#1558

starting the new vollmann, “the lucky star,” today

1 Like
#1559

just backing this take as i reread Left Hand recently and it’s still fresh and sharp

2 Likes
#1560

I still have his climate collapse books on my desk. Afraid to open them!

#1561

I just finished the latest William Gibson (Agency) yesterday. It was good, which is not really surprising :slight_smile:.

Before that I read Infinite Detail by Tim Maughan and really liked it too. Another one that got recommended by Warren Ellis in his newsletter, which is usually a very good sign. It’s not a spoiler to say that the book is about what happens after the internet collapses, but it’s really interesting take on this.

And I think I’ll start Cloud Atlas now. I read The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell a few years ago and really liked it so I want to read another one of his novels…

2 Likes
#1562

god, I loved Infinite Detail. probably rabbited on about it earlier in this thread, but it really holds up when I go to recall it. can’t recommend it enough to Lines-folk.

3 Likes
#1563

I am currently halfway through Jenny Offill’s Weather which I’m adoring. short, pithy, about the right thing right now.

1 Like
#1565

This is great

#1566

As usual, I’ve got a couple on the go at the moment:

David Toop - Flutter Echo (2019)

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Toop’s memoir and summation of his practice. I found a copy of this when I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been reading this late in the evening for the past week. Onto the final third, It’s very, very good. It has an openess and grace(?) which sets it apart from some of the more solipsistic artist memoirs I’ve read.

Kate Cole-Adams - Anaesthesia (2017)
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An interesting survey of what happens to the brain under the effects of anaesthesia. Written from the perspective of the author’s own experience along with anecdotal accounts. Reading on my lunch breaks at work. Pretty good so far.

6 Likes
#1567

On your recommendation, I picked this up last weekend and finished it this afternoon.

This is one of the sharpest books I’ve read in certain respects. Her ability to wholistically synthesize subjects across disciplines, culturally and academically, is a masterclass in writing a personal work with broad appeal about serious subjects. It’s a book that seems easy to dismiss on its popularity and the listical company it keeps, but that would be a mistake. It’s a serious look at the cultural, technological, and enviromental world that we live in with some very practical advice for how to be here.

I’ve been thinking about it in the background all week, and it will probably stay there for a bit. It has a lot of synergy with my other environmental reading, so there’s a lot to bounce it off of.

It seems like it will have more to say to some than others, but it’s a very easy book to recommend. It might even pry something open for you that needs more thinking about.

11 Likes
#1568

Thanks for the heads-up on this one!

I finished ‘Weather’ a couple of days ago (really liked it, to the point where I’d have quite liked it to be a bit longer!) - so this might be a good one to follow with (I know it came before Weather and i seem to be reading her in reverse chronological order, but ‘prequel’ somehow doesn’t seem the right word!)

1 Like
#1569

Interesting. I’d initially dismissed it on the basis of its popularity (which is a little lazy/silly on my part.) This recommendation certainly swayed me.

3 Likes
#1570

I just finished The Dark Forest. Need to pick up the third volume but just ordered How to Do Nothing based on recommendations here.

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#1571

Diving in on this; it sounds like good medicine. Thanks for posting!

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#1572

(Jenny Offill and Jenny Odell are both excellent writers, but also different people…)

1 Like
#1574

Noted.

Apologies to all.

hashtag confused dot com :wink:

#1575

Shana Redmond’s Anthem Social movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora

#1576

Recently finished “Rice, Noodle, Fish” by Matt Goulding. Getting ready for an eating tour of Japan.

Started “Sapien” by Harari. It’s great. Highly recommend.

Gave up on “Manhattan Beach” but I shouldn’t. Maybe it picks up?

1 Like
#1577

I will be buying this and reading it (out on 27th Feb in the UK)

4 Likes
#1578

image

Starting this on an a unseasonably warm New England beach. I had the pleasure of trading euro modules with the author a couple times. Can’t wait to crack this open.

5 Likes
#1579

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I’m currently reading this, and it’s absolutely fascinating, both as story about the history of ideas, and a story about the underlying ideas themselves. it’s riveting and making me wish that I’d become a theoretical physicist.

5 Likes