Interesting Readings

Interesting Readings: a book club for the best in sci-fi, from quirky classics to fresh indie! Monthly meetings are held in the West Chester area.

It's time for our annual celebration the art of the short story!

Interesting Readings co-manager and Zoom Wizard Greg has graciously offered to collect another anthology listing short fiction recommended by the group.

Over the course of our November meetups, we'll share, read, and discuss what makes a great short story with the best selections from you, our group members! Thanks for participating!

Interesting Readings: a book club for the best in sci-fi, from quirky classics to fresh indie!

Our first December selection will be Robin Hobb's ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE.

Find it online: https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Robin/dp/0593722825

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

Interesting Readings: a book club for the best in sci-fi, from quirky classics to fresh indie!

Our first January selection will be Madeline Miller's CIRCE.

Find it online: https://www.amazon.com/Circe-Madeline-Miller/dp/0316556327

"[A] bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story." ―The New York Times

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child―not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power―the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.