I finished Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke which I really enjoyed. It's a relatively short book, and the chapters are nice and bitesized. Definitely a classic, with amazing worldbuilding and very much hard science fiction; a must read for all Sci-fi fans. I have started reading Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, by Akala and I am about 100 pages in so far. It's part autobiographical, historical and sociological, as a study of race and class in modern Britain in the context of British History.

Finished:

Eleanor, by Jason Gurley

Rendevous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clark

Started:

Big Damn Hero, by James Lovegrove

Yesterday my girlfriend bought me The Counselor, by Cormac McCarthy and I read it in one sitting today. Super quick read and I actually found it surprisingly enjoyable as I normally am put off by screenplay formats.

I've also been chipping away at Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky for the last couple of weeks, and I'm currently at around page 200/560, so slowly but surely getting there.

Then I think I'll also try and start Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke to break up the C&P reading if I need to.

I'm on holidays for the next two weeks, so I'm trying to read a few of my TBRs before I go back and have the study pile up!

Finished last week:

The Coming of the French Revolution, by Georges Lefebvre - An interesting, albeit perhaps dry and academic, introduction on the causes of the French Revolution of 1789, with a focus more on the economic causes, but also an examination of the conflicts between the aristocracy and the crown, the divisions within the clergy, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, and the bourgeoisie with the rest of the Third Estate. I was surprised to find out this book had been banned under the Vichy government during the Nazi occupation, since it seems to adopt a rather moderate viewpoint on the revolution, but I have to admit this is one of the first books I've read on the subject so I might be missing something. Overall, a good and fairly short introduction on the early stages of the French Revolution, though it doesn't really get into the later events past 1789.

The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson - I first read part of this classic adventure story 16 years ago when I was 12 years old, but never finished it for some reason. Decided to give it another go last week, and it was just a really fun read. It has everything you could want in an adventure story - war, betrayal, vengeance, intrigue, sprinkle of romance. Needless to say this was a nice break from the more dry "Coming of the French Revolution".

Currently Reading:

Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke - Another classic Sci-Fi novel that I haven't read before. About 2/3rd of the way through at the moment, and I have to say this is exactly the sort of Sci-Fi story that really tickles my fancy. Can't wait to finish it.

A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea, by Masaji Ishikawa - Half-way through this one, and I absolutely love this autobiography so far, it's gripping, well-written, and an absolutely tragic tale about living under the North Korean regime between 1960 and 1996. This is really quite the page-turner, and this might well end up being one of my favorite books of 2018.

The Early History of Rome (Books I-V), by Livy - Ancient history is one of my favorite subjects, and Livy is perhaps one of the only sources on the early history of Rome, certainly one of the easiest to read. I've read the first book of Livy's History of Rome before, but never the whole five-book set on the mythological beginnings of Rome, and I'm looking forward to really getting into it.

I just finished Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell last night. It was as beautiful and mesmerising as the film (which is one of my favourites). I had been meaning to read the book for ages. Highly recommend!

I've just started Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. I read all but the last of the Space Odyssey books years ago and I've been meaning to read another of his books since. So far I absolutely love it. Good classic scifi.

Finished -

2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke - Had an urge to throwback to the sci-fi classics. The few that started it all.

Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke - “But at least we have answered one ancient question. We are not alone. The stars will never again be the same to us.”

Currently reading -

2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke - 2001 was amazing enough that I had to keep going.

Finished:

Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

Began:

The long way to a small angry planer, by Becky Chambers

Today I finished reading Feral, by George Monbiot, which I highly recommend, especially to anyone interested in the environment, ecology, natural history or the wild.

I'm not sure what to read next though.

Edit: I've decided to read Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke and the first few chapters have me hooked already!

I finished Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. I found it every bit as fascinating as when I first read it in middle school. A masterful work, with some very strange imagery and some very good concepts.

I read Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke. Another great book by Clarke, but not quite as good as the first. Clarke has a tendency in this book to introduce characters immediately before they are important to the plot, which I think is the only major flaw. Otherwise, the descriptions are amazing, and the interplay between the plot on Rama and the plot involving the politicians on the Moon is very good.

I read The High Crusade, by Poul Anderson. This was one hell of a read. Aliens land in a 14th century English village, and the townsfolk storm the ship and make their way to the alien homeworld. It's one utterly fun romp the whole way through, and very well thought out in regards to how medieval folk would react to science fiction mainstays. Highly recommended.

I read Himmler, by Peter Padfield. This was a long book - 612 pages. I feel like the writing wasn't quite as good as some other history books I've read, and some of the subject matter wasn't obviously connected to Himmler. It was definitely a very dense book, and a very detailed one. Worth reading, but I've read better history books.

Tonight I'm probably going to start Eisenhorn, by Dan Abnett. This is the original trilogy he wrote, and I've heard truly phenomenal things about it. I'm eager to start it.

Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

I read Childhood's End by Clarke a little while ago and really enjoyed it, so I thought it was time to check this one out too. I'm enjoying it so far, and a lot of the scientific portions of it seem to hold up fairly well so far.