#1494

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Not being familiar with the author previously, the book was surprisingly poetic. Now that I know he’s primarily a poet, it’s not so surprising. Not finished yet, but I can say there’s a welcome amount of self-reflection—requisite in my opinion for a white American man writing on refugees in Somalia, the Middle East and elsewhere.

#1495

Finished ‘Agency’ by William Gibson a couple of days ago - As always with his books, I’m always torn between a slow read, to savour it, or tearing through it in a headlong rush because I can’t wait to read the next chapter.

Now I’ve sat with it for a day or two, I’ll start a more leisurely re-read tomorrow.

3 Likes
#1496

In the middle of the new Neal Stephenson right now, will most likely get into agency after that.
I’m a fan of the first rush through read leading into a second more even paced read afterward.

2 Likes
#1497

Books read in January:

Non-Comics

  • Dead Lions by Mick Herron.
  • Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré.
  • Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Comics

  • British Ice by Owen D Pomery.
  • Lazarus, Vol. 6: Fracture 1, written by Greg Rucka, art by Michael Lark.
  • Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Caspar Wijngaard.
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#1498

Agent Running in the Field and Red Moon were both very good. You can’t go wrong!

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#1499

Agent running’ was a really nice surprise. I’m glad to hear that others here are fans. Carre is one of my favorite author’s.

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#1500

Yeah, I really dug it, especially how it unfolds like the narrator is being debriefed. I read about half of it and then realized the audiobook is read by the author himself, so I switched over.

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#1501

ezra klein- “why we’re polarized” was so so. i love ezra as an interviewer (and loved wonkblog etc) but he didn’t really cultivate a tone here beyond unpacking various studies to support a dual pronged thesis. can’t say i recommend the book if you already listen to his podcast

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#1502

Now…

plus this:

#1503

Just finished Tony Wood’s “Russia Without Putin” (A+ overview of post-Soviet Russia), presently finishing a re-read of Knapp & Michaels’ “Against Theory” and starting Alexander Zevin’s history of Liberalism through the lens of The Economist, “Liberalism at Large.”

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#1504

I tend to have one non-fiction and one fiction book going at a time. For fiction I’m on my second read-through of The Expanse (on book 2 at the moment). Non-fiction is Peter Zeihan’s The Absent Superpower about the geopolitics surrounding the shale revolution.

#1505

I’ve decided I’m going to read the Expanse novels this year. I’ve got the first on reserve at the library, but if I love it enough I’ll collect them myself.

I just started reading Greg Egan’s Diaspora. Wild stuff. The style reminds me a little of Neal Stephenson in that entertaining, digression-as-simultaneous-exposition-and-explanation sort of way.

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#1506

You won’t regret the choice. The story is solid throughout, and I think the writing improves as the series progresses.

#1508

Just bought the Egan the other day.

3 Likes
#1509

Fascinating book with tons of maps and images, up to date archaeological evidence and theories discussed. Also got a few books on Danelaw and reading papers on sites from last few years.

https://www.amazon.com/Anglo-Saxon-World-M-J-Ryan/dp/0300216130

This one is a tight read, spider social order and hypothetical uplifting is very well done.

https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/0316452505

#1510

Diaspora is incredible. Read Permutation City next if you haven’t.

I just finished rereading the Blue Ant trilogy… I think Spook Country & Zero History together might be my favorite of Gibson’s work… just started Agency!

3 Likes
#1512

Just finished Yoko Ogawas “Memory Police” … a very well written dystopian novel.
Finally I found an author in the spirit of Haruki Murakami.

If you have other japanese fiction you could recommend, please share it…

2 Likes
#1513

by Terry Pratchett - this is probably my favourite Discworld novel so far, I loved the witty & sometimes quite thought provoking lines by some of the characters, while at the same time being very amusing. If anyone can recommend their favourite Discworld novels, I’d love to hear about them! So far I’ve read Mort, Going Postal, The Light Fantastic, and of course this :slight_smile:

4 Likes
#1514

I’ve grown up with Pratchett books and I’m still rereading them from time to time. I think my favorite would be either Mort or Small Gods. But there’s so many more worth reading. I particularly like the Witches arc… Wyrd Sisters, Lords and Ladies, Witches Abroad and so on.

Also, it’s not from the Discworld, but I think Nation is his best book overall. Most of the Discworld books are mainly poking fun at philosophy (in a very good way, don’t get me wrong) and say something really clever once in a while, but I found Nation to be a really profound look at how relationships, society, tradition and culture work. And that while still being a fun children / young adult novel. Really worth a read, even more so if you’re reading it with your kids.

3 Likes
#1515

Just finished reading “The Left Hand of darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Now: “The Unlimited Dream Company” by J. G. Ballard

3 Likes