Banks is on my mental list but intimidating.

FWIW, I find him very readable even though I do need to slow down and pay attention to what he's saying. But the action is fast paced and the characters are all well drawn and intriguing.

I love pretty much everything by Bujold, but particularly "The Curse of Chalion" and the rest of the world of the five gods books.

Definitely my faves.

I just finished a Murderbot re-reading, and I've been going through Elisabeth Ogilvie's Jennie Glenroy trilogy--I mentioned these on JZ's FB recently. They're historical novels set in early 19th century Scotland and Maine that I've never met anyone else who's even heard of. I own them in paperback, but now they're on Kindle too, which makes them so much handier to read.

In new-to-me books this year, so far my favorites have been Louise Erdrich's middle grade Birchbark House series of historical fiction, plus When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb.

On the Bujold front, I adore the Penric and Desdemona series and the Vorkosigan books, especially pretty much everything from Memory forward, but for some reason the Sharing Knife series books have been my go-to comfort reads since 2016. I can't even really explain why--it's just the world I most want to plunge into no matter how much I feel like I should be appalled by Fawn and Dag's age gap.

Age gaps do seem pretty common in her books. I'm enjoying the five gods books more, which is a good thing since my library has lots of them.

I read a number of Elisabeth Ogilvie books a good while ago and enjoyed them. I love Bujold; I think my favorite of her world of five gods series was Paladin of Souls, although the Penric and Desdemona stories are excellent (actually, just about everything of hers is excellent).

I'm reading Excession by Iain M. Banks (do not forget the "M" or he turns into a dreaded literary author).

It’s the same person. I’ve only read the Wasp Factory but thought it was fantastic.

I am totally doing that "Weather!" thing with my phone this morning only it's me trying to play my book on audible and getting distracted by other apps.

he he ... scene from Hamlet in the "original Klingon.

I've got my tooth extraction scheduled for tomorrow morning starting at 8:30, so tooth~ma would be appreciated.

What are other folks reading? Including fic?

I am just about to start rereading Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, for book club. Another recommendation of mine that I hope does not crash and burn. It is however the kind of book that I'm sure Buffistas would appreciate: after her father dies, 28-year-old spinster Lolly goes to live with her brother, where she is the unpaid governess for his children for 20 years. Eventually she gets fed up and lights out for the country -- where things begin to get weird. It's quite a remarkable story, and was a huge hit in the inter-war years.

In other news, I'm reading (re-reading) lots of interesting Star Wars AUs. today it's the Jedi Shmi stories, in which rather than being left behind in slavery, Anakin Skywalker's mother frees herself, goes to Coruscant, and becomes a Jedi in her own right. It's quite good if you like stories where the Jedi are taken to task by a middle-aged woman with opinions: [link]

I'm currently 3 days into a 2-week leadership training, which is strangely touch-feely given that it's full of military folks. it's also strangely exhausting. but basically everyone seems well-meaning, so I am baking an apple cake to bring in tomorrow.