Baby-Faced Jan 2018 Edition!!

[Nellisir]

Reading A War in Crimson Embers, by Alex Marshall. Book 3 of the Crimson Empire trilogy. Really, really like this series. It's a fun read & I'm amusing myself by seeing it as a reskinned D&D campaign. Very much in the Joe Abercrombie vein.

Up next will be the rest of the Christmas haul - Persepolis Rising; Kings in the North; The Murders of Molly Southbourne; and a few others.

Bonus: If you know of a good bookstore (beyond the chains), post about it. New, used, or...otherwise. (I don't know what that'd be either. Also, credit to Blue for this idea.)

 

[Blue]

I got a great Christmas haul of books myself. Actually, just about everything I got except an unexpected wookie doll was a book.

A number of Sir Terry's Discworld books to fill in my collection. Artemis, Andy Weir's latest (of "The Martian" fame). XGtE. Thunder Rising by David Weber (though I'm reading the series up to that point and the last couple have annoyed me by both including other series into the timeline, and having a Mary Sue Star Empire). The Dreamblood Duology by N.K. Jemisin and a used copy of Days of Atonement by Walter Jon Williams (it's out of print).

Hey, talking about used books, anyone have good used bookstores they frequent? I have one near where my office used to be that I keep meaning to get back out to, and another two towns over that I'm well overdue to visit.

There was a used bookstore I could bike to when I was a teenager called "Chapter II Books". A friend joked with the owner that the font looked like "Chapter 11 Books", and unfortunately it didn't stay in business more than a year past that point so it was a bit too prophetic.

 

[Nellisir]

Hey, talking about used books, anyone have good used bookstores they frequent? I have one near where my office used to be that I keep meaning to get back out to, and another two towns over that I'm well overdue to visit.
There was a used bookstore I could bike to when I was a teenager called "Chapter II Books". A friend joked with the owner that the font looked like "Chapter 11 Books", and unfortunately it didn't stay in business more than a year past that point so it was a bit too prophetic.

Ithaca NY has a used book sale twice a year, put on by the Friends of the Tompkins County Library Association. Three 3-day weekends, price drops every day. Apparently one of the biggest in the country. Not sure how they do it, but it's a full warehouse every time. So I don't do used bookstores much (that said, there is Autumn Leaves in Ithaca also). The sale & Amazon (for what doesn't show up at the sale) almost always pan out.

 

[Jhaelen]

I've finished 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and I'm currently about halfway through the sequel 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' of the 'Gentleman Bastards' series by Scott Lynch. I really enjoyed the former, but the latter isn't quite as compelling so far. I still don't really have a good idea where the story's heading, so we'll see.

 

[delericho]

"The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" by J.R.R. Tolkien (actually, it's mostly by Christopher Tolkien, though the two lays that make up the core of it are his father's work). It's not great.

Also "City in the Deep", one of my stockpile of Pathfinder AP volumes. It's also not great - this most recent path just hasn't grabbed me. (It doesn't help that I finally got to play Pathfinder last year, and have concluded that it is definitely not for me. )

I'm not sure what's next - I have a fair stock of books to get through. Maybe "Ready Player One"?

 

[Kramodlog]

I started reading Infomocracy by Malka Older. Very political, which I like, but she starts by clumbsily explaining the micro-democracy concept by trickling info.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I used to live in Ithaca and whenever I visit, always make it a point to stop by Autumn Leaves.


As far as what I’m reading, still working through The Wheel of Time series. I may have to take a proper break soon, though. My backlog of books is starting to grow longer than usual.

So I don't do used bookstores much (that said, there is Autumn Leaves in Ithaca also). The sale & Amazon (for what doesn't show up at the sale) almost always pan out.

 

[Blue]

I've finished 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' and I'm currently about halfway through the sequel 'Red Seas Under Red Skies' of the 'Gentleman Bastards' series by Scott Lynch. I really enjoyed the former, but the latter isn't quite as compelling so far. I still don't really have a good idea where the story's heading, so we'll see.

I absolutely loved the first book. The second book has it's moments but for me didn't repeat that magic. The third book, IMHO, is better than the second because you get to see their planning again, not just their frantic improv, but still doesn't quite get that spark of the first book with all of it's character and characters. On the other hand, it ties quite well back to the first book and sets things up for more to come nicely.

I've reread them all - don't take this is a indication that I feel the second book is a bomb. It's just that the first book was so good that comparatively it lets you down.

 

[Blue]

I'm not sure what's next - I have a fair stock of books to get through. Maybe "Ready Player One"?

Many people love RP1. I'm the target age/niche demographic for maximum nostalgia impact, but for me it still was only good, not great. But you won't go wrong spending some time with it.

 

[Nellisir]

Many people love RP1. I'm the target age/niche demographic for maximum nostalgia impact, but for me it still was only good, not great. But you won't go wrong spending some time with it.

I'm in the same demographic, but...RP1 did nothing for me. I couldn't help but compare it to Snowcrash, and RP1 does not do well by that metric. (I have the same issue with Old Man's War and The Forever War. Haldeman by a light year.)