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What are you reading at the moment?

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Carey’d away.
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I've just discovered The Mysterious Benedict Society and its sequels and prequel.

My heart has wi-fi and the password is Drew Carey.

Crazy old ape
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Currently working my way slowly through Heaven & Hell : A History of the Afterlife by Dr. Bart Ehrman. Dr. Ehrman is a liberal/progressive professor of New Testament and early Christianity. In this book, he looks at how the doctrines and images of Heaven and Hell developed in early Christianity, given that Jesus himself did not really teach them (he was more about an imminent judgement and resurrection). It looks at the ideas of the two cultures most influential on Christian thought, classical Greek and Jewish, as well as going back further into cultures like the Babylonians and Sumerians who influenced the Greeks and Jews. Good, if a bit dry, book. I am actually leading a book study on it on another board.

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

Active Ink Slinger
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The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

www.szadventures.com

Carey’d away.
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To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

It's by Christopher Paolini, who also wrote Eragon and its sequels, but this is a sci-fi novel.

My heart has wi-fi and the password is Drew Carey.

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My Mom always wants to thank me for helping her and my father. It's been an ongoing battle, but we finally settled on getting me books. She is a voracious reader so she will finish a book in a day and then pass them onto me. These are her latest gifts. I'm going to start with "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig.

Kaiju-adjacent
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Quote by Molly



Good book! I just cracked open his latest, Hail Mary. Good, nerdy, hard sci-fi.

Teeth of the Sky - Myths and Monsters competition, first place

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Quote by verbal
Good book! I just cracked open his latest, Hail Mary. Good, nerdy, hard sci-fi.


I'll have to check that out.

I listened to The Martian not long afterward and watched the movie. I will say, I loved that Wil Wheaton did the narration because to me, his voice was perfect, but I think Matt Damon was the only person that could have pulled off Mark Watney in the movie version.

I'm currently reading two.

Soon by Lois Murphy


and

A Trick of Light: Stan Lee's Alliances
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Advanced Wordsmith
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Quote by Verity


Oh please may I borrow that book after you have read it Verity ??

I've always wondered what a comma was for !
There are no strangers here - just lots of friendly folk to chat with and stories to enjoy 👀
👑Magic Cookie FAIRY 🍪
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amazing book. I recommend it .. so insightful

Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex – but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?

In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter’s point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day? What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.

As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them?

Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion the reality of day to day survival in Auschwitz – and ultimately the horrific fates of the Annex’s occupants.
Crazy old ape
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Reading a graphic novel series called Once & Future. Basically, what if King Arthur's return was horror rather than fantasy. Arthur is what we would call a "lich" in D&D, basically an animated skeletal monster commanding a "round table" of similar horrors. Merlin just showed up but seems to be something else entirely. Arrayed against Arthur's evil are Bridgette Macquire, an elderly monster hunter who is supposed to be living in a seniors' home, her grandson Duncan and a historian named Rose (who kind of got sucked into the story by dating Duncan).

The underlying idea seem to be that it is not so much people coming back to life as their stories, with many variations possible on those stories. Beowulf has made an appearance, and the last chapter that I read (I am partway through volume 2) ended with the appearance of his foe Grendel. Beowulf is sent against Duncan and Bridgette by Arthur who describes them as "monster and mother", creating an allegory for Grendel and his mother. Not sure how Grendel is going to fit in, yet, but he is currently outside Bridgette's home. Good stuff. The last volume is up for a Hugo (one of the most prestigious sf and fantasy awards) this year and the series has picked up other awards and nominations as well.

Author is Kieron Gillen, a British comic book writer, and the art is by Dan Mora. Both creators are multiple award-winners.

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

Kaiju-adjacent
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Quote by Mendalla
Reading a graphic novel series called Once & Future. Basically, what if King Arthur's return was horror rather than fantasy. Arthur is what we would call a "lich" in D&D, basically an animated skeletal monster commanding a "round table" of similar horrors. Merlin just showed up but seems to be something else entirely. Arrayed against Arthur's evil are Bridgette Macquire, an elderly monster hunter who is supposed to be living in a seniors' home, her grandson Duncan and a historian named Rose (who kind of got sucked into the story by dating Duncan).

The underlying idea seem to be that it is not so much people coming back to life as their stories, with many variations possible on those stories. Beowulf has made an appearance, and the last chapter that I read (I am partway through volume 2) ended with the appearance of his foe Grendel. Beowulf is sent against Duncan and Bridgette by Arthur who describes them as "monster and mother", creating an allegory for Grendel and his mother. Not sure how Grendel is going to fit in, yet, but he is currently outside Bridgette's home. Good stuff. The last volume is up for a Hugo (one of the most prestigious sf and fantasy awards) this year and the series has picked up other awards and nominations as well.

Author is Kieron Gillen, a British comic book writer, and the art is by Dan Mora. Both creators are multiple award-winners.


That sounds amazing. Not only the Arthurian bit, but the Beowulf/Grendal thing too (I have a soft spot for mothers and monsters smile ). Have you heard of the book Grendel, by John Nichols? It's the story from Grendel's point of view. Just wonderful. I think it was made into an animated film as well. One of my favorite books.

Teeth of the Sky - Myths and Monsters competition, first place

Fire and Ice - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words competition, first place

Monster - Survivor competition, first place

Crazy old ape
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Quote by verbal

That sounds amazing. Not only the Arthurian bit, but the Beowulf/Grendal thing too (I have a soft spot for mothers and monsters smile ). Have you heard of the book Grendel, by John Nichols? It's the story from Grendel's point of view. Just wonderful. I think it was made into an animated film as well. One of my favorite books.


I am aware of it but have not read it (or seen the movie) yet. I actually have a fairly old (probably eighties or nineties) Penguin Classics translation of Beowulf on my bookshelf. Haven't read it in a while.

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

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I just started it so we shall see.
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Quote by Molly
I just started it so we shall see.




I'm more than half way through it.

... and wasn't sure if I'd continue until I was just over 200 pages or so and whoa!

It takes fire.
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Quote by gypsy


Quote by gillianleeza


That's funny we are all reading it. I feel like he's doing what he does with all his stories. He's setting the chessboard. Slowly introducing you to all the pieces before he begins to wreak havoc on them.

I do love that about him. lol

Sometimes it pays off and other times it doesn't. fingers crossed
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Quote by Molly


Quote by gillianleeza


That's funny we are all reading it. I feel like he's doing what he does with all his stories. He's setting the chessboard. Slowly introducing you to all the pieces before he begins to wreak havoc on them.

I do love that about him. lol

Sometimes it pays off and other times it doesn't. fingers crossed


Before he starts to wreak havoc on us, his readers!
Crazy old ape
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So, I am into volume 3 of Once & Future and the Green Knight has shown up. With Rose, the historian, taking the Gawain role (the first female Gawain according to Bridgette).

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

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Quote by gypsy
Before he starts to wreak havoc on us, his readers!


Now that is a very true statement!
Crazy old ape
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Just finished Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw. A grim, hard-hitting and hard-boiled cosmic horror novella.

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

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I thoroughly enjoyed Billy Summers, but don't think it's like Stephen King's normal stories because it's not.


I'm currently reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. I haven't read it since I was a teenager, but I've been reading a new book and then a classic so it was next on the list.

Crazy old ape
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The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw. Transhumanist cyberpunk with an all-female all-queer band of mercenaries in the old "getting the gang back together for one last score" plot

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

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DIY Satellite Platforms: Building a Space-Ready General Base PicoSatellite

It’s research for the novel, but if I had an extra $10k sitting around I would totally be building my own satellite.

Teeth of the Sky - Myths and Monsters competition, first place

Fire and Ice - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words competition, first place

Monster - Survivor competition, first place

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Quote by Molly

I thoroughly enjoyed Billy Summers, but don't think it's like Stephen King's normal stories because it's not.

I enjoyed it as well. I am sometimes skeptical when he does a story that doesn't have some sort of supernatural/horror element. I forget that one of his best works had none of those elements. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption was an excellent novella and had, in my opinion, one of the best adaptations of his works.

I just started Rabid: A Cultural History of the Most Diabolical Virus.

Crazy old ape
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Quote by gillianleeza
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption was an excellent novella

The Body, filmed as Stand By Me, is another King classic that was neither horror nor supernatural. Terrific coming-of-age story.

A mighty warrior meets an unusual challenger. The Last Challenge of Jadek Prynn.

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

I read this once before when I was younger and everyone told me it was a must-read. I didn't like it. You know what? I still don't. My Lord this book is tragic.