September Reading Wrap-up / October Look-to / Suprising Books

Getting me excited to get into the Culture series!!! I can’t wait

Sorry Mercy of Gods didn’t work as great for you as it did for me, but hopefully the rest of the series will hook you in.

Loved your energy here! 💪

Glad your liking Dark Tower, so close to the end, I loved the ending. Doomsday Book was so-so for me too, I really want to read more from her those because she is a great writer. I really liked Player of Games too, I skipped Consider Phlebas but want to go back and read that one at some point. Oh yes, Simmons horror, now you got me thinking about picking one of his horror books for October.

Excellent reviews and reading update. Good vibes all around.

I loved Small Things Like These! Claire Keegan has been a wonderful discovery for me this year. If you're not in a hurry to watch the adaptation, I recommend reading that one at Christmastime. Great wrap-up and reading plans! 💚

I've read The Terror and loved it. I know you want to read it in October, but I would wait to start it on a cold snowy day. Never have I read a book that made me feel bone chillingly cold in the warmth of my own home. It's a bit long but definitely worth a read., I haven't watched the TV series so I can't say if that is any good or not. I've read Foster by Claire Keegan., another short one but loved her writing and the story was good. I also want to read Small Things Like These.. Hopefully some day soon. Happy Reading!!

Hey bart!!! I know mercy of gods was a bit of a mixed bag—- u should consider picking up Alien Clay. It really scratched that itch for me. Also u have me more than half convinced to retry dark tower series— i didnt love first book 😅

I read a book with time travel I particularly liked: 'Empire of Lies' by Raymond Khoury. It does not attempt to explain the science behind time travel instead making it supernatural. It also establishes rules for time travel that minimizes (there were still some issues) time paradoxes.
Also, I have not read it yet, but I think Michael Crighton's 'Timeline' will be good judging from the movie adaptation.

Good month for you!

Consider Phlebas usually gets called the weakest of the Culture series but I've always liked it a lot. The Player of Games is tied for my Favourite Iain M. Banks with Use of Weapons. I'd recommend his non Culture SF too.

Wait until November for The Terror. When it is dark and cold. It is in my top ten all time and I am an old reader. Small Things was useless for me. Beautiful prose but no real story. I have read two of her books (novellas). They are the same. Prose no story.

morning coffee with Bart. strong coffee!
you are fortunate to start the Culture series from the beginning of publication. it's not necessary but preferable, i'd say.
my first foray into Banks was Excession, and i was hooked too. now that i have read them all out of publication sequence i see that it's not required as they are all, as you say wildly dissimilar. suffice to say they got me back into reading SF in the 90s till this day. i bought Excession for the cool cover art. they put me onto Donaldson's Gap series and the Hyperion Cantos.
speaking of the Dark Tower, i was surprised to read the first 'inklings' of the series in King's Hearts in Atlantis. fantastic.
i read the Terror while stuck inside during our heatwave. you will soon see why. it's unrelenting. the video series was well done but by necessity, a bit of a distillation of a long and detailed book with Simmons as an adviser. i'm currently reading his Flashback.
cheers.

My September so far in order.

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein 8/10
Conan the Barbarian (The Black Stranger) 6.5/10 by Robert E. Howard
The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King 7.5/10
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne 5/10
The Steppe by Anton Tchêkhov 8/10
Death In Venice by Thomas Mann 7.5/10
The player of games by Ian M. Banks 6.5/10
War Lord (The Saxon Stories, #13) by Bernard Cornwell 8/10
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien (rereading, in progress).

So far in 2024 I have only read two books that would get 5 stars on Goodreads.
And only two that would also earn two stars.

Since you love time traveling novels here is some recommendations for you. First one guns of the South by Harry turtledove. Second one company of the Dead. This one deals with the Titanic.

Recently finished Nuclear Subtraction by Colin Roberts gave 4 ✨.

Now I'm reading Star Science fiction stories no.2 and Riders to the stars by Robert Smith 😊

Recently read Wastelands. Pretty good but didn’t top Drawing of the Three. I really hope that wasn’t the peak of the Dark Tower series