Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[astrangerhere]

My wife and I are about 10 plays in to our campaign play of Arkham Horror the Card Game. We both really love the mythos even though Lovecraft the man is problematic as hell.

Even so, I have been listening to a number of his short stories. It has been a delight to see all the references in the card game as well as how the publishers chose to update some content as well as making the cast more diverse.

The YouTube channel HorrorBabble has a number of well-read stories for listen.

[Luffy]

Been DNFing a lot of books, some had been bought, while others are freebies. Haven't ever completed a free contemporary book this year. Some of the prose I encountered is quite deplorable.

If I had given one or two stars to these books I'd have reduced my average rating (on Goodreads) by quite a margin.

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Been DNFing a lot of books, some had been bought, while others are freebies. Haven't ever completed a free contemporary book this year. Some of the prose I encountered is quite deplorable.

If I had given one or two stars to these books I'd have reduced my average rating (on Goodreads) by quite a margin.

I've been going through the massive folder of free books I've acquired since first getting a Kindle. Most of them are getting deleted, but every so often I find a real gem! I just start reading and if it doesn't grab me quick, it goes.

[ReadingManiac]

In other news, Stephen King's Later was really good!

[gmw]

Mind-Body Problems: Science, Subjectivity & Who We Really Are by John Horgan.

The book is available to read online (link in the title, above). I read this over a couple of weeks. I liked it all, except perhaps the wrap up at the end. It seems to me the conclusions the author tries to draw are meaningless; the equivalent of a theory that can explain anything and so explains nothing. It's simply not useful.

But I did really enjoy everything else, mostly especially the nine chapters of interviews with such a diverse range of people (Christof Koch, Douglas Hofstadter, Alison Gopnik, Stuart Kauffman, Elyn Saks, Owen Flanagan, Rebecca Goldstein, Robert Trivers, Deirdre McCloskey). Each chapter was a mix of direct interview questions and responses, retrospective commentary by the author, and considerable background material. So you end up getting your own responses to the interviewee, to the author, and to the material, which at times makes it fairly intense. Well worth reading, 4/5.

[gmw]

Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, the first book of "The Deed of Paksenarrion" series - which struck me as somewhat ironic given that I spent most of my time waiting for deeds, any deeds, to be done. I remember hitting page 100 as the main protagonist was slogging through deep mud and thinking, "I know just how she feels!" It seems I am no bigger fan of military fantasy than I am military sci-fi. By halfway I'd already left several "Don't patronise me" comments, and I didn't really care about any of the characters, so I decided to call it quits early. This was a first novel, so at some point I might try something from later in her career.

[WT Sharpe]

I just bought The Mammoth Book of Fantasy, edited by Mike Ashley, and just finished reading the 1941 short story "Yesterday Was Monday" by Theodore Sturgeon, which was the reason for my buying this short story collection. It was great, and very different, and in many ways superior, to the excellent 1986 Twilight Zone segment, “A Matter of Minutes”, that was based on it and has stayed with me for years. If you wish to know more about that Twilight Zone episode and my reasons for buying the book, check out the spoiler below.

Spoiler:

Sometime between Thursday night and yesterday morning I lost the hearing aid for my right ear. As these buggers are rather expensive, I immediately felt a sense of dread. I looked everywhere for it, but thinking that my bed was the most likely place I’d lost it, I concentrated my search there. One by one I removed each sheet and the blanket, holding each one out, stretching each as far as I could, and shaking them as I went. Before retiring, even though I knew it would be futile, I went through the process a second time. Sure enough, there was nothing in the bedding, and nothing on the bed. I replaced the bedding and crawled in bed and settled in for the night when I noticed something beside me on the bed. Yes, it was the missing hearing aid.

Yes, I am extremely happy to have it back. And yes, I am more convinced than ever that the universe enjoys screwing with me. Or maybe not. Perhaps the universe itself is less than perfect and makes mistakes.

The third segment of the 15th episode of the first season of the resurrected Twilight Zone, which aired on January 24, 1986, was entitled, “In a Matter of Minutes.” In it, a young couple somehow fall behind the cracks of reality and meet the crew responsible for setting the stage for the next minute of each person's life. It stars Adam Arkin as Michael Wright, Karen Austin as Maureen Wright, and Adolph Caesar as the behind the scenes of reality Supervisor. The following conversation between Michael Weight and the supervisor explains so much.

Michael Wright: “Do you ever make mistakes?”

Supervisor: “Have you ever gone to where you swore you left your car keys, or your tie tack, or earrings and they weren't there? You look everywhere, and then you look again, and they're right back where you thought they were in the first place?”

Michael Wright: “Yeah.”

Supervisor: “Hmmm. Little things like that. Nothing major, thank heaven. Not yet, anyways.”

You can watch the entire 15 minute segment at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXMw_ECmcpM

Or here:

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I've been going through the massive folder of free books I've acquired since first getting a Kindle. Most of them are getting deleted, but every so often I find a real gem! I just start reading and if it doesn't grab me quick, it goes.

Lol, that's good advice.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, volume 2. I was disappointed by the first volume. I hope for better from this one.

It was better. But not more than 3/5. Some of the stories are 5/5 for me, but not enough.

Next random pick from my TBR: The next volume from The Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson by Delphi Classics — The Wrong Box, first published in 1889.

[Number9]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

In other news, Stephen King's Later was really good!

I strongly agree! 😊

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next random pick from my TBR: The next volume from The Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson by Delphi Classics — The Wrong Box, first published in 1889.

It turns out this was really by his step-son, Lloyd Osbourne, and I've abandoned it. I got to 39%, and I was interested in none of the characters, and I didn't find the situation amusing. RLS may have tidied it a bit, but it has none of his wit and character.

Next up: B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton. It looks like I really liked A is for Alibi when I read it last August. I hope I like this one too.

[Uncle Robin]

Halfway through Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, a well-written mystery set in the years before Abolition in the UK. In an era when a developed Western country like New Zealand convicts someone of slavery this book makes me think how little has changed.

[mike.katina]

just finished "The Magitech Chronicles" & "The Void Wraith Saga" and the First of "The Deathless (The First Ark)" by Chris Fox, then jumped ship momentarily to Frederik Pohl's "The Heechee Saga" just started that last night so can't really comment on it.

As for Chris Fox's work that I have read so far, he doesn't come up with invented physics and terms in alien alternate realities. He twists the various lore knowledge we all generally possess, linking to obvious works from others and makes up great inviting, addicting stories. I really like his works and am glad I found him on Amazon.

[Uncle Robin]

My library notified me that Australian Poetry since 1788 by Geoffrey Lehmann & Robert Gray is available for collection, so that massive tome will be my reading for most of the next 4 weeks, the first dead tree book I will have read in at least 5 years.

[binaryhermit]

Rereading the Cradle series.