What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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Reading “the regicide report” by Charles Stross. I’m about half way through. Great book, if I could find the time I would have finished it by now.
John Scalzi - When The Moon Hits Your Eye. Very interesting choice after reading Project Hail Mary. Another outer space mystery with the entire world trying to figure out what happened. I love John Scalzi books so I’m interested in seeing how this book goes.
Listening to Stormlight Archives - Rhythm of War while falling asleep. Kalladin in his own Die Hard situation is pretty awesome. I use books I’ve read before as something to fall asleep to because it stops me from ruminating or having an ear worm bug me for hours while trying to sleep. I now fall asleep in 5-10 minutes most nights. Sometimes it can still take over an hour to fall asleep, but at least I don’t stress out about not sleeping since I’m at least enjoying a story.
I’ll eventually do something similar for Stormlight. I’m listening to WoT for first time, but read it a few years back. I listen while I run. It’s good, because sometimes when I run I get tired, I guess, and don’t pay the greatest enough attention, so I wouldn’t want to be listening to material I wasn’t familiar with. I hate having to rewind.
That’s exactly how I got started with my sleep listening I wanted to reread WoT but was dreading the slog in the middle. So I figured if it put me to sleep, that’s no problem! It worked out really well and the slog really wasn’t too bad although there were some sections I just didn’t bother rewinding to listen to.
Just finished I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200 by Robert Brockway . It was so fun and creatively written, scary and heartwarming at times. One of the comments said “Sesame Street meets Stephen King”.
Re-reading Varley’s Gaea trilogy after about 30 years. I had only a vague recollection of it so it’s more like an initial reading than a re-read. I’m not sure what to think of it. I mean, it’s by no means bad, but… I dunno. I think one of my problems with it is that it’s quite soft sci-fi, and I prefer mine harder.
I just finished The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. It was an interesting read, but sometimes felt more like a lot of historical short stories that were connected to each other.
Now I am reading Murtagh, the fifth book in the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini.
I was just thinking about that series. I read the first three I think when it first came out. I saw someone talk about how they reread it and decided it wasn’t as good at they thought it was when they first read it. But I’ve always thought I might still give it another go, mostly for nostalgias sake. Is this your first read through. Is it a concluded series?
I read the first four books of the series three years ago for the first time (I have not reread them since). I enjoyed it very much to learn about the world through Eragons and the other characters travels and eyes. Knowing beforehand what happens would take away some magic. But there is a lot happening in the story, so you might enjoy them nevertheless before you read on. The main story ends in the fourth book Inheritance.
All About Love by bell hooks. I truly recommend it.
I just finished Hench after reading about it on the Ask a Manager site. It was so good! I highly recommend it.
I just read Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber series for the first time. Fun, quick series with a weird premise.
Just finished Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim…
When you emigrate from a country, your consciousness is split like mitosis and now there are two instances of you.
It’s a fascinating exploration of identity and sense of Self and belonging. The characters did not make the choice I would have, but they earned their decisions.
Currently reading Labyrinth by AG Riddle. Compelling so far, about 20% of the way through
I just finished Henri Troyat’s Ivan the Terrible, a biography of the 16th century Russian tsar Ivan IV. The book is written in a lively and engaging style that made it feel more like a story than an academic book. From what I gather, it’s fairly historically accurate though. I think I’ve actually read this exact book some 30 years ago, possibly for a school essay. My father recommended Ivan IV as a subject. My father was a weird dude. Anyway, Ivan the Terrible and his brutal reign has eery echoes with modern Russian leaders and society. I wonder, will Russia ever find its way? Or has it perhaps accepted this is its lot and will travel this road to the bitter end?
Next I’ll be reading Junji Ito’s manga Remina. I have some familiarity with Ito’s style, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually read any of his work. Should be interesting.
Still reading The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell. It’s still fine, I just haven’t been reading more than 5-10 minutes a night.
Rereading book three of Dungeon Crawler Carl, working my way toward reading the newest one in the series.
Book club this 26th wants to talk about a book called “A place called nothing”
I’m currently reading Beyond Bananas and Condoms by Dee Whitnell. It’s an inclusive sex education book that has a focus on the LGBTQ+ community. So far I think it’s very well done.
Zombie Fallout 20: Shores of Despair by Sean Runnette (Written by Mark Tufo but the narration is what brings it to life. The books was written explicitly to be an audiobook.)
Zombie Survival Book that is mostly a comedy, mostly a daytime drama read by a Radio DJ.
Bat Eater, and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker. Really enjoyed this one about a young Chinese-American woman and the misogyny-laced racism she faces after covid hits. It’s got creepy ghosts, serial killings, body horror, and good pacing. TW for a few mentions of animal death/mutilation. It doesn’t dwell long on that, so I was able to read it.
