Closest book I've found to Piranesi is Edward Carey's The Swallowed Man. I reviewed it here.
I just published a review of A River Called Time. I didn't like it.
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What'cha Reading?
- Thread starter Falselogic
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I just published a review of A River Called Time. I didn't like it.
Also finished listening to the audiobook for Old Man's War with my girlfriend. It was... OK. A few interesting concepts, little plot to speak of. Nothing that actually made me care, especially about the main character. blows raspberries
Yeah, I was really disappointed with that one. Scalzi’s later stuff can be really creative, but to me Old Man’s War felt like a Heinlein pastiche with somewhat better gender politics.
I remember it being pretty good, but I was in a book club with friends who had a knack for picking books I didn't like so "pretty good" was a very pleasant surprise.
I think Poor Man's Fight (by Elliott Kay) covers a lot of the same ground but better thematically, but I also enjoyed both greatly.
Just wanted to throw out a big thank you for bringing this to my attention. Absolutely delightful from cover to cover. I've been on something of a streak of excellent books on writing and this one was still a standout.
I thought this book was a mess and am really disappointed. Weird anecdotes interjected into things, odd thematic and retrospective analysis choices, the final shoehorned chapters that seemed to be "oh uh women and queer people fall under this too I guess". And I absolutely lost my mind at the start of every chapter as they all begin with a definition of "antiracist-X" and the definition is just "doing X while being antiracist". You can't define a word using the same word! Over and over again! Especially if introducing and defining that concept is the entire purpose of your book!
But since so many people have responded well to it I must be missing something. Anyway, here are a few books that I think are addressing this concept in a much more eloquent and cohesive way although to be fair I still don't feel like I understand what he means by antiracism. These are just the ones I thought of quickly, I'm sure I'm omitting something I'll think of later.
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
And for a discussion of how race is portrayed in media here are two I really enjoyed:
The Dark Fantastic by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (I really, really, recommend this for anyone who is a fan of science/fiction fantasy)
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison (Also read anything by Toni Morrison if you haven't by now)
Also the TT March book club book The Other Madisons is more focused on history but gives a lot of thought to how people react and conceptualize race.
I just got this from the library! I read the introduction and was about to read the first chapter when I realized I only had 10 more minutes or so to read. Definitely seems like a book I need to sit down and read in a longer session after he discussed needing to go back and forth between the story and analysis but excited to get back to it.
Anyway, I'm starting on House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday for my Classics book club.
Would you add So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo to your list? I thought it was a very good read and it probably falls under a similar umbrella. (NB: I haven't read Kendi's book yet either.)
I have that and Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge on hold at the library! I've heard good things about both and glad to see another recommendation.
I hadn't heard of that one, but I'll look into it!
I gave Sparrow the old college try, but it really wasn't working for me. I guess I'm just too picky. Hopefully, I'll have better luck with Skywalker: A Family at War by Kristin Baver
Reading Bradley Garrett's Bunker which is a fascinating yet deeply depressing history of the bunker in mostly post WW2 western history.
Glad you enjoyed it! I was sad when it was over - I would read a similar analysis of 50 Russian short stories.
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. I love everything she writes. Also I can't find the post but thank you to whoever recommended the Levar Burton Reads interview with her, I really liked it!
Quite enjoyed this one. It reads like a biography of the Skywalker clan, starting with Shmi and ending with Ben and Rey. She not only uses the movies as source materials, but the books and shows as well. Highly recommend if you're a fan.
Ended up reading Breach of Peace by one of my favorite Booktubers, Daniel B. Greene. I thought it was an awesome teaser for the start of his series.
Going to be working on Song of Kali by Dan Simmons. He's one of my favorite writers who hasn't steered me wrong yet, and I've heard Song is one of his best
Having just finished watching the entirety of Psych, I'd decided to give Psych and Philosophy: Some Dark Juju-Magumbo edited by Robert Arp a try