What are you reading these days?

Currently, I am about to finish Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy.

It doesn't pretend to be an "objective" account of philosophy and that, along with Russell's easy writing style, makes it a joy to read. Russell slags off pretty much every philosopher he talks about and his British aristocratic condescension comes through clarion-clear. He also has some pretty out-dated ideas about "civilized peoples" and invokes ethnic stereotypes liberally, which sits uncomfortably by his Fabian socialist sensibilities.

I read a review of A History of Western Philosophy recently that suggested the best way to enjoy it is to out-condescend Russell himself, who spends most of the text condescending toward other philosophers. That made me laugh, because I had been doing that since the beginning, and it has made the read truly fun--Russell is no stranger to self-contradiction and casual bigotry himself.

And all the while I'm putting raised eyebrows and "lol" in the margins, I'm also learning quite a bit and refreshing my memory of things I have learned before. I'm really excited to get to the Nietzsche chapter, because I have heard that Russell hates Nietzsche, which is a feeling I mostly share (I believe that the post-WW2 rehabilitation of Nietzsche went way too far--the guy talks about blond beasts and the German nation and the righteousness of war too much for me to buy it's all a metaphor for personal growth.)

I finished the volumes of the "Ascendance of a Bookworm" that have been translated into English; the next one is supposed to be out in June. Unfortunately, there has been more magic, combat, and aristocratic politics as is seen in typical high fantasy, and less about making things, economics, and business. But it's still pretty fun, there is a good bit about making a printing press, and I like the characters, so I'll keep reading the series as new books come out. From Wikipedia it seems there are many more books to be translated.

I finally finished with David France's How to Survive a Plague (the audiobook is >24 hours long). It's wonderful and harrowing and important and resonant and heartbreaking and every other word of praise and meaningfulness I could throw at it. I'd previously read and loved Randy Shilts's And the Band Played On which was also about the AIDS crisis, but the main issue with that book is that it stops in 1985, leaving so much of the story untold. Plague continues past this, giving the full arc of the story in America. Thank you again, @tindall, for recommending this to me.

Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother? was a good companion piece to her pivotal Fun Home. She has wonderful visual composition, and I appreciate that she's constantly searching (often over-searching) for meaning in her life and her experiences. It was an interesting contrast to the nihilism that's widespread right now.

Jonathan Van Ness's Over the Top was surprisingly dark. I went in expecting a light read with his usual vivaciousness, and while it's there in spades, I didn't realize he was going to delve into some pretty significant personal demons and low experiences. For anyone interested in the book, I highly recommend listening to it, as being able to hear JVN's voice narrate his writing adds so much to it.

Diane Chamberlain's Big Lies in a Small Town was unexpectedly good. It's not the type of book I usually read, but a co-worker recommended it wholeheartedly. After I begrudgingly picked it up, I was surprised to find that I couldn't put it down! The book tells parallel narratives about two women: one in the 1940s who painted a mural, and one in the present day who's restoring the mural. The book has quite a few twists and turns and keeps an unexpectedly brisk pace. It certainly has its flaws and is clunky in parts, but I can't deny being drawn fully into its narrative, eagerly turning the pages in order to find answers and resolution.

Current Alphabet Challenge Scorecards

I finished reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.
It was... ok I guess. I'm not super qualified to discuss the validity of his argument, but personally, basing a large segment of his argument on Africa and the Americas being longer north-south and Eurasia being longer west-east doesn't seem right somehow. He also seems to get needlessly specific at some parts, like the exact types of seeds grown in certain areas, etc

About 2/5 of the way through Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. It's Pynchon...with 18th-century vernacular. I sometimes lose focus with his free-association description of things and have to re-read often. But, when I'm able to focus properly, those sentences flow very nicely. And his repertoire of knowledge is vast. I've found this rundown of every chapter that I've been consulting when I finish a chapter, just in case I missed or glossed-over anything. I'm no true intellectual...

Ok so got stuck at "The Hanged Artist" - a sort of "What if Franz Kafka survived TBC and became a surrealist detective with a massive cockroach sidekick" book. It's fun BUT its slightly samey...

I just finished reading The Honor of the Queen. The first chapters are a bit boring, but all in all, it’s a very fun sci-fi book.