Official Reading/Book Thread

[fishy 1,757]

On 4/4/2024 at 11:22 PM, aimkin said:

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

ooo, this is on my TBR, I'd love to hear what you think of it!!

[Josh 1,672]

@fishy still comes here?!

 

[jacobcarson877 2,559]

last batch of essays due for my girlfriend so I spent the whole weekend laying beside her crushing the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, and yup I get the hype. Got a couple more pages to go here and then we'll see where my whims take me next!

[Aimee 1,148]

4 hours ago, fishy said:

ooo, this is on my TBR, I'd love to hear what you think of it!!

I'll let you know!

[VattghernCZ 1,049]

After reading the first two Game of Thrones books (overrated imo) and one shorter book by Žemlička, I got back to Abercrombie, this time Best Served Cold. While not as great as the OG First Law trilogy imo, it's awesome to get POV by some OG trilogy side characters.

 

That POV style Abercrombie uses just works so well to get you invested in the characters.

Edited April 8 by VattghernCZ

[frescoelmo 1,282]

Forced myself to finish the last 100 pages of Atomic Habits yesterday (good book but it becomes incredibly redundant after the first few chapters imo).  Starting "How To Avoid A Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates, the goat, tomorrow because Purdue plays tonight <3<3<3

 

Edited April 8 by frescoelmo

[STZ 5,386]

I’ve been going through a lot of the classics the past year now. Kinda going back and reading books I did in High School. Just finished, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”.

 

It’s pretty easy and fast read. Interested to know if anyone else has read it before. But yeah, still knocking out some classics. I just started Fahrenheit 451 today..

[der meister 3,236]

For those of you reading Wheel of Time, stick with it. Some books are a bit of a slog to get through (looking at you, book 10), but it's worth it. Don't watch Wheel of Prime. Complete trash. The WoT audiobooks are excellent, as well, and a lot of libraries have audiobook lending via app. I'm currently listening to book 8 again as I make my way through the series.

 

As for Sanderson, don't sleep on his one offs. I'm a big fan of Warbreaker, and Elantis is a fascinating debut. The first book of Mistborn was my favorite. 

 

I'm still slowly working my way through the Warhammer 40k book Xenos. I did buy myself The Last Ronin, the Ninja Turtles graphic novel in hardcover. That's my treat after Xenos. Then it's on to either Deus Ex: Icarus Effect, or a John La Carré novel, of which I have several and have read none.

[der meister 3,236]

On 3/31/2024 at 11:00 PM, Garsh said:

I just finished Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken  https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/62587788 

I did a mix of reading the physical book and listening to the audio book, which i had access to via spotify.  The first time I had listened to anything in audiobook format.  I really enjoyed the book.

 

I am very into cyberpunk settings right now so I will probably stick with that genre.

 

If you haven't yet, read "Snow Crash" by Stephenson and "Neuromancer" and "The Peripheral" by Gibson, and  Very different kinds of technology-based sci-fi. 

[Garsh 1,195]

3 hours ago, der meister said:

 

If you haven't yet, read "Snow Crash" by Stephenson and "Neuromancer" and "The Peripheral" by Gibson, and  Very different kinds of technology-based sci-fi. 

 

The Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive) is on my list, I have it along with Burning Chrome

 

Currently reading Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence by Rafal Kosik

[fishy 1,757]

@aimkin i read Legendborn and Bloodmarked over the past couple days, and they are SO GOOD. i will be eager to re-read them next year in anticipation of Oathbound

[Aimee 1,148]

21 hours ago, fishy said:

@aimkin i read Legendborn and Bloodmarked over the past couple days, and they are SO GOOD. i will be eager to re-read them next year in anticipation of Oathbound

Hell yea! So glad you're enjoying it. 

[N0HBDY 1,128]

I don’t remember who recommended it, maybe @Gustav  2-3 years ago when I bought it, but I’m just beginning The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. 

[Gustav 6,468]

6 hours ago, N0HBDY said:

I don’t remember who recommended it, maybe @Gustav  2-3 years ago when I bought it, but I’m just beginning The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. 

Probably wouldn’t have been me. I did read it and like it about 10 years ago but there are people way more into it than I ever got. It’s good stuff though!

 

I haven’t read too much myself lately and most recently I’ve been a bit disappointed by the first half of Billy Summers by Stephen King, whose work I usually love. It’s written entirely in the present tense and something about that doesn’t click very well with me. I should keep going, though, because some of his books seem uneventful until it all turns insane in the last 100 pages or so. 

[Berocka 2,263]

Really loving the Very Hungry Caterpillar at the moment 

[Scurvy 1,538]

9 hours ago, Gustav said:

disappointed by the first half of Billy Summers 

It was a let down for me as well.  I am hit or miss on Stephen King.  Love most of his books, especially The Green Mile and The Stand but the Summers book just didn't resonate with me. 

[Victor 11,009]

On 4/8/2024 at 6:56 PM, STZ said:

I’ve been going through a lot of the classics the past year now. Kinda going back and reading books I did in High School. Just finished, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”.

 

It’s pretty easy and fast read. Interested to know if anyone else has read it before. But yeah, still knocking out some classics. I just started Fahrenheit 451 today..

Yeah I did years ago, agree completely on how easy it was to read and quite clever in how you really get to understand the kid's perspective (I think he had autism or was on the spectrum to some degree?).

 

Also picked up Fahrenheit 451 randomly in a hotel room a few months ago, maybe you left it.  I thought the set-up was interesting but the plot just fizzled out which was a bit disappointing.

 

Also bashing through classics recently after years of not reading at all really. Read 2 random Jack Reacher novels - both very much in the easy to read / hard to put down mould. Storm Island by Ken Follett another one in that category - and a real gripping thriller.

 

And finally on the classics front read Catch-22 recently - really hard work to follow to begin with because it takes non-linear an extreme. But rewarding once you make it past the first half.

[frescoelmo 1,282]

Finished "Beyond The Pale" a few weeks ago, great book and different vibe for me.  Looking forward to getting the 2nd book in the trilogy later this year.

 

 

 

 

I am about a quarter through this gem which talks about the America being better than every other country

[Enorama 2,039]

On 6/4/2024 at 11:46 PM, Gustav said:

I haven’t read too much myself lately and most recently I’ve been a bit disappointed by the first half of Billy Summers by Stephen King, whose work I usually love. It’s written entirely in the present tense and something about that doesn’t click very well with me. I should keep going, though, because some of his books seem uneventful until it all turns insane in the last 100 pages or so. 

 

It picks up like all his other works do but it's not one of his best for sure. It also gets just as weird and uncomfortable as his others if I recall correctly.

 

Reading ssn is starting up for me. One Agatha Christie short story collection done, midway through another, and also just picked up Dune Messiah after finishing the other earlier this year.

 

On my to-read list this summer:

Joe Wilkins - The Entire Sky (releasing July 2). Really liked his debut novel Fall Back Down When I Die.

J.M. Miro - Ordinary Monsters

Stephen King - The Shining & Doctor Sleep. Saw the Doctor Sleep movie last year and loved it, and then caught The Shining for the first time in theatres this spring and loved it too. Might as well get around to the books now.

R.F. Kuang - Yellowface (I know @fishy read it earlier this year but no review and no rating!)

Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden

 

Any new releases you folks are excited about this year?

[fishy 1,757]

On 6/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, Enorama said:

R.F. Kuang - Yellowface (I know @fishy read it earlier this year but no review and no rating!)

Yeah, I read this late last year and really liked it. I'd probably give it a strong 4 or 4.5 star rating. It's easier reading than Babel, but I didn't like it as much as The Poppy War trilogy (which I'm currently re-reading).

 

I'm almost done with Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson, which I'm reading with my dad. We'll read 4.5 and have a few months to spare before the final Stormlight Archive installment comes out in December.

 

I've got way too much on my to-read shelf right now and have been flying through books this year. I have no idea how to prioritize what's next, but I do know I want to continue the Broken Earth trilogy (first book is The Fifth Season, never read anything like it and absolutely recommend it to seasoned fantasy/sci-fi readers) and Between Earth and Sky trilogy, which competed earlier this year.

 

I also have The Bone Season sitting on my shelf right now, which I'd love to get to soon. Samantha Shannon's other books are spectacular, and I have high hopes for it.

[Victor 11,009]

Picked up a Stephen King for the first time and... didn't like it at all?

 

It was The Gunslinger, the first one of the Dark Tower series but I just got bored midway through, flicked to the end, realised the ending was just set up for the rest of the series, and didn't finish it. Very rare that happens to me.

 

Was it just a bad one to start with? Or just because it was an introduction to a bigger world? I just felt it was too mysterious to be engaging so if that's just his style I might not bother with any others. Well written and good world building, I just... didn't care?

[Enorama 2,039]

3 hours ago, Victor said:

Was it just a bad one to start with? Or just because it was an introduction to a bigger world? I just felt it was too mysterious to be engaging so if that's just his style I might not bother with any others. Well written and good world building, I just... didn't care?

 

He so rarely writes series that I don't think your interest in that one would be necessarily indicative of your interest in the rest of his writing.

 

I will say that he is very well known for writing pretty slow burn worldbuilding stories then then end with a bang in the last 20% or so, so if that isn't your speed he may not be for you. My personal favourites of his are some of his longer works because of how much you just get to live in that world (It, 11/22/63, and The Stand especially).

 

If you want to try something a little shorter - maybe The Outsider? I personally really enjoyed it and I feel like it gets moving a lot earlier than his other books.

[Scurvy 1,538]

On 6/26/2024 at 11:40 AM, Victor said:

Was it just a bad one to start with

I thought the Gunslinger was terrible too.  I stopped after book 2.  Some people love it but it didn’t resonate with me either.  
 

I am hit or miss on King as a writer.  Some I truly love like Shawshank, Green Mile, the Stand, and others but some that are popular just don’t make it for me.  

[VattghernCZ 1,049]

King is great imo. But the whole Dark Tower series is sort of out of character for him. Not my favorite. But man, I love me some Shining (one of my favorite books period), Needful Things or Desperation.

 

I must say I haven't read a King (or Richard Bachman lol) book I would dislike. I've read a few meh ones, but none that I wouldn't finish.

[OrbitingDeath 3,228]

On 6/5/2024 at 2:36 PM, Berocka said:

Really loving the Very Hungry Caterpillar at the moment 

Wait till you get to The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Birthday Party