What are you reading these days?

Read through Blood Meridian while off work with covid. McCarthy's prose is just incredible. Many times during books I tend to get bored during portions that are describing travel, but that was far from the case with this one. I don't know how they're going to make the movie with such intensity of violence, but if they can capture even a fraction of the imagery I'm excited to see it.

Also continuing Book of the New Sun, and really enjoying it. Finished Claw of the Conciliator and started Sword of the Lictor. I still have no clue where things are going but the world building is just spectacular, and I'm hungry to find out more.

I've just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susannah Clark - absolutely fantastic! I lived the period drama aspect to it, but also the world building of the magical side of things, and the way all these different plot threads were woven together. The conflict in the book is set up fairly early on, but I was still in suspense to see how all of the characters would be drawn together to deal with it. I'm looking forward to reading her next book, Piranesi.

First though, I've got to read more German books, so I'm reading Die Unendliche Geschichte (Neverending Story), by Michael Ende. I never watched the film, and I bounced hard off Ende's other book, Momo, so I was a bit sceptical going in, and it definitely has that whole navel-gazing, author-writing-about-stories thing that I find so irritating in certain Neil Gaiman books. But the world that Ende builds is full of wonder and is slowly winning me over.

I've also got to accept that I'm never going to fully enjoy reading German books until I get up to a comfortable reading speed in them, and I'm not going to do that until I get more practice, so I just need to bite the bullet and read. If anyone has any recommendations for other German-language books suitable for older children, young adults, and people who just want to practice their German, then I'm all ears! I've got the Inkheart/Tintenherz books on my list as well.

I have a handful of books on the go. I recently (maybe 2 months ago now) bought the wife and myself Kobos and we are all in on e-books. Because of this though, yeah I got a lot of things on the go.

I am reading Dune for the first time and I'm about 6 chapters in. Its really long and terse but really good so far. Having watched the movies and having a basic idea of the plot, I am excited to keep seeing where the stories diverge.

Trying to wrap up the Unicorn Project - only because I read the Phoenix Project and while the stories and books aren't very good, I work in that same industry and committed to finishing them.

Reading a bad software fiction, I wanted to re-read a good software fiction I read as a teenager - jPod. What a different tone and style between the Unicorn Project and this. I forgot how funny this story actually is and how obscure the opening of the book is. Without spoiling too much - opening a book with burying a dead biker is quite the start fora book about Software Developers at a game company.

There's also some textbooks on the go - Working Effectively With Legacy Code and Making Things Happen. As I manage a team of developers, and we have a lot of legacy code to work with, so these books have been really good to slowly move through.

I got about 70% through The Dispossessed for the book club, but no matter how many times I picked up my kindle/phone to read, I just kept putting the book down after a short while. This is the farthest I've gotten in a novel without finishing, but it kind of looks like I may not get to the end. I expected to get hooked eventually, but it just hasn't happened. This is kind of surprising to me, since I'm generally a sci-fi fan, and I devoured The Lathe of Heaven in an afternoon. Oh well.

I also finished Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Piketty around this time. He actually mentions a feeling of dispossession due to wealth inequality, so there was a bit of a link between the two books I was reading, but this book didn't get into the topic as much as I hoped. The author suggests that the rate of return on capital is outpacing the growth rate of developed economies, which means wealth will continue to concentrate over time. I couldn't find much to disagree with from a logical standpoint. The presentation of the data was a little dry but necessary to back up the conclusions.

I ended up switching from The Dispossessed to The Martian, by Andy Weir, not realizing that the next book club book was by the same author. It was a fun read, but the main character started seeming a bit robotic by the end. The times the author told me he was panicked or frustrated just weren't that believable or impactful since he seemed to move on from those moments with no lingering effects. I think Matt Damon sold those moments in the movie better than the book did. After reading Project Hail Mary I felt like the first half was basically The Martian round 2, but the second half addressed some of the issues I had with The Martian.

Also just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane for the next book club discussion. I thought it was pretty good, for me a bit below the other two Gaiman books I've read, Stardust and Coraline. Maybe that's because I read those books first though. I suppose I'll save further opinions for the book club thread.

edit: I also just started Collapse by Jared Diamond. Seems like everyone on the internet thinks we're doomed as a society, so I figured it would be a fun read.

I just started The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk (is there a more Dutch name out there?)

I'm about 1/8th in, but it seems great. He's mostly speaking about the origins of PTSD and the early treatment etc. This is all background / foundation for the rest of the book, but it seems like it'll be an interesting read.

I'm also reading The Power Broker by Robert Caro. I'm following along with 99% Invisible, but I started late and had to catch up by finishing part one. This is an unbelievable work. Even if the subject matter doesn't seem remotely interesting, I'd be surprised if you were completely absorbed by the story. Caro is a remarkable writer.

I'm reading Ocean at the End of the Lane for Tildes book club this month. I'm reading Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, a native american fantasy novel.

I finished the Stranger Beside Me, written by a crime writer who happened to work closely with Ted Bundy the serial killer before he was caught and charged and exchanged letters with him until his execution. I finished the Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, which is a sad book about unkind unhappy people who drink to avoid their problems

I recently started Mind and Cosmos by analytic philosopher Thomas Nagel, famous for his criticisms of reductive materialism (especially his paper What is it like to be a bat?). If anyone is interested in non-materialist/non-physicalist analytic philosophy let me know!

Completed 2 books recently, and started on a third.

I finished reading Radicalized by Cory Doctorow. It's a collection of four short stories about future dystopias. They all felt very Black Mirror-esque, and I can definitely see the first story, "Radicalized Bread", being very plausible in our near-future. I did enjoy reading it, but man was it depressing.

For a more fun read, I moved on to System Collapse by Martha Wells (of the Murderbot Diaries series). I've read and loved all the previous novels and novellas, and while this book doesn't beat some of my personal favourites (the first 3 novellas), I definitely welcome more adventures of Murderbot and friends.

Finally, in an effort to explore other genres that are not sci-fi, I started Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It came highly recommended from a friend and is about an elderly lady and an octopus. I'm only about 10% in so there's not much to say, but have been enjoying it so far.

I read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer which I loved, finished it in two sessions. The setting is creepy, super alien and fun. I loved the movie and went into the book knowing that the film was a loose adaptation but I still really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it so much that I've ordered Authority and Acceptance and pre-ordered Absolution!

I've now moved on to Tender is the Flesh and wow, I've generally got a strong stomach for shock, horror and gore but this book is pushing the boundaries and I'm only 50 pages in, it's horrifying! The connections it's making between butchery, the modern meat industry and capitalism are about as subtle as a brick to the face and while it's not gonna turn me vegetarian it's definitely a horrendous read.