What book(s) are you currently reading or listening to? July 07
I am reading mangas these days. Read first 4 volumes of Attack on Titans, but since I am reading these through 3-in-1 omnibus, going to read till 6th volume at least. Will decide the next book after that.
What about all of you, what have you been reading or listening to lately?
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79 replies
Right now Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
It's time. I've started my annual trek through Middle-earth. I'm reading the first book of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I've been looking forward to this all year long. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lose myself in Eriador.
I'm on my second attempt at the Lord of the Rings. The first attempt was I think in middle school with a copy from the library.
I hope you enjoy it. At this point, having read it every year for like 20 years, I must conclude that it is my favourite book. That being said, Tolkien's writing, especially the slower pacing, is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, so don't feel bad if you just can't get into it. There's plenty of other great books to read.
Not quite reading it every year, but every five years or so. It is such a comforting read and one of my favorites as well.
Just finished Blindsight by Peter Watts (fucking excellent, possibly a new favourite)
Gonna try tackling House of Leaves again now that I'm all done school!
Interesting, haven't read a hard sci-fi book in quite a while, going to check it out.
Definitely recommend Blindsight!
Thanks, have added it to my list.
Get echopraxia too (the sequal)!
Planning to! I also really wanna check out the rifters series, I really am quite fond of his style of writing.
I'm having a Mistborn summer, already coming towards the end of #2 of 7! Sandon Branderson sure does write long books, but these are like popcorn, lots of action and easy reads
Sanderson is a machine. I love how prolific he is. Whenever I'm in the mood to read his style, there's always something new to pick up.
I read the Mistborn books about 10 years ago -- and the follow-up series maybe 3 years ago. Very fun!
This week I started The Dresden Files and have made it to the end of the second book in three days. So enjoying it so far!
Thanks for the rec ;p
Oooh, would love to hear what you think of the books as you continue with the series.
My initial thoughts so far are that the writing style / feel reminds me a lot of the Odd Thomas books from Dean Koontz but I will let you know as I go along how I am finding them :D
That's a very strange comparison, but I only read 1 Odd Thomas book, and that was couple of decades ago, so don't recall them clearly.
I can't even put my finger on why it feels similar to me so I can't quantify that at all, I guess it is just that. A feeling.
I just finished Pachinko. I don’t get the hype. Interesting historical perspective regarding Koreans in Japan that I didn’t have. Decent story premise, but really flat writing. I cared enough to finish the book, but overall it was a big “meh” for me.
Working through the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown I’m on the third book Morning Star at the moment.
I was at a local book store and saw Pierce Brown's book, but they didn't had the Red Rising in stock atm. Should get to it soon-ish.
Currently working my way through This Inevitable Ruin the 7th book in the DCC series. Really enjoying this series and glad I picked it up.
Also listening to Queens at War the last book in Aliison Weir's series on English Medieval Queens. Thr series has been a bit hit and miss. Feels at times the Queen being documented isnt always at the forefront, but its a lot of information I never knew.
Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book 4, Rhythm of War. I opened Way of Kings for the first time 5 weeks ago and 3600ish pages later I'm still engrossed. I'd planned on waiting for the series to finish but I missed chewing through epic fantasy on this scale.
Once I'm caught up through book #5 I'm thinking its time for another go at Malazan.
Other than Martin, Rothfuss and Jordan are there any other works with similar scale/complexity/depth as Stormlight and Malazan?
Unconquerable Sun. It's a sort of Alexander the Great in space with gender norms thrown out the window. Super detailed. Super layered. Amazing writing. Kate Elliott is one of my favorite authors based on this book!
Thank you, added to the list!
Have you read the witness stuff yet? I read the first butbhavnt started the second yet.
Its definitely not the same scale, but I got into Glenn Cooks black company from malazan and loved it!
Who wrote The Witness? Not an easy title to search for 😅
I read Black Company yeaaars ago and the grimdark and gritty writing definitely primed me for Malazan. I'll definitely look into it again!
I partly want 1000+ page epics for the dollar to hour ratio; trying to support my local bookstore but paying $20-30+ for paperbacks stings. The look on bookstore lady's face when I showed up for #4 a week after buying #3 was definitely worth it, though!
Oh sorry! I mean the witness trilogy by Steven Erikson. A follow up to malazan. The god is not willing was the first of the trilogy. Definitely a touch different stylistically but I really enjoyed the first one. Its Erikson so it's a pretty long one so might be like what you're looking for?
Also, Glenn cook released lies weeping, a new chronicle of the black company. I havnt read it yet, but its on my list. Might be worth checking out if you liked the stuff before!
I'm currently very slowly making my way through The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem. Still in the setup phase about 20% of the way through; looking forward to seeing how it goes.
Last week, read/finished The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell. Heavier on the romance than I normally go for, but the actual plot was intriguing, and the fae were thankfully kept quite alien. Kinda insta-lovey, kinda eye-roll romance trope-y in places, but if you don't mind that, it might be worth a look.
After the game came out, I also read invincible, and solaris as well after watching the movie. Now I have developed a soft spot for soviet era sci fi.
Nice! Only thing I've read of that genre is Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers, so this'll be my second (recommended if you haven't checked it out yet).
I started reading The Enemy by Lee Child. Not my first choice, but a friend gave me all her old books last Christmas so I feel somewhat obligated to read it. It's easy to read, and it's thrilling enough to compel me onwards, but the dialogue is vapid and there's a lot of Clancyisms where the story will focus on over romanticising the army, kplus I think one chapter only existed so the author could use as many homophobic slurs as he knew, which was off-putting.
Every time I see those books I want to start singing “🎶Leeeeee Child, things are gonna get easier.🎵”
Continuing on with my summer reading, I've picked up I, Robot (Asimov) and Professor and the Madman (Winchester) from the library.
I also checked out Hatchet (Paulsen). My niece is reading it, figured it'd be fun and quick to join in.
On the listening side, I've been going through Disrupting the Game by Reggie Fils-Aime since he reads the audiobook himself. It's very directed towards the business advice angle, but there's good biographical and Nintendo history info in there.
Finished "BuyMort: Smart shopper" and started the third book "BuyMort: Rise of the Windowpuncher". They're a nice read, reminds me of the first books in the DCC series. On that note, also reading "a parade of horribles", the latest DCC book. That one is going to take a long time since I usually only read one chapter of it before going to sleep.
I really liked BuyMort a lot but I do think it loses steam towards the end. It does come to a good conclusion though and it definitely isn't bad.
I read DCC afterwards but like you I really felt like they were channelling the same energy!
I can also recommend Solo Levelling if you haven't read that which is in a similar vein again and Beware of Chicken is also a lot of fun but a bit more feel good sort of vibe!
Just started my reread of The Restoration of Rome: Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders after about 20 years. I remember enjoying it the first time. It’s a look at three separate attempts to restore the greatness of Rome (Theodoric in c475, Justinian c572 and Charlemagne c800)
Just finished:
I am currently reading the Pizza and Focaccia chapter from Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. I'm planning on making pizza later this week and realized I hadn't read the methodology in one sitting.
I am also reading Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. I've started with with the Universal History of Iniquity. I'm enjoying them very much.
The Idiot on audio and some Christian books on physical.
The Idiot is very good. Better than The Brothers Karamazov I think.
I have not read that one yet, its next on the list, and its going to be very soon since the Idiot is almost done.
I've just finished The Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny. It's book three of the Amber Chronicles. I've read it many, many times before, but not for about twenty years.
How are the Amber Chronicles?
Sorry, I missed this until now.
As much as I still enjoy reading them, I feel they've aged poorly. Not just because they're completely out of touch socially, but they're too small in their scope. I feel they'll be a serious challenge to bring to the screen, like Colbert plans to. That said, if you like sword and sorcery fantasy and don't mind the mysoginy then they might be for you.
Doing a reread of Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe with chapter by chapter with alzabo soup along side!
Fantastic! I'm looking forward to my first reread of this series. Been 8 years since the first read though, so I'm waiting at least another 2
I've been holding off on short sun so I can really treasure the first read. Definitely a series I would wipe from my brain so I could read it fresh again haha.
Currently working my way through book 3 of "The Sun Eater" series by Christopher Ruocchio. Enjoying the books so far!
I recently picked up I Will Kill Your Imaginary Friend for $200 by Robert Brockway and thought it was pretty good. So I looked for some more stuff by him and found Carrier Wave. It's a mixed bag. The first parts are great, but then it kind of loses its way and meanders for a while, then the ending is just meh. It's strongly influenced by The Stand (especially the ending) and World War Z so if you like either of those it might be worth a look.
After Carrier Wave I started There Is No Antimemetics Division and I'm about halfway through. It's really good.
I've been having a great time reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. Highly recommend this book.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/125163/just-add-mana
Just got started but I'm finding it pretty funny.
I'm listening to:
Couriers Outbound The Wandering Inn, Book 19 By: pirateaba
https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=The+Wandering+Inn
https://wanderinginn.com/
I listen to a LOT of audiobooks (+60 last year). This is one of my all time favorite series. The worldbuilding is on par with Discworld.
If i had one complaint, its that the author has TOO MANY plotlines. Which i think is a common problem with Royal Road books.
The wandering inn is still on my "to try" list, but I always get discouraged when I see the page count of the first book whenever I'm looking for something new to read. Maybe I'll try after summer.
You aint lying, I cant imagine the page count! Its a massive series. But I listen to the audiobooks and I cherish every moment. The latest book is something like 48 hours.
I dont think there is a book I look forward to more than The Wandering Inn. I think the first book is something special! The author is still getting around a couple small rough points in their writing, but the story is just amazing. I envy people reading it for the first time.
I'm on Book 3 of Dungeon Crawler Carl!
I'm listening to Good Omens (obligatory fuck Neil Gaiman), but the audiobook is fantastic. Could easily see myself re-listening over and over as a comfort read.
Reading a memoir by Travis Alabanza called None of the Above, which is a memoir about the non-binary experience technically but I highly recommend to anyone who wants to see the gendered world we live in from a new perspective. It is so fucking good.
Looking forward to starting How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler. Another memoir which I'll be reading for my book club.
I'm rereading Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's just as good as I remember it. I'm excited to continue with the series!
I read those recently and really liked them so I decided to continue with some of his other books. I just finished Dogs of War and thought it was pretty good, the premise reminds me of a Grant Morrison comic I read ages ago called We3.
Oh that premise sounds fascinating and potentially heart breaking. Thank you for the recommendation!
Children of Time is a treat. Enjoy!
Struggling my way through Star Wars Planet of Twilight. Kids are out of school so harder to find dedicated time to read, but I also didn’t enjoy her last book either. After his is Dungeon Crawler Carl book 4.
This author (Barbara Hambley) just seems to want to describe everything as much as possible, yet there’s nothing to base it on. Yeah sure you’re talking some trees, but what are they? The lore just seems so empty.
Hey! How far along are you in the Star Wars books?
Unless I’ve miscounted, 99/141 of the legends books. The list is my brothers, so it’s the ones he’s read. I’ve gone from top to bottom.
I'm about to finish "Sheepfarmer's Daughter" by Elizabeth Moon. I started the book because after watching Superman last year I wanted something paladin related. I have to say it's been pretty good! The bits and pieces that are shown of the lore make the world very interesting, and the characters are good as well.
I'll probably take a break between the first book and the next one, but I'll try to finish The Deed of Paksenarrion before the year ends.
Currently reading The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin.I read it decades ago and liked it but with increasing age comes an even deeper appreciation.
We're recording the next episode of the podcast on Friday, where we're talking about Delilah S Dawson's sapphic horror Bloom and I'll find out then what our next group read is.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. Super interesting so far!
Dragonsinger. I've been on a bit of a Pern kick lately.
I had read this book ages ago, but I only recognized maybe 2 chapters of it when I read it again.
I only read couple of Pern books when I was young, how do they hold up now?
I still love the world-building. There are certainly elements of the early books that haven't aged well (particularly around the dragons' mating flights, but hey, the first book was written in 1968).
I had a lot less patience for reading about Menolly's abusive family this time around. It's important to show her character development, but it hurts a little to read.
I do plan to continue reading the series. I think Dragondrums was the first Pern novel I'd ever read. I hadn't actually read Dragonflight back in the day, so there's even an element of discovery there!
I'm currently reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. It's my third Poirot novel after Murder on the Orient Express and Murder on the River Nile. I think it will be my last.
They're fun books and well-written, but also very much alike. And that Poirot guy is getting on my nerves...
After this I have Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier waiting for me. I read it when I was a teenager when I found a copy from the forties lying around and even though it was a little too hard for me, I remember liking it. I'm curious to see how I'll like it now.
About 1/3 through Still Life With Crows by Preston and Child. In a deviation from my usual pattern, I'm reading the AXL Pendergast novels in order, at least through the first four ( I don't have #5 and might skip to #13 next.)
The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne, which is the second book in the Bloodsworn Trilogy. Very cool take on Norse mythology, culture, and Viking warbands. Highly recommend the first book The Shadow of the Gods.
I just finished the latest InCryptid, for the first time there were two POV characters and they're my two favourites, which was nice. It was pretty good. As usual the status quo got a bit shaken up by the end, but for once I'm not a big fan of it.
Being as vague as possible for spoiler reasons it feels like the author wanted to undo something she did years ago but couldn't just write around the changes that had already happened. Most of the main novels add new characters to the lineup and the most interesting part to me is seeing how the family adapts. The latest "new" character will potentially change the dynamic in an interesting way, but the novels are so hyper-focused that you don't really get to see much outside of the current immediate crisis. The short stories between books are fun, but there's never enough slice of life for me.
As for my gym audiobooking (The Wise Man's Fear), I am about halfway through my least favourite sections of the story. I have no idea how these spoiler tags are meant to work, so I'll just say Kvothe has finished learning to love, and now he will learn to fight, you know where I am if you've read it. In my head Tempi is Silent Bob, I know it's pretty much the opposite of his physical description but it's all I can see.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Reading The Martian after reading and watching Project Hail Mary
"Why Q needs U" by Danny Bate. Fascinating read.
Listening to the audiobook of A Black Queer History of the United States by C.Riley Snorton and Darius Bost, and reading a physical copy of Son of Rosemary by Ira Levin.
Hot and Unbothered, by Yana Tallon-Hicks.
Suicide by Émile Durkheim though I have read only the first actual chapter. Other one is Dark Domain by Stefan Grabiński, which I plan to finish today or tomorrow.