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What Books Are You Reading?

RisingDawn

RisingDawn

Snommunism!
Location
Pakistan
Pronouns
He/Him
Currently, I'm reading Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. It's a far cry from what I usually read but its incredibly written and hooked me from the start. It starts in Africa in the 18th Century and by the end, we come to the 1970's.

It's a beautiful piece of historic fiction which takes us through a journey, from the plains of Africa, to the ships and then to America. Extremely well written and when I read it, I feel like I'm experiencing the journey with all the characters
 
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WildBoots

WildBoots

Don’t underestimate seeds.
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. moka-mark
  2. solrock
Just started Cemetery Boys, and I'm already completely charmed! The main characters are a chicano trans boy and a ghost boy. What more could you want???
 
WildBoots

WildBoots

Don’t underestimate seeds.
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. moka-mark
  2. solrock
Also reading a collection of SFF stories by and about trans femmes. I’ll report back on how I like them! Just finished the first. I thought it summarized more than I would’ve liked, but the characters felt real and in the end it was really sweet sooo. ❤️ Stay tuned.
 
DeliriousAbsol

DeliriousAbsol

*Crazy Absol Noises*
Location
Behind a laptop, most likely with tea
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. mawile
Man I've done a lot of reading recently. Here's my update.

I've recently read three books I got for Christmas - Clock of Stars by Francesca Gibbons, The Ickabog by JK Rowling, and The Danger Gang by Tom Fletcher (I love Tom Fletcher's books!) I have some thoughts on them, and I'll try not to be too spoilery in my mini reviews:

Clock of Stars was incredible. Very fantastical, and illustrated by Chris Riddell, and I do like his illustrations. The description that prompted me to read it sounded quite 'Wonderlandy' with a girl following a moth through a door in a tree, only to find herself in a new world (followed by her sister!) I had my gripes, as the main character was quite unlikable with her attitude towards her sister, but the story offered time for growth and I was very impressed. I'd totally read it again. It's also the first in a trilogy! Bring it on!

The Danger Gang was written as a series of letters from a boy to his friend after he'd moved house. Very unusual method of telling a story, and I enjoyed it, although admittedly I'd have preferred it to be written as a chaptered story like Tom Fletcher's other books. Reading about all these kids developing super powers after a strange event was quite a lot of fun, and often unbelievable XD

The Ickabog surprised me, as it both was and wasn't what I'd expected. I'd thought it would be centred around the two child characters looking for this mysterious creature of legend, but it was about so many different characters involved in a huge, epic lie that went out of control I often found myself wondering if I was really enjoying it. I was satisfied by the end, when it all came together, so it earned the 4 stars I gave it on Goodreads.

I'm now looking for something else to read, as I'm trying to tackle Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, but I keep falling asleep... (I probably shouldn't be solely reading it at night, I guess...) I might pick up Narnia since, despite it's influence on my writing, I've never actually sat down and read it!
 
Equitial

Equitial

Ace Trainer
Pronouns
he/him
Partners
  1. espurr
  2. inkay
  3. woobat
  4. ralts
NebulaDreams

NebulaDreams

Ace Trainer
Partners
  1. luxray
  2. hypno
I'm pretty bad at making time to read books, but now I've got a Kindle, it makes it a lot easier for me to read in bed without the screen glare. So the one I'm currently reading is The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin. I've heard of this guy before, but it's the first time I've checked out any of his works, and he's an interesting author to say at the least. He writes in a style he's coined 'Far-Fetched Fiction', and has been compared to Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams with his use of footnotes and absurdism.

The conceit of this book is that it's a murder-mystery set in Toyland, a place where toys are alive and nursery rhyme figures are treated as celebrities. It follows a human, Jack, who's come to Toy City to find his fortune, and he ends up embroiled in a case with private eye Eddie (a teddy bear) to solve the murder of Humpty Dumpty. So far, this book is pretty charming as a light-hearted read, and I like that despite the fact it's a fairy-tale fantasy world with an adult edge, it doesn't resort to being try-hardy or edgy for the sake of it and just rolls with its world without needing to tether it too much to reality. The dialogue and general storytelling has a surreal, drunken quality to it that separates it from being lumped in with books from other absurdist SFF authors.

I also have Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe on the backburner. I've had this on my list for a while since I want to expand my horizons by reading novels from different cultures and backgrounds, and I'm interested in its themes of colonialism from the perspective of someone in the culture who's having their identity stripped from them.
 
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WildBoots

WildBoots

Don’t underestimate seeds.
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. moka-mark
  2. solrock
Already clocking in at 14 books this year. :huh:

I've been really enjoying Brandy Colbert! She writes black girls with complicated families--lots of queer characters, sometimes as protagonists and sometimes as secondary characters, lots of mental health conversations. She writes YA, but it's not the over-the-top melodrama you sometimes get. Her characters feel more real and rounded than many of the characters I've encountered across any genre. Little and Lion is one of the best books I've read so far this year, and so far The Revolution of Birdie Randolph is good, too.

In non-YA news: I also really enjoyed The Black Tides of Heaven. Fast facts: fantasy China ("silk punk"), non-binary writer, I think literally all the characters whose sexuality is known are queer, very short. I've read the first and the second in the series so far and enjoyed the world, the way Yang handles gender and colonialism, and the broody-ass characters. (So much brooding.) I didn't enjoy the second one quite as much, and the prose is ... a lot! But still very worth reading. I think a lot of y'all would like.
 
DeliriousAbsol

DeliriousAbsol

*Crazy Absol Noises*
Location
Behind a laptop, most likely with tea
Pronouns
She/Her
Partners
  1. mawile
I finished Narnia and it was amazing! I gave up with Going Postal, as I was finding it very hard to get into. My recent read has been Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, as I haven't read it since I was in school or college or something. It was such an easy read, and I really enjoyed it.

Currently I'm reading the first in the Warrior Cats series, since it was 99p on Kindle and I've been uhming and ahing over this series for years. I'm loving it, and have the rest of the first and second series on order, physically, which is due to arrive very soon! So that's me set for a while XD
 
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