Books

Recent Reading: Q1 2024

(also including a bit of April)

The Handover

David Runciman

tags: non-fiction, AI, politics, capitalism

Having listened to many hours of Runciman’s podcasts, it’s always a treat seeing how well his voice translates into his writing—approachable, inquisitive, and authoritative in equal parts. The conception of states and corporations as artificial agents is an interesting thread he’s been pursuing since at least How Democracy Ends, and is a helpful framing for thinking about how much agency we’ve already handed off to non-human entities, even before bringing AI into the mix. It’s always good to remember that there’s a big difference between “novel” and “unprecedented,” and there’s almost always a historical context worth learning from.

The Wendigo

Algernon Blackwood

tags: novella, weird fiction, weird nature, feet of fire

Not as atmospheric or as haunting as The Willows (a story where not much happens, but it happens vividly), but memorable in its own right, especially if you can set aside the of-its-time racism that crops up a couple of times in the opening chapter. Mostly, it’s Défago’s oddly poetic cries that will stick with me, the rest of the story being fairly boilerplate weird fiction—or at least what would become boilerplate in the decades to come. Still, one phrase sticking with me is really all I ask for from something this short.

Mind MGMT Vol 1 – 6

Matt Kindt

tags: graphic novel, conspiracy culture, psychic warfare, immortals, dolphins

I very much appreciated the density of this series and the effort of the watercoloured artwork, although I worry a bit when density and effort are the first things I think to compliment. Kindt presents an absurdly intricate world with its own intuitive (or at least intuitable) logic, and while it sometimes can seem too multilayered for its own good, it generally manages to keep the story as the central focus.
Never quite attains the mystic highs of something like Grant Morrison’s Invisibles—despite its focus on altering minds, I wouldn’t quite call this psychedelic—but there’s a unique world, unique art, interesting use of the medium, and a story that doesn’t strain to fill a half-dozen trades. It more than justifies a read, in other words.

A Guest in the House

Emily Carroll

tags: graphic novel, haunted, phantasmagoria, trauma

Fantastic. Atmospheric and unpredictable, beautifully blending the mundane and the phantasmagorical. Carroll’s artwork is exquisite, overtly on the pages where fantasy takes over, and more subtly in the dollops of colour that leak into the real world, especially when thinking of those in light of the ending. I love how unconstrained she is by panels or rigid structures; the story art seems so much more organic when it’s allowed however much room it needs.

Not a traditional haunted house story and that’s absolutely for the best. I never settled into a sense of knowing just what kind of story this was, and on the rare moments I did, whatever expectations I did have were nicely subverted. It’s unusual for an ending to reframe so much of what came before, with nothing contrived or forced about it. That’ll sit with me, for sure.

When reading something like this, I’m often struck by the difference in how much time it takes to create a page vs how long it takes to read it. Probably a good reason to revisit this sooner than later, just to see what details I didn’t pick up on the first time

Through the Woods

Emily Carroll

tags: graphic fiction, short stories, fairy tales, weird fiction

I definitely see the appeal of this one—Victorian/Edwardian* ghost stories with a more contemporary, weird edge—and if I hadn’t started with A Guest in the House I probably would be giving this more praise. But Carroll’s newer work is just so much more sophisticated, in its artwork and in its narrative, that I couldn’t help being a little disappointed with this. More a testament to her growth as an artist than a criticism of this one, which is still worth a read, just not one I’d likely go out of my way to recommend.

*I shouldn’t guess at eras, it’s really not something I know much about. Let’s just call it an era with both untamed wilderness and frilly garments.

Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters

Brian Klass

tags: non-fiction, coincidence, interconnection, fate, free will

One of the risks of reading a pop-sci take on a subject you’ve spent a lot of time reading and thinking in is it can feel like a bit of a rehash or a gloss, and that’s how I felt for a lot of Fluke. It’s not a criticism of the book, which is thoughtful and features well-chosen examples for its look at the highly contingent nature of reality. Anything that tries to pull together threads of chaos theory, the interconnection of all things, and the impossibility of free will is admirable. I think this’d likely be a great primer for people new to these subjects and might open doorways into areas like Zen Buddhism, optimistic nihilism, and contemporary philosophy. It just wasn’t the right book at the right time for me.

The Weather Detective

Peter Wohlleben

tags: non-fiction, gardening, weather, flora, fauna

I’m not sure if this is on me or the book’s marketing, but I really didn’t expect this to be so much about gardening. The Hidden Life of Trees was wonderful and felt like it was exposing me to a whole world that had previously been invisible to me. This had some interesting tidbits, but felt closer to an advise column than a revelation. Still very approachable and knowledgable, but not something I likely would have sought out if I’d known what it was.

The Middle Passage

James Hollis

tags: non-fiction, mid-life, Jung, purpose, rebirth

I really need to put together some more thorough notes on this one, but in short, a lot of this resonated with what I’ve been feeling as I fumble into my 40s. A helpful framework for thinking about how to push through and emerge, if not stronger, at least more fully myself. The handful of exercises it offers are more about asking the right questions rather than providing concrete actions to take, but part of the whole point is that there are no easy answers, and I can see how looking for an outside authority to show you your true inner self would be counterproductive.

The Resurrectionist : The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black

E.B. Hudspeth

tags: fiction, fake biography, illustrated, novella

An odd work—essentially a short story disguised as a biography, paired with anatomical drawings of mythical creatures, which take on a darker tone when paired with the story. It’s a unique book, and the closing image of the story is ominous and ambiguous. There isn’t much in the way of narrative, and what there is, at least the more horrific aspect, is mostly implied. But it gives just enough to make sure it lingers.

Books I read in 2022

BookWyrm says I’ve read about 6,500 pages this year (which probably includes a bunch of appendices and end notes that I didn’t actually read, but I’ll still take it). I feel like a very slow reader compared to some of my more literary friends, so making it through 20 books (including a couple of novellas and essay collections) feels like an accomplishment. Especially considering all of the other books I’ve started and set aside, or skimmed with the intention of returning to, or am still chipping away at when the mood hits, of which there are probably at least another dozen. I’m a very inconsistent reader, is what I’m getting at.

Which means the books I actually finish tend to be ones I’m genuinely enjoying—and that makes ranking into a pretty arbitrary task. So instead, just assume that if the description seems like something you’d be interested in, it’s probably worth the time investment. Keeping in mind my reading tastes can tend towards the dry and semi-academic.

I still need to do a better job of diversifying my reading. Of the 19 authors below, nine are women or people of colour, which means more than half are neither of those. Something to work on in the new year (and most of the books on my immediate to-read list will help with that, at least).

Books I actually finished this year:

TitleAuthorAbout
Being PeaceThich Nhat HanhA guide to Buddhist thought, rooted in empathy and kindness.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil SandsKate BeatonAn unflinching graphic novel documenting Beaton’s time working in the oil sands—darker and heavier than I was expecting from Beaton, but the subject matter merits it.
In Praise of PathsTorbjørn EkelundMore a memoir than the book on walking that I was expecting, but still fairly enjoyable.
The Ministry for the FutureKim Stanley RobinsonFor a writer who’s often put at the forefront of optimistic sci-fi, Robinson’s near-future look at how humanity might navigate climate change still feels mighty bleak. I guess we’re at the point where “making it through will be incredibly difficult but not completely impossible” counts as optimism.
Moon of the Crusted SnowWaubgeshig RiceOne of two authors I had a chance to interview at Wordfest. Apocalyptic fiction from an Indigenous perspective, with the resilience and practicality that comes from having survived other cultural apocalypses already.
My View of the WorldErwin SchrödingerViews on the nature of self, connectedness, and reality. Yes, the cat in a box guy. No, that isn’t in this book.
New Dark AgeJames BridleHow our technology and culture are undermining our ability to understand the world, and what we can potentially do about it.
SSOTBMELionel Snell/Ramsey DukesThe most esoteric book on this list, but a very thought-provoking one on four systems for navigating the world: magic, science, religion, and art.
Strength to LoveMartin Luther King JrAdapted from King’s sermons, so more overtly Christian than most of what I read, but it seemed overdue to try to get a better sense of his actual thinking vs the sanitized hand-me-down version in popular culture.
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of HumanityDavid Graeber, David WengrowA massive book that aims to redefine how we view human pre-history, in the hopes that will change how we can imagine the future.
The Great God PanArthur MachenOne of the earliest “weird fiction” novellas. Still full of eerie atmosphere, but its ideas have been borrowed so many times that it’s tricky to see it with fresh eyes.
The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western WorldIain McGilchristAnother of those “reframing human history and experience” books, this time through the lens of the brain’s two hemispheres, in a much more nuanced manner than the usual pop-sci “left vs right brain” way. McGilchrist is impressively well-read in (Western) history, art, and philosophy, to an extent that the book suffers a bit from his thoroughness, but it’s argument is a profound one.
The Midnight BargainCL PolkThe other Wordfest selection, a fun, fast-paced fantasy romance with a vividly imagined world and a clever central metaphor.
The Taiga SyndromeCristina Rivera GarzaA poetic, dream-like detective story with an excellent sense of nature and place. Quick but cryptic, and nearly a year after reading it I remember the mood more than any of the particulars.
The Three Body ProblemCixin LiuLiu has a skill for explaining interesting concepts, but so far I’ve found his storytelling a bit stiff, which made the cynicism of Three Body Problem harder to take. I’m glad to have read it, but not sure I’ll follow up with the sequels.
There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness : And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the WorldCarlo RovelliSome wonderful moments, and a fantastic title, but these short essays on a range of topics don’t quite have the impact of Rovelli’s more focused works—which are some of the most approachable and thoughtful explanations of quantum physics that I’ve ever read.
Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and TimeGaia VinceAnother way of contextualizing human history, this time by looking at four key technologies—fire, language, beauty, and time. Optimistic and thought-provoking, and the only book I’ve read that encourages humanity to act more like a slime mold.
Ways of BeingJames BridleAn attempt to find a more generous definition of “intelligence”, one that goes beyond “the thing that humans do” to encompass the perception and cognition of the natural (“more-than-human”) world. I think Bridle and I have been reading a lot of the same authors lately, as a lot of the anecdotes felt quite familiar. Still, I appreciated their interpretations, even if I didn’t always agree with them.
Web of MeaningJeremy LentThematic echoes with Bridle’s Ways of Being and McGilchrist’s Master and His Emissary, in that all three want to rebalance the analytical, fragmented, computational mentality of modern Western thought with other, more holistic ways of knowing. Lent provides a quick gloss of a lot of philosophies, not always convincingly, but it’d make for a good jumping-off point for a lot of further reading.
When Things Fall ApartPema ChodronApplying Buddhist teaching to develop resilience and compassion. An excellent companion to Thich Nhat Hanh’s Being Peace, with slightly more focus on personal well-being. Not sugar-coating the nature of reality (the title is when, not if), but making acceptance a little easier.