I’ve put together a collage of some books from last months What are you Reading? post. It’s mostly random, but the more discussion something gets the more it stands out to me. Going forward I’m going to make a new post every month to talk about what people are reading.
Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (July 2023)
At any rate, what are you currently reading or plan to read in August?
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Currently reading 11-22-63. Pretty bloody grim and depressing in places, but good enough to hold my attention.
Finished Locked In by John Scalzi not long prior. Great thought experiment considering it was written long before covid too.
Read Locked In recently and really enjoyed it! Would recommend it to anyone looking for their next adventure. Police procedural meets sci fi and a very satisfying read.
I got about half way through 11-22-63 some years back. I think King is just too much bloat for me much of the time or I need to be in a different frame of mind to read him. I’ve always said I’d revisit it, but I haven’t.
I find the audiobooks good for long drives when I’ve got time to kill, but can understand you sentiment.
I did used to listen to them back when I often had a long commute. I have a harder time focusing on them if I’m not driving though. But that may be a better way to get into some books that aren’t working for me. Especially if the narrator is particularly good.
Read 11-22-63 recently while on a king kick. Love his ideas and was disappointed in the Hulu show, so I went to the source. Illustrates how difficult it would be as a present day man in the sixties. Modern, tolerant ideals clash with the racism, bigotry, ignorance of that era. With some time travel stuff every now and then to remind you this isn’t just a book about the sixties. Still a believable fantasy and compelling read . “The past is obdurate”
Ooohh I loved 11-22-63. Had to go and read IT as soon as I finished, so I could get some of the references.
Frank Herbert’s Dune
Masterpiece
I’m 6 books into expanse series, and I’ve kind of lost steam with it. Might need a break. Read bobiverse in full just before it. First children of time book was good but didn’t know if I wanted to read book 2.
Also loved project hail Mary and the dark Forest/three body trilogy.
Any other suggestions?
I’m currently half way through the third book of the Children of Time trilogy. I LOVED book one. I think having just read “Other Minds” (Peter Godfrey-Smith, great non fiction about the mental processes of [the animal starring in the second book]) a while back made me appreciate the second book even more than I would have otherwise.
The Messengers by Lindsay Joelle is a short story only available on audible (free for members). It kind of reminded me of Children of Time and I really liked it.
Different style, but I liked all the books you listed and also loved Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut- time/space travel as envisioned in the 1950s.
I may circle back to book 2 of children of time… Thanks.
Book 7 was a bit of a drag for me, more so than book 6. Books 8 and 9 are really fast paced and good. It’s all proto molecule stuff. I remember not caring about the free navy and just wanting to get on with the larger series plot during 6 and 7. You may have to trudge through those to get to the good stuff though.
Good to know. Also I mis spoke, I’m mid book 7 and kinda bored at present
Try the revelation space series, they are a little slow at times but I really enjoyed them
Just finished Leviathan Wakes today. Can’t wait for my Amazon delivery of Caliban’s War.
Gave these a go after getting a bit bored of the series and wow, I wish I read them before spoiling the story beats for myself by watching it
Still, once you get past where amazon are leaving the series it gets even better - screw Cas Anvar
Finished the last book and immidately read Memories Legion, which I heartily recommend too, fills in some interesting gaps and interactions that were only lightly touched on throughout the series
I loved the series, but i think the books make the main characters much more relatable while the series makes the secondary characters really shine. I’ve been reading all the books, but have thrown other things in between like LoTR, The Foundation, and Hornblower which has made me excited to start the next Expanse book.
Great books, Leviathan wakes was an intense and exciting book you are really in for a treat with the rest of the series.
I wish I could forget and reread entire series without knowing how it’s going to unfold.
Project Hail Mary. Paid more than I liked for a single book but quickly found it is one of my favourite books of all time!
Andy Weir’s second best book after “The Martian” in my opinion. But not by far, it was a great read and I enjoyed every page of it. Rocky for intergalactic president!
I liked the bigger scope of PHM, but Weir is Weir and great. It’s like going to an amazing homemade ice-cream stand. You might like vanilla caramel, and your friend might like the strawberry chocolate, but you’re both just happy the place is open.
I made a kind of “if you like PHM you might like these other books” rec chart thing when I first read PHM; if you’ve finished reading it you might enjoy some of these (although it does mention a few key elements of the book so if you’re going in completely blind and aren’t far in yet then don’t look at this yet).
Mine too! Between that, The Martian and Artemis, I’m pretty much guaranteed to buy anything else that Andy Weir publishes.
I randomly chose this to listen to on audible a couple months back; I loved it! So fun, so thought provoking, such a good book.
Easily the best book I’ve read in the last 5 years
Wool by hugh howey
Wife and I watched silo and enjoyed it so I thought I’d read the books.
You can buy the books DRM free off his website https://hughhowey.com/books/wool/
Make sure you get all 3. Wool shift and dust.
How did you like the show? I read the books when the came out and just remember snippets of them. I sure enjoyed them, though.
We liked it pretty well… A lot of the internet didn’t like the accents… but meh what ever. Over all it was enjoyable and I look forward to the next season.
The book is a smidge different but the changes they made are for the benefits of the viewing audience.
Can I read drm free books on a Kindle?
No idea. :( I’d assume since it’s a version of Android you’d be able to install an app that reads those files.
“Between the Stars” by Kirk Maxwell.
Got it for a few bucks on Amazon.https://www.amazon.ca/Between-Stars-Kirk-Maxwell/dp/B0BQ99KRVB
Thanks I’ll check it out!
Currently reading The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi.
I love the Old Man’s War series.
Just finished book 1 of Old Man’s War and am 1/3 through Ghost Brigades now. I am enjoying the series and happy that it’s got some long legs with the number of books available.
That whole series was so much fun!
I’m currently in the middle of Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. I’m only about 15% of the way through so I don’t have a great picture of what is going on or what it is about yet. It seems like the main premise is about an archeologist who has been working on an excavation of an ancient species on a distant planet for an extremely long period of time that likely has far reaching implications about the universe. I’ve definitely never read anything similar to this in the past.
The other book I plan on reading (listening to) is The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers of which I know basically nothing about. I tend to listen to a book whenever I can’t read such as when I’m driving or bathing and then read at times that I can like before sleeping. I find it is a good system to get through 2 books at once.
I really enjoyed reading TLWtaSAP.
It was incredibly refreshing in that it was almost just slice-of-life at times; so much time was dedicated to just getting to know the characters in not necessarily extreme scenarios.
Just finished the first three books for Red Rising. Really loved it. Not sure if I want to start the next part of the series. I just want the main character to be happy. Can’t take more of his torture.
Lol I feel this comment in my bones. I’m trying to emotionally prepare myself to read Lightbringer.
I like how this mentality is still a thing years later. I read the first three as they came out, thought “what a great trilogy!”, and then “Oh no…” when I saw it was going to continue. Even if it’s great, I’m of your opinion, I just want the main characters to be happy already! I still haven’t read the sequel trilogy to this day, lol.
Just started Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie and seems great so far. I have no idea what is going on with how people are gendered in the various languages but I’m looking forward to puzzling it out.
I stopped in the middle of the first one. It was too much work to keep track of what was happening. Maybe I’ll try again.
I’ve finished them now, and I can safely say that it’s only really the first half of the first book or so where things are confusing. It does get quite good as well, so it might be worth your time.
I loved all the ancillary books. IMO not knowing anyone’s gender for sure was part of the fun. It does rely on the reader to work at making connections tho. I can see why some folks don’t like that aspect, but I personally like some challenge.
The best way to describe those books is “subtle.”
I loved them, and translation state feels like the start of a new series in the same universe. The worst part is how often Anaander Mianaai is written and how that many 'a’s just fail to compute in my head.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did all that heavy lifting, and I’ve got to say she was great!
She was fantastic!
However her reading of translation state involved the most guttural pronunciation of grandmama I’ve ever heard
Haha, yes it did 🤣
I recently read “A Memory Called Empire” by Arkady Martine. It’s the first book I’ve read by her and her writing style got me good. Her background as an historian shines through in the Empire she crafted. She won a hugo or nebula for the book but I can’t be bothered to look it up at the moment.
What an excellent book. I love political intrigue and this book does that so well. Her second book in the series “A Desolation Called Peace” is very nearly as good.
Just about to start Memories of Ice, book 3 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Oooooo baby! I firmly maintain the malazan books are one of the best series but take 3 books for the full shape of things to begin to be revealed. For me, memories of ice and book 4 were the two that drew me into the series. Enjoy!
It’s my second read through so I know how good it is 😁 I did find that I’d forgotten a lot of interesting stuff in the first two books though. Can’t wait to see what treasures I’d forgotten in this one.
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It’s been a while since I read anything of his and I’m loving it.
Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers.
Such amazing, lovely sci-fi that touches on so many topics.
Last one is based in a really nice intergalactic truck stop. Or like an airport hotel maybe.
And I didn’t realise it until my second read-through, but it’s basically all about cross-species accessibility/accomodations.
Really beautiful stuff.
I really liked how positive they all were without being relentlessly upbeat, and that they’re mostly just small character stories in their universe instead of grand space opera stuff. It’s just people working through their problems and they happen to be in space and sometimes have to worry about that.
It’s also a neat way to do a ‘shared universe’(?). Other than the second, none of the books are direct sequels. It’s someone who’s related to / knows a character from another book but there’s not a grand overarching plot or anything. Reminds me a bit of some pieces of the old Star Wars Expanded universe where sometimes an author just wanted to tell a bottle story that wasn’t concerned with Jedi/Sith politics. …or I guess Tokyo Drift… :P
The most wholesome SciFi in existence. It feels like a warm, humanitarian hug from a bunch of aliens. Great series!
I’m stuck in the third trisolaris book. Can’t get into it really.
Definitely the slowest of the three IMO, but the back third of the book really gives a great conclusion to the story at large. Definitely worth finishing once!
Yeah that was the one where I ditched the series. First two were pretty cool though IMO
