some books I read in 2023 w/ notes

I didn’t get around to reading that much this year at all but managed a few. It was personally a transitional and exciting year with travelling and career change so I suppose reading wasn’t on my mind as I was very up in the air but hoping this year I float down to the ground again.

This Is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Read this while travelling around Korea - beautiful sci-fi romance, very poetic and deeply moving. Was gripped by how passionate the letters between the characters became over time.

White Noise - Don DeLillo

Don’t have too much to say about this one but it was my first DeLillo book I’ve read and I’m curious to read more of his work. Funny, surreal, great commentary on anxiety and brilliant dialogue between the characters.

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

I think it’s up there with Le Guin in terms of worldbuilding. Wasn’t keen on the cheesy dialogue sometimes but fell deep into the universe that Simmons created.

The Dimensions of a Cave - Greg Jackson

Conspiracy political thriller with old school investigative journalism mixed with sci-fi simulations, twists, mystery, personal tradegy. Jackson’s style of writing was difficult to digest at first as it was so descriptive but the pinpoint accuracy of his observations and intepretations of events around him were so skillful and enjoyable that I read through this book quicker than all the rest despite it being the longest. Snappy dialogue which felt a bit like reading a West Wing script then sometimes the dialogue turned into full monologues which felt like reading an essay. Strange but incredible book.

The Dawn of Everything - David Graeber and David Wengrow

Completely made me rethink my conditioned beliefs about human history. Confident in its arguments, profoundly interesting and I couldn’t stop talking about it to my friends for several months after reading it.