Fun Books, Fun People

I had a good week, both in books and in people. My monthly Friday night bookclub met over pizza and Think of England, which nobody hated (a relief, since I had suggested it).  Now I have to reread The Fifth Season.

We (a bunch of the book club) also went to the annual Romance Writers extravaganza in Bellevue, where romance writers take a break from their professional convention to give away books and other goodies for two hours to anyone who shows up. It's a lot of fun and I now have far too many books to read.

To show it's not all about the books, I also took a trip to the zoo where I saw all the predators. I was on my own, so I was free to set my own pace, see what I liked, and read when I wanted. (OK, it's all about the books. Of course I brought one with me to the zoo -- why else do they have benches there?)

I continued finishing more books than I started. Currently Reading is steady at 22 books already, and my goal is to get back to 20 (the size of my Goodreads page). That's about where I like to be.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading and I'm going to sign up. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed, and as I finished Legend I sneak in. I'll check in with either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers for their version.

This week I started:



Think of England, K. J. Charles. This was my Friday book club pick. A reread for me, as I recommended it.

The Sumage Solution, G.L. Carriger. I like her historical paranormals, so I want to try this modern one.

An Ancient Peace, Tanya Huff. Luckily for me she picked this series back up.

A Peace Divided, Tanya Huff. I seem to have caught up with Huff.

I finished:



Beginnings, David Weber. The first one seemed very anvilicious with the Earth government's disdain for science or people not toeing the official line, although I suspect they meant to aim at a previous administration. But I had more fun with the stories set later in the time line and away from Earth, especially when I could recognize some characters. It was nice seeing some middle class people instead of the VIPs whom Honor normally deals with.

Legend, Marie Lu. OK, I had fun with the teens taking on the evil government and being super competent. I had less patience when they started falling in love and smooching, because it made them less competent. Where is Katniss to try to put a sense of proportion into people?

Think of England, K. J. Charles. Short and sweet. I still found the characters endearing, and the situations Charles pushed them into had me laughing out loud several times. The final HEA was a little tough but seemed earned.

The Sumage Solution, G. L. Carriger. Not quite as much fun as the historicals -- the two men seemed overly devoted to snark, so that it was sometimes difficult to tell who was talking, which was annoying since they were supposed to be so different. But it was still a fast and easy read, so I'll probably pick up the rest if I stumble across new ones.

An Ancient Peace, Tanya Huff. I like the continuity -- there are large changes taking place in this space empire, but we see it from the point of view of a confident non-com (sorta retired) who doesn't know how to walk away from a problem. Or leave anyone under her large umbrella of responsibility behind.

I started four and finished five. That's a good direction for my currently-reading list!

Short Stories:

 I discovered that K J Charles has a small collection of stories at her web page kjcharleswriter.com. They are mostly either views of scenes from a different perspective or a chance to catch up on characters a little bit after the ending of a series, so I gobbled down the ones matching the characters I knew. None really stand on their own, but I enjoyed "Song for a Viking, " "A Confidential Problem," "A Feast of Stephen" and "A Private Miscellany."





Bookmarks moved in:




Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Shan is having problems rebooting the trading empire that Liad has taken for granted for generations.

Harmful to Minors, Judith Levine. American law seems to treat sexual behavior or interest by minors monolithically, despite the difference between a five, twelve, and seventeen year old's developmental level.

The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown. The freshman rowers are looking very promising.

Hostage, Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown. There are an awful lot of moody young people to keep track of. It would help if I read this faster.

Someplace to Be Fying, Charles de Lint. I want to get out of the flashback about the girl child convincing the ancient fairy to marry her, because it's creepy. More author creepy than character creepy, since it's all her call.

Virtues of War, Bennett Coles. I prefer the action scenes that don't involve torturing, executing, or even just threatening civilians. It confuses me about whom I am supposed to root for.

The Giant Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. Bad times for everyone.

Helliconia Spring, Brian Aldiss. The Sword and Laser book for last month, and it's pretty slow going.

Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper. I'm enjoying the narrator, and the feeling of nostalgia for the days of high balls and cigarettes. Which I was too young to notice when they were actually happening.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

The Emerald Atlas, John Stephens.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.

2017 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2016!  36/107-ish. My new pile of short books should give progress.
2. Reading My Library: Working on the audio book Little Fuzzy.
3. Where Am I Reading?: 33/51. No surprise states, but I did pick up some possibles at the Romance Night.