What are you reading now?

[Copper]

@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:

Finished
Very enjoyable - amazing life.

I read that a few years ago. His narration of the early days in the desert was fun, wasn't it?

God, yeah. His life seemed to be like Forest Gump - meeting everyone of import in the mid 20th century.

The only person that could get away with the ice cube thing, during the hearings on the Challenger disaster, is a Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Even Neil Armstrong couldn't have done that experiment in that setting.

[George K]

I love Reynolds' work. His "Revelation Space" series - at least 5 books and novellas is a fantastic universe with multiple intertwined stories.

However, not all his books fall into that universe (actually most don't) and have nothing to do with each other.

So I started this today.

Like all of his books, the prose is dense, (When's the last time you heard "cinquefoil" used in a sci-fi book?) the seeds of the story are sewn and you don't know what will come of anything told in the first few pages.

[taiwan_girl]

Quite a depressing book. The fiction story of a young British expat who goes to Thailand, falls in love with a bar girl, and.......

Written in first person from a variety of viewpoints. Set in Bangkok, but even if you have never been to BKK, that is okay.

Good book, but as I say before, a fairly cynical look at relationships and cultural differences, though I think that there is a fair amount of truth in the writing, especially as it relates to life of the bar girls and their interactions with expats.

(I think you can get the book as a free download.)

[Aqua Letifer]

Heavy dope by C.S. Lewis. I picked this up mostly just because it contains The Nameless Isle. It's in alliterative verse, which, badass.

Here's how it starts:

In a spring season I sailed away
Early at evening of an April night.
Master mariner of the men was I,
Eighteen in all. And every day
We had weather at will. White-topped the seas
Rolled, and the rigging rang like music
While fast and fair the unfettered wind
Followed. Sometimes fine-sprinkling rain
Over our ship scudding sparkled for a moment
And was gone in a glance; then gleaming white
Of cloud-castles was unclosed, and the blue
Of bottomless heaven, over the blowing waves
Blessed us returning.

--"cloud-castles" is a kenning, which I appreciate. It's a construction well-known in Anglo-Saxon languages, and were often used in conjunction with this form. Ol' C.S. is keepin' it OG here.

[Catseye3]

Not me, but I'm sending this along for those who like to read about music and musicians and music history.

Amazon: "From the beloved host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others—published in association with NPR Music.

"NPR’s renowned music authority Bob Boilen posed this question to some of today’s best-loved musical legends and rising stars. In Your Song Changed My Life, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), St. Vincent, Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Cat Power, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Jenny Lewis, Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia, Sleater-Kinney), Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Trey Anastasio (Phish), Jackson Browne, Valerie June, Philip Glass, James Blake, and other artists reflect on pivotal moments that inspired their work.

"A diverse collection of personal experiences, both ordinary and extraordinary, Your Song Changed My Life illustrates the ways in which music is revived, restored, and revolutionized. It is also a testament to the power of music in our lives, and an inspiration for future artists and music lovers."

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0124MOQRY?_bbid=19778944&tag=bookbubemail1-20

[bachophile]

Nemesis games. (Expanse #5)

I had a hiatus after #4 and now returned to the series.

[George K]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

Finally finished it the other day.

What a ride!

Totally unrelated to Reynolds' other works and sets up a totally different "universe." Set millions of years (yes, millions) in the future, where humanity has evolved into many related "species," it deals with an ambush, homicide, and the relationship of several races of sentient beings, not all of them human.

Starts out a bit slow, and you really don't understand what's going on until about ⅓ of the book. The first half is, as I said slow. But, once the piece fall into place, it really takes off.

Very enjoyable science fiction.

Oh, and he uses big words too....

He has a novella with the main protagonists in it. I'm queuing that up next - just for the sake of completeness.

[kluurs]

Speaking of suns...

Just read one that's been on my shelf for a while...

[George K]

As I've mentioned, I've become enthralled with Alastair Reynolds' books.

He is an astrophysicist who said, "Maybe I can make a career of writing science fiction."

He wrote three books in the "Revelation Space" universe - a trilogy that spawned some other short stories and other novels not in the series, but in the same "universe."

So much science fiction is popcorn. Reynolds' works are steak.

You gotta pay attention. He uses weird words. His stories have foreshadowing that, if you're NOT paying attention, you'll miss.

So, last week I started the addition to the Revelation Space trilogy - "Inhibitor Phase." He said it could be a standalone book, but, nah, you gotta know what the hell is going on to reap the benefits.

Of all Reynolds' books, this is one of the easiest reads. Very linear (for the most part) and a classic adventure tale.

If you like science fiction, check out Reynolds' works. I recommend, if you want to get into the RS stories, starting with the short story/novella "The Great Wall of Mars." All the other tales hinge on what's explained here.

[Jolly]

Combine UDT and the first Force Recon, and you have the SEALS.

[George K]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

As I've mentioned, I've become enthralled with Alastair Reynolds' books.

Loved this book. It's probably the most accessible of Reynold's "Revelation Space" universe. It could be a standalone, but it relies on the preceding three books, albeit not in a way that you NEED to know the backstory. Enough is explained to make it easy to follow.

Continuing my dive into the Revelation Space universe, I spent an hour this morning reading this: a short story that sort of wraps up where the universe is headed, while leaving enough threads there for future expansion.

[George K]

Someone, was it @LuFins-Dad ?, asked if I've read the latest of the "Bobiverse" books my Taylor. I hadn't, and though it's not as thought-provoking as Reynolds' stuff, it's a fun read. This is, like all of Taylor's stuff, Popcorn. About 10% through today, and exactly what I'd expect.

It's good, but for popcorn, I prefer John Scalzi.

[LuFins Dad]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

Someone, was it @LuFins-Dad ?, asked if I've read the latest of the "Bobiverse" books my Taylor. I hadn't, and though it's not as thought-provoking as Reynolds' stuff, it's a fun read. This is, like all of Taylor's stuff, Popcorn. About 10% through today, and exactly what I'd expect.

It's good, but for popcorn, I prefer John Scalzi.

I listen on Audible and hadn’t realized they switched writers. That explains a bit, though…

I just finished the prologue of Leviathan Falls. Holy **#%

[George K]

@lufins-dad said in What are you reading now?:

I just finished the prologue of Leviathan Falls. Holy **#%

As I said, I'm going to reserve the last three books for a binge. Should be a fun ride, amirite?

[LuFins Dad]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

@lufins-dad said in What are you reading now?:

I just finished the prologue of Leviathan Falls. Holy **#%

As I said, I'm going to reserve the last three books for a binge. Should be a fun ride, amirite?

Did you read 7-8 at all?

[George K]

@lufins-dad said in What are you reading now?:

Did you read 7-8 at all?

I read 7, but it was SO long ago that I don't remember much. For the sake of continuity, it'll be a fun ride to do all three.

I frequently do the same thing with TV shows as a new season comes out - binge the preceding season to get into it.

I'm retired, and I've got the time!

[George K]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

"Bobiverse" books my Taylor.

OK, I'm about 350 (out of 800) pages into this. Very VERY popcorn.

But, I noticed something with this book that I hadn't noticed with the others.

Remember, the premise is that that there are dozens, hundreds, or even more "clones" of "Bob" - the protagonist of the first book. Each of them is a computer-saved individual, identical in most ways to the source. Yet, each copy has a slightly different personality. Some call themselves, "Bob." Others call themselves "Bill" or "Will (Riker)". Slightly different personalities, each.

A major sub theme of this book is that, now 20 generations out, the "copies" of "Bob" are not copies - they have individual personalities, goals and ethics.

But, I digress...

So, in this book, although it's all first-person, each chapter is told by a different "Bob." And...the timelines are not necessarily consecutive.

"Reading" the book as opposed to "Listening" to the book is a totally different (and better) experience, because, although each chapter identifies the "Bob" whose perspective it is, and the date, this is the kind of stuff that gets lost, very easily, in an audio version.

But, the popcorn's been good this weekend.

[kluurs]

I'm still in the middle of this one - but an excellent book discussing a wide range of issue related to some of what is happening in the world today with tribalism and the challenges of effective communication. This is on my recommended pile. It has the benefit of not being written by a journalist but rather a qualified researcher.

[George K]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

Someone, was it @LuFins-Dad ?, asked if I've read the latest of the "Bobiverse" books by Taylor. I hadn't, and though it's not as thought-provoking as Reynolds' stuff, it's a fun read. This is, like all of Taylor's stuff, Popcorn. About 10% through today, and exactly what I'd expect.

Finished this AM. A totally fun read. A good story which ends well, but leaves the door open for future adventures.

So, today I started my re-read of "Persepolis Rising." Probably going to binge through this and the final two books.

[George K]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

So, today I started my re-read of "Persepolis Rising."

On re-read, it was...okay.

It's very much a "let's set this up for the final chapter(s) of the story" type of book. It's very much like the 4th book of the series. Somewhat filled with, well, "filler" material which could have been easily omitted for the sake of the story.

But, when you gotta write a book, you gotta write a book.

So, I read the first half, and skimmed through the second.

Now, the penultimate book, at least so far, is a HELL of a ride. I'm only about ⅓ of the way through, and thoroughly enjoying. I hope to finish it this week.