Category: monthly

  • November is over, now let’s talk about December and winter

    November is over, now let’s talk about December and winter

    I planned to read six books in November, but managed to read only four. I didn’t write even one article/review in November, but made one important shift: I moved from Twitter to BlueSky. And I like it there. Much less bullshit and politics and ads, much more interaction and engagement and fun.

    So, November.
    1. One Hudred years of Solitude
    There is a whole story of my wife’s relationship with this book. She doesn’t understand it, she hates it, she despices it. And just before this book gets adaptation on Netflix, she asked me to read this novel and give her my opinion. Because so far she’s in minority, everyone seems to love this book. So, on the 1st of November I opened my ebook and started to read. And page after page my eyes got wider and wider. Holy fuck! I wasn’t expecting THAT! It took me one third of the month to complete this book. I suffered through it, the pain was almost physical. I haven’t read so many incest scenes in one book ever. I think Game of Thrones has less incest than that. And, actually, I didn’t get why this book had been written. Where is the sense of it? I think I missed some context. Luckily. This book got 3 out of 10. Just for the magical realism. That was fun and interesting. But not much.
    2. Ancient as the Stars
    This novel I read during my vacation in Norway. Every evening I sat with my Kindle, poured Green Earl Grey, and started to read. I finished this book relatively quickly, because it was interesting, exciting, and well-written. I plan to write a full review on that, so just wait.
    3. The Sound of Starfall
    A small novella I read while flying home from vacation. A short introduction to the world of the Remembered Lands. I’ve got “A Memory of Song” and will definitely read it till the sequel arrives.
    4. Digital Extremities
    Oh, that was an absolute pleasure. A collection of short stories appearing all around the world in a short span of time. Very light cyberpunk with strong vibes of Black Mirror. Some of them were good, a couple were really great, none was mediocre. That’s a must-read for every cyberpunk fan.
    Book of the Month.
    My Book of the Month is of course “DIGITAL EXTREMITIES”. I love such stories and the writing style is very likable. “36 Broadway Avenue” is just a masterpiece. Great debut, 9 out of 10.

    And now let’s talk about winter in general and December in parrticular.
    I’ll slightly change the structure of my TBR list from now on. There will be two missions: primary and secondary. Each mission contains three items. Primary is a must, secondary is good to accomplish. Primary is a part of a bigger strategic goal, secondary is indie, fantasy, novellas, ARCs and books on other languages and/or formats. So the format is 3+3 and then, if I have some time left I’ll improvise, my TBR list is huge.
    Now the winter-spring 2024-25 goal: Foundation + Dune + New Crobuzon trilogy + The Book of the New Sun.That’s all 20 books, so in winter Foundation + the first Dune trilogy, and in spring the rest. Secondary goals will be defined on per-month basis and the list is never final.
    So, let’s focus on December now. The Foundation trilogy is my Primary Goal. The Secondary goal consists of:
    – secret ARC
    – Dust & Lightning by Rebecca Crunden
    – The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowsky on German (just to get the feeling)

    That’s all for now! See ya all in the bluesky.app

  • October Reading Success and My November Reading List

    October Reading Success and My November Reading List

    Hello folks! October has come to the end and I’m pretty proud with the results. I read six books in October, for me it’s an outstanding result. And half of them are reviewed, but my plan is to review them all. And the books were excellent. I really enjoyed reading them. Here is the full list:

    1. T.R. Napper – The Escher Man
    2. Aaron M. Payne – Falling into Oblivion
    3. Molly Macabre – Dark Bloom
    4. Dan Abbnett – Horus Rising
    5. Mike Brooks – Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Blades
    6. Keanu Reeves, China Miéville – the book of elsewhere

    I’ll link the books with reviews, so you can check whether they are of interest to you. And here is my list for November:

    1. Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude – my wife asked me to read this book, because she needs my opinion on it, she actually thinks this book is far away from being a masterpiece, so I need to be a judge whether she is right or wrong
    2. Adam Bassett – Digital Extremities – I contacted Adam via Twitter and he sent me his book. I got it and it will be actually my monthly dose of cyberpunk. Yes, I’m addicted, so what?
    3. Maya Darjani – Ancient as the Stars – Some very promising indie space opera. I bought the first book and pre-ordered the second. I need some more science fiction in my life.
    4. William Gibson – Burning Chrome – More cyberpunk… is anyone surprised?
    5. Peter F. Hamilton – Exodus – I’ve got this book in gorgeous TBB edition. I’m looking forward to playing a game when it comes out. Before that I’ll dive into the lore of this universe.
    6. Anthony Ryan – A Tide of Black Steel – I’m a fan of the Nordic culture, and sometimes I need to read some fantasy. I heard really good reviews about Anthony Ryan’s style and prose, so let’s try it out!

    I’m pretty sure there will be some changes during the month, but that’s the initial plan. And yeah, I plan to review them all for you.