Tag: books

Books February 2025

February 27, 2025 8:09 pm

Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive #2) by Brandon Sanderson

A hefty tome which spanned over 3000 pages as rendered by my eReader (an “average” book is typically ~400 pages). Took up most of January and February.

High fantasy set in the land of Roshar.

Kaladin continues his journey discovering how to harness the power of stormlight. And we learn more about the history that shaped this world via Shallan’s studies.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

A book that plays out a possible early colonization of Mars. Unfortunately for me, I was hoping it would be a harder sci-fi focusing on technical challenges. It rather focuses on people and political challenges over decades of colonization and terraforming efforts.

A bit too much political drama in real life to really enjoy artificial political drama.

Also fairly hefty, 1500 pages on my eReader. Took up the rest of February.

Books January 2025

January 30, 2025 1:51 pm

Le Réveil des Dragons by Morgan Rice

An English fantasy book translated to French. A “chosen one” story about a girl who yearns to be a warrior and is destined for something greater.

An act of defiance against occupiers to save a dragon’s life condemns her kingdom to destruction. With nothing further to lose the kingdom fights for their survival.

When their destruction seems assured, the dragon returns and lays waste to their oppressors.

Carbide Tipped Pens a hard sci-fi anthology edited by Ben Bova and Eric Choi

A collection of 17 stories which I enjoyed–some more than others. None seem to have stuck out to me as being exceptional however.

Books December 2024

December 31, 2024 8:24 pm

Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman

While I had somewhat assumed that Forever Peace was a sequel to The Forever War Haldeman addresses directly in the introduction that it is not.

But it does continue to explore and discuss the issues that affect the participants and victims of continuous warfare. It then goes on to explore the idea of what if you could open everyone’s minds to collectivism and seeing humanity as one. What if we could reach a state of mind where violence against others is seen as violence against oneself and therefore pointless.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

This was my Christmas gift from the girls this year. A Japanese fantasy book (translated) about a cat, books, and an old bookstore. They nailed it.

When Rintaro’s grandfather dies he withdraws even further from the world than usual as he takes over caring for the old bookshop.

Then a cat approaches him for help rescuing books. His love of books empowers him to break out of his shell and engage with the world around him.

And those are the only books I completed in December. Most of my reading was on a book in French and I just didn’t quite finish it. So it will show up next year.

Looking back over this year’s blog posts I tally 41 books for the year! With 1 of them in French.

Books November 2024

November 30, 2024 5:43 pm

The Circuit: Executor Rising by Rhett C. Bruno

Humanity is clinging on throughout the solar system after a cataclysmic collapse of Earth. But the story has little to do with humanity’s fragility. Instead we’re focused on one man’s vendetta against humanity’s continued existence.

He’s kind of a mustache-twirling cartoon villain.

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

The classic science fiction story of a man who finds a way to turn himself invisible through a series of bio-chemical reactions. Unfortunately, it also drives him mad.

The Curiosity Cycle by Jonathan Mugan

Theoretically a discussion about how to inspire curiosity in your children. But it feels mostly like a bunch of blog posts smashed into a book. A disappointing lack of serious research analysis and more of “here are ideas I like.”

Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka

This was a book group pick for work. Was not originally expecting to see Mike show up so much in it.

Long story short, government bodies fail at technological implementation because they’re structured to operate in a 19th century world and actual implementation of policy is considered an annoying detail that politicians don’t want to be bothered with worrying about.

It doesn’t have to be this way. But it currently is. I see a lot of the same organizational faults at the Lab and it’s supremely frustrating.

Whiteout by Ken Follett

It’s Christmas and trouble is brewing for a BSL-4 laboratory in Scotland housing some of the world’s most dangerous pathogens.

Meanwhile a monster of a snowstorm descends upon the region and everything gets more complicated.

Books October 2024

October 30, 2024 3:28 pm

I’ve been working on whittling down my digital tsondoku. So this month has a random collection of things sitting on my ereader that I hadn’t gotten around to yet.

Cyberstorm by Matthew Mather

What happens when massive cyber attacks coincide with a devastating weather event?

Appreciated it wasn’t a survival story immediately about the good guys versus the bad guys. There was nuance and misunderstanding and desperation involved too.

The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick

A slowly-unfolding mystery of an international coverup about the Moon in the context of the Apollo missions.

A more gripping read than I think it had a right to be given its pace, but I think the drip of new information that drives the story along must have been about perfectly timed to keep me going.

Renegade by Joel Shepherd

This started out a bit stiff and clunky. Characters were a bit stereotypical. But it grew into itself fairly nicely and I was enjoying it by the end.

Space opera, power struggles, conspiracies, intrigue set at the end of a generations-long space war to earn humanity a seat at the galactic table.

The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn

The past two years or so each October I’d read aloud to the family A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. It’s a Halloween story told one day at a time throughout October.

This year the girls wanted something fresh and I found this billed for the right age range. It seems to have been a hit.

An abandoned manor house with a tragic history and the kids at the center of it all.

The Alien Chronicles edited by David Gatewood

Another anthology, this one nominally about human-alien interactions–often in the context of first contact.

Some decent stories in it, some that I found entirely forgettable and/or cliche.