Beyond Reality discussion

Start of the school year, end of the summer weather - time for changing leaves and apples and my favorite season! Let us know what you're reading right now - any and all genres welcome in this topic!

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!

Finished Convergence last night. not what I was really looking for, but I think it was what I needed. Interesting story that was easy to read with likable characters.

Started the second book Dragonslayer this morning.

I hadn't planned on reading it this early, but I ended up starting The Drawing of the Three because I have it on paper and my e-reader needed charging!

Loved The Raven Scholar

Am also reading (most with other groups)

The Book That Broke the World
Shroud
Automatic Noodle
Katabasis
The Drawing of the Three

and I am two books behind in a buddy read of The Black Company series, so I am hoping to binge read
Book 6 Bleak Seasons
Book 7 She is the Darkness
Book 8 Water Sleeps
. . . all after The Drawing of the Three.

And I want to read Just For One Night (Alice Worth, #1.5) and In the Heart of the Fire (Alice Worth, #2), before I forget book 1, reads I abandoned in June because no time--plus the rest for the series--maybe I will have time in 2056

AND really looking forward to Lucky Day and Double Feature, but TMBTLT, I'm sure

Kateblue wrote: "Loved The Raven Scholar

Am also reading (most with other groups)

The Book That Broke the World
Shroud
Automatic Noodle
[book:K..."

Shroud is one of our October BotM choices—you’ll have a head start on that one!

I had started The Strange Nation of Rafael Mendes by Moacyr Scliar at the end of August, so I’m finishing that before tackling New York 2140 for our September SF BotM and Farilane by Michael J. Sullivan for a different Goodreads group.

I have started the next Patricia Briggs series, Alpha & Omega. Read Cry Wolf, Hunting Ground, & Alpha & Omega.

Also started the Kate Daniels series, with Magic Bites. Quite liked this dystopian magic world the author has built.

And for another book group I read Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda. Very good, maybe a bit depressing, but also just really good writing.

Dawn, I love Kate Daniels, and like the first three books of the Hidden Legacy series even more. Innkeeper is also good.

Kathi, I may wait and read Shroud with you guys. I am kinda distracted right now and need something cozier.

Kateblue wrote: "Dawn, I love Kate Daniels, and like the first three books of the Hidden Legacy series even more. Innkeeper is also good...."

Oh, good to know. :)

I just finished Dungeon Crawler Carl which I enjoyed and recommend. Now on to The Thursday Murder Club

Finished Foundation's Edge. It was a reread but it was ok
Lots of talking heads and very little action. I liked the Foundation stories as more Novella's or Short Stories.
I also dont really like him retconning psychohistory. Now it doesnt work and Telepaths are the way

Started next months Series read
The Drawing of the Three
I still have no idea where this is going but it is pretty good

Finished Drawing of the Three. First bit I had no idea what was going on. When I finished, I still did not but I enhoyed the ride

Next up, some Nonficiton
By Way of Deception: The Making of a Mossad Officer

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.

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.

I haven't been keeping things up to date

Finished
Dragonslayer
First Strike
Recon

and I started book 5 Desperate Measures this morning.

I've been enjoying the series.

I also discovered that the series is not finished (I thought it was when I started) but this is the most recent published. So I get to wait after this for more.. *grumble*

Next up should be Shroud for next month's SF read. I'm looking forward to it.

I have had to switch from my urban fantasy books to Canadian Literature. As the Giller Prize Longlist came out.

These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma. Great book, science fiction & dystopian. Clever and interesting.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue. I am not actually a big fan of this author, this is the fourth book of hers I've read. She keeps showing up in the prize lists I read so I dutifully read them.

The Tiger and the Cosmonaut by Eddy Boudel Tan. A literary fiction book about a f**ked up family, you know kinda the usual with these types of books. Thought it was pretty good, an author to watch, this is his first book.

I read Consider Phlebas (Book #1 of the Culture series) by Iain M. Banks. I read Use of Weapons first, so this novel wasn’t as good in comparison. I could appreciate the effort of the world building creating the Culture found in this novel though. I also read Towers of Midnight (Book #13 of the Wheel of Time series) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson next. The book does a great job setting up the final volume of the series. All the characters are ready to fight the Dark One in the Last Battle. I am reading The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (Book #7 of the Old Man’s War) and The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Book #6 of the Robert Langdon series). I plan to read The Female Man by Joanna Russ next. It was released in 1975, fifty years ago.

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!

what have I read/will read in September 2025

City of Fae (London Fae, #1) by Pippa DaCosta (4 stars for me, GR rating 3.47)
Better than the 3.47 rating it has, but not nearly as good as some of the other "lightweight" books I read/started while struggling to get thru this next book. which was . . .

The Book That Held Her Heart (The Library Trilogy, #3) by Mark Lawrence (1 star to me, GR rating 3.79)
Much worse that the 3.79 rating it has here. Truly awful in my eyes. See my review if you want, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... because I cannot talk about it anymore. And I LOVED the first book of the trilogy, which makes it even more tragic

Karma Girl (Bigtime, #1) by Jennifer Estep (4 stars to me, GR rating 3.68)
Better than its rating, which is why we need a 10 star rating system here. This is one of the books I read while slogging through "The Book that . . . " You might like it, but probably only if you are in the mood. I was. I had started it before and not continued. But it's funny. Silly, almost. Not because of quips or anything, but just the whole situation. I have to wonder if Eric Kripke read it before he invented "The Boys" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190634/... (though "The Boys" is anything but funny and silly.)

The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) by Stephen King (4 stars to me, GR rating 4.24)
A buddy read of the series. I was annoyed by one character and thought it was a bunch of short stories looking for a novel, but King's writing is always superlative. Glad I finally got through book 1, Gunslinger, last month (after three fails) because book 2 was definitely worth it.

More books read to avoid "The Book that"
Heart of Fire (Alice Worth, #2) 4.32--4 stars for me
Ghosting 101 (Alice Worth, #1.8) 3.94--5 stars for me
Just For One Night (Alice Worth, #1.5) 4.15--4 stars for me
all by Lisa Edmonds
This is a really great series if you like Urban Fantasy. I do. It's my favorite genre when it is good, and this is. I expect that the later series books will begin to be rated 5 stars as I continue in the 9(?) book series. And Lisa Edmonds is on my radar and will stay there.

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (3.5 stars tending toward 4, GR rating 3.92)
I had 2 things that lowered my GR rating to 3 (need a 10 star system!):
1) POV switched more than I thought it needed to, and
2) It seemed like a worldbuilding exercise for a later book.
Nonetheless, worth reading, but I had to rate it lower than Service Model and some other robot stories that have been coming out lately.

The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy, #1) by Antonia Hodgson (5 stars, GR rating 4.47)
Read this. Seriously. I intend to read everything this woman writes ever. And her previous books appear to be historical mysteries, a genre I never read. Great prose. That gets me every time.

Whew! Did pretty well this month.

Still to read . . .
Three Black Company https://www.goodreads.com/series/5428... books to catch up with a buddy read. Maybe not. Book 6 annoyed me when it started switching around in time.
And Katabasis, which may have to wait. I read the first three pages and was not sucked in. I have read too many books with the same or similar premises. Therefore, they are often a slog for me now.

Kateblue wrote: "The Book That Held Her Heart (The Library Trilogy, #3) by Mark Lawrence (1 star to me, GR rating 3.79)
Much worse that the 3.79 rating it has here. Truly awful in my eyes. See my review if you want, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... because I cannot talk about it anymore. And I LOVED the first book of the trilogy, which makes it even more tragic....."

Ah ha, someone else thinks the trilogy was terribly let down by the third book. Me too!
I personally think that the author isn't good at finishing the story, I dislike most of his third books.

Dawn wrote: "Kateblue wrote: "The Book That Held Her Heart (The Library Trilogy, #3) by Mark Lawrence (1 star to me, GR rating 3.79)
Much worse that the 3.79 rating it has here. Truly awful in my eyes. See my r..."

Someone else said that they were unhappy about the ends of his series.

Probably me. :)

Dawn wrote: "Probably me. :)"

Probably. :-)

Finished Desperate Measures
and of course it ended on a bit of a cliff hanger.

Planning on starting Shroud at some point in the next couple of days. Busy weekend ahead and I might not be able to start before Monday.

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.

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.