What are you READING right now?

[Serendip]

Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls.

Tracing the story of grandmother/mother/author from Communist China forward. Beautifully illustrated and rich with historical information.

That sounds so interesting!

Let us know what you think of it.

I love a good graphic novel. I've just ordered a copy.

I actually said "wow" out loud when I finished it.
History of war, politics, immigration, intergenerational trauma, mental health..for something so personal yet complex, the author did a impressive job of laying it out.
Plus, I thought the illustrations were amazing.

[merula]

I just finished Bloom by Delilah Dawson. I think it would be good for fans of horror, but I am not, and I had forgotten that it was recommended by a horror fan since it had been on my libby holds for awhile. I was just reading along with a cozy cottagecore queer romance when it took a sudden turn and then I couldn't get to sleep for hours.

[BicycleB]

I’m in the middle of Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson. It’s near-future sci fi where upon death people’s brains are scanned and uploaded to a huge system of servers; the story is split between what happens to the real world when this kind of afterlife is a possibility and inside the digital world, where the dead instinctively/unconsciously reenact a kind of mishmosh of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian origin myths. Totally fascinating.

I've read a couple of his books; Seven Eves and Anathem.  Both are really thought-provoking.  I should look into more of his stuff.

Your description reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror called "San Junipero", where people would upload their consciousness online to continue life beyond death.  "Upload" on Amazon is another similar setting.

Looking forward to reading Seven Eves sometime, though I picked it up once and didn't get rolling at the time. I really loved Dodge in Hell, and also Anathem.

[Road42]

I’m in the middle of Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson. It’s near-future sci fi where upon death people’s brains are scanned and uploaded to a huge system of servers; the story is split between what happens to the real world when this kind of afterlife is a possibility and inside the digital world, where the dead instinctively/unconsciously reenact a kind of mishmosh of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian origin myths. Totally fascinating.

I've read a couple of his books; Seven Eves and Anathem.  Both are really thought-provoking.  I should look into more of his stuff.

Your description reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror called "San Junipero", where people would upload their consciousness online to continue life beyond death.  "Upload" on Amazon is another similar setting.

Looking forward to reading Seven Eves sometime, though I picked it up once and didn't get rolling at the time. I really loved Dodge in Hell, and also Anathem.

I loved the first two thirds of Dodge in Hell but now that I’ve finished it, I have no idea what to do with the bizarre last section. I was annoyed at how many fascinating plot/idea threads he just fully dropped. For my money, Seven Eves, Termination Shock, and The Diamond Age are way better, at least in terms of being novels.

Anyway, now I’m reading the new Louise Erdrich, The Mighty Red, that centers on a misbegotten wedding and chronicles the way it affects all the people around a small town. It’s very good, but for me doesn’t have the same heart-arresting power as the Night Watchman so far.

[Luke Warm]

Extinction by Douglas Preston. So far it's awful but easy mindless reading. I hope it gets better.

[SunnyDays]

I currently have 3 books on the go - New York by Edward Rutherfurd, The Slap by Christos Tsialkas, and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

I'm enjoying them all.

[Luke Warm]

Extinction by Douglas Preston. So far it's awful but easy mindless reading. I hope it gets better.

It was not good but the science was cool

[Luke Warm]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Some light reading.

Finally finished it. I enjoyed it. Lots of food for thought. Funny, I was reading it while sitting with my mom  while listening to the christian station on the radio.

[TempusFugit]

Just finished “A Supposedly Fun Thing that I will Never Do Again” a collection of essays by David Foster Wallace.  I think there are 5 essays and I enjoyed 3 of them so I call that a win. 

Now I’m reading “Airborne” by William F Buckley which is a retelling of a cross-Atlantic sailing trip he took with friends and family. 

Also re-reading, for about the tenth time (probably more really) The Lord of The Rings.  I first read these books starting with The Hobbit when I was maybe twelve and I was in the habit of re-reading them every couple of years. The last time I read them was in 2016, so not as frequently now to be sure.  I like to write the date that I finish reading a book inside the cover so that I can see when I read something. Doesn’t work with E-books! 

It pains me to consider that so many people will only ever know the story because of the films, and will never read the actual books, which are SO MUCH BETTER.  The films are visually wonderful and I enjoyed watching them, but the characters were sacrificed for the visuals and the action of the movies. 

[evme]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

[TempusFugit]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

I should read more of Robinson's work.   I really loved his Mars trilogy.   I don't know why I haven't read more of his stuff. 

[turketron]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

I should read more of Robinson's work.   I really loved his Mars trilogy.   I don't know why I haven't read more of his stuff.

I haven't read Ministry of the Future yet, but I really enjoyed Aurora. 2312 was also pretty good, I don't know if it's ever stated that it takes place in the same universe as the Mars trilogy but it definitely seems like a logical extension of the worldbuilding (ha!) in that series.

[FireLane]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

I read this book, and I was disappointed by it. I'll put my reason behind a spoiler tag.

The main character is a United Nations bureaucrat whose job is stopping climate change through finance, geoengineering and international diplomacy. There's lots of exposition and very little action, as is standard for a KSR novel. Near the end of the book, you find out...

Spoiler: show

...the whole time, the #2 guy at her agency has secretly been part of a radical ecoterrorist group that's fighting climate change by sabotaging polluters. We only find this out when he confesses it, and no further detail is given about his activities. I feel like the UN diplomat who's secretly an ecoterrorist was a much more interesting character. The book should have been about him!

[Luke Warm]

Just finished “A Supposedly Fun Thing that I will Never Do Again” a collection of essays by David Foster Wallace.  I think there are 5 essays and I enjoyed 3 of them so I call that a win. 

Now I’m reading “Airborne” by William F Buckley which is a retelling of a cross-Atlantic sailing trip he took with friends and family. 

Also re-reading, for about the tenth time (probably more really) The Lord of The Rings.  I first read these books starting with The Hobbit when I was maybe twelve and I was in the habit of re-reading them every couple of years. The last time I read them was in 2016, so not as frequently now to be sure.  I like to write the date that I finish reading a book inside the cover so that I can see when I read something. Doesn’t work with E-books! 

It pains me to consider that so many people will only ever know the story because of the films, and will never read the actual books, which are SO MUCH BETTER.  The films are visually wonderful and I enjoyed watching them, but the characters were sacrificed for the visuals and the action of the movies.

Have you read Consider the Lobster? I remember several of those essays by DFW being really good.

[mm1970]

I just finished "Cheap Land Colorado", that I bought in the little bookstore in Moab.  About San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado.  The weather, the people, living off grid, etc.

It was very good, and you could tell that the author (who ended up buying land there) really liked and respected the people, despite the political differences.

[evme]

I just finished "Cheap Land Colorado", that I bought in the little bookstore in Moab.  About San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado.  The weather, the people, living off grid, etc.

It was very good, and you could tell that the author (who ended up buying land there) really liked and respected the people, despite the political differences.

That sounds interesting. And I love that "little bookstore in Moab", Back of Beyond Books!

[mm1970]

I just finished "Cheap Land Colorado", that I bought in the little bookstore in Moab.  About San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado.  The weather, the people, living off grid, etc.

It was very good, and you could tell that the author (who ended up buying land there) really liked and respected the people, despite the political differences.

That sounds interesting. And I love that "little bookstore in Moab", Back of Beyond Books!

I buy books there every time I go to Moab, and I only use the bookmark I got there  now....

[PeteD01]

Just started reading this book.
First paragraph of the preface mentions Plato's dialogue Gorgias - that's precisely where a book like this should take off, so I'm going to read it.
I'll update once I'm done.

Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective
by Marcel Danesi
Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective shows how language influences mechanisms of cognition, perception, and belief, and by extension its power to manipulate thoughts and beliefs.

This exciting and original work is the first to apply cognitive linguistics to the analysis of political lies and conspiracy theories, both of which have flourished in the internet age and which many argue are threatening democracy. It unravels the verbal mechanisms that make these "different truths" so effective and proliferative, dissecting the verbal structures (metaphor, irony, connotative implications, etc.) of a variety of real-life cases concerning politicians, conspiracy theorists, and influencers. Marcel Danesi goes on to demonstrate how these linguistic structures "switch on" or "switch off" alternative mind worlds.

This book is essential reading for students of cognitive linguistics and will enrich the studies of any student or researcher in language and linguistics more broadly, as well as discourse analysis, rhetoric, or political science.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4G1YJCM/?coliid=IS2444LEOIFK9&colid=V9K5VUKEJIHS&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

[LennStar]

That sounds intersting. I assume it's only US examples?

[PeteD01]

That sounds intersting. I assume it's only US examples?

No, it is a very readable tour de force through history/philosophy but with emphasis on recent US events and personalities.

[LaineyAZ]

PeteD01,
Related to linguistics (but only in a casual sense), I've realized how important the name of major initiatives of our federal government can be.

E.g., apparently almost no Americans have ever heard of the Inflation Reduction Act even though it was a huge investment in the American economy and had almost immediate positive benefits across the country.  Republican congresspeople who didn't even vote for it were touting its projects in their area.

Would the election outcome have been different if the Act were titled something more catchy that would have stuck with the voters when it came time to vote?  As close as the election vote was, I really wonder.

[PeteD01]

Just started reading this book.
First paragraph of the preface mentions Plato's dialogue Gorgias - that's precisely where a book like this should take off, so I'm going to read it.
I'll update once I'm done.

Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective
by Marcel Danesi
Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective shows how language influences mechanisms of cognition, perception, and belief, and by extension its power to manipulate thoughts and beliefs.

This exciting and original work is the first to apply cognitive linguistics to the analysis of political lies and conspiracy theories, both of which have flourished in the internet age and which many argue are threatening democracy. It unravels the verbal mechanisms that make these "different truths" so effective and proliferative, dissecting the verbal structures (metaphor, irony, connotative implications, etc.) of a variety of real-life cases concerning politicians, conspiracy theorists, and influencers. Marcel Danesi goes on to demonstrate how these linguistic structures "switch on" or "switch off" alternative mind worlds.

This book is essential reading for students of cognitive linguistics and will enrich the studies of any student or researcher in language and linguistics more broadly, as well as discourse analysis, rhetoric, or political science.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4G1YJCM/?coliid=IS2444LEOIFK9&colid=V9K5VUKEJIHS&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Just finished the book and I must say that I've never seen the subject brought together in such a coherent and convincing way.

I'm familiar with the subject so my impression that it was an easy read might have to be taken with a grain of salt - but I do think that it is at least very accessible for anyone curious enough.

I think it could even work as an antidote for people who are about to lose contact with the literal plane.

In the times we are living, this book should be considered mandatory reading.

One of the most important takeaways is that we are looking at disordered thinking - like a dysfunctional logic module that has become unplugged from empirical evidence and is now exclusively self-referential within a web of metaphors.

It is not so much that we are not looking at the world in an exclusively non-metaphorical way, because we do all the time.
The crucial difference between someone affected with apophenic disease and one who is not is that there is deficient contact with the empirical world in the former whereas the latter maintains intermittent contact with empirical reality and is ready to course correct.
There are family resemblances with the thinking of the American transcendentalists and particularly the American pragmatist philosophical tradition and the concepts of cognitive linguistics as exposed in the book.

I highly recommend this book.

[PeteD01]

PeteD01,
Related to linguistics (but only in a casual sense), I've realized how important the name of major initiatives of our federal government can be.

E.g., apparently almost no Americans have ever heard of the Inflation Reduction Act even though it was a huge investment in the American economy and had almost immediate positive benefits across the country.  Republican congresspeople who didn't even vote for it were touting its projects in their area.

Would the election outcome have been different if the Act were titled something more catchy that would have stuck with the voters when it came time to vote?  As close as the election vote was, I really wonder.

There definitely is something suboptimal with communication in the Democratic party.

So I think it is not unreasonable that the outcome of the election might have been different with successful messaging.

[LennStar]

I highly recommend this book.

Nice to hear that. Unfortunately there is licensing :(

If I use the link I can see kindle edition starting from $16,10.
On Amazon.de it's 35,50€
And if I log in to Amazon.com it's $33,25 for me.

I would have paid the 15€ even for a kindle version, but not going to pay 35,50. And of course no chance to get it in a library here.

[Fru-Gal]

I've loved Ted Chiang for forever. Two authors to check in a note to self: Greg Egan and Stanislaw Lem.

[PeteD01]

Another recently published book that's probably worth reading.
Just started reading and I'll give an update soon:

Ricardo’s Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray
December 1, 2024
by Nat Dyer

From the workings of financial markets to our response to the ecological crisis, economic theory shapes the world. But where do these ideas come from?

Ricardo’s Dream tells the fascinating story of David Ricardo, Adam Smith’s only real rival as the ‘founder of economics’. The wealthiest stock trader of his day, Ricardo introduced the study of abstract models to economics. He also developed the theory of trade that underpinned globalization and hides, behind its mathematical facade, a history of power, empire, and slavery.

Brimming with fresh ideas and stories, Ricardo’s Dream shows how too many economists, from Ricardo’s day to our own, have turned away from observing the real world and led us astray.

https://www.amazon.com/Ricardos-Dream-Economists-Forgot-Astray/dp/1529225507

[FireLane]

Just started reading this book.
First paragraph of the preface mentions Plato's dialogue Gorgias - that's precisely where a book like this should take off, so I'm going to read it.
I'll update once I'm done.

Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective
by Marcel Danesi
Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective shows how language influences mechanisms of cognition, perception, and belief, and by extension its power to manipulate thoughts and beliefs.

This exciting and original work is the first to apply cognitive linguistics to the analysis of political lies and conspiracy theories, both of which have flourished in the internet age and which many argue are threatening democracy. It unravels the verbal mechanisms that make these "different truths" so effective and proliferative, dissecting the verbal structures (metaphor, irony, connotative implications, etc.) of a variety of real-life cases concerning politicians, conspiracy theorists, and influencers. Marcel Danesi goes on to demonstrate how these linguistic structures "switch on" or "switch off" alternative mind worlds.

This book is essential reading for students of cognitive linguistics and will enrich the studies of any student or researcher in language and linguistics more broadly, as well as discourse analysis, rhetoric, or political science.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4G1YJCM/?coliid=IS2444LEOIFK9&colid=V9K5VUKEJIHS&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This sounds like Naomi Klein's book Doppelganger, which is a U.S.-centric exploration of this problem.

It has a personal relevance to the author. Naomi Klein, a progressive political journalist, wrote it because people keep confusing her with Naomi Wolf, who's a far-off-the-deep-end conspiracy theorist. The book is about this, but it's also about what makes conspiracy theories so attractive to people in the first place.

[PeteD01]

Just started reading this book.
First paragraph of the preface mentions Plato's dialogue Gorgias - that's precisely where a book like this should take off, so I'm going to read it.
I'll update once I'm done.

Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective
by Marcel Danesi
Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective shows how language influences mechanisms of cognition, perception, and belief, and by extension its power to manipulate thoughts and beliefs.

This exciting and original work is the first to apply cognitive linguistics to the analysis of political lies and conspiracy theories, both of which have flourished in the internet age and which many argue are threatening democracy. It unravels the verbal mechanisms that make these "different truths" so effective and proliferative, dissecting the verbal structures (metaphor, irony, connotative implications, etc.) of a variety of real-life cases concerning politicians, conspiracy theorists, and influencers. Marcel Danesi goes on to demonstrate how these linguistic structures "switch on" or "switch off" alternative mind worlds.

This book is essential reading for students of cognitive linguistics and will enrich the studies of any student or researcher in language and linguistics more broadly, as well as discourse analysis, rhetoric, or political science.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4G1YJCM/?coliid=IS2444LEOIFK9&colid=V9K5VUKEJIHS&psc=0&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it

This sounds like Naomi Klein's book Doppelganger, which is a U.S.-centric exploration of this problem.

It has a personal relevance to the author. Naomi Klein, a progressive political journalist, wrote it because people keep confusing her with Naomi Wolf, who's a far-off-the-deep-end conspiracy theorist. The book is about this, but it's also about what makes conspiracy theories so attractive to people in the first place.

Haven´t read the book but reviews seem to indicate that Klein is working similar angles.

I want to repeat, the book is not about something new and never heard - its strength is that it likely is the first time that everything has been put together in a coherent and convincing way.

[Warlord1986]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

[GuitarStv]

I'm re-reading Terry Goodkind's 'Wizard's First Rule' which I remember enjoying at the end of highschool.  It's a trip.  On the re-read I'm picking up on a lot of themes cribbed from other (I'd argue maybe often better) books and movies.  At the same time, as a nice light read that you don't think about too much it holds up pretty well.  Fun fantasy world that isn't too overly Tolkien derived (no elves OR dwarves!) with decent characters and an interesting story.  I remember there being a surprise BDSMish section somewhere near the middle to end of the story, which will be interesting to re-read . . . as a teen I thought it was done reasonably tactfully.  We shall see.

Apparently it was made into a mostly mediocre TV show at some point which I never saw.

[SunnyDays]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

Funny, I was just thinking I should reread that book.  And The Iliad.

[Warlord1986]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

Funny, I was just thinking I should reread that book.  And The Iliad.

I don't have her version of The Iliad, but that might change. I'm really loving this. 10/10 do recommend.

[TempusFugit]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

Funny, I was just thinking I should reread that book.  And The Iliad.

There was a whole twitter storm recently about her translation.  A real nerd fight.  I guess the upshot is that her ‘translation’ isn’t true to the original work. As a purist, I’ll stick with the Fagles translations.

[FireLane]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

This is a genre-blender that's hard to summarize. Here's my best attempt: A science fantasy murder mystery about necromancer warrior nuns in space.

If that sounds awesome to you, you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed it, but the author chronically underexplains things. I didn't understand some parts of the plot right up until the end, and maybe not even then.

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

This is a genre-blender that's hard to summarize. Here's my best attempt: A science fantasy murder mystery about necromancer warrior nuns in space.

If that sounds awesome to you, you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed it, but the author chronically underexplains things. I didn't understand some parts of the plot right up until the end, and maybe not even then.

Glad it's not just me. I DNF it because I couldn't figure out what was going on most of the time.

[GuitarStv]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

This is a genre-blender that's hard to summarize. Here's my best attempt: A science fantasy murder mystery about necromancer warrior nuns in space.

If that sounds awesome to you, you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed it, but the author chronically underexplains things. I didn't understand some parts of the plot right up until the end, and maybe not even then.

Glad it's not just me. I DNF it because I couldn't figure out what was going on most of the time.

Necromancer Warrior Nuns in Space is a WAY better title for a book.

[LennStar]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

This is a genre-blender that's hard to summarize. Here's my best attempt: A science fantasy murder mystery about necromancer warrior nuns in space.

If that sounds awesome to you, you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed it, but the author chronically underexplains things. I didn't understand some parts of the plot right up until the end, and maybe not even then.

Glad it's not just me. I DNF it because I couldn't figure out what was going on most of the time.

Necromancer Warrior Nuns in Space is a WAY better title for a book.

Definitely. If I sae that in a book store, I would probably unable to walk out without the book.

[Road42]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

This is a genre-blender that's hard to summarize. Here's my best attempt: A science fantasy murder mystery about necromancer warrior nuns in space.

If that sounds awesome to you, you'll probably like this book. I enjoyed it, but the author chronically underexplains things. I didn't understand some parts of the plot right up until the end, and maybe not even then.

I loved the lunacy of it and the fact that the sequel is completely different - written in second person no less. Yes, hard to fully know what’s going on at any one time, but such a fun bonkers genre mashup!

[Road42]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

Funny, I was just thinking I should reread that book.  And The Iliad.

There was a whole twitter storm recently about her translation.  A real nerd fight.  I guess the upshot is that her ‘translation’ isn’t true to the original work. As a purist, I’ll stick with the Fagles translations.

Wilson’s translation is the first time I could actually imagine the Odyssey as a sung story. Fagles is fine, but I find very compelling the argument that to the original audience, the Odyssey wouldn’t have sounded like a stately, removed narrative with archaic locutions. Plus I got the sense that a lot of the Wilson pushback was of the “eww a girl touched my classics” variety.

[Tyson]

I read several translations of the Odyssey and the Illiad.  IMO, the Fagles was great for the Illiad and Wilson was the best at the Odyssey. 

[TempusFugit]

Some friends got me 'The Odyssey' by Homer, for Christmas. It's the new translation by Emily Wilson and I'm loving it. <3

Funny, I was just thinking I should reread that book.  And The Iliad.

There was a whole twitter storm recently about her translation.  A real nerd fight.  I guess the upshot is that her ‘translation’ isn’t true to the original work. As a purist, I’ll stick with the Fagles translations.

Wilson’s translation is the first time I could actually imagine the Odyssey as a sung story. Fagles is fine, but I find very compelling the argument that to the original audience, the Odyssey wouldn’t have sounded like a stately, removed narrative with archaic locutions. Plus I got the sense that a lot of the Wilson pushback was of the “eww a girl touched my classics” variety.

I admit that I found her choice to portray Achilles as an emo, love-struck vampire a questionable exercise in artistic expression. 

[Road42]

I think it’s hard to evaluate whose translation is the most “pure” because all translations are colored by unconscious bias. In the Odyssey, Wilson reconsiders the whole business with the servant women that the suitors rape and then Telemachus slaughters at Odysseus’ behest. Wilson restores the fact that they were slaves and thus had little ability to say no to their suitors, adding back the horror of that mass murder. She also adds back in Penelope’s more masculine qualities, which are in the original but have been elided by male translators interested in making her sound like the feminine ideal.

Anyway. To get back to the thread, for people interested in other new translations of the classics, the Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley is incredible.

I’m now reading Allison Espach’s The Wedding People, which is a moderately compelling piece of middle-brow fiction about a woman who finds herself after divorce by accidentally crashing a fancy Newport wedding. I… like it ok, I guess.

I also just finished The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, which is about Jewish and Black communities in 1930s Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and is a really lovely, warm, well-told, and genuinely moving novel. Highly recommend.

[evme]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

I read this book, and I was disappointed by it. I'll put my reason behind a spoiler tag.

The main character is a United Nations bureaucrat whose job is stopping climate change through finance, geoengineering and international diplomacy. There's lots of exposition and very little action, as is standard for a KSR novel. Near the end of the book, you find out...

Spoiler: show

...the whole time, the #2 guy at her agency has secretly been part of a radical ecoterrorist group that's fighting climate change by sabotaging polluters. We only find this out when he confesses it, and no further detail is given about his activities. I feel like the UN diplomat who's secretly an ecoterrorist was a much more interesting character. The book should have been about him!

I agree with your assessment in the spoiler. The other character's perspective would have been much more interesting. Perhaps a sequel could be written from that character's POV.

[PeteD01]

Another recently published book that's probably worth reading.
Just started reading and I'll give an update soon:

Ricardo’s Dream: How Economists Forgot the Real World and Led Us Astray
December 1, 2024
by Nat Dyer

From the workings of financial markets to our response to the ecological crisis, economic theory shapes the world. But where do these ideas come from?

Ricardo’s Dream tells the fascinating story of David Ricardo, Adam Smith’s only real rival as the ‘founder of economics’. The wealthiest stock trader of his day, Ricardo introduced the study of abstract models to economics. He also developed the theory of trade that underpinned globalization and hides, behind its mathematical facade, a history of power, empire, and slavery.

Brimming with fresh ideas and stories, Ricardo’s Dream shows how too many economists, from Ricardo’s day to our own, have turned away from observing the real world and led us astray.

https://www.amazon.com/Ricardos-Dream-Economists-Forgot-Astray/dp/1529225507

Just about to finish the book and I highly recommend it without reservations.

If one wishes to develop some insight into the history of the ideology of deductive economics and how it got us to where we are by providing the ideological smokescreen that hides the strategies of predatory wealth accumulation, there are worse places to start.

(Next book I'm going to read is Unspoken Politics: Implicit Attitudes and Political Thinking (Cambridge Studies in Public Opinion and Political Psychology) and I will let you know what I think. Together, these three books (Politics, Lies and Conspiracy Theories: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective being the third) should serve one well to develop a solid perspective on what we are currently living through and should also provide a decent understanding of what needs to be addressed going forward.)

[Tyson]

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
By Laurence Sterne

This book was wild.  If Don Quixote was a satire of the Spanish Romance novel, then Shandy is a satire of the British biographical novel.  Very witty and quite wry.  Jokes all over the place.  What surprised me is how many of the jokes actually landed.  It's a very funny book. 



The Magic Mountain
By Thomas Mann

The first half of the book explores the theme of love as actual sickness.  Set in a sanatorium in the Alps, the whole place is like a giant spider web, ensnaring people that have some type of long term illness.  The second half of the book posits the patients as stand-ins for the various countries of Europe and diagnoses what's ailing the continent.  Ending was a bit abrupt but overall a great book.


The WEIRDest People in the World
By Joseph Henrich

I picked this up on Malcat's rec in the Protestant Work Ethic thread here on MMM.  It's a great book if you want to see in detail how social structures changed from the hunter gatherer tribes all the way down through to today's much more impersonal and individualist cultures.  I loved it.  My only complaint is it's about 50% too long (mostly in the first half of the book, it's way too padded).  If you feel a bit bogged down in the first half, keep pushing through because it's absolutely worth it.

[stoaX]

Non-fiction books that are "50% padded", I e. too long, are far to common.  I've read many 400 page books that could've been just as informative in only 200 pages. 

[stoaX]

"The Ministry of the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's very good but also making me anxious because of how bleak things are in this (seemingly) realistic near future. I did read that it is overall optimistic about confronting climate change, so I plan to finish it.

I read this book, and I was disappointed by it. I'll put my reason behind a spoiler tag.

The main character is a United Nations bureaucrat whose job is stopping climate change through finance, geoengineering and international diplomacy. There's lots of exposition and very little action, as is standard for a KSR novel. Near the end of the book, you find out...

Spoiler: show

...the whole time, the #2 guy at her agency has secretly been part of a radical ecoterrorist group that's fighting climate change by sabotaging polluters. We only find this out when he confesses it, and no further detail is given about his activities. I feel like the UN diplomat who's secretly an ecoterrorist was a much more interesting character. The book should have been about him!

I agree with your assessment in the spoiler. The other character's perspective would have been much more interesting. Perhaps a sequel could be written from that character's POV.

Definitely not my favorite KSR book. Oddly enough, "Antarctica" lingers in my memory as my favorite. It must be 20+ years since I read it.

[Luke Warm]

I'm trying to get into The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. It's supposed to be great but I'm not sucked in yet.

[Kris]

I'm trying to get into The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. It's supposed to be great but I'm not sucked in yet.

I couldn’t get into it, either. Which was a shame, because it is beautifully written. I didn’t finish it and returned it to the library.

[Luke Warm]

I'm trying to get into The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. It's supposed to be great but I'm not sucked in yet.

I couldn’t get into it, either. Which was a shame, because it is beautifully written. I didn’t finish it and returned it to the library.

The writing doesn't seem special to me. It just seems like regular pulp fiction. Not horrible just meh. I'll give it a few more chapters.