#1832

Great idea! Added.

For the longest time Goodreads was my only social media.

Here’s mine:

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#1833

I am currently reading these six, I tend to leave different books in different rooms and pick them up when I feel like it, I always read at least two or three before going to sleep as well.

  1. The UDO Super 6 manual (numerous times, it will arrive on Wednesday, I am properly stoked!)

  2. Hawkwind: Days of the Underground (Radical Escapism in the Age of Paranoia), by Joe Banks. Only just started this but it’s a fantastic account of Hawkwind in the 70s (their best era), and the surrounding culture.

  3. The Middle Pillar, by Israel Regardie. I got this when I was about 15 and have been performing it on and off for decades. Thought I’d read the original text again as it has been ages. I might get around to making a full on audio/guided meditation version at some stage.

  4. Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now, by Jaron Lanier. This is really hitting home for me recently, and have made some progress towards following his suggestions. It’s incredibly bad and sad the way the internet turned out, for the most part, after the (perhaps naive?) utopian vision we had in the 90s. I have followed Jaron since his Mondo2000 and VR days, and he always talks a lot of sense.

  5. The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence, by Storm Constantine. My fave modern fantasy series, Wraeththu, set in a post apocalyptic world, where a hermaphrodite race with magical powers have come to replace humanity. Very goth, very romantic. First read the original trilogy when I was a teen and it blew me away. The second trilogy is also great. I used to correspond a bit with Storm, and she gave her blessing to use the title of one of her books (Hermetech) as my label/studio/mastering business name. Highly recommended!

  6. The Rose of Paracelsus by William Leonard Pickard. A very strange book, lovely prose, for fans of The Illuminatus! trilogy etc. Leonard was just freed from 20 years in gaol, wahey!!!

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#1834

finished Laxness’ “The Fish Can Sing,” i liked it a lot though not my favorite of his. this week:

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#1835

I’m a fan. I’ve read through Mistborn and the Stormlight Archives trilogies, and have now gone back to the start to Elantris. It felt like it took me longer to get into Elantris - you can tell he’s honed his craft since then.

Which was your favourite?

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#1836

I agree, Elantris reads like a good first novel, but still a first novel.

The Stormlight Archive is my favorite of his series, but I’m not sure which specific book is my favorite.

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#1837

Ten Arguments is wonderful - it inspired me to dump social media in its entirety and move away from misleadingly free services towards paying secure providers for only those that are essential (e.g. email).

If you’ve not read it I’d also recommend Who Owns the Future which is a little out of date but largely holds true, as well as Rebooting AI by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis for a really insightful take on the reality of AI vs the posturing of tech companies, and how it should actually be used for good.

Additionally the usual recommendation of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff which is heavy and academic but very worthwhile.

4 Likes
#1838

I just finished Tiamat’s Wrath, the eighth Expanse novel. The final novel is supposed to be published sometime this year…

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#1839

i really have enjoyed this book myself. Verso who published it has such a great collection of political reads, i recommend almost anything they have put out.

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#1840

Thank you for posting that. Ordered the book yesterday (the author has a discount on his website here http://www.sonicwriting.org/publications if you order from Bloomsbury but their UX is simply terrible).

~ Editing out a harsh criticism of the book review. I’m not going to find stupid excuses, it was totally uncalled for and shouldn’t be around to ruin such a nice thread ~

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#1841

No need to apologise. I’ll take note for future book reviews.

#1842

No, I was way out of line. My personal taste should not have any say on your way of writing. I sincerely apologise for my lack of manners.

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#1843

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#1844

I feel like this book was a mixed bag. Hilarious to start off, but later it got grim and depressing, and preachy, and occasionally really beautiful, and… I half wished it stuck to being one thing, but also partially liked that it wasn’t. Hmm.

#1845

I don’t know if this has come up here before but feel like it’s one some would enjoy. Some great descriptions of insect voices

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#1846

Picked this up again after first reading it 30 years ago. I’d somehow forgotten how evocative and vivid her writing is and how engaging her opening lines are. Maybe I’ll crack open those dusty Raymond Carver books next.

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#1847

I recently finished Sing To It and really loved her writing. I need to pick this one up soon!

#1848

Really enjoyed this one – it’s sort of Afrofuturism-meets-fantasy. After a while I stopped trying to figure out the setting and just ran with it. :slight_smile:

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#1849

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Picked this up a couple of years ago when the literary press (here in North America) gave Murnane his short-lived shining moment. I struggled during my first try, but something clicked this summer. There’s nothing quite like that feeling you get when a writer ventures into territory you never knew existed.

#1850

Currently reading:

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#1851

I can highly recommend The Flavour Thesaurus.

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