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What Are You Reading? (July 2019)

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Jag

Jag

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,669
Happy July!

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Join the ResetEra Goodreads Book Club to track your progress on our monthly read threads.


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Happy reading!
 
Wetwork

Wetwork

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,607
Colorado
Starting up House of Leaves for the third time. Really solid, but the past two attempts had me drop off in similar spots. This time ima finish
 

Deleted member 54320

User requested account closure
Banned
Feb 28, 2019
617
London
Currently reading this and enjoying it. I don't read many things but would like to get into checking out more lovecraftian stories. Any suggestions?

 
Ary F.

Ary F.

Member
Oct 30, 2017
736
Started reading A Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson in June but thanks to final exams I had to put the books down and study like a madwoman. I'm currently waiting to board an eleven hour flight so now I finally get to catch up.
 
Cruxist

Cruxist

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,814
Currently working on the audiobook of Tony Judt's Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.

Really good so far. I'm American, so my knowledge of post-ww2 Europe is limited to the Marshall Plan and "Soviets = Bad". So far it's been really interesting seeing how the US and UK both initially really wanted to bail on the continent, how the Soviets turned off all the Western European communist parties through its own actions, and how drastic the social changes were.
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Working slowly through Dhalgren again. About 80 pages in. Having to force myself to commit to reading because it's very difficult, but Bellona is the exact sort of murky, unorthodox world that I love to see explored, and the prose - especially when it sticks--is glorious.
 
Pellaidh

Pellaidh

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,168
39963540.jpg


Finished A Fire Upon the Deep

In terms of its world, this is exactly the kind of sci-fi I like to read. It has pretty much everything I want. An interesting concept behind its world, a huge scale, super creative aliens, and even a touch of cosmic horror.

But sadly, for all its creativity in the world building and alien races, the actual plot and characters are just kind of super generic (except for one that I thought was somewhat decent, but still not great). The entire story is basically just a completely straightforward macguffin chase with nothing really interesting happening, and the characters are just generic stereotypes neatly seperated into good and evil. It's the kind of book where all the good stuff (the worldbuilding and alien introduction) is super frontloaded to the point where I think I would like the book more if I just stopped reading it a quarter of the way in. Even the wikipedia story description basically just spends 3/4 of it talking about the first hundred pages of the book, then just quickly skips over the last 300. Because nothing of note really happens in them.

The really good sci-fi books manage to have cool settings that they also intimately weave into the actual plot and characters so that you get a story that relies on the world to work. But here, it feels like the actual story part of the book could have easily been told in any generic sci-fi setting. Which is a real shame, because I feel like this world and its weird aliens really deserve better. It's not a bad book because the setting is still strong enough to still carry it, but it could have been so much more.

And since I remember someone in an earlier thread asking how much of a hard sci-fi book this is, my final answer is that it really isn't. I don't even understand why wikipedia has it tagged as such, because this leans way closer to science fantasy for me. Tons of impossible technology that just somehow exists, and almost no scientific explanation for anything. Which is cool in a way because it does allow the book to have its crazy world (and everything does actually make sense in the context of this world in a really cool way), but it's not really hard sci-fi.
 
DassoBrother

DassoBrother

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,623
Saskatchewan
I'm already halfway through The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu so I'll finish it in the next couple weeks and then probably finish the series. I definitely am enjoying it so far and I'm feeling invested in a few characters. There still hasn't really been a time skip but I'm assuming at some point that'll happen.
 
djinn

djinn

Member
Nov 16, 2017
15,730
Does finishing my reread of Fruits Basket count? Because I finished it again last night and I think I cried harder than I did 10 years ago.
 
Reader

Reader

Member
Oct 27, 2017
113
I've recently finished Haroun, and the Sea of Stories. I've been putting it off for far too long, and recently got around to finally completing it. It was a great book, really enjoyed it.

Now I am reading The Handmaiden's Tale. I like to read books one to two chapters per day. It's quite good so far. The world seems to be pretty weird because it seems like it's turned into some sort of a military country or something. I'm looking forward to reading it more as the days go on. One of the sentences that stuck with me was something on the lines of the society switching from Freedom To to Freedom From. It's weird, but I like it so far. Here's the cover of the book:

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Blue Skies

Blue Skies

Banned
Mar 27, 2019
9,224
Seeking a recommendation: anything like "The Town", "Heat", or "Collateral" movies in book form?

Preferably fiction but I'm okay with true events.

No fantasy.
 
ElephantShell

ElephantShell

10,000,000
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,912
I'm going to start Dan Simmons' Carrion Comfort as soon as I finish volume 3 of the Harrow County series from Dark Horse. I loved the Terror so I'm looking forward to it.
 
Book One

Book One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,814
I'll just repost this since I posted at the very end of last thread

Anyone read this?

pnlRWX9.jpg


curious if it's worth a read
 
fakefaker

fakefaker

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
284
Still plowing through Temper by Nicky Drayden. Unfortunately, it's turned into one of those books you just rush through the second half since your backlog is so big and you want to start something else. Basically right now it's a little better than meh.
 
Li Kao

Li Kao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,729
A little help would be appreciated : several weeks ago I stumbled upon an 'horror' book, but now can't for the life of me remember its title in order to check its reviews.
What I can remember is that it was an horror book, or more probably a weird fiction book, situated in a dilapidated town where every house had its ghosts. Where maybe the living lived with their ghosts. Looked pretty moody.
 

Deleted member 18400

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,585
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Fantastic fantasy series that I discovered by accident.
 
Forerunner

Forerunner

Resetufologist
The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
14,578
Still reading:

9781101947883


It has been good so far. There has only be one story that I didn't care for, but the rest have been great. More of my thoughts once I finish it.
 
Jintor

Jintor

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,405
i'm not liking anciliary justice as much as I hoped unfortunately, but i'll probably plough through and finish it at least
 
Cantaim

Cantaim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,322
The Stussining
Haven't posted in one of theses threads in a while. So I figured I'd post on update about Romance of the Three Kingdoms!

I'm on the third and final volume of the translation I'm reading. My god this is gonna go down as one of my all time favorite books and one of my #1 reccomendations for things you want to read to be more cultured. It's both an entertaining read for light readers and a deep philosophical book for those who wish to dig deeper.

Straight up if you have any passing interest in this book please bite the bullet and dive in. It's a work of art and when it clicks you'll understand why this book has been revered for the past 700 years.


Also here's a quote from the book that's been in my head for months now
Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win.
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DanGo

DanGo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,739
Recently finished:
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I enjoyed this one quite a bit as a twist on a first contact tale. I'll get around to the sequel at some point.

Now I'm onto this utterly bleak book:
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Forerunner said:
Still reading:

9781101947883


It has been good so far. There has only be one story that I didn't care for, but the rest have been great. More of my thoughts once I finish it.
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I'm looking forward to getting to this one at some point.
 
Uga

Uga

Member
Oct 31, 2017
476
Listening to Children of Time, about ~72% in - really liking it, even though I think it drags a bit in places, but still really good. Still very slowly reading (mostly during weekends) through The Priory of the Orange Tree, which I'm still very much enjoying.

Adding a lot of books to my Amazon "Kindle Books to Buy and Maybe Read" list, so I'm probably set for a WHILE.
 
Dec

Dec

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,521
I finished Age of Legend

now going back to The First Law with Before They Are Hanged.

Haven't read back to back fantasy in a long time so we'll see if I don't get bored and break it up with something else.
 
aidan

aidan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,769
Recently finished:

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This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short, tense, and mind-twistingly awesome story of love, time travel, warfare, culture, and resistance. Two time-travelling spies trade letters over millennium, as a war rages on and love blooms. It's full of some truly incredible ideas, set pieces, and two of the most compelling, and heart-achingly real protagonists I've read in a long time. An absolute modern classic.

Currently reading:

42036538.jpg


Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a balls-to-the-wall, skeleton-filled, crass intergalactic adventure. Muir's prose sings, even as it bludgeons you over the head with uncouth humour, Gideon is an absolutely delightful (anti-?)heroine, and she's surrounded by a huge cast of equally unique and memorable characters. Isabel Yap described it as "the closes thing to a JRPG in novel form," and she's absolutely right. This book's amazing.
 
Xagarath

Xagarath

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,140
North-East England
aidan said:
Recently finished:

41yg0ReYnbL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short, tense, and mind-twistingly awesome story of love, time travel, warfare, culture, and resistance. Two time-travelling spies trade letters over millennium, as a war rages on and love blooms. It's full of some truly incredible ideas, set pieces, and two of the most compelling, and heart-achingly real protagonists I've read in a long time. An absolute modern classic.

Currently reading:

42036538.jpg


Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a balls-to-the-wall, skeleton-filled, crass intergalactic adventure. Muir's prose sings, even as it bludgeons you over the head with uncouth humour, Gideon is an absolutely delightful (anti-?)heroine, and she's surrounded by a huge cast of equally unique and memorable characters. Isabel Yap described it as "the closes thing to a JRPG in novel form," and she's absolutely right. This book's amazing.
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Both already on my reading list when they come out. Did you get ARCs?
 
Li Kao

Li Kao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,729
Li Kao said:
A little help would be appreciated : several weeks ago I stumbled upon an 'horror' book, but now can't for the life of me remember its title in order to check its reviews.
What I can remember is that it was an horror book, or more probably a weird fiction book, situated in a dilapidated town where every house had its ghosts. Where maybe the living lived with their ghosts. Looked pretty moody.
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Finally. Found. It.

51h3ms3W3hL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Swine Hill was full of the dead. Their ghosts were thickest near the abandoned downtown, where so many of the town's hopes had died generation by generation. They lingered in the places that mattered to them, and people avoided those streets, locked those doors, stopped going into those rooms . . . They could hurt you. Worse, they could change you.

Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn't want to know. Henry, Jane's brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living.

When new arrivals begin scoring precious jobs at the last factory in town, both the living and the dead are furious. This insult on the end of a long economic decline sparks a conflagration. Buffeted by rage on all sides, Jane must find a way to save her haunted family and escape the town before it kills them.
 
orlock

orlock

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,286
re-reading Laird Barron's The Man with No Name. im a big Laird Barron fan and i think he might be one of the strongest weird/dark horror writers in the game, though i havent really kept up much with the genre in recent years.

anyway, its a rad and very short little tale (ill probably finish it laying in bed before i go to sleep tonight), but not perfect - heavy on atmosphere, but not necessarily on consistency or structure. still, it might be among my favorites of his, mostly because its an interesting setting that i didnt expect from him the first time id read it, and i really enjoy the turn it takes from relatively straight-forward crime thriller to balls-to-the-wall cosmic weird horror.

419lBINUsSL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg



still waiting on Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor to drop in the post, and im thinking of indulging my pulpy side in some of Kim Newman's Warhammer fiction (Beast in Velvet, Silver Nails) when the paperbacks drop next week.

as an aside, i always find myself in strange and usually impossible-to-sate moods when it comes to reading. for instance, i finished a replay of The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa, and just watched and got excited about the trailer for River City Girls: does anyone have any recommendations (or even KNOW) of any fiction (or non-fiction, even) based on that culture of 80s Japanese delinquent life? could be grounded and realistic or over-the-top. prefer no manga or comics, but something along the lines of CROWS and CROWS ZERO are good examples i guess.

similarly, i really enjoyed Elizabeth Bear's Eternal Sky trilogy (Range of Ghosts, Shattered Pillars, Steles of the Sky) and was looking for any other fiction that featured Central Asian, or Mongolian influenced setting/theme/characters.
 
patientzero

patientzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,729
I have to make this one a quickie update, so less writing (theoretically). How I closed out June -

62. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Boss Fight Books) - Jon Irwin

super_mario_bros_2_book-100040643-medium.png


Irwin's analysis of SMB2's place in video game history is certainly adequate, maybe even good, but comes out a bit muddled. When you're writing about a nearly 40-year-old franchise, one with innumerable spin-offs and inestimable cultural influence even beyond its industry, and on top of that you're tackling a very singular moment in that franchise, one built on strange foundations you have a lot of ground to cover. To that end, you have to ask yourself as a writer how to frame your subject. How do you organize your thoughts? Do you try to build to a crescendo? Do you tackle the subject chronologically? Irwin settles for a bit of a nonlinear romp, one that requires restating information, even confusing some dates, and it brings the volume down, especially when Irwin loses focus on this particular game in favor of looking at Mario's larger influence.

63. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Boss Fight Books) - Alyse Knorr

30046802.jpg


In contrast, Knorr does a fantastic job framing SMB3's place in history. She pulls from the usual Boss Fight Books bag of tricks - personal anecdotes, more specific research in a more detached academic vein, a summary of playing the game, etc. These same tricks were used to middling effect in the volumes on Mega Man 3 and SMB2, but here they are a delight because they are focused, brief, and incredibly organized in a fairly linear fashion which makes jumping between these tracks accessible. Knorr does a fine job of presenting what a playthrough of the game looks like and backs this up with a great set of discussions on its creation and success, even persuasively surmising it as the game that solidified that Mario was a mascot with staying power and paving the way to all future successes. Beyond that, though, she performs a bit of a magic trick in tying the game so heavily to her personal experiences - playing the game with her father before and after her parents' divorce, how as a girl in the 90s she was supported by her parents for liking games, and how even something like SMB3 helped her realize she is lesbian. This personal connection feels so organic that unlike those previous volumes it is difficult to divorce any one track from the other. Of the 5 books I've now read in the series this is a highwater mark.

64. Metal Gear Solid (Boss Fight Books) - Ashly & Anthony Burch

MGS-cover1.jpg


A highwater mark is what this volume should also have been, though it still comes close. The only volume I'm aware of written by a duo, let alone a brother and sister, affords two perspectives on the vaunted title. It works even better as both can relay their personal experiences alongside an on-going dialogue in footnotes. Notably, both authors come to a similar conclusion - they love what MGS did for them and its place in gaming history but also find it pretty awful through numerous lenses. This is, for my tastes, the correct read of MGS, one that unfortunately gets bound up in gaming enthusiasts mind as mere fandom. Except that MGS is heavily flawed in its gameplay. It espouses some awful views on gender and sex. It's story is entertaining but pablum, and even the story's premise wants to be far more thought-provoking than its execution could have ever hoped to be. The chief failing of this volume, and I admit I'm evaluating this as more academic works and this influences my view, is that the tone of their writing swings wildly from interesting and detailed analysis to standard gamer-speak, replete with adolescent hyperbole and juvenalia. This might have been expected as Anthony was a writer for Borderlands 2, and your mileage will certainly vary, but a really interesting take on MGS here stumbles a bit for tone.
 
djinn

djinn

Member
Nov 16, 2017
15,730
When it's page 350 and Ishmael still won't shut up about his Sperm Whale waifu
elnb.gif
 
EdibleKnife

EdibleKnife

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,723
Picking my way through The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund. I've been on a big Swedish crime kick these past few weeks and grabbed Crow Girl alongside The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Crow Girl is really unflinching about the circumstances and state of the victims presented. It truly gets pitch black at several moments.

aidan said:
Recently finished:

41yg0ReYnbL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short, tense, and mind-twistingly awesome story of love, time travel, warfare, culture, and resistance. Two time-travelling spies trade letters over millennium, as a war rages on and love blooms. It's full of some truly incredible ideas, set pieces, and two of the most compelling, and heart-achingly real protagonists I've read in a long time. An absolute modern classic.

Currently reading:

42036538.jpg


Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a balls-to-the-wall, skeleton-filled, crass intergalactic adventure. Muir's prose sings, even as it bludgeons you over the head with uncouth humour, Gideon is an absolutely delightful (anti-?)heroine, and she's surrounded by a huge cast of equally unique and memorable characters. Isabel Yap described it as "the closes thing to a JRPG in novel form," and she's absolutely right. This book's amazing.
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G'damn good breakdown. I'm gonna pre-order both next week.
 
luca

luca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,507
aidan said:
Recently finished:

41yg0ReYnbL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a short, tense, and mind-twistingly awesome story of love, time travel, warfare, culture, and resistance. Two time-travelling spies trade letters over millennium, as a war rages on and love blooms. It's full of some truly incredible ideas, set pieces, and two of the most compelling, and heart-achingly real protagonists I've read in a long time. An absolute modern classic.
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aidan said:
You're in for a treat!
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This one sounds super interesting. I love time-travel stuff, but haven't read any books with the concept. And since it's only 200-pages I think I might go for this soon.
 
DassoBrother

DassoBrother

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,623
Saskatchewan
patientzero said:
62. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Boss Fight Books) - Jon Irwin

63. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Boss Fight Books) - Alyse Knorr

64. Metal Gear Solid (Boss Fight Books) - Ashly & Anthony Burch
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Have you read many other Boss Fight Books? I've only read Spelunky by Derek Yu but I keep thinking I should read another. Is there some that shouldn't be missed or just pick games you're interested in and read? I might just have to give it a shot for Shovel Knight, or Katamari, or SMB3, or Final Fantasy...

EDIT: And now I see that my library has the Chrono Trigger book.
 
patientzero

patientzero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,729
DassoBrother said:
Have you read many other Boss Fight Books? I've only read Spelunky by Derek Yu but I keep thinking I should read another. Is there some that shouldn't be missed or just pick games you're interested in and read? I might just have to give it a shot for Shovel Knight, or Katamari, or SMB3, or Final Fantasy...

EDIT: And now I see that my library has the Chrono Trigger book.
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These were my thoughts on the Mega Man 3 and Katamari books -


41EQaNr5ggL._SY346_.jpg


Aside from that I broke sections of Perlstein's book up by delving into the Boss Fight book series courtesy a very generous Humble Bundle.
I began with Salvatore Pane's historical look into Mega Man 3. To be blunt, I was unimpressed. I must say that he did a fairly good job of examining multiple threads emanating from the game - its actual gameplay presented stage by stage, its history as a fragmented production, its place within the series and in Pane's own life, the growth of collector culture and the value of preserving gaming history, and how collecting has created an absurd marketplace and reflected a sense of nostalgia that feels difficult to break due to modern media. There's a lot to dig into in a very short book, which ought to be commendable. The problem, though, is one of focus; Pane attempts to constantly juggle all of these threads simultaneously and that creates an oddly unfocused project. You may be reading a page or two on the game's production history that segues into a page detailing Magnet Man's stage that then jumps into a page or two with commentary by James Rolfe about the intersection of commerce and nostalgia. Any one of those would be fine if they weren't sequenced so haphazardly (like being given 8 levels with no linear path...). What disappoints me more, though, is the prose's quality given Pane's background. He is upfront about his education and position, an assistant English professor with a Master's in writing, and, to be frank, as someone finally finishing my MA in Literary and Textual Studies this level of writing would not cut it in my program. What's worse, Pane seems to almost indulge some of the more lizard-brain attitudes toward games that we see so often. There's a lot to love here, but you have to dig for it.

​
80605449_max.jpg



In contrast, L.E. Hall wonderfully explores the origins, production, and meaning behind the always-lovely Katamari Damacy. In an even shorter book (about 120 pages) she examines so many elements of the game with in-depth interviews with its creator and many tertiary figures, alongside additional research culled from numerous areas. These deep-dives can get a bit quote-heavy, something I lead students not to do, but it's all in service of getting a sense of gaming's history circa the late 90s and early 00s, a time in which Katamari's full-throated embrace of joy and color ran counter to many of the grey, story-laden dirges it released against. Additionally, Hall tries to contextualize the industry's desire for sequels, the weird history of Katamari merchandising, and even some of the more literary intepretations of the game. This is solid writing about games, deftly mixing history, commentary, and analysis in a more focused essay than Pane was able to accomplish.​
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Right now my rankings of those I've read would be -

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Katamari Damacy
3. Metal Gear Solid
4. Super Mario Bros. 2
5. Mega Man 3
 
aidan

aidan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,769
DassoBrother said:
Have you read many other Boss Fight Books? I've only read Spelunky by Derek Yu but I keep thinking I should read another. Is there some that shouldn't be missed or just pick games you're interested in and read? I might just have to give it a shot for Shovel Knight, or Katamari, or SMB3, or Final Fantasy...

EDIT: And now I see that my library has the Chrono Trigger book.
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I've read the Chrono Trigger book and Chris Kohler's Final Fantasy V book. They were both great--Kohler's in particular is a beautiful deep dive into the game's history and his own youth, exploring how he grew up and discovered Japanese games via FFV.
 
arkon

arkon

Member
Nov 6, 2017
492
23534636.jpg


The book takes a brief look at Europe's languages and dialects with each chapter covering a different language and interesting aspects of that language. Understandably, it's not going to be an in-depth look given the page count and the amount of languages covered. I suspect that anyone with some formal linguistics education will be familiar with the material covered, perhaps not with the peculiarities of some the lesser-known languages highlighted in the book so there's a chance there's something here for them. It's written in clear and accessible language which makes me think the book is targeted to a broader audience, people like myself, who have some interest in linguistics but no education in the field. A hobby linguist if you will. It has certainly solidified my interest and desire to read more books on linguistics, particularly historical linguistics.

I treated the book like an anthology, reading in between other books, a chapter here or there over the course of 6 months. That's no commentary on the quality of the book. Just the way I chose to read it. I've seen some criticism in other reviews that sometimes there was too much detail in one chapter and not enough in another. Like any anthology there will be some stories that you wanted more of and others that you couldn't get through quick enough. The same is true here, although I don't think I ever had a negative reaction to any particular chapter except perhaps the one written in the form of a conversation between a linguist and a language. That's just because the style was so different from the rest of the book. At worst I would say they were good or interesting enough.

Highly recommended for those with even a passing interest in linguistics. Works more as a primer I think. Probably not for those more well-versed in the field.
 
sackboy97

sackboy97

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,608
Italy
arkon said:
The book takes a brief look at Europe's languages and dialects with each chapter covering a different language and interesting aspects of that language. Understandably, it's not going to be an in-depth look given the page count and the amount of languages covered. I suspect that anyone with some formal linguistics education will be familiar with the material covered, perhaps not with the peculiarities of some the lesser-known languages highlighted in the book so there's a chance there's something here for them. It's written in clear and accessible language which makes me think the book is targeted to a broader audience, people like myself, who have some interest in linguistics but no education in the field. A hobby linguist if you will. It has certainly solidified my interest and desire to read more books on linguistics, particularly historical linguistics.

I treated the book like an anthology, reading in between other books, a chapter here or there over the course of 6 months. That's no commentary on the quality of the book. Just the way I chose to read it. I've seen some criticism in other reviews that sometimes there was too much detail in one chapter and not enough in another. Like any anthology there will be some stories that you wanted more of and others that you couldn't get through quick enough. The same is true here, although I don't think I ever had a negative reaction to any particular chapter except perhaps the one written in the form of a conversation between a linguist and a language. That's just because the style was so different from the rest of the book. At worst I would say they were good or interesting enough.

Highly recommended for those with even a passing interest in linguistics. Works more as a primer I think. Probably not for those more well-versed in the field.
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Do you have other books on linguistics you'd recommend? I'm also quite interested in the field, though I haven't read anything on it yet (except some articles here and there).
 
arkon

arkon

Member
Nov 6, 2017
492
sackboy97 said:
Do you have other books on linguistics you'd recommend? I'm also quite interested in the field, though I haven't read anything on it yet (except some articles here and there).
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Unfortunately I haven't got any I can personally recommend. Like yourself I've mostly been reading articles and blogs around the subject. This is actually my first non-fiction book in years that I've completed. Someone in the goodreads reviews mentioned books by John McWhorter being well worth a go. I have also had my eye on Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, which is one of the books mentioned in the further reading section of Lingo. I can reel the rest of those off for you if you like. As I said though can't personally speak to their quality.
 
sackboy97

sackboy97

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,608
Italy
arkon said:
Unfortunately I haven't got any I can personally recommend. Like yourself I've mostly been reading articles and blogs around the subject. This is actually my first non-fiction book in years that I've completed. Someone in the goodreads reviews mentioned books by John McWhorter being well worth a go. I have also had my eye on Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, which is one of the books mentioned in the further reading section of Lingo. I can reel the rest of those off for you if you like. As I said though can't personally speak to their quality.
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Thanks, I have also found on Goodreads a few books that look promising, namely Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention and The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language.
 
Knight in Shining Armani

Knight in Shining Armani

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,967
aidan said:
Currently reading:

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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a balls-to-the-wall, skeleton-filled, crass intergalactic adventure. Muir's prose sings, even as it bludgeons you over the head with uncouth humour, Gideon is an absolutely delightful (anti-?)heroine, and she's surrounded by a huge cast of equally unique and memorable characters. Isabel Yap described it as "the closes thing to a JRPG in novel form," and she's absolutely right. This book's amazing.
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Fuck me that's a baller ass cover.
 
orlock

orlock

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,286
sackboy97 said:
Do you have other books on linguistics you'd recommend? I'm also quite interested in the field, though I haven't read anything on it yet (except some articles here and there).
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im a big fan of the previously mentioned John McWhorter, and would definitely recommend Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue and The Power of Babel. both are really solid, accessible reads.
 
fakefaker

fakefaker

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
284
Fninished off Temper by Nicky Drayden and unfortunately it fell short of being a good read. While there were some really good ideas, there were just too many of them, fighting for your attention, killing off special moments and sacrificing character development.

My next read is a crime novel from France by Sophie Hénaff called The Awkward Squad.

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