Reads

reading a book, magazine, newspaper, other physical document, or online post
May 3, 2020 – Started Reading
May 8, 2020 – Finished Reading
Cibola Burn by James S.A Corey (James S.A. Corey)

The gates have opened the way to a thousand new worlds and the rush to colonize has begun. Settlers looking for a new life stream out from humanity’s home planets. Ilus, the first human colony on this vast new frontier, is being born in blood and fire.
Independent settlers stand against the overwhelming power of a corporate colony ship with only their determination, courage, and the skills learned in the long wars of home. Innocent scientists are slaughtered as they try to survey a new and alien world. The struggle on Ilus threatens to spread all the way back to Earth.
James Holden and the crew of his one small ship are sent to make peace in the midst of war and sense in the midst of chaos. But the more he looks at it, the more Holden thinks the mission was meant to fail.
And the whispers of a dead man remind him that the great galactic civilization that once stood on this land is gone. And that something killed it.

Novellas included:

  • The Things We Do for Love
  • Downfall of the Gods
  • The Last Witness
  • The Devil You Know
  • I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There
  • Heaven Thunders the Truth
  • Message in a Bottle
  • Rules
  • Safe House
  • The Dragonslayer of Merebarton
  • Told by an Idiot
  • No Peace for the Wicked

Written mostly in the first person, each narrator is cynically convincing and brings to each tale their own perspective of what it means to be good or bad. Or is everyone a shade of grey?

The Father of Lies by K.J. Parker

Bringing together KJ Parker’s recent novellas and novelettes, totaling over 500 pages of wry, twisty fiction, Father of Lies delves into the arcane as never before. Set amid the world of Parker’s critically acclaimed novels and award winning stories, as well as our own, this volume reveals a side rarely glimpsed in his other works. Contained herein are the tales of creatures that pluck the strings of existence, exposing the seedy underbelly of ultimate power as only Parker can.

It begins with love, as it often does. In All the Things We Do for Love, Parker demonstrates the age old proverb ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.’ It continues with a fall from grace, in Downfall of the Gods, where a daughter of heaven unwittingly pits herself against her divine family. Demonic pacts are everywhere, in The Devil You Know, where Parker returns to Saloninus, his iconic character who will finish what he started so many years ago. It ends with a beginning, in No Peace for the Wicked, as a New Pope is chosen to push back the darkness.

Filled with Parker’s hallmark wit and biting humor, Father of Lies is an essential collection, not just for the dedicated fantasist, but for anyone committed to a great story well told. Like all of KJ Parker’s brilliant fiction, these stories whisper the truth.

Just ask yourself, can you trust the Father of Lies?

April 5, 2020 – Started Reading
April 8, 2020 – Finished Reading
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

The world we knew is gone. What world will rise in its place?

The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future.

But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him.

One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate.

Started and Finished Reading: April 6, 2020

As always, the art work is unbelievable and majestic.

By Chance or Providence by Becky Cloonan

Collecting stories by Becky Cloonan:

1. Wolves
As a lone hunter tracks an elusive beast through the forest, he reflects on his life and past love through a series of flashbacks, bringing the story to a climax that is as romantic as it is savage. This powerful short story begs for multiple read-throughs, never giving concrete answers, but (like the best enigmatic endings) leaves your own conclusions satisfying.

2. The Mire
On the eve of a great battle, a humble squire is tasked with delivering a letter to a seemingly abandoned castle at the heart of an ill-famed swamp. Met with mysterious apparitions on the way, he slowly unveils the truth behind his journey as his past is re-written over the course of the story.

3. Demeter
A fisherman’s wife tends the garden and animals while her husband is at sea, but secrets buried under the waves begin to bubble to the surface revealing a secret treachery and forgotten truth. The third and final book in a trilogy of critically acclaimed stand-alone stories by award winning creator Becky Cloonan.

April 4, 2020 – Started Reading
April 4, 2020 – Finished Reading
Batman, Volume 13: City of Bane Part 2 by Tom King (DC Comics)

The bad guys thought they had it made with Bane in control, but with Batman back in Gotham they’ll be reminded what justice feels like…and how it hurts when it hits you in the face. With Catwoman at his side, the Caped Crusader is looking to take down Bane’s army and reclaim his city.

But is the Dark Knight Detective ready to take on the foe who broke him worse than any other that came before? And what else stands in Batman’s way, to put an obstacle between him and his enemy? Tread lightly, Batman, because not only do the lives of your son and trusted friends hang in the balance, but your entire home could collapse. Batman and his allies have a choice: let Bane stay in power and guarantee the city’s survival, or risk everything to break free!

Collects Batman #80-85.

Eisner Award winner Tom King reunites with Mikel Janin as he continues his best-selling Batman run. Batman faces his most personal battle yet as he is locked in a life or death battle with… his father?

Batman Vol 12 City Of Bane Part 1 by Tom King

Ever since Batman’s impending wedding went south on him, the Caped Crusader has had the sinking suspicion that there has been someone lurking in the shadows setting events into motion. After the attempted assassination of Nightwing he starts to question his commitment to his war on crime, his relationships and even his own sanity.

There has been an unseen hand orchestrating these events. And while the true villain has yet to reveal himself, his minions are starting to step forward and break the Bat down once and for all–beginning with Thomas Wayne, the Batman from the Flashpoint Universe!

Collects Batman #75-79.

March 22, 2020 – Started Reading
March 25, 2020 – Finished Reading
BATMAN – DETECTIVE COMICS VOL. 3: GREETINGS FROM GOTHAM (DC)

Detective Jim Corrigan has been shot on the streets of Gotham City-and the Spectre must reach out to Batman to help him find the assassin! There’s only one life Batman would be willing to risk saving Jim Corrigan and the Spectre: his own! Plus, Deadshot returns to Gotham City following his stint with the Suicide Squad, and Batman fears that without the oversight of Amanda Waller, Floyd Lawton will go back to his old ways. Collects Detective Comics #1006-1011.

March 11, 2020 – Started Reading
March 22, 2020 – Finished Reading

Absolutely loved this book.

Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee

We work feverishly to make ourselves happy. So why are we so miserable? This manifesto helps us break free of our unhealthy devotion to efficiency and shows us how to reclaim our time and humanity with a little more leisure.

Despite our constant search for new ways to “hack” our bodies and minds for peak performance, human beings are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. Why do we measure our time in terms of efficiency instead of meaning? Why can’t we just take a break?

In Do Nothing, award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path ahead, seeking to institute a global shift in our thinking so we can stop sabotaging our well-being, put work aside, and start living instead of doing. As it turns out, we’re searching for external solutions to an internal problem. We won’t find what we’re searching for in punishing diets or productivity apps. Celeste’s strategies will allow you to regain control over your life and break your addiction to false efficiency. You’ll learn how to increase your time perception to determine how your hours are being spent, invest in quality idle time, and focus on end goals instead of mean goals. It’s time to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker, and less productive, and return to a way of life that allows us to thrive.