Hey Beehaw, whatcha reading right now?
The eyes of the dragon by Stephen King
The Murderbot Diaries.
I’ve been enjoying it, it has a surprising amount of heart for a series about an emotionally damaged not-robot.
I was put off by the pricing on these. Full price for novella length. I really enjoyed the first one, I’ll grab the rest if they go on sale
Currently reading Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy really fun reads though it got weird in some places
Currently working my way through the Three Body Problem series. They are very good but I’m not sure how much I’m enjoying them, they are pretty bleak in places.
Fantastic novels. Skip the redemption of time though. It’s terrible
I listened to the first two on audio book. I’m in the same boat as you, where I thought they were good, and pretty thought provoking, but very bleak, and almost propagandistic, I can’t really explain it though
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.
“After all, why shouldn’t I write about trees for three pages? It’s my own book, my precious.” - JRR Tolkien
PRECISELY.
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.
Barker has a fascinating imagination. I finished Coldheart canyon recently. I almost walked away repulsed many times but there was good story under all his signature flair. After Imajica I will try to read anything he writes.
Black House, by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.
Gibson is tough to get into, personally, but his stories are very cool!
Currently reading “Brave New World”, Aldous Huxley. Next up Isaac Asimov’s Foundation.
Foundation books are great! Go for it!
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).
Neuromancer. It’s okay so far.
I just finished Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle. I LOVED it.
Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland.
So far, it is intriguing and enjoyable! Got a ways to go, but I think it’ll hold up.
Expeditionary Force: Match Game
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.
I guess I should finally read Snow Crash, but other books keep getting in the way. I just finished Neuromancer which surprised me with how well written it was. No idea why, but I expected the classics to be more … exhausting.
