anchorlight
Aspiring author and turkey scientist
3399 points
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Queen of the Black Coast
Robert E. Howard
0anchorlight commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Inspired by a recent discussion of books involving your area of expertise :)
I've been working in IT for most of my life, so I'd be curious to read some books where characters are involved in the same area in some meaningful way. And I don't mean sci-fi with "hackers in virtual reality" - I can enjoy these books too of course, but they are out of the scope of this request :) So I'm looking for recommendations of some stories where at least one character is a programmer or an IT administrator or a QA engineer or something similar, and their activities are somewhat meaningfully featured in the storyline (beyond just "the love interest is a software developer but they might as well have been a lawyer or a marketing manager, the story wouldn't change a lot").
The genre doesn't matter much I guess :) Thanks!
8anchorlight commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
I’m looking for some fleshed out books or series that are actually enjoyable to read.
I feel like a lot of the new books that are super popular at the moment aren’t great with world building or engaging plots.
29anchorlight wrote a review...
A biting satire that has barely changed in relevance in the 22 year gap from book to movie creation, Erasure is my favorite type of story-- a story about a story.
Unfortunately, the meta-story we're partaking in is a creation of vile, bitter resentment; Monk is a literary Frankenstein creating a monster he cannot contain. He's at the end of his rope, and sick of hearing that he's not 'black enough' to make it as an author. His creation is putrid and stereotype-driven, something he dares the publishing world he has no respect for to prop up and call art... and the most cruel joke within is that the publishers love it. This is both a positive stroke of luck at a time he desperately needs it, and the wedge which is used to split Monk's mind in two.
Monk is a confusing, flawed character; both the horrendous meta-work My Pafology and the surrounding novel's narration will paint the image of someone mired in confusion and hypocrisy, as someone overwhelmingly driven by convictions yet also ready to sell out if it means making the greatest agonies of his life go away. Despite choosing to tell this story from such a self-contradictory perspective, the author uses Monk's tragedy to explore touchy questions of representation, or more specifically, the publishing industry's financials-first relationship with representation--often with no regard for personal taboos.
This work is at first meandering through the head of a writer often lost in his own world, and then lost in the world which he is drowning in. It is often times overwhelming, and though full of incredible wit, the laughs were few and far between in a long stretch of quiet, pained observation.
When I've sufficiently recovered, I'll be checking out the movie adaptation as well.
0anchorlight commented on a post
It's interesting to me that a book I loved (it's tied for my #1 this year with The Tainted Cup) had a 3.8 rating on average and so I started digging through reviews to see what common issues people had with it.
Much of what it seems to boil down to is audiobook narration and pacing (most frequently). I can't speak on the audiobook point because I read it physically, but it is interesting that the way you consume a book can so heavily impact your take on that book.
As for the pacing I suppose I just assumed that "Gothic" and "Cosmic" horror both have pacing that this book provides. You see it in lots of these kind of books and movies - just due to recency bias i think of the Yellow Wall Paper for books and Iron Lung for movies- and I just find it interesting that that's a downside for the book when people were looking in the genre.
Maybe I'm just an outlier in my taste and no one else can relate, but I just thought it was interesting to go into a Gothic book expecting a fast pace and rate it badly in response.
Are there common Gothic tagged books with fast pace narratives anyone can recommend to me that might challenge this?
13anchorlight commented on anchorlight's update
anchorlight started reading...
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Philip K. Dick
1anchorlight started reading...
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Philip K. Dick
1anchorlight commented on anchorlight's update
anchorlight finished a book
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Matt Dinniman
1anchorlight wrote a review...
The first half of this entry felt like a rather large step back, but Ultimately CDS is a fairly substantial improvement on its predecessor. The pacing is tightening up and the characters are becoming more character-y.
As with before, the true quality this book revels in is overwhelming the reader with a scenario so hopelessly unbalanced and complicated that we're forced to take limited interactions with mechanics at face value. At this point the characters have a working understanding of how to survive, and we're reminded of this every time a character calls them out for sub-optimal things they did before.
In some ways, the tighter focus of this book felt like it squeezed out some of the moral implications of the first book, when I was hoping for the sequel to do the opposite and give those moments room to breathe. This critique faded away as I let the book do its thing, and ultimately I wasn't disappointed.
My first review remarked on the low quality of the editing work in the traditionally published versions; it's rather unfortunate that this continues into book 2. I hope that future installments get proper passes.
There's a certain moment in this book where it all starts to come together; getting to that part was rough. Though I was close to a DNF, I think I will continue the series.
0anchorlight finished a book
Carl's Doomsday Scenario
Matt Dinniman
1anchorlight commented on anchorlight's update
anchorlight commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
Happy Wednesday everyone!!!
What is WWW Wednesday? Well, some people say it's "What We Weading Wednesday" but the Ws actually refer to the "what" in three questions!
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What are you currently reading?
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What have you recently finished reading?
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What will you read next?
I'd love to see your answers!
142anchorlight commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
I’ve wanted to start a list of books that remind one of summers at sea and by the lake. I grew up in the archipelago so books about island hopping or looking after lake houses are great!! Im looking for that rustic and cozy feeling of spraying saltwater and the oceans gentle breeze. My best examples are The Summer Book and The Island by Tove Jansson. Does anyone have any recommendations? 🙏🙏
I’ve read The Amazing April, To the Light House, The Waves, The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, and Anne of Green Gables but they’re all missing something in one way or another. What are your summer comfort reads?
3Post from the Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3) forum
