Blurt! — Sben

Blurt! — Sben
pile.org

Finished reading The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel, another book featuring an obsessive, helplessly-passive (up to a certain part of the book) man-child. (To be clear, I enjoyed this, as I have her other books so far, and there’s a clear progression from Last Night in Montreal through The Singer’s Gun to here.) It might be interesting to reread Station Eleven at this point, her next book in publication order, but I probably won’t.

I almost quit the book early on, as the main character’s particular form of self-destruction made me incredibly anxious, but I managed to power through.

Also

I took a break to read some RPG stuff, but back to regular books! Finished reading City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett, sequel to City of Stairs that I read earlier this year. That book was good, but this was more compelling, about war and trauma and regret. (Very strange how I’m finding myself relating to older characters these days.)

— 10/18/2022 10:17pm ∞
Finished reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers, a novella that I made short work of. I realized, several years ago, that I should be as kind to myself as I try to be to others, something that is very hard for me. This book is, in part, about that.

— 9/13/2022 11:09pm ∞
Finished reading Permutation City by Greg Egan. Lots of things to like, e.g. digital clones living in a hacky simulation that is more than an order of magnitude slower than the real world. The special relativity section of my brain rebelled against one significant plot point (though I’m not sure I understood it correctly). Very strong Philip K. Dick vibes from the story.

— 9/13/2022 4:16pm ∞
Finished reading The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel. I really liked this book; the protagonist started as another spineless, obsessive young man like in Last Night in Montreal, but grew up by the end, and the book’s conclusion was satisfying without tying off all loose ends.

— 9/3/2022 11:39pm ∞
Just finished rereading Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O’Brian, the last of the 20-book Aubrey/Maturin series. Just like in the previous couple books, there were a few oddities that might have been caught by a more vigilant editor. But the story as a whole is sound, and all is forgiven for the ending, which has brought tears to my eyes each time I’ve read it.

— 8/30/2022 11:38pm ∞