Last week I finished Tenth of december: stories, by George Saunders and Persuasion, by Jane Austen.

The titular story in the Saunders compilation was probably my least favorite, but in general they were quite good and surprisingly different. Persuasion had some interesting meditations on allowing yourself to be swayed by other people's opinions.

Just started Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer. I'm not really interested yet, as opposed to the Southern Reach books which grabbed me immediately, but I'll give it time.

Just finished readingborne, by Jeff vandermeer Before that the library at mount char, by Scott Hawkins Both were amazing. I had been in a kind of reading slump, reading lots of books but none of them blew me away. I was almost ready to take a break for a week or so but I'm glad I didnt. My only fear now is finding anything else that is even half as amazing as either of these books.

I finished Borne by Jeff Vandermeer. It was amazing. The imagery, the story of parenthood, I loved all of it.

Started The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore, I'm about 80 pages in and it really isn't my thing. Maybe I've gotten too old for some YA, but it feels really whinny. It's for bookclub though so I'll finish it.

Going to start Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer

Finished Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward and Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler last week. I had really high hopes for Sing, because I loved Jesmyn Ward's other book, Men We Reaped but this one was disappointing. There was a lot of tropes present and even the highlights of the book were really reminiscent to Beloved by Toni Morrison but not done as well. I know this book was really well received so I'm not sure what I'm missing about it. Sweetbitter was just a fun read, especially if you ever worked in a restaurant and/or love fine dining (both for me). Definitely had its silly moments but a great beach read.

Now I'm reading Borne by Jeff VanderMeer and then Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture by Roxane Gay.

This week I finished Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver and Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer I loved Borne, found it a little bit boring around a third through but stuck with it and became really gripped by his description of the world and the creatures. I'm going to pick up The Strange Bird soon, which is another book set within that world.

I'm just starting Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker ironically picked this up on the kindle store when I couldn't sleep and it kept me up for a few hours as it was so interesting.

Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill

The Stranger In The Woods, by Michael Finkel

Still reading Borne by Jeff Vandermeer for book club. We happened to start it at the same time as the r/books bookclub, so it's been nice to have a lot more opinions. I'm loving it. It has all the weirdness of a Vandermeer book, but also looks at parenting and what it's like to watch your "child" learn the truths of the world. It's been touching, funny, and horrifying.

Starting The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie Mclemore on Friday.

Finished:

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

Started:

Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide, by Cass R. Sunstein*

Einstein's Dream, by Alan Lightman

Saga: Book 1, by Brian K. Vaughan

Still reading:

Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer (really behind on this month's book selection here, this is the first month I've participated)

Finished Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer. I'd read the Annihilation series earlier this year, which I really enjoyed, and had heard good things about this one. It really underwhelmed me. For a book about a giant flying bear terrorizing a post-apocalyptic city, it was extremely boring (and this is coming from someone who is fine with excessive detail and descriptions). I think Vandermeer has a thing for doppelgangers because they make an appearance in this book too.

This week I'm reading a book of essays called Privilege: a reader, edited by Michael Kimmel and Abby Ferber.

I finished Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer . I was disappointed after really liking Annihilation and Authority. I think it might be a case of author fatigue... his settings are pretty desolate and I just wasn't in the mood for it. It felt like a chore to finish.

I've started Dreams and Shadows, by C. Robert Cargill and am really enjoying it.

Genesis, by Brendan Reichs - currently reading. I absolutely love the series.

Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer - just finished reading. I hope it makes it to the big screen!

Last week I finished The Wild Things, by Dave Eggers and The Running Man, by Richard Bachman.

Yesterday I started Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer.

Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer

I liked it very much and would encourage others to read it. Very other-worldly and truly strange in some parts, but I would say the story is contained and wraps up nicely (you could argue that is unlike other works by Vandermeer).

Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer

Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer

The May book club selection, should finish it in a couple of days.

I finished reading Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer this week for bookclub. I really liked the book and the characters in it.

I also finished Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy I'm not really sure how I feel about this book, but I'm leaning towards underwhelmed.

The last book I finished last week was The Rules do not Apply, by Ariel Levy I picked this up from a local LFL and didn't know anything about Levy, but it is a great book about love, marriage and loss.

In the past week I read The Thief who Pulled on Trouble's Braids, by Michael McClung and started Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer.

Finished Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer. Now reading Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant.

Thought Borne was just ok. There were a few elements that I thought were interesting but as a whole it didn't do much for me. Found myself just wanting to be through with it a couple times.

Finished: Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer
Started and finished: Weave a Circle Round, by Kari Maaren
Started: Jagannath, by Karin Tidbeck

Finished:

• Casino Royale by Ian Flemming: it simply does not age well - the writing is mediocre, slow, and Bond appears to be arrogant, weak, racist and sexist.
• Borne by Jeff VanderMeer: interesting until the very end just destroyed it.
• The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth: certainly interesting illustrations (minus the accompanying texts do not feel or read like legit scientific pieces by someone who pours his heart and soul into his study) but the biography part is seriously lacking.

Started:

• Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: more like a restart since I pause like 2 weeks ago.
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: interesting and quite funny so far.

I finished Kindred, by Octavia Butler. I don't know why but last week this book made me disassociate for almost 48 hours... witnessing the protagonist slowly losing their free-will to this "power", this time periods, was overwhelming. While reading it it came to me that she was experiencing slavery in more than one sense, not only systematically

Today I started reading Borne, by Jeff VanDermeer... so far it reads astonishingly like the Oryx and Crake books, I like that

Just finished Self-Portrait With Boy by Rachel Lyon. It wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would explore the ethics of artwork a lot more then it did, so that was kind of a let down. The main character is incredibly annoying as well.

Started The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova a couple days ago. I love the writing in the book. This one is gonna take me a while to finish, I think. The pacing is sort of slow, but I'm only 50 pages in, so maybe it picks up.

Also starting Borne by Jeff Vandermeer for bookclub on Friday. I've been dying to read it since I finished The Southern Reach Trilogy.

Just finished Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer And started Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant

Started:

Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer

Finished:

Red Rising, by Pierce Brown -- I enjoyed it and will look into continuing the series later on this summer

and

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil deGrasse Tyson -- as advertised it was a quick read and fairly easy to follow given the subject matter. I could hear Tyson's voice as I read- it reads just like he talks in his TV shows and interviews.

Now Reading: Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer

I've abandoned this book a year ago and recall not being able to get through the first half. I'm giving it another go this time and hope things will get better.

Has anyone here read it? And can you tell me how you found the book?

Just Finished: Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer

I honestly don't understand what was happening in the few pages leading up to the conclusion. If anyone can enlighten me or point me to a page that I can read more about it, that would be great.

Now Starting: The Eye in the Door, by Pat Barker (Book 2 of the Regeneration Trilogy)

Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer

Started and I think I won't finish. Vandermeer's exposition style is far too vague for me. I only realized this was the same person who wrote Annihilation after I got about 10% in. Now I'm 20% in and getting tired of it. The world has drastically changed:

• kids are putting wasps in their hollow eye sockets so they can have chromatic vision
• "surgical slugs"
• giant creature named Mord walking around the city, just doing Mord things
• "The Company" is responsible for all of it

Without any explanation. Annihilation was similar. I think I'll just avoid Vandermeer in the future.

Finished:

Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer - 3/5 I'm not entirely sure why I keep reading Jeff VanderMeer. His works always seem better in my head after I've changed a bunch of stuff retroactively. I like what he envokes, but not really what he literally writes. I got into him after I loved the Annihilation movie and found the books to be interesting, very different from the movie, and ultimately not as satisfying. It's essentially Little Shop of Horrors in a post apocolyptic scavenging world and frankly that's all it really ever does. I think he has an amazing imagination, has some great creatures and ideas, but then it seems to fall apart (to me) when it comes to what's on the page.

The Strange Bird, by Jeff VanderMeer - 3/5 It was Borne but shorter.

Gödel's Proof, by Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman - 4/5 Many years ago I tried to start reading GEB and gave up at some point. This was a much more focused work that I was able to grasp fairly easily (I'm not sure I would have been able to without my college logic classes) that really spells it all out. It's facsinating and really interesting.

Started:

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil deGrasse Tyson - People keep telling me to read it, but I'm not sure I'm going to like it. I'm a chapter in and it seems pretty run of the mill so far.