Kat: In an effort to get better quality sleep, I’ve been forcing myself to get off the computer by 8:00 every night and then spending a few hours listening to audiobooks while working jigsaw puzzles. I’m sleeping better and I’m getting a lot read this way (plus, I listen during my commute to and from work). Since you heard from me last, I’ve read All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Dimension of Miracles and Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley, The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, The Soul Eater by Mike Resnick, High Rise by J.G. Ballard, Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson, The Wizard and The Knight by Gene Wolfe, and the first two books in Simon R. Green‘s DEATHSTALKER series. Now I need to find time to review all these books!
Marion: I finished No Sleep ‘Til Doomsday by Laurence McNaughton, and I hope to complete a review soon. The third book in the Dru Jasper series is as much fun as the other two, with a villain who has a valid grievance and a creepy 1960’s era ghost town, as well as the great speed-demon/muscle car Hellbringer. For a change of pace, I read Willa Cather’s O Pioneers. I immersed myself in her beautiful prose and those lush descriptions of the Nebraska landscape. I finished it several days ago but I’m still thinking about the ending; is Alexandra right when she tells the killer that he is less to blame for what happened than the two people he shot?
On the “other media” front, I’m doing a re-watch of BBC America’s Orphan Black. It’s a pleasure to watch such good quirky television.
Sandy: Moi? I am currently reading a collection entitled The Loved Dead and Other Tales by C.M. Eddy. Eddy was a close friend of H.P. Lovecraft and, as was the case with the so-called “Sage of Providence,” many of his tales also initially appeared in the pages of Weird Tales magazine. As a matter of fact, the title story of this collection was so notorious in its day, and resulted in such a scandal via its necrophiliac subject matter, that it rescued the financially strapped publication in its early days and allowed it to continue. I look forward to reading all the stories in this one, half of which did indeed first appear in Weird Tales magazine, and getting back to you shortly…
Terry: There’s been precious little time for reading the past few weeks, but when I’ve been able to sneak a few minutes here or there, I’ve been reading THE GREAT LIBRARY series by Rachel Caine. I’ve finished the first two books, Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire, and have made a good beginning on Ash and Quill.
Tim: This week, I kept reading Andrzej Sapkowski‘s The Lady of the Lake, last book in the WITCHER series, which is lots of fun whenever it’s about Ciri but slows down noticeably whenever the titular witcher reappears. Otherwise, I had a busy week with work, and didn’t get a lot done. Looking forward to a more reading-filled week this time around!
The bookstore got a collection of WITCHER short stories. I was wondering if I should buy it when I haven’t read any of the novels.
If you’re interested in the WITCHER at all, I think the short stories are actually the best place to start! Sapkowski had kind of an old-fashioned career trajectory, in that he popularized the Witcher character in short fiction before the novels came around.
I’m working at the store today so if it isn’t gone maybe I’ll pick it up.