Reading: The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson.
Nothing new at my end. Had another busy work week, didn’t get time to read anything. It is over now though, so should be able to finish it this week.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
Struggling with Tristram Shandy.
I started off quite well and was getting the hang of the old fashioned language, etc, but then I went a day or two without reading it… and now I realise I have absolutely no idea what’s going on!
Will have another go, but I suspect this is going to be another abandoned attempt.
Ouch, I hate when that happens. Haven’t read anything like that recently though.
Yeah, I think maybe I was just overambitious. Until this summer, I haven’t read so many books one after the other in many years, since before we had a kid in fact, and before I had a phone!
Something clicked while I was on holiday though and been devouring fiction since then - TS is maybe a bridge too far though!
Maybe I’ll just read Infinite Jest again, something nice and simple… 😁
Heh, I am afraid Infinite Jest is going to be a book like that for me. Have it on my bookshelf, but afraid to start it 😀
Ha ha! Yeah, it’s intimidating. Brilliant though, I’ve been through it twice already.
After finishing the second Thursday Next book went right back to deathlands.
I’m halfway through 105 at the moment but may start the third Thursday Next book tomorrow at work.
How’s The Sunlit Man?
Nice. Back to proper speed.
The Sunlit Man is pretty good. If it weren’t for the two week gap would probably have finished it by now. There are certain things I am not a big fan of, but that’s my personal preference, not an issue with the book or story.
I think I have it somewhere but have no got around to it yet. I’ll see if I can find it (the sunlit man) tomorrow and try and get around to listening at the end of this week.
Would love to hear what you think of it. Hopefully I’ll also be finished with it by then.
The Lies of Locke Lamora. Just started this, but the atmosphere and storytelling are fantastic.
I loved that book so much… and hated the next two books so much.
What did you dislike about them out of curiosity? I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 books.
In the second book, it was just a bunch of pirate sailing stuff for kinda no reason that he is suddenly a master of even though he grew up homeless in a city with no access to boats/water. It meandered and didn’t tell a very good story, at least not one I cared at all about.
The third book I can’t even remember. I didn’t finish it because I disliked the writing and story so much. That was close to 15 years ago, so I don’t remember any details. If I remember correctly, at the time of the writing of that third book the author was going through a bitter divorce or his wife was dying of cancer or something extremely traumatic for him and his family, so the writing suffered. I do know that whatever the cause was, he opened up about his severe depression at the time.
Neal Stephenson’s Polostan, and so far thoroughly enjoying it.
Currently Reading: The Man in the Rubber Mask by Robert Llewelyn
Recently finished: Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway
I’m about halfway through Babel by RF Kuang. I’d seen it recommend online quite a lot, and so far I think the praise is deserved. I like the author’s writing style plus the magic system is really unique. It has become quite technical at points which I hadn’t expected; getting into the nature of translation and etymology. Though considering I enjoy Neal Stephenson’s novels (in which he quite regularly nerds out over some interest of his), I’m quite happy for these little deviations. The pacing perhaps isn’t great at points, but I’m definitely invested in the outcome of the story.
still on Empire of AI by Karen Hao. these tech bros are insufferable🙄
I just downloaded this and I am going to give it a listen starting this evening.
Update: I listened to the first chapter last night and I was hooked almost immediately.
The first chapter is about one Green Beret killing a Delta Force member after they had spent a long weekend with their families at Disney World.
They spent the entire trip at Disney world drinking, snorting coke and shoving speedballs up their asses. Apparently doing a speedball in the ass makes for a really intense high.
After driving home, both of thier wives went shopping and left their daughters with the fathers.
Anyway one of them became uber paranoid and was convinced there was a listening device hidden in the car and started dismantling the car in the drive way.
The other tried to stop him and things escalated and one shot the other to death.
I mean holy hell the SF community is not portrayed in the best light, which does not surprise me. Super secret societies tend to go dark really fast.
I actually remember when that murder happened. I am really interested where this book is going to go.
Wait, this is real story?
Yeah it is non-fiction and I’ve listened to more of it. It gets more and more intense and more and more off the hook. The Delta force if this book is real Are just insane
Do share the review when you are done. This seems like worth a read.
Will do
MEG by Steve Alten
The titular megalodon qualifies it for the 1C bingo square. Unfortunately, the human characters were all disappointing, and some of them survive long enough to appear in sequels which I won’t bother with.
It this the book movies are based on?
They changed quite a bit, but yes, The Meg (2018).
Jonas Taylor is the human protagonist and megalodon expert. Mac and Heller are approximately the same character as in the book. Most of the Japanese characters got changed to Chinese. The (ex-)Mrs. Taylor got completely remade. There are some other major plot adjustments.
Ah okay. Thanks for the info!
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Not sure where it’s going yet, reviews are raving but I’m having a bit of trouble getting into it. Just finished Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen which I thoroughly enjoyed, and before that the murderbot diaries, also enjoyed immensely. We’ll see.
Your comment has me convinced. I tend to read sci-fi but have been “classic curious” for a long time. Had been eyeing Silas Marner for a while - it’s now next in my list (after I finish Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks).
I’ll be curious to know if you enjoyed it as well :)
I’ll definitely post an update! I’m looking forward to the new experience
Currently reading Thirteenth by C.M Rosens (sequel to that eldritch horror chick lit book I read last month), and Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm.
__
Finished:
Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (fantasy dark academia) | bingo: award HM, steppin’ up HM
A teenager is coerced into attending a mysterious institute for college, where the students are all required to take a strange series of courses, which nobody will explain to them.
I gotta stop putting books that Storygraph considers slow-paced on my TBR. However, this was really unique, kind of a cosmic horror magic system, where the students are drip-fed the incomprehensible in a controlled way that allows them to stay sane. Also, the cover is fantastic.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz (middle grade horror short stories) | bingo: adaptation, short HM, banned HM, folklore HM, alliterative, award
A collection of very short horror stories for kids, adapted from folklore and American urban legend.
I can see some of these being kinda scary for younger kids with active imaginations, but not enough to warrant any kind of ban. Fun, bite-sized collection with cool illustrations.
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (cozy scifi mystery) | bingo: short, LGBTQIA+ lead, new HM, alliterative, cozy
On a colony ship, a detective wakes up in someone else’s body to investigate a death.
This was a short, light debut. On my “fine” list.
Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono (middle grade cozy fantasy) | bingo: another continent HM, minority author, adaptation, saddle up, cozy
A young witch settles in a new town by herself when she turns 13, as is witch tradition.
Very cute, very gentle. I’d only seen the Ghibli movie once (and remembered zero of it), so I rewatched it; I actually think I like the book better, although the movie does smooth out some bits.
Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
That’s the one with Studio Ghibli movie, right? I just had a dream about this movie last night, which is strange, since I haven’t even watched it. I did come across it on my Netflix watch list recently though, and was thinking about watching it soon (which can be a long time, since I dont’ watch much TV / movies anymore)
I thought you didn’t like the horror chick-lit book enough to read the sequels?
Murder by Memory sounds interesting. It’s a series?
That’s the one with Studio Ghibli movie, right? Yep.
I thought you didn’t like the hor aren’tror chick-lit book enough to read the sequels? Nah, I did, I just wasn’t planning to read the rest of the series right away. But then the sequel worked for a bingo hard mode I was having trouble with, so…
Murder by Memory sounds interesting. It’s a series? It only came out this year, but it is listed as the first in a series.
Thanks for the info!
Giving The Odyssey a go.
Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin, together with other folks of the Hopepunk (german) book club over at !hopepunk_buchclub@feddit.org
Have been enjoying it so far.
Never read that one, let me know how you like it.
Also first I am hearing of hopepunk genre, didn’t know there was a name for it.
The Book that Held her Heart by Mark Lawrence. It’s book three in his Library trilogy which is just a fantastic mix of sci-fi, fantasy, library sciences and a bit of grimdark for variety. It’s been a fun series and this is another good entry.
Hurts So Good, by Leigh Cowart.
