What book(s) are you currently reading or listening to? August 11

I started Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. It's fun so far; can't really go wrong with Discworld.

There's another book called Dark Matter that's by Michelle Paver and creepy as heck.

I'm listening to Christie's Labours of Hercule Poirot (which is surprisingly dark) and reading Sam Neill's autobiography.

I found out there was an Old Man's War book 7, so I devoured that book. Kinda thought the series would end on book 6 since it was titled "The End of All Things" but book 7 was a happy surprise.

Then since I was reading John Scalzi I looked up some of his other books and settled on The Dispatcher series. I loved the premise to the series right away and enjoyed the mystery. The premise is ::: spoiler Spoiler suddenly the world changed, when someone is murdered (suicide and accidental deaths don't count) there is a very large chance (999/1000) that the person will reappear safe and sound in their home and I love the idea of a brand new profession that exploits the change in the world. :::

Already onto book 3 since they're fairly short and fast paced books.

Network Effect in the Murderbot series - it’s so good! Way better than I expected. https://hardcover.app/books/network-effect

Just finished 'The Talisman" and am currently into "Black House'. Getting ready for the third King/Straub novel on October 6, 2026!

Enjoying Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. About halfway through.

Probably will start Crooked Kingdom, the following book to Six of Crows.

I enjoy the alternating viewpoints/storytelling in the chapters of both series.

Finished Children of Time last week, now I'm on Children of Ruin.

I just finished book 5 of DCC! It does feel like the danger is reserved for everyone around them. Still, it’s interesting to see how they react to their circumstances and the shenanigans they’ll pull.

I’m also doing a Michael J Fox memoir for a book club and a silly fiction book about yarn for a fiber arts book club.

Still waiting on Libby for my sequel to The House on the Cerulean Sea.

How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North.

Interesting and funny, but a bit light as a main read. Ideal for a quickie though, as it's arranged by topic.

I read Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted and now I'm reading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both old favourites. Reading them together feels right somehow, probably because they have a thematic connection. Next up I'll be reading Blindsight by Peter Watts. I don't know much about it, but someone mentioned it on here and I found it at my local library, so I'll give it a go.

I just finished Serj Tankian's Down with the System. It's a wonderful autobiography that delves into the history of the Armenian genocide and how his activism shaped his art and vice versa.

A wonderful read if you were ever a Serj or System of a Down fan.

Just started "Steelheart" by Sanderson. I screwed up and read the short story sequel last month, not knowing it was a sequel. Massive spoilers there.

Just finished Django Wexler's "Wells of Sorcery" trilogy. I started it not knowing it was YA, but it was still a decent read.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.

OMG BLAKE CROUCH MENTIONED

I really enjoyed Recursion by him.
His mystery/thriller (im not good at genres) books are also fun!

David Graeber's 'Debt: The First 5000 Years'.

This bit stuck out from what I've read so far:

... the words of an actual hunter-gatherer — an Inuit from Greenland made famous in the Danish writer Peter Freuchen’s Book of the Eskimo. Freuchen tells how one day, after coming home hungry from an unsuccessful walrus - hunting expedition, he found one of the successful hunters dropping off several hundred pounds of meat. He thanked him. The man objected indignantly:

“Up in our country we are human!” said the hunter. “And since we are human we help each other. We don’t like to hear anybody say thanks for that. What I get today you may get tomorrow. Up here we say that by gifts one makes slaves and by whips one makes dogs.”

Listen to Dungeon Crawler Carl

Starting reading: Technopolice by Felix Treguer

Finished DCD #5 and started #6 on audible

Reading the poppy wars #2

Kinda abandoned nexus.

Just finished the audio drama "The Red Letter Day" starring Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes. It's OK, not bad, but definitely only for people with nostalgia for the 80s series with Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes.

I'm reading Real Tigers by Mick Herron. I'm a huuuuge John le Carré fan, and this series sort of scratches that itch, but it's not as "literary" or complex. It feels like a grittier, less action oriented version of the TV series "Spooks"

Just finished "The dispossessed", for the xth time starting on the next which according to this ordering is " the word for world is forest". I've read left hand of darkness also before but the other books on the hanish cycle I haven't so figured I'd do the lot.

The dispossessed is very progressive for being published in 1974!

i am still going on House of the Wolfings! still enjoying it! i am about halfway through now.

i took a little break from it to read Soft Targets by Carson Winter, a novella i picked up on a whim because Tenebrous Press was having an ebook sale. i liked it and it is the first contemporary thing i have tried to read since coming back to reading. it was fucked up but in a satisfying way, if that makes sense. i picked up another novella and some short story collections from that sale too so i really do have plenty to get on with!

Currently reading animal farm. Will probably finish today.

Just finished fourth wing, dungeon crawler carl (vol 1). I’m trying to decide if I want to continue one of those series next or read red rising.

I’ve heard good things about dark matter, and look forward to reading it.

I've devoured all of Blake Crouch's sci-fi books and enjoyed them all thoroughly. I have had his Pines trilogy in my To Read list for too long though.

After not enjoying DCC book 1 very much, I finally got bullied into carrying on and am half way through book 2 and enjoying it a lot more.

I do find that at times it seems like someone has tried to write a story in the margins of a TTRPG players handbook, but I guess that's the appeal in a way.

I'm listening to Wind and Truth by brandon sanderson. 40 more hours left to go. My buddy introduced me to stormlight archive. I now have the whole cosmere to explore. Along with the rest of my backlog that I let get out of hand.

Finished up Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass. It's more fun for people familiar enough with Oak Ridge to recognize some of the landmarks. I do know Oak Ridge, but not as well as the person who recommended this book to me.

I think up next is going to be Purity by Jonathan Franzen who is a new author for me. The title character and most of the people she meets in the first 50 pages are, if not complete basket cases, deeply flawed humans, so it might get interesting.

I just finished the Fallen Gods trilogy by Hannah Kaner over the last few days/weeks.

It's a tale of gods, faith and war set in the middle ages.

I liked the books, after getting into the first one :))

Almost halfway through book 6 of DCC, it’s around 800 pages >.<

After this it’s book two of Star Wars the Black Fleet Crisis, which is called Shield of Lies. The first book was good, although I wasn’t happy that they left all of the story lines open, usually one gets closed.

Fantasy genre doesn’t typically have the RPG elements like the Achievement popups, actual leveling with stat points, narrators, and stuff like that. Unless that’s the “theme” of it being progression. Atleast that’s my understanding, I don’t enjoy the fantasy genre too much myself.

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/olaf-stapledon/last-and-first-men

Last and First Men is an extended think piece about the possible future history of humankind, extending from the 1930s into the extreme far future, hundreds of millions of years from now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

[Arthur C] Clarke has said of Stapledon's 1930 book Last and First that "No other book had a greater influence on my life ...

Currently reading Sentenced to Troll 5 after a random joke in Dungeon Crawler Carl mentioned "The Author Steve Rowland" in book 6 leading me to a web crawl.

I'm fine with LitRPG as that's what the authors themselves are using. Progression Fantasy doesn't have the same connotations for me. Especially with actual video game UI being used in the books.

I'll likely finish "The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne" today. I'd give it 3/5 Fudgy Points (I'm debating giving it a 2/5, but that seems too harsh). It started off really strong, and then just shit the bed into basically an OK crime thriller. It has some quirkiness to it (Lori's particular ability, the setting/town/peoples), but not really enough to carry it into greatness. After about three or four chapters, the story just sustains. And the writing lacks any real literary ability to give it that national book award bump/depth that lifts so many bland stories into greatness. Also, why do they just let the bad guy monologue at them like some shitty comic book movie? That doesn't make sense. If you see it on megasale and you like crime thriller novels, give it a read.

Currently reading Project Hail Mary, next up is Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Oh boy, it's been an interesting couple weeks for me. I've been listening to "The Bible Says So." By Dan Mclellan on the way to work in the morning, and "Exodus: the Archimedes Engine," by Peter F Hamilton on the commute home. I also just spent the last 4 days up in the high Sierras with my wife, reading Dune together (it's her first time!) and fishing. My dreams have been so weird lately.

The Path of Ascension by C. Mantis - just started book 5

Listening: Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman. It has a heavy topical premise combined with Dinniman's quirky sense of nostalgia-laden humor. I really enjoy the audio productions of his books. They seem more like radio plays than audiobooks at this point with different voice actors, sound effects and such.

Reading: The High Crusade by Poul Anderson. It's an English Knights vs aliens kind of romp but the aliens suck at fighting. I am attempting to work my way through Gary Gygax's Appendix N list of books.

I started a book like two weeks ago and I'm certainly enjoying it so far. The book is titled "The Strong State and the Free Economy" and it was written by Werner Bonefeld.

Regarding Blake Crouch, I'm a fan, I've read a number of his books and enjoyed them. My wife summed up his sci-fi stories so perfectly that's it's comical to read them and see it. I'll throw spoiler tags around it, as it's a general theme.

::: spoiler THIS IS THE SPOILER A man is trying to get to his wife but science gets in the way. :::

I've also forgotten to respond to the prompt. So I'm listening to DCC, about 80% through book four. It's fun. I have my gripes with it, lots of DXM, but it's fine. It's fun.

Reading The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, which is the fifth book in The First Law series. I'll throw a spoiler up here too, but I just finished a chapter that was really something else.

::: spoiler THIS IS THE SPOILER. The chapter was from several different viewpoints of random characters on both sides of a battle, beginning moments before the battle, and following a character until their death at the hands of the next character whose perspective we'd then read on from. There were five or six character changes, and going from the death being described from the viewpoint of the dying, and picking immediately up with the viewpoint of the one meting out the death, was a really neat wY to progress the story. :::

I am hot and cold on Joe Abercrombie, but I have learned to just keep reading, because he does some great things in his stories.

Started rereading The Dresden Files. Currently on Fool Moon.

I read some books for my studies and also read "The Martian" And I must say: great read. I really enjoyed it. I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Still reading some other books for my studies and "The Path of Daggers" I'm at 22% now.

I really enjoy this community. You help me never to have an empty TBR pile.

Currently reading Hop ‘Til You Drop by J.M. Griffin. It’s the third in a cozy murder mystery about a woman who runs a rabbit rescue and helps police solve murders with her telepathic bunny named Bun. I’m sad there aren’t more because I love Bun and the way the author describes rabbit behavior is so accurate, all the way down to the snarky attitudes they get 🤣

Dark Matter was my first Blake Crouch book. I’ve now read 5 of his books and he is an author I will automatically purchase books from when I see them. I love his stuff!

Just finished 'God's Junk Drawer', by Peter Clines...

it was fine. not great, not bad, eh.

Finnegans Wake! Listened to the Naxos audiobook again-- wonderfully incomprehensible, gloriously elusive, magnificently playful, strikingly obvious, all at once (but of course, it's just five hours, the entire book would take much much more time).

Started Ulysess, but this version was read by an american. Irish or nothing! At last I found Molly Bloom's soliloquy read by an irish; didn't remember it as so risqué, if that's the word, all kinds of phantasies and memories, but it's still very very beatiful and moving.

At the Moment The Cherry Tree Theory by Rich and Rox Pink.

Neuromancer ready to be read next

The White Ensign, the history of the Royal Navy in WW2 by Stephen Rosskill.

Finished Dungeon Crawler (last one), now The Faith of the Beasts and Project Hail Mary is the next one.

Just finished Resolute by Jack Campbell and The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott.

Resolute is one of many in a space military series. In this one, they're on a mission to go make friends with the aliens. Mostly to get the war hero main character out of Space Congress's hair, heh. I really enjoyed it. Jack is great at writing space combat action, and his aliens break the mold in some ways, too.

The Nameless Land is the sequel to The Witch Roads. It's a pretty cozy tale with a sort of tragic romance involving the main character while she's traveling with a VERY ambitious prince with his eye on the crown (nevermind the heir in the way). There's a fair bit of political maneuvering behind the action.

It's also fascinating from a world building perspective. It's a magical setting with a deadly fog that covered swaths of the land. Different cultures have different ways to cope with the danger. There are wizards of a sort and restless guardian spirits keeping watch after a legendary war against sorcerer-kings.

And the main character is not all she seems...

Excellent read, Kate Elliott is one of my favorite authors.

I read through All Systems Red by Martha Wells last weekend. Very fast-paced and fun! I've got the next couple of ebooks in the Murderbot series to read from a bundle, so I'm looking forward to that.

I've started On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Poetic, with some hauntingly beautiful imagery so far.

I also read dark matter the past month. It was decent. I am kinda over the whole multiverse idea because of marvel. But it's not a terrible book.

Now I'm reading A desolation called peace. I'm a quarter of the way through and it's finally getting interesting.

Finsihed both A Parade of Horribles and Red Rising over the weekend.

Will probably start Golden Son sometime this week as an audiobook.

Not sure what else to start. Normally have an audio and physical book going but after the run through DCC kind of at a loss right now as to what else to start.

Finished Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, on to Making Money

Currently reading No longer human, wool (Silo), and Berserk Deluxe Volume 1.

I'm enjoying "Pretenders to the Throne of God" by Adrian Tchaikovsky, book 4 in the Tyrant Philosophers series.

This is Tchaikovsky at his best, seriously. I love that he didn't really "plan" this series, he just kept finding himself drawn back into it, and each book is a standalone that builds off the previous. I'm 3/4 through it and taking my time.

Currently going through Reaper by Will Wight. It's the tenth book in the Cradle series and it's starting to open the world (or should I say worlds?) up a little more. So far the entire series has been engaging and easy to keep the momentum going until the final 12th book.

I'm in my approximately eighth full readthru of the Discworld novels (in publication order). Currently in Thud! right now. Seeking information about the location of my cow ;-)

Finished reading a novel called The Gift of Rain, by Tan Twan Eng.

The story is focused in Malaysia, right before the start of World War II. The protagonist befriends a Japanese diplomat, who becomes his teacher in aikido. The breakout of war forces the protagonist to harmonize the conflicting elements of his life, as he is torn between the safety of his friends/family and his adoration for his teacher. It was a nice read overall.

I'm halfway through 'UFOs and Nukes' by Robert Hastings. It's a pretty dry read so far. I've re-entered the UFO rabbit-hole again after many years.

Also bought a copy of 'T. T. Brown's electrogravitics research' by Thomas Valone.

I just started The Odyssey translation by Emily Wilson. I’m just on the introduction but I’m interested in it so far.

I just finished A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo. I’m planning on reading the rest of the singing hills cycle

Listening to To Kill a Mockingbird. I've gone in pretty blind, but I am really enjoying it so far.

I just finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson! Man, what a banger of philosophy with a great narrative story to drive it. Wanted more space sci-fi so I'm currently reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Thoroughly enjoying it--intense read, though.

Still working my way through the Sword of Kaigen and Seeing Like a State (on the nonfiction side).