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Recently finished Hyperion, by Dan Simmons.
I really liked the premise of each character telling their own story. It was a lot of variety and very interesting ideas were explored in different ways in each of them.
picked up yellowface by rf kuang and finished it the same day. recommended it to my partner, who also devoured it in three days.
highly recommend if you’re looking for an easy, juicy (in the way of reality tv, so a little anxiety inducing also) read that’s about ego, publishing, the literary establishment’s treatment of minority authors, the actual mechanisms of being cancelled, and the perils of being Extremely On Twitter. a very fun summer read.
Oh! She’s on my to-read list with Babel, I’ll have to check this one out as well.
i took a look at babel because i loved yellowface but i thought it looked a little daunting haha, you’ll have to let me know how it is if you end up reading it!
I just finished up Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. It’s the last in her Daevabad Trilogy, an immensely entertaining work drawing from legends and myths from the Middle East. It’s filled with political intrigue, memorable characters with well developed internality, and detailed world building.
It’s good stuff! I had a lot of fun reading it, it’s a little different than typical fare with the Middle Eastern background, and Chakraborty has an eye for plotting and characters that kept me going through a lengthy tale. I’m looking forward to reading her collection of short stories in the universe, River of Silver, and the Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, a novel set a thousand years before this trilogy.
Just finished Ada, or Ardor.
If you want something with brilliant prose, multilingual puns on every page, occasional invasions of other styles, a distorted but familiar world, obsession-driven narrative balancing between passion and transcendence, it might be something for you - unless, like Martin Amis, you find it hysterical and yourself unable to ignore the dark reality of several characters, narrator included, having too much resources to care about morals or most laws.
I just picked up a really nice hardcover edition of Kipling. It has both Jungle Book 1 and 2 and a selection of Just So stories (not complete, the Amazon listing LIES!)
Hardcover with a die-cut cover and, green ink and full color illustrations from the 1930s editions. Gilt green edges, it’s a fantastic copy to have!
I finished reading Love’s Executioner by Irvin Yalom recently, and it has immediately become one of my favorites! Yalom is one of the foundational thinkers behind Existential Psychotherapy, and the book is a collection of ten case studies presented in a short-story format revolving around themes of love, grief, and authenticity.
It’s pretty refreshing to read case studies where the therapist doesn’t present themselves as an all-seeing, all-knowing genius; Irvin Yalom is very open about his uncertainties and mistakes with his clients. The cases he presents are fascinating, and he does a great job of illustrating his philosophical and therapeutic principles throughout. I highly recommend it for anybody interested in psychology, the human condition, or personality-centered short stories!
The Way of Kings: Working my way through the cosmere really enjoyed this was particularly long but I really enjoyed it fantastic world building.
