It’s definitely a challenge, but so far, I think I’m following it! Audiobooks were how I grew up consuming a lot of books, and while I’ve gotten back into physical reading over the past few years, I still enjoy listening to audiobooks, especially when audio books, want a break from podcasts!
And it’s a very long audio book - over 24 hours! It’s not longer than some of the GOT books, but it’s still a daunting length. Most of the audio books I’ve listened to recently have been 10-14 hours and I’ve listened to them at 1.5x speed. I can’t really do that with this book, but I haven’t mind it that much. It’s certainly not a relaxing book, but it is one that I’m enjoying while doing mindless data editing!
Definitely not relaxing, but perfect for focusing on if you’ve got another menial task keeping you busy! I didn’t grow up listening to audiobooks, so I find them difficult to follow unless I kind of know the story already. But it sounds like it’ll be a good fit for you!!
Also, completely wild that an entire day of your life could be potentially devoted to listening to one book (I know you’re doing something while listening so it’s a little different, but it always blows my mind to see something laid out in terms of hours like that)!
I’ve been completely sucked into the Grishaverse trilogy, and I just started book three. They’re much shorter than I expected them to be, but still pack so much action and story into each one. I like the heavy Russian influence of Ravka, and my meager knowledge of Russian actually allowed me to recognize a few Ravkan words which is fun.
So I finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf on Friday and, honestly, I don’t know how to feel. I think that Catherine said it really well: “it’s a masterpiece, and so different from anything I’ve ever read before.” It certainly isn’t for everyone - I understood that it was going to have gritty and violent parts, but there’s so much that happens that left me uncomfortable in ways that I don’t think a lot of violence in media, and especially not in books, ever has. I’m not a super big fan of violence, but the unsanitized nature of it in this book, while distressing, I think also made me reflect on sanitized it is in most other media, especially in fantasy settings like The Lord of the Rings. While I am not saying that I think all media should be like that (far, far from it), I think it did make the things that happened in this book for impactful: some really terrible things happen, and the sort of detached melancholy of Tolkien would not have been as effective (nor Martin’s third person). The choice of a first-person point of view gives the story more weight and also make the world feel very lived in and expansive, but different than Middle Earth. It’s a really great book, but I feel odd recommending it without a slough of content warnings: extreme violence, sexual assault and rape, child sexual assault, body horror, and probably much more. It is not a book for everyone, and that’s completely okay.
Moving away from that, I am now working on House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods (I know, I am a glutton for long book punishment right now - I even chose the 10th anniversary edition which is longer than the original). I am enjoying them a lot: I like House of Many Ways even more than Castle in the Air, and American Gods is another book that’s quite different from other books I have read. The best description I have so far is very grown up Rick Riordan, but I’m only about a fifth of the way into the book, so that perception might change.
Thank you for the CWs @Remus, those are definitely worth mentioning because they are heavy. I think the way you described it as unsanitized is spot on—not in a judgmental sense, like clean vs. dirty, but more in a completely raw and unfiltered sense that wouldn’t fit in LOTR or even GOT, even though GOT is also known for its violence. I like the way it makes us rethink our definition of a fantasy experience, though, and definitely broadens the genre.
@Mr5yy, I haven’t read Wild Irish Heart, but I just looked at it on Goodreads and ancient books, mysterious power, and surly Irishmen?? Sign me up.
In other news, since August seemed to be such a big reading month for everyone, I made a list on Bookshop of all the books mentioned here during the month of August!! I think I’ll keep compiling these on a monthly basis so that we can keep track of what everyone’s reading and make it easier to find new books and recommendations! (Plus I just love the book cover collages they make for the headers, tbh.) There’s such a great variety here, we’re clearly a community with fabulous taste in books.
Finally finished the Grishaverse trilogy and it was quite a ride. I definitely get why they have such a strong following and I can’t believe I hadn’t read them before now. I do want to read the other books from the same universe, but I think I need a break to read something else for a little while, as those were pretty heavy. I have a box full of books to be read so I shouldn’t be short of options.
I find Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are very different to the core grishaverse trilogy. There still the elements there but they feel less fantasy, less focus on the magic and the orders, more gritty and I don’t recall there being much character cross over.
They’re definitely next on my to read again.
@Catherine the monthly bookshop is an epic idea! I love it.
I dove into the nostalgia pond and started rereading Jane Lindskold’s Firekeeper series. Anyone heard of this one? It started in 2002, and I loved it back in the day. The writing is uh…clunky, to say the least, but the protagonist is a girl raised by intelligent wolves and I can’t resist that premise! I never finished the series then, so I’m excited to reach the ending.
Folks who are a fan of Gone Girl, may I reccomend Shadow Tag, a book which you’d obly want to read if you’re at rock bottom or in a good place, honestly itms like the chamomile tea of the book world. Deeply pleasing to some and tastes like cat leavings to others (CW: focusing on Domestic Violence in all its forms) by Louise Erdrich. Also Plague of Doves for the magical realism element, so so good, she ride books all in the same universe and is fantastic.
Just finished It Devours!, the second of the Welcome to Night Vale novels. I finished it an hour after the third book arrived in the mail so obviously I dove right into that one. They’re all really fun little books that don’t take too much commitment, and they’re all stand-alone stories. Perfect for a refreshing dose of nonsense when you need it.
I’m doing a month of spooky reads for obvious reasons, and I just finished Fledgling by Octavia Butler for my first of the month! It’s about a child vampire whose family was destroyed because other vampires didn’t like the fact that her family was doing genetic modifications to create Black vampires that were capable of staying awake during the day and walking in sunlight.
SO I have to ask: friends, what are our thoughts on vampire stories this time around? Overdone? Underdone? Have we recovered from Twilight yet or are all the Robert Pattinson memes sending you into a deep, deep spiral back to your middle school years? (anyone? just me?)
I still enjoy a good vampire tale, though the Twilight train very much missed me by a few years (I did try…but I viscerally did not want to be friends with Bella ).
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain is an awesome scary vampire book. All the oogie horror of the original monster, but set in NYC with some weird undead political maneuverings. I haven’t yet finished the series of it, but the first one was great (and terrifying).
Does anyone know of any books that pull more from the old Polish folklore versions of vampires (that aren’t Witcher)? I’ve been reading up on them and they are so weird and fascinating!
Currently reading Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and it is SO perfectly seasonal and spooky. Anyone else doing themed reads for October??
I have a YA horror I want to read, called Horrid! I got it in last month’s OwlCrate, and I’m not exactly a horror reader because I’m usually way too spooked, BUT I am also newly taking sertraline for anxiety so my theory is that I might be able to handle some limited daylight horror reading now haha!
).