#1362

Reading Overstory currently. Agree that is a heavily male POV, but it is an engaging account of our relationships with trees.

It helps to explore the work of Monica Gagliano at the same time.

#1363

just to clarify that I was specifically referring to Gene Wolfe generally and more specifically to the Book of the New Sun series.

The Overstory doesn’t strike me as especially male, for whatever reason.

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#1364

‘Overstory’ was a beautiful read. From the finish of the very first chapter I was absolutely gripped.

‘My Absolute Darling’ was also wonderful but it contains quite a lot of many types of trauma, so might not be for everyone.

Also really enjoyed ‘How to Change Your Mind’. I’m making my way through ‘Evicted’ but that is some challenging subject matter to stomach.

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#1365

Presently working through two books: 1) On Trails, by Robert Moor describes the physical trails we and other creatures follow (think the Appalachian Trail or an ant trail), and 2) The Apollo Guidance Computer by Frank O’Brien, an unbelievably detailed account of the software internals and hardware components of the mini computer that went to the moon and allowed for a safe return of the Apollo 11 astronauts.

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#1366

Currently reading a few books:

  1. Range - David Epstein - a really interesting look at the differences between the development of specialists and generalists in professional fields.

  2. Spotify Teardown - a look into the origins and development of Spotify by a group of researchers by a group of researchers. They also attempt to break dowm of their algorithms by cr

  3. This Is Marketing - Understanding marketing from one of the gurus

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#1367

that first one sounds super relevant to my interests. adding to the list! thanks :blush:

edit: just impulse-bought this beast. looking forward to digging in

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#1368

Currently reading The Heavens by Sandra Newman. It’s a little saccharine so far…which is too bad because all of her tweets are brilliant!

#1370

Just finished Jenny Odell’s How to do nothing. My partner and I shared the stage with her at XOXO 2019, and we got her book after, lots of very interesting observations in there. I recommend it.

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#1371

i’m finishing up the 4th book of max gladstone’s “craft sequence”. uneven start to the series (2nd book is pretty flat), but by book 3, he’s really found his stride & style. i recommend it for anyone interested in urban-ish fantasy. and also for any (experimental) occultists out there, the ideas will likely spark sone things.

i’m still struggling to engage with nonfic, which is frustrating AF for me. there’s a lot i want to read.

picked these up this week, at an unfamiliar bookshop during a trip:

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#1372

Underland is very high on my list right now.

I still have Overstory sitting here half finished and having picked up a bunch of new books recently I’m considering ditching it. I found the characters and stories really irksome, like reading a collection of cliches (reclusive arborist woman, Indian kids who is good at computers, country boy who likes art and his family doesn’t get it…) that kinda involve trees in some way. Does the second half change in a major way?

I saw Etgar Keret has a new book out. curious if anyone has read it. I really liked a few of his books years ago and they were especially good for quick lunch break reads.

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#1373

I’m sorry that Overstory isn’t really doing it for you. I was thoroughly enthralled by it but it sounds like it’s just not your cup of tea.

The second half does draw together the strands set up in the first part, but I’m not sure that knowledge will do much for your irritation with it.

If you have the paper version, would you consider passing it on to a friend/family member instead? Perhaps they might enjoy it.

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#1374

as @Helen says, the story lines come together, both in expected and unexpected ways. if you’re still in the character introduction part of the book, it might be worth pressing on.

for Robert McFarlane readers, what should I read now that I finished Underland?

#1375

yeah might just not be my thing. it is interesting though, that even though I don’t like the characters or plots so much even if I found myself rolling my eyes I would still go on to the next story, so there is SOMETHING compelling there in the writing style.

but of course I would pass it on to someone - books never go in the trash :wink:

#1376

I found Overstory to be overwrought. But in a good way. It did a good job expressing the urgency of the matter; it did well doing what the author set out to do - expressing the importance of trees. But still overwrought. I didn’t care much for the characters but the twists and turns it took definitely kept the pages turning.

Also finished “Wonder” cause the kid enjoyed it. It was fine but I’m always skeptical about how adults portray children. Good intentions.

On to the Winter read:

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#1377

I just am just about to finish Shadow & Claw, mentioned above and books 1 & 2 of Gene Wofle’s Book of the New Urth.

This is my second read through. I wanted to re-read it before continuing on to books 3 & 4. Like a lot of his work, it rewards revisiting. It’s very dense and often challenging, which I enjoy.

I’m also about 3/4 done with Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Stephenson. Like it so far.

I also just picked up How Music Works by David Byrne. Mostly because I have realized the genius of Talking Heads over the last couple of months.

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#1378

Yes! Just finished Etgar Keret’s latest and I REALLY loved it. Same surreal, absurdist stories but they seemed to have much more emotion and human elements vs. earlier books. Highly recommend.

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#1379

Good luck with Life and Fate. Sounds like a great book but I couldn’t get into it. One to come back to for me I think!

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#1380

Stalingrad has thus far been a page turner.

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#1381

Received my copy of László Krasznahorkai’s supposedly final novel, Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming, which I’m excited and weirdly nervous about. At least there are more works currently in translation!

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#1382

Man, I have read/listened a lot since I last visited this thread.

Finished Neuromancer trilogy with Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson (feels silly to write the author name here haha). I love this series too much. Two more Witcher books. They hang between cliche fantasy and ‘that’s kind of cool’.

Read the Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation etc.) by Jeff VanDerMeer and I really enjoyed (most) of it. Some really rich, rich language and description in them.

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline was great. Really good dystopia with a lot of meanings beyond the metaphor.

Read 1984 and Brave New World for the first time, and I can see how both influence culture nowadays.

High-Rise by Ballard. A great intro and a great outro but I found that the middle didn’t match the promise.

An Unkindness of Ghosts is a great sci-fi designed around American south slave-era social divisions. I really liked it.

Azar Nafisi’s The Republic of Imagination really disappointed me because I loved her other books and this one felt more like a book report and complaints about “political correctness”, and while I understand her perspective and lived experience comparing things to legitimately awful censorship, I felt like it was soap boxing instead of being as good as her previous works. Maybe I’m misreading her intent, but some parts felt like Facebook posts by family members you avoid at the Some poignant moments but overall I expected and wanted more and better.

The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century (William Rosen) is a lie of a title and has two pages about climate change in it. If you want to write a history book, just do it without trying to score title points for topical issues.

I also read a whole bunch of comics and manga. Outliers that were really good: Prism Stalker (Leong) and Our Dreams at Dusk (Yuhki). The Girl from the Other Side (Nagabe) is all right, feels like Dark Souls sensibilities in a manga.

I’m currently going through Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel), and I expected something different, I guess. The jumps in time between after the apocalypse and before are interesting but I can’t find myself liking the ones about Arthur. Maybe I just don’t like him as a character.

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