Reading Wednesday
Nov. 26th, 2025 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yuuagoA few recent reads:
+ She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. A girl assumes her dead brother's identity, joins a monastery, later becomes involved in a power struggle outside the monastery, and does everything she can to rise to the top. I found this really hard to put down! It was very engaging! There's a sequel out, so I'm going to pick it up at some point.
+ Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice. I read this as part of a challenge, but also because I read the first book and enjoyed it (that is, Moon of the Crusted Snow). 10 years ago, electronics stopped working and the world became dangerous and chaotic; a remote reservation managed to hang on and build up a life for themselves. So, this novel is set 10 years later, when people from that community set out to see what's out there (and possibly move somewhere else). It's relatively cozy even though the subject is sometimes very serious.
+ Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden-Keefe. This one is in progress, and I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it. The Sackler family built a pharmaceutical empire and contributed to the modern-day issues around opioids. Part of the money at the beginning came from pharmaceutical advertising; Arthur Sackler basically created the model for advertising that is currently used. I'm finding that the history of advertising in general is really interesting to read about, what led to the current state, etc.
+ Hyde by Daniel Levine. Another in-progress. It's Mister Hyde's POV of what happens in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde, basically. Very interesting concept. I'm having trouble getting into it, and I'm honestly not sure why; it's possible that I'm not in the mood for this novel, or maybe I don't remember Dr Jekyll well enough to appreciate it properly. It has the full text of Robert Lewis Stevenson's novel included at the back, which I thought was a clever move, though obviously it helps that the original is short enough to do so.
+ She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. A girl assumes her dead brother's identity, joins a monastery, later becomes involved in a power struggle outside the monastery, and does everything she can to rise to the top. I found this really hard to put down! It was very engaging! There's a sequel out, so I'm going to pick it up at some point.
+ Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice. I read this as part of a challenge, but also because I read the first book and enjoyed it (that is, Moon of the Crusted Snow). 10 years ago, electronics stopped working and the world became dangerous and chaotic; a remote reservation managed to hang on and build up a life for themselves. So, this novel is set 10 years later, when people from that community set out to see what's out there (and possibly move somewhere else). It's relatively cozy even though the subject is sometimes very serious.
+ Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden-Keefe. This one is in progress, and I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it. The Sackler family built a pharmaceutical empire and contributed to the modern-day issues around opioids. Part of the money at the beginning came from pharmaceutical advertising; Arthur Sackler basically created the model for advertising that is currently used. I'm finding that the history of advertising in general is really interesting to read about, what led to the current state, etc.
+ Hyde by Daniel Levine. Another in-progress. It's Mister Hyde's POV of what happens in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde, basically. Very interesting concept. I'm having trouble getting into it, and I'm honestly not sure why; it's possible that I'm not in the mood for this novel, or maybe I don't remember Dr Jekyll well enough to appreciate it properly. It has the full text of Robert Lewis Stevenson's novel included at the back, which I thought was a clever move, though obviously it helps that the original is short enough to do so.
Yuu. Fic writer & book lover. M/Canada.
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Date: 2025-11-27 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-28 04:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-27 09:42 am (UTC)I don't think the second book quite sticks the landing, but I still liked it a lot, and I would definitely recommend continuing.
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Date: 2025-11-28 04:33 am (UTC)For the sequel, hopefully I'll get to it sooner rather than later!
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Date: 2025-11-27 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-28 04:33 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to reading the second one!