Being sick has meant a lot of reading. Just finished “Everyone in my family has killed someone,” by Benjamin Stevenson. I’m not a huge reader of murder mysteries, but this was a delight. The conceit is that an author who writes about the golden rules for murder mysteries finds himself … in a murder mystery. So he follows his own rules in telling it. The voice is hilarious and the mystery complex enough to be interesting but not ridiculously convoluted. #bookstodon#IAmReading
Just finished Femina by Janina Ramirez, and it was fantastic. I've read books about historical women before, but techniques have changed a LOT recently. Absolutely fascinating read. It also talks a bit about semi-recent evidence that London of the 1300s was only slightly less diverse than it is today, with about a 30%/70% split between people of color and whites. Would really like to start seeing that diversity reflected in content based off that period or later...
Thought I‘d try something: this book by Juerrero has come up a lot in some of the most interesting conversations I‘ve had on this platform about #causality, #complexity#neuroscience#agency#behaviour#mind and #brain and #dynamical systems but it‘s not an easy read. I am now determined to tackle it and will be posting updates as I go…
@bookstodon Inspired by Luna, I will also do a list of my February reads that I would recommend to others:
(GN denotes graphic novel)
ACTING CLASS (GN) Nick Dmaso (weird bizarre fiction)
NORTHRANGER (GN)Ray Terciero
YOU BROUGHT ME THE OCEAN (GN), Alex Sanchez
THE GIVER (GN) P. Craig Russell
THE BOOK OF LOVE, Kelly Link
THE FOX WIFE, Yangsze Choo
THESE SAVAGE SHORES (GN) Ram V
ZEROCALCARE'S FORGET MY NAME (GN) Zerocalcare
WANDERING STARS, Tommy Orange
AFTER ANNIE, Anna Quindlen
CRUEL SUMMER (GN) Ed Brubaker
BIG TIME, Ben Winters
THIRST, Marina Yuszczuk (review coming later today)
@bookstodon Even if it doesn't catch on, I would like to institute #WhatchaReadingWednesday a hashtag which already exists, I believe? Anywho, whatcha reading?
#IAmReading Ben H. Winter's new book BIG TIME, and it's really good so far. It is lean, so perfect for those who hate padding in their stories. I don't want to give away the premise, so I will just say that it's a bit of a thriller that involves time itself.
Christel Lüttichau's "Grønlænderinden", a biography on Maria Mayer, a woman who represented Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) and the town of Nuuk in many occasions since her school year in Denmark and au pair lives in different countries. It is fascinating to read her life story from the 1930s to the 2010s. So many things I did not know about Greenland, and a personal life story with many twists and turns.
@Rasta
I put that in my library list.
I have 2 out at the moment, 'This is How You Lose The Time War' and 'Turn of the Screw', neither started yet, so it'll have to wait. #IAmReading
Really enjoyed reading Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
A pretty intense space opera. You don’t get a moment’s rest while you join Idris and his crewmates as they frantically hop from fire to fire through “unspace”, all with the eerie sense that something bigger is always just a page turn away.
Loved it, can’t wait to get started on the next one 👌🏼
I took Nemo, the one eyed orange tabby, to the vets yesterday. His eye was looking pretty bad. They did a couple tests and decided it was, in fact, a bacteria and so we got some antibiotic lotion to put in his eye and we're awaiting a call from the pharmacy for an oral antibiotic to give him. Worst of all, though, is he has to wear a cone, which is just the saddest thing to watch.
I was joking with my wife yesterday as I showed her my "light" holiday reading - Emily Watson's highly praised translation of The Iliad! Probably won't be finished in time to help me with my goal of 50 books, but I finished The Silkworm, the 2nd Cormoran Strike book, penned by "Robert Galbraith" (ie, JK Rowling). It was a struggle so there's no way I'm taking on the behemoths that follow. So that means I'll probably end up with 41 books read. Not bad. #books#IAmReading@bookstodon
Same Page librairies only lend their audio books for 2 weeks, which is a bit tight for some longer ones.
I squeaked through "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett with about 2 minutes to spare before it was to expire, by listening at 1.25x speed.
I did enjoy it. Interesting storyline, I understand it's a favourite of Barack Obama. #EllieKPosts #IAmReading#libraries#audioBook#audioBooks @bookstodon
@bookstodon Normal Rules Don't Apply, by #KateAtkinson, is such a satisfying read. I casually picked it up last evening and devoured the whole thing. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is an exceptional interconnected story collection. I picked it up because, Kate Atkinson, obvs. But the writing surprised me, and exceeded my already lofty expectations. It's wry, funny, twisty, dark, and very smartly written. Atkinson collides the world of folklore into the world of reality. You think you know how the stories are connected, but that's just on the surface. There's a deeper thread running through them, and it's deviously clever.
The characters all experience life as a game of chance, a "choose your own adventure" based on every decision they make, or fail to make. The effects are not just individual, but rather they snowball into cosmic consequences for everyone.
@bookstodon I finished a book last night that I didn't really enjoy. Not the story, nor the writing. It wasn't too long and it was entertaining enough that I didn't drop it though.
Then I picked up Fool's Assassin by #RobinHobb and it's such a pleasure to dive into a book by someone who truly knows how to write one.
And visiting loved characters again, of course.
Finally getting around to listening to 'Van Gogh audio book, a 44 hour listen. It was one of my last choices before I cancelled my audible subscription. Now it's mostly library audio books. I couldn't easily have fit 44 hours of listening into a 21-day library borrow.
@bookstodon Are you in the mood to read something which plays with form and style? HANGMAN, by Maya Binyam might be for you. It is one of those novels where you both wonder what the heck is going on, and where in the world you're headed, until it all comes together. I really enjoyed it, like nothing else I've read this year. And it's under 200 pages.
My full review: This novel is deftly, smartly written, and demonstrates a paradox about the nature of life itself, which is that it is equally obscured when the lens is too wide, as it is when the lens is too close to its subject.
The story is told via the narrator's journey, but that's not really the heart of this story. The author's delivery has a funhouse, "there but not there," stretched and surreal feel. There are very real observations, however, and they are all deeply political. It's like a mashup of Kathryn Davis and Helen Oyeyemi books, with an even deeper level of social commentary.
I enjoyed the experimental nature of this short, but impactful novel.
And that ending?!? I'm so glad I didn't put it together until the last minute.
This book satisfied my need for something completely different, where the author takes chances. I will gladly read anything Maya Binyam writes.
@bookstodon
I really want to read the next Penric and Desdemona collection by Lois McMaster Bujold. I think she only publishes the individual stories on Amazon.
Enjoying Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher right now, though.
@bookstodon Y'all like a time-loop novel with a fresh premise? I just read The Never-ending End of the World, by Ann Christy, and this novel does just that. Instead of being in a time-loop herself, the main character discovers that just about everyone else is stuck in their own little time loops. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Maybe you will too. #TimeLoop#Books#IAmReading#BooksWorthReading
Yesterday I got author copies of my most recent book, a collection of short stories titled Where Rivers Go To Die. They look lovely and the red tones make me want to change my favourite colour from blue to red. You can find yourself a copy of this book on online stores.
These are stories I've written over twenty years, since the earliest I first wrote circa 2003-4
@bookstodon Still thinking about a remarkable book, like nothing I've ever read: I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN, by Jacqueline Harpman. It's speculative and post-apocalyptic, but also eerily psychological, examining what makes us human, what we need to form an identity, and the importance of friendship and intimacy.
If you are passionate about what corporate/tech culture is doing to young people, how rent is out of control, and how late-stage capitalism ignores situations like the massive numbers of the shelterless, cold, and hungry in our big cities as if they didn't exist, then this book: RIPE by Sarah Rose Etter is dynamite, and will make you wanna explode with righteousness.