March 2025 Reading Reflections

I've been less focused on maintaining my reading "streak" lately; it was getting cumbersome and stressful. I've also pretty much given up on The Wheel Of Time in audiobook format yet again. Epic Fantasy and I just don't really get along well. Too much worldbuilding and not enough action or exploration of concepts. I also noticed more and more a subtle sexism in this series, and it's getting annoying.

I finally got around to John Green's The Fault in our Stars. I got back to watching Vlogbrothers, and there's currently a lot of content surrounding the release of John's latest, Everything Is Tuberculosis, which I also want to read. I already had a copy of The Fault in our Stars, though, so seemed like a reasonable place to start.

John has a really interesting writer's voice. It is, of course, not super different from his "normal" voice, or at least the voice I've become accustomed to hearing in his Vlogbrothers videos. It is at once irreverant and thoughtful, and I enjoy it. It can't decide if it makes the characters in The Fault in our Stars sound older than they actually are. After all, they are teenagers dealing with a very adult set of diseases and the issues that come up with those. I'll be interested to read John's other young adult novels and compare.

I'm also enjoying The Blood of the Lamb so far, although it's early yet. Similar voice, and I've found myself reaching for the dictionary (or more accurately, highlighting and hitting "Look Up", since I'm reading this one in e-book format) more often in this book. I do enjoy an author with a broad vocabulary.

Predictably Irrational was a good listen; not only for the subject matter, but for the narrator. Simon Jones played Arthur Dent in one of the adaptations of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and his narrative voice reminded me so much of the voice of the Guide in this more recent adaptation that I had to look up the actor that actually did provide the voice to be sure.

Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You is likely to get set aside, as I'm planning on using it for another little project I have in mind. Edward Rutherford's London is good, just long, and my brain doesn't want to sit still long enough to read 90 minute chapters right now.