What Are You Reading?

[Ironclad Alibi]

I finished reading The Atheist's Handbook to the Old Testament Volume One by Dr. Joshua Bowman and have now started reading The Atheist's Handbook to the Old Testament Volume Two by Dr. Joshua Bowman. Volume One covered the Mesopotamia while volume two is concerned with Egypt during the Old Testament times. The forthcoming volume three will cover the conquest of Canaan.

[Nunavut Pants]

Currently reading Stuka, The Doctrine of the German Dive Bomber by the guys known as "Military Aviation History" and "Military History Visualized" on Youtube. It contains translations of original 30s and 40s documents on how the Ju-87 was supposed to be used.

[Ghel]

I'm finally reading the last book in the Wolf Brother series, Wolf Bane. I keep having to remind myself that these books are written for children/teens. The main character, Torak (a teenage boy), keeps making the same mistakes, even when people close to him try to warn him that what he's doing is bad.

I'm mostly reading this series because my stepson wants to talk to me about them. I'm glad I'm on the last one. They're ok, but the repetition is annoying.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have started reading The Atheist's Handbook to the Old Testament Volume One by Dr. Joshua Bowman. It is a very readable and interesting overview of the Middle East in the late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.

[Pixelated]

I just finished the mystery novel "Snow-Blind" by Ragnar Jónasson. It's set in northern Iceland, in Siglufjörður a tiny fishing village accessible only via a small mountain tunnel ... and when a blizzard hits, the village is entirely cut off. Ari Thor Arason is the new village constable, up from Reykjavik. He has accepted the post without discussing it with his girlfriend, who is not best pleased that he is heading out into the wild blue yonder and leaving her behind. Upon his arrival he's told that "Nothing ever happens here" and people don't even lock their doors. But that's before a young woman is found half-dressed in a snowbank, bleeding and unconscious, and a well-known writer falls to his death.

And you can imagine how many of the words in this I had to copy and past because I have no clue how to get those accents on my keyboard.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I've paused "The Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys" to read "Fork-Tailed Devil", an account of the P-38 Lightning fighter. It's an older book, but still has quite a bit of interesting info in it. I do think it gets a couple of things wrong (particularly about the P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk, which are used mostly to contrast with the P-38 in the book) and there are things I think it should have covered better (e.g., the nickname referred to in the title) but it's still fairly interesting for those into WWII aviation.

I read that book many years ago. First published in 1971, I had the fourth printing from 1974. In 1992 an expedition to recovered one of the P-38s (Glacier Girl) buried under the snow and ice in Greenland. A very good book.

[Nunavut Pants]

I've paused "The Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys" to read "Fork-Tailed Devil", an account of the P-38 Lightning fighter. It's an older book, but still has quite a bit of interesting info in it. I do think it gets a couple of things wrong (particularly about the P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk, which are used mostly to contrast with the P-38 in the book) and there are things I think it should have covered better (e.g., the nickname referred to in the title) but it's still fairly interesting for those into WWII aviation.

[Seanette]

Currently devouring the Immortal Descendants series by April White. I'm on book 4 of 5.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I finished Steampunk Prime and then read Noah's Flood by William Ryan and Walter Pitman. This is an archeological account of the flooding that created the Black Sea about 7,000 years ago. Some of the refugees that fled the flooding went to the mid-east and carried stories of the flooding with them. Over the next 3 to 4 thousand years these stories morphed into the story of Noah's Flood. A fascinating history book.

[Ghel]

I took a break from the Wolf Brother series after book 8. I'm waiting for my stepson to bring me book 9 so I can borrow it. Meanwhile, I decided to pick up where I left off in the Expanse series. Book 6 is Babylon's Ashes. I'm only a couple chapters in, and it's got a hold on me already. I started tearing up when I feared one of my favorite characters from the series might have died between books.

I'm experiencing a metaphorical whiplash, though. Wolf Brother is a soft fantasy series intended for pre-teens. Expanse is a hard sci-fi series intended for adults. Shifting gears like that is harsh.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I finished reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I am now reading Steampunk Prime edited by Mike Ashley. It is a collection of steampunk stories written during what would be the steampunk era (pre-WW1).

[Jay 2K Winger]

Just finished reading a bunch of the Lord Darcy stories by Randall Garrett. Essentially, it's set in an alternate history when Richard the Lionheart didn't die from that infected arrow wound, and the Anglo-French Empire is still going strong some 800 years later. Oh, and there's magic as well. Lord Darcy himself is essentially this world's version of Sherlock Holmes, ably assisted by a sorcerer who does forensics for him.

First heard about it on TV Tropes, was intrigued, and put it on my wishlist. Got it for Christmas from my sister, who noted that it was out of print and she'd had to buy a used copy. I sheepishly told her I'd have accepted it in digital format, but thanked her regardless.

[Ghel]

In the past month or so, I've started reading the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver, starting with Wolf Brother. It's a children's book series, intended for pre-teens. We originally started buying the books for my partner's 9yo son, but we started reading and enjoying them, too. It's a fantasy series set in prehistoric Europe (mostly Sweden). The main character, Torak, might seem like a "special boy" trope so common in fantasy stories written for children and young adults, but he's not perfect. Everything doesn't always go right for him. Other characters sometimes have to save him. But he also learns from his mistakes. And he actually listens to those going on the journey with him, unlike certain "special boys" I could name.

[Ghel]

I'm on to book 5 of the Expanse series, Nemesis Games. Like a lot of books in the series, it starts off seeming like a fairly simple, straightforward story, then about halfway through, a major event happens that turns everything on its head. Nothing will ever be the same again. Which is one of the things that makes this such a great series.

All the books in the Expanse series should have trigger warnings for bodily injury, illness, death, etc. Nemesis Games also needs a trigger warning for relationship abuse and suicidal ideation. I still recommend it.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I finished the Difference Engine and am now reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.