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Wednesday Reading Meme July 17, 2024
Jul. 18th, 2024 11:34 amWhat I’ve Read:
Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6)– Matha Wells, Narrator Kevin R. Free – Reread for Xing Book Group – This book series remains a delight. The book group continue to be unified in liking this series a lot, which is nearly miraculous for us in our disparate tastes. Kevin R. Free remains a great voice for Murderbot – nails the deadpan jokes and brings out the subtler emotions that Murderbot would rather not look directly at.
While I have read this book twice before, this is my first time reading thru the series in this order (aka, 1-4, then reading #6 before #5). I think it works better than publication order, since it follows the journey of the main character, and this series hinges so much on MB’s personal development thru and around each experience it has. The first quartet of books are a very cohesive story and end in a fairly significant decision for Murderbot – Fugitive Telemetry is a good transition from the hectic focus of the first four books to see MB actually living with the results of its decision (mostly for the better). There were such great themes of inner truth v exterior perception thru-out this story, and how the exterior can be misleading but nevertheless is what you have to engage with for other people. I really enjoyed the book club’s discussion about the whole thing – we’re going on to the next book in …. three books
What I’m Reading:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi -Novel by S. A. Chakraborty – (Hugos and Xing) audiobook (Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal) – about 80% and it’s a wild ride. I have not read any SAC before this and I like the characters here – they feel like they have really different voices and tone. The structure of the book is that Amina (voiced by Lameece Issaq) is telling her story verbally to a scribe, Jamal (voiced by Amin El Gamal), and they both really nail the different tones of each of these characters – Amina is savvy and bold and has lots of life experience in a lot of places; she prioritizes decency over societal morals and she’s not hesitant to criticize her own religion or culture. Jamal is a scholar and has ~niceties~ and ~shame~ - it’s adorable when he’s shy about Amina talking about her life. From the author bio, Chakraborty is a white American who converted to Islam in her teens and her background for this book’s world is “historical fanfiction” – the characters are fictional but the non-fantasy part of this book are based in historical studies. Overall, I feel like it makes the world really accessible to someone who, like me, has basically no exposure to this historical period in this region. I hope she’s got a bibliography somewhere to dig into.
Mo Dao Zu Shi - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – Part 5 – 23% - No movement
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York– Robert Caro – 31% (aka 9%of audiobook #2)- back to reading this a bit
What I’ll Read Next
Some Desperate Glory - Xing
Space Between Worlds – Neocromancer’s Book Club
The Saint of Bright Doors - Vajra Chandrasekera
Hugo Nominees:
Translation State Starter Villain “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition” “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” “On the Fox Roads” “One Man’s Treasure” “The Year Without Sunshine” I AM AI Rose/House “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” The Mimicking of Known Successes Mammoths at the Gates “Seeds of Mercury” The Culture: The Drawings A City on Mars A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023) “Answerless Journey” / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, “The Sound of Children Screaming” “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” “The Mausoleum’s Children”
Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6)– Matha Wells, Narrator Kevin R. Free – Reread for Xing Book Group – This book series remains a delight. The book group continue to be unified in liking this series a lot, which is nearly miraculous for us in our disparate tastes. Kevin R. Free remains a great voice for Murderbot – nails the deadpan jokes and brings out the subtler emotions that Murderbot would rather not look directly at.
While I have read this book twice before, this is my first time reading thru the series in this order (aka, 1-4, then reading #6 before #5). I think it works better than publication order, since it follows the journey of the main character, and this series hinges so much on MB’s personal development thru and around each experience it has. The first quartet of books are a very cohesive story and end in a fairly significant decision for Murderbot – Fugitive Telemetry is a good transition from the hectic focus of the first four books to see MB actually living with the results of its decision (mostly for the better). There were such great themes of inner truth v exterior perception thru-out this story, and how the exterior can be misleading but nevertheless is what you have to engage with for other people. I really enjoyed the book club’s discussion about the whole thing – we’re going on to the next book in …. three books
What I’m Reading:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi -Novel by S. A. Chakraborty – (Hugos and Xing) audiobook (Narrated by Lameece Issaq and Amin El Gamal) – about 80% and it’s a wild ride. I have not read any SAC before this and I like the characters here – they feel like they have really different voices and tone. The structure of the book is that Amina (voiced by Lameece Issaq) is telling her story verbally to a scribe, Jamal (voiced by Amin El Gamal), and they both really nail the different tones of each of these characters – Amina is savvy and bold and has lots of life experience in a lot of places; she prioritizes decency over societal morals and she’s not hesitant to criticize her own religion or culture. Jamal is a scholar and has ~niceties~ and ~shame~ - it’s adorable when he’s shy about Amina talking about her life. From the author bio, Chakraborty is a white American who converted to Islam in her teens and her background for this book’s world is “historical fanfiction” – the characters are fictional but the non-fantasy part of this book are based in historical studies. Overall, I feel like it makes the world really accessible to someone who, like me, has basically no exposure to this historical period in this region. I hope she’s got a bibliography somewhere to dig into.
Mo Dao Zu Shi - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – Part 5 – 23% - No movement
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York– Robert Caro – 31% (aka 9%of audiobook #2)- back to reading this a bit
What I’ll Read Next
Some Desperate Glory - Xing
Space Between Worlds – Neocromancer’s Book Club
The Saint of Bright Doors - Vajra Chandrasekera
Hugo Nominees:
Translation State Starter Villain “Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition” “Ivy, Angelica, Bay” “On the Fox Roads” “One Man’s Treasure” “The Year Without Sunshine” I AM AI Rose/House “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” The Mimicking of Known Successes Mammoths at the Gates “Seeds of Mercury” The Culture: The Drawings A City on Mars A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023) “Answerless Journey” / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, “The Sound of Children Screaming” “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” “The Mausoleum’s Children”
