This was the first Brandon Sanderson book I've read, and I understand it's a bit different than most of what he writes.
But I liked it well enough I'll check something else of his out. What's a better place to jump in? Mistborn or Stormlight /Way of Kings?
The world itself was interesting, especially with inserts from the in-world Frugal Wizard's Handbook.
Memory recovery and character development was well-done (no complete recovery on page 35).
Pacing and plot development were good. Nice progressive reveals and clues as tension builds.
📚The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by @brandonsanderson.com
"White room" story, easy, fun, funny, and not part of a series. Modern-ish human, medieval England (ish), no memory. Now he needs to figure out what's going on, maybe who he is, and definitely survive.
#booksky
Different world than I live in, for sure.
For people who know actors and follow what they're up to (cough not me cough), there's a lot to like. The Tucci family seems to be fairly social with other actor-types, so there's a lot of name-dropping. Not pretentiously, more "so, Woody [Harrelson] came over for dinner, the pasta was good."
I was not really familiar with Tucci as a person or actor before reading.
The writing was uneven. Some days much more interesting than others.
Tone was oddly pretentious yet vulnerable. Charming at its best, annoying at times.
Enjoyed getting into his head, glimpsing his life.
📚 What I Ate in One Year (and Related Thoughts) by Stanley Tucci (November library reading challenge: "a culinary read")
Daily-ish journal format, built around food but also happenings, feelings, and musings. A few recipes. Strong feelings on food, esp Italian!
Interesting life for sure.
#booksky
New on my blog: "Why Study CS? Thoughts on LLM-assisted software engineering" kmicinski.com/claude-code-...
My rate of finishing books has been way higher than my rate of posting about them. Realized I have a list of at least 12 books to post about.
And a stack of books calling my name.
Mini-versions of MacBeth and Midsummer Night's Dream, watching Romeo be a maid, the noir detective path...it's ridiculous fun.
Plus the "regular" path would (probably!) be a great way to teach Romeo and Juliet to high schoolers.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go bite my thumb (not at you).
📚 Romeo and/or Juliet by @ryannorth.ca caught my eye at the library.
Shakespeare meets Choose Your Own Adventure - hilarious, absurd, and very much understands The Bard. Great (guest) art, too. Play as Romeo, Juliet, Nurse. Enjoy Juliet's protein shakes. Live happily ever after, or not...
#booksky
Setting aside the controversy over how this got published, and the poor editing, and all that, I'm glad I read it. For those worried about Atticus—yes, it's true—but wrestling with the implications of his choices and considering his options is a fine and relevant exercise in current day USA.
At its best, Watchman explores how perceptions of heroes change as you grow, how (presumably) well-meaning people can take different paths, and what it takes for a child to fully become their own grown-up person. That part is beautiful, underneath the lack of craftsmanship.
📚Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Mixed feelings.
- It's not a polished, publish-ready book.
- It's extremely perceptive about people and human nature.
- The characters are flawed.
- Some of the flaws make the characters more real.
Worth a read. But I also need to re-read Mockingbird now.
#booksky
1 or 3-4
Though 2 works if I’m hungry or sufficiently bored.
If your company seems to flail, spiral, oscillate, or just keeps doubling down on the same idea, maybe the problem is too much feedback, undamped, without systems to handle it.
Credit to @another.rodeo for the nudge to write this in response to his excellent post at another.rodeo/feedback/.
The way the various timelines were constructed and how the events shown in each played into the narrative was really well done. A lot of careful prep was clearly done, and it paid off in an only-as-confusing-as-the-narrative-required story. Gold star for that. ⭐
Some really interesting concepts, and exploration of what living out of sequential time does to one's psychology.
Barbara being shunned after her breakdown never quite felt plausible, and I think that affected my enjoyment of the whole book. Otherwise it was quite imaginative and well-paced.
📚The Psychology of Time Travel, by @katemascarenhas.bsky.social (random pickup).
Four women invent time travel in the 60s, kicking off a multi-timeline closed-room murder mystery that's also somehow very linear. Oh, and one of the four was ostracized after a very public breakdown.
#booksky
Epstein Emoluments?
Epstein ePayment?
Epstein Embezzlement?
Epstein Extravagance?
Epstein Endowment?
There's a lot of humor and danger in this book, even with the beautiful prose.
The worldbuilding is fascinating in what's described, what's implied, and what's left out.
It's self-aware, sometimes satirical, yet somehow still completely earnest.
I'm looking forward to re-reading it someday.
📚 The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.
Such beautifully crafted language, and a story told calmly but urgently, the words flowing off the page painting scenes and feelings on the reader's mind. And the characters so textured and full of surprises.
Old, classic, but new to me. Great read!
#booksky
I will, thanks for the recommendation!
After reading Novik's Scholomance series, I wasn't surprised to find a strong female lead and an unexpected ending. I was surprised by how frightening the Wood was, beyond the standard fairy-tale scary-woods notes.
I'll be looking for more Naomi Novik books at the library for sure.
📚Uprooted by @naominovik.bsky.social
Well-crafted dark fairy tale, compelling setting, interesting magic system. The main character is irritatingly dense (and the Dragon irritatingly taciturn), but eventually figures things out.
Felt novel, but comfortable. Enchanting, even.
Loved it.
#booksky
Your intellectual fly is open
bcantrill.dtrace.org/2025/12/05/y...
Well put. I like the title. 🔥
I wrote something similar a while back. The imagery wasn’t quite as evocative as yours. But I did describe a rewritten sentence as “vague, fluffy, ambiguous, feel-good trash”, so there’s that.
Same conclusion, though: wanting to hear people’s ideas and own voices.
It wasn’t bad at all…
…once the engine warmed up, and the defroster started doing its job, and…
You’re doing better than I am. I forgot to put the scraper back in the van before my wife drove it to work on Monday. 😬🥶
