What are you Reading? Debonnaire December 2019 edition

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished up Feist's Magician: Master. It was okay. Decent, even. Not sure if I waited too long between reading the first and second volume, but it felt a bit muddled for me.

Next up is Okorafor's Binti: Home.

 

[Janx]

I finished a book at the end of the month and started up Craig Johnson's latest Longmire book. Whose title I don't recall, but it's about a wolf a leg, and a lie.

 

[Nellisir]

Had a sleepless night last night & read The Chinese Bell Murders (Robert van Gulk) and Abhorsen (Garth Nix).

The Chinese Bell Murders was solid, as usual for a Judge Dee book. Abhorsen was...a disappointment. It very much concludes the second book. Doesn't stand on its own at all; just reads like a continuation and honestly doesn't add much. Shame.

Started This Alien Shore, by CS Friedman. She's not an overly prolific author, but what I've read of hers has been good - I loved Black Sun Rising when I was younger* (the Michael Whelan cover art didn't hurt).

*It's been years since I read it. I might still love it.

 

[vpuigdoller]

The Lost Mark, of the Mark of Death Eberron series. The beginning was rough but it has gotten way better as it progressed. I'm enjoying it.

 

[R_J_K75]

Dark Black and Blue: The Soundgarden Story by Greg Prato. So far so good and I'm up to chapter 12. I dont know anything about about the author but I believe from being a fan of the band and their music that theres alot of truth to whats written. Its not mostly a tell all, at least so far, as other band biopics Ive read. It centers mainly on the band and their music. It was published 9/17/19 so Im expecting it to be rather complete as Kim Thyail has recently said besides possibly finishing the album they working on before Chris Cornells death there is little to no chance of the band continuing.

 

[carrot]

Just finished The Elements Bond (book 7 of the Elemental Academy) by DK Holmberg. This has been a really hit and miss series... It was a real struggle towards the end as it lost all sense of tension, jepardy and indeed clarity. The lead character is constantly failing to use his "magic" (or shaping) but then tries again in a slightly different way, and usually has to repeat that process a few more times until finally something happens. The first couple of times you can live with, but by the 10th time it was all getting rather tedious. It's a shame because there were some good ideas in there. Apparently there is a sequel series. I think I'll avoid that one.

 

[Kramodlog]

Doing a re-read of 1984 by Orwell. First thing that comes to mind is that today Winston wouldn't have a job. Algorithms would do it for him. Also, the parallels with the current surveillance capitalism and a surveillance state isn't the same. Except Maybe in China.

 

[NeuroZombie]

The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. It will be followed by the Next 25 years, of course.

Pretty interesting if you're a Trek fan. It tells the behind the scenes story of Trek via direct quotes from the people that were actually invloved.

 

[R_J_K75]

The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. It will be followed by the Next 25 years, of course.

Pretty interesting if you're a Trek fan. It tells the behind the scenes story of Trek via direct quotes from the people that were actually invloved.

Ive always heard Shatner was insufferable towards the other cast, does it say?

 

[NeuroZombie]

It has hinted at it, but its more that he was hired to be the star of the show and he let everyone know that he was the star. The book goes more into the writers and directors, how Rodenberry handled (or mishandled, as the case may be) the show, how Gene Coon kept the show going (truly the unsung hero of Trek, IMHO) and such.