What books/comics/mangas etc. Did you read in June?
I’ve re-read the first Harry Potter. It’s been so long since I last read it. I felt that it really wasn’t poorly written. Sure it’s a children’s book but i looked reading it. And I’ve started reading flatland
Are there people out there that say it’s poorly written? That’s just not the case at all. It’s a very well-writte book, and that really does help when you dive back in to re-read it after a while.
I have read Our Revolution by Bernie Sanders.
I can recommend it to anyone who are interested in the politics of US. Bernie talked about the main problems in the US. He talked about discrimination, the corruption, populism, wealth distribution and the negative effect of far capitalism overall.
The best bit of the book in my opinion, that you will understand why’s the society so against socialism’s ideas, even if it would significantly improve their life in many cases.
I just finished No Longer Human last night. Haven’t breezed through a book like that in quite awhile!
Elantris, Warbreaker and started The Way of Kings, all by Brandon Sanderson. Read Mistborn Era 1 a couple years ago and loved it, finally decided to jump head in into the Cosmere.
Manna - Marshall Brain
I just finished No Longer Human last night. Haven’t breezed through a book like that in quite awhile!
I read The City & The City by China Mieville and some bits of Psychogeography by Will Self.
I would recommend the first one, especially if you like detective stories (and games like Disco Elysium).
I’m not sure about the second, it’s a collection of columns and the throughline isn’t as good as I’d hoped.
I read Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery cos I liked the tv series and wanted to see where it went. By the third book I was bored af so I totally changed to The First Law by Abercrombie. So far it’s really good,
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Always Coming Home - Ursula K. LeGuin - I absolutely loved this book. I’m still keep thinking about the Kesh people that this book explores. Very strange read, absolutely recommended.
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The Fifth Season - N K Jemisin - Really enjoyed this book. The way it uses perspective was really great. The ending felt okay. I’m definitely going to be picking up the next one sometime soon.
Currently reading Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, which has been a fascinating read thus far, but I’m only halfway through.
After that I’m planning on reading Among Others by Jo Walton (I loved her Thessaly series)
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I finished:
- The Harlem Renaissance by Cary D. Wintz
- L’Âge des low-tech by Philippe Bihouix
- High Rise by J.G. Ballard
- Elle et son chat by Makoto Shinkai
- Judaism: A Very Short Introduction
- Berlin Stories by Robert Walser
- A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. The audiobook was narrated by Mary Robinette Kowal, the author of the Lady Astronaut books. She did a great job voicing the plucky heroine.
- Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism–and What Comes Next by Bradley Onishi. Pretty much what it says on the tin. A history of white Christian nationalism from the civil rights era to today and why the heck did 80% of evangelicals support a president who was the embodiment of everything they oppose?
- Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward. A good psychological thriller with lots of plot twists.
- In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. This was a re-read and Bryson never disappoints.
- The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa by Jonathan B. Losos. Interesting read.
- The Blighted Stars by Megan E O’Keefe. A lot of different plot lines in this character driven survival story. A solid 3.5 out of 5.
- Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe by Philip Plait. The author paints beautiful pictures of what it would be like to observe the wonders of our solar system and the universe close-up.
I “read” a lot of audiobooks, so I go through titles pretty quickly.
The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch - I really enjoyed this storytelling and plot about multiple dimensions and timelines and murder. Thrilling and exciting.
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Gardens of the moon by Steven Erickson - a reread. Finished the original 10 books a few years ago. Decides to poke around again. This time around has been such a different experience. I’m now thinking I’m gonna do the rest of the other 9 books again.
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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. A really good movie. Decided to try the book. An interesting read for sure. Psychological thriller, with far realm adjacent imagery. About 70% done. Don’t think I’ll be reading the whole trilogy, though.
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Periodo Street Station by China Mieville. I don’t know what I think of this one. It seems to be sort of self masterbatory about how unique and wacky the world is. The actual story is scattered and completely lacks focus. The characterization is C+ at best. Full chapters of just wandering though the streets of the city showing small vignettes of peoplea lives from an omniscient pov, that seems to hint at a connection to the main story but is just tiresome to read. The main characters are a poor knock off of Doc Brown, and his girlfriend, a scarab beetle with a human body. I mean the head is the whole beetle legs and all. They are sort of mad scientist beetniks in socially forbidden love. This book just isn’t for me I think.
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God’s Demon by Wayne Barlow. Barlow is a concept artist who often works with Guillermo del Toro. It’s a sorry about a demon lord in hell. Aka ex-angel who fell with Lucifer. And has decided to find his way back to heaven and is leading an army to get there. It’s okay. The imagery is great. I don’t love the characters so it’s hard to get invested.
I’m not a huge sci-fi fan but I read the whole Southern reach trilogy and I’d say the first one is the best. Others are so so. So you wouldn’t miss much.
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Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
I’m a sucker for (post) apocalyptic survival, but overall it wasn’t very good. The first third was fairly engaging, but the other two thirds were relatively predictable. By then end of the book I disliked pretty much every character.
I feel like Niven just couldn’t write people at all (especially women.) He had some cool concepts but I won’t be going back to his work.
A few Animorphs and the Well of Ascension. I have a few active challenges on Storygraph.
I love Storygraph. Way better than Goodreads imo.