Majkia's Whibbly Wobbly Timey-Whimey Challenge
Converses2015 Category Challenge
Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.
Aquest tema està marcat com "inactiu": L'últim missatge és de fa més de 90 dies. Podeu revifar-lo enviant una resposta.
1majkia
Great Blue Heron on Beach at St. George Island
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/St-George-Island - we're camping there from 25 Feb to 10 March.
Pages Read:
Currently Reading
Next Up
New year!
Favorite Books of the Month:
January To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis
February The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton
March The City & The City China Mieville
April Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamilton
May The Serpent Sea and The Siren Depths - Martha Wells
State of the Science:
CCI - Heisenber Uncertainty Principle - Random -
304/2015 pages
CCII - Schrodinger's Cat - Mystery -
400/2015 pages
CCIII - Chaos Theory - Thrillers -
992/2015 pages
CCIV - The Big Bang Theory - SFFF CAT -
1375/2015 pages
CCV - God Eschews Dice - Bingo Dog
25 Books
9/25
CCVI - The Multiverse - BAC -
1206/2015 pages
CCVII - Quantum Entanglement - Group Reads -
254/2015 pages
CCVIII - Special Relativity - Early Reviewer Books -
275/2015 pages
CCIX - String Theory - Reading Thru Time, History CAT -
752/2015 pages
CCX - Wave/Particle Duality - Genre Benders -
1408/2015 pages
CCXI - Quintessence - Horror -
1/15
CCXII - Cosmology - All Things Shiny and New -
3/10
CCXIII - Hydrogen - TBR Challenge -
11/12 - or at least 12 books
CCIVX - Imagination - Books That Make Me Think -
320/2015 pages
CCVX - Ro..Ro..Romance - Heyer in Order -
304/2015 pages
2majkia
One hundred years ago, our cuddly Albert wrote down his famous field equations of General Relativity, with its central idea that space and time are dynamical and influenced by the presence of matter.
Each category is based on a principle of physics dreamed up by Albert and his friends.
RULES: Each category will be considered complete when I've read 2015 pages , but I can still add new books to each category as the year progresses.
RATINGS: I have been sitting still in front of the screen frozen, because I'm unsure how to rate a book. So, altho I will use the star rating system when I'm writing a review, when I talk about my books instead I will rate books firstly, by type, since an Excellent Historical Fiction novel is a whole lot different (in my mind at least) from an Excellent Thriller. So:
By Genre or Type:
Excellent: Love the book or the series and will recommend and fangirl it to death.
Very Good Just short of fantastical, miraculous and compelling.
Good: Solid entry to a series or for a stand alone by an author I'm enjoying. Recommend for most folks.
Fair: I had some issues with this book, be it authorial, style-wise or plot bunnyish. I'll hopefully expound as I write about the book.
Poor: Definitely disappointed and do not recommend to anyone, without serious reservations.
Abandoned: I'll explain, I hope.
Crappity Crap: Books that really piss me off, for one reason or another.
Now:
3majkia
I. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - i.e. there is a fuzziness to nature, and nothing is as simple as we’d like it to be. {books from RandomCAT and books chosen using random.org}
1. The Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine - 304 pages
Random.org selected: (if it selected a book in a series, I chose the next book up in that series):
The Dark Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine 1/15
The Preacher - Camilla Lackberg - touchstone wrong
The Water Room - Christopher Fowler
Jumper - Steven Gould
Blood Song - Anthony Ryan
Alexander Outland - G.J. Koch
Next Georgette Heyer (reading in pub order)
The Women of Nell Gwynn's - Kage Baker
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
Knight Tennebrae - Julianne Lee
the next Malazan book - Steven Erikson - read Reaper's Gale 5/15
The Labyrinth Makers - Anthony Price
2015 pages completes the category.
4majkia
Here Schrodinger is talking about Quantum Mechanics, not his poor cat.
II. Schrodinger's Cat - The famous thought experiment describing the paradox that mere observation of a phenomenon can alter its state. (Is it Alive or is it Dead?)
{books about mysteries or quests or searches}
1. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
2. Dark Jenny - Alex Bledsoe
3. The Red Wolf Conspiracy - Robert V.S. Redick
4. The King's Gambit - John Maddox Roberts
2015 pages
5majkia
III. Chaos Theory: Chaos is the science of surprises, of the nonlinear and the unpredictable.
{Thrillers, or books that deal with messy situations that need to be resolved}
1. Charming - Elliot James
2. Pandora's Star - Peter F. Hamiton
3. Ghost Country - Patrick Lee
4. Deep Sky - Patrick Lee
2015 pages
6majkia
IV. The Big Bang Theory No, not the TV series. Bazinga! Instead the actual theory of how the universe first formed.
{SFFFCAT and other SFF books}
1. Black Ships - Jo Graham - 341 pages
2. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis - 521
3. Thieftaker - D.B. Jackson - 336
4. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton
5. The Iron Jackal - Chris Wooding
6. The Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
7. The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
8. City of Bones - Martha Wells
9. Under the Empyrean Sky - Chuck Wendig
2015 pages
7majkia
But if there is a god, I bet she plays:
V. Bingo DOG:
{Books I read for the Bingo DOG challenge}
24. Black Ships - Jo Graham
7. Emperor: The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden
5. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis
25. Thieftaker - D.B. Jackson
3. A Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine
22. Willful Child - Steven Erikson
16. Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
19. Way Station - Clifford D. Simak
2. The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
1. The City & The City - China Mieville
9. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson
21. The Flinck Connection - Estelle Ryan
6. The Egyptologist - Arthur Phillips
11. Reaper's Gale - Steven Erikson
18. Libriomancer - Jim C. Hines
23. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
17. Ha'penny - Jo Walton
14. The Summoner - Gail Z. Martin
Possibles:
The Man Who Smiled - Henning Mankell - Translated
The Speed of Dark -Elizabeth Moon - Autism
Encrypted - Lindsay Buroker - Language
Artifact - Gregory Benford - With Scientists
Shutter Island - With natural disaster
Point of Hopes - Melissa Scott- LGBTQ
Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddngs - prophecy
The Sea-Hawk - Rafael Sabatini - 1915
Ice Forged - Gail Z. Martin - progentor's name
8majkia
VI. The Multiverse: The hypothetical set of infinite or finite possible universes that together comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them. Yes, I was hard-pressed not to put a Firefly quote here.
{British Author Challenge}
1. Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (246 pages)
2. Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh (304 pages)
3. The City & The City - China Mieville
4. The House on the Strand - Daphne Du Maurier
2015 pages
9majkia
VII. Quantum Entanglement: A quantum mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects have to be described with reference to each other, even though the individual objects may be spatially separated, even by lightyears! And no, I couldn't resist that picture.
{Group Reads}
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (254 pages)
2.
3.
2015 pages
10majkia
This came out pretty small, so I'll point out that quote was by Carl Sagan.
VIII. Special Relativity: General relativity generalizes special relativity and Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time, or spacetime.
{Gifts/Early Reviewers/Books given to me for review}
1. The Alehouse Murders - Maureen Ash (SantaThing gift)
2.
3.
2015 pages
11majkia
IX. String Theory: Attempts to provide a complete, unified, and consistent description of the fundamental structure of our universe. (For this reason it is sometimes called a 'Theory of Everything’)
{Reading Thru Time, History CAT}
1. Black Ships - January RTT - 341pages
2. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton - Feb Theme (Religion)
3.
2015 pages
12majkia
X. Wave/Particle Duality: The wave particle duality principle of quantum physics holds that matter and light exhibit the behaviors of both waves and particles, depending upon the circumstances of the experiment. This, needless to say, gives a lot of people grief.
{Genre-Benders. Books that are neither fish nor fowl, but instead refuse to be easily stuck into a box. (Unlike Schrodinger’s cat)}
1. The Devil's Eye - Jack McDevitt
2. Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton
3.
2015 pages
13majkia
XI. Quintessence: a hypothetical form of dark energy postulated as an explanation of the observation of an accelerating rate of expansion of the universe announced in 1998. It has been proposed by some physicists to be a fifth fundamental force.
{books deemed noir, horror, dark fantasy, or otherwise kinda icky}
1. Still Life With Crows - Preston/Child
2. Brimstone - Preston/Child
3. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks
4. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett
4/15
14majkia
XII. Cosmology: Tthe study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe.
{Books that are shiny and new and have their own gravitational pull}
1. Willful Child - Steven Erikson - 352pp
2. Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch - 336pp
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley
2015 pages
15majkia
Thanks to PolymathicMonkey it looks as if this might be attributable to Edward R. Harrison, a cosmologist. I have found a somewhat similar quote known to be his.
XIII. Hydrogen: The basic building block of the universe.
{books from my TBR challenge}
The TBR list:
Main:
1. Emperor :The Gates of Rome -Conn Iggulden ✔ 01/15
2. The Last Kingdom - Bernard Cornwell 03/15 ✔
3. Thomas the Rhymer - Ellen Kushner 4/15 ✔
4. The Iron King - Maurice Druon ✔ 5/15
5. Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay ✔ 6/15
6. A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffith ✔ 7/15
7. A Conspiracy of Paper - David Liss
8. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell ✔ 8/15
9. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
10. Bellman & Black - Diane Sutterfield
11. Howard's End - E.M. Forster
12. Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel
Alternates:
1. Imperium - Robert Harris ✔ 03/15
2. The City & the City - China Mieville ✔ 03/15
3. The Princess Bride - William Goldman ✔ 5/15
4. Among Others - Jo Walton
5. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson ✔ 03/15
6. Restoration - Rose Tremain ✔ 7/15
7. Sharpe's Tiger - Bernard Cornwell
8. Armadale - Wilkie Collins
9. The Summoner - Gail Z. Martin
10. The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney
11. Under the Eagle - Simon Scarrow
12. Garnethill - Denise Mina
Hoping to read all of them.
16majkia
XIV. Imagination: Einstein: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you everywhere.”
{books that make me think}
1. The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham
2. Siren Depths - Martha Wells
3.
2015 pages
17majkia
XV. Ro..Ro… Romance?: Obviously a major element of any theory.
{Georgette Heyer reads}
1. Beauvallet - Georgette Heyer
2.
3.
2015 pages
19majkia
My Bingo DOG planning:
1. Set in a country not your own
The City & the City - China Mieville
2. Genre Bender
The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
3. Reminds you of your childhood
The Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine
4. Chosen by someone else
5. Where an animal is of importance
To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis
6. Correspondence/letters
The Egyptologist - Arthur Phillips
7. Owned for more than a year
Emperor: The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden
8. Translated from language you don't speak
9. Centered around major historical event
10. Published in 1915
11. Prophecies, portents
Reaper's Gale - Steven Erikson
12. Book with Scientists
13. Read a CAT
14. Author shares ancestor's first name
15. With a natural disaster
16. Mythical Creatures
Foxglove Summer - Ben Aaronovitch
17. LGBTQ main character
18. By an LT author
19. About language
Way Station - Clifford Simak
20. Outside your comfort zone
21.About autism
The Flinck Connection - Estelle Ryan
22. Inspired by another piece of fiction
Willful Child - Steven Erikson
23. Subject unfamiliar with
24. Based on fairytale or myth
Black Ships - Jo Graham
Protagonist of opposite gender
Thieftaker - D.B. Jackson
21sturlington
22MissWatson
23BookLizard
24PawsforThought
25.Monkey.
Also, because I was curious re: >15 majkia:, as I didn't recall Neil saying something like that, I looked it up and found something from 2 yrs ago that says "Attributed to Edward R Harrison." I have no idea who that is, but it's a lead? :)
26majkia
27christina_reads
29Her_Royal_Orangeness
30rabbitprincess
31DeltaQueen50
32majkia
33dudes22
34-Eva-
37majkia
Ratings: I have been sitting still in front of the screen frozen, because I'm unsure how to rate a book. So, altho I will use the star rating system when I'm writing a review, when I talk about my books instead I will rate books firstly, by type, since an Excellent Historical Fiction novel is a whole lot different (in my mind at least) from an Excellent Thriller. So:
By Genre or Type:
Excellent: love the book or the series and will recommend and fangirl it to death.
Good: Solid entry to a series or for a stand alone by an author I'm enjoying. Recommend for most folks.
Fair: I had some issues with this book, be it authorial, style-wise or plot bunnyish. I'll hopefully expound as I write about the book.
Poor: Definitely disappointed and do not recommend to anyone, without serious reservations.
Abandoned: I'll explain, I hope.
Crappity Crap: Books that really piss me off, for one reason or another.
38DeltaQueen50
42PawsforThought
43majkia
44DeltaQueen50
45majkia
46majkia
47rabbitprincess
48Tanya-dogearedcopy
49BookLizard
I also did a separate planning thread this year so i can kick around ideas without committing to much.
50majkia
I might just remove the possibles.
51christina_reads
53Tanya-dogearedcopy
54Poquette
55mamzel
56mysterymax
57lkernagh
59mysterymax
60majkia
62majkia
63The_Hibernator
64cammykitty
65majkia
Physicists believe it will provide the info we need to determine if the universe is stable, unstable, or metastable (stable for a limited period of time). The Higgs Boson experiments are currently pointing at a metastable universe but that it won't blow up or decay for a very very long time.
67VioletBramble
68majkia
Genre: Historical Fiction/Magical Realism
Rating: Very Very Good
A retelling of the Aeneid, told through the eyes of a young girl enslaved when Troy falls. She is hurt, and no longer able to work, is then given to the temple of the Lady of the Dead as an acolyte, who when grown, becomes the chosen of the Lady and the Sybil to Aeneas.
Written beautifully, plainly and clearly told with no fake embellishments, moving and engrossing.
What a great book to start the year with.
69casvelyn
I rate books by genre as well. Everything is on a 5-point scale, but when I'm rating a mystery, I'm comparing it in my mind to other mysteries. There's some cross-genre comparison on things like plot ratings, though, because either the plot had holes or it didn't. (I'm mostly not rating the quality of the plot, but the execution.)
70majkia
I hope you'll enjoy Black Ships as much as I did.
72BookLizard
73DeltaQueen50
74electrice
>69 casvelyn: and >70 majkia: That's true for me too, I don't read comics or classics with the same expectations, they both have their own merits ; so same scale, 1 to 5, but different meanings.
75-Eva-
Yep, that's a BB for me too!
77majkia
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: Very Good
I was surprised to read that this was Conn Iggulden's first novel. He did a bang up job as a new novelist.
He begins the story of Julius Caesar when Julius (Gaius as he was known as a child) was still a young boy living on his father's minor estate. From there we follow him, and his childhood companion Marcus into the city of Rome and their immersion into the politics and the pitfalls of the city. Young Marcus, with no money of his own, and no family to help him rise, is the fist to join the legions and head out to make his name in the military.
Julius remains in the city and is taken under the wing of his mother's brother, a consul of Rome and a great General.
But Julius's life is thrown into doubt when Marius and his rival General Sulla, fight over Rome itself.
Colorful and nicely written, the time, the city and the boys come to life.
78AHS-Wolfy
79majkia
Genre: Speculative Fiction/Time Travel
Rating: Very very good!
The second book of the Oxford Time Travel Series. The first book, The Doomsday Book, dealt with the Black Death. This one is a comedy of manners, and takes place during WWII, involving the search for some missing artifacts from Coventry Cathedral which was bombed during the war.
Tongue in cheek from the very beginning, poor Ned is sent through time to jumble sales all over England in search of ‘The Bishop’s Bird Stump’ an admitted atrocity of Victorian proportions but still wanted to go into a reconstruction of the cathedral.
But time goes awry nearly from the beginning when a young woman save a cat from drowning, and Ned adopts Cyril the bulldog. So suddenly the problem is finding what has messed up the future, to say nothing of retrieving the cat who is accidentally transported into the future.
Highly recommended!
80Dejah_Thoris
>79 majkia: I adore To Say Nothing of the Dog! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
82majkia
And yeah, To Say Nothing of the Dog is just a hoot.
83BookLizard
84majkia
87BookLizard
88Dejah_Thoris
90DeltaQueen50
91luvamystery65
Happy Thingaversary!
Awesome way to set up your challenge. I actually understood some of the terms since I read The Theory of Everything last year. Just don't ask me to explain any of it. ;-)
92majkia
1.Black Wind - F. Paul Wilson
2.Why Mermaids Sing - C.S. Harris
3.Dead Medium - Peter John
4.Sick - Brett Battles
5.Andromeda's Fall - William C. Dietz
6.The Barrow- Mark Smylie
7.Nefertiti's Heart - A.W. Exley
8.Malice - John Gwynne
and one to grow on:
9.A Fine Summer's Day - Charles Todd
93MissWatson
94Dejah_Thoris
95rabbitprincess
96mysterymax
97majkia
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: Good
The story of one man’s life as a butler during the run-up to World War II.
I’m unsure what to say about this book. Beautifully written, but depressing and rather hopeless. Talk about living your life through others and letting them be your conscience and your guide. But he certainly maintains his dignity throughout.
99whitewavedarling
100majkia
Genre: Alternate History
Rating: Interesting!
We’re in 1765 Boston, where Sam Adams and his buddies are beginning to stir up Boston against the Crown and its taxes. During a night where the rabble attack and break into three houses of prominent Bostonians, a girl is found dead, with no apparent wound on her.
It turns out the girl is from another prominent Boston family and so Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker, a conjuror, and a convicted felon, is called in to search for a valuable brooch she was wearing, and if he can, to find out who killed her.
I thought the setting was drawn very well, the miseries of the poor in Boston and the relatively easy life of the wealthy made all too clear. The magical system was intriguing. Ethan, who’d nearly been hung as a witch, but had been instead sent to Barbados to work in the sugar cane fields, is hiding in plain sight. People ‘know’ he’s a conjuror/witch, but mostly because he’s been no threat, they leave him alone. But when he’s employed by a wealthy merchant to find out about the merchant’s daughter, that draws way too much attention to Ethan and he finds himself up against not only the only other thieftaker in Boston, but also up against a conjuror far stronger than he.
I’ll definitely be continuing this series.
101LittleTaiko
103christina_reads
104majkia
Dave, Thanks for stopping by. It is pretty gritty but well worth treking through Boston in the rain and the muck, not to mention stopping in the Green Dragon to hear the talk of sedition!
Christina, I can see well why To Say Nothing of the Dog is a favorite of yours. I'm going to have to re-read it at some point, I think. Just to laugh again. :)
105mysterymax
106hailelib
107BookLizard
108majkia
Gritty in that the miseries of the world are depicted plainly and Ethan's world is dangerous.
109BookLizard
110majkia
111BookLizard
112majkia
113BookLizard
115majkia
Genre: Historical Mystery
Rating: Very Good
I had no idea when I began reading this that this book would dredge up so many childhood memories. I’m sure the pain of revisiting some of that colors my thoughts regarding it, but I will say that the book was riveting, emotional, and very much a story that could only happen during the timeframe it is set. Times have changed, attitudes are different, circumstances would be very different at other times.
It is the story of a murder, dredged up from the narrator’s past, when a writer contacts the family and wants to write a book about the murder and the circumstances of the murderer’s life.
The narrator, Faith, revisits what she knows, what she didn’t learn until too late, what she thinks is true, and how it is that the truth is never clear or logical.
Very much a psychological tale, examining all the characters in an extended family and how secrets and lies lead up to misery and hatred.
My personal experience is that lies and family secrets most certainly do that.
117Bjace
118LibraryCin
119RidgewayGirl
121majkia
123Bjace
124whitewavedarling
125majkia
A slow January for me with only a total of 6 books read. Well finished. Books unfinished and set aside: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. I was enjoying it, but was just not in a good place to listen to it and pay attention.
Books Read: 6
Authors: 3 Female/ 3 Male
Genres: 2 Historical, 1 Magical Realism, 1 period mystery, 1 Alt Reality, 1 Sci Fi/Time Travel
Total Pages Read:2689
Oldest Book Read (original Pub date) - A Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine - 1986
1. Black Ships - Jo Graham
2. Emperor: The Gates of Rome - Conn Iggulden
3. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis
4. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Thieftaker - D.B. Jackson
6. A Dark-Adapted Eye - Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell)
Best Book of the month: I enjoyed all of them, so hard to choose, but I think I'll have to choose: To Say Nothing of the Dog.
127majkia
128majkia
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Rating: Best of the Series I’ve Read so Far
Agent Pendergast, just as mysterious as ever, turns up in a tiny Kansas town after a bizarre murder is found with the scene set as a ritualistic tableau.
But the next murder makes no sense, at least none that anyone can figure out, since it breaks all the rules regarding serial killers.
Pendergast, unloved by the local cops, finds a young girl, an ousider like him, to assist and he and she set out to catch the killer.
Very good descriptions of the country, the scenes, the local flora and fauna, complex mystery, and lots of crazy chases.
129majkia
Genre: Sci Fi Parody
Rating: Good
This is an all out over-the-top parody of Star Trek. Take all the silliness of the original series, stir, and and a biting wit, and you get The Willful Child.
If you adore Star Trek, don’t read it. Unless, of course, you can admit that the series was fun rather than an example of serious Sci Fi.
This couldn't get any more different from his Malazan series!
130majkia
Not much to say. My umpteenth reread of it. Great fun.
10. The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
Genre: Historical Mystery
Rating: Very Good!
Second in the Flavia DeLuce series. I know a lot of people find Flavia annoying, but I think she’s utterly hilarious and I envy her dreadfully for being so interesting and complex.
Terrific characters, and intriguing world.
Wonderful series I’ll happily continue.
132AHS-Wolfy
133Bjace
134DeltaQueen50
135BookLizard
137LibraryCin
138mysterymax
I've never found one where the guilty party wasn't quite obvious from early on, what makes them so endurable are the characters and for me Flavia was tops! Anyone that can get back at big sisters by putting poison ivy in their lipstick, rides her bike with arms straight out, and reads with her legs hanging over the arm of the chair is good for me.
139VivienneR
140LibraryCin
141majkia
Genre: Satire
Rating: Fair
Evelyn Waugh’s first novel, written in 1928, a satire of the British public school system, with our hero having been sent down, landing a job at a public school of questionable value. Not as good as some of his later books, but quite funny nonetheless.
12. Beauvallet - Georgette Heyer (CAT XV - Romance)
Genre: Historical Romance (Elizabethan)
Rating: Good
Written in 1929, Heyer’s 5th novel, follows the adventures and romances of a pirate, Nick Beauvallet, and the Spanish lady he captures when he attacks a Spanish ship on the high seas. He decides he must have her, even if he has to risk his neck by going to Spain to get her.
Lots of intrigue and adventures even if Nick has all the fun and poor Dominica has to just wait to be rescued from the evil clutches of her aunt. Not my favorite Heyer, but it does have its virtues.
142majkia
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Police Procedural
Rating: Excellent
5th in the Peter Grant/Rives of London series.
Apprentice wizard and policeman Peter Grant, city boy down to his tiny toes, has to trek off to the wilds of the British countryside, when two little girls vanish. Just due diligence, just to make sure there wasn't any supernatural critter involved in the abduction.
'The Starling' as he finds himself called, learns a whole lot on this jaunt: about bees, about himself, about his boss, and about the aspects of magic in the countryside. Not to mention the unicorn and castle.
Excellent addition to the series.
143mamzel
144Dejah_Thoris
145BookLizard
146Roro8
147Dejah_Thoris
148majkia
149Dejah_Thoris
I don't think I've read of anyone disliking it, just some folks who were a little let down.
150BookLizard
151majkia
I'm glad they didn't jump right into the issue at the end of the previous book. I'd like Ben to draw that out and make it complex and interesting rather than a quick resolution to it all.
152majkia
Genre: Space Opera
Rating: Very Good!
It is the far future and humankind have spread across the stars, and met a host of alien species. Wars are over, and things are going pretty well. Except for this massive thing sitting in the middle of the Galaxy. At first it is thought to be a black hole devouring the Galaxy, but then it becomes clear it is something else entirely.
Then one man, an astrophysicist who is studying it, begins to dream. Through the existing tech that connects the worlds, his dream is broadcast across the stars and people begin to believe that within the Void humans live and are happy and prosper. This spawns a religion around the Dreamer, Inigo.
But after several centuries, the Dreamer disappears. Has he died? Or has he simply pulled out of society and hidden himself somewhere.
Then, suddenly, there is a second Dreamer. This sparks the Living Dream, the religion spawned around the first Dreamer, to suddenly awaken from its slumber and call for a pilgrimage into the Void. ; But many scientists, and all the alien species, rise up in alarm, afraid such a thing will cause the Void to speed up and begin, once again, to destroy worlds and civilizations as it chews its way through the Galaxy. The pilgrimage must be stopped!
Hamilton does a great job at creating a Galactic civilization, Religion, and people who are complex and intriguing. The societies are various, with different worlds having quite different problems and opportunities, not to mention goals. Some people, the wealthy of course, live for centuries, and have augmented bodies and minds, and a mental connection to the mass of humanity through the vast gaianet that lets thoughts and dreams spread across worlds and peoples.
I’m excited to read the next outing. Oh, and Fifty Shades doesn’t hold a candle to the future folks and their versions of sex and erotica.
153majkia
Genre: Steampunk, SFF
Rating: Very Good
Third episode in the Tales of the Ketty Jay series, our ‘heroes’ are feeling pretty smug. For a change, things are going fairly well. That is, until Frey decides to do a train job. From there, things definitely get buggered.
Pirates, thieves, outcasts, former slaves, and a demonologist on the run make up the crew of the Ketty Jay. Lots of shades of Firefly in many parts, particularly The Train Job!
I love the characters. Everyone is a mess, and doing their best to make do with what they are, and somehow remain part of a crew.
Frey, leader of the crew, is shallow, narcissistic, and knows it. But for the first time in his life, he’s beginning to actually feel responsible for his crew and aware of his limitations. And is trying to do better. We’ll see if he can manage it!
154christina_reads
155majkia
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: Quite Good
Originally published in 1963. Hugo Award winner and deservedly so.
Enoch is a quiet man. He keeps to himself and gives his neighbors no reason to be upset with him. He has little to do with anyone other than getting his mail and buying supplies now and again.
The neighbors do notice, however, that he has lived far longer than is normal, but well, he’s no trouble and nice enough so no one wants to make waves about weird goings on.
No one guesses that this quiet man is keeper of an intergalactic way station where aliens arrive most days, say awhile to rest, then continue on their light year journeys. Until, that is, a deaf mute girl local girl seeks his help from her abusive family.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Told in a very quiet, simple way, with an intriguing premise and interesting characters.
156Dejah_Thoris
157AHS-Wolfy
159majkia
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: Very Good
Made into the movie Village of the Damned.
A small town of no known importance is suddenly blocked off from the rest of the world, and all its inhabitants are cut down. At first the authorities assume they are all dead. Instead they discover the people and animals and every living thing in Midwich is asleep. After 24 hours, everyone awakes and all appear to be fine.
But then it is discovered that every woman of child bearing age who has been hit by the DayOut is with child.
Very intriguing take on alien invasions. Quite different from the movie, of course.
160majkia
Mr Majkia playing with fire. And the photo at the top of the thread he got this afternoon on the beach. The heron was deigning to accept Jim's shrimp he was using to fish with.
Alas, he didn't catch any fish.
161rabbitprincess
162AHS-Wolfy
163majkia
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: Good
I confess to knowing nothing whatsoever about this period in Britain’s history so I have no idea how accurate the historical details are, although Cornwell does say something with regard to that in the afterward.
The action takes place when the Danes were overrunning England and had captured essentially most of it with the exception of West Sussex where Alfred, to be called Alfred the Great, is keeping them at bay.
The tale is told by a young man whose family is killed in a Danish attack. The boy attempts to kill one of the Danish leaders, Ragnar, and is subsequently adopted by the same fellow. He finds the young boy’s spirit that of a Dane and a Viking, and so the boy grows up as a Dane, learning how they fight, how they believe and how they think. He still dreams of his home though, and secretly wants the Danes out and the English to regain their homeland.
The story follows the boy’s life up until he is grown and finds himself torn between the two worlds.
Intriguing character development and interesting to me as I knew nothing about the Vikings nearly conquering England.
164Chrischi_HH
166Roro8
167MissWatson
168mathgirl40
169rabbitprincess
170majkia
171Roro8
172majkia
Genre: Urban Fantasy Noir
Rating: Amazing
Mieville has an ability to imagine world and city-scapes that are so alien and fascinating.
Two cities/two worlds superimposed over each other, where citizens of one must ‘unsee’ those of the other. Areas of shared scape or totally separate cities, intermixed who knows how or why. The citizens just have to live there.
A detective of one city finds a dead body. But he begins to suspect that this isn’t only about his city, and that means the mysterious Breach might be invoked, the mystery that citizens of both cities fear.
Again, Mieville creates a world that is as much a character in the story as the humans living in it. Wonderfully imaginative, nicely noir and convincingly complex.
174DeltaQueen50
176majkia
Our site at Suwannee River State Park.
Notice the trees are pretty bare and all the leaves on the ground?
For those of you not familiar with Florida, these trees are called live and scrub oak. They keep their leaves all winter and only lose them in spring, when they produce seed pods. In a month they'll be offering heavy shade.
178Roro8
179majkia
Genre: Alt History/Historical Fiction/SFF
Rating: Wow
I’ve been putting off saying anything about this book, because I wasn’t sure how to put it. It is an ambitious book, a retelling of the history of science, taking on the change from alchemy to science, and the massive social changes coming from the Reformation and the Plague.
If you don’t like science, you probably won’t like it. We meet many of the fathers of science, and they aren’t always figures to look up to, at least not personally, even if they are brilliant and driven.
I found it fascinating.
180MissWatson
181majkia
Genre: Golden Age Mystery
Rating: Convoluted and Intriguing.
Timor Mortis conturbat me.
Third in the John Appleby mystery series.
As with all the Appleby books, extremely literary and quite convoluted. Quite a few twists and turns I did not see coming.
I do enjoy the series, even if it shows up my poor literary education. ;)
182Bjace
184dudes22
185-Eva-
Oh, those are so lovely.
186majkia
Genre: Period Mystery
Rating: Pure Flavia
The third entry in the Flavia DeLuce series, has Flavia mixed up with Gypsies and old fears and murder!
Flavia is at her most stubbornly determined when she finds an old gypsy woman beaten near to death. She just can’t let it drop, of course, and keeps digging to find out whodunit, even in the face of yet another murder.
Flavia is, I realize an acquired taste, one some folks never quite get used to, but I do adore her. And some of the things she says and does brings back my own childhood so doubly a reason I adore her.
187mamzel
188VivienneR
189mathgirl40
190majkia
Genre:& SFF, Post-Apocalyptic
Rating: Very Good
Quite an interesting take on post-apocalyptic fiction. With well drawn and complex characters, and an interesting world. the magic is intriguing also. Too bad it’s a stand alone. I’d like to read more of this world.
191majkia
Genre: urban/country fantasy
Rating: I’m liking it!
First in the Pax Arcana series.
A blonde walks into a bar. And the bartender avoids her. He knows she’s not human. He’s not quite human. But when the vampire walks in they end up having to work together whether he likes it or not. And just how did she know his name was John?
So much for hiding out in a small NC town.
Fun and quite well developed world a bit reminiscent of the Dresden Files, in that John is a reluctant hero, but not a mage. Told in the first person, we learn not only about John’s problems but he gives an ongoing commentary about fighting vampires.
I'll definitely be reading more of the series.
192christina_reads
194VioletBramble
195Tanya-dogearedcopy
I'm not so sure I'm going to go for Quicksilver though. I read both Snow Crash (dated) and The Diamond Age; and both were so wordy and detail driven that reading them both became a testament to my stubbornness in finishing what I started! Interesting ideas and story line buried in all that detail though! :-)
196BookLizard
197majkia
Tanya, Stephenson is one of those writers who appeal to some and not to others. If you want to try something very different by him, try Reamde. It's a wonderful, exciting thriller I couldn't put down. For all 1000 pages or so!
Hi Kelly. Life is too short to read stuff you don't enjoy. I'll have to look for The Years of Rice and Salt . Sounds like something I'd enjoy!
198majkia
Genre: Space Opera
Rating: Whoa!
Humans are scattered throughout the Galaxy. Their civilization is surprisingly peaceful, prosperous, and integrated with multiple aliens.
But then a dyson sphere is placed around two worlds and they feel they need to discover if it spheres are for protection from an invading alien race, or instead is it there to stop whoever is on those worlds from escaping.
Then things really begin to go wrong.
Great space opera, encompassing multiple societies and lots of surprising alien viewpoints. Very thoughtfully presented with some deep subjects, like life and death and how we'd deal with a species that is so different from us that we can't hope to come to some sort of accommodation.
My only complaint is the book ends with cliff hangers. But at least there is only one more book in the series.
199majkia
28. The Alehouse Murders - Maureen Ash (CAT VIII - A SantaThing Gift
Genre: Historical Mystery
Rating: Pretty Good for the Start of a Series
Bascot de Marins is a Knight Templar, returned from the Crusades, having been held captive and then served as a slave until he’d escaped. His faith has flagged and he’s taken leave of the Templars. He’s unsure what his future path is.
The Templars arrange for him to recover his health at the Castle of Lincoln. While there, three people are found murdered at the local Alehouse. The chatelaine of the castle asks de Marin to look into the deaths and discover what he can of them.
Quite interesting setting and seems quite well researched. But there are a few places where I felt modern ideas intruded into the atmosphere that bothered me a bit.
The mystery was pretty complex and I was unsure of the identity of the murderer until quite near the end, which is a surprise for me.
200majkia
Genre: Thriller/ Historical
Rating: Right up my street
A volunteer on an archeological dig uncovers a cave that holds two bodies. She discovers a ring, and sees a labyrinth carved into the wall of the cave.
This begins a deadly earnest race between two organizations who want to control the ring and use it to discover the secrets of the Grail.
I can see why some folks might not like this sort of book, but I adored it. Puzzles, ancient secrets, theories and commonly accepted beliefs turned upside down.
It is a complete book, and although it is part of a trilogy, could certainly be read on its own. I’ll undoubtedly read the rest of the Languedoc series.
201majkia
Genre: Art Heist Thriller
Rating: Did I say I loved art thieves?
Fourth entry in the Dr Genevieve Lenard series. Jenny is a high functioning autistic woman who has somehow acquired quite the band of former thieves. Due to past incidents they work toward recovering stolen art, but pose as crooks and cons.
This time out, they are invited to a house to see a Flinck painting, and when Colin, the art thief, checks the place out, he finds a body.
I really enjoy this series. Interesting characters, lots of fascinating interplay among them, and the art heists are cool.
202dudes22
>201 majkia: - Also dodged a BB on this one as this series came to my attention here a bit ago ( ok - it was 2013) and I just picked up book 1 at a sale a little bit ago. Maybe I should think about starting this series too.
203-Eva-
Labyrinth has been sitting on Mt. TBR for quite some time now, mainly because people seem to either love of hate it and I don't want to be one of the "haters." It's safer when it's on the bookshelf as a potentially great one. :) I will get to it, though. Eventually.
204majkia
There at the end of our RVing trip to Topsail I became lax about posting about my reading. Here's what I've read since my last post:
31. Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner. Meh. Not nearly as good as her Riverside books. Well written, but constrained by the fact it is a retelling of fairy stories.
32. The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham
I really enjoyed the world and the diversity of the inhabitants of that world. The plot was a bit hard to follow, what with quite a few threads woven through it, but then I like that sort of thing!
33. The Devil's Eye - Jack McDevitt
I really enjoy this series. Lots of action, archaeology in space, complex worlds and interesting and fun characters. The first of the series was told from the more staid character's viewpoint, but the rest are told from his female partner's POV and she's a lot of fun.
Unfinished: Maze - J.M. McDermott - I found it repetitive even if well-written. Just wasn't in the right mood for it, maybe. I wanted more fun and it wasn't providing that, alas.
205Roro8
I also liked your review of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, it sounds like something I would like too.
206majkia
34. The Egyptologist - Arthur Phillips.
Genre: historical mystery of sorts, epistological
Rating: Uneven but interesting.
An interesting mystery, not only with regard to things archaeological, but also with regard to two missing men, seemingly unconnected, from different parts of the world.
35. Judas Unchained - Peter F. Hamilton.
Second in the Commonwealth Saga.
Genre: Sci Fi, definitely of the hard variety
Rating: I really love the sprawling sort of tale that builds galaxies rather than just worlds
Definitely have to read this after the first of the series. The action picks up directly after Pandora's Star and involves alien plots, and alien planets and lots of neat theories with regard to tech and how people themselves might evolve.
36. The Princess Bride -William Goldman
Genre: fantasy
Rating: Meh.
I liked the movie better.
37. The Serpent Sea - Martha Wells
Genre: SFF
Rating: Excellent sequel to The Cloud Roads.
Imaginative, entertaining and excellent world building.
38. The Butcher of Anderson Station - James S.A. Corey
Genre: Sci Fi
Rating: Meh
I'd hoped to get a better feel for the guy, but this didn't really seem to add a lot to what we know of Fred and his decision to join OPA.
Judas Unchained was 1024 pages and I'm deep into another thousand pager, Reaper's Gale.
207majkia
Genre: High Fantasy
Rating: Amazing series (this is the 7th book) 1280 pages would you believe.
Who can't love a series with characters whose names are: Ublala Pung, or Karsa Orlong, or an elder god who runs around disguised as a servant named Bugg? And dragons! Did I mention dragons? And Moranth explosives! Sappers Unite!
40. Ghost Country - Patrick Lee
Genre: Sci Fi Thriller
Rating: Intriguing
Second in the Travis Chase series, the Breach, which seems to be a doorway into another universe/time/planet/? keeps sending odd and mostly entirely alien 'things' through it. This time though, it sends two things through that see to show the Earth's future. And it is very, very bleak. Can our heroes stop the all too soon destruction of human kind? And what exactly did happen and who did it?
208-Eva-
The Princess Bride is a fantastic movie. I can't actually remember what I thought of the book, but I can't imagine it'd be better. :)
209majkia
I"ve read quite a few good books, but haven't felt like commenting on them. Sigh. Better than a reading slump I guess. ;)
210rabbitprincess
211majkia
June:
Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines. Imaginative urban fantasy with lots of humor.
Lions of Al Rassan - G.G. Kay. His usual highly emotional, beautifully written sort of fantasy. I'm always swearing I won't read him again because his stories are all so bloody heart wrenching.
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V.S. Redick. This one surprised me. Very interesting world-building and well-drawn characters.
Just One Damned Thing after Another - Jody Taylor . Rollicking good fun with one sarcastic heroine you have to fall in love with.
July:
A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin. Very intriguing urban fantasy. One of those books that doesn't explain a lot of what is going on but drags you onward until all finally becomes clear - ish.
Why Mermaids Sing - C. S. Harris. One of those period mysteries that just entertains so well.
Cold Magic . Kate Elliot. Very surprising book. Great world-building and great characterization. I couldn't put it down.
Honorable mention:
Off to be the Wizard - Chris Meyer Just fun.
212DeltaQueen50
214Tanya-dogearedcopy
I loved 'A Madness of Angels'! There was something about it that got under my skin and had me dreaming about it! I read the second book in the series; and have the other two on hand; I just to get back to them! :-)
215majkia
Like most humor, I expect books like Libriomancer will appeal to some folks more than others. But then that's true of a lot of books. :)
I finished Ha'penny yesterday. Another created world that makes me think long and hard and shudder a whole lot.
216mysterymax
217mathgirl40
I really liked Walton's Farthing and I've been meaning to continue with Ha'penny. I've also got her new book, My Real Children, on my TBR shelf right now.
218majkia
219mamzel
221majkia
So beginning A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss instead.
222mysterymax
224VivienneR
225majkia
1. A Fine Summer's Day - Charles Todd TIOLI 20, AlphaKIT, RandomCAT
2. Replay - Ken Grimwood TIOLI 17
3. A Conspiracy of Paper - David Liss, TBR
4. A Perfect Evil - Alex Kava TIOLI 15, AlphaKIT
5. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell TIOLI 1, TBR
6. Annihilation- Jeff Vandermeer SFFCAT TIOLI 6, AlphaKIT
7. Osiris - E. J. Swift TIOLI 20, SFFCAT, AlphaKIT
8. Angelmaker- Nick Harkaway SFFCAT, AlphaKIT
9. The Adamantine Palace - Stephen Deas TIOLI 7, AlphaKIT
I think I enjoyed Angelmaker and The Adamantine Palace the best.
226majkia
1.The Water Room - Christopher Fowler
2.Bellman and Black - Diane Sutterfield - TBR
3.Bloodsucking Fiends - Christopher Moore TIOLI 8 Horror
4.Blackout - Connie Willis
5.Skinwalker - Faith Hunter
6.Blindsight - Peter Watts SFFCAT
Blindsight was ... wow. Hard Sci Fi. Imaginative, very different than any other first contact novel I've read. It's a slow read, because it makes you think, which is intriguing. It redefines a lot of basic concepts we consider quite settled: intelligence, consciousness, communication.
227mathgirl40
228majkia
229luvamystery65
Merry Christmas