What are you reading in 2024?

[Autumnal]

I recently was sent a copy of a book entitled The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Wickham. I’ll have to hunt this up. Thank you!

 

[Zaukrie]

Ghost Brigades was quite good. There was even a part that made me laugh out loud.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I recently was sent a copy of a book entitled The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180. A brand new comparative study of the regional economies of the Mediterranean, with an indepth look at Egypt, Tunisia, Sicily, Byzantium, Islamic Spain and Portugal, and north-central Italy. The perfect kind of nerdy book for me! Chris Wickham is the real deal, probably the greatest early medievalist writing today, concentrating on economy more than politics. Too often the southern Mediterranean gets over looked on the medieval period, with the Islamic lands and Byzantium almost barely existing in some accounts of Northern Europe. But without Islamic Egypt and Tunisia, and Christian Byzantium, Europe let alone Northern Europe would have never come into formation. Really looking forward to delving into this. Eventually.

Oooh, see the thing with history books and econ books is I want the information in my brain, but when I try to read more than say a long blog post about the topics, I fall asleep

but this sounds like a great book - maybe some day

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Ghost Brigades was quite good. There was even a part that made me laugh out loud.

Scalzi can be good for that

 

[Eyes of Nine]

My GF loves those. My cousin also. I'm thinking I should read them.

It's hard to put these into a category beyond fantasy. I think it started as "urban fantasy" as it's set in the SF Bay Area, and the protagonist October Daye is a "private investigator" in the human world. But it quickly moves away from that and delves super deep into Faerie. There are no werewolves, vampires, zombies etc etc. It eventually (quickly?) became all about the Fae and the political machinations therein. McGuire has done her homework, and pulls out "fae" groups from many different traditions across human culture through the ages. Not sure how many she created from whole cloth, but I bet most are actually folkloric. Since the Fae can't touch iron without suffering greatly, there are few if any guns - so it's all about knives and swords (mostly knives). That leans into Faerie. And then of course since the Fae live for a very long time, the older Fae all like their stuff "old school", whether that's 6th or 16th century. On the other hand there is a Fae who is very (very!) technologically savvy, and figures out a way for the Fae to have smart phones and the internet. So the younger Fae are just like teenagers today - they want access to their cell phones and the older folks put limits on them.

Then there's the entire relationship angles - McGuire writes these really well imho - not just romantic, but the found family relationships as well as the antagonistic ones. They are pumped up for melodrama - so if you don't like that, may not be for you

Finally, and also may not be for you, but while the titular protagonist is a cis-het woman in cis-het relationship(s); there are many other primary characters in lots of different combos - man/man, trans-man/woman, woman/woman, poly, and probably more (no one comes out and says they are asexual at least as far as I can remember, but I bet someone will at some point). And it just is what it is. No one comments on it ever in the fiction of the series. I love that

 

[Irlo]

I'm starting off 2024 with Emily Wilson's new translation of the Iliad, which was a holiday gift to me. I'm about halfway through. I'm not a big fan of Homer, but this is the most lively and compelling translation I've come across.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Mosley's "Gone Fishin'" is a great prequel to Devil in a Blue Dress and the rest of the Easy Rawlin's mysteries. This one isn't anything like a traditional detective novel, though, and is more of an extremely chaotic road trip with Mouse. (If you've seen the Devil in a Blue Dress movie, it's the Don Cheadle character. And both of the characters are teenagers here, so even more bad judgement on display.)

 

[Nellisir]

And it just is what it is. No one comments on it ever in the fiction of the series.

This is the way.

 

[the Jester]

Currently reading Deadhouse Landing, by Ian Esselmont. It's a Malazan book. Before this (and its predecessor, Dancer's Lament), I have found Esselmont to be pretty forgettable, and not even close to Erikson (the other Malazan author and writer of the Malazan Book of the Fallen ten volume epic).

But these two! They are great books! I got them for Christmas and I'm almost done with them already.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Currently reading Deadhouse Landing, by Ian Esselmont. It's a Malazan book. Before this (and its predecessor, Dancer's Lament), I have found Esselmont to be pretty forgettable, and not even close to Erikson (the other Malazan author and writer of the Malazan Book of the Fallen ten volume epic).

But these two! They are great books! I got them for Christmas and I'm almost done with them already.

The quality of the Esselmont books is highly variable. I seem to recall liking Blood and Bone and Assail a lot more than most of the others. The Path to Ascendancy novels are pretty good, but I'm not a huge fan of Kellanved or Dancer (I had kind of hoped that Kellanved wasn't always such a weirdo, and that his becoming Shadowthrone was part of what caused that, but, alas, no), which makes them a bit of a slog at times.