What book(s) are you currently reading or listening to? September 30
Sorry missed last week's post, just busy with life.
The silver lining is, I don't have to stay "still reading" for yet another week, as I finally finished Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch. Book 3 of Rivers of London series.
Yet another case involving magic in London and the Police solving it.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
I'm starting House of Leaves today.
I don't think I'm ready for this wild ride but only one way to find out.
Remember to share your review when done!
I am waiting for a copy to come into my life by chance as I think that will add to the story. Cant wait for that day
You're only allowed to wait that way if you add notes in the margins. Keep it going
I caved and stopped by Barnes and Noble after work so I'm about to get started lol
Neuromancer by William Gibson. Slowly realising how many cyberpunk books cribbed his homework.
It's crazy to me how much this book is the root of the cyberpunk tree. So much of the terminology is identical across the genre. Great book!
Working on the new T. Kingfisher, Hemlock & Silver.
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Read since last time:
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy (fantasy horror, novella) | bingo: creature, minority author, short, LGBTQIA+ lead, alliterative, cover
A wanderer visits an anarchist commune that's protected by a preternatural being.
I think I'd put this in the "fine" category; not sure if I'm interested in the sequels.
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (space opera-ish mystery, novella) | bingo: creature, different continent, minority author, orange, short, award
A prickly detective and a sentient ship discover and investigate an unusual corpse.
Intentional Holmes and Watson vibes. Cute enough, but the mystery felt a bit secondary.
I love Kingfisher’s stuff.
I’d agree with Tea Master. I definitely enjoyed it, but it was more a book about their dynamic than an actual mystery.
Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Starting slow but it’s kind of intriguing.
I loved that book so much. I definitely wanted more math-centric stories after that.
Anathem was such a wild fucking ride. Stick with it and I promise you won't be disappointed.
Thank you I will, I have become skeptical but I’ll keep going!
That is one of my favorite books of all time. I love almost all of Neal Stephenson and just finally finished Cryptonomicon this week.
That’s one of my favorites.
I finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson this week. Great read! Stephenson is a very long-winded and meandering author but I love it every time.
I just got a copy of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski because I was inspired by mushroommonk (I don't know how to tag users) here in the comments. Super excited to finally crack this one open.
I am also about to start in on Ursula Le Guin but I dont know if I should start with The Left Hand of Darkness or The Word for World is Forest.
I'm starting V. by Thomas Pynchon. I'm going in pretty much blind, don't know the author or the book at all. I just saw his name in the news and realized I'd seen this book at the library, so here we are.
I also recently read Solaris by Stanisław Lem. I first read it in my early teens and I liked it then, but I feel these decades have allowed me to appreciate it more deeply. What a wonderful book! I love the idea that alien intelligence is truly alien - not just humans from another planet - to the point of making communication practically impossible. Any recommendations for books like Solaris and Roadside Picnic, which explore this theme, are welcome.
Solaris sounds interesting, will take a look.
Thanks for the Solaris recco! It's been on my To-Read for a while.
Solaris has been on my list for a long time but ive yet to find it anywhere
I’m on The Shadow Rising (WoT #4).
The Dragon Reborn was my favorite entry so far I think. I loved Perrin and Mat’s chapters the most. Mat’s choice at the end really made me appreciate the character.
I’m very excited to see where the story goes from here!
I’m already looking forward to rereading the Eye of the World haha.
Edit: removed broken spoiler tag and content.
As someone only on WOT book 2. You're spoiler tags are broken 😞
I am so so sorry. They are showing up just fine on my end, so I figured it was fine.
I am envious! I wish I could read them all again for the first time
Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s fun so far, but I’m starting to suspect it’s going to be a bit repetitive.
I'm on book 5 right now. It's kept my interest so far. The repetitive bits are usually comforting. It's encouraging to know that the series does end.
How many books are there total?
7 total.
Ahan, thanks for the info!
Reading "this inevitable ruin" by Matt Dinniman. I don't have much time to read at the moment, so about 1/3rd through after two weeks.
This was a really good one. Recency bias I suppose, but it was my favorite of the books.
I like this one so far, I took a hiatus from the series after "The Butcher's Masquerade" because it felt convoluted and a chore to read. "Eye of the Bedlam Bride" I listened to as an audiobook over the summer, but it took me over two months on my commute.
Ah. I read through the whole series (so far) earlier this year. Started in early May and had finished by mid-July.
I struggled getting into Feral Gods (4) and Anarchist’s Cookbook (3).
I may have hyper focused solely on this book series for about two months.
I'm currently reading Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett), and it's delightful!
I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through all of the Discworld books.
Just finished Kropotkins "The Conquest of Bread". Might be time for some fiction again.
Recently started the second book in the Bobiverse series. Really enjoyed the first one, but I did have to try a couple times to get into it. Once I did though, I couldn't put it down. The audiobook is narrated by Ray Porter who also does Project Hail Mary. Great narrarator.
I finished The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg and enjoyed it. It's actually remarkable that we as a species can tell such a specific story about the beginning of the universe using science.
I'm currently reading A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker: 1925-2025 by Deborah Treisman, which is an 1100-page long short story collection. So far, I enjoyed "The Weeds" by Mary McCarthy, and "Symbols and Signs" by Vladimir Nabokov.
Weinberg was such an intellectual giant, I've been too intimidated to try his pop-sci type stuff. I think it's time though.
I thought his writing was very accessible. In the first few chapters, he lays out the story of the first three minutes after the Big Bang in a very understandable way, and the rest of the book talks about how modern science figured it out (which is probably a more interesting story). Equations and more technical explanations are pushed to the appendix.
Brandon Sanderson's Oathbringer
Journey before destination 🫡
Recently started We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It feels quite apt in the current moment.
Ah really want to read something by him, I always like his no bullshit perspectives in interviews.
I think I've been a bit unfair to Coates in the past because I've felt like, outside of "The Case for Reparations" his writing reads like "James Baldwin-light". But I think he listens to criticism and I want to go back and finish Eight Years (I DNF'd it after re-reading the Reparations chapter) and read his new book The Message.
Started the first book of the Culture series, Consider Phlebas, only through the first three chapters, however I'm enjoying it so far -- especially compared to the writing of Red Rising (which was my last sci-fi read, at DNF atm).
I'm sorry you didnt like red rising but I also totally get it. I had a lot of fun with them as I usually read more austere sf like Greg Egan, Alastair Reynolds, and Banks. So on that note; enjoy! The culture series is amazing and unique, and some of the best literature I've ever read. The Player of Games and Use of Weapons are at the top of my all-time favorites list.
Glad to hear that, I heard lots of great things about the series that led me to coming across it, so far I'm pretty hooked! I've come those authors too, still need to check out their works, any recommendations for where to start with Egan and Reynolds?
I'll probably attempt Red Rising, as I often do finish books tbh, however I found I just gradually lost interest with it, to the point the non-fiction I was reading in parallel was more engrossing. Thinking about why, after starting Culture novel... I found the main character a bit annoying, the technology being almost over-explained (more tell than show) --especially compared to Consider Phlebas so far, and something about the pacing being a bit off. I'll definitely try to get back to it, though I'll give it some space first.
Happy to recommend!
For Reynolds, if you want to try a standalone novel I would say House of Suns is a great place to start. Very fun read. If you want to get in to the meat and potatoes of his writing instead, I'd say just go ahead and jump right in with Revelation Space, which is the first full installment of the series by the same name.
As for Greg Egan, I started with Diaspora and after reading four or five others I think that was a lucky start. He's basically the farthest point on the hard side of the soft-hard sf spectrum, and if you find Diaspora to be not quite to your liking, you almost certainly won't like his other works as they are even more whacky. The other startinf point that could be good is Permutation City which is SLIGHTLY more grounded in the modern day and not as far-reaching in some ways. Still, it's a crazy book because he doesn't know how to not write crazy books. He always has resources on his website to help parse some of the more mathematical concepts so perusing that can help, or make things worse lol.
Addendum: my friend is an avid reader like me and also didnt care for Red Rising, largely due to the pacing, so don't feel bad if that isn't your cuppa tea.
Thank you for the recommendations, sweetness, it's much appreciated! More for the tbr 🥲.
Glad to know I'm not alone in my experience with Red Rising, as part of what drew me to it was all the hype from others.
Prophet of Discontent by Douglas and Loggins.
It's about MLK and his place in the tradition of American black radical thought. It's pretty academic and dives straight into the race/class Marxist discourse. Which is catnip for weirdos like me.
Martha Wells - Star Wars “Razors Edge”.
It’s a story with the the main cast; Leia, Luke, Han and Chewie.
I’m enjoying it, starts right off with action and hasn’t really let off the gas pedal yet.
Finished Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, a little over a week ago, and finally dove into Wind and Truth, Brandon Sanderson. I'd been putting this off since I have a problem with finishing a series, or chunk of one in this case.
While I still love The Stormlight Archive, I think I've come to realize that Sanderson doesn't write believable enough dialogue for me. It comes across as flat and somewhat childish. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Only just finished River of Blue Fire, Tad Williams, and will likely finish book three and four of the quartet for my active audiobook.
What are your thoughts on Project Hail Mary? My wife's sister recommended it so my wife started it but she wasn't vibing with it.
I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary, but I can see how it's not for everyone. There's a lot of math and science talk which I enjoyed, but could feel textbooky for some. It's a fairly quick read so I'd recommend trying a few more chapters to see if it clicks, and moving on if not. Different strokes and whatnot!
Ah fair, my SIL is an engineer so I'm not surprised by that. My wife and I are both in the biology fields so we aren't affraid of science talk. Maybe the math makes the audiobook harder to digest and a physical copy would be better to try.
Read Rosemary's Baby for the next podcast episode. Honestly, if you've ever watched the (original) movie you almost don't need to read the book, its the most faithful adaptation I've ever seen. Almost word-for-word in a lot of places.
Having finished that, I'm now reading Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts which, for those unfamiliar, is sci-fi with a speculative edge. I'm about 25% in and it has me hooked.
Lake of Darkness sounds like exactly what I'm looking for next, thanks!
Im rereading The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage. It’s about the history of the electric telegraph. It’s very interesting.
I just finished The Long Walk and I really liked it. I read it a decade or more ago, but I appreciated it more this time.
I like books about death sports so it’s right up my alley. They finally released Battle Royale as a digital book so I would like to read it as well, but its length (800 pages!) is intimidating.
I also finished The Neverending Story, which I enjoyed but not as much as the much shorter first movie.
I started reading a few things.
The End of the World as We Know It is a short story collection that explores the world of Stephen King’s super-flu-ridden The Stand. I’m really liking it so far! The stories do a good job of further illustrating the world as it breaks down.
I also started a biography about one of my favorite people in vintage professional wrestling, Gorilla Monsoon. It just came out today and I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ve always been fascinated by him and no one else has written a book yet!
☕ 🤔
😂
I've long adored Social Origins Of Dictatorship And Democracy, so I'm thinking of picking up some of Barrington Moore Jr's other work - ideally,
Injustice: The Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt
and/or
Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism: USA, USSR, and China.
I vote for Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism: USA, USSR, and China!
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler is pretty good at the 45% mark.
I am listening to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters with my daughter. We're loving this. Will definitely get the next one. We listen on the ride to/from school, and then at bedtime.
Listening to Spec Ops by R.C Bray on my own and it's alright but every single chapter is starting to feel identical/formulaic already and I'm only book 2. "Unexpected problem. Super intelligent AI solves 99% of the problem. The main character is somehow smarter than God-level AI and solves the last 1%. Robot screeches Filthy Monkeys." Rinse. Repeat.
May go back to Sandman Slim and Perdition Score is up next.
Ooh I’ve been reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief to my son in the evenings.
He loves the illustrated edition. I’m hoping he still likes the books when we shift to text only haha.
I did not know there were illustrated editions. I am gonna have to look that up now! Thanks. 😁
We started straight into the Audiobook. I never heard it before. It's good. We tried the Redwall series and Eragon but I think my daughter is still too young, too many characters.
Percy Jackson has just the one illustrated edition. Funnily enough, so does Eragon.
Playground by Richard Powers. Really enjoyed the ride. Probably give The Overstory a try soon.
Just finished my 2nd listen of Handmaids Tale. I'm rinsing myself off with some Discworld.
Next up will be A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. I got turned onto it last year and it became an annual tradition instantly. It's 31 chapters (short ones) and you do one a day starting on the 1st.
Getting back into reading with laundry files
Stross is good fun
I reread the first three books in the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal and have started on book 4 (The Martian Contingency), which just came out. The original books held up very well on reread but I find myself feeling more annoyed by the main protagonist than I did my previous read-through. Regardless, I am super excited to see where book 4 takes the story.
Ah! I read about these in the past and wanted to put them in my tbr list but forgot, so thank you for the reminder
Just finished Daily Life Of Women In Ancient Rome. Uncertain what I'll move on to next.
I’m currently reading "Los pazos de Ulloa" by Emilia Pardo Bazán. It’s a literary work that critiques 19th-century Spanish society. Pardo Bazán was heavily influenced by naturalism [1] , a literary movement that was very popular in France, with Zola as its main representative. The book is a classic and a cornerstone of Spanish literature.
[1] Naturalism
I just finished Perchance to Dream by Howard Weinstein. It’s the first Star Trek novel I’ve ever read and I went with TNG because it’s my favorite series. I really enjoyed the book and loved how I could hear the voices of Picard, Geordie, Worf, Tori, Riker, all of them in my head. I have mild aphantasia so books based on characters from shows and movies I have watched are a lot easier for me to picture.
I’m currently going through the September/October 2024 Asimov’s Science Fiction periodical that I paused last year. Nice scifi short stories, poems, and novelettes to read until my next book.
On that note, my next book is my vacation book. I had 2 I was thinking of reading, but decided on Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik. I really enjoyed her Starlight’s Shadow series, so when I saw space princess and outlaw soldier romance, I said YES PLEASE!! Please give me more science fiction/space opera romance!
Still plugging away at The Wandering Inn webserial...now on book 8.
Have fun!
I’ve finished Takaoka’s Travels and Feminist point of view (not sure of the title in English, which were on deconstructing the male gaze in the cinema)
Starting the tirs book of the Nexus trilogy
Halfway done with The Last Emperox. It's the last book in a space opera trilogy. Mankind is spread across the galaxy in an imperial system that forces all settlements to not be fully self sufficient in order to incentive peaceful coexistence. FTL travel doesn't exist and thus trade can only be done with space ships via a complex network of wormholes.
The whole premise is that network is collapsing, which would leave billions of people stranded with a bleak future of them slowly burning through their last supplies. It follows the actions of the emperor's actions taken to save as many lives as possible while trying to fend off assassination attempts from ambitious short-sighted nobles trying to gain the upper hand during the empire's collapse.
That sound like a fun series. Will you recommend it?
Edit: Just looked it up, it's by John Scalzi, I have most of his already in my wishlist, so will get it sooner or later.
I absolutely do. Glad you have it on a list somewhere, it's a good read.
You are someone, lol. That's a funny name 😀
Finished The Dead Zone, now reading project hail Mary by Andy weir. Excellent book!
Hail Mary is amazing.
I think its better than The Martian and im only 100 pages in!
Started the second Mistborn book by Sanderson. The first one was good and the second is still holding my interest. I think the plot and lore he's created is top notch but his prose and overall writing style is rather meh. I'm about to start taking a shot of Bourbon for everytime a character rolls their eyes or signs in conversation.
I am not someone who is a good judge of what is good or bad writing, but this is one of his earliest work and it's said that his later books improve a lot. Though he is generally loved for his world-building and stories, rather than beauty of his prose.
I finished all the Super Powereds related stuff that’s out. The main series and one spin off that may get a sequel in the future. There’s also a potential follow up that happens 20-ish years later.
Fun books in general with a little patience needed for areas where it really could have been tightened up. But I would feel comfortable recommending it to someone. Overall probably high B or low A tier.
Now I’m on to Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell. It’s had pretty good reviews and is quite cozy.
Interesting, will take a look. (I think I said that last time, but didn't actually take a look 😀 )
Unzipping Gender: Sex, Cross-Dressing and Culture, by Charlotte Suthrell.
Heretical Fishing 4
The Jewish pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler
I just finished Alchemised. Amazing love story set during a civil war, but also a story about the way we see ourselves and the way we're remembered.
By SenLinYu?
^ This one?
That's the one, apparently based off of a Dramione fan-fic from what I got told by my partner.
Quick Edit: check those content warnings.
Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed that, but I can see it now.
Heh, had to look up what Dramione is 😀
These content warnings look brutal. Thanks for the heads up!
You're welcome! Haha don't worry I had too as well, my partner is all up in the booktok world where this book is all the rage right now.
I finished Master and Margarita a couple of weeks back - it was great! Surreal and funny, plus a brilliant satire of Russian society at the time. Knowing how certain elements of the plot reflect the author's own experiences make it particularly poignant.
Yesterday I finished reading Old Man's War. Really enjoyed it! An interesting premise, fascinating technology & alien races coupled with some genuinely moving moments. The exploration of the implications of war and life extension were surprisingly well thought out for what I expected to be a comedic/light-hearted novel. I look forward to reading more in the series.
I have just started To Kill a Mockingbird - somehow I've got this far in life without reading it. Will see how it goes!
Finished the first book in Old Man's War series or the whole series?
It'll probably be the next book I start, unless I feel like something else at the time...
Just the first book in the series - it definitely gets my vote if you're thinking about reading it!
Cool, will start it soon.
The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, I'm not ashamed to admit.
Read what you like, no need for feeling ashamed 😀
Many years ago I bought the book adaptations of 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister', which I then forgot to take with me in the divorce around '08. I recently spent far too much money getting new copies from Booktopia.com.au. My god they're still hilarious.
These shows are on my watchlist, but I have never gotten around to watching them. Maybe I should just get the book adaptations...
I highly recommend both. The show is great. The books are done as mostly diary entries by Jim Hacker, interspersed with notes from Sir Humphrey, TV transcriptions and interviews Bernad Woolley had with the 'editors' in the far flung future of 2019. They're really quite well done by the writers of the actual show. It really adds to it when you can read it in the voices of the characters, though.
Cool, will try to get my hands on the show.
Yarr!