Happy soon-to-be New Year, folks! May all the good stuff from 2017 stay with us and all the not-so-good stuff stay safely behind as the calendar ticks over! <3
( Read more... )
I like the sound of a few of the books you have mentioned. I really fell off this year, I find when all is not right or I am ill, I tend to reread old favourites, and I did a lot of that.
I think I will use these book questions to talk about my 2017 books, they were interesting.
While Peace Talks is still TBD (It's been more than 3 years since Skin Game already!), on June 5, 2018, the second collection of Dresden short stories, called "Brief Cases", is coming out.
You are the only other person I've found who doesn't like Every Heart. I disliked exactly the same things you did, and I find the general effusive gushing over the book disconcerting. People who'd normally be very critical about the Idiot Ball seem to love Every Heart, and I'm beginning to think their opinions are more about McGuire than they are about the actual novella.
I admit I keep thinking about it, but more because I'd like to see that concept done right than because I really liked it.
It does seem to be a minority opinion! You may be reassured to know that alenky_cveto4ek had similar reservations about the book (and ikel89, too, but she's not done with it yet, AFAIK).
and I'm beginning to think their opinions are more about McGuire than they are about the actual novella.
Honestly, this is my guess as well. Seanan McGuire fans seem to be really, really devoted to Seanan McGuire. I've seen it with the Toby Daye books, and the other things as well, I guess. I don't know whether it's that the way she writes taps into something powerful for a subset of people (which clearly doesn't include me) or what is going on, but, like, I have to take any McGuire-related excitement and dial it down about 100x to estimate how likely something she's written is to work for me. It's very odd!
I admit I keep thinking about it, but more because I'd like to see that concept done rightThis book, and others by her, tend to have that effect on me! I call it the Uncanny Valley of reading -- close enough that I can't look away/keep reading and thinking about
( ... )
I wonder if it's a generational thing - everyone I see gushing over McGuire's books are all Millennial or younger (with a couple of exceptions) and I'm solidly GenX.
I'm a little relieved to find I'm not the only one left behind by McGuire's stories; I was beginning to think I was missing something.
And, only semi-relatedly, thanks for your thoughtful and coherent reviews. I'm planning on getting a lot more reading done (and tracking of said reading) in 2018, and it's good to see a system which works well.
ETA: I love that idea - the Uncanny Valley of reading. I might go through the books I've read recently to see if I can find others!
Maybe it is generational! I don't know how old the people I've seen who really, really love Seanan McGuire are (my flist tends to be positive-but-not-fanatical on her), but I'm definitely closer to GenX than Millennials.
And I have at least one other flister for whom her books consistently don't work well, so you (and I) are definitely not entirely alone! But, yeah, thinking that I was missing something is how I felt for a long time, before concluding it was just a... wavelength thing or something. Uncanny Valley :P (glad you find it a useful term! :)
And also glad you find my reading roundup approach useful! I've pilfered various things here and there from other flisters on LJ and their tags on Goodreads and stuff, but it's held pretty steady the last couple of years, so I think I've finally arrived at a sweetspot of keeping track of reading that works well for me.
Looking forward to reading your write-ups (assuming they'll be on LJ/DW)
The quality lit sounds amusing. :D Alas for the meh execution, though - from reading your commentary, I'll probably skip it until or unless I'm in the mood to yell at something about how I wish the worldbuilding had been in a better book. :D
Skipped past NYV for now, since I'm hoping to read it early next year, but it's definitely nice to hear that it continues to be cute, that the writing has either maintained or improved in quality, and that Bells continues to be as compelling as the POV character as he was as a secondary. :D
It (or maybe the sync-read associated with it) finally broke through my reading write-up block left in the wake of Vallista, when I was starting to wonder if anything would.
Yay for that! :)
And Behind the Border sounds really interesting. :)
Looks like a good collection of books, overall. Though I admit I did a double-take at the murdersports books -- were those really only earlier this year? It seems much longer ago than that. XD
And after checking your review of Grisha Six of Crows, I'm thinking
( ... )
I'll probably skip it until or unless I'm in the mood to yell at something about how I wish the worldbuilding had been in a better book. :D
This sounds like a solid call to me :P (IIRC, K has stalled out on it. Maybe you can sync read if she ever decides to go back to it.)
that the writing has either maintained or improved in qualityOver on DW, there is now a short thread which basically goes *valid criticism of NYV* 'but I don't care because Bells! :DDD', from both of us. Sooooo, I don't know if the writing has actually improved or if I don't care because Bells! :DDD but I found it emminently readable. (And my friend and her trans son have also already read and enjoyed it -- even before I could give them the book as a gift! :) So, thanks again for turning me onto this series
( ... )
not a day without a hydra :PhamsterwomanJanuary 1 2018, 03:01:28 UTC
I juuust finished The Stone Sky, and can confirm that it (a) continues to be consistently good, and (b) continues to have a lot of Nassun POV. So. :P
*heavy sigh* I will get there! But ouch.
I have heard mixed-but-not-quite things about Sorcerer to the Crown from pretty much everyone, but I guess I've gotten kind of fond of the Victorian magic genre and want to give this a shot. We'll see!
If you start in on The Night Circus, let me know? We have a copy at home, I just need an impetus to actually read it...
And thank you for the Lowachee passdown! I will be happy to read the short stories, too (the ones that haven't been previously posted on Tumblr, I mean), so at least there's that to look forward to! But alas for no longform Cairo for me in 2018...
Re: not a day without a hydra :PcyanshadowJanuary 1 2018, 08:45:39 UTC
I guess I've gotten kind of fond of the Victorian magic genre and want to give this a shot. We'll see! :D It's definitely quite good! And I feel like my main sticking point ended up being something that says a lot more about me than it does about the quality of the book: that the main character doesn't really like reading
( ... )
I used "Six of Crows" for the bingo in 2016 as a book I read because of the cover. I still think it's very beautiful.
I've kinda stopped reading Seanan McGuire as I had huge problems with the last Toby Daye book I read and I just didn't feel like reading another one. Maybe one day!
Yeah, I think the cover first drew my attention too (I also love the title), but then I put off reading Six of Crows for a while because of the whole pseudo-Russia thing.
I've been on the verge of giving up on Seanan McGuire for a while. I've now tried three different series by her (Every Heart a Doorway, Toby Daye, and the InCryptid books, which I didn't even finish the first one of), and none of them have worked for me really. But Toby and this one are close enough to working or at least contain just enough of things I like that I keep reading.
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Here's hoping 2018 will allow you to read more new things! :)
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I think I will use these book questions to talk about my 2017 books, they were interesting.
While Peace Talks is still TBD (It's been more than 3 years since Skin Game already!), on June 5, 2018, the second collection of Dresden short stories, called "Brief Cases", is coming out.
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I'll probably try to track down the stories, but honestly Butcher's short fiction tends to not work very well for me.
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I admit I keep thinking about it, but more because I'd like to see that concept done right than because I really liked it.
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and I'm beginning to think their opinions are more about McGuire than they are about the actual novella.
Honestly, this is my guess as well. Seanan McGuire fans seem to be really, really devoted to Seanan McGuire. I've seen it with the Toby Daye books, and the other things as well, I guess. I don't know whether it's that the way she writes taps into something powerful for a subset of people (which clearly doesn't include me) or what is going on, but, like, I have to take any McGuire-related excitement and dial it down about 100x to estimate how likely something she's written is to work for me. It's very odd!
I admit I keep thinking about it, but more because I'd like to see that concept done rightThis book, and others by her, tend to have that effect on me! I call it the Uncanny Valley of reading -- close enough that I can't look away/keep reading and thinking about ( ... )
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I'm a little relieved to find I'm not the only one left behind by McGuire's stories; I was beginning to think I was missing something.
And, only semi-relatedly, thanks for your thoughtful and coherent reviews. I'm planning on getting a lot more reading done (and tracking of said reading) in 2018, and it's good to see a system which works well.
ETA: I love that idea - the Uncanny Valley of reading. I might go through the books I've read recently to see if I can find others!
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And I have at least one other flister for whom her books consistently don't work well, so you (and I) are definitely not entirely alone! But, yeah, thinking that I was missing something is how I felt for a long time, before concluding it was just a... wavelength thing or something. Uncanny Valley :P (glad you find it a useful term! :)
And also glad you find my reading roundup approach useful! I've pilfered various things here and there from other flisters on LJ and their tags on Goodreads and stuff, but it's held pretty steady the last couple of years, so I think I've finally arrived at a sweetspot of keeping track of reading that works well for me.
Looking forward to reading your write-ups (assuming they'll be on LJ/DW)
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Skipped past NYV for now, since I'm hoping to read it early next year, but it's definitely nice to hear that it continues to be cute, that the writing has either maintained or improved in quality, and that Bells continues to be as compelling as the POV character as he was as a secondary. :D
It (or maybe the sync-read associated with it) finally broke through my reading write-up block left in the wake of Vallista, when I was starting to wonder if anything would.
Yay for that! :)
And Behind the Border sounds really interesting. :)
Looks like a good collection of books, overall. Though I admit I did a double-take at the murdersports books -- were those really only earlier this year? It seems much longer ago than that. XD
And after checking your review of Grisha Six of Crows, I'm thinking ( ... )
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This sounds like a solid call to me :P (IIRC, K has stalled out on it. Maybe you can sync read if she ever decides to go back to it.)
that the writing has either maintained or improved in qualityOver on DW, there is now a short thread which basically goes *valid criticism of NYV* 'but I don't care because Bells! :DDD', from both of us. Sooooo, I don't know if the writing has actually improved or if I don't care because Bells! :DDD but I found it emminently readable. (And my friend and her trans son have also already read and enjoyed it -- even before I could give them the book as a gift! :) So, thanks again for turning me onto this series ( ... )
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I juuust finished The Stone Sky, and can confirm that it (a) continues to be consistently good, and (b) continues to have a lot of Nassun POV. So. :P
*heavy sigh* I will get there! But ouch.
I have heard mixed-but-not-quite things about Sorcerer to the Crown from pretty much everyone, but I guess I've gotten kind of fond of the Victorian magic genre and want to give this a shot. We'll see!
If you start in on The Night Circus, let me know? We have a copy at home, I just need an impetus to actually read it...
And thank you for the Lowachee passdown! I will be happy to read the short stories, too (the ones that haven't been previously posted on Tumblr, I mean), so at least there's that to look forward to! But alas for no longform Cairo for me in 2018...
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I've kinda stopped reading Seanan McGuire as I had huge problems with the last Toby Daye book I read and I just didn't feel like reading another one. Maybe one day!
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I've been on the verge of giving up on Seanan McGuire for a while. I've now tried three different series by her (Every Heart a Doorway, Toby Daye, and the InCryptid books, which I didn't even finish the first one of), and none of them have worked for me really. But Toby and this one are close enough to working or at least contain just enough of things I like that I keep reading.
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