Summer here in the American West, it is dry, dry, dry, in fact, it is so dry my city has stopped ticketing dead lawns and started encouraging alternative landscaping. 
So far not as hot as the last few years, but since I don’t really have to come out until evening (No I’m not a vampire) (probably), that might just be a misapprehension on my part.
Currently I am reading:
On Kindle Lost in Amber by Maz Maddox, the 4th in her Relic series about fossil hunting Dino shifters.
On Audible: Network Effect by Martha Wells, the 4th Murderbot book. So far I am really enjoying this.
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 read 80 pages of Go Hunt Me this morning. Eighty pages of not very much happening. I counted at least three times when someone needed to tell the main character something really important, but got interrupted and never came back to it. Ugh, no.
My library has really been stingy with me lately, so I’m scraping the bottom of the TBR pile. Hopefully next week will be better.
About two-thirds done with Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony P. Tully, which focuses on the Japanese side of things in the key WWII carrier battle. Good stuff.
Still reading Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 ed. by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, a pretty good collection of ST:TOS short stories. The best so far: “Snake Pit!” by Connie Faddis, in which Nurse Christine Chapel gets the chance to show her true heroism.
Travels with George by Nathaniel Philbrick, in which the author retraces the routes of Washington’s trips around the early republic, contrasting what the first President found with what, and how, we are as a country today. Pretty interesting so far.
I’m also rereading the sf novel Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, one of my favorites of his, with my son. Originally published in 1953 and with a revised first chapter Clarke wrote in 1989, it still holds up well. All-powerful aliens show up and end war everywhere… but (of course!) there’s a catch.
Supertall: How the world’s tallest buildings are reshaping our cities and our lives Stefan Al
In 1998 there were four buildings in the world taller than 984 feet (or 300 meters if you prefer that weird system invented in France and used in a few other countries). Now there are more than 100, with new ones being built every year. This interesting book explores the technology behind these buildings and the social challenges that they present.
It’s full of fascinating factoids:
The largest timber building is in Norway and is 280 feet tall (ok, fine, 85.3 meters)
During a building boom between 2011 and 2014, China used more concrete than was used in the U.S. during the entire 20th century
Hong Kong averages 1 mall per square mile (I have no idea)
Highly recommended
PBS’s Nova had a good special on supertall skyscrapers a few years back; the key takeaway for me was that there’s really no practical upper limit on how tall they can now be built. If you’re willing to spend the money and take the terrorism risk, the sky is… well, you know.
Just finished West with Giraffes, and now I have a good book hangover, not wanting to start another which cannot possibly be as wonderful.
Finished Binge Times: Inside Hollywood’s Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix, by Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski, which is okay.
Now I’m reading a YA mystery called Extreme Blindside by Leslea Wahl.
In The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Denis Green, Anthony Boucher, and Ken Greenwald, at one point there is an English robin’s egg which is bright blue. In Great Britain, robins lay white eggs speckled with brown.
Have you looked at them all from back then?
Finished Extreme Blindside by Leslea Wahl, which was okay.
Now I’m reading Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems by Nikki Grimes.
Finished The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, by Toby Wilkinson. A very good overview of ancient Egypt from the unification of the country into a whole by King Narmer c. 2950 BC to the death of Cleopatra and absorption of the country into the Roman Empire in 30 BC. I’ve read quite a bit about the ancient world but not so much about Egypt in particular, so this filled a void.
Have already started and am almost finished with To Have and Have Not, by Ernest Hemingway.
Finished Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems by Nikki Grimes, of which the best was “Zero Balance”.
Now I’m reading a book about superheroes versus monsters called All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault, by James Alan Gardner.
Sinished Christopher Moore’s Razzmatazz. A typical moore excursion – weird , risque, and hilarious.
Now I’m reading The Hidden History of Lake Winnipesaukee by Glenn A. Knoblock that I picked up at an author event on the shore of Lake Winnepesaukee, from Knoblock himself (who autographed it). a fun, quick read.
On audio, I finished up Full Force and Effect, ostensibly by Tom Clancy, but really by Mark Greaney, and am now reading Dark Vector, ostensibly by Clive Cussler but really by Graham Brown, an Oregon files novel. These guys write and publish more after they’re dead than I ever manage. Both books were read by the ubiquitous Scott Brick, who does a great job and keeps a straight face (s far as I can tell) no matter how absurd the material gets.
Started this morning on a novel by Kiersten White called Hide. It’s about a hide-and-seek competition which (of course!) turns deadly. I wasn’t expecting much from this one, but the writing is decent so far and I see the author has written quite a few other books, so hopefully it pans out!
Finished * The Wandering Womb: A Cultural History of Outrageous Beliefs About Women* by Lana Thompson for the second time. I started it back in May and kinda wandered away myself 
Just started listening to The Law Of Innocence by Michael Connelly. Another Lincoln Lawyer thriller which also features Harry Bosch.
Finished All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault, by James Alan Gardner, which was a lot of fun.
Now I’m reading Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family, by Madhushree Ghosh.
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think Jennifer Ackerman
A high-level look at recent research on the varied behaviors of birds. Generally well-written and interesting. My quibble is that she didn’t go into enough detail on some of the research.
I recently finished The Other Woman by Sandie Jones, which was an enjoyable, albeit predictable, thriller. I’m currently about 1/3 of the way through Educated by Tara Westover. The gist of her story is that she was raised without school, without doctors, by very conservative parents (particularly the father). I was raised by conservative parents who homeschooled my younger sister, and I, too, was raised without doctors or medicine. My story is certainly different from hers in many respects, but it’s still a perspective I don’t get to read from terribly often, so that’s fun.