This is the third book in the series of six, once again a short, fast-moving and well written science fiction story.

I’m guessing that this series is popular because of the main character’s sarcastic, antisocial behavior while still being a good (A.I.) person. I like the series because it often gets into how the main character splits their mental processing into several different parts, all working simultaneously. This kind of writing is something you don’t see when you read about normal vanilla humans in books. Come to think of it, another book series has this too – the Ancillary series by Anne Leckie that I read last year.

I’m totally into the long term story of this series, so I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads. I’ll just have to be patient for the remaining books to be available at the library.

In the meantime I am reading The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark.

Going into this book I had a sort of vague idea of what existentialism was (which turned out to be misinformed) and I was curious to read more about philosophy in general. This book took a refreshing approach – it was accessible, didn’t get hung up on the technical/academic terms, and outright told you when things are hard to understand.

Sometimes when reading I get confused and think – should I have known that? Is this something I ignored in a university class years ago? The writer of this book lets us off the hook by pointing out when things are getting “out there”. Thank you very much!

This is a long, wide ranging book and I don’t think I could do it justice by summarizing it here. Rather, I’ll say that it does a great job of filling in the backstory of existentialism, with history, social background, and the egos behind some of the big voices in that area of philosophy.

There were plenty of interesting parts – I really felt like I was pulled back into that era and the author’s style makes it interesting without the reader having to wade through these huge dense tomes of learning (some volumes were over 2000 (!) pages long.)

What I got out of this book was another way to look at how to live your life, what it means to make decisions and be responsible for them, and just how difficult it can be for free thinkers pushing the boundaries of new ideas. Throw in a couple of world wars, the rise and fall of Communism, and it all makes for a great story and an educational read.

While reading I highlighted many passages that seemed memorable to me, and I’m sure I’ll come back to them in the future. One particular one was a quote by Jean-Paul Sartre, who together with Simone de Beauvoir was giving his thoughts on atheist philosophy near the end of his life.

“He said that, on the whole, the two of them had lived without paying much attention to God. She agreed. Then he said, ‘And yet we’ve lived; we feel that we’ve taken an interest in our world and that we’ve tried to see and understand it.’ To do this freshly and (mostly) intelligently for seven decades is an achievement more than worthy of celebration.”

I thought that was a solid (if not modest) interpretation of their impact on the world and the way they lived in it. Goals like these seem modest enough for regular people, I’d say.

Next I am reading Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells.

Calling them “genius” recipes might be overselling the book a little bit, but I enjoyed reading through this short cookbook and stimulating my appetite.

A couple of great points – the book is organized by category, and it has both a “meaty mains” and “meatless mains” category, which makes it easier to find dishes I’m looking for without meat. The photographs in this book were great, too – especially the ones showing the process of cutting something in an unusual way.

Most of the dishes are aimed squarely at the American cook, so there isn’t much in the way of East/Southeast Asian, middle Eastern, Indian, or South American dishes. I’d have liked to see more world variety, but for popular foods/ingredients in the USA, this is a good resource.

I’ve bookmarked a few recipes and maybe I’ll try them out sometime in the future. I think this book was best as a library check-out – I don’t think I need to buy it.

Next I’m reading At the Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell.

This was a rare miss for me in the science fiction category. It started out with a very interesting character – a young woman raised in a religious order devoted to bringing about succor for soldiers in war. The form of that service ranged from spiritual to carnal, and the women of that order are completely mute.

To read a book with a main character that is mute is a rare experience, and for the most part I liked how the story is told from her view. Also, the idea of two societies at war – one with technology and the other with religion as their basis – was a great foundation to an interesting world.

Unfortunately the world is only fleshed out enough to move the story along, and in the end it felt too simple. There are plenty of deep issues here – blindly following religion, love and trust, family ties, slavery and racism. But all of these are dumbed down and treated superficially. I couldn’t buy the changes in the characters as they dealt with these issues, and most of these characters were so one-dimensional that I felt like the author was taking shortcuts.

One character in the book is introduced almost entirely through memories of other characters and also through a strange device – a recording made in the past and replayed in the present. The way it was handled in the book was odd and felt unnatural – and so in the end it seemed like it was crowbarred in an effort to hold together the story.

OK, I’ll stop here – I could go on, but I think you get the point. Apparently there are two more books in this trilogy, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series.

Next I’m reading a cookbook – Food52 Genius Recipes by Kristen Miglore.

This was my second attempt to check out a mystery sub-genre: the locked room mystery. The previous book I had (tried to) read didn’t work out for me, but this one did. I’m glad I gave this one a shot.

This book is set in 1936 London, and it starts right away with some small mysteries, leading up to a murder in a locked room. As expected in these kinds of books, the murder seems impossible. Then, to add some more layers of complexity there is a painting stolen which also seems to be impossible, and then finally one more impossible murder. Of course, all of these events are connected, and it is up to an old magician and his Scotland Yard detective friend to figure it all out.

The writing here is well done. The characters are interesting and everyone seems like they are hiding something. The reader treats each new person as a possible suspect, and the locations and time period seem genuine and realistic. Compared with the previous book I read, there is a high degree of skill and storytelling that pulls the reader in.

There is a point at which (as is tradition in these kinds of books, apparently) the author announces that you now have all the information necessary to solve the mystery yourself, and once you are ready you can continue reading for the big reveal. Personally, I had no idea whodunnit, so I was completely surprised by the reveal. I can see why some people really enjoy these stories – they can puzzle things out and see if they were right. The author has to come up with a result that is both surprising and believable, which I imagine is a very tough balance to manage.

I felt that the reveal here was a little far-fetched for my taste, but I suppose not many people read these kinds of books for a realistic ending.

So after this little experiment I think I’d probably be happy to read more of these kinds of books, but I think I’ll read more from some of the classic authors first.

Next I am going back to science fiction, by reading The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis.

It is rare to get a book that I couldn’t finish, but unfortunately I couldn’t get through this one.

I recently thought I’d try to read some “locked room” mysteries, as I had read that it was its own developed subcategory of mystery novels. I picked two that seemed interesting, and this one was available at my library.

The book appears to be written targeting teenage audiences, and the writing seems awkward and unnatural. There is a lot of information dumping here – instead of showing there is just page upon page of telling. In this main character’s world everyone else is simply a side character, and she treats them that way.

Obviously the writer enjoys the genre and spends a lot of time focusing on nods to enthusiasts that eat this stuff up (think Star Trek fans but about magicians) and the settings of the book are going for a cozy vibe – but it seemed like too much setup and not much development.

I got through about half the book, and I ended up doing some mental algebra and it seemed like there wasn’t going to be any payoff worth what I’d have to put in to finish.

However, I’m not giving up on the genre – just as I threw in the towel on this one, the other title on my list to try became available at the library, so I’ll give it another chance. Hopefully the writing quality will be better.

The next book is called Death and the Conjuror by Tom Mead. Let’s hope it is worth finishing!

I’ve enjoyed the author’s short satirical headlines online for a long time, so I thought I should check out this book outlining some of the examples of the deterioration of intelligence in politicians over the last 50 years.

I got what I expected – lots of clever riffs on the blunders by various politicians over the years. The book is well-researched and although there are no sources listed for the quotes, I’m guessing that they are all authentic. Some were taken out of context to make the author’s joke work, which I understand – this book is filed in the comedy section.

On the downside the format of the humor – quick one-liners after a short setup, and callbacks to previous jokes – this pattern got old for me after a while. I’d have liked to see more variety in the types of humor, but I guess that this is sort of his comedy style and he’s sticking with it. It works well in brief doses, but less so in a full-length book.

I had the vague sense that these blunders were cherry-picked to fit the theme of the book – it wasn’t an accident that so many Republicans were mocked. It felt a bit unfair to lampoon just one side of the aisle, but the author addresses why this is so and I think he is justified. To me some of the criticisms felt a bit unfair, and I’m sure somebody could write a book exactly like it just focusing on Democratic gaffes and blunders.

Besides the jokes a theme that runs through this book is how did we get to the point where ignorance in politicians is not only tolerated but embraced, and the author posits a few ideas. This part was much more interesting but in the end it takes a backseat to the jokes. Identifying the right balance here must have been tough for the writer, and I wished I could read more about what happened and what we can do to escape it. A little deeper dive is what I was hoping for. Maybe that is too much to ask for a comedy book.

Particularly the book ended on a poignant note – and I don’t want to give it away here. Maybe because things had been so lighthearted throughout I was very impressed with how the writer finished.

The next book I am reading is Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian.

A long time ago I saw the movie version of this book, and I remember that Christian Bale turned in a great performance, and there were a few shocking moments to exemplify the psychotic behavior of the main character. I had no idea the book was exponentially more shocking.

The writing in this book was really well done – the author guides us from the seemingly normal “yuppie” behavior of the main character and his “friends”, but also lifts the curtain on the (truly) psycho behavior and doesn’t hold anything back. Taken as a whole you could cut out the violence and read this as a snapshot of the excesses of the 80s. I was especially impressed with the amount of detail that went into describing the fashion – way beyond a GQ level and deep into haberdashery.

But this is a book letting us into the mind of a madman. There are flashes in and out, non-sequential events and blurry comprehension that throw the reader off. When psychotic episodes show up I was just as shocked as the victims. The violence and sex (sometimes separate, sometimes combined) seems meant to contrast with the “normality” of those times. For me it was hard to get through these scenes. If the writer was aiming for disgust he hit the mark and kept on shooting.

I don’t think I could recommend this book to anyone, but I can’t complain about the what I read – it is right there in the title. There were various messages in this book, and I felt like I got what the author was trying to illustrate, but it didn’t need to be delivered in such a grotesque way.

Next I am reading Profiles in Ignorance by Andy Borowitz.

This is a non-fiction book written by a very curious person. She writes books on what science has to say about her questions on different topics. This book is all about sex.

Doing scientific sexual research is fraught with peril. The problem is that in order to get funding for this kind of research (even though it deals with one of the most fundamental functions of the human body) scientists have to get approval from public health officials, university committees, etc. These gatekeepers are sensitive to controversy, and so it is much easier to study safer topics like how the spleen has changed in the past hundred years.

I liked this book because the author didn’t try to avoid topics and gave the reader the straight scoop on each question she had. Her writing was clear, honest and direct, and made it easier to broach these sometimes sensitive topics (penis implant surgery – ouch!).

Her writing style also depends heavily on comedy and there is plenty of material to be found in this particular topic. She uses jokes to make sure the reader more comfortable with the material, and I thought it is a good approach. Sometimes you can see the jokes coming and they had me groaning, but her intent was appreciated.

She has written some books on other topics, so when they are available at the library I might check some of them out.

Next I am reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

I’m a big fan of Stephen King and so I managed to get this book checked out of the library fairly quickly.

The story here has many of the things I like in fantasy/fiction – a secret entrance to a hidden world, someone discovering their independence and abilities, and great characters that are both kind and believable.

That being said, I thought I liked all these things better in a previous King book, 11/22/63. This book’s theme was quite different, and although I liked the story I thought it was a little off the mark for me. The first part really hooked me, but strangely the second part (taking place in a magical world) was less interesting.

Some things felt rushed, others obligatory. There were scenes reminiscent of Shawshank Redemption (prisoner camaraderie, jailbreaks) and it just felt like it had already been done.

Stephen King writes good characters well, and so watching this particular character interact with a strange world or curses and monsters was pretty entertaining.

So definitely worth the read, but maybe not quite up my alley. Next I’m reading Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.

I like time travel books, but for some reason this one didn’t click for me. As a book about a man and his relationship with his daughter it seemed to work, but all the technology and rules that went with time travel in this story ended up being less interesting than I expected.

The book’s writing suffered from telling you too much directly instead of letting you discover it by showing it to you. All of this information download made it harder to immerse into the world(s) the writer had created. Especially there were moments when things were described and the reader instantly knows that it just happened to justify a plot point later on. Sure enough, a few chapters later there it is. The dialogue between characters also felt clunky to me.

Despite these points I liked the overall story – it just felt like it was hurried/forced. One of the characters talks about “putting love” into their cooking – I wish the writer had taken a little more time to put more love into their story.

Next I am reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King.

A sci-fi story that is more of a novella than a novel, I read through this one in just an hour or so.

The book is written from the point of view of an artificial life form, and we learn early on that it has broken free of its behavior governing device and decides to use its free will to watch TV reruns as much as possible.

Later we find out (a little) about why it might want to do that, and part of this book reads like it is a shout out to the introverted people out there. The writing is crisp and the story moves fast, and it is an entertaining read. There are a surprising number of follow up books that seem more like chapters to a bigger book, so I may check them out in the future. I liked the characters in this book – but there wasn’t a lot at stake here so it felt like a simple reading experience.

Next I’m reading Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen. More science fiction!

This was a fascinating book on the divergent and extensive sensory systems of animals that are not human. These are explored from a layman’s point of view, a sense of wonder, and in terms that are easy to understand.

I liked the approach of this book – without getting bogged down in scientific references it describes a wide breadth of animal abilities that serve as ways to reconsider your own sensory range. Senses that humans have as well as senses they don’t are discussed – and the book ends with a word of warning on the unfortunate tendency of humans to ignore other species and the threats that human-driven technology can pose.

I did sometimes think that the writing style was repetitive, and I would have liked more interesting introductions to the researchers and their work. The writer tends to overuse “in media res” – at least so much that it was starting to bug me. The tone sometimes strays from neutrality and seems to stretch beyond what has been proven and spend too much time in the realm of what-has-yet-to-be-proven. Overall it was a good effort, and worth reading.

My favorite part was the discussion of echolocation in dolphins and bats – and also the other senses which are completely foreign to humans. Dolphins were shown to be able to echolocate an item in the water while blindfolded – and then later to identify and distinguish the image of theitem when shown on a video screen. In other words, their echolocation sense could transfer what it “saw” to the visual sense of the dolphins. Fascinating stuff!

The next book I’m reading is All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

After a reading a beautiful book about sad things it seemed a stroke of luck to pick up a book focused on persevering through hard times to find (or recover) happiness. This book was filled with cute British characters who despite having their own personal problems are quite nice, actually, and would each be fun to share a cup of tea with.

The primary location of all of their stories is on the train they use to commute, and so their problems and worries are sort of revealed in a public place. Breaking the rules of commuting and interacting with fellow passengers is a big leap, but each of them manage it and are rewarded for taking the step towards kindness and away from isolation.

There are some serious issues here – divorce, psychological abuse, LGBQT issues, love, sex, naughty photos shared without permission on the internet, teenage angst, you name it. But all these are handled with humor and in a non-judgmental way that keeps things light.

I enjoyed reading the book, which seems like it could be easily made into a mini-series with the right British actors, and I’d recommend it for a light read that won’t take too long. The cute, positive style seems to be a product of the COVID pandemic and the depression of modern news and world events.

This book served as a nice contrast to my previous book, The God of Small Things, but I still felt like that book did a better job at looking at serious issues – even though it spent little time trying to solve them.

Next I am reading An Immense World by Ed Yong.

This book is filled with absolutely beautiful writing about some pretty horrible things. What I’ll always remember about this book is that it contains so much pain and heartbreak, misery, misplaced pride, denigration and racism/classism, right up to the end where we finally see people experiencing joy.

For me it was exhausting to read through all that hardship. If the author hadn’t had such an extraordinarily beautiful writing style I probably would have given up. Upon reaching the end of the book I wasn’t sure that end was worth all that the I had gone through reading it.

I’d like to see the author telling a happier story – even one that was just a bit more balanced. The story here focuses firmly on the negative, and paints a dark picture of growing up in India. I’m not asking for artificial sunshine here, but I’d like to see the author use their gifts to inspire rather than depress.

This is the second recent book I’ve read set in India. The first, Midnight’s Children by Salaman Rushdie also tells a sad story, but it is also filled with self-deprecating humor and felt more balanced for it. His book takes a broader view of Indian history, while The God of Small Things is on a smaller scale, but tells a similar story. The contrast between these two works was interesting for me.

I’m not sure that I could recommend this book, except maybe as an example to beginning writers of a distinctive and beautiful writing style.

Next I am reading something quite a bit more upbeat – Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley.