What are you reading?

[Sharecrow]

I finally finished the second book I've read for the year. "Servant of Earth" by Sarah Hawley. I am NOT on track to get to 24 books this year, but I'll keep plugging away. Have been busy with work and with other stuff. Other thoughts here.

I'm still chipping away at a space opera and my German post-WWI book.

https://www.wheredreamsescape.com/post/servant-of-earth

1. Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley

[Sharecrow]

Just finished book number 3 for the year. The stunning "The Road Back" - a sequel to the thoroughly fantastic novel, "All Quiet on the Western Front." Wow. Very touching though it didn't shake me quite as much as the first book did so many years ago.

Thoughts here https://www.wheredreamsescape.com/post/the-road-back

I'm reading a bunch of stuff right now. Imma start "Ben Hur" as my next Kindle book. I also am reading Don Quixote, a space opera, a science fiction abduction book from 1969. Good times good times.

Am not counting my own book among my reads this year but it would be 5 if I did!

1. Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
3. The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque

[Sharecrow]

Knocked out "The Empty People" - a strange sci-fi novel from the late 1960's with a what-in-the-world-is-really-happening vibe throughout. It was fun if a bit confusing.

https://www.wheredreamsescape.com/post/the-empty-people

1. Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
3. The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque
4. The Empty People by K.M. O'Donnell

[Kong Wen]

A little break from Murderbot, a read my first China Miéville book and it was quite interesting, formally. I understand that his other books are in different genres, but the noir style of this one and the pacing (slow at first, the rapidly accelerating through its climax, like any good mystery should) were engaging. And the conclusion was satisfying. I wasn't sure how that was going to be possible with such a strange and frustrating setup, but he made it happen.

There's a lot of thematic cultural analysis and nuance to unpack in this one, which I won't do here. It would take at least several pages of an essay... maybe on the blog.


01. 2025-01-02 Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (2023), Naomi Klein (Canadian), 348pp
02. 2025-01-10 Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism (2018), John Patrick Leary (American), 206pp
03. 2025-01-21 The Bone Clocks (2014), David Mitchell (English), 609pp
04. 2025-01-31 Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present (2017), Robyn Maynard (Canadian), 236pp
05. 2025-02-09 Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel (2020), Martha Wells (American), 350pp
06. 2025-03-02 The City & The City (2009), China Miéville (English), 312pp

2023 in summary // 2024 in summary

[Kong Wen]

A powerful and harrowing book—we deserve the harrowing—about the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people being committed by Israel and its western backers/supplies. Partly about the genocide itself, and partly about the context of global enablers, the systemic forces that allow it to happen and to continue, the great privilege of distance, and the moral and spiritual erosion that will be among its consequences.


01. 2025-01-02 Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (2023), Naomi Klein (Canadian), 348pp
02. 2025-01-10 Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism (2018), John Patrick Leary (American), 206pp
03. 2025-01-21 The Bone Clocks (2014), David Mitchell (English), 609pp
04. 2025-01-31 Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present (2017), Robyn Maynard (Canadian), 236pp
05. 2025-02-09 Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel (2020), Martha Wells (American), 350pp
06. 2025-03-02 The City & The City (2009), China Miéville (English), 312pp
07. 2025-03-15 One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025), Omar El Akkad (Egyptian-Canadian), 187pp

2023 in summary // 2024 in summary

[Niahak]

I've finished my first book for the year - at least my first non-work-related one: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

It's a low-tech (or I guess "realistic" as in less Star Trek-y) space opera, where one of the primary characters is a jaded former "Int" - a human surgically modified and trained to communicate with a threat from decades ago, now living between the margins as navigator on a salvage ship (because that threat is gone... or is it?). One thing that it does well is show the scrappy, somewhat grubby life of a "spacer". While I think I enjoyed his fantasy book Spiderlight more as an inversion of typical fantasy tropes, and Children of Time is a more interesting concept, the idea of The Architects as an unknowable, possibly unbeatable enemy that went away because they "noticed" us is interesting.

Had I realized that it was the first of a series, I might not have dived into it quite as eagerly.

I'm not sure how deep I will get into it, but I try to reread one of my old college textbooks every so often - Theodore Ludwig's Sacred Paths of the East. I'm not usually big on textbooks, but for an overview of eastern religion (as in major religions arising from India to Japan) ideally supplemented by religious texts, if I have the time) it's a great resource. My daughter has gotten more interested in various ancient mythology, and she's brought up modern religions as well. I'd like to be refreshed in case we get into details. I may have to skim some sections if I'm going to get through this book though, it's a real dense one.

This may end up just being self-enrichment though as she was thoroughly uninterested when we tried to read A Little History of the World.

[Claytone]

Just read Pinball: A Graphic History of the Silver Ball by John Chad. It's a nice, light read that I finished in a single commute to and from work on the train. It's certainly not the deepest dive you can find on the topic, but it's a beautifully-illustrated overview of the history of a game I know many of us here on TONe love. Well worth the $0 it cost me to borrow from the library.

[Sharecrow]

Knocked out part one of Don Quixote. Only the second time I’ve read it. Love this book and its sequel. Thoughts later after I finish part 2.

1. Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
3. The Road Back by Erich Maria Remarque
4. The Empty People by K.M. O'Donnell
5. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra