The Books/Reading Thread

[TageRyche]

A couple of my recent mystery reviews made the print edition of Mystery Scene magazine:

The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason

Wolf's Revenge by Lachlan Smith

 

[TageRyche]

Here's another of my reviews: The Moscow Code by Nick Wilkshire.

 

[tagradh]

Read Singularity Sky and The Inverted World last week. Been reading through a collection of Greg Egan shorts (Axiomatic) so far this week.

 

[Sirjack]

l love greg egan. diaspora, quarantine and schild's ladder are great. try to find a pic of him tho...he reckons he is not once pictured on the interwebs

just finished neal asher's transformation trilogy - very very pleased as l am with most his sci-fi

 

[Einherjar86]

Read Singularity Sky

Such a good book. Really awesome vision of post-singularity future.

Too bad the sequel, Iron Sunrise, wasn't as good. Still enjoyable though.

 

[EspaDa]

Reading William Golding's Lord of the Flies.

 

[CiG]

Doom fanatic Aleksey Evdokimov reveals all about his exhaustive new tome, Doom Metal Lexicanum.

Painstakingly put together by Russian journalist Aleksey Evdokimov, Doom Metal Lexicanum may not be the first book on the subject, but it is the first for nearly a decade and a half, offering an overview – complete with interviews – of over 350 of the most significant bands determined to smelt time and slow riffs down to their most resonant and revealing pitch.

I guess this is the most appropriate place to post about upcoming books.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

France declares Marquis de Sade's sex-filled 120 Days of Sodom 'national treasure' hours before auction

Took them long enough.

 

[tagradh]

Such a good book. Really awesome vision of post-singularity future.

Too bad the sequel, Iron Sunrise, wasn't as good. Still enjoyable though.

Will check that out. Just reread the first 3 Dune books. Probably need to read something else before doing the rest.

 

[Einherjar86]

Really excited about Machado's Her Body and Other Parties:

“Her Body and Other Parties is genius: part punk rock and part classical, with stories that are raw and devastating but also exquisitely plotted and full of delight. This is a strong, dangerous, and blisteringly honest book—it’s hard to think of it as a ‘debut,’ it's that good.”—Jeff VanderMeer

"Machado’s writing is full of repressed physical energy and the raw juice of annihilating female fury. The body is the subject, the culprit, the innocent. Standard accessories like ribbons become frightful. She does unimaginable things with a prom dress. But these stories are also funny—which really made me uneasy—because I could hear in my laugh that same squawk a tiny dog makes in moments of duress.”—Louise Erdrich

https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/her-body-and-other-parties

 

[Cronopio]

^^ That sounds interesting. I read a story by her about eggs. At least I think it was about eggs, at least in part.

Currently reading:

Gonna be sad when this story is over. The series has been great, borderline amazing at times.

 

[Einherjar86]

I’ve heard good things, but I’ll probably never get around to it. Too much else to read, and that series is loooooong.

 

[unknown]

I've burned through three Alastair Reynolds books this year: Pushing Ice, Diamond Dogs Turquoise Days, and House of Suns. Pushing Ice and House of Suns were both fucking fantastic. Currently halfway through Jeff VanderMeer's Borne...I'm interested to see how the movie adaptation of Annihilation goes. I trust Alex Garland with the material, but just from the trailer it looks like they're taking elements from the second book (maybe they're not expecting to make the sequel, which sucks because I greatly preferred the second book)

 

[unknown]

The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling. Small book, barely over 100 pages. Reasonably simplified synopsis of the difficulty in engaging in political discourse across political languages. Lots of references to authors I've either read (Haidt, Kahneman) or authors I am familiar with (Cowen, Sowell, Nisbet).

I would imagine the goal of a book like this would be to figure out a way through and how to get people to talk to each other. If so, what'd you think of the solutions presented? Is the book realistic/pragmatic?

 

[Satanstoenail]

I would imagine the goal of a book like this would be to figure out a way through and how to get people to talk to each other. If so, what'd you think of the solutions presented? Is the book realistic/pragmatic?

Just where do you think you've been, young man? We've been worried sick. Do you have any idea what time it is? Do you have any idea what year it is?

 

[unknown]

I've just been drinking beer and grading papers. Strikes and gutters. Peaks and valleys

 

[Satanstoenail]

I've just been drinking beer and grading papers. Strikes and gutters. Peaks and valleys

Fair enuff. Good to see you back sir.

 

[Einherjar86]

I've burned through three Alastair Reynolds books this year: Pushing Ice, Diamond Dogs Turquoise Days, and House of Suns. Pushing Ice and House of Suns were both fucking fantastic. Currently halfway through Jeff VanderMeer's Borne...I'm interested to see how the movie adaptation of Annihilation goes. I trust Alex Garland with the material, but just from the trailer it looks like they're taking elements from the second book (maybe they're not expecting to make the sequel, which sucks because I greatly preferred the second book)

I read somewhere that Garland said they were only working off the first book, but I'm not sure I really believe that. I personally liked the first book the most, but the entire trilogy was spectacular. One of the most exciting and chilling things I've read in a while.

I haven't gotten around to Borne yet, but of course I've heard amazing things. Looking forward to it.

 

[Dak]

I would imagine the goal of a book like this would be to figure out a way through and how to get people to talk to each other. If so, what'd you think of the solutions presented? Is the book realistic/pragmatic?

I mean, it's pragmatic and/or realistic in the sense that there's explicit recognition that there are at least three different general approaches ("Liberal", "Conservative", and "Libertarian") to politics, at least in the west anyway, and that these three approaches have different terms for similar things and place weight differently on different issues. The problem I have with the book is more meta, which is to say that it is most likely an exercise in preaching to the choir, eg most likely more libertarian leaning persons. I doubt staunch US Democrats or Republicans (that is to say, party hardliners and/or unthinking voters) are going to give two shits about understanding the differences or even themselves for that matter. It's not a lengthy read whatsoever, so getting people to read it wouldn't necessarily be difficulty due to density, but I wouldn't expect it to be helpful to the persons it would actually be potentially helpful for.

 

[unknown]

I noticed it was published by the Cato Institute, which would lend to the idea of preaching to the choir. Also, only people interested in having a conversation/recognizing a lack of discourse would likely be the ones to pick up said book. Hm