Shel’s Comments (group member since Nov 30, 2009)

Shel’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

For fantasy: Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie looks sort of Hunger Games-esque but in the afterlife. I'm intrigued.

For SF, how about Esperance by Adam Oyebanji? I've had a few folks recommend this to me and it looks good.

I'm planning to start it when I finish my current read.

Two Seanan McGuire reads for me recently. Silver and Lead is her most recent Toby Daye book, and I just love any chance to revisit her world and characters.

Then I decided that it was probably time for me to check out the only one of her series that I haven't read any yet, her InCryptid books, so I picked up the first one Discount Armageddon from the library. Good fun, as I expected!

Now I'm on a murder mystery, How to Seal Your Own Fate (sequel to How to Solve Your Own Murder, which I quite enjoyed). I've got The Waste Lands lined up to read next.

Still waiting for my library loan 😒

Pretty evenly split between paper and ebook. I like the heft of a paper book, but it's hard to beat the convenience of an ebook (especially for travel). And I'm fine with most typical books, but sometimes a paperback will have teeny teeny print that is too small for my aging eyes to read, I like being able to increase the print size on an e-reader.

I tend to avoid audiobooks when it comes to fiction. I can read faster than a narrator can read to me, and I'm usually impatient to know what happens next. It's difficult to go back and find passages that I want to read over again. Plus sometimes I zone out and it's hard to flip back and find out where I was. I do like nonfiction on audio, especially if it's read by the author. I learn better through listening than through print.

Julian Comstock was great! The group read it some time back so feel free to dig through the archives and resurrect the discussion thread if you like!

I read A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and it was as delightful as I anticipated, knowing the author. If whimsy appeals to you, I definitely recommend it! There’s a sort-of sentient sourdough starter named Bob. It’s that kind of book.

I'm on a mystery, The Frozen River, right now, then I have A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking lined up to start next while I wait not-so-patiently for my library loans for the group reads to come in. I've also got The Waste Lands on hand for the group series read.

I'm reading A Hat Full of Sky with my daughter. My son is too busy for me to read to him at bedtime these days (sniff).

I went onto my library's "available now" ebook section to see if there were any good titles, and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking jumped out at me! I've read and enjoyed other T. Kingfisher, so I think that's going to be my selection this time around.

Ditto - I remember the rock but not much else :)

It's my favorite time of year - October! The weather over New England is cool and sunny and the leaves are just starting to turn. Let's see what's coming up for us this month.

Books of the Month: for October, you selected
— October Science Fiction: Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
— October Fantasy: The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

There are a couple of starter topics up for each book, but please feel free to start more.

We also have our schedule set for the next couple of months:
--November Science Fiction: Neuromancer by William Gibson
--November Fantasy: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
--December Science Fiction: These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
--December Fantasy: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Series news - We are two books in to our current series, The Dark Tower by Stephen King. The discussion for book two, The Drawing of the Three, is ongoing in the series folder, and we'll begin The Waste Lands on October 15th.

Lastly - Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week (a new one posts each Sunday), the new Quarterly challenge, and the “What are you reading in October 2025?” topic to share your picks, pans, and progress for the month! All genres welcome in this topic!

Happy reading!
-Shel

Have you finished reading The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie? Let us know what you thought. Spoilers ahead!

Did you read Shroud by group favorite Adrian Tchaikovsky? What did you think? Spoilers ahead!

Time for our final quarterly challenge of the year! For this quarter's challenge, without reading the description, choose a book to read solely based on its title. Maybe the title makes you laugh, intrigues you, doesn't make sense, choose however you want!

Let us know what you're reading and what you thought of it here!

Let us know here if you're reading or planning on reading Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky! No spoilers here, please.

Time for more ravens! Post here if you are reading or planning on reading The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. No spoilers here, please!

Last month we talked about popular books that didn't live up to the hype. Let's talk about books that DID. What insanely popular books (in any genre) did you absolutely love, and what did you love about them?

I'm still waiting on my library loan - it's a LONG queue - so you're not alone there! Discussions never close though :)

I think Detta’s language was over the top because she was a caricature- Odetta’s subconscious concept of what that stereotype would act and sound like. That personality doesn’t exist on its own anymore so it shouldn’t be as bad going forward!

I liked this installment much better than the first. I've always been a reader who enjoys a character-driven book, so the fact that not much really happens here to move the plot forward did not matter to me. I'm loving Eddie and Susannah.

Reads since last time I posted:

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, which is one of the few Discworld books I hadn't already read, and I think it's one of his best! Really showcases Pratchett's ability to combine the absurd with the profound while making the reader giggle out loud.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman: first in a new murder mystery series by the author of the Thursday Murder Club books (which I thoroughly enjoyed). This was just as much fun.

About to start Margo's Got Money Troubles, which a favorite book podcaster of mine was raving about, then I'll most likely be back to SF/F genre after that.