Kathi’s Comments (group member since Mar 31, 2009)

Kathi’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I am over half done, so I can’t really call this a first impression, but I’m finding the second person narrative to be distracting. The only other book I can think of that uses second person extensively is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, and it was an adjustment for me in that book as well.

Still, the story is intriguing & I am fully invested in finding out how everything unfolds.

Book formats: which do you use? Prefer? Avoid if possible? And why?

For fantasy: The Master of Whitestorm by Janny Wurts, one of her early novels, a stand-alone. An author who always delivers, IMO.

For SF: Axis by Robert Charles Wilson. This is a sequel of sorts to Spin, which the group has previously read.

Starting this book tonight.

Random wrote: "The joys of growing up semi feral. :)."

Well, as long as you were only semi feral! 😁

I think I’ve read about 10 of the books on the list of books from 2010-19, none from the ALA list of Top 10 from 2024, & 1 from the PEN America list (although I have a couple others on my shelf).

Having worked in schools for my entire career, I know how dedicated school librarians are to having age-appropriate books on the shelves. And how carefully they vet the books that end up in their libraries, reading them, looking at reviews, using reliable resources to help them choose. Very often the folks trying to get books removed haven’t even read them & are relying on lists that, as many of you suggested, want to eliminate references to race, sexuality, mental health, gender, & human growth & development.

I am all for parents/guardians to be aware of what their children are reading, to discuss books with their kids, to read books together. And if a parent/guardian doesn’t want their child to read a certain book, that is their right. But I don’t believe they have the right to not allow other people’s children to read it.

As for the “murky” areas that Random mentioned—I think school libraries are probably a little different than public libraries, & the resources librarians can access in terms of choosing appropriate books would help guide those decisions.

While this is a long-standing issue, I think it became more prevalent as schools & teachers (and authors) learned more about how important it is for kids to see themselves reflected in the media (books, movies, TV), to know that others have faced the challenges they face as people of color, people with a disability, people who are LGBTQ. School libraries reflect that shift, and some people find that threatening.

Just one more list, this one from PEN America: Most Banned Books of the 2024-2025 School Year (https://pen.org/banned-books-list-2025/)

Banned Books Week: Today is the first day of Banned Books Week 2025. The American Library Association compiled a list of the 10 most challenged books in libraries & schools in 2024 (https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequently...), as well as the most challenged books from past decades, the most recent being 2010-2019 (https://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequently...).

Have you had experiences with challenged or banned books in your local schools or libraries? Have you read any of the books on either list?

I don’t really pay much attention to hype but I think Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky was pretty widely praised and I thought it was terrific—imaginative, compelling, thought-provoking. I see he is returning to this series with a new book comping out in spring, Children of Strife.

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune is another book that seemed to garner lots of praise, well-deserved , IMO.

Even though it’s next month’s BotM, and even though I think I’m the one who nominated it, I don’t actually know anything about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke other than it’s her debut novel and there’s a British TV series based on it. I think the title is just “strange” enough to fit the challenge, and the book has been on my shelf for ages, so I will apply this to the challenge when I read this for our November BotM.

I have this queued up in my Kindle app but I have a couple books in line ahead of it, so likely later this month.

I hope to read this at some point but probably not this month, or next, or next… 😁

Please let us know what books you are reading or listening to this month, October 2025. Which ones do you recommend? And which ones don’t you recommend? Any “on the fence” reads this month? Enquiring minds want to know!

All genres welcome here!

My latest 2 books of September were:
Cold Storage by David Koepp, 8/10. I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. It’s kind of a SF/horror mix with some interesting characters. I listened to an audio version & the narrator was great!

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson, 10/10. My comments are in the topic thread for this BotM.

Although I nominated this book for BotM, I was a little intimidated by its size and my memories of long, dry info-dumps in some of his other books, even though I thought they were very good.

So I really liked the way he put the main info-dumps into the chapters from the “citizen’s” POV. They were conversational, with a bit of dry humor, relatively short, and pretty easy to understand.

So I liked this book way more than I thought I would. The characters were unique & interesting (IMO), the setting (Earth’s own New York City after climate change leads to massively higher ocean levels) was familiar & yet unrecognizably changed, and the plot threads came together in a very satisfying way.

The main characters had their own POV chapters, although a couple pairs of characters shared their chapters (Mutt & Jeff and Stefan & Roberto). Most were in third person, past tense, but Franklin’s were in first person and some were in present tense. I really couldn’t see the reasoning behind doing this, but it did help the chapters stand out from each other.

This book was sobering, even with its flashes of humor, and more than thought-provoking. Highly recommended! (10/10)

Gary wrote: "I am reading The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (Book #7 of the Old Man’s War)..."

Whoa, I didn’t know Scalzi had returned to this series with another book. Thanks for the heads up!

I finished The Strange Nation of Rafael Mendes by Moacyr Scliar, 1/10. Nope, I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s the translation, maybe it’s me, but nothing about this book works for me. It is 3 stories in one book: a few days in the life of the current Rafael Mendes, whose personal life is a mess & who works at a financial company about to go under because of corruption & embezzlement; the repetitive tales (histories? fables? fantasies?) of Rafael’s supposed ancestors, starting with the Biblical Jonah; and the current Rafael’s father’s story (he’s a physician). All of them are bleak, filled with poor decision-making, religious confusion, romantic missteps, violence, & betrayals. The writing is awkward (could be the translation), with lots of “telling” & not enough “showing”. There are interesting snippets of history but it’s hard to know how much of that is even accurate—there’s not enough context to be able to tell. I finished it because I’m a completist; I kept hoping it would come together, have a resolution, make a statement—something! But nope, it didn’t, at least, not for me.

I also finished Farilane by Michael J. Sullivan, 9.5/10. This is not your typical “middle of a trilogy” book. The Rise and Fall is not a typical trilogy—the events in each book take place hundreds of years apart; the titular character, Farilane, wasn’t even born at the time of the first book. And this is truly Farilane’s story—she is in practically every scene & is the key to the entire book. There are a number of references to people & events from the author’s other books about the world of Elan, & while the author does provide some context, I recommend reading the Legends of the First Empire series before tackling The Rise and Fall. While not strictly necessary, it makes for a much better reading experience.

Currently almost done listening to Cold Storage by David Koepp & about 30% done with New York 2140 for our BotM discussion.

Shel wrote: "I haven't read a ton from Silvia Moreno-Garcia but the two that I've read (Mexican Gothic and Gods of Jade and Shadow) were wonderful. I'll come bac..."

I enjoyed Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia when we read it in 2020. Here’s what I noted in my review back then: A wonderfully absorbing story containing many elements of Mayan mythology but holding its own as a fantasy narrative. Entirely satisfying.

I will say the start of the book (first 50 pages or so) is very engaging!

Starting this tonight. Hoping to finish before the end of the month!