Bookshelf
The Urth of the New Sun
by Gene Wolfe
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
by Robin Sloane
The Trading Game
by Gary Stevenson
Redemption Ark
by Alastair Reynolds
Energy: A Human History
by Vaclav Smil
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
by Claire North
All the Names
by Jose Saramago
Iâm a sucker for really long listsâfor example, the page-long exploration of gravestones presented to Jose in the cemetery when he visits. Great book, probably not as good as The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. Somehow Jose (the narrator) comes across as both ignorant and canny, relatable and pretentious; Jose (the character) is pathetic but very likeable. The writing is so good you donât even notice the lack of punctuation, or that weâre told only one characterâs proper name.
Sea People
by Christina Thompson
Originally recommended in this review. Really a book about the philosophy and the history of science, exploring Western understanding of how basically a single group of peopleâthe Polynesiansâsettled the huge area between Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island. Thorough and constantly interesting, peeling back the layers as we work through the chronology from European discovery of Polynesia to the present day. Particularly interesting are the parts about âtwo ways of thinkingâ, where Europeans struggled to rectify assumptions in their way of thinking with those of the Polynesians.
Book of the New Sun
by Gene Wolfe
Excellent, mysterious, dense. I can see why the endless discussion about this book has continued online basically since it was released. Fantasy or sci-fi, depending on how much youâre paying attention.
Why Read the Classics
by Italo Calvino
A collection of essays about âthe classicsâ and about key Western authors. Key quote: âA classic is something that tends to relegate the concerns of the moment to the status of background noise, but at the same time this background noise is something we cannot do without.â
Skunk Works
by Ben Rich
Rose/House
by Arkady Martine
Little novella about a house and the consciousness that inhabits it. It was fine; not as engaging as her other two novels.
The Character of Physical Law
by Richard Feynman
The Adventure of English
by Melvyn Bragg
The Return of the King
by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers
by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Only Forward
by Michael Marshall Smith
The Emigrants
by W.G. Sebald
The Rings of Saturn
by W.G. Sebald
Seven Surrenders
by Ava Palmer
The Internationalists
by Oona Hathaway & Scott Shapiro
Really interesting bookâthe past really was a different country. An exploration of the Kellogg-Briand pact, signed in 1928, which aimed to outlaw war. Obviously, WWII started less than 10 years later, but the authors argue (successfully, I think) that the pact impacted countriesâ behaviour during the warââparticularly the USAââand especially affected the aftermath.
This is How You Lose the Time War
by Amal El-Mohtar
Quick, easy read. It was fairly light-on, and maybe could have been even shorterâânovella? short story, even?ââbut was still enjoyable.
Too Like the Lightning
by Ava Palmer
Let My People Go Surfing
by Yvon Chouinard
Travels in Hyperreality
by Umberto Eco
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
by José Saramago
The title spells out the premise: A story about a much more human Jesus than is represented in the gospels, an unwilling accomplice who triesââand failsââto thwart Godâs plan. Great, compelling prose. Honestly just a pleasure to read, and it makes me want to read more Saramago (and learn Spanish so I can read it in the original language, along with Borges). I read the translation by by Giovanni Pontiero and Margaret Jull Costa, part of The Collected Novels of JosĂ© Saramago.
1177 BC
by Eric Cline
Assassin's Fate
by Robin Hobb
As with the other series, I read the The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy as one book. A fitting end to the entire sixteen-book saga. Iâll definitely work my way through the whole thing again, but not soonââI need to process this ending first.
Fool's Quest
by Robin Hobb
See the review for Assassinâs Fate above.
Fool's Assassin
by Robin Hobb
See the review for Assassinâs Fate above.
Blood of Dragons
by Robin Hobb
I read the combined version of the Rain Wild Chronicles, so Dragon Keeper, Dragon Haven, City of Dragons, and this one just felt like one huge book. Still great, maybe stretched a bit more thin than other trilogies in the series. Serves its purpose in properly tying all of the threads together.
City of Dragons
by Robin Hobb
See the review for Blood of Dragons above.
Dragon Haven
by Robin Hobb
See the review for Blood of Dragons above.
Dragon Keeper
by Robin Hobb
See the review for Blood of Dragons above.