What are you reading in 2023?

[Nellisir]

Finished Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel, by Boris Akunin, the other day. I like Boris Akunin although I worry about the number of people, myself included, who go in thinking you're going to get a cozy little fireside mystery and instead you get a cozy little fireside mystery russian style.

All I'll say about this particular book is I don't think I've ever, EVER, EVER hated an author for an ending this much. It was perfect. It was sublime. It was 13/10 and 7/5. And I want to punch Mr. Akunin in his face.

 

[overgeeked]

Finished Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel, by Boris Akunin, the other day. I like Boris Akunin although I worry about the number of people, myself included, who go in thinking you're going to get a cozy little fireside mystery and instead you get a cozy little fireside mystery russian-style.

All I'll say about this particular book is I don't think I've ever, EVER, EVER hated an author for an ending this much. It was perfect. It was sublime. It was 13/10 and 7/5. And I want to punch Mr. Akunin in his face.

I think that is one of the best reviews / recommendations I’ve read in awhile. Thank you. I’ll be adding that to my TBR pile.

 

[Nellisir]

I think that is one of the best reviews / recommendations I’ve read in awhile. Thank you. I’ll be adding that to my TBR pile.

There are three Sister Pelagia books: The White Bulldog; the Black Monk; and the Red Cockerel. Read them in order, or at least don't read the RC first. They do fall squarely in the mystery genre, so if you hate mysteries it might not work.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Finished reading the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. Pretty good military sci-fi with some business bits and characters good enough to keep me sucked in.

I should really check and see if I read all of those; I know I read the first few.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading Harry Adam Knight's The Fungus. It's a schlocky, gruesome, page-turner of a book. Easy to see how it might have influenced later works like The Last of Us and The Girl With All The Gifts.

Now I'm reading August Derleth's Dwellers in Darkness.

 

[ichabod]

I finished the Magic Goes Away Collection, with the original the Magic Goes Away, and the Magic Comes Back, and More Magic. Short stories about magic as a finite resource. Hit or miss, as any short story collection is, but some interesting ideas and perspectives.

 

[overgeeked]

Finished Mushoku Tensei Vol 5 and jumped right in to Vol 6. The whole childish sex pest thing seems to have been put to bed. It's commented on a few times in Vol 5, including remarks by Rudeus, the MC, about how he needs to grow up and stop being such a perv. I think Vol 5 was the one with the most focus on side characters so far. Lots of worldbuilding and diving even more into the politics of the world. The books have been really good even with the perv elements dragging them down. If those are really out of the way, the quality of the books goes from good to great.

 

[dragoner]

I am reading a translation by Sawyer of the Art of War, it is interesting because he adds the historical context.

 

[Richards]

I'm now reading The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry. It's apparently the fifth or sixth book in a series of action adventures featuring Captain Joe Ledger who's part of some black ops team that takes care of secret spy stuff for the US. This one involves genetic engineering, with one group creating transgenic monsters and another carrying on the Nazi goal of perfecting the human race, both groups trying to take out the DMS (the organization Ledger works for). After the previous novel I was reading, which crept along at a snail's pace, this is a welcome change - it literally started gripping me from the get-go. I'll have to see if I can find any of the other books in this series, a good sign since I'm on all of page 48 at this point.

Johnathan

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished Derleth's Dwellers in Darkness. Not my favorite, but still a fine Halloween read. Despite Derleth appearing in Appendix N, I'd be hard-pressed to pick anything within this book that might have influenced D&D. The Ghost Lake might have influenced some of the oozes, maybe.

Now I'm reading Pat Pulling's The Devil's Web: Who Is Stalking Your Children for Satan? Hoo-boy.