Books Read 2023

[YellowKing]

Reading:
Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light - Patrick McGilligan

Finished:

Starless Night - R. A. Salvatore
Swords Against Wizardry - Fritz Leiber
Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay
Magelord - Terry Mancour
The Reyes Incident - Briana Morgan
Ring Shout - P. Djeli Clark
Fairy Tale - Stephen King
The Boys - Ron Howard & Clint Howard
Swords and Ice Magic - Fritz Leiber
The Swords of Lankhmar - Fritz Leiber
The Curse of Oak Island - Randall Sullivan
Hide - Kiersten White
Ghosts - Hans Holzer
The Boatman's Daughter - Andy Davidson
A Dowry of Blood - S.T. Gibson
Daphne - Josh Malerman
Siege of Darkness - R.A. Salvatore
Dragons of Autumn Twilight - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Entropy in Bloom - Jeremy Robert Johnson
The Everything Learning German Book - Edward Swick
The Woods Are Dark - Richard Laymon
The Cellar - Richard Laymon
Training Your Dog the Weatherwax Way - R. Ruddell Weatherwax
Vampire on the Orient Express - Shane Carrow
The Beast You Are - Paul Tremblay
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Elevation - Stephen King
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History - S.C. Gwynne
How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication - Stanley Coren
Richard Laymon - Beware
Werewolf on the Western Front - Shane Carrow
The Beast House - Richard Laymon

[Hipolito]

Below are my reads. I'll post reviews of them in the thread and put links to the reviews in this post.

Finished

1. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (6/8)
2. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (5/8)
3. The Wheel of Time, Book 12: The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (6/8)
4. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (7/8)
5. The Man You Trust by Bill Harris (6/8)
6. Mass Effect: Retribution by Drew Karpyshyn (5/8)
7. Mass Effect: Evolution by Mac Walters (6/8)
8. The Wheel of Time, Book 13: Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (4/8)
9. Hellmouth by Giles Kristian (4/8)
10. Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (4/8)
11. Mass Effect: Invasion by Mac Walters (3/8)
12. The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (8/8)
13. BioShock: Rapture by John Shirley (6/8)
14. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (6/8)
15. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (5/8)
16. Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (4/8)
17. The Wheel of Time, Book 14: A Memory of Light (4/8)
18. The Wheel of Time, Book 0: New Spring: The Graphic Novel by Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon, Mike Miller, and Harvey Tolibao (4/8)
19. Sita: Daughter of the Earth by Saraswati Nagpal and Manikandan (5/8)
20. Ravana: Roar of the Demon King by Abhimanyu Singh Sisodia and Sachin Nagar (4/8)
21. Draupadi: The Fire-Born Princess by Saraswati Nagpal and Manu (6/8)
22. World War Z: The Complete Edition - Abridged by Max Brooks (5/8)

Rating system:
6 to 8 = It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
4 to 5 = It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
0 to 3 = It was a dark and stormy night.

Reading

1. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (39% of 294 pg)
2. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (35% of 313 pg)
3. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (60% of 597 pg)
4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (62% of 215 pg)
5. The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America by Thom Hartmann (72% of 158 pg)

To Be Read

1. The Sandman, Volume 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman

Books read in: 2019 (5) | 2020 (19) | 2021 (33) | 2022 (24)

[El Guapo]

Reading

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman







Completed

Message From Ukraine, Speeches 2019 - 2022 by Volodymyr Zelensky
Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs (audio book)
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Monroe
Manga Classics Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (audio book)
Thing Explainer, by Randall Monroe
Israel's Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945–1949 by Jeffrey Herf

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (audio book)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin (audio book)
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (audio book)
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (audio book) by Robert Louis Stevenson
When They Come For Us We'll Be Gone by Gal Beckerman
The Handmaid's Tale (audio book) by Margaret Atwood
White Nights by Menachim Begin
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis

[Jeff V]

Finished:

Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
The Pursuit of Power by Richard J. Evans
Be My Baby by Ronnie Spector
Emotional by Leonard Mlodinow
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Synder
Diablo Mesa by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Deceptions by Anna Porter
Iron Kingdom - The Rise and Fall of Prussia 1600 - 1947 by Christopher Clark
Tin Can Titans - The Heroic Men and Ships of WW2's Most Decorated Destroyer Squadron by John Wukovits

Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer
James Patterson by James Patterson
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Balkan Escape by Steve Berry
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Cradle of the Deep by Dietrich Kalteis
Escape of the Amethyst by C.E. Lucas Phillips
Stalin's War on Japan by Charles Stephenson
Thirst for Justice by David R. Boyd
Lolita in the Afterlife edited by Jenny Minton Quigley

Bookworm by Robin Yeatman
River of the Gods by Candice Millard
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson
Run Rose Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Armageddon Reef by David Weber
By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber
The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan
The is What it Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
Graveyard of the Pacific by Randall Sullivan

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
Princeps Fury by Jim Butcher
African Samurai by Thomas Lockley
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa
A Prelude to World War III by James Rosone and Miranda Watson
The Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell
Trejo By Danny Trejo

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Tress by Brandon Sanderson
Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990's New York Knicks by Chris Herring
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
The Reversal by Michael Connelly

Reading:
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

[Holman]

Reserved

[Eel Snave]

Reading:

Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes
American Midnight by Adam Hochschild
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Finished:
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

[Scuzz]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

And why?

[Isgrimnur]

1. James Baldwin: A Biography - David Adams Leeming
2. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
3. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir - Matthew Perry
4. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944
5. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
6. The Well of Ascension (Book 2 of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson
7. The Hero of Ages (Book 3 of the Mistborn series) by Brandon Sanderson
8. The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
9. The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors By: James D. Hornfischer
10. Saving Bravo By: Stephan Talty
11. The Bomber Mafia By: Malcolm Gladwell
12. Crossing the Deadly Ground By: Perry D. Jamieson
13. The Call of the Wild By: Jack London
14. Old Man's War by John Scalzi

[El Guapo]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

And why?

It's not something that I did before last year, and was kind of dismissive of, but started doing sometimes. Basically sometimes I get bored of whatever book I'm reading, and on some given evening find myself eager to read something else. Before I would generally just slog through my current book, but I've decided that's kind of silly. And sometimes after putting a book aside for awhile I'll come back to it and enjoy it more.

[Isgrimnur]

Before I would generally just slog through my current book, but I've decided that's kind of silly.

There are no rules.

[Jeff V]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

And why?

Different media. Audio books, digital books, dead tree books. In my case, I have 2 audio books in process, one is 36 hours long and turned into a pumpkin, the library only has one copy and I'm in the queue to reborrow it. The other I started today.

[YellowKing]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

I get bored very easily if I have to stick to the same subject/setting for hours on end. I typically read about a half hour every night. If I had to read one book for 30 minutes, I'd just wind up stopping after 10 minutes and going to bed out of boredom. Give me three books to rotate through, however, and I'll spend 10 minutes on each. Realistically, I can read 2-3 books in the same time it would take me to read 1, because I will utilize the full half hour.

[Scuzz]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

And why?

Different media. Audio books, digital books, dead tree books. In my case, I have 2 audio books in process, one is 36 hours long and turned into a pumpkin, the library only has one copy and I'm in the queue to reborrow it. The other I started today.

I can understand reading a book and also listening to another.

[Scuzz]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

I get bored very easily if I have to stick to the same subject/setting for hours on end. I typically read about a half hour every night. If I had to read one book for 30 minutes, I'd just wind up stopping after 10 minutes and going to bed out of boredom. Give me three books to rotate through, however, and I'll spend 10 minutes on each. Realistically, I can read 2-3 books in the same time it would take me to read 1, because I will utilize the full half hour.

That would drive me nuts. I doubt I could keep the characters and plot separate.

But whatever works. I am not judging anybody, just curious.

[hitbyambulance]

How do you guys read multiple books at the same time!

I get bored very easily if I have to stick to the same subject/setting for hours on end. I typically read about a half hour every night. If I had to read one book for 30 minutes, I'd just wind up stopping after 10 minutes and going to bed out of boredom. Give me three books to rotate through, however, and I'll spend 10 minutes on each. Realistically, I can read 2-3 books in the same time it would take me to read 1, because I will utilize the full half hour.

That would drive me nuts. I doubt I could keep the characters and plot separate.

But whatever works. I am not judging anybody, just curious.

i usually have no less than three books going at once, sometimes as many as 11-12. i too might start reading something, then decide that i'm not in the mood for it, start something else, figure out it's not quite time for that one, go to another, get sucked in... having multiple books in the rotation keeps me engaged at any time - and i end up reading more than most people i know.

(sorta parallel, but ever since DuoLingo moved to a very linear lesson progression format, i find myself doing one lesson and then... i'm done. the same thing might happen if i only had one book.)

[YellowKing]

That would drive me nuts. I doubt I could keep the characters and plot separate.

I think a lot of us that juggle multiple books read stuff from different genres. Usually I have one non-fiction, a fantasy, and a general fiction going. "Literally" no chance of mixing up characters and plots.

[disarm]

2022 wasn't a great year...will hopefully get back on track with more reading in 2023!

In Progress

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell


Finished

The Redemption of Time: A Three Body Problem Novel - Baoshu (1/5)
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (1/18)
Daemon - Daniel Suarez (2/22)
Freedom - Daniel Suarez (2/25)
Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline (3/12)
Recursion: A Novel - Blake Crouch (3/13)
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut (3/28)
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (4/11)
The Last Conversation - Paul Tremblay (4/13)
Ark - Veronica Roth (4/17)
Summer Frost- Blake Crouch (4/18)
You Have Arrived at Your Destination - Amor Towles (4/18)
Randomize - Andy Weir (4/20)
Emergency Skin - N.K. Jemisin (4/21)
How It Unfolds - James S.A. Corey (7/3)
Void - Veronica Roth (7/4)
Falling Bodies - Rebecca Roanhorse (7/6)
The Long Game - Anne Leckie (7/6)
Just Out of Jupiter's Reach - Nnedi Okorafor (7/8)
Slow Time Between the Stars - John Scalzi (7/9)
The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, Book One) - N.K. Jemisin (9/4)
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, Book Two) - N.K. Jemisin (9/19)
The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, Book Three) - N.K. Jemisin (9/25)
1984 - George Orwell (10/18)
Fairy Tale - Stephen King (10/25)
I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes (11/14)
Artemis - Andy Weir (11/23)
We Are Legion, We Are Bob (Bobiverse Book One) - Dennis E Taylor (11/28)
For We Are Many (Bobiverse Book Two) - Dennis E Taylor (12/4)
All These Worlds (Bobiverse Book Three) - Dennis E Taylor (12/8)
Heaven's River (Bobiverse Book Four) - Dennis E Taylor (12/13)
Animal Farm - George Orwell (12/21)

[ImLawBoy]

My 2022 had one more book read than 2021. Progress!

I used to be a one-book at a time person, but over the last couple of years I've found I can handle two at a time without issue (and I read almost exclusively fiction). I usually have one paper and one electronic version going at any time (although I'm currently between paper books).

Books Finished
Magic Misfits - Neil Patrick Harris (paper)
Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher (Kindle)
The Sandman Vol. 4 - Season of Mists - Neil Gaiman (paper)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney (paper)
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel (Kindle)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon (paper)
The Sandman Vol. 5 - A Game of You - Neil Gaiman (paper)
Alex Rider: Eagle Strike - Anthony Horowitz (paper)
Nine Princes in Amber - Roger Zelazny (Kindle)
The One and Only Ivan - Katherine Applegate (paper)
15 Seconds - Andrew Gross (Kindle)
The One and Only Bob - Katherine Applegate (paper)
The Guns of Avalon - Roger Zelazny (Kindle)
The One and Only Ruby - Katherine Applegate (paper)
The Passenger - Cormac McCarthy (paper)
Stella Maris - Cormac McCarthy (paper)
Matilda - Roald Dahl (paper)
White Night - Jim Butcher (Kindle)
Widespread Panic - James Ellroy (paper)
Doomsday Match - Jeff Wheeler (Kindle)
Holly - Stephen King (paper)
The Sign of the Unicorn - Roger Zelazny (Kindle)
The Mysteries - Bill Watterson and John Kascht (paper)

Currently Reading
Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake (paper)
King: A Life - Jonathan Eig (Kindle)

2022 - 15 books read

[Jolor]

Highly recommended

Finished
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The General of Tiananmen Square (An Ava Lee Novel) - Ian Hamilton
The Engine of History: The Magus Conspiracy (An Assassin's Creed Novel) - Kate Heartfield
The Cartographers - Peng Shepherd
The Spare Man - Mary Robinette Kowal
The Once and Future Witches - Alix E. Harrow
The Beautiful Ones - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Book Eaters - Sunyi Dean

Stone Blind - Natalie Haynes
Pandora - Susan Stokes-Chapman
The Witch's Heart - Genevieve Gornichec
Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune
Seven Mercies - L. R. Lam & Elizabeth May
High Times in Low Parliament - Kelly Robson
Until the Last of Me (A Take Them to the Stars Novel) - Sylvain Neuvel (reread)
Big, Beautiful Book of Bass - Geddy Lee

For the First Time, Again (A Take Them to the Stars Novel) - Sylvain Neuvel
The Ghost Dance Judgement - R.S. (Rod) Belcher
Even Though I Knew the End - C. L. Polk
What If (2) - Randall Munroe
Fevered Star - Rebecca Roanhorse
Yellowface - R. F. Kuang
Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel
The Engine of History: The Resurrection Plot (An Assassin's Creed Novel) - Kate Heartfield

Saint Death's Daughter - C. S. E. Cooney
Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! - Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa, Kasia Babis (Illustrator)
The Mountain in the Sea - Ray Nayler
Tread of Angels - Rebecca Roanhorse
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance, and Other Stories - Tobias S. Buckell
The Last Heir to Blackwood Library - Hester Fox
The Adventures of Amina El-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty
Witch King - Martha Wells

Silver Nitrate - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Dragonfall - Laura Lam
The Librarianist - Patrick deWitt
red team blues - Cory Doctorow
Untethered Sky - Fonda Lee
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
Julia - Sandra Newman
The Fury of Beijing (An Ava Lee Novel) - Ian Hamilton

The Valkyrie - Kate Heartfield

Reading
Lilith - Nikki Marmery

TBR
Wayward - Chuck Wendig
Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
Psych and Eros - Luna McNamara
A Curse of Krakens- Kevin Hearne
The Fragile Threads of Power - V.E. Schwab

[Rumpy]

Just finished West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. Some fun historical fiction about a real coast-to-coast roadtrip featuring two giraffes on their way to the San Diego Zoo after the great hurricane of 1935.

[coopasonic]

I finished 9 books in 2022 which is likely my highest since my 20s. Considering how bare my gaming calendar looks this year, I may be able to improve on that this year. We shall see. If I can count each Sandman graphic novel as a book, I am def going to beat it!

[ImLawBoy]

I finished 9 books in 2022 which is likely my highest since my 20s. Considering how bare my gaming calendar looks this year, I may be able to improve on that this year. We shall see. If I can count each Sandman graphic novel as a book, I am def going to beat it!

I counted 3 of them last year! Every bit helps!

[Jeff V]

2022 wasn't a great year...will hopefully get back on track with more reading in 2023!

You are right about that. I started driving Uber in mid-July, and eventually discovered I do not get audible notifications of rides if Bluetooth is on...meaning no audiobooks while driving. Which is 99% of my available time. I don't really want to listen to audiobooks with customers in the car, but the ability to switch back and forth would be nice.

[hitbyambulance]

The Oatmeal (Matthew Inman) - How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You : this was a birthday present from a friend of mine. i haven't the lack of tact to tell her this collection of web comics from 10+ years ago did not age well _at all_. almost completely unfunny....

[Scuzz]

Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

This is book 8 of the Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. This is another big book, over 1,200 pages. This may be, for at least the first 500-600 pages, my least favorite book in the series so far. There is a couple reasons for that, the first being Erikson decides to change how he is telling the story. Almost every chapter begins with him rambling on in a soliloquy wherein Erikson plays the part of a greek narrator, setting the scenes about to happen. The book has a different feel because of it, and it surely adds to the length. I don't know if that will bother everyone but it did me.

The second thing is the shear number of characters and plot elements being introduced. There are new characters and the re-introduction of old characters, you really need a scorecard to keep track of the players.

Now having complained about those things I will say the last couple hundred pages fly by as the plot lines all come crashing together. Much of it is poignant and and necessary, I believe, to where the last two books will go. But there is just so much of it that all of it doesn't work for me. I ended up enjoying the work but I can't help thinking this book. more than the others perhaps needed some tighter editing.

If you have read the first 7 books be prepared for a bit of a slog here, with a big Marvel movie world ending. I will move on to book 9, but not before reading a few other things first.

[Hipolito]

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson (audiobook): This is my first read by the author. He takes us on a tour of his house--devoting a chapter to each room--and expounds upon the history of each room type.

The book is like an exploding Wikipedia article. For example, the Drawing Room chapter goes into etymology ("drawing" comes from withdrawing, as it was a room in which one could withdraw from the rest of the home), how the chairs were initially set up in drawing rooms (right against the walls, which made for awkward conversations since everyone was sitting far apart from each other, but it was necessary because the lighting was so poor that people could trip over the chairs if they were closer to the center, and speaking of lighting let's talk about the history of it), the chairs' upholstery, the inventors of upholstery innovations and what we know about them and why they died penniless.

It's a highly listenable read if you don't mind all the tangents and that it's mostly about English homes from the 17th to 19th centuries. I would have preferred less about the lifestyles of the rich and infamous, less about historical events that are covered by countless other books, and more about homes in other eras and places.

I now have more appreciation for the experimentation, suffering, and happenstance that made today's creature comforts possible. The author narrates the audiobook with a warm tone and wry British sense of humor. I would love for him to visit my home and give me a tour of it. 6 out of 8 chimneys.

[Rumpy]

He's a fun writer. My first experience with him was with his book about the English language. I forget exactly what it was called, but it was highly entertaining. Then I read A Walk in the Woods, where he attempts to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, and that too was very good. In fact they made that one into a movie featuring Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as his friend Katz.

[Blackhawk]

He's a fun writer. My first experience with him was with his book about the English language. I forget exactly what it was called, but it was highly entertaining. Then I read A Walk in the Woods, where he attempts to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, and that too was very good. In fact they made that one into a movie featuring Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as his friend Katz.

The Mother Tongue, and yes, it was. The Body was great, as were The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, A Walk in the Woods, and especially A Short History of Nearly Everything.

[Jeff V]

2022 wasn't a great year...will hopefully get back on track with more reading in 2023!

I haven't closed my 2022 entry yet, but since mid-summer, most of my time was spent working, and very little reading. I'm trying to work around it this year, so i still get plenty of reading in.

[Blackhawk]

2022 was mostly The Wheel of Time for me, starting in March. I've slowed down a little over the holidays, but I'm itching to get back to it. There's no way I'm stopping at the beginning of book 10!

Wheel of Time has a funny way of making you feel like you haven't read much. I read nine books from March until the end of the year. But when I look at page count, find the average length of a novel (95k words), and do the math... those nine WoT novels are the equivalent of 26-27 normal books, plus another four or five before that. That's not the two books per day I used to read when it was my main hobby, but it isn't too terrible.

[Scuzz]

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

This is the fourth book (of six) in the Earthsea series. This is considered the first book of the second trilogy. While it was written 17 years after the first three books it picks up where the third book ended. I have read that the first trilogy is considered a young adult series, this book is not aimed at kids. I would venture a guess and say she aimed it for those who read the first series and are now almost 20 years older. The books main characters are from the previous books and it continues their stories but the themes in this book are much darker. Le Guin deals in social mores, the treatment of women by society and some rather dark and evil antagonists.

After a slow start I found I liked this book better than a couple of the original stories. I think because she takes the time in this book to flesh out her characters, to give them a reason for doing what they do. I think characters should have motivation beyond just being who they are.

I have read the first four books from a book originally published as The Earthsea Quartet. I don't have the next two books but I may have to look for them.

[El Guapo]

Message From Ukraine, Speeches 2019 - 2022 by Volodymyr Zelensky

First finished book of the year! A collection of speeches by Zelensky. They were good. I do enjoy great speeches, though I'll admit written versions of them sometimes miss the heart of a good speech. Still, I enjoyed it. I thought the speeches that were for Ukrainian audiences were definitely more interesting, and I wish more of them were domestic speeches, because that's newer and more engaging for me.

[El Guapo]

Spy School Project X by Stuart Gibbs (audio book).

I have been listening to the Spy School series audio books along with my kids. This is the 10th book in the series. It was fine - definitely less engaging than the other ones. Most of the Spy School books are essentially tween adaptations of James Bond stories. For this one the author went with a more "ripped from the headlines" story that was based around someone directing conspiracy theorists. But the James Bond stuff is a lot of the fun, while this lacked a lot of the over the top stylings that were kind of fun in prior books.

[Hipolito]

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (hardcover): This 1969 sci-fi classic is about a human visitor to planet Gethen, where the people are also human but operate very differently when it comes to gender and sexuality. He wants to induct Gethen into a vast interstellar trade network, but the Gethenians aren’t sure what to make of that or him.

After adjusting to the dry, formal writing style, I really got into this book. The study of contrasts in philosophy, ethics, and sexuality was fascinating, as was the story of diplomacy and politics. It underlines how difficult trust is to obtain and keep when cross-cultural communication is so hinky.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book seems to put the big questions aside to become a spy thriller, and not a very thrilling one at that. I found it tiresome. When I finished the book, I looked through its LitCharts study guide and found that the big questions were still there, I just wasn’t seeing them because I had tuned out of the story. It’s gotten me to reflect on the complexity of a person, and how a society’s evolution depends on people being willing to cast their attachments aside. I generally don't re-read books, but this one, I probably should. 5 out of 8 kemmerings.

[Carpet_pissr]

He's a fun writer. My first experience with him was with his book about the English language. I forget exactly what it was called, but it was highly entertaining. Then I read A Walk in the Woods, where he attempts to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, and that too was very good. In fact they made that one into a movie featuring Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte as his friend Katz.

The Mother Tongue, and yes, it was. The Body was great, as were The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, A Walk in the Woods, and especially A Short History of Nearly Everything.

His “One Summer” book is also great. Deals with 4 months in the life of America in 1927, and while that sounds like it could be super boring, it’s anything but. Al Capone was apparently the Elvis of the day.

[Rumpy]

You've sold me on it, congrats! I've put it on my to-read list. Thanks!

[Isgrimnur]

James Baldwin: A Biography - David Adams Leeming

This one has taken me over six months to read. I had been exposed to his public appearances through videos within the past couple years, and decided to pick up the biography when I saw it on sale. It's definitely not something in my normal reading interests, but I felt it important to finish. I have a few pieces of his writing that I have acquired as well that I will give an attempt later.

[YellowKing]

I've taken a break from books for a bit this year because I've been reading the FABLES comic book series on DC Infinite. Such a fantastic series, I can't tear myself away from it.

[hitbyambulance]

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (hardcover): This 1969 sci-fi classic is about a human visitor to planet Gethen, where the people are also human but operate very differently when it comes to gender and sexuality. He wants to induct Gethen into a vast interstellar trade network, but the Gethenians aren’t sure what to make of that or him.

After adjusting to the dry, formal writing style, I really got into this book. The study of contrasts in philosophy, ethics, and sexuality was fascinating, as was the story of diplomacy and politics. It underlines how difficult trust is to obtain and keep when cross-cultural communication is so hinky.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book seems to put the big questions aside to become a spy thriller, and not a very thrilling one at that. I found it tiresome. When I finished the book, I looked through its LitCharts study guide and found that the big questions were still there, I just wasn’t seeing them because I had tuned out of the story. It’s gotten me to reflect on the complexity of a person, and how a society’s evolution depends on people being willing to cast their attachments aside. I generally don't re-read books, but this one, I probably should. 5 out of 8 kemmerings.

it might help to know you read #4 out of many books set in the same universe, although every book is a stand-alone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainish_Cycle

also i see you read the "Penguin Galaxy" imprint edition with the Neil Gaiman intro - i was wondering if it was the same intro for all the books in that particular pressing (i think it is)

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/seri ... uin-galaxy

https://beautifulbooks.info/illustrated ... liography/

(still haven't read The Once and Future King or 2001: A Space Odyssey)

[Hipolito]

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (hardcover): This 1969 sci-fi classic is about a human visitor to planet Gethen, where the people are also human but operate very differently when it comes to gender and sexuality. He wants to induct Gethen into a vast interstellar trade network, but the Gethenians aren’t sure what to make of that or him.

After adjusting to the dry, formal writing style, I really got into this book. The study of contrasts in philosophy, ethics, and sexuality was fascinating, as was the story of diplomacy and politics. It underlines how difficult trust is to obtain and keep when cross-cultural communication is so hinky.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book seems to put the big questions aside to become a spy thriller, and not a very thrilling one at that. I found it tiresome. When I finished the book, I looked through its LitCharts study guide and found that the big questions were still there, I just wasn’t seeing them because I had tuned out of the story. It’s gotten me to reflect on the complexity of a person, and how a society’s evolution depends on people being willing to cast their attachments aside. I generally don't re-read books, but this one, I probably should. 5 out of 8 kemmerings.

it might help to know you read #4 out of many books set in the same universe, although every book is a stand-alone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainish_Cycle

also i see you read the "Penguin Galaxy" imprint edition with the Neil Gaiman intro - i was wondering if it was the same intro for all the books in that particular pressing (i think it is)

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/seri ... uin-galaxy

https://beautifulbooks.info/illustrated ... liography/

(still haven't read The Once and Future King or 2001: A Space Odyssey)

I was vaguely aware of the Hainish Cycle, but didn't know this was book 4. I heard The Dispossessed is good, too, and now that I kind of know how to read Le Guin, I might enjoy it more.

This wasn't my first Le Guin read, though. Way back in high school, I had to read her short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (which was great) and her book Always Coming Home (which I didn't really understand).

Gaiman's intro is a blurb on each of the six books, so yeah, probably the same intro for all. If you'd like my copy of LHOD, let me know, I was thinking of depositing it at a Little Free Library anyway.