December 2021 Reading Thread

[The Judge]

I'm starting the month with Lost Acre by Andrew Caldecott. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one -- the first in the series, Rotherweird, was good albeit with a giant plot hole, but the second was a real mess in plotting and structure to my mind, so I'm just hoping this one redeems the series.

Anyhow, what are you reading this festive month?

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Fiona Stafford, The Long, Long Life Of Trees.

 

[DeathFusion]

Children of Dune. Enjoying it every bit as much as the first in the series.

 

[Dan Jones]

Children of Dune. Enjoying it every bit as much as the first in the series.

Talking of which...

I've started reading Dune, a full twenty-five years or so after last reading it, having seen it daan the pictures last month.

Hoping for some lovely reading material to wend its way into my stocking later in the month...

 

[The Big Peat]

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'd tried it, then put it down as a bit meh, but reading Jo Walton gushing over it in "What Makes This Book So Great" made me want to give it a second go and now I'm tearing through it.

Which is unfortunate for all the other books I should be reading.

 

[Av Demeisen]

Today, I received the US paperback of Hideo Yokoyama's Prefecture D: Four Novellas. Set in the same fictional universe as his novel Six Four which I am in the middle of rereading and enjoying very much.

This December, I'll be reading mostly non-fiction. Primarily my signed copy of Michael Henss' The Cultural Monuments of Tibet: The Central Regions.

 

[Parson]

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'd tried it, then put it down as a bit meh, but reading Jo Walton gushing over it in "What Makes This Book So Great" made me want to give it a second go and now I'm tearing through it.

Which is unfortunate for all the other books I should be reading.

For me, Shards of Honor is the very best of Bujold. It made me hang on to the Miles series far longer than I should have just hoping that something like that might make an appearance.

 

[Danny McG]

For me, Shards of Honor is the very best of Bujold. It made me hang on to the Miles series far longer than I should have just hoping that something like that might make an appearance.

I didn't think much of it.
It was a bit too much romance for my liking....but that's just my personal reading tastes

 

[worldofmutes]

I think that I’ll be reading mostly women authors this month, and a few classics. Starting strong on The Relentless Moon. Will most likely read Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis and Afterland by Lauren Beukes. And Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House, Hermann Hesse’s Demian.

Uh. And might have some others planned.

 

[The Big Peat]

For me, Shards of Honor is the very best of Bujold. It made me hang on to the Miles series far longer than I should have just hoping that something like that might make an appearance.

So far it ranks a little below her fantasy work for me, but I'm excited to see Miles - I've yet to read a less than excellent book by her for my tastes.

I didn't think much of it.
It was a bit too much romance for my liking....but that's just my personal reading tastes

Yeah, it's definitely a straight up romance as well as a space opera, even if it doesn't dwell on that part too much.

 

[tobl]

some new clancy and a newv reilly, the labyrinth wich i didn't expected. i don't really like this series but .. i prefer the scarecrow series by matthew reilly

 

[Dave Vicks]

Started WOOL By Hugh Howey.On audio.

 

[tobl]

Started WOOL By Hugh Howey.On audio.

shouldn't you just count sheep to sleep?

 

[Parson]

Started WOOL By Hugh Howey.On audio.

I'll be interested in what you think of it. ********** Parson censors himself. He so wants to say something he shouldn't about the book.

 

[ThroneofTime]

This is my comics month so I have been reading the cosmic Marvel era and then heading to the 2008 Guardians of the galaxy run before the 2015 one. Currently at The End event.

 

[Vertigo]

I'll be interested in what you think of it. ********** Parson censors himself. He so wants to say something he shouldn't about the book.

Give us a hint - good or bad? I've tentatively got it on my wish list but it does get mixed reviews.

 

[Toby Frost]

It was a bit too much romance for my liking....but that's just my personal reading tastes

Me too. I've nothing against romantic subplots or female viewpoints, but straight-out romance in space isn't my thing. I'd be interested to see why Jo Walton likes it so much.

I finished Treasure Island. Overall, it's very good, although the ending seemed slightly flat. Perhaps Hollywood has spoiled us. It's interesting reading older adventure stories, where the final conflict often comes down to a few people instead of vast hordes. I got the feeling that Long John Silver was too good a character to kill off. It's a shame that a lot of the language has changed, making some of the sentences a bit hard to work out, because it would remain a very readable book otherwise.

 

[The Judge]

Give us a hint - good or bad? I've tentatively got it on my wish list but it does get mixed reviews.

I read Wool a couple of months ago, and was impressed by it, though I can't say I actually enjoyed it and I can't face reading the sequel which sets out the background and how this all come about as that would be too soul-destroying.

I can't speak for the science which you'd be more interested in -- I had to take all of that on trust as it was well beyond my competence, but it certainly read as if he knew what he was talking about. Characterisation was good, and the interplay between everyone in the main silo, and acceptance of terrible rules, was utterly realistic, though I had many reservations about the situation in another silo that we see (and I'm guessing one story line there would really upset Parson). The background is relentlessly depressing, though, ditto the rules under which they all live, but there are good people fighting for what is right and just, and a very strong central character, which helped to leaven things.

 

[alexvss]

Just started Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan: a non-fictional, autobiographical book about an American journalist's dive into Japanese organized crime. As he narrates how he managed to get into the media conglomerate (an exhausting, almost impossible process by the way, especially for the first foreigner undergoing it), he also gives some insights on the culture. I thought I knew a lot, but this book is proving me wrong, and it's pure nectar to my East-Asian obsession.

And, as I was googling to remember the subtitle, I found out that there is an upcoming drama series based on the book! The cast is impressive. Ansel Elgort stars as the journalist, Ken Watanabe plays a detective and Rinko Kikuchi plays another journalist. Very hyped for this.

Today, I received the US paperback of Hideo Yokoyama's Prefecture D: Four Novellas. Set in the same fictional universe as his novel Six Four which I am in the middle of rereading and enjoying very much.

I didn't know this one. I googled it and it seems pretty game!

 

[Hugh]

William F. Nolan “A Wilderness of Stars” (1970)
A collection of ten short stories dating from 1949 to 1966, edited by William F. Nolan.

Not bad, no disappointments. I particularly liked the Poul Anderson story “Ghetto” for its take on the marginalisation of star-faring spacemen. Chad Oliver’s “North Wind” is still relevant concerning tribal communities threatened by exploitation. There are two stories by Walter M. Miller Jr, including the last to be published in his lifetime, a 78 page novella. Bradbury, Clarke, Sheckley too.