It’s the first Thursday of the month. You know what that means. Time to report!
What is the best book you read in August 2014 and why did you love it? It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF. We just want to share some great reading material. Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
(And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page. And we’ve also got a constantly updating list of new and forthcoming releases.)
As always, one commenter will choose a book from our stacks.
We’ve got a couple of giveaways still current. Find those here!
The best book I read last month was Deviation by A.J Maguire. The review will go live on Monday. It was wonderfully well written, the characters were fascinating and their emotion grabbed me and dragged me into their well-woven story. The philosophy was interesting and delicately handled while still adding something to the plot and giving me pause for thought. I highly recommend it for all sci-fi fans.
No five star books for August but had quite a few four stars.
The Girl and the Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack was a very good steampunk YA mystery adventure.
Witches Bureau of Investigation by Richard Capwell was also a very good YA mystery adventure with witches and shapeshifting familiars.
The Banshee’s Walk by Frank Tuttle – another Markhat adventure. So far I’ve enjoyed this entire series.
A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor is the second in this time-travel adventure. I’ll definitely be continuing this series.
Echopraxia by Peter Watts.
It was unique. Watts gives a sort of sympathetic character in Brüks, and a human view on the transhuman and post-human world he lives in.
As per Blindsight its diamond hard SF, both biology and hard sciences, and he takes a hammer to fundamental assumptions. This isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I liked it.
The best book would be Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi. It had a huge impact. The range of emotions, experiences and reflections were phenomenal.
Last month I read “The name of the Wind”
By Patrick Rothfuss. This book was fabulous! The character development was perfect and really made me love/hate the characters you were supposed to love/hate. I found myself reading until the wee hours of the night following the plot twists and turns. Highly recommend it if you like in depth, highly detailed fantasy with lots of adventure.
Shogun by James Clavell – of course, it was the only book I read last month. But it’s also right at the top of the pile for the entire year.
Silver Mirrors by A.A. Aguirre and White Heart of Justice by Jill Archer.
The Rise of Endymion, the fourth and final book in Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos. It was a great read and actually managed to bring together and answer all of the plots and threads and questions raised in the first three books. The first book, Hyperion, is one of my all time favorite novels. Rise of Endymion didn’t reach that level of greatness, but it was still a wonderful novel. In the series as a whole, Simmons put together hard science fiction and wild futuristic ideas, and mixed them in with a love story, meditations on religion, society, civilization, etc. A truly epic series of novels that pretty much blew me away.
I concur–loved that series!
I’ve never tried this series. Maybe I’ll put it on my list since both of you say it is good.
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. It was a wonderful book, but I guess I head some unrealistic expectations of it after reading all of the glowing reviews…
This was a great reading month for me. So
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Cibola Burn by James S. Corey
The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Send more months like August!!!!
I can’t choose between Ice Forged or Reign of Ash, both by Gail Z. Martin. Or maybe A Turn of Light, by Julie E. Czerneda. Dark Eden, by Chris Beckett, was pretty cool, too.
I liked Islands of Rage and Sorrow by John Ringo!!
The best book I read last month was The Night Circus. I listened to the audio version which was great. I thought everything about it was excellent and I especially loved that Morgenstern was able to make me feel like I was in a magical place. I also loved that she was able to create big magical feelings using subtle language.
The best book I read in August was The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson. I really enjoyed stepping back into the Saga of the Seven Suns universe.
Best book I read last month was Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Just amazing storytelling. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett was a close second though.
Witches Bureau of Investigation by Richard Capwell a very good YA mystery adventure with witches and a lot of fun. A few too many instances of telling the reader what a word meant (done as part of the story — explained to the kids in the story) but a very good read.
Time Diver’s Dawn by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
How was it? I like his Sci-Fi a lot.
Good. I read it years ago when it first came out and decided to re-read it. Now I have to read the sequel, The Tmegod
Tad Ottman, if you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!