Hello everyone!

Have been pretty busy with life, so haven’t been reading much, other than some random web novels when I have some time.

Just got back to my usual reading from today, hope will be able to stick to it now. I was reading Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore. Book 2 of the series.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.

  • misericordiae
    6·
    2 months ago

    I’ve started No One Will Come Back for Us by Premee Mohamed, a collection of cosmic horror stories. I do love me some cosmic/eldritch horror, and The Butcher of the Forest was one of my favorite reads from last year, so I’m hoping I’ll enjoy this, too.

    Despite not really being a short story person, I tentatively picked out 2 or 3 collections for bingo this year. My plan is to read them in pieces, between other things. We’ll see how it goes!

    __

    Finished Golden Terrace, Vol. 1 by Cang Wu Bin Bai. I found this okay: the translation was pretty dry, the pacing was a bit rough, and I never got invested in the romance. I am interested in how all the political intrigue plays out, but I doubt I’ll get around to reading the second volume (nothing gets wrapped up at the end of Vol. 1). This is probably a good pick if you like romance-focused historical C-dramas (it’s got the vibes), but I don’t think I’d recommend it otherwise.

    Bingo squares: different continent (HM), minority author, LGBTQIA+ (HM), political, jerk (HM)

      • misericordiae
        2·
        19 days ago

        There’s a lot of classic/popular stuff I haven’t read (yet), but:

        • Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - Quite different from the movie in a lot of ways; reads a little like a fever dream, which I kind of love. If you read and like this, be aware that the rest of the series (at least, to the middle of book 3, where I paused) is quite different: going from book 1 to book 2, particularly, is like whiplash (new MC; dry, bureaucratic setting/plot; almost no horror except for like 10 pages near the end).
        • There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm - I read/reviewed this last year for bingo; the self-published edition I read (available currently) is SCP-related. However, it’s been picked up by Ballantine, which is publishing a revised, non-SCP-related version in November that might be worth waiting for, idk.
        • The Willows by Algernon Blackwood - Classic, available on Project Gutenberg. If you see recommendations for The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher (which I wasn’t a fan of, but that’s me), this is the novella it was inspired by.
        • The Immaculate Void by Brian Hodge - Very good, but has kind of a grimy feel that wasn’t really my jam.
        • Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan - Caveat with this one is the prose takes effort to get through. Good, but the writing put me off trying to tackle the sequels for a while.
        • The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle - Retelling of Lovecraft’s “The Horror at Red Hook”, but from a Black perspective. More impactful if you read the original first (I didn’t, but I probably should).
        Cross-genre/other influences
        • If you don’t mind graphic novels, some of Hellboy and a lot of its sister series, B.P.R.D., deals with cosmic/Lovecraftian stuff, mixed in with classic horror, folklore, myth, and pulp. It’s fantastic.
        • Iron Truth by S.A. Tholin - Space opera with military and cosmic horror aspects. The sequels are also enjoyable, although I like each new book slightly less (there’s also less horror in them).
        • Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan L. Howard - Urban fantasy crossed with sort of standard Lovecraftian stuff, rather than a super original take (although that’s kind of the point). Enjoyed it, but haven’t read the sequel.
        • The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch - Mostly sci-fi/mystery, with cosmic undercurrents. Good for the most part, but sets a false expectation at the beginning that it’s going to be super horror-y, when it’s more of a time travel thriller. (Don’t expect the time travel to be super logical, btw.)