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Taking a second shot at The Brothers Karamazov.
The first time I cracked it open I had just finished Moby Dick and it was just too arduous. I’m coming back to it now off the heels of various more digestible books and am enjoying it much more now as a result. I love the characters and th setting and plot are enticing to the max!
Had a hard time getting into the brothers my first go around as well. It’s just soo fucking long and so rich that you really can pick apart any passage so I kinda got lost somewhere during a reading slump. Let us know how you liked it once you’re done!
A perfect pick for this time of year: Him by Geoff Ryman. The story that asks: what if Jesus, but trans? Im 80% through.
Young Maryam is informed by the angel that she will be made pregnant with the avatar of God. She's thrilled when she gives birth to a girl, because women need more spiritual attention #girlgod.
She's dismayed when the kid is old enough to insist he is a boy and demands to be called Yehush. Maryam (and some of her other kids) is quite transphobic. But almost everyone else in the book is readily accepting of Trans Jesus. The story follows all the same well-known Bible beats but form Maryam's perspective. Once Yehush begins the preaching phase of his life, Maryam accepts and follows him.
This book is for;
Anyone interested in a Bible story seeped in female perspective, Ala The Red Tent.
Anyone interested in a humanized telling of Jesus, Ala Jesus Christ, Superstar.
Anyone interested in a trans-focused historical fiction.
Well that's a fascinating premise! I'm throughly intrigued. Good rec!
Just finished Mikhail Bulgakovs Heart of a Dog. I don’t really know what to think if this. It’s kinda great but also kinda hard to judge because of my lack of knowledge of the cultural and historical background. This makes the satirical elements a lot harder to understand. I liked it though. It has a lot of similarities with Frankenstein, Faust or the Physicists in the questions it asks, paired with commentary on the ideal soviet citizen. The story is about a scientist, who implants some organs of a lowlife human into a dog, which transforms the dog into a human. Chaos ensues. Overall I’d recommend it, it’s a short read.
I finished reading Book one of the Bounty Hunter Wars (Star Wars) and knee deep in “Asimovs Mystery’s” a short story collection from 1968. It includes his first ever story, but what I want to point out is this
Always interesting to see how our information and therefore how narrative are written has changed through the years.
In this story, Mercury always being in the dark was the clue. The killer left film outside a window, and the assumption was anyone with regular light times would not have made that mistake. So the whole story point would be lost if updated.
When I’m done this it’ll be to book two of the Bounty Hunter Wars, which so far has revolved around Boba Fett and Dengar after episode 6. So I’m hoping maybe there will be some Book of Boba Fett lore in this trilogy.
Heh, that happens in sci-fi often enough, specially older written ones that happened in "near future", but it's interesting to see the author's perspective on it.
Just finished Martyr! and now I'm reading Neuromancer.
Martyr! was good, though I didn't really enjoy the last couple chapters. It felt rushed to meet a deadline.
I'm only about 20% through Neuromancer. It's good so far. Sci-fi is my go to.
That book is overrated imo. Some of the prose is clearly geared towards a young modern audience in a way I found grating.
I also found the ending both unsatisfying and unsurprising and felt that the protagonist got off to his flaws as opposed to confronting them.
I'm constantly recommending Neuromancer. Great read.
Reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I'm a few chapters into the second book and still enjoying it.
Reading two books: one is the Two Journeys series by Clemens P. Suter, the other Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne. The first is adventure / sci-fi , the second a history book about the Comanches.
Just started the second book in the Shadow of the Leviathon series, A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's good so far, and I really enjoyed the first book in the series.
Still working my way through Fyodor Dostoevsky's Demons. So far it's ok, but certainly not one of my favorite books from Dostoyevsky. Like with many Russian classics, I have some trouble understanding the mores of 19th century Russian society.
On the side I'm listening to a local radio play adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It's pretty good, but I find myself not liking HG2G as much as I once did. Adams is a funny writer, but perhaps I find the plot weak, and that matters to me more these days. Still, some bits are hilarious, and the cast does a great job.
What’s your favourite Dostoevsky then? Definitely agree on the trouble accessing Russian mores tho. Had the same issues with Heart of a dog and that’s even more recent…
Crime and Punishment and The House of the Dead are both great.
Russians can be an inscrutable people for sure.
1984 now, and then probably Fahrenheit 451 as another short one before I go back to Malazan with book 5. I am absolutely loving Malazan.
I'm currently enjoying The Art of Diploma-Bee: A Dungeon-Core LitRPG, The Bee Dungeon, Book 3 by Icalos on audible. I really enjoy his humour, and Savy Des-Etages is one of my favourite narrators of all time. If you've never read any litrpg, this could be a good series to introduce you to it.
Marcus Aurelius "Meditations", quite profound and relevant today, even though it is nearly two millennia old!
Planning on reading this myself some time… since you say it’s relevant today, how would you say it compares to all the broicism that’s the main version of stoicism nowadays?
One of the key points is that stoicism actually really emphasizes the importance of community and being a good person who contributes to community. This is not at all what these "broicist alphas" value. According to my understanding of them, they incorrectly interpret stoicism being about repressing their feelings, being alone, putting themselves as number one, getting successful - showing everyone you are "alpha". Stoicism is not at all about repressing feelings, rather it is about not letting your feelings control your actions. The book is relevant, for example since it covers struggling with uncertainty and anxiety and how to deal with it with the technique called dichotomy of control (you have power over your mind and not outside events, if you realize that, you will find strength). Also, Aurelius writes that understanding that we all will die and whether the life is a long or short one does not matter as it ends the same way (both lose the "now") - what matters is that we do good things every day without expecting any reward for it. We should do it because that is what should be the humans' nature and we should live according to nature.
Sounds a lot like absurdism which I’ve been into a lot this year. I read some Camus and really loved it (The myth of Sisyphos, The Stranger and The Plague).
And yeah, I agree with your description of Broicism. It’s more about being like Hemingway/John Wayne and suppressing your emotions than being at peace with things being out of your control.
Thanks for taking the time for such a thorough reply! I’ll have to read my copy of Meditations to see any further similarities and where both differentiate from each other.
Just started Home before dark by Rikey Sager and I can't put it down (about 30% in)
Cage of Souls - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Goodreads
Set in the (presumably) distant future earth where the sun is dying and humanity has pretty much given up about it, it is a story about one man's time in an isolated prison / penal colony, and how he got there. At least so far that's what it has been about.
I really like this author's sci-fi books, but disliked his fantasy books, and this one kinda blurs the edges between the two. So far I've liked it.
I just got The Impossible Fortune ebook from the library. It's the fifth book in The Thursday Murder Club series, and I've enjoyed the previous books in the series, so I'm looking forward to it.
Currently reading Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm glad I'm reading it after The Curse of Chalion, since that provides a lot of context the novella format doesn't have space for.
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A master thief turned honest bookseller is strongarmed into helping a Captain of the Watch solve cases.
At first I was kind of whelmed by this, as the world and characters felt very generic (maybe a nod to classic stuff I haven't read?); nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it by the end. I would have put a sequel on my TBR, except there isn't one. D:
Glitter Up the Dark by Sasha Geffen.
Listening to an audiobook of Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (probably the 5th time since I first got it). Perfect for escaping reality when doing something boring. The universe Asimov built is very immersive and his sequel books to the Foundation trilogy also tie into some of his other serialised stories. He was a true master of Science Fiction and his work should always remain relevant, as it doesn't show its age after more than half a century already from when it was first written (excepting all the smoking depicted) :D
I just finished Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, Oliver Darkshire, which was pretty enjoyable. Overall it leaned very into the satire side of fantasy. Felt nicely inspired by Pratchett. Lots of footnotes. My only criticism is that the plot felt wobbly, without real direction. Even though, I'd recommend it!
Started What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher which I'm enjoying so far.
Just finished Road to Ruin by Hana Lee. That was a fun read and I’ll be giving that book to a friend that I know will enjoy it.
Currently reading Star Trek Voyager Ghost of a Chance by Mark A Garland and Charles McGaw. I’ve been picking up some ST books at the thrift store when I see them so I can read them between heavier books. I was always more of a TNG and DS9 gal, but I am enjoying this book.
Finished "a conventional boy" by Charles Stross. It was fine, but I wish he would just publish either novels or novella's, but not three stories in one book. Now reading "the sacred cut" by David Hewson. I read the first two book in this series years ago when they were published, and decided to follow up on it. Nice books if you're into detectives and also like the city of Rome.
I finished What lies between us, by John Marrs. It was a great psychological thriller with some unexpected twists. I enjoyed it very much, a great reading.
For now I read a book in French, Le manuscrit inachevé, by Franck Thilliez. It's also a great thriller (with a totally different kind), I'm halfway into it.
Blasted through Skyward and will probably finish Starsight tonight, enjoying it way too much. My first reading of any Sanderson and will probably check out Mistborn after this series. Trying to catch up on all the good quality SF/F released in the past decade or so!
Skyward series is pretty good. The first book in sequel series is coming out next year. Its written by Janci Petterson, who co-wrote the novellas in the series.
Mistborn is completely different, and one of Sanderson's first work, but still highly recommended.
This week, I started reading 'Hegel' by Kostas Papaioannou.