I really ought to read through the Culture series already 😱

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

I read this last year so not current, but if you're looking for spoopy book recommendations, check out Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Damn, when do you make the time to doom scroll then?! /s

I look forward to hearing about any new insights you uncover about it, never something I've thought about as a potential problem space. I think that app idea might be the start of something, most solutions are usually things that you had troubles with yourself, clearly your in the mud of the space haha.

Thanks, I'm even more excited to read them both! I've heard the magic system in the founders trilogy is quite unique.

Just finished witchcraft for wayward girls. That book was horrifying in so many different ways. I loved it.

Yes, highly recommend. Just don't start with the first book, Consider Phlebas. A Player of Games is a better entrance to the series, and you can read Consider Phlebas last.

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve added it to my list.

I almost immediately fell in love with most all of the characters, they give the book a warm and cozy feel. I just finished it yesterday, so it hasn’t had time to gel in my mind yet, but it had a sort of “je ne sais quoi” that kept me captivated. I’ll probably re-read it in a few months and see if it has stuck at the top of my list.

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's End Times Fascism. Someone help, I need comfort. I feel somewhat compelled to understand the forces at play reshaping the way we live (or don't live). But it is harrowing.

Thanks for the tip!

Funny enough, I had tried to start with Consider Phlebas back in May 😅, however, my interest waned with other things. I was finding it enjoyable from what I recall, I'll take your suggestion instead as I do remember it being a bit meandering. I'm certain I've come across your exact suggestion from others too before, but I think there's that part of me who feels odd starting out of order in a series haha.

Good choice, 11/22/63 is a fun one. As for a favorite, it's honestly a bit difficult. Genre wise, his writing has a broad variety, so picking just one is difficult. Some of my favorites are The Dark Tower series, Salem's Lot, Insomnia, and Desperation. His short story collections are also worth reading.

Work got in the way, so I am still working on Woken Furies by Richard Morgan as a whisper sync and leisurely reading Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Once I am done with those, I have decided to tackle something a bit heavier than is the norm for me. I'm going to give Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro a go.

I finally wrapped up reading "Imaginary Friend" by Stephen Chbosky.

This story desperately needed a better writer, and this book desperately needed a better editor. We have an American author publishing a book with the color "grey" in it. It goes on and freakin' on, so sure of itself but it really shouldn't be. In general it was a mess.

For example, an important character to this story lives in an old folks home and has finally gone blind from his cataracts. If you do the simple math, this dude is 67 years old. Huh?! Wake up, writer. Wake up, editor.

Another example, the children characters, including the main character, are supposed to be 7 years old, but are all written with 10-12 year old mannerisms.

It's just a bad book that really has sullied Chbosky's reputation for me. Having read the Perks of Being a Wallflower like 15 or 20 years ago, I thought he was an overrated but still OK writer (neither good nor great, but OK). This is the last book of his I'll ever read.

I'd give this book 2/5 Fudgy Points. (A 1 point rating is reserved for DNF books, which are few and far between for me.)

Pretty unique and well developed. Also an interesting setting. I think the characters in that series aren't as well flushed out or believable in comparison to his more recent work.

Alchemist and Fight Club. Total opposites. Destiny vs nihilism.

Dune Messiah is lighter on the hard politics but brings in weirder concepts and larger universe views. I found it easier to read but not as good overall. Children of Dune continues that trend. God Emperor jumps feet first into the "what in the fuck did I just read" pool. Heretics was better, and Chapterhouse was just fine.

This last week I finished up The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. I liked it, but I wonder if I still would if I hadn't already read/been a fan of the Moomin books. I was expecting some kind of overarching story or significant character growth, but it's really just a series of little 3-10 page anecdotes that sometimes just stop without much resolution. If the authorial voice wasn't so strong, or the characters so familiar (fictionalized family members, whom she also pulled from for the Moomins), I might have dropped it.

I also sped through Joe Country by Mick Herron, so I'd be ready to watch the new season of Slow Horses at some point. I liked it better than the previous 2 or 3; can't really put my finger on why, though. Less outlandish plot, maybe?

Currently trying to settle on a new book: the last couple nights, I've been bouncing between Slewfoot by Brom and There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (the rewritten version; I read the original a couple of years ago).

Damn, I appreciate the take on the book. Sounds like the book got Fudged up sadly.

Does whisper sync mean you're reading it while listening to the audiobook? How do you find it helps? If I'm understanding correctly.

Slewfoot seems to quite be the more appro for spooky season 🎃🧹

It is. It has its positives and negatives. On the plus side, you can enjoy terrific VA work like with Dungeon Crawler Carl and others. It also helps you absorb more complex texts. On the negative side, is that I cannot just start and stop whenever I like because I have to put my headphone on, start two apps, and find my place. It is also much slower than just reading. If I have the spare time, I can read four novels in a week and a half versus one whispersync in a week.

Binged some Kline maybe a year ago, she's great bit depressing

I may have already recommended "black tongue the if", as someone who also didn't like between too fires, I btt was excellent

Capital and ideology, good so far (lots of historical learning for me), but like capital in the 21st century dry.

I'm hoping Cory Doctorow's The Reverse Centaurs Guide to Life after AI will be a bit of an antidote afterwards

Someone has i know that. I will likely get to it at some point, but i have a lot on my to read list including the second trilogy of Red Rising, and a few other things I want to get to. So its there just not super high on the list.

How did you like Witch King? I ended up reading a bunch of hers, and though it was interesting to compare themes among Raksura, Murderbot, and Ile-Rien. I think early Murderbot are my favorite.

I had just started it when I posted, and now I'm about 30-40% through. I'm enjoying it. Wells for sure has a knack for creating an interesting world with interesting rules. It's easy to forget that Murderbot was written by the same person as Raksura (I never read the Ile-Rien series). In any case, Witch King seems to be a solid contribution thus far.

Not sure about that, but "lost cause" was!

Fwiw I didn't think much of red rising after the first few books, probably cause I couldn't remember all the things that happened (it had been years between books).

I hadn't come across that one of his! Thank you for mentioning it. I could do with some sci fi to offset all my non fiction