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Re reading the Ellene trilogy by David Eddings. A kind of sword and sorcery for the thinking man. Not on the same level as Tolken but still an enjoyable distraction from my woes
 
I tend to have one nonfiction and one fiction book that I alternate between, however currently there is 4.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Briggs translation) - The last novel I finished The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, and after some time of reading short stories and dropping a few other books early on, I worked up the will to tackle this beast of a novel. It’s excellent by the way. The characters almost feel more real than real people, the imagery is vivid, it can be so incredibly emotional, and there is so much variety of events that keep things interesting. I like the translation as well. I chose it after doing some research on which one to get and Briggs sounded the most appealing to me. I find the prose to be very eloquent and engaging.

Berserk by Kentaro Miura - I read a bit of manga as a kid and have seen some anime here and there, but lately I’ve gotten much more into both. After watching both Ghost in the Shell and Paprika while tripping on 4-PrO-DMT and 2-FDCK, I had my mind blown by the overwhelming creativity and just how cerebral and philosophical anime could get in a way I rarely come across in most English speaking media I watch. I decided to look into other anime in a similar vein to those, and I also knew that Berserk was an exceptionally well regarded manga that had inspired a lot of Fromsoftware Games, so I decided to start reading that too. I’m still close to the start (volume 7), and I love the art and the story is continuing to hook me.

Molecular Biology of the Cell 7th edition - Drug pharmacology has been my primary interest out of many. In my bachelor’s, I took several courses that helped in my understanding of pharmacology, but unfortunately wasn’t able to do molecular biology due to scheduling issues. I still found myself getting incredibly enthralled learning the nitty gritty of small scale biological mechanisms, so I decided to just read a textbook on it. I found what was generally considered the best molecular bio textbook and have been enjoying it. The diagrams and photos are so cool, and the book came out only a few years ago so it covers some very new findings in the field. It is very detailed and is answering so many questions I had in my other bio classes.

The Chinese Heroin Trade by Ko-Lin Chin and Sheldon Zhang - I just got this one and decided to prioritize it over the other books for now. I came across double uoglobe branded heroin a bit ago which is famous for its 90% or higher purity and perfectly white color, so I became extremely curious about what the brand represents and who was responsible for it’s creation and continued use (Khun Sa is the most commonly attributed to it, but he’s been out of the game for years and I found nothing to indicate any particular group claimed ownership of the brand, so it seems rather ambiguous to me). I then spent a while reading wiki articles, UN reports, news articles, and some journal articles about the golden triangle, the factions involved in the heroin trade there, and a bunch about Burma/Myanmar’s conflict and role as opioid producers. I ran across this book as a common reference, and it is excellent. It is very detailed in how the heroin trade operates in the region on both a large scale and an individual one. It is very thorough and is much more nuanced in its portrayal of this compared to a lot of Western coverage (both authors are ethnically Chinese and one was born and raised in Burma). Highly recommend it to anyone interested organized crime, black market operations, opioids in general, SEA history and near current events, or drug manufacturing.
 
Jabberwocky said:
The Brothers Karamazov
The Myth of Sisyphus

TMoS is pretty "dense", I think that's the word. I am not used to reading philosophical books so a lot of sentences I have to read twice. And look up the definition of words. I'm on page 50 of 150, hoping things all come together after explaining the terms and comparing to other philosophers.

TBK I picked up to give myself a break from the philosophy. It's a story, with a pretty interesting plot. On about page 50 here as well, of almost 1000.

Haven't read seriously for a long time. Trying to add structure to my days and get away from external influences that guide me in the wrong direction / Television.
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How’d you like TBK? One of my all time faves.

I’m rereading all of Christopher Pike’s books in chronological order & The Pragmatist’s Guide to Life. And a fantasy series which isn’t worth mentioning, but I’m almost done with it so might as well finish it. At least it’s good for putting me to sleep.
 
Tuesday during the blackout (no battery left and no way to change my devices) I started reading a book called The Third Twin I had for quite some time (like 6 years) but never came around to read.
 

Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy​

Staying Alive, Being Alive, and Being Human have introduced many thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry, and have helped poetry lovers discover the little-known riches of world poetry. Each anthology in the Staying Alive series has 500 poems to touch the heart, stir the mind, and fire the spirit. These books have been enormously popular with readers, especially as gift books and bedside companions. The poems—by writers from many parts of the world—have emotional power, an intellectual edge, and playful wit. This pocketbook selection of 100 essential poems from the first three anthologies is a Staying Alive travel companion (also available as an e-book). As well as selecting favorite poems from what was originally a trilogy—readers’ and writers’ choices as well as his own favorites—editor Neil Astley provides background notes on the poets and poems. A fourth volume in the series, Staying Human: new poems for Staying Alive, was published in 2020. This format makes it even more suitable as a gift book for all those people you’re sure would love modern poetry if only they were familiar with these kinds of poems. These essential poems are all about being human, being alive and staying alive: about love and loss; fear and longing; hurt and wonder; war and death; grief and suffering; birth, growing up and family; time, ageing and mortality; memory, self and identity; faith, hope and belief; acceptance of inadequacy and making do... all of human life in a hundred highly individual, universal poems.
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Wonderful poems that I've reread so many times! I highly recommend this book!
 
I usually have three forms (audiobook, kindle, paperback) going at a time. Right now:

[audiobook] just finished Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf - 1.5 Jews out of 5 - for a notoriously offensive and controversial book, this was mainly a MASSIVE snooze-fest. It was also published (or, written, at least) several years before the beginning of WW2 so it was much more whining*, self-indulgent, incredibly dull Hitler, than scary, dictator Hitler.

[paperback] just finished Edward Lee's White Trash Gothic Part Two - 4 confederate flags - I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the first one and anyone who likes his work in general will love this series. Buttttt as so many of his events and characters "meet" in this series, it's best enjoyed after reading several of his other works first. If you like Edward Lee and are interested in the White Trash Gothic books, hit me up and I'll let you know what to read first :)

[kindle] The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson - Can't really rate this one yet as I'm only like 12% into it but it has an excellent reputation

[paperback] also currently reading The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker (the third book in Hellbound Heart series: AKA the books that inspired the Hellraiser movies). About 1/3rd of the way in and really enjoying it.

*even the title is whining and self-indulgent. My German is terrible, but I'm pretty sure it translates roughly to "My Struggle"

EDIT: I haven't posted on here in a while...gonna start again, leaving fuller, proper reviews. Just a note: my ratings are out of 5 and I often tailer "stars" into something more appropriate to the books themselves.
 
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