What are you reading?

[kingsboi]

recently finished The Value of Others by Orion Taraban

a psychologists point of view on why men and women form relationships, why marriages don't succeed long term for a certain percentage of the population, among other topics regarding human relationships. Interesting read that shines some perspective.

 

[Warhawk]

The only issue I have with Libby is the 3 week period for longer books. Between work, etc., some longer books are taking me more than 3 weeks to get through. Minor quibble, though. I ended up buying one of them in soft cover to give me more time, but I'm trying to finish up a different one and I don't think I'll make it in the next few days, unfortunately. I'll have to re-borrow it to finish it up.

 

[Warhawk]

Just finished up Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, book 5 of the Stormlight Archive. It is long - took me the full 3 weeks on Libby to finish up (similar to the Wheel of Time books, etc.).

I like the story overall, and man does he have some pretty exciting endings for some of his works - the entire series underwent some major changes in this one. It just took WAY too long getting there. The first half of the book had too much exposition / dialogue. But once it got rolling it rounded into form. Looks like he has another 5 books planned to wrap up the series. It's gonna be a while, folks! Not Game of Thrones "while", but a while nonetheless.

 

[Warhawk]

I was really only reading this series while waiting for the The Handmaid's Tale to become available and someone had mentioned it online in passing.

Just polished off The Handmaid’s Tale. While suitably dystopian and certainly applicable to modern events to a certain extent, I was a bit underwhelmed with it overall. The ending is somewhat ambiguous but portends a more positive future.

 

[Warhawk]

I'm about halfway through Midnight in Chernobyl (history of the nuclear disaster) and it is very good. There's a LOT of people to keep track of, but in general you can keep up with the story pretty easily. The author does a good job of discussing the history of the plant, discussing the hazards of nuclear power and radiation exposure without getting too into the weeds, and explaining how Soviet bureaucracy and attitudes played into the construction of the complex (and others), inherent issues (both in design and construction), coverup of other accidents/incidents, performance of personnel at the plant, reasons for the disaster, disaster response (including available personnel and equipment), construction of the "sarcophagus", medical issues, legal proceedings, international impacts and responses, etc. I'll confirm whether the rest of the book is as good, but so far I recommend it if you are at all interested in this topic.

It appears that there are likely a few inaccuracies here and there with technical items and such, possibly due to relaying a highly technical topic in a non-technical way for such a history to be told, but I'm not going to get too hung up on that in relation to the overall story, which appears to be well researched.

I may also read through this, depending on length and interest after I'm done with the book:

Chernobyl Witness: A primary source compendium of 26 April 1986

Edit - well, that was quick. The book had a section with some photographs, etc., at the end so only about 2/3 of the book was actually text. Recommended.

 

[Warhawk]

Just finished up The Folly of Realism by Alexander Vindman about the history and leadup to the current situation in Ukraine. A very interesting summary of the history of Ukraine both politically and culturally, it also does not pull any punches on the various US administrations and their missteps in nurturing a potential ally and strong partner that Ukraine could be to Europe. It also briefly traces Putin's rise to power in Russia and their approach to war. Recommended for anyone interested in the topic.

 

[kingsboi]

The Knowledge Machine by Michael Strevens

one individuals perspective on how scientific theory shouldn't be the only way we view the world and scientific evidence can be skewed to favor one side versus the other and vice versa, an interesting read indeed if you want to broaden the way you view science as a field.