Middlegame | 
pickI feel like I have journeyed through another dimension — just like ours, but…not. This book is a mind bender, not quite a fantasy but not quite horror either; alchemy and murder and the power of language and thought and belief to change the world. It isn‘t an easy read, but one worth undertaking, I think.
tfw you finish a Seanan McGuire book & are trying to fill-out a StoryGraph data-collection question.
#ALLtheThings 😂
pick“Wake up. We need to let my terrifying ex-girlfriend tell us how we‘re supposed to manifest a primal force of reality before asshole chemists set us the fuck on fire.”
The above quote is pretty indicative of Middlegame‘s overall tone: it‘s desperate, matter-of-fact, urgent, terribly serious but also quite silly.
While I enjoyed my reading experience, it largely confirmed that giant tomes just aren‘t my thing. 👇🏻
Current read — about a quarter of the way through, and still not sure if I like it or not. Why does this keep happening? Is my brain melting? Gah. Shall keep at it because of all the love out there for this one…
What perfect quotes! 🤩
Getting in some reading before my evening shift at the Library.
pick🎧 There was a point where I had to rewind thinking I‘d missed something, nope.
Roger & Dodger met at camp when they were 9. They have an unusual connection that keeps them returning to each other no matter how much time has passed through their 30‘s. One in Cambridge & one Stanford. There are multiple time jumps.
That last twist got me. Great entertaining read. Two people needed to find the truth about their existence & purpose.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
March 2022 new reads! The devouring of Victoria Goddard continues apace, I finally gave in and finished what Penric and Desdemona novellas I have digitally, and third time's the charm on Middlegame.
Since the sequel is coming out in May, this month Tor‘s eBook Club book is from the fantastic Seanan McGuire! Available for download in mobi and ePub formats before 11:59 PM ET, March 25th, 2022.
https://ebookclub.tor.com #TorBookClub
Available in the US and Canada.
pickOnce I understood the chronology and what was going on, I enjoyed the story (though I still had to jump back and forth a bit to fill in some gaps). The dynamic between the characters evolve in ways that use some of my favorite tropes. The book would have been five stars if it were easier to get my initial foothold into the plot.
so-soDark, edgy, and willing to push the limits of the genre. The mixture of horror elements makes it an unsettling read. The story didn‘t always keep my attention, but the apprehension Roger and Dodger experienced as they discovered their true purpose kept me reading. I still recommend this people who enjoy stories focused on mental health and experimentation.
Review https://www.behindthepages.org/post/middlegame-by-seanan-mcguire-book-review
After going through my monthly reading stats in my bullet journal, I wanted to share my favourite books so far for 2021. Instead of sharing all my 5 star reads, I‘ve chosen one book per month.
Have you guys read any of these? Did you also give them 5 stars? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickYup, it's official: Seanan McGuire is one of my favorite writers. I took my time to savor this book and can't wait for the next installment.
pickY‘all I read this book at the camp I volunteer at and my dog spilled my coffee literally all over the first 30 pages so I had to wait two days to read the last three chapters while it dried out which was The Worst because this book is So Good and interesting and made me think which isn‘t unusual but is very fun. In any case Seanan McGuire continues to be one of my favourite authors 💜💙💚
I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.
Day 119th
Join the fun if you want!
#tbrpile
These are the two books that my sister gave me for my b-day!
I can't wait to read them both 🤩
Much of my middle school years were spent being ostracized and picked on by classmates with very little done about it. This hit me in the gut. Verbal/emotional bullying in school ain't a joke.
pickI‘m giving this a “pick” because it was interesting and unique and I was satisfied with the character development and unendingly impressed with the world building. BUT this book was a project. 400 pages into a 500 page book without an inkling of a clue about the outcome or purpose. There are many callbacks to Over the Woodward Wall and the great alchemist A Deborah Baker… I have not read that. It may have made things easier?
Going to Finish Middlegame tonight then off to the library tomorrow to check out We have always lived in the castle and a Child called it. If I can finish both those before the end of the month Ill be back on track for my annual goal
It is 46 degrees and raining (and was sunny and almost 90 mere days ago) so a perfect day for books and tea and cats. 200 pages into this book and still no idea what the point of this book is. It‘s Seanan so I‘m trying to trust the process 🤔 but I don‘t know. And I Got some audio booking in on my treadmill run earlier.
At the lake on my “vaccine-cation” hoping to get a little further into the meat of this one... or atleast a tan.
1st Coffee on the deck at our new house 🏡 finally getting into this book, 35 pages in and no clue what is happening
bailedThis one was just not my cup of tea. There‘s no question that Seanan McGuire writes well. She‘s an amazing author. But this book was a little confusing and I couldn‘t get into it. So maybe it was just beyond me. Overall though, not a good read for me.
I know #JoyousJanuary technically doesn‘t start until Saturday, but I started two days early, because I‘m a rule breaker! 😏
It was a brilliant reading day! I finished the top three, all of which were 3-3.5 stars. I made good progress on Emperors of the Deep, and hope to finish it tomorrow. I‘m also DEVOURING Middlegame! I am obsessed with it. I have about 20% left and I can already tell I‘m going to be sad when it‘s over.
pickRoger has a gift for language. His twin sister Dodger has a gift for mathematics. When they‘re together, the world makes more sense—but it‘s also more dangerous. Because the man who created them wants to harness their powers for nothing less than absolute dominion. I loved this dark story, both convoluted and compelling, with its unique concoction of alchemy, alternative timelines, and telepathic siblings. What more could I want but a sequel? 🤚🕯
pickI was excited for this book because Seanan is my favourite author & she is very proud of this book. It was nominated for a Hugo. But I found it very character driven, mostly dialogue, and for most of story I didn‘t know quite where it was leading. So unusual for a Seanan story, however if it were written by anyone else id say it was a solid book. I liked it but I like Seanan‘s other stuff better. I really wanted to love it though but I didn‘t.
🎧 ugh I found 46 books I‘d buy during the current Audible $5, $6, $7, $8 & $9 sale ... if I were rich. (I‘ll probably buy 1 or 2 and get the rest from Libby & Hoopla) so disappointing... I really do prefer it when they have books I‘m not interested in. I‘ve narrowed it down to 9. Thankfully I have a few days to think about it. My choices are misleading, there really is a good variety.
pickBeautiful writing as always by McGuire. I almost bailed because this book seemed complicated and I was not feeling up for it. Glad I didn't. I'm sure there are things I missed with the various timelines and the alchemical allusions and that's ok. I totally enjoyed it as a fantastical story about two separated siblings coming together (and apart and together) and exploring the mystery of their own connection and their connection to the universe.
@catiewithac Omg!!!! I feel like it‘s Christmas with all these goodies!! Thank you so, so much, I love it!! #Septemberswap
This swap has been excellent, thanks so much @BennettBookworm
pickI tumbled through this adventure, constantly pulled forward. Roger and Dodger kept me guessing and in love as we moved through their story. The villains were truly horrific, though redemption never felt out of reach. This adventure is one I'll remember for quite a while.
pickI have had a review copy of this since last year and I finally felt up to trying it out this past week. Its such a hard book to review tbh. Its a story that reads like a fable but is darker and more complex. While it wasn't the easiest book to dive into I did enjoy it, and I'm curoius to see how McGuire makes this into a series.
bailedMIDDLEGAME‘s characters keep saying you can‘t skip to the end just because you‘re tired of the middle. That‘s true in life, maybe, but not in literature. The sad truth is, I‘m not especially engaged with or curious about Roger and Dodger‘s relationship OR the wider story—and by 50%, I should be. It‘s time to drift away without even peeking at the denouement.
Yesterday my BFF brought me Tall Grass Prairie‘s famous whole wheat cinnamon buns to thank me for helping her with some schoolwork. Today I had a seriously good breakfast.
And I continued MIDDLEGAME. I don‘t dislike it, by any means, but I‘m not desperate to get back to it when I‘ve gotta put it down, either. I think I finally settled into a rhythm with it last night, though, so I should be able to finish it without taking a break or anything.
I started MIDDLEGAME while I cooked and ate the last of the dumplings, and I dunno if I‘m in the right mood for it. I might switch it out for another library book and try again next week.
...or I might totally click with it by bedtime. We‘ll see.
#weeklyforecast time!
I‘m gonna start the week with MIDDLEGAME. It‘s a long, tough-to-haul-around hardcover, so it‘ll probably take me a while. When I finish, I‘ll at least start CLOUDS OF WITNESS.
For comics, I‘ve got MY BEIJING and vol 2 of the latest Jessica Jones.
For audio, it‘s THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix E. Harrow, to be followed by MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
pickI think this is the most complicated Seanan McGuire I‘ve read so far.
I definitely recommend the print and not the audio. I found the narrator‘s voice for Reed beyond annoying and had to bail on that. But as soon as I switched to print I was hooked.
Roger and Dodger are impossibly smart “twins” adopted out to different families and raised on opposite coasts. He‘s a linguist genius, she‘s math. They speak to each other in their minds.
This quote feels so appropriate for the current craziness we‘re living in:
“You can‘t skip to the end of the story just because you‘re tired of being in the middle. You‘d never survive.”
“There is so much blood.”
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @slategreyskies @ShyBookOwl
so-soI'm not sure what audience this book was intended for. At first I thought middle school to young adult, due to the age of the protagonists, the “evil“ adults and the quotes from a children's story. However, much of the content, I felt, was very adult. If you like it weird, this one is for you. However, skip the audible, the narration made me bail twice before I forced my way through it at double speed. Sci-Fi Light.
My latest library haul includes two Hugo nominees, two comics, and some Buddhism.
This SHOULD be it for a while, unless some more comics come available or I decide to request something off the shelf. The Great Holds Suspension Disaster of 2020 has left me with enough library chunksters to keep me going until the due dates, which are in September.
