What are you reading?

[B E C K]

In the middle of the audiobook version of "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter" by Margareta Magnusson. This book has been on my to-read list for a while since it gets recommended for people who enjoyed Marie Kondo and Fumio Sasaki. I'm in a group for Swedish Death Cleaning (SDC) so there are other books on the subject noted as well. But this one more than any other. There's no real ruleset or anything from what I can tell. It's just about getting rid of your useless shit before you croak.

Man, this book's a fucking bore. This is a short book about nothing useful. Not that it can't be interesting because it can. This is an old Swedish lady's recounting of her charmed life. "When I lived in Asia..." "I have eight grandchildren..." "Save your favorite dildo but throw out the other fifteen."

SHUT
 UP

Okay, that was rude. If you wanna hear a cordial Swedish granny blather on for two hours, this is the book for you. I feel like I'm there: sitting on a scratchy rug near the fireplace and hearing her go on and on and on and on... I'd leave if I could but I'm a guest in her house and I can't just walk off and be outwardly rude. So I just listen and listen and cry inside because she won't SHUT UP. She's lived a charmed life full of travels and shit. GREAT. This book's more like a flex combined with her general musings than anything that can be considered of any real use.

Maybe this lady never meant to present her book as a something intended to help others. I'd like to give her benefit of the doubt that this was always supposed to be about her life with a minimal tie-in to SDC.

This is a bestseller. Meh, whatever. I went to see what other low reviews said and some people pointed out that she advocates putting down your dog when you move. I played the chapter on pets and she really doesn't: she moved countries and put down the dog because it was very old, she couldn't find a home for him, and she didn't think he'd survive the required quarantine in Sweden. Which is kinda reasonable. But I wanna know why you're even getting a dog in a foreign country with no intention of staying there and eventually returning to Sweden. She rehomed dogs in the United States as well but... I'm biased I guess because I see dogs and cats as forever. Logically, circumstances can require them being rehomed at times. But for this lady in her book to be all "Yo ho, fucking back off to Sweden" and get her old dog euthanized comes off as gross. She just sort of glosses over it. Could've been lost in translation, I suppose.

I think the bigger question is: why are pets a part of SDC? I'm going to die so it's time to chuck out the goldfish? She even included something about a dead gerbil or hamster or some sort of small creature. Did you kill him to death clean him? Why even mention him? It just makes no sense to even bring up the death of pets in the context of getting rid of one's stuff. Again, probably a biased point of view at work here. It was probably more in line with the attitude that everything dies. But returning this book to the library anyway. See ya, granny.

[B E C K]

Finished the audiobook version of A Wizard of Earthsea.

MEH.

So there's some really good parts in this book. When it's good, I can't put it down for a second. Like when Ged goes to that one place being terrorized by the dragon and gets the dragon to back off. Then he travels and ends up in this other place with a magic stone. All of that was fantastic stuff. I also really liked the part where he meets the two "kids" on the sandbar and then reunites with his school-chum.  But there's parts of the story that just draaaaggg.  Mainly the beginning and the end. The ending in particular felt like the author just wrapping shit up in the messiest way possible.

I've read this book before but couldn't remember much of anything except the shadow. I've never read the second book at all so I'm gonna give that a try and see if I like it.

[B E C K]

Finished Tombs of Atuan, the second Earthsea book. From what I see, this one is listed as a favorite among the four main Earthsea books. I have to say I agree, if at least to the fact that I find it vastly superior to the first. I'd even say a reader could start at this book and that would be better. It's a smaller, more tightly woven story that meanders far less than the first book.

The first Earthsea book is a Ged circlejerk: it tells us that Ged will be great and do a lot of cool shit in his future from the very beginning. The second one is about a girl but features an older Ged who is knowledged and in his element. Reading this one, especially if it's done without knowing anything else about Earthsea, it's plausible to the reader that Ged could actually die. This stake doesn't exist in the first book. (Frankly, I think it's to that book's detriment.)

The ending 1/5 of the book is a bit flat. The escape and death of two characters is dull instead of exciting. Then, after the escape, it feels like it's dragging on and on longer than it should. The ending is mostly world building and I would've preferred most of this world building earlier in the story. Maybe a portion of an earlier chapter being Ged approaching the Tombs of Atuan.

And, funny enough, while I like this book better overall, it doesn't beat the best portions of A Wizard of Earthsea.

[B E C K]

Listened to some audio books. Only finished one: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I think I've already mentioned it in this thread because I did reread it somewhere in the last couple of years. But I listened to the audio book because it's a new audio book for this story performed by Kenneth Branagh due to the recent movie version and it's pure gold. 11/10 performance. I will never watch the recent movie. I read a summary and I know they've butchered it. Plus, I kinda can't stand Gal Gadot. So that's whatever. But that movie gave us this audio book and I'll be re-listening to it again in the future.

Listened to a couple of other things. These two are self-help books: "Ikigai The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life" and "Niksen, the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing." Both were extremely underwhelming. "Niksen" is another "privileged woman living in another country circle jerks that country and provides no real insight or advice." How many times were you gonna quote rich-ass Gretchen Rubin. So meh to that. Also, if you played a drinking game with how often the author mentions her goddamn sofa, you'd die of alcohol poisoning. Sheesh.

"Ikigai" was a little more tolerable but falls into that trap of just regurgitating other people and ideas to the point where it offers nothing new. I got nothing from that other than "people who live in Okinawa and other locations with healty habits and long life spans live long." That does nothing for me, dude. In contract, Fumio Sasaki's "Hello Habits" also shoots back other people's words and ideas but Sasaki brings those things back to his own thoughts and his own way of managing/building habits.

I tried this other book called "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times" that was a huge waste of time. A 10/10 concept that was just the author jerking herself off. The audio book reading of it is pure cringe with the weirdest accent from the person reading it. Bleh.

I did try to continue the Earthsea Cycle with the third book but I honestly got bored. I may give it another try in the future if only because I don't think it was the fault of the book necessarily. But I noticed that these Earthsea books tend to have slow starts to them.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

The Genius Prince's Guide light novels. Just finished the second.

[B E C K]

I wish the library app had Japanese light novels.  I know, I know.  I can just sail the high seas.  But it'd be nice if there were audio book versions and I could have people just read shit to me.

I did read most of the My Dress-Up Darling manga.  Despite my complaints with this show, this manga (and the show as well) manages enough humor, character, and heart to make it something I can continue with and not just dump in disgust.  I give it credit for that.

[jonhammstein]

I read Shonen Jump every Sunday. Or whenever they update. That's about it.

Dandadan's pretty good. Started out a little rapey, though.

[B E C K]

Started "The More of Less" by Joshua Becker.  Basically, another book about minimalism.  He narrates the audio book himself.  His narration is a mess.  I have to speed him up to make it passable.  I wish he had gotten someone else to read the book because so far the material is decent.  As a pastor and grandson of a pastor, he brings up his religion a lot.  Sometimes it throws me off because I usually delve into more secular material.

Also trying this book called "Biased" that Merla is going to be reading.  I don't know if I'll stick with this one because I prefer more relaxing material in the books I consume these days.  The author of this one also narrates her book and her narration is worse than Joshua Becker's.  I wish these people would get professionals to read the material.  Dan Stevens or David Rintoul or someone who doesn't read through their damn nose like I do.  But then again I'd like to make an audio book of my own material so maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

I read all the light novels of The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt. The bad part: it continues the trend of excessively long and ridiculous titles. But that's about the only negative. I loved the hell out of it. Loved, as in past tense...I've read all 8, and the 9th doesn't come out until May. Fortunately, they are actual "light" novels, which means you don't have to invest a ton of time into it, unlike, say, DanMachi, which is beginning to resemble Harry Potter books in length the further it goes.

[Fiero]

I've probably read more in the last few months than all of last year, but it's still not much.
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talent by Octavia Butler
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Left Hand of Darkness and The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K Le Guin. The Left Hand of Darkness was kind of a letdown for me but I think because I let it get a little hyped up in my mind. I've known a lot of people that thought it was a really incredible book. I thought The Word for World is Forest was actually a superior work while being less than half the length, and in some ways they touch on similar themes (they're both in the Haimish cycle, mostly disconnected stories set in the same universe).
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Fun read, really enjoyed most of it.

Currently working through a fan's novella, Tools of a Thief by Danita Rambo. She DMs a D&D campaign I'm in set in the same world as her books. It's fine but it's not grabbing me, and some weird editing issues on the eBook are annoying me.

Part of the reason I've read more is some friends started a book club. This month we're going to read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Probably the most "real" of the books we've read. Butler's Parables are pretty heavy topically but there was still the aspect of sci-fi to distract me a bit. I'm a little worried I'm not going to be able to read this.

[B E C K]

I dropped "Biased."  The full book title is "Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do" so I thought it would be more about biases in general.  Maybe it is. But the first part of it's focused heavily on biases against black men and law enforcement (or victim) biases. The author worked with law enforcement bias training so I understand why she wrote from this perspective. While it is a worthy topic, I did want something broader in scope that perhaps didn't mention Tamir Rice's intestine.

[B E C K]

Currently reading "Lion," the story of Saroo Brierley originally published as "A Long Way Home." The book got re-branded as "Lion" to tie into the movie adaptation starring Dev Patel. (Saroo's actual given name means "Lion.") It's about the Indian guy who went on a random train as a child and got lost. He was adopted by an Australian couple but used Google maps to locate his hometown and reunited with his birth family over twenty years later.

Overall, it's a pretty good read. I'm not done with it yet. I do have one issue with it so far. Saroo interrupts his own engaging journey of adoption and acclimation to tell us about his adoptive mother's familial background with all of the grace of a Wikipedia article written by a high schooler. I'm sorry, my dude, but that's boring. That whole chapter never should've been in the book. I was blazing through the entire book and lost interest having some random white woman's family issues rattled off. And the thing is, his adoptive mother's life is actually not boring. But the chapter feels completely shoved in. Almost like he wrote the book, remembered he meant to include more about his adoptive mother, and wrote an extra chapter. The writing really suffers in this chapter.

The book does have a known ghostwriter, a journalist named Larry Buttrose. I have the feeling the "off" chapter is either a different ghostwriter or even by Saroo himself. Or maybe Buttrose himself just slapped the chapter together. Who knows. But I've read later parts of the book so I know the book improves.

[B E C K]

Also, the [Percy Jackson] series that was proposed for Disney+ got greenlit and casting is going to start. The author will be involved this time so I'm happy for him. I still think the first book, The Lightning Thief, is pretty solid. But from the second book onward, it's diminishing returns. Hopefully for him and his fans, the entire five-book series gets a nice adaptation. I feel like I need to make a bet on who will be racebent.

Highest odds are that it's still Grover.
Mid-odds are that it's both Grover and Annabeth.
Dark horse is all three leads.

Mid-odds win.  https://www.distractify.com/p/percy-jackson-disney-plus-cast

BLEH.

I would've liked leads closer to the book descriptions. Literally none of them are, not even the white boy playing Percy. Sally, Gabe, and Mr. D look well cast. Chiron's not what I pictured but I don't care about Chiron.

Some people are using the MJ excuse with the Annabeth actress. About how they can make her hair blonde and give her contact lenses. I don't have the source on hand but I recall someone (the original author maybe) insisting no one will be physically changed like that for their roles. So no contacts or hair dye for stuff like that. Good for this little girl on getting the part. She doesn't deserve any harassment for it either. Internet harassment itself is heinous enough but it's grosser when it's adults against a child.

That said, no. I do not like her casting one bit and every other picture of her is irritatingly smug. I wanted tan, blonde, grey-eyed Annabeth. (It's also revealed Annabeth has Nordic relatives so... uh... yeah.)

The bully character of Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, also became black. The chick casted as Clarisse is gorgeous, but Clarisse is kinda a buff, brutish sort of girl. I have a feeling they're going to keep the actress looking gorgeous and make Clarisse into the Regina George Mean Girls' bully-type when Clarisse was a rough, tomboy bully.  MEH. With her being Ares's daughter, they should also cast Ares black. He could be a Wesley Snipes via Blade type. Could be really cool. But I have a feeling they won't do that.

Luke's just not what I pictured. The author has artwork of the characters on his own website so you can visualize what they should look like. Luke was probably one of the few characters the movies nailed visually. This guy is a bit jarring to look at when compared to the movie and drawing Luke. I don't know what's going on with his face.


Either way, not a watch for me and that's fine. I didn't grow up with these books or anything so I wasn't hugely attached to the characters. Ending post with some cool fan animation.

[B E C K]

I finished I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. It was a good book. Very well written. About some Nickelodeon child actor I never heard of because I never liked live-action kids shows. (Nevermind being far outside the target demographic at the time of her's but I don't feel I can use that excuse when I watched cartoons just fine.) I've heard of the show she was on and the star of the show she was in but that was the extent of it. I imagine I might have a different pov of this book if I had been a child fan of her show and had the personality suited to accosting celebrities out in public. But yelling out "Sam! Where's your butter sock?!" to a complete stranger is below my dignity no matter the circumstances.

[jonhammstein]

Found out today that after completing Dorohedoro, the author (Q Hayashida) began a new manga called Dai Dark, and it's already five volumes deep. How could this have gone beyond my notice? I bought all of Dorohedoro from Amazon, you'd think they'd be trying to shove similar stuff down my throat.

Anyway, same art style, same sense of humor, only this time things are set in outer space. I've read one volume so far, and I'm totally on board.

[B E C K]

I assume Amazon is like YouTube where it recommends stuff you've already consumed or inane shit that has nothing to do with your tastes?

I'm listening to the audio book version of Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World by Philip Matyszak. I like the way this guy writes. He writes about ancient history but mainly in the context of ancient Rome. I don't know if the library has any more of his books in audio version form but I'm definitely interested.

I'm also reading Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty a.k.a. the Ask a Mortician lady on YouTube. My library doesn't have any of her books in audio book form unfortunately so I have to read this on my phone. I've found I really don't like reading books on my phone so it's a bit of a slog. No knock on the book itself. It's decent. But I don't enjoy reading whole books on my phone.

I was gonna start Metamorphoses by Ovid ("start" being the keyword, not necessarily "finish") in audio book form but my app told me someone else was waiting for it so I turned it in early and let them have it. I would've needed to renew my loan anyway since I had it for several days without touching it so I might as well try again another time.

[B E C K]

So I checked out the audiobook version of new Stephen King isekai Fairytale. Imagine: being so rich and successful that you can put out a book where a character enters a portal to a magical world and then not fucking go there for over four hours.

I'm not gonna finish this.

Yeah, it's a 24 hours audio book. Even if the pre-magic stuff, or whatever, takes another two hours, that's only a fourth of the total book. But it feels very superfluous, like knowledge the reader doesn't actually have use for and never needs to refer to again. It doesn't serve to make the world feel more alive and rich. It feels like I'm hearing about nonsense like someone going through their sock drawer or making an omelet. Also, the audio book narrator sounds bland as shit.

I went to look up some reviews on this and of course there's tons of Stephen King flagellation. One of the two star reviews made a good point about something that nagged at the back of my mind but I couldn't put it into words: this book is written in first person narration of a 17-year-old in--presumably--modern times but sounds like a 45 year old man. Which, yeah, this sounds less like a modern kid at all and more like they'd be a member of my board. The choice of the narrator almost supports the notion. Now, I'm not finishing this. So for all I know, maybe this does take place in the nineties or something where the narrator's lack of tech and dated references make more sense.

I read reviews and a summary if only to see if I should continue this and didn't care for the rest of the plot. I also jumped around the book a bit and that's how I know the kid's still not in the other world four hours in. Anyway, there's going to be a movie version and I'm not interested enough to waste any more time on this.

A couple of reviewers made alternate suggestions in their reviews: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. (Yes, someone recommended a diff Stephen King book in their review.) But even reviews for the other Stephen King book mention a slow start. Don't know if I'll try either one of these.

[jonhammstein]

I read the first two volumes of #DRCL. Holy fuck, the artistry. Good God, y'all. I'd never even heard of Shin-ichi Sakamoto before, but I have now.

[Rama]

Dead zone by Stephen King...ok listening to the audiobook. I don’t have time to read anymore t seems

[Rodent of Unusual Size]

The Fall of Numenor arrived today. I actually bought it for my oldest nephew's Christmas gift, but seeing as he just texted me a photo of the copy he ordered for himself I guess I'll be reading it henceforth....

[B E C K]

Dead zone by Stephen King...ok listening to the audiobook. I don’t have time to read anymore t seems

I just have a real hard time concentrating these days.  At least I can close my eyes and rest with an audio book.  Or get chores done at the same time.  I spent my lunch the other day petting one of the cats while listening to twenty minutes of Kurashi at Home by Marie Kondo.  She released another book and I never heard about it.  So far, same old, same old.  You're not getting anything that different from her first book.

I tried listening to Mary Poppins the other day and... well... I mean, I was kinda bored.  But more than that, Mary Poppins really comes off as a bitch.  Which, yeah, she is.  But Julie Andrews gave her charm.  I wish Julie Andrews was reading the audio book to me.

I've also listened to about three mythology audiobooks by the same author, Donna Jo Napoli: Greek, Egyptian, and Norse. Norse myths kinda lose me, ngl. The books I listened to are pretty truncated versions of the myths. They're in the juvenile section but the presentation of the material is nice: it's concise and tries to use accurate naming while inserting relevant facts for the reader. Not like that sleep story on YouTube about Osiris and Isis that conveniently leaves out that they're siblings.  And while I liked these books, it's sucky that my city library has a really limited collected for mythology audiobooks.  Like, ONE book on Egyptian mythology?  Seriously?

The same author did a book called Tales from the Arabian Nights, which I'm listening to now.  This is the second book I've tried featuring the One Thousand and One Nights. And, like, holy cow, I understand that bullshit in The Journey anime movie waaaay better now. Flashbacks within flashbacks within stories within other stories.  What the shit? And, sorry, most of these stories are kinda stupid. Sure, I'll believe my wife gave birth to a goddamn dog. Now I understand why all we hear about is Aladdin, Alibaba, and Sinbad the Sailor: because those are the only good ones. They apparently weren't even part of the original collection or whatever.

[Rama]

I mostly listen to the audio books in my car. It’s the only time outside of sleeping m not doing something.

And I’m listen to Clash of Kings by George RR Martin. George really isn’t that good of a writer I’m discovering and the guy reading this can not do two voices.

[B E C K]

Ugh, that's the worse: when the person reading out the book can't differentiate the characters for the listener. Like, look, you don't necessarily need to do like a whole Rob Paulsen range of characters but I need it to sound like you're at least playing pretend with yourself.

I'm listening to Mythos by Stephen Fry. I'm not familiar with his career. Blasphemy, I know. It's an okay book so far. It was bit lame in the beginning with some dumb jokes. As I get more into it, it feels more like hearing a friend recount what they heard about myths. Which is not a negative on it. It's getting better. I'm just not sure if I'll stick with it.

[B E C K]

Mythos has continued to be okay as I give it more of a listen. I listen to audiobooks to relax and this one accomplished that.

Tales from 1001 Nights lost me. Even the Ali Baba tale was stupid. His Mary Sue servant, er, his Mary Suevant, saves everyone in the end.

I'm not bothering to finish Marie Kondo's latest book either. Her first book remains her only book necessary while every other book she writes is milking her brand.

[B E C K]

I dropped everything I was, ahem, reading. I want to be more well-read but, shit, I can't scrape up the interest.

[B E C K]

In-coming Jane Austen post that no one but myself will read so I should've just made this a blog post but whatever:

So I'm listening to audiobook versions of Jane Austen's works. Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice are my favorites and they remain as such. I also tried Emma and Sense and Sensibility.

At least two or maybe three audiobook versions of P&P get way too ridiculous. Yes, yes, the character of Mrs. Bennet is supposed to be this brash, sorta ridiculous woman whose fears of being destitute fuel the obsessive need to marry off her daughters. But the narrators play this up entirely too much for me to be able to relax to this story.

Persuasion gets props for being the more palatable audiobook. All of Austen's stories have characters with quirks. I feel Persuasion leaves less room in the story for an audiobook narrator to get too ridiculous because it's mostly through the quiet Anne's viewpoint. The narrator can be a snob with "No one will want you in Bath" or whine about how the Musgroves did not call upon Anne as they should and then story moves on. There isn't the space like in P&P for a narrator to get too silly.

Emma I just can't bring myself to even try to finish. Emma is too damn long of a book for starters. And the conflict in Emma can be summarized as "bored, rich girl matchmaker unbores self." What is Emma's risk or stake in the plot at all? The P&P girls risk poverty (if they do not marry well; inheritance doesn't allow girls to inherit from their father) and ruin (when one of the sisters runs off with a rake). In Persuasion, the family is also running into money issues because the patriarch is a spendthrift and the main character is sad, lonely, and unappreciated. Like, this is the first line of Emma:

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

And it just makes me dislike her. Fuck you and your rich, happy ass. I kept listening and it goes on about how she's sad her governess or whoever got married and left her house so now Emma and Daddy are all alone by rich, happy selves. Boo hoo. Why do I care about any of this?  Anyone remotely interested in this story is better off just watching "Clueless."

Sense & Sensibility is hard for me to rewatch as a movie or show because it makes me angry and unfortunately I find the audiobook no different. The main characters, the Dashwoods (a mother and three daughters), are supposed to be taken care of after the death of the family patriarch by his son. Instead they are let down and must leave their home; they are resented for their station in life; and the two elder daughters are meddled with by well-intentioned matchmaker. Marianne is led on by that carousing, callow jerk Willoughby who knocked up Col. Brandon's ward. Elinor must watch as Lucy the golddigger calls claim on the man she loves by virtue of meeting him first. All this story does is make me angry and it all goes on for too damn long.

I'm still trying to figure out why this book makes me angry because the Dashwoods aren't any more or less screwed over than other Austen characters. Maybe it's because this story makes the reader experience the "screwing over" too fully. In P&P, Jane Bennet is screwed over when she goes to London to visit Mr. Bingley and the latter's friend and sisters hide the fact that she's there (so she doesn't get to see her man). But the reader doesn't actually get to hear and see all of this happen. The reader experiences this through Jane Bennet's letter to Lizzy in which she talks about the Bingley sisters brushing her off and the fact she doesn't get to see Mr. Bingley. And Jane even gives the sisters the benefit of the doubt that they were only being unkind to be kind, so to speak. We don't have to wallow in the sisters being bitches to Jane and Jane feeling awkward and hurt. We are left to read between the lines of a second-hand account and don't fully grasp Darcy's involvement until he admits to it later in the book. While in S&S, we have to suffer bitches being bitches to people feeling embarrassed for it and it's tiresome.