Books

Many years ago I bought the book adaptations of 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister', which I then forgot to take with me in the divorce around '08. I recently spent far too much money getting new copies from Booktopia.com.au. My god they're still hilarious.

I finished Master and Margarita a couple of weeks back - it was great! Surreal and funny, plus a brilliant satire of Russian society at the time. Knowing how certain elements of the plot reflect the author's own experiences make it particularly poignant.

Yesterday I finished reading Old Man's War. Really enjoyed it! An interesting premise, fascinating technology & alien races coupled with some genuinely moving moments. The exploration of the implications of war and life extension were surprisingly well thought out for what I expected to be a comedic/light-hearted novel. I look forward to reading more in the series.

I have just started To Kill a Mockingbird - somehow I've got this far in life without reading it. Will see how it goes!

I'm reading Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow and listening to Roll for Love by M.K. England during commutes. They are both pretty fluffy, but fun so far

The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, I'm not ashamed to admit.

I'm starting House of Leaves today.

I don't think I'm ready for this wild ride but only one way to find out.

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Slowly realising how many cyberpunk books cribbed his homework.

Working on the new T. Kingfisher, Hemlock & Silver.

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Read since last time:

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy (fantasy horror, novella) | bingo: creature, minority author, short, LGBTQIA+ lead, alliterative, cover

A wanderer visits an anarchist commune that's protected by a preternatural being.

I think I'd put this in the "fine" category; not sure if I'm interested in the sequels.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (space opera-ish mystery, novella) | bingo: creature, different continent, minority author, orange, short, award

A prickly detective and a sentient ship discover and investigate an unusual corpse.

Intentional Holmes and Watson vibes. Cute enough, but the mystery felt a bit secondary.

I’m on The Shadow Rising (WoT #4).

The Dragon Reborn was my favorite entry so far I think. I loved Perrin and Mat’s chapters the most. Mat’s choice at the end really made me appreciate the character.

I’m very excited to see where the story goes from here!

I’m already looking forward to rereading the Eye of the World haha.

Edit: removed broken spoiler tag and content.

I'm starting V. by Thomas Pynchon. I'm going in pretty much blind, don't know the author or the book at all. I just saw his name in the news and realized I'd seen this book at the library, so here we are.

I also recently read Solaris by Stanisław Lem. I first read it in my early teens and I liked it then, but I feel these decades have allowed me to appreciate it more deeply. What a wonderful book! I love the idea that alien intelligence is truly alien - not just humans from another planet - to the point of making communication practically impossible. Any recommendations for books like Solaris and Roadside Picnic, which explore this theme, are welcome.

I finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson this week. Great read! Stephenson is a very long-winded and meandering author but I love it every time.

I just got a copy of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski because I was inspired by mushroommonk (I don't know how to tag users) here in the comments. Super excited to finally crack this one open.

I am also about to start in on Ursula Le Guin but I dont know if I should start with The Left Hand of Darkness or The Word for World is Forest.

Reading "this inevitable ruin" by Matt Dinniman. I don't have much time to read at the moment, so about 1/3rd through after two weeks.

Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s fun so far, but I’m starting to suspect it’s going to be a bit repetitive.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Starting slow but it’s kind of intriguing.

I finished The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg and enjoyed it. It's actually remarkable that we as a species can tell such a specific story about the beginning of the universe using science.

I'm currently reading A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker: 1925-2025 by Deborah Treisman, which is an 1100-page long short story collection. So far, I enjoyed "The Weeds" by Mary McCarthy, and "Symbols and Signs" by Vladimir Nabokov.

I'm currently reading Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett), and it's delightful!

I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through all of the Discworld books.

Just finished Kropotkins "The Conquest of Bread". Might be time for some fiction again.

I am listening to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters with my daughter. We're loving this. Will definitely get the next one. We listen on the ride to/from school, and then at bedtime.

Listening to Spec Ops by R.C Bray on my own and it's alright but every single chapter is starting to feel identical/formulaic already and I'm only book 2. "Unexpected problem. Super intelligent AI solves 99% of the problem. The main character is somehow smarter than God-level AI and solves the last 1%. Robot screeches Filthy Monkeys." Rinse. Repeat.

May go back to Sandman Slim and Perdition Score is up next.

Started the first book of the Culture series, Consider Phlebas, only through the first three chapters, however I'm enjoying it so far -- especially compared to the writing of Red Rising (which was my last sci-fi read, at DNF atm).

Prophet of Discontent by Douglas and Loggins.

It's about MLK and his place in the tradition of American black radical thought. It's pretty academic and dives straight into the race/class Marxist discourse. Which is catnip for weirdos like me.

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler is pretty good at the 45% mark.

I just finished The Long Walk and I really liked it. I read it a decade or more ago, but I appreciated it more this time.

I like books about death sports so it’s right up my alley. They finally released Battle Royale as a digital book so I would like to read it as well, but its length (800 pages!) is intimidating.

I also finished The Neverending Story, which I enjoyed but not as much as the much shorter first movie.

I started reading a few things.

The End of the World as We Know It is a short story collection that explores the world of Stephen King’s super-flu-ridden The Stand. I’m really liking it so far! The stories do a good job of further illustrating the world as it breaks down.

I also started a biography about one of my favorite people in vintage professional wrestling, Gorilla Monsoon. It just came out today and I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ve always been fascinated by him and no one else has written a book yet!

Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer