Finished Poetics by Aristotle. I can’t call it “interesting”, but I am glad I read it. Then 10 pages of Horace, and now I’m on Of the Standard of Taste by David Hume.
I mean… I’m at least reading a lot of names I’ve heard of before but never read, so that’s something, I guess?
If you want to read some great literature from 2000 years ago, I can recommend Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
But I don’t know how it is in English, only read it in Latin. But it is great, so many of our stories are coming from there.
I remember a few years ago pushing myself to read a classic a year. Out of that came missed attempts at Madame Bovary, War and Peace and some others. On the other hand, The Count of Montecristo, Animal Farm or The Three Musketeers I did really enjoy. Now I only read classics if they come recommended.
On the other hand, I finished Blood and Fire, from GRR Martin this weekend. Great read up till nearly 80% of the way. Then it really loses momentum. Later I realised that being written as a chronicle of the House Targaryen royalty, it was not going to cover the whole dynasty. And falls into one of Martin’s pitfalls, weak endings. It is funny how he can leave you on a “cliffhanger” at the end of an episode, but I already have read two or three books of him (Fevre Dream, A knight of the Seven Kingdoms) with really weak endings. They just sort of fade…
Now I am on the chase of The Wisdom of Crowds, by Joe Abercrombie
Weird criteria but I’m looking for some advice on a new audio book to download. Just finished listening to Bloody Rose (which filled the criteria well). Looking for something that is heavily story driven, good but not good enough that I would rather have read it?
Actually I think Dresden files might be what I’m looking for.
James Marsters does a great job with the Dresden Files audiobooks, though it takes him two or three books to really get into his groove. For that matter, so did Jim Butcher in writing them. 
Sounds perfect, thanks!
Between trips to find a new lawnmower, I stopped by the Public Library to get a bit of sanity from all the “moving house saga”. I was thinking of re-taking Baptism of Fire from Sapkowski, as I had to return it before finishing it, but it was taken. Instead, I got out False Value, from Ben Aaronovitch. I was surprised to see it there, on the free borrowing section, as it is quite new, but I was not going to argue, so I started reading it last night.
I started rereading “Dancer’s Lament” again after talking to one of my new colleagues about books and he told me he is reading Malazan (I didn’t recognize the title of the German translation though… in German translations of epic fantasy books they usually take each single volume of English and make it into 3 German books, it is absolutely confusing)
Every Malazan book is great for rereads 
I am in the middle of Midnight Tides, fifth book of the “main” series. My 3rd time around the block.
This German way of making books way more expensive than necessary was one main reason I started reading books in English back when I was a student.
I remember my astonishment when I found out how many books George RR Martin published and how many books of his I bought in German 
I think it may have to do with count page and how some languages extend this. In Spanish, normally a book translated from English can increase between a 15 and a 30%. This makes a bit of a challenge for publishers, that sometimes split books in two. They definitely did this with Game of Thornes, or the Wheel of Time. Obviously there is an economic factor, but sales of books that are very sizeable tend to be tricky.
Have you seen the trailer for the prequel TV series they’re making?
Cornwell drags Sharpe out for another adventure. Had mixed feelings about this but enjoying it so far.
Yes, I saw it yesterday. Looks good. I like the new take on the soundtrack.
“Dreams did not make us kings. Dragons did”.
Nice.
On the other hand, finished False Value last night, from Ben Aaronovitch. Very enjoyable, if a tad short for my liking. And I loved the board games mentions. Towards the beginning of the book, there is a game of Firefly: The Game involved in the story, and towards the end a game of Battlestar Galactica. Plus another mention of Firefly towards the end. Very nice. Now I have to find me a job like the IT jobs mentioned where they can play board games at work. The Rivers of London world gets more and more appealing book by book.
Finished Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive in quick succession. Not quite sure I followed everything that happened so may have to go do some extra reading.
I’ve only read the first book of that series. Definitely worth keeping up with then?
Definitely. They are a lot of fun. At the moment, it is my grown up replacement for Harry Potter. With better humour and less faff.
I always found Mona Lisa Overdrive spectacularly messed up with a tragic central character, which is why I feel it is more cyberpunk than most cyberpunk (if you know what I mean).
