Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Phillip K. Dick

Finished this book this week, and enjoyed it throughout.

The Three Body Problem, by Liu Cixin

Started this in earnest this week. Super excited about it and it’s going great so far. The names are a touch harder to follow. But that’s just me needing to pay more attention.

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Started this and am looking forward to it. Have heard mixed reviews. But going in with an open mind. I enjoyed Annihilation but I didn’t think it was amazing like others have. So I don’t think Authority will be a let down like others have felt.

Finished Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer I have shared my thoughts on the series elsewhere...but the TL;DR is that I liked it...and Authority was my favorite book in the series.

Started Children of the Fleet, by Orson Scott Card and enjoying it thus far...will likely finish it this week.

Started American Gods, by Neil Giaman and enjoying it so far...despite what I have read from others...the name Shadow doesn't really bother me.

I both started and finished Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer, the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy. I really enjoyed it. It was so atmospheric. I felt the desolation.

I’m now starting Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer, the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy.

I also started City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare, the second book in The Mortal Instruments series. I’m not quite sure what so many people see in this series, to be honest. It’s poorly written and lacking in originality. I’m just trying to get through it so that I can give her Infernal Devices series a try. That series really appeals to me. I’ve heard her writing improves. Fingers crossed.

Other books I’m currently reading: The Return of the Native, by Thomas Hardy (I’m neutral towards it so far); Proxima, by Stephen Baxter (slow-moving, but worth it); and Devil’s Night Dawning, by Damien Black (started off strong, slowed down a bit, but seems to be picking up again).

Finished The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie. Another popular Christie which I thought I'd read but I hadn't. I wasn't surprised by the ending, though I have a vague suspicion I was spoiled about an aspect of the plot in some Reddit thread.

Finished The Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks. I actually haven't explored the Space Opera genre at all, despite enjoying Star Trek. I started Consider Phlebus but found that difficult to get through. Player of Games was much easier to get into and quite enjoyable! I'm looking forward to reading more of the Culture series.

Finished My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix for this month's bookclub. I have to say I was quite underwhelmed. It reminded me of why I don't enjoy YA stuff - I find most teenage protagonists difficult and frustrating. The setting, which would probably be nostalgic for some people, only made that distance harder to bridge for me. The climax underwhelmed me. Despite this, it wasn't bad technically, and had some very interesting elements.

Finished Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer. I thought I'd give the trilogy another chance despite not being impressed by Annihilation. The less said about this book, the better. Nothing happens except in the last fifty or so pages. People walk around, talk, have mundane conflicts. The lead character navel-gazes. He navel-gazes again. Something something mysterious mystery. Meh.

Started Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. It's too early to have any thoughts on the book yet.

Had a good week book-wise!

Read The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. I enjoyed the basic premise, but the extremely vague language made it so dry! I'm well aware that it's a product of its times, and perhaps I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd had someone to discuss the hints and what they could possibly mean. I also found the ending a bit...incomplete? But overall worth a read, if only because it's brief enough to get through.

Read and immensely enjoyed The Yellow Wall-Paper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. As someone who's suffered from depression, I found the narrator's air of tranquil suffocation incredibly relatable, and the way she describes the wallpaper is so evocative of how her vision narrows down to minute details that she obsesses over. I felt...understood. I got it off Gutenberg but thinking of getting a commemorative copy with a pretty cover.

Read Lock Nut, by J.L. Merrow. I suppose I'd term these snappy mystery/romances as guilty pleasures, except I don't feel guilty at all anymore. This is the fifth book in the series featuring the lead couple and I enjoy the narrative voice a lot, so it was a pleasant, fast read.

Just started The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. Very excited for it, especially since it's one off my Tsundoku shelf and I really need to get to those.

Might follow it up by completing Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer (dragging along, wish me luck.)

After deciding to make an effort to limit myself to reading one book at a time (it's been taking me way too long to read some of the books I've been reading lately) I finished off Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer and Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander.

Authority was good and as I expected I ended up liking it a bit more than Annihilation. The ins and outs of the Southern Reach and the main character's relationships within and outside of the company were fascinating.

Taran Wanderer was... aptly named. While not bad it does seem to be the low point of the Chronicles of Prydain and much of that is due to the fact that the plot is very loose. The three books leading up to it are very tight stories that, while still developing the world they are in, move from point A to point B rather quickly. Taran Wanderer feels like a collection of loosely connected events that primarily serve the purpose of world building and setting up the final book. Again it wasn't bad it just lagged quite a bit compared to the rest of the books.

This week I've started The Grip of It by Jac Jemc. So far I'm really enjoying it although I do think the two narrators could have more distinct voices to differentiate who is talking at the time. Generally, as it stands, when I start a chapter I have to use context clues to determine who is narrating. It's not a big deal but it would be really great if I could tell just by the first few words who is speaking. Overall though I'm really enjoying it at about 150 pages into the book. It definitely feels like the main story line of House of Leaves although, for me, this is more effective. I know it's not the typical view but I feel that the presentation of House of Leaves really hurts the story. Any tension that is built up gets broken by a footnote or a side story and ultimately I walked away from that book not the least bit terrified. This book has done a good job performing that role. Maybe it's because my family and I have recently moved into a new house and we're still in that "getting to know you phase" of our dwelling but for whatever reason this book creeps me out at times. Sort of like how The Stand really f'ed me up because I started reading it in 2009 right before the H1N1 pandemic.

Finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and subsequently started Authority by Jeff VanderMeer.

I bought the collected edition, so good chance I’ll be finishing the trilogy. I’m normally against trilogies, but Southern Reach got me.

Last week I finished:

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women, by Kate Moore: 4.5/5, this book has definitely become one of my favorite examples of the power of non-fiction. It reads a lot like a documentary or court-room drama instead of a dry history textbook. Half a star off for being kind of overly sentimental or emotionally manipulative at times, especially because it wasn't at all necessary.

Currently Reading:

The Astonishing Color of After, by Emily X.R. Pan: going to try and dedicate some time to making progress on this one. I have a feeling it's a book I won't like until I'm 100 pages in and the story's got me hooked. I'm still on the exposition parts, unfortunately.

Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer: hopefully going to get to this before the end of the week.

Finished:

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

Started:

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Listening to:

The Stand, by Stephen King

Red Rising, by Pierce Brown

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Was definitely a difficult read but in the end very enjoyable and worth the difficulty. I was attached to this book even though it seemed daunting it is. Pretty heavy in the way of violence and most of the time that doesn’t bother me, but off the top of my head there were a couple parts that just felt gratuitous. Otherwise most of it was fitting to the whole theme of the book.

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

I knew going in that it was a different type of book compared to Annihilation, so I was prepared for that. Though I think some parts were a bit too long and I kind of wanted a little more of the mystery resolved than what was, but I was still pleased with it. Still well written and expanding the world of this series, adding more mystery to keep it interesting and intriguing. I do want to read the last book in the Trilogy, so it has me hooked.

Finished The Castle of Llyr, by Lloyd Alexander and finally finished Final Girls, by Riley Sager. Final Girls should not have taken a month to read but it felt so slow. While I was impressed with the author's ability to juggle the multiple threads he introduced by the time I finished the book I didn't seem to care anymore about the characters. I can see how some would enjoy it but the pacing almost had me setting this one down.

I'm starting Animal Farm, by George Orwell and Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer. I've been warned about the tonal shift between Annihilation and Authority so I was ready for a different feeling book. I'm a few chapters in and I get the feeling I'm going to be part of the rare few who enjoy the second book more than the first.

Last week I finished:

Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer and Acceptance, by Jeff Vandermeer. I honestly can't remember the last time I stayed up late and fought sleep because of a book. Awesome series. I can see why people say Authority is the weakest of the three books, but I still really liked it and I KNOW I'm going to have to re-read the series soon. I've been lending the books after I finish them to a coworker and I'm excited to hear what she thinks.

Finished:

Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer

I loved it, very Lovecraftian, and original.

Started:

Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer

I'm ⅓ of the way through and I like it so far. I like the new perspective on Area X.

Finished Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie.

It was good, as Christie almost always is. To be honest I thought I'd read this book ages ago, but I got confused between Christie's "train" murders (this one, The Mystery of the Blue Train, 4.50 from Paddington) and it turns out I've never actually read this one. So that was a pleasant surprise.

Just started Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer. I wasn't much of a fan of Annihilation, but the completionist in me wants to finish the trilogy, and I'm looking for something relatively light.

Finished The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni.

Continuing with Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer.

Finished Animal Farm, by George Orwell and started Taran Wanderer, by Lloyd Alexander.

Currently reading Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer.

I also started reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, by Roald Dahl to my kids and as I expected they became bored with it rather fast. As an adult I appreciate it but it definitely lacks the magic of the first book. So we moved on to The Witches, by Roald Dahl.

I finished The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin and really liked it...looking forward to the next two books.

I started Lexicon, by Max Berry heard good things about this so am also excited.

Still reading Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer and to be honest, I like this so far more than Annihilation...I enjoy the character of Control and his manner of thinking.

The House of Impossible Beauties, by Joseph Cassara Finished this. It was a decent read. If you have any interest in gay/drag/trans culture or if you're a fan of the film Paris is Burning I would recommend it.

The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen About a third of the through this, and not sure how I feel. This is my first Franzen novel. The characters are so unlikable they kind of give me anxiety but I am curious as to what is going to happen.

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer Just started the second book in the The Southern Reach series.

Still reading Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Also, about halfway through Lexicon, by Max Berry

Enjoying both of them.

I finished Lexicon, by Max Berry — it was good not mind blowing but interesting.

Also finished Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer — I actually liked this MORE than Annihilation. Had better balance I felt like.

Started reading Acceptance, by Jeff VanderMeer and enjoying it so far.

Also started back with Drizzt and his gang in Passage of Dawn, by R. A. Salvatore and it’s entertain as always.

Also. I’m on track for my 52 books this year. I’m at 17/52 so far!!!

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

3 chapters in, I liked where this one picked up after the first.

Just finished:

Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

JS can do no wrong in my opinion. This and Tortilla Flats make for a great tandem. I haven't read the sequel to Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday yet.

Finished:

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer I ended up taking a several month hiatus before finishing this novel. I like that his style of sci-fi is so different than other things that I read before. But his work might be a little too postmodern for me.

Started:

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde I am digging it. It's really not going how I thought it would go based on what I've absorbed from various other media.

Still Reading:

Abaddon's Gate, by James S.A. Corey This series is really great. Highly recommend.

Finished: Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama

• An absolutely stunning look at Obama's coming of age story.

Started: Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer

• Loved Annihilation the book and have watched the movie three times. The philosophic concepts around both the novel and movie have been rattling around my brain for the past month so I needed to continue the series.

Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer

I finished Annihilation a while back and really enjoyed Vandermeer's writing style. It's so atmospheric and haunting feeling. Only a chapter into Authority (which has a switched character perspective), so I'm curious to see how it holds up. So far, so good.

Finished: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer.

This one was quite a slog, especially in the middle. I have higher hopes for the final volume of the Southern Reach series, but I may need a break.

Next up a choice of the following:

Acceptance, by Jeff VanderMeer
Ubik, Philip K. Dick
Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Sophie's World, by Jostein Gardner (underway)

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Just started Authority!

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Finished:

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

It was a slog, for most of it, but I really liked the ending.

Starting:

Acceptance, by Jeff VanderMeer

Gonna wrap this trilogy soon.

Authority, by Jeff VanderMeer

Piercing, by Ryu Murakami

Authority, by Jeff Vandermeer