Tea & Books - What are you reading?

1992 Replies

Because winter… I’m reading “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke.

Psyck said

I was thinking of reading it. It has been made into a TV series too, maybe I’ll watch that first.

AJ said

A+ good choice.

The series is pretty good. I like who they got to play Segundus.

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Roughage and I are setting up a “movie and Skype tea session” for late December, triggered by our both having recently read the book.

Since this idea came from our discussion of the book on this thread I thought I’d post a notice here to see if anyone else wanted to join us.

Full details can be found here:
http://steepster.com/discuss/12164-movie-and-skype-tea-session-the-princess-bride

Uniquity said

Aww, what a good book. I hope you enjoyed it! My hubby had never read it, so a few years ago we read it as our nighttime read-aloud. It took a loooong time (I fall asleep quickly) but it was really lovely. I also regularly have to inform people at the library that there isn’t REALLY a Morgenstern book. :)

Psyck said

I’ve seen the movie a handful of times, not read the book yet though.

Uniquity — I loved the book! And, yeah, it’s surprising how many people believe the Morgenstern book is real :p

Psyck — If you love the movie, the book is a worthwhile read.

I’ve seen the movie…a ridiculous number of times, actually, LOL, but never read the book, so I might have to get in on this :)

Inkling said

I finally read the book as a direct result of the conversation on this thread. And while I have to admit that the ending sort of annoyed me, the book as a whole made me laugh out loud more than anything I’ve read in a long time!

Psyck said

TeaExplorer Yeah I sure enjoyed it – after all I only watch a few movies twice and really very few movies more than twice and this was one of them.

I mostly used to read the book before watching a movie of it; this one turned out to be an exception to that rule but in any case I will be reading it soon.

In the past I used to make it a point to read the book before watching its movies, but in recent times I find I prefer watching the movie first – that way I can watch it without any expectations and with the plot unknown, and if it is a good one, I can always rewatch it after reading the book.

mtchyg said

Uniquity-My wife and I sometimes do night time read-alouds. I absolutely adore it. Wonderful to see others who do the same thing.

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LuckyMe said

Picked up another Murakami novel this weekend called Norwegian Wood. Plot holes notwithstanding, his poetic writing style is just so enthralling.

I was JUST thinking I should get to Norwegian Wood at some point this winter…. at some point.

cookies said

Love that one. Everything by Murakami, really. I finally just picked up Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage and will hopefully get to it this week.

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gmathis said

Enjoying “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson. A comical love story between a bewildered British stiff-upper-lip elder and a Pakistani convenience store owner. It’s a very gentle read—reminds me a lot of Alexander McCall Smith.

Inkling said

Oh, I read that one this summer! It was fun. :)

gmathis said

She has another one coming out in the spring that I’ll be watching for.

This has been on my “to read” list for awhile. I will have to look into this one again.

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Rasseru said

Finished Ancillary Sword. Loved it! on to Ancillary Mercy…

I really like the way its written, never knowing what sex people are is interesting, and I do so hope that this is Ann Leckie’s raison d’etre and we can be in more of this universe.

I love the simplicity of things being explained to the reader in this second part..

AND TEA!!

I think you’re really going to love Ancillary Mercy :)

(Oh, it’s so hard not to squee out my favorite parts and phrases, but I don’t want to spoil anything…)

Rasseru said

dont squee out anything!

not a spoiler but I love how the race names are tea-related, radchaai & an anagram of yancha. im trying to work out if the others are too

chezmj said

I am so glad you like the Ancillary books! I believe she has plans for a stand alone novel set in that universe but with different characters. I drank so much tea while reading that series, happily awash in excellent writing and delicious tea. Let us know how you like Ancillary Mercy.

Rasseru said

63% through & still really enjoying it. I love sci fi that isnt all about tension, and craft a decent universe.

I should have mentioned this earlier! If you haven’t read it yet, there’s a great short story that explains some of the backstory that becomes a bit more prominent in Ancillary Mercy:

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2014/20141110/commands-f.shtml

chezmj said

Oh thank you! I haven’t read this yet. skips happily off to brew tea and read

Rasseru said

There’s two! Something about poison – slow poison? Or something

Yes, Night’s Slow Poison! But the one I linked to has Breq in it, even though she’s not using that name.

Rasseru said

just finished mercy. was great! onto 0.5 now

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DharmaTea said

Just finished “All the Tea in China”, a great read about how England smuggled tea plants, seeds, growing and processing information from China. Essentially committing industrial espionage. An informative and fun read.

t-ching said

That book looks super interesting!

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nycoma said

the last victim by jason moss

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Uniquity said

Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. Hubby read it a year ago and I meant to get to it earlier to talk to him about it. Col. Hadfield has done amazing work for the CSA (and NASA has had a boost as well, I believe! :D)

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I’m trying to finish the second Outlander book, Dragonfly in Amber, before the television series starts up again. It’s fun, but I am really tempted to break out my red pen and edit the text. I could easily chop at least a hundred pages out of it, most of which would be descriptions of Jamie’s hair. ;-)

gmathis said

Haven’t read ‘em, and that’s still making me chuckle!

I suspect it is that I’m not used to reading romance as a genre, and this is a sort of crossover between SFF, historical fiction, and romance, where, I take it, physical descriptions are expected. I could just do without the repetitive descriptions of the various colors of red and gold in his hair as I got it the first three dozen times. ;-)

Sil select said

hahahahaha love this.

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mtchyg said

Just started reading Station Eleven out loud to/with my wife at night after the kids go to bed. On my own, I am reading Martin, Marten. It follows the adventures of a boy named Dave and an animal named Martin, a pine marten. Set in the woods of Oregon, it had a certain appeal to me as most nature based stories do.

Rasseru said

I liked station eleven. The immersion in the world I felt was well done

Reading this one now. Just finished the part where Miranda sits outside with a cup of tea and contemplates her life with Arthur. :-)

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