EPBOT Readers discussion

Hello!

This is a bit late because we just returned from our PNW trip late last night. We're tired. I averaged 18K steps per day on my fitbit. I hope everyone is getting good summertime reading in (if you're in the northern hemisphere).

I finished the Amazon Getaway collection of short stories on the flight home yesterday. I finished His Happy Place, Stockholm, and Uncharted Waters. All of them were three stars. I think it is hard to do a good suspense short story with a very limited page count. They were all enjoyable enough and kept me occupied on a long flight without being too taxing.

I finished Friends with Secrets. I enjoyed this more than I expected. It was a light read and I liked that the main characters and their familiies were all good people.

I started reading Still the Sun. It is interesting so far. It is both a sci-fi, fantasy dystopian (but not too much) book. It feels a bit slow but otherwise is engaging so far.

I also listened to more of Malibu Rising on the flight. So far I am just finding it okay. I'm about 25% through and there has been a ton of background story so far. But I'll stick with it for now.

QOTW:
Have you ever read a book based on current events? Not necessarily non-fiction, but any book that is somehow related to current events.

For me the answer is "sort of". Books that come to mind are Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup about Theranos. I read it a while after the WSJ exposure but before the trials.

Another that is relatively current is The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

And for fiction, the release and my reading of The Kaiju Preservation Society was fairly current with Covid when it came out.

Happy Thursday, and happy August! 

I just had my first session of PT last week. It's for the swelling in my legs, so mostly consisted of massage to try and relieve it. I'm hoping it goes pretty well.

Finished:
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal - 4 stars - for Popsugar's book written during NaNoWriMo. A Jane Austin pastiche with magic thrown in. I enjoyed it. Definitely want to continue this series, and I really liked the magic system she built.

The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 3 - 4 stars - not for a prompt. This volume starts getting into territory past the currently available English manga translation.

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton - 3.5 stars - I switched Popsugar's "enemies to lovers" prompt to this book, as I thought it fit a bit better. A farcical historical fantasy romcom about rival ornithologists hunting a rare bird.

Currently reading:
Dying with Her Cheer Pants On by Seanan McGuire - for Popsugar's book about women's sports. This is a set of interconnected short stories about the Fighting Pumpkins, a very Buffy-esque group of supernatural California cheerleaders who protect their town/the world from evil.

The Apothecary Diaries (Light Novel): Volume 4 by Natsu Hyuuga - still loving this series. I'm finally getting beyond what I've already read, so I'm excited to see what's next!

Upcoming/Planned:
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell - not currently for a prompt

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White - for Popsugar's book set in space.


QOTW:
Not really. I add books to my TBR sometimes based on current events, but then I don't actually read them until much later, if at all.

A great example: I finally read Amanda Gorman's poetry collection Call Us What We Carry: Poems this year, after being wowed by her poem at Joe Biden's inauguration almost four years ago now.

I had a Medical Thing to deal with some Stuff that is not serious but has been ongoing and will be for a bit longer, so that wasn't super fun but at least progress has been made.

Big Game - Another kids' zoo mystery, same basic deal as the first two in the series, still amusing. I did solve this one, but, you know, I am an adult.

Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body - I didn't think this was as good as the PBS series they made of it, although it's been about ten years since I saw it. I suspect they tightened it up a lot in the script, as the book was a bit rambly, and it seemed to be pitched at a fairly naive audience.

QOTW: I mean, with the time it takes to publish a book, I don't think you're really going to do much better than "recent" events, and like Jen said, I usually don't get around to stuff for a while.

I guess I haven't posted in a while! It's been a busy month - while the kids are away at overnight camp, spouse and I have been doing a lot of house projects. But I've also had a lot of reading time and have been plowing my way through a lot of books! Since last time I posted:

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow: I absolutely loved this. I always enjoy it when a house becomes a character in a story. There's a sentient house, creepy mist, fascinating characters with traumatic back-stories, and a smidge of romance. So good.

Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky: book four of the Shadows of the Apt series and my favorite volume so far. It wrapped up a major story arc, but there are six books left in the series so I'm intensely curious about where it's going to go next! I'll be starting book 5 soon.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett: I've been meaning to read this for a while now, and it was as enchanting as I expected it to be. I'll definitely be seeking out the sequel.

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp: Supernatural doings and a highly unreliable narrator. This was creepy fun.

The Hunter by Tana French: French is my favorite mystery writer and with this I've now read all of her books. This one is a sequel to The Searcher and I liked returning to the characters I'd fallen in love with in the first one.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy: Another mystery, this one taking place in the Scottish highlands where a group of biologists are trying to re-introduce wild wolves to the area and the locals are not happy about it. Beautifully written.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes: Intensely creepy space horror. If that appeals to you, highly recommended, it was excellent.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill: Clearly I'm on a bit of a mystery kick because this was another one. This one was very meta, it's a murder mystery and the main character is an author writing a murder mystery - plus there's a framing story of the author writing the murder mystery about the writer and an enthusiastic fan. Also good fun because the library in the title is the Boston Public Library and I love reading books set in places I know well.

Exhalation by Ted Chiang: science fiction short stories by one of my favorite short story writers. Some I liked better than others but overall a really great anthology.

Lyorn by Steven Brust: book 17 of his Vlad Taltos series, which is nearing its end! I'd thought there was just one more book planned, but apparently there will be two more. But either way it's exciting to think about how it might wrap up! The books are pretty self-contained - you don't ever end on a big cliffhanger like in some other series - so it's not a frustrating wait.

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd: I've never read this author before and I definitely want to read more. Mystery/ghost story set in Victorian London.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree: If you liked Legends & Lattes this is more of the same. A prequel looking at Viv's younger days and just as cozy as the first one.

Phew. I've read a LOT this summer and am quite happy about that!

QotW: not really? I think the closest I can come is The Scandal Plan: Or: How to Win the Presidency by Cheating on Your Wife by Bill Folman (who is a friend of mine), a political satire published during an election year.