shimotsuki | Entries tagged with books

It's Spring Break this week! I'll be back later with an Accountability Post (haven't done one of those for a while, which may explain a lot, lol) -- and to catch up with posts on my f-list. For now, my guy and I are about to go on a geology hike with friends, enjoying the warm sunny weather after a few chilly days of rain and sleet.

But first, a crucial question for

philomytha: Last night[*] I got hold of a copy of Whispers Underground, which appears to be #3 in the Rivers of London series. I have #1 on order from interlibrary loan, but it isn't here yet. So my question is, can I start with #3 and read out of sequence, or will I regret it? ;)

For everyone who hasn't been following

philomytha's remarks about this series, it's apparently a gritty London-based mystery series. With secret wizards on the police force. Sounds like it pushes most of my buttons.

[*]I also found a copy of Sharing Knife: Legacy in the same used bookstore. It was a good book-scrounging night!
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The Fire and Hemlock book discussion entered something of a lull before we all got around to trying to figure out what the heck the ending of the book means and where all the pieces in that climactic final scene came from. I'd been thinking about giving the coals a poke to see if we could get any new flames to shoot up, but -- even better --

gilpin25 has been back and has posted about the ending, the age difference, the opal, the horse, and other thought-provoking things. So do jump back in if you have thoughts to provoke.

And, while I'm posting -- remember that Remus/Tonks drabble/drawble meme? There have been a number of drabbles and fics posted for that already (hooray), but here's a reminder that the masterlist will go up on or near September 1. There's still almost a week to get inspired. :) (And more links can always be added to the masterlist after September 1; life is flexible around here.) I think I'll have the first HBP chapter of Kaleidoscope done in time...
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Here is the second of two discussion posts for Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones. This post is currently public, so that anyone interested can read and join in the discussion, but if any of my f-listers would prefer that I f-lock the post instead, let me know and I will do that.

What became blindingly obvious to me in the course of the first discussion post :) is that much of the fun of discussing this book will come from trying to figure out how the story builds up to the climax -- what all the stuff in the first half (and Part Three) means in the context of what we find out in the end. I will start things off with just one discussion topic, because this is the one that is driving me the most to distraction in trying to figure it out: ;)

( Spoilery burning questions behind the cut: )

So there are some questions to possibly start the discussion going, but don't feel you have to address those in order to post. Anything at all is fair game. What did you like or not like about the book? Are there any cool things you figured out about how the magic worked or about how the threads of the story came together? What questions do you still have about what happened? (I'm really hoping that as a group we can figure some stuff out.)

( Finally, here are some extra links for fun and more information: )
Let me close by saying that I really enjoyed reading this book, and that would have been fun on its own, but it made it even more fun to have a bunch of people on LJ to read and discuss it with. Thanks, all. ♥
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Here is the first of two discussion posts for Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones. It may be the case that we've all read the whole book already (I certainly found it hard to put down), but let's keep to the original plan and discuss only Part One ("New Hero") and Part Two ("Now Here") in this post so we don't accidentally spoil anyone who hasn't read beyond that part.

Two more organizational matters: I've been informed that one participant has a non-LJer friend who might like to join in the discussion, so I've gone ahead and posted this as a public post. But if any f-listers would feel more comfortable to have this f-locked, I will certainly do that; just let me know. (But unless that happens, anyone who sees this post and would like to join in the discussion is most welcome.)

Also, I've got an out-of-town friend coming next weekend, so I might not be able to do a discussion post so easily then. So [edited:] Based on feedback from the group -- and the recent Pottermore distractions ;) -- let's say that the second discussion post, for Parts Three and Four, will go up on Tuesday, August 13.

And now, let's start the discussion!
( Short summary and a few starter questions for Parts One and Two are behind the cut )

Where did September even go? I, for one, have absolutely no idea. The end of the summer is a super-busy time -- as evidenced by the fact that no one, myself included (LOL!), posted anything for the discussion of the second half of Horizon. But so much happens in that part of the book, and a ship is introduced that I know various people have thoughts (positive and negative) about. And with all the pieces in place, it's also a chance to look back over the series as a whole: Does anything make more sense once the whole story has been told? Are there any loose threads or themes that were dropped?

I'm going to head back to the original discussion post for the last part of Horizon and see if I can't get my thoughts together for one final set of comments. Anyone who wants to join in is welcome!

Complete list of discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9 | ch 10-19
Passage, ch 1-12 | ch 13-24
Horizon, ch 1-11 | ch 12-Epilogue

Here we are -- the last discussion post! Thanks to everybody who's been reading along and joining in the discussions. It's been fun to read this while having people to talk to. :)

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

All comments welcome -- for the whole series. How did it work? Lingering thoughts or questions?

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9 | ch 10-19
Passage, ch 1-12 | ch 13-24
Horizon, ch 1-11

Um. Somehow, I seem to have lost a week. I think we can pretty clearly blame it on the fact that the semester started last Tuesday. (Oh, and there was the I'm-writing-Berry-fanfic excuse for a few days there, too, heh.) I think I've got myself organized now, though!

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

Only one more discussion to go! I'll plan on posting Monday or Tuesday next week with chapters 12-23 of Horizon and the Epilogue. And then we can have at the whole series at once. ;)

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9 | ch 10-19
Passage, ch 1-12 | ch 13-24

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post this one! We got back home ~~from Greymouth~~ Monday evening, but then things picked right up at work, so evenings have been short this week. :( The second half of Passage is really fun, too -- I've been looking forward to discussing this part in particular.

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

Next week (Tuesday?), I'll put up a discussion post for the first half of Horizon -- let's do chapters 1 through 11, because that makes a good stopping-point. I know this is shorter notice than we've been having, but I've been getting the sense that a lot of us are already on the last book now, anyway. ;) Anyone who wants me to hold off later than Tuesday for posting the next discussion, though, feel free to squawk in the comments. And if anyone is reading the series on a slower schedule, by all means feel free to jump in on past discussions!

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9 | ch 10-19
Passage, ch 1-12

Life continues to imitate art, as today I'm traveling south toward the general vicinity of what's most likely the model for Graymouth. We're not going quite that far, though, and in fact aren't quite close enough to the actual Mississippi River (although I did see it when the plane was landing!). So you've escaped a picspam this time. ;)

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

It will probably be next Tuesday before I can put up the discussion post for the second half of Passage, since on Monday we'll be traveling once again (on our way home). Although, I may surprise myself and be efficient. ;)

By the way -- they're having another Ficathon right now at

bujold_fic, and Sharing Knife prompts and fic are fair game! Can we get something going for this fandom over there? I'll be pondering prompts...

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9 | ch 10-19

Today's TSK discussion comes complete with a mood-setting picspam...

( You'd almost expect to see a plunkin around here. )

*coughs* Anyway, on to the: ( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

If anyone's still along for the ride, along-about next Monday I'll put up a post for the first half of Passage. ...Which I don't have with me right now on my trip north, so I can't count chapters. Let's say we'll discuss exactly the first half if there are an even number of chapters, or (n-1)/2 chapters if there are an odd number, and I just hope this works out to a good stopping point. ;)

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19
Legacy, ch 1-9

Welcome to the special Lakewalker edition of our TSK discussion group! I am posting from a small lake at roughly the latitude of Dag's Hickory Lake, and the water is indeed a bit murky, but the sixteen (!) of us gathered here in two ~~tents~~ lake houses do not yet smell green. Possibly because we have a shower that is fed by the city water system. I have not yet been out in a narrow boat, though I plan to if the wind dies down a little, but there has been lots of swimming and floating. On the other hand, no plunkin, (un?)fortunately, has graced our dinner table...

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

Next Monday (or Monday-ish, as I might be on the road on Monday), I'll put up a post for the second half of Legacy, chapters 10-19.

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11 | ch 12-19

This is the final discussion post for Beguilement. The focus here is on chapters 12-19, but the whole book is fair game.

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

It sounds like at least a few people are interested in continuing with the series, so let's forge ahead! I was thinking that we could do the discussion for Legacy, the second book in the series, in two parts: next week we could read through the end of chapter 9, and then discuss 10-19 the following week. (I think Ch 10 goes better with the second half of the book.) But if anyone thinks that's going to be too fast -- or too slow -- then please yelp in the comments. :)

Past discussion posts:

Beguilement, ch 1-3 | ch 4-11

My flight was late getting back last night, so I don't have a fancy discussion post ready to go yet! But I did want to post something before everybody in the UK went to bed. So I'll put this here now in bare-bones form, and maybe come back later this evening to fix up the little chapter synopses. ;)

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

Thoughts? Reactions?

Next Monday I'll put up a post for the remainder of Book 1, and then after that (if anyone is still around, heh) we can start on Book 2. :)
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As promised, today's post covers the first three chapters of the first book, so no spoilers beyond that point, if you please. :)

( Summary and discussion -- spoilers under the cut )

I was thinking we could do the next discussion in about a week. Let's actually say Tuesday, because Monday I'll be flying back from my conference, bookless and jetlagged. ;) I've been seeing comments around my f-list suggesting that people have been reading quickly once they start, so I was wondering if for next week's discussion we might cover up through Ch 11. If anyone thinks that's too much, please raise a squawk in the comments and we can slow down. But that's about half of the rest of Beguilement...and Ch 11 is, um, a very nice chapter. :)

Also, if anyone would like a Sharing Knife icon, help yourself!
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The poll about book discussions for the Sharing Knife series was pretty evenly split between votes for one discussion per book and one discussion for every few chapters. So here's what I'm thinking: Because some people may still be waiting for their book orders to arrive, let's start things off on Monday with a discussion for Ch 1-3 of Beguilement.[*] But the chapters are somewhat shorter than I was thinking when I made that poll (didn't have the books on hand), and some people wanted to read faster than three chapters per week. So for the next post (on or around Monday, July 9), maybe we could try covering something on the order of 5 chapters, and see how that goes.

[*]Now that I have my copy of Beguilement to check, I see that the end of Ch 3 turns out to be an evil cliffhanger. I bet no one will actually stop there, lol.

Also, instead of spending my Friday night working on my conference talk for next week(!!), I spent it making icons. If anyone would like to grab some Sharing Knife icons, help yourself. :) (Non-spoilery.)
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It looks like there are a few people who are interested in a read-along of the Sharing Knife series!

I'm not quite sure what the best way is to do this. A super-organized person would probably post one discussion post per chapter, lol, but I'm not that organized. (Besides, doesn't that make it feel more like homework?) And it sounds like people could use a little time to find the books and read. So...

( ...a poll. )

Read-alongers, let me know what you think!

For the record, I have started reading and am enjoying the series muchly. To the tune of staying up a little too late reading once or twice. ;)
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Last Friday,

katyscarlett76 and I got to talking about Lois McMaster Bujold's fantasy series The Sharing Knife -- and we thought it might be fun to read this summer. Anyone else interested? We could have check-in posts for squeeing (or complaining?) from time to time!

It's a four-book series; the first book is called Beguilement. Reviews I've read suggest that the story really doesn't feel complete until you've read all four books, so this might be something to keep me busy for a while. ;)

( Why TSK? )

Now my main dilemma is whether to start reading Beguilement right now, when it's a mere week and a half before another conference trip, and I have a talk to finish writing! I'm not the best at self-discipline once I've started an interesting book. Or, series. (Which is one reason why I read less now than I did when I was younger -- I don't trust myself to be able to stop in the middle of a book when I need to...)

Anyone else on board for this? :)
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