What are You Reading Right now?

Just in time to do a full Cosmere reread before Wax & Wayne 4 comes out next year!

 

James of the Republic Broadcast really liked Victory's Price (even though he wasn't that huge a fan of the previous books), so I think it's pretty great throughout to win him over He gave it 8.5/10.

Also, you're a wine guy?!?!?! You and I need to meet up for a pub crawl distinguished chat about wines, broh!

 

We'll have to do a meetup for the Rogue Squadron premiere, or something

 

go to the what are you drinking thread

 

This reminds me. I need to drink more water.

 

I'm reading this one too, some nice stories, so far (I don't know the first book unfortunatly), but now I'm so ready to leave this iceball.

 

BOOM comics volume 1, 2011

 

The Cantina.

 

That was a fun read! I was always a little sad how little it ultimately tied into everything else, but it really captured how brutal war is, no matter the universe...

In terms of reading, outside of Sanderson and some children's audio novellas (Zero-G and its sequels*) I've been in a reading slump this past year. It's not unusual for this to happen, the the length of the slump has caused a little concern on my part. But the good news is that I feel myself slowly climbing out of it. I'm ready to start a new book, and it'll be a big one...

*Zero-G is written by Dan Wells, a writer and friend of Sanderson. It's basically Home Alone on a giant space ship that's headed out to colonize a new solar system. It's fun, funny, has moments of real adult fear, and well done. Zero is a pretty relatable character and the science facts shared in this audio novella are bound to capture the imagination of many children. If you have kids aged 9-13 and you want to get them to enjoy some sci-fi, I say give this novella a shot. If they like it, they'll definitely like the sequels.

 

I'm not quite halfway through this--they've only just arrived in Colombia, so I suppose here is where the fun begins.

 

go read some neil shusterman

 

I read Scythe and Thunderhead last year. I'll get to The Toll eventually, but I'm not in a hurry to do so.

 

"Tell me about a complicated man."

Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey! I think I heard about this in late 2018, before it came out. I was mesmerized by her opening lines and the praise heaped on her translation. In late 2019 I finally had the chance to buy the book. Sadly 2020 was not my year for reading. My pace had been slowing for a while, and Star Wars: Queen's Shadow stopped all momentum then and there. (Everything from Brandon Sanderson is an exception though.) I don't know what it was about the book, but it killed my desire for reading for nearly a year. I don't fully blame Queen's Shadow though, as my reading passions run hot and cold. I've had pretty long non-reading stretches before, and when I do read, it it can be pretty intense - I read the entirety of the Wheel of Time in roughly three months, and there were times in 2018 where I could read two to three small books a day, and two to three regular-sized books a week!

Anyways, I bought the book, but I had no urge to read it until a few weeks ago. I had been building up this idea of when and where I'd read it in my mind, and last month I finally had the chance to do so...and completely forgot about it. This weekend was the first time I've been able to enact that image since, and it's lived up to what I imagined. I sat on a comfy couch with the sunlight streaming through, put on Metallica's "The Unforgiven III," and opened the book.*

"Tell me about a complicated man."

Wilson's translation is gorgeous. It's poetic in its repeated phrases and styling but with modern sensibilities and translations. It's poetry that reads like prose. The characters are so much more vibrant to me this time around, now that I don't have to worry about seeing both the styling and the story. Telemachus' moodiness really sticks out and makes a lot of sense now; heck, I had completely forgot about his own story in the first four parts! And Menelaus! Despite his major role in the Iliad, I can't remember the dude at all. Here, he's awesome.

"I take no joy in my wealth...I lost my lovely home, and was parted for many years from all my splendid riches. I wish I had stayed here, with just a third of all the treasure I have now acquired, if those who died at Troy so far away from Argive pastures were alive and well. I sit here in my palace, mourning all who died, often weeping."

The idea that all of the pain to acquire this enormous amount of wealth wasn't worth it...that hits differently right now for some reason. And he's the husband of Helen?! I still don't know why I don't remember him at all. Apparently him and his older brother Agamemnon are also featured in Oresteia, which has been on my list of books to buy and read for a while now. I already spent far too much money on stuff at B&N this week, but maybe next time I go there I'll pick it up. Also! Agamemnon! I remember the dude being one of the whole reasons behind the Iliad, and a major jerk to boot. And now he's praised as some sort of hero...well, even jerks and evil people have loved ones I guess...maybe it'll make more sense when I read Oresteia instead of just the abridged version told in this book.

Overall, I'm halfway through Book 4 (out of 24), and I plan on taking my time with this. It's a long book, and I really want to read it in chunks at a time, so I'll probably break it down into 3-4 Books per weekend or so. Like Odysseus, this epic will take time. Unlike Odysseus, the extension of the journey is undoubtedly a good thing.






I bought the first few volumes of Demon Slayer over this past week (hence my comment about B&N), and today I finally sat down and read them! I've tried Demon Slayer before, but I never got beyond the second chapter. Clearly today I did. And guess what? I really enjoyed it! It's bloody, dark, and action-filled, but there's still this idea of hope and grit that undeniably Shonen. It's not as grim as Attack On Titan, and I really hope it doesn't ever get that way. Fans of zombie-esque shows, Rurouni Kenshin, and Bleach will probably enjoy this.
No soundtrack yet, but I'm still rocking to Desiigner's "Amen," so maybe that'll be it.

*Metallica's "The Unforgiven III" has been this story's theme-song for me ever since I had to read it in high school. The themes of being lost and led off-course fit so well with Odysseus' journey, even though we know what happened isn't Odysseus' fault.

 

I liked the Odyssey. Makes me want play Assasins Creed “Odyssey” anyway, yeah its a good piece by a great philosopher.

 

Due to popular request, i may begin Dark Deciple, a star wars book. It is cannon and I heard (SPOILER ALERT) that Ventress does in it so, thats cool