So, What Are You Reading?

Last night I finished reading "Changeling" by Delia Sherman. Highly recommend for those who enjoy urban fantasy, and a nice look on how the world of The Fair Folk and similar being would work in a modern setting.

I'm through chapter 1 of the Surya Siddhanta and on to chapter 2. This one deals with some early trigonometrical concepts, which is interesting if you're a certain type of nerd. Unfortunately, Burgess translates jya or jyapanda as sine, which is absolutely is not; long story short, the jya of an arc is the sine of the angle subtended by that arc multiplied by the radius.

In modern mathematical terms, if an arc AB subtends an θ, then jya(AB) = r×sin(θ) (actually, the original definition of the sine seems to have been the jya divided by the radius). Jya gave rise to sine due to ज्या being transliterated into Arabic as جيب, but the lack of vowels in Arabic led to it being mistaken for the word for bosom, which in Latin is sinus, and hence Latin translation of Arabic translations of Indian mathematics gave us the modern word sine. This also means that if you've ever done trigonometry in a European language, you were talking about breasts without even realising it. Etymology is fun.

But sine is not actually the same as jya, which makes reading the book tricky. Still, Burgess is at least consistent.

Ukrainian Red Cross

So I just listened on audio to "No Longer Human." I identified with it I expect far too much.

My posts make considerably more sense read in the voice of John Ratzenberger.

I just finished The Glove of Darth Vader.

Edited by MisterTambourineMan on Oct 31st 2022 at 7:58:19 AM

Nach jeder Ebbe kommt die Flut.

I'm reading a treatise on the fight against climate change and for "climate justice," What We're Fighting for Now Is Each Other, by Wen Stephenson. I think I read an essay excerpted from the book and put it on my library list years ago; it's a smidge outdated with a 2015 publish date but sadly all too relevant still.

On the audiobook side, on a similar theme but with a more hopeful tone (and humor), I recently completed Nick Offerman narrating his own Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside. Section One is about a hiking trip with friends to Glacier National Park, Section Two covers a series of visits to the English shepherd and author James Rebanks' farm, and Section Three is about a pandemic road trip across America in an Airstream trailer. Offerman takes inspiration from these locales to ruminate on a variety of topics, including but not at all limited to climate change and other conservation-related subjects.

Switching gears, I'm almost halfway through listening to the Darth Bane trilogy.

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: Dune by Frank Herbert, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa, The Memory of Fire by Callie Bates, Record of a Spaceborn Few and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, Bond and Book: The Devotion of "The Surgery Room" by Mizuki Nomura, Skeen's Search by Jo Clayton, Everblaze by Shannon Messenger, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, Re:Zero, Vol. 2 by Tappei Nagatsuki, Magical Girl Raising Project, Vol. 13 by Asari Endou, 86: EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 2 by Asato Asato, Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1 Volume 2 by Miya Kazuki, The Second Rebel by Linden A. Lewis, and Neverseen by Shannon Messenger

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti gets special mention because I'm still not sure what my feelings on it are.

Currently reading: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George and A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer

Rereading: The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland

Edited by Oratel on Feb 25th 2023 at 5:12:44 AM

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~

Since it was October I read some classic Gothic novels like Frankenstein, Carmilla, The Monk (definetely one of my favourites) and I'm currently still reading Northanger Abby

OBJECTION!

Part 1 of Legend of the Condor Heroes, A Hero Born. Anna Holmwood's translation indisputably works as an excellent means to get into Jin Yong's work and has resulted in some of the most well-written fights in prose I've read in a while. The rapid-fire pace at which plot developments happen is a bit much but the cast and narrative is compelling enough that it's easy to see why Yong's work is one of the most influential modern Chinese literature out there today.

Edited by Nouct on Nov 7th 2022 at 2:02:19 AM

I read the horror sci-fi books Nightflyers and The Last Astronaut, and they managed to have the exact same plot twist: the mysterious alien spacecraft the main characters are investigating is actually a giant alien creature. I got both books out of the library, but I still want my money back.

Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.

Read Sir Walter Scott’s “Marmion” (epic poetry based on Scottish history, with a fair bit of melodrama thrown in, a very good read) and I’m shocked that it doesn’t have a tvtropes page.

It appears to be the original source of the line “what a tangled web we weave/when first we practice to decieve”.

Edited by Galadriel on Dec 30th 2022 at 9:15:45 AM

Tower of the Sun by Tomihiko Morimi. This is apparently his first ever novel that he wrote while in university and it shows, much of his protagonist reads like someone who would eventually be refined for his later works and the plot is far looser in structure than his other books. Inexplicable magic shit just happens in Kyoto University and oh look it's the thirty landmarks he's still writing about to this day.

It still holds up if you're used to Morimi's flavor of abjectly unpleasant protagonists and the vignette-like narrative was an interesting difference from his other stories. It's also fairly novel to have the protagonist never interact at all with the ostensible main heroine of the book, keeping her at a distance and slowly putting together what went awry in their relationship so it's that much more cathartic when he finally realizes that it was a mutual falling out with his own flaws shining through.

Edited by Nouct on Dec 30th 2022 at 4:02:57 AM

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: Seasparrow by Kristin Cashore, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand, Irresistible Forces by Danielle Steel, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Tess Of The Durbervilles by Thomas Hardy, Flashback by Shannon Messenger, Unlocked by Shannon Messenger, It's a Purl Thing by Elizabeth Lenhard, Lodestar by Shannon Messenger, An Overdose of Death by Agatha Christie, Legacy by Shannon Messenger, The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny, Stellarlune by Shannon Messenger, A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny, Silent Honor by Danielle Steel, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, Nightfall by Shannon Messenger, and A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson gets a special mention 'cause I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it.

Currently reading: Spice and Wolf, Vol. 23 by Isuna Hasekura

Rereading: Finished the Sarah Bain series by Laura Joh Rowland. Just in time too; the next installment is coming out next month.

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~

Things I've read in the past month:

Journey to the West (Reading): Somehow I've never read a translation besides Waley in full until now so fixing that. Yu's translation is, of course, largely solid. What really sticks out is the lengthy setup to get them on the journey and just how wonderfully stupid the trio of disciples are.

The Tatami Galaxy (Finished): The anime made me a Tomihiko Morimi fan so I was very excited to get ahold of the novel and it did not disappoint. The prose and themes are just so utterly on-point with props to Balistrieri as well for deftly conveying it all with the same vividness as its audiovisual counterpart. Unlike Night is Short the movie, my beloathed, Tatami Galaxy as novel and anime perfectly complement each other.

The Silmarillion (Reading): The rough draft nature is super obvious from page 1 but Tolkien's ideas and Christopher's editing manages to smooth over the cracks for the most part.

Sagrada Reset (Reading): On the recommendation of my friend hence its priority for status. I'm not entirely enthralled like he is, but Kei is an inimitable protagonist with his utter deliberateness that it's fascinating. Kono clearly thought out his mechanics and setting so the core ideas are great even if the characters took some adjusting to.

Edited by Nouct on Jan 27th 2023 at 6:24:26 AM

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: The Savior's Champion by Jenna Moreci, The Soul of Power by Callie Bates, The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton, River of Fallen Angels by Laura Joh Rowland, Magical Girl Raising Project, Vol. 14 by Asari Endou, The Clocks by Agatha Christie, The Last Hero by Linden A. Lewis, Spice and Wolf, Vol. 23 by Isuna Hasekura, A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima, Mars by Fuyumi Soryo, Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1 Volume 3 by Miya Kazuki, and Knit Two Together by Elizabeth Lenhard

Currently reading: One Step Over the Border by Stephen Bly

Edited by Oratel on Dec 30th 2023 at 3:34:33 PM

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~

Listening to Rogue Dungeon right now (really need to make a damn page for it). Guy in a fantasy world tries to escape from the Tyrant King by jumping through a portal... but portals in his world are extremely unreliable, so instead of taking him to the Hearth of the World (a nearby tavern), it takes him to Hearthworld, a VRMMORPG where he is reborn as a low-level mob. He figures all the text boxes and pop-ups are just how the magic works here, and grows stronger while the players and devs wonder what the hell is going on.

My sister got me Time Tamed by Nicholas Foulkes for Christmas. It's a look at interesting clocks throughout history, and is worth a look if, like me, you're a time nerd.

Since Internet information on traditional Indian calendars is unreliable and increasingly tainted by nationalism and Hindu supremacism, I've fallen back on the primary sources that are available in English. I've had my say on the Surya Siddhanta earlier in this thread, but then I started on the 1955 report by the Calendar Reform Committee, which most notably introduced the modern Indian National Calendar. In seeking to harmonise the 30+ calendars in use across India upon independence, the committee sought information from panċanga makers, and it turns out very few of them actually relied on the Surya Siddhanta; most of them determined the date by the actual position of the sun in the zodiac, and used modern almanacs and ephemerides to determine these. Various other sources I read said that, while modern methods are known, many Indians continue to use traditional methods. I took this to mean they used siddhantas in preference to modern observations, but it looks like the intended meaning was that they still set dates and festivals according to the sidereal rather than the tropical year.

The Report has a long appendix which details the history of calendars; due to the Committee's purpose, south Asian calendars are much more prominent in this account than in others I've read.

Ukrainian Red Cross

I recently read As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. It's a really good ya novel about the war in Syria, how hard it is to leave your home even when its in a warzone (the cost, the soldiers blocking your path, your guilt at leaving your homeland, family, or friends behind), depression, finding love in unexpected places, and familial bonds. Featuring non stereotypical portrayals of Muslim characters! The lead girl Layla is awesome (she was training to be a pharmacist but out of necessity became a nurse at one of the last local hospitals) and the twist was heartbreaking, though foreshadowed.

see my completed Tangled (Varian) fanfic collection! https://archiveofourown.org/works/24467056/chapters/59049532

Breakfast at Tiffany's, which was a book I picked up for free a while ago. It's a good novella overall and I could definitely feel Holly Golightly's charisma, which sold why everyone gets sucked into her world. My mind inadvertently drifted towards The Great Gatsby as comparison, but Golightly's life is significantly more mundane if Gatsby was used as a benchmark .

While Capote definitely does well with discussing women and non-straight people in the process of discussing his themes of love and home, there's definitely a "wow this aged poorly" element for POC because racial slurs are casually thrown around, how Capote sets up Holly saving the narrator's life is baffling at best and racist at worst (black people literally pop out of nowhere to start attacking the horse he's riding), and Capote apparently never looked up where the Andes are in South America? Surprisingly Yunioshi is fairly dignified and well portrayed even with the bulk of the story being set in 1942. I know the movie sharply reverts that :/

Still a worthwhile melancholic read imo. The cat's fate to parallel the author's wish for Holly was a very hopeful way to end it.

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, The Dragon Scroll by I.J. Parker, The Polyglot Lovers by Lina Wolff, The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene, The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, Fruits Basket another by Natsuki Takaya, Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie, Easy to Kill by Agatha Christie, Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto, Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Knitwise by Elizabeth Lenhard, Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan, Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, and Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

Also read Shut Up and Write the Book by Jenna Moreci.

Currently reading: The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader, A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, and Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein.

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~

The other short stories by Capote:

• "House of Flowers" is pure vibes. Just go with it. It continues the unintentional theme of Capote's well-intended interest in writing about people outside of his sphere but comes off clumsy at best. The prose is sharp and haunting even if grandma Bonaparte keeling over dead from learning that she ate the cursed stew is silly.
• "A Diamond Guitar" is the only explicitly gay love story and the elements are there, but something about it didn't click with me. The guitar never playing in the same way does hit hard though.
• "A Christmas Memory" is the story after Breakfast at Tiffany's that came closest to hitting me with feels. Even 90 years after the period had passed, Buddy's closeness with an elder family member who represents a different time that is long gone is painfully reminiscent of now. And a Christmas story about the transition between centuries is fairly novel for me as well.

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I also finished The Silmarillion. For all of the notoriety surrounding its impenetrability, it's mostly just the family trees and one chapter of dense exposition that drags it down as a reading experience. In fact, it's surprisingly readable, given the context of its publishing.

Feanor and Turin are compelling to read about in the sense of seeing how they'll fuck up in the next page, Maedhros' arc is the actual best tragic hero arc IMO, and the Lay of Leithian is just straightforwardly the best chapter (the other contenders would either be "Ainudinale" and its creation myth, Earendil's journey, or the first battle against Morgoth by the Noldor). Fall of Gondolin is surprisingly short compared to the other Great Tales. Various supporting characters like Melian, Haleth, Finrod (who is the best), and Mim really liven up the narrative as well. The narration being primarily long stretches of narrating things that happen from a distance isn't for everyone, but I felt it worked for what the book was intended to be.

The "Alkaballeth" is a decent recap of what happened to Numenor and it's either this or the Battle of Unnumbered Tears besides Turin's story where it felt the closest to being dark fantasy. The "Third Age" is mostly unremarkable besides Tolkien running out of fantasy languages to title epics in and reframing the narrative to be about Gandalf, the children of the people from the Silmarillion that you should care about by now, and also Galadriel. Who, with Celeborn, basically won this iteration of Middle Earth's epic history by doing nothing. As a whole, it was worth the read. I don't think I'll go any further into Tolkien's work for now.

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Now reading The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu (and I'll finish Sagrada Reset too. I'm getting there!!) Only after reading pure 100% Tolkien can I say "wow, the politics of Heian Japan's imperial court is a great palate cleanser!"

Edited by Nouct on Mar 25th 2023 at 3:43:04 AM

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: This Pen for Hire by Laura Levine, Irish Gold by Andrew M. Greeley, Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein, The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader, The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta, The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim, Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi, 86: EIGHTY-SIX, Vol. 3 by Asato Asato, Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey, Second Sight by Amanda Quick, By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate, Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, On Pointe by Lorie Ann Grover, A Quiet Life in the Country by T.E. Kinsey, A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson,and First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh

Currently reading: The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Rereading: A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~

I'm currently on book 3 of The Deed of Paksenarrion

New theme music also a box

Finished Sagrada Reset: Cat, Ghost, and Revolution Sunday. Obligatory disclaimer to get out of the way, this was through a Fan Translation by forums member Comun. You can read it here, you'll make him very happy if you do so. I didn't watch the anime so I went into this completely fresh and was pleasantly surprised by the fairly intricate character study that examined its own world to examine its cast. Minami is the best character, but Kei is an enjoyable primary POV narrator. The Unknown Caller being very alien to the typical human mindset, yet still considered someone worth befriending and understanding is most emblematic of the writer's White and Gray Morality for this story and its leads. It most impressed me when its full title came into play in a way that made complete sense after finishing the book.

Finished The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu (translated by Richard Bowring). An intimate primary source by one of the oldest known historical authors, it showcases a window into Heian-era Japan that gives rich glimpses of her character and the court at the time of writing. It's a surprisingly short read for someone this famous but every page has reams of historical angles to consider.

Finished NieR: Automata Long Story Short and Short Story Long (both translated by Shota Okui). A novelization of Yoko Taro's 2017 JRPG and an anthology of short stories meant to complement each other. Contrary to fan claims I've seen, these were not completely written by Yoko, but primarily by Jun Eishima who is a frequent collaborator with Yoko. Just getting this wonk out of the way because I prefer proper credit where it's due and I've seen Eishima's name too frequently ignored for this supplementary material.

- Long Story Short: The weaker of the two books because it has to compress a 15-hour long game into 300 pages with many cuts made along the way. The internal POV showed the cast's foibles well and I particularly enjoyed Eishima's interpretation of Adam, 9S, and A2. It retains the succinct spirit of the human contradiction at the heart of the NieR series, yet Square Enix and/or Viz's disregard for the 8-4 script leaves something wanting in the number of translation differences (most egregious with the Green Is Blue screw-up on a vital visual element for the midway climax).

- Short Story Long: This one actually has short stories written by Yoko Taro! They were "The Fires of Prometheus" and "Small Flowers". The former is mostly just to clarify certain plot points and is a nice followup to a supporting character from Nier Replicant. The latter is a short and poignant exploration of how people can find even the smallest of life a fragile, yet beautiful, thing to nurture for. Eishima's "Memory Cage" and "Memory Thorn" are nice character prequels to expand on the two leads of Automata. "A Much Too Silent Sea" was an unnerving horror story and "Recollections of Emil" made me tear up. The big one is YoRHa ver. 1.05, a novelized version of Yoko's stage play and gives English readers an accessible version of his prequel to Automata. It has a snappy pacing so Everyone Dies doesn't actually hit the reader until they're near the end and I loved its Bittersweet Ending. Probably the more essential for anyone who is a NieR fan.

Reading 86 EIGHTY-SIX vol. 1 (translated by Roman Lempert). Asato Asano's strong debut as a writer. Her depiction of war and sci-fi worldbuilding is strong enough to overcome my quibbles with some repetitive writing so far.

Reading Legend of the Condor Heroes: A Bond Undone (translated by Gigi Chang). Essentially more of the same wuxia action from Jin Yong. Quite literally in fact because it continues right off the cliffhanger for roughly 50 pages of fighting.

Superpower Chronicles by Arthur Mayor.

After the resident Justice League expys are killed by mystery villains, their sidekicks, led by Raven (Robin with shades of Spider-Man), are left to pick up the pieces, sort out what happened, protect the city and/or the world as bad guys start coming out of the woodwork to stake out new territories or destroy all of it, and keep everything that's happening away from their families. Gangs vying for control, terrorists bent on revenge, Eldritch Abominations who just want to watch the world burn. What's the worst that could happen?

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

Stuff I've read since I last posted, sorted from least to most favorite: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, A Clue for the Puzzle Lady by Parnell Hall, Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin, Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan, Gears of Revolution by J. Scott Savage, Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage, Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage, The Art Forger by Barbara A. Shapiro, Political Poison by Mark Richard Zubro, This Is How It Begins by Joan Dempsey, The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman, Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny, Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

I've also read The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan and Fast Like a Girl: A Woman's Guide to Using the Healing Power of Fasting to Burn Fat, Boost Energy, and Balance Hormones by Dr. Mindy Pelz.

Currently reading: Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey, Red Dress in Black and White by Elliot Ackerman.

Rereading: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

Edited by Oratel on Aug 5th 2023 at 2:24:17 PM

~ ♪ I know I’m playing with your heart / And I could treat you better but I’m not that smart ♪ ~