Books

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I really enjoyed Spec Ops: The Line and Apocalypse Now, so I wanted to give the book a go.

I am almost done with Vile Bodies by Adrian Thatcher.

For the upcoming episode of the podcast I have just finished Carrion Crow by Heather Parry. If you're a fan of Jane Eyre or The Yellow Wallpaper the similarities are unmissable - its a very good book but you'll need a fucking strong stomach. It's like if David Cronenberg had decided to write a Jane Austen novel.

Whilst I wait for our next group read, I'm re-reading one of the ever fantastic Shardlake novels

I just finished All That We See Or Seem by Ken Liu. I really enjoyed it, I love anything that guy writes. I picked up What If by Randall Monroe because I saw it at the library bookstore for a dollar after seeing it mentioned here.

I’m kind of in a crappy funk and I don’t know what to read next, this hasn’t happened in a while. Trying to decide between scifi romance Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik. Or some dark romance like Hooked by Emily McIntire. Or The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa. Or something more cozy like a found family thing to get me out of this funk.

I have no idea.

I have just started The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It's a bit more on the demanding side in the beginning, as it doesn't follow a linear story but loosely related episodes in a life very different to mine. But I think I'm in the flow now.

Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

Part of a recent habit of reading to my wife in the evening while she plays Luanti to relax before bed.

I'm nearing the end of Changes by Jim Butcher, and since I didn't really like the following book all that much I thought I'd take a break to finally read the Lord of the Rings series. I got a nice clothbound set of them to match The Hobbit I already had (though for some infuriating reason The Hobbit is half a centimetre taller) and I grabbed The Silmarillion this morning in the same style. I'll probably never get around to reading that one but my gf is way into these and she's wanted it for ages.

Edit, pic because they're really nice

I'm about halfway through the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. It has a vibe similar to the Kingkiller Chronicle but it has an actual conclusion to the story. So far it's been very entertaining with a story full of medieval fantasy court intrigue, a mystery of raiders turning their victims to sociopaths, and a light sprinkling of magic.

Still reading "Service model" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A little over 80% through, it's a great book, but I still don't have the time to read a lot. I'll probably finish it before the weekend. Next are some books by David Hewson, I've read some of his books about 20 years ago, so there's som catching up to do. If that doesn't work out I'll probably go for some of Charles Stross' SF works, I liked his laundry files books. So I guess I've got a to do pile right now, with little time.

Pynchon's new one, "Shadow Ticket."

Really enjoying it so far. Throwback to then crazy shenanigans of "Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow."

Currently reading Cathedral of the Drowned by Nathan Ballingrud, sequel to last year's Crypt of the Moon Spider that I liked so much.

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Finished The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (weird fantasy with body horror elements) | bingo: different continent, minority author, orange, x of y, LGBTQIA+, new

In a glamorously tattered city, a debt-ridden exterminator hunting a dangerous bug and an ailing perfumer in upper-class society each navigate a season of political and cultural revolution.

The setting of this reminded me vaguely of the Cemeteries of Amalo series: steampunk-ish but not (and plant- and bug-based in Vermin), low magic, large class divides, lavish fashion, and a focus on opera. Vermin is, however, much less soft and gentle: violent regime changes are practically expected every generation; character deaths on stage are real, not simulated; and poor people being exploited is par for the course. Even the perfume is laced with a reality-warping toxin that, in strong enough potencies, can remodel entire buildings or cause terrible mutations.

The blurb for this made me expect the bug extermination would be the main plot (with much more emphasis on horror), but that's actually just a small piece of a grand epic with two alternating story lines. I wish I had known better what I was diving into, and that it was less slow-paced, but I liked it.

Currently in a bit of a slump in my reading, bit currently listening to

• Debt: the first 5000 years by David Graeber
• The light fantastic by Sir Terry Pratchett
• Toll the hounds by Steven Erikson

Earth's Children, book 3 ! "The Mammoth Hunters". It's fantastic. Very grounded in paleontology, yet profoundly spiritual. A couple of seriously intriguing esoteric moments too (as with the first book).

I read What If some years ago, speculative science can be so satisfying. There's a second one now I believe

Just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora. Enjoyed it! On to the Expanse book 5.

Rumors of my demise - Evan Dando

Just finished Emberdark and started The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Only a few pages in, but I already like the writing style and the tone of the story.

Finished Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky - it was an enjoyable read with some interesting ideas about intelligence and freedom which it explored to their logical conclusions. The pacing was a little odd at times and it was more political than I was expecting given the synopsis but I'd recommend it.

I've just started Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Halfway through chapter 2 and I have no idea where it's going, but I'm gripped so far!

The Marriage of Roman Soldiers (13 B.C.-A.D. 235): Law and Family in the Imperial Army

Very fascinating!

I have just started Deathlands 139 and well, shit sure has hit the fan in the past few books. Ever since book 120 it has opened up this new sort of arc where a lot more of the books are following a general story going forward, most of them advancing said story with a couple of standalones in between that felt out of place.

Since that book the storyline has been getting a lot more dense and a lot more has been going on to try and track. There have been a lot more timelines both conflicting and converging and the last book, number 138, all hell has broken loose with massive revelations relating to main characters and their relations to one another. Time travel, creation of insane creatures, returning of some thought lost characters and deaths.

It has been great but I am also now coming to the end of the currently written books and with it getting so good recently I'm not sure if I'm ready for it to end and then having to wait for following installment's!