David Bremner replied to joachim@lire.boitam.eu's status
@joachim@lire.boitam.eu Yeah, not sure if the /The City Inside/ is angry or despairing, but it is definitely pessimistic, perhaps because it is explicitly extrapolating from current events.
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computer scientist, mathematician, photographer, human. Debian Developer, Notmuch Maintainer, scuba diver
Much of my "reading" these days is actually audiobooks while walking.
FediMain: bremner@mathstodon.xyz
bremner@bookwyrm.social is also me. Trying a smaller instance to see if the delays are less maddening.
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David Bremner started reading The found and the lost by Ursula K. Le Guin
The found and the lost by Ursula K. Le Guin
[This book] represents the first time that all of Le Guin novellas have been collected in a single volume. Featuring …
David Bremner wants to read Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying
The great city of Tova is shattered. …
David Bremner replied to joachim@lire.boitam.eu's status
@joachim@lire.boitam.eu I'm very curious. It sounds very different from "The City Inside", both in setting and tone.
David Bremner wants to read Light in Gaza by Jehad Abusalim
Imagining the future of Gaza beyond the cruelties of occupation and Apartheid, Light in Gaza …
Currently free to download from Haymarket books.
David Bremner reviewed Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel
Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle …
Comforting relatable fable about growing up
5 stars
There is a lot of the setting which is specific to Japan. The epilogue mentions some disturbing statistics about the mental health of Japanese middle school children, but there is also the tourist's pleasure of glimpsing bits of Japanese culture and geography half remembered from a previous visit.
The characters on the other hand are somehow universal underneath an exotic (to an outsider) interest in forms of address. The author does a great job of capturing the anxieties and traumas of not just the extreme cases, but the everyday challenges of growing up as the anxious and unpopular kid.
The plot is immanently spoilable, so I won't say much, except that there is a definite puzzle book here as well.
The book should probably come with a full suite of content warnings for (sensitive treatment of) child sexual assault, child death, and family member death. So although I can believe …
There is a lot of the setting which is specific to Japan. The epilogue mentions some disturbing statistics about the mental health of Japanese middle school children, but there is also the tourist's pleasure of glimpsing bits of Japanese culture and geography half remembered from a previous visit.
The characters on the other hand are somehow universal underneath an exotic (to an outsider) interest in forms of address. The author does a great job of capturing the anxieties and traumas of not just the extreme cases, but the everyday challenges of growing up as the anxious and unpopular kid.
The plot is immanently spoilable, so I won't say much, except that there is a definite puzzle book here as well.
The book should probably come with a full suite of content warnings for (sensitive treatment of) child sexual assault, child death, and family member death. So although I can believe the claim that people find the book healing (it is ultimately very hopeful), the reader should know they are in for things and stuff before that healing arrives.
David Bremner replied to Soh Kam Yung's status
@sohkamyung@bookwyrm.social This is one of the stories I remember from the anthology.
David Bremner wants to read The Book of Disappearance by Sinan Antoon
David Bremner finished reading Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel, *removed*
Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.
Bullied …
David Bremner commented on Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel
Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle …
Socially anxious kids, represent!
David Bremner started reading Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Philip Gabriel, *removed*
Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.
Bullied …
David Bremner wants to read Whispers from the cotton tree root by Nalo Hopkinson
Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction is an anthology of speculative fiction …
recommended by @nadinestorying@zirk.us
David Bremner wants to read Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Devoted readers of Lady Trent’s earlier memoirs, A Natural History of Dragons and The Tropic of Serpents, may believe themselves …
David Bremner wants to read The Martian in the Wood by Stephen Baxter
In the aftermath of the First Martian War, in the interim between it and what …
Not sure about the longer book, but maybe this would help me decide.
David Bremner commented on Master of Samar by Melissa Scott
Long form review, which I have not read yet: locusmag.com/2023/09/liz-bourke-reviews-the-master-of-samar-by-melissa-scott
EDIT: read the review, and it sounds intriguing, although the "mystery" aspect doesn't come through as strongly as my previous impression: more political intrigue than police procedural.