Oh, this got delayed a bit.
I am still reading Valour’s Choice by Tanya Huff. Book 1 of Confederation series. Almost near the end though. Enjoying the book a lot.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening?
I’m reading Erdogan Pizza by John Dolan. It’s a collection of real travelogues from an utterly unadventurous, shy nerd who keeps managing to get kicked out of third world countries while being dead broke. I couldn’t imagine a greater mismatch between the personality of someone and how they’ve chosen to live their life. Very amusing.
I have a TV program for you
Yeah, I’ve seen An Idiot Abroad and quiet enjoyed it. Different vibes though, Karl is incurious and is being pushed into it (which is entertaining in it’s own right). John is absolutely doing it of his own volition, though I don’t fully understand why, and is deeply curious. There’s also a palpable sense of desperation and danger that comes from being someone’s life, instead of a well funded work holiday.
They also made a nonfiction book out of this, but I liked the show better.
Honestly I don’t really like Ricky Gervais’s gleeful cruelty or his style of comedy, but I think the show was really good for Karl Pilkington. You could see how mousy he was in the first few episodes, miserably eating the Chinese lady’s toad just because she told him to, and then partway through the first series he kind of finds his balls and he’s yelling at the guy in Jordan “I’m not getting on the fucking camel!” when stuff is unreasonable beyond a certain point.
Travel is good for you.
Been reading through Mistborn Trilogy 2, current on the back half of the Bands of Mourning.
This trilogy has not been as captivating to me as much as Stormlight or Mistborn 1.
I have Elantris queued up to read more of his works next, but I might take a bit of a Sanderson break here soon since I know Horneater and Stormlight 5 are due later this year. I’ve heard good things anbout Earthsea Anyone have some recommendations about where to start those books?
I read through Earthsea last year and I just went in the order they were published in. I would caution that books 1 and 2 feel very different so if you aren’t big on the first one, give the second one a shot before you call it quits.
Wheel of Time. On the fourth book now. Pacing is a little slow but it is interesting enough to keep me reading. Though I really have almost no clue how this story keeps going for several more books. Guess I’ll see :)
The pacing change from the first three books is noticeable but I felt it was welcome. The first three are almost contained quest novels, where they chase a goal and more or less complete it by books end, the scope changes a bit in book four onwards to a larger view of how you pull this disbanded world together to face the final fight. It really doesn’t return to the early books pacing, but once you adjust, I felt at least that the novels now intriguing for the change.
Rachel Maddow, “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism”
