Hey Beehaw, whatcha reading right now?
My current read is Abarat by Clive Barker.
I’d not heard of it until last week, when folks on r/books were singing its praises in a thread, so figured I’d give it a shot. Yeah, it’s enjoyable. Definitely aimed squarely at the middle of the YA crowd, but it’s an easy read at a time when my brain isn’t letting me really get into any books.
Barker has a fascinating imagination. I finished Coldheart canyon recently. I almost walked away repulsed many times but there was good story under all his signature flair. After Imajica I will try to read anything he writes.
The Murderbot Diaries.
I’ve been enjoying it, it has a surprising amount of heart for a series about an emotionally damaged not-robot.
I was put off by the pricing on these. Full price for novella length. I really enjoyed the first one, I’ll grab the rest if they go on sale
Finally finished with Pattern Recognition, William Gibson. It was… nice, it definitely felt like Gibson was uncomfortable writing in the present tense.
Next up is a Brazillian book, As águas-vivas não sabem de si by Aline Valek
do comic books count? i just started reading DCeased. otherwise i’ve finally cracked open Lolita, it’s an interesting but disgusting read.
Just started Howl’s Moving Castle. Liking it so far!
Not exactly like the movie, but it’s pretty close.
My ‘big read’ this year is Finnegans Wake - which I am (or have been) reading week by week along with the TrueLit sub on reddit. It would be a profoundly different experience to read it without the analysis and discussion going on there, so that is something…
Otherwise, I am reading The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is engaging and entertaining, as was her The Hollow Places which I read immediately before. I am also dipping into a collection of the Para Handy tales by Neil Munro, which are a cosy - if stereotypical and patronising - glimpse into another time and pace of life.
I have just returned from a couple of weeks away during which I finished an anthology of Clarke Ashton Smith short fantasy tales (all about the atmosphere: story and worldbuilding are very much secondary and character scarcely features); Haldor Laxness’s The Atom Station (a sparse look at the clash of modern - written in 1948 - and traditional Icelandic values); and Blackwood’s The Willows (an extrapolation of the original idea of “panic” - as several of this other tales are).
Currently reading Thinking Fast And Slow. Have been wanting to read something like it for a while now but my motivation just doesn’t kick for me. I aimed to finish this book at some point this year
Not a Beehaw member, but still gotta answer it, lol.
Been enjoying post-modernist books right now, and just straight philosophy. It’s all so intriguing.
Reading the classic White Noise by Don Delillo, in the middle of Discipline and Punish: The Birth of The Prison by Michel Foucault. Finished Shibumi by Trevanian a month or two ago, one of the most funny and badass reads I’ve been through. Looking forward to picking up some Byung Chul Han books after reading a PDF of his book The Burnout Society.
I am reading “Maskiner som tenker: Algoritmenes hemmeligheter og veien til kunstig intelligens” (Machines that think: The algorithms’ secrets and the way to artificial intelligence) by Inga Strümke. I have learned many new terms, as well as artificial intelligence’s history and fundamental concepts.
Currently listening to Red Rising by Pierce Brown on Storytel. Only 3h into it yet but enjoying it so far at least :)
I’m currently reading through Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I’m a fan of SciFi, and cyberpunk especially. This book was on my reading list, and I decided to pick it up while in the bookstore the other day.
So far I’m really enjoying it. It feels a bit more pulpy than some of the other cyberpunk classics such as Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but that’s not a bad thing. It certainly doesn’t take away from the entertainment in my opinion. Not every book needs to have a grand philosophy behind it.
I guess I should finally read Snow Crash, but other books keep getting in the way. I just finished Neuromancer which surprised me with how well written it was. No idea why, but I expected the classics to be more … exhausting.
Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.
Gibson is tough to get into, personally, but his stories are very cool!
Expeditionary Force: Match Game
I’m currently re-reading Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg, for Pride Month!
I have 2 going right now:
- Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash is good, but IDK. It just isn’t pulling me in the way I expected it to, so it’s taking me too long to get through.
Then I have some Jack Reacher novel on my bedside table waiting to be started, and I was just eyeballing a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories on my shelf.
