What are you currently reading?

**SteveSly** · 3 Weeks Ago

I did quite a bit of reading while in the hospital. Finished these two:

The End Of The World Is Just The Beginning by Peter Zeihan: I am a subscriber to Zeihan’s YouTube channel and find the guy fascinating. He is a geoeconomic analyst who looks at the world through different unbiased eyes compared to many new sources these days. This is the first time I have read one of his books and found it to be interesting. Zeiahn discusses economics, green technology, climate change, and especially demographic changes happening in the world and what the future might hold. I agree with much of what he says. The book tends to repeat itself a bit and probably could have been edited down a bit, but overall, it was interesting.

4 out of 5

The Nazi Conspiracy – The Secret Plot To Kill Rosevelt, Stalin & Churchill by Brad Meltzer, and Josh Mensch: I have enjoyed several of Meltzer’s books in the past and liked this for the most part although the overall “conspiracy” has never really been proven and remains somewhat vague to this day. Much of the content of the book was information I already knew from other books on WWII and the subjects involved. A decent read, but Meltzer has done better.

3 out of 5

**Sturgeon's Lawyer** · 3 Weeks Ago

W. Olaf Stapledon, Darkness and Light. One of my favorite SF writers from ye olde dayes, mostliy because of two books: Last and First Men and Star Maker, which between them are about the hugest visions of the future (and more) I've ever read. This one looks pretty visionary also.

**interbellum** · 2 Weeks Ago

Somewhat related to this thread: sometimes after being in my home-library for more than 40 years I'm parting from most of my Stephen King-, Peter Straub and Dan Simmons-novels. I need a bit more space also because of a future renovation. A lot of other books will follow... It makes me kind of sad, because only by looking at the covers I remember part of the story told in those books. Well, that's life I guess.

**Rarebird** · 2 Weeks Ago

Mike Metlay - Synth Gems 1

Very interesting book with some really unknown synthesizers. Perhaps it can serve as an inspiration for Arturia or Cherry Audio for some new soft-instruments. I would like to see the Eminent organ.

**spellbound** · 2 Weeks Ago

You Like It Darker by Stephen King

**per anporth** · 2 Weeks Ago

The Fortune of the Rougons, the first volume in Zola's twenty-part Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels set during the infamous rule of Luis Bonaparte in the middle of the 19th century. I'm hoping to work my way through the whole cycle over the next two or three years...

**SteveSly** · 2 Weeks Ago

Originally Posted by interbellum

Somewhat related to this thread: sometimes after being in my home-library for more than 40 years I'm parting from most of my Stephen King-, Peter Straub and Dan Simmons-novels. I need a bit more space also because of a future renovation. A lot of other books will follow... It makes me kind of sad, because only by looking at the covers I remember part of the story told in those books. Well, that's life I guess.

Once I switched to reading almost everything on my kindle I got rid of almost all of my hard cover books. I too was a big King / Straub fan, although I almost never read fiction these days. On the other hand I still have loads and loads of CD's that I can't part with, so there is that.

**Digital_Man** · 2 Weeks Ago

Originally Posted by SteveSly

Once I switched to reading almost everything on my kindle I got rid of almost all of my hard cover books. I too was a big King / Straub fan, although I almost never read fiction these days. On the other hand I still have loads and loads of CD's that I can't part with, so there is that.

You sound like the opposite of my brother. He got rid of most (if not all) of his cds but still reads physical books. As for myself I'm a bit of a hoarder with everything. Lol.

**SteveSly** · 2 Weeks Ago

Originally Posted by Digital_Man

You sound like the opposite of my brother. He got rid of most (if not all) of his cds but still reads physical books. As for myself I'm a bit of a hoarder with everything. Lol.

I resisted getting a Kindle for years. My wife was going to buy one and they had some kind of two for one deal and she got me one too. I honestly did not think I would use it, but once I tried it I never looked back. The biggest advantage is you can make the font size as big as you want. With my lousy eyesight that is great. I actually just bought a new Kindle which is quite a bit smaller than one that I had. You can take it anywhere and read in the dark or in the bright sunlight.

**Lopez** · 2 Weeks Ago

Just finished Zombie Love by the late Ray Garton ("Don't smoke, kids."). Starts off with the usual boy goes to witch to bring back dead girlfriend. Kind of "Monkey's Paw"-ish, but this time boy has to deal with smelly, rotting, animated girlfriend. Boy goes back to witch to undo the spell, and then he really has to pay the price.

Just started Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine for about the fourth time. A nostalgic, summertime book.

**SteveSly** · 2 Weeks Ago

Originally Posted by Lopez

Just started Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine for about the fourth time. A nostalgic, summertime book.

That brings back some memories. I was a Bradbury freak when I was younger. Good book.

**rapidfirerob** · 2 Weeks Ago

Billy Summers-Stephen King.

**SteveSly** · 1 Week Ago

Spare by Prince Harry Duke Of Sussex:

I never paid much attention to English Royalty for most of my life, although I remember exactly where I was when Princess Diana died. In the last few years, my wife and I watched “The Crown” tv series on Netflix which led us to a several part documentary on Queen Elizebeth and increased interest in the whole monarchy. My wife read Harry’s book first and enjoyed it, so I decided to dive in. I have mixed feelings about this book. Harry sometimes comes across as self-pitying poor little rich boy, but at the same time I cannot imagine living in the fishbowl that his life has been since birth. It has to be a gilded hell. Harry goes into significant details about his youth, military service, relationships, partying, charitable work, and his family. To say he has led an unusual existence is an understatement. He seems to genuinely love his wife and children and want the best for them. I enjoyed the book and insight into royal life from his perspective. Recommended.

4 out of 5 stars.

**markowitz** · 1 Week Ago

Just finished Birnam Wood. It was a pretty exciting read and is meant to be a thriller with modern up to date characters ( billionaires and anarchist garden coop people). Definitely enjoyable. I liked her The Luminaries - (also by Eleanor Catton) better though

**per anporth** · 1 Week Ago

His Excellency Eugène Rougon by Zola (I'm reading the series not in order of publication, but according to the suggested order of some recent critics).

**Sturgeon's Lawyer** · 1 Week Ago

Thackery T. Lambshead's Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by the indomitable Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. It's an anthology of essays about the weird gadgets collected by Dr. Lambshead during his long life. (This is the second Lambshead book; the first was The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases.) Features essays by luminaries like Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, China Miéville, Cherie Priest, and many others. It's very silly, albeit in a rather dry way.

Correction: Some of the entries are actually stories, not mock-essays.

**wideopenears** · 1 Week Ago

Originally Posted by per anporth

The Fortune of the Rougons, the first volume in Zola's twenty-part Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels set during the infamous rule of Luis Bonaparte in the middle of the 19th century. I'm hoping to work my way through the whole cycle over the next two or three years...

That's a project. I have embarked on similar projects, with mixed results.

**Jerjo** · 1 Week Ago

I just finished the first book in the Vinyl Detective series by Andrew Cartmel: Written in Dead Wax. A decent mystery (though a little preposterous in places) that resonates for those who feel the burn for collecting music, especially vinyl. I'll be reading others in the series despite my quibbles with the book.

**SteveSly** · 6 Days Ago

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis: I have never been much of a Red-Hot Chili Peppers fan, but enjoy rock autobiographies so decided to check this out. Kedis chronicles his life from his childhood in Michigan through his teenage and band years as a major substance abuser. You name the substance, Kedis had problems with it. The book ends with Kedis 5 years sober right after the release of the “By The Way” album in 2002, so this is not his complete story up to today. With the number of substances this band abused it is hard to believe that they made it as big as they did. Kiedis life was a constant cycle of massive drug and alcohol binges followed by periods of sobriety. Then he would do it all over again. The book gets a bit repetitive after a while as this pattern just goes on and on. Kiedis relationships with women are also documented. He seems to have an almost teenage like attraction to looks as opposed to substance even up into his late 30’s and nothing ever lasts in the long run. There is also insight into the band, it’s music, touring and recording which was interesting. Overall, I enjoyed this book and if he ever writes a sequel I would read it. But the never-ending self-destructive behavior gets a bit old after a while.

4 out of 5 stars

**Rarebird** · 5 Days Ago

Well today two books on synthesizers have arrived, so I'm going to read one of them.
Think I'll start with
Inspire the music - 50 years of Roland history
It looks really interesting, though it's not only on synthesizers. Of cause it has the Roland System 100 and the Roland SH-5. There is also a piece on Don Lewis, who connected keyboards and synthesizers before midi.
Weird thing is that the musicians are listed based on their first name.

**Rarebird** · 3 Days Ago

^ Finished the first part of the book, wich is about drummachines the TB-303 and other stuff DJs use. DJ-ing seem to have become something completely different from just playing records. Quite some female musicians. Things really have changed. When I did an audio-enginering course I was one of two women and I think the only one who finished it.

The next part is about electronic drums.

**Sturgeon's Lawyer** · 3 Days Ago

Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer. Subtitle "The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction." It is certainly massively, and often quite strangely, illustrated. Aside from VanderMeer's own thoughts on writing, this is full of short pieces by other major writers like Ursula Le Guin, Neal Gaiman, Peter Straub, and Nnedi Okorafor. This is a big heavy book on thick, slick paper. I'm reading it slowly, interspersed with other things, and doing all the exercises -- pardon me, "writing challenges" -- provided.

**Sunlight Caller** · 3 Days Ago

I finally got all they through The Three Body Problem trilogy, and probably enjoyed the third book the best, quite a story arc, and the more I read the more I actually got into the story.

I’m on holiday this week, so a chance to read. I dashed through Murakami’s After Dark, which was an interesting read and more straight forward than much of his magic realism world view. I then read The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa which I enjoyed a great deal, an allegorical tale of love, loss, political instability but overall one that resonated with me on the personal level, as I have watched a loved one (My Mum) gradually diminish in front of me.

Moved on to more light hearted times now with a re-read of Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim.