Reading Record 2023 - Living 1000 Lives Before We Die - The Bear and Badger

LivDiv

Thats awesome.

MiyagiNoPants

LivDiv

Wookienopants wrote:

Not quite something read yet but it's book related. An old karate student of mine and ex sparring partner contacted me the other day to tell me all about his sci fi novel series. He's been writing it for the last few years and said it's nearing completion but he felt guilty for not asking me something sooner. He said that the hero is guided my his martial arts instructor and he wrote the character based upon me and our relationship over the years. He asked if it was ok that he used my real name too. He called the wise instructor "Sensei Charlie Masters" and he's quoted me and many of my "teachings" I'm absolutely bloody over the moon and so flattered. Can't wait to read it!

Wookienopants

I miss that guy. He was so much fun to fight with. A firefighter with about 5 stone of muscle on me, he was so much stronger but I was so much faster so it always made for some of the best times in the ring

Moot_Geeza

Quality stuff.

davyK

As in the film thread, I can't settle to read (or watch) at the minute but I am reading Arguably by Christopher Hitchens; an elephantine collection of book reviews (which themselves are possible rabbit holes) and essays. Fine stuff.

I need to complete the intro to Philosophy by Bertrand Russell too which is splendidly head spinning.

It's a short book but it's dense. A short chapter at a time is more than enough.

Also have a rather nice H.P.Lovecraft collection I have dipped into. It's short stories so it suits my twitchy mentality at the minute. Probably too much videogame playing if I'm honest.

Moot_Geeza

I'm reading The Wasp Factory. Always meant to give it a go but only got round to buying it a few months ago. Bleak.

acemuzzy

I read it not too long back. Bleak indeed. But good bleak. Kinda.

Paul the sparky

It's very Scottish

Gremill

4. Breakfast of Champions (Kurt Vonnegut)
Wow. What a book. This is the first time I've read anything by KV, but it won't be the last. I loved the style of the writing, the crazy characters, the minute detail he goes into, the drawings, the commentary on the state of society - everything really. Brilliant.

Cos

I haven't read that one but do love Vonnegut, will have to check it out. Last one I read was Sirens of Titan which I thoroughly enjoyed.

davyK

We all know the story of Oliver Twist but I never read the book. Got a complete works free download for the old Kindle so will "do" a few of the big names. I read The Old Curiosity Shop when I was a teenager but didn't read anything else (that book is bloody depressing and it may be why).

Dickens is hard work sometimes. He can be cloyingly sentimental and other times just takes fucking ages to get to the point. But he's also a great yarnsmith and his descriptions of characters and the destitution of London areas are superb. When he is moving things along narratively he sets a fine pace and keeps the pages turning too. As usual there is a bit more to the book than the film versions but they are pretty accurate. A fine yarn.

davyK

Have been reading some Lovecraft short stories.

Dagan
The Call of Cthulhu
The Colour Out of Space

All striking in their prose, ideas and impact. I can see why Lovecraft is considered influential. These stories are 100 years old and one can see their influence in the design and narrative of many modern tales and films. Watched a documentary recently with people like Neil Gaiman, Guillermo del Toro and John Carpenter contributing.

Have been gifted a beautiful annotated anthology edited by Leslie Klinger, with an introduction by Alan Moore - and the notes reveal how well informed the author was of modern ideas and movements of the times. And how the modern realisation of our place in the universe - that being living on a speck of dust in a vast unknowable void had clearly affected him.

Marvellous stuff.

davyK

Bertrand Russell turns your head, and your reality, inside out in just over 130 pages. One can claim to have "read" his The Problems of Philisophy but any claim more than that without further dense study of it and other texts would be at best rash.

davyK

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (another gift) is a collection of thoughts and ideas about creativity. Has more than a dash of spiritualism but it's a tonic in these days of AI hysteria. A nice "dip in" book that I'll be perusing this year.

davyK

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski. This is a powerful piece of helter skelter writing. Short punchy sentences remind me of Hemmingway and Sterling Hayden's autobiography "Wanderer".

Marvellous stuff this - you will burn through the pages that tell the autobiographical tale of Bukowski's harsh bleak youth. I've read some of his poetry which got me to try this but he has a couple other books that are considered very good too. Based on this I'll be picking them up.

This is harrowing and funny in equal measure and just a little bit uplifting for the rebel in all of us.

Recommended.

Gremill

"HAIRS!!"

poprock

davyK wrote:

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (another gift) is a collection of thoughts and ideas about creativity. Has more than a dash of spiritualism but it's a tonic in these days of AI hysteria. A nice "dip in" book that I'll be perusing this year.

The design of that (by the legend that is Paula Scher) was interesting. Rubin wanted to design it himself but didn’t know how to. Paula and her team built him a ‘book design decisions’ toolkit. Basically crafted a system that let him feel like he was making all the decisions but held him within a very well-defined set of rules.

davyK

Gremill wrote:

"HAIRS!!"

Yeah - what a cunt he was.

Gremill

5, 6 & 7. Salvation Sequence (Peter F Hamilton)
Compromising a trilogy of hard sci-fi that straddles the line between hard sci-fi and furiously entertaining wide-screen action (Salvation, Salvation Lost and The Saints of Salvation). Such a great trilogy of books with amazing ideas, likeable characters and supremely evil fascist villains against the backdrop of intergalactic warfare for the future of humankind, taking place over 20,000 years.

LivDiv

The Fellowship of the Ring
Not a huge amount needs said, I'm sure everyone here who is going to read it has already done so.

Man can build a world and spin a yarn. He can also describe a tree, a rock or a field in exquisite detail which led to a few hurdles slowing my pace down a bit.

It's brilliant none the less.

Raiziel

Have you read The Children of Hurin, Liv? It’s worth a read, and dark as fuck. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings because his publisher (and his audience after The Hobbit) wanted more stories about hobbits. But his heart was invested in the First Age of Middle Earth, and The Children of Hurin is one of his three Great Tales of that age. It’s also the only one that’s complete in literary form. It isn’t told in a contemporary form, but it is brilliant, and will almost certainly change how you view the work of Tolkien.

LivDiv

I haven't. I'll add it to my list but I have major backlog at the moment so god knows when I'll get to it
Sounds interesting.

Gremill

8. The Satsuma Complex (Bob Mortimer)
Bob's debut novel. It's got some great turns of phrase, as you'd expect, but it's a very, very lightweight little murder mystery romcom type thing that without Bob's voice in my head would never be the kind of thing I'd normally read. Going to listen to the audio book to get the full benefit. Amusing, inconsequential fluffery buffery with a side order of fun and laughter bars.

Wookienopants

The audiobook is great, bobs narration definitely adds something.
I agree that it's very lightweight but that actually worked rather well for me, was nice having a murder mystery that felt... Family friendly

davyK

Einstein:His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson covers the genius' life and theories and also covers his struggles with Quantum mechanics, politics and women.

It seems to cover the subject well and is heavily referenced - a properly researched historian's work. Has a good go at explaining the science too - which most of us don't really understand. This will help with that and it weaves it into an interesting life story told well.

poprock

Titanium Noir - Nick Harkaway
Why do the best sci-fi authors always end up drawn to writing detective noir?

Harkaway’s last book, Gnomon, was an immediate favourite. Deep, complex and satisfying - right up there with Snow Crash for me. Titanium Noir is lighter fare.

We’re in a world where longevity drugs exist. Well, one super-drug. Titanium 7. And it’s hideously expensive. One shot of T7 makes you youthful, strong and healthy. But also big. Increased bone mass, taller, more muscle. So the super-rich really are larger than life. And we’re with Cal, a PI who specialises in cases involving these ‘titans’.

It’s a proper hard-boiled gumshoe caper with some class-commentary sci-fi bolted on top. And it’s fun.

Good but not great. (Gnomon was great. Everyone should go read Gnomon.)

kestla

poprock wrote:

Titanium Noir - Nick Harkaway
Why do the best sci-fi authors always end up drawn to writing detective noir?

Harkaway’s last book, Gnomon, was an immediate favourite. Deep, complex and satisfying - right up there with Snow Crash for me. Titanium Noir is lighter fare.

We’re in a world where longevity drugs exist. Well, one super-drug. Titanium 7. And it’s hideously expensive. One shot of T7 makes you youthful, strong and healthy. But also big. Increased bone mass, taller, more muscle. So the super-rich really are larger than life. And we’re with Cal, a PI who specialises in cases involving these ‘titans’.

It’s a proper hard-boiled gumshoe caper with some class-commentary sci-fi bolted on top. And it’s fun.

Good but not great. (Gnomon was great. Everyone should go read Gnomon.)

I also finished this the other day. I found it intriguing, and the overall tale held my interest, but it didn't really pull me along - I felt I had to slog my way through a couple of chapters. Enjoyed it though.

Coincidentally, I started Gnomon last night as I often tend to stick with an author for a few books. I like the premise. I only managed a few pages before passing out last night though. The language seemed richer, and I suspect I'll need to be slightly less knackered to take it in!

Gremill

9. How High We Go in the Dark (Sequoia Nagamatsu)
Beautiful, bleak and timely human centred sci-fi which takes in the themes of uncontrolled climate disaster, global pandemic, our relationship with death and the human response to all of the above. I didn't think I would get through the second chapter it's so grim, but I'm glad I did because ultimately this is an optimistic book that believes in people and the connections they make. Recommended.

Moot_Geeza

Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

Coming of age marshland murder mystery. Maybe a little too tidy on the whole but I really enjoyed it anyway. The film had mixed reviews but I'll have to give it a go now.

Dark Soldier

Gremill wrote:

9. How High We Go in the Dark (Sequoia Nagamatsu)
Beautiful, bleak and timely human centred sci-fi which takes in the themes of uncontrolled climate disaster, global pandemic, our relationship with death and the human response to all of the above. I didn't think I would get through the second chapter it's so grim, but I'm glad I did because ultimately this is an optimistic book that believes in people and the connections they make. Recommended.

Only book I've read so far this year. It's a fantastic bit of work.

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