Books

I unfortunately don't get to do a lot of leisure reading, which is why I love the whole idea behind Bookrastinating. The last book I read is Jillian Tamaki's Boundless, which I thoroughly enjoyed for the way its stories linger. Before that, I read William Gibson's Idoru, which I enjoyed. Currently, I'm hoping to have time to dive in to Jon Courtenay Grimwood's End of the World Blues, hoping to see how this Anglophone author writes a novel set in sci-fi Japan compares with Gibson.

All very interesting reads here, by the way! (I'll try to play around with tagging your handles...)

I read Cell when it first came out and quite enjoyed it. You're certainly right about the pace, @mizu6079.

@JustJack23, that looks interesting, too, as most Verso titles are. I especially like these titles that invite a rethinking of the State of Things. That approach reminds me of Peter Frase's Four Futures: Life After Capitalism. I haven't read my copy of that yet though.

@TheaoneAndOnly27, thanks for mentioning the Cthulhu Casebooks. Sounds fascinating. Have you read Shadows Over Baker Street? That seems like something that's up your alley. Good contributors, too, for the most part!

I'm currently reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (Jules Verne). It's a lovely print of the book with beautiful etchings. I'm really enjoying it so far - it feels like a proper adventure! There's a surprising amount of science, though I guess that's why it's considered an early sci-fi.

recently read 'Homecoming' by Kate Morton. it's historical fiction set in austrailia in 2018 but a large part of the story centers around the deaths of a mother and her children in 1959. i went into it mostly interested in it for the mystery aspect trying to sleuth out the answers as to what happened to the family but by the end it really hit me with the emotional threads it weaved throughout.

a fun quirk of the book is large parts of it are written as another in-universe book written on the events in 1959. so there is a lens that informs the main muder mystery pillar of the story that adds a cool layer to the narrative.

disregarding the murder mystery the book had some great interwoven character narratives that all tied beautifully together. every character was very fleshed out and felt very singular, they didn't feel archetypal. the themes of family and how it gets tied into each characters development in the story was very satisfying. i would very much recommend.

I’m working my way through some of the more “pop” books. Sarah j maas, “beach reads”.

Honestly they’re all super easy and I finish them in 1-2 days. But I’m shocked at how “THE BEST BOOKS EVER” of this day and age are so downright terrible compared to the best books of like pre-2000s.

Has anyone else noticed that shift?

How is the SH and the Shadwell Shadows? I've had that series on my to-read list for a while but haven't touched them.

I went down a deep horror fantasy rabbit hole and I just came out of it. Now I am jumping back into discworld with Terry Pratchett for a while. I just finished The Fifth Elephant and I'm going to try to finish the watch series in the next couple weeks. I might sprinkle a few short stories in there for palette cleansers haha. Pratchett is always my favorite author to come back to after I do a deep dive on a different genre or author. It's like a warm blanket that makes me giggle.

I'm trying to claw my way out of a reading slump, so I went for a little stroll in the library. Went home with The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa and A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I needed something not too overwhelming.

I've started on The Cat Who Saved Books. It's about a high school kid who has inherited his grandfather's bookshop, which he is then planning to sell. A cat shows up and demands his help with saving some books that are trapped.

To be honest, I didn't know what the books were about when I picked them up, so I can't say much about A Monster Calls at this moment. I've heard good things about the author and I digged the illustrations.

I've been chipping away at A Promised Land by Barack Obama, as well as listening to The 1619 Project on my commute (Audible). I'm really enjoying them but non-fiction always takes me so much longer to read than fiction. I can't wait really get in the right headspace most days, so it's more of a gradual chipping away

I'm also reading a technical book, Domain-Driven Design by Eric Evans for a work book club I help run, and we're taking that one week by week, and it's a really good book in terms of what you learn. Bit dry to read though

Just finished the novels... I found the ending very satisfying.

I'm missing a couple of short stories in that universe.

I'm a few chapters into The Descent by Jeff Long and oh man, I'm freaked out. I've been a fan of horror for a long time but have never picked up this book, despite its praises being sung on most lit forums. If you haven't given a shot yet I highly recommend it! Don't put it off like I did! Lol

Currently almost finished of Jade City and it's just interesting enough to keep me going. Very interesting take on a magic system being like a drug, but this one is mostly about political intrigue.

If you wanted a story about an alternate history Japan with drug-magic powered Yakuza clans, then this book is for you!

Just started the first Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books by Fritz Leiber. Can't say it's really grabbing me yet, but it's early days.
Just finished The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis which I quite liked, but I'm a huge Aubrey-Maturin fan and there is clearly some fan service done there

The Case for Space by Robert Zubrin. It's really interesting and he clearly has thought a lot about how humans could live in space. The parts about the orbital mechanics of maneuvering about the Saturn system etc. can be pretty confusing though.

I just finished reading The Courage to be Disliked — found it quite freeing in my day to day life, a nice way of looking at the world.

I’m about halfway through the Malazan series. Just finished getting current on mistborn and thoroughly enjoyed it.