The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

I’ve still got just two books on my currently reading list, and they’re the same as last week. I’m back to reading Dark Sky, at least, and I’m actually getting on with it better now. It still feels very much like Firefly, and like the other books that remind me of Firefly, but I’ve got back into the characters.

What have you recently finished reading?

Last thing I read was Suspicious Minds by Rob Brotherton. It was interesting stuff, even though the psychology of why people believe in conspiracy theories didn’t really surprise me at all. It’s one of the Bloomsbury Sigma series, and they’re usually pretty accessible while also being interesting, so that wasn’t really a surprise!

What will you read next?

I don’t know. I should finish Kushiel’s Dart, really. But who knows what’ll strike my fancy? I keep eyeing one of my books about Egyptology, instead…

What are you reading right now?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

I only have two books left on my currently reading list! Kushiel’s Dart, though I haven’t made any progress since last week, and Dark Sky, though I haven’t touched that in aaaages. I have a new project now where I have to finish two books from my currently reading list before I can start a new one, and that’s been going really well. Once I’ve caught up, it’ll be “two books from a series for one new book”, to make sure I actually make progress with that too!

What have you recently finished reading?

Yoon Ha Lee’s Raven Stratagem and The Godless, by Ben Peek. The former was awesomesauce, even though I stalled on it a while for non-narrative reasons. I finished it and just… daaaaamn. The latter, eh, I do not love it. I enjoyed some of the worldbuilding, but I just didn’t enjoy the characters or feel that everything was necessarily explained properly in terms of the actions people took and why. Pretty important whether people are doing politics on a grand scale or just interpersonal relations.

What will you be reading next?

Probably Wonderful Life, Stephen Jay Gould’s book about the Burgess Shale. That’s what I’ve got queued up as my break from fiction in general and my currently reading list specifically. (It’s not that I don’t want to read them, I’m just fidgety in all things and like having a bit of variation.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

I’m most actively reading Kushiel’s Dart at the moment. I’m surprised how long it’s taking me! I’m sure I remember completely devouring the books, but it’s not really happening with this reread. Maybe because I’m a liiiittle too familiar with what’s coming?

Which, yeah. Boo hiss Melisande.

What have you recently finished reading?

I just reread Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner, for a readalong. I enjoyed it more than I did the first time I read it, actually; I felt like I understood the characters and especially the politics a lot better. Am I growing up, a better reader now, or did I just happen to pick it up at the wrong time for my brain before?

Anyway, lots of fun.

What will you read next?

I think the next target on my list is Dark Sky, by Mike Brooks, or Raven Stratagem. A friend picked up Ninefox Gambit a couple of days ago and loved it, so that’s motivation for me. I’m really narrowing down my currently reading list, hurrah.

Buut in the meantime I might read some non-fiction.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

I’m on the last 100 pages of Abaddon’s Gate, finally! I’ve been really good about chipping away at my currently-reading list, and currently Abaddon’s Gate is up.

It’s not that I’m not enjoying the books on my currently-reading list! I just get distracted by a new shiny, and then it’s hard to get back into books I put down… and it gets harder the longer I ignore them, of course. But I got right back into Abaddon’s Gate, even if I remain astonished at how much trouble one man (Jim Holden) can get into.

What have you recently finished reading?

The Essex Serpent — yes, finally! I’m still mulling over what I think of it. I didn’t love the narrative style, that’s for sure. Sometimes it just felt like a litany of x-did-this and y-did-that, framed by some pretty description. But some of the scenes which were actually fully explored were really powerful, and the relationships between the characters too. Ultimately, I don’t think I could be called a fan, but I wouldn’t have wanted to stop halfway through, either.

What will you read next?

You know, I really don’t know? According to my new rule about reading two books from the currently reading list for every one I pick up, I could’ve picked up a new book after The Essex Serpent and before Abaddon’s Gate. But I really can’t decide what to read. Maybe Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint, since that’s a reading group choice for this month.

The next currently-reading book I’ll focus on… I’m very bad at predicting these, but the choice is (finally!) narrowing down, even if I keep finding books I don’t want to start over with a bookmark tucked into them and elongating the list again. I think I’ll focus on finishing The Stars Are Legion at last.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

About 15 different books. I know, I’m utterly terrible. However, I am trying to focus on two of them right now: What on Earth Evolved? …in Brief, by Christopher Lloyd is one of them. It’s not very surprising to me, because I do know my biology reasonably well, but there have been one or two titbits I did enjoy (slime moulds can move towards food!) and it is interesting to see what someone else classes as important in its impact on the planet.

Secondly, I’m rereading Camelot’s Sword, the third book of Sarah Zettel’s series of romances about Gawain and his brothers. This one features Gareth and Lynet; not my favourite pairing, but I do adore the supporting characters.

What have you recently finished reading?

Uhh, I think the last thing I finished was The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, by Philip Jose Farmer. It was okay — I liked the idea of taking Verne’s classic and bolting on a true sci-fi story — but the source material limited it, and the narrative voice didn’t always work for me. It stuck fairly close to Verne’s story, except when it didn’t, so it felt rather fragmented.

What will you read next?

I’m trying to alternate finishing two books from my currently reading stack with one new book (whether that be a reread or an actual new-to-me read). At the moment, I’m really tempted to do some rereading and pick up Catherynne Valente’s The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, but I am actually a capricious creature (I know, you’re all shocked), so who knows what will happen.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

Far too much, as ever, but most actively I’m back to Abaddon’s Gate and making some progress. I don’t necessarily always feel like reading these books, but once I pick one up it’s sure hard to put it down! I’m also reading a book on the 1918 ‘flu pandemic, The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry. Interesting so far, though I’m going quite slowly with it. Not the most enticing prose, somehow.

I’m also reading The Gracekeepers, which I’m about half of the way through. Still not sure what to make of it, though!

What have you recently finished reading?

Trouble and Her Friends! It’s rather old school cyberpunk in terms of the technology levels, but I enjoyed the interplay between the characters, and the fact that it didn’t rush. The worry about regulating the internet seems rather prescient now…

I also finished The Hidden Life of Trees, which was fascinating, although sometimes I felt things were presented too simply. The fact that trees can sense chemicals in the air does not mean that they taste them in the way we do, for example. Still, a lot I didn’t know.

What will you read next?

I’m feeling kind of like reading some Georgette Heyer — I kind of want to reread The Grand Sophy, but I do have Heyer books I haven’t read before which are on my backlog… I have Regency Buck and Friday’s Child with me in paperback, and a few others on my ereader. We’ll see! I just realised Regency Buck is part of a series, so I’m not sure how readable it is on its own. Darn.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

Most actively (the key words, with the way I stack up a bunch of currently-reading books!), it’s Trouble and Her Friends, by Melissa Scott, and Angel of Death, by Gareth Williams. The former is queer cyberpunk, and I’m having a lot of fun with it — it’s a little slow to unfold, but I read 25% when I should’ve been sleeping, so I’m gonna say it’s hooked me. Angel of Death is fascinating in other ways, of course, because it’s about the history and science of smallpox. I am learning a lot of things I didn’t know about it!

What have you recently finished reading?

The last thing was a cultural history of rabies, Rabid, by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy. It wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, because there was a lot of emphasis on the cultural stuff, like rabies’ relation to vampirism and werewolves. Still, there was some interesting stuff, especially about recent cases who actually recovered from rabies (which is normally considered 100% fatal in humans).

What will you read next?

I started The Gracekeepers, by Kirsty Logan, at the weekend, and I want to pick that back up and finish it. I also want to focus on my Kushiel’s Dart reread. I’m trying not to tempt myself too much beyond that! I’m intrigued by The Gracekeepers; I haven’t read much, so I haven’t got to grips with the setting yet.

What are you reading?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

A Sting in the Tale, by Dave Goulson. It’s a non-fiction/pop-science book about bees, and is part of a new project of mine to get less scared of insects by becoming curious about them. It worked for me when it comes to pathogens (starting with David Quammen’s Spillover), so I’m hopeful. So far I’m learning a lot of interesting facts — for instance, bumblebees have smelly feet — and I’m not grossed out or anxious. On the other hand, bees are relatively harmless anyway and aren’t a major fear of mine. I’ve got a book on ants lined up, and that might be more problematic. Ideally, I should find something on spiders…

I’m also reading a few other books, but most actively it’s Kushiel’s Dart, which I finally found the time to pick up again. I forgot how long it takes before Joscelin actually appears!

What have you recently finished reading?

I think the last thing I finished was a reread of Kerry Greenwood’s Away with the Fairies. It’s a blatant homage to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Murder Must Advertise, in some ways, and it also features Phryne being terribly daring and heroic in rescuing her lover, Lin Chung, from pirates. These books make for great comfort reading, because you can pretty much be sure everything will be okay, and also I’ve read them before so I know how they turn out. And Phryne is awesome.

(I needed comfort reading because my cough got so bad I pulled muscles in my ribcage. I’m doing better now, before I had to bring out the big guns and reread The Goblin Emperor.)

What will you read next?

I’m going to focus on finishing Abaddon’s Gate, for a start. I also have a stack of library books to read while I’m visiting my parents, including some books in the 300s of the Dewey Decimal System for a Habitica challenge. I can’t remember the titles, but they’re about multiculturalism and immigration, so not my usual thing, but rather topical given the world at present and the political preoccupations of our time.

Other than that, I’m not sure. I might pick up Nine Coaches Waiting, since I’m about due for another scheduled dose of rereading Mary Stewart’s work.

What are you reading at the moment?

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

A couple of things, as usual. For non-fiction, I’m reading The Uses of Enchantment, by Bruno Bettelheim. I know that his views on autism, etc, are very much criticised now, but this is about fairytales and how they help to develop a child’s brain. He’s very much a psychoanalyst, which I tend to take with a grain of salt, but he still has some interesting theories about the appeal of fairytales.

In terms of fiction, I’ve just started Peter S. Beagle’s Summerlong. I have to say, I’m raising my eyebrows a little at the fact that like In Calabria, he has an older man in a romance with a younger woman. It’s less creepy-feeling than in that book, but it still has a bit of that hmmmm to it. Especially in his attraction to Lioness, the even younger character who is really the centre of the story. Not that I expect older people to turn off their attraction to younger people as such, it’s just… since that comment from Jo on In Calabria, I can’t stop noticing.

What have you recently finished reading?

Not very much! The last thing I finished was Helen Pilcher’s Bring Back the King, which is about de-extinction efforts. It’s light-hearted (though not hilarious, as the cover-copy might have you believe) but informative, though I knew most of the info from reading Beth Shapiro’s How to Clone A Mammoth. Very similar info about the same range of species as that book, so unless you’re absolutely mad about T-rex and Elvis (yes, she discusses “de-extincting” Elvis), I think I’d skip it if you’ve already read that.

What will you be reading next?

I’ll probably read the two books just out from Tor.com by Jy Yang, The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven. The covers look beautiful, I’m intrigued by the summaries, and I received them to review last week. I also need to get back to reading Andy Weir’s Artemis, of course! And given that I’m still not quite well, and I’m at my parents’ house with my copies of the Phryne Fisher books, I’m tempted to dive into a reread of Away with the Fairies…

What are you reading?