To satisfy a violent Inclination which I always had to see foreign Countries, and being incapacitated by my Circumstances to travel barely for the improvement of my Mind, I thought it most advisable to turn Sailor; and in Pursuance to my Design, I bound my self to one James Anderson, Master of the Runner, a Vessel of about 75 Tun (tho' the Custom-House had it but 70) belonging to Dublin, in the year 1718.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

(2014) Seventh in the "Kate Daniels" urban fantasy series. This one brings together multiple threads and characters from the beginning of the series. I was a little impatient with the last one, but this one delivers the action, characters, and humor I like about the series.

(1966) "World Under Hot Radiation"

The Terrans establish a base beneath the surface of the ice planet Arctis. The system has only one other planet: Destroy, a radioactive hellscape leveled by some planet-wide nuclear apocalypse hundreds of years ago. It appears lifeless, but Perry has an uneasy feeling so after settling into Arctis he leads a recon team to Destroy -- where they meet an old adversary and patch a plot hole.

(1963) Joining the #ClassicLSFBC this month, and I'm glad I did. I remember trying to read Way Station in my early teens and running out of interest early. And though I still see why -- there's little of the peril and rapid pacing that defined a good read for me then -- man, was I wrong about this. It's thoughtful and humane and just lovely, a sort of proto-cozy sf, and I wonder what else I've missed from Simak.

(1966) "Convoy into the Unknown"

The Terrans in the Andro-Beta star cluster regroup after events of the last few episodes. As Perry and the CREST were off adventuring, the crew of the Troja station scouted a potential base of operations. Next step is to move in without attracting notice -- but notice is attracted and space battles are fought. This one is exposition-heavy and serves mostly to recap the story thus far and set up future adventures.

Here are my #ReadYourKindle picks for April.

Thanks @cbee !

I love this moment of the #BookSpinBingo month when a blackout seems possible. All I have to do is read about a book a day, and I've read a book in a day before .... Reality will settle in another week or so, but it's looking like a tremendously fun and enlightening month right now.

Excuse me but I have a day to read a book in.

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

Thanks @thearomaofbooks

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for April are an unlikely pair: in the one hand a literary novella about desperate lives in wartime, translated from Dutch; on the other, urban fantasy featuring demigods and shapeshifters and vampires and who knows what all else.

Looking forward to both of course. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks

And here's my #Bookspinbingo list for April.

@TheAromaofBooks

Two bingos for March in #Bookspinbingo

I'm happy with that. Thanks for hosting @TheAromaofBooks !

(1969) Twelfth in the "Three Investigators" series of juvenile mysteries. This one has the boys stumbling across a sinister plot to steal the lost treasure of a fictional Native American tribe. The mystery is mostly transparent, and several things haven't aged well -- most noticably the depiction of Native Americans. It's still the Three Investigators but not one of the better ones.

(1966) "The Three Star-Brothers"

The ship BAGALO arrives in the Andro-Beta star cluster, with supplies and reinforcements for the Terran outpost there. They are met by a Moby and, finding no signs of life, investigate. The Moby is dead and has not been colonized, but as they wander the vacant carcass, they hear telepathic voices: one wants to talk to them, but the other wants to eat them. It's okay, but some plot developments feel forced.

(1990-1992) This is an omnibus edition of Drake's three "Northworld" books, which retell myths from the Eddas relocated to a science-fiction multi-dimensional bubble universe. It's okay, pretty much what you expect from Drake: solid plotting, detailed battle scenes, and cool military tech. But it's also excessively male-gazey: women characters are typically described by their level of attractiveness, body weight, and bust size.

#ReadYourKindle

Here's my list for April #ReadYourKindle , mostly selected at random from my very large bought-but-unread list.

Thanks for hosting @CBee !

(1966) "In the Outlaw Camp"

Perry and some other Terrans escape captivity, and flee into wilderness, where they meet up with a band of outlaw Twonosers. Together, they plot how to help the rebels establish a new social order, and how to help the Terrans get back to their ship. This closes the Twonoser/Moby storyline with a rousing showdown, but also leaves a loose thread that deserves a future visit.

(1727) STG this is about a wayward gentleman who drugs and rapes his love interest, then abandons her while he spends a couple of years gambling and drinking and sleeping around. Later he hears that the woman's child is his spitting image, and he rethinks his life choices while being treated for syphilis, so he marries her and that's a happy ending.

I know you can't judge art of generations past by modern standards, except just watch me.

(1725) A Tory gentleman and a Whig lady exchange letters. They begin with political sparring and platonic friendship then end in love. The plot is unsurprising, but the period politics and anecdotes are very interesting, and the prose is a class in the 18th century art of saying a thing by saying its opposite. Fun and fascinating, but for me a critical edition was absolutely necessary to understand what was happening. I recommend Martha Bowden's.

(1724) Amoranda, young beautiful orphan heiress, is overly fond of gentlemen's attentions. Her wise and rich uncle appoints Formator, an elderly warden, to guide her into adulthood. With Formator's help, Amoranda dodges physical, sexual, and financial ruin before Formator reveals himself to be the best of all suitors in disguise. This is romantic and not at all creepy, which I offer as evidence that 18th-century amatory fiction is weird stuff.

(1977, original edition 1967)

First in Moorcock's series featuring Hawkmoon, a warrior in a post-apocalyptic pseudo-medieval Germany, fighting the evil empire of Granbretan. Loved this -- it's pulpy fantasy adventure that knows exactly what it's about. Looking forward to the next.

This was my #DoubleSpin read for March

(1997) The author contemplates ways that a religion grounded in science might be realized: what should be the areas of concern for such a religion? Its values? Its texts? Its myths? Its ceremonies? Some of her answers resonate with me, others don't, and sometimes her critics seem to have stronger points. Still, I'm giving it a Pick for making me think thoughts I hadn't thought before, and for a stroll down a path I find very intriguing.

Count Brass, Lord Guardian of the Kamarg, rode out on a horned horse one morning to inspect his territories.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

(1966) "The White-Trunk Caste"
Last episode left Perry and crew captives of a community of Twonosers operating inside the carcase of a "Moby" space whale. We follow the Terrans as they are carried to their destination: a labor farm among the "white-trunks," lowest of the Twonosers' three castes. And as they plot an escape. The idea and setting are great, but the story picks an annoying viewpoint character with an unsatisfying redemption arc.

(2019) I've reached a point where animal stories are a comfort genre, and these filled that Rx. I expected a book of odd vet stories, but got a variety, including insights into the business of veterinary practice, pet medical care 101 (including tips on pilling your cat and reading dog poop), and yes odd vet stories. Speaking of which: on the left is a sad boy who chewed his dewclaw off (because dog) so is seeing a vet in the morning.

(1966) "Guard Command Andro-Beta"

Terrand proceed with their plan to establish a base of operations in the star cluster Andro-Beta. First they investigate a barren ice planet where they discover hypnotic crystals; then they investigate the carcass of a space whale - now called a "Moby" - only to find that the dead Moby has already been colonized by one-eyed double-trunked aliens they name "Twonosers", and the Twonosers don't want to share ...

(2009) Fourth in Penny's series featuring Quebec detective Armand Gamache. In this one, Gamache investigates murder at a forest resort where he & Mme Gamache celebrate their anniversary. Penny's mysteries strike me not so much as mysteries but as stories about being human that just happen to involve murder. This one is about families and how they feed and fail us. It made me squirm repeatedly.

This was my #BookSpin read for March
@TheAromaofBooks

(1992) This was the bestselling book in the U.S. in 1992. Back in 1992 I worked the service desk of a public library and set a goal to read everything on the Bestseller list. No fan of romance, I liked it better than expected: I liked its direct language, attention to detail, and its brevity. This time around I like it less -- its excessive sentimentalism makes my eyes roll -- but still think it's a pretty good example of the kind of thing it is

There are songs that come free from the blue-eyed grass, from the dust of a thousand country roads. This is one of them

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

(1875) Leah Mordecai is a young Jewish woman whose plans for the future are foiled by her hateful conniving stepmother, who sours Leah's relationship with her father and spoils her engagement to the handsome son of a rabbi. In desperation, Leah elopes with a Christian boy, and hardship follows. It's a strange, unsatisfying historical melodrama with a complete set of period prejudices and a poor sense of how stories work.

#ReadYourKindle

(1966) "Secret Satellite Troja"

Having secured the transmitter station in the System of the Lost, the Teams now push on toward the Andromeda Galaxy. For the next step they hollow out an asteroid to serve as battleship carrier and expedition headquarters, then drive it through the transmitter to Andro-Beta, a small star cluster at Andromeda's edge. Where they are promptly swallowed by a space whale.

I am delighted to report that I am not kidding

Here are my picks for March #ReadYourKindle .

I'm not sure which ones I'll get to, but will plug them all into my Bookspin Bingo card, and will read strategically.

Thanks @CBee !

(1976) It's a Van Vogt fix-up, so you go into it expecting a certain sort of bonkers. And with this one you get superbrains versus space vampires. So you figure yep, that's the kind of ride you were promised.

(2023) YA dystopia, set in a future world where everyone's physical needs are met by universal fabricator machines, and in exchange humans give up weapons technology, fertility, and literacy. When our heroine Lilith saves a librarian from execution, she sets out on a path that explodes her understanding of the world and takes her to its edge, with ponderings along the way about information, communication, and the responsibilities of institutions.

And here's my #BookSpinBingo card for March.

Good luck everybody!

And thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

Here are my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks for March, a couple of genre reads from authors who deliver consistently. Looking forward to both.

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

The gods say, "You shall not suffer a librarian to live."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

And here's my #BookSpinBingo card for February. I scored!

Thanks for hosting @TheAromaofBooks !

(2010) It's a juvenile historical and a strange one, based on the early life of Isabel Moctezuma: daughter to Moctezuma II, witness to the arrival of Hernán Cortés, and survivor of the Spanish Conquest. It's a story of conflict between cultures that on one side practice human sacrifice, ritual cannibalism, and child marriage; and on the other, genocide. Grim themes for juvenile lit, so it's remarkable that it's also full of beauty and heartbreak

(1966) "The Time-Trap"

Last episode, the Terrans faced a hostile reception in The System of the Lost. Reinforcements arrive, including Gucky, whom locals recognize as a war hero who helped defend against an attack on their planet a thousand years ago. But Gucky has never visited the system. Then Gucky's team stumble into a time-trap and land a thousand years into the past, and things begin to make sense. It's as fun as the cover suggests.

Here's my #ReadYourKindle list for March.

Thanks for hosting @CBee !

Here's my #BookSpin #DoubleSpin #BookspinBingo list for March.

Thanks for hosting @TheAromaofBooks !

(2013) Kate and Curran go to Europe. Intrigue, mayhem, and relationship drama ensue. I'm enjoying the series, and I like how this episode contributed to the series's story arc, but I am so over the extended relationship drama that could be solved with a brief conversation.

This was my #BookSpin read for February.
@TheAromaofBooks

Mi padre es un hombre triste.

= "My father is a sad man."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

(2020) First in author Butler's buddy-fantasy-adventure series "Indrajit and Fix." In this one, Indrajit and Fix accept a job to protect a singer on behalf of their employer who has underwritten a life insurance policy on her. There's much to enjoy here, including a rapid pace, a sense of humor, the dynamic between the two principals, and discussion of fantasy-world banking and insurance. Testosteroney, but fun.

(2017) I picked this up as an Amazon First Read, so it's been on my Kindle now for 6 years. I wasn't missing much, since I'm no fan of YA dystopias, and this one collects my least favorite YA-dystopia tropes in one messy package. It's about a self-absorbed super-special teenage Mary Sue telling us about oppression in a world whose rules don't make sense to me. So thumbs-down from me but I'm not the target audience so YMMV

#readYourKindle @CBee

(1966) Events of vol. 230 leave the Terrans cut off from the Twin system, which served as a way station to Andromeda. Their new acquaintance Grek-1 suggests an alternate route, through "The System of the Lost," an abandoned system with a still-functioning transmitter station. But when Terran explorers arrive they find it not so abandoned after all ....

(1726) I had read excerpts in high school and college but never the whole thing. There's more necromancy than I expected, and a lot more scatological humor. I also laughed more than you'd expect for a political satire 300 years old. I much appreciated the footnotes in the Norton Critical Edition, which fill in some of the context and identify some of Swift's targets.

"Don't throw me through the glass," Indrajit Twang advised his captors. "You'll like the big crash it makes; it'll be very dramatic, but your boss won't thank you. Glass is expensive."

(I know I'm late for #FirstLineFridays , but this one is fun enough I'm posting anyway.)

@ShyBookOwl

(2014) Mixed feelings. The betrayal-and-revenge plot here is pretty well-worn, and the "slavery builds strength and character" trope needs to be retired ASAP. Points for the final twist being not the one I expected, but removed again for depending on implausible coincidence. OTOH, Abercrombie writes this kind of thing really well: pacing and characters are engaging, and goodness help me I'm looking forward to the next.

#ReadYourKindle @CBee

(1966) Last episode's events left the Terrans with Maahk commander Grek-1 in custody, with whom they have come to a mutual cautious respect. Meanwhile, the Terrans' old foes the Akons have arrived with a battle fleet at the portal to the Twin system, demanding passage. Grek-1 advises Perry to evacuate Terrans from Twin and let the Akons through -- he won't say why, but Grek-1 insists he has Earth's best interests in mind ...

(2021) It's a noir thriller about two fathers of murdered gay sons, who never accepted their sons while they were alive, but come together to avenge their deaths. It's a gut-wrenching mix of introspection and violence about two flawed men who become better men while being very bad men. I liked it much.