WHAT ARE YOU READING?

[Robert S]

I recently read The Mercy of Gods, the first part of a trilogy by the authors of The Expanse. I really liked the character-focused parts of the story. For example, it depicts a character suffering from depression really well (I am currently myself fighting with depression and could really identify with that character). I am not really sold on the built world and the greater story arch and the book was also really slow in that regards but as it focused more on the personal issues of the characters and did that really well, I did not mind that much.

And I know that OSJ hated his writing, but I am reading some Brandon Sanderson stuff right now (Oathbringer, to be precise). I get the main criticism John had for Sanderson (that if you look close enough, you can see the seams of how he builds his worlds and stories) and I guess he was right, but I don't really mind. I mean if I read The Lord of the Rings, I could point out issues in the construction if I wanted to, but I am not reading stuff to criticize it, but to simply enjoy it (John was an editor, IIRC, so he had a different approach to reading, I suppose). Yes, you slightly need to switch off your brain selectively, I guess, but not on a "this writing insults my intelligence" level.

In parallel, I am reading some textbooks on astrophysics and cosmology. I have got a background in mathematics (master's degree) and have learned some slightly advanced physics (special relativity and quantum mechanics; I've also read some introductory textbook on general relativity, so I have some basic understanding there, quantum field theory however just eludes me, I tried more than once to get into that subject and no bueno) over the last decade and can follow the basics at least quite well. It's quite shocking actually, how much you can learn about cosmology without a super-duper deep background (if you take a thing or two for granted, mostly reg. general relativity, which the books usually skip and just give the results).

[supremebve]

2 hours ago, Robert S said:

I recently read The Mercy of Gods, the first part of a trilogy by the authors of The Expanse. I really liked the character-focused parts of the story. For example, it depicts a character suffering from depression really well (I am currently myself fighting with depression and could really identify with that character). I am not really sold on the built world and the greater story arch and the book was also really slow in that regards but as it focused more on the personal issues of the characters and did that really well, I did not mind that much.

 

I just finished this book on Tuesday.  I feel like I'm in the same exact boat as you, except I thought the character development was a weakness because there are really only 3 characters that developed at all.  I don't know if there are too many characters or they didn't flesh out the characters well enough, but it's one of the two.  The world-building wasn't great, and quite frankly everything took a little too long to develop.  With that said, by the end I was invested.  It took forever to really catch my interest, but I really want to see where it goes.  It's a bit of a slog, but it's always at least interesting if not always entertaining.

[JLSigman]

On 1/1/2025 at 12:07 PM, JLSigman said:

Starting off the new year by reading Saladin Ahmed's Daredevil run, which has been collected. Interesting premise so far.

Read Volume 3, and it's starting to totter a bit under it's weight. I also am not buying at all Fisk's reaction to the proceedings.

[JLSigman]

On 2/27/2025 at 12:59 PM, JLSigman said:

Since all the books are out, I am starting in on Tad Williams "Last King of Osten Ard" series. Will be re-reads of the first two, then into the stuff I haven't read yet.

Finished this up yesterday night, and I'm waffling about the ending. The fourth book also has some pretty egregious editing/spelling errors.

[Contentious C]

You try reading The Night Circus, because it's cheap and well-reviewed. It sounds like a steampunk Romeo and Juliet where the princess saves herself, at least at first glance of the cover description. And then you realize it's written in present tense, like the Wolf Hall books. It dawns on you that Erin Morgenstern is not Hilary Mantel. It also dawns on you that nearly every writer isn't Hilary Mantel. You struggle to find a rhythm because the tense feels stilted instead of urgent. You consider reading something else.

[SirSmUgly]

Here are some books I have recently read:

Mieko Kawakami, All the Lovers in the Night - Kawakami writes some of the most beautiful sentences in literature, and I suppose that I have to give credit to her translators for preserving that beauty in English. This book is essentially a character study of a closed-off, traumatized woman who has isolated herself. She works from home and struggles to connect with her own humanity. Then, some stuff happens. It's fantastic. I thought that Heaven was also amazing, but I think I prefer this book (maybe it's the hope that I have for Fuyuko at the end of this particular story that elevated it for me). I have read one Kawakami book a year over the last couple of years, and I think I'll stick to that schedule. I'm excited to read Breasts and Eggs next year.

Jason Schreier, Press Reset and Play Nice - Schreier does a fine job of showing how unstable the video game industry is outside of the C-suite, and his strategy of tracking a series of shuttered studios and canceled games that directly impact the next set of shuttered studios and canceled games is a good one. Play Nice, on the other hand, is a story about many things. How greedy your C-suite execs are, for one. How gender imbalances in the industry are harmful, for another. How games are art and not some sort of factory line widget that you can just crank out on a conveyor belt year after year for another. I loved both of them and would think that anyone into video games and how they are made should read them.

Next up: I'm finally going to read All the Pretty Horses, and I got a Lucy Worsley book on sale! I adore her and am excited to read her meticulously-researched biography of Agatha Christie. 

[Contentious C]

Hey my library actually has the Kawakami book. Cool.

Saw a Stephen R Donaldson book at Goodwill for 2 bucks today but didn't grab it. It's not one of the Thomas Covenant books, so I wasn't sure if it was worth the pickup. I tried reading the first of the Covenant books a while ago and didn't exactly enjoy the style (not to mention the early events in that edition).

Edited April 17 by Contentious C

[JLSigman]

10 hours ago, Contentious C said:

Saw a Stephen R Donaldson book at Goodwill for 2 bucks today but didn't grab it. It's not one of the Thomas Covenant books, so I wasn't sure if it was worth the pickup. I tried reading the first of the Covenant books a while ago and didn't exactly enjoy the style (not to mention the early events in that edition).

Donaldson also wrote a bunch of sci-fi that I've never read.

I finished up Victoria The Queen by Julia Baird, a biography that was fascinating and frustrating by turns. Fascinating because of the length and breadth of the things she reigned over.; frustrating because her kids burned basically everything she ever wrote, everything many of the people around her wrote, so there are huge gaps in our knowledge.

Edited April 17 by JLSigman

[SirSmUgly]

20 hours ago, Contentious C said:

Hey my library actually has the Kawakami book. Cool.

Please tell me what you think of it if you read it!

[J.H.]

The Long Fall - Hey, Walter Mosley writing a mystery set in somewhat contemporary times (2008) and set in NYC instead of Los Angeles. Still, Mosley always brings a certain vibe to his Mystery/Thriller novels and while this ain't Easy Rawlins and Mouse, Leonid McGill is just as interesting as PI.

I appreciate writer's who have at least researched NYC enough to write about it competently and Mosley captures the feel of Manhattan. 

I'm only 60 pages in so it is basically getting to know Leonid. His work life, his home life and his routines. Mosley is shaping this character as if he were clay that he's molding with each chapter. Carving away excess bits before we can getvtobthe meat of the story, which will be the mystery.

Im really digging it so far.

James

Edited April 18 by J.H.

[JLSigman]

Hidden away on the free table at the library was a HARDCOVER copy of Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis!! In very good condition! Yes I snatched that up and now it's in the hardcover bookshelf in my office!

[Contentious C]

23 hours ago, SirSmUgly said:

Please tell me what you think of it if you read it!

Well, the first little snippet chapter is a masterclass in what you're highlighting. It was a little like starting A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James and thinking, "Fuck, I've been saying stuff like this to myself all the time, but I'm not putting it into things I write nearly often enough. Fuck." So, that's... something. And the initial introduction past that hits more than a little close to home. It may be a slog to get through unless there's a particularly grabby moment around the bend. Or maybe I can try to leaven it some by progressing further in Night Circus if I feel bogged down.

[Mike Campbell]

It took me way too long, between the job, family, and other things taking precedence. But, I finally finished reading The Thursday Murder Club. Despite taking so long to finish, I actually really enjoyed it. There were lot of parts that had me cracking up. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the Netflix adapation turns out. 

[SirSmUgly]

18 hours ago, Contentious C said:

Well, the first little snippet chapter is a masterclass in what you're highlighting. It was a little like starting A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James and thinking, "Fuck, I've been saying stuff like this to myself all the time, but I'm not putting it into things I write nearly often enough. Fuck." So, that's... something. And the initial introduction past that hits more than a little close to home. It may be a slog to get through unless there's a particularly grabby moment around the bend. Or maybe I can try to leaven it some by progressing further in Night Circus if I feel bogged down.

It's certainly a slow-burn character study. I don't think there's a grabby moment early; there's more of a slow-building dread that you'll have. I would say that there are a couple of reveals and a callback to one of those reveals that would be those moments where the narrative swells a bit. I found it an easier read than Heaven, which was a rough (and realistic) read about teen bullying.

4 hours ago, Mike Campbell said:

It took me way too long, between the job, family, and other things taking precedence. But, I finally finished reading The Thursday Murder Club. Despite taking so long to finish, I actually really enjoyed it. There were lot of parts that had me cracking up. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the Netflix adapation turns out. 

Richard Osman is a funny dude. He's quick with a one-liner as the host of House of Games, too. I felt like Thursday Murder Club and the second book in that series (I haven't read the third yet) were so much written in his voice that I heard him narrating it in my head as I read it.