The end of the month is looming large, if anyone else has updates for July you know what to do.

@Absurd-Ditties @Argile @Asandir @bigfritolay @Boss @CoolCatDaddio @Crink @Dean @DoctorPac @Egeus @Ganon-Dorf @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @HeartHeaDude @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @mlgnoscope69420 @Phobotech @Positron832 @PumpkinHeaDude @PurpleShoes @RainyG @Sekhem @Sensationalism @SevenOnAStick @SevenTheEasterBunny @Simonides @SlutasaurusRex @Squeezeblossom @Tacopug @Teaseblossom @TehPoptartKid @tehslaphappy @TopazAzul @Urichov @Yomuchan @ZJ

My july was unproductive! A deer suicided by Prius while my wife was driving to work a couple of weeks ago and we've been carpooling together while we wait for the shop to get parts to repair the car. So I'm only listening to my books on tape maybe 1 or 2 hours a week driving. The days that are nice i've been taking the motorcycle and while I have bluetooth in my helmet it's really only good for music above 50mph. With all the wind buffeting and road noise I can't focus on an audiobook.

I also took this last week off work and shut my brain completely down for the whole week. I did go to a native american museum at a reservation that's close to my house and picked up a book that I've been slowly plodding through. As well as a new sci fi series, but for the most part, brain has been off.

July (2 books, 958 pages)

32: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

33: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

None for me this month, almost finished a book on Nuremburg but work got in the way

Finally finished "De tre detektivene og skipskistens gåte"(literally "and the ship chest's secret", original title "The Three Investigators - The Secret of Phantom Lake").

One of my favorite stories from this series, I just didn't find too much time to read the past month.

And again I ask myself why the Norwegian translators decided to chose the least interesting aspect of the story as a title. This time, all the Scandinavian countries have a weird title choice. Must be a cultural thing: "don't make book titles too interesting, or else you might draw the attention of people who are looking for something to read!", I don't know.

Anyway, the story is really about an old immigrant (Angus Gunn) to the USA who is rumored to have stolen a pirate treasure from the captain of the immigrant ship. Gunn was killed two months after he arrived in the US (his killers were found and almost immediately hanged) but the treasure remained lost. Then one of his diaries turns up after being lost for decades. Our three heroes are in search for the treasure and have to fight against a few very sinister characters.

Well, they eat insects, right? Damn shame, I tend to desiccate and grind insects into a paste for nutrient slurry production so there'd be a shortage if I were to. So, I'm not sure if I can actually grow'em.

Why'd you ask, though?

I don't remember. Did you read a book about plant care?

Yeah. Got any recommendations?

Goodness. July has been more of a wreck than I was expecting. Fell so behind on my reading and was hoping to jump into some new books but failed to even crack open the current book I got. Hopefully before the week is out I will have something to report. How's everyone's month going so far?

Definitely looking like this is going to be the first year I hit my reading goal, even though it's not a particularly impressive one. Only one more book to go!

#9 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I still really enjoy watching the Harry Potter films so thought I'd give the book a read seeing as it's free on Kindle. There isn't really a whole lot of difference between the film and the book in this case. I'd assumed the film would have cut out a lot of stuff like they normally tend to do, but I guess this wasn't a particularly long book so they managed to cover most of it.

It was a fun read, but being so familiar with the film meant that I was essentially acting it out in my head as I was reading the book. Maybe some of the later, longer books include more extra content that isn't covered by the films? There are some other books I want to read in the meantime, but maybe I'll come back and check out some of the other Harry Potter books later.

Proud of you, son

I finished a book on the Nuremburg Trials today, Robert Jackson gave some of the finest orations in his opening and closing speeches that I've ever read.

Now I'm starting a 550 page book on Robert Stewart, or Lord Castlereagh as he's better known. He brokered peace in Europe after Napolean and is largely abolished slavery on the continent during those negotiations, really interesting guy.

Done reading these books for August:

61. Acht Berge (The Eight Mountains), Paolo Cognetti, 272 pages

62. Das große Spiel (Ender's Game), Orson Scott Card, 411 pages

The Eight Mountains:

Story revolves around the kids Pietro and Bruno. They are childhood friends and live in a village in the mountains and grow up together there. Eventually, Pietro leaves for the city but Bruno is forever bound to the mountains. Pietro visits other mountains but ocassionally comes back to his home village to visit his friend, who through good and bad has dedicated his life to the mountains.

Book is fine. Saw it mentioned in peoples favorites but didn't grab me that much.

Ender's Game:

Humanity is pretty much doomed as the threat of a third invasion of the so called Formics, insect-like creatures with spaceships and high strategic abilities is on the horizon. To counteract this, children are trained in an extreme fashion to basically find the perfect general. Among them is Andrew Wiggin, called Ender. The story is told from his perspective and how his training started at the age of six. Isolating him via manipulation and stacking the cards against him in simulated fights are used to put so so much pressure on him that there are only two outcomes: Ender breaks or thrives.

Great classic book. Not sure how many of the sequels I will read.

That's likely all for August, as I am still playing through the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles games, which are fantastic and even though I was optimistic, have far exceeded my expectations thus far.

34: Into the Stars by James Rosone

finished this but was waiting for the monthly update that never came. @jackho you ok man?

Anyway, it's the first in a series that i guess ends up being military sci fi which I guess I kind of like now? The book had some interesting twists and the timeline jumps forward a bit in several places. I've been reading through the 2nd book already as well as a nonfiction book I picked up at a museum a couple of weeks ago.

Finally! Had to go back some posts to figure out where I'm at in the reading.

16) Random Print and Online Articles

Lots of random articles ranging from back to school plans (many made late) to interesting reads that may not be in print. Even read up on some blog and forum posts on crafts and such. Favorite topic so far is "yarn chicken" which starts out funny but ends in frustration when you have to go hunting for yarn. Then the discussion transfers into discontinued yarn colors territory.

17) Peruonto by Giambattista Basile

An Italian fairy tale I read back in college and felt the need to revisit. It's about a boy that's not too bright but knew how to go about life; even if others disagreed with his approach. He showed kindness to some youths by shielding them from the sun and they presented him with a gift that granted his every wish.

Well he wasn't careful with the wishing and wound up wishing for the princess' hand. Things go down hill for the two but they manage to turn things around. After reading the tale I remembered that there were a few versions of this tale and this happens to be 1 of 2 that I read back in the day. Still a nice tale that's a quick read.

18) Tales From the Gray Area by Curtis S. Burdick (In Progress)

I'm still in progress with #18 but should be finished soon. After this I plan on reading the American Mediterranean. If all goes as planned, I should have 20 books read before the month is out.

I'm alive, just had serious computer trouble at the turn of the month and been very busy since. The end of the month is already rolling in again but I might still get the July update out first.

Hit my goal! Now wondering how close I could come to doubling it.

#10 - The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Discworld is a series that I've always been told takes a few books before it finds itself, so I wasn't expecting this to be as good as I'm hoping Discworld will become, but it wasn't awful. Initially I was a bit concerned as the first 50 or so pages were difficult to follow. Too many meaningless names being thrown at you and the perspective was changing too frequently to make any sense of what was going on. Once it settled down it was more entertaining. Sort of like a fantasy take on Douglas Adams.

I'll definitely be revisiting the series and already have copies of the next two books.

I had a busy month so I did not read as much as I would have liked. Hopefully I can add one more book before September. This month,, I have read two very different novels about two rich men.

32) Batman: Court of Owls – I was expecting the book to be a more direct adaptation of original Court of Owls comic storyline by Snyder & Capullo, similar to how the Mad Love novel is an expanded adaptation of of the comic. Turns out the novel is broadly set months after the comic’s events. The novel instead focuses on Batman investigating the history of a renowned sculptor from the 1910s, his statues and their connection to the Court of Owls. The novel does provide a nice change of pace by making the sculptor and his muse a major part of the story in several flashback scenes, though Batman himself does not get much in new characterization.

33) The Great Gatsby – I decided to read this after recently watching the Baz Luhrmann movie. As most people know, it is about a young broker Nick becoming friends with a new eccentric rich neighbor Jay Gatsby and helping said neighbor in getting back with his old love Daisy, who is now married. I thought the movie exaggerated Gatsby’s use of the phrase “old sport” but really does say it a lot in the novel. The novel also makes it more clear of Gatsby’s loneliness and his desperation in getting adored by all, especially Daisy. The loneliness becomes even more apparent by the end, when it is clear Gatsby had no real friends other than Nick. The book holds up well despite being a relic of the Roaring Twenties.

35: Into the Battle by James Rosone

36: Into the War by James Rosone

2 more books into the series. The military stuff is kind of not my thing but the politics and plot twists are really captivating. I i'm now on the latest book that was just published in June. There's no audio version yet so it may be slow going. I might finally listen to the firefly audiobooks on Audible.

Currently working on my 16th book for this year.

Edit: the book is called All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

2 books down:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

All the Names they Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva

Oryx and Crake

Really enjoyed this, definitely up there with some of Atwood's best works. The story focuses on themes of genetic modification, hyper connectivity, dystopianism and technological folly. I don't want to spoil anything about the story because I really enjoyed going through it. I'm looking to source the rest of the trilogy now!

All the Names They Used for God

This is a debut short story collection from Columbia professor Anjali Sachdeva. It came as part of a book subscription I am trying, so was very intrigued by this pick.

I was... a little underwhelmed. Out of 9 stories, 3 were interesting to me. The others just were not memorable to me. I had to find summaries to remind myself what some of these stories were about. Which just isn't a great situation for a collection like this. Maybe I've been spoiled by mote interesting collections....

The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking. A lot of stuff flew over my head due (probably) to my not having read the predecessor (I didn't notice it was on the bookshelf) along with my taking a long break at some point that made references to earlier chapters rather harder to parse. I'm also not as bright as I should like so that might've had some effect. Interesting though, and an absolute treasure trove if you're a fan of scientific diagrams that look like shitposts.

Done reading these books:

63. Der Seidenspinner (The Silkworm), Robert Galbraith, 688 pages

64. Der goldene Schwarm (Angelmaker), Nick Harkaway, 608 pages

The Silkworm:

Second Cormoran Strike book. The writer Owen Quine went missing and Strike is hired by Quines wife to find him. Soon after, Strike manages to find him - but the writer has been killed in a gruesome fashion, for what looks like revenge for the mauscript of Quines last book, Bombyx Mori, which insults a lot of his closest peers from his writing circles. Through decade long grudges and ambigious writing of the killed man, Strike has to find the killer or otherwise his innocent wife will be judged as the perpetrator, as the police is eager to close the case quickly, in part to spite Cormoran Strike.

Very good book.

Angelmaker:



Joe Spork is the son of a famous gangster but he himself chose to follow in the footsteps of this grandfather and become a clockmaker. One day he is asked to repair a mysterious device and is thrown into circumstances where his normal citizen aproach of life can't save him and he has to reconsider who he wants to be. Also features Edie Banister, an old lady that formerly was a spy and pretty much responsible for the trouble that Joe Spork has been thrown into.

Pretty good book. Not as good as The Gone-Away World but still enjoyable.

I'm 250 pages into a book about Robert Stewart aka Lord Castlereagh, it'll be finished sometime in September, so no books for me this month.

If anyone else has updates for August get 'em in and hopefully you'll get an update in return.

@Absurd-Ditties @Argile @Asandir @bigfritolay @Boss @CoolCatDaddio @Crink @Dean @DoctorPac @Egeus @Ganon-Dorf @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @HeartHeaDude @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @mlgnoscope69420 @Phobotech @Positron832 @PumpkinHeaDude @PurpleShoes @RainyG @Sekhem @Sensationalism @SevenOnAStick @SevenTheEasterBunny @Simonides @SlutasaurusRex @Squeezeblossom @Tacopug @Teaseblossom @TehPoptartKid @tehslaphappy @TopazAzul @Urichov @Yomuchan @ZJ

It is admirable you keep @ Sekhem despite this account not existing for half a year.

Gotta keep the dream alive. Wouldn't want him to miss a book update if he comes back.

I tend to read a lot since I have a lot of time to read, and I’m already passionate about reading.

my goal this year will be 15 books, and I’ve already started on They Both Die at the End

Read Alice in Wonderland not too long ago since I found it for cheap at my local Goodwill. It was a nice and easy read.

It's interesting to see what parts of the story have persisted in pop culture through the years and what parts haven't. It was truly unlike any book from its time. It's a fun juxtaposition to see that dainty old English describing such fantastical and psychedelic imagery.

Alice herself doesn't have much of a personality in this book, and her reactions don't usually amount to anything more than slight annoyance or bewilderment. I understand why she's written this way, as she's meant to simply act as a vessel for the reader to put their own perspective in. But it's still a flaw that I felt like should be mentioned. Carroll definitely put more emphasis on describing Wonderland and its inhabitants rather than attempting to make Alice an interesting or even relatable character.

The book also feels way too short for its own good. I'm glad that subsequent adaptations have incorporated elements from this and its sequel. If I can find Through the Looking Glass at my library or for cheap, I'll definitely make sure to get it.

I don't have as much analysis reserved for this book as the other books I've read. Trying to say anything new regarding Alice in Wonderland is an almost impossible task. Its been analyzed and interpreted in hundreds of different ways, and I can't imagine the story's influence waning anytime soon.

I recommend reading this book. It's brief, very easy to read (the book is meant for small children after all), and it's one of the most imaginative books of the era.

august

18. 101 Ways to Fall Asleep by Nancy Butcher

19. How to Read Nature by Tristan Gooley

this month fucked me in the ass and if things had gone differently i may be much closer to realistically getting close to 40 read by the end of the year. probably will hit 30 but still.

just started reading fanny hill by john cleland. this old sex book is wacky as fuck and the wikipedia entry on this dude is pretty insane, theylocked him up over this book because i guess writing a book where a woman fucks guys as a man makesyou seem gay, or it was too obscene for the time. anyways im not sure how i feel about the main character being a 15 year old girl, feels kinda gross to read but also i suppose its sort of socially and thematically fascinating since shes being brought in as a prostitute at a whore house (i think ?) the challenge and confusion of reading old books written in that weird ass fancy lingo they used is good to do anyways i guess