The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, NK Jemisin's debut novel. I read this on the strength of her Broken Earth trilogy, which started strong but petered out a bit by the end. This novel is a court / succession fantasy where you can see shades of the inventiveness that made Fifth Season so strong, but you also get a heavy dose of the convoluted plotting that dragged down the series. I like the story idea, but I don't think she quite pulls it off.

Breezed through the second Chronicle of Narnia, Prince Caspian. I'm enjoying the hell out of this series so far. Hard to believe I've put this one off for so long.

And I don't know why I picked up Richard Matheson's Hell House -- I'm soured a bit on haunted house tales lately -- but the book far exceeded my low expectations. It falls square into the genre's strict bounds, there's nothing revolutionary here, but it's got some nice twists and turns to reframe the struggle, and once it gets going, the pace doesn't let up. One of the nicer (well... maybe not nice) surprises I've gotten.

You're obv going in proper release order on Narnia right?

Now that's sacrifice!

Yessir. I got a couple on audio, and I've been reading the rest from a monstrous collection that has them in the screwy order.

Finished Exit Music by Ian Rankin. Rebus retires, but he comes back in several subsequent novels. Exit Music is one of Rankin's better-written novels. Sometimes it seems like a different writer wrote this one.

Reading: 1984 by George Orwell, Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, and Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen.

[U]1491[U] by Charles Mann...several weeks ago there was a science article on huge ruins lidar located in the jungles of Guatamala. This discovery furthers Mann’s thesis that the so-called New World was fully populated at the time of the European invasion. The historical details recounted from New England to Peru are more fantastic than any historical fantasy. For example what writer has ever conjured up a written language unrelated to speech that was three dimensional and both tactile and visual? And binary. And there are the lessons of Chiapas Milpas and the Amazon’s black earth. The sophisticated math (invention of zero) and astronomy, agricultural developments predating the ‘cradle’ of civilization. Yes they did have the wheel as evidenced by ancient toys, they just didn’t have beasts of burden. Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel was correct mainly about the germs. The Indians of New England’s technology was generally superior to the invaders.

Despite the book’s density it reads fast. It will challenge the ground under your feet

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

This one was fine, and I felt like the vibe was a little Lovecraft and a little Shirley Jackson, without being as engrossing as Lovecraft or well written as Jackson (though the writing was mostly good, it wasn't great).

Not sure what all the fuss is about over this, to be honest.

3/5

That Mann book looks interesting, Mulezen. I'll check that out.

1491 is well worth reading, imo. There is also a sequel, 1493.

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, by Sebastian Faulks. This book was an homage to P.G. Wodehouse and Sebastian does a marvelous job at this story and it is a worthy tribute. Excellent in it's own way - Bertie and Jeeves live on. Kudos to Mr. Faulks.


World's Most Dangerous: A History of the Columbia River Bar, Its Pilots and Their Equipment, by Michael E. Haglund. Simply fascinating reading about the procedures and necessary equipment (and its evolution through time) of getting those huge boats across the Columbia River Bar. I assure you it is not boring reading, even if it sounds like it. Goes on everyday, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Sounds good, thanks.

For the most brutally violent and honest tale of the Old West, Blood Meridian has a very few, starkly hilarious lines in it.

What have you got that a man could drink with just a minimum risk of blindness and death.
Como?

I probably still prefer Suttree, which earned him the MacArthur fellowship which allowed him to write Blood Meridian.

But the skill and prose and depth of his talent really takes your breath away in most chapters.


Denouement --

I prefer Suttree and Blood Meridian...both more complex and richer than McCarthy’s later works. Blood Meridian seemed to me Moby Dick without the bothersome water

I think I am looking for an online/ebook type deal. I do not do enough "good" reading. I want to start committing to books, at least more frequently than I do now. Having two toddlers and a wife who usually are asleep before me, I feel like having the ability to read on my Ipad will be beneficial to that, hopeful commitment. what are the best subscription services? Buying individual books seems like it would get costly. I am familiar with Overdrive, I have a registered library card and seem to have access to some things there(I will go check this option out soon). It has been awhile since I checked in there but I feel the availability of the more popular titles was lacking. I do have access to Amazon Prime as well. There kindle service unlimited seems reasonable IIRC. I am looking for the cheapest but yet most effective system.

I tend to read more nonfictional works. A lot of times it centers around finance and motivation and productivity stuff, I guess that's what I am looking for(maybe). I need to branch out though because that stuff is boring. I use those subjects as growth but it's hard to enjoy reading about finance, which then, the reading really gets me nowhere. Biographies sound intriguing. I am also interested in Science as a whole and I enjoy history. I think some fictional reading could be great too, perhaps bring out some creativity in me, and it seems like it would be more of a relaxing read. As I mentioned, I am a parent, I have two children and actually thought of picking this up today: https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=BV5aBgAAQBAJ I have $5 credit for Google Play, suggestions on how to use the $5?

I want to read a lot, in hopes that something starts to click, that is going to shape my future. I want to find reading that grows me intellectually and motivationally. I want to find something that ignites me and brings out my passions, something I actually can't put down. The only time I remember that happening was when I read "Bringing Down the House," a book about the MIT blackjack team that teamed up and owned, the movie "21" was based off the book and the team. I read that ~13-14 years ago and tbh I think it is the last book I completed, really(read a lot of Boglehead's on Investing). To note, I also was enrolled as a freshman at college at the time and my ambition was pretty high(1st semester), I got good grades that 1st quarter, then poker snowballed, as did the grades, but they unsnowballed, the rest is history.

So Good They Can't Ignore You is my top recommendation for looking to shape your future. Helped me tremendously.

Bringing Down the House didn't do it for me as much as Rounders the movie, but along those same lines were Liar's Poker (I was on my way in finance until I quit to play regular poker) and Hackers (where I've eventually landed I guess) by Steven Levy.

If you want to try to get inspired to work your ass off for potentially great wealth and power eventually, start with book 1 of Robert A. Caro's LBJ series.

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think

sweet guys, much appreciated already. Bmore Jones, I know you have given me some recommendations in the past, sadly I never read them.

Last night I got "A Walk in the Woods," the author is Bill Bryson. I got it through Overdrive online for free using my library card. Probably 1/4th of the way through and I like it. I plan on finishing that and then I will look into both of those recs.

Overdrive doesn't seem too bad but many of the titles you have to put on hold and wait for them to become available.

Loved the Caro series on LBJ. An interesting choice for inspiration.

The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King is the poker book that will hold your attention in the same way. (And James McManus, Positively Fifth Street probably will as well.)

I strongly agree with your sense that ebooks can increase your reading time. Get a Kindle app for your phone and tablet. Read in line, in waiting rooms, etc. You'll never be bored. As for the economics, most ebooks are ca. $10, not a lot of outlay. But you're also right about the library: increasingly there is a lot that can be borrowed electronically.

Yeah if you are looking for an interesting, can't stop reading poker story these two are very highly recommended. I would add The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez. These 3 are the holy trinity of fun and fascinating poker books.

I still read Positively Fifth street from time to time McManus really puts you in the shoes of an amateur in the spotlight for the first time, back in the old days of the game. It's a pretty fascinating look at the series before the boom.

Also, if you like stories of gambling intrigue with possible hefty amounts of fictionalization, American Roulette by Richard Marcus is a ton of fun, written by a former roulette cheat who's given up the game and claims to have made millions.

Co-signed. I find that one is often a bit overlooked.

The Education of a Poker Player by Herbert O Yardley is old school for even Doyle Brunson...its also funny and written by a brain that runs rings around any of the other poker authors. Yardley broke the famous Japanese diplomatic code when your computer was a pad and paper. I assume its still in print

I certainly enjoyed McManus’ book, and from a literary standpoint Alvarez can’t be beat

I wanted to read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer before going to see the movie. Mildly interesting short post-apocolyptic novel that wasn't bad but failed to thrill me. About the same quality as Hugh Howey -- decent scifi poorly constructed around a good idea. Hopefully the movie's better.

I liked Blake Crouch's Pines. It's got a strong Pacific Northwest Twin Peaks vibe, with a story to match. Other people ITT have mentioned his clipped prose, and it can get to be a little annoying, but I thought it fit well with the close first-person narrative. The twist ending, though not completely original, is supremely well-executed.

I started on another Arthurian saga: Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King. I like the idea of using one of Arthur's knights to narrate the tale, and Derfel's own story adds a lot of richness. There is a bit of shoehorning in of details, and even though most of them are pretty cool details, it makes the flow a bit awkward. The last Camelot story I read was Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, and where that one takes a feminist approach, Cornwell goes for a more blue-collar version. I especially like how Lancelot is painted as a dandy.

And I finished Book 3 of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I think this may be my favorite of the series so far. Eustace's story is great -- reminds me of Peter's in the first book, how a boy can do bad things because he feels excluded. I like how the agitator is a member of the group, not some heinous villain -- makes their wrongdoings more relatable and doesn't set up the usual big bad dynamic. It's also refreshing to read some SFF that doesn't expound on the mechanics of every device. Here you look into a picture and you're in a different world, simple. No five pages of technobabble wherein the writer endeavors to explain in excrucitating detail how interdimensional travel works. Guess I need to read more children's books.