I have been a bit busy, and with not too much motivation to do much, so am still at the same place as last week.
Still reading Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson. Book 2 of second era of Mistborn.
I did read a bit more of it though, and it was interesting to see the antagonist and some of the other characters who appeared.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
There’s a Midyear Bingo check-in post, do take a look. Even if you haven’t started this year’s Book Bingo, you can still join, as there are still 6 months remaining only 5 4 months to go!
For details, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and it’s Recommendation Post . Links are also present in our community sidebar.
“Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” by Vivek H. Murthy
Been looking for something to read after “Bowling Alone”. “Together” is not as dry-sciency as the book by Putnam though it jumps to “evolutionary psychology” conclusions too quickly at times. The anecdotes are so overly positive that sometimes they’re hard to believe.
My personality for the longer while has been “guy who read Bowling Alone recently”. I started to drink cofee at the bar rather than go sit down. I’ve watched Quadrophenia (set in 1964) recently and the scene with the big ballroom dance party (i.e. people socializing) gave me “look what they took from you” vibes.
Change your Diet, Change your Mind. by Georgia Ede, MD. How ultra processed foods damage your brain. and 50 Reasons People give for Believing in God. by Guy P. Harrison. After years of interviews, the top 50 reasons people give for religious beliefs.
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie.
I appreciate sci-fi that’s more sociological and cultural commentary instead of just pew pew space battle. Leckie feels like the modern Ursula K La Guin, blending imperialism, racism and sexism into a centuries long narrative from the perspective of AI immortality. The world building is delightful yet shocking at the same time. Highly recommend.
I’ve been going through Asimov’s Foundation novels. Would you say Ancillary Sword is on a similar scope? I think I’ll check it out once I’m done with Asimov.
I very nearly mentioned Asmiov in my original comment! The Foundation books are some of my absolute favorites and the Ancillary series is reminiscent in a lot of ways. Although, I would say the Three Body Problem books are the closest spiritual successor to Foundation. I’m resisting the urge to write a wall of text comparing the three, but to keep it succinct, if you enjoy Asmiov your likely to enjoy Leckie.
I really wish she included a pronunciation guide to her books. Some of the species names have me stuttering every time I come across them.
My goodness that would be nice. I’m strategically only going to discuss it in text so I’ll never have to say aloud what I read them as.
Countdown to Zero Day. It’s about Suxtnet and how something like that was unprecedented during its time.
Becoming Earth by Ferris Jabr How life has impacted the formation of our planet.
Threads of Life by Clare Hunter History of needlework and embroidery.
Chokia Jazz by Francis Spufford Noir detective novel set in an alternate America in which the indigenous population wasn’t wiped out by plauges.
Just finished Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Weird ride.
I read like 4 Vonnegut books (Galapagos, Sirens of Titan, Cats cradle, slaughterhouse nr 5), and honestly all if them were pretty weird.
Finished The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi. Twistier and grimmer than the first book; hoping the third (when it comes out) will have a satisfying conclusion. One note: if you decide to read this one by itself, with the thought that you might read the rest of the series later, just be aware that it spoils the ending of the first book.
Started I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. Light and fluffy fairy-tale-type story so far, without the melancholy undertones I remember The Last Unicorn (understandably) having. Reviews seem mixed about the second half, so we’ll see how I feel about it when I get to that point!
100% serious here:
Anal Pleasure and Health, by Jack Morin, Ph. D.
My therapist recommended it. Seems great for anyone to read if they have a butt, even if they have zero interest in the pleasure aspects the book discusses
yes, everyone should read this book!!
Book 5 of Discworld, Sourcery by Terry Pratchett. Pretty entertaining sillyness that I listen to @ work mostly.
How do the audio books handle all of the footnotes?
By adding plenty of reverb when they are read.
Do they add more reverb for the footnotes within the footnotes?
Yes lol, Death’s voice also has reverb.
I’ve been rereading a book I liked as a teen, called Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams. It’s pretty good, a little more eyebrow raising now as a wiser man (he’s a white guy from New Mexico writing about two Black characters from made up future ethnicities which have some clear parallels to real world oppressed peoples, eh…)
What surprises me most is how much of the story is a romance, it’s very 50 shades, a working class woman and a billionaire fall in love. But the billionaire is kind of a leftist revolutionary and the woman is kind of a sorcerer but its future science magic. Anyway, neat stuff, but I’m amazed teen me put up with so much romance; the science magic is really rad though, i did remember that!
I finished the third and fourth book in John Scalzi’s “old man’s war” series. Currently on the fifth (out of six), so I expect to be looking for something else in the following week. I probably won’t be reading a lot this weekend due to carnival though.
The books in “old man’s war” are overall a good read, I liked the third book a little less (the fourth one made up for this), and I’m also not sold on the fifth one yet. Depending on my mood after reading the sixth book I’ll probably look into other works by Scalzi. I might also check out some SF books by Charles Stross, I did enjoy “the laundry files” a lot.
I’ve been reading the Disc World series for a while now, just finished with the Rincewind books and am starting on the Death books with Mort. This series has been a fun ride and I’m enjoying seeing what will come next with every page
Death is a great character. Hogfather is one of his best.
If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe by Jason Pargin
Nice, I love Jason Pargin! If you haven’t read it yet, I really enjoyed I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom
Im bummed that Im on the last book in the series (for now) so I’m definitely going to check that one out. Have you read the Zoe Ashe books?
I have not! Do you recommend them?
Why are we in the wrong universe?
About 150 pages into The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I heard it’s divisive and I can see why. On the one hand, I tend to like when an author experiments and has fun with their craft. But I can also see when the writing becomes a bit self-indulgent without progressing the plot much. I’ll have to see where I stand at the end of it.
I finished it and understand the appeal, but I don’t trust the people who recommended it so heavily anymore.
I am curently reading “The Way of Kings” by Brandon Sanderson. But I am not just reading it, I also do write an extensive summary. Yes, I know these probably do exist on the net, but my summary is something I write for myself to get a better grasp at this book.
Do share, if you don’t mind, would love to take a look.
