#1998

After reading all three, I would say I liked the second the most for the story but I think of the ideas fleshed out by the third book more (less the story). The first book I ultimately liked the least in the end. The very bleak, harsh reality he describes of interstellar existence I found to be a very welcome addition to the genre.

2 Likes
#1999

Wretched of the Screen is fantastic. Her writings are extremely lucid and spot on.

2 Likes
#2000

I’m currently devouring Dead Lines Dreaming as well, loved the whole Laundry Files series and could not wait for the paperback. It is indeed a bit short, I’m already halfway through.

1 Like
#2001

I took a full week off for Thanksgiving/my birthday, and spent a good chunk of that time reading this 460,000+ word beast :slight_smile:

I am a dedicated fan of Brandon Sanderson, and this is my favorite series of his, for its huge emotional lows and highs, and the “Branvalanche” of big reveals and “oh shit” moments that set the story on fire. Of course if you don’t like epic fantasy this won’t work for you, since it takes a few hundred pages to set up all the pieces before knocking them down… but there’s a lot of character development and great humor and action in the process.

This book was, even more than any previous ones, really big on themes of mental health. People who have been struggling too long without rest, not acknowledging their own traumas, break. While there are literal physical battles in this part of the story, it’s now much more about battling one’s inner demons as well as contests of wit and cunning rather than the sword.

Most of Sanderson’s novels are connected through “the Cosmere” and those connections are showing much more now than ever before. This book wouldn’t make much sense without the previous three Stormlight Archive books, but there are also a ton of tidbits and little revelations which reference his other worlds. However, I don’t have an encylopedic enough mind to put all of those together and realize on my own that shadowy-figure-with-a-completely-different-name who figures distantly into one of the subplots is probably a (dead) major character from another world, and I still felt the impact of the story just fine.

At this point in the story there is some heavy magical research going on, and some of it even touches on sound theory. Phase cancellation becomes a deadly weapon, albeit in a way that calls for more suspension of disbelief than, say, magical flight, or people who cast shadows in the wrong direction :laughing:

1 Like
#2002

Oh wow, I totally missed that the next Stormlight Archive book came out. Thanks for mentioning it! I love epic fantasy and really enjoyed the other books so far (liked the Mistborn series a lot as well). This will go right on top of my reading list for the christmas holidays!

1 Like
#2003

Also a novella, Dawnshard which is chronologically before Rhythm of War, but it’s a side story so it’s OK to read it after.

#2004

Enjoying “John Cage - A Mycological Foray” far more than I expected. I bought thinking pretty pictures of mushrooms and old photos of John Cage. But the text has all sorts of lovely layers that inspire thoughts on life, music, nature and the like.

8 Likes
#2005

I just started The Wise Man’s Fear myself after having devoured the first book during my senior year of college! It’s a great yarn, although Kvothe is a bit insufferable at times. I’d love a long segment from Denna’s point of view.

I really like fantasy like this that focuses more on having many believable, three-dimensional characters than on Epic Adventure; I like thinking about people and how they grapple with a strange world.

3 Likes
#2006

Think there are a few more in the interim but here are the ones which I enjoyed most recently(ish):

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala - Very interesting read about the history of race within the UK and the many awful exports of race relations from the UK. Akala does and excellent job of explaining the intricacies of race in the UK and the import/export of ideas around racial politics which the UK/Britain involves itself with. Highly recommended read.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - I read this a couple of months ago and was absolutely rapt by it. At the time I wasn’t sure if it was a spectacular novel that was heart-wrenching and beautifully written or if it was a well-timed nostalgia trip when I was missing home. Turns out it must be the former as it won the Booker Prize and pretty much every book of the year award worth mentioning. An absolute masterpiece about addiction, love, dedication and hardship which I recommend anyone read. If you put one modern novel on your list in the next wee while, make it this.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - I am not a huge fantasy fan but this short novel was incredible. Such an incredibly written tale about a mysterious place which is both fascinating and terrifying. If you have any inclination towards fantasy, or frankly just surrealistic writing, you owe it to yourself to read this book. 9/10, would definitely recommend.

1 Like
#2007

Reading Hyperion for the first time. How did this one slip past me? And how do I keep it from happening again?

5 Likes
#2008

One of my favourites. Jealous you have it all for the first time!

2 Likes
#2009
  • Hothead Paisan, Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist by Diane DiMassa
  • Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
  • Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel, which is not necessarily a sequel to Fun Home, but is about the process of writing that book and also writing the follow-up (i.e. itself, so kind of a meta-book); basically the other half of Fun Home, pun/entendre intended.
2 Likes
#2010

I’ve returned to reading in the last couple of years—a pastime that fell by the wayside while raising young children. This year, I’ve continued to enjoy non-fiction (a new development for me) as well as fiction.

I won’t provide a recap of my year by book, but my non-fiction reading has concerned modern politics, religion, and the discovery of James Baldwin, whose “Notes of a Native Son” I enjoyed immensely.

I’m currently reading “The Silmarillion” for the very first time, which is wild because I read The Hobbit in jr high and the LOTR trilogy in high school and college and loved both (the movie trilogies are favorites of mine also). Cliche maybe, but I don’t feel shame about what I enjoy. I’ll report back once I finish.

On a bit of a tangent, I can honestly say that returning to regular music making this year has rekindled my connection to fun for the sake of fun and it has extended beyond just music. Learning to enjoy “play” with my modular has been tremendous for me.

2 Likes
#2011

I think that Hyperion is the best scifi book I’ve ever read. I go back and re-read it ever few years just because I enjoy it so much.

6 Likes
#2012

Any recommendations for must read ethnomusicology books? General or more specific, modern or vintage, both is fine. I’m a fan of randomly clicking through Smithsonian Folkways catalogue booklets, but not sure where to branch out from there. Not really well versed in music theory but understand general musical concepts. I did recently read The Wellsprings of Music by Curt Sachs and liked it very much.

To otherwise contribute to the topic, I just finished Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music by Alvin Lucier. A surprisingly light and quick read, and quite fun and informative regardless of previous knowledge. Though in a way I almost missed a bit of the usual “new music” pretentiousness, haha.

On the non-musical side, listening to some Bukowski audiobooks, Ham on Rye most recently. I do have some general issues with his general tortured machismo, and Ham on Rye consists almost exclusively of self deprecation, (pre-)teenage hornyness and unnecessary fight starting, but the reading by Christian Baskous has an amplified Bukowskian snarl that makes me enjoy it very much.

Coming up:

  • Harmonies of Heaven and Earth: Mysticism in Music from Antiquity to the Avant-garde by Joscelyn Godwin
  • Maryanne Amacher: Selected Writings and Interviews, edited by Bill Dietz and Amy Cimini (when it finally gets here)
#2013

Serpico by Peter Maas. Just realized ol’ Frank lives across the river from me.

#2014

I’ve just finished re-reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It’s quite the journey.

I haven’t been here for long but this passage about the unification of art and technology made me think of this community and its endeavours.

“To say that they [skilled mechanics and machinists] are not artists is to misunderstand the nature of art. They have patience, care and attentiveness to what they are doing, but more than this - there’s a kind of inner peace of mind that isn’t contrived but results from a kind of harmony with the work in which there is no leader and no follower.”

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6 Likes
#2015

it’s worth giving a look at Steven Feld (“Senses of Place” but also his articles). Also at Anthony Seeger (Why Suyá Sing), Marina Roseman (Healing Sounds from the Malaysian Rainforest) and although not a musicologist, Tim Ingold (the perception of the environment).

1 Like
#2016

i highly recommend “a feminist ethnomusicology” by ellen koskoff!

1 Like
#2017

Recent reads:

Sprinkled with non-fiction, this is a story where humanity finally takes bold actions to save itself and future generations from climate disaster and related social injustices. While there’s some geoengineering in play, really it’s mostly about where to apply levers to change the economic and social systems that resist necessary change.

I found it fairly plausible, and alternately heartbreaking and encouraging.

From the author of Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth, a parody of fairy-tale and fantasy tropes and a satire of gender. A princess learns to rescue herself and becomes something more than a princess. (If you have young children you should probably read it yourself before deciding if it’s suitable for them; there’s violence, gore, and (sort of) learning to swear.)

Currently rereading:

Hunting for inspiration, not sure I’ve found any yet but I might play with tuning systems a little more. At least I understand Bohlen-Pierce a little better now after discovering it works really well for cross-FM on the 4ms Ensemble Oscillator :slight_smile:

4 Likes