August Books
37: Eifelheim Michael Flynn
I had never heard of this book, or author, before it was suggested for our August book group discussion. A Hugo Nominee in 2007 (which seems apt, considering the debate this year). I really enjoyed it. A brilliant premise - what would happen if aliens had landed in the past, in this case in Medieval Germany. Great characters, and a fantastic sense of time and place. Very well written, and incredibly well researched. Amazingly, even the SF haters in the group liked this (although there was some muttering about the length)
38: Half a King Joe Abercrombie
The first book in the Shattered Sea trilogy. I am having to eek these out, or I willl 1) run out, 2) not read anything else. Another great world (or a different part of the same world, I am not sure), and some brilliant characters - again not the most likeable ;) Good plot twists too. One thing I especially like is that he writes women well, and they have a better role than often occurs in fantasy.
39: The Brilliant Stage: the story of Frances Walsingham Angela McLeod
I got this free from Goodreads, and wrote a bit about it here
40: The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka
This was the book club choice for September. Very short, but it packs a lot of things in. It is very unusual in the way it is written, in the first person plural sort of. The story of the women who came to Japan in the inter-war years, as mail-order brides, and ended up in internment camps in the Second World War is incredibly moving, and told in very sparse, but beautiful language. It is not an entirely depressing book though, as there are some striking moments of humour too.
I had never heard of this book, or author, before it was suggested for our August book group discussion. A Hugo Nominee in 2007 (which seems apt, considering the debate this year). I really enjoyed it. A brilliant premise - what would happen if aliens had landed in the past, in this case in Medieval Germany. Great characters, and a fantastic sense of time and place. Very well written, and incredibly well researched. Amazingly, even the SF haters in the group liked this (although there was some muttering about the length)
38: Half a King Joe Abercrombie
The first book in the Shattered Sea trilogy. I am having to eek these out, or I willl 1) run out, 2) not read anything else. Another great world (or a different part of the same world, I am not sure), and some brilliant characters - again not the most likeable ;) Good plot twists too. One thing I especially like is that he writes women well, and they have a better role than often occurs in fantasy.
39: The Brilliant Stage: the story of Frances Walsingham Angela McLeod
I got this free from Goodreads, and wrote a bit about it here
40: The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka
This was the book club choice for September. Very short, but it packs a lot of things in. It is very unusual in the way it is written, in the first person plural sort of. The story of the women who came to Japan in the inter-war years, as mail-order brides, and ended up in internment camps in the Second World War is incredibly moving, and told in very sparse, but beautiful language. It is not an entirely depressing book though, as there are some striking moments of humour too.