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Wants to read Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine
Wants to read Wizard of the Crow
Rated Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues 8/10
For a relatively slim book, this really packs in a lot of information. Between my biology background and always having had an interest in anthropology, archaeology, and history, this book was right in my wheelhouse. There's a lot I learned about times I generally knew about, but this book covers specifics. I think most know that in the past before the understanding of germ theory a lot of cultures were less than sanitary, but the added points of interest were always the connections made to how massive amounts of disease and death created "opportunities" for turning points in history. That's what kept me turning the pages even as my eyes wanted to shut because it was my bedtime. I recommend this book if you're into the above mentioned subjects for a thought provoking read.
Rated The City of Brass 8/10
pretty good, takes some twists I was expecting and some I wasn't, too much trilogy setup at the end.
Rated Peace Talks 8/10
It's been some 5 years since the last Harry Dresden novel and I was sure Butcher had decided to quit. At least that's what I thought. It wouldn't have surprised me considering the last 3 books felt a bit directionless after the series-altering "Changes" (12). I think in my review of "Skin Game" (15) or "Side Jobs" (15.5?), I said something about it's what happens when a series introduces Cousin Oliver. Not to mention it's hard to continually escalate the Big Bads and going to Hell and back. Or Hades, I guess. Tartarus? Anyway, I was left a bit disappointed after my first read of that last book and when I decided to re-read the entire series in lead up to "Peace Talks," I was left pretty much with the same feeling.<br/><br/>I think it was good that Butcher seems to have decided to take a break on The Dresden Files and leave it fallow for years. He's come back with an all new Big Bad rising from the depths and most of this novel is spent with Harry playing politics. Whaaaat? Yes, for once Harry is trying the diplomatic route. Gone is the Harry of kicking in the door and setting a building on fire to get out the innocent. I guess he's leaving that for the young kids these days. Among all the fighting-without-fighting with the White Council/Wardens, White Court, and the Fae, he also has to think about his family and, as he says at one point, having to go back home to someone now. By his side, though, despite all the hell she's gone through and getting completely beat up in "Skin Game," is Murphy. She insists on staying by his side come hell or high water (often both at the same time) and this newly mature Dresden has learned that he also can't tell her what to do, less than ever and no matter how terrifying that is, if that's what she chooses to do.<br/><br/>For the most part, though, "Peace Talks" works as a preamble, if you will. It's the set up of the apocalypse to come. The thought I had was that this novel is as though "Cold Days" and "Skin Game" had a baby, a lot of politics with something of a crazy heist at the end. Most of what I got out of it was that Harry has a finger in too many pies and often that means that a lot of friends and family and past allies don't know what to make of him. Is Dresden trustworthy? Who does he really work for now? The one thing I miss in this new Harry (which I realized near the end of this book) was the fun of his smartassery. It took me a while to realize it was largely absent and it wasn't long after that Harry himself said something to the effect of him having learned to just keep it shut. Which on one hand is great for maturity, but on the other hand that attitude is one of the big reasons I've always loved this series. The quips and thumbing the nose in the face of ugly odds was fun. I hope it comes back soon.<br/><br/>Some main plot points I'm putting here to remind myself about the story, so don't click through or continue reading if you don't want to <spoiler>see spoilers.<br/><br/>All the heavy hitters decide to converge on Chicago to get together for peace talks with the constantly attacking Fomor. Or so everyone is lead to believe. As I mentioned, the Wardens and the White Council don't trust Harry what with him being Mab's enforcer now and he's about to be on the outs with them soon. Thomas has for some unknown reason been sent in to kill the Svartalves' king. Conveniently, Thomas has been beaten to a pulp, including his mouth, so he has nothing enlightening to say at all about what the hell was his motivation. Other than a threat to Justine, of course, who to top things off is somehow now pregnant with his kid. Of course Harry isn't going to let Thomas get executed for the attempt and that means getting in bed, figuratively, with Lara Raith, to try and save him. Which they do. Sort of. He ends up in some sort of suspended animation thanks to the "hospitality" of Demonreach island. In the meantime, McCoy loses his control while trying to stop him from his utter hatred and distrust of vampires to the point where he mortally attacks Harry. That is, if that Harry hadn't been an amazing glamour courtesy of Molly used to feint while he and the escape boat got away. I still want to know what exactly is McCoy's beef with the vampires other than generalized centuries of cold/hot war with them. And that's not even getting into the apocalypse set up with the Titan goddess, Ethniu, that's yet to come in the following book(s)</spoiler>.
Rated Persuasion 10/10
the ability to accurately narrate a character’s interior justification at face value and yet still convey the gap between it and the real world is a kind of magic trick, and to also make it funny, a little miracle
Rated Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care 10/10
Thought-provoking and important. Deliberately and smartly doesn’t grind your face in the problems activists are working to solve or the badness of their enemies; this is taken as a given. Instead, it’s about how organizers and activists can live their values in the work they do and how that actually improves the work.
Rated The Spiritual Poems of Rumi 4/10
This was a gift and it’s more decorative than anything else; the layout is beautiful but the “nonliteral” translations are so hippy-dippy and loose that they could be hanging on the wall of an AirBnB.
Rated Player's Handbook 8/10
I think they did a really good job with this edition - putting the detailed instructions on how the game is actually played up front, for instance. The art is nice and I mostly like the minor changes they’ve made to the game mechanics and how those mechanics are explained.
Rated Crying in H Mart 8/10
A really lovely memoir of the author’s fraught relationship with her Korean-immigrant mother and the Korean food that bonded them. I went in expecting this to be very sad and it is - the subject is very much loss and grief, and the ravages of both cancer and cancer treatment come up in detail. But it’s also very warm and thoughtful, with much of the book focused on how Zauner uses cooking, music, writing, and travel to keep her mother with her. Brief and really well written.
Rated Sleepless Nights 6/10
Not really my thing, I guess - a sort of flown lyrical amalgamation of remembrances that don’t really hang together.
Rated Velvet Was the Night 8/10
A clever and compelling thriller set against the backdrop of political repression in 1970s Mexico.
Rated Epidemia ultra 10/10
Rated Blacktop Wasteland 8/10
A classic One Last Job crime thriller about a getaway driver-turned-mechanic. Zippy, mean, compelling, cinematic, and extremely readable.