Hello Everyone!

What are you all reading?

I am currently going through a re-read of Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Currently on 2nd book, Fool Moon.

  • RudeGryphon@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I just finished Project Hail Mary. A wonderful and fun read. Highly recommend if you like science fiction.

    • TheMinions@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      What do you think of it? It’s on my list to try and read before the end of the year.

      I watched the first 5 or so episodes of the Prime show a while ago and was interested but it didn’t keep me hooked.

      • Daisyifyoudo@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I watched s1 and thought it was ok. A little too teen angsty for me, but the introduction to the universe was enough to get me to start the 1st book. A year and a half later, and 14 books in ( I’m halfway through the very last one) and I’m absolutely floored.

        The whole series is nothing short of epic; the world building, magic system, character arcs, the story. One of my favorite reads so far, and certainly my most favorite in the fantasy genre.

      • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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        1 year ago

        It’s a great series, but like many such stories, some of the books in the middle are a bit of a slog, but still a great series overall.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      It’s one of my favourite series, and probably one of my most re-read one. Maybe because it was one of the first epic fantasy of such huge proportions that I ever read.

      It has been a long time since I read it last. Just not sure I have the time to start 14-book series these days. Maybe some day…

  • VeryFinePrint@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Just read an erotic romance, Heart of the Mountain by Snek Guy. It is about a mercenary going up a mountain to slay a dragon and take her hoard of gold. Things don’t go quite as he planned. It was well written, but a bit too much smut for my taste. I wrote a bit more here.

    Just started the My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror series.

  • TheMinions@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Bit late to the party, but I just started reading the Final Empire, Mistborn series #1. Only a few chapters in, but I’m enjoying it so far!

  • Okokimup@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I just started City of Refuge by Tom Piazza. It’s a fictional account of two families in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. I’m only 12% in but so far I’m impressed by how real I feel like the pov characters are.

    Also reading Lichtenbergianism by Dale Lyles. It’s about using procrastination as a creative strategy. 30% in, and juries out on whether I’ll find anything helpful in it.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      procrastination as a creative strategy

      I want this. I like procrastinating! Share your opinions about finishing it.

      City of Refuge looks like an interesting book. Going to check it out.

      • Okokimup@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I got more inspiration from the Lichtenbergian book than new information. Among other things, it made me start a kanban for my personal projects and now I have less anxiety over how much I need to do and in what order. If you’d like, I’m happy to mail you my copy, since I’m unlikely to read it again.

  • Sarbustal@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’ve read maybe 3 books all the way through in my entire life. My girlfriend has been trying to get me to read before bed and on the recommendation of some discord friends I purchased Infinite Jest and am a quarter of the way through it. It’s been a jarring book with the tonal shifts and the way it rapid fires between characters and settings, but I’ve absolutely loved some of the perspectives and dialog that DFW creates. If anyone else is a fan, I’d love more recommendations in the same vein, specifically the type of warped humor and how it stems from the human condition.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      I haven’t read Infinite Jest, so can’t recommend anything like that, but keep visiting these posts, I am sure you’ll be able to find something you like.

      Or you can create a separate post, asking for recommendations, it should get you more visibility.

  • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Ward by wildbow. Not technically a book but it’s wonderful if you are into that genre and honestly probably still good if you aren’t. Finished worm and while back and would definitely recommend that as well

    To give a brief idea it’s “what if super powers came from incredible trauma and were designed to be the worst possible power for them specifically” there’s a lot more to it like A LOT but that is a general idea. It follows Taylor and her journey after gaining power. It’s essentially her struggle to be in control of everything that goes on around her

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      I read quite a bit of Worm, I think I was near the end, but then took a break, and after that couldn’t find where I stopped. I plan to reread it someday.

      How’s Ward compared to Worm?

      • Dolphinfucker420@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Ward is less fighty fighty action and more dealing with trauma and mental illness. If you remember what happened to glory girl you’ll know what I mean when I say shits fucked.

        I personally prefer worm so far but I think ward is better writing objectively

  • brenticus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have a couple of overdue library books I should probably finish and return, but instead I’m reading a couple volumes of Combatants will be Dispatched because laughing is better than being a decent human being.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      laughing is better than being a decent human being.

      Heh, that made me chuckle.

      How is “Combatants will be Dispatched”? I have read Chinese and Korean light/web novels, but am not acquainted with Japanese ones. Any recommendations?

      • brenticus@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Combatants will be Dispatched is hilarious. It might be the dumbest, most useless cast of characters I’ve ever read about. After a couple of volumes most of the main conflicts are problems they caused for themselves which is very satisfying.

        I find I read a lot of web novels (or more commonly the graphic adaptations) to tweak certain tropes I crave now and then. It’s not often I find one that is actually just a satisfying read chapter to chapter. Light novels are often similar, but they’ve gone through some more editing and development so it’s more common for a volume to actually be some sort of satisfying chunk of story to read.

        If you’re looking for genuinely good reads, I recommend Apothecary Diaries, Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade, or the Monogatari series. If you want some dumb fun there are so many options, but The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Konosuba, and I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level are a few different but good ones.

  • FlavorPacket@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m about half way through The Obelisk Gate which is the second book of the broken earth series by N.K. Jemisin. I’m really enjoying it.

      • FlavorPacket@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I can see that, but I think the dramatic plot points and twists are a good payoff for the slower parts of the story. At least in the first book I got a little bored with all of the traveling, but when they finally get where they are going it picks up significantly.

        I’m loving this thread. Lots of ideas for my next reads!

        • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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          1 year ago

          Oh yeah, I agree that overall the books are worth it. That’s why I said I loved the series.

          And yeah, some really neat book suggestions in this thread, and in many different genres.

  • Mojave@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    House of Leaves. It’s sick. Anyone got other books that go off the rails like that?

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      Les Furtifs looks interesting, from what I could glean. Is it available in English?

      And Mathematica is just a Mathematics book, right?

      • xiao@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I do not think that Les Furtifs is available in English yet…

        As for Mathematica, yes it is about the Mathematic however at a personal development level. David Bessis tries to explain that people’s brain is compatible with the mathenathic. Some people wrongly think that they are bad at this because nobody taught them how to do. For him abstraction is something that need to be trained. An example is that each one of us can easily imagine (to watch in our head) a perfect circle even if it does not exist in our reality. The author explains that to do Math is to learn to fail, to make mistakes, to correct our intuition.

  • Andjhostet@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Currently Reading:

    The Iron Heel, by Jack London

    Basically one of the first major political dystopias written in the modern sense. It’s super cool too, basically the book is an old manuscript about an attempted socialist revolution, before the world was taken over by oligarchic tyrannical capitalists. There’s basically two stories being told, one in the socialist narrative itself occurring in the past, and one in the footnotes, showing glimmers of some of the capitalist horrors in the “present time”. Super neat way to tell a story, and I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s super heavy handed, and I would maybe call it similar to a socialist version of an Ayn Rand dystopia, like Anthem, but you know… Actually good. And thematically opposite to any coherent thought Ayn Rand tried to impart onto her readers.

    Paved Paradise, How Parking Explains the World, by Henry Grabar

    Not too far into this one, but it’s a non-fiction book about parking policy, and how parking has basically ruined American cities over the last 70 years. I’ve been really getting into city planning books lately, so we’ll see how much I like this one. Some pretty eye opening statistics so far, and the writing style seems fine.

    DNF’d recently:

    Walden, by Henry David Thoreau

    Jesus this dude is insufferable. I read a lot of dense stuff, and have read many authors that like the sound of their own voice, but Thoreau takes the cake. Preaches self-reliance and disparages philanthropy but squats on his buddies land and lives off of gifts from friends, while doing absolutely nothing and providing no value to society. The guy just exudes a “holier than thou” attitude throughout the whole book, with absolutely nothing to back it up. I quit after 100 pages of this absolute joke contradicting himself the entire time. He would occasionally stumble upon some brilliance that I found a bit insightful, but it was few and far between, and the 98% of the rest was pure, unadulterated garbage. I really haven’t had this negative of a reaction to something I’ve read for quite some time, I generally like everything I read. Maybe I’m just too simple to understand his self proclaimed brilliance.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      Interesting list of books. Not the kind of thing I usually read, but The Iron Heel looks to be an interesting book. I would also be interested in hearing what you thought about Paved Paradise once you are done with it.

      As for Walden, if you didn’t know anything about Thoreau and his life, would you still think the same about the book? I am just wondering if it’s the contradiction between his life (which I know nothing about) and his work that turned you off.

      • Andjhostet@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Honestly I noticed the contradiction first, then looked up his life as I got progressively more and more annoyed with him. The first time I noticed it was when he talked about the benefits of solitude, and denigrating people who felt loneliness. Then, not much later, he mentioned his “solitary location” is a measly 2 MILES from a town, and a railroad goes right by him. He literally hears the train whistle every day, and seems trains and train riders all the time, while acting like he’s in solitude Alaska or something. He also mentions that people visit him almost every day. Of course you don’t get lonely you idiot.

        Basically I noticed some contradictions in his writing, and his tone was just so insufferable so I started looking up things to learn more about him. The more I learned, the more I realized I just hate this guy.

        • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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          1 year ago

          Heh. Well, at least he made you learn you something new, even though it was just hate for the guy himself. 😃

          Thanks for the details.

  • Orexis_Vexatii@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I recently finished the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Wonderful books. I read it in order of subseries which is a good way to get into the books, but it does make it a bitt jarring when going back to the first books, before Pterry really found his stride. Once I get around to a reread I think I’ll do it chronologically.

    As a change of pace i continued with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Something of a whiplash change from Discworld and a it got me a bit too amped when reading right before bed. Still a very fun and interesting read.

    Now onto SAS: Rogue Heroes, which i started earlier but have yet to finish.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      I have read about a quarter of Discworld novels, wanted to read them all in released order, but couldn’t find many books. I plan to start the re-read again once I have found some of the remaining books.

      • Orexis_Vexatii@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The books are very much worth rereading. The layers of jokes and references are so deep that you likely won’t catch all on the first or second reads.

        I can recommend The Annotated Pratchett File, https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/, for an in depth review of a lot of jokes and references. It explains a lot of things that are hard to catch if you haven’t grown up in England. Many things i thought Pterry had made up for the Disc is just references to real world things and events.

        • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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          1 year ago

          Wow, just took a quick peek at the that, and it’s really detailed. Bookmarked the page and downloaded a copy. Will check it after reading each book.

          • Orexis_Vexatii@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Sadly i’ve just discovered that from Going Postal and onwards there are no annotations. Seems the project never finished with all the books :/

      • be_gt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m currently in the end of book 7 so still got a lot to read.I’ve been reading it several hours per day since March! So it is a lot of text but I like those kind of big books/series

        • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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          1 year ago

          Nice. I am taking a break from web novels, it effects my other books, but adding it to my list, for when I get back to them.

  • mikiao@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    re-reading the Malazan, Book of the Fallen. Currently on Toll the Hounds. I’m enjoying the re-read.

    • dresden@discuss.onlineOPM
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      1 year ago

      One of these days, I need to finally start reading Malazan series. Maybe time to start collecting the whole series.

      Have you also read all the novellas, prequels, sequels, and malazan empire series?