this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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Still reading Your Money Or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin. There are some interesting points in it, though not implementing anything right now, just reading the book.

Finished volume 7 of Jujitsu Kaisen manga, by Gege Akutami.

Started The Passage by Justin Cronin. Saw it recommended here a few times, and ordered the trilogy, books are so much longer than I expected. Each book can probably be divided in 2 and still be on slightly thicker end of average book size. I am still at the start, only 60-70 pages yet. Getting a slight feel of Stephen King books. Let's see how it progresses.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?


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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

About 1/3 in The three-body problem, by Cixin Liu. Enjoying it so far, the only drawback is that I'm a bit lost between characters names but that's not so rare for me. I think I'll read the trilogy this summer.

I take note of The Passage for future, as an amateur of S. King stuff I might enjoy it, thanks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I really enjoyed that book.

[–] _sideffect 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Mistborn: The well of ascension

Amazing book, I have 60 pages left, roughly

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Loved Mistborn so much. It is what got me into Sanderson!

[–] _sideffect 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Just finished it yesterday... Damn what a cliffhanger the second book ended on! And that twist... Damn!

Are his other novels good? (besides the mistborn books)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If you like mistborn then I can't recommend enough his other works, I loved them, although I'm yet to get through all of them.

Elantris, Stormlight Archive and White Sand are all set within the same cosmere as Mistborn so will feel familiar. Stormlight Archive is particularly good but I would recommend checking out any of his stuff based on what I have read so far.

I'm still yet to read the last book of the 2nd part of the Mistborn series that is set more in the wild west kind of era. I need to go back and refresh myself on what is going on in that too but I loved the change of back drop but in the same world further in the future from the first three books.

[–] _sideffect 3 points 5 months ago

That sounds great; I read that some other books all take place in the same universe as mistborn, which is very cool.

I'll give the books you mentioned a go after I finish the third mistborn book, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I started the Expanse series recently. Currently midway through book 5 - Nemesis Games, and getting the just-one-more-chapter thing at 2am most nights. Great books.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

The novellas are great too!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Finally started On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, which has been on my TBR for ages, patiently waiting for me to be in the mood for pirates. I can already see how it inspired the Monkey Island games.

--

Finished The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré. Solid Cold War espionage plot written during that era, with George Smiley from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy involved in the background. Like To Catch a Thief, it has some slurs and a questionably large age-gap relationship, but that's not terribly surprising. Worth a look if you like stories about intelligence services playing human chess.

Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1963), What's Yours Is Mine (HM), Now a Major Motion Picture, Award Winner, (alt) Pseudonymous Work, (alt) A Change in Perspective

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I really enjoyed On Stranger Tides.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. Listening to him read his own audiobooks is like curling up in a blanket with a cup of cocoa.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I’m pretty familiar with Norse mythology and he did a good job looking at and editing the myths with a storytelling eye.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Started and finished JOB: A comedy of justice by R. A. Heinlein. It was fun and not uninteresting, but then it completely fell apart in the last hundred pages. The author pretty clearly was writing and writing and then just ran out of ideas and had to end it somehow. The way he chose to end it was to push his personal sexual/religious views to the detriment of the story and especially the female co-lead. Really disappointing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I have heard that R. A. Heinlein can be a bit preachy. Haven't read enough of his work to comment on that myself though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I didn't think it's unusual for an author to inject their views into their writing, and it's usually fine. Heinlein often writes from a libertarian, pull yourself by your bootstraps, sexually free (for young women in particular), patriarchal viewpoint. I like his world building very much and usually his pacing.

I read mostly older sci-fi from the 40s-70s, so I've become quite adept at ignoring offensive and of-the-times stuff. Just a "yikes" and move on.

I really like a few of his books. Stranger in a Strange Land, Have Spacesuit -- Will Travel, and I Will Fear No Evil are some of my favorites.

[–] Breezy 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Currently trying to decide on a discworld starting point. I haven't read any yet but am thinking about Guard Guard as my first but then idk if i should continue with the nightwatch storyline or read multiple storylines at once.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I prefer to read Discworld chronologically via the publication date. Unfortunately, that makes the end hit that much harder, but I still prefer it.

[–] Breezy 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Ive been told to skip the first few books because it would set the wrong impression for the series.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

No one ever said that to me and I've been through the series multiple times. Trust that Pratchett will get you there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

The first couple of books are definitely the weakest. But if you have made up your mind and are in for a long haul, it's not a bad place to start.

But yeah, when recommending Discworld to someone who is going to judge the entire series on his first book, there are much better starting points, like Guards Guards!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Farseer Trilogy. The German audiobook has a tremendous speaker and the Story is so well-written. I will definitely get the books just because I want to have them in my bookshelf. Highly recommended!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Which book are you on? I loved the series, but its a heavy read. Have to read the rest of the series in the Realm of Enderlings though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I'm in the middle of the 2nd book and am really enjoying everything so far. I actually read a lot of fantasy, but very rarely from the ego perspective, which in this case at least works exceptionally well for me.

[–] PDFuego 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I've started rereading The Way of Kings and The Lies of Locke Lamora in Spanish. LLL is a bit of a struggle even remembering several parts of it word for word but TWoK is much more simply-written, it's quite encouraging getting through a few sentences at a time without needing to stop to translate something. Still working up the mental energy to start Words of Radiance, it's been hard to get into anything new lately.

On the other hand, I have a few dozen tvtropes tabs open and, like some kind of hydra, every time I close one I somehow end up with more than I had before. I don't even care about the outdated fan speculation for Monster Hunter games, but I can't stop!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I started Harry Potter in Spanish a long time ago, didn't get past first page. Should give it another try.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Just started stonewall by Martin Dubermam. So far I have enjoyed how it starts of narratively describing the lives of some people during that time

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I got really distracted in June and that still persists a bit in July as I work on some projects and try to get caught up with some podcasts and shows/movies.

That all said, I just started the first of the Monk and Robot books, A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

I really enjoyed A Psalm for the Wild Built; hope it hits for you, too.

[–] CheeryLBottom 2 points 5 months ago

I had finished Calamity of Souls a few days ago and as a palate cleanser, I chose Inspector Hobbes and the Blood. British Urban Fantasy with dry humor is a great palate cleanser

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Just started Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. Enjoying it so far, about 15% in. I’ve been in a reading slump and DNF streak, and hoping this one might get me out of it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago
[–] kusttra 2 points 5 months ago

I just started Ordinary Monsters, by J. M. Miro. Too early yet to have any real opinions, but it feels like it's setting up an intriguing story, so I'm looking forward to getting further.

[–] 2ugly2live 2 points 5 months ago

The Deep by Nick Cutter.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Listened to the first 4 Deathlands books and it has been great so far, it seems like it is a lot of smaller stories with over arcing stories running through. I could've kept at it as I wasn't bored yet but decided to have a break before coming back for more.

I've binged The Dark by Jeremy Robinson listening to the majority of it in one day and it has been excellent so far and have Solo Leveling books 4 through to 8 that I may listen to one or all of after that before returning to Deathlands.

[–] nofacade 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Just finished Germinal by Émile Zola and wow, it became one of my favorite novels. Fairly depressing but it's interesting to see how we're still dealing with the same issues of workers rights. It is good to see we've come a long way from the situation in the 1800s coal mines, though. Also a lot more sex and fairly graphic violence than I was expecting from a book of that era.

Reading the first Mistborn book now and am about 2/3rds through. Not bad for a filler book (especially after a heavy one like Germinal), but pretty meh overall, especially the writing and characterizations. I'm a little surprised it's so loved to be honest.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Just looked up Germinal and the idea of whole series look pretty interesting. Have you read other books in the series or just read Germinal?

Writing and characterization are often cited as weak parts of Mistborn, I still liked it though, but it has been quite a while since I read it. BTW this is Sanderson's earlier work, so If you like the worldbuilding and the overall story, you can try some of his later books.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

King City by Lee Goldberg.

I recently discovered Lee Goldberg after getting kindle unlimited free for 3 months so I binge as much as I can. He's a great writer and I enjoyed his Eve Ronin serie, and Malibu Burning.