What ya reading? Version 425108

[troutman]

“Not Even the Dead,” a novel by Juan Gómez Bárcena, is a transhistorical epic with echoes of Cormac McCarthy and Joseph Conrad. Very much like “Heart of Darkness” in the beginning - later it becomes a more metaphorical look at the progress of Mexico. A dense book with long paragraphs and little dialogue, but very impressive.

“American War” is the first novel by the Egyptian-Canadian journalist Omar El Akkad. It is set in the United States in the near future, ravaged by climate change and disease, in which the Second Civil War has broken out over the use of fossil fuels.

“The Buried Giant” is a fantasy novel by the Nobel Prize–winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro, published in March 2015. Halfway through this book, and could be my favorite book read this year.

[Slava]

I read the Buried Giant maybe in 2015 or 2016. I still think about that book because I liked it so much! I might re-read that one.

[kermitology]

I'm a little over half way through Ben Macintyre's The Spy and the Traitor - the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB political officer who spied for MI6 for decades and was exfiltrated from the USSR when his identity was revealed to Directorate K.

It is.. astoundingly good. Like, from the very start I've been so engaged.

[CliffFletcher]

Just finished Ian Toll’s Twilight of the Gods, which caps off his Pacific War trilogy. I didn’t have much more than a superficial understanding of WW2 in the Pacific before I started Toll’s history two years ago. But after three 800+ page books, I figure I’m up to speed.

The books don’t cover the entire theatre - no China or Burma, and only superficial treatment of New Guinea. So it’s pretty much a history of the war of the American navy and marines in the Pacific. But it touches on every aspect of that war, from carrier operations, all the island hopping, the evolution of submarine strategy, pilot training, life on Pearl Harbour, the bombing campaign against Japan, the political rivalry of the army vs navy, even how generals and admirals employed public relations to gain clout.

And quite readable, for all that - Toll isn’t some dry military historian. Good companion to Dan Carlin’s ‘Supernova in the East’ podcast series from a few years ago.

Originally Posted by Slava

I read the Buried Giant maybe in 2015 or 2016. I still think about that book because I liked it so much! I might re-read that one.

It’s been on my ‘to read’ list for a few years, along with Klara.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I'm a little over half way through Ben Macintyre's The Spy and the Traitor - the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB political officer who spied for MI6 for decades and was exfiltrated from the USSR when his identity was revealed to Directorate K.

It is.. astoundingly good. Like, from the very start I've been so engaged.

Listened to the audiobook during covid. It was excellent. Pretty interesting how Gordievsky wasn’t some scumbag spy turned by women, money, or blackmail. He was a true believer who lost his faith when he saw how great life was in Denmark.

I’ve read a couple of Macintyre’s other books since, and while they’re good, they don’t match the Spy and the Traitor.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I came into this thread to see if anyone had recommended this series. I'm about a quarter way into Red Rising and I'm kicking myself for not starting it sooner.

I have been waiting for this day so long, literally opened this thread hoping someone was reading it... AH.

I would kill to read the first part of Golden Son again for the first time. I envy and pity you.

Please don't hesitate to DM me for reactive commentary on any part you come across. I am great at not spoiling.

[Monahammer]

I am currently midway through Cibola Burn, book 4 of the expanse series.

- I like parts of the book way more than the show, but I some of the changes they made for TV definitely make the story flow better.
- Corey's writing style produces some pretty deep characters... except that once he grows them they then enter this odd static phase I am finding. It's like they grow into a slightly better version of themselves and show progress and then just become stagnant and stay the same.
- Corey also seems to have an obsession with violence as the ultimate answer to basically any set of problems... lol

All that aside, it has been a good book series, but I think I will take a break after this one and come back for 5-7. It is starting to wear on me.

[Monahammer]

Also, for Reynolds and the Inhibitor series, I loved Chasm City, Revelation space was ok, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap were good to great, and Inhibitor Phase was an absolute chore to read. IMO he probably should have let that universe be, because Inhibitor phase made me like the rest of them much less.

[CaptainCrunch]

Right now I'm reading the Star Wars Legend EU book series Rogue Squadron, which I'd never read before and is really really well written and fun.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Also, for Reynolds and the Inhibitor series, I loved Chasm City, Revelation space was ok, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap were good to great, and Inhibitor Phase was an absolute chore to read. IMO he probably should have let that universe be, because Inhibitor phase made me like the rest of them much less.

I should revisit Chasm City. Reynolds’ concepts and world-building are super cool. But the hard-boiled tough-guy dialogue didn’t feel like it fit the uber-advanced sci-fi setting at all. I like his short stories, though.

[direwolf]

I'm currently reading a book about the history of the Lollapalooza tour: how it all came together in 1990/91, with lots of behind the scenes stuff and fun anecdotes from all of the bands involved. The book basically covers the first 7 years of the festival, with most of the focus on the original '91 tour and how it really exploded with the '92 version. Super enjoyable read, especially if you grew up during that era.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I should revisit Chasm City. Reynolds’ concepts and world-building are super cool. But the hard-boiled tough-guy dialogue didn’t feel like it fit the uber-advanced sci-fi setting at all. I like his short stories, though.

His best is still House of Suns, IMO.

[WideReceiver]

Just started Canada's Main Street: The Epic Story of the Trans-Canada Highway by Craig Baird from Stony Plain. He’s the top expert, writer and podcaster on Canadian history.

[CETokyo]

I am reading Carl Sagan, Demon Haunted World.
"Carl Sagan “I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...

The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”

― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark 1995"

[peter12]

Thy Neighbour's Wife - Gay Talese's "hands-on" investigation of the Sexual Revolution in America. It's a great book.