I’m noodling trying to do weeknotes or a weekly link-log again. It is a bit more work than I may have time for, but I liked the regularity of the ritual — we’ll see what happens!
In the meantime, over the last few weeks I’ve finished a few books! Here are some micro reviews of all the escapist things I’ve been reading to prevent myself from doom scrolling (who am I kidding, I’m still doom scrolling):
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams
Lots of fun! I love Douglas Adams’ pacing. Like the sherbet of books — not too decadent, but a dessert nonetheless. 10/10, good escapist reading.
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
This was a return for me. I read this book at least 5 times in high school. It was like visiting a place where I once vacationed. Sparrow Hawk > Harry Potter (to be totally honest they don’t even compare…it’s like saying Batman > Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks…both may be rodent adjacent but occupy totally different atmospheres).
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K, Le Guin
I’ve toted this one around for eons without actually having ever read it. I think it is pretty much the most Ursula K. Le Guin-y book I’ve ever read. This is good. When I was done I listened to a BBC audio drama of this, too. It was dreamy and a little hard to follow.
All the Foundation books, Isaac Asimov
So, I went in expecting to read 1 of the Foundation trilogy and ended up reading a giant pile of books — I think 6 — the copy I have is an epub where they’re all smooshed together into 1 giant file. As “pure” sci-fi goes, I’m an Asimov-stan. His prose can be a bit mechanical, but…I guess that is a little bit the point. A chrome and positronic future.
Mistborn: The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
Total and complete garbage…that I can’t put down. The story and world-building feel more like the intro chapter to a TTRPG companion, but I love to read those, too, so, I’m hard pressed to level any serious complaints here.
Not sure what comes next — maybe another in the Mistborn series, or the next book in the Earthsea series, perhaps? Or…be my boring self and read Villette for the millionth time. Charlotte Brontë, FTW!
No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mould, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise.