Book Social

This is a spirited discussion about books of all kinds, including current books and past favorites. We have a book of the month to read for consideration, however you should show up even if you don't get it read; we always have a great talk. In addition we usually confer about other things that happen to cross our minds such as movies and TV shows. The group is always looking for something new that will stretch the mind, so bring it on in!

Physical location will be the Denny's at 3456 West Bethany Home Road in Phoenix at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of the month for the time being. If it all works out, we'll stay for a while. There will be parallel Zoom meetings run from Randall's tablet at the dinner table. The Zoom session will actually open at about 6:30pm, but we have given an official start time of 7:00pm. Contact Randall via books@CASFS.org with questions or post to the CASFS Book & Media Social Facebook group.

CASFS Book and Media Social - Second Half of 2024 Book List

July 16, 2024 The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate’s UFO-themed wedding—complete with a true-believer bridegroom—she can’t help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don’t exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one.

Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles. Nor is Francie the only victim of the alien’s abduction spree. Before long, he has acquired a charming con man named Wade, a sweet little old lady with a casino addiction, a retiree with a huge RV and a love for old Westerns, and a UFO-chasing nutjob who is thoroughly convinced the alien intends to probe them and/or take over the planet.

But the more Francie gets to know the alien, the more convinced she becomes that he’s not an invader. That he’s in trouble and she has to help him. Only she doesn’t know how—or even what the trouble is.

Part alien-abduction adventure, part road trip saga, part romantic comedy, The Road to Roswell is packed full of Men in Black, Elvis impersonators, tourist traps, rattlesnakes, chemtrails, and Close Encounters of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth kind. Can Francie, stuck in a neon green bridesmaid’s dress, save the world—and still make it back for the wedding?

Time: Jul 16, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86599940336?pwd=67pjQfivvIbv601VTf2iVZRBiTabrm.1

Meeting ID: 865 9994 0336 Passcode: 928878

August 20, 2024 The Rules of Supervillainy by CT Phipps

Gary Karkofsky is an ordinary guy with an ordinary life living in an extraordinary world. Supervillains, heroes, and monsters are a common part of the world he inhabits. Yet, after the death of his hometown's resident superhero, he gains the amazing gift of the late champion's magical cloak. Deciding he prefers to be rich rather than good, Gary embarks on a career as Merciless: The Supervillain Without Mercy. But is he evil enough to be a villain in America's most crime-ridden city? Gary soon finds himself surrounded by a host of the worst of Falconcrest City's toughest criminals. Supported by his long-suffering wife, his ex-girlfriend turned professional henchwoman, and a has-been evil mastermind, Gary may end up being not the hero they want but the villain they need.

Time: Aug 20, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84783109128?pwd=L4z14MaUCiIRqe8qfycYatRDHhSLaM.1

Meeting ID: 847 8310 9128 Passcode: 203163

September 17, 2024 The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.

Tesla Crane, one of the richest women in the world, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between Earth and Mars. She’s traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and her husband is named as the prime suspect. To save him from the frame-up, Tesla will risk exposure and face demons from her past.

Even though doing so might make her the next victim.

Time: Sep 17, 2024 07:00 PM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87557350517?pwd=2LI7PyV3yMddGTqf4yAbhfs46uY8tp.1

Meeting ID: 875 5735 0517 Passcode: 498867

October 15, 2024 Witch King by Martha Wells

Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' WITCH KING....

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

Time: Oct 15, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89864988283?pwd=jgc8U5G645YuN74esLLykOO9o8ZaQx.1

Meeting ID: 898 6498 8283 Passcode: 831171

November 19, 2024 Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey

First of The Expanse series. From a New York Times best-selling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a detective as they unravel a horrifying solar system wide conspiracy that begins with a single missing girl.

Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the Universe.

Time: Nov 19, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89391275073?pwd=Eox1atjOXpJA7BFdCTeL3Jx7slbK9B.1

Meeting ID: 893 9127 5073 Passcode: 731213

December 17, 2024 How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

Time: Dec 17, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86110439390?pwd=X5QM8btexuVHAyhQaZCWKrxZJCp2wa.1

Meeting ID: 861 1043 9390 Passcode: 658145

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