Reading Books For Pleasure

[seela]

Has anyone read My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell?

Thoughts?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Last week I read Seanan McGuire's "The Proper Thing" (novella about a fox who's transformed into a human and works in a magical cheese shop) and Tamsyn Muir's "Harrow the Ninth" (sequel to Gideon the Ninth: space necromancers murdering one another while trying to attain immortality, not that being murdered is always the end of the story when necromancers are involved).

Harrow was a challenging book to read. I'm a very fast reader, and I had time off work so usually it would've taken me a day or two to get through something like this, but I only have the audio book which is about twenty hours long. It's beautifully read but I have difficulty staying focussed with audio so it took me a week to get through it, a couple of hours a day.

That was kind of torture, because the first half or so of the book feels like letting somebody cut you open without really being certain whether they know how to sew you back up again. And then it got really weird and in some points absurdly silly, and all that reading was worth it, and my reading buddy and I have been spending the last few days gabbling at one another about what happened and how the third book might resolve the things that were raised in this one.

Now we have to wait probably another year for that sequel, goddamnit...

 

[LottaLix]

I pick up my book . . .I see the book mark well into the last third of the pages and feel sad.

I don't want this book to end. I rarely want any book into which I immerse myself to end. That is why I tend to prefer series of books.

Does anyone else feel this way?

KC, it's the book you recommended, The Angry Angel. I didn't want to read it when I read the word Dracula as I didn't enjoy that book. I read one chapter as I often do to get a taste and see if it grabbed me. It did!

Thanks for the recommendation. I would say this has a BDSM feel to it as well as a neck biting lusciousness.

Fury

I definitely have always felt this way Furry. I hate coming to the end of a book
as I feel like I’m saying a final ‘farewell’ to the characters. I usually feel quite bereft as a consequence. Therefore, I had to make it a rule never to finish a book whilst on public transport because I more often than not cry my eyes out.

I think the first time characters had such a profound effect on me was when I read ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton when I was about 13/14 years old.

 

[FurryFury]

Nice! I liked The Outsiders too.

I definitely have always felt this way Furry. I hate coming to the end of a book
as I feel like I’m saying a final ‘farewell’ to the characters. I usually feel quite bereft as a consequence. Therefore, I had to make it a rule never to finish a book whilst on public transport because I more often than not cry my eyes out.

I think the first time characters had such a profound effect on me was when I read ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E. Hinton when I was about 13/14 years old.

Dark Tides by Elizabeth L. Jones 4/5

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George 4/5

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes 4/5

His Majesty's Dragon(Temeraire #1) by Naomi Novik 4/5

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford 4/5

Undead and Unwary (Undead, #13) by MaryJanice Davidson 4/5

Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11) by Patricia Briggs 4/5

Knife Children (The Sharing Knife #4.5) by Lois McMaster Bujold 4/5

The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark 2/5

 

[SeeMeRolling]

I have too many books on my bookshelf to ever feel that I am "done" reading.

My only dilemma sometimes is that I have a difficult time getting into fiction books. So, while I do read for enjoyment, it is always still a heavy subject. So reading books takes me a long time to digest what I am reading. Usually reading a page over and over again to interact with it. Chew on it.

 

[FurryFury]

Good for you! Each to their own.

Share some fav books?

I have too many books on my bookshelf to ever feel that I am "done" reading.

My only dilemma sometimes is that I have a difficult time getting into fiction books. So, while I do read for enjoyment, it is always still a heavy subject. So reading books takes me a long time to digest what I am reading. Usually reading a page over and over again to interact with it. Chew on it.

 

[SeeMeRolling]

Good for you! Each to their own.

Share some fav books?

I hope my previous comment didn't come across as being jerkish. It wasn't meant to be. My apologies if it did.

Currently reading about humanism.

a recent favorite Feminism for the 99%

I read mostly political, social issues, and "theology" (though I am an atheist) so the theology isn't so much in favor of a "god", but the absence of one.

 

[Saintdragonslayer]

Currently reading "I Claudius" by Robert Graves. Done this arse for tit by reading the second book "Claudius the God" a couple of years ago. Done this several times in my life, picked up a book in a second hand book shop and started reading it, not realising it was the second or third in a series. Not always a bad end result. Also done this with the Stieg Larsson millennium trilogy the same way. If it gets you into a good series of books it is worth it in the end.

One of my favourite authors is Irvine Welsh, who's characters pop up in several of his books, which appear to be written in no real chronological order. Ideal for a random picker, like myself...

 

[seela]

After a book that has made me think and feel and that I've enjoyed a lot, even pretty good books feel a little lacking.

I should probably pick a book that I know will be bad as a palate cleanser in those situations.

 

[FurryFury]

Not at all.

I hope my previous comment didn't come across as being jerkish. It wasn't meant to be. My apologies if it did.

Currently reading about humanism.

a recent favorite Feminism for the 99%

I read mostly political, social issues, and "theology" (though I am an atheist) so the theology isn't so much in favor of a "god", but the absence of one.

 

[FurryFury]

Ash (Ash #1) by Malinda Lo 4/5 YA Lesbian romance retelling of Cinderella

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund 2/5 Gave it up.

Fake ID by Lamar Giles 4/5 YA featuring a POC and a male

The Chocolate War (Chocolate War, #1) by Robert Cormier 1/5 I want my time back.

Unicorn Western (Unicorn Western #1) by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant 4/5

Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis 2/5 Gave it up

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair 2/5 Too dry for me.

Edge of Defiance (Edge of Collapse, #5) by Kyla Stone 4/5

Throne of Glass(Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas 4/5 YA Chick is an assassin? Yes please!

The Donor by Frank M. Robinson 2/5 Couldn't finish

The Silver Gate (The Silver Gate #1) by Kristin Bailey 4/5 Juvenile

The Three-Body Problem(Remembrance of Earth's Past #1) by Liu Cixin Author, Ken Liu (Translator) 1/5 Couldn't finish

After Siege (As the World Dies #4) by Rhiannon Frater 4/5

Tangerine by Edward Bloor 4/5 YA

Edge of Anarchy (Edge of Collapse #4) by Kyla Stone 5/5

 

[FurryFury]

I've done that too and agree, if the series is good, it's a good result even if read out of order.

Currently reading "I Claudius" by Robert Graves. Done this arse for tit by reading the second book "Claudius the God" a couple of years ago. Done this several times in my life, picked up a book in a second hand book shop and started reading it, not realising it was the second or third in a series. Not always a bad end result. Also done this with the Stieg Larsson millennium trilogy the same way. If it gets you into a good series of books it is worth it in the end.

One of my favourite authors is Irvine Welsh, who's characters pop up in several of his books, which appear to be written in no real chronological order. Ideal for a random picker, like myself...

 

[FurryFury]

That's tough. I always have more than one book I'm reading.

Sometimes a switch to a different area helps. like YA or something.

This year, there are quite a few I can't read given the political situation and the pandemic. I just can't. Maybe next year.

After a book that has made me think and feel and that I've enjoyed a lot, even pretty good books feel a little lacking.

I should probably pick a book that I know will be bad as a palate cleanser in those situations.

 

[FurryFury]

I get it.

Last week I read Seanan McGuire's "The Proper Thing" (novella about a fox who's transformed into a human and works in a magical cheese shop) and Tamsyn Muir's "Harrow the Ninth" (sequel to Gideon the Ninth: space necromancers murdering one another while trying to attain immortality, not that being murdered is always the end of the story when necromancers are involved).

Harrow was a challenging book to read. I'm a very fast reader, and I had time off work so usually it would've taken me a day or two to get through something like this, but I only have the audio book which is about twenty hours long. It's beautifully read but I have difficulty staying focussed with audio so it took me a week to get through it, a couple of hours a day.

That was kind of torture, because the first half or so of the book feels like letting somebody cut you open without really being certain whether they know how to sew you back up again. And then it got really weird and in some points absurdly silly, and all that reading was worth it, and my reading buddy and I have been spending the last few days gabbling at one another about what happened and how the third book might resolve the things that were raised in this one.

Now we have to wait probably another year for that sequel, goddamnit...

 

[Bramblethorn]

All Systems Red by Martha Wells, aka "Book 1 of the Murderbot Diaries".

Murderbot is a corporate security robot who has hacked its own governor module to become independent. It just wants to be left alone and watch soap operas, but fate has other plans.

Fun little story, nothing heavy. I'll be interested to see where the sequels go.

 

[FurryFury]

Wolf Pack by C.J. Box 4/5

 

[Bramblethorn]

Not Pounded By The Physical Manifestation Of Someone Else's Doubt In My Place On The Autism Spectrum Because Denying Someone's Personal Journey And Identity Like That Is Incredibly Rude So No Thanks by Chuck Tingle.

First of his stories I've read. It delivers what the title promises.

 

[seela]

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo.

Fascinating, captivating. An interesting story about love, trust, loss and sense of tradition and duty. Made me think hard about life. Good stuff!

 

[FurryFury]

Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Eden Moore, #1) by Cherie Priest * 1/5 (Didn't finish, only 50 pages read)

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar * 1/5 (Didn't finish, only 50 pages read and it's a thin book)

Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum, #25) by Janet Evanovich 4/5

A Year Without a Name: A Memoir by Cyrus Grace Dunham 2/5 (Didn't finish, only 50 pages read)

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 1/5 (Didn't finish, only 50 pages read)

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy, #2) by Deborah Harkness 4/5

Rainwater by Sandra Brown 4/5

 

[seela]

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich is one beast of a book, absolutely gigantic. Stories and experiences of the people in Soviet Union. The little details are very telling, fascinating.

All The Beautiful Girls by Elizabeth J. Church is a lovely book and an engaging story about a girl who loses her family in a car accident, grows up and becomes a dancer. The writing is good and the details about life in general and especially Las Vegas in the 60s are great. I enjoyed this one.

 

[Chewbacca79]

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich is one beast of a book, absolutely gigantic. Stories and experiences of the people in Soviet Union. The little details are very telling, fascinating.

All The Beautiful Girls by Elizabeth J. Church is a lovely book and an engaging story about a girl who loses her family in a car accident, grows up and becomes a dancer. The writing is good and the details about life in general and especially Las Vegas in the 60s are great. I enjoyed this one.

Chernobyl Prayer by the same author is an astonishing book. Highly recommended.

 

[seela]

Chernobyl Prayer by the same author is an astonishing book. Highly recommended.

Yep, I've read most of what she's written. She's a unique writer, important stories.

 

[Chewbacca79]

Yep, I've read most of what she's written. She's a unique writer, important stories.

I have just ordered the one you mentioned.

 

[seela]

I have just ordered the one you mentioned.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Chewbacca79]

I hope you enjoy it!

I'm sure I will... If I don't we will have a stern chat!