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StarTopic Books |ST| Now You're Reading with POWER

1upmuffin said:
Hell yeah! This is great. First time reading The Hobbit? It's one of my favorites.

I'm listening to The City and the City, and I'm still reading The Once and Future King (I've been pretty slow on reading lately sadly).

Recommendation: Have you read Guards Guards? It's a great place to start on Discworld if you haven't read any. Sirens of Titan if you want a 2nd rec.
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The City and the City by China Meiville? Also, I've kinda sworn off the Discworld series. I don't intend to ever read it.

And yeah, first time reading The Hobbit. Gonna read The Lord of the Rings now.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Roadside Picnic is great. Strugatsky Bros in general are tops. Monday Starts on Saturday and Hard To Be A God are particularly great. Dead Mountaineers Inn also gives me that "weird" feeling.
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I started Monday Starts on Saturday yesterday and am really digging it so far. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
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merp said:
The City and the City by China Meiville? Also, I've kinda sworn off the Discworld series. I don't intend to ever read it.

And yeah, first time reading The Hobbit. Gonna read The Lord of the Rings now.
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Yeah that's the one, it's interesting so far. Why have you sworn off Discworld, just curious.

Enjoy Lord of the Rings! I prefer The Hobbit but LotR is still wonderful.
 
1upmuffin said:
Yeah that's the one, it's interesting so far. Why have you sworn off Discworld, just curious.

Enjoy Lord of the Rings! I prefer The Hobbit but LotR is still wonderful.
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I haven't exactly sworn it off, but I prefer series that are either classics or are "on-going." The idea that Discworld ended abruptly doesn't do it for me. And I don't like "humor novels" that much. That, and if I read one, then I'll feel compelled to read them all and that's going to be hefty. Maybe later...
 
I am reading Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung right now.

Lester Bangs could be an incredibly self-centered and prolix writer, but some of his stuff just cracks me up. In his later texts he cuts down on those problems, though, without losing the ability to make me laugh, which is pure awesome.
 
Earthbounder said:
I am reading Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung right now.

Lester Bangs could be an incredibly self-centered and prolix writer, but some of his stuff just cracks me up. In his later texts he cuts down on those problems, though, without losing the ability to make me laugh, which is pure awesome.
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He sounds like that "Tingle" writer.

...Forgot his name, sorry.
 
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merp said:
I haven't exactly sworn it off, but I prefer series that are either classics or are "on-going." The idea that Discworld ended abruptly doesn't do it for me. And I don't like "humor novels" that much. That, and if I read one, then I'll feel compelled to read them all and that's going to be hefty. Maybe later...
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Hmm, I don't think this will change your mind, but I want to clarify a couple things. Discworld books are pretty standalone, they are part of the same universe but it's not big some overarching story. Different characters have multiple books, but even those can sometimes be read in any order from my understanding. I'm unsure if any of the individual stories have any big cliffhangers remaining or not.

They are satire, like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think it's unfair to write them off as "humor novels".
 
My library hold for Trust just came in, but unfortunately I made it so long ago that I have no memory of why I was intrigued by it to begin with. Should be fun!
 
1upmuffin said:
Hmm, I don't think this will change your mind, but I want to clarify a couple things. Discworld books are pretty standalone, they are part of the same universe but it's not big some overarching story. Different characters have multiple books, but even those can sometimes be read in any order from my understanding. I'm unsure if any of the individual stories have any big cliffhangers remaining or not.

They are satire, like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, but I think it's unfair to write them off as "humor novels".
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Oh my bad. Maybe I'll get into them, but I'm a completionist, and I'm afraid of getting too invested right now.
 
Finished reading Needful Things today. Stephen King is usually a real comfort read for me, and I think some of his books are great, but gotta say this was one of his very worst. A struggle to get through.
 
July books haul!
July-Books.jpg
 
EvilChameleon said:
July books haul!
July-Books.jpg
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I'm currently listening to Ancilliary Justice, it's interesting so far.

I recently finished The Once and Future King (Finally!), its very good but some parts are very dated, some racism and sexism unfortunately.

Getting through some random graphic novels now, I want to clear my shelves a bit, so I'm reading through those to see which I don't need to own.
 
I've been severely slacking off on reading recently. I used to reach a lot at work, so after I lost my old job I guess something sorry of switched off in me, and now I've been working on the same book since April, The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black. It could also be because it's non-fiction, I always seem to be way slower with non-fiction even when it's compelling.

I'm gonna make a conscious effort to finish that book and read more.
 
Following a book junkie on Instagram was such a mistake, because every time I check, she is posting covers of books and I look them up and go "oh, that sounds like a good read, add to wishlist".
 
I'm working through Sorrowland right now, which I'm enjoying but is not an easy book to binge. Recommended for enjoyers of wildly gothic queer southern POC lit.
 
After a lengthy hiatus, continuing to read the Earthsea cycle for the very first time. Sad I missed out on these growing up but thankful I’m in the thick of them now! Just incredible writing. I need to look up some other Ursulas to read once I’m all finished up.

Also picked up Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss from the library today, excited for that one. After a couple longer novels earlier in the year, ripping through a 130-pager sounds fantastic.
 
big lantern ghost said:
After a lengthy hiatus, continuing to read the Earthsea cycle for the very first time. Sad I missed out on these growing up but thankful I’m in the thick of them now! Just incredible writing. I need to look up some other Ursulas to read once I’m all finished up.
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I read A Wizard of Earthsea for a children's lit class in college and absolutely adored it. I've since picked up a complete illustrated Earthsea collection but haven't yet read the others. I should really get around to that.

As far as other Le Guin, I cannot recommend The Left Hand of Darkness enough.
 
Finished Sorrowland, which I found intermittently interesting but ultimately didn’t love, and am now deep into Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which, at least thus far, is squarely in my sweet spot.
 
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@1upmuffin

Since my last main post, I've read:

Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World by Daniel A. Bell and Wang Pei

Mythologies: A Political Economy of U.S. Literature, Settler Colonialism, and Racial Capitalism in the Long Nineteenth-Century by Joel Wendland-Liu

Science & Society, Jan - Mar 2023 Issue, edit. by David Laibman

Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23-220 AD by Rafe de Crespigny

Legendborn (1) (The Legendborn Cycle) by Tracy Deonn

The Dark Forest (The Three-Body Problem Series, 2) by Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen (translator)

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) by George R. R. Martin

The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels

Strike The Zither (Kingdom of Three #1) by Joan He

Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise by Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao

Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

-----

I'm currently reading The Lord of the Rings, and I'm listening to it by audiobook as well (narrated by Andy Serkis) and, so far, I have to say that I don't like Frodo in the books (but I'm at the beginning so there's that). Introduction to Logic (14th ed.) is also another one that I'm reading. It's more of a textbook but I like it anyways. It's about 700 pages long and very dense, but also, it describes things in a way that's easy to understand. I feel more, well, logical every time I read it and it breaks down language and arguments a lot. Revolting Capital: Racism & Radicalism in Washington, D.C., 1900 - 2000 by Gerald Horne is another one that I like, but too all-over-the-place. It meanders a lot, though not always in a bad way, and besides, you still learn a lot. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book #3) by George R. R. Martin is something I started a week ago for the second time ever in my life. I'm listening to this while I read along the lines:



(Better than Roy Dotrice's version of the audiobook, though some of the accents may be off-putting at first.)

Other than all of that, I'm reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler at the behest of a therapist. I'm autistic (AuDHD) and I was told that I'd find this relatable and fulfilling as a book, that I might even learn something from it. And lastly, there's Death's End (The Three-Body Problem Series, 3) by Liu Cixin and translated by Ken Liu, which I just started today. So yeah, that's each and every book I'm reading and each and every book that I've read since page 6 of this thread. Maybe you all found some interesting stuff to read.

Recommendations based off of what I've read so far:

Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

Mythologies: A Political Economy of U.S. Literature, Settler Colonialism, and Racial Capitalism in the Long Nineteenth-Century by Joel Wendland-Liu

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (while listening to the audiobook by DavidReadsAsoiaf)

The Three-Body Problem series by Cixin Liu

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, if only see what all the fuss and hype is about.
 
merp said:
I read The Black Company by Glen Cook but couldn't exactly get into it.
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Oh yeah? I've heard mostly good things, and it's been cited as being a big inspiration in a lot of ways for Stephen Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, which is one of my favorite book series of all time. So I'd like to check it out at some point.
 
merp said:
@1upmuffin

Since my last main post, I've read:

Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World by Daniel A. Bell and Wang Pei

Mythologies: A Political Economy of U.S. Literature, Settler Colonialism, and Racial Capitalism in the Long Nineteenth-Century by Joel Wendland-Liu

Science & Society, Jan - Mar 2023 Issue, edit. by David Laibman

Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty 23-220 AD by Rafe de Crespigny

Legendborn (1) (The Legendborn Cycle) by Tracy Deonn

The Dark Forest (The Three-Body Problem Series, 2) by Cixin Liu, Joel Martinsen (translator)

A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) by George R. R. Martin

The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels

Strike The Zither (Kingdom of Three #1) by Joan He

Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise by Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao

Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

-----

I'm currently reading The Lord of the Rings, and I'm listening to it by audiobook as well (narrated by Andy Serkis) and, so far, I have to say that I don't like Frodo in the books (but I'm at the beginning so there's that). Introduction to Logic (14th ed.) is also another one that I'm reading. It's more of a textbook but I like it anyways. It's about 700 pages long and very dense, but also, it describes things in a way that's easy to understand. I feel more, well, logical every time I read it and it breaks down language and arguments a lot. Revolting Capital: Racism & Radicalism in Washington, D.C., 1900 - 2000 by Gerald Horne is another one that I like, but too all-over-the-place. It meanders a lot, though not always in a bad way, and besides, you still learn a lot. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book #3) by George R. R. Martin is something I started a week ago for the second time ever in my life. I'm listening to this while I read along the lines:



(Better than Roy Dotrice's version of the audiobook, though some of the accents may be off-putting at first.)

Other than all of that, I'm reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler at the behest of a therapist. I'm autistic (AuDHD) and I was told that I'd find this relatable and fulfilling as a book, that I might even learn something from it. And lastly, there's Death's End (The Three-Body Problem Series, 3) by Liu Cixin and translated by Ken Liu, which I just started today. So yeah, that's each and every book I'm reading and each and every book that I've read since page 6 of this thread. Maybe you all found some interesting stuff to read.

Recommendations based off of what I've read so far:

Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly

Mythologies: A Political Economy of U.S. Literature, Settler Colonialism, and Racial Capitalism in the Long Nineteenth-Century by Joel Wendland-Liu

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (while listening to the audiobook by DavidReadsAsoiaf)

The Three-Body Problem series by Cixin Liu

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, if only see what all the fuss and hype is about.
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Impressive! I have not ready nearly that much so far haha.

I'm reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. Very good so far, about 60% done.

I also want to start the 6th Wheel of Time soon, I was listening on audiobook before but I might switch to book because I have less audiobook time now due to less commuting time.
 
Does anyone know if there is a place to get a kindle/ebook version of Jurassic Park, UK specifically? It doesn’t seem to be available on Amazon, only the sequel.
 
I'm listening to The Lord of the Rings on Audible while I'm actively reading it on my tablet.

Good stuff.
 
In between getting caught up on Witch Hat Atelier and Dungeon Meshi, I’ve finished The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher. Fun book where the premise is ‘what if the chosen one of a fantasy novel was an 83 year old retiree’. Really enjoyable breezy read, particularly the setting where it’s like the modern world but if magic and fantasy races and creatures were part of it. Gets pretty rushed around the conclusion, but the ending is still satisfying enough.
 
Finished Sword of the Lictor and some of the stuff that happened in the book was so wild it made me have to get up and walk around the room. On to Citadel of the Autarch.
 
Read and enjoyed Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, which impressively manages to avoid Ready Player One syndrome while being quite beautiful to boot.
 
Siddhartha was a good read. Wasn't life changing for me but it's a nice way of thinking about life and such.

Now reading Deadeye Dick by Vonnegut.
 
Monstrous Regiment is so good. I ended up binge reading it in about two days. This might be the one Discworld book that’s left me wanting more of its characters the most, so of course it’s stand alone.
 
YoboD said:
Monstrous Regiment is so good. I ended up binge reading it in about two days. This might be the one Discworld book that’s left me wanting more of its characters the most, so of course it’s stand alone.
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That one's still on my list, I'm slowly reading a new Discworld book every now and then since I know we'll never get any more, sadly. But I hear a lot of good things about it.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Finished reading Needful Things today. Stephen King is usually a real comfort read for me, and I think some of his books are great, but gotta say this was one of his very worst. A struggle to get through.
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Late, but, yeah. I borrowed that from the library several months ago and had p much the same reaction. It’s a miserable, mean spirited book, but not in the way that King can sometimes make that enjoyable to read, as in some of his short stories.

Right now I’m going through The Raven’s Tower by Ann Leckie. The second tense POV was a bit hard to get used to, but after about 60 pages I’m glad I stuck with it so far.
 
Phosphorescent Skeleton said:
Finished reading Needful Things today. Stephen King is usually a real comfort read for me, and I think some of his books are great, but gotta say this was one of his very worst. A struggle to get through.
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Bummer to hear. I’m about ⅔ through Fairy Tale and having a pretty good time.
 
I've started getting back into a reading routine again. I finished Hiroshima by John Hersey after watching Oppenheimer in the summer. While that was quite a depressing read, it was very interesting to hear first hand accounts.

I decided after that I need something super light so I'm reading Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I'm pretty surprised at the writing in this one, it's more playful and fun than what I expect from Sanderson and I think he's done a great job. It's really charming so far.
 
1upmuffin said:
Reading Childhoods End currently, really good sci fi book! It holds up so well (in terms of the technology/future it discusses, not in all aspects) despite being older.
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So much older sci-fi is still a blast. I'm always delighted to see the areas where authors kind of nail how technology and society will progress vs those where they completely miss.

I'm reading through Jennifer Egan's The Candy House right now, which is pretty enjoyable moment to moment, but also kind of wearing me out just by dint of its beads-on-a-rosary narrative structure.
 
1upmuffin said:
Reading Childhoods End currently, really good sci fi book! It holds up so well (in terms of the technology/future it discusses, not in all aspects) despite being older.
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Gonna second loving older scifi. The future being off never bothers me, its more an interesting view into a different time. If you want some more recs for god old scifi, The Space Merchants, The Stars My Destination, The Dreaming Jewels, and Hard to Be A God are all worth your time.
 
I don't read as much as I should, but I absolutely recommend The Master and Margarita to everyone. A Russian novel that wasn't released until the author's death, it's an absolute blast!

It's kinda split into two parts, where the main story follows the Devil coming to Moscow in 1930s and generally doing whatever the fuck he wants with his posse (the main trio includes a jester, a tough guy, and a giant cat). The side-plot is a bit more hit-or-miss and depends on your tastes, as it's a much more serious story of Jesus talking to Pontius Pilate. While it feels weird to say this about a complete work of art that's one of the best Russian books, I wouldn't blame anyone reading if you've gone through the first chapter of Jesus story and later skipped all of it, because it's very different in tone and not even similar to other stuff from Bulgakov who's usually a bit more humorous and satirizing.

Obviously, USSR wasn't really into religion, so it took 30 years to get published. Style-wise at least the main plot reminds me somewhat of Douglas Adams' writing, only more grounded, with its use of absurd situations and humor. The 2005 Russian miniseries was my first encounter with it (big thank you to my mom who didn't care that most of it featured a naked woman) and was incredibly important to my sense of humor.
 
Vookatos said:
I don't read as much as I should, but I absolutely recommend The Master and Margarita to everyone. A Russian novel that wasn't released until the author's death, it's an absolute blast!

It's kinda split into two parts, where the main story follows the Devil coming to Moscow in 1930s and generally doing whatever the fuck he wants with his posse (the main trio includes a jester, a tough guy, and a giant cat). The side-plot is a bit more hit-or-miss and depends on your tastes, as it's a much more serious story of Jesus talking to Pontius Pilate. While it feels weird to say this about a complete work of art that's one of the best Russian books, I wouldn't blame anyone reading if you've gone through the first chapter of Jesus story and later skipped all of it, because it's very different in tone and not even similar to other stuff from Bulgakov who's usually a bit more humorous and satirizing.

Obviously, USSR wasn't really into religion, so it took 30 years to get published. Style-wise at least the main plot reminds me somewhat of Douglas Adams' writing, only more grounded, with its use of absurd situations and humor. The 2005 Russian miniseries was my first encounter with it (big thank you to my mom who didn't care that most of it featured a naked woman) and was incredibly important to my sense of humor.
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Great book, love the funny cat
 
Been in a rut because I was reading the Mistborn books at the behest of a friend and unfortunately I was finding the second book super boring and two of the protagonists pretty annoying.

Then today I had some downtime and nothing to do so decided to start something else and put that on hold. I had Stephen King's Night Shift on my Kindle so have started that, and I had forgotten this had not one but two Salem's Lot stories - hell yeah! I'm hoping this excites me because this would free me from the rut brought on by Sanderson and would shake off my King rut (I ill-advisedly tried making it through Tommyknockers last year, and yeah it's a cocaine opus but it's also hard, self-indulgent work).

Speaking of, if I read an loved Salem's Lot a couple of years back, what would people recommend in a similar vein? Vampires or the supernatural taking over a small town, looming threats outside and community decay, that sort of thing. There's a cosiness to small town horror I love.
 
Ramune said:
Speaking of, if I read an loved Salem's Lot a couple of years back, what would people recommend in a similar vein? Vampires or the supernatural taking over a small town, looming threats outside and community decay, that sort of thing. There's a cosiness to small town horror I love.
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Try The Amulet by Michael McDowell. Think that might have some of the flavor you're looking for.
 
Ramune said:
Been in a rut because I was reading the Mistborn books at the behest of a friend and unfortunately I was finding the second book super boring and two of the protagonists pretty annoying.

Then today I had some downtime and nothing to do so decided to start something else and put that on hold. I had Stephen King's Night Shift on my Kindle so have started that, and I had forgotten this had not one but two Salem's Lot stories - hell yeah! I'm hoping this excites me because this would free me from the rut brought on by Sanderson and would shake off my King rut (I ill-advisedly tried making it through Tommyknockers last year, and yeah it's a cocaine opus but it's also hard, self-indulgent work).

Speaking of, if I read a loved Salem's Lot a couple of years back, what would people recommend in a similar vein? Vampires or the supernatural taking over a small town, looming threats outside and community decay, that sort of thing. There's a cosiness to small town horror I love.
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The second Mistborn can get like that, and I feel you on the annoying characters. Definitely not as good as the first one. It does have a really good ending, though, and I loved the sort of meta way that Sanderson pulls part of it off.
 
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