So far I've read the first six Pratchett books and have started Pyramids. I think after Guards! Guards! I will decouple from reading them in chronological order. I started with 3 and 4 and then decided I might as well go back and hit them all, since it wasn't clear which one I would do next and #5 (Sourcery) picks up the main character introduced in #1 and #2. The first book was definitely a lot rougher than the others and the second really did not hit its stride until the end, which explains why people recommend starting elsewhere. The third, Equal Rites, seemed like a good introduction, as did the fourth, Mort. Fine, light reading.

These have been e-books, which is a new thing for me to be doing. I started reading e-books as a result of the French stuff -- easy dictionary access, the classics I wanted to read were free as e-books but annoying to get as physical books, and frankly physical books can be very disappointing. Using an old tablet. I'm enjoying this enough that I might get an actual e-book reader. I do get rather particular about the physical setup of text -- I can go quite a bit faster if the lines are short enough that I can see them in one glance because then I just have to move down. It's easier then to drive myself to keep going at a fast speed, too. It takes an expenditure of will to keep going! This probably means I can get rid of piles of crummy trade paperbacks of classics.

French: I've been reading Les Misérables. I'm through the first two books and have started on the third. So far, he's waxing poetic about les gamins and it's slower to go through than parts where something actually happens. I also have a physical book I'm working through, a dual-language reader of classic short stories. First one is from Voltaire (currently reading), goes up through some Camus. I considered following my Pratchett reading with French translations, but there's enough wordplay, uncommon words, coined words, etc to make it a little bit of a pain.

I've also been reading some works in Esperanto, mostly in translation, mostly things I've read before. Right now is The Wizard of Oz.

All of this has cut into my chess time.

As will not be a surprise to anybody following my stuff elsewhere over the last decade, I'm firmly opposed to cryptocurrency, "rationalism", and billionaires like Musk. And financiers in general strip-mining the masses. While I've appreciated some of the benisons of Web 2.0, the absurd wealth it generates for that utility (while destroying so much else in the world) has left a bad taste in my mouth. Web 3, of course, is a farce. These last six weeks have been interesting to watch on those fronts. Am I turning into an old, close-minded crank??? I ask because I draw these things all together, which is the sort of maneuver cranks do.

Of course, the weather prophets are conspiring to ruin christmas travel. thanks brandon.