Too Like the Lightning | 
I sincerely doubt I'll finish any more books this year so made my #roll100 list for 2025. Once again it's my entire ebook tbr, and currently only goes to 91! So my January rolls are a freebie space, Too Like the Lightning, and Walkaway.
All I managed this year for #roll100 was 6 read and another 3 started but not finished. So hoping for a bit better result in 2025 😅
Thanks for hosting @puddlejumper !
Complex, futuristic world filled with interacting characters whose motives are hard to understand. The narrator is admitedly unreliable. A tiny bit of magic, the rest is futuristic and surprising. No nations left, religion rejected, morality left to self-chosen groups who all have differing ideas. A hard read, but a deeply intriguing one.
#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
pickI can see why people say this series is really two duoligies. The end of this felt very much like a chapter ending versus a book ending and I‘m a bit sad I have other commitments causing me to put the next one off.
#BookReport
Managed to finish two books this week but neither were super exciting to me. I'm also really close to finishing the tagged.
#WeeklyForecast
My goal this week is to finish the tagged and hopefully make good progress in My Real Children because I'd like to move on to Memory Called Empire and finish it before the end of the month.
My commute book has now become my workout book since I‘m starting my fitness journey. The tagged is definitely different enough to hold its own against what ever noise is pumped through the gym speakers. I‘m about 50% through and have no idea where it‘s going. I‘ve been told the one big question I have about it doesn‘t really get addressed until book four. (!)
#BookReport
Managed to finish both of the books I started last year but didn't finish. I enjoyed both very much!
#WeeklyForecast
Goal this week is to make inroads into the three books I have going now. Tagged is my commute book, Fuzz is for work, and Briar King is my BookSpin.
pickI'm torn on pick vs pan. The parts I liked, I quite liked! But then the narration veers heavily into WTF am I reading right now? Then back to story and plot and intrigue and mystery and world building. It's a very confusing book. The first section had me wondering if I was just too dumb to understand, but got better from there, but then ends more like part 1 than book 1. Despite that, it's very interesting and different, so I'm moving on to #2.
About a sixth through this and... It's weird. Interesting. Futuristic. Some bits are maybe problematic, though I think there's potential world building which explains it away.
For the first 5-10% though, the narrative is awkward. Might be better read vs listened (I'm listening and have wanted to reference stuff 5-10 mins earlier). It seems to be getting better though so I'll stick with it at least a bit longer.
pickI waffled on my rating for this one, but ultimately it‘s a pick because the parts I enjoyed, I really enjoyed - and I‘m planning to pick up the sequel (more the second half of the book than a sequel, really)
Just started this, trying to work on my #tbr pile. It's a strange book, trying to figure out what's going on. In a good way though! More intriguing than frustrating.
#septemberbooks #scifi
Hello everybody. Has any of you read this book? I am 30 pages in and cant understand shit 😩 Is it a bit complex or am I stupid?
pickWas reading this with my sister and I ploughed right through it in a hurry and I don‘t think she‘s even finished it yet ie this won‘t be for everyone.
Ada Palmer is an historian and she‘s used her knowledge of the past as a foreign country to create a very foreign and intriguing future. My main complaint is that I wish this book was more of a complete package - NOTHING is really resolved at the end. But the sequel is on my shelf, ready to read.
so-soI... don't think I liked it? But I also feel like it's entirely possible the second book will flip everything round and make it all worth it. It's kind of infuriating.
There's a lot of interesting stuff here, it's just it's hard to judge it without the rest of the story. And I don't know if I have the stamina to read another book like this right now!
There's a lot of fascinating stuff here and a satisfying denseness, but I feel like mostly I'm hanging on for the payoff, and it had better be good.
I really loathe the narrator and his gender essentialist crap. And I'm hoping his past actions remain monstrous and don't turn out to be for the best somehow, because ew.
so-soI don't think I've ever been fascinated by a book in which I so thoroughly hated the narrator before. Still debating whether I'll pick up the next one in the series.
I'm having a hard time with this... I don't know if it's the book itself, or just worry making it hard to concentrate enough.
(Worry because one of our #BunniesofLitsy is sick. It's Breakfast, this time -- he's probably got E. cuniculi. It's early days, so no telling how things are going to go, but cross fingers for us.)
1️⃣ Construction starts today on my new house 🙌🏻
2️⃣ I can‘t wait to move to my new neighborhood 😍
3️⃣ Too Like The Lightning by Ada Palmer ⚡️
4️⃣ The morning before work 🌅
5️⃣ Butternut Squash Soup 🥣 🥰
#friYAYintro #BookNerd 💙📚🤓
pickThis book is wild. At times, nearly incomprehensible. I almost gave up on it a few times. But after a while things fell into place, and by the back half I couldn‘t put it down. Which isn‘t to say I‘m ready to dive into the next book in the series, because my brain needs a rest before spending another minute in the head of Mycroft Canner. But I will be continuing with Seven Surrenders soon. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I am all at sea with this one. Can definitely see Jo's influence, though: it reminds me of THE JUST CITY, like a similar idea from a different angle.
Today in #bookmailisthebestmail: I supported a fundraiser for Volumes Bookcafe and this is my reward! I loved Too Like the Lightning the first time around, so I‘m excited to reread it and jump into the sequels. (Fun fact: Ada Palmer is a professor at UChicago, my alma mater!)
“This time of day he would probably have mustered the baggy shirt and moplike straw brown wig he wore at home to keep visitors and low-ranking guards from recognizing him, but he was not yet awake enough to achieve pants.”
pickRead this for the #torbookclub. When I read about this book on forums most people said they found it hard to get into, complicated. But I loved it. Rational/theological science fiction, that's my jam! I loved the world building, language used, style, and story. Can't wait to read the rest of the series (but budget says I must 😕). 5/5 stars #sf #near-future #theological #ebookonly #freebook
Tor.com had this book for free this month, so I decided to finally move it off my TBR list. It‘s a challenging read so far, but sometimes those are the ones that prove to be the most satisfying. (Other times they end up as DNFs.)
I soooooo need this #weekendlibrarian #springbreakedition
Starting a new book with a baby sleeping on me. No better Saturday morning feeling! #readingwithbaby #baby #adapalmer #sf #torbookclub
I‘m still reading this wonderful science fiction book but at the same time I‘m cataloguing all my books on Library Thing and now I‘m sad I didn‘t discover this tool sooner. I will spend hours tagging and organising everything! So glad to have found this! 😍 #librarything
You can get this free from the Tor Book Club at the moment if you live in the US or Canada! I will be making a challenge for a readalong on Habitica, but anyone wanna buddy read on here?
My travel has begun now. Guy on platform eagerly opening your Amazon parcel full of books: yes! You are my people! Enjoy your books! I will not disturb your delight but simply enjoy it!
This is the book of the month you can download for free if you live in North America, over at Tor‘s bookclub. It‘s been on my wish list for a while. It has a gorgeous cover. It was a finalist for the Hugo award in 2017. The events are set in 2454, it‘s science fiction and the writing style is surprisingly novel. So far, I‘m enjoying myself a lot.
Did you know Tor.com has an eBook club where they choose an eBook every month to share with SFF lovers? It‘s totally free and the books work on Kindle and iBooks. All you have to do is sign up for their newsletter. I just grabbed my copy of Too Like the Lightning today and can‘t wait to dive in since it‘s been on my TBR for basically forever.
To all the Litten sci-if/fantasy lovers...are you a member of Tor‘s ebook club? Free download of one of their books each month during a window of about 3 days.
pickComplex, engaging world- and character-building mixed with examinations of philosophy, religion, and gender. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
For the @thereadingwomen #thereadingwomen #readathon challenge: all of my signed books by women authors. One of my favorite job perks is having the opportunity to get so many amazing books signed by amazing authors.
Climbing back in bed with the cats to read for a bit. #catsoflitsy #lazyafternoon
Today in #bookishconfessions I'm returning 7 of the beauties to the library utterly unread #TBRSOT (to be read some other time)
pickThis book is about a future influenced by the Enlightenment, full of political intrigue, and does weird things with gender. In short, I loved it. 5/5 stars
so-soI really like the way she writes, but at the end, there's too much deity in it for me. But a nice read for anyone who's ok with that 😋
pickRating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s
Full review here: http://wp.me/p21txV-A3
If you don't like rambly prose or a minimal(ist) plot, you might not like this book. There isn't a lot of action, and much of it is lost in the midst of the twisting, tangled narration. But if you're the patient sort of reader, the kind who's willing to take the author's hand and let go, then this book will reward you with mindblowing worldbuilding and amazing ideas.
I've had this book in my TBR since release, and I'm getting on it now because it's the next book on the docket for the bookish podcast project my friend and I are working on :D.
So good and so unique. Definitely making waiting during gymnastics go faster. #allisnotlost
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