RIP (Read In Progress) Wednesday

[quillpunk]

It is once more Wednesday. What are you reading? 👀

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

I just started Ringworld by Larry Niven and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It's too soon to have an opinion on either of them, but Piranesi has an intriguing opening.

[quillpunk]

Good luck! It's always fun when a book's intriguing from the start :D

[cactus_rs]

I really enjoyed Piranesi so I hope you do too!

[pauraque]

I loved Piranesi so much. I hope it works for you!

[elizalavelle]

I really liked Piranesi - I was recommending it to a lot of people before I was done and my description was mostly "I can't really say what it's about at all but I am loving the journey."

[cactus_rs]

"The Bright Ages," Matthew Gabrielle and David M. Perry

[ilyena_sylph]

Flipping between having gotten back to Elfstones, Cherryh's Regenesis, and Lost Worlds of South America (an Edwin Barnhart Great Courses).

[pauraque]

I just started reading Farm and Other F Words by Sarah Mock, nonfiction about small family farms and why they succeed or fail. So far she's discussed the American cultural obsession with these farms, and how it can be more about a fantasy of an idyllic, morally upright, "back to the land" life than about the realities of agriculture and the fact that small farms are really small businesses. I live in a rural state with a lot of these small farms, and I definitely see where she's coming from.

[ilyena_sylph]

Omg I have to go find this!

[rabbit_stew]

The popular image of a small family farm cracks me up. It's essentially a children's book version of a real family farm.

I'll have to look for that book.

Edit: The cover of the book. It's perfect! And it's on my TBR pile now.

[pauraque]

You know, I hadn't even seen the cover because I got it on an interlibrary loan and it's covered up by the sheet attached to it saying where it needs to go back to. But you're right, the cover is very appropriate!

[gloss]

I just finished The Map and the Territory by A.M. Tuomala, which is a wonderful magic-apocalypse story, full of amazing description and lovely character work.

Now I'm reading Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice, which is beautifully compelling.

[suncani]

Ooo I've had Map on my reading list for a while but not seen too much chatter about it. This is encouraging me to move it further up.

Reading a magical apocalypse and then Hobbs sounds like a real emotional whirlwind

[rabbit_stew]

Oh, I loved the Hobb series. It's wonderful from beginning to end.

[scifirenegade]

I'm a little swamped with work, but still reading the crappy Conrad Veidt bio. But for comfort, I'm re-reading Emma (Austen) and oh am I appreciating it more now than I did back when I was 17.

[rekishi]

"The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea", partway through. Theoretically an easy read, but it doesn't grip me as I thought it would.

[vriddy]

Oh, I read this one a while back and quite enjoyed it! But it did feel maybe a little bit shallow at times (though I might just not be the right audience!), though really charming overall. Hope it grips you better as you read along :)

[rekishi]

I keep reminding myself it's a fairy tale retelling and hence some things don't HAVE to be less complicated than they could be/just straight forward, I think that's part of it. That and the 1st person pov, which is something I usually avoid but I'm trying to read outside of my comfort zone a bit (because I've been struggling with reading in general so....reasons and I try to introduce variety).

I'm a quarter through, I do think I'll finish it though!

[white_aster]

What I've finished reading: Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher. Still a fun series, and there were some set pieces in here that I liked, but this book didn't catch me like the first in the series. Also, it's fairly obvious that some of the characters across the series have very similar internal monologues, which makes them come across as not really sufficiently different to be entirely satisfying. Still, the middle plot points were interesting, and though it was wrapped up probably a bit too cleanly, it was also nice to see more of guard-gnole Earstripe.

What I'm still reading: Armageddon Science is still going. I haven't given up yet, though yeah, I'm going to have to skip the chapter on climate change. The book was published nearly 15 years ago, and its discussion of climate change was probably dated for THEN. I've also pushed through and will probably continue reading Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma, though the author and I just...have fundamentally different views on art creators. Like, the amount of the book that is like "we make these assumptions about people we don't know, and wow isn't that sad when they turn out to be bad people?" is wild to me, because I am not a celebrity person. I assume that people are a mix of good/bad/neutral until proven otherwise. Putting so much of yourself into an ARTIST because you like their art to the point where you feel personally betrayed by them when they do something bad is just...not how I work. I can see this happening in other people, sure, but...it's befuddling to me. This is a book that is not really aimed at me, I think.

What I'll read next: Don't know! Want to get through Armageddon Science and then probably start on another physical book. I have a few on writing stacked up, maybe I'll pick up one of those.

[vriddy]

I started Witch King by Martha Wells and am enjoying it a tremendous amount :D

[suncani]

I've just started Wyrd Sisters, having read very few Discworld books before. I think it's definitely a read where half the fun is sharing all the hysterically absurd quotes.

[quillpunk]

Currently reading Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat (I tore through the volumes Fence my library had---which was not all of them, and so now I live in desolate squalor), Beat of their Own Drum by K.M. Neuhold and I'll get around to finishing The Foxhole Court at some point, I swear, please don't take away my Certified Reader(TM) card!

[elizalavelle]

I'm reading The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. I love the concept, not quite sure I'm sold on the book yet.

[jajalala]

Ooh me and my friends read The Lost Apothecary and opinions were mixed on it! Personally I liked it overall, but two of my friends absolutely hated it.

[elizalavelle]

I've finished it and I think I sit somewhere in the middle of it. I really liked the historical half of it. The present day main character was a bit weak for me.

[liminaltime]

I've just started reading Black Hollow Hideaway by J.R. Erickson. I'm addicted to the Troubled Spirits series. For nonfiction, I'm also reading I Will Die On This Hill by Meghan Ashburn and Jules Edwards.

[starfleetbrat]

Finally finished Ghost Station by SA Barnes and it was quite good imo.

Currently reading a novella: A Magical Girl Retires by Seolyeon Park. I'm only a chapter or two in though, so can't offer an opinion on it yet but the premise sounds interesting. Its basically about a woman (29) who is going to unalive herself due to credit card debt and a magical girl shows up and tells the woman that she is a magical girl. But it looks more at the "real world" issues of being a magical girl etc.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197448259-a-magical-girl-retires

Actively reading:

[dialecticdreamer]

The Downsized Veggie Garden by Kate Kopsey
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Age-Proof Brain by Mark Milstein, PhD.
A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley, PhD.

I've been writing more than reading for the last couple of days, so fiction is another fanfic, this one an Avengers AU:
Hollowed Bones, Filled With Iron by Dragonflyy (AO3)

[mulhollands]

Rereading This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff at the moment.
Finished reading Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh last week, loved it.

[rabbit_stew]

Late to the party and new here!

Yesterday, I finished Lost Girl by Adam Nevill. It was good in the end. I'm very much a fan of cosmic/folk horror, so I'm naturally into Nevill's books and will eventually read his catalog. Not sure what I'm going to pick up next.

I'm also reading the last book in the Joe Pickett series (#24). They were a lot of fun.

[quillpunk]

Welcome! And no worries about being late :D Lateness is very much allowed and encouraged; take this at your own time as you need/want. There's no reason to rush <3 (I also agree cosmic/folk horror is a lot of fun.) Good luck with your reading!