Books Read 2023

[Hipolito]

BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley (paperback): Although I didn’t enjoy playing them much, I think the BioShock games tell one of the finest stories in gaming. This prequel novel goes into how industry tycoon Andrew Ryan built the underwater city of Rapture as a haven from government regulation and nuclear war, and what the first decade there was like.

The first half is a little too slow with all its details about the construction and engineering of Rapture. (Occasionally it actually reads like Atlas Shrugged, though I don’t know whether this is intentional.) Once characters like Lamb and Tennenbaum start making their moves, the book becomes more interesting and we see more of the grotesque violence that characterized the games. The second half is a bit too hurried to establish what we'll see in the games, although it doesn't leave us right at the beginning of BioShock 1 like I hoped it would.

The book makes me appreciate the games’ story even more. It shows how unregulated, unmitigated capitalism quickly leads to social stratification and breakdown. It made me realize that the economic principle of supply and demand is being taken to a wretched, inhumane excess everywhere in the real world.

Though it's a prequel, it should not be read before playing BioShock 1 and 2, as it reveals the plot twists of those games. The author, John Shirley, played BioShock before writing the book and it shows. I'd like to read more by him; he's apparently an unsung pioneer in cyberpunk and splatterpunk. 6 out of 8 bathyspheres.

[Isgrimnur]

Audible all:
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors By: James D. Hornfischer
* The Battle off Samar, 1944

Saving Bravo By: Stephan Talty
* Bat 21 rescue mission

The Bomber Mafia By: Malcolm Gladwell
* The technological and military-political story of WWII bombing

Crossing the Deadly Ground By: Perry D. Jamieson
* United States Army Tactics, 1865-1899

The Call of the Wild By: Jack London
* A dog and his boys

[hitbyambulance]

The author, John Shirley, played BioShock before writing the book and it shows. I'd like to read more by him; he's apparently an unsung pioneer in cyberpunk and splatterpunk.

i have read some of his books - _A Splendid Chaos_ was the last one i read (this was over two decades ago) and it was unsettling enough i have never gone for anything he's released since - and there are a LOT; he's now relegated to writing video game novels for money - a bunch of the Halo ones, and i see he also did WATCH_DOGS and one for Resident Evil

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shirley

[Hipolito]

The author, John Shirley, played BioShock before writing the book and it shows. I'd like to read more by him; he's apparently an unsung pioneer in cyberpunk and splatterpunk.

i have read some of his books - _A Splendid Chaos_ was the last one i read (this was over two decades ago) and it was unsettling enough i have never gone for anything he's released since - and there are a LOT; he's now relegated to writing video game novels for money - a bunch of the Halo ones, and i see he also did WATCH_DOGS and one for Resident Evil

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shirley

After listening to a couple of his interviews, the next books by him that I might read are Demons and Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories.

And now, a book that's neither cyberpunk nor splatterpunk, though you could call it steampunk, hee hee! ahem



Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (paperback): Billed as "a novel of high fantasy and low stakes," this is about a battle-weary orc who decides to retire from adventuring and open a coffee shop in a city that's never heard of coffee.

Like The House in the Cerulean Sea, this book fits in the genre of cozy fantasy, meaning that it's about diverse fantasy characters who come together for reasons that don't necessarily involve saving the world from a grim fate. It has a relaxed, positive, and humorous vibe. It's good at character growth and emotional intelligence, particularly when it comes to showing how people cope in a crisis.

My edition comes with a prequel short story, "Pages to Fill," that I didn't enjoy as much as the main story. Incidentally, the Kickstarter for the deluxe hardcover edition just ended, though it's accepting late pledges. I don't know whether it includes the short story, but you can read that on the author's website anyway. 6 out of 8 mugs.

[Scuzz]

I saw a book tuber describe a really fancy hard bound edition of that book that looked amazing. My 30 year old daughter has read the book and enjoyed it.

The author is a regular on QT3.

[Isgrimnur]

A Fire Upon the Deep

‘Twas a struggle to get through at times. I highly doubt I’ll go back the for sequel or prequel.

[Pyperkub]

A Fire Upon the Deep

‘Twas a struggle to get through at times. I highly doubt I’ll go back the for sequel or prequel.

I had the same experience. It has some pacing issues, but it's interesting.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[Pyperkub]

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

This book has some interesting ideas and the main character is pretty unique. Leckie has created a future where ships AI controls the ship itself, the ships connected to it and the soldiers attached to it. They are known as "Ancillaries". The story is told first person, with alternating chapters taking place in the past and in current time, as we learn why things are as they are. And things are not as they seem in the Radch Empire.

Overall I enjoyed the book, however it is hard to make a good connection with the protagonist because AI doesn't show emotion. I don't want to spoil anymore than that although you learn that very early on. As I said, some really interesting ideas that are for the most part carried out successfully. The book has modern, caring characters, combat and political intrigue.

There are two more books in the series but this one can be read as a stand alone. I liked it, but I am not sure if I will continue on to book 2.

Another in which I had the same opinion. I ended up reading her Fantasy novel The Raven's Tower instead. IMHO , the characters in that were also a bit off putting, and it was a bit of a slog as well due to that. Lots more interesting ideas too tho.

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[Pyperkub]

Finished The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny on Kindle. Book 2 of the Amber series was again a short and easy read, despite the OCR issues with the books in Kindle. Corwin sets about to get unstoppable weapons in his quest to retake the city of Amber, meeting with old frenemies and dealing with the effects of the curse he put on his brother Eric. The book continues to offer no explanation or backstory for some of the more fantastical elements. While that does make things move more quickly than a more detailed telling, it also leaves me a bit unsatisified. I did enjoy book 2 more than book 1, and I'll continue through the series occasionally.

Wondering if you have got any further. It's one of my favorite series and I'm wondering if you feel the same way once your finish it (just the first 5, the second chronicles were a bit of a let down when I first read them, but I did pick up the ten book anthology on kindle and may read the whole thing end to end eventually).

Corwin's growth throughout the series made him one of my favorite characters of all time.

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[ImLawBoy]

Finished 2 more!

First, I read Matilda by Roald Dahl with my daughter. I was somewhat surprised that I had never read this book in my youth, and then I discovered that it was published in 1988 - well after I would have been done with Dahl. Matilda is a genius level 5 year old dealing with a family that barely tolerates her and a school led by the horrible Headmistress Trunchbull. She uses her formidable brainpower (and brain powers) to make life tolerable and to help her lovely teacher, Miss Honey. It's pretty typical Dahl fare, albeit without the racism that occasionally pops up in some of his stuff, which means playful prose and fun fantasy. This was an enjoyable bedtime read.

Next, I finished White Knight by Jim Butcher, one of the books in the Dresden Files about wizard private investigator Harry Dresden. Someone or something is killing low powered witches and making them look like suicides, and Harry needs to get to the bottom of things. Still a lot of fun, and I think this effort moved along more briskly than some of the other entries I've read.

Finished The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny on Kindle. Book 2 of the Amber series was again a short and easy read, despite the OCR issues with the books in Kindle. Corwin sets about to get unstoppable weapons in his quest to retake the city of Amber, meeting with old frenemies and dealing with the effects of the curse he put on his brother Eric. The book continues to offer no explanation or backstory for some of the more fantastical elements. While that does make things move more quickly than a more detailed telling, it also leaves me a bit unsatisified. I did enjoy book 2 more than book 1, and I'll continue through the series occasionally.

Wondering if you have got any further. It's one of my favorite series and I'm wondering if you feel the same way once your finish it (just the first 5, the second chronicles were a bit of a let down when I first read them, but I did pick up the ten book anthology on kindle and may read the whole thing end to end eventually).

Corwin's growth throughout the series made him one of my favorite characters of all time.

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Not yet, but I'm still planning on getting back to them. The McCarthy duology aside, I tend not to read books by the same author consecutively - I like to mix things up a bit.

Sent from my work laptop using Firefox.

[Isgrimnur]

A Fire Upon the Deep

‘Twas a struggle to get through at times. I highly doubt I’ll go back the for sequel or prequel.

I had the same experience. It has some pacing issues, but it's interesting.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

I’m actually glad to hear that it’s not just me with brain issues.

[Pyperkub]

A Fire Upon the Deep

‘Twas a struggle to get through at times. I highly doubt I’ll go back the for sequel or prequel.

I had the same experience. It has some pacing issues, but it's interesting.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

I’m actually glad to hear that it’s not just me with brain issues.

It tries to mix grand space opera with medieval dog planet. That's a tough ask.

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[Hipolito]

Medieval ... dog ... planet ?? Well, that's only slightly weirder than this ...



This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (audiobook): Soldiers have always written letters to their families, but has a soldier ever exchanged letters with an enemy in the opposing trench? This book makes me wonder.

It's about two agents, Red and Blue, who fight for opposing timelines. Red is from a cyborg dystopia and Blue is from a verdant realm called Garden. As each agent travels "upthread" and "downthread" through time, trying to one-up the other and make her own future come out on top, she leaves behind a coded letter for the other. The letters are taunting, at least at first.

The two authors succeed in giving Red and Blue different voices while keeping the story cohesive. The times and places where Red and Blue try to manipulate the future, and their methods of doing so, can be very cool. But the prose is so laden with imagery and metaphor, I had to slow the audiobook speed to 70% because I felt so lost. Sometimes I had to repeat a chapter entirely to understand it at all. I think the authors intentionally made some parts too alien to comprehend, to show that Red and Blue are from futures so distant that they think quite differently from us and each other.

Still, the story (and letters) are sprinkled with references to real-world events and culture. I found the sentiments in the letters to be surprisingly relatable, and was reminded of themes from Shakespeare, Ender's Game, and even Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

I wish I had read the book instead of listening to the audiobook. The dense prose and its inventive vocabulary would probably have been more enjoyable that way. I ended up not liking this book as much as most people do. At least it's relatively brief and has a pretty cool ending. 5 out of 8 post-post-postscripts.

[Jaymann]

Medieval ... dog ... planet ?? Well, that's only slightly weirder than this ...



This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (audiobook): Soldiers have always written letters to their families, but has a soldier ever exchanged letters with an enemy in the opposing trench? This book makes me wonder.

It's about two agents, Red and Blue, who fight for opposing timelines. Red is from a cyborg dystopia and Blue is from a verdant realm called Garden. As each agent travels "upthread" and "downthread" through time, trying to one-up the other and make her own future come out on top, she leaves behind a coded letter for the other. The letters are taunting, at least at first.

The two authors succeed in giving Red and Blue different voices while keeping the story cohesive. The times and places where Red and Blue try to manipulate the future, and their methods of doing so, can be very cool. But the prose is so laden with imagery and metaphor, I had to slow the audiobook speed to 70% because I felt so lost. Sometimes I had to repeat a chapter entirely to understand it at all. I think the authors intentionally made some parts too alien to comprehend, to show that Red and Blue are from futures so distant that they think quite differently from us and each other.

Still, the story (and letters) are sprinkled with references to real-world events and culture. I found the sentiments in the letters to be surprisingly relatable, and was reminded of themes from Shakespeare, Ender's Game, and even Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

I wish I had read the book instead of listening to the audiobook. The dense prose and its inventive vocabulary would probably have been more enjoyable that way. I ended up not liking this book as much as most people do. At least it's relatively brief and has a pretty cool ending. 5 out of 8 post-post-postscripts.

I bought that based on some positive reviews. Bailed after about 10 pages.

[Scuzz]

I have seen many YouTubers review the book and most ended up not recommending it. My impression was that they loved the concept but not the execution.

[Isgrimnur]

I enjoyed it, and it didn’t run overly long. I did read the text rather than audio.

[Jolor]

I enjoyed it, and it didn’t run overly long. I did read the text rather than audio.

Same for me. It was a rare back-to-back reread for me. The first time, I savoured every word and each phrasing. The second time, I read at a breakneck pace letting the story wash over me. I don't think I would have enjoyed an audio version.

[Hipolito]

I bought that based on some positive reviews. Bailed after about 10 pages.

I hope you made it to the

Spoiler:

Super Mario Bros.

reference.

I have seen many YouTubers review the book and most ended up not recommending it. My impression was that they loved the concept but not the execution.

That is interesting, as the BookTubers on my feed were almost all super-gushy for the book, which is what prompted me to buy it.

[Jaymann]

I bought that based on some positive reviews. Bailed after about 10 pages.

I hope you made it to the Super Mario Bros. reference.

How about a spoiler on that. I am unwilling to wade back in.

[Jeff V]

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

I’m actually glad to hear that it’s not just me with brain issues.[/quote]It tries to mix grand space opera with medieval dog planet. That's a tough ask.

[/quote]

My main problem with these kind of stories is the notion that a future society will somehow devolve into a feudal government (or even a monarchy of any sort). But maybe I'm giving the Will of the People too much credit.

[Isgrimnur]

There were actual galactic forces that negatively impacted technology use that would cause the reversion.

[Scuzz]

I bought that based on some positive reviews. Bailed after about 10 pages.

I hope you made it to the

Spoiler:

Super Mario Bros.

reference.

I have seen many YouTubers review the book and most ended up not recommending it. My impression was that they loved the concept but not the execution.

That is interesting, as the BookTubers on my feed were almost all super-gushy for the book, which is what prompted me to buy it.

There are a lot of them.

[Hipolito]

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (audiobook): This caught my eye while browsing Libro.fm. I hadn't heard of it before, but it seemed like a good bet for a short listen.

I thought it would be a horror story, but it isn't really. It's about a teenage girl, Silvie, who has to go on an experiential archaeology trip to Northumberland with her parents, an archaeology professor, and the professor's students. They're supposed to be living as the Iron Age Britons did thousands of years ago, right down to wearing scratchy tunics and getting their food by hunting and foraging, though Silvie and her friend Molly manage to buy ice creams from sympathetic locals.

Silvie's rebelliousness can be cute and funny, but it soon becomes clear that her father's fascination with the ancient Britons is just an excuse for being a bigoted, misogynistic, and deranged alpha male.

I wasn't able to enjoy this book because of the narrator's Scottish accent. From the Libro.fm sample, I didn't think it would be this strong. While not as thick as this, it made the story a struggle to follow. I had difficulty telling "Dad" from "Dan," a pretty important difference given the circumstances.

Still, I got the gist and was able to appreciate the historical trivia and the parallels between ancient and modern society. The last 20 minutes were pretty tense. 4 out of 8 burdocks.

[Hipolito]

The Wheel of Time, Book 14: A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (hardcover + audiobook)

This is it. The final WOT.

Sanderson has become uncannily good at emulating Jordan's writing style. But that's not entirely a good thing. There are still far too many slow and uninteresting scenes.

Even the combat is often a bore. For some battles, Sanderson just mashes two armies together and says who's left. For other battles, it's like watching people slowly move pieces on a chessboard. It seems that Sanderson is as good as Jordan at writing duels, but not as good at describing battles.

The last 150 pages are great. You might even say exquisite. There are many rewarding callbacks to earlier books and a chase scene that feels straight out of a Steven Spielberg movie. I appreciate the bits of humor and romance that I've come to expect from Sanderson. I closed the 900-page tome feeling quite satisfied.

But the first 750 pages, despite being peppered with twists, chilling visions, nifty magic, emotional intelligence, and inspiring leadership, largely felt as much of a slog to me as most of the other WoT books. Next I'm going to read the graphic novel adaptation of the New Spring prequel novel. 4 out of 8 fat dude figurines.

[Dogstar]

The Deluge by Stephen Markley.

It's long, and it takes forever to get going with some character perspectives that made me wonder why I was keeping up with it. But the 4.4 rating average on Amazon kept me with it -- and I'm glad that I did. There are any number of all too plausible elements of the novel, from AI surveillance, targeted marketing to manipulate people politically, VR worlds, etc., and that's before we talk about the environment-related events and impacts. It chronicles a 25 year period in US history from the perspective of radicals, political do-gooders, a marketing exec, scientists, analysts, and a junkie -- you get to see events from a diverse array of perspectives. I've now read it twice because certain elements stuck with me -- namely the dust storms (also reading The Worst Hard Time about the American Dust Bowl -- and that's definitely grim), food scarcity, and the struggle to reshape thinking about how our lives and industries have to change even in the face of significant evidence, among other things.

I know it doesn't sound joyous -- it's not -- but it was definitely worth the read.

[Hipolito]

The Deluge by Stephen Markley.

I know it doesn't sound joyous -- it's not -- but it was definitely worth the read.

Wishlisted!




The Wheel of Time, Book 0: New Spring: The Graphic Novel by Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon, Mike Miller, and Harvey Tolibao (paperback): I thought it would be fun to cap off my Wheel of Time journey by reading the prequel novel, and not the original version but the graphic novel adaptation of it.

Taking place 20 years before Book 1, it introduces Lan as a commander in the Aiel War and Moiraine as an Accepted Aes Sedai. I enjoyed their younger, impulsive personalities and the cameo appearances of many minor characters.

The art quality is great. The city of Tar Valon looks particularly stunning. The last chapter takes a step back in quality, though; people’s faces are less detailed and more dough-filled.

I tend to have trouble following the flow of comic books, and had an especially hard time with this one. I had to read some pages multiple times to have any idea of what was going on. Even the placement of a couple of the speech bubbles is needlessly confusing.

There is a good story here about palace intrigue and young people trying to find their way in a demanding world, but it should have been told better.

There are a couple of cool bonus features:

• Emails from Robert Jordan to the art team, with his comments on early drafts. These emails show his eye for detail. Interestingly, he signs them not with his authorial name but his real name, Jim.
• An illustrated glossary of many of the terms and characters in the story.

I plan to eventually post my thoughts on the overall series in the main WoT thread.

4 out of 8 foretellings.

[YellowKing]

I realized I haven't been posting any reviews so here's a quick one-liner impression of everything so far this year. I'll try to keep up with more detailed reviews for the rest of the year.

Starless Night - R. A. Salvatore - Drizzt goodness, these are always fun
Swords Against Wizardry - Fritz Leiber - I've enjoyed these Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books but the writing can get a bit obtuse
Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay - I love Paul Tremblay but the subject matter (killer virus) was #toosoon
Magelord - Terry Mancour - Absolutely love this fantasy series and this one was great
The Reyes Incident - Briana Morgan - Stupid book I got cheap not realizing it was about killer mermaids (yes, really)
Ring Shout - P. Djeli Clark - Fantastic work of African-American horror
Fairy Tale - Stephen King - Enjoyed this to an extent, though I was hoping for a more Eyes of the Dragon lean when I found out he was doing another fantasy book
The Boys - Ron Howard & Clint Howard - Lovely biography of the two Howards and how their parents kept them from falling prey to child actor syndrome. I got to meet Clint Howard at NJ Horror Con and tell him how much I liked the book and he seemed genuinely appreciative and thrilled that I got what he and Ron were going for
Swords and Ice Magic - Fritz Leiber - See above
The Swords of Lankhmar - Fritz Leiber - See above
The Curse of Oak Island - Randall Sullivan - Nice companion book to the television series, but no new revelations
Hide - Kiersten White - Pretty entertaining book about a reality game to the death in an old amusement park
Ghosts - Hans Holzer - Absolute slog of a book of Hans Holzer ghost cases which left me more of a skeptic than I was already
The Boatman's Daughter - Andy Davidson - Honestly don't know if I understood a single thing in this book; swamp horror but too highbrow for me I guess
A Dowry of Blood - S.T. Gibson - Short and highly literary vampire novel, meh
Daphne - Josh Malerman - Decent novel by the Bird Box author; would love to see a good movie made out of it
Siege of Darkness - R.A. Salvatore - See above
Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - This was neither as good as I remember from high school, nor as bad as I remember from my re-read 20 or so years ago
Entropy in Bloom - Jeremy Robert Johnson - This guy writes some really messed up horror short stories, very unique voice
The Everything Learning German Book - Edward Swick - Enjoyed this one quite a bit for my German learning but the grammar stuff was a bit complex for a first read
The Woods Are Dark - Richard Laymon - I had a bunch of Laymon ebooks I had gotten from somewhere so I decided to plow through them since they're quick reads. They can be hit and miss, and sometimes he goes a bit too far with the sex/violence against women for my taste.
The Cellar - Richard Laymon - See above
Training Your Dog the Weatherwax Way - R. Ruddell Weatherwax - Interesting dog training book by the guy whose family has trained all the Lassies. Had some good tips I used with my own pup.
Vampire on the Orient Express - Shane Carrow - Short but entertaining start of a series that is very much in the Sherlock Holmes tradition
The Beast You Are - Paul Tremblay - Great collection of horror short stories by Paul Tremblay, enjoyed this one a lot
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - Interesting novel that was apparently made into a film several years ago - a bit too romantic for my tastes but was recommended by a friend. I can see why some people really love it, just not my cup of tea.
Elevation - Stephen King - Fantastic short novel by Mr. King with echoes of "Thinner" but in a much more upbeat tone

[Isgrimnur]

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Widespread Panic by James Ellroy. This was a bit of a one-off for Ellroy in that it's not a part of either L.A. Quartet or the Underworld Trilogy. It does, however, feature Freddy Otash, who is a character in the Underworld Trilogy. Freddy, like a lot of Ellroy's characters, is a fictionalized version of a real person. The premise of this novel is that Freddy is confessing for his life's sins while in purgatory. It's written first person in tabloid style - lots of alliteration and lurid details. He starts off with the LAPD in the 1950s, but moves on to be a fixer for the tabloid Confidential! (where he picked up his writing style) and eventually becomes a PI. He runs with James Dean, JFK, Marlon Brando and the like - and they're all unsavory.

If you like noir and can handle Ellroy's style, it's a good story, albeit not up to snuff with the original L.A. Quartet. Standard disclaimer with Ellroy's stuff - the characters are all terrible, violent people and rife with misogyny, racism, and homophobia.

[hitbyambulance]

waiting for the new Haruki Murakami novel to be translated into English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_ ... tain_Walls (1,200 pages long)

[Hipolito]

I've read three graphic novels based on the Indian epic poems. Having recently completed the Hinduism-inspired Wheel of Time series, I found this an interesting and somewhat mind-bending experience.



Sita: Daughter of the Earth by Saraswati Nagpal and Manikandan: This tells the Ramayan from Sita's perspective. The art is gorgeous, so colorful and soft. The story doesn't add much to the poem, except for offering a thoughtful and somewhat comforting take on the divisive ending. 5 out of 8 rings.

Ravana: Roar of the Demon King by Abhimanyu Singh Sisodia and Sachin Nagar: The backstory of the main antagonist from the Ramayan. The art is an interesting (not always good) mélange of styles. While it's neat to see how Ravana becomes godlike and obtains ten heads, and how far his hubris and ambition take him, the story's not that engaging overall. 4 out of 8 heads.

Draupadi: The Fire-Born Princess by Saraswati Nagpal and Manu: Draupadi is the foremost female character of the Mahabharat, which means she's a relatively minor character in the grand scheme of things. But this story elevates her by giving her duality, inner conflict, and a prophetic existence. The sharp writing shows how she has to suppress her fiery personality and endure much abuse for the sake of honor, righteousness, wisdom, and other such weasel-virtues. I really like the art, which is bold, colorful, and "old fashioned" for lack of a better term. The sad ending makes you wonder what it was all for, though Draupadi has her answer. 6 out of 8 oaths.

[ImLawBoy]

Finished Doomsday Match by Jeff Wheeler on Kindle. This was a Kindle First freebie, and I'm glad I didn't pay for it. The premise isn't terrible - a family gets a free vacation to an exclusive resort in Cozumel. There's a catch, though. Turns out they're being entered into a death match with another family (who has actually been preparing for this) which is part of a plan to bring the Mayan empire back to power and world domination. It stretches the limits of what's believable, but for the genre that's fine. My problems were twofold. First, there was no buildup to anything. From almost the first moment they arrive at the resort, they suspect something is going on and try to flee based on very little. I don't think that's how people would operate - there's no period of "we're overreacting to these innocent coincidences" that might have made things more believable. Second, the kids in the family, in particular the preteen twin boys, were highly unbelievable. They crack jokes in inappropriate situations where most kids would be terrified, and they say "Dude!" way too often (although that last part may actually be realistic). There are apparently two more books in a trilogy here, but I don't think I'll be indulging.

[Jaymann]

And now for something completely different:



This was the first book I was only able to find in Kindle format, no hard cover or paperback editions available. Silman is a renowned author of chess books, and I still have some of his books from decades ago. I learned that he died recently and found out about this book. When I read the Amazon description I knew it was right in my wheelhouse.

When Eli Rubinstein marries a German woman (nicknamed Beast) who may or may not be homosexual and may or may not be Hitler youth, it’s not surprising that things go horribly wrong. In an effort to get rid of this nightmarish female, Eli finds himself fighting for survival in the slums of London, handing out payoffs to crooked cops in Chicago, and finally ending up in the gay-friendly climes of San Francisco during the waning days of the Haight Ashbury drug and free love culture.

Eli (name changed to protect the guilty?) Rubinstein (a tribute to the great polish player Akiba?) is a professional chess and backgammon player in pursuit of sex, drugs, mystical enlightenment and trying to ditch the Beast (who semi-affectionately nicknames him Goat). It is written in first person, in a mostly linear progression with many bizarre occurrences along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 7/8 sacrificed queens.

[Hipolito]

World War Z: The Complete Edition - Abridged by Max Brooks (audiobook): I learned about this from Blackhawk's post. It's a series of interviews with people all over the world about a zombie war, 10 years after the war was declared over. The start of the war takes place in a future with a pretty different geopolitical situation, which makes the story a bit hard to relate to. What’s easy recognizable, though, are the problems in modern society that make it particularly unsuited to handle the zombie menace.

A lot of thought, and I imagine a lot of research, went into the book. It's not just about gory zombie violence, but also economics, politics, logistics, and marketing. Among the interviews are some real storytelling gems, along with a dud or two. I was disappointed by the last set of interviews, though; they were too brief and uninteresting. The book deserved a better ending.

I didn't look at the list of actors until I was done listening to the book, to see whether I could recognize any of them. The only actor I could recognize was:

Spoiler:

Alan Alda

5 out of 8 lobos.

[hitbyambulance]

The Complete Edition - Abridged

[Hipolito]

The Complete Edition - Abridged

It is confusing, but from what I can ascertain from Reddit posts, the original audiobook included some of the original book's stories and excluded other stories. The ones that were included had to be edited to remove references to the excluded stories.

Later, they did a "Complete" audiobook that restored the excluded stories, and had more stars to narrate the excluded stories. But they didn't re-record the stories that were originally included. Since the original stories are still edited down a bit, the "Abridged" tag is there.

[Formix]

Just finished Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

"The book provides Perkins' account of his career with engineering consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Perkins claims that the NSA arranged for him to be hired by the firm and that he was subsequently and trained as an "economic hitman". Perkins writes that his primary role at Chas T. Main was to convince leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept substantial development loans for large construction and engineering projects, thus trapping them in a system of American influence and control."

While the ultimate truth of this story cannot be verified, and has, in fact, been questioned, still a VERY interesting read. Whether the detailed facts the author lays out are totally true or not, I feel like the main throughline is correct. That America from the 70s on, has been waging economic war for empire throughout the world. The most recent version of this book was updated after COVID, to account for China's new role. Worth reading as food for thought if nothing else.

[Rumpy]

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - Interesting novel that was apparently made into a film several years ago - a bit too romantic for my tastes but was recommended by a friend. I can see why some people really love it, just not my cup of tea.

I've never read that one, but I read Klara and the Sun, and didn't like it at all. Maybe it was the intent, but everything about it felt very stilted and flat, which made it hard to care about any of the characters.

[hitbyambulance]

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - Interesting novel that was apparently made into a film several years ago - a bit too romantic for my tastes but was recommended by a friend. I can see why some people really love it, just not my cup of tea.

I've never read that one, but I read Klara and the Sun, and didn't like it at all. Maybe it was the intent, but everything about it felt very stilted and flat, which made it hard to care about any of the characters.

i'd counter-argue that Ishiguro's writing is extremely understated (even soothing, much of the time, even when recounting some pretty disturbing stuff) and certainly doesn't over-explain. e.g. both _Never Let Me Go_ and _Klara and the Sun_ take place in some highly messed-up 'humanity has gone way wrong here' futures and i myself consider both to be part horror novel, but you don't get that impression just breezing over the text, and i really wonder at some of the press reviews for these books that completely don't mention this aspect. it's a highly idiosyncratic style. he is one of my favorite living authors.

[Rumpy]

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - Interesting novel that was apparently made into a film several years ago - a bit too romantic for my tastes but was recommended by a friend. I can see why some people really love it, just not my cup of tea.

I've never read that one, but I read Klara and the Sun, and didn't like it at all. Maybe it was the intent, but everything about it felt very stilted and flat, which made it hard to care about any of the characters.

i'd counter-argue that Ishiguro's writing is extremely understated (even soothing, much of the time, even when recounting some pretty disturbing stuff) and certainly doesn't over-explain. e.g. both _Never Let Me Go_ and _Klara and the Sun_ take place in some highly messed-up 'humanity has gone way wrong here' futures and i myself consider both to be part horror novel, but you don't get that impression just breezing over the text, and i really wonder at some of the press reviews for these books that completely don't mention this aspect. it's a highly idiosyncratic style. he is one of my favorite living authors.

Interesting observation. They are definitely messed up futures, and most of the comments on the jacket seem to imply, with Klara and the Sun for instance, that it's an inspiring and touching story, but at the same time, there's a lot of dark subtext that reveal themselves once you get deeper into the story. The character of the Mother, for instance was so oddly manipulative, saying one thing then negating it with her actions, and often lashing out with inexplicable reasons. She felt like the opposite of caring to me to the point of feeling like she was holding her daughter back from her true potential, to the point that the daughter feels the need to escape. It's really not the 'sweet' story that the press would like to pretend.