End Times Fascism, Klein and Taylor

 

End Times Fascism: And the fight for the living world by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

Started: September 25, 2026

Completed: October 6, 2026

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended by: Nobody

Media: Audio

 

Review:  

 

The premise here is a good one and enlightening.  The billionaires of the world have no interest in preserving what we have now.  They can go elsewhere, hunker down in their well-defended bunkers, or just live forever.  They do, however, have an interest in destroying everything as they reap as much as they can for themselves.  By taking all that they can and decimating the rest of us, well, they can keep it forever.  They want to take it with them.

 

Because there is no appealing to their better instincts, we must take them down and prevent their rise again.  This book lays out an approach to starting that action.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, Ilona Andrews

 

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews is the first book in Maggie the Undying

Started: June 8, 2026
Completed: September 25, 2026
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

I really enjoyed this opening into a new world.  I'm usually drawn to books where there is a penalty paid for magic and though this book has one (think of being out of spell points), it is a rather minor deal all things considered.  The protagonist spent a lot of time looking at brooding men of various ilk and I'm OK with that and there was a lot of attention (in my experience) to clothing and colors.  The plot seemed to leap from one desperate plan to another and I did enjoy that.  The part where a nobody girl out of nowhere can suddenly turn all the aristocrats' heads is unrealistic, though Andrews did make an effort to explain it in some cases.  So, this book is not perfect, but I did enjoy it and look forward to the next installment of Maggie the Undying.

There was a fair amount of violence and entirely too much torture for my taste.

Rising Tide, John M. Barry

 

Rising Tide: The great Mississippi flood of 1827 and how it changed America by John M. Barry

Started: August 13, 2026

Completed: September 20, 2026

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody, found it at a library sale

Media: Audio

Review:

This is an interesting book on several levels.  It is interesting to hear about the efforts to reduce flooding along the Mississippi.  It is interesting to see how communities rallied or failed in response to the flood.  It is also striking how quickly racism of all forms was a common part of every day at that time.  Now, it is simply less common.

Daughters of the Sun and Moon, Lisa See

 

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

Started: September 11, 2026
Completed: September 20, 2026
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Words for which I sought help:

perspicacity -- the mental ability to see through confusion, understand situations quickly, and make very accurate judgements

Review:

The mental and physical abuse described in this novel are constant.  While I see the value in terms of understanding the suffering of the Chinese women of this time in early California, the violence in this book was something that I really disliked.  It just is not for me.  Torture scenes that simply make things worth rather than forwarding the plot seem unnecessary unless the point is to talk about torture.  I wish I had known that this book focused on a massacre and the unbelievable suffering of these women before I picked it up.

A Trade of Blood, Robert Jackson Bennett

 

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett

Started: September 3, 2026
Completed: September 11, 2026
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: Nobody, just love the series
Media: Audio

Review:

It is impressive how Bennett drives a whole fantasy series on how an empire is fed.  This is not just an impressive feat in and of itself, but it is also revealing about our own society and our own world.  Really a great book in a great series.

Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay

 

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay has been in my books to read for so long, I cannot remember why it is there.

Started: August 8, 2021
Completed: September 3, 2026
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Media: ebook/audio

Review:

This book took me forever.  It is a good book.  The beginning is slow and I often grab ebooks when I am sitting in line or just have a minute or two.  This book had a huge cast of characters and an epic story line.  It was just too much to do in dribs and drabs.  When I switched to the audio book, things progressed nicely.  It still wasn't fast because there was so much to remember that I found myself going back and relistening.  In the end, however, having this book on audio meant that I could actually spend time on the story instead of rereading.

Prophecy, Carissa Véliz

 

Prophecy: Prediction, power, and the fight for the future from ancient oracles to AI by Carissa Véliz

Started: July 23, 2026

Completed: August 31, 2026

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Media: Audio

Review:

This book is compelling making the strong argument that prediction is not telling the future it is about what the predictor wants to happen.  It is well written, artfully argued, and only a little repetative.  Anyone who references Thales of Miletus is OK in my book :).