Reading Cold Days by Jim Butcher, the 14th book in Dresden Files series.
Another super busy week, so pretty much still at the same place as last week.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
Dark gathering: Volume 1 (manga)
How are you liking it so far?
Enjoying it ☺️
Just finished American Sirens, the story of the first paramedics in the US. Everyone should read this book. It should be made into a movie, ala Hidden Figures. It’s frustrating and fascinating and well written. You will be amazed at what they used to do before CPR was invented in the 60s.
Interesting, will look it up.
Thanks for the recommendation.
sounds fascinating, I’ll add this to my TBR📚
I picked up The Aeronaut’s Windlass again. It’s by Jim Butcher, who I have now learned also wrote the Dresden Files after reading this post! It’s a fun, cool read.
There’s almost two stories happening alongside each other. One about the cool, veteran ship captain trying to fix up his airship after the opening scene. The other about a group of young people almost out of the guards academy. I think I like all of them.
I really like the worldbuilding. Something happened to the surface of the Earth (I presume) and now humanity lives in a few giant spires, growing mana crystals to power airships to fly between them. On top of being a sucker for flying sailing ships (thanks Treasure Planet), I like how there isn’t really one exposition dump at any point about how the tech works, just context clues about why the current tech being discussed is relevant.
There are also people that talk to cats. It’s a little weird, but I like the cats enough to not be put off by it.
I love his writing, but I am afraid to start another unfinished series by Butcher. Maybe in a few years, if he keeps releasing books regularly.
Cosmos by Carl Sagan. Wonderfully optimistic, we failed him.
Still listening to Words of Radiance… it’s so long! Thanksgiving travel is providing several hours worth of listening time and I’m still only 3/5ths through it. My Libby loan is gonna run out on Sunday and I’m honestly not sure I’m gonna make it. I have and read a physical copy of The Way of Kings and while I rather like the narrators now that I’m used to them, I’m wondering if I’m just gonna have to continue with physical copies because I don’t do Audible and I can’t manage to get through a whole book in the three weeks or whatever that Libby gives me.
I love those books, what do you think of the story so far?
If you don’t do Audible because of Amazon, have you considered Libro.fm? The app isn’t quite on par and the library is smaller, but the company is a lot better, and Sanderson’s works are in there.
I’m enjoying it! I keep having to remind myself that the characters are pretty young because sometimes I picture them older and then they go and do something completely stupid (Kaladin, I’m looking at you right now) but it makes sense if you remember that they are either teenagers or just barely not teens.
I’m a cheapskate so I’m making do with Libby and occasionally also my actual library. If I really like a book, then I’ll consider purchasing a physical copy. I actually prefer reading physical books over audio, but I have so little time and so many other things I want to do that I had basically stopped reading entirely for a long time, and I was frustrated by that. About a year ago I decided that I was just going to force myself to make audiobooks work because I spend a lot of time in the car. Sometimes there isn’t an audio version, so I’ll check out the ebook version from Libby and have it on my phone, and it’s a really nice alternative to doomscrolling when I’m waiting in line or at the doctor’s office or something.
Also listening through Words of Radiance! Knew I’d never complete a rental through Libby so I went straight for a purchase on Libro. So it goes!
The Widow by John Grisham
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223736225-we-the-people only started but so far so good
I’m on my way through Revelation Space, current listening to Redemption Ark. It’s a great series for my daily commute!
Priory of the Orange Tree
The first paragraph hits hard, the first chapter hits again, and it just keeps going. It’s an epic fantasy like LOTR but with the fluff stripped away. Every single printed word of this book feels important and necessary to tell the story, and all the fantasy intrigue beats are there, but fresh with a unique setting and zero unnatural exposition.
This past week I finished reading “Transgender Marxism” by Jules Joanne Gleeson. I also read “The Abolition of Work” by Bob Black.
Here because of Enshittification by Cory Doctorow. Moving on to “This non-violent stuff’ll get you killed” by Charles E. Cobb Jr.
How did you like Enshittification?
Reads like an extended infodump, good analysis throughout, although I do critique some turns of phrase preferred by the author (eg. calling non-internet users “Normies”).
As much as the author tries backs away from it in the conclusion, it reads as a critique of late stage capitalism as a whole, unsurprisingly.
I highly recommend.
Thanks for the review!
I’m reading You Will Never See Me, the latest Jake Hinkson book. It’s a masterclass in noir.
Currently the sexual politics of meat by Carol Adams and its a good blending of feminist and vegan theory and their intersections definitely recommend also a few chapters into American War by Omar El Akkad which is starting decently but not far enough in to have a strong opinion about a us civil war in 2074 over fossil fuels.
Son of A Liche by J Zachary Pike. It’s the second book in the Dark Profit Saga. A friend of mine had recommended I read the first book (Orconomics) for years, and I finally got around to it. I’m enjoying the series so far, but I thought it was a standalone novel and was looking for a fun one-off read, so I probably wouldn’t have started it if I knew it was a series. The series satirizes fantasy tropes in the context of an excessively capitalist society built around a “hero-for-hire” industry. It’s got very tongue in cheek humor, and I think if you enjoy a lot of the more recent DnD media (Vox Machina and the like), you’d appreciate it.
Currently getting perilously close to the end of Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer (the fourth and final book in his Southern Reach series).
I’m enjoying it, but it’s a trip. Every 100 pages or so my wife will ask how the book’s going, and I’ll respond “er, it’s gotten stranger…”.
