I finished:

Dimension of Miracles, by Robert Sheckley

This was an audiobook read by John Hodgman. Very, very funny at times. It’s a great spiritual precursor to Douglas Adams’ work.

Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou

Another audiobook. Fascinating non-fiction about the huge fraud committed by the people at Theranos, which not only misled investors but put peoples’ lives at risk due to faulty blood tests.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

Read this on my Kindle. I wrote when I started this that I found it uneven; finishing it didn’t change my mind. Sometimes great, sometimes dull.

Currently reading The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury (which I actually read in Portuguese a few years ago, but really wanted to read in its original language, as I find that Bradbury loses quite a bit of his charm translated), Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy (which is going slowly, but I'm quite enjoying the ride) and Prisoners of Geography, by Tim Marshall.

Finished

Emotional Blackmail by Susan Forward Ph.D. This is an excellent resource to identify and effectively deal with those who use fear, obligation and guilt on you.

Crazy-Stressed by Dr. Michael Bradley This book on teen mental health and how to help them is great.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling I seem to like each book in this series a bit more than the last one.

Started

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I've been looking forward to reading this novel for a while.

Teenagers 101 by Rebecca Deurlien, Ed.D. Another book on on teen mental help.

Wire Your Brain for Confidence by Louisa Jewell, MAAP, about getting over self-doubt.

Finished: Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell

Started: The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

Been on quite a reading spree in the last two weeks.

Finished:

Las batallas en el desierto, by José Emilio Pacheco

Continued:

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

I had an impromptu break from classes due to Hurricane Florence so I had time to read.

I finished World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. I had a hell of a fun time with this one, and I loved how international the whole conflict was. It discussed propaganda and logistics and politics and all the other things that would logically ensue from the zombie apocalypse. It was also eminently and often disturbingly human - the real terror from this book comes not from the zombies but from how human beings respond to them. Highly recommended.

I read Perfect Soldiers: The 9/11 Hijackers, Who They Were, Why They Did It, by Terry McDermott. I started this on the anniversary of the attack because I had bought the book at a church book sale and I thought it was appropriate. I'm very impressed with the research that McDermott did, and how he avoided demonizing the attackers. These were not creatures from hell, but rather otherwise normal human beings who were alienated by society and found solace in radical ideologies, a topic which in this day and age has great relevance. Recommended to anyone interested.

I read Bush At War, by Bob Woodward. I read this as something of a counterpoint to the McDermott book lest I become too jingoistic (I don't think I did, thankfully). Woodward's portrait of Bush in the hundred days after 9/11 was more positive than I had expected from one of the men who had broken Watergate. Bush here is portrayed as a well-meaning man who was more than a little overwhelmed by the circumstance (and I'm not convinced it wouldn't have done the same to anyone else who had held the office at the time). An illuminating look into the White House in that time.

I read Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Only the first of the duology. I liked the look into the authoritarian regimes that had governed Iran both pre and post revolution, and how Satrapi did not spare either from justly deserved criticism. Satrapi also has a good sense of humor.

I read Maus, by Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman is very good at using the somewhat bizarre concept of representing Jews as mice and Nazis as cats (and other nationalities as different animals) to stunning effect. The sheer terror of the Holocaust is on full display, and the visual medium is used to its fullest. Spiegelman's portrayal of himself reckoning with the past has a lot of pathos, and his portrayal of his father Vladek is properly nuanced but ultimately sympathetic. An amazing work.

I read Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. This is one of those books I felt stupid after finishing. Vonnegut clearly had an ambitious idea for his book, and I doubt I fully understood it. It's a book that's hard to describe and hard to categorize. I found the jumping back and forth in time interesting, as did I the utterly alien Tralfamadorians and their culture and way of viewing the universe. Definitely a book that I'll think about more.

I read Lazarus: the First Collection, by Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, and Santi Arcas. I'm not really sure why my father had this in the basement bookshelves, but it was there. I had heard good things about Rucka so I gave it a shot, and I enjoyed it. It's a very good 'modern' dystopia when so many of our images of dystopia come from the early to mid twentieth century. The worldbuilding shined here in all its bleak and depressing glory, and Forever as a character was quite interesting. If I can get my hands on another collection I'll read it.

I read The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. Yet another book I felt stupid after reading. As Bradbury says in the prologue, it's more mythology than pure science fiction, and it has the proper epic scope that mythology entails. The settlement of Mars, and the displacement of the original inhabitants, is done with a real care for the human and nonhuman beings affected by the change, and human quirks are on full display; I particularly liked the one with the guy who recreates the House of Usher and the 'Romeo and Juliet parody' near the end. Another book I'll think about more.

I read Coolidge, by Amity Shlaes. A biography of the titular president. Shlaes clearly has a conservative, small-government, fiscal responsibility worldview which I don't think impacts the text too much (some bits in the prologue and epilogue) - the whole portrayal struck me as evenhanded. I learned a lot about the man and his philosophy, with his origins in Vermont and governorship of Massachusetts. The part about the Boston Police Strike stood out to me in particular, partially because I had not heard of that event previously. Recommended to those interested.

I intend to start The Fight to Save Juarez, by Ricardo Ainslie soon. I haven't actually started, but I need some more Latin American history, and I know little about the Drug War. I'll post about it next week.

Finished Chapterhouse: Dune, by Frank Herbert finally finishing the Dune series yay

Which made starting and finishing The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury a breeze.

And now a few pages from the end of Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Finished

Wire Your Brain for Confidence by Louisa Jewell Some good straightforward advice is given to become more confident.

Teenagers 101 by Rebecca Deurlien Some excellent guidelines to help your teen get from point A to point B are found in this book.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury His lively character and setting development were great, but after about the 7th or 8th chapter, I just couldn't connect with the plot. I don't blame this on the book, I just think this is a fiction slump I'm going through.

Started

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do by Amy Morin This book helps you identify problem behaviours and mindsets and what to do in their place for more positive outcomes.

The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas Llosa This novel takes place during Fujimori's time in office, when Shining Path was a problem, and curfews and kidnappings were a common thing. The novel centers around 2 couples. It's pretty good so far.

The Anxiety Survival Guide for Teens by Jennifer Shannon, LMFT This is another book about teen mental health, with cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to cope included.

The Andromeda Strain, by Micheal Crichton
The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Rage, by Richard Bachman
Lots of short ones for me this week. The Martian chronicles floored me. Beautiful and haunting.

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

A very depressing book (especially the beginning) but written very beautifully.

I finished reading: The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

Quick and very interesting read. I liked that each chapter was a short story in its own right that contributed to a bigger picture and emotion by the end. I finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury a couple of weeks ago, and while it was good the prose got a bit overwhelming near the end of that book. I definitely enjoyed The Martian Chronicles more.

This week I'm going to start reading: Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein

I picked this book up at the same time as The Martian Chronicles. I've been on a huge sci-fi kick this year.

Finished The Silver Locusts, by Ray Bradbury which is an earlier version of The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. It is a series of short stories which are linked to the colonisation of Mars by humans. I enjoyed it and most the stories had an Outer Limits style twist. My copy of the book was published in 1963 and it helped add to the old-school sci-fi atmosphere.

I just started The Deep, by Nick Cutter and about 80 pages in. I read The Troop by Nick Cutter and enjoyed it so thought I would give The Deep a try.