Books

Book 4 of Dungeon Crawler Carl and loving it. Really not looking forward to being in your shoes.

I’m about to finish Becoming by Michelle Obama.

I started When the Moon Hits Your Eye as a little breather between the Singing Hills Cycle.

The Institute by Stephen King, been a while since i read a King novel

Last Argument of Kings, last in the First Law trilogy. The first two are great, good character building and nice plot. Can't wait to see how it ends.

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey and Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Currently listening through basically everything by "Robin Hobb". Started with the Farseer Trilogy, currently closing the Liveship Traders. It's playing in a light fantasy realm.

The Farseer Trilogy was rather depressing, but had something dark and alluring about it. Liveship Traders is okay. Helps to pass the time, but doesn't really capture me.

Re reading some discworld novels.

Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight. A friend lent it to me after I mentioned re-reading Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels. It's fun.

Just finished Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb. I'm eagerly anticipating the next one once I get it from the library!

I'm reading "If We Burn" by Vincent Bevins. I read "The Jakarta Method" last year which was really good, incredibly informative. I think "The Jakarta Method" should be required reading for all Americans. "If We Burn" is an analysis of various protest movements of the 2010s and their motivations. I just started, so I'm not sure what he learns yet.

I retired this year, and I have apparently read 12 books so far.

Most recent two...

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Really like this. Very different from my usual fare.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Meh. Interesting story, but not my favorite style by a margin.

Going through the hanish cycle still, on the left hand of darkness (two more left). this and the dispossessed really do stand out so far.

Just started reading No prophets: the fight to save democracy from Christian nationalism by Jared Huffman, a California Representative. Very important, very urgent, and a quick easy read.

Finished “Witchcraft for Wayward Girls”. It needed tighter editing. It’ll make a decent movie someday. It’s saved by its wonderful epilogue.

I've just finished reading through Batman Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (written by Grant Morrison with artwork from Dave McKean), which a friend lent me after we'd been discussing the Arkham games. It was pretty cool, full of symbolism and gorgeously creepy artwork. The actual narrative I found confusing though. Thankfully there's a copy of the original script at the end with annotations that explains everything!

For my book club I'm most of the way through Nevada by Imogen Binnie. It's been fun so far, with an endearing/easy-going writing style that reminds me of a blog post. Some really great insights into coming to terms with being trans.

And I'm also halfway through An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is another one that a friend lent me a while back and I hadn't got around to reading. But I'm going to a festival this week, and I didn't want to bring my Kobo in case it gets damaged or stolen, so I opted for a physical book. I'm doing an admin shift during the festival which tends to involve sitting around not doing much for an hour or so at a time. May as well do some reading! Anyway this book has felt quite cosy and charming; I like Ishiguro's prose.

Finished Golden Son by Pierce Brown. Book 2 in the Red Rising series. Really enjoyed this one. Picks up the action and intrigue super quick. Overall like a 9/10 for me

Also about halfway through Amber and Ashes by Margaret Weis. Its a D&D book in Krynn which Weis wrote a number of books for. Its ok. Kind of what i expect from these types of books.

I too just finished dungeon crawler Carl book 1. I almost gave up on it quick - it started off juvenile and a bad “video game to book” translation. But it grew on me - I’m more than halfway through book 2 now and it keeps getting better. I think it might be worthy of the hype! ;)

Oo boy, I may have bitten off more than I can chew this week. Let's see here:

1. Anthropause by Stan Cox — rationale for gearing economies for degrowth.

2. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin — needs no introduction in this place.

3. Into the Blue by Emma Brodie — my partner's request and my current audiobook

4. The Art of War by Sun Tzu — a re-read of this 2500 year old field guide.

Finished Recursion by Blake Crouch based on someone else's recommendation in one of these threads a few weeks back. Wasn't bad at all.

Finished Pretenders to the Throne of God by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book 4 of the Tyrant Philosophers series. SO good. Maybe the best one yet.

Now reading Hidden Empire by Kevin J Anderson, book 1 of his "Saga of the Seven Suns" series. I've never read any of his books before; it's not bad, but Anderson is no Tchaikovsky. Feels almost Asimov-ish so far, but I'm only 1/4 through it.

I'm working on John of John by Douglas Stuart. It's a lot more literary than the last few books I've read, but it's good. There's a lot of conflict between the father and son characters and it's interesting.