What are you reading? Books, articles or publications of any kind!

I've been really struggling to read anything for a while... a couple of the newer John Sandford Prey/Letty books weren't bad, but he seems to be kind of running out of steam a little - the newer ones all finish the same sort of way which I'm getting a bit over.

I'd heard Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir was pretty good, but I really struggled with it. Seemed like three fifths of bugger all happened for the first two thirds of the book, but the ending wasn't bad. Liked the magic style but still not really sure what to make of it. Tried reading the sequel Harrow, but gave up. Might have another crack in the future but just couldn't get in to it.

Reread Black Dahlia which I really enjoy.

Found a copy of Manchette's Fatale at the library and gave it a go, but struggled with that too... got about 30 pages in and just gave up.

Trying to read The Shining now - there's a few Stephen King books that I like but am really struggling, not quite a hundred pages...

Read Exit Wounds, not too bad and will probably read it again...

I'm pretty sure the list of books I've started in the last 12 months as maybe 4 or 5 times as long as the list of books I've finished. There are a few series I've started and want to finish (GOT, Firemayne saga) but I just can't face starting them over cause it's been too long since I read the first one(s)... Even the though of reading old favourites like Pratchett, American Gods Kim Newman doesn't really grab me at the moment
 
just back from the library with no particular titles or authors in mind, so just wandered the sections beyond usual sci fi and fantasy. seems like every book i picked up in the end of aisle sections had a missing person presumed dead or a found corpse. back to scifi it is, but then there was corpses floating in abandoned space ships
 
tubby74 said:
just back from the library with no particular titles or authors in mind, so just wandered the sections beyond usual sci fi and fantasy. seems like every book i picked up in the end of aisle sections had a missing person presumed dead or a found corpse. back to scifi it is, but then there was corpses floating in abandoned space ships
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Our library is currently closed until whenever due to damage from a water leak about a month ago. Since the building is not owned by the council, they must negotiate with the landlord. Rumour mill around town says that the council have heard crickets from the building owner. She's dead, Jim.
 
tubby74 said:
sounds like council needs to buy a place then. one of the truly underrated services they need to be on top of
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Not a chance. Regional council. The last library location they owned was a storeroom in what is now the old fire shed. Short of converting the old fire shed...there's nothing else in town that it would fit in.
 
tubby74 said:
just back from the library with no particular titles or authors in mind, so just wandered the sections beyond usual sci fi and fantasy. seems like every book i picked up in the end of aisle sections had a missing person presumed dead or a found corpse. back to scifi it is, but then there was corpses floating in abandoned space ships
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Missing persons or stinky corpses on Earth are all over the joint. People seem to be stepping over them quite a bit in certain categories of regular fiction.
Far better to have corpses in abandoned spaceships.
When just going outside of a space or starship will kill you in seconds, it tends to raise the tension level somewhat, IMO. As well as Aliens.... :D
 
ForkinGreat said:
Missing persons or stinky corpses on Earth are all over the joint. People seem to be stepping over them quite a bit in certain categories of regular fiction.
Far better to have corpses in abandoned spaceships.
When just going outside of a space or starship will kill you in seconds, it tends to raise the tension level somewhat, IMO. As well as Aliens.... :D
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Well, surprisingly on topic...

I just read "The White Road" by Sarah Lotz.

It is about someone who goes looking to film (initially) some corpses from a spelunking incident (then) some corpses near the summit of Everest, and the psychological implications of such activities.
796a5eac-2b51-4193-aa80-3691ee0d04f6.jpg


Despite the grizzly subject matter, it was surprisingly good and doesn't shy away from 'holding the mirror up to society'.
 
Clinical guidelines , academic articles and online discussions about cardiac sarcoidosis. God love a new clinical diagnosis.
Oh, and working my way through all the Terry Pratchett novels I side loaded onto my kobo e-reader
 
beeb said:
Well, surprisingly on topic...

I just read "The White Road" by Sarah Lotz.

It is about someone who goes looking to film (initially) some corpses from a spelunking incident (then) some corpses near the summit of Everest, and the psychological implications of such activities.
796a5eac-2b51-4193-aa80-3691ee0d04f6.jpg


Despite the grizzly subject matter, it was surprisingly good and doesn't shy away from 'holding the mirror up to society'.
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A lot of previously motivated dead bodies.
 
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius- just feels like something I should read rather than something I want to read.

Alice in Wonderland - easy read but enjoyable, just the ticket at 2am
 
I tend to pick from the recommendations section at the front of the library, grabbed a couple of japanese and korean translations. quirky sort of books - the night library about people who end up at a place that saves the collections of famous authors, not their works. One about someone who moved to a photography studio on a holiday island. that sort of thing. The translations make the text a little stiff but that sort of adds to the flow of the stories. they arent really going to any particular point and that makes them quite easy reading
 
Finally started World War 3.1 by John Birmingham. Axis Of Time was one of my favourite anythings ever, so expectations are a bit high for this sequel.
 
oldcorollas said:
/nerd
Reading up on circular polarisation and quarter-wave plates for optical microscopy (transparent interface detection etc)
evidentscientific.com

Quarter-Wave Plate in Polarized Microscopy: Circular Polarization & Use | Evident

Understand how quarter-wave retardation plates convert linearly to circularly polarized light. Learn their role in polarized microscopy, strain-free objectives, and DIC applications.
evidentscientific.com evidentscientific.com

Light can spiral? 🤨
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Probably similar but your link uses big words and my brain hurts now. CPLs are common in digital photography too so the little pixels and sensors can see more betterer (linear polarising filters can effectively "blind" the autofocus sensors and exposure meters) so when the wave is twisted into a spiral they can still be seen.
 
beeb said:
Probably similar but your link uses big words and my brain hurts now. CPLs are common in digital photography too so the little pixels and sensors can see more betterer (linear polarising filters can effectively "blind" the autofocus sensors and exposure meters) so when the wave is twisted into a spiral they can still be seen.
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I'm literally using it to get the microscope camera pixels to see stuff more betterer :)

The qwp filter i'm using is adjustable so the wavelength shift (angle? Rotation?) can be tweaked, and it does interesting visual things...

Functionally means you can either completely ignore a transparent surface between different refractive index mediums and see stuff under the interface clearly (just like seeing fish better with polarised sunnies..)...
Or you can only see the interface between the two mediums, and nothing below (like only seeing glare off the water, and no fish)... (or somewhere between, which is where it gets weird.. like psychedelic fishies)

Want to understand and be able to explain the second in big sciency words... and understand what it does to the length of the "effective" light path, since we measurin' stuff with lasers and all that jazz (but can the laser "see" the feature, and does it see it in the correct place...or is it like looking at something in a pond, looks closer or further away)

Will look into the photography stuff :) thanks

... things i think about while pedalling... something wrong with me no doubt
 
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When I broke my foot in December last year friends at work got me a bookshop voucher. I was able to get 5 books and given it wasn't my money, I took a chance and got a few things out of left field. So, this year I’ve read:
Dungeon Crawler Carl (great popcorn)
- I subsequently spent my own money on the following 7 books in the series and read them all because they are great escapism
There is no anti-memetic Division (interesting ideas and well written)
Vegas: A member of a dark season (sad but interesting insight in the American dream as it exists in was in the 70s)
The Passenger (I'm a Cormac McCarthy fan but this was hard work. Beautiful writing as always but turns out it's not a story driven novel but a philosophical exploration tied together with narrative elements... I wish I knew that going in as it would've made a whole lot more sense)
The Samurai Detectives (just started... will let you know)
 
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