8: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Started another series. It was good! Not so much military shooty shooty like a lot of sci fi. A rag tag salvage crew and their ship are pulled into politics, gangs and a new world ending (literally) threat and their weird navigator has to save the galaxy. Again.

#3 - Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Like the previous two Discworld books, this one still doesn't quite get it right for me. I do plan to read more of the Discworld series in-between other reads as I can feel the potential for this to be a series I'd enjoy, but it's just not there yet. Of the three I've read so far, this was probably my least favourite.

I have a couple of books on reserve from the library but they're not ready for collection yet, so will be having a rummage through their eBook selection. Wish I'd given the library more of a chance years ago. They have a pretty good selection of stuff and because it doesn't cost anything, I feel like I'm a bit more willing to try some books that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with.

10. Death: At Death’s Door – A manga-style spinoff of the Sandman comics, centered on Dream’s sister Death, who is dealing with the aftermath of Dream’s actions in the main comic’s Season of Mists arc. I haven’t read that far into Sandman, but the manga gives a quick recap: Lucifer quits, Hell is closed, and the lost souls are free, with everyone flocking to Death’s realm for an impromptu party. It was a fun read, mostly for the comedic antics and the manga art.

11. Mistborn: The Final Empire - I tried reading this for 2023, but there was no time left. This was much lighter in a way than the denser Stormlight Archive novels. It is about a wanted slave-turned-rebel leader and his young protege trying to start a rebellion against an oppressive empire.

A lot of work went into figuring out how the Mistborn powers work, like the magic system used in the Stormlight Archive. To explain all that though, there are times in the book where the exposition gets too heavy for a single conversation. I did enjoy the twists throughout the story, and the back-and-forth banter between the main crew. I was surprised by the fates of at least 2 characters, who I thought would play certain roles in this trilogy but apparently will not. I plan to read the next two books this year.

And one of my favorite parts of At Death’s Door:

I just discovered this thread and love it! Great work everybody getting the reading in.

I'm late to join officially, but put me down for 15 books this year. I'm currently at 5.

When McKinsey Comes to Town by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe:

A deep dive into the McKinsey Group consultant firm and all of the many ways that they have contributed to the creation the economic, ecologic, social, and political hell we all experience everyday! Including but not limited to the massive disparity in CEO and Employee wages, Workplace safety negligence in the interest of profit, the proliferation of 'private contractor positions' that should really be salaried permanent positions, the green washing of eco-destructive industries like oil and gas, the complete consumer hell that is the insurance insurance industry, and so much more.

Hainish Novels & Stories, Volume one - Ursula K Le Guin:

A collection of the Hainish Cycle novels including Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, The Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and a few short stories originally published in Sci-Fi magazines. I read The Dispossessed last year so I'd only count Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, and The Left Hand of Darkness for this year.

Quick Summaries:

Rocannon's World - A surveyor from the league of Human colonies is investigating a potential new inductee civilization on a planet on the outskirts of the League's sphere of influence. In his explorations he's attacked by the enemy of the League, and must go on a quest to end them. This is the most fanrtastical of the Hainish books, and despite being "sci-fi" really feels like a mythological parable or the story of an ancient champion.

Planet of Exile - Two ethnic groups of humans co-inhabit a world entering a long winter. Racial and cultural tensions between the ruling of the planet and the shrinking underclass flare up as a massive hoard of northern barbarians head south to escape the coming winter. Some interesting twists in this one.

City of Illusions - A strange looking amnesiac human with reptillian eyes emerges from the woods into a rural homestead on an Earth that is revealed to be ruled by a tyrannical 'enemy' of the former Human League. The amnesiac is taught by the family to be human, but cannot stay forever and must travel across what was the US many thousands of years ago to potentially find out who he was. - I really liked this one.

The Left Hand of Darkness - One of Le Guin's most celebrated works; definitely a good one. A lone diplomat from the Human League is sent to the planet Winter, a perpetually snowy planet of largely sexless humans, who enter a breeding week every month, but are otherwise asexual beings. Lots of explorations of different social structures and the natures of society/culture/social etiquette. The diplomat is sent to work out terms of Winter's admittance into the League with one of the main two civilizations, one a fairly barbaric monarchy, and the other a claustrophobic bureaucracy.

Currently I'm trying to find the time to get started on The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. My friend insisted I read it so I'm going to do my best, she promises it's not like the movie I never watched.

9. The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

A tale of queer vampires, focusing on a runaway slave turned vampire as she lives her life from 1850 to 2050. Great to just read, but the issues it tackles by way of the vampire novel are deep and impressive.

Done reading these books:

18. 50, Hideo Yokoyama, 352 pages

19. Das Ewigkeitsprojekt, Caroline Hofstätter, 232 pages

20. Der Massai, der in Schweden noch eine Rechnung offen hatte (Sweet Sweet Revenge LTD), Jonas Jonasson, 416 pages

21. Tausendschön (Silenced), Kristina Ohlsson, 480 pages

22. Lacroix und die Toten vom Pont Neuf, Alex Lépic, 272 pages

23. Verborgen im Gletscher (The Darkness Knows), Arnaldur Indriðason, 265 pages

24. Die Menschen von A bis Z (Humans: An A-Z), Matt Haig, 192 pages

25. 1414°, Paul Bradley Carr, 400 pages

50:

Sochiro Kaji is a well respected police man of the Prefacture W, until the day the 49 year old man turns himself in, confessing the murder of his wife that suffered from Alzheimers and requested to be killed before she forgets their only son, who tragedly died to illness.

Even though the case seems clear, there is a three-day window between the murder and Sochiro Kaji turning himself in, and his testimony has holes in it that Detective Inspector Kazumasa Shiki wants to resolve - but higher-ups are eager to close the case quickly, as a policeman committing murder is already seen as a big public disgrage.

What has Sochiro Kaji done in those elusive three days and why does he seem to harbour a wish to die once he turns 50?

Great book. Not sure if this one exists in english but other books revolving around the same Prefeacture do.

Das Ewigkeitsprojekt:

Dr. Sarah Berger wakes up one day and is seemingly the last person on earth, as all houses in her neighbourhood and the nearby train station are bereft of any signs of life. Soon after she gets a message on her laptop that the company that she works for has put her, allegedly with her agreeing to it, into the so called Eternity Project - a fully immersive virtual reality, intented to be a workspace free of distractions.

But some things don't add up and Sarah needs to as herself how to break out and how much time has passed since the project started.

Pretty good book. Not available in english.

Sweet Sweet Revenge LTD:

A greedy galleryst is shocked when he finds out he has a son - and tries to get rid of him by leaving the 18 years old young man literally on his own in the desert. Due to lucky circumstances he manages to survive, become a Massai and get back to Stockholm where he teams up with Jennifer, ex-wife of the greedy galleryst and also with the founder of Sweet Sweet Revenge LTD to come up with, you guessed it, a revenge plan that revolves around forged paintings, flour suspicously placed in plastic bags and a goat, all placed in the cellar of the galleryst. But things go haywire and more weird stuff happens as a result.

Good book. Story is lass zany than The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, which makes for a more guided storyline but some humour is lost as a result.

Silenced:

Second book revolving around Fredrika Bergman, investigative analyst. 15 years ago: A young girl gets ambushed and raped. Now, a man is killed by getting run over with a car, with the driver nowhere to be found; and a priest and his wife commit suicide - but everyone who knows them claim that it must be murder.

Both cases have very few leads but one thing becomes clear as the investigations go on - the cases are connected in some way and hide a plethora of dark secrets that have a ripple effect reaching from crimes of the past all the way to this current case that is not finished causing victims, either.

Good book. Also similiarly grim as the first book.

Lacroix und die Toten vom Pont Neuf:

Police commissioner Lacroix, by some called the "new Maigret" has just returned when a crime strikes Paris: a homeless person, a so called Clochard, has been killed in his sleep. The next night the same thing happens - and the similiarities to a case from thirty years ago are striking. Can oldschool Lacroix solve this case and the old unresolved one?

Great book. Feels more like a travel guide and french cuisine recommendation book at times but the characters are likeable and the case was compelling. There are more entries in the series that I will read later. Not available in english.

The Darkness Knows:

When a corpse emerges from a thawing glacier, Konráds interest rises. Now that he is retired from police work, he still feels bad about not being able to solve this cold case from decades ago. As such, he is doing some research on his own, taking testimonies from everyone who was a person of interest back then.

Average book. Mostly a lot of talking to several witnesses and meager payoff.

Humans: An A-Z:

Short guide for earth visitors, detailing the importance of wearing clothes, why short grass is worshipped and why peanut butter is the best food on earth.

Pretty good book intented to be read after The Humans by the same author.

1414°:

Journalist Lou McCarthy has made it her life mission to expose the dark secrets of the powerful men running Sillicon Valley. When two of the most well known tech giants kill themselves after she publishes a newspaper article that was also based on wrong information, the public blame falls onto her and she loses her job.

All she can do now is find the real killer and decide to support their cause or not.

Decent book. Ending is weak.

Moominsummer Madness. It's a Moomin book; one fundamentally knows what to expect going into a Moomin book and this delivered on that well. I'd say probably about as good as the previous Moomin book. This one's (presumably) one-off character Misabel spoke to me, and properly getting to Little My was nice; I'd actually forgotten she was in the last book. Back to Jonathan Strange again now.

Wakka Wakka

4: Children of Dune - Frank Herbert

It was good, but a little odder than the previous books. Paul had two kids who both possessed his prescience powers and are pre-born. They resist becoming abominations by not drinking the waters of life that Jessica and Paul drank, and Alia becomes an abomination possessed by the Baron Harkonnen. There's also a preacher who is from the deep desert that speaks out against Paul Maud'Dib and the religion and jihad spread in his name. There's some odd twists later on where Paul's son Leto II looks farther into the visions that Paul had, and actually goes on the path Paul avoided because it was the golden path and not the jihad Paul thought it would lead to, and IMO the result is where it gets a little weird, but I'm thinking this book was more a setup for the next book.

Would read again though.

#4 - Killing Floor by Lee Child

Think I’ve only ever read one Reacher novel besides this one and that would have been in my early teens. I remember it being an entertaining page turner and this one was no different. Will probably come back to these from time to time if needing a break from my normal reads.

Millionaire game-plan become a self made millionaire now

Recieving from the universe ,how to get what you want everytime

Be greatful ,everything you want will come to you

Metaphysics in the commendments

The secret of Thought magic

The Brain Mechanic by Peter Hollins

The intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham

Alcholics anonymous

Smart People ,Keys to become smarter everyday

Don't Believe everything you think by Joseph Nyugen

Eat that frog by Brian Tracy

Subconcious Awakening ,Training your subconscious mind to get what you want

Quantum mind : Unveiling the secrets of consciousness

Law of Vibration Raise your energy to manifest anything you want

How a Positive mind can lead to you to unbelievable success

God- Mind in you by Carl Jung

100 million dollar offers ,How to make offers so good that people would have to be dumb to say no

God Prosperity -How to recieve money from god

The Abc of Money by Andrew Carnegy

Finished reading Kiki's Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便). A charming slice-of-life tale about a girl named Kiki, who's a witch. The first book (there are 6+ I believe) covers her initial journey to the town of Koriko and her setting up shop there, as part of the witch tradition of becoming independent and leaving for a different place upon turning 13.

As the title says, Kiki opens up an air-delivery service after a set of circumstances occur after her landing in the city. The rest of the novel covers her adventures delivering various goods to the people of the town, with some of them more outlandish and difficult than others, as well as her personal relationships between the townsfolk.

Although this is a kids' story, it's well worth the read even as adults because Kiki's journey should hit home to most adults who have moved far away from their hometown. The challenges Kiki faced are relatable in that sense, and there were some rather emotional parts here and there.

Kiki is very well written as a 13 year old girl. That's to say, that even though witches -- or at least, her upbringing and attempt for independence -- makes her appear more mature than her similarly-aged brethren of Koriko, she's still a fucking brat at times. Maybe she's less bratty in the English version, or maybe my Japanese isn't as good yet, but it felt like Kiki was at times being easily irritable and a brat for the sake of it. Not to mention there were parts where Kiki was rather mischevious (which ended up in her almost immediately getting her just deserts for it). Even though this occurs in the middle of the book, there's a good reason for it and there's also some character development as a result of it, so it's worth pushing through that point (irritating though it may be to read as an adult as compared to as a kid).

I'd give this book a 7 or an 8 out of 10.

Finished Jonathan Strange. Banger.

9: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

read the 2nd book of the weird super melodramatic space communist revolution. Lots more dying. Lots more long dramatic conversations about loyalty and building a new world. I dunno. I don't like this series. We queued up Going Postal by Terry Pratchett for the next book.

Law of Contentment - Do What Makes You Happy and Tell No One Audiobook

Ngaslife

Thoughts Are Things - Ernest Holmes - FULL AUDIOBOOK

The Inner Voice

Care Less - Being Calm in All Situations by Being Unbothered Audiobook

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How to tune in to yourself - YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM VOL 1 - Prentice Mulford

The Sound of Books

Awakened Imagination - Neville Goddard - FULL AUDIOBOOK

The Inner Voice

Breaking Barriers - Building Unshakeable Confidence Audiobook

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High-Value Human - Increase Your Value by Looking After Yourself Audiobook

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Limitless Focus - Master Your Mind to Create Anything Extraordinary Audiobook

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"The Great Tax Robbery" Book Full Audiobook-Book Audiobook English-Audiobooks Full Length-Audiobook

Future Books Club English

Law of Assumption - What You Think is True, Happens in Your Life Audiobook (NevilleGoddard&Abdullah)

Ngaslife

Be Thankful: 23 Ways to Receive Abundantly from the Universe | Audiobook

Audio Books Office

Money Energy - Why People Attract Money Easily, How You Can Too Audiobook

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🧠 The Law of Mind [The Law that Surpasses the Law of Attraction 🤯]

Su Maxum

Live In The End - Whatever You Asked, Believe You Have It Audiobook

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The Practice of Giving (Dana) - Why The More You Give, The More You Receive Audiobook

10: The Exodus Gambit by Glynn Stewart

Received the ARC of this from Stewart's Patreon. It's a new series he is starting and it's similar to what he usually writes. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here as this one ended with bit of a cliffhanger.

12. All is Found: A Frozen Anthology - For Frozen’s 10th anniversary, Disney released an anthology of 10 stories, taking place before and after both movies. The story about Anna and her father was my favorite since it was the one relationship not explored in the movies. I didn’t care for the story with Oaken the shopkeeper since I never cared for that character. The story with the indigenous people was a pleasant surprise, even though it has a very tenuous connection to Frozen.

13. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - I was aware that Blade Runner is loosely based on this, but I did not expect there to be an actual electric sheep in the plot. The novel and the movie are broadly similar: Rick Deckard going after runaway androids, and both have the main theme of what it means to being human. Otherwise there are plenty of differences. The movie leaves out the novel part where people on Earth have animal pets as proof of their empathy which for them equates to having humanity, with Deckard and his wife having an electric sheep after his real one dies.

14. Oscar Wars – A brief history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science and its annual awards, covering several major notable years, from Citizen Kane getting purposely snubbed, to Harvey Weinstein’s Oscar campaign in the 1990s. The overall theme of the book is “it has happened before, and it will happen again.” Like the recent diverse membership changes are reminiscent of the 1960s push by the Academy for younger actors to join and vote for the Oscars. It is fascinating to see how the awards have been used for all kinds of political power plays, as well as the behind-the-scenes drama during the shows, like when the wrong film was announced as the Best Picture winner in 2017.

15. The Lady From The Black Lagoon – A biography of the forgotten costume designer of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, except it is not quite a straightforward biography. The book is about author Mallory O’Meara’s travels in Los Angeles as she attempts to find more info on Millicent Patrick, who is barely a footnote in film history and lived under numerous stage and married names. O’Meara also makes it clear that throughout the book, the sexism that hindered Patrick’s career still exists in the male dominated film industry, despite whatever progress in the ensuing decades.

Dungeon Meshi Volume 2 by Ryōko Kui

7. Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

8. Lois Lowry - The Giver

+2

Ok so I set out to read I am Legend by Richard Matheson. Yet again I keep finding books I've seen the movies of. I kinda hate movies and most of what I have watched was just with other people. I'll run out of books like that soon.

I will also summarize it comparing it to the movie, in a way that shouldn't spoil anything.

"This motherfucker is crazy, lonely, and horny. Also white. Dammit stop imagining Will Smith." (I did eventually manage to force myself to see the scruffy bearded fucker he was supposed to be.)

"There's the dog! Oh..."

"Now he finds the woman! OH!"

"Wait did this book just end halfway through and start giving me unrelated short stories???"

Yup. I don't know if that's normal for a print of I am Legend because it's not acknowledged anywhere on the cover, nobody mentions it in reviews, and they are only listed in the copyright section. I'm counting all of the short stories together as a point. While researching I wasn't surprised at all to find out he wrote for The Twilight Zone, but it was cool to find out he also wrote for Star Trek. Also William Shatner was in some of his Twilight Zone episodes. Two of my favorite shows to put on as background noise, and I just stumbled on a book that was like getting a warm hug from both. If you've never read/watched any of the stuff I just mentioned: it's not cozy or anything like that. It's still horror (except star trek I guess). I just enjoyed how familiar it felt. Like meeting your weird friends parents and having a nice time with them even though the trailer smells like cat pee and there's just a crater in the couch serving as an ash tray.

Another month closes like a big nuclear bunker door so get those updates posted lest they get trapped inside 5ever

@argile @Asandir @Atlas @AxolotlGav @CarterSterling @CappyCatII @Darklion0 @Dean @detergent1 @door88 @DrSevenSiezeMD @Frontlined-Backend @Ganon-Dorf @Gimmick @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @OlTrout @OneThousandMeeps @Pingu @Prinzy2 @PudgieDaFrog @Sheik13LoZ @SlutasaurusRex @TecNoir @TehPoptartKid @The-Great-One @TopazAzul @UnderWhirl @Urichov @Yomuchan @ZJ

My fav is in the 1964 film adaptation where he wears a tweed suit and maintains a pristine pencil stache well into the apocalypse. Extinction is no reason to turn the swagger off.

Not for I Am Legend specifically but a lot of shorter classics (I recall this being around 130 pages) seem to get padded out like this with extra stories and/or a ludicrous foreword.

Crush Negative Thinking- A Guide to control your Mind & Emotions positively Audiobook

STOIC I AM

Adaptive Thinking - Navigating Change with Adaptability Audiobook

Ngaslife

Law of Attraction - The Whole Universe is Working in Your Favour Audiobook

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Self Conscious Removal - Unleash Your Inner Strength Audiobook

Ngaslife

WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH YOUR WILL POWER - RUSSELL H CONWELL

The Sound of Books

Dave Ramsey: Total Money Makeover FREE Audiobook

Knowledge Nexus: 100% FREE and Full Audio Books

The Magic of Believing (1948) by Claude M. Bristol

Master Key Society

Manifesting Miracles: A guide on Power of the Subconscious Mind for Supernatural Life Audiobook

STOIC I AM

Divine Solutions: Let God Work It Out For You (Audiobook)

God Daily News

How To Promote Yourself (1914) by Wallace D. Wattles

Master Key Society

I AM Always Here - Book That Will Accompany You Forever Audiobook

Ngaslife

The Narrow Path: A Guide to the Mind Qualities of the Top 1% Winners Audiobook

STOIC I AM

Energy Vibrations: How To Protect Your Energy From Low Vibrations | Audiobook

I am currently doing better financially then I had been several months back but I'm not quite there to where I'm able to afford audible gold and Kindle unlimited on monthly basis yet ..after spending a good month of how to manage burnout and it's symptoms I have finally found a good balance of leisure and work ...wish there were more audiobooks like Calculas Made Easy though

Done reading these books:

26. Die lange Reise der Artemis, Kristina Günak, 324 pages

27. Spektrum, Sergej Lukianenko, 720 pages

28. Die Erfindung des Dosenöffners, Tarkan Bagci, 256 pages

29. 2086 - Sturz in die Zukunft (For us the living), Robert A. Heinlein, 328 pages

Die lange Reise der Artemis:

2123 - Milla Greenwich is the hired doctor of a spacecrew and plans to flee from the ship so that she can find a way to travel to the planet where her ill brother is getting insufficient medical care and is in danger of being given up on - and to make things more complicated, she also ends up tagging along with a DNA-modified super soldier who has his own reasons for fleeing from the spaceship.

Pretty good book. Not available in english.

Spektrum:

Martin Dugin has two passions in his life: enjoying and cooking good food and also being a private detective, travelling between worlds, using a galaxy transport system that is in the hands of the so called Warders - all they ask for travel is a good story - but they are picky and Martin has gained some level of fame from having managed to be allowed to travel so much, as his stories seem to struck a chord with the wardens.

One day, he gets the task to look after a seventeen year old girl and find out to which planet she went. He quickly figures out where she went but through tragic circumstances, the girl ends up getting killed - but rumours of here being seen later on another planet pop up and Martin gets involved with events that might throw the whole Warden transport system out of balance.

Good book. Very slow place, though.

Die Erfindung des Dosenöffners:

Timur Aslan dreams of becoming a big journalist but right now he is stuck in his small town, working for a small agency. Timur is not happy with that but it seems like a big story is right around the corner - an old lady who claims to having invented the can opener (well atleast one specific version of it). As he tries to get the full story, Timur gets confronted with the question if constantly striving for better can lead to happiness.

Good book. At first I thought it was just a short goofy book but the overall message is pretty wholesome.

For us the living:

1939: Perry Pelson gets involved in a horrible crash - and when he wakes up the year is 2086. Confronted with a completely different society that functions differently in like, all the ways, Perry needs to study how the government, the fincancial system and overall morality works in 2086 - luckily he gets help by Diana, who found him after the crash.

Still, problems arise as the world in 2086 is so different that Perry struckles to adjust and findself breaking the law.

Decent book. More of a an outlook about how a future society could look than a story but I enjoyed it.

Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny

The Matisse Stories

Dictionary of Demons

work took away my headphones now I can’t read and am the big sad. That’s not a book tittle, it’s real.

For an extra buck fifty, you can add a side order of online graphic novel

The Art of War by Sun Tzu translation by Lionel Giles

If you shrink then you may want to read moar comix

Just one for March, but I have made good progress on another book, so maybe next month will be better.

Three for March. I'm sliding slightly behind my goal for the year but that's ok. Some of these were a little longer than I typically read

March (3)

8: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

9: Golden Son by Pierce Brown

10: The Exodus Gambit by Glynn Stewart

LITFAM UPDATE: 33⅓ EDITION

Behold the month where everyone landed on 33% (despite only being 25% through the year) and @argile unlocked the secret of manifesting ludicrous counts via short youtube audio books, annihilating that goal and sliding into the 100% club where @door88 already had the champagne popped and flowin'. Also added @SourCherryJack and @YendorNG to the roster, yeeted @JJBoltonNG by request.

We're otherwise chugging along nicely into the heart of spring with more goals than not being on-track. Keep flicking those pages despite life's best effort to throw you off and the next tome you crack open could be your all-timer.

Top Fam

1. @argile (47 wtf)
2. @Asandir (12)
3. @JerseyWildcard (6)

@argile @Asandir @Atlas @AxolotlGav @CarterSterling @CappyCatII @Darklion0 @Dean @detergent1 @door88 @DrSevenSiezeMD @Frontlined-Backend @Ganon-Dorf @Gimmick @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @OlTrout @OneThousandMeeps @Pingu @Prinzy2 @PudgieDaFrog @Sheik13LoZ @SlutasaurusRex @SourCherryJack @TecNoir @TehPoptartKid @The-Great-One @TopazAzul @UnderWhirl @Urichov @YendorNG @Yomuchan @ZJ