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What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? November 26 (discuss.online)

submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/books

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Finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. It was a surprisingly easy read, and while I remembered the main plot, I didn't remember any of the details, so enjoyed the whole read.

Just finished the book moments ago (which is also why the thread is late), so haven't yet decided what to read next.

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

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Love Mistborn! Was my first Sanderson book and I'm only disappointed in the fact that I'm caught up on pretty much all his series and have to wait for new ones.

Currently I'm reading book 2 in the Kagen the damned series called Son Of The Poison Rose. I am thoroughly enjoying it and the series. It's set in HP Lovecraft's universe but during medieval times and is brutal. It is definitely a mature read as Johnathan Mayberry doesn't skimp on the details in any of his scenes. But I would highly recommend to any fans of Lovecraft or medieval fantasy novels.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Hehe, I know the feeling. I still have couple of series left though, so going to enjoy that!

Thanks for the recommendation, going to check it out.

[–] whyrat 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Picked up some books by Ursula K LeGuin. I read parts of the Earthsea series a long time ago, picking up some of her other stuff because it all gets high praise.

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

Nice! I have only read her Earthsea books, so do share what you read and how you like it.

[–] whyrat 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Lathe of Heaven and Left Hand of Darkness I read before. I highly recommend both.

I'm also planning on re-starting the Wizard of Earthsea books, which (given the amount of time I have to read) will take me 2-3 months to get through all of them (6?).

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just finished pet Sematary (that book got to me) and now reading Christine.

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

What is your favourite King book or is this your first foray into his catalogue?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I've only read fairytale and it was very good. I loved it so much. Pet Sematary was just complete insanity (might be my favorite honestly), and I still think about it. Lol
Tried to start the dark tower, but then got lazy. I'm currently reading Christine in Arabic. Still at the beginning. Good so far. I really like King. His style speaks to me directly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Ah fair enough. Enjoy delving into his works in that case, he has a lot of good books and if you like what you've read in those few so far you should be in for a treat!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

Thank you.

[–] Zombiepirate 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm about 3/4 through The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.

It's an incredibly ambitious alternate history about how the world would shake out if a plague killed 90% of Europe in the 14th century. Each section is a novela about a set of characters in a different time.

He's probably my favorite living author; he normally writes sci-fi, occasionally dips into historical fiction (or a mix of the two genres), but always meticulously researches his subjects in a way that brings his worlds to vibrent life.

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

Ah, he is the guy who wrote Mars trilogy! They have been on my wishlist for over a decade. Will check it out.

[–] Zombiepirate 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Oh, definitely read those!

Normally I don't re-read many books, but the one I read previous to this one was his Aurora, which has been another of my favorites: it's about a generation ship on its way to settle a new colony in the Tau Ceti system.

Everything I've read by him has a profound impact on my outlook, and I love that he's a fundamentally optimistic writer even when his stories are at their most bleak.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

Ahan, thanks for the recommendation! Will see if they have something at our local bookshop.

[–] Sinirlan 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, book 7 of The Expanse series.

[–] AliasVortex 7 points 1 week ago

Nice! The Expanse series has been one of favorite reads (or listens rather) of the year. I've been waiting for the Babylon's Ashes (#6) audiobook to free up from my local library for weeks now.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Mistborn is such an easy and pleasant read! It was an excellent gateway into Sanderson's books for me.

I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and absolutely loved it. There were a couple nitpicky science things I had issues with, but overall I thought it was an amazing read.

Now I've started The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher. It's a historical fiction about a gay American woman who opens a bookstore in 1920s Paris. Finally getting that Bookception bingo square filled with this one.

Edit: As I read further, I realized this book, while fiction, is very much about a real person and real events that happened in the 1920s. This book is about Sylvia Beach.

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

Yeah, I loved Mistborn, but I was just not sure if I will enjoy the re-read, still loved it. Not a perfect book, but a pretty good one.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Ah yeah, I've reread it twice. It held up both times, as did the full series. By the way, if your goal is to read mistborn era 2, I recommend getting your hands on Mistborn: Secret History and reading it after The Bands of Mourning.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

I have it, it's on my list of Era 2 books. Thanks for the recommendation!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Finished up all the little side Cosmere stuff. It's impressive how great it all is, but now I have to wait for Wind and Truth for more. (Except White Sand but I don't really have that much interest in graphic novels). Finally got my spot in line for the next Reacher book (In Too Deep) from my library and read that today. (Guess that's 200 lol)

Started back into the Red Rising Series. The first book was exceptional, but I decided to take a break when I finished it because it hit so hard then had such a big transition at the beginning of book two. Trying Golden Son again now.

I'm also reading Jana DeLeon's Shaye Archer series as ebooks. I'm currently on Diabolical (book 3). It has a very different, more serious tone from her Miss Fortune books, but I like these too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I am pretty much caught up on Cosmere, only Mistborn Era 2 was remaining, but that's what the re-reads are for. I still haven't read his Reckoners series though, should start it after Mistborn,

I just started next Reacher book too! Though, I have only read the first book yet so my next book is Die Trying.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I do reread heavily. It's probably like half my reading. But usually not much more frequently than 6 months apart or so. I need it to fade a tiny bit to be immersed again. I'll probably try Skyward before Reckoners personally.

I like Reacher books. It comes across as light because of the writing style and the persistent forward pace, but there's a decent bit of complexity in his arcs, and I like his approach to action. The more recent ones also have a very grounded, realistic approach to modern tech. I'm not sure if that's from the involvement of Andrew Child, but there have been a couple times where I looked at something someone said about tech in a Reacher book, said "that doesn't make sense", and the discrepancy became relevant.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ahan, interesting. 6 months is a very short time for me, since I generally take read 1-2 books a month max.

I have already read Skyward, did it earlier this year (or was it last year?), looking forward to the sequel series, wonder where they will take it from here.

I just finished Die Trying, and while I enjoyed it, there wasn't too much action in first three quarters, Reacher was very passive in this one. It made sense as per the story, and it was still interesting, but I wasn't expecting that.

As for the tech, the books are bit old, so that could be the reason, but I generally don't think too deeply about these things, unless it's central to the story. Have come across incorrect tech stuff often in the books.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I don't read every series every six months. That's still pretty frequent. But there are some favorites (Karen Rose, some of CJ Archer, probably will be a bunch of Sanderson) where, when I don't have anything immediately queued up and am looking for my next read, I see them and decide to dive in again.

I think it's probably Andrew Child being a co-author now. But the more recent ones have conspiracies where technology plays a much more central role, because that's where the world has evolved. Reacher is still Reacher and a borderline technophobe, but it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for modern bad actors to ignore the internet and I think he covers it in a pretty fair way.

[–] lemmyman 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My curator (some might say wife) had me reading On Writing by Stephen King. I am definitely not a writer but I liked it and think his advice could apply in some form to a lot of creative endeavors. There are a lot of funny parts in the first section, and I liked the tone (I've never read a Stephen King book so I didn't know what to expect). I thought it maybe got hung up too long on his hit-by-a-van episode, but that was still interesting.

Now I'm reading How to become the Dark Lord and die trying by Django Wexler. The tone was off-putting at first (and it's almost like he shook a salt shaker of "fucks" all around the first 10 pages for no reason), but 40 pages in its either mellowing or growing on me and I'm looking forward to the rest.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Funny is not the word I associate with Stephen King. Will have to check it out.

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

Currently reading Asimov's A Pebble in the Sky... It's lovely so far. Kind of creepy vibes too.

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

I love Mistborn so much!

It has been a Deathlands only week for me. Just about to start book 36 tomorrow. I considered some other things but it didn't happen xD

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Viva la Deathlands!

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

Dungeon Crawler Carl. I'm about halfway through the 2nd book.

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

In the midst of It’s Okay to be Angry About Capitalism by Bernie Sanders after finishing Bob Woodward’s War the other day. Yes, both triggered by current events.

I also have about four books ongoing for my thesis: one on mercy in the Tudor century, the Acts of the Privy Council for Edward VI, and Dress at the Tudor Court by Maria Hayward.

[–] vladmech 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Woo Sanderson! I’m about 1/4 through Rhythm of War, in preparation for the fifth Stormlight’s release next week.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I have to re-read Stormlight Archives, so probably won't be getting the fifth book before the end of next year.

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

I just finished Starter Villain by John Scalzi a few hours ago. My wife has another Scalzi book checked out from the library that I'll start as soon as she finishes it, I think it might be The Kaiju Preservation Society, but I don't remember.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I just finished The Kaiju Preservation Society last week, a really fun book. Have heard great things about Starter Villain too. Enjoy!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

"All the worst people" by Phil Elwood. True stories of a guy who used PR skills to help dictators, politicians and other super rich people. Fascinating stuff.

[–] brightandshinyobject 3 points 1 week ago

Rereading Stormlight Archive, currently on Oathbringer, in preparation for Wind and Truth on December 6th!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Just finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. I thought it was a fun brilliant whodunnit

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

Still working on City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett, but the end is finally in sight! There's a lot of history and backstory and excerpts from in-world texts that slow it down more than I would like, but I'm sure readers more into the world building would appreciate those aspects more.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Going to continue the series?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

Doubtful: if I'm going to read something over 350ish pages, I want to be really sucked in, and this didn't do it for me. Definitely not a bad book, or anything I'd call a slog, just a case of mismatch, I think.