Books

Currently on the 14th day of reading Why Nations Fail. All the stories of absolutism and the people involved in it were chilling, and the fact that society is not guaranted to go on a straight line of improvement, and that there are people who have incentives to fuck up society for their benefit.

Also, I used to always hear the term "creative destruction" applied to working class people, but in fact creative destruction can also apply to the elites, it is only that they have the resources to suppress it, such as with Fossil Fuels with the adoption of renewable energy, Car companies with public transportation infrastructure, and of course they have their own financial safety net.

Just finished book 3 and about to start book 4 of the The Dungeon Crawler Carl series

The bell jar by Sylvia Plath. In a way it is a coming of age story as well as a quite keen depiction of depression. The writer committed suicide not long after finishing the book.

Got my last bingo square done after finishing my re-read of Vicious by V.E. Schwab, filled in the second row! Going to try for a blackout, as this has been a fun way to guide my reading. Finished my first Le Guin yesterday -- The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, still turning it over in my head as it was powerfully compelling. And now re-reading Vicious's sequel, Vengeful, in time for the forthcoming finale next month.

On the non-fiction side, continuing through Seeing Like a State. Taking my time so as to take everything in, I can see why it was so heavily recommended, definitely worth wading through the dry academic-like writing.

I'm now reading Contact by Carl Sagan. I've seen the movie plenty of times, but a long time ago, and until recently I didn't know it was based on a book.

So far the book is great. It's really nice to read Dr. Arroway's thoughts about things, it explains a lot. It also provides a lot more background from her life, which is also nice. And the story is great, and also written well. I'm really glad I found out about the book and ordered it.

I'm reading Holes to two of my kids. Had not read it before, it's a book about a kid that got sent to a work camp to avoid prison. I got a bit caught out having to explain some of the events in the middle to the kids.

On my own time I'm reading Before the coffee gets cold, a time travel book about a cafe that can transport you back in time.

Both of these books are in progress, haven't finished them yet.

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started Dungeon Crawler Carl and…I completely understand why it’s getting so much love. It’s hilarious, silly, gross, and downright fun. I bought the first and second books during the last book crawl, I’ll probably jump into the second once I’m done with this one.

Still reading "Path of Daggers" by Robert Jordan. Still enjoying it mostly. I should read it more and spend less time on my phone. Also reading a lot for my studies, so sometimes I need a reading break.

I am reading Morning Star (Book 3 of Red Rising series) by Pierce Brown. Read book 1&2 last week.

Will probably read Watership Down omce I finish Morning Star today.

Just started listening to A Wizard of Earthsea for my commute. It’ll be my first Ursula K. LeGuin book. So far I like it, the prose feels old-school (which I suppose it is), but in a way that I like.

Read Blindsight by Peter Watts last week. It was cool, though maybe overly bleak for me. I think I'd like to read some more like whimsical sci-fi stuff next.

Re-reading the Foundation trilogy by Issac Asimov. Just got to the part of Foundation and Empire where the Mule shows up. It's fun to see the new anachronisms jump out at me. Last time I read this, printed newspapers were still a thing, and reading about the massive printing press network that prints paper newspapers for the forty billion residents of the Imperial capital jumps out at me like it didn't before. And obviously, everybody smokes.

A Trade of Blood just came in on Libby and I’m pumped, started it this morning. It’s the third in the Ana and Din series by Robert Jackson Bennett. I loved the first two so I’ve been waiting for this one with bated breath, as they say.

I'm just a few hours into book 8 of He Who Fights With Monsters. Still enjoying it a lot!

Just started and finished "The River Has Roots" by Amal El-Mohtar. Wau shorter than expected, the e-book reader decieved me with this novella. Very nice references to traditional British music, very enjoyable. Nice way to get back into reading after a very stressful 4 weeks with no reading.

Just finished The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Great read about a family who moves to a (very) small Alaskan town to start over.

Currently reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. This one is about a small family maintaining a seed vault on a remote island, kind of dystopian and mysterious so far. Very tight prose.

Interestingly, both of these came my way via the “Skip the Line” selection at my local library, where popular titles are available on a 7-day loan instead of the standard 21 days. Great way to discover new (to me) authors and genres.

I’m feeling a bit unsatisfied and listless. I put a hold for Scholomance audio book but that’s going to be a wait.

I’m open to suggestions…

Listening to Dominion by Stephen R Bown.

It tells the story of how Canada's railroad was built. Absolutely fantastic.

Disclosure by Michael Crichton

Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle. No dull moment yet.

70% through The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. It's pretty okay, but the tension drags on a bit at points. There was a section with one of the heroes sneakily holding onto a horse-drawn carriage as it drives through town; it felt like the scene went on for 20 pages (it didn't) and the tension kept getting amped up to the point where I felt no tension at all. Still good enough to finish though.

Took a brief break and got 15% into Over the Wine Dark Sea by H. N. Turteltaub. I'm really enjoying it, got a laid back style that I appreciate. Shout out to whoever recommended that in one of these threads a couple months back.

The Sudden Appearance of Hope, by Claire North.

No one can remember Hope Arden. Literally. Turn your head for a minute and you forget having met her. Makes life difficult.

Rationality: From AI to Zombies, so far it's alright, bunch of blog posts turned into a book.

I'm a fan of thinking fast and slow (even though it's got some issues), and lots of the blog posts use the work from that book as a basis; which is fine... but it's got this "i'm just learned that i'm an athiest and need to convince everyone else that they are wrong" vibe to it (I was there, i get it!) that's really tiring. I'm only 1/4 into it not sure if i'll make it the rest of the way.

I guess i'm also a bit put off by it cause these guys were funded by peter theil (sp?), who's a well known piece of shit. also it influenced the zizians...

Finished Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. This is strongly in the healing and slice-of-life genres, detailing the struggles of running an independent bookshop, along with the personal anxieties and issues of the shop's employees and regulars. I liked it, but some combo of the writing, pacing, and translation felt a little clunky to me in places.

Currently a quarter of the way through The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp. Hyunam-dong was a little slow (imo), so I'm balancing it out with something fast-paced (with footnotes!). It's enjoyable so far.

Currently reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds. It's sort of a political intrigue, sort of murder mystery in a weird sci-fi setting. It's all first-person, alternating perspective each chapter between two main characters. Every once in a while there is a chapter from their perspective as a child.

Work was busy up through the weekend so barely started the audiobook for Morning Star, the last book in the Red Rising trilogy. Or the first trilogy? I am not sure how those are seperated.

Still reading Between Two Fires as well. Going to keep trying on it, but so far has not really grabbed me. Its not bad just maybe not great?

I’m about halfway through book 3 of Star Wars The Black Fleet Crisis. Enjoying the trilogy, the story telling is back to the same as book 1 where the stories are moving together. Book 2 had the story in 3 separate parts.

After this, it’s book 8 of DCC and I’m excited to finish the ride. I was trying to get all 8 done with my alternating reading in 3 months, but damn those books are like 2-3 each themselves.

Almost done with People's history of the united states. I already had an unfavorable opinion of the US, but this added more fuel.

I just finished Towers of Midnight and I'm taking a break before hopping in to the last book of The Wheel of Time. So next up I'll be reading Sphere by Michael Crichton. I came upon it reading about books with a theme I like, and realised someone had actually mentioned it here in a recommendation thread. I've never read any Crichton before, I don't think, so that'll be interesting.

Still reading volume 2 of "the wandering inn" by Pirateaba. Still like it, but my time to read is limited.

We are all murerers by KJ Charles