There’s a thread about how people find new books, and one of my favorite ways to find things to read was browsing comments from the weekly ‘What are you reading’ threads in r/truelit and r/books. So what is Lemmy reading?
I’m finishing The Passenger, and about to jump into John Williams’ Stoner. Excited to see what is next!
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I love reading science fiction from people with engineering and science backgrounds. Another good book I finished recently was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
Project Hail Mary was such a fun read for me! I loved how concrete the engineering problems were throughout the book. It kept me tied to the stakes of the story.
Haven’t been able to finish Three Body Problem, unfortunately, it kind of lost me within the first 100 pages. May have to give it another shot! I hear a lot of good things about it.
I personally think the author wrote The Three Body Problem as a prequel to set up for the sequel book, The Dark Forest. Maybe I was just more invested in the world they built at that point?
If that’s your vibe, try Blindsight by Peter Watts. It’s a very technical examination of the phenomenon of consciousness which isn’t afraid to get into the weeds, but never quite gets lost in them.
Blindsight was great, I need to read it a second time.
Right? It just slaps so hard.
Do we perhaps know each other IRL? Blindsight was great, but I still have the nagging sense that I missed a big portion of it. Definitely mind expanding.
I seriously doubt that we know each other. I don’t live in an English-speaking country, and I don’t know any expats named Dave. But yeah, Blindsight benefits from multiple readings.
This book seems to have an equal measure of haters to fans but I loved the entire series. As it goes on it gets weird but imo was soo worth the read. Enjoy!
That book (three-body) was weeeeird. Really thought it was going to go in a very different direction during the introductory chapters.
I don’t know if I liked it but it sure made me think about stuff!
I still haven’t finished it so I am still forming an overall opinion, but its certainly interesting so far.
Yeah - the opening section really sets you up for something entirely different. I’m glad I stuck with it. 3 Body & the sequels kept me thinking new things during the pandemic
Man - 3 body problem (and the whole series) were a great read. What kind blowing shifts in perspective.
Greg Egan is another great author like that. Diaspora is a posthumanist acid trip with a ton of esoteric math thrown in. Absolute blast.
Awesome, adding that one to my reading list!
Noted
I’m re-reading all the discworld novels from sir Terry Pratchett, currently at Soul Music.
You’re a few ahead of me on the re-read; Lords and Ladies is my next one. I’m taking my time though, I started in 2019.
GNU Terry Pratchett.
That’s great! Whenever I’m feeling down, his books are mental comfort food that help me re-center. GNU sir Pterry!
I just picked up a copy of house of leaves. Saw it referenced a few times in some other media I liked and figured I may as well check out the book itself.
One of my favourite books of all time. Do you have the full colour edition?
Yes! I splurged for the hardcover because I thought it would be a book I’d want to go back to a few times later on, and I’m really happy with how high quality it is.
I don’t even know if “reading” is the right verb for engaging with that book. It’s practically a different kind of activity.
It’s been a very different experience so far, but enjoyable!
It’s a dense read, but I enjoyed it. I’ll admit that I enjoyed it more when I became willing to skim over spots when it got a little too tedious. I’ve got my own theory on what’s going on, and I’d talk about it if I knew how to insert spoilers.
I feel like this is gonna be one I’ll need to make a few passes on to really get everything that’s going on
Just got a few books from my local library that I’m excited to start. I’m starting off with “Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD” by James M. Ochoa which I picked out because it was the smallest book in the ADHD category, ha.
I also got a book on Linux/Unix, Diabetes, a workbook for Bipolar, a healthy snack book, and an organization book. Not too too sure if I’ll be able to finish it all by the time they’re due, but its a nice varied selection.
That second paragraph is peak ADHD lol.
I mean you aren’t wrong! Hahaa.
I just finished up reading The Return of the King for the first time since childhood. I like it a lot more than I remember. I think two things stuck out at me most: how dense it was compared to modern fantasy and how great the hobbits were portrayed. Fantasy tends to portray great heroes that came from nothing (ex. the chosen one/orphan trope). However, the hobbits were solely because they were common that they were able to do things the great heroes of their age couldn’t.
Since then I’ve started reading Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. I kept hearing Pynchon’s name come up for about a month at random and figured I should pick up one of his books. He has a very frenetic style that can be a bit difficult to parse but I’m loving his sense of humor.
The Expanse, the whole book trilogy!
It’s a bit more than a trilogy lol. It’s a nonology!
Amazing series, be sure to check out the novellas as well! There are some guides online that will tell you where they happen chronologicaly
Just finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (loved it, just discovered the “new weird” genre and it’s totally my vibe). Now started reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, the structure of the book and the setting seems cool and intriguing.
Both great reads. I’d also recommend the second and third books following Annihilation, just know they are quite different. Good, but different.
If you liked Anniliation and the rest of the trilogy (well worth it!), Check out Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfeild.
Man, I read the book maybe two years ago and it just… sort of left no impression. The world was neat and weird but fuck it was weird. Maybe I need to consider a re-read at some point.
I also just finished it
H.P. Lovecraft - Tales of Horror
I’ve been blown away by all of this, up until the one I’m currently powering my way through (Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath). It isn’t terrible, though. It just feels very out of place after the overall tone and flow of all his other stories within the volume.
I love his dream cycle stuff, it’s so vivid, but it’s definitely jarring read alongside the horror.
It certainly has its moments, when his description of something really stirs something inside of you and lights up your imagination. I loved this one:
“There is a great canal which goes under the whole city in a tunnel with granite gates and leads to the inland lake of Yath, on whose farther shore are the vast clay-brick ruins of a primal city whose name is not remembered. As the ship drew into the harbour at evening the twin beacons Thon and Thal gleamed a welcome, and in all the million windows of Baharna’s terraces mellow lights peeped out quietly and gradually as the stars peep out overhead in the dusk, till that steep and climbing seaport became a glittering constellation hung between the stars of heaven and the reflections of those stars in the still harbour.”
That one really put me there. But then you get to the space cats and it kind of brings you out again.
Just started book 8 of The Expance series
Currently I’m finishing the fifth book of the Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan. Next will be the sixth book of the Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan :)
@Kebab
Heck yeah! Books 5 and 6 are among the fan favorites.
Finished the sequel to Becky Chamber’s A Psalm For The Wild-Built. Can’t recommend this series more highly for a glimpse into a calming and peaceful alternative future.
How does it compare to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet? I read that whole series, but the first book was my favorite out of all of them.
I’ve read that series as well. Both are amazing, but I prefer the Monk and Robot (Psalm of the Wild-Built) series a bit more. If you liked A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
I just started it last night! Looking forward to the rest.
I was so gutted to hear there won’t be a third book, the series is my favourite recent discovery.
What? I had no idea it wasn’t continuing. That’s so sad to hear.
Now I’m reading Wheel Of Time, stuck on the 4th book.
I forced myself to finish book 10 which is said to be the most boring one. Lost motivation to finish the series and still stuck at book 11. Still hoping to pick it up and finish the series one day.
Something like that was with me and Dark Tower. I’ve tried to read it for 3 times, but I’m always stop at Susanna’s song.
Loved Wheel of Time, but damn does it slow down a lot after the first three books. There are some really awesome moments in the next ones but there are so many threads to follow that the overall story sometimes barely moves in the course of a book. It speeds back up again a little after Sanderson takes over for the last three.
Yeah, that’s why I’ve stopped reading it. But its so good to learn English, I sometimes return to it over and over again.
I’ve also liked The Black Company series, that was a good read for like 3 first books.
@derek
One of us
One of us
Bumped, a feminist dystopia where only teenagers can reproduce. The book is very confusing to get into (it’s narrated by two teenagers in 2036, so you need to learn alll the slangs) and the writing style rubbed me off as amateurish, but it’s been very entertaining nevertheless. It gets even funny when you get what’s going on because teens be teens.
I am deciding between finishing the long way to a Small angry planet or starting howls moving castle
A Clockwork Orange!