[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
I hope you all have been enjoying Ursula Le Guin's Lavinia as much as I have. You can always count on Le Guin for her glorious writing.

From The Guardian: The utterly convincing world that Le Guin creates, in her crisp, delicately flavoured, perfectly unfussed prose, is a homespun one." And this: "Le Guin makes sense of him in her subtly moving, playful, tactfully told story, a novel that brought me to tears more than once. Lavinia is a delightful heroine: pragmatic, sensible, gentle, courageous. Virgil would never have written her: she is a modern projection of a modern intelligence and sensibility. But it is very much to Le Guin's credit that her Lavinia never strikes a false note."

And Kirkus calls Lavinia "arguably her best novel."

Join us on Sunday, March 5 for the discussion. Remember, we're meeting at New and Improved Times, to free up your dinner time/evening.

Noon PT
1:00 MT
2:00 CT
3:00 ET


You can find the chat in The Conspiracy Room , password to enter the room is here.

Hope to see you there!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Hi all, remember there is a chat tomorrow, Sunday, June 19 at 6PM CT/7PM ET in the Conspiracy Room. We'll discuss the third book in Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britian series, The Lantern Bearers. If you need a reminder of the password, you'll find it here. Come one, come all!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Don't forget the chat tomorrow, Sunday June 5 at 6PM CT / 7PM ET to discuss the second book in Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britian trilogy, The Silver Branch. Check out the Conspiracy Room here, and if you need a reminder of the password, you'll find it here.

Hope to see you all there!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Just a quick reminder--come to the chat tomorrow, Sunday May 22 at 6PM CT / 7PM ET to discuss Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth, the first book in her Roman Britian trilogy. You can wander into the Conspiracy Room here, and if you need a reminder of the password, you'll find it here.
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
I had the pleasure yesterday of meeting up with [livejournal.com profile] semperlego and [livejournal.com profile] bookishbabe and we talked and talked and talked for hours about books. Gosh, I've missed that! After much discussion about Queen's Thief, we went on to talk about other favorites and what we've been reading lately. So, I thought it was time to give and get some recommendations from all you smarty pants readers.

What have you been reading lately that you loved or hated?

I've read two books lately that I liked very much. Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier was very Queen's Thief-like. Great character development and a compelling story. I guessed all the twists, except for one, but enjoyed it anyway.

I told the others yesterday that I seldom read historical fiction, but I read one book last month that was the exception to my rule. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn tells the story of three women codebreakers during WW II who help the British break the ever-changing Axis codes. The story travels back and forth between the war and several years later and I especially liked the three different women characters, who are based on real people.

It was great meeting Semper and Bookish!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Super Bowl? What Super Bowl?

Ditch that dumb ol' football game and join us to chat about Diana Wynne Jones' third and final book in the Howl's Moving Castle series, House of Many Ways. The chat will be held in the Conspiracy Room on Sunday, February 13 at 7 PM EST, 6 PM CT. Here's a link to the password for the chatroom.

I'd forgotten how much I loved this book--quintessential DWJ! See slithery Howl as annoying kid Twinkle, a new (and very flawed) main character, and a house that sort of gives me nightmares with my serious lack of direction. We'll also discuss possible future group book readings, so bring any ideas. Along with some buffalo wings and nacho dip.

Be sure to watch the Puppy Bowl in the afternoon, however!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
We're going to continue our DWJ love-fest with a chat to discuss Castle in the Air. Join us in the Conspiracy Room on Sunday, January 30 at 7 PM EST, 6 PM CT.

Here's a link to the rest of the reading schedule and chat dates, and a link to the password for the chatroom. Hope to see you on Sunday!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
A reminder that we're getting ready for our first chat centered around Diana Wynne Jones' marvelous Howl's Moving Castle series. The chat will be held in the Conspiracy Room on Sunday, January 16 at 7 PM EST, 6 PM CT.

We will discuss the first book, Howl's Moving Castle, and probably especially how adorable and slithery that Howl is. And how Howl-like that Gen is. And lots more.

I just watched the Miyazaki movie version last night and highly recommend it, if you can get your hands on it. Part true-to-the-novel and part bizarre Beatles-Yellow-Submarine-ish, it was a real treat. Ooh, and Megan shated a funny story at the Books of Wonder panel back in November where she talked about DWJ meeting Miyazaki when working on the movie.

Here's a link to the rest of the reading schedule and chat dates, and a link to the password for the chatroom. Join us!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Many thanks to MWT and [livejournal.com profile] freenarnian for letting us know about this event, which is tomorrow, Sat. Nov. 13 at 3:00 EST.

From MWT:
"Sorry for the last minute-ness of this, but tomorrow (Nov. 13, 3 pm) I'm sitting in for Diana in a middle grade panel hosted by Books of Wonder to celebrate the 10th, 20th, and 35th respectively anniversaries of Wonderstruck, Artemis Fowl, and Howl's Moving Castle."

Get registered now!!!
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/fantasticmganniversaries/register

If the link doesn't work, get to it from Books of Wonder's website here.

Hope to see you all there!
[identity profile] mander-lee.livejournal.com

Hey Sounis!


I have been on the most terrible reading slump since March 😫. Seems like I'm stuck trying to scratch an itch I can't really define, lol. I've been all over Goodreads and Reddit trying to find something that would do the job, but I only managed to like, maybe two books, out of over a dozen I've tried.


So I've come here, because many books I've enjoyed over the years came from WSK and other book reco posts from this community.


The last few days I've been kind of in the mood for underdog stories, very much in line with QoA, KoA, and ACoK. Do you guys have any suggestions? Preferably a female protagonist, someone with an arc similar to Attolia's backstory — a shadow princess that everybody dismissed, who became a powerful ruler. Doesn't have to be a princess/queen, just someone who shows people how much of a girlboss she is. (Also, preferably someone more sympathetic than Attolia. I love Irene, but I can't get into her head.)


(Also, also, no love triangle please!)


It's all right if you don't have any suggestions up that alley. I'll be glad to hear of anything you really liked lately!

[identity profile] freenarnian.livejournal.com
I'm reading Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo, and she's a fan of MWT, right? So when I read the following...

(Wolves spoilers under the cut)
Read more... )

~ ~ ~
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
The great Laini Taylor (author of the lovely Strange the Dreamer) has an article on the tor.com website called "Five Books That Feature Lost, Missing, and Forgotten Gods." And in the very first sentence she mentions Return of the Thief and that certain part where a certain character (or is it a god?) causes a certain lightning bolt.

I'd never heard of the five books she goes on to mention, but there are some best-loved authors there--Frances Hardinge, Garth Nix--so consider her recommendations if you're on the lookout for something new to read. Which I know you always are. 
[identity profile] freenarnian.livejournal.com

So I’ve been returning lately to the books I enjoyed most as a child/ young teen and appreciating them anew, and having just reread The King’s Shadow by Elizabeth Alder, I can’t help thinking it deserves more love and recognition from fans of Megan Whalen Turner and Rosemary Sutcliff.
Blurb under the cut (or you can skip down to my thoughts if you prefer fewer spoilers):
Blurb )

My thoughts )
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
There's another great article on tor.com titled Six Great SFF Love Stories, by Everina Mawell. And guess who her first OTP is? You got it--Eugenides and Attolia. Some other of my favorites are mentioned, too (Miles and Ekaterin!), plus, ideas for books I haven't yet read.  Has anyone read Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri? It sounds like one I might like.
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Good riddance, 2020. Don't let the door hit you on your way out!

What were your favorite reads of the year? Other than RotT, that is. Did you read more books in 2020, since there was not much else to do? Did you find yourself changing what you normally read; for example (like me) fewer dark, dytopian books? Any grand loves or huge disappointments?

We're all always looking for new recommendations--what's good?
[identity profile] freenarnian.livejournal.com


Excited to see The Thief featured in Book Page's July issue. Sharing because I thought the reviewer did a great job of recommending it without giving too much away (a notoriously tricky task)!



Who else is enjoying/looking forward to rereading the series before Return of the Thief arrives in October?
[identity profile] eachase.livejournal.com

... you realize that the entire pile of books on your nightstand was recommended by other members of the Queen's Thief fandom... except that one random book you came across at the library.



Can you guess the outlier?

[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
It's been awhile since we talked about what we've been reading lately. With the shelter-in-place going on, did you read more than usual? Were you totally into comfort reads, or finding the time to finally tackle those long, dense books you've had on your TBR list forever? What did you like, or hate?

Did the closure of libraries cramp your style or were you able to read on your ereader or pull a book from that towering stack we always seem to have nearby?

I hope everyone has stayed healthy and safe!
[identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
Our favorite series gets a shout-out on BookBub's site, in an article titled, "14 of the Best Fantasy Heist Novels." If you're not familiar with BookBub, it's a free service that sends out notices of free and reduced price ebooks, new author releases, and reading recommendations. You can sign up for a daily email that gives you tips about what to read. I know someone here on [livejournal.com profile] sounis introduced me to it, along with Book Gorilla, a similar site.

Anyway, I loooove that it not only mentions The Thief, but also Six of Crows, and the Eli Monpress series, other favorites of mine. Have you read any of the other recommendations? I believe I tried the Locke Lamora book but didn't finish and now I can't remember why. Other favorite heist books? 

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