Holidays are over! Happy New Year!
I didn’t get much to read over the holidays, but I finished The Black Company by Glen Cook. The story was interesting but the way it is written made it hard for me to read. Still, going to continue with the trilogy and see if second book is any better in that regard.
Currently reading Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. Loving the book. The series just keeps getting better and better.
What about you? What have you been reading or listening?
Last weekend I read the first four Murderbot diaries novellas. I read another one during the week, and now I’m reading the full length novel.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells is the first one and you won’t want to stop there.
Just finished up American Gods by Neil Gaiman and started the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. I’m most of the way through Killing Floor.
How are you liking the Killing Floor? I have been meaning to start the series but couldn’t find the starting book at my local bookstore.
So far so good. I have the bad habit of picking up a book or series to compare/contrast with the show or movie and IMO if you enjoy Reacher, you’ll enjoy the books and vice versa.
Reacher the show? Or the Tom Cruise movie? Cause I have only seen the Tom Cruise movie, and I don’t recall too much of that.
The show. I’ve honestly never seen the movie. Ol’ Centertooth is too small to be Jack Reacher.
Heh, yeah, I read about that.
I am slowly reading through Metro 2033 in Russian, and after more than a year I am only halfway done. 😑
I think I spend too much time in a dictionary, where I am clicking through entries when I don’t understand a single word (or I am just not 100% sure about it’s meaning). Also I think on few occassions I have seen few words that are completely made up (mostly non-existing word forms) by Dmitriy, because even Google Search didn’t show anything up :P
Yeah, made up words can be a issue when reading in another language. I tried reading Harry Potter in Spanish and all the made-up words in that made it a bit difficult.
I’m reading “Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone”, a delightfully smart and funny locked room mystery
I should probably stay far from your family…
I have started my year-long read for this year: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Two chapters a week will get me through it by December.
Otherwise, I am two thirds through The Rings of Saturn which is a melancholic reflection on death, remnants and legacy over the course of a walking tour of the Suffolk coast, where I live and work. I have been aware of it for ages, and it has finally hit the top of my pile. A thoughtful and easy read, though it does seem a little over-romanticised.
And I am continuing with Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed. This is a history of the world taking account of changes in climate and environment: both their effects on history, and human effects on them. Informative, although the detail obscures the main points at times.
Finally, I am continuing with the Doctor Who novel The Death of Art. Some well researched worldbuilding and atmosphere and an enjoyable writing style, but an overcrowded plot that gets bogged down as a result.
That’s an interesting idea to have an year-long series. Specially for a book that you may find difficult to read or get into. I should do that.
I think you mentioned The Earth Transformed before too. How is it going, still enjoying it?
The Earth Transformed - this is a much longer read than I was expecting. It is certainly still interesting, but also continues to include a LOT of detail and examples that make it difficult to keep in mind the overall points that the author is making. I have read a good few ‘popular histories’ - which is what this ultimate is - that are clearer. I’m going to continue though.
Any recommendations? 😀
One I recently enjoyed is 1177 BC: The Year Civilisation Collapsed by Eric H Cline. Totally different subject, but all his examples clarify rather that obscure the point.
Another on a similar topic is John Perlin’s A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization which I found to be very dismissive in a couple of areas such as coppice woodland, but still very clear.
And another - a classic - is Oliver Rackham’s The History of the Countryside which looks at the UK countryside and is both clear and thoroughly enjoyable.
Thanks for the list, I’ll add them to my list and look them up next time at the bookstore!
The Robots of Dawn. I’m almost done with all things Asimov, and it’s been a wonderful journey. Having done the entire Foundation arc first, it’s really enjoyable going back and reading what really works out to be like ultra prequel material for the whole universe. Yes, Asimov is a little boomer in his execution, themes, motifs, and namely characters. White male dominant is frustrating, but the sci-fi is good, and eventually, some million words later, he modernizes somewhat.
I have read his Robot series and half of his Foundation series, should probably go back and finish that.
My shrink, a fellow sci-fi enthusiast, pointed out something interesting. The last book he wrote, which helped to tie his whole universe together, was basically autobiographical. Really changed my perspective on Hari.
Huh… that’s interesting. Would keep that in mind when re-reading.
I’ve been collecting Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein etc for twenty years, but I have several on my bookcases that I haven’t read. I should aim to crunch through them! Have you seen a suggested reading order?
Mother of Learning
It’s a pretty cool Fantasy/Time-Loop webnovel, but it’s a bit long…
I am at page 1500 of 2500 and I’m not a particularly fast reader.Web novels are like that. One of the reason I have strayed away from them. It’s a cultivation novel? Or something else?
No, it’s more of a classical magic thing (but luckily not Isekai either, although I love that genre if made well). I got it recommended by a friend, who reads lots of web novels.
And even though there is definitly a big focus on him learning and getting stronger, it’s actually both pretty well paced and has unique characters and a bit of politics (but not much).And it’s actually the only WN, besides Chrysalis, which I’ve read a decent amount.
Ah, that sounds different. Will check it out.
How did you like Chysalis?
It was quite good, but it lost somewhere around the 2/3rd mark. I’m not normally a person who can read that much, so I’m not finishing any of those long WNs. And I’m not even sure, whether the story is actually even finished, yet. But I’m pretty sure it wasn’t when I read it.
Just finished “Dead Silence” by S.A. Barnes, and loved it. Very different take on a deep-space opera.
Now finally venturing into The Expanse, loved the series and want to see what happens after it stopped, but apparently the storylines between books and series don’t fully align, so I start at rock bottom, including some of the short story prequels setting the stage. Currently reading “Drive”, nicknamed as The Expanse 0.1 (only got 28 pages or so).
As a fan of the game Dead Space, Dead Silence sounds great. Going to check it out.
The Expanse stopped? I was hoping to watch it after reading all the books (which I haven’t even started yet). Well, I guess one less thing in my to-watch list.
They brought the series to an end (and a good one!), so you can just go ahead and watch it - I enjoyed it a lot. The books simply extend beyond that, plus they have three prequels and some fillers building the backstories of some characters. Bit of an “extended universe” vibe.
And now I’ll check out Dead Space, haven’t come across it yet. Thanks!
Ooooh, if you play video games, and love space horror, Dead Space is a must play! The original trilogy is old, for PS3 era, but they just did a remake of first Dead Space, that got very good reviews. Do check it out.
Thanks for the info about the show. I try to read the books first before watching anything based on the books, so will watch it later.
I’m working through The Last Unicorn.
Dead Beat is sooo good (“Polka will never die”). It’s often a suggested book for someone to try out the series because it was written and published right before the SciFi TV series was coming out. So Butcher did a some work to smooth out stuff that relied on knowledge from earlier books and he made it pretty seamless.
POLKA WILL NEVER DIE!
The Last Unicorn looks interesting. Going to check it out.
Yeah, the book is pretty good. Hope rest of the series stay like that too.
Hope rest of the series stay like that too.
It doesn’t, it gets even better. Even the community-perceived weak spots in the future have only grown on me.
That’s great to hear. I am almost at the end of the book. I am liking the character developments in Blood Rites and this. Would love to see where it goes in the future.
Listening to Without Remorse by Tom Clancy at the moment.
God did they murder the film.
That was my favorite book of the Ryanverse. Movie was horrible. Had high hopes for it.
I read the synapse of the film and it was like, there is no way they can do the book justice and oh boy.
Cardinal of the Kremlin is my favourite and I hope they never make a film of it because they will butcher it so badly.
I don’t think it was the case in this one, but I think it was The Bourne Identity that they told the screenwriter to NOT read the book. I think they let him see the cover synopsis and that was it.
My thoughts are a 2-300 page book can be a movie. A 500+ page needs to be a mini series or series.
Recently finished
- The Left Hand of Darkness
- The Fifth Elephant
Currently reading
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
When I worked in a startup, there was a guy who wanted “The Left Hand of Darkness” as his designation. The company didn’t do it, but I do recall watching someone online with the same designation, don’t remember who or which company.
Both great books btw! How are you liking The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue? I have seen V. E. Schwab mentioned many times in these threads but haven’t had a chance to read her work yet.
Still trying to read;
- Eleanor is completely fine
- Theranos
But at the moment my university just doesn’t want me to read and to take a bit of steam-off, I either game or watch shows.
Evil university, not letting you read!
Can’t find “Theranos”, is it this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Blood%3A_Secrets_and_Lies_in_a_Silicon_Valley_Startup ?
Yeah, that’s the one! Apologies. I’m used to calling it “Theranos” because that was her ‘companies’ name.
I really recommend it. It is insane what she did, how she did it and the entire thing with the people involved.
Just remember though, it is a bit of a tough read. The author is very detailed about it all (the company, people, medical devices and such).
Ah, no worries, thanks for the info.
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I have read first 4 I think, they are a fun read. Enjoy!
Currently Reading:
- Rogue - Anthology, ed George R.R. Martin/Gardner Dozois
- Best from Tor: 15th Anniversary - various
- The Dark Half - Stephen King
- The Final Girl Support Group - Grady Hendrix
Going to DNF on The Final Girl Support Group, I’m not verse in horror movies and can not connect with all those reference in the book.
Well, I just finished Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus - The Language of the Universe, by Steven Strogatz. Really enjoyed it, interesting for an overview of calculus history and how it affects everyday life.
I think I’ll start 2024 reading by a reread of Tolkien’s lotr + silmarillion. I, of course, already read it but one it was +20 years ago and two I read a French translation at the time and I want to read the original thing.
Why are you going to skip the poor Hobbit? What did the poor Hobbitses do to you?
I used to be terrible at Calculus, but found it exciting. Not going to specifically look for it, but will check it out if it ever crossed my paths. 😀
