Monthly Archives: March 2017

It’s GroupRead Time!

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So what’s a GroupRead, and why is it time for one? GroupReads are fun! That’s what they are! 🙂 Okay a better description: GroupReads are when readers jointly pick out a book to read at the same time. Normally accompanied by cool hashtags and fun discussions! Y’all might recall following along with a few of them I’ve featured here in the past. I wanted to let you know about the GroupReads I am joining in on during 2017 and invite y’all to take part!


First up is #MarchToMorningStar which started when Sadie and I decided to read Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Trilogy and to start in March! Hence the hashtag! I had already read (and loved) the first two books in the trilogy, but wanted to reread them before diving into the finale. I’ve just started Morning Star today, some others in the group are at the start of Golden Son. If you’d like to join in now you’re welcome to! I’ll be writing a blog on the whole trilogy once I’ve finished reading it. 


Y’all know I’ve been wanting to reread Tad Williams’ Memory Sorrow And Thorn Trilogy for a while now. The fact that he’s returned to Osten Ard to start telling stories again makes me want to dive into this world even more! So when Kefuwa suggested a GroupRead of it to start in May I jumped right in! 


My friend Sadie has read Dan Simmons’ horror novels, I’ve read his SciFi novels, but neither of us have read his Hyperion Cantos. So we decided to try it out! This Summer we’ll be reading Hyperion which is a SciFi novel I’ve been meaning to read for ages! I still haven’t picked up a copy yet, this book is the library’s copy, but I’m on the hunt for it! 


You know how much I love L.E. Modesitt Jr so when a group of fellow readers say they’d like to give him a chance: I jump at the opportunity to introduce them to his work! This September I’ll be hosting a GroupRead of his book The Magic Of Recluce which is the first book in his Recluce Saga and well worth a read! 


Last but not least I’m interested in having a GroupRead of Richard Adams’ classic Watership Down. I plan on reading it this year and keep encountering others who, like me, keep saying they’ve been wanting to read it. Well here is our chance! Get ahold of a copy and let’s pick out a month! 


Those are the books I’m planning on reading with others, and I wanted to invite y’all to join in! Did any interest you? Let me know and I’ll supply you with more details! 

Guest Review Of Planetfall!

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Y’all know it’s a joy of mine to feature guest reviews from my friends! Today I get to share one from my friend Indreni on a book I really want to read: Planetfall by Emma Newman


There’s no denying that British sci-fi and urban fantasy author Emma Newman is really cool. Not only does she write short stories and novels, design dresses, and narrate audiobooks (what reader doesn’t see that as a dream job?!), she hosts and co-writes a visionary Hugo-nominated podcast, Tea & Jeopardy. As if that weren’t enough, Newman is open about her experiences with anxiety, postpartum depression, and more–and incorporates these into her writing: yes, we sci-fi readers have an ally and inspiration in Newman as an author, world-builder, and character-creator. 

Planetfall is Newman’s first sci-fi novel, and while it’s a little over a year old now, I was amazed and grateful at how timely, relevant, and pressing it is. Set in a not-too-distant world where gov-corps control highly-stratified nations suffering from enormous wealth divides, oppression, and environmental ruin, main character Ren has an opportunity: she can leave Earth with a prestigious group of fellow scientists and doctors in order to follow the brilliant Suh, a university friend who has seemingly received a vision from God calling humanity “home” to “God’s City” on a faraway planet.


From the get-go, Newman makes it clear that life on Earth has become stifling, bleak, and all but hopeless. Grieving the loss of her young daughter, and fed up with her relationship with her narcissistic mother, there is little keeping Ren on Earth but the pleading voice of her idealistic father, who believes Ren’s breakthrough visengineering system of 3-D printers can save countless lives on Earth. It’s just one of several complex ethical questions facing Ren throughout the novel, and the reader can’t help but wonder how he or she would react in the same situation.

Set 20 years after Ren, Suh, and the other colonists “make planetfall” on their new planet, when the book opens the new colony appears to be humming along. Ren’s 3-D printers have made human labor almost obsolete. Homes, clothing, food, organs–all can be printed thanks to her. They live sustainably, recycling their raw materials in a mashing system, and building homes that make their own energy. 

But the peaceable facade and the premise of the colony has come at a price, which Ren has helped to cover up all these years. Where is Suh, the original leader, for example? One day, Suh’s grandson, Sung-Soo, emerges out of the harsh grasslands beyond the colony’s gates and upsets the balance. Ren, suffering from tremendous, untreated anxiety and OCD, begins to fear she can’t keep lying to the colony any longer about what really happened during “planetfall” 20 years ago.  


Planetfall is a slow burn, but the world-building and character development are fascinating and kept me engaged for all 320 pages.     

For those who, like me, were intrigued by Newman’s extensively-created futuristic space colony, her 2nd novel came out this past November. Titled After Atlas, It’s deemed a “stand alone novel set in the same universe” as Planetfall. As After Atlas has received rave reviews from readers, I’m guessing Newman really hits her stride in her 2nd novel, and I am definitely looking forward to checking it out.

The Missing Reads Of January

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My January reading time is mostly focused upon Vintage SciFi but mixed in with that vintagey awesomeness you’ll find an interesting mix if you look at the other books I read. This post covers those books!


I enjoyed several Children’s Books but ESPECIALLY Aaron Becker’s Quest and Return which are the second and third book of the Journey series. Imagine an epic fantasy in children’s book form without words that make glorious use of colors for their magic system. Love. This. 

Other Children’s Books I also read include: Fred by Kaila Eunhye Seo which I found to be very imaginative; Douglas You Need Glasses by Ged Adamson which was cute; Wolf Camp by Andrea Zuill which was fun; How To Find A Fox by Nivah Magrudes which was delightful; and Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs by Sandra Boyahon which was a little disappointing. 

Y’all know I enjoy quality crime fiction and graphic novels so I read Harder Looks by Andrew Vachss (and various artists) and while they were interesting I felt they simplified his short stories. 


Speaking of Andrew Vachss I listened to Blackjack and Urban Renewal which are the first two Cross Novels and they were expertly well read! Cross Novels are a little more jumbled than his Burke Novels as he tried combining several short stories into novel form for them. 

I also listened to Dennis Lehane’s AMAZING story The Drop. The book is just as excellent as the movie adaptation made it seem. Put this one on your list if you’re a Crime Fiction fan. 

The final book of the month was The Two Deaths Of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey and it was well done. Trying to tell a story with amnesiac as your primary POV character can be tricky but just as things were about to get boring Sakey livened everything up. 

That sums up the missing reads from my January roundup!