RIP (Read In Progress) Wednesday

[quillpunk]

Thank you, petrea_mitchell, for stepping in last week! :D And it is once more a Wednesday, so what are you all reading? 👀

Also, have you checked out the End-of-Year Reading Meme?

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

The Glass Cage by Nicholas Carr. I'm about 2/3 of the way through. It's about the unintended consequences of automation, and what we lose when we offload our work to machines and software. Carr isn't anti-technology, but he wants human-centric tech that works with humans instead of sidelining us, which is a position I support. A few quibbles here and there, but mostly I like it.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. About 1/3 done. A graphic novel about a chaotic shapeshifter joining forces with a villain who isn't very good at villainy. Lots of fun so far.

[zenigotchas]

That first one sounds really interesting tbh!

[rampantverve]

I'll need to check out that first one. I've been thinking a little about this topic with generative AI becoming so popular in two of my hobbies.

Are you planning to watch the Nimona movie?

[sixbeforelunch]

Are you planning to watch the Nimona movie?

I really want to, but it looks like it's exclusive to Netflix and I'm holding a (petty tbh) grudge against Netflix right now so I'm not sure I want to give them any money.

[petrea_mitchell]

Just finished novella 3 of the 5 that make up Lord Valentine's Castle. I don't think I've ever read anything by Robert Silverberg before. Despite his reputation of being the intensely literary one of the old-time sf greats, the prose is highly readable and it's a pretty straightforward planetary romance. But good heavens this is a long book.

[matsushima]

I finally broke out of my nonfiction rut. Not that I'm against it, but it was getting more difficult to find nonfiction that hit the spot. I'm participating in Boston Public Library's Winter Reading Challenge to read a book by an author from each of six geographical regions.

So far, I've started my book by an Asian author (The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's) and by an author(s) from the Americas (Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories). I figured I'd kickstart myself with some page turning thriller/horror because that usually gets me out of a reading slump.

[dark_phoenix54]

The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch, part of the Rivers of London series, except this one is in New York City. A novelette, rather than a long novel. Fantasy, set in the city.

[silversea]

Currently reading The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch. My library hold came late :(

I'm not really feeling it, and I can't tell if it's because I'm no longer in a holiday mood or am potentially developing a reading slump. I finished The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw a few days ago but I struggled a bit with it, despite it being something I'd usually love.

[givemeyourhonor]

I just finished Kissmas and I'm a little in the same boat, maybe because I started it at the tail end of December and finished it now.

[silversea]

I thought about it a bit more and decided to drop Kissmas. The romance is too instant-love for me, it largely hinges on how attractive they find each other, which isn't what I enjoy. The humor is mediocre and doesn't make up for the rest of the flaws.

[givemeyourhonor]

That's understandable. I wanted a little bit more from it than what they gave us. I found the romance the least interesting part of it.

[sareini]

Butcher and Blackbird, by Brynne Weaver. Two serial killers meet and fall for each other.

[raspberrysweettea]

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. It's a super interesting premise and I like everything I've read so far, but it's been a slow read for me, surprisingly.

[givemeyourhonor]

Finished The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch. It was cute. Some of the humor doesn't work for me and there is a lot of silliness. I also feel like the major supporting female character could have had more to do considering that she's a big part of the plot. Also, the end feels a little abrupt and it looks like it's mean to go right into the next book, which I'm curious about, but we'll see.

I started Swordcrossed by Freya Marske. I'm intrigued so far even though I'm a little overwhelmed by some of the worldbuilding details. I like that both leads have things at stake and aren't perfect people.

I'm still keeping up with the daily War and Peace thing I've been reading. I feel like just as I get to know who people are, I begin to forget again.

[greetingsfrommaars]

Still making my way through Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards! and also about a third of the way into Robert Macfarlane's Underland: A Deep Time Journey! Enjoying both.

[zenigotchas]

Just reading more Sonic The Comic. I'm close to issue #50 now, so I have plenty of issues left but I'm amazed at my progress.

[ilyena_sylph]

I just tore through both Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher, in and around The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia (great nonfiction about the history and horrors of maritime trade), and dropping back into Amber by Roger Zelazny.

[rampantverve]

Abarat by Clive Barker. I'm slowly going through it. It's enjoyable but I felt like I needed to pace myself. There's a feeling of "things happening just to keep things happening and then something else happens" that was wearing me down. It would be nice if it slowed down a bit, but I can just slow down on my side lol

[cornerofmadness]

The left handed booksellers of London by Garth Nix and I'm loving it

[earlymorningechoes]

Oh I think I just added that to my Storygraph TBR! I can't remember much else, but the title is such a fun kind of quirky, I love it.

[cornerofmadness]

I picked it up for one of the popsugar reading challenge's prompts and I love it

[olivermoss]

Ooh, that is on my TBR! Hopefully I get to it soon!

[cornerofmadness]

If I had the time I'd slate the whole day and just devour this one.

[earlymorningechoes]

I've been working my way through the Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard. I finished The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul a few days ago, took a break with a Nancy Drew book (The Message in the Hollow Oak), and just started Derring-Do for Beginners today.

TRPA was a bit of a slog for me, because I felt like shaking the main character the whole way through because she does Not handle having to slow down and be gentle with herself or others. TMitHO was a Nancy book I had not previously read, and it's an okay story but with some period-typical racism (less than in some of the other books, though).

DDfB has started off strong, though, and I'm excited to keep reading!

[lassarina]

Cue me immediately trying to remember the details of that particular Nancy Drew. XD

[olivermoss]

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. I decided to take a chronological approach to completing everything by her, starting with public domain stuff. Since it's first in a series with detectives I'd never heard of, Tommy and Tuppence, I thought maybe this book would be a dud, but I really like them and the book so far. I hope to finish the last bit soon.

[sixbeforelunch]

Ooh Secret Adversary! I'm a huge fan of Tommy and Tuppence and that book is a lot of fun.

[valoise]

Just finished The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard. In a world where there are side-by-side identical valleys that are exactly 20 years in the past or future, it follows a one person as a 16 year old and then as a 36 year old. It was okay, but not as good as some of the reviews built it up to be.

I picked up a copy of I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons at the library so that's next.

[rekishi]

This went up yesterday when I was in bed already, but I was reading "A Desolation Called Peace", the sequel to the book I reviewed last week.

[lassarina]

I just finished Framed, by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. Ten true stories of wrongful convictions (nonfiction). I have never been so infuriated by something I've read and also appalled at the amount of catastrophic stupidity that went into chasing these convictions. Like, it's not that I thought the US criminal "justice" system was working, but. [incoherent cursing and waving of arms] Anyway it was an incredible book, but just. augh.

I'm picking up Our Deadly Designs from the library tonight, the second in a series that I started last year, and I also should probably start and finish Iron Flame so I'm ready when Onyx Storm hits. I'm doing the thing where I'm too excited about something so I can't actually start it, which is baffling and frustrating.

[pedanther]

Down and Out in Purgatory: Collected Stories of Tim Powers. So far I've read one novella, which I really liked, and two short stories, both of which I found somehow disappointing - I think I prefer Powers at greater length, when he has a chance to make things intricate and complicated.

[apachefirecat]

I'm behind on DW, but ahead on my reading for a change. :) I've finished three books already this year, a quick AI read that I got from a GoodReads giveaway, the First Ladies book I've been diligently working on but also truthfully enjoying for the last several months, AND a book that I actually ATE gleefully in THREE days!! :) It has been YEARS since I last read a whole book in that short a span of time, but I highly recommend A View From the Zoo and the author's other animal books to any animal lovers out there!! Each chapter does have a Christian message, but it's the animal stories that make the book SHINE!!!! <3 As is surely evidenced by his creating an entire series of kid books off of these stories!