Grimdark Fantasy discussion

No activity in 3 1/2 days.

Is everybody else having a super crazy busy week like I am?

Yes

I went on a trip to San Francisco over the weekend, then when I flew back in Sunday came down with the flu so have been bed ridden for days. Have to resume normal duties tomorrow though (yuck)

I've been crazy busy this week too. It is closing in on a week since I've done any reading.

I'm lucky in that my employer has their own small bus service for employees that I use to come in to work. So even at busy times, in theory, I have the bus rides every day I can read.

Yep, very busy at work. :)

Same story here...travelling for work all week. I was able to finish Liar's Key tonight, but didnt feel like opening the laptop after work all week. It's easier to login on the laptop than try to type on the Kindle. Great for reading, but not for socializing.

Phil wrote: "Same story here...travelling for work all week. I was able to finish Liar's Key tonight, but didnt feel like opening the laptop after work all week. It's easier to login on the laptop than try to..."

Lol...I'd never even consider it from the kindle.

Been super busy too, didnt even read a book. Well, unless browsing through my fave quotes from 'The Martian' in my Kindle counts.

Kindle is a great distraction though, you can make yourself busy without hurting your eyes. I hate reading using laptop or cellphones.

Very busy week, and I'm new here!

Welcome Josh....and when time frees up, get back in here and join the conversation(s). :)

Are we picking a new book soon?

This is my understanding of what we decided on how it should work.

The thread is open for people to suggest books (we never said how long it should be open or how many books we should stop at). Then when we decide to stop with enough suggestions, we put up a poll.

So if/when we have enough suggestions, it would be time for someone to put up a poll to decide which book. I think the poll should be up a good week or two.

The official start of the next group read shouldn't start until Nov 1.

Okay, sounds good.

I slept most of two days...first ill...then...worked overnight on a 12 hr shift....sleeeeeeeep.
:)

This week has started crazy for me too. Extremely long Monday and Tuesday left me tired as hell yesterday, but even after a long day I got some reading in. I finished reading Pacific Fire and even read the short story that comes before Low TownA Drink Before We Die: A Low Town Short.

I was going to move into Jim Butcher's new book, but it wasn't on my tablet yet and I was too lazy to walk two stories to load it.

Second week of university and I still feel like a fish out of the water. And the worst thing is, I don't have time left for reading (and goodreads). Thankfully, I finished the Autumn Republic on Saturday and it was god damn brilliant. My favourite series by far.

I pitched the new Butcher book for our Bookish Buddies group for November. I haven't read any Butcher yet.

I only had time for pleasure reading on holidays as a university student, so prepare yourself.

Heather wrote: "I only had time for pleasure reading on holidays as a university student, so prepare you..."

I guess everybody's story is different. When I was at University, that was probably my most prolific reading era.

It probably helped that I had a "graveyeard shift" job with about 1 hour's worth of work to last an 8 hour shift. I'd knock my work out first thing. Then get any school work/study done. Then read for pleasure. I ended up having tons of time over that shift in the long run. I think one year I computed reading well over 200 books (most of them were quick read/short Dr. Who books, but still....).

I'm been busy all week too. I've got a project to submit 12pm latest tomorrow. But I'll be free from then on.

I was a double major and one of the majors was British literature so I was constantly reading.

Heather wrote: "I was a double major and one of the majors was British literature so I was constantly reading."
I was in engineering....our books were really big in the first half of curriculum. By the second half they got a lot smaller, but a LOT harder too (so required a LOT more time and concentration).

But....I could see where if you were reading books for school all the time it would be really hard to read your own books at the same time.

The lack of participation lately would seem to imply we are still all very busy.

I just finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I FINALLY read a Stephen King that I liked. :)

Chris wrote: "Heather wrote: "I was a double major and one of the majors was British literature so I was constantly reading."
I was in engineering....our books were really big in the first half of curriculum. By..."

Right, reading academic books is different. But when you're reading literature it's so similar to pleasure reading that it's too much!

I actually read engineering books onto tape for a job in university (for disabled students). It was so over my head!

Chris wrote: "The lack of participation lately would seem to imply we are still all very busy."

Very true, still quite busy. I read Low Town last week and am currently on The Aeronaut's Windlass which despite a slow start is quite enjoyable now.

I just signed up to volunteer at a library so been a little busy attending training, I'm really excited to start!

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "I just signed up to volunteer at a library so been a little busy attending training, I'm really excited to start!"Oooh...that's really cool!!

What types of things will you do there?

Just the usual, issuing books and so on. The council is facing budget cuts and can't afford to run it any longer so they need people who will work for free. I don't mind though, I'm in the library at least once a week anyway!

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "Just the usual, issuing books and so on. The council is facing budget cuts and can't afford to run it any longer so they need people who will work for free. I don't mind though, I'm in the library ..."
For fiction books I mostly read on kindle, so I don't get to the library as much as I used to. I really do prefer ebooks for fiction reading. I do love the atmosphere of the library though. They are building a new one in our area and I'm excitedly waiting for its grand opening.

I mostly use my kindle for 'quick reads', ya and the like. But if I can find the same book in the library I get it. Love the feel of a physical book.

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "I mostly use my kindle for 'quick reads', ya and the like. But if I can find the same book in the library I get it. Love the feel of a physical book."

My main reasoning for using ebooks is that I can read about 50% or so faster, I've found. Non-fiction, I still prefer real books though.

It certainly feels like I read faster with a kindle, but I don't know if I actually do. For me it really depends how much I'm enjoying the story, if I'm not I'll just get stuck on that page, regardless of whether it's paper or a screen.

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "It certainly feels like I read faster with a kindle, but I don't know if I actually do. For me it really depends how much I'm enjoying the story, if I'm not I'll just get stuck on that page, regard..."

I've grown to dislike paper books for fiction reading. They are heavier, proper lighting is required (and sometimes hard to come by in certain areas), the font is fixed (and often not to my liking), etc.....

I've measured and definitely read at least 50% faster. I read some stuff online and based on what I read, I changed my font size even bigger on the kindle. I may have to change pages more, but I believe I'm reading even faster than I was before.

It's also nice to have that slight backlight. If I didn't have that, reading a physical book on the bus would be hard, I think. The lighting on there is horrible. I have a book that I plan to break down and read soonish that hasn't been put on kindle. I'm dreading it. I don't like the look of the font in the 1200 page book, either.

I've never really thought about it that way, my kindle is pretty old so its not backlit and I can't change the font, but it is very convenient for travelling. On the other hand, I love putting books on my bookshelf, every time I go out I come back with at least one. I'm running out of shelf space, but I can't stop....

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "I love putting books on my bookshelf, every time I go out I come back with at least one. I'm running out of shelf space, but I can't stop.... "

I know the feeling...

I've had to start stacking them behind each other, now I can't see them all :'(
My husband thinks I'm nuts!

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "I've never really thought about it that way, my kindle is pretty old so its not backlit and I can't change the font, but it is very convenient for travelling. On the other hand, I love putting book..."

I thought even the first generation kindle had the ability to change the font size. I do have an older kindle that doesn't have the back light. I upgraded to a newer one this year just for that reason. I was often having lighting issues where I was trying to read.

I have a few different times in my life now, got to the point where I've had so many books I HAD to do a purge because it was taking up too much space. You should have seen all the boxes worth one move I had.

I'm slowly, but surely trying to only keep certain classics and authors I'm a big fan of (in hardback), but the rest is going to kindle. I just can't afford the space anymore.

Even with these multiple purges I've had, I have about 5 full sized book shelves filled and some that can't fit out in various places.

Yeah turns I can change the font size! I'm usually not that thick when it comes to technology!

Tracey (Queen of Blades) wrote: "Yeah turns I can change the font size! I'm usually not that thick when it comes to technology!"
The slight backlit thing is very nice too, because it eliminates 2 problems with original kindle.
1. Can read in dark room. Light no longer an issue.
2. Eliminates glare (used to be a problem in my living room).

Mine is an older one, since its not backlit. But I use a bedside lamp for night time reading. One thing I really love about kindle is never losing your place ( my daughter occasionally gets hold if my books and loses the place!)

I have an older kindle, but it is not backlit. I've got a Samsung Tab 3 tablet (8") that is now my default reading device. Moon Reader Plus is my program of choice.

Regarding font. In the last few years I've upped the font a lot and have also added reading glasses to the mix (I was able to reduce the font with the spectacles). Basically - changeable font is awesome, but getting old sucks.

On reading speed. I think electronic devices are faster. I know Moon Reader tracks my reading speed. I find that different books run at different speeds. The different speed is obviously based on how involved the reading is. My current read The Aeronaut's Windlass is tracking just over 300 words per minute. That's about 50 words per minute faster than my norm, but I base that on my familiarity with Butcher's writing plus his easy to read style.

I used to have a phone with kobo reader on, it was pretty good as well. It does make a big difference not having to lug a massive tome around.

Chompa wrote: "I have an older kindle, but it is not backlit. I've got a Samsung Tab 3 tablet (8") that is now my default reading device. Moon Reader Plus is my program of choice.

Regarding font. In the last fe..."

I like the backlit kindle, and have used my iPad too, but the kindle is much easier on the eyes and I prefer it over the iPad most of the time.

The kindle device tracks reading speed now too. I don't know if you can get words per minute, but it estimates your time left in book/chapter and puts it at the bottom of the page.

I remember you mentioning Moon Reader before, and I tried to look it up, but apparently they don't have an iOS app for it. At least I couldn't find it then.

Yes, I'm one of those dreaded android people. Not that I've not used an iPad before. One of the reasonsMoon Reader is nice for me because it is a simple fix to change the illumination. If the wife has the light on and then turns it off, it takes a half second from the page you are reading to adjust the brightness.

A busy week indeed. Merry Christmas, and happy (not grimdark) holidays!

Happy Holidays, all.

Yes indeed. Happy holidays. Going on a vacation for a week. That means tabletop, reading and no internet! Besides that I saw the new StarWars movie yesterday. Damn I'm happy haha.

PS: Lowtown is not quiet my taste but I keep trying, maybe cause I can't wait to read the last book in the Thrawn series of SW EU :( (haha)

Pisang, have you read Before the Awakening (Greg Rucka)? It's a pretty nice prequel to The Force Awakens. Poe's dog fight story is quite neat.

I also really enjoyed Star Wars. I'll have to find Before the Awakening, but I've already picked up Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the film.

I'm also kind of struggling on my current read.