What are you READING right now?

[TempusFugit]

Catcher in the Rye for me as a young person: “HC is punk rock!”  For me as an older person: “HC is probably going through manic episode and I hope he gets the help he needs.”  Younger me was more fun. .  .

Separately, currently wrapping up ‘Adams’ by McCollough (cuz I liked ‘Truman’ by the same author), and book two of the ‘Sun Eater’ heptalogy by Ruocchio (popcorn sci-fi derivative of Dune and the Name of the Wind). Recently finished up ‘All the Light We Cannot See’ which was sweet and gutting.  Am starting ‘The Tomb of Dragons’ by Addison, book three of the Cemeteries of Amalo series.

I’ve read the McCollough Adams bio, quite good.   I went through a McCollough phase a few years ago and read The Great Bridge (fascinating), The Wright Brothers (amazing story), The Greater Journey (interesting) and I have Truman on the shelf but have not gotten to it.  One day.

[LaineyAZ]

Finished "How to Build a Boat" by Elaine Feeney.  Fiction, short-listed for the Booker prize.

Everyone in my book club loved the book except me.  I've realized that, for me, even if the writing is good, if I don't like the main characters then it becomes a slog to finish reading it. 
Am I the only one?

[SunnyDays]

Almost done Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore.  Funny but also makes one think about the meaning, and ultimate purpose of life.

[merula]

Just finished The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel, and it was amazing. There was a ton I hadn't known about Curie's history, and I liked the focus on the other women she supported along the way.

I also really enjoyed the footnotes indicating the currently-accepted figures for values she calculated (atomic weights, half-lives) to drive home how close her findings were.

[desertadapted]

Inspired by a recent post by @TempusFugit I just reread ‘On the Road.’ What a difference a middle age makes.  While the language is beautiful, Neal Cassady (Dean) comes across as such a monster it’s distracting.  Those cats had no discernable empathy, and I’m saddened that it became a bible for a movement.

Finished  ‘Demon Copperhead’ by Kingsolver.  What an amazing book. I’m grateful for having read it.  As close to perfect as any I’ve read for some long time.

Currently finishing up ‘The Wager’ and am now obsessed with scurvy.  I mean, I like Vitamin C as much as the next person, but dayum!  I didn’t know I was interested in pre-Revolutionary British naval customs, but it turns out I am.  And the book is super short. 

About 2/3 through ‘American Lion’ about President Jackson.  After reading bios by the likes of McCollough and Kearns Goodwin and Chernow, it feels a much lesser book.  But I wanted to read something about Jackson because of all the parallels that have been drawn with the current guy.

[gatortator]

Picked my loan of “James” by Perceival Everett from the library today. Was on the waitlist for 5 months for this one, so excited to start it.

Up next then  is “My name is Emilia del Valle” by Isabel Allende which I also picked today and then “The Adventures of Amina al-Sarafi” by Shannon Chakraborty, which I already have on loan until June 1st.

I post mostly on the 50 books thread but I need some extra motivation this month, so posting here to help keep myself accountable.

[FireLane]

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

Super-high-concept sci-fi, short but really good. Two agents from rival future civilizations, both trying to alter history to erase the other, exchange a series of letters across time and space. First they taunt each other, then they become friends, then they fall in love.

[desertadapted]

‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m not big on epistolary novels, but I loved that one so much I read it twice.  A great experience both times. 

I have a fantasy that we will go back to writing letters as a small rebellion against technological alienation.  But they’ll never be letters like those in ‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m glad there are others on this forum who read it.

[Kris]

‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m not big on epistolary novels, but I loved that one so much I read it twice.  A great experience both times. 

I have a fantasy that we will go back to writing letters as a small rebellion against technological alienation.  But they’ll never be letters like those in ‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m glad there are others on this forum who read it.

This book is on my hold list at the library. I'm excited to read it.

[TempusFugit]

‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m not big on epistolary novels, but I loved that one so much I read it twice.  A great experience both times. 

I have a fantasy that we will go back to writing letters as a small rebellion against technological alienation.  But they’ll never be letters like those in ‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m glad there are others on this forum who read it.

I never finished it.  I think I got about 70% and I just abandoned it.  I dunno, it just never pulled me in.  I know others enjoy it immensely. 

[Sandi_k]

Re-reading Ancillary Justice.

[BicycleB]

Just finished The Tainted Cup, by Robert Bennett Jackson.

Liked it a lot - intrigue, layers, interesting world, drama, the full deal. Almost as good as City of Stairs.

[BicycleB]

Re-reading Ancillary Justice.

Oh, that was fantastic! Two thumbs up!

[Road42]

‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m not big on epistolary novels, but I loved that one so much I read it twice.  A great experience both times. 

I have a fantasy that we will go back to writing letters as a small rebellion against technological alienation.  But they’ll never be letters like those in ‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m glad there are others on this forum who read it.

I never finished it.  I think I got about 70% and I just abandoned it.  I dunno, it just never pulled me in.  I know others enjoy it immensely.

I also couldn’t get into it, even though it seemingly has all things I like - epistolary novel, sci fi, etc.

[Road42]

Re-reading Ancillary Justice.

Oh, that was fantastic! Two thumbs up!

Agreed! The whole series is amazing.

I’m in the middle of Master and Commander. One of my absolute favorite movies, but good lord what a boring book! Infinite turn of the 19th century maritime minutiae (so much jargon that it is almost hilariously impenetrable at points), but no plot to speak of - just many unconnected events that do little to shed light on character or build narrative tension. I’m all the more impressed that Peter Weir was able to make such a gripping movie out of it.

[gatortator]

‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m not big on epistolary novels, but I loved that one so much I read it twice.  A great experience both times. 

I have a fantasy that we will go back to writing letters as a small rebellion against technological alienation.  But they’ll never be letters like those in ‘This is How You Lose the Time War.’  I’m glad there are others on this forum who read it.

I never finished it.  I think I got about 70% and I just abandoned it.  I dunno, it just never pulled me in.  I know others enjoy it immensely.

I also couldn’t get into it, even though it seemingly has all things I like - epistolary novel, sci fi, etc.

I think this writing style makes readers either love the book or DNF it, with very little in between. I stopped reading after chapter 4.

DNF: This Is How You Lose the Time War.  I was just not in the headspace to handle the symbolism and double meanings in this book.  Maybe later I will try again.

[desertadapted]

There are a lot of nice things to say about the ‘Ancillary Justice/Imperial Radch’ series, but I’m not up to it (other than to say I will never forget how hard it was to picture a character in my head without the gender specified, which I found super interesting).  I find that what tickles me most thinking about the series years later, having read some and listened to others in the series, is how neat it sounds when the narrator repeatedly pronounces Anaander Mianaai.  Like, it was distractingly cool. This is all a long way of saying that the books are also worth listening to.  The narration has an arch, off-putting quality that adds to the alienness of the world Leckie created.

[Serendip]

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
-- a strange combo of Russian literature with fantasy but also compelling story-telling and would be a great read for deep winter if you like those two genre

[Road42]

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
-- a strange combo of Russian literature with fantasy but also compelling story-telling and would be a great read for deep winter if you like those two genre

I feel like that is a whole subgenre! I loved Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Deathless by Cathrynne Valente - both mix historical fiction/allegory with Russian folklore. Will add Bear and Nightingale to my list.

[Raenia]

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
-- a strange combo of Russian literature with fantasy but also compelling story-telling and would be a great read for deep winter if you like those two genre

I feel like that is a whole subgenre! I loved Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Deathless by Cathrynne Valente - both mix historical fiction/allegory with Russian folklore. Will add Bear and Nightingale to my list.

I really liked Deathless and The Bear and the Nightingale! Spinning Silver is on my list to get to sometime.

[Tyson]

I'm finally getting around to finishing the last 2 books in the 5 book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  I read the first 3 books in high school and now just read the last 2 thirty five years later.  I guess better late than never! 


So Long and Thanks for all the Fish
We get to see Arthur fall in love and it's utterly charming.


Mostly Harmless

I think Adam's writing actually gets better as it goes along.  I laughed out loud several times during Mostly Harmless while I really only smiled or grinned during So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.  Several running gags in Mostly Harmless are quite brilliant. 

[GuitarStv]

There's never a bad time to read Douglas Adams.

[desertadapted]

The risk is that if you read Douglas Adams at the wrong time, you might become so distracted that you miss the ground. And then you’ll have a lot of explaining to do . . .

[Morning Glory]

The risk is that if you read Douglas Adams at the wrong time, you might become so distracted that you miss the ground. And then you’ll have a lot of explaining to do . . .

Lol. When I was 14 or 15 I broke up with my first boyfriend and we were both unsure about how to talk to each other after that so I kept his Hitchhiker's Guide and he kept my Interview with the Vampire. I hung onto it for years and finally got rid of it when another friend who was moving gave me a complete set. I think it was a good trade.

[Luke Warm]

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Native American vampire? Interesting so far.

[desertadapted]

The whole Winternight Trilogy, of which Bear and Nightingale is the first book, is solid.  And since folks have brought in Novik, ‘Uprooted’ is my favorite of hers. While we’re in the folklore-inspired space, and leaving the Slavs behind for a sec, I recently read the ‘Thornhedge’ novella by Kingfisher. It won the Hugo, and deservedly so.  Brief and sweet, and of a kind with Arden and Novik.

[turketron]

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Native American vampire? Interesting so far.

I'm looking forward to this one, I have a hold on it at the library but it's gonna be a looong wait since it's pretty popular. Also waiting for The Only Good Indians to come in, I've heard great things about both!

[Road42]

Just started This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud. Just 40 pages in and already so enraptured by the beautiful writing. It’s semi-autobiographical about her family, who were pied-noirs (French people in Algeria when it was a colony).

[mm1970]

I'm reading "The City of Girls" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It's fun so far.

Just finished "Sharpe's Honor" by Bernard Cornwell.

[BicycleB]

I'm reading "The City of Girls" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It's fun so far.

Just finished "Sharpe's Honor" by Bernard Cornwell.

I've never read the Sharpe books, but enjoyed a couple seasons of the show through the internet. What did you think of the book?

[mm1970]

I'm reading "The City of Girls" by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It's fun so far.

Just finished "Sharpe's Honor" by Bernard Cornwell.

I've never read the Sharpe books, but enjoyed a couple seasons of the show through the internet. What did you think of the book?

I really like the Sharpe's books. I found a bunch of them (like, 10-15) at a used book sale here, and have been working my way through them.  There are gaps in my shelf, but I don't care so much.

The detail on the battles and the life of a soldier are pretty amazing.  I've read books set in Portugal, Spain, and India.  And they are FUNNY.  Pretty graphic, but also funny.

[Just_Me]

I just finished The Other Olympians by Michael Waters. Subtitle: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports

This book takes you back to the early 1900s and follows the story of trans men who competed in women's international sports as women. You get to see the shitbaggery intersection of Nazi germany & fascism, the International Olympic Committee, and how a bunch of men coopted an international womens league under the IOC.

Then made up a bunch of rules about sex testing to keep "men" out of women's sports with no sound basis (Could women shave and compete? Could "masculine" looking women compete? What about the XY combination that women are born with but present no genetic advantage?), which leads us to the current debate of women's sports, sex/gender, and trans rights. Allegedly, nobody remembers how sex testing started, but this book chronicled it pretty well.

They do not omit discussing all the harm done to both the trans men and cis women...

[LaineyAZ]

That's very interesting, JJ.  I had no idea this issue existed so many decades ago.

[Just_Me]

That's very interesting, JJ.  I had no idea this issue existed so many decades ago.

Right?! This particular theme, sex testing in olympic sports with women / trans rights, started about 100 years ago.

They didn't go too deep into why it's so complicated from a medical perspective. They focused mostly on the narrative of the IOC, Women's league, and a few athletes.

[Just_Me]

I'm currently reading a City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought this Through?.

It's why settling Mars is a bad idea. They come out from the beginning and say all of the things say we should are published by space advocates, kind of like when breweries talk about how much alcohol is OK to drink. I'm only partly into the book.

[desertadapted]

I’m really enjoying ‘Just Kids’ by Patti Smith, about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.  I’m also liking ‘The Devil in the White City.’ 

‘The Starless Sea’ was a lesser offering by the author of ‘The Night Circus,’ and not one I’m glad to have read.  Finished ‘Somewhere Beyond the Sea,’ the sequel to ‘The House on the Cerulean Sea.’  A cover squib about the ‘The House’ said reading it was like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket, which is as apt a description as any.  The sequel is just as sweet as the first, but a bit too heavy handed.   

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

[TempusFugit]

I read Devil in the white City last year.  Very interesting. The only building that remains from the big world’s fair is now the museum of science and industry , which is a really cool place. 

[PeteD01]

I'm halfway through - highly recommended if somewhat dense:

The WEIRDest People in the World
How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
Author: Joseph Henrich

In The WEIRDest People in the World, Joseph Henrich draws on cutting-edge research in anthropology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary biology to explore these questions and more. He illuminates the origins and evolution of family structures, marriage, and religion, and the profound impact these cultural transformations had on human psychology. Mapping these shifts through ancient history and late antiquity, Henrich reveals that the most fundamental institutions of kinship and marriage changed dramatically under pressure from the Roman Catholic Church. It was these changes that gave rise to the WEIRD psychology that would coevolve with impersonal markets, occupational specialization, and free competition—laying the foundation for the modern world.


https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374710453/theweirdestpeopleintheworld/

[Just_Me]

I'm currently reading a City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought this Through?.

It's why settling Mars is a bad idea. They come out from the beginning and say all of the things say we should are published by space advocates, kind of like when breweries talk about how much alcohol is OK to drink. I'm only partly into the book.

I'm about 2/3 through the book and barely tolerating it. I'm reading it because a friend wants to talk it through. If this weren't the case, I would have put it down shortly after the first chapter. Their humor detracts from the narrative and makes it very difficult for me to read.

[TempusFugit]

Finished Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein last week.  I picked it up after reading in the authors notes at the end of The Martian (which I also read again) that Andy Weir sort of got the inspiration from the Heinlein novel.  Not sure how that maps, but it was a fun read nonetheless. 

Now I’m bouncing back and forth with The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (Tolkien).  I’ve never been able to get through the Silmarillion before, so maybe 3rd time is the charm!  Actually what I’m doing now is just approaching these as reference books and reading bits and pieces. 

[GuitarStv]

Finished Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein last week.  I picked it up after reading in the authors notes at the end of The Martian (which I also read again) that Andy Weir sort of got the inspiration from the Heinlein novel.  Not sure how that maps, but it was a fun read nonetheless. 

Now I’m bouncing back and forth with The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (Tolkien).  I’ve never been able to get through the Silmarillion before, so maybe 3rd time is the charm!  Actually what I’m doing now is just approaching these as reference books and reading bits and pieces.

The Silmarillion is a very hard book to read.

[TempusFugit]

Finished Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein last week.  I picked it up after reading in the authors notes at the end of The Martian (which I also read again) that Andy Weir sort of got the inspiration from the Heinlein novel.  Not sure how that maps, but it was a fun read nonetheless. 

Now I’m bouncing back and forth with The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (Tolkien).  I’ve never been able to get through the Silmarillion before, so maybe 3rd time is the charm!  Actually what I’m doing now is just approaching these as reference books and reading bits and pieces.

The Silmarillion is a very hard book to read.

You ain’t kidding.  What makes it (I think, we’ll see!) a little more approachable is that I know a lot more now of the Tolkien “lengendarium” through watching lots of YouTube videos that go through all these stories and characters that he created.  It really is fascinating and just incredibly impressive the depth and breadth of the world he imagined, so much more than just the stuff we know from LOTR. 

[GuitarStv]

Finished Tunnel in the Sky by Heinlein last week.  I picked it up after reading in the authors notes at the end of The Martian (which I also read again) that Andy Weir sort of got the inspiration from the Heinlein novel.  Not sure how that maps, but it was a fun read nonetheless. 

Now I’m bouncing back and forth with The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales (Tolkien).  I’ve never been able to get through the Silmarillion before, so maybe 3rd time is the charm!  Actually what I’m doing now is just approaching these as reference books and reading bits and pieces.

The Silmarillion is a very hard book to read.

You ain’t kidding.  What makes it (I think, we’ll see!) a little more approachable is that I know a lot more now of the Tolkien “lengendarium” through watching lots of YouTube videos that go through all these stories and characters that he created.  It really is fascinating and just incredibly impressive the depth and breadth of the world he imagined, so much more than just the stuff we know from LOTR.

It always kinda had the feel of a literary appendix crossed with the bible when I was attempting to stay awake through it.

[desertadapted]

For me, the secret to ‘The Silmarillion’ was to listen to it instead of read it.  The narrator (at least on the version from about 20 years ago) was top notch. I was on a long road trip and it made all the difference.  Maybe that’s too Kobayashi Maru, but it worked.

Separately, thumbs up for ‘The Devil in the White City.’  It interweaves the story of the Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer and keeps interest with both threads.  Currently enjoying ‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ which won the Pulitzer Price in 2016.  I’m not into surfing, but it’s a solid coming of age story. 

[TempusFugit]

For me, the secret to ‘The Silmarillion’ was to listen to it instead of read it.  The narrator (at least on the version from about 20 years ago) was top notch. I was on a long road trip and it made all the difference.  Maybe that’s too Kobayashi Maru, but it worked.

Separately, thumbs up for ‘The Devil in the White City.’  It interweaves the story of the Chicago World’s Fair and a serial killer and keeps interest with both threads.  Currently enjoying ‘Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life,’ which won the Pulitzer Price in 2016.  I’m not into surfing, but it’s a solid coming of age story.

Did you look up pictures of the big Ferris Wheel?  It really was an age of wonders as the industrial age so dramatically and quickly changed the world.  And I cannot imagine that we could do today what they did then, so quickly. 

[desertadapted]

@TempusFugit - The pictures were amazing. I read it on a kindle so they weren’t as clear as could be – but I then checked them out on the internet.  And I loved the slow Ferris reveal that the author contrived.  What Chicago accomplished in such a short time was magnificent.  And without wanting to derail this thread with politics, I will hold firm to my hope that we can once again find that bravado, that spirit to make great and beautiful things.

[Luke Warm]

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Native American vampire? Interesting so far.

I didn't finish it. I ran out of time on it and it was getting tedious so I turned it back in to the library.
I am now reading The Only Good Indians. So far so good. SGJ is a good writer.

[Just_Me]

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Native American vampire? Interesting so far.

I didn't finish it. I ran out of time on it and it was getting tedious so I turned it back in to the library.
I am now reading The Only Good Indians. So far so good. SGJ is a good writer.

I have zero problem dropping a book that I'm reading for myself, so I'm all for giving up on it. I'll only power through if somebody wants to really dive into it with me, but that's a rare exception I make sometimes, but not always, for nonfiction books. Fiction I rarely like, so it has to be really, really good for me to read. 

[Tyson]

Metamorphoses by Ovid
I went in thinking that really this is just 'cleanup reading' after having read Homer and Virgil.  But surprisingly I liked Ovid better than either of them.  Probably because the format was a series of short stories (myths) that Ovid keeps short, punchy and then moves on to the next story.  The writing/language/poetry is just as good as Homer and Virgil which I guess makes Ovid my favorite ancient epic poet.  Surprising!


The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Heinrich
I'm very mixed on this one.  On the positive side, it's probably the best explanation I've run across (since Sapiens by Harari), for an accurate evolutionary history of human beings.  It's understanding of cultural knowledge and it's role in human success is actually quite brilliant. 

On the down side, the writing is pretty bad.  Heinrich is one of those people who write by the 3 rules of "Tell them what you're about to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you just told them".  It gets pretty tedious pretty damn quick.  The book is still worth reading but man this guy could really use a better editor. 

[desertadapted]

Ack!  I was wrong.  ‘Barbarian Days: a Surfing Life’ is not a coming-of-age story.  So. Much. Surfing.  It’s all in the title you say?  Still more surfing.  So many descriptions of different kinds of waves.  Look, it won the Pulitzer, I figured it couldn’t have THAT much surfing detail. Great gobs of detail.  Also flirts with Edward Abbey grumpiness (I was hip to the beautiful thing before all those darned people showed up).  I’m glad for taking the chance, but not for the experience.

Taking a recommendation from @merula, I’m going to get started on ‘The Elements of Marie Curie.’  There’d better not be any surfing.