What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome

[LJ Beck]

So, (I realize starting with "So" already shows my conflict about this book) I'm listening to "The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" by Becky Chambers. I'm on the last few laps (5 more chapters of 23.) An agent I was researching said it's one of their favorite books. And I read the blurb, and it sounded like my cuppa. So I got it. Has anyone read this book?

What I'm enjoying: Massive world building. Massive. Many (!) alien races all with their own unique stuff (physiology, history, customs, cultures, planets, methods of communication, etc) interesting tech, interesting history of what happened to humans, interesting state of the universe/politics, etc. I am also enjoying the core characters. It's a space romp, so the MC's are the crew of this spaceship. The 7 crew (one new member, so that EVERYTHING HAS TO BE EXPLAINED -- more of this later) are all very different, and incredibly well crafted. Even the AI one, and the unlikable one.

What I'm not enjoying: As hinted, EVERYTHING is explained, what you need, what you might need, what you don't need, what you will definitely never ever need... It feels like the author just wanted you to know all this cool shit she came up with, and whenever she felt like telling you. It's obvious that a LOT of work went into imagining it all, and gosh darn it, you're going to hear alllll about it! And that unfortunately, takes up all the air instead of plot. The plot is like a wafer-thin mint. There aren't holes, becasue there isn't enough of a plot to punch holes into. It's more a series of unconnected events, that are all character/tech/species related. If you just looked at plot, you could lift out most of the first 3/4's of the book, and not lose any of the core plot. That just pisses me off. Because I love plot.

HOWEVER... I am still listening. And I will finish it. Because I have grown to really like a few of the characters. And just now, in chapter 19, we have FINALLY reached the Small Angry Planet, and it looks like we might, I live in hope, get a plot.

/rant

UPDATE! I did finish the book, and the last act was great. The book is not strong on plot overall, but I did enjoy it in the end.

 

[RK Wallis]

I've just finished Brigid Kemmerer Forging Silver into Stars. Some things about it I really didn't enjoy (some things too predictable and some things felt too convenient), but the climax wasn't something I've seen, so that was nice. So tired of YA killing off people (or almost) and using magic to heal them.

Started Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance (book 2 in The Way of Kings). His imagination is awe-inspiring! You're reading along, marveling at his incredible world building, then WHAM! he hits you in the gut or with a surprise. Love his writing.

 

[Claire G]

I've just started The Waves by Virginia Woolf - the first book I've read by her. The style is observational, following six characters throughout their lives, and the first page astounded me with the quantity of imagery and sensory description...it was almost overwhelming! I wondered what we'd make of it on Pop-Up Submissions today? Are we too inclined to expect the submitted openings to fit a set of 'rules'? Food for thought!
@AgentPete

 

[AgentPete]

I've just started The Waves by Virginia Woolf - the first book I've read by her. The style is observational, following six characters throughout their lives, and the first page astounded me with the quantity of imagery and sensory description...it was almost overwhelming! I wondered what we'd make of it on Pop-Up Submissions today? Are we too inclined to expect the submitted openings to fit a set of 'rules'? Food for thought!
@AgentPete

I so agree about Virginia Woolf... At full throttle, she produced transcendent prose, immersive, scintillating, and as you say, highly sensory.
We're not looking for rule-following on Pop-Ups, other than I suppose the first rule of writing... Interest your reader! Which Virginia certainly did.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I've just started The Waves by Virginia Woolf - the first book I've read by her. The style is observational, following six characters throughout their lives, and the first page astounded me with the quantity of imagery and sensory description...it was almost overwhelming! I wondered what we'd make of it on Pop-Up Submissions today? Are we too inclined to expect the submitted openings to fit a set of 'rules'? Food for thought!
@AgentPete

I love her writing. Read all her books. Always wondered if she had lead or arsenic poisoning, common in Victorian England, and that drove her depression into suicide.

 

[James Charles]

I started TRUST, by Hernan Diaz. Okay, this was the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. I am about 50 pages in and not one word of dialogue and it is all TELLING. It is well written, but breaks all of Pete's rules for openings: no emotion, no action, no real hooks and it is not a page turner. Oh my. Threw out the rules with this one but it won the prize!

 

[Hannah F]

Read V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

I really like Schwab's descriptive writing. Loved the clever plot. My only criticism was her use of "Later she would learn . . . " or "Later she would find out . . . ". It was dual time, and I'd have been fine, in the 21st century parts, to read, " Over time, she learnt . . . ", but inserting it into the earlier-time chapters pulled me out of feeling I too was in that earlier time. [Note to self: don't do that.]

 

[RK Wallis]

Read V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

I really like Schwab's descriptive writing. Loved the clever plot. My only criticism was her use of "Later she would learn . . . " or "Later she would find out . . . ". It was dual time, and I'd have been fine, in the 21st century parts, to read, " Over time, she learnt . . . ", but inserting it into the earlier-time chapters pulled me out of feeling I too was in that earlier time. [Note to self: don't do that.]

I can overlook much when she comes up with amazing lines like this:

“Why would anyone trade a lifetime of talent for a few years of glory?”
Luc’s smile darkens. “Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists. Because vision weakens, and voices wither, and talent fades.” He leans close, twists a lock of her hair around one finger. “Because happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end,” he says, “everyone wants to be remembered.”

Schwab, V.E.. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (p. 410). Titan Books. Kindle Edition.

or this:

"Three hundred years is such a long time. You were there for wars and revolutions. You saw trains and cars and planes and televisions. You witnessed history as it was happening.”
Addie frowns. “I guess so,” she says, “but I don’t know; history is something you look back on, not something you really feel at the time. In the moment, you’re just . . . living. I didn’t want to live forever. I just wanted to live.”

Schwab, V.E.. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (pp. 276-277). Titan Books. Kindle Edition.

 

[Hannah F]

Enjoyed The Gifts by Liz Hyder

Gothic novel based mainly in late 19th Century London. Four women seek to empower themselves in unusual circumstances. All are affected by a man obsessed with his angels - as in real? angels.

If you like The Silent Companions or The Essex Serpent, you'll enjoy this book.

 

[Serra K]

In the middle of Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. Got so attached to Gabriel Oak in the beginning that I'm now finding it a slog to get through. It branched out into all these other omniscient nastiness POVs and now I just want it to all tie together.

 

[Jonny]

Just finished Piranesi by Susanna Clarke last week. It was recommended to me by @Vagabond Heart (thank you so much VH - I would never have known about this gem otherwise)

Astounding (audio) book narrated brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Clever, fantastic, otherworldly and utterly mesmeric.

Old cliché time: I was really sad when I finished it. My book of the year so far.

 

[Pamela Jo]

I've just finished Laini Taylor's upper YA fantasy trilogy "Daughter of Smoke and Bone", "Days of Blood and Starlight", "Dreams of Gods and Monsters". If you like a lot of emphasis on the characters who have to battle rather than on the battle itself and like a hefty dollop or romance in your fantasy, which I do, this is just the ticket.
I'll definitely read more from this author.

Those are the books my German and Canadian girls were going Gaga over when here. Apparently the Netflix adaptation is disappointing.

 

[Hannah F]

Just finished Piranesi by Susanna Clarke last week. It was recommended to me by @Vagabond Heart (thank you so much VH - I would never have known about this gem otherwise)

Astounding (audio) book narrated brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Clever, fantastic, otherworldly and utterly mesmeric.

Old cliché time: I was really sad when I finished it. My book of the year so far.

Really enjoyed Piranesi

 

[Hannah F]

Those are the books my German and Canadian girls were going Gaga over when here. Apparently the Netflix adaptation is disappointing.

Not seen the adaptation. I don't have Netflix.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Reading Neil Gaiman's collection of "wisdoms." And he wrote a tribute to Diana Wynn Jones, author of Howls Castle. How did I miss this treasure trove. Soon to reading Fire and Hemlock on Audible.

Diana Wynne Jones

Follow Diana Wynne Jones and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com's Diana Wynne Jones Author Page.

www.amazon.co.uk

r

 

[Katie-Ellen]

At the moment I'm reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", found in my mother's bookshelves. Henrietta was a poor young Black woman who died of cervical cancer aged only 31. But her cells live on. Collected via biopsy before her death in John Hopkins, one of the few hospitals who treated poor people of colour for free in US at that time (1951)
This is her story, the story of her weird immortality, a medical breakthrough that has subsequently had direct physical effects on most of us via vaccines and medicines developed using her cells (HeLa cells).

But it's also a story of a family's tragedy and rage. Henrietta's cells have been to the Moon. There are more of her body cells alive now, all around the world, than she had in her body while she was alive.
Did she give her consent?

 

[Hannah F]

At the moment I'm reading "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", found in my mother's bookshelves. Henrietta was a poor young Black woman who died of cervical cancer aged only 31. But her cells live on. Collected via biopsy before her death in John Hopkins, one of the few hospitals who treated poor people of colour for free in US at that time (1951)
This is her story, the story of her weird immortality, a medical breakthrough that has subsequently had direct physical effects on most of us via vaccines and medicines developed using her cells (HeLa cells).

But it's also a story of a family's tragedy and rage. Henrietta's cells have been to the Moon. There are more of her body cells alive now, all around the world, than she had in her body while she was alive.
Did she give her consent?

Wow!

 

[James Charles]

I'm reading Ithaca, historical Fiction. Yet again, I don't get it (I do understand this is an established author with perhaps a following, as Pete would say) but there is no "real" emotion in the beginning (or what I have been acused of lacking in my work), internal emotion, or as one person said, "emotional internality." This book takes a while to get into and is not, really, a page turner... Oh well, the stuggle continues.

 

[Mel L]

Just finished reading Ruth Ozeki's 'My Year of Meats'. What an amazing read. Although the novel is 15 years old, and thus predates social media, it's incredibly timely in its treatment of fact vs fiction, and where the truth lies. (Truth lies, what????) Themes are fertility, the American beef industry and the use of illegal hormones, and a whole mashup of Japanese vs American culture. Pretty sure @Pamela Jo would love this!

 

[Jonny]

Just finished the excellent 1979 novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler after a recommendation from @Bloo✒️ in Pete's voice examples request thread.

A Sci-fi cum time-hopping story about a 1970s Californian woman's life as a slave on a plantation in Maryland in the early 1800s, as she is inexplicably buffeted between both timelines throughout.

Harrowing, moving, gripping and well-told. Certainly worth putting on your 'to read' lists if it's not there already.

 

[KateESal]

I've got to the end of the Expanse series by James S A Corey (actually, a collaboration between two writers) and every one of its 9 books is an absolute page-turner with great characters, superb world-building (universe, in this case) and packed with adventure.

If you're into sci-fi and you haven't read it yet, you're in for a treat. If you're not into sci-fi, this is a good place to start!

 

[Emily]

I've got to the end of the Expanse series by James S A Corey (actually, a collaboration between two writers) and every one of its 9 books is an absolute page-turner with great characters, superb world-building (universe, in this case) and packed with adventure.
View attachment 16147
If you're into sci-fi and you haven't read it yet, you're in for a treat. If you're not into sci-fi, this is a good place to start!

Brilliant, I'm bookmarking these to remember (my boys would love these)

 

[LJ Beck]

Just finished the excellent 1979 novel Kindred by Octavia E. Butler after a recommendation from @Bloo✒️ in Pete's voice examples request thread.

A Sci-fi cum time-hopping story about a 1970s Californian woman's life as a slave on a plantation in Maryland in the early 1800s, as she is inexplicably buffeted between both timelines throughout.

Harrowing, moving, gripping and well-told. Certainly worth putting on your 'to read' lists if it's not there already.

Cool! I haven't read that one (yet, but is on my to read list) but I did read "Wild Seed" by Butler, which is extraordinary. Have you read that one? It is very intense and often depressing (I believe traits of her writing in general?) but wowza, what a good book.

 

[LJ Beck]

I've got to the end of the Expanse series by James S A Corey (actually, a collaboration between two writers) and every one of its 9 books is an absolute page-turner with great characters, superb world-building (universe, in this case) and packed with adventure.

The 9 book series thing is a bit of a turn off for me, (although I did love The Dragon Riders of Pern series, and read most of them - 24 in all!) but with this recommendation, I'll give em a go! Thanks!

 

[LJ Beck]

I just finished the audio book of "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu. Holy Epic. Anyone else read this one? I want to know what you thought. I wouldn't give this an open-ended recommendation. It's really interesting, but you definitely have to be into sci-fi. I'm in a bit of a state of expanded wonder and feel a little weird after finishing it. That's got to be a sign of a great book.

 

[Claire G]

I just finished the audio book of "The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu. Holy Epic. Anyone else read this one? I want to know what you thought. I wouldn't give this an open-ended recommendation. It's really interesting, but you definitely have to be into sci-fi. I'm in a bit of a state of expanded wonder and feel a little weird after finishing it. That's got to be a sign of a great book.

That's how I feel after reading anything by Stephen Baxter!

 

[Jonny]

Cool! I haven't read that one (yet, but is on my to read list) but I did read "Wild Seed" by Butler, which is extraordinary. Have you read that one? It is very intense and often depressing (I believe traits of her writing in general?) but wowza, what a good book.

No, I haven't read any other of her books. I'll check out Wild Seed when I get a chance.

I'm in the middle of Porterhouse Blue (Tom Sharpe) currently. Sadly, and in keeping with many others of its time , there is some, not much so far, but still some terminology that definitely wouldn't pass muster today. But that aside, the satire of the old-fashioned Oxbridge bubble of existence is wonderful in its savagery and sharpness.

 

[LJ Beck]

That's how I feel after reading anything by Stephen Baxter!

Ah, thanks Claire, I just checked audible, and there are several of his books that are free with membership. So I've downloaded a few and will give them a try!

 

[Hannah F]

Just put a book on my must read list that is featured in the September issue of Writing Magazine (though I'll have to wait a year until it comes out in paperback as it's only getting published in hardback on 31st August - too expensive (and on kindle of course, but I don't like reading on screen for leisure. Hardcopy is much kinder to my eyes and I can see the words even when the sun is shining).
Anyway the book and why: It's something I've never heard of before - a tete-beche novel. "Two entwined stories printed back to back and head to foot. You read one, it ends in the middle of the book, you flip the book over and read the other tale. You can read either story first or both at once."
The book is The TurnGlass by Gareth Rubin. Half is Gothic. Half is noir. Both stories are linked to each other and to a murder at Turnglass House. It sounds fascinating.

 

[LJ Beck]

I just finished reading "The Atlas Six" by Olivie Blake. It's a Fantasy novel.

From Wikipedia: It is the first of a trilogy and follows six powerful young magic users who have the chance to join the secretive Alexandrian Society. The novel was originally self-published via Kindle in early 2020 before it was acquired by Tor Books after a seven-way auction.

A 7-way auction that Tor won. (proving chaos runs wild in the universe.)

The reviews show the book is super polarizing. Some LOVE it, and other are cursing it's existance. I was on the fence for a lot of it. The characters are unusual, and get more interesting as we go, but it was the magic system that I found the most interesting. Some magic stuff that I hadn't read before. But I seem to be cursed with reading plot-less books. The plot was so wafer thin it made me want to cry. Such a cool premise, and had a lot going for it, but like, DO SOMETHING. Ugh. (To be fair, some stuff does happen, but those moments are too few and far between.)

I won't be reading the next book in the series. I kind of want to know what happens, but not badly enough to wade through more plot-less meandering blah blah to find out.

I really need to find an engrossing, well paced and plotted book. Have started few new ones (one audio and one paperback)... here's hoping.