Can you believe it is June already? My how the year is zipping by! My books in progress are still only two with a few peripherals, of course. My main bedtime squeeze at the moment is The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu. I have never read Chinese science fiction before and I am very much enjoying it. I think anyone who likes science with their fiction and alien invasion stories would find it appealing.
My daytime friend is sometimes The Three-Body Problem, but also a book of essays I accepted for review called The Great Regression. It is about the current global political situation featuring a cast of international writers. I haven’t gotten very far yet, I am on the second essay, but so far it is illuminating. It is really difficult sometimes in the U.S. to gain an international perspective on the current political climate even when I listen to public radio and follow the Washington Post or NY Times, so I really appreciate these varying viewpoints.
Just picked up from the library is a graphic novel called Spill Zone by Scott Westerfield. It looks to be an industrial environmental disaster thriller-type story. I will let you know!
Also just from the library is Twilight of History by Shlomo Sand. It is an interrogation of the academic discipline of history. Sand is Israeli and has written some controversial books so I expect this one might be difficult but really interesting.
I have a week-long vacation planned for later this month that I am greatly looking forward to. I hope to fill it with lots of reading, gardening, cycling and more reading. There is always room for plans to go wonky, but golly, I really need a reading binge and will try hard to make that happen!
One of these days I will get around to writing about a number of graphic stories/comics I read recently, the book Trainwreck by Sady Doyle, and a bunch of poetry collections I have read over the last few months.
And maybe somewhere along the way I will manage to catch up on my blog reading. Sorry if I haven’t been visiting much lately, my brain has been full with work stuff and hasn’t left much room for other things. But I think that will gradually be changing, so bear with me!
Hey hey, I read Trainwreck too! I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts. I really like Sady Doyle, and I generally liked that book a lot, with some reservations that I now can’t remember because I didn’t write a blog post about it. :p
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Jenny, excellent! I really liked it too but also had a few reservations as well, minor ones. But it has been well over a month since I finished it so I might be hard pressed to come up with them!
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Yes….time does fly!! Let me know about The Great Regression; it calls out the the International Politics student in me! I am also off to find Twilight of History…again very curious, but I agree with you, it may be a slow read!
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cirtnecce, I will definitely report back on The Great Regression! I am looking forward to giving Twilight of History a go and I am hoping I get to renew it because yeah, one I want to pay attention to and not speed through.
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You are reading such interesting books right now Stefanie.
I have had my eye on The Three Body Problem and I think that I will read it sometime in the coming year. I am glad to hear that you like it.
Twilight of History sounds like something that I would get a lot out of.
The Great Regression also sounds like an important and enlightening book.
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Brian Joseph, I’m trying to keep it lively here! 🙂 Three Body Problem has a slow build-up but because the build up is being done as a kind of mystery it keeps it interesting and makes me keep reading.
I am looking forward to digging in to Twilight of History. It does indeed seem like it might be something you would like.
As for the Great Regression after just two essays I already feel smarter 🙂
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Thanks for the article! I also cannot believe it’s June already. G-sus I need to go to the beach and snorkel around before it’s December = dark and too cold to move my butt outta bed 🙂
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szmejzahxxx, LOL, better get out there before it’s too late! 🙂
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It was very noticeable to me when I travelled to the US that the media don’t give much time to international affairs. The focus was very much on the USA. Such a contrast to the UK national media I’m used to.
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The Great Regression is a great title for a book which is about such a dismal phenomenon. The other books sound really good too and hope you enjoy them.
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Ian, yes it is a great title and the essays so far are pretty interesting.
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BookerTalk, it’s really sad that in order to find the information a person has to go looking for it. One reason I love getting up early on weekends is my public radio station has BBC world service 🙂
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That’s a sadly underfunded service.
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Chinese sci-fi sounds interesting. We often (occasionally?) see translated literary fiction in bookshops – and I have a few from various country in the pile now – but not often of we seen translated genre. Of course, this could be translated literary genre!
As for blog reading. I’m behind too. I seem to do it in fits and starts these days. So many responsibilities, so little time. BUT I’m here now giving you my full for-a-little-while attention!
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whisperinggums, since I have no other Chinese SF to compare this to I can’t say if it is typical or not. But it is really good. Not much genre gets translated so I am always interested in giving it a try. This one so far is a happy success.
I am glad I am not the only one behind these days 🙂
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Hmmm, The Three-Body Problem sounds like something my husband would like. He’s a big fan of science fiction and alien invasion stories. I’m going to add it to my gift list. Thanks!
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AMB, oh yes! It’s really good and has taken a rather creepy and insidious turn! I am very much enjoying it 🙂
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I’ve had Three Body Problem queued up for months but haven’t got it to it yet. Soon! Can’t wait to hear what you think of it. I keep hearing about how Chinese sci-fi is a hot trend, but honestly, this is the only title I know.
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Isabella, I am really enjoying it so far and have reached the 2/3 mark. I keep hearing about Chinese SF being big too but like you, this is the only title I know about!
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How wonderful to have a vacation coming up! I bet you’ll have a wonderful selection of books to read and not to mention lots of biking adventures planned. I’m with you, no idea how June is here already. Look forward to hearing more about the Chinese Sci Fi book you are reading!
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Iliana, I’ve been so busy I haven’t made any plans for vacation yet but considering how tall my book pile is, reading choices shouldn’t be a problem! Three-Body Problem is moving right along and I am really enjoying it!
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Good luck filling your vacation with reading; my week just passed and it was wonderful in many (some unexpected) ways, but I only read a few chapters and some poems here and there. I tell myself that I do make time to read in non-vacation times, so I shouldn’t mind, and that’s true, but I think I’d like to plan a reading day on a weekend to make up for it, all the same. I’ve had The Three-Body Problem on my TBR for some time and will be keen to hear your thoughts when you finish with your nighttime friend.
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buried, thanks! Glad to hear you had such a wonderful week! I have high hopes for mine 🙂 I finished Three-Body over the weekend and really liked it. I will definitely be reading the second book. I’ll post about it soon!
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