jpcamb

I had a run of bad books so for the past few months I have been re-reading Stephen King's Dark Tower, added Wind Through the Keyhole this cycle, and am currently on book 7.

I did pause to read Kim Harrisons new series "Three Kinds of Lucky" which was a nice urban fantasy book but I am partial to her writing.

wishbone

Like Blackthorne in a strange, daunting world Mariko will be your guide in learning Japanese language, culture, and the political machinations of the period. A long but engaging story awaits.

brainee

Finished a couple of short novels:

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams. I finished rereading Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy not too long ago getting ready for his newer Osten Ard books. Since this is essentially an epilogue to the earlier trilogy (without Williams' usual helpful "previously on ..." introduction) that was good thing it was fresh in my head. Despite being written 30 years later, the style and quality and consistent (and its cool to get POV sections from the villainous Norns).

Also finished:

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. This one I didn't care for so much, and probably would've bailed if it wasn't so short (160 pages). To be fair, this is probably a little on me. If I dove into reader comments more (though I try to be careful to not get spoiled) I would've seen a lot of warning signs that this wouldn't be a book I enjoy. I get what the author went for, with a dreamy disjointed narrative that cared more about being a reflection on grief and love than telling a coherent story. But without a narrative it dragged terribly for me (despite being short), and seemed like an idea that would've been better as a short story or novella at most.

thematahara

Finished

Nick Danger

Jim Butcher - Proven Guilty: Dresden Files #8. I am really enjoying this series. There is a character arc across the whole series, which is unusual. Dresden has advanced from a solo wizard who carelessly sets buildings on fire to a wizard rapidly moving up the ranks and having to deal with the political implications of his decisions.

In this book, Harry Dresden is asked by one of his best friends to help with a rebellious teenage daughter -- while he is dealing with a supernatural attack on a horror movie convention.

Bronkster

Still working my way through War and Peace.

Kurt D

Finished Afterlife by Douglas Clegg. Short psychological horror, but an overall dud.

Have been chipping away at No Self, No Problem by Chris Niebauer PhD - a look at how neuropsychology can be seen to be approaching concepts of Buddhism.
Oddly, the intro attempts to refute the Descartes tidbit "I think, therefore I am" before going on to say there is no such thing as an actual 'self' because our notion of 'self' is created by out thoughts. Hmmm.

Also reading Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese wherein he trashes a bunch of turn-of-the-century movies like Volcano, Blade, etc.
Great for some cheap laughs.

Kurt D

Hope you are still enjoying it!

Bronkster

I am! Not being much of a history buff I didn't know too much about the war, but this makes it sounds like both the Russian and French armies were humorously incompetent. But it's been a great book so far. Just very, very long!

thematahara

Finished

brainee

Finished:

Jade City by Fonda Lee. I really like this. I've seen it done before, but having the setting for a fantasy story have modern technology (well, in this case mid 20th century) instead of medieval is interesting to me. As is this book's mix of organized crime thriller, family drama saga, and magical superheroes (and villains). Thankfully this book tells a complete story while leaving lots of avenues open (which I'm sure the next 2 books in the trilogy will follow up on).

I'll get to those soon, but before that I also finished:

We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. The digital version I read didn't have this cover ... but this is much cooler IMO. And now I'm caught up with reading all of Hendrix's novels. Like all of his books, it's a fun easy read (even if the supernatural mythology of the story seems very underdeveloped).

lwhy?

I finished The Running Grave. I thought it was the best book in the series and it might be the best book ever written by the controversial author. It's very long at nearly 1000 pages. I started it in the fall and just now finished it.

wishbone

Read:

Nick Danger

Jim Butcher - White Night: The Dresden Files #9. Another excellent book, despite a slow start. I think that the author is starting to have trouble bringing new readers up to speed when he's continuing story arcs that started three or four books back. As I said before, I'm enjoying the long-form stories. I just hope that he planned out what he was doing, and not writing himself into a corner like Chris Carter did for X-Files.

In this book, Harry Dresden hunts for a serial killer who targets women of minor magical ability, the kind of women who join Wiccan societies. The killings turn out to be part of a much bigger scheme.