Books

Just finished The Second Death of Locke. Good, but I think it works better as a romance than anything else.

Currently reading Hooked by Emily McIntire. I’m enjoying it, but the book opening is pretty brutal. I’m glad the book has an author’s note at the beginning because it’s not a book for everyone.

Just finished a couple of Fear Street books I found at the library for cheap. I kind of read those to prep me for Hooked. I’m going to drop them off at a local little free library location

Also finished the Consortium Rebellion trilogy by Jessie Mihalik. I absolutely loved this series. It had all the right amounts of science fiction and romance that made me so happy.

I'm going to start reading "Endnotes 1: Preliminary Materials for a Balance Sheet of the 20th Century".

Today the first four volumes of the Endnotes collective arrived at my home and I'm eager to read them. To refresh my memory, I'm going to reread the first one.

The first volume, as its title suggests, reviews what happened in the twentieth century from the perspective of communization theory, which is nothing more than the expression of the communist movement in the current cycle of struggles. It contrasts two positions: that of Théorie Communiste, which is more determinist and argues that victory was impossible in that context, and that of Gilles Dauvé, who claims victory was possible, had certain errors or deviations not occurred.

For fiction I'm reading "Thud!" By Pratchett. For non-fiction I'm reading " The Traitor and the Spy"

Just finished the expanse. Starting isles of the emberdark.

After catching all the way up with The Wandering Inn webserial, I decided to try other webserials I might like.

I've now read all the available content for Pale Lights (by ErraticErrata, who wrote A Practical Guide to Evil which I loved, this new one's also great), the first four books of Beware of Chicken (thumbs up, will definitely continue), and just started He Who Fights with Monsters (I'm halfway through book one, but I don't hate it).

I tried Zenith of Sorcery (since I remembered enjoying Mother of Learning well enough) but the currently available material didn't really grab me. I might try again in a few years.

I'm not sure what happens when I've totally caught up with all these...I don't know if I have the patience to only read one story segment a week, or if I'll end up pausing for longer stretches so there's more at one time.

I started reading Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's about the spread of new ideas, namely nihilism, in the mid-1800s Russia. As such, the topic reminds me of Ivan Turgenev's Fathers And Sons, which I remember liking. This is a hefty tome, so it'll take me a while to get through it.

Stuff is really stressful right now, so I'm just sorta retreating into the comforting hole of Discworld.

I'm listening to There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm right now. It's both fun and terrifying at the same time.

I just finished listening to Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky and really enjoyed it. It was a nice departure from the Dying Earth Breaking Down theme, even though it was definitely a Dying Earth Breaking Down story. It was like a wholesome, lighthearted Earth dying.

Dexter in the dark. Been reading the Dexter books lately, pretty good, just about done with this one.

I've been in the mother of all reading slumps (since I hit my very modest yearly goal of 12+ books), but I'm back and I'm currently reading Orientalism by Edward Said for non-fiction. I'm also reading two short-story collections: A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker edited by Deborah Treisman, and Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction edited by Thomas, Ekpeki and Knight.

The last week or so has been busy for me too so it’s been sporadic, but I’ve been reading through Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree. It’s the first true sequel to Legends and Lattes given that the second book in the series is a prequel. It reunites a main character from Legends and Lattes with a friend from the prequel. I’m enjoying it so far but not quite as much as the prior 2 yet, but I’m still only about 40% in.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin.

Just finished the 5th Bobiverse book “Not Till We Are Lost” by Dennis E. Taylor. It was a surprisingly fun series, especially if you don’t take it too seriously.

Currently reading A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik.

Warlock by Oakley Hall. A Western novel about the town of Warlock and it's a very good example of revisionist western: where characters are shades of moral grey instead of classic old west good vs. Bad.

The writing though does a lot of effort to make dialogs appear old-timey (was written in 1958) and characters will often go around to beat some desert bush, making some conversations dreadful.

Regardless, a solid recommendation for anyone with a western itch.

I was supposed to buddy read three different books and all of my buddies backed out. I'm sitting here not sure what to read :( I was so ready for House of Leaves too.

Maybe it's time to finally pick up Absolution by Jeff Vandemeer

Im currently working on book 2 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Its a fantastic listen so far. Unfortunately it seems it was only available on Audible so I had to sail the high seas to get it.

Just finished the Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I was hoping for more puzzles and less teeny bopper romance, but it was still compelling. Still working on Galaxy Outlaws by J. S. Morin, and I'll probably pick up another anthology of his on sale from Audible. Currently reading The Jolliest Bunch by Danny Pellegrino. Christmas is my favorite holiday, so I like to read something Christmasy this time of year, fiction or nonfiction.

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Just about 3/4 of the wat through.

Currently reading "The mercy of gods" by James S. A. Corey. About one third into the book. Love it thus far.

Started Demon in White the third book in Sun Eater series. Its growing on me. Its not the best sci fi series but its fun at times.

Also picked up Tapestry of Dark Souls. Its next book in this Ravenloft series i have been reading. So far not liking this one as much as others but may just take a bit to get going.

Finished "Iron Sunrise" by Charles Stross last night. Liked it and finished it pretty quick considering the time available to read. I've got a few more of his books lined up, probably enough to last me into next year If I don't get tired of the writing style. Next up is "Halting State".

From the Fatherland, With Love. by Ryu Murakami

Just finished Way of Kings, and I told my self I should continue with a palate cleanser, something a lot shorter. So I picked up The Stand. 🤦

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. Finished last night, loved it. Haunted house story, great mental health/abusive family allegory. If you don't like female characters who are very flawed, or gen-z style writing, give this one a miss.

Tried starting “Fatherland” but it was too much like SS-GB. Has anyone else read it? Is it worth the effort? If so I might try again. Any other alternative history books you might recommend?

Should be wrapping up The Secret Servant by Gavin Lyall tonight.

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Finished All Systems Red by Martha Wells (comfy scfi) | bingo: motion picture, short, award HM, steppin' up HM, late to the party HM

A secretly self-aware android must protect a team of scientists against an unexpected threat.

Especially considering its novella length, this is very well-plotted, well-paced, well-characterized, and well-ended. I enjoyed it, but it didn't grab me enough to want to immediately add the next entry to my TBR (blasphemy, I know).

"Faith, Hope and Carnage" - exchange between Nick Cave and a music journo that came out in the early 20s

• The Everlasting, by Alix Harrow
• Letters from an Imaginary Country, by Theodora Goss
• The Mathematical Structure of Syntactic Merge, by Marcolli, Berwick, and Chomsky (most likely Chomsky’s last linguistics book)
• Creating Democracy: Arendt and Bakhtin in Dialogue, by Charles Hersch

Tom's Crossing is sitting here, taunting me. That's probably next on the list:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/588857/toms-crossing-by-mark-z-danielewski/

Still reading Kimono: A Modern History, by Terry Satsuki Milhaupt.

Just started The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling).

Empire of the summer moon by sc gwynne

Second three body problem book

Wind Through the Keyhole - Steven King

Just wrapped up the Dark Tower series and missed adding in in chronological order.

Love the Dresden books. I'm listening to Riftwar book 2