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What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
by Heather McGhee
This is genuinely one of the best books I've read on racism in the US. I'd put it up there with The New Jim Crow.
The focus of the book is that racist policies and mindsets that disproportionately target people of color also harm white people, often by denying them things they might otherwise have and getting them to believe in a zero-sum idea of advancement. The central metaphor the book comes back time and again is that of a swimming pool. McGhee highlights how, after pools were integrated in the US, many towns and cities chose to drain or pave over their community swimming pools. The racist intention behind this denied all residents -- not just black residents -- of a communal good.
McGhee traces this conceit through modern American issues and mindsets, and it's genuinely eye-opening and frustrating. The book is not a polemic, and she writes with an even temperament and a penchant for data analysis that will speak to the more rational and scientifically-minded out there. That said, the book doesn't shy away from highlighting the personal toll inflicted by these policies either. I feel like McGhee threads a very fine line through very difficult topics, and she does so in a thoughtful, considered manner — with expert finesse.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in racism in America. I read it once, and it's already back on my to-read list, because I want to revisit it again in more detail.
What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City
by Mona Hanna-Attisha
This is the story of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, told by the doctor who uncovered the cover-up. It reads like a cross of a memoir and a thriller, with Hanna-Attisha combining stories from the lives of her family and her investigation into the lead levels in Flint's water.
I knew little about the crisis going in. It was one of those news items I recognized but couldn’t really give you any details on if pressed for them. I now have a much clearer picture and understand why it was such a significant outrage and a flashpoint for racial justice in America. I recommend the book to anyone interested in the (mostly) full story (the book was published in 2018, when the crisis was still not fully resolved — despite starting in 2014 and being publicly identified by Hanna-Attisha in 2015).
Starting Dune this week. I hope to finish it before seeing the movie... Fingers crossed
If you like it, would you be interested in doing an impromptu book club for the following books in the series?
Sure, that sounds like fun.
The Book Thief. Never read it before, somehow, getting into it now.
I've been watching Foundation and, despite the flaws, I'd say as a science fiction fan that it's an enjoyable watch.
When I was a kid I was introduced to the genre through my dad's collection of E. E. Doc Smith books. It's fair to say they were mired in their times and I don't think they have aged well, but I digress. After the introduction I devoured anything and everything I could get my hands on including Heinlein, Bradbury and of course Asimov.
I think my opinion of the TV show would be much much harsher if I'd read the books recently, but since it was so long ago I don't remember much of them. Well. I'm about to embark on a mission to remedy that - and probably spoil my enjoyment of the show.
When I re-read a series of novels I generally plump for published order as I really enjoy discovering the universe as it was created.
Although Asimov himself proposed an in-universe chronological reading order I'm sticking to my guns but tweaking it a little based on the following list:
The order I've chosen is:
I'm a slow reader though so this will take me many months and could well be ongoing this time next year.
Bonus: I didn't realise there's a Second Foundation trilogy by other authors published after his death, so I guess I'll be adding these:
I finished Project Hail Mary over the weekend. Started out reading and listening to the audio book but when I reached a certain part of the book, I switched over to the audio book exclusively due to how well it was spoken and acted out. I highly recommend it if you are wanting something light.
Started The Wheel of Time re-read last month. Am in Book 9, Winter's Heart. Enjoying this second read a lot more, since I already know the broader plot points, I am reading it much more slowly and enjoying it a lot more!
Is it a must-read series? Have heard good things but haven’t picked it up yet
It is one of my favorite fantasy series, so I may be biased!
At 14 books, it is a very long series, and there are a few books in the middle which move the plot along very slowly (books 9 and 10 mostly), but the pay-off in the final few books (which Brandon Sanderson finished (based on RJ's notes) after Robert Jordan's death) is great! This series has one of the most satisfying endings across a ton of Fantasy I have read.
It also has excellent world building. There are several countries with their unique cultures, relations with other countries, architectures, etc.
It also has a very good combination of hard and soft magic systems.
The story also has a lot of POV characters, and they are well defined characters (who aren't one dimensional). Plot also moves forward a lot of times not just because of the protagonists/antagonists characters actions, but due to unseen consequences or smaller characters actions.
The first book, is also very similar to Lord of the Rings (Robert Jordan, wanted to essentially write his version of Lord of the Rings), but the story diverges from typical tolkienian plotlines pretty quickly.
spoliers
The world in which the story is set is actually a post-apocalyptic world, not a medieval or other tolkienian fantasy worldThis is a good video that does a better job of why you should read wheel of time, than my post.
Amazon seems to be making a TV show out of this (coming out on Nov 19th), which most of the fans are excited for, but it is also going to be largely a different version of the books (cause to translate the books to screen and make it interesting, would involve quite a few changes).
I read Drive by James Sallis, a short book that the Refn movie was based on. The movie basically took all of the good parts and filled in the rest, making for a better story overall, a credit to Hossein Amini.
I'm going to do the sequel, Driven soon. The novels are really short.
I've also got Inherent Vice on the go. Its pretty fun -- sort of a stoner Philip Marlowe.