Books

Wind and Truth baby. Approaching the halfway point. It's paced excellently. It's impressive how he makes every scene have gravity without weighing the story down.

Still reading Altered Traits physically. It's more biographical than I prefer, but it did inspire me to make an effort at meditating. All the (valid) short term/small sample stuff aside, it's impressive how much a minute of simple breathing exercises at the beginning and on break of my workday changed how I felt at the end of the day yesterday. I was thinking of exploring meditation through yoga, but with more consideration I think finding the right kata from a martial art would suit me better.

How are you liking The Well of Ascension on reread?

I finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Overall a solid book with some good commentary on modern poverty, foster care, and the opioid crisis. The first half stuck too close to the plot points of David Copperfield, but thankfully it stood more on its own in the second half. The ending felt a bit rushed.

Now I've started Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer. If it wasn't such a short read, I would not be finishing this book. Almost every character is unlikeable. I was hoping for a campy witchy book where I want to hang out with the characters, but instead I got a suburban mom who married rich and can't stop humblebragging about it.

I just finished The Mercy of God's by the same dudes who wrote The Expanse series. I can't wait for the rest of the series. I also read the in-universe novella called Livesuit which was also very good.

I had to put down Fellowship of the Ring for a while due to a cascade of library books, but I'm finally back to it. God I just love how that book flows.

When I want something simpler to read I've been going to the Hardy Boys books lately. Read a bunch of them as a kid, they're still quite enjoyable now. Normally if I reread something 20 years later it's pretty clearly no longer my taste, but I'm on book 3 and still enjoying them quite a bit.

I'm in between fiction right now. Contemplating what to read next. Maybe going to give Earthsea another try.

I'm also working through Guns, Germs and Steel, which is a fascinating read.

My re-read for Stormlight Archive has been taking longer than I figured it would, so I just started Rhythm of War this morning. I even got Wind and Truth delivered a day early, but didn't get to start it lol.

I’m plowing through the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, I’m currently on book 4. Book 1 was for bingo, the rest are just to boost my numbers for my annual reading goal :).

LitRPG can wildly fluctuate in quality, but if LitRPG interests you at all, this is one of the top 3 series I’d recommend.

Just finished The Skystone by Jack Whyte. Lovely little piece of historical fiction. I have the second in the series but everything has to wait until I finish Wind and Truth haha.

Currently a couple of chapters into Deadhouse gates. I do enjoy it, but the malazan universe is so massive and filled with so many characters, that I need the malazan wiki around, just in case I need to check something.

I'm listening to Extinction by Douglas Preston. Only heard about half of it, but I find it entertaining and the narration is done very well.

Delay, deny, defend. lol

I’m almost finished listening to We Will be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo. A fascinating memoir by an indigenous woman growing up in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. Heart breaking tales of her family, neighboring tribes and home being exploited and swindled by missionaries and oil companies.

Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith, the only complete SF novel he ever published. Part of the Instrumentality of Mankind universe that included "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell".

I'm about halfway through The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin

Really not the sort of thing I'd normally read but I'm finding it very engrossing. Would recommend

Currently midway through The Bell in the Fog by Lev A.C. Rosen. It's the second in a series, but I'm getting through it just fine as a standalone. Fairly quick historical mystery about a gay PI in 1950s San Francisco, dealing with a blackmail case.

--

Finished Hold the Dark by Frank Tuttle. Fun little fantasy detective novel, 3rd in a series.

Bingo squares: Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; There Is Another... (HM); Mashup; (alt) A Change in Perspective

Currently reading “Artemis” by Andy Weir. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I did “Hail Mary” which I thought was awful.