Flights of Fantasy discussion

Started reading The Fear. As with the earlier books in The Enemy series, it's proving to be a gripping thrill-ride as, in this case, a group of kids makes its way across a post-apocalyptic London in search of friends and siblings separated from them a year ago. Some groups of organised kids are potentially just as dangerous as the diseased zombie-like adults that (especially at nighttime) prowl the streets to prey on any wandering kids.

I'm currently reading the 4th Harry Bosch book, The Last Coyote. About 40% in and it's getting really intriguing.

I'm reading carryovers from last month: Stone of Farewell, Darke, and Memoirs of a Geisha. I feel like I'm spending more time reading but somehow finishing very, very few; I only finished two books in April and two in May, and only one of those four was exceptionally long. :-(

I'm in a similar boat, Michelle. Can't even blame school anymore.

Right now I've got carryover books from May as well: Where Loyalties Lie, Knee-Deep in Grit: Two Bloody Years of Grimdark Fiction, and Ghosts of Tomorrow.

I started them all in May. Everything that I carried over from before May has been removed from my active currently reading list.

I've been doing pretty good at not starting ALL OF THE BOOKS and keeping focused on 1 or 2. It's hard work to stay focused though. My reading related OOOH SHINY kicks in a lot.

I finished Jane Steele at the tail-end of May, but I'll mention it again because I really enjoyed the retelling-cum-inspired-by-Jayne Eyre book, where Jane is a multiple murderer, and it may have been my favorite new book of the year, so far.

Then I moved onto Daughter of the Pirate King, which was more romancy and less actiony than I expected - though I did expect some romance per the description - and I ended up enjoying it well enough that I'll definitely read the next - which looks like it might also be the finale, which is a bonus. I'm weary of long-ass series.

Next I think I'll continue my Discworld-a-thon with The Wee Free Men, which I should've read in May and didn't get around to.

Becky wrote: "I've been doing pretty good at not starting ALL OF THE BOOKS and keeping focused on 1 or 2. It's hard work to stay focused though. My reading related OOOH SHINY kicks in a lot."

I've been trying to do that this year as well, but every time I look at my unread books, I want to add at least five of them to my currently reading pile immediately. Sometimes I can control myself. Sometimes. ;)

I'm reading Gilded Cage by Vic James. Daughter of the Pirate King is on my tbr- it sounds so good!

Finished The Last Coyote and now I'm starting In Cold Blood.

Hannah wrote: "I'm reading Gilded Cage by Vic James. Daughter of the Pirate King is on my tbr- it sounds so good!"


It was definitely fun. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, but once I let my expectations slip and went with a more romance book vibe than an action adventure, I enjoyed it more.

Finished The Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, #2) today, now starting Inkdeath (Inkworld, #3).

I'm reading The Siren Depths (Books of the Raksura). I LOVE MOON and this series (so far).

I started Beguilement and I'm not enjoying it any more.

Currently reading The Plastic Magician. Hasn't quite grabbed me like the original trilogy, but it's early days yet.

Finished Paper and Fire, and gave it a 3, like the first in the series. I enjoy the series and the characters well enough, but it doesn't blow me away or anything. I'll be continuing with it, though.

Moved on to The Belles, which I might not finish. I'm 75 pages in and it's a slow and repetitive set-up so far. Plus, I just read in some reviews that there's a (view spoiler)[somewhat graphic, and contrived, rape scene in my future... so we'll see, I guess, if I get that far. (hide spoiler)]

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Finished Paper and Fire, and gave it a 3, like the first in the series. I enjoy the series and the characters well enough, but it doesn't blow me away or anything. I'll be continuin..."

I'm very interested in The Belles. I've heard that it starts slow but it turns a lot of YA stuff on its head. Also heard it was [much] darker than it appeared which is why I haven't read it yet.

I'm gathering the darker part is what's in my spoiler tag. Considering what I know of what you try to avoid, I think it might be one you'd want to skip.

In the reviews I was reading, which were the 2-star ones, admittedly, they didn't seem to think it turned stuff on its head. They seemed to think it was derivative of several popular YA books, from Hunger Games on down, and that it was very tropish and predictable, in the end.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I'm gathering the darker part is what's in my spoiler tag. Considering what I know of what you try to avoid, I think it might be one you'd want to skip.

In the reviews I was reading, which were th..."

Hmmm. Let me know.

Started reading The Road early in the morning when it was too warm to sleep! More than a quarter of the way through the book already - it makes compelling reading. I wonder if the lack of chapter headings makes it harder to decide when to stop reading?

Also reading Distrust That Particular Flavor where it was interesting to discover that Gibson had not yet used email or, apparently, any other aspect of the Net at the time he wrote Neuromancer!

I finished up The Death of the Necromancer - it was kinda meh. I finished it, though. Certain parts were entertaining.

I'm currently listening to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - and I have to say it makes me RAGE a bit...and it makes me want to curl into a ball in order to protect my cervix. GOD!

Also reading Terrier - it's YA/MG. It's ok but not as interesting as other Tamora Pierce books I've read. I wonder if it's my age? I've not attempted a Pierce in at least 10 years.

After this I plan to visit the Three Worlds again. I'm all sorts of distracted wondering whats going on with Moon, Jade and the rest of the Raksura.

I'm reading The Outsider. Not loving it at the moment, but I think it might just be due to the interview structure at the beginning. The narrative is better, so maybe we're past the interviews. *FINGERS CROSSED*

Also, on the back burner is Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It's interesting but not really super engaging.

Now that my summer semester is over, I am not exactly sure what I want to read. My entire 2018 plan went up in smoke because I did not realize how work intensive school would be this year.

We had to pick a non-literary, fiction book that coincided with the content area we intend to teach. Therefore, I had to pick a middle-grades math inspired book.

The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure was suggested, but I only read skimmed it to get the info I needed for my class, so I think I'll go back and read it correctly.

Nyssa wrote: "Now that my summer semester is over, I am not exactly sure what I want to read. My entire 2018 plan went up in smoke because I did not realize how work intensive school would be this year.

We had ..."


I know those feels. But maybe you should read a fun book as a cleanser and then go into something related?

MrsJoseph wrote: "I know those feels. But maybe you should read a fun book as a cleanser and then go into something related?"

Any suggestions? Light, fun, even humorous?

I'm gonna recommend Shakespeare Undead, because I've been thinking about it lately. It's ridiculous and I love it - but I don't know if you like romances.

Nyssa wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I know those feels. But maybe you should read a fun book as a cleanser and then go into something related?"

Any suggestions? Light, fun, even humorous?"

I LOVED The Kingpin of Camelot. It's romance, fairytale-retale, mixed up and hilarious.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "I'm gonna recommend Shakespeare Undead because I've been thinking about it lately. It's ridiculous, and I love it - but I don't know if you like romances."

If you had asked me a few years ago I would have said "no," but I've recently learned that I do like romances in general.

My pet peeves are:
Tied for first - Love triangles and Insta-love.
Second (or Third) - Misunderstandings / Assumptions / Wasted time becuase of a lack of communication. (Although I can get over this if it is done in a fun or witty way).

As for the suggested book (thank you, btw), I'm more concerned that its horror than that its romance.

Nyssa wrote: "As for the suggested book (thank you, btw), I'm more concerned that its horror than that its romance. "


From what I recall, it's not really "horror". Like, it's not scary or anything. People call it horror because it has zombies and vampires, but it's probably more, like, Buffy level stuff than actual horror.

There is some insta-love, though.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I LOVED The Kingpin of Camelot. It's romance, fairytale-retale, mixed up and hilarious."


I love fairytales! :)

This is the 3rd in a series, are they all stand-alone?

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "From what I recall, it's not really "horror". Like, it's not scary or anything. People call it horror because it has zombies and vampires, but it's probably more, like, Buffy level stuff than actual horror.

There is some insta-love, though.."

Ah, okay. Thank you! :)

Nyssa wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I LOVED The Kingpin of Camelot. It's romance, fairytale-retale, mixed up and hilarious."


I love fairytales! :)

This is the 3rd in a series, are they all stand-alone?"

I haven't read any of the others, lol. It stood pretty well on its own for me. My mom read the rest and said they aren't as cute.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I haven't read any of the others, lol. It stood pretty well on its own for me. My mom read the rest and said they aren't as cute. "

Hmm.. okay. I don't know how you all do it. I don't remember the last time I purposely read (or even watched) something out of order. Could be why I barely manage to get any real reading done (besides school & work of course). :)

Nyssa wrote: "MrsJoseph wrote: "I haven't read any of the others, lol. It stood pretty well on its own for me. My mom read the rest and said they aren't as cute. "

Hmm.. okay. I don't know how you all do it. I ..."

I only do that with can stand alone.

I don't read out of order either, Nyssa. Unless I don't know it's part of a series, anyway. If I do know, then I have to read in order.

Nicki, I'm not 100% there yet, but I've noticed that I've been doing that more and more myself as well.

ESPECIALLY with authors that only have a few books out, or have a unique style.

Nicki wrote: "Me too. I've even developed a compulsion about having to read authors' standalone in order, to kind of feel their progression as a writer. It's not a good compulsion. I need to break it. Probably. Maybe. *twitch*."

I understand completely!

Yeah. I can understand. I used to have that problem but now I'm more allergic to bad books, lol.

If I can read it without being too confused (standalones that have a series arc that isn't over imposed) and the rest of the books are meh? Let me at the good book!

It doesn't work with books like Kate Daniels and those kinds of series books (for me) because each book builds on the last. But these just re-introduce older characters and give you a bit of a visit. Meh.

Finished The Belles. Meh. Giving it 2 stars. I feel like it had the potential to explore cultural obsessions with beauty, but while it would make forays into "accepting your natural template", it never quite made it into actually having a point. I didn't like any of the characters, and don't really care what ends up happening, so I probably won't be continuing the series - and it's definitely set up to be continued, because while it doesn't end in a cliffhanger, it's certainly doesn't resolve anything, either.


Moved on to Magic Below Stairs which is light and easy, and I should finish fairly quickly. Charming so far, but I'm hoping more happens soon.

I've been trying to focus on books I've owned before 2012. Just finished A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans which is excellent fantasy book . I listened to the audiobook - an excellent narrator. Ready to start the second. I don't expect many will read it because the Kindle book is ridiculously high-priced for a book published a decade ago.

Nyssa, since you are going into math teaching in middle school, don't forget math tricks books . I was terrible at math and if I would've learned some of these math tricks it would've really helped me a great deal. I didn't learn them until I was out of college.

I was taught a number counting trick in elementary that I've used ever since. It was this odd way of counting on the number itself. IDK if it is normal but I've not run into it ever again.

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "Finished The Belles. Meh. Giving it 2 stars. I feel like it had the potential to explore cultural obsessions with beauty, but while it would make forays into "accepting your natural..."

:-( Dang. I was hoping it was better.

Stephanie wrote: "Nyssa since you are going into math teaching in middle school, don't forget math tricks books. I was terrible at math, and if I would've learned some of these math tricks, it would've really helped me a great deal. I didn't learn them until I was out of college.
"

I don't really know any math tricks myself except one where you can show the nines times tables based on the finger that id held down. Here is a video https://youtu.be/xBTGKiVgWcA (although I've never heard of telling students to dip their fingers in ink ...)