Reading Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski. Book 2 of The Witcher series.
What about all of you? What have you all been reading or listening to lately?
Check Official Bingo Challenge Post and the accompanying Recommendations Post for our Bingo for 2026!
How to make an apple pie from scratch. Glad I started it finally, but now I can’t get it done. It’s nicely written and all, but I’m well beyond what my brain is able to imagine now…
No sticky post this week?
Work got in the way, so I am still working on Woken Furies by Richard Morgan as a whisper sync and straight reading Watership Down by Richard Adams.
Once I am done with those, I have decided to tackle something a bit heavier than is the norm for me. I’m going to give Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro a go.
Late response, but that week’s post somehow glitched out. I think it didn’t sync to other servers, as there were only 7 replies in it over the week.
No new post this week? Just finished book two of “the wandering inn” by Pirateaba this week, now on book 3. I don’t know how long I’ll keep this up untill I need a break from the series, it’s fun but it’s really long (yeah, no shit Sherlock I suppose).
Late response, but that week’s post somehow glitched out. I think it didn’t sync to other servers, as there were only 7 replies in it over the week.
I see that a lot on my instance lately, so that explains a lot.
I’ll be reading Niezwyciężony by Stanisław Lem. It’s about a planet where abandoned robots have gone through an evolutionary process and become part of the ecosystem. It could happen to us!
The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, with supplementary watching of lectures. I like how thorough Aristotle discusses things, and how grounded they were. For example, I think he had said that a singular action does not make someone “virtuous” or “vicious”, but those label depend on the internal reaction and habits of that person. Also, him discussing the difference between “particular knowledge” and “universal knowledge” felt like it made sense to me, but that’s probably because I’m neurodivergent, lol.
With the lectures (which I wouldn’t have watched without reading the book) my mind was sorta blown by a question whether “Intent”, “The Person”, and the “Consequences” was the most important, because a lot of the people interested in philosophy these days usually like to elevate only one aspect to importance. But as it stands, all of them are important.
Reading the book I also thought, since I am so interested in Philosophy and literally watch lectures for it, and Mathematics was valued and often used as a sort of illustrative point for their concepts, perhaps I should study Mathematics more thoroughly, starting from its philosophical roots? I literally suck at it. I think it would do me well to go beyond just using the mathematical formulas and try to understand it fundamentally.
Also earlier I had finished a book called “A Factory of Cunning” by Philippa Stockley. I don’t really have much to say about it, but it was a nice diversion, since I’ve read some heavy stuff before that. Also it’s kinda like a fanfiction of Les Liaisons dangereuses. Speaking of fanfiction, I had also read some time ago a book called “The Idylls of the Queen”, based on a small part of Le Morte d’Arthur, where a knight got poisoned. Though it calls itself a Tale of Queen Guinevere, it mostly focuses on Kay and Mordred’s investigation. I also would like to say, most of Arthuriana fiction is kinda like open source literature. Le Morte d’Arthur was more of a collection, for example, not the definitive canon, and in many adaptations some things are different, whether characterisation or parentage. Very interesting stuff.
Finished up Purity by Jonathan Franzen. Took a little longer to get through than I’d thought, either because I had other things on my mind, or because I reread the confusing parts. There are some complicated strands of plot, told out of chronological order, but I think it eventually fits together sensibly. I’d recommend this one and might take a chance on one of Franzen’s other books.
Finally finished “rationality from ai to zombies”, I don’t recommend it (repetitious, author arrogant AF). Reading ng the jellyfish problem (someone else here was reading it), its alright, I find myself a little tired of the main character.
I often feel my feelings about books are really dependent on when o come across them.
Sword of Destiny is such a good one, those early Witcher short stories have more punch than the novels honestly. I’m listening to the audiobook of Piranesi again because nothing else scratches that weird quiet itch, plus catching up on a couple of audio drama podcasts on my commute.
Still reading Red Country by Joe Abercrombie, sixth in The First Law series. Absolutely loving it, though I feel I stepped out of Medieval Times and into the Olde West(e). It’s been gripping since the first page, really like it.
And DCC book 6, The Bedlam Bride. Not sure I need to say much about it. If you’re here in this thread in the Fediverse, you’re aware of it, generally, if not specifically.
Currently reading Better Than Revenge by Bea Fitzgerald, The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism by Kristen Ghodsee (about economic arguments rather than anything else) and We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman.
Just finished A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan and Soul Music by Terry Pratchett.
Just started Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey. I don’t remember yet whether I’ve read it before. I definitely read Dragonsong and Dragondrums years back, but I haven’t read all of the Pern books. Something made me think of them earlier this year, so I started requesting them from the library.
I’m about to start Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb. It’s the conclusion to a trilogy. I’m looking forward to it. Robin Hobb is one of my favorites.
Anytime I see the Realm of the Elderlings mentioned I get a little jealous. Not gonna say much, but unparalleled character in Fitz. Amazing story. The way Hobb wrote the two diverging storylines over the course of what, 17 books? Just a fantastic story. Wish I could read it again for the first time. I’m trying to talk a friend of mine into it. Got him to read (listen to) WoT, and I listened along with him, so I feel like this is doable.
Fitz is such a fascinating, frustrating, and somehow relatable character all at the same time. Kind of a tragic upbringing Unlucky in love for most of his life. Part of the royal family. Interesting job,.to say the least.
But he’s SO DAMN STUPID sometimes. I was practically ripping out my hair at how boneheaded he was in the opening chapters of the latest trilogy (Fool’s Assassin, I think).
But…if he’d been smarter, it would have been half a book. And his mistakes were VERY in keeping with his character from the previous books. Wonderful tales. Amazing author. Robin Hobb is one of my favorites.
Just finished the Nord Stream Conspiracy and it was entertaining, gave a bunch of background I didn’t know about. Jumped back into the Phoenix Project, a book about DevOps, and a book I have to read in small bites because it stresses me out.
I tried to read the Phoenix Project on the recommendation of a coworker last year. I couldn’t bring myself to keep reading. Something about the stilted dialogue between characters just completely broke the flow for me.
In a way, too bad, my coworker said it really spoke to him and gave him some realizations about the workplace.
