While She Knits - Whatcha Reading?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Like, right now? Whether it's the latest bestseller, something for coursework. or guilty pleasure?

Is it good? Terrible? Meh? Tell us all.

Comments

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I put Marie Lu's latest book, Warcross, on reserve at the library a couple of weeks ago and didn't have to wait nearly as long as I thought I'd have to. It came in yesterday and I braced rush hour traffic on a Friday to get it.

I'm only 30 pages or so into it and I think I'm going to like it but the back of mind keeps saying, "huh, this is a better-written but not as exciting ripoff book that reminds me a lot of Ready Player One.

(Which is one of my guilty pleasures, btw.)

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

My youngest brother has been reading Tamora Pierce with my mom, so I've been rereading the Protector of the Small quartet with him, so we can discuss all of the ideas. While Pierce is very inconsistent for me - I dislike Alanna quite a bit, but enjoy most of her other quartets a lot, then dislike most of what she did post Trickster's Choice (That being said, I'm very excited about the Numair series coming out next year!) - Protector of the Small is my very favorite of her works. The richness of the world, characters, and the way she manipulates her standard plot (girls moves into hostile community and turns it all around) is at the peak of her form.

[trans-element.livejournal.com]

Just finished "A Skinful of Shadows," the new novel by Frances Hardinge. Set just prior to and during the English Civil War, it's about a young girl who is a byblow of an ancient noble family with weird inherited abilities. Very disturbing in places. I was slightly disappointed, but only because I have loved her previous books so much that if I don't absolutely adore the new one, it's disappointing.

Also recently finished Susanna Clarke's short story collection "The Ladies of Grace Adieu," which is wonderful and makes me want to reread "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell."

Before that, I reread Kate Ross's four Julian Kestrel novels (mysteries set in the early 19th century). The author died young of cancer, but it's clear that she had plans for the character, which makes reading the series bittersweet.

[(Anonymous)]

Isn't Ready Player One going to be released as a movie early 2018? -Puppeteergirl

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

I'm doing a halloween reread of Fire and Hemlock (by Diana Wynne Jones), one of my absolute favorite stories, but I'm farther behind than I meant to be because I've been reading a whole lot of comics lately, including Check, Please (a webcomic by Ngozi Ukazu), Spinning (Tillie Walden), Taproot (Keezy Young) ... and the Scott Pilgrim series, which I'm enjoying less than I did when I read it four years ago.

Has anyone read the new Philip Pullman book? (I haven't! I did not keep track of its release date and dearly need to reread His Dark Materials before seeking it out...)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes! Steven Spielberg! Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiK2fhOY0nE

The book is so much fun! I have so many issues with it ( I'm happy to pontificate) but it's just so. much. fun.

[r.j. anderson (from livejournal.com)]

I liked WARCROSS quite a lot, but I have not read READY PLAYER ONE at all so I wasn't tempted to mentally compare them. Based on the GoodReads reviews of RPO, though, it sounds like Marie Lu is a lot less interested in 80's pop culture and/or nerdery for its own sake, and more interested in action and romance. I don't know how many different ways there are to write a book about a person entering a virtual world, so I suppose it's inevitable that the two books would resemble each other, but the same could likely be said of Tad Williams' Otherworld series which predates both these books by about ten years...

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes, the 80s pop culture is a huge part of Ready Player One, and I think that's a big part of why I enjoyed the book so much. As I said, I'm still not far into Warcross, but the setup at the beginning of both books is similar--orphan living hand-to-mouth, mysterious billionaire game guru, kid who is a genius hacker/gamer, augmented reality game where you feel like you're actually inside it. That may be where the similarities end. I guarantee the romance in the books is different, even though I'm not there yet in Warcross. The romance in Ready Player One feels like it was written by a 15-year-old boy. :-)

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

Just finished Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. I just like Lara Jean and her sisters too much.
Currently reading Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self by Manoush Zomorodi" from her podcast Note to Self - it's an eye opening for me on how smartphone usages impact my everyday live sometimes good and other not.

[badtzphoto.livejournal.com]

It was released last week, I think. I got it over the weekend. I haven't read it yet. When I see any review, I'll be sure to share it here.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I've read the new Philip Pullman, after an urgent rereading of the original trilogy. I really enjoyed it. When I look at it dispassionately, I have a few issues with it, but not enough to outweigh the considerable enjoyment I got from it. I really liked the main child character, and there's a very likeable female adult character, too. (Being deliberately vague in order to avoid spoilers.)

Fire and Hemlock is one of my absolutely all-time favourite books. I must have reread it at least a dozen times. :-D

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I've been reading some of Dorothy Sayers' nonfiction works and resisting the urge to re-read Gaudy Night for the dozenth time. 0:)

I finally finished To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, after it was recommended to me here on Sounis! I admit, I wasn't sure about it at first. The opening chapters felt tedious and confusing, the characters frustratingly dense. (It really bugs me when authors never let their characters finish important sentences!) But... Time-travel? Feuding Oxford professors flinging each other into the river Thames over academic differences of opinion? Dogs and cats changing the course of history? Characters from the future asking themselves, "What would Lord Peter Wimsey do?" I am SO here for it. :D