April reads & May TBR(ish)

[@ToriTalks2]

You rocked that readathon, Matt!!! I'm so glad that you joined in with us, and I hope it was able to jostle up the TBR enough to be helpful. Hopefully the stress wasn't too bad!

[@MattonBooks]

Nah, it was pretty relaxed with two books I was going to read anyway, and 3 slim recommendations from you. 🙂

[@safinan8008]

Happy reading to you!! 📚📖

[@MattonBooks]

You too Safina! Hope you’re well. 🙂

[@sw3dge]

The Spear Cuts Through Water has one of the best covers I've ever seen.

[@MattonBooks]

You and me both, Sword Namer. 🙂

[@sw3dge]

@@MattonBooks 😎

[@thefantasythinker]

Good to see you Matt! Keep up the mood reading and surprise us with your insights 😀

[@MattonBooks]

Thanks Jarrod, will do. 😉

[@bardsandbooks]

What a beautiful edition of The Bone Ships! Hope you have a great reading month, Matt!

[@MattonBooks]

Indeed! Can’t wait to have all 3 on the shelf. 😍

[@shaykininmybooks]

I also got into the Tier 2 subscription and I was soooo excited! Hope your reading month goes well!

[@MattonBooks]

Yeah! 😀 It’s kind of funny to be excited when a company gives you permission to throw money at then constantly, but I’m excited too! 😆

[@blacknbluecollarreader]

🤗🤗🤗🤗💪💪💪💪. Good to see ya back. Can't wait to chat with ya on "friends on books"!!!

[@MattonBooks]

Absolutely, it’ll be a blast! 😀

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Wow! The Broken Binding knows how to package books and make them beautiful! I look forward to our next Book of the New Sun chat, Matt, though I too have too many commitments and am not sure when I will tackle Sword of the Lictor. I'll get there!

[@MattonBooks]

Feels good to “only” be committed to two books a month. 😆 Can’t wait for BotNS to start making a bit more sense. 😉

[@gori_maheswari8994]

Super

[@MattonBooks]

🙂

[@liviajelliot]

The Bone Ships is gorgeous! Congrats on finally getting into the subscription! I'm *finally* starting Shadow this week, and can't wait to get into it!

[@MattonBooks]

Thanks Livia. 🙂 Shadow of the Torturer? Oooooh, have fun. It’s a wild ride.

[@verosnotebook]

Lovely looking edition! Out of the titles you mentioned, I’ve only read Piranesi, and yes, it is a great read. Just finished Guns of the Dawn which was excellent. Have a good reading month😊

[@MattonBooks]

Thanks Vero. I’ll be going for at least Piranesi, and can’t wait. 🙂

[@verosnotebook]

@@MattonBooks The audio of Piranesi is excellent, if that helps

[@creativelytorn]

Something Wicked This Way Comes is great! Very atmospheric and nostalgic. I would say more dark fantasy than horror, but it's close enough. Genre labels are goofy. They did make a Disney movie back in the 80's, so that should pretty much tell you what to expect for the amount of horror.

[@MattonBooks]

Depending on my mood in a week or two, I may read it this month, but i’d not I definitely will eventually. Dark fantasy sounds good. 🙂

[@creativelytorn]

@@MattonBooks If you don't get to it this month, it is a perfect late October read to save for later.

[@MattonBooks]

@@creativelytorn That’s a great idea. We’ll see. 🙂

[@ChristopherNavoBooks]

So glad you are enjoying the Liveship Traders so far Matt. It was my personal favorite of Hobbs. I will eventually do a reread of RotE possibly next year. Speaking of Ships, I also got into the Tier 2 membership for BB and just received my own copy of the Bone Ship, looks like a cool series. Looking forward to the book chat and thanks again for the invite!

[@MattonBooks]

BB sub brothers! 😜 Yeah, Liveships absolutely great. It’s a reread for me, so I knew that, but it’s been ages so it’s like a first time almost. 😆

[@paulwilliams6913]

I look forward to your review of Spear Cuts Through Water. I doubt I’ll be reading it any time soon, but it sounds awesome. I’m actually reading Lord of Light this week so that’ll have to satisfy my craving for wild prose. Borges is freaking amazing! Huge influence on Wolfe, and also on Le Guin. “Funes The Memorious” is particularly important to my thoughts about Severian’s memory. Cheers!

[@MattonBooks]

Jiminez is nothing at all like Zelazny, but certainly a structure and style that’s wild. 🙂

[@MattonBooks]

And I’m really looking forward to some Borges. Sounds like a “why haven’t I read that yet?” kind of author.

[@paulwilliams6913]

@@MattonBooks I cons der Borges one of the greatest misses by the Nobel committee. (He was nominated a few times, but lost each time; explanations vary.) Just his raw inventiveness for ideas combined with the elegance of his writing and fineness of wit make him super formidable. Is that the collection titled “Labyrinths”? I read a collection with all of the stories, but there are many slimmer collections that are basically Best Of Borges and they tend to get the majority of his most outstanding stories. I found the best strategy for reading Borges was to read 1-2 stories a day. They’re all so short that I could read a story during lunch and then read 3-50 pages in a novel that evening. (It was my summer break, so I had time.) However you go about it, do enjoy!

[@MattonBooks]

@@paulwilliams6913 This collection’s called “Fictions.” I know almost nothing about Borges, so I don’t know what it does or doesn’t include. Do you know: did he only write short stories, or are there also novels?

[@paulwilliams6913]

@@MattonBooks Ficciones is probably the most famous of his collections and contains many of his most famous stories, including “Library of Babylon,” “Garden of Forking Paths,” and many more. Borges never wrote a novel. He actually considered himself a poet above all else, and I’ve heard his poetry is supposed to be quite impressive. He’s most famous for his short stories, and his essays are also super influential in scholarship and elsewhere. Wolfe, Umberto Eco, and Christopher Nolan are all heavily influenced by his work. Borges does appears more than once in my dissertation :)

[@RedFuryBooks]

looking forward to your thoughts on Calvino! Piranesi is remarkable - I hope you enjoy it. Best of luck with the mood reading May! I can't do that with my own overcommitted May!

[@MattonBooks]

I turned the 4 maybes over to my Patrons, and they clearly chose Piranesi, so I’ll see what I think this month! 😀

[@BrianBell7]

Glad you are back to uploading content! Big YES on Piranesi from me. Very important, read nothing about it first. Go in as blind as possible. I wouldn't even read the back cover.

[@MattonBooks]

I know nothing other than people whose opinions I trust loved it. 🙂

[@punkrockcerealbowl]

Ahhh yeah! Excited to hang out and chat! I’m catching up on Liveship Traders, finishing up Ship of Magic in the next day or two so I should be able to get Mad Ship done this month as well. I really need to read Piranesi because I LOVED Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel. Also plan on reading some Borges this year as well. Happy reading, cheers!

[@MattonBooks]

That is SUCH a great triology. ♥️ As for Clarke, I was a little meh on JS&MrN, but Ive heard so many good things about Piranesi, and it sounds like a VERY different book. Looking forward to it! 😀

[@TuftyMcTavish]

If somebody that has fallen behind and is prioritising catching up is considered reading along, then I’m still on the Realm of the Elderlings Readalong! 😆 Just got back to “Assassin’s Quest” and am back in a happy place after squeezing in some less interesting titles inbetween. I too am keeping the commitments low for the time being. That Barker book from The Broken Binding lols well special, as do all their productions.

[@MattonBooks]

Hope you enjoy AQ, Tufty. I loved it! ♥️ But hurry up and get to Liveships, it’s quite a ride! 😀

[@laurac56]

I’m still reading Hobb. I finished Ship of Magic last month and I’m a bit into The Mad Ship. I’m enjoying the Ships books but not near as much Farseer. I’m in for the long haul.

[@MattonBooks]

I’d say I’m liking Liveships as much as Farseer. They’re so different, it’s almost like different authors wrote them.

[@angelamccollister]

I got an email that I was off the waiting list for Broken Binding and I would be able to get in on Tide Child but I decided to pass. I've not read the trilogy yet and maybe I'll regret not signing up if I do love it, but the shipping to the US is high and i am committed to special editions from Grim Oak Press. I have their first books in the Empire Trilogy by Feist and Wurts and Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams. They are gorgeous and I am guaranteed the sequels. And then Grim Oak just posted a comment yesterday that they have the preliminary art design for The Summer Tree by GGK. When they announced they were going to produce special editions of GGK I literally told them "take my money." 😂

[@MattonBooks]

I’ve looked at Grim Oak, and they have gorgeous stuff, but have the same shipping problem with them that you do with BB. 😆

[@RekindledReader]

Nice bro!! I have yet to get something from The Broken Binding…I really want to but not sure what to get LOL. I also have been waiting to read The Spear Cuts Through Water…

[@MattonBooks]

Stop waiting, mate. 😜

[@bookendsandbiscuits]

I very much feel the over committing issue - good job on the readathon though! At some point i'm going to have to dive into some Robin Hobb

[@MattonBooks]

Yes you are. Everyone who loves fantasy should at least try some Hobb. She’s the best character writer I know in fantasy. 🙂

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

ooo you're getting a head start on me for Mad Ship -- I can't wait to dive in soon! Had you read all the Fitz books prior but not this yet?

[@MattonBooks]

I’ve read all of RotE at least once, some twice, except the last trilogy. And I’m loving Mad Ship. Enjoy it! 😀

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

@@MattonBooks I see I see a true favorite you're coming back to on reread then -- love it!