Recently Read
I used to own a social bookshelf web app, but as of right now, I'm happy with this page. Taking it slowly, shall we? I’m also resisting the urge to rate the books. You probably going to see a lot of Murakami re-reading.
2023
May
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- Tokyo Decadence: 15 Stories
- A must-read for anyone looking for an enticing, surreal, and weird journey through a beautifully designed book that's impossible to put down. (Re-read).
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- High Static, Dead Lines: Sonic Spectres & the Object Hereafter
- A daring exploration of the interwoven boundaries between sound, material culture, landscape, and esoteric belief.
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- Before the Coffee Gets Cold
- A heartwarming tale that transports you to a quaint Japanese cafe. Before the Coffee Gets Cold weaves poignant tales of time-traveling emotions, where the warmth of human connections transcends the confines of time.
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- Grotesque
- Grotesque delves into the dark recesses of human nature, presenting an unsettling narrative that keeps you enthralled. Kirino's characters and twisted relationships expose society's underbelly in a revealing manner.
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April
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- Nightmares of an Ether-Drinker
- These are concise stories from the decadent era. Pleasing aesthetics but lacks content.
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- Haunted
- Gross but amazing. Palahniuk always delivers.
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- Life Ceremony: Stories
- Sayaka Murata goes into Sci-Fi. Loved it.
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- Weird Tales, Volume 1, Number 1, March 1923
- There is a significant amount of content in this collection, but unfortunately, not all of it is of high quality, with some pieces being quite lackluster.
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- The Mountain in the Sea
- Amazing Hard Sci-Fi mixed with near-future thriller. Stephenson vibes.
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March
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- Obsolescence: A Dark Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Anthology
- Lovely collection of black mirror-ish short stories. Glad to be a backer.
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- The Tatami Galaxy
- A brilliantly crafted novel that effortlessly weaves together parallel realities, creating a vibrant tapestry of life's endless possibilities.
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- Dark Water: Stories
- I finally got my hands on this paperback. So happy to complete my Koji Suzuki exploration. Would love to have more from him to read.
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- Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock
- Meditative while simultaneously giving me more anxiety around climate change. Too real.
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- Prefecture D: Four Novellas
- Following the world-building set on Six Four, these novellas are fun for the right people. These people include me.
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- Last Call
- It drags in the middle, but the world builds, and the characters are amazing. Really liked it.
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February
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- Sourdough: Or, Lois and Her Adventures in the Underground Market: A Novel
- Not as fun as Mr Penumbra, but always a pleasure to read anything by Robin Sloan. Includes "The Suitcase Clone" Novella.
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- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- Brainless, but I couldn't put it down.
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- Criação Neurocompatível
- We do this and it works.
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- Ring
- Better than the US movie.
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- Spiral
- A good page-turner but over-ambitious and got too sci-fi in the epilogue.
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- Loop
- Didn't like it much. Not horror, not sci-fi, a bad medical techno drama. Maybe if I had some edibles before, it would be better.
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- Birthday
- Short, but complementary to the Ring series. Better than Loop.
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- S: Es
- This book made me like the entire Ring series more. It's the best-written one so far too. Looking forward to book 6, still unpublished in English.
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January
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- The Sunny Nihilist: A Declaration of the Pleasure of Pointlessness
- I felt old reading this, like it wasn't for someone of my age. Some food for thought here and there.
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- The Whisper Man
- That was a powerful and haunting story. Another fantastic crime thriller from the author of The Shadows, but I like it more.
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- The Shadows
- Amazing thriller — frightfully atmospheric. Made me start the author's other book as soon as I finished it.
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- The Sorrows of Satan
- Dropped. Faustian gothic tale. Couldn't finish, unfortunately. Not that fun.
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- The Dancers at the End of Time
- Head-tripping old-school sci-fi. Loved it.
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2022
December
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- Borderless
- Boring.
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- Bandwidth
- Good but a slow burner.
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- Neon Fever Dream
- A nice novella in classic Eliot Peper style. Quick read.
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- Exit Strategy
- Last part of the Uncommon Series by Eliot Peper. Fun quick romp.
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- Power Play
- Direct continuation of Version 1.0. Read it in one seat, fun.
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- Version 1.0
- The first book I read by Eliot Peper. Fun. (Re-read).
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November
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- Cumulus
- Decided to read all books by Eliot. Cumulus is not as good as R3aper, but still good. (Re-read).
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- In the Miso Soup
- The other Murakami. Also terrific. (Re-read).
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- R3aper
- Best book by Eliot until now.
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- Devil House
- Amazingly written. The final chapters pack a punch.
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- Kismet: A Thriller
- Boring.
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- Kick the Latch
- Not the best book by Scalan, but fun anyway.
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- Lady Joker Volume 2
- Incredible ending to a fantastic book. I loved it.
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- Lady Joker Volume 1
- Getting ready for volume 2. (Re-read).
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October
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- Terminal Boredom: Stories
- Boring. Expected more of this one.
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- The Double Star and Other Occult Fantasies
- Maddening, crazy and gothic. Very fun.
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September
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- Carnality
- Beautifully written. Almost dropped at the begin (its a slow-burn), but it wraps up well.
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- Aug 9 - Fog
- Minimal, but deeply poetic. Read it twice already.
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- The Dominant Animal: Stories
- Short and raw stories, magnificently written.
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- Annabel Scheme
- Very fun. Related to Books/Penumbraverse Tour.
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- Ajax Penumbra 1969
- Lovely prequel to Penumbra's Bookstore. Makes you want more and more. Part of my Books/Penumbraverse Tour.
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August
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- Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
- Re-reading it as part of my Books/Penumbraverse Tour. (Re-read).
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- Lenormand Basics
- Dipping my toes on The Lenormand.
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- The Easy Life in Kamusari
- Really enjoyed this one. A classic Japanese books about nothing.
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- Tokyo Vice
- Dropped in the middle. May revisit it in the future.
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July
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- Programming in Lua
- Always fun to get back to a language without arrays.
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- The Ginza Ghost
- Dropped. Read almost until the end, but I got tired of it. Formulaic.
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May
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- Dreaming Pachinko
- Lovely Billy Chaka book. Always a pleasure.
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- Last Night in Montreal
- This book is absolutely lovely. The characters are compelling even though they're not all likable.
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April
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- The Candy House
- Not as good as "A Visit from the Goon Squad".
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- A Visit from the Goon Squad
- Amazing. Loved this one so much. Engrossing characters, dark and funny at the same time. A favorite.
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- Out There
- Black Mirror vibes. Loved it.
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March
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- Urge: Our History of Addiction
- I dig it. Deep research mixed with the author's own recovery story.
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- Devil House
- Dropped it. Not in the right mind-space, I think. I may try again later.
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- A Study in Scarlet
- A classic. Read it in the past, and it's always a guilty pleasure.
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- Binge
- Not that fun. I plowed through it quickly and left no mark.
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February
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- The Inugami Curse
- A classic. Formulaic but good.
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- Play Bigger
- Dropped it. Boring and too PR-ish.
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- Deserter (Junji Ito)
- Amazing collection of early Ito works. Simpler stories from a simpler time.
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January
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- Frankenstein (Junji Ito)
- Not my favorite. Still good, nonetheless.
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2021
December
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- LaserWriter II
- Dropped. I think I wasn't in the proper mental state to read it. Will try again as part of the Books/Penumbraverse Tour.
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- The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
- Expected more from it. Well written, but not that good.
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November
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- The Lady Killer
- This book has many twists and turns and an improbable plot, but it is still interesting to read.
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- Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination
- It has some of his best short stories, The Human Chair, and The Caterpillar.
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October
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- Fall or, Dodge in Hell
- Loved the first half, but hated the rest. Classic Stephenson. 880 pages.
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September
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- Malice
- Keigo Higashino never disappoints. Nice page-turner.
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- The Nakano Thrift Shop
- Loved it. Another amazing Japanese books about nothing.
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August
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- How to Live
- It's simple. Derek writes — I read it.
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- Six Four
- Feels like a lite version of Lady Joker. Quick fun Japanese crime/mystery novel.
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- Hokkaido Popsicle
- As good as Tokyo Suckerpunch, with the same manic energy and humor.
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- Prosper's Demon
- Amazing novella. Would read more about this universe.
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- Awaken Online: Dominion
- Repetitive. I like it as a quick escapism, like the others in the series.
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- Four Thousand Weeks
- Burkeman writes amazingly well. Not a lot of new stuff here, but it relates well to my values and perspectives.
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- Tokyo Suckerpunch
- An explosive, out-of-control trip through the underbelly of Tokyo.
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- Awaken Online: Apathy
- Fun and simple. Sadly the series is getting boring to me.
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- The Price You Pay
- Amazing. I snorted this book in one sitting while on vacation.
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July
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- A Wild Sheep Chase
- Murakami. Always. The Rat. Always.
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- The Woman in the Dunes
- Amazingly written; it makes you feel so desperate.
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- The Vegetarian
- Disturbing and beautiful. I will reread it.
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- The Importance of Living
- Good, but not great. Part of The Garden's Library.
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- The Factory
- A bit Murakami-sh, surreal and methodic.
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- Number9Dream: A Novel
- Dropped at the begin. Couldn't get into it.
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- Zen and the Forth Language
- Dropped. Such a weird book.
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- Pines
- Fun, but didn't like the end.
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- The Decagon House Murders
- Classic Honkaku mystery. Very good.
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- Awaken Online: Evolution
- Another simple and easy-to-read MMORPG romp.
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- Awaken Online: Retribution
- Another simple and easy-to-read MMORPG romp.
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June
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- Awaken Online: Precipice
- Another simple and easy to read MMORPG romp.
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- Lazy Dungeon Master: Volume 1
- Not that fun.
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- Housekeeping
- Didn't pull me in.
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- The Hike
- Crazy and surreal. I dig it.
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- Paper Towns
- No no no.
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- Below
- One of the best dungeon-crawling books I have ever read.
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- Lady Joker Volume 1
- So so so good. So Japanese. Can't wait to reread it when Volume 2 gets released.
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May
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- The Big Sleep
- Had fun with this one. Old-school hardboiled fiction.
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- The Stoic Body
- Meh.
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- Sweet Evil
- Trying to be a shocker, but it's only a bore in the end.
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- Optionality: How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile World
- Lovely. Really liked it.
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- Double Whammy
- I like anything written by Carl Hiaasen. Always light and fun.
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- First Person Singular: Stories
- Murakami, my favorite author — will read and re-read forever.
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- An Abundance of Katherines Book
- John green is a book generator based on a single template.
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- Summer Frost
- A simple novella with I Robot feels.
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- The Great Passage
- Simply a masterwork. I will reread it.
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April
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- Hideki's Flying Toilet Invention and Other Stories
- Crazy but forgettable.
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- Low-Tech Magazine 2007-2012
- Dropped. A bit of a bore. Good to unwind.
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- The Virgin Suicides
- Amazing book. Felt a lot of different emotions through it, mostly of them unpleasant.
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- Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche
- Dropped. Not ready for it. But always good.
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- Death Dealers and Diabolists
- Not the best Sword And Sorcery Books.
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- Jesus's Son
- Really fun and crazy.
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- No One Is Talking About This: A Novel
- Too short. Really fun.
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- Hell Yeah or No
- Derek is one of my favorite non-fiction authors. This one is a classic.
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- Principes
- Good, but too repetitive. Read a summary.
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- The Elephant Vanishes
- More Murakami. Always good.
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- Looking for Alaska
- John green is a book generator based on a single template.
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March
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- The Godblade
- Boring. Not selected for Sword And Sorcery Books. 160 pages.
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- A World Without Email
- I don't want a world without Email. I prefer to drop the Zoom calls. 320 pages.
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- Do Nothing: Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
- More of the same advice.
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- The C Programming Language 2nd edition
- A classic. Re-reading it.
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- Busy Doing Nothing
- Lovely trip log. Good daily meditation.
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February
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- The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere
- More of the same advice.
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- It doesn't have to be crazy at work
- Classic, very inspiring.
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- Small pleasures (the school of life library)
- One of the best books of the year. Must read it often.
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January
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- Necromancy in Nilztiria
- One of the best Sword And Sorcery Books.
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- The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
- Lovely addition to The Garden.
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- Drinking to distraction
- Good quit-lit.
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