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Wednesday Reading Meme June 12 2024
Jun. 12th, 2024 11:41 amWhat I’ve Read:
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert – narrated by Scott Brick. This book is just like, an incredible snarky retort to the first book. In case you were wondering if the protagonists of these books were the heroes, nope! This book’s message: ‘These people are bad! They are comparing themselves to dictators of the past and finding them too merciful’ levels of bluntness. It’s a very good visit to a book that is 100% interested in making sure you know that any good people in this world are not working with anyone in power. This book is so weirdly horny that I don’t think I can do it justice, just, let’s be clear, it’s super horny. The running themes of blindness and connection to the desert are interesting but overall, I kept being grossed out by the ‘civilized’ people. The Bene Tleilax are super gross! Paul is awful! The Bene Gesserit are awful! It’s very entertaining.
The Power Broker (Audiobook Part 1) by Robert Caro narrated by Robertson Dean – Look, if a book is so long that the audiobook has to be broken into parts, I am going to count each part as a book. This is not a race, I am making these rules up and I get to decide what’s cheating. This whole book is like 1200+ pages so I feel fine about counting these twice.
This audiobook is great and I’m very happy I got it. The tome of a book is a lot to carry around. The books is a fascinating work of nonfiction and I’ve been recommending it to people as a window into the politics of a century ago and a bit nearer, but I also want to just lean into the ways it covers the history of New York – so much of which becomes the model for the rest of the country. I have been recommending it like mad, and I think you should read it, yes you, whoever you are, it’s fascinating.
What I’m Reading:
Mo Dao Zu Shi - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Part 5 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – – 23% - Ok, I restarted this series and I forgot that the last part of thing is just the climactic scene in the temple and a bunch of cute extra stories. It’s very entertaining! I’m also having the similar experience of tonal whiplash – these genres are outside my prior reading and it’s really fun to visit them to see how thing turn out!
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York– Robert Caro – 31% - Here's where I am in the actual whole book.
Saint of Bright Doors – Hugo – Audiobook and paperbook – static - I might need the audiobook back before I can make progress
The Spear Cuts Through Water – hugos and xing book club, I have technically read about 1 page - static
Running close to the Wind – Alex Rowland – NEW BOOK DAY YAY! – 40% – Ok, this book is hilariously written, the main character is a self-described silly little slut who is entirely free from shame in a way that makes him a delight to watch bounce off people, and it’s clearly written with love for pirate stories and Pratchett. If you enjoyed MDZS and Wei Wuxian’s whiny antics, then you will very much enjoy this book. I like Rowland’s work, and they’ve populated a sprawling shared universe with multiple different countries, so if you read A Taste of Gold and Iron, this draws upon some of the international politics laid out there, and if you’ve read A Conspiracy of Truths or a Choir of Lies, some of the nations and customs and people mentioned in those books will come up and enrich the text. Yes, there are some Our Flag Means Death references, but I think there's probably more Skyjacks podcast stuff.
What I’ll Read Next
Some Desperate Glory
Space Between Worlds – Neocromancer’s Book Club
Hugo Nominees:
Bea Wolf Saga, Vol. 11 Translation State Starter Villain The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi “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”
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert – narrated by Scott Brick. This book is just like, an incredible snarky retort to the first book. In case you were wondering if the protagonists of these books were the heroes, nope! This book’s message: ‘These people are bad! They are comparing themselves to dictators of the past and finding them too merciful’ levels of bluntness. It’s a very good visit to a book that is 100% interested in making sure you know that any good people in this world are not working with anyone in power. This book is so weirdly horny that I don’t think I can do it justice, just, let’s be clear, it’s super horny. The running themes of blindness and connection to the desert are interesting but overall, I kept being grossed out by the ‘civilized’ people. The Bene Tleilax are super gross! Paul is awful! The Bene Gesserit are awful! It’s very entertaining.
The Power Broker (Audiobook Part 1) by Robert Caro narrated by Robertson Dean – Look, if a book is so long that the audiobook has to be broken into parts, I am going to count each part as a book. This is not a race, I am making these rules up and I get to decide what’s cheating. This whole book is like 1200+ pages so I feel fine about counting these twice.
This audiobook is great and I’m very happy I got it. The tome of a book is a lot to carry around. The books is a fascinating work of nonfiction and I’ve been recommending it to people as a window into the politics of a century ago and a bit nearer, but I also want to just lean into the ways it covers the history of New York – so much of which becomes the model for the rest of the country. I have been recommending it like mad, and I think you should read it, yes you, whoever you are, it’s fascinating.
What I’m Reading:
Mo Dao Zu Shi - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Part 5 – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – – 23% - Ok, I restarted this series and I forgot that the last part of thing is just the climactic scene in the temple and a bunch of cute extra stories. It’s very entertaining! I’m also having the similar experience of tonal whiplash – these genres are outside my prior reading and it’s really fun to visit them to see how thing turn out!
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York– Robert Caro – 31% - Here's where I am in the actual whole book.
Saint of Bright Doors – Hugo – Audiobook and paperbook – static - I might need the audiobook back before I can make progress
The Spear Cuts Through Water – hugos and xing book club, I have technically read about 1 page - static
Running close to the Wind – Alex Rowland – NEW BOOK DAY YAY! – 40% – Ok, this book is hilariously written, the main character is a self-described silly little slut who is entirely free from shame in a way that makes him a delight to watch bounce off people, and it’s clearly written with love for pirate stories and Pratchett. If you enjoyed MDZS and Wei Wuxian’s whiny antics, then you will very much enjoy this book. I like Rowland’s work, and they’ve populated a sprawling shared universe with multiple different countries, so if you read A Taste of Gold and Iron, this draws upon some of the international politics laid out there, and if you’ve read A Conspiracy of Truths or a Choir of Lies, some of the nations and customs and people mentioned in those books will come up and enrich the text. Yes, there are some Our Flag Means Death references, but I think there's probably more Skyjacks podcast stuff.
What I’ll Read Next
Some Desperate Glory
Space Between Worlds – Neocromancer’s Book Club
Hugo Nominees:
Bea Wolf Saga, Vol. 11 Translation State Starter Villain The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi “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”
