Books

I'm currently reading the first book of the 3 body problem series. Still trying to decide if I like it or not even though I'm almost done with it.

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I've been on a bit of a Tchaikovsky binge lately. I read Children of Time years ago and enjoyed it, but for whatever reason, didn't read anything else by him then. I had a copy of Made Things knocking around though, and I finally read it a few weeks ago and was so impressed I started reading him in earnest. This is the... let's see... seventh book of his I've read lately.

He sort of reminds me of Michael Crichton. He's not a particularly notable prose stylist - his writing is entirely competent and sufficient, but not in any way really remarkable. But he tells very imaginative stories very well, so he's a satisfying read.

This one is a sort of political thriller wrapped around a mystery that plays out a bit like a science fiction update of a Lovecraftian eldritch abomination story, leavened a bit with Emily St. John Mandel style misfit spaceship crew slice of life. I'm enjoying it.

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson. It's the Third book of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I just started it but the second book blew my mind. I really enjoyed the first book, Gardens of the Moon but at times it came across as a bit generic fantasy perhaps aimed at a bit of a younger audience but Deadhouse Gates fully flipped that on its head. For a high fantasy series the battles of 'the chain of dogs' in Deadhouse Gates particularly stood out to me as some of the best depictions of historical warfare I've ever read. While a few battles from the entire wheel of time series stick with me I don't think I'll ever forget the chain of dogs. Looking forward to seeing what's to come from book 3. Highly recommend the Malazan Book of the Fallen if you're into high fantasy. Don't be intimidated by the crazy wordcounts, they're easy reading so far.

Finished Rhythm of War. The end hit hard, and I'm definitely impatiently waiting for Wind and Truth now.

I have used hard copies of Edgedancer and Dawnshard that should be showing up today to add to my collection, so I'll probably start into those.

In the meantime I read book 5 of CJ Archer's Glass Library series, The Secret of the Lost Ledgers. I think I prefer Glass and Steele over Glass Library so far, but that's partly because magic was more secretive at the start of the arc.

edit: the novellas are itty bitty.

Two books:

• Bullshit jobs by David Graeber
• Crack-up capitalism by Quinn Slobodian

I'm enjoying "The Overstory" by Richard Powers for my fiction fix.

Just got in the mail today, currently on chapter 3, "The art of receiving and giving" by Betty Martin. This one I'm going to have to read piecewise.

I'm currently on Children of Dune. I've listened to the core six a few times on audio book but figured I'd actually put the time into reading them. Its honestly pretty close to a first time experience. There was so many little things sprinkled throughout that I totally missed in audio book.

Iron Coffins by Herbert Werner

It's a memoir by one of the handful of Uboat Captains who survived WWII.

No Shortcuts: Organizing for power in the new gilded age by Jane McAlevey. If you are a leadership type I suggest it. Organizing labor is important given the times we are in.

Finished Lawrence Block's Evan Tanner series, and am now on the 2nd book of his Matthew Scudder series. The Scudder books will be a re-read for me up until about book 4 or 5. I hope to finish them all this time around.

Already made a post on here but I went down a Brandon Sanderson rabbit hole. Still working through the Stormlight novellas, but my library has his secret projects on audiobook and they're fucking spectacular. (Read Tress and Yumi so far.)

The premium hardcovers look gorgeous, too, but I haven't convinced myself to pay $55 apiece for them, even though I really want to. (The regular hardcover of Tress isn't bad, but the Yumi one is really disappointing.)

I’m currently reading Five Tales by Herman Melville. I also have a Herman Melville short stories book waiting for me at my library.

I read Mur Lafferty's Station Eternity and then Chaos Terminal. I enjoyed them buuuuuuttttt... Station Eternity had hints that there may have been a breadcrumb mystery to solve outside of the narrative. After reading the second book, I think it was just plot holes, or else tokens that the author thought were wrapped up that I didn't catch. Either way, having lost what I thought was a clever puzzle to solve, I'd say both books were pulpy.

I listen to A Night in the Lonesome October every October. It's the diary of Jack the Rippers dog from October 1'st to October 31'st.

Currently reading There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm, which involves a department of the SCP Foundation dealing with entities that delete memories, communication, etc. I don't intend to go down the SCP rabbit hole, but I'm finding the book inventive and enjoyable so far.

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Read Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. Short, fun, mindless Halloween action horror.

Bingo squares: Family Drama; Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; Now a Major Motion Picture; It's About Time; Award Winner; It's a Holiday (hard); (alt) A Change in Perspective

October by China Mieville

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow. It's an anthology of four short stories that all share a common theme of dystopian applications of technology. So in other words... Pretty much on brand for the author and it's well done so far.

Hey Dressy!

Hope you are well, bet you can't guess what I've been listening to ;p So as always Deathlands has been on rotation and I am just finishing number 25 and still enjoying it.

Other than those I listened to a couple of Goosebumps books. They were fun, I'm not sure how old your son / daughter (?) is but I would suggest giving one a try if they are interested in reading some light horror. They weren't to graphic but still enough to instill a good, slightly unsettling image in parts that I imagine someone younger would find a little scary but in a good way if they were interested in horror as a genre. I remember enjoying them a lot when I was around the age of 10 and may be a little bit simplistic for say a teenager but it was an engaging story and well written.

I also listened to "The Others" by Jeremy Robinson which is the second book in the Infinite series of books. It was a really good book that I couldn't stop listening to and blazed through really quickly. It reminded me a lot of Dean Koontz stories in the way it was written, it had supernatural elements as well as a group of people vs government type agencies vs a supernatural element sort of interplay similar to the way his stories often go. I'm looking forward to what the rest of the Infinite series holds and enjoyed it a lot more than the first book!

Just finished the latest Jack Reacher novel. Standard Reacher Murder She Wrote with a giant as protagonist plot template. I find the Reacher novels helpful if I’m having a rough week and need a low cognitive load book. Working on Candle & Crowe now, which is the third book in Kevin Hearne’s Ink & Sigil series set in his Iron Druid universe. It’s also good for a bit of cheerful escapism, but not a pulp novel.

I'm currently reading "The Coming Insurrection" by "The Invisible Committee"

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. The prose is beautiful and mesmerizing. It forces me to read it at the speed of speech, to let it flow. I'm a sucker for long and winding sentences (when they're done well), and this doesn't disappoint.

It's also quite disgusting, just as everyone says about it. If you can't handle brutal senseless violence, don't pick this up. It's pretty interesting to see the racism/xenophobia of today reflected in American history (1850-ish). It reminds me of the Dark Forest theory from Three Body Problem: these guys go around killing not just out of a love of violence, but because it's the only guaranteed way to come out on top. If you aren't the killer, someone else will be. Capitalism and greed work like this too.

Just finished the telling, by le guin. With that I finish the novels in the hainish cycle. I’m not sure why but I never quite got into the flow with the telling, though I do think it was good. Usually when that happens to me it’ll only be a part of the book, but for this it was most of it. I ought to give it another go at some point . Probably just the influence of life’s going one on my mood and my adhd.

Next will be four ways to forgiveness and then I’ll start Earthsea