halfway through the year reading
Jun. 29th, 2024 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silverflight8I have read 29 books so far, not counting re-reads.
Best Book You've Read So Far
This is difficult, but probably Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee. It's such a gem of a book, does really novel things, and despite the confusion caused by being plunged right into the action, does have all the information contained in the book, seeded here and there. Very satisfying.
Best Sequel You're Read So Far
Hm. Red Side Story was okay, but probably the prize goes to the two other novels in the Machineries of Empire series (Yoon Ha Lee). Sometimes when book 1 is very good, books 2/3 tend to be disappointing, but I really didn't feel that way. Well, OK, the ending to book 3 I kind of felt a little flat about, but then there was a short story that fixed that all up for me again ("Glass Cannon") :D
New release you haven't read yet, but want to
Lyorn, by Steven Brust. I really want to but I am currently in about 4 book clubs, which kind of happened accidentally, so I have a lot to read right now.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
I am so bad at keeping up. Sherry Thomas just released the newest Lady Sherlock book, which I need to read!
Biggest disappointment
The Wolf Who Loved Me by Lydia Dare, which was somehow both disappointing on a romance level and on a werewolf level :(
Also the first 1/3 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, for the garbage anthropology that made me almost quit. The entire premise of the book is that our primate ancestors were too stupid, incurious, and feeble to ever become humans, that our humanity and qualities in ourselves that we prize come from outer space. Which as a human is just so insulting; plus over the years we have accumulated a lot of anthropological evidence showing that our species' flexibility, ability to learn, and care for others is actually very deeply rooted in our hominin past. I understand Clarke is making a point. His point is stupid.
Biggest surprise
I did not expect to like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld so much. I think if I had read this when I was fourteen, it would have briefly or maybe permanently become part of my personality. Even now I feel shaken a little.
Favorite new author
Hm, I've read two Loretta Chase novels and liked both, so probably her for now. Sometimes I find liking one book by an author kind of like striking gold once and not liking the rest (as much, or at all) so having two is always a good thing. I'm quite capable of liking one book by one author and then going on a wholesale tear through all their works - I am slowly reading all of Ngaio Marsh, though her books can be very uneven in quality - but sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it is not. Especially romance, occasionally it really is just one book that hits my buttons just right and all the rest of the back catalogue are meh.
Newest Fictional Crush
Shuos Jedao from Machineries of Empire, undoubtedly. He's just so good at things, and I am so weak to that.
Newest Favorite Character
Sybel from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Book That Made You Cry
I don't think any books so far.
Book That Made You Happy
So many of these books! Starter Villain by John Scalzi was a fun romp with cats. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren was pretty sweet and funny.
What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?
I am 3/6th of the way through my Hugo Best Novel read this year, and am for once actually going to finish!! Other than that, I am pretty much just doing my usual, reading books for book clubs and trying to catch up on my TBR, pretty free-form.
Best Book You've Read So Far
This is difficult, but probably Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee. It's such a gem of a book, does really novel things, and despite the confusion caused by being plunged right into the action, does have all the information contained in the book, seeded here and there. Very satisfying.
Best Sequel You're Read So Far
Hm. Red Side Story was okay, but probably the prize goes to the two other novels in the Machineries of Empire series (Yoon Ha Lee). Sometimes when book 1 is very good, books 2/3 tend to be disappointing, but I really didn't feel that way. Well, OK, the ending to book 3 I kind of felt a little flat about, but then there was a short story that fixed that all up for me again ("Glass Cannon") :D
New release you haven't read yet, but want to
Lyorn, by Steven Brust. I really want to but I am currently in about 4 book clubs, which kind of happened accidentally, so I have a lot to read right now.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
I am so bad at keeping up. Sherry Thomas just released the newest Lady Sherlock book, which I need to read!
Biggest disappointment
The Wolf Who Loved Me by Lydia Dare, which was somehow both disappointing on a romance level and on a werewolf level :(
Also the first 1/3 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, for the garbage anthropology that made me almost quit. The entire premise of the book is that our primate ancestors were too stupid, incurious, and feeble to ever become humans, that our humanity and qualities in ourselves that we prize come from outer space. Which as a human is just so insulting; plus over the years we have accumulated a lot of anthropological evidence showing that our species' flexibility, ability to learn, and care for others is actually very deeply rooted in our hominin past. I understand Clarke is making a point. His point is stupid.
Biggest surprise
I did not expect to like The Forgotten Beasts of Eld so much. I think if I had read this when I was fourteen, it would have briefly or maybe permanently become part of my personality. Even now I feel shaken a little.
Favorite new author
Hm, I've read two Loretta Chase novels and liked both, so probably her for now. Sometimes I find liking one book by an author kind of like striking gold once and not liking the rest (as much, or at all) so having two is always a good thing. I'm quite capable of liking one book by one author and then going on a wholesale tear through all their works - I am slowly reading all of Ngaio Marsh, though her books can be very uneven in quality - but sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it is not. Especially romance, occasionally it really is just one book that hits my buttons just right and all the rest of the back catalogue are meh.
Newest Fictional Crush
Shuos Jedao from Machineries of Empire, undoubtedly. He's just so good at things, and I am so weak to that.
Newest Favorite Character
Sybel from The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Book That Made You Cry
I don't think any books so far.
Book That Made You Happy
So many of these books! Starter Villain by John Scalzi was a fun romp with cats. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren was pretty sweet and funny.
What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?
I am 3/6th of the way through my Hugo Best Novel read this year, and am for once actually going to finish!! Other than that, I am pretty much just doing my usual, reading books for book clubs and trying to catch up on my TBR, pretty free-form.
no subject
Date: Jun. 30th, 2024 07:55 pm (UTC)Amazing how many people have failed to get over the discovery of evolution after so long, lmao. Yes, we're primates descended from other animals. How is that in any way a problem? And in conclusion: Ook. :-D
I'm glad your reading is enjoyable this year.
no subject
Date: Jun. 30th, 2024 08:31 pm (UTC)Hope you're having a good reading year too!
no subject
Date: Jun. 30th, 2024 09:41 pm (UTC)47 books. 1 DNF (translated Serbian stream-of-consciousness novel that's considered difficult in its native language, lol).
25 fiction, including 3 short story collections, and 2 children's fiction.
11 non-fiction, including travel, auto/biography, history, natural history, and geology.
7 poetry collections.
4 comics, all fiction, including 3 teen/ya.
10 that I rated 5/5
2 that I rated 4.5/5
15 that I rated 4/5
:-)
no subject
Date: Jun. 30th, 2024 09:48 pm (UTC)I have yet to successfully read a stream of consciousness novel.
no subject
Date: Jun. 30th, 2024 10:01 pm (UTC)I have high average ratings because I choose books I think I'll enjoy, and I rate books within their own niche not by some faux-objective absolute standard. To me "Is it a 5/5 murder mystery?" or "Is it a 5/5 teen comic?" seem questions as valid as "Is it a 5/5 literary novel?". /contentment
I probably have read stream of consciousness novels but nothing memorable springs to mind (I'm not keen on Joyce or Wolfe at the best of times). The Serbian one is well-known and considered significant for reasons beyond the style, for both the content and the author. It's also fairly short... but so is my life, hence the DNF. ;-)
no subject
Date: Jul. 2nd, 2024 11:39 pm (UTC)Agreed on the rating style. I also sometimes have major "objective quality" vs "enjoyment" splits, which is kind of interesting. The most recent book I read was like this.
DNF is good and valid.