Others: Mixed A cheese heiress skips Milwaukee in 1932; her father hires a private investigator to retrieve her from, eventually, eastern Europe.
Lists: …
Thomas Pynchon
1963 · 492 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedHaving just been released from the Navy, Benny Profane is content to lead a slothful existence with his friends, where the only real ambition is to perfect the art of "schlemihlhood," or being a dupe, and where "responsibility" is a dirty word. Among his pals--called the Whole Sick Crew--is Slab, an artist who can't seem to paint anything other than cheese danishes. But Profane's life changes dramatically when he befriends Stencil, an active ambitious young man with an intriguing mission--to find out the identity of a woman named V [Victoria Wren], who knew Stencil's father during the war, but who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
What made the match, strongest first
Hilary Mantel
1992 · 872 pages · 1 review
Others: MixedA spellbinding, epic novel which recounts the events between the fall of the Ancient Regime and the peak of the Terror, as seen through the eyes of the French Revolution's three protagonists – Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien Robespierre and Camille Desmoulins, men whose mix of ambition, idealism, and ego helped unleash the darker side of the Revolution's ideals and brought them eventually to their own tragic ends. Critically acclaimed upon first publication, 'A Place of Greater Safety' is one of Mantel's most celebrated works of fiction.
What made the match, strongest first
Alastair Reynolds
2025 · 496 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveA private investigator is hired to look into a mysterious, high-profile death aboard the starship Halcyon in this new noir/science fiction fusion from the “mastersinger of space opera” (The Times) and the creator of the beloved Revelation Space universe, strap in for a gripping murder mystery.
J.G. Ballard
2012 · 310 pages · 1 review
Others: MixedAn unemployed advertising executive investigates why the deranged man who shot his father in a shopping mall was released without being charged.
What made the match, strongest first
Robert A. Heinlein
1985 · 385 pages · 1 review
Others: NegativeMission: retrieve the computer backups that can restore the sentient computer who masterminded the 2075 revolution that freed Luna.
Litza Jansz
2015 · 176 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveDid Fascism end with the Allied victory over the Axis powers in 1945, or has it been lying dormant and is now re-awakening as we move into the 21st century? Introducing Fascism trace the origins of Fascism in 19th-century traditions of ultra-conservatism, the ideas of Nietzsche, Wagner and other intellectuals which helped to make racist doctrines respectable and which led to the ultimate horrifying 'logic' of the Holocaust. Introducing Fascism investigates the four types of Fascism that emerged after the First World War in Italy, Germany, Spain and Japan. It also looks beyond the current headlines of neo-Nazi hooliganism and examines the increasing political success of the far right in Western Europe and the explosion of ultra-nationalisms in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
MixedI enjoyed the experience of reading more Pynchon, new Pynchon, but I'm still not sure how I feel as a whole when it comes to the book. When I did the exercise of ranking all the books I read in 2025, Shadow Ticket actually ranked relatively low on the list among those books that I enjoyed, but maybe didn't leave me much beyond the reading experience.
