Reading, watching, and meme-ing roundup

[hamsterwoman]

36. Becky Chambers, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers 4) -- so, I have a weird trajectory with this series. 'Small Angry Planet' has the distinction of being "my favorite book that I hate", but I liked what Chambers was doing with her worldbuilding enough to read A Close and Common Orbit, which I both liked and thought was a good book. I

Comments

[spaciireth]

I've had Becky Chambers on my TBR for so long but keep bumping her books down the list. I didn't even realise there was a fourth one in that series!

[hamsterwoman]

The fourth one had just come out when I snagged it from the library (though it did take me a little while to actually read it).

I actually tend to recommend book 2 (A Close and Common Orbit) as the one to start with, because I think it's the best of the four. It does spoil a plot point in book 1, so if you care about stuff like that, then starting with book 1 is the right thing to do, but I actually think it's the weakest of the four, and has caused a number of people I know to write off Becky Chambers. Of course, I also know a lot of people who loved book 1 unreservedly, so it really depends on personal preference.

[lab_jazz]

If by Station Eleven you're talking about the book by Emily St. John Mandel, I've read that book and enjoyed it.

The Calculating Stars - read the first and second book and liked them.

Children of Time Liked those books a lot!

Her Body and Other Parties read it and liked it

Leviathan Wakes The Expanse is a fantastic series, way better that the TV show.

The Three Body Problem book series. Found them very original and liked them a lot.

I did not like The Martian at all. I don't know how I got through it.

I love The Murderbot books

[hamsterwoman]

If by Station Eleven you're talking about the book by Emily St. John Mandel, I've read that book and enjoyed it.

It is! After a couple of flisters commented on this post to say they had enjoyed it, I snagged an e-copy from the library and read it while traveling. I liked it too!

I also caught up on books 2 and 3 of the Lady Astronaut series (though I liked them less than the first book).

I'm now also about 70% into Leviathan Wakes and to be honest am feeling pretty mixed about it. The noir protagonist thing with Miller is not really working for me, though I am enjoying the crew of the Rocinante. So kind of debating whether I want to continue reading the series after I finish up this one or just jump over and try the show -- because one of the things I'm feeling is that the book feels very much like a TV show already, at least the parts of it I'm enjoying. (Though some of the parts I'm NOT enjoying, like the grossout stuff with the vomit zombies, would bug me a hell of a lot more in visual format, too...)

The Three Body Problem

[meathiel]

The live action [Disney] remakes have been extremely mediocre for my personal entertainment preferences. I agree with that!

I've not started watching "What if ..." yet, I wnt to wait until more episodes are available.

I liked "Shazam" more than I thought I would seeing that I'm a Marvel girl ... hehe ...

[beccadg]

I liked "Shazam" more than I thought I would seeing that I'm a Marvel girl ... hehe ...

Seconded! I think Shazam and Aquaman are the recent DC movies I've enjoyed because they're the ones that have actually been fun instead of... gloomy. DC seems to spend waaay to much time trying to recreate the success of Burton's and Nolan's Batman films. Those succeeded on the strength of the particular directors not the storytelling tone.

[hamsterwoman]

I had high hopes for Aquaman, both because I heard that it was a fun departure from the Very Serious Movie / gloom of the recent DC fare, and also because Jason Momoa, heh, but I never even got to Jason Momoa -- I found the beginning so boring, I just stopped watching and never went back to it.

So it was a very pleasant surprise when Shazam! did in fact grab me from the beginning and worked for me throughout.

[beccadg]

I never even got to Jason Momoa -- I found the beginning so boring, I just stopped watching and never went back to it.

Aww. I haven't watched it in a bit, but you can probably just skip to Jason Momoa. I mean it isn't the first Thor or Black Panther, but it is another story about which guy should truly be king so the opening setup isn't as important as how Jason's character goes about showing he is the one that should be king.

[bearshorty]

I keep watching Becky Chambers in online interviews with other authors and she seems like a lovely person and I keep meaning to read her but keep putting it off since many people are just like "there is no plot".

Station Eleven is a very good book but I also read it before the pandemic. Reading it during might be a little too much.

And on completely unrelated note, I just finished "Jhereg" yesterday. The book grew on me as I was reading it as I found the plot clever - it does take me a while to get into the worldbuilding but I found the Brust did a very good job explaining the basics. I will read more! But now I can get some of your references.

[hamsterwoman]

Yeah, Chambers is a great panelist, and I was happily tuning into her panels even when I'd only read the one book of hers that I disliked more than I liked.

I will say, plot will never be her strong suit, I believe, but some of the Wayfarers books are better about it than others. A Close and Common Orbit (the second book) is the most novel-shaped of the lot, and I think actually has enough of a plot that it wouldn't bother me even if I hadn't gone in with expectations in that regard lowered by the first book. (The four books can each be read as standalones, so the only problem in starting with book 2 is that it spoils one particular plot point in book 1. But I think it's a better bet than reading book 1 and bouncing off it due to lack of plot.)

Station Eleven is a very good book but I also read it before the pandemic. Reading it during might be a little too much. Since several flisters mentioned enjoying Station Eleven, and since my library had an e-copy, I went ahead and read it while on vacation. I'm glad I was forewarned about

[blakmagjick]

"I always love Stanley Tucci, no matter how minor the role" Saaaame.

I was a little hesitate about the live-action Aladdin since I loved the animated one growing up so much...and I was the most worried about Genie, but like you said, Will Smith did his own thing, not trying to copy Robin Williams and I think that made all the different.
The new song from Jasmine, meh...haha

[hamsterwoman]

I don't know what it is about Tucci, but I also find him very hard to recognize in his various roles. So if there's a bit character in some movie I'm watching who is stealing the show and I don't know who is playing him, my default guess now is that it's Stanley Tucci, and that usually proves to be the case, LOL.

I have a lot of fond memories associated with the original Aladdin, too, so was skeptical about the live-action adaptation, but L (who also really likes the original) watched it with a friend expecting to dislike it and found it really charming (back when it was in theaters) and that made me curious to check it out, though as you can see it took me a while to get around to actually doing so :P

[blakmagjick]

I agree...Tucci is such an awesome character actor that sometimes you just don't know it's him. Gary Oldman is like that for me as well.