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just finishing Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. it's definitely taken me a lot longer than i would have liked, but between moving to a new city, a new job, and other hobbies/interests, it's taken me a month and a half
going through some sci-fi i've been wanting to read for a while, so next is either Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Project Hail Mary, or There is no Antimemetics Division
I'm about halfway through 11-22-63. Audiobook, quite good
Not sure I'll finish this one, but currently I'm reading Magna Carta by David Carpenter. It's a pretty heavy historical book on - you guessed it - the Magna Carta, an important British legal document written on 1215. I picked this one up from the library refuse bin for a nominal fee. I suppose I felt inspired to read more on the document since it established that the king is not above the law and habeas corpus. Principles that some unnamed countries should consider.
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Lots of modern cyberpunk seems to have come from this book.
Neuromancer was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read and it convinced me the genre was worth reading.
This is kinda part of a new shift to "go back" to reading more fantasy and science fiction again. The last years I have mostly read contemporary stuff and non-fiction. Over Christmas I read both Children of Time (very good, but not quite as captivated as many others) and I re-read A Game of Thrones (even better than I remembered it), and it has kinda rekindled my love for reading.
Just discovered Cory Doctorow and started "the internet con" very good so far
This is actually the first Steven King book I think I've read. Which is surprising because one of my best friends in school was obsessed with his books and I read a novel a week back then and usually would take suggestions. I'm not sure why I never read King. I even read John Saul.
At any rate, The Tower is fantastic. I'm glad I never read it so that I can enjoy it now. Heh.
I have nearly read the Mistborn series a few times. I might need to check that out
I started the 10 book series of X-Wing Rogue Squadron. Seems to be Top Gun in space. I always enjoy a good space shoot up.
Yesterday, I finished up the last book of the trilogy Silo. Wonderful read.
After the first XWing book I’ll hit up some Nebula winner short stories to alternate with X-Wing for a little variety.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Someone mentioned the author in another thread saying he was peak sci-fi right now, so went off just that and went in blind.
It’s definitely got my attention so far. Very interesting.
Fantastic book, I think it's one of my all-time favs.
Me too! I think I saw that same thread.
I think it's interesting as well, but I do have a few issues with it. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes though.
I read it just last month, very interesting book. You can really tell he studied zoology.
Me too!
My phone broke, so in the last week I read 8 books in the Executioner pulp series from the 70s, Larry Niven's "Destiny's Road", and Warthog: Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War.
I love Larry Niven's writing. In this book he created a lot of world, and there are corners that we never got to see. Good stuff.
Warthog was a really well-written book based on interviews right after the Gulf War. It's one of my favorite military planes. I got pretty attached to the pilots by the end of the book.
Paris 1919 by Margaret Macmillan - all of these dudes are so racist and hate poor people it is nuts man. Also Wilson was a prude who should have let the queen of Rumania hit.
What is to be Done by Lenin - to keep me sane while I read about those losers
Still working my way through Katabasis by RF Kuang.
I am enjoying it, it does not feel as, I guess, academic as Babel did in that most of what is talked about academically in the book is around classic literature and philosphies about hell.
I think one thing that is going to annoy me with book will be the same as Babel, we have this alternate reality where magic plays a major role in things and i want to explore that so much more. How does it work? How was it discovered? How did it affect things? The book makes direct reference to WW2 and if magic is real to an extent how did it change thingsm
I’m reading Network Effect by Martha Wells. It’s the fifth book in The Murderbot Diaries series. I love it so far and 30% done with the book currently.
I read The Fifth Season and am now onto The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin.
The first book was pretty dark and covers some themes I’m not used to reading about (child death from mother’s perspective). I found that a bit shocking but very emotional.
The magic and world building is very interesting and I’m pretty hooked. I think the first book is better so far but will see how it ends in the third one!
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith.
About halfway through and I still have no idea what I'm reading -- all I know is I'm really enjoying it so far.
I just started the Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. The first one really sucked me in so I’ll probably finish this and the third book by the weekend.
Oh man, the Mistborn series is so damn good. LOVED it.
Yeah I am really enjoying the magic system. I can't stop thinking about how fantastic of a video game it would be.
I'm also on a Brando Sando kick! If you're loving it, I highly recommend jumping straight into Mistborn era 2 when you finish. It's a bit more lighthearted than the original trilogy with some amazing character development and plenty of references back to the originals. Mistborn was my gateway drug into the Cosmere, and I am absolutely hooked now haha. Working my way through the Stormlight Archives now, but I've taken a small break to read Warbreaker. It's been a treat finding all the connections between the different series and learning more about the universe he's building as a whole.
This is for everyone by Tim Berners-Lee
About the invention of the world wide web and the events that followed.
Working my way through The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman, it’s the second book in the Book of Dust trilogy.
I’m loving it. So much.
Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
A a sequel, it's a wild ride, like the first book in the series. Page turning is happening. Wish I read faster, is all...
I'm not book bashing by any means but if you enjoy the books you should give the audiobooks a shot, they evolve into quite the literary dramas.
All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu and The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. Having a bit of trouble with the relationships in The Incandescent so I've put it aside and am enjoying Ken Liu's latest, which is mostly about anonymity in an AI-rich society so far.
I’ve read a lot of Ken Liu’s short stories and I really enjoyed them. All That We See or Seem was the first novel I read of his and I liked it. Sometime this year, I’ll get to his Dandelion Dynasty series. I hope you like his work!
I'm sorta in the middle. I've liked some of his stuff I've read and not really enjoyed some other stuff, so we'll see. So far, this is a pretty good one though!
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, about halfway through its really good. Its book 2 of The Remeberance of Earth's Past trilogy
After two failed reads so far in the year, I'm just over 10% into Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's been good so far, but clocking in at ~600 pages means there's parts of the world building I'd prefer were a little shorter. Overall, it's been good so far.
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu.
Its a fast read, 12 short stories and I'm a bit more than half way through. I've been taken in by several of them.
Currently reading The Colour of Magic after starting the year with Sourcery, from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
I'm partway through Sipsworth. The main character is a bit sad but personable and I'm curious about the mouse. My partner says to expect things to get exciting.
I'm looking forward to the next Murderbot from Martha Wells — sarcastic cyborg who mostly hates humans but also ends up saving them.
Also looking forward to the next in the Nampeshiweisit Series by Moniquill Blackgoose which apparently is coming very soon. A boarding-school-with-dragons adventure but with lots of Native / queer folks, exploring a slightly alternate timeline of American colonization.
I've been reading "Great Short Stories by Contemporary Native American Writers", which has been pretty good.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
This has been on my list for awhile but every time I look at used books, it’s not on the shelves.
I read a lot of her other works when I was younger and forgot about this one until recently. Really enjoy her writing style. It's impressive it was written over 50 years ago.
The Pedant in the Kitchen by Julian Barnes.
I heard his last book (or what he claims is his last book) "Departure(s)" is out today and looked up what other stuff he's done, this one caught my eye being a very snarky collection of essays about cooking and cookbook authors.
How to do Nothing - I'm about halfway through now and liking it more, but not a lot. Still waiting for actionable items instead of the author just quoting a bunch of other writers.
A Confederacy of Dunces - I read the first chapter a while back and bounced off it, because the main guy is too insufferably realistic to how many Americans are. Started it again and I'm really enjoying it now.
I'm almost done with Structural Sin and the Death of Institutions by Susannah Cornwall.
I've read another one hundred pages of Marshland by Otohiko Kaga.
It's become more interesting. The writing is still very straightforward but I enjoy the descriptions of Japan and its nature. The characters are becoming a little more complex.
Just finished listening to "Breakneck" by Dan Wang. His take on China vs. US approach to economy, technology, and the future.
Main thesis is that China follows an "Engineering" approach to solving social problems (most of the leaders are engineers or scientists) whereas US has a "Legalistic" approach (most members of Congress are attorneys). Engineering gets things done and lets you build things fast, but without guardrails or protections. Legal slows things down and makes building more expensive, but has more guardrails against risk or harm. Not sure I bought the whole analogy. There was a gut-wrenching chapter on China's One Child policy and how it was implemented. Made me want to find out more about it.
I'd recommend the book to anyone interested in an alternative view, from someone with a foot in both worlds.
Started The Hour Of The Predator by Da Empoli. He has so far described MBS' rise to power in the kindom of Saud, and drawing parallels to Cesare Borgia. A bit too much sideroads into the author's official work with politicians, mainly to establish his authority on the subject, but that seems to dissipate after a while.
The Wicked + The Divine