Culture Consumption: September 2014

~ Shara

Well, this is late. Due to the lateness, and the fact that frankly, September was a great reading month, I’m not going to post reactions to anything I read or watched; however, if you have questions, I’m happy to discuss in the comments.

Books

27) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
28) Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
29) If I Stay by Gayle Forman
30) Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
31) WWW: Wake by Robert Sawyer (DNF)
32) House of Leaves by Mark C. Danielewski (DNF)
33) A Stranger in Olondaria by Sofia Samatar (DNF)

I should note: these DNF titles were simply because other books grabbed my interest and by time I thought about going back to the titles I’d set aside, I was no longer in the mood. The Danielewski is one I’ll have to start over anyway, and I’ll need a new plan of attack for reading it. I also see myself giving the Samatar another go at a later time. I should also note that the DNF titles are ones that have been waiting patiently for months and months, but September was when I finally threw in the towel. 🙂

Comics

Individual Issues:

Batgirl: Future’s End #1
Batman #34
Batman Eternal #20
Batman Eternal #21
Batman Eternal #22
Batman Eternal #23
Batwoman #34
Black Widow #10
Caliban #6
Coffin Hill #9
Coffin Hill #10
Copperhead #1
Fairest #28
Low #2
Ms. Marvel #8
Papa Midnite #1
Papa Midnite #2
Papa Midnite #3
Papa Midnite #4
Papa Midnite #5
Saga #22
Sex Criminals #7
Supreme Blue Rose #2
The Fade Out #1
The Manhattan Projects #23
The Massive #26
The Unwritten: Apocalypse #7
The Unwritten: Apocalypse #8
The Walking Dead #131

Movies

Killer Legends
Room in Rome

Television Shows

Homeland: seasons 2 & 3

That’s it from me! Also, feel free to share whatever 2014 stats you’ve got! How many books? How many movies? What were your favorites? Lay them on me!

Cheers!

7 thoughts on “Culture Consumption: September 2014”

  1. So of the ones you read this month, I have read Gone Girl, WWW:Wake and A Stranger in Olondria.

    I found Gone Girl tedious and unpleasant for the first half of the book, but the twist in the middle of the book really made the book for me. It’s still a book that makes me pretty uncomfortable, but I have a lot of respect for the writing. I ended up giving it four stars, I believe. I read it for my book club and can’t imagine that I would have made it all the way to the twist without the need to read it for book club pushing me. We are actually reading Sharp Objects, by the same author, this month in my book club.

    I read WWW: Wake when it or one of its sequels got nominated for the Hugo several years back. I read the whole trilogy and basically enjoyed it, but was not at all blown away by it.

    I loved Stranger in Olondria.

    Here’s what I read in September:

    New books:

    1. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. 4 stars. Not my standard kind of book to read, but I enjoyed it. I just joined a second book club, and this is the first book I read with them.
    2. The Queen’s Readers: A Collection of Essays on the Words and Worlds of Tamora Pierce, edited by Amanda Diehl. 3 stars. A self-published book that contains fan essays about Tamora Pierce. Not recommended unless you are a huge Pierce fan.
    3. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, by Genevieve Valentine. 4 stars. Twelve sisters in prohibition-era New York escape their despotic father to go dancing at night at speakeasys. This was a charming book and I recommend it. Despite the author, this is not a work of fantasy, but straight historical fiction, though it is based on the fairytale about the twelve dancing princesses.
    4. Abaddon’s Gate, by James SA Corey. 4 stars. I enjoyed this, but boy, did it take me a long time to get through it. I have not yet bought the next one, and may not. We’ll see.

    Re-reads:

    1. Sandry’s Book
    2. Tris’ Book
    3. Daja’s Book, all by Tamora Pierce. I’m re-reading for Mark Reads. I enjoy these, but not as much as Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books. They were excellent breaks from Abaddon’s Gate.
    4. Lock-in, by John Scalzi. 5 stars. Re-read to see what I thought after the gender issue spoiler was revealed. It worked well, I thought.
    5. The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold. 5 stars forever and ever more.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. GONE GIRL really grabbed me with the writing at first, and I spent the first half wondering when the other shoe would drop and what it would be, and then the twist happened, and I couldn’t put it down. I read it on my Kindle, and when I finished it, I kept paging back and forth because I couldn’t believe it was over!

      I’d like to give STRANGER IN OLONDRIA another go, but it’s one of those books I think I need to read as a physical copy, not on my Kindle.

      I’ve yet to get through a book by Sawyer. His premises are really cool, but his writing just doesn’t work for me.

      I read the Coelho some years ago. Bounced right off of it, but given my frame of mind at the time, it’s no wonder.

      I’ve been eyeing the latest Valentine. I’ve yet to read anything of hers that’s full length, and I keep meaning to correct that.

      It took me a while to get through ABADDON’S GATE too, actually. I’m hoping I won’t have that problem with CIBOLA BURN, but we’ll see.

      I’d like to re-read LOCK IN as well, especially after the gender reveal. My first read was definitely assuming the narrator was male.

      Like

      Reply

  2. can you tell me what you thought of Maplecroft? i’m not actually a fan of Cthulu and related [which puzzles people, because i make all these JOKES — but… yeah, i find the original written mythos wholly depressing, and most derivatives uninspired…]

    i haven’t been able to buy new books for several months 😦 because i had to save up for a new laptop. hopefully soon! i’ve got a HUGE backlog!!!

    Like

    Reply

    1. It’s written well, but it’s not my favorite by Priest. Truth be told, if Priest hadn’t written it, it’s not a book I would’ve picked up because I’m sadly under-versed and not interested in the whole Chthulu mythos. Some of the questions I had while reading were based on my wondering if I’d “get it” if I were, indeed, better versed in that mythos, but so far, no one who’s versed in it who’s also read MAPLECROFT has given me an indication how well the book works with that particular bit of knowledge under your belt.

      The story is creepy though. I just felt like I was missing something. And maybe, if I’d never heard the “LIzzie Borden meets Chthulu” tagline in all of the marketing, I may not have even noticed what I was missing. Who knows? 🙂

      Yay for a new laptop! Hope you’re doing well. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

      1. i……… am not finding that reply as helpful as you normally are?
        but i think it’s that same mythos-problem, sigh.

        i need to hit up someone who’s read it who has ALSO read the Cthulu stuff. if it just skirts the edges [John Ring has a series that does it well – yes, THAT John Ringo. i suck, but i like most of his work once i actively turn off my ‘ism’ goggles… and this specific series i don’t even really need to turn them off! to be fair, though, Ringo has admitted OFTEN that some of his work should never have been published — the stuff people hold up as exemplars of chauvinism he wrote to try and exorcise his inner demons, and didn’t mean to publish. and they’re his best-sellers, sigh. ANYWAY] it’s fine. if it goes deep into it, especially that whole ‘humanity is INCAPABLE of winning’… then………. no.

        actually, that right there might be enough — was it a book where it felt like it was [or you were eventually given the conclusion that] it was HOPELESS? as opposed to difficult, or something you’d need to repeat, or whatever?

        Like

        Reply

        1. HOPELESS? No. The ending isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but I wasn’t left feeling hopeless. I was just left with a lot of questions. 🙂

          Like

          Reply

Leave a comment