I had bought this book last year but I started reading it the other night since it’s relevant to some recent news (It also snowed so it’s a perfect time to read it). Endurance by Alfred Lansing is about this explorer named Ernest Shackleton and his crew. In 1914 their plan was to be the first people to cross through Antarctica, but a few months later in 1915 their ship got stuck in ice. They ended up having to abandon it as the ice began crushing the ship and it eventually sank. Afterwards they had to carry out the rest of their journey on foot and on rowboats. Just a few days ago though they had found the ship, over 100 years later.
Im not too far in the book but I already felt like i’ve learned a lot. The author Lansing poured passion into writing this, going so far as to travel to Europe to interview some of the survivors and use the diaries they wrote in at the time to combine it all into a book where some parts feel more like a novel than an average documentary. Not only did he want to tell you about Shackleton’s Expedition, but he wanted to make you feel immersed, like you yourself are on this harrowing journey with his crew.
I’ve been reading Kojima’s book “The Creative Gene” and it’s a bit of a weird one. It’s essentially a series of short essays Kojima’s written about various media that’s influenced his life. I like it, but also don’t?
I completed Cornwell’s The Saxon Tales with the 13th entry titled “War Lord,” which came out not too long ago. That Netflix show The Last Kingdom is based on this series. If you don’t know, the series is about the life of Uthred (son of Uthred). Uthred (son of Uthred) is the lord of Bebbanburg in Northumbria during the viking invasions of the soon-to-be “Englaland” (around the 800s). It is in the historical fiction genre.
I think Cornwell gave Uthred (son of Uthred) a great conclusion. I really loved seeing Uthred (son of Uthred) grow from a child to an old man. The quality of the writing is fairly consistent throughout the 13 books. It’s a great series if you like the genre and you’re looking for something breezy.
Alfred The Great’s characterization in books was as wonderful as that in the Netflix show, although I ended up dropping the show.
I completed the first two novellas from GRRM’s Dunk and Egg series. They were superb. I’m on the third one now.
I tried reading A Game of Thrones before, but I just couldn’t find the drive to keep going with how the HBO series ended. Maybe if GRRM ever finishes his main series, I’ll give it another shot if hardcore ASOIAF fans universally praise his true vision for the ending.
I am on the third book in The Expanse series. Great stuff overall, but it can drag at times when you don’t vibe with a chapter’s PoV character. The first book is 10/10.
I’m currently half way through Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, Funnily, there is a passage where the author describes Elden Ring as a war-and-empire building game, which is of course ridiculous.
It’s a pretty interesting read although there are quite a few quirks with the author’s writing style that I do not like. For example, there’s a passage where Elon’s brother says Elon’s girlfriend’s toxicity reminds him of his abusive father, and then the author adds in parentheses “Let that sink in”. This kind of writing is odd to me for a biography, and it is also treating the reader like a dumby. I can put two and two together from the brother’s quote. Overall though, the book is still an enjoyable read.
Also, I’m still chewing my way through the Expanse series.
I remembered seeing something about this bio when it came out, thought this was interesting. Seemed like the author didn’t always do the best job sourcing things.
Yeah I also saw that a lot of criticism came his way because of the Musk book. It’s pretty interesting. I decided to give his book a try anyway though because my brother really likes his Leonardo Da Vinci book.
Interestingly, this is also an issue with “access journalism” where the author’s dependence on the cooperation of the subject can lead to issues.
Sometimes, history books that aren’t completely accurate can be interesting. For example, there is a lot of criticism of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960), but it is still interesting because the American author lived in Germany for six years (from 1934 to 1940) as a journalist.
Great books. I was surprised that I somehow liked Wax and Wayne more than the Mistborn set. I reread all of those back in November and then reread the Stormlight books.
Some of my other go to Fantasy series are Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings books (farseer, rain wilds / live ship traders, tawny man, Fitz and the fool) I think there are 16. First one is Assassin’s Apprentice.
And LE Modesitt Jr. Recluse books, it’s a bunch of 1-2 or 3 books set at different times throughout his world.