Anyone read Alderman's The Future? I'm 20 percent in and enjoying it immensely, even if it's taking me a bit to get the characters un-mixed-up

I have not, but I feel you in the challenge of unmixing characters. I think I used to be better at it.

Today I'm picking up the second Expanse book from the library. Right now I'm listening to a Max Tegmark book on one of his more out there ideas - everything is just one big mathematics construct. I fade in and out of getting his meaning now that he's reached that part of the book. Fun listen, though.

This month's office book club book was God of the Woods. I made it about 40% through (on audio) before I broke down and hit up Reddit for spoilers, which I'm very glad I did because now I don't have to finish it. (There's probably a good book in there somewhere but I got really tired of being introduced to a new POV character every five minutes and then jumping to a different time period to make sure I, the reader, didn't accidentally figure out what was going on.)

That does not sound delightful.

Guess who forgot to pick up her second Expanse book last week? I'll put in hold again -- maybe it's still on site. That'd be nice.

I know I'm supposed to be willing to put in the work to read that kind of confusing stuff to keep my intellectual card but at this point I'm really not. That card probably expired a while ago, honestly.

Unrelatedly, listening to The Duke at Hazard and Swordcrossed back to back has me wishing I was occupying an aristocratic (ish) position I could run away from for a while.

A truly challenging book doesn't just, you know, twist for the sake of it, though.

That's true. But can I tell the difference? Maybe, maybe not

The sequels to Gideon the Ninth had some complex timeline and POV issues. But the author built up a lot of trust and goodwill in the first book, so I was willing to trust her in the sequels. I doubt I’d do the same with a new-to-me author.

The sequels to Gideon the Ninth had some complex timeline and POV issues. But the author built up a lot of trust and goodwill in the first book, so I was willing to trust her in the sequels. I doubt I’d do the same with a new-to-me author.

With both Harrow and Nona, I LOVED the ride I was on even if I was hopelessly lost for a good chunk of the narrative. And I never felt like I was being deliberately misled for the sake of a twist ending (poor Harrow being at least as confused and frustrated as the reader and she had to actually live through the damn book).

Those somehow did not make me feel like I should be working to try to figure out what was going on, I could just go with it. And you're right, Calli, there is a certain amount of trust involved

Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark is free for non-UK people. [link]