New Year's Resolution: Re-read Queen's Thief!

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Hey, it's a lot more appealing than going to the gym.

In case you're like me and haven't revisited our favorite series since it's completion back in 2020 and also like me, need a push to finally listen to those audiobooks downloaded on your phone, never fear sounis is here! During our last chat, we decided to stage a complete series re-read for the community this year. Yes, alll SEVEN books. With it now having been over two years since the release of Return of the Thief and the complete recontextulization of many parts of the series, we felt it's time to finally dig back in and annalize the story in its completed form.

The current plan is to start this April and proceed through the summer with two weeks to read each book (three for RoT) and a Sunday chat in the Conspiracy Room to discuss. Since it is seven books, we will also take a break in the middle during the height of summer busy-ness (July) and finish in the fall, hopefully before the end of October and the start of the Holiday season.

As always, you don't have to be re-reading in order to attend the chats. Also, how do you all feel about chats being in the early afternoon in order to avoid dinner guest interference? Do any of you work on Sunday? Let me know!

While I work on chat dates and a reading schedule, do me a favor and check out this interview with MWT. We wanted to do a stand-alone novel for our WSK Bookclub winter pick with one of the books she recommended. Personally, I'm leaning towards The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, as it sounds especially particular to the tastes of most Sounisians, but let me know which one you would like to read.

EDIT: Seems we are leaning towards reading Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin, a retelling of the Aeneid, this February. Comment if this sounds good to you! :)


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Comments

[eachase.livejournal.com]

Yay! I've been missing y'all. I mean, I would if I had any time to think about anything but work. But by April things should have slowed down.

The Library at Mount Char is one that I've shied away from, despite Megan's recommendation, based on her emphasis on "gruesome." In a conversation we had she hedged her recommendation based on the content. If that's the group consensus, though, I'll try to give it a go. I did add The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan to my to-read list based on this post on her Tumblr: https://meganwhalenturner.tumblr.com/

I've been reading some T. Kingfisher based on Megan's participation in Crossings Con the past few years. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking was a lot of fun. I've also read 'Nettle and Bone' and 'Bryony and Roses.' Today I started Paladin's Grace.

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

I really like T. Kingfisher! Her horror ones are ok, the ones set in the world of the white rat are pretty good, but the other fantasy or fairy tale-ish ones are auto-buys for me.

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely be avoiding her horror. That's a genre I just don't read. I like to sleep thank you very much and it's hard enough without adding horrible things for my brain to obsess over.

What I'm enjoying most of her sense of humor. I rarely laugh out loud when reading, but her sense of humor is a better match for mine than almost anything else I've come across. That said, I probably won't recommend the Paladin books generally because of the... I'm having trouble finding the right word.. earthy, maybe?... (Something that means more than I'd normally read, but not extremely explicit.) content of the romances. Apparently the combination of the absurd and the earnest cracks me up.

From the author note on Paladin's Grace:
"I had it in my mind that I was going to write a fluffy romance. I am a great fan of fluffy romance. I am told that there are generally fewer severed heads and rotting corpse golems in fluffy romance, so possibly this book didn't quire get there, but I'm certain I can write something fluffy eventually. Probably."

That's comic gold right there.

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Agreed, it's not laugh-out-loud humor, but just a generally wry tone that I enjoy. The loose series that includes the Paladin books aren't my favorite. The romance is definitely a bit much for my taste. Edges into smut occasionally, without actually crossing fully over the line so that you can say "OK, this is a smutty/erotica book." I only read "Swordheart" and that was a little more than I liked, so I haven't read "Paladin's Grace" or the others yet.

I actually liked the horror ones fine. I don't normally read horror either, but because they have an edge of humor to them I was able to enjoy them anyway?

[eachase.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's it! Thanks for articulating it so well. I agree about the wry humor, too.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I just finished A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and loved it! I never knew I needed a carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob and gingerbread golems before. Her style really reminds me of DWJ's.

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it, too! I love to bake, so it was the title that seemed like an obvious place to start when I was looking.

It's definitely more of a YA vibe than the other titles she's written as T. Kingfisher than the others I've read.

Though, now that you mention it, the gingerbread is something of a recurring theme across her titles.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I have some reservations about The Library at Mount Char, as well. It may be a bit too violent for me, a little too "horror." But if the group wants to pick it, I will try to give it a go.

Thanks for putting this together, LJ!

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Oh dear... Gruesome? It sounded more like a fantasy mystery to me.

Maybe, Dogsbody would be a better choice? I've never read it despite it being MWT's fav DWJ. *hides from DWJ-stans*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I read Dogsbody recently and it was very good (although heartbreaking) but I wonder if it's a bit hard to come by. I had to buy it, and it is available as an ebook, which is good. Hmmm...let me think here....

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

What about maybe Lavinia by Le Guin? I was looking back to Megan's Reddit author talk and some other online talk a couple of years ago and she raves about it. It's newish, so libraries should have it.

It would be new for me; I've never read the Aeneid but I love Le Guin.

I'll see if anything else comes to mind...

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I haven't read much Le Guin, so I'd be on board with that.

I've read Dogsbody -- I do think I had to ILL to get it. But I'd be willing to re-read as I'm sure I'd get more out of it with a group discussion.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Wait Le Guin is still writing? I checked out Lavina and it sounds like a good choice to me.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Le Guin died in 2018, and if you haven't read No Time To Spare or any of her other books of collected essays you're missing something wonderful. She started writing online blog entries shortly after the Internet became available for that purpose, and much of that work was later published in book form. Super-intelligent person!

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I see, you threw me with the word new. I didn't realize you meant 2008 new. XD

I've added it my TBR list. I'm trying to read more non-fiction this year too, so that sounds like a good pick.

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

This sounds like fun! I have been unable to reread the series since 2020 which is unusual for me, so maybe this will be the boost I need to be able to read again.

What is the wsk bookclub?

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

The While She Knits bookclub, basically things for us to read while Megan knits new stories. It's our Sounis bookclub mostly focused on Megan's recommendations. We read the book and discuss it in the Conspiracy Room.

While she knits is an ancient Sounis phrase that is so old most of us don't even remember where it came from. XD

Yes, I also need a push. A seven book series feels like a big undertaking in my busy adulting life.

[whataliethatwas.livejournal.com]

Oh duh, of course it's While She Knits haha. I just forgot how acronyms work haha. Some of my favorite books have come from wsk discussions or book recommendations.

[anets-dream.livejournal.com]

Can’t wait to reread!!

[semperlego.livejournal.com]

I too am excited to reread!
I'm happy to go with anything we read together, as I love to hear the wonderful insights from you all.
My 2 cents...
Mount Char was pretty brutal, it has some redeeming qualities, and I probably didn't totally "get it," but definitely rough going.
I love Dogsbody and anything by LeGuin.
Also, Girl of Fire and Thorns was wonderful, and I also really enjoyed The Rook, which were both on MWT's tumblr list.

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

I'm down for a re-read, though I don't know if I'll be able to pace myself properly.

I've read "The Library at Mount Char", and this is my entire review:

"What the hell did I just read? Honestly, this has got to be one of the strangest books I've ever completed. I'm not even sure how I'd describe it to anyone, because it made NO SENSE....but somehow I just kept on reading. I guess if I were to describe it in one sentence: this book is basically a creation story as told by Quentin Tarantino. Actually, yes, I could see the movie adaptation being made by QT (with Helena Bonham Carter playing dead Margaret, of course). I'd watch that. I think I'll have to process this one a bit before I could even say whether I LIKED it or not."

Maybe I need to re-read it.

[eachase.livejournal.com]

Oh, you also asked about schedules, too. I work on weekends periodically, but not on a set schedule, so not much point in trying to schedule around them. Probably either Sunday afternoon or evening works about equally well if I'm not working.

I'm in Central and I know some of us are in Eastern. Anyone in other time zones participating?

[semperlego.livejournal.com]

Been in the non-fiction realm recently, here is a great endorsement for re-reading:
"The re-reader is looking not for actual surprises (which can come only once) but for a certain surprisingness... In the only sense that matters, the surprise works as well the twentieth time as the first. It is the quality of unexpectedness, not the fact that delight us. It is even better the second time. Knowing the the 'surprise' is coming we can now fully relish the fact that this path through the shrubbery doesn't look as if it were suddenly going to bring us out on the edge of the cliff..." C.S. Lewis, "On Stories."

MWT's stories and their surprises only become more delightful each time I read them.

"Lavinia" in February sounds wonderful.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

As far as timing for the Sunday chats, I'd prefer to have them earlier in the day but am absolutely fine with whatever works best for the majority.