What are you reading? (June 2023)

My current read is Abarat by Clive Barker.

I'd not heard of it until last week, when folks on r/books were singing its praises in a thread, so figured I'd give it a shot. Yeah, it's enjoyable. Definitely aimed squarely at the middle of the YA crowd, but it's an easy read at a time when my brain isn't letting me really get into any books.

The Murderbot Diaries.

I've been enjoying it, it has a surprising amount of heart for a series about an emotionally damaged not-robot.

Finally finished with Pattern Recognition, William Gibson. It was... nice, it definitely felt like Gibson was uncomfortable writing in the present tense.

Next up is a Brazillian book, As águas-vivas não sabem de si by Aline Valek

do comic books count? i just started reading DCeased. otherwise i've finally cracked open Lolita, it's an interesting but disgusting read.

Just started Howl's Moving Castle. Liking it so far!

Not exactly like the movie, but it's pretty close.

My 'big read' this year is Finnegans Wake - which I am (or have been) reading week by week along with the TrueLit sub on reddit. It would be a profoundly different experience to read it without the analysis and discussion going on there, so that is something...

Otherwise, I am reading The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is engaging and entertaining, as was her The Hollow Places which I read immediately before. I am also dipping into a collection of the Para Handy tales by Neil Munro, which are a cosy - if stereotypical and patronising - glimpse into another time and pace of life.

I have just returned from a couple of weeks away during which I finished an anthology of Clarke Ashton Smith short fantasy tales (all about the atmosphere: story and worldbuilding are very much secondary and character scarcely features); Haldor Laxness's The Atom Station (a sparse look at the clash of modern - written in 1948 - and traditional Icelandic values); and Blackwood's The Willows (an extrapolation of the original idea of "panic" - as several of this other tales are).

Currently reading Thinking Fast And Slow. Have been wanting to read something like it for a while now but my motivation just doesn't kick for me. I aimed to finish this book at some point this year

Not a Beehaw member, but still gotta answer it, lol.

Been enjoying post-modernist books right now, and just straight philosophy. It's all so intriguing.

Reading the classic White Noise by Don Delillo, in the middle of Discipline and Punish: The Birth of The Prison by Michel Foucault. Finished Shibumi by Trevanian a month or two ago, one of the most funny and badass reads I've been through. Looking forward to picking up some Byung Chul Han books after reading a PDF of his book The Burnout Society.

I am reading "Maskiner som tenker: Algoritmenes hemmeligheter og veien til kunstig intelligens" (Machines that think: The algorithms' secrets and the way to artificial intelligence) by Inga Strümke. I have learned many new terms, as well as artificial intelligence's history and fundamental concepts.

Currently listening to Red Rising by Pierce Brown on Storytel. Only 3h into it yet but enjoying it so far at least :)

I'm currently reading through Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I'm a fan of SciFi, and cyberpunk especially. This book was on my reading list, and I decided to pick it up while in the bookstore the other day.

So far I'm really enjoying it. It feels a bit more pulpy than some of the other cyberpunk classics such as Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but that's not a bad thing. It certainly doesn't take away from the entertainment in my opinion. Not every book needs to have a grand philosophy behind it.

Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.

Gibson is tough to get into, personally, but his stories are very cool!

Expeditionary Force: Match Game

I'm currently re-reading Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg, for Pride Month!

I have 2 going right now:

• Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash is good, but IDK. It just isn't pulling me in the way I expected it to, so it's taking me too long to get through.

Then I have some Jack Reacher novel on my bedside table waiting to be started, and I was just eyeballing a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories on my shelf.

I’m halfway into “Guards! Guards!” by Pratchett. My first story of his, and I’m having so much fun!

I finally managed to read through Gardens of the Moon recently which I really liked, so now I'm on to Deadhouse Gates.

I usually have a print/ebook and an audio book (for the car) going at the same time.

For print book, currently reading Crooked Kingdom, one of the books in the Grishaverse series/world. I, uh, got a little obsessed after watching the first season of Shadow and Bone a year or two ago.

For audiobook, currently listening to Children of Ruin. Not too far into it yet, but I loved loved loved Children of Time (also listened to the audiobook version), so I'm excited to see where this one goes.

Currently reading "Brave New World", Aldous Huxley. Next up Isaac Asimov's Foundation.

The Two Towers. I’ve been needing to read more slowly in the past few years for health reasons, and I am finding lotr just so perfect for that. The nature descriptions are absolutely to die for.

Currently reading Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy really fun reads though it got weird in some places

Black House, by Stephen King and Peter Straub

https://bookwyrm.social/book/1022818/s/black-house

I just started reading the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. I am loving the dry humour and the perfect snapshot of London. It took me entirely too long to get to these due to going through an urban fantasy burnout, so I'm pleased I have so much to look forward to.

The eyes of the dragon by Stephen King