Not really a book per se but I'm reading this

Australia Act Fraud Detailed

just for entertainment reasons!

I really dread times when I run out of Dukaj books to read ;) I have mixed feelings about "The Martian", I enjoyed all the details, but the humour in that book was making me cringe more often than not.
I'd recommend "Dzisiaj narysujemy śmierć", but it's quite emotionally heavy. I'm not squeamish, but sometimes I felt bit nauseous when reading. The author is not one of those reporters who try to be as objective as possible (then again I don't know how could you be objective about something so fucked-up as Rwandan genocide), but it didn't feel particularly jarring for me.
"Pamiętajcie, że byłem przeciw. Reportaże sądowe." was pretty cool snapshot into courtrooms of PRL, some cases were less interesting than others, but it's quite varied selection (from inheritance cases to corruption to murders). I only wish editors would give "where are they now" update more often, but I know why they wouldn't in some cases, e.g. finding out that a teacher who has beaten her stepson to death and got 15 years in jail, got out and is now a ministry of education expert and is working as a teacher again, would probably really rile people up.
"Songs of a Dead Dreamer" is really nice if you're up for some horror short stories.
I recently finished "Borne" by Jeff Vandermeer, which I haven't updated on the list yet and I really liked it.

Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov
About 10 years have passed since Prelude to Foundation. Seldon still struggles with his psychohistory, but has a murky bare outline of the future. He still knows that the Empire is declining. People tells him that Eto Demerzel, First Minister to the Emperor and Seldon's friend is under threat. A populist demagogue shows up at University, planning a speech.
I found it a good book to fill out gap between Prelude to Foundation and Foundation.

Azure Bonds - Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak

First volume of the "Finder's stone trilogy", set up in the Forgotten Realms (Dungeons & Dragons). Your traditional fare of high fantasy RPG: elves, halflings, priests, evil gods, dragons and magic. Bland and at the same time oddly satisfying. You know what you're in for and it delivers. No originality, but that's not really the point.

Alias, the main character, wakes up un an inn with almost no memories and a set of blue glowing tattoos under her skin. What do they mean? Why is there a lizard-like creature seemingly watching over her? With Elminster's cameo as a bonus! ^_^

So far in 2020: https://www.gog.com/forum/general/books_finished_in_2020/post9

Bushido: The Soul of Japan
-Inazo Nitobe, 1900

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov
In Foundation and Empire, a mutant human known as the Mule with huge mental powers came out of nowhere; took over a luxury pleasure planet, defeated the Foundation and made an empire for himself.
In Second Foundation, The Mule sent out expeditions to hunt for the Second Foundation. He wants to find and defeat it before conquering the rest of the galaxy.
I found Second Foundation a compelling book, hard to stop reading.

Gawd it took a good long while to read my last book (MR. PYE by MERVYN PEAKE) ... 12 days in fact.

I guess a lot has been happening the last couple of weeks.

I've started looking into Isaac Asimov and his Foundation series yesterday ... what I have and what format.
I have them all, main novels and prequel plus sequels.
I have the original trilogy in a hardcover omnibus .... now I just need to move some stuff and find where I buried it.

I will read a few other books first, but I am getting ready to start reading that seminal SciFi series ... and looking forward to it ... enjoyed many of his other works.

What I have read so far and intend to read in 2020

Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov
It's nearly 500 years since the establishment of the Foundation. The Foundation Federation is well on its way to being a Second Galactic Empire with 120 years of peace. But a Councilman thinks everything about it is too perfect. He is exiled for daring to question the Seldon Plan, and believing that the Second Foundation still exists.

Words of Radiance

One important difference between The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance is that the latter features far more action. Worldbuilding remains a major aspect, however, as does the philosophy and wisdom, the tackling of topics such as customs, religion and prejudice. Some reminders are included, but it largely moves past the basic, obvious elements of the world and towards a scope that's both wider and deeper, revealing major previously unknown aspects and details that may completely change what was believed to be known. Some revelations are carefully planned and constructed, in stages, others are sudden, shocking, and various hints, both obvious and vague, point to many more secrets left, proving how much more is still to come.
If in The Way of Kings the world sometimes seemed to stop and wait for the main characters, now there are a few moments when the action jumps ahead, leaving the reader to try to catch up. That's somewhat jarring, but clearly intentional, in large part in order to avoid revealing certain details too soon, which also applies to the quotes at the start of chapters, which get increasingly cryptic with each part. In truth, there's very little to complain about. The handwriting in most of the illustrations in the mass market paperback edition remains difficult to read, but a few of those are better as well, and it remains unusual for such an edition to have illustrations at all.
In terms of characters, Kaladin no longer overshadows all the others, Shallan rising to match and perhaps even surpass him, revealing much about herself. But this is about far more than any individual character, no matter how important, the story and the world being so gripping, with so many layers and facets, many yet to be revealed and, I'm sure, many more yet to allow to be properly understood. There are humorous moments, thrilling moments, moments with emotional and, if I may use the term, rational impact. Overall, again, a masterpiece. I'd also like to see the battle in a movie, though other moments struck me as "working" better in the book.

Rating: 5/5

INCLUDE ME

This is an interesting thread since one of my plans going into the new year was to read more. So far, I've read:

- The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- Star Wars: The Weapon of a Jedi by Jason Fry
- Star Wars: Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray

I read three books at a time, so that I can switch based upon whatever genre I'm in the mood for. I'm currently reading:

- The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks
- Star Wars: Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston
- Prophet by R.J. Larson

I'll include comics as well, since I've recently been delving in to the world of comics and graphic novels. So far, I've read:

- Star Wars (2015) #1-12
- Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel
- Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise

I finally found them all, including the second trilogy done by three other authors approved by the estate of Isaac Asimov.

Most importantly, I found the original trilogy, which is in a hard cover omnibus, along with three of Isaac's other novels. I will start with that first.

Forward The Foundation, was the hardest to find, as I had that stored in a slightly different location. Another hard one to find, was the David Brin one.

This means I should be able to make a start soon, but more now than I remembered, so no small endeavor ... not that I have to or are likely to read them all consecutively.

They are as follows.

ISAAC ASIMOV - Prelude To Foundation - Pb 1988 (Foundation 1)
ISAAC ASIMOV - Foundation - HC 1963 (Foundation 2) Omnibus
ISAAC ASIMOV - Foundation And Empire - HC 1962 (Foundation 3) Omnibus
ISAAC ASIMOV - Second Foundation - HC 1964 (Foundation 4) Omnibus
ISAAC ASIMOV - Foundation's Edge - Pb 1982 (Foundation 5)
ISAAC ASIMOV - Foundation And Earth - Pb 1986 (Foundation 6)
ISAAC ASIMOV - Forward The Foundation - Pb 1993 (Foundation 7)

GREGORY BENFORD - Foundation's Fear - Pb 1997 (Second Foundation 1)
GREG BEAR - Foundation And Chaos - Pb 1998 (Second Foundation 2)
DAVID BRIN - Foundation's Triumph - HC 1999 (Second Foundation 3)

What I have read so far and intend to read in 2020

The library being closed is really hurting my reading this year. Also, I have a couple books I've bought I'm slowly plugging at... But video games are hampering my progression. It's a "work hard play hard" time right now, and work's being tough.

I finished Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency the other day.

I really must get around to reading that .... I have it too.

So much to read, so little time. :(
Is your library closed completely?

I got an email from mine a couple of days ago, saying they were closed, but you can pick up books by arrangement, and that if needed, they could come to you for returns etc.