Been slowly making my way through a list of books I feel I want in reputoire of literature. I’m trying to decide between reading Foundation or Brave New World in the near future. Any opinions?
Ill do both but looking for recommendations on which to do first. The second one I’ll probably come back to later though. I’m sprinkling them in between other books to make sure I read them at some point. But I have other stuff I want to get to.
Neither books hold up very well. Don’t just read them because you feel you should, as it’s totally fine to read actually enjoyable books instead.
But, if you’re going to anyway, Foundation. But realize the books are a collection of short stories, unplanned from the start, and get increasingly strained in terms of continuing plotting and world building satisfaction.
Ah, I did not know this, and actually makes me not want to read it.
In the end I went with neither and continued on with other stuff I want to read.
1 Like
I’m in the last book in the first volume of The Story of Civilization. I find a lot of things about the premise of the series but after Iron Kingdom I realized I needed a primer in history outside America to make sense of much of it. My favorite part of the first volume is that with each civilization he talks about their creation myth, and whether it’s the 3,000 year struggle of Zoroastrianism or the 18,000 year hammering of a deity in China, Will Durant’s analysis of it always boils down to “and we can’t really prove them wrong.” I think I’ve only got one more of those moments left but they’re good moments.
Just finished tbe second Sano Ichiro novel “Bundori” by Laura Joh Rowland. It’s pretty good, a fun page turner but it’s a little all over the place as far as being a mystery / police procedural and the writing is a bit sloppy in places. Despite that it’s really well researched Edo Period Japan history porn and I liked it as a lazy summer read. Gonna read more in the series for sure.
Switched To The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of [Soviet] Women in World War II. It was written in Soviet Russia in the 80s and the audiobook has a foreward that includes stuff the Soviet censors didn’t allow in the book. Needless to say this is already the most disturbing book I’ve ever read and I hope it’s the most disturbing book I ever will read.
1 Like
Is there a new book club thread yet?
Luke read the novel, and then Juliane joined him to watch the movie, and they discuss the two.
http://www.sfbrp.com/archives/1490
Haha oh that they do. You always have to have at the back of your mind that Erickson will hurt you.
Just finished ‘The Tiger’s Daughter’ half an hour ago. The FRC should be all over this. It is great. Beautifully written. A great world that eschews all the standard fantasy tropes. Fascinating characters. Go out and read it now, the squeal is out this year.
Read both the Poppy War and Senlin Ascends. Both are pretty good a solid B. Not setting your pants of fire but very good books in their own way.
Also worked my way through a lot of translated Japanese works, Harmony, Gene mapper, Usurper of the Sun, Kamikaze girls and a few others for a project I’m working on. Hopefully not shit talking but should be able to show more at the end of the month.
Now caught in a toss up as to read The White Luck Warrior, NeverNight and the Skull Throne. Though if anyone has got any other suggestions I am always open.
1 Like
Was reading Murder on the Orient Express after watching the movie. Pretty good so far.
Reading Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah. It’s an autobiography of sorts, but in some ways it’s about post apartheid South Africa. It’s fascinating. I may actually start watching the Daily Show. The guy is fascinating.
I just finished Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon by Kim Zetter. After having read that I’ve more come around to Scott’s view on the modern “hacker”. I’m unimpressed. These guys were able to destroy hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars worth of infrastructure. No law of physics says you can’t do the same to bridges or power plants.
Edit: Lack of education can lead to some really really strange situations.
After really enjoying Wool, I went back to the series and read Shift, even though the book club episode warned against the dip in quality. There was definitely a dip, and Wool was already not without flaws, yet I still enjoyed it by the end. I’m now 50 pages into Dust.
1 Like
I can’t say I wasn’t curious to keep going.
Dust is garbage. It serves mostly as a setup for other people to write fan fiction, post it on Amazon Kindle Worlds, with the original author taking a cut on every sale.
https://kindleworlds.amazon.com/world/SiloSaga?ref_=kww_home_ug_SiloSaga
I have never read a series that sells out so completely and ruins itself in the process.
There’s another Fufi story in the book (there’s quite a few really) and it goes that one day they learned Fufi could climb the fence and was spending her days with another family, coming home when they all got home from school and work. Living a dual life. They actually paid the other family to get her back.
I’ve finished Born a Crime. It was delightful and Mr. Noah is genuinely funny and the whole book is great. It’s shorter than I’d expected which led to me having to switch books sooner than expected. I had Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! all lined up to go but I may just delay that for something more substantive on apartheid in South Africa. Shit in that country goes so far beyond what I as an american can begin to fathom. There’s some similarities, especially in how they talk about in education. But I’d like to know more.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow is the most boring book I think I’ve read in my adult life.