#i was sort of an e-reader skeptic for a while but that convenience. my god and it's fun arranging stuff on calibre

[rad-roche]

chit-chattin about some books i've read (or reread) recently. not a review, and i'll refrain from big spoilers in case you happen to be interested in reading any, but just a general overview and some thoughts ( ᐛ )و

been making an effort to read more lately. that thing happened that comes with adulthood, you know, things take priority, life happens, as well as the SocMed's curse i'm sure we all share; books take time, and effort, and is competing with a skinner box. i've come up with a pretty good system, which is taking me e-reader somewhere nice, or at least into a different room, away from my desktop, but not getting too hung up if i do get distracted. i'll dig out my wireless headphones, put on an album or lofi, then throw my phone the maximum distance away before it disconnects. i make a point not to make time to do it every day, like a set hour, because i know how my brain works and if i feel like i 'have' to do it i'll resent it. it's somehow much easier for me to think, independently, 'oh yeah, i've got a book to read' every single day rather than planning to do it. this is a fool's system. i do not recommend structuring anything like this.

in no particular order;

negative space - b.r yeager: i really loved this! there are a lot of 'sad kids roam around on bikes with Horrors Occurring' books, but this is very contemporary and has a very specific sort of late 10s malaise. teenagers are committing suicide en masse in a dying suburban town, and all there is to do is drink, smoke and see who comes up next so you can take a picture and talk about it on a specially made gawking message board, and that's before the hallucinogen that lets you see into another reality. explains very little and that just makes it better, don't worry about things making sense the first time through. strongly recommend if you like your books to make you vomit

the thin man - dashiell hammett: nick and nora charles. need i say anything. is there a single thing i need to say. it's fucking dashiell hammett. it's dashiell hammett writing nick and nora charles. one trillion out of ten. nora. nora fucking charles is here.

archer in jeopardy (the zebra-striped hearse, the instant enemy, the doomsters) - ross macdonald: three book omnibus from another of the Big Three (chandler, hammett, macdonald). they're all fantastic. they don't quite have the poetic turns that chandler does but also, comparing anybody to raymond chandler on turns of phrase is criminal. set in a time period you don't see so much, the transition from the 50s to 60s. a little old-man-yells-at-cloud-y about the youth, but you're going to struggle to find a noir writer who approaches his subjects with such empathy. lew archer is a kind, open-hearted man, and he suffers hugely for it. i know a significant amount of you are here for fallout stuff, so i think this is a fair comparison; nick valentine owes a lot to how lew archer is written. if you're looking to get into the genre and need a reference point, these are probably the books you should start with

mass effect revelation - gave it a whirl, couldn't stick with it. might try again later, i really like anderson as a character and i'm big into ME.

quantum devil saga; avatar tuner - yu godai, kevin frane; it's okay! i enjoyed it, but i'm super into the game it's expanding on. supplemental material, you know. i wouldn't read it by itself

body scout - lincoln michel; neo-noir set in the future where corporations run amok and pump athletes so full of experimental drugs that they turn to chunky soup on the field. i appreciate how batshit weird it gets, it's very confidently written. i finished it a month ago and have thought about it every day since, it's very up my alley, themes and such that i like and explore. you'd probably like this if you like dmt.

dishonored; the corroded man - adam christopher; an interesting read in that it takes the incredible setting of dishonored and somehow makes it tedious. didn't like it

devil house - john darnielle: now here's a fuckin tome and a half. a (fictional) true crime writer digs into an occult double-murder. but it's not about that. well it is. don't let the cover fool you, it's not a horror. but it kind of is? whatever it is, it's worthwhile. really dense, good if you want to get your teeth into some Big Questions. you'll spend the first part wondering when it will pick up speed, then you'll be screaming for it to stop

pictures of sea slugs; various sea slugs - not a book but something i've been looking at a lot lately. i think they're very cute. i love their little frills

i mean my god