Me, I’m currently on ”F” is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton, still from my local library.
I’m reading Discworld series after some Lemmings suggested it. They’re great! Read Sourcerer and Guards! Guards! And just starting Men at Arms
I laughed so much at the Brotherhood scenes in Guards! When the brothers are bickering, and when the guy has to recite the whole long password but the last line is incorrect.
I like Discworld too.
Death’s End by Cixin Liu
It’s been an on and off affair for a little while now. I had a lot more free time back when I finished the first two, so I’m kinda struggling to get any meaningful reading done. Honestly, at this point I’d be happy just finishing this one by the end of the year.
It was my favourite of the bunch, although IMO it should’ve been two books instead. But I understand he wanted a trilogy, it being the Three Body Problem and all that.
Enjoy the ride!
I’m in the middle of the Hyperion Cantos series. It’s exceptionally good sci-fi, reminds me a lot of games like Elite Dangerous :)
Nice, I just started The Rise of Endymion
One book behind ya :)
Have you read The Expanse? How does it compare?
I loved the Expanse series, but like Hyperion better. Has the literary structure of Canterbury Tales if you’ve read that. The story spans four books and doesn’t click entirely until you reach the last part of the last book. It’s fantastic. (I’m rereading the series)
Hyperion is a bit more futuristic, but a lot more asymmetric compared to Expanse, keeping it fresh. It’s ideas and ethics go a lot further. It asks and answers questions that people are currently concerned about, or could soon be concerned about, give or take a century or two. I won’t spoil it, but it’s excellent sci-fi. The author clearly did a lot of research while writing it. :)
Currently: Expanse book #1, Discworld book #1, Code by Charles Petzvold, and Raspberry Pi Operating System Assembly Language: Hands On Guide by Bruce Smith. I tend to switch between them based on my mood
Raspberry Pi, eh? I have a Raspberry Pi 400.
The Color of Magic may be my favorite book of all time.
Lemmy.
Based, reading comments instead of the book
Re-reading the Count of Monte Cristo
My library loan for the Expanse second book expired because I was lazy. Also I had a 5h car trip the other day and decided for the first time to start listening to an audio book! It will take me 20ish hours of listening to finish the first book of Lord of the rings but I am kinda exited about it!
Audiobooks are great for commutes. If you got the version narrated by Andy Serkis, be prepared for him to really dig deep into the songs and rhyming.
Nah I’ve been listening to it in my native tongue!
How are you liking F is for Fugitive?
It’s great…the detective was staying at a motel and investigating someone’s murder and played the anti-hero by beating someone up.
I suspect there’s a twist further in the story, but I don’t know for certain: I’m still reading it and I just had it renewed by my local librarian.
Currently reading A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. Liking it so far.
Last finished A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Didn’t enjoy it as much as The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
“Burn Book” by Kara Swisher A book about Big Tech and Tech Giants by the one journalist, who followed the development in Silicon Valley from the beginning. So far I like it very much. Swisher is still convinced, that tech (companies) can make this place a better world, if it wasn’t for the irresponsibility of its owners. It’s comforting to see her love for tech, her frustration with company leaders, and her firm belief, that it might still work out somehow. I’m curious, how it will go on and what she thinks might help getting tech back on track.
I started reading progression fantasy on Royal Road earlier this year (a site for posting web serials). Here’s my current follow list (excluding stories that are on hiatus):
- The Runic Artist — isekai, rune-based crafting, good mix of action and slice-of-life
- The Broken Knife — Kobold MC with a dragon companion, dark but compelling read, excellent worldbuilding
- Demon World Boba Shop — cozy isekai, nice characters
- Dual Wielding — slow burn, tale of two friends (both very talented), writing is good, action scenes get dark and intense
- Legends and Librarians — cozy romance, magical library (not litrpg/progression), plenty of cute creatures
- An Otherworldly Scholar — isekai, teacher MC, good worldbuilding, nice romance, great characters, plenty of twists, adventure and danger, especially enjoyed the slice-of-life stuff
- Archmage from Another World: Gaining Administrator Access — isekai from another fantasy world, lighthearted fun with good set of characters, no looming world-level threats so far
- Underkeeper — MC is a recent magical academy graduate, good at magic but works as underkeeper (no money/connections to join adventurer groups), got darker than I’m comfortable with, but loved the characters and the demon companion
- Immovable Mage — good worldbuilding, characters, plot twists and detailed magic system, clever use of plot events pushes MC towards OP, would suggest to read at least till the end of 2nd arc
- Level One God — likeable MC, cool magic stuff I haven’t seen before, some bad moments are really dark, good writing
- Spire’s Spite — criminally underrated with only 100+ followers, mostly been spire climbing so far, good magic system, dark and has some stuff I don’t like but overall I’ve enjoyed it
- Blood Curse Academia — overall I enjoyed the combination of action, learning and mystery, but a lot of weird coincidences and stuff didn’t make sense
- Mana Mirror — loved the concept of mana garden and the myriad customization options, writing and plot was easy to follow, third volume is the best so far
- The Maid Is Not Dead — writing felt like traditionally published epic fantasy with progression elements, slow burn but events are starting to escalate
- Dark Lord’s Last Call — MC’s soul is swapped with the dark lord, plans to open a tavern, enjoyable light-hearted read
- Orphan — I usually ignore the litrpg math but this one takes it a bit too far! characters all have flaws (though sometimes it becomes a bit too irritating), good worldbuilding and mystery
- Rules of Biomancy — 70 year old herbalist MC with a secret past comes across two isekai-ed people in danger of dying and decides to help, enjoying a lot
Recently completed HFM Prescott’s The Man on a Donkey, a wonderful piece of historic fiction about the main actors (and a few fictional ones) of the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace—a rebellion against the religious changes of Henry VIII. Despite being a scholar of 16th century England I’m not at all interested in historical fiction, but this was quite a beautiful work set as a chronicle and tracing half a dozen characters from their youth until the final suppression of the Pilgrimage in summer 1537. Prescott does get straight to business so I can imagine it would be a bit difficult to place oneself without preexisting knowledge of late medieval/early modern England, but that thrown-in-the-deep-end attitude worked for me.
Edit: word is that Hilary Mantel was deeply influenced by Prescott, as was the playwright of A Man for All Seasons.
Been on a mystery kick lately too. Not much time to physically read so all audiobooks here. Recently finished “Holly” by Stephen King and “Listen for the Lie” by Amy Tintera. Both are great as audiobooks!
Tomorrow, I’m completing “Tell the Machine Good Night” by Katie Williams (SciFi… Just okay ". After I’m excited to move onto “Dungeon Crawler Carl”. I heard from many its one of best audiobooks ever!
Picked up The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville and Keanu Reeves. It’s part of the BRZRKR universe from comic books.
I gotta be honest though, the BRZRKR story is so incredibly visual, it doesn’t translate well to a novel.
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I’m currently slogging through the Illuminatas trilogy, things finally feel like they’re starting to make sense. Let’s hope it stays like that
