What are you reading these days?

I'm reading George Orwell Diaries, as you might guess it is collection of George Orwell's diaries from various periods of his life (unfortunately nothing from the Spanish Civil War as that journal was seized when he was captured). The forward is by Christopher Hitchens and it studded with additional information to give the entries context. I really enjoy Orwell's work, particularly his non-fiction, and wanted to get a better understanding of the man behind the words.

So far he has explored the mines of northern England, the cities of Morocco, and the lead up to WW2. However, even with those exciting events, I've been drawn in more by his personal daily diary more than anything else. It's usually basic information on the weather, his garden (or the garden of wherever he is staying), the produce from his/others farm animals, and notes on upkeep. I feel like these notes really highlight how curious his mind was. He is constantly trying out different feeding regimes to increase egg and milk yields or noting changes to plant health in relation to water/temperature/weather. He also knows the names of all the plants, flowers, animals, and birds that spring up in his area. It makes me want to slow things down in my own life and be present of the natural patterns where I live.

I'm reading Lost in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray. It's really good. I like Sabine's story telling style. She also has a great humor style.

It's a pretty short book ~200 pages so I'm going through it quite fast.

Re-reading The Eye of the World after finishing season one of The Wheel of Time. I read tEotW back in high school, twice. I never finished the series though. I only got as far as halfway through book six back in like 2008 or 2009 or something like that. Hoping to finish it this time.

I'm desperately trying to get through The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. It's absolutely not boring or anything- I've thoroughly loved every moment while reading it. My issue has been purely personal, a mix of being a solid five years out of practice on the habit of just picking up a book and being overwhelmingly ADHD. I'll get through it. I will. Soon. It's been a delight, even though this is the first of the Discworld series and he certainly hasn't hit his stride just yet. As much as he's toying with stereotypes, archetypes, concepts, and tropes, I feel there's still some details he hasn't quite caught and refined yet... But I've seen direct quotes from later books that show those details honed to razor edges, so I'm confident I'll see it soon enough.

As for the book itself, it's set on Discworld, which if you've ever seen an illustration of a giant turtle floating through space with four elephants atop its back carrying a disc-shaped world atop that, then you've got the idea. It's a world full of thoroughly unusable magic, thoroughly thick-skulled heroes, an endless variety of thieves, brigands, robbers, and miscreants, and plenty more to make things complicated. And there we are, watching the worst wizard to ever exist, trying to take care of a bumbling tourist who thinks it's all quaint and pleasant.

Genuinely delightful so far and, if I can ever focus on the book long enough to get the rest of it read, I'm eager to get through the whole series. One step at a time...

I'm about to finish Matrix by Lauren Groff. So far this book has been a case of why persevering through the beginning of a book I'm not enjoying sometimes pays off. The first 1/4 or so was just not doing it for me, but then something in the story clicked and I couldn't put it down.

I'm also finishing off The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I started reading this one once before, probably ten years ago, but put it down for some reason. I've really enjoyed it, even though some of it tip-toes into what I call "Joe Rogan Territory". It's definitely made me think a little bit more about my food choices.

I'm reading Permutation City by Greg Egan, it's a sci-fi novel that, basically, deals with the issue of whether or not simulated life inside a computer can be distinguished from real life. I haven't read that much (maybe 1/4) but it feels very much like a prequel to The Matrix (well I think the plot to The Matrix was about aliens or something but this is man-made and with other purposes, but you get the idea) with a lot more technical and philosophical discussions, I enjoy it so far but I also don't think it's very gripping and it's becoming somewhat confusing to follow since it jumps between time periods and characters (accentuated by my low attention span lately).

I also started In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson which is a non-fiction book about the US Ambassador to Germany and his family during the 1930s and how they experienced Hitler's rise to power. I like the premise although so far it's been somewhat boring as I've not yet reached Berlin and it's explaining a lot about US internal politics and the life of the ambassador but I've not read too much yet so it'll probably pick up later.