Yes, there are 6 of them (by Frank). But I am talking about the first three, which are compiled into one novel. Which I am currently reading.

LITFAM UPDATE: SPOOKS AROUND THE CORNER EDITION

Is it just me or are these months getting longer? Maybe it's just the book-madness setting in. With the year being 75% dead it's officially time for spooky month, so go ahead and slither around the cobwebs to snatch the slimiest tome from your most sinister shelf, if u dare wager a scare.

@TopazAzul and @Malachy (again) murdered their goals in cold blood last month, Malachy will be facing charges for serial achievement. Also added @SirKaotik and @CoolCatDaddio to the roster (if you have no goal the bar instead represents the overall group goal %), two more lost souls for this haunted h*ck house. @Asandir is obviously practicing witchcraft but I'm too afraid to call it out.

Top Fam

1. @Asandir (12)
2. @Malachy @Peaceblossom and @TopazAzul (3)

Mistakes will be first on the kill list.

@Absurd-Ditties @Asandir @Atlas @Boss @CoolCatDaddio @Crink @Dean @DistractedDuck @FoAngel @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @SevenSeize @SirKaotik @TheReviewTrickster

@TopazAzul @Welldoneshellfish @Yomuchan @ZJ

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. Comics that Marv from Sin City definitely read. Lovecraft liked some of it.

Astonish the Gods: I could reread this multiple times and see something new. Beware of bridges made entirely of you.

What I read last month:

Malcolm Gladwell - Talking to Strangers

I legit thought this was going to be some kind of "the world is your oyster," everyone is your friend uplifting thing but it's almost the exact opposite. You are unbelievably shit at judging people and detecting deception and you've learned all sorts of wrong ideas about what expressions and body language convey about what a person is thinking or feeling, and catastrophic misunderstandings occur all the time.

Good book, although I think Gladwell somehow fell into his own traps at times, ie judging a person by how they ought to have reacted and using that to support his conclusion, when he's already explained why those kinds of judgments aren't reliable.

Thomas Sowell - A Conflict of Visions

Sowell argues the worldviews of virtually all notable philosophers, writers, politicians can be simplified down to two contradictory camps, or 'visions' - the unconstrained vision believes humans are inherently good if left alone (and so effectively there's no limit to how wonderful a society can be) while the constrained vision believes humans are inherently fallible and need good systems to result in good behavior (so there's a very finite limit on how good a society can be, and it will never be perfect).

Most of the book lays out the details of how these two visions manifest in a slew of notable historic thinkers and how they result in different policies and ultimately cause our extremely polarized political disagreement today, since the two visions cause fundamentally incompatible & directly opposing strategies on every level.

If you know anything about Sowell you'll immediately know he's going to be heavily biased toward the constrained vision being the more 'correct' one (and probably my lopsided summary above betrayed the book's angle), but with a few exceptions I don't think his bias shone through most of it. I think if a follower of the constrained vision went in not knowing who Sowell was, they could get pretty far before realizing the author isn't on their side.

41: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Finished this on the 1st but didn't want to confuse the graph robot. The whole book felt like build up for a larger story that just...never happened. In the middle of chapters the author would throw in all these little hints of something going sideways like "and that was his first mistake of many...." I enjoyed the story as I was reading it but overall I was left feeling cockteased. I have noticed Chrichton does seem to make his books about a short amount of time. Jurassic Park and world both happened in only a weekend. Andromeda Strain was also only a few days.

42: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

Finished this today. I really enjoyed Mack's way of talking about some really heavy science in an approachable way. It reminds me of how we'd get our HS science teacher to go way off track for a whole lesson by asking about super volcanoes and black holes. It was a great explainer for all the ways the universe could eventually end. It's got enough material to put off that 10th grade Earth Science quiz for at least a week!

Finished How Not to Become a Millennial: Learning from America's Largest Sociological Disaster by Vince Barrick on Audible today.

Interesting book. I got it because I started listening to Aaron Clarey over the summer as background noise while playing video games late at night. I don't agree with a lot (or most) of what he says, but I find his opinions on things to be blunt and refreshingly different from a lot of other pundits you might hear from. This book was originally an idea that he came up with, but he supposedly didn't have time for it and handed it off to Vince.

The book itself was entertaining in that there's so many confrontational takes in it from "psychology as a discipline of study is mostly bullshit" to "college degrees that aren't STEM are basically worthless" and everything else in-between. If you've seen a lot of red pill content online, you might be familiar with a good deal of what this book is peddling. I think a lot of it comes from a dark place that doesn't respect women nearly as much as I think they should be (For instance, Vince seems to argue that society duped ladies into the drudgery of working and that a lot of them would be happier staying in the home and raising children, but they feel like they can't because of societal pressures. That seems wrong to me. I feel like our society is pretty cool with girls deciding to do either thing if they want.) and that there's a LOT of generalization on a variety of topics relating to money, work, religion, etc. that make it seem more like ranting from one dude's perspective than a nuanced and researched general take on what many have found to be true and useful.

With all of that said, though, there were some good kernels of advice in here. The ideas that nothing is more important than other people and that relationships with them will always be more important than possessions is one that I strongly agree with and I do accept that a lot of people would be better served by working out and accomplishing things than bemoaning their situation and blaming society for their problems. A lot of incels likely would be more attractive to the opposite sex if they got in shape and had cool shit like hiking up mountains or running marathons to talk about.

Don't know if I would recommend this one because you'd probably need an acquired taste to buy into its mindset wholeheartedly and I dunno how many of you would be like me and listen to something you disagree with for hours at a time.

Finished #5 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Really wasn't sure what I'd think of this, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and ended up finding a "classic" that I really enjoyed. I always go into classics with some apprehension because I feel like they're going to be too deep for me and I'm not going to be able to see what people appreciate about them. I guess that could have been the case here and I'm sure there is a lot I missed, but the story itself was enjoyable.

The first couple chapters had me feeling a bit dubious, but after that it was (almost) smooth sailing. There was one chapter (11, I think) which was a bit of a slog, but I got through it. Because this is a story about some cultured fellows from the old days, there were quite a lot of nouns I'd never heard of before and a few references in French that were completely lost on me, but it didn't take away from the book as a whole.

I can definitely see this being a book millions of students have been asked to write essays on, but it's not something I remember being part of the English courses when I was at school.

43: The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

Something between a short story and a novella (88 pages?) that was a neat speculative fiction. One day everyone who is murdered poofs back to life in their own bed immediately after they die (well 1 in 1000 doesn't). So murder is hard and insurance companies and hospitals keep a Dispatcher on hand to 'murder' a client who may be going in for risky surgery. It's a typical mystery story.

I liked the story and the pace was ok. A little short for my taste

44: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi

The follow up which apparently is only available as an audio book. Not a full audio drama like The Sandman was. Just normal audiobook format with 1 narrator. Longer and a little more fleshed out although a few major plot points were just thrown in right at the end of a chapter. Think like a whole chapter of discussion with a character and then ending it with "that was the last time i saw him alive".

Done reading these books:

86. Shining (The Shining), Stephen King, 624 pages

87. Doctor Sleep, Stephen King, 720 pages

88. Wir haben schon immer im Schloss gelebt (We Have Always Lived in the Castle), Shirley Jackson, 224 pages

89. Friedhof der Kuscheltiere (Pet Sematary), Stephen King, 608 pages

90. Maschinenmann (Machine Man), Max Barry, 278 pages

91. Die Chroniken des Aufziehvogels (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle), Haruki Murakami, 1005 pages

The Shining:

Jack Torrance is tormented by several vices - his rampant alcoholism and his anger issues - both synergising and leading to an event that costs him his job as teacher. Down on his luck and fighting to keep his streak of not drinking alcohol alive, he struggles to provide for his wife Wendy and his five years old son Danny, who has the ability to see supernatural things.

In what seems like a turn for the better, with the help of an old friend, Jack manages to find a job as janitor for the old hotel Overlook. Located in the mountains, it's completely isolated from the outside world due to snow. Jack and his family take care of the hotel and everything seems peaceful - but the hotel keeps weaving its net of illussions and entities to get Danny. Jack Torrance also gets deeply affected by the hotels evil sphere - and peaceful isolation turns to horror.

Great book. The sequel Doctor Sleep is also amazing and I recommend reading both - especially since its Spooktober ^^

We Have Always Lived in the Castle:

Merricat lives in a house at the end of the village, together with her sister Constance and her old wheelchair-bound uncle Julian - and her cat Jonas. Six years ago, Constanze was accused of killing several of her family members via arsenic poison - and acquitted. Merricat loves her well structured life with rituals like burying special objects to protect the house from outside forces, etc. The village people hate Merricat and her sister as they believe that one of them got away with murder. Regardless, the sisters and their uncle live a life that is wholesome in a macabre way.

Atleast until cousin Charles appears and ruins everything with his dishonest and greedy nature, destroying Merricats haven. This leads to unfortunate events that make the bond between Merricat and Constanze even stronger.

Great book. Good mix between an atmosphere that is otherworldly but also in some ways comforting. Reminded me a bit of The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss.

Pet Sematary:

Louis Creed is a 35 years old doctor. He and his wife Rachel, their two kids Ellie and Gage and their cat Church move to a new place - a house of their own near the small town Ludlow. They soon become accustomed to the new situation and become friends with their neighbour, Jud Crandall, an old man.

All is good but when Rachel visits her parents together with the kids, the cat Church gets killed in a car accident. Louis is desperate because Ellie loves that cat so much. He talks about his sorrows with Jud Crandall - who unveils to him the mystery of the hidden Pet Sematary - a place where buried animals can come back to life - sometimes with a changed personality but aside from that as good as new. Louis accepts - and from here, his and the life of his family is turning into dread and despair.

Good book. Not very spooky but I liked the ever-present feeling of unavoidable doom, also appreciate going all in with the ending.

Machine Man:

Charles Neumann is a 35 years old scientist, working for the company "Better Future" - working on cool stuff like lethal non-lethal weapons and other neat improvements for your daily life. He is a very logic-driven person and struggles with human interaction. Sadly, one day he loses one of his legs in a work accident. He is disgusted by the low-functional prosthetics offered to him - and at the same time stoked as this is his chance to engineer a better leg - which becomes a huge success - well aside from the fact that it works best together with another robotic leg - so Charles chops off his other leg so that he can use his new better legs.

It doesn't stop there though - the company becomes very interested in developing other body improvements - and soon enough Charles Neumann finds himself becoming more machine than man and inable to escape Better Futures claws.

Good book. More comedic and also filled with chaotic action than I initially expected but overall I enjoyed it.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle:

So I wanted to re-read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle for some time but put it off for a bit since the book would be a chonker if it was a cat instead of a book. I got more incentive with this new, extented translation that came out recently. I massively enjoyed it and after having read all other fiction books by Murakami, I gained even more appreciation for this one and it already ranked up high within Murakamis works for me.

You're going to be pushing 100 in no time.

Finished #6 - The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

This isn't really a book that falls outside my comfort zone, but it is a book by a "celebrity author" which I'd normally be hesitant to try. Although Richard Osman comes across as an intelligent guy and the book was getting good reviews so decided to pick it up when I saw it in the store.

A comical murder mystery set in a retirement community. Group of old folks get together on Thursdays to try and crack old, unsolved murder cases for fun. But then there are two murders right on their door step, so they get to work trying to identify the killer.

I really enjoyed this. There are multiple interlinked mysteries to be solved and there were several points where I'd thought I'd cracked the case only for there to be more twists and turns in the story and it goes off in a whole other direction. Even though it's mainly focused on a gang of old folks and a couple of police inspectors, I think everyone will be able to relate to at least one of the cast, which was unexpected.

Before I even started reading this, I figured it was going to be overrated first novel given the author is a mini celebrity in the UK (TV presenter on a quiz show) but was plesantly surprised to find that it was a fun and enjoyable read. It lived up to the hype as far as I'm concerned. Apparently there's going to be a second book, so I might look out for it in the future.

45: METAtropolis by John Scalzi, Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear & Karl Schroeder

This was a fun one. 5 stories written by different authors but taking place in the same shared universe. They're self contained but they reference each other in little ways that makes them all feel part of a whole.

I think my favorite of the bunch was the last story, To Hi from Far Celinea by Karl Schroeder. It felt leagues above the other 4 stories and had not only a unique premise and plot but a lot of tech that still feels futuristic 12 years after being published. That's hard to do with our crazy time. People use google glass like augmented reality glasses to play video games (like Ingress or Pokemon Go) but there are deeper layers - whole subcultures that exist in the ethereal steampunk world. You can gain access to higher planes of AR society.

Scalzi's story was comedic and didn't quite fit with the rest but it was my 2nd favorite.

Definitely recommend.

Finished the audiobook of Download The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette today.

SUPER engaging book. I remembered Beanie Babies back in the day (mainly from the McDonald's promotional toys that they did in the late 1990s) so when I saw this, I decided that it would be a fun trip down nostalgia lane. While it did satisfy that itch for me by covering the craze from its beginning to end, it also explored the culture around speculative bubbles where random "rare" things get ludicrously valued and how Beanie Babies turned into that for people in the 1990s. Despite the book explaining it to me, it's still insane to me that people were able to fund college funds based on selling five dollar stuffed animals and doing crazy things like buying 100 Happy Meals to get full sets.

Most importantly, though, this book covered the entire backstory of Ty Warner, the mastermind behind Beanie Babies. Guy was/is legitimately a penny-pinching psychopath with a warped childhood. I couldn't put this one down because I just wanted to hear more about this guy's insane actions (Making children pay for the ice cream he would get with them and having a fish tank installed and uninstalled in his office on a whim) and views ("Toll Roads are bullshit and you should never pay them"). He might be one of the most fascinating people I've ever heard about it and it's stunning that he's STILL a billionaire based on Beanies.

Highly recommend this one. Do it for Peanut the Blue Elephant.

I finally managed to finish a trio that I spent too long hunting for.

More from the author of Reverse Design -

"Half Life", "Final Fantasy 7" and "Chrono Trigger".

They contain a pretty clear look at the games from a game designer's perspective, along with some discussions into the good things and bad things that went into the end products.

Done reading these books:

92. Bird Box - Schließe deine Augen (Bird Box), Josh Malerman, 320 pages

93. Joyland, Stephen King, 368 pages

94. AchtNacht, Sebastian Fitzek, 416 pages

95. Tsugumi (Goodbye Tsugumi), Banana Yoshimoto, 192 pages

Bird Box:

Malorie lives together with her two children in a house that has all windows covered so that no daylight can come in - the reason for that is simple - a few years ago, shortly after Malorie became pregnant, a strange phenomenom occured all around the globe: people losing their mind after seeing something and then proceeding to kill themselves, sometimes after harming others.

At the start, rumours of that event are not taken seriously but the problems become unignorable and Malorie witnesses first hand how her sister kills herself due to seeing "something". Malorie crosses paths with a group that tries to organize post-calamity life in a secure house with closed up windows, food, only leaving the house with blindfolds on, etc. That works well until one day. And Malorie has to decide if she will go outside and search for a safer place for her kids.

Great book. The truly scary athmosphere comes from not seeing the threat that turns people crazy - not even knowing if it's there, still there or actually nowhere anymore while being forced to be blind when searching outside for food, other survivors, etc.

Joyland:

Devin Jones is a 21 year old highschool student who decides to work at the amusement park Joyland over the summer. The book goes in great detail about how he starts working there and his daily (work) life there. A few years ago, a vicous murder took place in Joyland and the murderer is still out there somewhere - and the murder victim allegedly haunts the place to this day.

Devin is interested in that event - and soon enough one of his co-workers sees the ghost of the murdered lady, leading Devin to investigate more.

Good book. Heavy emphasis on the slice of life parts with being broken hearted over an ended relationship sprinkled in but still enjoyable murder mystery.

AchtNacht:

It is AchtNacht (EightNight), the 8th of August, when Ben, a middle aged unsucessful musician realises that he has been chosen in a morbid death lottery : for eight hours, anyone is allowed to kill him, whoever can prove that they did the deed gets rewarded with ten million bucks. The mysterious creator claims that this has been allowed by the government ( a platent lie) but enough people believe it and Ben has to find a way to survive - a difficult task as another person forces him to undertake dangerous missions - otherwise his daughter will die to an unknown poison.

Decent book. Inspired by the Purge (as stated by the author), fast paced and darker in some sections than I expected. Not available in english.

Goodbye Tsugumi:

Revolves around the narrator Marie and her friend Tsugumi, who is an energetic and unconventional person - but also ridden by an undisclosed illness that often chains her to her bed and makes her have fevers very often. Though her body is weakened, Tsugumi's great character shines at all times, an unbreakable will to live - leading to numerous adventures with Marie. Looking back, Marie remembers her last summer with Tsugumi and her sister Yoko in the small village at the sea.

Beautiful book, my favorite by Banana Yoshimoto so far.

Got seriously sidetracked this month. I've been reading 26) random online articles troubleshooting PC issues, MS Word alternatives without a price tag and that could be downloaded to the computer, why some companies are switching to the subscription based business model along with articles on how to advertise.

I forgot to check which number I'm at but put 26. I have another book that I plan to read but first have to finish writing my submission for Hall-20 on top of completing some illustrations that were suppose to be done weeks ago on top of locating the sketchbook housing my Madtober drawings. Hope everyone is enjoying their October thus far and kudos to Asandir for raising the bar...again.

I've set a goal for Friday or sooner to get this stuff done. Let's see how it goes.

UPDATE: I have finally completed Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

January:

1. The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish - Katya Apekina

February:

xxx

March:

2.Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky

3.Barbara the Slut and Other People by Lauren Holmes 

4.Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 

5.Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan 

6.Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray & What It Means for Modern Relationships by Christopher Ryan

7.Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

April:

8.Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

9.How to Love (Mindfulness Essentials #3) by Thich Nhat Hanh

10.Tampa by Alissa Nutting 

11.The Boho Manifesto: An Insider's Guide to Postconventional Living by Julia Chaplin

May

12.An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

13.How to Be Alone: If You Want To, and Even If You Don't by Lane Moore

14.The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson 

15.The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

16.Every Word You Cannot Say by Iain S. Thomas

17.Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

June

18.Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson 

19.Sex and the Goddess: An Intimate Exploration of Woman’s Erotic Spirit and Sacred Sexual Power in Myth, Legend, Life, and History (Volume One) by Karin E Weiss

20.The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

21.Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

July

22.Action: A Book About Sex by Amy Rose Spiegel

23.Online Seductions: Falling in Love with Strangers on the Internet by Esther Gwinnell, Nancy Cooperman Su

24.Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction by Judith Grisel

August

25.High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addict's Double Life by Tiffany Jenkins

26.The Art of Cooking Venison by Albert Wutsch

27.Love Spells: Rituals, Spells & Potions to Spark Your Romantic Life by Semra Haksever

28.Normal People by Sally Rooney

29.Lurking: How a Person Became a User by Joanne McNeil 

September

xxx

October

30.How to Make His Wildest Dreams Come True by Graham Masterton

31.The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You

by Elaine N. Aron

32.Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel, Blake Masters 

33.The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride #1) by James Patterson

46: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Picked this up mostly because it was included in kindle unlimited and @dean found it readable.

I have to agree with you on all points but the reason I was dubious was because the first few chapters all of the dialogue between Sir Henry, Basil and Dorian could be the dialogue in @sexual-lobster 's Sweet Boy Beach series. It gave me a chuckle.

Haha, I've haven't seen any of that series before but definitely an accurate comparison after watching a few minutes of it.

I think it's just free, it should be public domain.

Amazon have a series of old classics under their own label (public domain books invite dozens of shitty ebook editions so Amazon steps in with the QC) and most cost nothing.

I'm in the middle of 3 different books right now. 2 romance, which I cannot believe I'm reading but I am, and 1 for work.

I won't finish because I've been sidetracked judging the Halloween writing contest but November will be my triumphant return.

Oh yeah I forgot about that. I used to browse those free public domain ones before I had kindle unlimited. Makes sense they'd just say 'included' so I feel like there's more value to my subscription. I did get the audio book included either from my Kindle Unlimited or Audible subscription. Or maybe they have some free audio books too.

If anyone has updates for October, scary or otherwise, try to get em posted before tomorrow.

@Absurd-Ditties @Asandir @Atlas @Boss @CoolCatDaddio @Crink @Dean @DistractedDuck @FoAngel @Ganon-Dorf @Haggard @Joltopus @Kiwi @Little-Rena @Malachy @MercyfulDeath @Peaceblossom @Peregrinus @Phobotech @Quisty @RainyG @SevenSeize @SirKaotik @TheReviewTrickster @TopazAzul @Welldoneshellfish @Yomuchan @ZJ

Thanks for the mention

January (4)

1: Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

2: Welcome to the Occupied States of America (First Contact) by Peter Cawdron

3: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

4: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

February (5)

5: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

6: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

7: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

8: Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

9: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

March (5)

10: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

11: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

12: Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

13: Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

14: Provenance by Ann Leckie

April (6)

15: Maelstrom by Peter Cawdron

16: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

17: The God Engines by John Scalzi

18: The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A.J. Baime

19: The Last Emperox by John Scalzi

20: The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

May (4)

21: Forever Free by Joe Haldeman

22: Homeland by R.A. Salvatore

23: Exile by R.A. Salvatore

24: Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore

June (4)

25: Neuromancer by William Gibson

26: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

27: The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore

28: Streams of Silver by R.A. Salvatore

July (4)

29: The Halfling's Gem by R.A. Salvatore

30: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

31: The Sandman Audible by Neil Gaiman

32: Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis

August (5)

33: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

34: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

35: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

36: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

37: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

September (3)

38: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

39: The Lost World by Michael Crichton

40: Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

October (6)

41: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

42: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

43: The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

44: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi

45: METAtropolis by John Scalzi, Jay Lake, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear & Karl Schroeder

46: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

So my reading has taken a nose dive since I started my masters...

I read Hagseed by Margaret Atwood.

Decent book - had a handful of interesting moments and ideas, but probably not as strong as some of her more prominent titles.

Hopefully I will have more to report next time!

Damn, I'm still not done with Dune. BUT! I have just finished this year's issue of "c't retro", a special issue of German computer mag c't, which specializes in retro stuff. This year's main theme was IBM PCs, and a look back at C/PM, an OS by Gary Kildall. Which is a nice coincidence, since I just learned about Mr. Kildall a few weeks ago after I discovered "The Computer Chronicles" on YouTube. A show that started all the way back in 1983 and which is a really nice time capsule.

ugh, my bosses at work have been stressing me out, so I stopped reading during my lunch breaks. I'll see If I can get back into the groove for this month. Im almost done with my current book

october

21. Animorphs #15 - The Escape by Katherine 

Applegate

22.Back to the Future script Fourth Draft 1984 by 

Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale

23. Back to the Future script First Draft 1981 by 

Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale

24. The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Short 

Stories by Charles Bukowski

25.Diary of a Madman by Brad 'Scarface' Jordan and 

Benjamin Meadows

26.House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

the back to the future first draft + fourth were really interesting. definitely going to read the script that was originally 2 and 3 together. had heard about house of leaves for so long. finally decided to read it and it was pretty neat. lots of poems and very wordy though. also funny how its sort of existentially horrifying in some way i liked how it kind of cleverly used paranormal house to make you think about mental illness itself which I assume is connected to tha fact that i think the book is inspired because the writers dad had made an adaptation of jean paul sartres no exit which is a sort of similar premise that also seems to dissect morality and psychology and shit based on what i see the synopsis says. anyways its kind of funny i read the whole bukowksi book on the side at the same time. and im near the end of house of leaves and open up bukowski and the raw raunchy shit in a few of those short stories and the way he told it was in a way sort of even more existentially horrifying than the house of leaves. i guess it will always be hard to tell if bukowski was really complex or just really fucking funny or if he was truly in some way existentially horrifying in a pertinent way that directly casts a light on society and the evil of humans etc. that paranormal type horror is so irrelevant to

Anyways I dont know if the scarface book is similar to how people say celebrities just get a ghost author or if they say that because some celebrities books are like that or they just wanna talk shit, or if it could somehow be true i dont know but this definitely felt like his memoirs or something and if youre a fan it seems like a pretty good book to me. I read the book that came out a few years later, one or two years ago by j prince the guy who made rap a lot records and its interesting thinking if any of their stories about each other corroborate or are different in any significant/noticable ways or if theres just a few details that both might mention