let's talk about books!
i just finished up Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and though I agree it's a lot better than the movie I kind of thought it was just okay... I keep dipping into sci-fi out of curiosity but I'm almost always underwhelmed by the prose. I'm kind of interested to see where the story goes but the next book, Authority, sounds like it's mostly about fleshing out parts that I wasn't that interested in anyway..? idk.
I've also been enjoying going through Seneca's letters to Lucillius at a rate of like ~1 a day. Since I don't have to study it as a historical source or anything it's just a nice way to get a lil sorta-correspondence from a dead guy.
what's everyone reading?
Re: what's everyone reading?
I’ve also never been quite so hot on Annihilation, book or movie…
On my end? I’ve been maintaining my olde fantasy books journey lately by eating through the first Corum trilogy by Moorcock. I liked it quite a bit actually! There’s a time near the end where suddenly famous white man Elric is here and it gets a bit too multi-versey and referential to other books I haven’t read yet, but as far as sword and sorcery goes… Really enjoyed it. Just some terrific, breakneck pacing and swashbuckling and spellcasting and tragic sadman.
It’ll be a bit before I go backwards to the more formative Moorcock stuff like the aforementioned Elric,
I also re-read Princess of Mars just now and am trying to grapple with old racial politics and considering if it’s actually— for contemporary standards —maybe not as bad as my first blush goes where I dismissed it quite hard as being dreck (inspired by a forward where the editor insists that he understands why people say it’s the quintessential noble savage treatment but that he swears Edgar Rice Burroughs was actually progressive.) I’m currently finishing up the second book, Gods of Mars, and I can at least see that he’s likely a well-meaning man and the adventure elements are a bit fun… Much to consider in the world of fantasy!
On my end? I’ve been maintaining my olde fantasy books journey lately by eating through the first Corum trilogy by Moorcock. I liked it quite a bit actually! There’s a time near the end where suddenly famous white man Elric is here and it gets a bit too multi-versey and referential to other books I haven’t read yet, but as far as sword and sorcery goes… Really enjoyed it. Just some terrific, breakneck pacing and swashbuckling and spellcasting and tragic sadman.
It’ll be a bit before I go backwards to the more formative Moorcock stuff like the aforementioned Elric,
I also re-read Princess of Mars just now and am trying to grapple with old racial politics and considering if it’s actually— for contemporary standards —maybe not as bad as my first blush goes where I dismissed it quite hard as being dreck (inspired by a forward where the editor insists that he understands why people say it’s the quintessential noble savage treatment but that he swears Edgar Rice Burroughs was actually progressive.) I’m currently finishing up the second book, Gods of Mars, and I can at least see that he’s likely a well-meaning man and the adventure elements are a bit fun… Much to consider in the world of fantasy!
Re: what's everyone reading?
The Lord of the Rings ^_^
There's a lot of books people consider foundational that I've never read... Probably because of the assumed ubiquity and how they've osmosed into pop culture. Aside from Shakespeare I can't remember reading any great classics of the western literary canon in school (not that lotr could ever have comfortably slot into a 10th grade curriculum) because we were limited to a lot of CanLit that I can't recall the names of. In a lot of ways reading Tolkien has made me feel like before this point I had never actually read a book before >.> I've been reading these cheap paperback copies from thrift stores and going through them with a highlighter to mark every instance of beautiful prose/sentences structured in ways I didn't know were possible. And all the times Legolas and Gimli are really sweet to each other ^///^
Other than that I've been chipping away at Peter Adamson's volume on Medieval Philosophy. He's got a pretty entertaining authorial voice without shying too often into metaphor (even though he uses it a lot, which makes sense, because I do not have a phd in philosophy) and it's been a really fun interesting read, if only because I've been interested in medieval history in broad strokes for basically my entire life, and it's cool to learn that those guys had colleges and scholasticism and that they weren't all just living flat and incurious lives. I get really excited when he ends a chapter on a WWE promo for the introduction of Geometry into Europe or whatever, because basically every time some new technology or scientific methodology or just anything at all to help reliably explain natural patterns it shook the entire foundations of Theology and Philosophy like rage in the cage. Lots of fun thinkin' about old dead people lately.
There's a lot of books people consider foundational that I've never read... Probably because of the assumed ubiquity and how they've osmosed into pop culture. Aside from Shakespeare I can't remember reading any great classics of the western literary canon in school (not that lotr could ever have comfortably slot into a 10th grade curriculum) because we were limited to a lot of CanLit that I can't recall the names of. In a lot of ways reading Tolkien has made me feel like before this point I had never actually read a book before >.> I've been reading these cheap paperback copies from thrift stores and going through them with a highlighter to mark every instance of beautiful prose/sentences structured in ways I didn't know were possible. And all the times Legolas and Gimli are really sweet to each other ^///^
Other than that I've been chipping away at Peter Adamson's volume on Medieval Philosophy. He's got a pretty entertaining authorial voice without shying too often into metaphor (even though he uses it a lot, which makes sense, because I do not have a phd in philosophy) and it's been a really fun interesting read, if only because I've been interested in medieval history in broad strokes for basically my entire life, and it's cool to learn that those guys had colleges and scholasticism and that they weren't all just living flat and incurious lives. I get really excited when he ends a chapter on a WWE promo for the introduction of Geometry into Europe or whatever, because basically every time some new technology or scientific methodology or just anything at all to help reliably explain natural patterns it shook the entire foundations of Theology and Philosophy like rage in the cage. Lots of fun thinkin' about old dead people lately.
𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼...
Re: what's everyone reading?
Maybe I should switch up the scifi with some fantasy... I've been meaning to get into the Book of the New Sun series. Maybe if I don't manage to keep up with FSN I'll jump into that.
I recently started a notebook where I just write down passages and sentences that are affecting to me on aesthetic or other levels, it's fun to go back and flip through it every now and again for lil reminders of things I've enjoyed.Angel wrote: Sat Oct 11, 2025 6:42 pm I've been reading these cheap paperback copies from thrift stores and going through them with a highlighter to mark every instance of beautiful prose/sentences structured in ways I didn't know were possible. And all the times Legolas and Gimli are really sweet to each other ^///^
I've never heard of this one but you make it sound really good. Putting it on #TheList...Angel wrote: Sat Oct 11, 2025 6:42 pm Other than that I've been chipping away at Peter Adamson's volume on Medieval Philosophy.
Re: what's everyone reading?
took a picture of my dingus little Book Shelf to preen for the discord the other day so now. posting on a forum about discord, how delightfully anachronistic
if you want one nonfiction suggestion "the mushroom at the end of the world" is it. its kind of about everything. like a rhizome, fungus, etc.
for me to actually pick up next i still have the Fanon gnawing at me to start for the first time but i've been a little 'booked' out since i finished my second go around on moby-dick last month... i love moby-dick.........
'annhilation' has been in my mental backlog forever for sure so and there's a gap in my mind in terms of 'what fiction should i try next' so maybe i bite the bullet there before the end of the year, too. lazy cat
if you want one nonfiction suggestion "the mushroom at the end of the world" is it. its kind of about everything. like a rhizome, fungus, etc.
for me to actually pick up next i still have the Fanon gnawing at me to start for the first time but i've been a little 'booked' out since i finished my second go around on moby-dick last month... i love moby-dick.........
'annhilation' has been in my mental backlog forever for sure so and there's a gap in my mind in terms of 'what fiction should i try next' so maybe i bite the bullet there before the end of the year, too. lazy cat
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crittergill
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Re: what's everyone reading?
I never have the attention span for reading like i used to and i've been desperately trying to claw it back. I have an office job with a lot of paperwork and not a lot of talking though so I've been trying to dive into audiobooks more.
Last couple things I read were good though. Been going through Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat. I really like that one, I think it's one of the most straightforward approaches to cooking I've ever seen and really breaks it down in ways that make sense when you're trying to make the jump from following recipes strictly to making up your own dishes and improvising. I also back at the start of this year read a nonfiction book called The Dragon Behind The Glass, it was about the exotic pet trade, specifically the Asian arowana. Super interesting! Had a surprising amount of adventure in it, I was really hooked.
Last fiction thing I read was John Darnielle's Devil House. Always a big fan of his lyrics and I think it translates super well to prose. Really good at telling stories about people in hopeless miserable situations.
I've also had a copy of Trouble on Triton and also an REM biography that came out recently gathering dust on my shelf. So hard to find the time to sit down and read a book.
Last couple things I read were good though. Been going through Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat. I really like that one, I think it's one of the most straightforward approaches to cooking I've ever seen and really breaks it down in ways that make sense when you're trying to make the jump from following recipes strictly to making up your own dishes and improvising. I also back at the start of this year read a nonfiction book called The Dragon Behind The Glass, it was about the exotic pet trade, specifically the Asian arowana. Super interesting! Had a surprising amount of adventure in it, I was really hooked.
Last fiction thing I read was John Darnielle's Devil House. Always a big fan of his lyrics and I think it translates super well to prose. Really good at telling stories about people in hopeless miserable situations.
I've also had a copy of Trouble on Triton and also an REM biography that came out recently gathering dust on my shelf. So hard to find the time to sit down and read a book.
Re: what's everyone reading?
For attention span and time people always like to say that grabbing a book even just for like 15 minutes really adds up, but I don't know how much that fits everyone's reading pace, and certainly not every book reads really well like that. Moby Dick is kind of awesome this way because most chapters are like 4 pages long so you get something pretty 'complete' to chew on, but reading like The Sound and The Fury in 15 minute chunks would just disorient me completely.
Re: what's everyone reading?
Most of what I read these days is either manga, VNs, or nonfiction. I always want to read more novels, but I can never seem to finish them. (Maybe because I tend to get print editions rather than digital, and then forget to take them with me... 
)
I've been catching up with The Summer Hikaru Died since the anime dropped. It absolutely deserves the acclaim--the way it plays homophobia and horror off one another is genius. When I think about the author writing a banger like this straight out of graduating high school, I get vertigo.
My lack of familiarity with Rumiko Takahashi's oeuvre has been a pain point for me; I only really know Inuyasha. I'd heard Maison Ikkoku described as a scenario that would almost certainly be fumbled in the hands of a lesser author--a horndog college student in love with his apartment's live-in manager, whose heart has closed up due to a recent loss--but Takahashi has the magic touch. It's so charming to watch these two, neither prepared for love, mature and come into their own. It's less "will they/won't they" and more "they shouldn't right now/but maybe someday".
This one is particularly exciting to me personally because, to my knowledge, it's the first time a riichi mahjong strategy book has ever been officially published in english. Thanks Senba Kurono!
In the foreword for the book, the author mentions that they liked to keep mahjong puzzle books by the toilet as bathroom readers, and set out to write a mahjong strategy book that could be similarly snackable. And I think it's a slam dunk! The translation is quality, the tips are both high-level and easy to understand. I'd say this book is best for intermediate players who are familiar with the rules and the basics of offense and defense--a great next step after digesting the undisputed king of english riichi literature, Riichi Book 1.
)I've been catching up with The Summer Hikaru Died since the anime dropped. It absolutely deserves the acclaim--the way it plays homophobia and horror off one another is genius. When I think about the author writing a banger like this straight out of graduating high school, I get vertigo.
My lack of familiarity with Rumiko Takahashi's oeuvre has been a pain point for me; I only really know Inuyasha. I'd heard Maison Ikkoku described as a scenario that would almost certainly be fumbled in the hands of a lesser author--a horndog college student in love with his apartment's live-in manager, whose heart has closed up due to a recent loss--but Takahashi has the magic touch. It's so charming to watch these two, neither prepared for love, mature and come into their own. It's less "will they/won't they" and more "they shouldn't right now/but maybe someday".
This one is particularly exciting to me personally because, to my knowledge, it's the first time a riichi mahjong strategy book has ever been officially published in english. Thanks Senba Kurono!
In the foreword for the book, the author mentions that they liked to keep mahjong puzzle books by the toilet as bathroom readers, and set out to write a mahjong strategy book that could be similarly snackable. And I think it's a slam dunk! The translation is quality, the tips are both high-level and easy to understand. I'd say this book is best for intermediate players who are familiar with the rules and the basics of offense and defense--a great next step after digesting the undisputed king of english riichi literature, Riichi Book 1.
Re: what's everyone reading?
It technically counts as reading: I finished the Fate route of Fate/Stay Night today. There's some fun stuff in there, but man... those fight scenes... anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the other two routes since those are the ones everyone seems to pog out about.
Re: what's everyone reading?
yeah fate route is basically a prologue where they introduce Your Pal Saber and then the other two is where he tries to do something vaguely experimentally interesting for better and worse. one or two fight scenes even not worth skipping there precisely because they're different from the other slop he's put out. but many missteps big and small. a work of its timeamos wrote: Wed Oct 15, 2025 3:10 pm It technically counts as reading: I finished the Fate route of Fate/Stay Night today. There's some fun stuff in there, but man... those fight scenes... anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the other two routes since those are the ones everyone seems to pog out about.
if we're doing Visual Novels #inhere please read LGBTQ+ emotional ghost witch gothic romance weirdo masterpiece 'the house in fata morgana'. it affects me big time