As I'm not making any headway on Book Shelf Zero at the moment, I will just note my progress towards my goal of reading 30 books in 2018. I'm crushing that goal at the moment thanks to borrowing ebooks from my local library. The trend will continue as I'm a bit over halfway through The Princess Bride. Both I, Robot and The Princess Bride are books that I would not have been very likely to pick up if not for my efforts towards reading all the NPR 100 books and the ease with which I was able to acquire them. They are also both relatively short books that are fun and a pleasure to read. They zip right by. I'm not achieving much progress towards Book Shelf Zero, but I'm also not buying any books. I was shopping for books earlier this week and just couldn't see the point in making a purchase. I'm content to keep plowing through the NPR list by borrowing books from the library while slowly picking my way through some physical books that I already own.
I, Robot was a decent enough book. The inter-related short story format would have worked really well for Consider Phlebas. The book was surprisingly moral. Sure, robots were the center of the story, but the moral system used to ensure that robots don't dominate humanity is really the crux of the book. Every story explored the implications of such a well-defined and impossible to violate moral code. The book was more about exploring the edges of such an absolute code than fantasies of life with machine slaves. This book will likely get more pop if any of these promised autonomous cars or other robot technology ever actually become a reality. There are plenty of interesting questions to think through.
I've been making steady progress on A House for Mr. Biswas while I've been tearing through science fiction ebooks. This is a surprisingly engaging novel. It's not exactly thrilling, but the quality of the writing is so high that it's a pleasure to read. I have a goal of reading 15 or 20 pages a day. It will take me a few weeks to make it to the end at this pace (I'm about a third of the way through the book now), but I'm not so worried about the elapsed time. I will use whatever little tricks I need to make it through my owned books. If it means reading them around easier fare, then so be it. A finished book is a finished book whether it takes me a couple of days or a couple of months to get to the end.
Friday, February 23, 2018
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
2001, Consider Phlebas done, still at 156
2001: A Space Odyssey took me to places that I had not anticipated. I have seen (and been mystified) by the movie. This book lays out the story behind the visual and audio power of the movie. The movie wouldn't be nearly as powerful without this very solid story behind it. The book does more than merely provide a strong skeleton to some classic cinema. The scale of the Universe defies our understanding (just as much as what happens down at the electron level), but this book gives us a little peak into the vastness of creation. It's compelling and wondrous and awe inspiring. Definitely a book worth reading.
I'm much more lukewarm on Consider Phlebas. The entire book is a series of unfortunate events for the Changer. The different sections of the book are solid in their own way, but the effort to string them together into some kind of cohesive whole was not convincing. The book would have been better as a collection of loosely connected short stories (which it kind of is in its own way) than a single novel. It's the first book in the Culture Series. We'll see if Banks got better at this kind of writing by the time he really got going with this style of writing.
These two books bring me up to 6 books for the year. I'm happy with this pace. I'm still at 156 books to read as these were both library books, but they were also both entries on the NPR Top 100 Sci Fi list. That brings me up to 36 of those titles completed. That's only 5 fewer than the 41 books of the Modern Library Top 100. I'm currently reading a book from each list (I, Robot and A House for Mr Biswas) so there will be progress on both of those lists very soon. I'm borrowing I, Robot from the library (as an ebook, which is just way too convenient) so that does nothing for Bookshelf Zero, but A House for Mr Biswas is a book that I've had for a long time. It's old enough that it has a Border's tag on the back!
I haven't had a particularly strong urge to buy anything. Well, it's more accurate to say that the desire to get my to read number down is stronger than my desire to acquire a new book. The library ebooks are helping with the urge to buy. I can acquire the books and get through them quickly. This pattern may hold until I finish Mr Biswas.
I'm much more lukewarm on Consider Phlebas. The entire book is a series of unfortunate events for the Changer. The different sections of the book are solid in their own way, but the effort to string them together into some kind of cohesive whole was not convincing. The book would have been better as a collection of loosely connected short stories (which it kind of is in its own way) than a single novel. It's the first book in the Culture Series. We'll see if Banks got better at this kind of writing by the time he really got going with this style of writing.
These two books bring me up to 6 books for the year. I'm happy with this pace. I'm still at 156 books to read as these were both library books, but they were also both entries on the NPR Top 100 Sci Fi list. That brings me up to 36 of those titles completed. That's only 5 fewer than the 41 books of the Modern Library Top 100. I'm currently reading a book from each list (I, Robot and A House for Mr Biswas) so there will be progress on both of those lists very soon. I'm borrowing I, Robot from the library (as an ebook, which is just way too convenient) so that does nothing for Bookshelf Zero, but A House for Mr Biswas is a book that I've had for a long time. It's old enough that it has a Border's tag on the back!
I haven't had a particularly strong urge to buy anything. Well, it's more accurate to say that the desire to get my to read number down is stronger than my desire to acquire a new book. The library ebooks are helping with the urge to buy. I can acquire the books and get through them quickly. This pattern may hold until I finish Mr Biswas.
Monday, February 5, 2018
The Hero of Ages - 156 to go
If I had only known! The Mistborn trilogy ends in fantastic fashion. I'm not just talking about the conclusion of this last novel. The entire book was outstanding.I have been cheating myself by putting it off for years. Yes,t it was a little on the long side, but all those pages were totally worth it. I closed the book feeling very satisfied. That's high praise because so many exciting books end with a whimper. Endings are where Sanderson excels. I've read some reviews of Oathbringer, another of his books that I'm slowly making my way through on Audible, and the ending of that book is highly praised. So The Hero of Ages goes back in the box with its other two friends, I get to mark another title from the NPR sci fi list (I'm up to 35 completed), and I have reduced my to read pile by one more book to get it to 156.
I'm on track to knock a couple more books off that NPR list in the next week or two. My to read pile will not change though. I'm deep enough into my ebook borrow from the library that I will do my best to finish it before my loan period ends on Wednesday (or is it Tuesday?). This will be my primary book for the next several days. I think I can finish it this week. My other library book, 2001: A Space Odyssey, may keep me from it though. I read a few pages of that this morning before heading to work. It's going to be a very fast read. It's short and compelling. I've seen the movie. I was entertained but confused. I've read that the book clarifies some of the confusion. We'll see.
I'm well ahead of my book reading pace of last year. I was still days from finishing my second book of the year at this point last year. I've already finished 4 this year. Those other two books are going to go quickly so I will have 6 books before too long. That's book a week pace again. This rapid progress tells me it's time to pick up something a bit more intimidating. I've had The Wings of the Dove on my nightstand for many months. This may be the time to take that on. Ulysses is there too, but I'm getting very close to (officially) abandoning my first attempt on that one.
I have unlocked a book to buy. Oh, the temptation is so strong. It's also nice to have the freedom to get a book if i so desire. I'm going to take my time and enjoy this. I may even wait until I have unlocked two books. That way I can buy one but still have the option to buy another if the right target comes along.
I'm on track to knock a couple more books off that NPR list in the next week or two. My to read pile will not change though. I'm deep enough into my ebook borrow from the library that I will do my best to finish it before my loan period ends on Wednesday (or is it Tuesday?). This will be my primary book for the next several days. I think I can finish it this week. My other library book, 2001: A Space Odyssey, may keep me from it though. I read a few pages of that this morning before heading to work. It's going to be a very fast read. It's short and compelling. I've seen the movie. I was entertained but confused. I've read that the book clarifies some of the confusion. We'll see.
I'm well ahead of my book reading pace of last year. I was still days from finishing my second book of the year at this point last year. I've already finished 4 this year. Those other two books are going to go quickly so I will have 6 books before too long. That's book a week pace again. This rapid progress tells me it's time to pick up something a bit more intimidating. I've had The Wings of the Dove on my nightstand for many months. This may be the time to take that on. Ulysses is there too, but I'm getting very close to (officially) abandoning my first attempt on that one.
I have unlocked a book to buy. Oh, the temptation is so strong. It's also nice to have the freedom to get a book if i so desire. I'm going to take my time and enjoy this. I may even wait until I have unlocked two books. That way I can buy one but still have the option to buy another if the right target comes along.
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