What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? August 13
What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? August 13
Finished The Passage by Justin Cronin. First book in The Passage trilogy. Overall, liked the book. The start was slow, giving me Stephen King vibes, but it picked up the pace as it went along. It was too long though, and can't get myself to start next one right away.
Read couple of son's books to change pace. The Ghoul in the School by Marcus Rashford and Alex Falase-Koya, the second book in The Breakfast Club Adventures. And Unexpected Super Spy by Zanib Mian, second book in Planet Omar series.
Also read, and just finished 5 mins before this post, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson, book 3 of his secret projects, and part of Cosmere, but a standalone book, which can be read without any knowledge of his other work. I loved this book. Like most of his "secret projects" books, couldn't put it down once I picked it up.
Currently Reading... nothing. Just finished the previous book and haven't decided what to start next... leaning towards next Dresden Files novel though... let's see.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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Because ADHD I usually have at least 4 books underway at the same time.
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I'm just about to finish Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.
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I just started Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
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I'm also reading A City on Mars, a nonfiction book by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith.
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I started re-reading the Area X trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, I think I'm still in Annihilation.
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I also started re-reading Dune by Frank Herbert, but honestly it's such a slog that I think I got halfway through before getting frustrated. The worldbuilding may be interesting but holy shit is Herbert's writing turgid.
Upvote for the use of the word turgid.
But yes it is. I found that to be the case with the Foundation series as well. I read them when I was younger - perhaps I skimmed them, or I'm just getting picky as I get older.
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Listening to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy audiobook. I read it once ages ago, and am enjoying getting to all the good parts I only vaguely remember. It holds up pretty well, there's a reason people are still quoting it. I use the term "excitingly chunky" to describe the "developer chic" style of buildings that are getting slung up around me.
The biggest issue so far is that Trillian is the most fleshed-out woman in the series, and she's basically a cardboard cutout that has "girlfriend" hastily written on it. It might get better later on (I'm almost done with the 3rd book), but I don't recall it happening. I know it's not really the point of the series, but as someone that doesn't tend to notice this sort of thing, it was very noticeable.
Found all the Animorphs books online and I'm reading them for the nostalgia. I forgot how weird they are lol.
I am also reading a DnD campaign book because I'm DMing on Sunday
How is the Animorphs series? My kid is still at level of "Diary of Wimpy Kid" books, but these look like interesting next step. Maybe, not right now, but in an year or two. Also, any other recommendations for a kid around 10?
Animorphs is really weird. I've heard they get really dark at some point.
As for other kids books, it depends on the reading level. I've always been super good at it, so I'm not a good judge. I enjoyed the Boxcar Children books, Captain Underpants, the Percy Jackson books, Eggs, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, some book about sapient squirrels where one had a sword, The View from Saturday, Love that Dog, and a bunch of other books I'm forgetting.
I read a TON as a kid. Like an obscene amount of reading.
Caliban's War (book two of the Expanse). I think this is only my first reread? apparently it's the only book I'm reading at the moment which is pretty unusual
'The dark half' by Stephen King, almost finished the book. The last books I read also were Stephen King's, I like how the stories go, it's unexpected every time. Loved 'Cujo' and 'The Institute' particularly (Running man was good too) !
I love most of Kings books but Kujo is one I just didn't really get into / enjoy that much for what ever reason. The Dark Half and The Institute are great though!
Just finished reading it. I agree with you, it's a great book, and the ending was, indeed, unexpected!
I just finished Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. It was very good
Have you read the other Culture books, or is this your first one? I just found out now that there's [email protected] that could use some posts if you have anything you want to share about it. If you haven't read it yet (or if anybody else is curious for a quick taste of the series), here's the author writing a few notes on it:
http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm
I thought this was also a good read, though it does have a few spoilers across the first few books:
Nope, this was my first one. I read a lot of SF/hard SF but it took me a while to get on to this series even though it is pretty famous. It was really well written in my opinion which is not always common in the genre. I have now started the second book.
As an aside, I will always take an opportunity to recommend my favorite SF author, Alastair Reynolds. His stuff is 🤌
I read Consider Phlebas long time ago, and didn't like it enough to continue the series. It has been long enough that maybe I should give the series another try.
IMO it's the weakest of the series. The next two books, The Player of Games or Use of Weapons are much better, at least to me. Use of Weapons is great, but has a somewhat challenging narrative structure of two intermixed timelines, so if that's not your thing The Player of Games would probably be a good one to try.
Typically I have multiple books going on at the same time for varietys sake, usually fiction and some-non fiction.
Right now I have besides me as my non-fiction choice; "Baltic Cities - Perspectives on urban and regional change in the Baltic sea area", ed. Martin Åberg & Martin Peterson.
As my fiction book I'm nearing the end of "Termination Shock" by Neal Stephenson.
"Hitch-22, A Memoir" -Christopher Hitchens
I re-listen to it once a year. R.I.P. Hitch.
The wisdom of crowds and Hyperion
I've had a hard time getting into books for a number of years, but I recently read Lovecraft Country, and just dove into the sequel "The Destroyer of Worlds."
A friend introduced me to Matt Ruff's writing back in '95 wit Fool on the Hill, and I've been a fan ever since.
Never heard of it, but it looks interesting, will check it out.
Currently reading:
Next up:
Finally cracking into the He Who Fights with Monsters series. Enjoying the first book so far. The voice actor has a good voice.
Wanted to comment about He Who Fights with Monsters, I'm currently listening to Book 11 and am a little bit in awe how the protagonist is somehow extremely powerful but at the same time the writer still manages to keep him out of the "overpowered protagonist"-trap.
He's still the same old likeable Aussie we met in book 1 but has gone through some powerful character arcs.
Definitely my favourite LitRPG/Isekai book series.
I'm still finishing up with Good Omens by Neil Gaiman, but I got a Kobo ereader recently and have started to read The Stand by Stephen King. I have 36hrs to go apparently!
Edit: The Stand and not The Strand.
36 hours! That's long. Though, that's mostly how King's books are.
Apparently, King went back and re-edited/revised The Stand to add things he liked and remove stuff he thought was pointless narrative, which made the book even longer.
I may also be reading a little slower to fully take in the words I'm reading. I think I have a habit of reading too fast and so I'm not really taking in a fuller picture of what I'm reading. So, not sure if that also factors in?
I’ve currently got three on the go, because I’m like that. For my non-fiction, read-with-my-eyes selections, there’s two.
First, The Rebellious Life Of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis has been really interesting. I’m not American, and so didn’t learn about her more than “she helped kick start the civil rights movement in the US by refusing to give up her seat on the bus”. It’s weird how much her story has been written over and forgotten, and I’ve enjoyed learning about her and all of her efforts, not just the single one she’s known for.
Next up, The Little Book Of Satanism by La Carmina has been fascinating. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of religion, but am an avid atheist. I am however quite familiar with the history of how Christianity grew and took over the western world before morphing into the unrecognizable behemoth it is today, and with it, some incredibly toxic ideas have grown as well. The history of the idea of satan lives in this same ideology, and this book explores the history of where the idea of a devil comes from, and explains how the thing that Christians fear most sprang up from their own ideas. Fascinating stuff.
And lastly, I’m listening to Witch King by Martha Wells while I’m at work, and I’m going to be honest here, but I really don’t have a clue what’s going on in this story. I’m going to have to return to this book again one day, and probably read it with my eyes instead of my ears. The story is interesting, though, despite my struggle to follow along
I’ve started reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Uprooted is going more pleasantly than I was expecting. I’ve heard a lot of mixed opinions about it but so far I’m enjoying it. It’s too early to form an opinion on Sea of Tranquility but it’s been a good read so far as well.
Just finished "Taking to Strangers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Currently reading "The Rise of Endymion" by Dan Simmons.
Will be looking for more sci-fi or sci-fi/horror to read next.
How is Talking to Strangers?
It was pretty good. Interesting look into why exactly we are unable to tell when people are being truthful or not. It discusses a lot of different situations like spies being found in intelligence agencies, judges/law enforcement, or the efficacy of "enhanced interrogation tactics". It also touches on high profile cases like Nassar, Maddof, Bland etc.
How to argue with a racist by Rutherford.
The title is a bit sensational, it's mostly pop-science about genetics.
I'm rereading some of my huge shelf of Battletech novels. I'm on Stackpole's Assumption of Risk and his odd 80's handling of race is pretty awkward. I'm enjoying the space-fuedal politics, though!
I'm back on Deathlands for a few books, still enjoying but have a few things ready to start next but haven't decided what to try yet.
I have Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, Deathless saga or All Dead. The latter two are both the beginnings of series that I just want to try out without knowing anything about them, see if either stick.
Why does all your series names have Death in it? 😀
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is a stand alone book, so you can read it anytime between other books. Also, it's a pretty quick read.
I enjoyed Frugal Wizard so I know I'll enjoy it, like the rest of his work, I'm just waiting for the mood to catch me I guess for that one.
And I didn't realise until I wrote out that comment and thought to myself "hmmm seems to be a theme running here at the moment" xD I guess I like bleak sounding literature?
Have you read Simon R Greens Deathstalker? That is a glorious space opera that is another of my favourites and, surprise surprise, more death in the title xD
At the moment I'm reading Dead Souls by Gogol. I've been at it for a while. It's a bit heavy for a summer read, but I'm enjoying it somewhat. It's fun to see all the colorful characters that come across, but I have the idea a lot is going over my head as I'm not that familiar with the Russia of that time. It's sad quite a bit is missing of the second part.
Only about 70 pages left. The next book will definitely be something lighter...
I have heard it mentioned before, but yeah, seems a bit heavy. Apparently the people the protagonist meet "typify the Russian middle aristocracy of the time", so yeah, not knowing much about the Russia of that time may diminish the book.
Yeah, and of course the superficial stuff is easy to grasp, like one character is lazy, or the other more of a dreamer who achieves nothing. But you feel like there are things going over your head.
Currently Reading:
The Passage - Justin Cronin, just as I feared. Just like the first time (over a decade ago), I felt myself losing interest as time skip hits. The new characters were many and ... uninteresting. Many are killed off before even fully developed, which dulled the effect. Currently chapter 46, bit eager to finish it up.
Well, the book just might not be for you, no point in forcing yourself when there is so much else to read. Though if you have reached chapter 46, might as well finish the first book at least.
I'm about done with Winter, the last book in the primary Lunar Chronicles quartet. It's been a really great read thus far, like the rest of the series. I'm excited to see just how the big bad gets their comeuppance, as well as what becomes of the cast of characters. Then I'll be on to the two addendum books to the series - the first is a series of short stories, but I didn't know how they relate yet. The second is a novela about the backstory of said big bad, which should be intriguing.
Just finished The dark forest, by Cixin Liu. As far as I read this sci-fi trilogy, I think I enjoy it very much. Now starting the last novel in the series, Death's End, by Cixin Liu.
I picked Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin back up, and am now about 2/3 of the way through. It's a fast read, and I'm enjoying it, despite my irrational dislike of first person present tense.
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Finally finished On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. If you like Pirates of the Caribbean or Monkey Island, with a random dude getting caught up in a swashbuckling pirate adventure, this ticks (almost) all the boxes (it's not humorous). I was pleasantly surprised that the magic system makes reference to actual vodou, rather than just the pop culture version, and that there's a bits of history in the background you may recognize if you like pirate stuff. The pacing is a series of lulls and swells of action, rather than a steady build to a single climax (although there is a final culmination of events); I was never bored, but I also didn't find it un-put-downable, and I'm not sure how much of that was the writing, and how much was being too sleepy to read more than a few pages a night.
Bingo squares: Water, Water Everywhere; What's Yours Is Mine (probably hard mode?); Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; Stranger in a Strange Land (hard mode); (alt) A Change in Perspective