Forrest’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2024)

Forrest’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Week 1: The Artist of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy

This is a buddy read with three friends--the ones I read Broken Country with last month. This is a new book, and the premise seems a good start for kicking off October.

Week 2: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

This one had so much praise last year; comparable to The Blacktongue Thief and The Daughters' War. I'm looking forward to this Black Death road trip through Hell. lol

Week 3: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

"This chilling historical novel is set in the nascent days of the state of Montana, following a Blackfeet Indian named Good Stab as he haunts the fields of the Blackfeet Nation looking for justice."

My gut feeling is that this is my favorite read for October!

Week 4 and Week 5:

This will depend on mood and time constraints. These are books I own and will likely pull from:

Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery
Equal Rites
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
Dracula
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Welcome to Lovecraft
Weaveworld
The Reformatory

In September, I picked up two more unplanned reads:

1. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Mom and her husband came to visit this month, and we ended up in a British Isles shop for tea and snacks. I picked up 'The Thursday Murder Club' randomly (instead of a Game of Thrones cookbook), and I see that a few of you picked this one up this month, as it is very popular. Good choice, I really enjoyed this book, and I plan to continue the series. The movie is also on Netflix—of course, the book was better! I plan to re-watch the movie to give it another chance.

2. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Spooky season material--one of the earliest vampire stories! I really enjoyed this writing, and even re-read a few chapters just to get more time with this book. It is quite short at 75 (or so) pages. Passing the book along to a co-worker who loves Anne Rice.

Science Fiction: The Shadow of the Torturer

It is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy toward his victim - and follows his subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus.

Fantasy: The Bear and the Nightingale

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

Looking forward to starting this!

Week 1: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

I'm a little over 200 pages in, and I am really enjoying it. There is enough humor in it that the grimdark elements aren't oppressive... for now.

Week 2: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

This is a buddy read with 2 family members. Glad to find a book all 3 of us are interested in trying.

Week 3: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

I am really looking forward to this! It sounds like a 5-star read, so I'm glad to see all the praise it is getting.

Week 4: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

This is my Q3 challenge!

I actually started The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie last night. I'll be working through this in September as part of a Buddy Read... I started by reading the intro and the first three chapters, and then listened to the same sections on audiobook. I'm going to stick to reading this one on the Kindle so I can keep notes for discussion.

Interestingly, I did find a source that stated multiple readers didn't think The Blade Itself was grimdark. So, I went on to read several other blogs trying to define grimdark and separate it from dark fantasy. I also saw a blog from Mark Lawrence where voters scored books on a grimdark spectrum: 0-5.

https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...

I am finishing up Legendborn by Tracy Deonn as my last book of the month... I'm going to gift this book to a coworker whose last day is approaching. The author's excerpt at the end of the book is truly excellent.

I'm looking forward to the The Raven Scholar next!

These are so good. lol

I didn't find anything interesting that matched this challenge... So, I went to my TBR list and used "forest" instead. Here is the list of options:

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah
Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K Le Guin

Of these, my top choice is Daughter of the Forest. That has been on my radar the most lately.

I am finishing up the Six of Crows duology this month: Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. At this point, I prefer the second book to the first as the stakes are more interesting and the emotions are running higher... There is another YA book by the same author that looks interesting for a future read: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

This month, I also finished the second and third books in the Red Rising sci-fi trilogy by Pierce Brown: Golden Son and Morning Star. Book 2 had middle-book syndrome and just seemed too much space opera with little payoff--every scene seemed like one ruse after another. However, Book 3 made me appreciate Book 2 a bit more when it was referential, and I loved the hook at the end of Book 3. Red Rising is still my favorite in the trilogy, as it has a bit more of the "hunger games" setup, which was more enjoyable for me.

As for cozy-fantasy this month, I felt Baking Bad fell a little flat for me. My fingers are crossed that the next book will be a step-up as this series is something I should really enjoy given my interests. For now, I'm going to start the recently released The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst, as The Spellshop was an enjoyable read in July and the hardcover just arrived.

I'll nominate The Devils by Joe Abercrombie for fantasy.

And for SF, Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio.

Simultaneously reading two westerns (also Lonesome Dove) right now is not a situation I thought I'd ever be in in my life. My grandpaw would be so proud. lol

I didn't realize The Gunslinger is a shorter book of just over 200 pages. I've been meaning to read this one, especially since recently watching The Stand on Paramount+.

This sounds right up my alley! Amazon has the kindle and audible combo for $3.50.

Loving Lonesome Dove so far. I use it every night to help me fall asleep, and then I pick it up in the morning before I'm ready to get out of bed.

Finishing Golden Son this weekend, and I am so excited to finish the trilogy. I will jump right into the 3rd book, Morning Star.

I have bookmarks from Etsy, the most recent ones being Ragdoll (cat breed) designs. I also have embossed leather bookmarks with my initials from Etsy.

This week I picked up The Midnight Library and A Thousand Splendid Suns from the bookstore.

Paperback arriving on Saturday!

Looking forward to this; really enjoyed the first book.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett