Still working through the Fucking Kraken (also been reading Dune and the first Mistborn novel). This month’s sounds like my bag so gonna put everything else to one side and jump in.

I've really struggled with reading so far this year. My mind just isn't in it. Haven't even picked Kraken up for a while.

Definitely the weakest Mieville, for me. A bit too much self-indulgence before he hit Top Tier with Embassytown and The City and The City.

I bounced off CoBaB at about 50% when I read it previously.

I hate to say it but I think I agree with Muzzy! Bleugh.

I'm not all the way through with blood and bone but I am enjoying it. I think I perhaps expected a little more from it other than the cool setting judging from the reviews and stuff.

Looks like I can pick up Piranesi tomorrow, so that's good, specially since I finished Children of Blood and Bone last night.

I liked CoBaB, yes you know from the beginning how the story will go, but I still enjoyed going on the journey, there were some surprises along the way, and I think the way she wrote the feeling of oppression black people experience in quite a good way. Not too on the nose, but still there.

I'm being super slow with Piranesi, but I hope to be able to get through it before the end of this month. It's not a hard read so far, even with all the Capitalized Words all the time. Seems interesting, but it hasn't fully grabbed me yet. This could also be because I play MHRise closer to bedtime, and my mind is just not at rest as much.

Heh, B played that game in the first screenshot. Will read full article once I'm done with the book, not sure if the first paragraph might have contained a spoiler, but it does point my brain in certain directions.

Am a little over a third in I think. So far so good

I don’t know. I was beginning to think book club was wheezing it’s last breath. Uptake is pretty low now, and folk who pick books aren’t even bothering to finish their own choices. I guess Vela’s not interested in picking another book, so if anyone else wants to have a go let us know, otherwise we’ll just let it die.

Raiziel wrote:

I don’t know. I was beginning to think book club was wheezing it’s last breath. Uptake is pretty low now, and folk who pick books aren’t even bothering to finish their own choices. I guess Vela’s not interested in picking another book, so if anyone else wants to have a go let us know, otherwise we’ll just let it die.

?

I wasn't really getting on with Piranesi for the first 15% of the book but it's really grown on me since then. Feels like it could be set in part the Dark Souls universe and I would love to play a game set in this world. Will take me another week or so finish this off but it's really improved as its gone on.

If you read Piranesi then please feel free to share your thoughts on it.

I loved it.  I went into it expecting to love it even though I had no idea at all what it was about, and that’s because it was written by Susanna Clarke.  I’ve only read one other book by Clarke.  To my uncertain knowledge she’s only published three books, but her debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, was so beautifully written that I just felt there was no way I wasn’t going to enjoy it.  She could have written about returning a library book and I would’ve loved it.  She’s a beautiful writer, and I value beautiful prose pretty much above everything.  Fortunately Piranesi has a great, left-of-field story too, and as expected, Clarke’s prose is immaculate.  It could be argued that Strange & Norrell is a little flabby, but here she writes with absolute discipline.  Not a word feels wasted.

It was especially fun in the first quarter of the narrative, as the mystery of what the hell is going on begins to unfold.  I love it when the reader is thrown in at the deep end and challenged to work out what on earth is going on.  I suspected that the world was a computer algorithm to begin with, and Piranesi the spearhead, working on a problem set by the Other.  I was happy to be wrong, but I loved that initial space where I could try to work out what was going on before the story begins to coalesce.

I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.  I wish Clarke was more prolific, but at least I still have The Ladies of Grace Adieu for later in the year.

I picked up Strange & Mr Norrell when I returned Piranesi to the library, so clearly it did a lot of things right. I'm also gonna get it for my mom (Piranesi) even though I'm not sure if it holds up in Dutch. The back cover text I could see online made it sound less good than it is.

I loved Piranesi, although it was a bit weird finding out the main character is actually a grown up, but I guess that's part of the House's deal. Was a joy to discover the world through him, having to adjust what you know about the truth and what you value.
I agree with pretty much everything Raiziel mentioned, Clarke gives you just enough in the beginning to start making up theories in your head, slowly having to adjust once you learn with the main character. At the point where real World objects start to appear, it starts all to make more sense and I thought that was quite a nice way of exposing the story.

So glad you enjoyed the book, Nina.    Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell is a great read.

Read it. Was very good.

That's all you get.

Not gonna lie, was a little riled about your comments re: people 'not even bothering' to finish their selected books when you have no real insight into why that might be, Raz.

Sorry.