Sunday Status Update: June 9, 2019

Another week, and we’re still reading plenty of fun books!

Bill: This week I continued through some Locus nominees, reading The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken, If Tomorrow Comes by Nancy Kress, and my personal favorite among them, the historical fiction The Hunger by Alma Katsu about the Donner Party. I started Tide of Stone by Kaaron Warren, but only gave it about 60 pages before stopping (the voice just didn’t do it for me), though I’ll probably give it one more shot. I also read Oliver Morton’s mostly excellent non-fiction work, The Moon: A History for the Future, which offers up fascinating details on the Moon itself but also explores future missions, both near-term (landers) and long-term (mining, moon bases, moon telescopes). Somehow, no genre TV or films this week.

Jana: This week I have a lot of home-projects taking up my time and energy (and I’m not complaining; I love getting my hands in the dirt) so I’ve slowed my reading pace a bit. I finished Claire North’s The Gameshouse omnibus and found my opinions of the three novellas track along with Kat’s, read Domenica Ruta’s Last Day (which is more of a multiple-character study than a plot-driven novel), and will try to get some of my to-be-reviewed backlog taken care of in the coming week. I’ll also be reading Ferrett Steinmetz’s The Sol Majestic and Katherine Coville’s Briar and Rose and Jack, with reviews to come.

Kat: Still focusing on the Locus finalists, I read several books this week. I’ll put them in order of how well I liked them (best to least). We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix is a metal-themed horror novel that resonated with me. The Agony House by Cherie Priest is a young adult haunted house story set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Ruthanna Emry’s Deep Roots (the sequel to Winter Tide) is a disturbing Lovecraftian tale that is just a little to slow and quiet for my tastes. Molly Tanzer’s Creatures of Want and Ruin is original and entertaining, but has some plot problems. Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell has a nice story, but it’s unoriginal and unchallenging.

Marion: I’m reading A.S. Byatt’s Ragnarok. It’s a partial retelling of some Norse myths, part memoir of a childhood during World War II and partially an examination of her spiritual beliefs, all beautifully written. After my disappointment in the AMC adaptation of Joe Hill’s NOS4SA2, I couldn’t believe the book could be that dull so I picked up a copy. I was right; the book is much better.

Sandy: Moi? I am currently reading another writer who never seems to let me down, British author Eric Frank Russell. The book of his that I am currently tearing through is his second full-length effort, I believe: 1948’s Dreadful Sanctuary. I hope to be able to report back to you all on this one very shortly…