Book Resolution

[rachelmanija]

Many people are making book resolutions. Here is mine.

I resolve to read whatever I want, however I want. If I feel like whittling down the number of books that have been lurking unread for 20 years, I will do that. If I feel like reading the entire Anthony Award longlist, I will do that. If I feel like making a poll, I will do that. If I feel like diving into contemporary horror, I will do that.

Rec me a book?

Comments

[rosanicus]

I'm not sure how much non-fiction you read but I have two books I would recommend to almost anyone. First one is The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane and the second is Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain by Charlotte Higgins. Both are travelogues but one is nature-centric and the other is about archaeology.

[dewline]

Seems entirely reasonable to me.

[james]

The God Box by Barry Goodyear (if you can find it used, it's old and almost no one but me seems to have read it.)

[machiavellijr]

Just out this last week, 'Here in Avalon' by Tara Burton. A New York cabaret troupe which may or may not be a cult, or possibly vice-versa. Gorgeously written, surprisingly funny and I devoured it overnight.

[deifire]

This is my favorite book resolution I've seen so far.

For a rec: The Book of Queer Saints is a recent horror anthology I just read on a plane and liked a lot of.

[thawrecka]

That's a good resolution.

[hunningham]

Princess Floralinda and the 40-flight tower Not gonna win you any literary points. Wonderful.

[mildred_of_midgard]

Still reccing Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved!

[musesfool]

That's my kinda resolution!

I don't know how you feel about mafia stories, but I would recommend the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee - it's about a family (in both the genetic and mafia sense) of secondary world East Asian-style mobsters with Force powers. But you definitely need to have a tolerance for mob stories.

[black_bentley]

My favourite book of 2023 was In Memoriam by Alice Winn, so I'm going to recommend that one.

And that's an excellent resolution! <3

[pameladean]

There are a surprising number of books by that title, but I think you must mean Barry Longyear? He burst on the SF scene with three major awards very early on but then seemed to disappear. He wrote several stories for the Liavek shared-world anthologies, and was a pleasant presence at conventions for a while.

The God Box was fascinating, but I don't seem to have ever reread it.

P.

[pameladean]

Oh, it's funny how reading your resolution actually made the tension go out of my shoulders for a while, even while I was giggling.

I can't recall if you have read Jessamyn West's Cress Delahanty, but I do recommend it. It's a series of linked short pieces and she rings the changes on so many kinds of fiction. It's funny and eye-opening and sad and both very shrewd and in some ways just shiningly innocent.

P.

[james]

Yes! I even looked it up first before typing, because I wasn't sure, then I still typed it wrong. :-P

[qian]

This is my resolution too! I was just thinking I might close to blurb requests for 2024. I'm terrible at doing them anyway, so all that happens is nobody gets a blurb and I feel bad, and if that's going to happen anyway I may as well skip the feeling bad part.

Have you read Miriam Toews' Women Talking? I thought it would be a sort of depressing thriller, but it's more like a play where people -- well, women -- argue about big philosophical questions, in a warm funny human way. My copy has a Margaret Atwood blurb on the cover and the vibe is not unlike hers.

[sixbeforelunch]

Excellent resolution!

Have you read The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia?

[dhampyresa]

What a lovely resolution!

If you haven't read it yet, I think you might enjoy Susanna Clarke's Piranesi.

[rachelmanija]

I LOVE Piranesi. Oneof my favorite books of all time.

[rachelmanija]

Haha,that was also me with blurbs.

I have not read it but it sounds interesting.

[rachelmanija]

I love mob stories and you're the second person to rec this!

[rachelmanija]

On my list!

[rachelmanija]

Oh interesting, I hadn't heard of this. Thanks!

[rachelmanija]

Love the premise! Thank you!

[rachelmanija]

What's it about?

[rachelmanija]

Thank you! I own the first but haven't read it yet, but they both sound great.

[rachelmanija]

No! Is it good?