Keed have you read Blindsight? Or Pandora’s Star?
I haven’t. I’ll check them out.
Second (or third or fourth) Vinge recommendation.
Went to add “red rising” to my currently reading pile on goodreads. Marked it as “want to read” over 3 years ago ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Downloading A Distant Mirror and have added Proud Tower
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Makes me sad every time someone posts text shrugging guy and the forum software automatically erases his first arm 
You have to add a second arm or he’s an amputee ¯\(ツ)/¯
Fuck that guy and this guy ¯_(ツ)_/¯
:)
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(╯°□°)╯︵ ʞooqǝɔɐℲ
Where do you like to read at home? I need a comfy reading chair for like $100 or less. Any ideas?
I’m reading ancient Athenian plays atm. Pretentious Posting Advisory is in effect ~forever.
I usually read on my bed with a bunch of pillows behind my back and sometimes a pillow on my lap for the book to rest on.
I hear about people reading in bed, but I always just fall sleep. I think I’ll try this out:
I tried to buy Grant by Chernow (also wrote “Hamilton”) but I got a “download error” on Audible. Grant’s Personal Memoirs were in the “people also look at” display and I decided to download the audiobook. I’ve known about it for a few decades and have always been semi-interested in reading it (it’s generally regarded as the best or among the best military/presidential memoirs). Anyway, had a toothache on Wed. and Thurs., so listed to Grant’s Memoirs most of the day.
It’s a pretty detailed (38 hr audiobook) coverage, so far mainly of his campaigns in the Mexican-American and Civil Wars, with maybe 2 hrs on his youth and time between the wars. I’m at the 1863 siege/fall of Vicksburg, about halfway through. It’s very blunt and matter of fact, with occasional broader observations, asides, and wry jokes. Grant seems quite frank and his recall of battle details is almost photographic. I’m not a big military history buff, I’m more interested in understanding how people in the past viewed the world, but it’s a compelling story and provides the best introduction I know of to the reality of war, tactics, strategy, provisioning, transportation, etc. It does provide insight into how Grant viewed and understood the world, though it’s not an introspective work.
Grant definitely comes across as both a great general and reasonably broad minded. The sense I got was that the campaign and war were tough as hell, and Grant was competent, aggressive, and steely. (I’m at the fall of Vicksburg, which was like a year in the making, involving 60-140k Northern troops moving through TN and MI and engaging in various battles/skirmishes, depending on the time and where divisions were assigned.) I’m sure many parts of WWI and WWII were as tough, and Grant’s troops were never starving, but few modern men could have endured the Civil War. It was hard labor, marching, often bad conditions (sleepless nights in heavy rain with no shelter), mixed with occasional hard fighting. Grant’s perspective is something like a strategist, moving his troops into favorable battle positions while apprehending or dealing with all the variables of supplies, communications, landscape, environment, etc.
The language and tone are reminiscent of Mark Twain (who was involved with the publication), blunt, clear, unemotive, and nearly modern but not quite. The audiobook reader is great and I would recommend it for long travel/listening sessions.
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I read this a few years back and it’s a really great book. Strong recommend.
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Currently reading The Peripheral by William Gibson. Not far enough along to have an opinion yet, but
She smiled, displaying teeth whose form and placement might well have been decided by committee.
damn that’s a great sentence.
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Finished Red Rising. Enjoyed it. Will read the rest of the series over the next 18 months.
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Has “Irresistible” by Adam Alter been talked about yet? I’m almost done, it’s a little terrifying but similar to what the “Social Dilemma” goes over.
The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
Meh, not good not bad.
The Strain, Book 1 by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Another Meh, written like a novelization of a screenplay and nearly exactly the same as the TV series, to the point I had to check to see if it was a novelization. Kudos to Guillermo Del Toro for putting out a product that could easily be made into a TV with little effort, but no point in reading it over watching the TV show
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I haven’t read it, but I’m curious to know more of your thoughts on it.