Part 1 of Piranesi just hits my mind in the right spot. (Both the book and the audiobook)

Its now 5am, having to take a new flight because my first one got canceled, having a croissant for breakfast, yet listening to the House and the Statues can still calm me down, even in this semi-streased out morning

Finished “Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil”. I didn’t like it that much and probably would have dropped it if I hadn’t felt obligated to finish it, as my niece recommended it to me. The book’s main problem is that the author tried really hard to write like Terry Pratchett and never really manages to be nearly as funny or interesting. It also has way too many goddamn footnotes.

However, during the last quarter of the book, all humor and cozyness is forgotten and the story takes a pretty dark turn. I actually thought that that was the strongest part of the book by far, as the author finally seemed to find his own voice. Even so, I’d only give the book a 5/10 or so.

I have now started “The Pride of Chanur” by C. J. Cherryh and it’s quite an enjoyable read so far.

Yesterday, I finished “Mister Magic” by Kiersten White. I enjoyed this one. The form was pretty okay. Basically it had chapters of narrative separated by a small chapter of something like a wiki page or a reddit thread or an email. It’s meant to lean horror and at no point was it terrifying, but it was a bit creepy at times. The writing hinted at some literary ability, but it didn’t ever break out and have me ooing and awing, but the writing was very solid. At the end it got a little bit muddy, but the author was describing an imaginary world – it’s a tall order to keep that 100% coherent. I also thought the metaphor/allegory of the story was about as subtle as being kicked by a horse, and the epilogue drove the message home like having a piano dropped on you.

All that said, I likes the dialogue and the characters. I felt each were unique from each other. I liked the story too. The descriptions of the desert were very good. For any of its faults, it never stopped being entertaining.

For all of those reasons, I give this book 4/5 Fudgy points. Give it a read before Halloween for a taste of creepy, but know that you won’t be scared at any point.

Pretty good book.

Nearing the end of my Culture series re-read. Matter, the 8th book of the series (my 7th since I skipped Consider Phlebas). Matter is longer than the previous books, and although it seems to start slowly, it really revs up fast and is such a fantastic ride by the end. Absolutely brilliant series.

Girl in the Mirror by Wes Boyd

Guards, Guards by Terry Pratchet.

Got all of Narnia for a fucking dollar and man am I happy. Got it from an Spca thrift store too so it helped some critters

I just devoured A Closed and Common Orbit in like 4 days. This is a sequel and I did the same with the first one as well. Now to find something else to read

I want to tell but I fear crucifixion for it. I’ll admit it is controversial and has had it hefty share of harsh - and fair - criticism but nonetheless if refuses to die.

My current nonfiction read is Femina by Janina Ramirez. As for fiction, I’m reading Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, which I’m really enjoying. And I’m listening to Good Girl by Aria Aber, which is excellent. I usually have a few books going at once, and I’m glad to have a few great ones at the same time.

I’m rereading Indecent Theology by Marcella Althaus-Reid.

Just finished “capital and ideology”. It is dense, good,but hard to recommend.

Started “something in the forest loves you”

Just finishing up Stranger in a Strange Land, and it’s a slog. Heinlen’s views have gotten harder and harder to ignore, in particular the homophobia gets pretty bad near the end. I have like 80 pages left and am not sure if it’s worth it…

I have been reading The Dawn of Everything, an archeology book trying to prove that capitalism and centralised power are not a necessity for civilizations. While the book is dense and the political bias is clear, it’s an interesting if slow read. Very slow…

Just finished “There Is No Anti-memetics Division” by QNTM, and heading to the library now to pick up the second book in the “Old Man’s War” series by John Scalzi. Loved TINAMD, btw. Very creepy, lots of existential dread. Quick read, too - only like 270 pages.