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What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome

Jonny said:
I finished the audio version of Gormenghast Book 1. Titus Groan yesterday. And have to say the longer it took to say very little the more peeved I became, wishing in the end, the damn thing would finally finish. Mercifully, it did, but perhaps three to four hours later than it ought to have done. It weighs in at around 22 hours.

If you see my last post in this thread, at the halfway point I was really enjoying it, and particularly Saul Reichlin's amazing reading of the text. That remained fantastic to the (bitter) end as did Peake's gift of wordsmithery. However, if I might extend my thoughts, that is to say elaborate upon my meaning, or perhaps attempt to clarify. Had Peake been a blacksmith instead and used his talents in that trade to the utmost, then I conclude he would have made particularly excellent portcullises for pogo sticks.

At one point and on completion, I had been going to get Gormenghast and carry on with the trilogy, but then concluded that perhaps Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar might afforded me considerably more pleasure.
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I loved Titus Groan, I think Peaks scene building is perfect. He can write for chapters just describing the ediface of Gormangast. I seem to recall the first chapter in Titas Groan went on for 'bloody pages' without anything happening !!! but jus sooo descriptive... A good pre-courser to Howels Moving Castle I think.
 
Just finished Flattie, a self-published memoir by one of my writing friends, Jean Stirling. 'Flattie' is what travelling show people call those in houses/apartments. Jean's mother was a flattie who married into the travelling show scene, and Jean, in the 50's to '70s grew up in that life in Scotland. This is a fascinating and personable insight into an existence that most of us only see from the seat of a swirling waltzer, a community that is shrinking as more shows become permanent fixtures. One might criticise it for having too many passive verbs, but I quickly overlooked that as I became more and more absorbed in the story. It's available on Amazon and other outlets such as Hive.
 
ONE TO WAIT FOR –
Expected h/b publication December 1, 2024

I'm really looking forward to this one.

"A suspenseful dark comedy about a struggling gay writer who wakes up to find his date from the night before dead — and must enlist the help of his literary agent to get rid of the body and spin the entire misadventure into his next big book."
 
Peyton Stafford said:
... I just tried to read Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings... Now, I wonder why I ever thought I could write science fiction or fantasy. Sanderson has built an empire on his writing, but amongst the millions of words, where is the heart for me to embrace and heal with my own?
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Oh, it's there in spades but you have to wade through a lot of words to find it. There is a purpose though. I loved it. It's a brilliant book, but I listened via Audible the first time (yes, I've read it multiple times) and the first time it dragged until it all started to come together. I especially loved the relationship between Dalinar and Navani.
 
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E G Logan said:
ONE TO WAIT FOR –
Expected h/b publication December 1, 2024

I'm really looking forward to this one.

"A suspenseful dark comedy about a struggling gay writer who wakes up to find his date from the night before dead — and must enlist the help of his literary agent to get rid of the body and spin the entire misadventure into his next big book."
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December 2024 ???

Who's writing this ?

If this is a joke, the "woosh" you just heard was it flying over my head.
 
RK Capps said:
Oh, it's there in spades but you have to wade through a lot of words to find it. There is a purpose though. I loved it. It's a brilliant book, but I listened via Audible the first time (yes, I've read it multiple times) and the first time it dragged until it all started to come together. I especially loved the relationship between Dalinar and Navani.
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I will try it again tonight...
 
RK Capps said:
It is a big book, and you do wonder why you're following a guy building bridges, but it is well put together for how big a story it is. There is a payoff, I promise :) It just seems a lot to wade through to get to it, but everything is relevant.
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On second thought, I just got through Changeling for the book club. Heresy looks less intimidating, so I will read it next.
 
E G Logan said:
ONE TO WAIT FOR –
Expected h/b publication December 1, 2024

I'm really looking forward to this one.

"A suspenseful dark comedy about a struggling gay writer who wakes up to find his date from the night before dead — and must enlist the help of his literary agent to get rid of the body and spin the entire misadventure into his next big book."
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Sounds interesting, but could you please include bib data so I can find a copy?
 
Reading the ladies with a Midas touch looking for their alchemy. Ruth Rendell. Nora Roberts. MC Beaton. My greatest takeaway is that readers and publishing dont really have a type. It's a smorgasbord. If you can manage to not bore the pants off people there is an audience. MC Beaton is a particularly interesting puzzle for me. Her books are checked out of the library more often than any other writer. That may be because the simple languag puts the readership from 12 on up. She's genuinely good at building mystery. And can be good at character. But repeatedly describes her MC's eyes as "bear-like." What?
 
I'm deep into William Blake vs The World, which packs a surprising mix of biography and creative inspiration. I would think that all creative people, but fantasy writers in particular, would be inspired by how he accepted his "visions" -- of angels and fairies, etc -- as a part of his world, even knowing that others did not experience them in the same way.
 
Has anyone read "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin? I'm about half way, and I don't really know what to think about it. I mean, it's interesting, and really different, but it's pretty slooooowwwww. I just saw that there's going to be a Netflix series based on it.
 
LJ Beck said:
Ah ha!! OK, cool. Thanks Peyton. Good to know.
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That may have just been me. Once upon a time, I lived for world building, the more exotic the better. Now IRL and in my writing, I find what seems to be mundane reality mysterious enough, so I may have missed the point of the book, especially since the author's culture and circumstances were so different from mine.
 
Peyton Stafford said:
That may have just been me. Once upon a time, I lived for world building, the more exotic the better. Now IRL and in my writing, I find what seems to be mundane reality mysterious enough, so I may have missed the point of the book, especially since the author's culture and circumstances were so different from mine.
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Well, I love sci-fi and world building, but I found the same thing with this particular book that you did. I'll stick it out and finish it, but find myself wondering what all the fuss is about. At least I'm not alone! :D
 
LJ Beck said:
Well, I love sci-fi and world building, but I found the same thing with this particular book that you did. I'll stick it out and finish it, but find myself wondering what all the fuss is about. At least I'm not alone! :D
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Who wrote the book, The Golden Age of Science FictionI? He said it was thirteen. For us grownups, understanding the world we live in, and trying to heal it through our writing, may be challenge enough. But you and I live not under the thumbs of dictators. We can speak and write freely without resort to metaphor.
 
Peyton Stafford said:
Who wrote the book, The Golden Age of Science FictionI? He said it was thirteen. For us grownups, understanding the world we live in, and trying to heal it through our writing, may be challenge enough. But you and I live not under the thumbs of dictators. We can speak and write freely without resort to metaphor.
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Yes, true. I can't imagine how difficult it is to write without the freedom to write whatever you want, metaphorically or otherwise. That said, one of the things I love about sci-fi is the use of metaphors. :nerd-face:
 
Who likes a thriller in the style of The Godfather?

Well if that's you, then the first two books in Don Winslow's The City trilogy are likely to be up your street. (1. City On Fire & 2. City Of Dreams)

Just audiobooked both back-to-back and enjoyed them immensely. OK, so high concept they ain't and they do have a bit more than a nodding acquaintance to Puzo, but they zip along at a good pace with little or no filler.

Only problem now is I have to wait until the 3rd one is written / published later this year or next.

Hang on though. If I feed all the themes and plot points of books 1 & 2 into ChatGPT... then I can have an infinite number of 3rd books within the next fifteen minutes. ;)
 
Just finished The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton. Really enjoyed this sequel to The Miniaturist. (Historical Fiction with a hint of magic.) I do like Jessie's writing style.

This book will work as a standalone, but I'm sure readers will get much more out of it if they've read The Miniaturist first.
 
Hannah F said:
Just finished The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton. Really enjoyed this sequel to The Miniaturist. (Historical Fiction with a hint of magic.) I do like Jessie's writing style.

This book will work as a standalone, but I'm sure readers will get much more out of it if they've read The Miniaturist first.
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Wow. I read the Miniaturist and will now have to read this! Thanks Hannah.
 
Ailurophile Alert (A feline tail) this is a fascinating 1889 book

“Our Cats and All About Them” by Harrison Weir

Did you know? Some time has passed since I published my book, "Our Cats and all about them," in 1889, and much has taken place regarding these household pets. All know as well as myself that each and everything about us changes, nothing stands still; that which is of to-day is past, and that which was hidden often revealed, sometimes by mere accident, at others by scientific research; but one was scarcely prepared in any way for so wonderful "a find" as that of the large number of "mummy" Cats at Beni Hassan, Central Egypt. They were discovered by an Egyptian fellah, employed in husbandry, who tumbled into a pit which, on further examination, proved to be a large subterranean cave completely filled with mummy Cats, every one of which had been separately embalmed and wrapped in cloth, after the manner of the Egyptian human mummies, all being laid out carefully in rows; and here they had lain probably about three or four thousand years. The "totem" of a section of the ancients, as is well known, was the Cat; hence when a Cat died it was buried with due honours, being embalmed, and often decorated in various ways, and, in short, had as much attention paid to it as a human being. It had long been believed that a Cat cemetery existed on the east bank of the Nile, and in the autumn of 1889 the lucky Egyptian, about 100 miles from Cairo, came unexpectedly upon it.

Immediately on "the find" becoming known, "specimen" mummy Cats were written for to agents in Egypt, one friend of mine sending for four, and it appeared for a while that much money would be realised by the owner of the cave or land in this way; but the number was too great, and the prices and the interest gave way, and, sad to relate, these former "Deities" were dug out of their resting-place by hundreds of thousands, and quickly sold to local farmers, being used for enriching the land. Other lots found their way to an Alexandrian merchant, and were by him sent to Liverpool on board the steamer Pharos and Thebes.


IMG_0524.png
 
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ChandlerJules said:
Ailurophile Alert (A feline tail) this is a fascinating 1889 book

“Our Cats and All About Them” by Harrison Weir

Did you know? Some time has passed since I published my book, "Our Cats and all about them," in 1889, and much has taken place regarding these household pets. All know as well as myself that each and everything about us changes, nothing stands still; that which is of to-day is past, and that which was hidden often revealed, sometimes by mere accident, at others by scientific research; but one was scarcely prepared in any way for so wonderful "a find" as that of the large number of "mummy" Cats at Beni Hassan, Central Egypt. They were discovered by an Egyptian fellah, employed in husbandry, who tumbled into a pit which, on further examination, proved to be a large subterranean cave completely filled with mummy Cats, every one of which had been separately embalmed and wrapped in cloth, after the manner of the Egyptian human mummies, all being laid out carefully in rows; and here they had lain probably about three or four thousand years. The "totem" of a section of the ancients, as is well known, was the Cat; hence when a Cat died it was buried with due honours, being embalmed, and often decorated in various ways, and, in short, had as much attention paid to it as a human being. It had long been believed that a Cat cemetery existed on the east bank of the Nile, and in the autumn of 1889 the lucky Egyptian, about 100 miles from Cairo, came unexpectedly upon it.

Immediately on "the find" becoming known, "specimen" mummy Cats were written for to agents in Egypt, one friend of mine sending for four, and it appeared for a while that much money would be realised by the owner of the cave or land in this way; but the number was too great, and the prices and the interest gave way, and, sad to relate, these former "Deities" were dug out of their resting-place by hundreds of thousands, and quickly sold to local farmers, being used for enriching the land. Other lots found their way to an Alexandrian merchant, and were by him sent to Liverpool on board the steamer Pharos and Thebes.




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In fairness to the author, this book covers many breeds and habits of cats. I whiled away a morning looking through this book which can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg or Amazon (free). He stepped away from National Cat Show not wanting to promote certain standards that he deplores. So many cat lovers here I thought it would be of interest. Did not mean to make anyone sad
 
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