Coming in late, but might I suggest just about anything by Connie Willis (Bellwether is my personal favorite). It's less ... fraught ... than some of her other things.
I got stabbed, you know, right here.
Mal ,'Shindig'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Toddson - Jul 28, 2021 11:21:14 am PDT #26872 of 28079
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
hippocampus - Jul 28, 2021 4:21:14 pm PDT #26873 of 28079
not your mom's socks.
Toddson, I adore Bellwether. And my short story collection of Best of Connie Willis is open right now
Consuela - Jul 28, 2021 9:08:31 pm PDT #26874 of 28079
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Oh, I bought Hands of the Emperor but haven't read it yet. Right now I'm reading I Claudius and Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, which seems charming.
Here's a rec: Deborah Coates has a series of very evocative supernatural mysteries, set in the Dakotas. Strong characterizations, great sense of place, neat stories. The first one is called Wide Open.
Toddson - Jul 29, 2021 5:55:28 am PDT #26875 of 28079
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
I, Claudius ... I didn't get through (although I watched the ENTIRE PBS series ... and tried to do a family chart for a friend showing the relationships). And I have some qualms about Robert Graves - there's a section of Suetonius that no one else would translate (with good reason). Spoiler Alert is charming - that's a good description.
hippocampus - Jul 29, 2021 6:31:30 am PDT #26876 of 28079
not your mom's socks.
Thank you, Consuela!
Jesse - Jul 29, 2021 1:40:41 pm PDT #26877 of 28079
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
So despite all of your great recs, I thought I would see what was on the shelf at the library in the sci fi section, and came away with Nalo Hopkinson's Sister Mine, which seems great, but is it sci fi?? (I will still count it as such for the library contest, since the library says it is.)
Consuela - Jul 29, 2021 6:32:22 pm PDT #26878 of 28079
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
My pleasure, hippocampus!
Here's another random rec: Violette Malan has a series of classic sword-and-sorcery novels, with a M/F pair of bonded mercenary fighters. It's all very old school, but I enjoyed the characters and their relationship, and the world-building was pretty good given the genre. The first one is called The Sleeping God. Sadly, I guess they didn't sell that well, and the 4th ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. But they're still enjoyable.
IIRC, I got both of those recs from Liz Burke, whom I have followed for yonks on LJ and Twitter. She's Sleeps With Monsters over at Tor.com.
hippocampus - Jul 31, 2021 10:19:21 am PDT #26879 of 28079
not your mom's socks.
Liz has great taste!
Laura - Aug 02, 2021 8:11:36 am PDT #26880 of 28079
Our wings are not tired.
The only upside to a 6 hour flight delay is actually finishing a book in one day. Read The Midnight Library, which was a light, no real focus required choice for an extremely noisy environment.
Toddson - Aug 05, 2021 9:01:14 am PDT #26881 of 28079
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
That's one thing I love about e-books - I carry one small-ish device with me and have bunches of books to choose from. I can re-read something if there are a lot of distractions or, given time and quiet, settle in with something new that will require attention. (edited to add: I saw a brief article about Haley Atwell who was traveling with a bag full of books - heavy and bulky - but she needed the reading material)
And, in what may be good news, it seems that Jack Vance's son is authorizing writers to write in his father's worlds. Not sequels to Vance's books, but new books in those universes. It sounds like it might turn out well. Hope springs eternal and all that.