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kitewithfish) wrote2023-11-15 01:56 pm
kitewithfish) wrote2023-11-15 01:56 pm
Entry tags:
Wednesday Reading Meme Nov 15 2023
What I’ve Read:
A Power Unbound - The Last Binding #3 by Freya Marske
I read this in about two days, after re-reading the prior two books, and I am really excited – Marske absolutely nailed the landing on this series! The ending took all the themes of the prior books and was like, Hold my beer. I strongly recommend this book and this whole series!
The main couple for this book are Jack Allen, Lord Hawthorn, and Alan Ross aka Alonzo Rossi. They have a dynamic that would be hate sex if they didn’t both openly acknowledge how much fun they have arguing with each other. Watching them test and push each other starts off as a safe way for each of them to get what they want, but gradually becomes a situation where they are entangled and tender with each other. It’s a great relationship dynamic.
I was particularly pleased with how Marske managed to figure out a happy ending for three different committed couples, AND addressed the central problem of inequality
If you’re able to, I think the trilogy is best enjoyed by reading straight thru - Marske doesn’t spend a lot of time reworking events from the prior books, which I appreciate, but it does mean you’ll need to remember who the key players are from book to book. Several of the reveals are set up as far back as the first book. (I do know someone who picked up the second book as a stand alone, and while she enjoyed the romance, the stakes of the larger plot were a bit opaque.)
System Collapse – Martha Wells – Audiobook by Kevin R. Free
First: the events of this book take place immediately after Network Effect, the full-length Murderbot novel that came out in 2020. The Tor.com review mentioned that this novella felt like it was taken directly from NE, and I agree – you will not understand this story without reading Network Effect
I listened to this audiobook immediately (Libby got it to me the day it came out! When did I get in line??) and I really enjoyed it. It felt like a continuation of major themes coming out of the earlier books – what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be free? - and takes a look at those from multiple angles. As much as previous stories with Murderbot were about recognizing trauma, this book is about the messy process of *feeling* those feelings and grief, and figuring out what to do next.
What I’m Reading:
City of Blades – Robert Jackson Bennett - Xing Book Club – Compulsively readable. Feels very interested in the bloody awfulness of having an empire and keeping it, no matter who gets in the way. The main character was introduced in City of Stairs and the story will not make sense without it.
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter J Miller Jr – not much progress but was able to renew from library (Stream; SciFi Classics)
It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections in Horror - Joe Vallese (Editor) – SPN Seminar – Short essays where queer authors talk about horror cinema’s impact on them, with a focus on particular movies.
What I’ll Read Next:
Dark Rise – CS Pacat – re-read before the next book comes out.
Dark Heir – New book!
House of Leaves – Robobook Club – Haven’t touched it since I started it.
Ninefox Gambit – Xing Book Club
When Women Were Dragons - Xing Book Club
Owned and need to read: California Bones, Raven Song by IA Ashcroft, At The Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard, Tamryn Eradani's Enchanting Encounters Books 2 and 3, Tom Stoppard, Invention of love, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and Other Myths about Fatness by Aubrey Gordon, Alisha Rai Partners in Crime, the Right Swipe, Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
Some thinking about reading organization : Streams?
I’ve been getting more organized with my reading the last few years, and I have really appreciated the way it’s made my memory of what I read more sharp and also set me up to stop forgetting about books I intend to read.
But a friend of mine has a reading decisions system that I am rather envious of – she makes a list of books in several categories, assigns each category a number, and then a roll of dice tells her what she’s reading next from those preassigned lists. It’s all queued up beforehand.
I was talking to her today about how she organizes her “streams” so that she’s got multiple things to read at once but they are all things she has picked ahead of time and curated to read (with some space left for things that are just interesting or hit the spot.) I was strongly reminded of my Hugos Deathrace project, where I set up to read as many books off the Hugos shortlist between when it comes out and the actual awards are announced.
I’m vaguely thinking about trying to set up a similar system in my own Storygraph. I have several easily tagged genres I am interested in (Romance, Horror, SFF) and a few more potential streams that just fit my interests – Terry Pratchett, Authors of Color/Indigenous authors, Balkans, nonfiction, SPN reading group
A Power Unbound - The Last Binding #3 by Freya Marske
I read this in about two days, after re-reading the prior two books, and I am really excited – Marske absolutely nailed the landing on this series! The ending took all the themes of the prior books and was like, Hold my beer. I strongly recommend this book and this whole series!
The main couple for this book are Jack Allen, Lord Hawthorn, and Alan Ross aka Alonzo Rossi. They have a dynamic that would be hate sex if they didn’t both openly acknowledge how much fun they have arguing with each other. Watching them test and push each other starts off as a safe way for each of them to get what they want, but gradually becomes a situation where they are entangled and tender with each other. It’s a great relationship dynamic.
I was particularly pleased with how Marske managed to figure out a happy ending for three different committed couples, AND addressed the central problem of inequality
If you’re able to, I think the trilogy is best enjoyed by reading straight thru - Marske doesn’t spend a lot of time reworking events from the prior books, which I appreciate, but it does mean you’ll need to remember who the key players are from book to book. Several of the reveals are set up as far back as the first book. (I do know someone who picked up the second book as a stand alone, and while she enjoyed the romance, the stakes of the larger plot were a bit opaque.)
System Collapse – Martha Wells – Audiobook by Kevin R. Free
First: the events of this book take place immediately after Network Effect, the full-length Murderbot novel that came out in 2020. The Tor.com review mentioned that this novella felt like it was taken directly from NE, and I agree – you will not understand this story without reading Network Effect
I listened to this audiobook immediately (Libby got it to me the day it came out! When did I get in line??) and I really enjoyed it. It felt like a continuation of major themes coming out of the earlier books – what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be free? - and takes a look at those from multiple angles. As much as previous stories with Murderbot were about recognizing trauma, this book is about the messy process of *feeling* those feelings and grief, and figuring out what to do next.
What I’m Reading:
City of Blades – Robert Jackson Bennett - Xing Book Club – Compulsively readable. Feels very interested in the bloody awfulness of having an empire and keeping it, no matter who gets in the way. The main character was introduced in City of Stairs and the story will not make sense without it.
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter J Miller Jr – not much progress but was able to renew from library (Stream; SciFi Classics)
It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections in Horror - Joe Vallese (Editor) – SPN Seminar – Short essays where queer authors talk about horror cinema’s impact on them, with a focus on particular movies.
What I’ll Read Next:
Dark Rise – CS Pacat – re-read before the next book comes out.
Dark Heir – New book!
House of Leaves – Robobook Club – Haven’t touched it since I started it.
Ninefox Gambit – Xing Book Club
When Women Were Dragons - Xing Book Club
Owned and need to read: California Bones, Raven Song by IA Ashcroft, At The Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard, Tamryn Eradani's Enchanting Encounters Books 2 and 3, Tom Stoppard, Invention of love, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and Other Myths about Fatness by Aubrey Gordon, Alisha Rai Partners in Crime, the Right Swipe, Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
Some thinking about reading organization : Streams?
I’ve been getting more organized with my reading the last few years, and I have really appreciated the way it’s made my memory of what I read more sharp and also set me up to stop forgetting about books I intend to read.
But a friend of mine has a reading decisions system that I am rather envious of – she makes a list of books in several categories, assigns each category a number, and then a roll of dice tells her what she’s reading next from those preassigned lists. It’s all queued up beforehand.
I was talking to her today about how she organizes her “streams” so that she’s got multiple things to read at once but they are all things she has picked ahead of time and curated to read (with some space left for things that are just interesting or hit the spot.) I was strongly reminded of my Hugos Deathrace project, where I set up to read as many books off the Hugos shortlist between when it comes out and the actual awards are announced.
I’m vaguely thinking about trying to set up a similar system in my own Storygraph. I have several easily tagged genres I am interested in (Romance, Horror, SFF) and a few more potential streams that just fit my interests – Terry Pratchett, Authors of Color/Indigenous authors, Balkans, nonfiction, SPN reading group