Sacramento Public Library discussion

Share what you are reading this month and help someone else find their next great read!

Currently reading The Magician's Apprentice, obsessing over this author so much right now and am really sad this is the last book set in the world of Kyralia for now. I've almost finished it and at this point I'm really not sure what I'll start next, time to go looking through my to read stack!

I'm currently reading what I did for love by Shannon Elizabeth Phillips, silenced by Allison Brennan, alienated by Melissa landers, the best kind of broken by Chelsea fine, any way you want it by Maureen smith And caged in the winter by Brighton Walsh this month.

I just finished reading Stephen King's Finders Keepers, and loved it. Now I'm reading The Astronaut Wives Club and looking forward to getting further into this book.

Some of the books I intend to read this month include: The Skull Throne, Lady Knight, and Assassin's Apprentice.

Finished "Earth Abides" an award-winning SF novel from 1949. This book makes a lot of "100 Best" lists, but hardly anyone ever reads it. Fantastic! It starts out as a post-apocalyptic novel but then goes off in a very different direction than anything else of that genre.

I've got some how-to books on using Ableton Live (music creation software) that I'm going to have to return soon, so I'll be reading them for a couple of weeks.

Mojo by Tim Tharp. It's great so far! :)

I'm in the middle of Inheritance by Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm as my bus book. I've also got to finish Armada by Cline. Armada is fun but I liked Ready Player One better.

Last month there was a chorus of recommendations for Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I am here to add my voice because I loved this book. I loved it very, very much. I read the last third of it very slowly because I really didn't want it to end. Just perfect!

Right now I am reading something completely different, Time of Death by Mark Billingham who is one of the best mystery/suspense/thriller authors out there who you are not reading. His Tom Thorne series is just fantastic and this, the latest entry, is no exception.

Brendle -- Uprooted has been the only book I have Reread and yes I still love it. It has been the best book I have read this year. :)

I am reading Velvet Undercover --so far it's good. I finished Bounce & Better when he's Brave . Both very good New adult books.

Brendle/Julie -- Just wanted to get some feedback from people who had a different experience than mine with Uprooted. Without any spoilers I'm just curious how you each felt about the Magic system in the book and if you were to choose one thing that made the book pop to you what would it be? I've read the book and then gone back to look at some specific portions and I'm personally having a hard time seeing past certain points of the plot so would love to get some feedback from people that loved it so much!

David wrote: "Brendle/Julie -- Just wanted to get some feedback from people who had a different experience than mine with Uprooted."

The magic system didn't seem anything unusual or difficult to me. It just seemed like a version of spoken magic systems I had read in many books before. I did like the fact that Agneiszka's version of it was slightly different and I liked the fact that she was the one who figured that out.

The one thing that really popped for me was Agneizska and her growing confidence. She was a marvelous heroine to spend time with. I also enjoyed the fact that the story was a mashup of elements from various fairytales--Baba Yaga, Beauty and the Beast, the sentient evil wood...

Really this is only the tip of things I liked because this book was perfect to me in so many ways. But that having been said, I think it is perfectly fine if you didn't enjoy it. Sometimes a book just isn't for you. I personally have books that I don't like that are much beloved by others. (Little Women anyone?) We all have different tastes and the reading world is better for it!

Brendle wrote: "David wrote: "Brendle/Julie -- Just wanted to get some feedback from people who had a different experience than mine with Uprooted."

The magic system didn't seem anything unusual or difficult to m..."

You know I hadn't taken it from the perspective of a mashup of fairy tails, thinking on that does put it a slightly better light on it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!

Right now I am reading Rainy Day Sisters about two half sisters coming to terms with their mother and working on their own relationships. It is cute and doesn't make me think too much. A good one after finishing Corben's The Stranger which made me think a lot!

David wrote: "Brendle/Julie -- Just wanted to get some feedback from people who had a different experience than mine with Uprooted. Without any spoilers I'm just curious how you each felt about the Magic system ..."

I felt it was more earthly magic with some spoken words. I did like that it was a mash up of a fairy tale ( beauty & Beast) which is my favorite one. I also liked that she found magic in certain books . Just my observations.

Julie wrote: "David wrote: "Brendle/Julie -- Just wanted to get some feedback from people who had a different experience than mine with Uprooted. Without any spoilers I'm just curious how you each felt about the..."

Thanks for sharing, I like to see different angles at things when I don't get it and you both helped me to do that!

I'm walking the dog every morning now and so audio books are a must. Finished Body of Work by Sara Paretsky. Fun mystery of a series about a tough, complex woman detective. I'm on my way to Ellis Peters mysteries now, another great mystery writer who has a whole different rhythm to her books. I think what I like about mystery writers is their strong rhythms. I do want to read a new mystery genre for August but I've read everything mentioned already! Any one have more suggestions for me?

Well you may have some luck with the book I was going to read that's to far IN my comfort zone :) The Harry Dresden series was a great one for this I think. Also Unclean Spirits is a mystery of sorts in my opinion, I was just about to start the Otherworld Series as well that's heavy in mystery. Grave witch (Alex Craft Book 1) is a pretty decent mystery as well, that one I listened to the audio version and I REALLY enjoyed the voice actor there, brought a lot of character to the book.

Ok, so I just finished reading The Slow Regard of Silent Things and it has next to no plot, only one character throughout the entire book, a very abrupt ending, and has nothing I would expect to see in a decent book. It's also one of the best books I've ever read and I don't know why. It really feels like more of a art piece to me than a book, making no sense if you try to make sense of it but being beautiful if you just take a step back and enjoy it.

Speaking of magic, I am reading Lemon Pies and Little White Lies by E. Adams. It is the last in the series so far and wraps everything up quite nicely. I also am finishing 14th Deadly sin by you know who and it is a fast read! I also finished The Melody Lingers on by Mary Higgins Clark and thought it was her worst ever. I like her new series with Alafair Burke better. And just to keep the boredom at bay, I finished Espresso Shot by Cleo Coyle. I just received my Fall schedule for work and it looks like I will be very busy from the end of August to beginning of December! I will have to read faster!

I just finished Richard Flanagan's The Long Road to the Deep North, and although it is sad, it is fabulous. Complex and interesting characters, settings and themes.

I'm reading Starlight Nights, an autobiography by Leslie Peltier, "the world's greatest non-professional astronomer." It's a wonderful reminiscence of growing up on a farm in the Midwest before the days of light pollution, getting his first telescope, seeing his first eclipse. The word that comes to mind is "charming" - what a delightful book!

I just started A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Dust, by Hugh Howey. I plowed through Wool and Shift in about a week. Best series I've read in quite a while!

I am currently reading Dead of Winter,and I am about to start None of the Above. They are both teen fiction novels. The Dead of winter is the third book in the Arcana Chronicles series. It is about a teenage girl that finds out that she is actually an Arcana card and is forced to participate in a game with other teens that are also Arcana cards. It is a series that keeps you on your toes and is very interesting. I am not to sure what the other book is about but I will let you know once I start reading it.

I've just started Dexter is Dead. It is always nice to know ahead of time that a book is ending a series.

I'm presently reading "Starship Troopers," by Robert Heinlein. For as many years as I've been reading SF, this hasn't made it onto my reading list. It's our title for this month's SF-Squared Book Club at McKinley Library.

A couple of long car trips have enabled me to zip through a number of audiobooks: "Bird by Bird," by Anne Lamott; "On Writing," by Stephen King (yes, I've listened to it before, but hearing it again immediately after Lamott's book gave me additional insights into both works); and "Kitty and the Silver Bullet," by Carrie Vaughn. Since the concluding tale in Vaughn's Kitty Norville series has been published, I'm listening to the last titles in the sequence (yes, I'm skipping a few). I'm now partway through "Kitty Steals the Show."

I recently watched the fascinating HBO documentary, "Going Clear." So I might take one of my occasional reading detours and pick up the book on which the documentary was based for my next audiobook.

My venture into non-fiction was determined by my favorite beverage. I actually had to wait a few weeks before receiving "Darjeeling" by Jeff Koehler. This is my favorite flavor of tea and this is a delightful read that shows the harshness of life and the servitude that still exists in other countries. Unfortunately, this fragile bloom is headed for extinction unless scientists can find a way to restore life to this tiny bush. Darjeeling has such a fresh sweet taste that no milk or sugar is needed. Good book whether you drink tea or coffee!

So far, this month, I have finished the third Game of Thrones book, read and finished a biography on Conrad Hilton, and rad and finished (in a day) The Summoning, by Kelley Armstrong. I'm starting The Hollow by Jessica Verday. The latter three were checked out from the Library and I'm so glad I did rather than go buy them. While good, none are books I want in my home library.

A few weeks back Barnes & Noble ran a special on manga and graphic novels. My daughter is an avid manga reader, so I took her to B&N for the sale and bought a few titles for myself. Among my selections are the complete series of "Judge," by Yoshiki Tonogai, the first five volumes of "Spice and Wolf," by Isuna Hasekura, and the first volume of Naoki Urasawa's "Monster." I've already read through volumes 1-5 of "Judge," and the concluding volume is on my nightstand.

David wrote: "Well you may have some luck with the book I was going to read that's to far IN my comfort zone :) The Harry Dresden series was a great one for this I think. Also Unclean Spirits is a mystery of sor..."

I just started the first of the Dresden series and I like it so far. I don't know why I was so opposed to it. The concept of a wizard for hire is kind of fun and he reads really well.

John wrote: "I'm presently reading "Starship Troopers," by Robert Heinlein. For as many years as I've been reading SF, this hasn't made it onto my reading list. It's our title for this month's SF-Squared Book C..."
I loved both Bird by Bird and On Writing. I though Stephen King's writing voice for NF was thoughtful and funny and they both made me wish I could write...

Teresa wrote: "David wrote: "Well you may have some luck with the book I was going to read that's to far IN my comfort zone :) The Harry Dresden series was a great one for this I think. Also Unclean Spirits is a ..."

I have read The Dresden Files, many of the books more than once, but until now I had never listened to them. After hearing so many wonderful comments about James Marsters as a narrator I finally decided to do another re-read, but this time on audio. I finished up Storm Front a couple weeks ago and was absolutely delighted. I'm really looking forward listening to Fool Moon, the 2nd book. C'mon hold queue!

Currently holding my book mark is Badlands by CJ Box.

I just finished the Boy next door, and started on the boy most likely to..I am enjoying this new to me author. I didn't realize that it was a campanion book series

I'm halfway through Bitten -- the first book in the "Women of the Underworld" series.

I've also read The Hollow, The Summoning and The Hiltons.

It's amazing how many books I can read once I'm done plugging through the Game of Thrones series.