Very busy couple of weeks, so didn’t actually read anything.
Still on Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore, 2nd novel in Icewind Dale series, which is a subseries of Forgotten Realms series (D&D world).
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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I’m still reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. My area had some unexpected weather a couple weeks ago so I’ve been off my usual routine.
The book is good and I’m about half way through. I want to finish it by tomorrow.
Nice. I should read it sometimes too. It has been on my backlog for so long.
Just finished Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos rising. Next up, the second in the series.
It was such a great book. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series
How is it, if you haven’t read any Star Wars novel, and have only watched the movies?
I will also say that the star wars books, from what I have seen, aren’t sequential. You can start anywhere in the universe and it doesn’t matter, notwithstanding the actual series books, like Thrawn series and whatever. It’s more like Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. It’s a bunch of independent stories set in the same universe.
Any recommendations for interesting starting points?
Not really. I’m pretty new to the Star Wars novels. I’ve literally read two, and they are both part of the same series. But FWIW, I am reading the Thrawn Ascendency series, and it’s pretty damn good.
I am in the same situation. I have not read any other SW books, and have only seen the movies.
It’s great. I can’t put my Kobo down. It’s enthralling, it’s enticing. It’s very well written. I love it.
Cool. Thanks for the info!
Perfect Victims And The Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd
It seems to have nice reviews, what do you think about it? Does it cover the conflict for mostly ignorant?
if you are interested in books for the mostly ignorant may I recommend instead: Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide by Ben White
Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappé
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi
For more on israel’s crimes: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé
The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World by Antony Loewenstein
Environmental Warfare in Gaza: Colonial Violence and New Landscapes of Resistance by Shourideh C. Molavi
Gaza Unsilenced edited by Laila El-Haddad and Refaat Alareer
you may have heard of Refaat Alareer, a prominent Palestinian writer and poet who was assassinated (very much the same way Ghassan Kanafani was) in December 2023. There is a collection of his poems and writings released in memory of him in 2024 called If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose that is also worth a read. There are also way more books, fiction or nonfiction, by Palestinian authors that are very much worthwhile once one gets a better understanding of the history of settler colonialism.
Thanks for the info. I’ll take a look at these.
Lonesome Dove on audiobook. The production quality is pretty bad, but the story is good.
Currently reading Food And Society In Classical Antiquity.
How are you liking it so far?
Almost finished with it. It’s somewhat more of an ‘overview’ than I was expecting, but I’ve learned a lot. And not all of it about antiquity - did you know that whole wheat bread isn’t healthier than white bread? Fuck, I ate wheat bread as a kid for nothing?
Heh, didn’t know that. Good thing I didn’t force myself to eat those 😀 White Bread FTW!
Listening to Project Hail Mary. I’ve been utterly absorbed by the story and the scientific concepts being pushed around.
I never took physics and didn’t take much math for my job but am jealous of people who have a natural, stronger affinity for those subjects
Shout out to my boy Rocky
I never could get this one checked out at the library.
I recently started The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I’m a 100 or so pages in, and slowly getting a feel for the characters. It’s a large book, but I’ve got some long flights coming up so hopefully I’ll make a good dent in it :)
How’s the book? I have thought about starting it a few times, but I am afraid it might be too dry or complex.
I’ve just finished Part 1 (around 200 pages out of 1000 - unfortunately the flights I had planned were cancelled, and I didn’t get time to read over the weekend!). So far I’ve been introduced to the characters and the book has explained their natures as well as the dynamics between each of them. It’s quite heavy reading at points, especially some of the religious discussion and the fact that there are a good number of footnotes explaining certain references in the text. That said, the web of interactions and different moralities is quite fascinating. It requires a level of concentration to get through, but there’s enough of an interesting story and exploration of big ideas to keep me hooked so far.
Ahan, thanks for the info.
Careless People - Satah Wynn-Williams
Not only it is a fascinating look into Facebook, it touches me personally because I’m a Canadian female tech worker in a US based company and her perspective on a lot of thing is very relatable to me.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
It is part of the “Bobiverse” so with a name like that I honestly couldn’t help but have low expectations but so far it is a really fun read.
Many people here generally start the series with low expectations but end up liking it. Let us know how it goes for you.
It’s a truly excellent series!
That’s good to know. I’m a third of the way through now and I love the premise and how straight to the point it is.
Speaking Bones - Book 4 of the Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. This is probably one of the best fantasy I’ve read. The setting is based off of ancient China. It’s similar to Game of Thrones in the sense that there’s a lot of world building, there’s no main character, no one is safe from death and the fantasy is lightly applied.
It introduces interesting ideas like storing electricity in objects made with glass, intestines and gold, then utilizing it in warfare. Also logic gates implemented with just basic materials like wood and ropes. Basic AI (non-ML). Etc.
I’m quite confident anyone who enjoys programming will enjoy this series.
How dark is it? One of my issue with Game of Thrones is that it was too dark / depressing and things just kept getting worse and worse.
It’s quite mild compared to game of thrones. The ‘dark’ parts are not personalized, but description of things happening at a population level.
Ah, cool. Thanks for the info, will add it to my list.
Wow I’m going to go read this now. I’ve been in between bigger reads, doing shorter stories, and doom scrolling, but definitely looking for something to escape for a bit!
Yeah I’d definitely recommend it. Loved that when there’s a fantasy-based beast, people investigate how it works from a basic science perspective, then derive a new weapon that play crucial role in combat.
Also loved that alliances shift and change. The story likes to lull you into complacency before pouring cold water over you.
Children of Dune, Frank Herbert.
I’m just continuing with Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. I finished Oathbringer and Dawnshard and will start Rhythm of War next.
Shout out to my boy Rock
He’s great! I saw that Sanderson is planning to write a novella about him in a year or two.
Shout outs to Rock and Rocky. Are you a geologist?
No but I play one on tv
I just finished reading The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey (authors of the Expanse series). Overall I really liked it and am excited for this series! I feel like the characters haven’t hooked me as much as the characters from the Expanse series, but I’m going to give them more time to develop.
I am now reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. This one has surprised me how much I’ve enjoyed it so far. I have read his Founders trilogy and Divine Cities books and found them hit or miss.
Felt exactly the same about the Mercy of Gods.
I have started reading ‘The Master and Margarita’. I am only a couple of chapters in and its pretty wild already.
It’s been a long time, but I once read a paperback copy I found. I remember enjoying it.
I’m reading The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, the fourth book in The Wheel of Time series. I’m starting to get a bit sick of the characters, frankly. Petty, angry, dishonest liars most of them, looking to make the worst decisions for any given situation. I still like the book, oddly enough, but I wish the characters like, grow up sometime soon.
I gave up near the beginning of this book. Just wasn’t enjoying it and didn’t relish the idea of spending hours and hours on something I wasn’t enjoying.
