dark Sign from Dark Souls, Piglins from Minecraft, and the Beach from Death Stranding), although I have no idea if they were actually inspired by this book or not.
Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (HM), It’s About Time, Among the Stars. May count for Bookception and Stranger in a Strange Land, as well, but ehhh.
–
I’m a few pages into a couple of books atm, which I started as treats while I tried to get through The House on the Borderland: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova, and Dark Star by Oliver Langmead. The latter is a verse novel, which I didn’t realize was a thing! Looking forward to seeing how the experience differs from normal prose.