Almost done listening to book five of Dungeon Crawler Carl with my wife; I’d read the first seven previously and enough friends talked about the series that she wanted to check it out. I like the print books but man the audio books are next level.

Finished The Princess Bride. Honestly, I liked the movie better.

Started The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler based on someone's recommendation in one of these threads. I'm liking it so far, but only a quarter into it so far

The Bible says so by Dan McLellan. I've always been interested in where the biblical canon comes from and how it became it's current state. About four chapters in currently and I'm really enjoying it.

I just finished Metamorphosis and started The Trial (Kafka, sorry Ovid fans) I'm struggling a little with the translation which doesn't seperate dialogue by paragraph, but it is a lot easier, than I initially feared, to read.

One quality I take away from Kafka is how he makes you feel powerless and almost childlike in his worlds; you're presented with these absurd scenarios that everyone else assures you are reasonable.

Re-read Persepolis. RIP Marjane Satrapi :(

I finished up the Lord of the Rings trilogy today, loved it. Now I'm about a third of the way through a reread of Battle Ground (Dresden Files) so that I can get to Twelve Months, probably starting on Thursday. I also listened to ~40% of the last Alex Verus book, I'll be finishing that in the next two workdays too. This is the one good thing about working night shifts in security.

I've been on a Larry Niven kick again and just finished Lucifer's Hammer. I last read it back in high school, so like 20+ years ago. Definitely hit differently than back then. Before that I had wrapped up Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children" series. Most of those were pretty great. None come close to the first one though. I'm about halfway through Project Hail Mary with my daughter, so that's been fun. And I'm almost to the end of "Mort" by Terry Pratchett.

Finishing Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, I think I only have the last chapter left. Liveship Traders is among my favorite fantasy series, I'm liking Rain Wild Chronicles so far, but I'd say I enjoyed Liveship Traders more. But it's only the first book of four, so that may change. It's a slow read for sure...

Use of Weapons from the Culture series.

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 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

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".

The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind.

Its a slow read, but certainly interesting.

Rereading book three of Dungeon Crawler Carl, working my way toward reading the newest one in the series.

Been traveling with kids the last week and through the end of this one so it’s been tough to read. Trying to get through the entire rest of the Ransom Riggs Peculiar Children series so I can start Red Rising.

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 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.

bone ~~blocks~~ clocks by David Mitchell. idgi other than that

• I recognize most of the characters from cloud Atlas even though he's changed the names

• the self insert character (I think it's the self insert) is insufferable. at least the one singular character Andy weir knows how to write is genuinely funny.

• oh wow yeah the distinctness of the British dialect is well evidenced here and probably a decent part of why I'm having difficulty following at times

• I usually enjoy surreal stream of consciousness more, but I suspect it just hasn't pulled together properly yet.

TLDR; I really enjoyed cloud Atlas and this was $1 at a used book sale but I'm only ~1/6 of the way through so I'll give it a little longer

Making my way through Star Wars legends book Darksaber, it’s NOT about the sword, so interested to see if it spins into that, how I don’t know.

After the next book in the line up is Dungeon crawler Carl #2.

I'm finishing Phillip Pullman's "The Book of Dust" trilogy with "The Rosefield"

I heavily recommend the series to anyone interested in Magic, Consciousness, Fairies, and fighting a corrupt and evil Christian Church.

Pullman 's writing is flowing and subtle. Every pay off feels earned and all his foreshadowing is there enough that it feels like a mystery the reader can solve.

My favorite details are when details of events we've experienced in the book are mid remembered to other characters. Its often inconsequential, but I just love it when I know a character sounds so dumb for being wrong but they couldn't know!

I finished My Husband's Wife by Carla Kovach (2-3/5; nothing to write home about. it didn't keep me engrossed and was incredibly predictable).

Now I am reading The Astral Library by Kate Quinn. It's pretty good so far. But I'm headed into a reading slump, so it's taken me nearly a week to get 50% through

Alfred North Whitehead - Process & Reality (1929)

The most difficult read of my life, but it changes worldviews.

Re-reading the John Dies At The End series in preparation for the upcoming release of There Are No Giant Crabs In This Novel: A Novel Of Giant Crabs

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.

Twelve Months by Jim Butcher, book #18 in the Dresden Files

So, I was a big Heartbeat fan back in the day; I really liked the contrasts the programme did - city vs country attitudes, the mod 60s against the more staid older generation, women fighting for their rights, the occasional minority (it was rural England in the 60s), mods vs rockers, etc. And I've finally got around to listening to the Constable books by Nicholas Rhea (Peter N. Walker).

Honestly? I know that there are always differences between tv series and novels, and I know Walker is 90, but I'm disappointed in the books. Many of the little anecdotes are fine, but there's a casual sexism that's becoming increasingly annoying - though I don't know if that's me becoming more sensitive or him becoming less inhibited in his writing.

He explains things behind the scenes at the police station, like if a woman reported her purse stolen, they didn't take it seriously because women were always leaving their purses in odd places and forgetting them - especially if they were were "older", like over 40. If a woman reported seeing something, they always questioned her carefully, because they were prone to mis-seeing things.

There's an older woman, like mid-80s, who prefers her own company; decades earlier, her husband had been a constable. The police station is having a party for all the kids of the police officers, but the officer's wife who was handling things had to go support her ill mother the day before the actual party. So instead of the officers handling the party itself - pulling stuff out of the fridge, handling out food and drinks, cleaning up afterward - he goes to the 80 year old. She repeatedly says she doesn't feel like she can handle the work involved, she's old and tired and even minor stuff drains her energy; he repeatedly tells her that it'll be fine, she can handle it, they really need her. So he just keeps badgering her until she eventually gives in and handles the party, and all the men and children have a lovely time.

He becomes increasingly judgemental as well: that woman doesn't keep her house clean enough, that other woman keeps it too clean; that woman doesn't spend enough time making herself "presentable", that woman is always "well put together and well-spoken". He has at least two chapters where he details women whose behavior he disapproves of, because they're too "haranguing", oppressing their innocent husbands, not "paying proper attention" to their kids - and I'm not disputing that these things happen, but he spends several pages lavishly (and lovingly) detailing the history of the scold's bridle and how all the women absolutely deserved their punishment. And given the other misogyny inherent in the books, I'm not convinced by his narrative.

There's an obese woman who falls in the bath, and he details her obesity in way more detail than needed.

He encourages his wife (with 4 tiny kids) to go give a public talk, absolutely assures her that he'll be home to watch his own kids for the evening, and has no backup plan. When he inevitably gets delayed, he gets annoyed that his wife doesn't have backup childcare plans and tells her to foist the kids onto a particular neighbor; when the wife protests that they've imposed too much, he just tells her to impose anyway.

...

Again, I know it's from a different time, and he's from a different era with different norms. But a bunch of these books were written within the past 10-15 years, and the inherent sexism and judgementalism is really grating.

I only have a couple more books to go through. I'm glad I've read them, but I'm also looking forward to finishing the series and moving on to the next book in my pile.

I just finished Hench after reading about it on the Ask a Manager site. It was so good! I highly recommend it.

All About Love by bell hooks. I truly recommend it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gardens of the Moon [Book 1 of Malazan: Book of the Fallen]

Book club this 26th wants to talk about a book called "A place called nothing"