![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Wow, it's been a long time since I last posted about what I've read. I really haven't been able to get my shit together lately. So descriptions are going to be sparse to absent.
17. Neil Gaiman, et al "Don't Panic"
This book was written/re-written by three different people over the course of years. It is not as skillfully written as you'd expect from Gaiman, but he was just the first person to work on it and he was probably a bit less experienced. I did find many of the little bits of trivia which make up the book interesting.
18. Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2024
19. Asimov's Science Fiction Mar/Apr 2024
20. Jasper Fforde "Shades of Grey"
Re-read "Shades of Grey" in preparation for reading "Red Side Story". Ended up reading it twice, because there was just too much to keep track of in the first reading. The second time through I felt I had a much better grip on all the various schemes and motivations of the minor characters. There is so very much stuffed into this book.
21. Asimov's Science Fiction May/Jun 2024
22. Jasper Fforde "Red Side Story"
For me "Red Side Story" started out a bit slower and clunkier than its predecessor. In "Shades of Grey" Fforde takes off and leaves readers to use their brains to fill in the bits he doesn't bother to slow down to say, in "Red Side Story" he slows down to spell out carefully bits that readers should be able to figure out (even if they haven't just re-read the prior book). I did feel things pick up in the middle and then charge along to the end. I like where he chose to go with the plot and characters even though it wasn't what I expected at all.
23. Asimov's Science Fiction Jul/Aug 2024
24. Terry Pratchett "Soul Music"
Continuing the re-read of the Discworld series is always fun.
25. Connie Willis "Doomsday Book"
I read "Doomsday Book" while fighting through a bought of Covid. I enjoyed the modern parts of the book much more than the medieval bits. The one thing I did think was well done in the medieval part was the sense of unreality and delirium which is engendered by Kivrin's viewpoint. I felt like there was a lack of consistency in how time travel worked. I mean if since there are locator beacons and torches, why not give Kivrin one? Oh, because that would blow a huge hole in the plot.
It was an enjoyable read though, even though I was sick and miserable while I was reading it. The modern bits show the standard Willis humor, despite the fact it's taking place in a horrorshow.
26. Walter D. Edmonds "The First Hundred Years"
This vaguely named book is actually about the first 100 years of the Oneida LTD company. It's not that well written, but it did fill in a bit of history of the transition from the commune to the modern silverware company. Only people who are really interested in the history of Oneida (company and commune) or are really really bored should look at picking up this book.
27. Roger Zelazny "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny Volume 5: Nine Black Doves"
This volume of the collected stories covers a period when I was reading many of the works when they were published or shortly after. The part I found most interesting in this one was the previously unpublished outlines (for collaborations or movies). He sometimes put an incredible amount of research into an idea. He set out to be a polymath and it shows in how much ends up in different stories or story ideas.
17. Neil Gaiman, et al "Don't Panic"
This book was written/re-written by three different people over the course of years. It is not as skillfully written as you'd expect from Gaiman, but he was just the first person to work on it and he was probably a bit less experienced. I did find many of the little bits of trivia which make up the book interesting.
18. Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2024
19. Asimov's Science Fiction Mar/Apr 2024
20. Jasper Fforde "Shades of Grey"
Re-read "Shades of Grey" in preparation for reading "Red Side Story". Ended up reading it twice, because there was just too much to keep track of in the first reading. The second time through I felt I had a much better grip on all the various schemes and motivations of the minor characters. There is so very much stuffed into this book.
21. Asimov's Science Fiction May/Jun 2024
22. Jasper Fforde "Red Side Story"
For me "Red Side Story" started out a bit slower and clunkier than its predecessor. In "Shades of Grey" Fforde takes off and leaves readers to use their brains to fill in the bits he doesn't bother to slow down to say, in "Red Side Story" he slows down to spell out carefully bits that readers should be able to figure out (even if they haven't just re-read the prior book). I did feel things pick up in the middle and then charge along to the end. I like where he chose to go with the plot and characters even though it wasn't what I expected at all.
23. Asimov's Science Fiction Jul/Aug 2024
24. Terry Pratchett "Soul Music"
Continuing the re-read of the Discworld series is always fun.
25. Connie Willis "Doomsday Book"
I read "Doomsday Book" while fighting through a bought of Covid. I enjoyed the modern parts of the book much more than the medieval bits. The one thing I did think was well done in the medieval part was the sense of unreality and delirium which is engendered by Kivrin's viewpoint. I felt like there was a lack of consistency in how time travel worked. I mean if since there are locator beacons and torches, why not give Kivrin one? Oh, because that would blow a huge hole in the plot.
It was an enjoyable read though, even though I was sick and miserable while I was reading it. The modern bits show the standard Willis humor, despite the fact it's taking place in a horrorshow.
26. Walter D. Edmonds "The First Hundred Years"
This vaguely named book is actually about the first 100 years of the Oneida LTD company. It's not that well written, but it did fill in a bit of history of the transition from the commune to the modern silverware company. Only people who are really interested in the history of Oneida (company and commune) or are really really bored should look at picking up this book.
27. Roger Zelazny "The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny Volume 5: Nine Black Doves"
This volume of the collected stories covers a period when I was reading many of the works when they were published or shortly after. The part I found most interesting in this one was the previously unpublished outlines (for collaborations or movies). He sometimes put an incredible amount of research into an idea. He set out to be a polymath and it shows in how much ends up in different stories or story ideas.
