Reading The Novice by Trudi Canavan. The second book in The Black Magician trilogy.
What about all of you? What have you all been reading or listening to lately?
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The Aeneid by Virgil. I’m using a study guide to help me follow everything, but, you know, there’s no shame in that. These old poems can be difficult. But yeah, it’s been a rewarding journey so far. I’m on Book VII. I’m a big Homer fan (mostly the Odyssey), and it’s neat to see a Homer-like epic focused on the Trojans in a more sympathetic light. Book II and Book IV made me cry, which I was not expecting. Seeing Aeneas recount the destruction of Troy, and what happens with Queen Dido later on. No spoilers I guess. I have so much to say, but my thoughts are jumbled. Check it out sometime! It’s a good story.
Just wrapping up Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. A pleasant beach read, if I had time to go to the beach.
Just started up Children of Time which has been on my to read/listen list for a long time. I am ENGROSSED so far!
This is one that’s been on my to-read list for many years now…
Youre in for a treat, enjoy!
One of my favorites. Couldn’t put it down.
I just started House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Not too far in yet but so far I like it. Definetly on the more unique side concerning the writing style/composition.
Looking forward to make some progress when I’ve got some time to spare again.
OMG yes. Great book! When you’re done, I suggest watching Backrooms if you haven’t already. They’re not the same, but are similar.
Just picked up Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Planning to start reading it tonight.
I finally finished Dungeon Crawler Carl: A Parade of Horribles last week.
This month I’m starting Dune and then Dune Mesiah in anticipation for the third movie later this year.
Oh hey, twinsies! I was also late to the Dune party and just started Messiah this week (loved the first book). Haven’t seen the movies, though.
The last two Dune movies (Parts 1 & 2) were really excellent. If you do get around to watching them, I would recommend having good speakers.
I just started Dumb Luck by Vu Trong Phung. I was browsing through Book Street in Vietnam and found this, one of the few that was translated into English. I’m excited, I’ve never read a Vietnamese book before. It was written in 1936, which was during the late French colonial period.
I just finished the second Red Dwarf book earlier tonight, I liked it. It’s interesting how they’ve mashed together and expanded on so many of the episodes to make them flow together back to back. I feel so much sorrier for book-Lister than show-Lister, and he was already in a living hell.
Also about halfway through Watcher of the Void by Michael G Manning but there’s not much to say about it. If you can get past Will (and Mordecai before him) being fairly unlikeable and impossibly powerful so that it feels like you’re playing a game with a child who can make the rules as they go, it’s more of the same. This is book twenty-something so if you’re reading it you probably know what to expect.
It’s just that and the next three Red Dwarfs lined up for now, then back to First Law probably.
Would you recommend watching the Red Dwarf show prior to reading the books?
I think so, yeah. I don’t think I’d have liked this if I didn’t already love the series, which I’ve seen dozens of times throughout my life (it’s my “that show”). Seasons 1 & 2 aren’t my favourite and they’re very different to 3+, but 3-6 and somehow 10 are fantastic.
Maybe try it, and if you aren’t into the first ep it’ll at least give you some context so you can skip to 3 to see if that’s any better. You’ll miss a bit, but for the first handful of seasons the major plot developments are more of a change of status quo between seasons and less about individual episodes, so you should be fine.
Thanks for the guidance, will definitely give it a go!
Just finished There There by Tommy Orange; just starting MAYA: Seed Takes Root by Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon.
Still reading “The path of Daggers”
Finished A Murder of Quality by John le Carré. Not terrible, but I agree with it being rated/reviewed more poorly than the rest of the Smiley series. Smiley spends most of the book interviewing people that avoid telling him key pieces of information because his cover story is wrong for that kind of confidence, and the rest is PoV switches, some of which withhold other information from the reader (and are thus fairly pointless). He figures it out anyway, of course, but in terms of being a) a good whodunit, and b) a good Smiley book… eh. I still found it very readable, though.
Currently reading Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. This is very slice-of-life, told in little snippets. Quick to get through, but very meandering. Not sold on the translation in places.
I’m keep reading don quijote
Last book in Ursula leguins Hamish cycle, the telling. left hand and dispossessed were the high lights. I don’t think theres much point in reading these books as a unit.
Aberration in the Heartland of the Real: The Secret Lives of Timothy McVeigh by Wendy S. Painting.
I’ve had this on my list for years and finally got around to it by choosing it for my bookclub, as revenge for being forced to read Dungeon Crawler Carl (I did warn them there would be repercussions).
It’s a masterpiece; incredibly detailed and insightful, it also sprawls into an exploration of the American malaise and the cultures that create people like McVeigh. Incredibly dense and heavy, but utterly compelling.
I started ‘Endnotes 2’ a couple days ago. I’m halfway and loving it but I’m taking my time. I am also taking notes about the most important things to better retain the theoretical content.
In short, this book breaks down capitalist social relations from the perspective of a communist branch called communization. I absolutely love that worldview :)
