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What I’m Reading
Finished
The Martian by Andy Weir
I’ve just finished and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The line “Mars will fear my botany powers” is my new science war cry. It combined my favorite things: plants, NASA, and problem solving/tinkering. I saw the movie first and the movie did a very good job at representing the book. The ending was different, but that’s ok.
There is a lot of what I would call engineering humor and Weir’s characterization of the engineers feels spot on to the engineers that I know. Some of the NASA engineer humor reminds me of the From the Earth to the Moon mini-series. My favorite episode was “Spider” where the engineers try to build things and make it work.
Not to overstate, but Mark Watney is my new literary hero. This character’s “go get ‘em” and “work the problem” philosophy are very strong. That said, while it works great in the book, I’m not entirely sure it’s realistic. There wasn’t much talk about his emotional state. He is talking out a blog meant for recording the mission and says he needs to keep this more professional, so that makes sense.
Since this is a sold book and not a fic, I can say I found a continuity mistake. I heard from another chemistry PhDs that the chemistry and calculations are spot on, which is good. The author does go into math and calculations (problem solving) a lot and it is most of Watney’s dialogue in his logs.
I was also noting how Weir was blending epistolary and narrative since that’s relevant to one of the things I’m writing.
Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett
This was my first introduction to Terry Pratchett and I need to read more of his works. The humor was fun and quirky. I was also surprised as to where who was the villain and Carrot’s role. Overall, that was fun. I’m listening to audiobooks, so some of the humor involved in how things are written are lost.
Pratchett’s style and wit seem very distinct to me. One writing thing that standing out was Pratchett’s use of adverbs. X said conversationally, Y said helpfully, A said agreeably, B said knowledgeably, etc. As this is my first book from Pratchett, is that normal for him? When I was paying attention to when he used them, they seemed to coincide with parts of the story I found funny. So, B said helpfully when he isn’t being completely helpful to the other characters.
Lastly, does this guy believe in chapters?
Current
I’m currently reading Good Omens and so far enjoying it.
Fan Fics
As for fan fictions, I’ve realized I read a lot of the longer fics. If it’s 30k+, odds are I’ll try it. I like getting lost in what the author has the characters experience and see how they’ll resolve stuff. I just finished one of the 280K ones where one of the characters was dealing with debilitating depression as well as other issues. Not a happy read at the beginning, but there was a happy ending.
In the past when I’ve read or watched stuff with depression it would mess me up for days. This time I was happy that it didn’t and I was able to take the time to think about it instead of immediately shelving it to avoid. It was a good story, not easy, but a good read and character development.
The Martian by Andy Weir
I’ve just finished and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The line “Mars will fear my botany powers” is my new science war cry. It combined my favorite things: plants, NASA, and problem solving/tinkering. I saw the movie first and the movie did a very good job at representing the book. The ending was different, but that’s ok.
There is a lot of what I would call engineering humor and Weir’s characterization of the engineers feels spot on to the engineers that I know. Some of the NASA engineer humor reminds me of the From the Earth to the Moon mini-series. My favorite episode was “Spider” where the engineers try to build things and make it work.
Not to overstate, but Mark Watney is my new literary hero. This character’s “go get ‘em” and “work the problem” philosophy are very strong. That said, while it works great in the book, I’m not entirely sure it’s realistic. There wasn’t much talk about his emotional state. He is talking out a blog meant for recording the mission and says he needs to keep this more professional, so that makes sense.
Since this is a sold book and not a fic, I can say I found a continuity mistake. I heard from another chemistry PhDs that the chemistry and calculations are spot on, which is good. The author does go into math and calculations (problem solving) a lot and it is most of Watney’s dialogue in his logs.
I was also noting how Weir was blending epistolary and narrative since that’s relevant to one of the things I’m writing.
Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett
This was my first introduction to Terry Pratchett and I need to read more of his works. The humor was fun and quirky. I was also surprised as to where who was the villain and Carrot’s role. Overall, that was fun. I’m listening to audiobooks, so some of the humor involved in how things are written are lost.
Pratchett’s style and wit seem very distinct to me. One writing thing that standing out was Pratchett’s use of adverbs. X said conversationally, Y said helpfully, A said agreeably, B said knowledgeably, etc. As this is my first book from Pratchett, is that normal for him? When I was paying attention to when he used them, they seemed to coincide with parts of the story I found funny. So, B said helpfully when he isn’t being completely helpful to the other characters.
Lastly, does this guy believe in chapters?
Current
I’m currently reading Good Omens and so far enjoying it.
Fan Fics
As for fan fictions, I’ve realized I read a lot of the longer fics. If it’s 30k+, odds are I’ll try it. I like getting lost in what the author has the characters experience and see how they’ll resolve stuff. I just finished one of the 280K ones where one of the characters was dealing with debilitating depression as well as other issues. Not a happy read at the beginning, but there was a happy ending.
In the past when I’ve read or watched stuff with depression it would mess me up for days. This time I was happy that it didn’t and I was able to take the time to think about it instead of immediately shelving it to avoid. It was a good story, not easy, but a good read and character development.
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I'm not far into Good Omens (I'm just after the baby part), but I like it so far. Crowly's car is pretty cool and the banter between Aziraphale and Crowly is great.
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I was never a huge fan of Terry Pratchett (though my sister is) but I do like Good Omens a lot ^__^
I think I'm the complete opposite to you regarding fics - I tend to gravitate to the shorter ones. But I have read novel length fics and I appreciate what you're saying about getting lost in a story. And I'm very glad that you now find yourself in the position of being able to read a story involving depression and have it resonate with you, without it distressing you.
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skit)!!!!
If you don’t mind me asking, what authors do you like to read? I’m trying out books and authors that other folks I know like.
It’s taken me a bit to learn how to read the short fics and I’m appreciating them more now. Before, I would read a lot of them in a row and get jarred after finishing one fic to starting another fic. It was trying to figure out where this fic is in relation to the larger story line, are the characters a couple, what happens afterwards, etc.
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If you don’t mind me asking, what authors do you like to read? I’m trying out books and authors that other folks I know like. I had to think about this. Embarrassingly, apart from Holmes related stuff and fanfics, I haven't read much fiction in years.
But looking backwards, some authors whose work I've enjoyed are:
Elspeth Davie (short stories as well as novels. I'm not sure you'd be able to easily get hold of her stuff though)
Bernice Rubens
Anne Tyler
Haruki Murakami
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Sorry, didn’t mean to cause any call out or awkwardness with the author question. I get it in that I’ve been reading mostly Holmes fanfics as well, so I’m trying to branch out a bit with a little guidance. :) I feel a little funny listing the fanfics I’ve read I a similar way to the books I’ve read. It doesn’t seem right to give a title to the fanfic that I’m reacting with. So, still deciding what to do with that part.
I’ve read Anne Tyler’s “A Spool of Blue Thread” and liked her style. The characters did seem real and it was nice to ‘do life’ with them for a bit. I’ve also picked up Haruki Murakami “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” and I’m excited to read it.