I'm reading Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappé (an Israeli academic), it's pretty interesting so far. I think it's supposed to be an introduction to Israel and Palestine and aimed at people who don't know anything about it, so if anyone's curious, I might recommend it (I haven't finished it yet so I can't say if it's good or not).

I've been having a hard time reading and this is technically not a book, but I've been reading a speculative evolution project called Serina: A Natural History of the World of Birds

It's fascinating and has great illustrations, I recommend it

I decided that the best way to motivate myself to read again is to read something short, so I just read Rabbit Test by Samantha Mills. It's very good and I wasn't expecting the history aspect of it, which I also loved!

Ahhh, I get it. I read fanfiction for the exact same reason. Sometimes I feel lazy and I want to read but turn my brain off, so I'll open up AO3

Also (back in my sad cringe era) I did read a couple "gamer" fics which are like the fanfiction version of LitRPGs but worse. The problem with those was (other than the terrible writing and the sexism) the lack of a clear ending, so they go on forever and eventually fizzle out

Do you read a lot of LitRPGs? Earlier this year I tried to read "Oh Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer" but I couldn't really get into it and I had to DNF it. Maybe I just read the wrong one for me though

Definitely true!

After I finish this book I'm going to pick up some novellas, that'll at least give me the satisfaction of finishing something

I've been struggling to motivate myself to read lately, so I'm still reading The Bright Ages

I only got back into reading last year when I joined a book club and the first book I read as part of that club was Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty, which completely opened my eyes to the death industry (at least in the United States)

I finally finished The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins, a very depressing book about the US and its role in the 1965 coup in Indonesia, as well as the massacres that followed it. I was expecting it to be pretty specific to Indonesia but I came out of this book with a broad sense of what was going on in the Cold War (from the American perspective) in the third world.

For example, we hear about how domino theory was used to justify the Vietnam War, but the main country that they were afraid would fall to communism after Vietnam was Indonesia. When Sukarno was overthrown in Indonesia, it was like the Americans didn't need to win Vietnam anymore, because they had won a bigger prize in the region. Also, the events in Indonesia were used to justify other massacres across the third world, with US backing. It's depressing because, as the book notes, there is no way that Indonesia will acknowledge those massacres anytime soon, and most people still believe propaganda.

I've started reading The Bright Ages by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry. It's a revisionist history of the "Dark Ages" that tries to address misconceptions that people have about that era of history. So far it's really interesting! I've just started my master's degree so it's very likely that the next book I read will be a textbook, so I'm going to enjoy this while I still can 😅

Yeah, the subject matter was so infuriating... Looking back, I think the parts that still stuck with me were the relationship that these businesses would have with the government and how regulatory capture would end up happening, as well as how large corporations' tactics have changed over time, like with the charitable donations to universities.

Also, I haven't watched Succession, but I imagine the drama between different branches of the Sackler family is kinda like what happens in the show, and that was a pretty entertaining part of the book! Have you watched it?

It was published 26 years ago but I think it's still relevant today. Also, Parenti has a very accessible way of writing that makes complex arguments easily digestable so I don't think it's a challenging book, if you're worried about that

I have a couple good ones

• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy is her memoir where she struggles with her relationship with her mother and with eating disorders. She's so open and vulnerable and your heart will break 5 times reading this
• The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusatte is pretty much what it says on the tin. This book really brought out a childlike fascination about dinosaurs that I forgot I had! Also Brusatte has a sequel to this about mammals that I haven't read yet
• Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe is about the Sackler family and how they contributed to the opioid crisis in the United States. Kinda depressing, but also illuminates the many problems with capitalism and healthcare in that country
• Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti is about a lot of stuff: fascism, capitalism, communism, democracy, etc. Even if you don't share my political inclinations, this is still a good read, and pretty short too

Sorry, my descriptions are bad, but I think all of these are worth reading

We Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong is about microbes inside us and animals and I have no idea why I read it, but it was difficult to read because I'm terrible at biology. Still cool though

Edit: Oh, I didn't realise this is the fiction comm. Oops. I guess I don't read any challenging fiction books. Maybe I should rectify that

The main character in The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang had a really grating personality but I still kinda enjoyed the book. However, she was so frustrating at the start of the sequel that I had to DNF it 😔