Community Book club - What are you reading and what have you read recently

[Kyougar]

Currently reading the Stormlight Archive First Book.

Very promising premise and worldbuilding. Only thing I dislike is the narrative structure. I am ok with different POV, but I despise Cliffhanger chapter endings when the next chapter is a different POV. It will just make me not pay attention to the current chapter.

 

[Swenhir]

Currently reading the Stormlight Archive First Book.

Very promising premise and worldbuilding. Only thing I dislike is the narrative structure. I am ok with different POV, but I despise Cliffhanger chapter endings when the next chapter is a different POV. It will just make me not pay attention to the current chapter.

Yep. That's the reason I haven't gotten into them - and their length - as much as the Mistborn series, which kicks butt.

 

[Li Kao]

The writing was on the wall with my last post but yeah, dropped 'Something wicked this way comes'. To my great shame and annoyance because as already mentioned, I wanted and still want to love this book.

Yesterday, I felt the desire to read Lovecraft again, so I resumed my reading of the ginormous book I have. Unfortunately I'm in the middle of the 'friends of Lovecraft' part and yeah. No. Pastiche level stories, that doesn't do it.

'The Fire of Asshurbanipal' by Robert E. Howard
Was very much geared toward my tastes. Pulp as fuck (more than a little racially dubious though, another proof that Lovecraft gets all the heat where other writers have their share of shit). Adventurers, lost city, treasure, doom. But I have read this story. It was better when Howard wrote it for Conan. Or when Lovecraft wrote it. Or when... get the picture ? It wasn't bad, just been there, done that.

I'm in a bad spot. I don't have the stomach and regularity in life to read a 'real' book, but I'm tired of short stories. And I'm in my comfort zone with Lovecraft, but too much good things become bad shit. See diabete, if you have nothing against daring comparisons.


Toying with the idea of reading Ted Chiang, but I fear he will not be as approachable as Ken Liu. That's the extent of my 'what the fuck will I read next' interrogation.

 

[Linkark07]

Right now I'm reading again Dune. Tried it some years ago, but dropped it; didn't like it. Right now, I still can't find what is so interesting about it, but at least it isn't boring me to death like the first time. It helps that it is this month's book of my literature club.

Just started the second part, btw.

 

[Kyougar]

I am on book 2 of Stormlight Archive and halfway through with it. It's a love-hate relationship that's shifting more and more to hate.

Bullshit "revenge is wrong" narrative is getting on my nerves. "You are better than this" and "show the other cheek" are just propaganda from bullies and people in power to continue doing what they are doing without consequences.
Especially in a book that has so much bad shit flung at one of the main characters (Kaladin).

Shallan's story arc wasn't that interesting to me in the first place and she is the focus in book 2. I nearly dropped the book while reading the caravan arc, that last chapter saved it, barely.

And my main sticking point: Character stupidity and nativity to serve the plot. The "good guys" are a bunch of idiots who are trusting to the bad guys and uncommunicative and distrusting to each other, just to serve the plot.
Dalinar and his son Adolin are trusting idiots and trying the political game without any ounce of political sense.
Kaladin is supposed to be this powerful "god of revenge" with distrust and hate of the people in power who wronged him in so many ways but is strangled by his magical minigirl who tells him revenge is wrong. He isn't even playing the people in power, no he immediately bounf himself to the next guy in power who was a little better than the other guy and plays the lapdog. There is no sign of any subterfuge or plans to get revenge on the people who killed his brother, his comrades, enslaved him, and tried to kill him. The more the story progresses, the more he falls into a loyal lapdog persona.
Shallan... If it was a book completely dedicated to her POV and story, all the shit she does would be cool. As it stands, she is the non-communicative asshole who only pays lipservice to getting the other POV up to date and does her own thing.

 

[Kyougar]

End of part 3 Book 2 and I am 5% away from dropping the series. Fucking whipped dog Kaladin and fucking idiot "good guys"

 

[Swenhir]

Uh, you are writing a lot of spoilers. You should probably tag those

 

[Kyougar]

No Spoilers, unless you count the information that the books leave you blueballed and unsatisfied regarding their storyarc. (and that the characters are idiots serving the story)

 

[Swenhir]

No Spoilers, unless you count the information that the books leave you blueballed and unsatisfied regarding their storyarc. (and that the characters are idiots serving the story)

Sorry, those are spoilers. You talk about themes of the story and what comes or not to pass. It isn't that hard to be careful and just add a tag either way.

 

[Kyougar]

Sorry, those are spoilers. You talk about themes of the story and what comes or not to pass. It isn't that hard to be careful and just add a tag either way.

I don't agree. Saying a book doesn't have satisfying themes or delivers on the premise is not a spoiler, it is a review.

 

[Li Kao]

I impulse started a book yesterday. Wasn't much do to while recovering from a banging liquor induced headache.
At first I was looking at The Expanse 1, but opened it on my reader and saw it clocking 700+ pages. I mean, fam, think about my reading ocd and lack of regular reading habits

So I started a lean 245 pages book I mentioned some weeks ago...

The Organization by Maria Galina

On my radar because I can't help but being attracted to weird fiction or at least unusual reads. And this was compared to a 'Russian Ghostbusters' somewhere I don't remember.
Christmas miracle, I don't feel like dropping it, I even feel a little bit of interest in what will unfold in my next reading session. That's sadly fucking rare.

It's heavily bonkers, and something I didn't expect, it's full of humor. Nothing laugh out loud, no Pratchett, just constantly... funny. One of the key elements is that the heroine, who works at some shady harbor administrative service, is easily annoyed, and God Lord, she only meets people that seem to want nothing more in life than dunking on her.
There is a would be high ranked official that must put up with an eccentric professor to finish his thesis, but really would rather flee the madman. A colleague that reads the future in playing cards, a drunk operative, some SCP-like shit going on in boats, and mutilated cadavers.

Ok. Interest piqued. Hook, line, and sinker.

 

[Li Kao]

The Organization by Maria Galina - finished.

In principle, I like several elements from the book and I will have good memories of it overall. But I can see people disliking it and they wouldn't be automatically wrong.
It is small at 240+ pages, but slow, relatively nothing happens. Then turns out the heroine is not really the heroine and just make cameos from time to time. And I'm pretty certain it's 'literary' genre fiction, so the weird is there but it's pretty clearly more about the personal lives of the characters than whetever is happening. Ending is a little abrupt, too.

I'm not arguing against literary genre fictions, in fact I'm in theory more inclined to it. I realized several years ago that the human part is extremely important, even in genre fiction. That being said, and maybe my biggest issue with the book, the characters lives and psyche are NOT THAT interesting. Which is a little problematic if you want to sell my your book on the human element.
Some, very few let's be honest, really good weird vibes though. It's like the subtle man urban fantasy, as in not choke full of fantasy tropes at every fucking page like what passes for urban fantasy. The Russia in the 80's setting is refreshing too.

I liked it, I loved some elements from it, but let's be honest it was boring and it's a very acquired taste.


Note : Turns out it is partly inspired by a contemporary of Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood (read 'THE WILLOWS' people !). I swear, even when I'm not looking for it, I end up in Weird Tales era.

 

[Li Kao]

This year my dearest wish book wise would be to finally be able to read 'big' books again, like in my teens, when nothing was too big.
Being able to read The Expanse would be huge.

Not my most attainable goals but you never know.

 

[Li Kao]

I’m kinda in the mood to read a book ! Really, it’s there. Cool.
Now to choose between the hundreds that interest me and not drop it because of irregular reading habit or reading ocd.
What could go wrong ?

But hey, it’s there.

Am I the only one reading things these days, people ? You know you could post about it, right ?

 

[Mivey]

Am I the only one reading things these days, people ? You know you could post about it, right ?

Well, ok, if you insist.

I'm currently reading Axiom's End from Lindsay Ellis.

It's a sci-fi story about first contact, and a nice read so far. It's pretty clear that it's the debut work of a young author, so don't expect it to be on the level of say Urusula K. Le Guin. The references to real life characters are a bit on the nose. I'm about halfway through the book, and looking forward to how it ends. From what I gather, Ellis wants to make this into a larger series, so I really hope this doesn't just end on a cliffhanger.

 

[Li Kao]

Ughh, I don’t know what to read. I so fear losing interest after a couple pages.

The Expanse . James S.A. Corey
Vita Nostra . Marina & Sergei Diatchenko
‘French Title’ . Anna Starobinets
Dune . Frank Herbert
Too Like the Lightning . Ada Palmer
The Hobbit . J.R.R. Tolkien
Tomorrow Factory . Rich Larson
‘French Collection’ . Ted Chiang
‘French Collection’ . Ken Liu
Shining . Stephen King
The Thing . John W. Campbell
Annihilation . Jeff VanderMeer
Secret Show . Clive Barker
Mythago Wood . Robert Holdstock
Vorrh . Brian Catling
Escape from Baghdad !. Saad Z. Hossein

 

[Li Kao]

I have read a book ! Well, a little book. A babybook ?

The Thing Who Goes There by John W. Campbell

Preamble
John W. Campbell is very famous for his SF work AND for how batshit crazy he was / became in his later life. A passage by his Wikipedia page should easily explain why the people in charge renamed the Prize that went by his name.


Same premise as At the Mountains of Madness + Paranoia in a closed space + Bad writing style + Nothing else unfortunately.

So yeah the writing is pretty mediocre, full of unecessary flowery shit. A Goodread user highlighted that sentence :
"The huge blowtorch McReady had brought coughed solemnly. Abruptly it rumbled disapproval throatily. Then it laughed gurglingly. . ."

Maybe I'm dumb but the logic from some deductions eluded me, too. The characters often determining things with certainty while I was all, 'well, if you say so'.

Other than that, yeah, it doesn't aim for the existential dread of Lovecraft, more SF/Horror, but it doesn't really go anywhere with it's plot. The characters are multiple and so paper thin as being interchangeable, just excuses to carry the intrigue to its conclusion. It has moments, mainly during the first half, where the horror mood gives the change, but then it concludes and you realize it didn't have much to offer. I said that it doesn't go anywhere, but maybe it's not like there was much to develop. It strikes me as a great concept that lose steam pretty quickly.
Maybe a case where the age of the text hurts it, as it inspired many since then. Maybe.

For historical and curiosity's sake, this wasn't a bad read. Otherwise, pretty bad.
2/5

 

[Stevey]

Still chipping away at the Horus Heresy, nearly finished book 24, Betrayer.

 

[Li Kao]

Very interested to read The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin. Also very frustrated, because the core idea looks very much like something I wanted to write for years.

Still more interested in discovering Anna Starobinets, though. Maria Galina left me wanting more of that Russian genre litterature. Or not Russian, just not the usual anglo-saxon thing.

 

[toxicitizen]

I'm just a little over halfway through Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I can see why this is considered a classic, it's pretty damn good so far. I was a little wary of the multiple tales thing being too episodic for me but that turned out to be unfounded. I'm completely hooked!

Also, I think I might have mentioned this in the Steam thread before but ever since I stopped playing/buying as many games, I started buying a shit ton of books instead. Well, I just went through all my purchases and put them all in a spreadsheet for shits and giggles to see what percentage of it all I actually read and it turns out I bought over twice as many books as I read last year lmao. What is wrong with me?

I need to slow down for a while... It's a wonder I haven't been brought to financial ruin by some shitty gacha game. [UWSL][/UWSL]

 

[Li Kao]

I'm just a little over halfway through Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I can see why this is considered a classic, it's pretty damn good so far. I was a little wary of the multiple tales thing being too episodic for me but that turned out to be unfounded. I'm completely hooked!

Also, I think I might have mentioned this in the Steam thread before but ever since I stopped playing/buying as many games, I started buying a shit ton of books instead. Well, I just went through all my purchases and put them all in a spreadsheet for shits and giggles to see what percentage of it all I actually read and it turns out I bought over twice as many books as I read last year lmao. What is wrong with me?

I need to slow down for a while... It's a wonder I haven't been brought to financial ruin by some shitty gacha game. [UWSL][/UWSL]

Is Hyperion accessible to non sf readers and uncultured swines ? It always seemed demanding.

 

[Kyougar]

I'm just a little over halfway through Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I can see why this is considered a classic, it's pretty damn good so far. I was a little wary of the multiple tales thing being too episodic for me but that turned out to be unfounded. I'm completely hooked!

Also, I think I might have mentioned this in the Steam thread before but ever since I stopped playing/buying as many games, I started buying a shit ton of books instead. Well, I just went through all my purchases and put them all in a spreadsheet for shits and giggles to see what percentage of it all I actually read and it turns out I bought over twice as many books as I read last year lmao. What is wrong with me?

I need to slow down for a while... It's a wonder I haven't been brought to financial ruin by some shitty gacha game. [UWSL][/UWSL]

Later alligator!
Always has me crying Sol's story is so heartwrenching.

As for reading especially:
I was an avid reader in my youth, only held back by a teenager's budget. I was reading the classic books like Dune, other scifi tales like Nights Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, or his Commonwealth saga, Pulp scifi/fanatsy series like Battletech, Shadowrun, Perry Rhodan, etc.
Then came the internet and MMO phase.
I got back HARD into books while reading amateur/web fiction some 5 or 6 years ago and am not slowing down. Depending on mood, free time, and readability, I am reading 400k to a million words every month for the last 6 years.
I am probably reading 95%amateur to 5% paid books.

Is Hyperion accessible to non sf readers and uncultured swines ? It always seemed demanding.

Hyperion is accessible.
The following books? Are a drug-fueled trip.

 

[toxicitizen]

Is Hyperion accessible to non sf readers and uncultured swines ? It always seemed demanding.

Yeah, I'm not exactly a seasoned SF reader either. I've only been getting into SFF seriously for the past year or so. It's one of those things I'd been meaning to do for years but never actually took the time to do. Hyperion doesn't hold your hand with the worldbuilding but that's fairly common for the genre, I think. After 50 pages or so you get used to it and start putting things together from context.

Later alligator!
Always has me crying Sol's story is so heartwrenching.

Ha, yeah. I'm actually in the middle of this one right one. Gonna try finishing it before I go to bed.

 

[Li Kao]

Because a certain someone piqued my pride by observing that with my English fluency he thought I read more books in English, I resumed my reading of 'The Weird', an anthology of weird short stories selected from famous (or not writers) in the genre.
Three shorts reads, and it was unfortunately mostly bad. But hey, I discovered wonderful authors with this anthology so no big deal.

Genius Loci by Clark Ashton Smith (1933)
A painter confides in his friend how he has found a very peculiar place. A meadow that reeks of evil. He feels the imperious need to go back and paint it. Hilarity ensues.
Good, solid. Ashton Smith has been one of my good surprises while reading this book and my Lovecraft anthology. He is definitely great at setting a mood. The story won't revolutionize anything though, nature horror, think The Willow and other comparable stories. But it can't compare. Still a very enjoyable read.

Town of Cats by Hagiwara Sakutarō (1935)
A man with no sense of directions travels to a strange village, situated... somewhere else.
Meh. I will surely sell it short, but it's just a fairly mundane 'did I hallucinate or was the hallucination another reality'.

The Tarn by Hugh Walpole (1936)
A bitter and angry writer, retired from life in the city, receives the visit of the person he takes responsible of his career failure.
Maybe the worst of the lot. Typical story ending with the mundane hesitation between vengeful ghost or extreme guilt.

 

[Mivey]

Well, ok, if you insist.

I'm currently reading Axiom's End from Lindsay Ellis.

It's a sci-fi story about first contact, and a nice read so far. It's pretty clear that it's the debut work of a young author, so don't expect it to be on the level of say Urusula K. Le Guin. The references to real life characters are a bit on the nose. I'm about halfway through the book, and looking forward to how it ends. From what I gather, Ellis wants to make this into a larger series, so I really hope this doesn't just end on a cliffhanger.

So, as a follow up, I finished the book recently. Gotta say the second half of the book is really well written and you do get hooked to what's going on. I also dig the alternate history elements to it, with the book talking place in the early 2000s. Considering this is someone's debut novel, it's pretty impressive.

I liked where the story was going and it had a nice twist to it that I didn't really see coming. Really curious how the next book will continue this particular plot point. According to a recent Q&A by Ellis, the next book in the series "Truth of the Divine" should come out sometime late this year, if everything works out.

 

[Stevey]

Nearly finished The Unremembered Empire

 

[Li Kao]

I suppose it's Robbie and papa Emperor ? Good

 

[FunnyJay]

I've been on a game novelization binge lately,
I've read the following:

• Deus Ex: Icarus Effect
• Dead Island
• Assassin's Creed Unity
• Dishonored: The Corroded Man

And currently I'm reading the novelization of Metal Gear Solid by Raymond Benson.

On one hand, it's impressive that when reading, I can recognize the exact dialogue from the game that I have played countless times, and the novel has glossed over a few backtracks from the game and changed some boss battles.

On the other hand, the book makes me realize what an embarrassing horn-dog Solid Snake is in the game, a fact that the novel has only added a little bit of. Most of the cringey dialogue between Snake, Meryl, Sniper Wolf and Otacon is unchanged from the game. I guess it's also me, who is quite a bit older than when I experienced the dialogue the latest time.

 

[Stevey]

I suppose it's Robbie and papa Emperor ? Good

That's Sanguinius with Guilliman

 

[Li Kao]

That's Sanguinius with Guilliman

Hmm, no bells being ringed. Without google, I suppose he's the founder of the Blood Angel ?

 

[Stevey]

Yeah, he was the Blood Angels Primarch

 

[FunnyJay]

Finished the Metal Gear Solid novelization. All in all, a really well written novelization of the game.
The dialogues were recognizable pretty much word for word, with some more thrown in for good measure. There were small changes made, mainly to keep it more "realistic" so that Snake didn't lug around 2 different rocket launchers with him all the time and stuff like that.

As mentioned before, there were some parts that were a bit cringey, but all in all, it was a good book. Especially if you like the source material.

Next up:

 

[Li Kao]

Continuing my reading of The Weird anthology.


Sanatorium under the Sign of the Hourglass by Bruno Schulz (1937)
A man arrives by a strangely dilapidated train to a remote town where his dying father is spending time in a sanatorium.

VERY surreal. A definite dreamlike logic and mood to it. There are for sure some interesting moments in that vein.
That being said, it's slow, obscure, and ultimately not really what I'm looking for. Good but boring, and very cryptic.


Far Below by Robert Barbour Johnson (1939)
The chief of the underground metro special police unit tells the narrator about what exactly is their purpose, and the ultimate price they pay for it.

Unfortunately all the horror of the situation is kinda defused by the choice of narration. The facts are already known and only recounted to the protagonist. Sort of soften the whole thing. Interesting use of horror in a modern technological setting, the menace can at time have both classical effective impact (I mean, we are talking about spoiler) and be ridiculous (the whole 'mole' comparison).


Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber (1941)
A white collar in charge of a company's marketing is growing increasingly disturbed by the thing he sees approaching on the rooftops while taking the elevated home.

Good, while admittedly a little uneventful and already read. Must be the third short story after Mieville ('The Detail', hugely reccomended) and King ('The Sun Dog', didn't read yet) that uses the menace approaching step by step. For all the great things I have to say about this angle, it begins to feel played out. Definitely lacks that little something to make it great.
Worth a note, some very questionable choice of word like n***o, and the direct allusion to blackface.

 

[FunnyJay]

Finished the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty novelization.
Again, a great novelization just like the first book. This one felt like it also had less "action-filler" (descriptions of gun battles and the like) and concentrated more on the core story of the game.
It managed to make the story of MGS2 a little bit less of a convoluted mess.
Raiden still remained a whiny character and had lots of cringey moments with Rose, who must be among the most unprofessional characters in existance.Although, I guess her role for the Patriots were to disrupt Raiden's emotions to keep him in line.

Some parts seemed to be glossed over (Fortune's "luck" for example) and less explained than in the game, and the S3 plan was still poorly explained even though it isn't that difficult of a concept.

I was also very entertained that the kept the best line in the entire game intact in the novel. I need scissors! 61!


Next up:

This one will be interesting, since I never played the game due to not owning a PS3, so all I know about this one is what I have learnt through cultural osmosis.

 

[Li Kao]

Continuing my reading of The Weird anthology.


White Rabbits by Leonora Carrington (1941)
A woman takes an interest in the house in front of hers. And its occupants.

Very short, just a few off pages. So quickly read that you could, at least I did, think that's not worth much attention. Wrong. The morbid evocation is powerful, like a good nightmare.
...
But yeah, it's short.


Mimic by Donald Wollheim (1942)
Who is this man in a black coat and hat who always lived in the neighborhood ? Just a crazy who dislikes women ? Or maybe... something far stranger.

Good, albeit dated in its imagery. Not haunting, not the best of the book, but a very solid idea handled well.


The Crowd by Ray Bradbury (1943)
Lying on the pavement next to his wrecked car, a man notices something disturbing in the crowd that came to his side.

I'm torn. The writing is great, the idea is superb and superbly weird, but I felt that, understandably with such a weird plot, the ending was on the easy side.

 

[Swenhir]

I'm currently reading the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor and I find it a tour de force in characterization. Other than that, it reads really well and is quite the relaxing thing. No angst, no children being hanged just for the sake of being dark (looking at you, red sister), just mostly wholesome bob-things.

 

[Li Kao]

I'm currently reading the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor and I find it a tour de force in characterization. Other than that, it reads really well and is quite the relaxing thing. No angst, no children being hanged just for the sake of being dark (looking at you, red sister), just mostly wholesome bob-things.

Yeah, without reading his books I still kinda understood that Mark Lawrence is quite edgy.

 

[Swenhir]

Yeah, without reading his books I still kinda understood that Mark Lawrence is quite edgy.

His first chapter had me hooked and found his writing wonderful. The second chapter had me put down the book for now and feel unsure whether I want to read it at all. Nobody managed that so quickly. I think Rothfuss is the only one who I've taken an active dislike to beside him .

 

[Li Kao]

His first chapter had me hooked and found his writing wonderful. The second chapter had me put down the book for now and feel unsure whether I want to read it at all. Nobody managed that so quickly. I think Rothfuss is the only one who I've taken an active dislike to beside him .

Having always been naturally attracted to weird / horror, I think I'm at 3 books stopped ASAP

 

[Swenhir]

Having always been naturally attracted to weird / horror, I think I'm at 3 books stopped ASAP

I haven't even read a single-digit percentage of the first one so...

 

[Stevey]

More Horus Heresy.

 

[Cacher]

Getting back to reading lately. Started Night Shift by Stephen King yesterday.

Still very early and I totally forgot the story of Salem's Lot, so I skipped the prologue (?) of it and jumped to the first story instead. Good to be back.

 

[Li Kao]

Getting back to reading lately. Started Night Shift by Stephen King yesterday.

Still very early and I totally forgot the story of Salem's Lot, so I skipped the prologue (?) of it and jumped to the first story instead. Good to be back.

I'm afraid I don't follow. Did you skip the Intro and Foreword or the first story, Jerusalem's Lot ?
Because if memory and google serves, 'Jerusalem's Lot' has only the tiniest of link to the novel. Extremely Lovecraftian. Not bad at all, but felt weird to read that after the novel in my French edition. 'One for the road', another short, is much more directly related.

You have good tastes, though. I loved Salem. And hated. It's complicated.

Spoiler

Basically I found the overall plot not really interesting. The city though ? This is incredible. I loved every little bit of the side stories of people living in that rotten town.

 

[Cacher]

I'm afraid I don't follow. Did you skip the Intro and Foreword or the first story, Jerusalem's Lot ?
Because if memory and google serves, Jerusalem's Lot has only the tiniest of link to the novel. Extremely Lovecraftian. Not bad at all, but felt weird to read that after the novel in my French edition.

I remember it was a spinoff story of something. OCD makes me want to reread Salem's Lot first before reading this lol. Anyway, I should go back to it later.

 

[Li Kao]

I remember it was a spinoff story of something. OCD makes me want to reread Salem's Lot first before reading this lol. Anyway, I should go back to it later.

I can't argue with OCD ! That being said, let me reiterate that 'Jerusalem's Lot' is super unrelated.

only the vaguest spoiler

Not the same period, not the same threat, King could have called the short story 'Arkham' and it wouldn't have been out of place. It has fuck all to do with the action that takes place during Salem. Or really little.

But yeah, I won't argue with those pesky OCD things, I know them too well.

 

[Tizoc]

Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

This edited volume makes an impassioned and informed case for the central place of Palestine in socialist organizing and of socialism in the struggle to free Palestine.

www.haymarketbooks.org

Ebook ver. Is free and offers epub and kindle versions

 

[Mivey]

Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

This edited volume makes an impassioned and informed case for the central place of Palestine in socialist organizing and of socialism in the struggle to free Palestine.

www.haymarketbooks.org

Ebook ver. Is free and offers epub and kindle versions

Sadly, I think the dream of a free Palestinian state is long dead.

Best we can hope for is to make sure Isreal gives them citizenship and stops treating its Arab population as second class citizens. That's still pretty utopian, given the current reality, but it feels more productive than hoping Israel will give any land they occupied back.

 

[Pranooy]

Its been a while, since i've been on any forums lol.

I'm just a little over halfway through Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I can see why this is considered a classic, it's pretty damn good so far. I was a little wary of the multiple tales thing being too episodic for me but that turned out to be unfounded. I'm completely hooked!

Also, I think I might have mentioned this in the Steam thread before but ever since I stopped playing/buying as many games, I started buying a shit ton of books instead. Well, I just went through all my purchases and put them all in a spreadsheet for shits and giggles to see what percentage of it all I actually read and it turns out I bought over twice as many books as I read last year lmao. What is wrong with me?

I need to slow down for a while... It's a wonder I haven't been brought to financial ruin by some shitty gacha game. [UWSL][/UWSL]

Same happened to me since COVID hit. Barely any games, but buying a ton of books (Mostly audiobooks or ebooks coz i am kinda into a minimalistic thinking now lol).

Speaking of Hyperion, that was an insanely great book. The Priest story blew me away at the start and i was hooked. Still haven't gotten to the other books in the series even though i already own "Fall of Hyperion" and "Endymion".


Speaking of books i'm reading.
Currently i'm going reading Murderbot Diaries Novellas.

All Systems Red and Artificial Condition done. These are really good. One novella is about 150-200 pages.
It is about an anxious robot/construct who has gotten rid of its Governor module basically making it independent, yet it tries to fit in. Pretty great short read and highly recommended.


Also started the new Andy Weir book. Very interesting so far (I've only read around 70pages).

 

[lashman]

Its been a while, since i've been on any forums lol.

omg, Pran is alive!



good to see you back, man!

 

[Pranooy]

omg, Pran is alive!



good to see you back, man!

Glad to be here too mate.
I hear you started Miniature painting. Nice.