Aww, rats. Well, at least it didn’t drag like The Paper Magician. 
Indeed. I went from one extreme to the other!
New Stephen King released yesterday! The Outsider. I decided to purchase/continue with Dietland, but this will probably be up next.
This is my primary MO nowadays. And then it takes me forever to decide to pull the plug.
Just finished Imposter Syndrome the third in a trilogy (I think it’s a trilogy, there are a few loose ends at the end but it overall feels done). The basic setup–a secret quasigovernmental agency that tracks and negotiates with the supernatural–is done to death. But the trilogy’s shtick is that the POV protagonist has borderline personality disorder, and nearly everyone in the agency suffers from some debilitating mental illness or another.
It works pretty well, and it’s a pretty fun trilogy. Not super-deep, but if you’re looking for quick fun reads, you could do worse. (First book in the trilogy is Borderline).
And now that I’m a few days out from finishing Gnomon, I find that it’s sticking with me like nobody’s business. My earlier review? Change it to a strong recommend.
Sounds, based on the Goodreads blurb, a bit like The Rook with more schizophrenia and fewer vampires… I ought to check it out.
Just started Stephen King’s new novel The Outsider.
My thoughts are along the same lines!
Hmm…quick read, you say? Maybe I’ll fit *Borderline *in before I start the new King book.
That’s in my queue. I’m rereading his Dr. Sleep right now. I forgot what a good tale it is.
Finished Babel - 17 by Samuel Delaney. Brilliant–one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read.
Next up: a novella by Kage Baker called The Empress of Mars.
Yeah, it’s definitely got similarities to The Rook. I liked the Rook a lot better, am happy I own a copy to loan out–but Borderline and its sequels are fine light reading.
Kool, I will put it on my summer reading list.
Since people are reading that novel,
It repeatedly mentions puzzles, steganography, encryption, and hidden messages. So is there an actual encrypted message hidden in the chapter titles, or wherever?
Finished it! Highly recommended. An interesting account of engineering ingenuity overcoming long odds and repeated obstacles against a Gilded Age backdrop.
I’ve now begun an audiobook of Tom Clancy’s 1986 military technothriller Red Storm Rising, about a non-nuclear WWIII between the Soviet Union and NATO. It’s pretty good.
“Voices From Hell” - a collection of essays from people who have experienced or are currently experiencing solitary confinement.
The introduction alone opened my eyes. Everyone talks about waterboarding but this is legalized torture that’s been going on for decades.
Just finished Kage Baker’s novella “The Empress of Mars”, which I enjoyed.
Next up: Jar Jar Binks Must Die and Other Observations about Science Fiction Movies, by Daniel M. Kimmel.
I don’t remember seeing any messages hidden in chapter titles, but maybe there were. There were definitely clues as to what’s going on scattered throughout the book, and I think it’s one that would benefit hugely from a second reading. All the steganography business is foreshadowing, for sure.
I finished reading Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. I liked it better than Washington Square and much, much better than The Ambassadors. It was hardly unreadable at all!
The only thing I thought was missing was that I didn’t really get the feeling that Mr. Osmond was being cruel to his wife, even though the book assured me that it was the case. He just seemed to have some very mild objections. But otherwise I quite liked it.
Now* there’s* faint praise!
When it comes to Henry James, that is a five-star review.