What are you reading this year 2020?

[Ralif Redhammer]

Jack of Shadows is, so far, my favorite Zelazny book. Jack is petty and spiteful, but also driven and entertaining to read about his exploits. Witch World feels both rooted in its time and ahead of its time, somehow. The blur of fantasy and sci-fi is indicative of older genre work, but the feuding of kingdoms feels like it presages A Song of Ice and Fire, but the pages also have plenty of strong women.

You've got some good stuff coming up though. Looking specifically at Robin Hobb, Jack of Shadows, Witch World, and The Diamond Age.

 

[Blue]

Finished some mediocre schlock off Kindle Unlimited. It's interesting - the author writes under (at least) two pseudonyms. they have an extraordinary number of books out over the past few years. All of the books have high (4.5 or higher, 4.8 evens) ratings with 300-600 reviews each. Most of the reviews are 5 star praise, and then there's a bunch of 2-3 star reviews that go into actual details. I wonder if they are using some sort of review stuffing to pop up in Amazon Page Rank.

I'm now early in Sidekicks, also on Kindle Unlimited. "Only" a 4.4 with 57 reviews, but so much better. It's about a sidekick-to-be who wipes out, and then -- well, that would be spoilers.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Finished some mediocre schlock off Kindle Unlimited. It's interesting - the author writes under (at least) two pseudonyms. they have an extraordinary number of books out over the past few years. All of the books have high (4.5 or higher, 4.8 evens) ratings with 300-600 reviews each. Most of the reviews are 5 star praise, and then there's a bunch of 2-3 star reviews that go into actual details. I wonder if they are using some sort of review stuffing to pop up in Amazon Page Rank.

I'm now early in Sidekicks, also on Kindle Unlimited. "Only" a 4.4 with 57 reviews, but so much better. It's about a sidekick-to-be who wipes out, and then -- well, that would be spoilers.

4.8?!? That's not usual. Even for award winning books. I mean... my 3 is "good book".

 

[Blue]

4.8?!? That's not usual. Even for award winning books. I mean... my 3 is "good book".

Yeah. I specifically didn't mention the author or title because I think I'm this close to thinking they are doing review padding. The fact that all of their books seem to be in the 300-600 review range, and the fact that the 5 star ones talk about "favorite author" and such but rarely give actual details from the book outside the genre.

I did a quick google search about if Amazon had a place to report such a thing, but you have to do it for each individual review.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Finished reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.

Still reading Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity -- And Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose and James A. Lindsey.

Still reading Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker.

Still reading The Shepherd's Crown, the last Terry Pratchett novel.

Still reading Night of the Assassins: The Untold Story of Hitler's Plot to Kill FDR, Churchill, and Stalin by Howard Blum.

Still reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading King's The Shining. Right now is either the best time or the worst time to have read this novel. Not sure which. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was also unnerved by it.

I also read the recent reprint of the old Usborne's Ghosts book. Loved that as a kid.

And now I'm reading some even older horror in the form of William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland.

 

[trappedslider]

I finished reading King's The Shining. Right now is either the best time or the worst time to have read this novel. Not sure which. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and was also unnerved by it.

May I suggest The Stand? heehee

 

[Bohandas]

I'm currently reading The Burrowers Beneath, House of Leaves, and Flatterland, but I don't know if I'll get completely through any of them. They're all in print format, which is prone to damage and inconvenient to bring around to places.

 

[HawaiiSteveO]

Just finished reread of Oathbringer in preparation of Rhythm of War on 11/17.

Also started listening to Riftwar book 1 , read this series 25 years ago! Fun stuff

 

[Richards]

I just started Carte Blanche, a James Bond novel, not because I particularly wanted to read James Bond (although I've read most of Ian Fleming's Bond novels years ago) but because I'm a big fan of the author, Jeffery Deaver. I'm hoping for good things. And then I'll probably try to finish off Dean Koontz's "Jane Hawk" series, having enjoyed the first two. (I just found out that series concludes with book five, which has already been published, so I should be able to finish them off back to back instead of with interminable gaps between the novels.)

Johnathan