No, not really. Unless the person had an idea!
Iām slowly finishing Gibsonās The Peripheral, and re-reading Catch-22. I started Hannah Arendtās On the Rise of Totalitatiranism, but felt sick every time I picked it up. I got a signed copy of John Darnielleās new book, but with my husband working a lot of late nights, our night time routine of reading in bed with tea and bourbon is a little shattered. Itās hard to finish things lately.
Down Among The Sticks And Bones by Seanan McGuire and We Have No Idea by Jorge Cham ( PhD comics) and Daniel Whiteson. I like to mix fiction and non-fiction.
I started Hampton Hawesā autobiography, Raise Up Off Me, yesterday. Couldnāt sleep well tonight and got to page 100 or so in one sitting.
I recently reread Up The Down Staircase. Itās 55 years old by this point, but still relevant to Trumpās America and its crumbling infrastructure.
Iām currently reading this book of Martin Gardner essays I found on my way to work:
Iām about halfway through Elizabeth Moonās The Serrano Legacy, which the cover blurb describes as āan action-packed SF epicā but the pacing is weird (and mostly slow). The action is very loosely packed. For too long itās mostly just spoiled rich people being assholes, plus fox hunting (but I repeat myself)ā¦ IIIIIIN SPAAAACE. And then thereās some treachery and villainy and survival and whatnot, but with long interludes of yacht redecoration and people managing their portfolios and bluebloods disapproving of each other.
Bonus points for making it look like the tree on the cover is growing out of your index finger.
I did what?
Canāt unsee.
Have you ever read The Speed Of Dark? Interesting Elizabeth Moon book about autism. Not sure what to make of it. I think itās interesting, but also misses the point.
A pretty good (if somewhat jargony) engagement with the concept of neo-liberalism and what is actually means:
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/undoing-demos
Brown is a political theorist, so that informs her work pretty strongly.
I got halfway through Doughnut Economics before the library loan expired (couldnāt renew because thereās so many holds on it). It hangs neoliberalism out to dry as well, showing the fallacies behind its models. I was really enjoying it, and plan to get back in the holds queue to finish it.
Things finished recently: Mievilleās short story collection,Three Moments of an Explosion, Zinnās Peopleās History of the United States, Gruberās The Return, Beagleās Summerlong, and Takedaās Monstress.
Reading Mievilleās This Census Taker, Galbraithās The End of Normal, and had a little start on Sitaramanās The Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution.
Nope, I donāt think Iāve read any other stuff by Moon. I might have to check it out though ā Iāve gotten to a much more lively point in the story and am glad I stuck with it.
How is that? Is it like a ābest ofā collecting from Scientific American and his books, or does it contain stuff Iām not as familiar with?
Mostly Scientific American stuff.
Iām reading in dribs and drabs, and Iāve gotten through the sections on physical science, social science, and pseudoscience. Math, philosophy, arts, and religion are next to go.
The thing about Martin Gardner is that he doesnāt firehose you with information, but leaves just enough to tantalize and get you curious about learning more.
Oh and volume one of Drive, by Dave Kellett (I have a hard copy), but if you want to read it all for free (and past volume 1), go to
http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/090815.html
and get started.
Iām assuming you mean the journal, but please feel free to correct me if Iām wrong. Iām currently boycotting Scientific American because my negotiations with that publisher are close to making my head pop off. Iām clearly off topic here, so I should likely create another topic: How publishers gouge libraries? This is, by no means, a fair statement, but when one has sat on one side of the negotiation table for many years across from many, many publishers and content providers, the vagaries of economics tend to fade in the face of unadulterated greed.
ETA: Forgive me, I probably should have added to Fuck Today, rather than here. It happened today and was too visceral.
Iād read the hell out of those rants.
Maybe some day, after Iām out of the business. Iāve likely said too much already, but itās the epitome of worlds colliding: Libraries really are our last bastion of hope for freely available information, and when that slams into economies of publishing, itās not pretty.
Anyway, as to what Iāve been reading: A Canticle for Leibowitz. Iām trying to work my way through sci-fci/dystopian classics.
I hear that. Iāve spent some time working in/for/with a university library, (Teaching Librarians to know how to connect to the WiFi? Madness!!) and you see (and read of) some of this happening. Itāsā¦ not good.