What are you reading in 2024?

[Wofano Wotanto]

Something to consider: Don't get really attached to anyone.

Kind of a truism in all espionage, fictional and otherwise.

 

[prabe]

Last three books: A Dark Matter by Peter Straub, a Horror novel of overlapping and competing points of view, with a charlatan-type character who might have real abilities; Zero Days by Ruth Ware, a pretty standard-issue pursuit thriller complete with shocking twists that I mostly saw coming; Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig, a horror novel about rural families and communities with all sorts of looming, possibly unintentional subtext about apples and evil.

 

[Cadence]

I didn't like Man in the Queue by Tey and doubt I'll read any more of hers

I can certainly understand that and I probably wouldn't reread most of her stuff. I thought Franchise Affair was outstanding though.

I still have to do Christie.

 

[Irlo]

Wow. Hope you dig it as much as I am.

I’m halfway into the fourth story and it’s another gut punch. Won’t spoil it, or any others. The anthology is worth the cover price just for these four. And there’s 17 more to go. Man. I hope the rest hold up to the quality so far. Because…damn.

The bookstore cancelled my order. I'm not happy.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Finished two books this week: All Systems Red by Martha Wells and How to be Perfect by Michael Schur.

I hadn't read any of the Murderbot series, and it was fun but light. I did enjoy Death of the Necromancer when I read it, so I imagine that I'll go back to Wells at some point and probably check out the next Murderbot novella, too. I really like her prose style. It's elegant without being fussy and lean without being sparse.

The Schur was great. I loved The Good Place, so getting some background on Schur's approach to the philosophy underpinning the show was fun. It was also a good refresher for stuff that I haven't read since freshman year of college. It did inspire me to pick up TM Scanlon's What We Owe to Each Other, which I'm looking forward to reading. Though it's probably not my next book, as I'm going on vacation tomorrow and it's kind of meaty/weighty.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The Schur was great. I loved The Good Place, so getting some background on Schur's approach to the philosophy underpinning the show was fun. It was also a good refresher for stuff that I haven't read since freshman year of college. It did inspire me to pick up TM Scanlon's What We Owe to Each Other, which I'm looking forward to reading. Though it's probably not my next book, as I'm going on vacation tomorrow and it's kind of meaty/weighty.

The official Good Place podcast, if you've never heard it, is amazing. It documents every episode, talks the philosophy in each, brings in Scanlon at least once. It's like a really fun and brain-expanding college class that manages to be about both screenwriting and philosophy.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

By the way, if you ever consider reading Georges Simenon's Maigret series, it's a bit complicated in English since there have been multiple translations and publishers over the years, resulting in a hodgepodge of titles for the same exact book content - even when it's the same translator! To navigate this, I found this great website that's been pretty spot on. After referring to this, I even found vol 1 at my library, when before all my searches seemed to indicate they didn't have it

Maigret Bibliography

 

[prabe]

By the way, if you ever consider reading Georges Simenon's Maigret series, it's a bit complicated in English since there have been multiple translations and publishers over the years, resulting in a hodgepodge of titles for the same exact book content - even when it's the same translator! To navigate this, I found this great website that's been pretty spot on. After referring to this, I even found vol 1 at my library, when before all my searches seemed to indicate they didn't have it

Maigret Bibliography

My wife has, I think, been picking up these books from time to time, and enjoying them. I'll pass this on to her, in case she's feeling that completist about it, thanks. (Given that I don't think she's been stressing about order, I don't think she's stressed, but I think she'll find it interesting.)

 

[Old Fezziwig]

The official Good Place podcast, if you've never heard it, is amazing. It documents every episode, talks the philosophy in each, brings in Scanlon at least once. It's like a really fun and brain-expanding college class that manages to be about both screenwriting and philosophy.

I have not, but I'll definitely check it out once I've finished my current podcast (the first season of Crime Town, covering corruption in Providence, Rhode Island during the 70s and 80s — weird little fact, Gerry Tillinghast, one of the enforcers in the Patriarca family, came out of prison interested in D&D; the podcast touches on it briefly).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have not, but I'll definitely check it out once I've finished my current podcast (the first season of Crime Town, covering corruption in Providence, Rhode Island during the 70s and 80s — weird little fact, Gerry Tillinghast, one of the enforcers in the Patriarca family, came out of prison interested in D&D; the podcast touches on it briefly).

Crimetown, season one, is definitely worth your full attention. I loved that podcast.