What are you reading now?

[Horace]

Swafford's bio of Brahms is one of my favorite books of all time.

[Renauda]

@Horace

I agree his Brahms bio was very well researched and written and for that reason I was interested in his Beethoven biography.

[George K]

Started this today. It's the first of a pair of books. We'll see how it goes. Kind of slow to get moving, but it's putting pieces into place that will come into play later (I hope).

The Commonwealth Saga is a series of science fiction novels by British science fiction writer Peter F. Hamilton. This saga consists of the novels Pandora's Star (2004) and Judas Unchained (2005). Hamilton has also written several books set in the same literary universe. Misspent Youth (2002) takes place 340 years before the events of Pandora's Star. The Void Trilogy, consisting of The Dreaming Void (2008), The Temporal Void (2009), and The Evolutionary Void (2010), takes place 1,200 years after the events of Judas Unchained; several of the main characters from Judas Unchained and Pandora's Star also appear in the Void trilogy.

[bachophile]

Pretty decent spy yarn, realistic tradecraft, blah blah written by a CIA analyst.

[bachophile]

Finished the above. Good spy tale. .

Now to one of my favorite genres, true maritime sea yarns. This has just been published and getting good reviews.

[taiwan_girl]

@bachophile That looks interesting. I was looking at the book and saw that the Arthur wrote "Lost City of Z". I believe I read that a long time ago.

[taiwan_girl]

Reading (actually listening to the audio book) called ""Say Nothing"

Really really good. Uses the kidnapping and killing of a Irish widow mother to explore the whole "Troubles", which were/are the "civil war" between the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.

I thought it was a very balanced book, does not take sides and shows that both sides did some very very bad thing. I did not know really much about this whole conflict, so very educational as well as a good read.

Highly recommended.

[Horace]

This guy is reasonably likely to win a nobel someday for this work. Beautifully written book. The science aspect is about an algae with a gene which turns light into electrical pulses. His lab figured out a way to implant this gene into mouse brains, into very specific locations, which allows them to shine laser light into the brain through the eyes, and control the mouse in specific ways, causing both feelings and actions. It's a novel and useful way to study the human brain. I was introduced to this guy through podcasts, which can be found on youtube, for anybody who might be curious.

[George K]

The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth.[6] Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending 144 stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of the Silo, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing storyline of the series focuses on the mystery behind the Silo and its secrets. Shift encompasses books six through eight and comprises a prequel to the series. Book nine, Dust, pulls the storylines together.

Several studies frame the story within the dystopian genre since Howey includes several of the main features of that type of literature, i.e., a totalitarian rule, a rebellion of the main characters, or a planned separation between human areas and wild natural spaces.

4.5 stars out of 38,000 reviews.

Apple TV+ just started this as a series. I thought I'd give it a read before diving into the series. I'm only a bit into it, but it's a fun read.

That is if dystopian sci-fi is your idea of "fun."

[bachophile]

From one sea yarn to another

I must have been a sailor in another lifetime

[Jolly]

Latest edition of an old friend...

[LuFins Dad]

Had an Audible credit to burn and stumbled upon

Meh, it’s okay, but it feels like Taylor can only write 50 slightly different versions of the same character. It works kind of well for Bobiverse not so much for a full ensemble.

[Horace]

This should be required listening for everybody on the planet. It's a good deep dive into human tribalism, especially as it relates to politics. It touches on a few of my own favorite points, including the disgust reaction being the most dangerous and galvanizing polarizing force, and how both-sides-are-equalizing is just another vacuous form of bias. I oughta write a book someday. Too bad they require research.

The author is a legit non-hater politically (as many people are, though they are underrepresented in online political discussion of course). I want to read tribalist Ezra Klein's attempt at a similar book, Why We're Polarized, to see if an indoctrinated person doing their level best to think about this stuff, is capable of coherence.

The thing about the ideas in this book, which makes them non-starters for wider understanding, is that they don't make people feel better about themselves. They'd be amazing for society and our politics if people understood them, but as individuals, there's not much advantage to understanding this stuff. Except maybe peace of mind, if you started out as a hater, and need to course correct.

[Aqua Letifer]

This one was fun. Basically your straightup Connelly yarn, but no Bosch. Aside from it being a different character with a different past, a big difference is that Bosch makes a lot of trouble for himself whereas with Ballard it's a mix of shit she signs up for, and other stuff that's thrust upon her.

[taiwan_girl]

@bachophile said in What are you reading now?:

From one sea yarn to another

I must have been a sailor in another lifetime

I really liked this book. i thought it was very descriptive and made me feel like I was there. (Kind of an eew description of the toilet facilities on board. LOL)

[bachophile]

Really unbelievable story. Psychopaths existed also in the 17th century.

[Rainman]

It's sitting on my table, my next book can't wait! I hope I'll be able to identify the psychopath and not just superimpose myself on the character thinking that's normal.

[bachophile]

It’s a very detailed history and u can get hung up on the Dutch names. But fascinating.

Now my next book,

[George K]

@George-K said in What are you reading now?:

The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth.[6] Humanity clings to survival in the Silo, a subterranean city extending 144 stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of the Silo, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing storyline of the series focuses on the mystery behind the Silo and its secrets. Shift encompasses books six through eight and comprises a prequel to the series. Book nine, Dust, pulls the storylines together.

(I'm going slowly)

This is, IMO, one of those books that does better as a TV series. The concept is utterly fascinating, but after about ¼ of the book, the concept wears a bit thin. The characters are a bit two-dimensional, and there's a lot, and I mean a lot, of pointless adventure that doesn't propel the storyline.

I may pick up the 2nd book of the series (which is actually a prequel) just to suss out the backstory of how the silos came to be, etc. However, I'm not all that sure I will.

That said, I'm ashamed to say that I've never read this, and I'm queuing it up next.

[George K]