Books

I'm nearing the end of Changes by Jim Butcher, and since I didn't really like the following book all that much I thought I'd take a break to finally read the Lord of the Rings series. I got a nice clothbound set of them to match The Hobbit I already had (though for some infuriating reason The Hobbit is half a centimetre taller) and I grabbed The Silmarillion this morning in the same style. I'll probably never get around to reading that one but my gf is way into these and she's wanted it for ages.

Edit, pic because they're really nice

I have just started The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It's a bit more on the demanding side in the beginning, as it doesn't follow a linear story but loosely related episodes in a life very different to mine. But I think I'm in the flow now.

Just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora. Enjoyed it! On to the Expanse book 5.

I'm about halfway through the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. It has a vibe similar to the Kingkiller Chronicle but it has an actual conclusion to the story. So far it's been very entertaining with a story full of medieval fantasy court intrigue, a mystery of raiders turning their victims to sociopaths, and a light sprinkling of magic.

Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

Part of a recent habit of reading to my wife in the evening while she plays Luanti to relax before bed.

Finished Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky - it was an enjoyable read with some interesting ideas about intelligence and freedom which it explored to their logical conclusions. The pacing was a little odd at times and it was more political than I was expecting given the synopsis but I'd recommend it.

I've just started Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Halfway through chapter 2 and I have no idea where it's going, but I'm gripped so far!

Earth's Children, book 3 ! "The Mammoth Hunters". It's fantastic. Very grounded in paleontology, yet profoundly spiritual. A couple of seriously intriguing esoteric moments too (as with the first book).

I read What If some years ago, speculative science can be so satisfying. There's a second one now I believe

I am reading The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie, booked 3 in The First Law series. I'm maybe 40% through. Definitely liked the first two better, and book two was fantastic, but it's 3 of 3 here, so I need to see how it concludes.

Before this series was The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy, and after I'm thinking about The Expanse. I'm mainly fantasy, then sci-fi, then some Blake Crouch for when I need a book to fly by.

Still reading "Service model" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A little over 80% through, it's a great book, but I still don't have the time to read a lot. I'll probably finish it before the weekend. Next are some books by David Hewson, I've read some of his books about 20 years ago, so there's som catching up to do. If that doesn't work out I'll probably go for some of Charles Stross' SF works, I liked his laundry files books. So I guess I've got a to do pile right now, with little time.

The Marriage of Roman Soldiers (13 B.C.-A.D. 235): Law and Family in the Imperial Army

Very fascinating!

Pynchon's new one, "Shadow Ticket."

Really enjoying it so far. Throwback to then crazy shenanigans of "Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow."

Currently reading Cathedral of the Drowned by Nathan Ballingrud, sequel to last year's Crypt of the Moon Spider that I liked so much.

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Finished The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (weird fantasy with body horror elements) | bingo: different continent, minority author, orange, x of y, LGBTQIA+, new

In a glamorously tattered city, a debt-ridden exterminator hunting a dangerous bug and an ailing perfumer in upper-class society each navigate a season of political and cultural revolution.

The setting of this reminded me vaguely of the Cemeteries of Amalo series: steampunk-ish but not (and plant- and bug-based in Vermin), low magic, large class divides, lavish fashion, and a focus on opera. Vermin is, however, much less soft and gentle: violent regime changes are practically expected every generation; character deaths on stage are real, not simulated; and poor people being exploited is par for the course. Even the perfume is laced with a reality-warping toxin that, in strong enough potencies, can remodel entire buildings or cause terrible mutations.

The blurb for this made me expect the bug extermination would be the main plot (with much more emphasis on horror), but that's actually just a small piece of a grand epic with two alternating story lines. I wish I had known better what I was diving into, and that it was less slow-paced, but I liked it.

Just finished A Clockwork Orange, and Coraline. Just started Fahrenheit 451. I'm trying to read as many banned books as possible!

The last book in the Fred, the Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes came out on Halloween. I started to read it and while I remembered quite a bit, it was clear I didn’t remember enough. So I went back and started the series from the beginning. It’s a super fast read. I’m already on the third book since Halloween.

If you like amusing and cozy fantasy, this is definitely up that alley

Currently in a bit of a slump in my reading, bit currently listening to

• Debt: the first 5000 years by David Graeber
• The light fantastic by Sir Terry Pratchett
• Toll the hounds by Steven Erikson

I just finished All That We See Or Seem by Ken Liu. I really enjoyed it, I love anything that guy writes. I picked up What If by Randall Monroe because I saw it at the library bookstore for a dollar after seeing it mentioned here.

I’m kind of in a crappy funk and I don’t know what to read next, this hasn’t happened in a while. Trying to decide between scifi romance Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik. Or some dark romance like Hooked by Emily McIntire. Or The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa. Or something more cozy like a found family thing to get me out of this funk.

I have no idea.

For the upcoming episode of the podcast I have just finished Carrion Crow by Heather Parry. If you're a fan of Jane Eyre or The Yellow Wallpaper the similarities are unmissable - its a very good book but you'll need a fucking strong stomach. It's like if David Cronenberg had decided to write a Jane Austen novel.

Whilst I wait for our next group read, I'm re-reading one of the ever fantastic Shardlake novels

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I really enjoyed Spec Ops: The Line and Apocalypse Now, so I wanted to give the book a go.

I just finished Billion Dollar Ransom, and it was fuckin a, man. Now I'm kinda in a slump because i can't choose anything else to read. so.... I am not reading anything currently.

I just finished blitzing through Ascension of a Bookworm.

33 books in 29 days. Not super long ones, but it was a lot. Averaging 7.27hrs per day. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be picking up another anytime soon.

Honestly I wasn't sure if I would like it, but obviously it kept my attention.

Essentially, it explores the concept of living in the past with modern knowledge. As you might imply from the title: How far can you go from rock bottom (physically broken and socially bottom-rung) with only knowledge as your weapon?

The world also has some interesting politics (which I'm normally not a fan of in books) and then layers some fantasy as well.

Overall I quite enjoyed it.

The historian. The suspense is incredible.

Discovered that Philip Pullman finally published The Rose Field, the final part of the Book of Dust trilogy a week or so back, so have gone back in on La Belle Sauvage to remind myself where we are. I'm determined to be patient and also read The Secret Commonwealth too before going in on the new one.

I have just started Deathlands 139 and well, shit sure has hit the fan in the past few books. Ever since book 120 it has opened up this new sort of arc where a lot more of the books are following a general story going forward, most of them advancing said story with a couple of standalones in between that felt out of place.

Since that book the storyline has been getting a lot more dense and a lot more has been going on to try and track. There have been a lot more timelines both conflicting and converging and the last book, number 138, all hell has broken loose with massive revelations relating to main characters and their relations to one another. Time travel, creation of insane creatures, returning of some thought lost characters and deaths.

It has been great but I am also now coming to the end of the currently written books and with it getting so good recently I'm not sure if I'm ready for it to end and then having to wait for following installment's!

Just finished Emberdark and started The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Only a few pages in, but I already like the writing style and the tone of the story.

I finished The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. It was fantastic from start to finish. I can't wait to read the next book.

While I wait to get my hands on the next book, I picked up Provenance by Ann Leckie. It's in the same universe as her Imperial Radch trilogy and now I'm feeling like it's been too long since I read those books and I don't remember enough to fully enjoy this one. Debating setting it down and doing a reread first.

I just finished Red Rising and anxious to start Golden Son.

I'm always reading one non-fiction book and one fiction book. It's amazing how often I end up reading similar ones at the same time. Right now I'm reading Andy Weir's The Martian, and Claire Nelson's memoir Things I Learned from Falling. Both involve a person stuck alone, trying to survive by solving practical problems in an inhospitable desert environment.

I had previously talked about reading Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore, and can now report that it's an excellent book, highly recommend.

Blackflame, book #3 in the cradle series.

Finished Project Hail Mary not too long ago.

I am almost done with Vile Bodies by Adrian Thatcher.

I finished Three Bags Full and How to be Perfect.

Three Bags Full wasn't my favorite, but the last third was quite good. I was really surprised that I missed all the signs for who the killer was in the end, and that made me reflect a bit.

How to be Perfect started out strong, but became a bit of a drag. It felt like it went from exploring ethics to the author trying to find ways to feel better about the things he's done. I also felt like he misrepresented some philosophers, but not egregiously. I still think it's a good intro to ethics read for anyone interested.

Currently made it through the first two Bobiverse books and just started the third. The first chapter of the first book almost made me put it down because he's a cringey, basic, rich guy, but that changes quickly. Easy reads, but a fun concept. I'll definitely read all five books.

Reading "John" by Cynthia Lennon. Very good read.

Also reading "Humble pi" by Matt Parker, a funny math book

The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly

Just finished reading it and will take a short break, next I'll probably read The Widow by John Grisham.

Rumors of my demise - Evan Dando

Reading Roman Homosexuality: Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity

Extremely fascinating! The author makes the argument, compelling in light of the evidence presented, that the Romans did not see male-male homosexuality as foreign or Greek, and, in fact, that native traditions of Roman homosexuality were more wide-ranging in their tastes for the male body than Greek traditions.

The presentation of evidence from Roman literature and poetry, as well as nuances of individual Latin terms without Greek equivalents, presents a view of Roman homosexuality which, while maintaining the accepted interpretation of Roman sexuality as 'penetration-oriented', also suggests considerable acknowledgement of attraction towards older men which is largely absent in Greek literature, and interest in the 'passive' role in male-male sex which scholars of Roman sexuality have marginalized as jesting rather than note the implications of interest and audience comprehension that those very jests suggest.

I, for one, have noted before when vomiting Roman trivia unprompted at people that the Emperor Galba is the only historical Roman figure specifically noted to have preferred older men (though I also pair this with the fact that the dictator Sulla had a lifelong boytoy in the form of the actor Metrobius). In terms of an explicit statement in the literature, this appears to be true - however, the fact that I'm a filthy monoglot who only reads in English robbed me of the rich context of the numerous Latin terms for prostitutes, with 'exoleti' specifically referring to older male prostitutes who serviced primarily men, and that a number of Emperors are noted as 'enjoying' their services.

The point is also made that the Roman condemnations of 'Greekness' in sexual behavior is in reference to immoderacy and excessive attachment to female partners as well as males; the condemnation of 'Greek love' is not gendered, as is often thought, but in reference to the supposed tendency of Greeks to let emotion and affection rule their decisions instead of DUTY like a GOOD HONEST ROMAN.

This may seem like a minor detail, and I suppose it is - to change the view of Roman homosexuality from 'eagerly accepted as a foreign import, but sometimes mocked' to 'wholly native, and sentimentality mocked as foreign' - but considering the currency that the idea has, and the fact that I certainly believed as much, has me reeling to reconsider it.

The Way of Kings. Absolutely loving it, no notes. I got started on Sanderson's stuff with the Mistborn series which I thought was just okay. I enjoyed the overall world building more than what was happening in the story. Storm light, though, I'm enjoying every bit.