5d ago

What book(s) are you reading right now and recommend for others?

131 comments

Just finished them instead of reading them right now, but "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin. I liked the world building of the first far better, but it didn't hit at the politics I wanted to read about as much as I wanted, the second being the opposite.
I don't know why, but I just need content wrapped in sci-fi for me to find it enjoyable, and "The Dispossessed" in particular was what I was looking for, an exploration of anarchism grounded in examples and thought experiment.
Both of them are fantastic books, and definitely worth a read for anybody interested in science fiction, sexuality & gender, and anarchism.
- Those are two of the best books I read last year.
- I started the Left Hand of Darkness just a few days ago. It’s been interesting so far

1Q84. Magical realism. Bizarre, but can't stop reading. I need to know mooore.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie. It's set in a fantasy medieval Europe. Unfortunately, its not long out and is the first of a series, so I'll have to wait for the rest.
- I read the First Law series. And after that devastating ending, I can never go back to reading his books. Do all of his books end like that?
  
  I haven't finished this one yet, do we'll see.
  I'm guessing you mean the first trilogy (apologies if I'm mistaken), as the First Law universe continues for 6 more books after that (plus a collection of short stories). After the Last Argument of Kings, there are 3 "stand alone" novels, which are the strongest, in my opinion, and then a second trilogy, which is excellent.
  I believe there are more books planned for that universe, but The Devils is separate. The others I haven't read as they're Young Adult, so they probably have cheerier endings.
  Were you to read on, you'd probably find some joy for characters you like, but I think unhappy endings outweigh the happy ones. Of course, I could be mistaken and you've read all 9, because the ending of the last can definitely be described as devastating too!

I reread 1984, Animal Farm and Farenheight 451 recently, for no particular reason, but they are more accurate and depressing than ever about current events.
Highly recommended. But be prepared to be angry or depressed.

Driving directions to your mom's house. 🥁
I'm on book 3 of the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. It's fantasy, it's weird in a lot of ways, but it's well written for the most part and enjoyable to read. It feels like reading an unfolding story of people in a parallel universe where things are half the same and half completely alien and different, but to them, it's commonplace, and I like that.

Finishing the Imperial Radch sci-fi trilogy (Ancillary Justice/Sword/Mercy) by Ann Leckie. Despite the agender language feature (everyone is addressed as she) the books deal more with colonialism, imperialism, and personal identity, rather than gender. Writing style is very information-dense, lots of thoughts and actions happening simultaneously. Compared to other science fiction that I read, it gets much more into the cultural and interpersonal situations, especially the second book.

The Stand by Stephen King.
It's over 1200 pages long and I have always been scared of anything above six hundred pages.
It's so good. It's taking me a long time, but it's worth it. As always, Stephen King never let's you down. I just love his writing.
- It's so epic though. Such a great book.

Project Hail Mary Andy wier returns to the roots of The Martian. Also, movie is coming next spring about it.
Dark Matter Some deep physics stuff occurs, but the story can be followed with no knowledge of super position. Also released as a mini series on some streaming channel

Rereading Le Guin’s Earthsea saga.
Personally, I think she might be on par with Tolkien and actually surpasses him in a few ways. The 4th book (about a tired mom just trying to get by and care for people in a fantasy world) is the best one, but you need to work your way there.
- These are on my to do list. Currently been reading through Wheel of Time, which has been on my fantasy to do list for a while.
- I liked the first book a lot, and recall liking the series less as it went on.
- My experience was that the first book was fine, say 6,5/10. Just enough to move on to the the second, which I absolutely loved 9,5/10. Started reading the third with high expectations but it just didn't engage me at all. Didn't get through more than perhaps 25% of it.
  
  I read the first one as a teen and loved it but couldn’t get into the second one. I loved it as an adult and I’m currently 80% of the way through the complete series. It’s got ebbs and flows but overall it’s definitely a masterpiece. For me it’s her mysticism that gives it real depth.

Not reading it right now, but I'll take this opportunity to recommend people read Project Hail Mary before watching the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation which spoils major plot twists.
- Having read it multiple times, the trailer pissed me off because of the spoiler. I'd honestly say for anyone, whether you've read it or not, don't watch the trailer.
  My partner hasn't read it, and I said they shouldn't watch the trailer. We're gonna see the movie and I don't want them to get spoiled
- Yeah I'm glad I read it before watching the trailer. It's a great sci-fi book!

The expanse
- Such a great series. During covid lockdown for six weeks I was watching the TV series in the day and reading the novels in bed at night. I've never experienced media in quite the same way. They were both amazing. Amos is one of my all-time favourite characters in fiction.
  
  I'm on book 7 and I kinda wanna finish the book series before I start the show. But yeah I agree it's been awesome so far.
  I was worried that the show could be bad I had read silo before this and when I checked out the show I didn't like it nearly as much as the book.

I've already finished it, but House of Leaves is amazing

I'm partway through The Have and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultra Rich by Evan Osnos. It is a collection of essays originally published in the New Yorker dissecting the culture and fads of the modern Gilded Age.
I also STRONGLY recommend the Culture series by Iain Banks. It is perhaps the most realistic and well though out sci-fi utopia.

Reading Anne Leckie's latest book, Translation State. If you're a fan of scifi, and especially space operas, I'd recommend her books, but start off with Ancillary Justice.

For the past, idk, one or two decades I have only read books very sparingly and if I did, it was fantasy. Right now I am devouring The Expanse books and having a great time. I watched the tv series first (awesome) but was somewhat bummed by the ending.
- Love those books. Extremely easy to read and reread and set the standard for modern hard sci fi.
  
  Yes! Got any recommendations for when I am finished with them?
- In retrospect would you say read the books first or no?
  
  For me it works really well. My AuDHD brain is very happy to put established voices and faces to some of the characters. I also really liked the visuals and general feeling of the show.
  
  IMO the show did not do a good job introducing characters and settings, and failed to do a lot of "screen writing 101" stuff like establishing who the characters are and their relationships to each other in the first few episodes. It also failed at using visual language or motifs to define the different settings and distinguish them which was frustrating and confusing. I started the show first and was intrigued enough to pick up the books, but absolutely reading the books gives you a shortcut past all of the "who's that guy?" and "wait, I thought those people were in the same place" type moments of confusion. I still really enjoyed the show and I figured everything out eventually, but yes it benefits from a read-through.
- I read primary scientific literature for work. If I am reading for leisure, fantasy is the absolute best. I can’t waste my time reading nonfiction.

Reading American Midnight, about how civil liberties were absolutely fucked after the US entered World War I.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. Great story, easy reading, relatable characters, and soon to be made into a series. There are 7 books so far, but rumors say there might be up to 10 eventually.
- Second this. The audio book is the way to go on this one.

Bouncing between Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions and The Screaming Staircase.
Algorithms is interesting but the actual algorithms aren't terribly useful so far.
The Screaming Staircase has a very neat world but not very interesting characters. I'm hoping it improves.

I just finished Abundance by Ezra Kline and Derek Thompson. A really interesting read regarding the housing crisis and the policies that have halted develpoment in major cities in America. I highly recommend reading this one. I took notes along the way and basically did a book report.
I'm now reading Casino: The Rise and Fall of the Mob in Las Vegas. A fascinating book that inspired the Scorsese film by the same title. Recommended for anyone with interest in Vegas or the mob. It's written kinda like a series of interviews from the perspectives of the different people involved. The (alleged) mob guys and the FBI agents who were investigating them.
Next up, I'm likely gonna read Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. I don't have too much insight on this one yet but I've heard it's pretty great
- Most of what I've read about Abundance is a general distrust for their arguments.
  ::: spoiler Alex Bronzini-Vender says abundance didn't work in practice in Colorado.
  The abundance agenda’s fundamental sleight of hand is that, by unleashing the private sector from burdensome consumer protection, labor standards, and zoning regulations, American consumers might recover their lost purchasing power and living standards without the state directly tampering with workplace standards or wage levels. The private sector would supply more goods at lower costs—if only it could. That hasn’t panned out in Colorado, and it’s unlikely to elsewhere. (thebaffler.com) :::
  ::: spoiler David Sirota says the project is a scam because all it does is deregulate corporations without addressing medical care or the social safety net.
  David Sirota, the founder of Lever News and a former Bernie Sanders speechwriter, summed up one stinging progressive critique of the whole project: “Abundance™ being defined as ‘kill zoning laws and corporate regulation’ but not ‘give everyone decent medical care’ — that’s the tell, and you’re the mark.” It’s true that this is not a focus among the advocates of abundance. Relaxing zoning laws won’t do anything to bring us universal health care or bolster the social safety net. It may not even, in the short term, do enough to create affordable housing. (nymag.com :::
  ::: spoiler He also argues that they ignore the real obstacles to efficiency and abundance: corporate corruption driving artificial scarcity.
  [T]he takeaway from the broadband tale is that the biggest obstacles to efficiency and abundance are often corporate power and its corrupting influence on our politics — factors typically downplayed or unmentioned in the Abundance Discourse. ... We could pass all the federal permitting reforms Klein and Thompson could dream of, but if powerful fossil-fuel interests continue to call the political shots, we’ll never achieve the clean energy build-out we desperately need. ... In many of those areas, there’s no actual scarcity of structures that could be living space. It’s just that corporations and oligarchs hoarding wealth and land aren’t being compelled by zoning and tax laws to open up the space for housing. :::
  As someone who's actually read the book, have these criticisms been handled and no one noticed, or would they need to publish a revised edition?
  
  Ok, so I have no shortages of critiscism when it comes to the book. I do agree that they seem to have a foolishly optimistic assumption that the only (or I guess just the principal) hurdle in the way of housing development is regulation. I'm certain corporate greed does play a MAJOR role in this. However, going over what you've linked here, I have a couple issues. Most notably, the second point there. It really seems odd to essentially say that we shouldn't be considering housing reform because we need healthcare reform. Two issues can and do exist, and both issues need to be addressed. The authors focus on one of them. That doesn't mean they don't care about the other. As for Kline and Thompson's call for deregulation, it's something that rubs me the wrong way initially, but they do a pretty good job demonstrating the way that regulation can be used to slow and even fully prevent development, and how it leads to developers only building luxury housing because the costs to develop are too high. And while this make me think somethng like, "boohoo the rich guy will need to wait a little longer to get a return" we can't ignore that under our current system, profits are the prime motivator. I'm on my phone right now, so I feel I can't really dive too deep into your question, but my main point would be that I do agree with some of the critisicm and I don't think they fully address some pretty big concerns the reader may have with what they're saying.
  I did keep notes on quotes that I felt were important in the book, and then went through and wrote out why I felt they were. A lot of them touch on these topics. If you're interested, I can share it. Though please keep in mind, I haven't refined my notes as I wasn't really expecting to share them.
- Barbarians at the Gate is a good book and the movie is also worth a watch.
  When the two executives are talking and then each gets on their private plane, then continue the talk via phone in air, and then land at the same location it sets up the situation so well.
  
  Oh wow, that sounds hilarious and really depressing lol. I'm definitely gonna check out the movie when I'm done reading it!

Slowly making my way through They Though They Were Free by Milton Mayer. Haunting comparisons to today.

The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
The Golem & The Jinni by Helene Wecker
- I just started Excession!

Finally got around to the Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan and it's more relevant than ever. It absolutely predicted the world we're in politically now and has some insight and analysis as to how and why and what to do to help. Definitely worth a read or reread if you haven't read it or it's been a while.
- I have this on audiobook and it's brilliant.
- I own this book. I've read it three times now. I think I will read it a fourth.

If you like horror I can highly recommend the Christopher Snow Novels by Dean Koontz.
I reread Seize The Night almost yearly.

I'm reading "don't let him in" by Lisa Jewel, it's great so far, very intriguing (I also recommend "none of this is true" by the same author)
Last week I read "the road to tender hearts" by Annie Harnett and it was very moving. It touches very hard topics with a splash of humor to make it easier to digest
I also recommend anything by TJ Klune. His books are very wholesome, sometimes I just want an easy reading where everything is solved with hugs and love

Just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It made me go hug my partner very tightly.

The Last Juror by John Grisham

Just started Exordia. It's great for a particular kind of sci-fi fan. Reminds me of Ian McDonald a little.

Trans liberation: beyond pink and blue by leslie feinberg. Very insightful stories.

Holistic management by Allan Savory. Especially if you are interested in permaculture and regenerative practices, sustainability

Nearing the end of When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi, which came out a few months ago. It's a bit silly but I'd recommend it. The premise can be summed up as, "What would happen if the moon turned into cheese?"
- I'll have to check that one out when I finish the Old Man's War series.
- I guess...uh...that it'd be less dense, so that'd dick up tides on Earth.
  https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html
  Mean density (kg/m³): 3344
  https://eurekamag.com/research/001/061/001061121.php
  At 8 deg C, mean densities of blockformed and conventionally-hooped cheeses were, resp., 1.094 and 1.091 g/ml.
  So that's 1094 kg/m³.
  Basically, Earth's tides would be about a third as strong, which I imagine would affect a bunch of things, especially coastal ecology. Dunno how much tides affect weather.
  Also, probably alters the reflectivity of the Moon, so would affect the brightness of the Moon. Might affect a lot of nocturnal critters and such. Hard to estimate, since that depends a lot on what cheese is involved.
  
  In the book, it kept the same mass and got a lot bigger. And of course much brighter.

Just finished Joseph Heller's Catch-22 for the umpteenth time. Always a classic.

If you like fantasy and haven't read any Brandon Sanderson then do yourself a favour and get on it!
My personally favourites are the Mistborn books but it isn't exactly an easy choice because literally everything he writes is great in my experience.
I just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea which is a shorter standalone book but still great!
- I completed the Wheel of Time last year and liked the Sanderson style of the latter books and am now on book 3 of Stormlight Archive and love it so far. It took me a good half the first book to "get it" or "get into it" rather, but now I see the vision and am enjoying it all. Planning on the other Cosmere series and books after.
  Sanderson is definitely one of the better sci-fi/fantasy writers I've read.
  
  Wheel of Time is on my to do list, I've heard a lot about it both being great and hard to get into to begin with and so I keep putting it off. I will get around to it at some point.
  Enjoy your journey into Sanderson, I'm a little jealous I can't go on those journeys again for the first time!
- I'm also all in on the Cosmere books, I'm halfway through the Stormlight Archive and it's amazing!
  
  I've got "Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians" to read next but I'm not sure if that is a cosmere based novel or not. Either way I'm sure it'll be good though!
- Almost done stormlight archives. Have you done that? I have the first mistborn book but haven't started it yet. Looking forward to it though.
  
  I have indeed, although not the newest book that was released more recently. I want to go back and read everything again but that is quite a time commitment before doing the new book and I'm not ready for that just yet :D
  It is very much on par with Mistborn in terms of the story and writing, I just prefer Mistborn that little bit more because I love the concept of the magic system in that but honestly there isn't a lot in it.

I recently started Blood Meridian. It's too early to tell if I like it yet, but I like McCarthy's other works I've read. I'm also listening to the audiobook adaption of Alien: Covenant. It's part of the Audible subscription right now, so I thought I'd give it a try. I like it a bit better than I remember liking the movie. It's pretty similar, but I feel like it adds a little more nuance to some character actions.
- I have very mixed opinions of McCarthy. He focuses on the grim darkness of humanity a lot. If that is what you want to hear all you have to do is turn on the news. I thought The Road was well done but super depressing. In the process of reading All The Pretty Horses and it's tone is much more upbeat. But his style is cribed almost entirely from Hemmingway.

I just finished Oryx and Crake the first of a trilogy by Margaret Atwood, I quite enjoyed it. It's a short of dystopian sci-fi. I was put off by her at first because I was forced to read her in high school but I'm glad I gave her another chance.
I'm starting Les Misérables in French in the hopes of improving my written French.
Also working my way through Weapons of the weak which is about forms of peasant resistance.
- That's funny, I'm literally just about to start The Year of the Flood (it's on the bed next to me), the second in that Atwood trilogy! I thoroughly enjoyed Oryx and Crake when I read it a while back.

Re-reading Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" because its the best haunted house novel ever written.
- I read The Lottery by her in High School. Damn that is a good short story
- I just put this one into my reader, after several quotes from Stephen king reminded me i have it pending...
- Got this one on my list.

Reading Frostbound Queen. Um, idk if I'd recommend it. It's ok. Very "BookToc".

Gilgamesh the King, by Robert Silverberg
- Silverberg is one of the greats.

"Seeing like a state". It could be half the length without losing anything, but it's a very interesting perspective on states and central planning that I haven't thought about before and am enjoying.
- One of my favorite books. Highly recommend

How to read a book, by Mortimer Adler
- "How to read a book." Pg. 1
  "Turn back to page 1" Pg. 2

Sapiens

I'm currently reading Anthony Beevors 'D-Day'... But I'm also in Normandy, so I just read that book whilst sitting on Omaha Beach, which is pretty special.

The Great God Pan, which is a terrifying novel by Arthur Machen.
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley.
It's Not You by Dr Remani Durvusala, which is about how to escape from a narcissist and is the most helpful book.
Lita Ford's autobiography Living Like A Runaway.

I'm reading Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. They fit modern fantasy into a British police procedural framework. What makes them exceptional are the characterizations, plus the wit and snark of the dialog. They are both good stories and a lot of fun to read.

I just finished The Hair Carpet Weavers by Andreas Eschbach. One of the best first chapters I've read in a long time. Really interesting scifi book that I couldn't put down.

Rereading Berserk Manga(it's a book😤)

Currently reading: James Acaster's Classic Scrapes. A funny collection of stories from his childhood, an enjoyable read. I'd recommend it if you're looking for something light and funny.
Before this, I gave up on the book All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, after about a hundred pages. I just couldn't get into it, the story kept halting in favor of flashbacks and setting the MC's backstory. I hate stories not starting soon enough with the actual story. Unnecessary to say, but I would not recommend this :)

im reading slobberknocker by jim ross. very interesting behind the scenes of the wrestling business

I'm reading the Percy Jackson books with my kid right now and I have to say, they're very well written. For kid/teen literature, i'd say there's a lot to like in the series, fun dialogue, characters with a lot of personality a fascinating and magical, yet recognizable fantasy world. I'm certainly enjoying it much more than I did the Harry Potter series.
Also the percy Jackson TV series is great too. The movies are hot trash though, wouldn't recommend them.