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?
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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.
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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).
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.
Back to classics: I’m listening to “The moon is a harsh mistress” by Heinlein. After that I’ll go back to the Terry Pratchett saga, which definitely scratches the Douglas Adams itch
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.
- ‘Medieval occultism’ by Xavier Musquera
- ‘Catharism: The Spirituality of the Good Men’ by Association for the Study of Cathar Culture & Juan de San Grial
Cathar Culture
This is the first I’ve heard of the Cathars. The wiki article on Catharism is a wild read!
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.
I am working my way through the Silo series by Hugh Howey. Currently halfway through Dust, which is book 3. I had heard less good things about books 2 and 3, but I’m finding that I’m really enjoying them. I think most people expect the story in Wool to continue immediately and are disappointed that Shift first focuses on backstories and giving the reader behind the scenes information before continuing the main thread. I had the luxury of being warned about the change in perspective so I feel like I was able to go in with the right mindset to enjoy the story for what it was.
Oh, you are right, whenever I get around to it, I would’ve been annoyed by that. Now I know! Thanks.
I liked all books in the series, but found the ending a bit disappointing…
Currently reading Clockwork angel (book 1 of Infernal devices series) by Cassandra clare which I started on 31st of July, I’m a slow reader but I’m up to chapter 4
How are you liking it? I have been recommended her other series Mortal Engines, thought haven’t gotten around to it yet.
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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.
Currently Reading: The Man in the Rubber Mask by Robert Llewelyn
Recently finished: Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway
Neal Stephenson’s Polostan, and so far thoroughly enjoying it.
This week I read Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, hoping the nonfiction would be a good change of pace. I finished it, so I might look up some more nonfiction over the next little while.
I also read Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne, since my hold came in at the library. I thought it was just fine as a way to end the series, and I don’t wish I had the time back. A very fast/easy read.
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!
