Been doing some more reading toward my goal of having read the 2018 Hugo nominees (at least the novels and novellas) prior to the awards coming out in August. After this past week I've got two novels and three novellas left.

Finished since last week:

Home, by Nnedi Okorafor - the second Binti novella, and a 2018 Hugo novella nominee. Like the first one, I quite enjoyed this. And also like the first one, I was certainly left wanting more. I'll read the third one at some point.

Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee - The first book in this trilogy, and thus required reading before getting to The Raven Strategem, which is a nominee for novel. I really did enjoy this book. But I'll agree with the little blurb of a review I saw that said something to effect of "this book is definitely hard sci-fi, not because of technical science stuff, but because the book is hard to read". It was. At first at least. Certainly gets easier as it goes, and I'm really looking forward to the next book to see where the story and universe goes. Lee does however seemingly drop you in the universe and act like you've lived there your whole life. I did find Lee's cheat sheet helpful.

The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin - 2016 Hugo winner, 1st book in the trilogy, 2nd book was a 2017 winner, and the third is a 2018 nominee. So I was excited about this, and it lived up to my expectations quite well. The world building is great as is the character development. Starting The Obelisk Gate as soon as it comes in from being on hold (unless Raven Stratagem comes in first).

And Then There Were (N-One), by Sarah Pinsker - a novella, which can be found here, also up for the Hugo novella award. A clever and interesting story about a whole number of alternate versions of the author attending a meetup.

Every Heart A Doorway, by Seanan McGuire - 2017 novella winner, and the second one in that world is up for this year's prize. A fast read with a neat concept that explores a boarding school for children who have come back from falling into a mirror, or walking through a door into another universe, and their lives back in the 'real' world. Can't wait to read more of this.

Currently reading:

Redshirts, by John Scalzi - wanted something fun and light while waiting for holds to come through. This sounded like it was going to be both of those. The first couple of chapters have not disappointed so far.

I finished Redshirts, by John Scalzi, it was thoroughly enjoyable, really nice ending and it did some cool second person narration at the end, 7.5/10 I recommend it

I started The three body problem, by Cixin Liu, I am thoroughly enjoying it, it's a snappy read and I like the parts where they in into the game and different philosophers take a go at solving the problem. It's quite a quick read as well which is nice

finishing:

Redshirts, by John Scalzi

I loved it; exactly my type of humor.

The Obesity Code, by Jason Fung

Very long and technical, but I liked it a lot and I plan on following the advice in it.

starting:

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, by Kamala D. Harris

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I finished Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, by John Scalzi. I love this book! It has Star Trek themes, but you do not have to be a fan of Star Trek to enjoy this book, although it does help. The characters and the dialogue between them is very funny and very believable. The story takes you to unexpected places and is far from predictable. I will definitely be reading this again, which is something I rarely do.

Didn't get a chance to post last week as I was traveling. Which meant some days of no reading, and then some with a good amount (train rides, plane rides, etc). So since my last post two weeks ago I have finished:

Redshirts, by John Scalzi - Fun and amusing, though I don't think I loved it as much as some. Still a fairly quick and worthwhile read.

The Obelisk Gate, by N.K. Jemisin - book two was just as good as book one, if not better. The world and character building picked up where one left off and this book was absolutely beautiful.

Saga Vol. 1, by Brian K. Vaughn - This kept coming up in my goodreads recommendations so I gave it a shot. I loved it and immediately borrowed book two, and am now waiting for 3.

Down Among The Sticks And Bones, by Seanan McGuire - 2018 Hugo Nominee for novella, this wasn't a direct sequel but more a prequel to the first one. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Fills in the back story of some characters from the first book, but could also act as a standalone.

Saga Vol. 2, by Brian K. Vaughn - keeps the story going, excellent writing and plotting. Can't wait for volume three to be ready to borrow.

Anya's Ghost, by Vera Borgsol - another one that kept popping up in my goodreads recommendations. The story was good and the way it develops and changes through the different sections kept it interesting.

Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee - 2018 Hugo novel nominee, book 5/6 for me on that list. Like the first book this is unapologetically tough at times and certainly requires having read the first book. I really enjoyed the development of the world and how even more is fleshed out. I'll certainly be getting book three at some point to see how it all plays out.

Currently reading:

The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin - The final book for me from the 2018 Hugo novel nominees. Just started this but it has been great so far. Things are starting to weave together that have been set up throughout the first two books and the world and characters continue to get more detailed and nuanced.

I just finished The buried giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro

I quite enjoyed it, but I found it to drag a bit and the ending was not really what I wanted. Saying that however I enjoyed the knight character and found myself wanting more of him. I'd probably give it a 7ish out of 10

I started Redshirts, by John Scalzi and I am super excited for this book, it's basically the polar opposite of what I've been reading lately and I'm long overdue a little brevity. Plus I'm a giant star trek fan so yeah, pretty happy

Finished the Odyssey, by Homer (Lattimore translation) - I enjoyed this, but it's not as viscerally exciting as the Iliad and it just sort of ends. Like the Bible, the Odyssey's model of personally caring for travelers provides a stark contrast to modern cities' outsourced system. Granted, each family only cared for one stranger at a time, and probably not that often, but it's a very personal kind of care that creates a lifelong bond.

Started the Aeneid, by Virgil - I'm reading the Fitzgerald translation, and so far I like his style. The first two Books (Aeneas' landing at Phonecia and his recounting of the fall of Troy) were pretty good, but the third (the wanderings) kind of lost me. The plot's solid -- they hear that a home has been reserved for them, but not before they've wandered and suffered a bit -- but it makes rapid-fire reference to tons of people and places I've never heard of. I'm still trying to figure out what the themes are going to be; the Iliad kept coming back to kleos and the Odyssey had many examples of xenia, but I'm not sure where we're going here other than trying to provide a heroic and ancient origin for the Romans.

Started Dreamland, by Sam Quinones - I think Quinones has done a good job of balancing the perspectives so far. As amoral as the heroin traffickers could be, e.g., following people out of methadone clinics to offer their alternative, I can appreciate why they do it. They could either work regular jobs and skirt poverty for the rest of their lives, or they could do something morally questionable for six months and earn enough money to return home as landowners.

Likewise, as easy as it would be to blame Big Pharma for pushing pills, a lot of the push came from doctors who had personal experience with chronic pain and just wanted to make it better for others. Patients also did their part by insisting on being given a thing to fix their problem (see also: zithromycin).

About halfway through A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace (in the middle of the David Lynch essay) - The essay about television was tedious, but the collection picked back up with his trip to the State Fair.

Now I've haven't lived in a big big city in my adult life, but it seems like Wallace's east coast urban audience need some fairly basic things explained to them about rural life. Is it that hard to imagine that when someone's daily life is quiet and isolated that they'd seek out opportunities to connect with or simply be around other people?

Started Redshirts, by John Scalzi - I should probably wait until I've finished one of the above books before getting into this one, but I read the first 60 pages and it's pretty fun. It's maybe a bit too self-referential though; I think I'd prefer the eponymous crew to be a little more accepting of the way things were, like "Of course we have a mysterious appliance that somehow manufactures complex cures for heretofore unknown diseases just in the nick of time. They're standard issue on Union ships."

Finished: Fall: or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson. This book went all over the place in how much I enjoyed it at times, but in general I found the beginning part pretty interesting, but felt it just got duller and duller as the book went on. I really found myself not caring at all what happened in the digital world that Dodge created.

Started: Redshirts, by John Scalzi. I expected it to be just a straight up parody, but it's going heavily into the meta side of things. Nothing to deep or thought provoking, but it's humorous, entertaining, and very self aware. Perfect for a light read.

Finished: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre

Started: Redshirts, by John Scalzi

Just started Redshirts, by John Scalzi. It was given to me in a reddit book exchange ages ago and I am finally getting around to reading it. Seems fun so far!

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

Just finished this, and I really enjoyed it. It has been on my to-read list for years, and I've been out of the habit of reading for a little while now, so I figured it would be a nice easy read to get me back into it. It wasn't quite what I was expecting - Someone had told me it was more like a standard mystery/private detective novel and it just happened that he was a wizard. It went way more heavily into the wizardry stuff than I was expecting, but it creates a really cool world and I loved it. Looking forward to diving into the sequels at some point.

Redshirts, by John Scalzi

Just started this and I'm loving it so far. It's another book that has been on my to-read list for a long time. I'm a big fan of Star Trek and sci-fi in general, and the way this book plays on the tropes of the genre is really brilliant. I was laughing out loud at the descriptions of "The Box" and how that information needed to be presented to Q'eeng. Can't wait to get further into it.

Finished:

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright : An excellent narrative that depicted the events that lead up to the 9/11 attacks in a very reader-friendly way. This is the second book I have read by Wright (the first being Going Clear,) so it being well-written and informative came as no surprise.

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi As a big Trek fan, I was probably biased to like this novel from the beginning, but it was very good and clever. It makes me long for more comic science fiction novels, which seem to be with the exception of Hitchhiker's Guide quite rare. My first Scalzi novel, but I'm definitely going to read more by him.

Started:

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DisneyWar by James B Stewart A non-fiction work chronicling CEO Michael Eisner's 20-year tenure at The Walt Disney Company. This is the second book I read by Stewart (the first being Den of Thieves,) so I'm expecting a very detailed and almost exhaustive investigation into the company. I have a bit of a weak spot for corporate drama, and I have a feeling this will deliver.

The Searchers by Alan LeMay With the exception of reading Blood Meridian years ago, I've never really read a western before (never really thought about it either: the genre seemed to have always flew under my radar.) My grandfather passed away a little over a year ago, and he loved westerns. Reading this is a bit of an homage to his favorite genre, and a way I can remember him.

Finished Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith My favorite of the Cormoran Strike novels so far.

Finished Frank Sinatra in a Blender, by Matthew McBride Pretty good overall and great in parts.

Started Redshirts, by John Scalzi Only a few pages in but seems like it might be great.