I finished The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, by Blaine Harden I have read several books about North Korea, but this was the first that dived into the war and the rise of Kim Il-Sung. It was a very interesting read and the way it was written helps a lot.

I started The Man In The High Castle, by Philip K. Dick It was a bit hard to get into it due the different perspectives, but once I got used to it, it went a lot easier. I enjoy the story and the what if scenario and can't wait to read it further.

I also started 1984, by George Orwell Still only fifty pages in since I only read it before I go to sleep, but I am glad I finally picked it up.

This past week I finished: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. I have just started Man in the High Castle by Philip Dick and plan on starting The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin when I have finished MITHC.

Started:

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick

Finished:

It, by Stephen King

Edit: Got 'em backwards. Have finished both now anyway.

I finished The Man In The High Castle, by Philip K. Dick It was fine book, I wish there was more of it, since to me it got more interesting towards the end of it, and it was a open ending.

I finished The Old Man And The Sea, by Ernest Hemingway A quick read but a fun one.

I started The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain.

Finished The Subtle Art of Giving a Fuck, by Mark Manson

Finished The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson

Started The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson

Started The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K Dick

I finished The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick. I found it to be quite interesting, as it was the first real alternate history novel I've read in a long time (and I say this as an alternate history fan). I liked all the little background digressions into the world and all of the intrigue. I especially liked Juliana's trip to see Abendsen. Recommended to the interested.

I finished The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Michael Chabon. Another alternate history novel. Lots of twists and turns and strange and wonderful locations. Chabon clearly put a lot of work into this, and the culture of the Federal District of Sitka is on magnificent display. I did, though, have some trouble adjusting to his writing style, but by halfway I was fine with it.

I finished Servants of the Machine God, by various. My second Warhammer 40k book, which was an anthology of short stories. Of all of them, Knights of the Imperium by Graham McNeill was my favorite, and I can see why 40k fans love him - he even threw in a Thomas the Tank Engine reference, which was hilariously unexpected. In general, I thought the action was really good, and the character development was surprisingly good for the sort of setting that 40k is - on that note, the number of well-written female characters was surprisingly high by the same metric (to be clear I'm not objecting to this at all). Second favorite story was the one about the dying mech commander - and I'm finding that I am quite interested in the Adeptus Mechanicus. I bought McNeill's Forges of Mars to read someday because of this.

Currently working on Queen Victoria's Little Wars, by Byron Farwell. I had taken a weeklong break from history books to read novels but I'm back now with this overview of British imperial military expeditions during the 19th century. So far it's been quite informative, and quite nuanced and fair in the depiction of empire for a book written in the 1970s. So far I really liked Farwell's coverage of the Siege of Lucknow, which I am now convinced should be made into a big war movie a la Tora Tora Tora.

I finished Scotland: a Concise History, by Fitzroy MacLean. As I said last week, far too short for the broad subject and glosses over everything between the last of the Jacobite rebellions and the Scottish Parliament referendum in the late 90s. That being said, it covers what it does well.

I finished The Iroquois in the American Revolution, by Barbara Graymont. An illuminating look into the titular subject matter. I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was at how much of a military history this was; Graymont shows the brutality of both sides and provides good background to a subject whose only previous contact I had with was Assassin's Creed III. Recommended to the interested.

I finished Titanicus, by Dan Abnett. This was my first Warhammer 40k novel and I quite enjoyed it. I really liked the book's portrayal of mech warfare - large, cumbersome machines with large crews. I was honestly reminded of how submarine warfare is written in WWII novels. I also like the whole religious feel of the Imperium, which isn't common in modern science fiction. I'll be reading more WH40k books in the coming weeks for sure.

I read The Stranger, by Albert Camus. I have to read this in the original French for a class, so I read it in English to know what is happening. Mersault came off to me as somebody who would be posting racist memes on 4chan if he were alive today. Honestly I'm pretty apathetic about this one.

I'm currently working on The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K. Dick. I've been wanting to get back into alternate history and so I figured this classic merited a reread (I had read it in 2011). It's quite the sophisticated book with a surprising amount of philosophy, and is quite meta to boot at times. The worldbuilding and characterization is also good.

I finished The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick

Started watching the Amazon series a while ago and enjoyed it but decided I would to read the book first. The book was great. I'm not a history buff and ashamedly don't know a lot about WWII but I felt I knew just enough to get through. It seems like a great imagining of what could have happened. I'm excited to start the series again as I believe it varies a bit and may continue past where the book ends.

I started The Bees, by Laline Paull

Bought this a while back but had a backlog to get through. Seems interesting so far. Fascinating to see things from a bee's perspective and how the hierarchy and politics of the hive works. I'm especially impressed by how Paull conveys instinct and communication through scents.

I've always enjoyed reading but struggled with ever finding the time and it would take me ages to finish a book meaning I would often abandon them. Now I have a new job and commute by train I've been able to finish books in a few weeks and love it.

The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K. Dick

I am only about 100 pages in and I am rather disappointed so far. Not much in terms of story. It's just exposition about how the Axis winning WWII changed the way the world is run in it's alternate history.

Finished Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Absolutely loved this book, and really liked the shortness of the chapters. I'm OCD about putting a book down mid-chapter so this was more pleasant than I would have imagined hahah.

Started Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Will be starting The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick. This is my first PKD novel (wasn't really sure where to start, but this has an interesting premise) so I'm really looking forward to it.

Took me a (long) while, including taking a break half-way through, but I finally finished The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer. I thought a good next book would be The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K Dick.

Finished:

• The Power, by Naomi Alderman - I didn't like this. I appreciate that it didn't take the theme of the world being peaceful because women were in charge compared to men. Turns out both genders can be assholes. What a surprise! /s Overall this book dragged on and I didn't care about the characters.
• The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin - This book kept my attention although the beginning was off putting, specifically describing a teenage girl by her pubic hair and size of her breasts. That was unnecessary and didn't add to the book. The first half of the book is very different from the second half and improved.

This Week:

• The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick
• The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin

Currently Reading:

• The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick - This is my treadmill book. I'm only 20% complete and it's different enough from the show to feel like a new story.
• The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin - I'll probably finish this book tonight. I stayed away from the fantasy genre too long and I'm really enjoying this book.

Next Up:

• Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders - I'll start this again and actually finish it before I have to return it.

Finished: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Started: The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick

Putting down for the moment: House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick as well as My Brief History, by Stephen Hawking

Finished two more post-WWII alternate history novels:

Dominion, by C. J. Sansom, set in a 1950s Fascist Britain which is increasingly succumbing to Nazi influence and interference. I felt this did a fairly good job of exploring the changed conditions and society within it, as well as life under increasing authoritarianism. Even if it did succumb to some rather cliché-feeling standard thriller elements like the obligatory love triangle and various misguided attempts at noble self-sacrifice and fake-out assumed deaths which come back to haunt everyone.

This also had an interesting note in the back where the author detailed at length his reasoning for the differing choices and roles that various personages could have taken on based on their real life histories, and was apparently written in reaction to the global rise of nationalism and his worries about the then-upcoming Scottish independence vote.

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick, which was surprisingly philosophical for something that was also technically an espionage thriller for the most part. I went into this on reputation alone with no particular expectations or foreknowledge beyond the basic premise, and I must say it deserves its awards.

Anyway, it was quite interesting with the cultural blend of Japan-dominated California within the broader German global influence, and also presented two alternate possibilities via both the story setting and the book-within-a-book which most of the characters kept reading and referring back to (for good reason, as it turned out). My copy was the Penguin Modern Classics version with an introduction by science fiction & mystery writer Eric Brown which filled in some contextual things I hadn't noticed or understood, and did help to deepen my appreciation of the author's accomplishment in his book once I read it after finishing.

I finished The Man In the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick last night. As my first introduction to this author, I was blown away by the level of detail that went into crafting this relatively short story. A more comprehensive understanding of WW2 would have definitely helped me get more out of the book so I'd like to top up my history knowledge and revisit in the future.

Moving on to A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge this evening. Having read A Fire Upon the Deep by the same author last year, I'm so excited to read more in this series.

The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick - Finally finished this one! Life got busy and the weather is warmer so outside activities have almost replaced my regular reading habit. I would not have read this if I hadn't seen the show. They're very different and I can't say I recommend the book. =/

I finished Ecce Homo, by Friedrich Nietzsche last night and I plan to start The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick today after I get off work.

I finished The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick which I enjoyed, it was my second PKD novel. I liked the use of the I Ching and how PKD consulted with it to help see out plot points for the book. The ending was, not what I was expecting? But still good in a PKD fashion. The next book that I’ve started is The Divine Comedy, by Dante and I can’t help but find it hilarious that Michael Scott is in Circle 8 Bolgia 4 of the Inferno.

I finished:

Tell Me What You Want, by Justin Lehmiller

I should finish: Fallout, by Sara Paretsky No Middle Name, by Lee Child The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick

After that, I’ve got my next two set to go: Lying For Money, by Dan Davies and Heroes and Villains, by Lewis Shiner

I have the week off and had a bunch of things I had on hold show up late last week so I’m digging in.

I think it's alternate history wishlist week, as I finally got around to trying some novels I've been meaning to read for a long time.

Finished:

Paris in the Twentieth Century, by Jules Verne (Paris au XXe siècle, translated by Richard Howard & foreword by Eugen Weber): the unpublished novel from very early in his career that was discovered back in the 1990s in an old family safe. The foreword notes that it was rejected by his publisher for being too unrealistic, but was actually pretty good at predicting a number of technological and social advances.

Surprisingly different in feel and tone from his adventure novels that I've previously read, although it does keep a bit of a sense of exploration with the tour of how the imagined 1960s works. Much less optimistic and more cynical as well, with a thorough skewering of the decline in respect for the arts and humanities in favour of the exaltation of anything that furthered commerce. Except for theatre, which was held in high regard because it was patronized by the rich, but was creatively bankrupt, recycling classic plots in Hollywood-style remakes with extra farce and sex.

Overall, more of a curiosity than a hidden classic. But interesting enough in context that I'm glad it was found and published and I finally got around to reading it from the library.

Fatherland, by Robert Harris: I love alternate history murder mysteries and have been meaning to read this for years, but I and the hardcover at the library branch two municipalities away never seemed to align. But the ebook went on sale last month, so I finally bought my own copy, which was a nice 20th anniversary edition with a retrospective foreword where Harris talks a bit about his inspiration and early plans for the book.

It seems he was originally considering a sort of gazeteer for the changed timeline, but then realized that in order to showcase what he wanted to about the world, he really ought to do it as a police procedural. Some of the faux travel guide feel lingers in the openings to some chapters, which read like a tour guide description to the sights and events in the alternate Berlin.

It was as good as its reputation and my high expectations led me to believe, although some of it played out very differently than what I'd been expecting, having seemed to go in a somewhat formulaic-feeling standard thriller-ish route at some points before thankfully eventually defying that. Apparently there's an HBO film version which significantly changes the ending, which the author disapproves of. I might watch it out of curiosity one day, but having read its Wikipedia synopsis, I'm inclined to agree with him about its likely adaptation quality.

Started:

Dominion, by C. J. Sansom and The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick, both alternate history espionage thrillers set in a post-WWII Fascist-dominated Britain and Japan-dominated US, respectively. Currently halfway through Dominion, having switched to that as primary since despite all the political intrigue, it's a more straightforward read than TMITHC which demands more attention than I can properly pay to it at the moment.

Finished The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu and absolutely loved it. I've read the TBP series that he helped translate books 1 and 3. Also have read his Grace of Kings book...he's an exceptional and captivating writer

Started listening to Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophesies Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Neil Giaman and Terry Pratchatt and also great. Voices are superb and story has me hooked within the first chapter.

Also, currently reading The Man in the High Castle, by Phillip K. Dick also good. About half way through.

Finished Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson and absolutely loved it. Sanderson really is one of my new favorites.

Just started The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K Dick

The Man in the High Castle by Philip Dick

I did not enjoy this. Very high expectations going in, came out totally nonplussed, confused, and annoyed at the abrupt ending. I did like the cool world building but he didn't really do anything with it, which seemed a pity. Agree that his ideas are awesome but his writing is not.

A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony

Needed something fast and light to read after my last several books, and this was exactly what I was looking for. I read Dragon on a Pedestal (another Xanth novel) when I was little and loved all the puns and cleverness, and while this book had more action than was necessary, it was fun anyway.

I've finished Stories of Your Life and other, by Ted Chiang it was really great. He packs so much into his stories, even character and place names have a second reference to the theme or plot. I highly recommend this collection. We read the edition with 8 stories(including the basis for the movie Arrival) for bookclub and it was a hit!

This week I'm starting in on The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K Dick again for book club. We've inadvertently ended up a bunch of recently adapted works.