That time of the year again… when we’d all like to be able to legally shoot out the sound systems in graocery stores. Not even December officially and I’m already done with Christmas carols!
It’s been a stressful year, but I’ve had fun in between, spent time with friends, gone on walks with my dog and watched movies with my kid. (Godzilla minus one is soooooooooooooooooo good!) I hope everyone here has had a good year for the most part and I wish that next year will be even better.
Reading:
Kindle - System Collapse by Martha Wells Murderbot!
Print - Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, if fantasy and Native Americans are your jam, check her out!
Audible- Under the Whispering Door by T. J. Klune How can he be so damned funny and still make me cry so hard?!
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, who started these threads 'way back in the Stone Age of 2005. Consequently, when he suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away in January 2013, we decided to rename this thread in his honor and to keep his memory, if not his ghost, alive.
I’m a few chapters into this latest Murderbot. I love the Audible versions because the narrator so captures Murderbot’s bored yet sometimes anxiously self-critical tone so well.
I just finished The Hexologists, by Josiah Bancroft. It wasn’t as much to my taste as his previous books, being more of a mystery than a quest. However, Mr. Bancroft writes so beautifully it still rated four stars.
I just finished reading Mark Leibovich’s Thank you for your Servitude, his take on the Last Days of Trump’s presidency on my e-reader. A quick and fun (and depressing) read.
I’m still working my way through Dan Simmon’s doorstop of a book, Ilium a sort-of science fiction “take” on the Iliad I’ve read plenty of Simmons’ books before, but missed this almost 20-year-old one.
On audio I’m re-listening to Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears, and it’s eerie to do so during the current Hamas-Israeli war, since it opens with Palestinians opposing Israel with a Peaceful demonstration, precisely the opposite of what has occurred. I think Clancy was absurdly naive to suggest such a thing. But what if it had happened instead?
Gotta find another book to read. Maybe Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars . She’s the Guest of Honor at Arisia, which is just over a month away, and I like to read things by the GoH in advance of the convention.
If I’m not mistaken (and I can’t be arsed to google it right now, so I very well may be) it happened several times without much result.
Clancy was probably naive in thinking it would have any impact at all.
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill Candice Millard
The remarkable true story of young Winstin Churchill during the Boer War. Desperate for military glory, he signed on as a correspondent, went to the front, was in an intense battle and taken prisoner. He then escaped and had to make his way across a hostile territory to freedom.
Remarkable and well-written history.
The Uranium Club: Unearthing the Lost Relics of the Nazi Nuclear Program Miriam E Hiebert
The history of the German nuclear effort during World War 2, and the American attempts to stop it. Fortunately, the Germans never really got far with building a reactor or bomb. Still makes for interesting reading.
Finished listening to City of the Dead by Jonathan Kellerman. An intriguing plot that gave way to a wholly unbelievable and unsatisfying ending. Not his best work.
I’ve only made a little progress into This House by James Graham, a somewhat satirical play about the ins and outs of the closely-divided British House of Commons in the Seventies, but am more than halfway done with the audiobook of Little, Crazy Children by James Renner, true crime about a shocking 1990 murder in the leafy Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. Both okay so far.
Boy this thread is great for finding good reads. I’ve added three things to my TBR in the last, like, two days.
Finished Chaos to Calm: 9 Ways Busy Parents Can Break Free of Overwhelm by Jenna Hermans.
I almost quit reading multiple times, because the advice was so obvious, but I am glad I finished. For me it was more needing the reminders to practice the things I already know. And if you are truly starting from square one as a parent, it is a comprehensive overview of good things to do. The two big things I got out of it were finally breaking down and keeping lists (I know), and discussing 2024 goals with my husband, which miraculously got him to go do a self-care thing for the first time since our son was born.
3/5 stars.
Started Breathe: You Are Alive by Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s an examination of various Buddhist sutras about breathing practice. I’m gearing up for Bodhi Day on December 8th.
Started Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. Tonally, it reminds me of Pratchett’s Small Gods, which was one of his more thoughtful works. Humorous in parts, but imbued with a sense of gravitas. The storytelling so far is very rich. Normally romance novels just do the bare minimum set-up to get the leads together, but this book is well-crafted from the beginning.
That’s the one you don’t want to try to visit if you like living, right?
I finished Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse and wow that ramped up to an explosive conclusion. My only complaint is that it’s a cliffhanger ending. (I’ve asked for book 2 for Christmas) Check it out if you like, fantasy, Ancestral Pueblo People (they used to be called the Anasazi) and crows… lots of crows in this one.
I read Light From Uncommon Stars early this year. It is really weird, but I really enjoyed it. I had to stop reading routinely to go listen to various violin pieces on youtube.
I just finished Happiness Falls, which I liked. Now I’m in the middle of the new Murderbot.
I’m not going to continue with The Reformatory. I’m sad, because it’s no doubt a good book, but it’s based on true events at The Dozier School, and I’m not up for that kind of misery.
Started today on Hemlock Island, by Kelley Armstrong, a novel about a group of people I don’t give a damn about, fixin’ to get their asses killed on an isolated island. Ah, that’s better.
I received a copy of Rachel Maddow’s Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism over the weekend, and have been reading voraciously (when I can between other activities). For one thing, it’s the first book I’ve seen that actually gives you a history and picture of Huey Long. Everything else I’ve read seems to assume you know everything, and is usually biased one way or the other. Maddow might be biased, as well, but at least she gives you enough for context. She also gives portraits of many others on the fascist side in the US that I’d never heard of before. Fascinating read.