Amph What book are you reading right now?

Reading rp stuff on here and the wheel of time books.

 

Read: Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz
A spin off book giving the life of Yassan, one of the assassins who worked for SCORPIA. Was interesting to get some background on him as a character, which gave him more depth.

Read: Man in the Hight Castle by Phillip K. Dick
This felt like a real slog to get through, incredibly tedious and not a lot happens! Little to no character development, the story is very slow, and just a general bore. How on earth they stretched four seasons for a tv show from this is beyond me (I am yet to watch it). The “best” part of the book was the Juliana and Joe arc, which offered the most excitement and adventure. The ending was also rather disappointing, after all that, Juliana just had a little chat with the author of The Grasshopper Lies, and what I can gather, there are the potential for multiple timelines? I have no idea to be honest.

 

Starting my millionth re-read of the Harry Potter series currently reading the diagon alley chapter of the philosophers stone

 

@bizzbizz One of these years I need to go back and read those especially my youngest is currently all in on Harry Potter. So much so her birthday theme went from ZOMBIES to Harry Potter almost overnight. Ditto her room theme (yes we let our kids have room themes which is something I find kind of silly but my wife is really into and so are the kids therefore her room for her birthday is getting a makeover from mainly ZOMBIES and Descendants to now mostly Harry Potter. Even got her a poster of Hogwarts at night for it now. And since she is in her Carl Sagon phase where she asks "why" to everything, I should perhaps re-read those soon so I can give her better answers.

Currently reading "The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock" by Edward White and with national testing this week at school aka starting tomorrow staring at kids heads for the next two days (for the morning I should say), I am hoping to finish it and start "Showtime" by Jeff Pearlman which I just picked up at the library.

 

Nice, I read the series once a year

Read: Star Wars The Clone Wars (bookazine) by Titan
I have read the first four volumes of The Best of Star Wars Insider and kind of expected it to be up there with those (which I loved reading!), however, the sections covering each arc (and any individual eps) were lacking; just little descriptions of each episode, rather than any actual discussion. The first part and last sections were really good though, offering interviews with some of the creators (lighting effect expert, Dave Filoni, character designer, animators, and sound editor) which gave a nice bit of insight behind the scenes and the processes taken.

Reading: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

 

Plagueis was good - I've re-read it a couple of times.

 

Flying Angels by Danielle Steele

I can't say I've read any of Danielle Steele's novels, but the theme of this one intrigued me enough to borrow it through my library. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, two women who are best friends through their line of work drop everything they've ever known to serve in the war effort. They volunteer for the army medivac corps; and soon are sent to England to join specialists who fly wounded soldiers out of dangerous territory.

 

Impressive BTS book

 

A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes, about the lead-up to and events of the Russian Revolution and Civil War. The book is more nuanced than the title suggests, but Figes is a liberal and that is frequently made clear throughout the book. In this and his Crimean War book, he is great at weaving a narrative that is easy to follow and compelling to read. I largely agree with his assessment that major weaknesses of the Bolsheviks were often related to their own personal experiences (e.g., Lenin, Trotsky and others were intellectuals who lived much of their adult lives outside of the Russian core), almost irrational hatred of peasants-- by far the largest class in the old Empire-- and backsliding into the habits of the Tsarist regime.

However, he is far too lenient with liberals such as Kerensky and Prince Lvov, the latter of whom the book follows throughout the revolution. The fact is that the Bolsheviks were able to successfully overthrow the Provisional Government because they were the only uncompromising opponents of Russia's participation in World War I. If the liberals hadn't been so eager to fruitlessly throw hundreds of thousands of more men into the German meat grinder, their shaky Provisional Government may have survived, or at least moderate Soviets would have had a lot more power. It's really hard to have sympathy for those willing to shed so much of other people's blood based on dumb abstract notions such as national prestige.

Peter the Great: His Life and His World by Robert Massie. I can see why this won a Pulitzer. I read the first couple hundred pages years ago and didn't pick it up again until recently, and I'm not sure why. It's one of the best books I remember reading. Massie does an expert job of making a complicated life a coherent story, and he's very good at explaining the historical setting and major figures to the reader. I would say that, thanks to the author's efforts, not much background in Russian history is required to pick up the book. Know the names of famous Tsars, know what the Kremlin is, know how the dynasty ended, and you're good. I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject enough to tackle an 855-page behemoth.

 

Finished Blood of the Chosen. This book is not as good as the first. You have the sister, who is fantasy Jedi. And the brother, who is fantasy thief/criminal. One supports the authorities as she has lived among them and saw good and honorable people, where the brother hates them as one bad one took his eye and his sister. her story is more interesting but his story holds up well in the first book. In this book, his portion just sort of drones on. Also, characters need to get from point A to B and in many places the encounters along the way were ok at best. i did like it though, and a 3rd book comes out next year and I'll get it.

So, some folks on a particularly good Facebook page have talked me into Prince of Thorns by Mike Lawrence. A warning comes with it; this protagonist is utterly amoral and evil in a grimdark book that many said they would not finish beyond page 15. I do not own the book yet, I'm off to B&N today.

 

books im reading currently

Wheel of Time Lord of Chaos
Directive 51 Trilogy

 

The Story of Christianity, Volume II: The Reformation to the Present Day, by Justo Gonzalez. Where the previous volume covered fifteen hundred years of history in just under five hundred pages, this covers five hundred years of history in just over five hundred pages. The Reformation is an enormous moment in Christian history, and Gonzalez must spend a great deal of time explaining its developments, divisions, and theological dimensions. Without doing a deep dive, he does a much better job of explaining the Reformation in all its aspects, and the follow-on religious developments, than you will find in virtually any general history. But Gonzalez also believes that just as significant as the Reformation, and potentially even more so in the future, is the recent spread of Christianity to and explosive growth in the third world, moving Christianity into an era “beyond Christendom,” as he explains, geographically as well as sociopolitically with the loss of the Constantinian support of society and the state. Gonzalez has some good insight into developments in recent church history you are unlikely to otherwise hear about, and I felt I learned a good deal. The drawback common to both volumes is that Gonzalez is a historian of theology, not a specialist in any of the many eras he covers, and the contextual history that he gets into, whether it be the Roman Empire, the Crusades, the Enlightenment, or just basic twentieth-century history, is done at a rather casual, sort of conventional-wisdom level that had me wanting to argue with several of his characterizations and wishing he had consulted some more non-religious history to refine his takes. But it was a very good read overall.

 

Read: Star Wars: Complete Locations
Not really complete as it only goes up to episode VII, but that is fine as I don’t really like the sequels. A really interesting book full of cross sections of locations chaptered by movie. I specifically enjoyed the content which showed the paths the characters took in a particular scene in a specific movie, was really neat! Additionally, there were some pages that had flip out pages where the exterior was covered, and underneath contained the cross section of the location. Probably a tad childish, but made for a very enjoyable read.

Read: Alex Rider: Nightshade by Anthony Horowitz
Finish reading/listening to the Alex Rider series which was always a favourite on my youth. Offered a bit of nostalgia going through the series again, and re-reading the newer novels that I have only head once before.

Still reading Darth Plagueis, not too far in as got distracted by Star Wars Locations book, but will return to that now the latter is finished.

 

Prince of Thorns was pretty good. The issue people have is that the "protagonist" has a Bruce Wayne origin but instead of becoming Batman he becomes the Joker. I suppose if he did not brag about rape in the opening chapter people would love reading this more. He kills and is willing to throw away companions. He does have particularly robust character shields. Though ultimately it's a good read I do not feel compelled to read the other two books.

Now, The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan.

 

Magician's Guild better show me something or a big ol' DNF is gonna happen.

 

Ok that was a 100 page waste of time. This reads like a YA novel and just plain old bad writing. Moving on.

A classic, kinda controversial depending on who you ask. But here it goes. A Spell For Chameleon by Piers Anthony.

 

So wish I had time to read. Our 5 month old is headed to daycare next week, so maybe there will be more time.

On my shelf is:
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin. (40 pages in)
Dune, as always, for the last 20 years lol. (100 pages in)

 

Just started John Scalzi's The Kaiju Preservation Society last night. It's pretty good so far. He wrote this during the Covid lockdowns as he couldn't get into the book he was supposed to be writing. It's gotten good reviews and so far is pretty funny.

 

Three Sisters by Heather Morris

From the bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey, this newest novel is also inspired by true events; where three sisters from Slovakia have been imprisoned in the most infamous death camp, Auschwitz. The characters in this story overlap with those of Morris' previous two stories; so it really gives an interesting flow with new perspectives.

 

A Spell for Chameleon. I have read that many women love this book. And I'm not sure why. Now, the characters are done well. It is well plotted. It moves along in an interesting world with interesting situations with a great idea of everyone having a spell available.

But Jesus. I think he consulted Benny Hill when writing it. Never mind accidentally grabbing a centaurs boob, or making note of a girl's figure in the middle of a life and death situation. There's this strange rape trial where 3 people are used for the accused and the victim to protect the ID of both, it is dismissed as if date rape is not real. I keep asking if I missed some in between the lines positive message, but I don't think so.

Anyway, I was about to start Ramses The Damned The Reign of Osiris but I totally forgot this is a 3rd book, and I do not recall a single thing about what happened in the 2nd book so I need to re-read or fine a detailed summary to job my memory.

 

Ok I decided, a genre change. Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne. Dystopian corporate space opera involving a salvaged weapon. Cool.

 

Just finished Greek Mythology (Ken Jennings Junior Genius Guides #1) by Ken Jennings
That is a really good kid's book.

Listening to True Biz by Sara Nović and it is fantastic.

 

John Hancock: Merchant King and American Patriot, by Harlow Giles Unger. Hancock is known primarily for his signature, but he played a significant role in the American Revolution. A very wealthy merchant, he was a key early backer of the Patriot cause, and he was president of the Continental Congress for much of the war. In that capacity he was an energetic administrator of the war effort and a respected mediator who kept the fractious state interests working together. He then served as a popular Massachusetts governor. He’s one of many important but under-appreciated lower-profile Founding Fathers.

But Unger’s book isn’t the worthy biography I was hoping for. Unger paints a flattering portrait of Hancock — despite also portraying him as a self-serving conservative — but he is almost comically hostile to the Revolution as a whole. He takes every opportunity to paint every other revolutionary in a bad light, flinging insults and taking one-sided potshots at the whole revolutionary effort. It’s a truly bizarre read, a paean to an interesting historical figure wrapped up in a snotty hatchet job on his cause and all his compatriots. Not recommended.

 

Architects of Memory was ok though I got less interested as it neared the end. It's a very interesting idea but just fades to an ending act that is too long.

Now, Dead Space by Kali Wallace, a murder mystery in a hard-scifi asteroid belt environment.