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Hell yeah on the Cosmere books.
I'm going through yet another reread of "Way of Kings" at the moment, the first of Brandon Sanderson's "Stormlight Archive". Something recently had me thinking about Kaladin's overall arc so I'm basically speeding through focusing on his story.
“Speeding through”
Just the Kaladin parts of TWoK is probably the size of a normal non-Sanderson book, lol.
Reading „Our Man in Havanna“ by Greene. It’s funny, in an interesting setting and I am really enjoying it. Has anybody read anything else by Greene?
Ooooh. I used to devour his books around the time of uni.
I also really enjoy the various settings in his stories, and the thrill. His first book I read was The Quiet American, right after Dispatches by Michael Herr (non-fiction about his time as a Vietnam War correspondent), which was a big motivator to study journalism, so of course I had to read more of his :)
Another really good spy thriller I read was I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Although I sometimes feel it's a bit heavy with the American imperialist perspectives.
Nonfiction: Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.
In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.
Fiction: Little Eyes by Samantha Schweblin
They've infiltrated homes in Hong Kong, shops in Vancouver, the streets of in Sierra Leone, town squares in Oaxaca, schools in Tel Aviv, bedrooms in Indiana. They're everywhere. They're here. They're us. They're not pets, or ghosts, or robots. They're real people, but how can a person living in Berlin walk freely through the living room of someone in Sydney? How can someone in Bangkok have breakfast with your children in Buenos Aires, without your knowing? Especially when these people are completely anonymous, unknown, unfindable.
The characters in Samanta Schweblin's brilliant new novel, Little Eyes, reveal the beauty of connection between far-flung souls--but yet they also expose the ugly side of our increasingly linked world. Trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love, playful encounters, and marvelous adventure, but what happens when it can also pave the way for unimaginable terror? This is a story that is already happening; it's familiar and unsettling because it's our present and we're living it, we just don't know it yet. In this prophecy of a story, Schweblin creates a dark and complex world that's somehow so sensible, so recognizable, that once it's entered, no one can ever leave.
Almost finished with this one and enjoying it far more than I expected to.
Started Book 1 of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust, "La Belle Sauvage". It's good so far, easy read. If it's good enough I'll do the whole trilogy now that Book 3 is finally out, I've been waiting to start book 1 for over 5 years since I found the hardcover at a secondhand bookstore for $8
Just finished number 3 and would love to chat with someone about i.t
Love me some Mistborn! Currently I am reading "Dishonored: The Veiled Terror" which is the third and final book based in the world of the Dishonored games. All three are decent books. Relatively quick reads at ~200 pages, and the stories tie in with the games well enough.
Book 1 is Corvo's POV, book 2 is Daud (yuck), and book 3 is Billie Lurk post "Death of the Outsider". I wish there was more emphasis on powers used, but the author kept it light just in case the player went the "Mostly Flesh and Steel" route. Corvo just Blinks, and Daud only Transverses. I haven't gotten far enough in Veiled Terror to comment yet, lol. I wish they could have thrown in Dark Vision at least. Still, I am enjoying them.
I'm reading The Ax, by Donald Westlake, in preparation for watching No Other Choice. I'm really enjoying it so far. It's nice anticapitalist goodness.
Working my way through Discworld for the first time. Just finished listening to Witches Abroad and enjoyed that a lot, though the previous Reaper Man story spoke to me a little more. Small Gods looks to be next, which I've seen people speak highly of, so I'm looking forward to starting that.
Life on the Disc has been such fun to read about! I'm a bit sad I never got around to reading these sooner, but then again, it's been a real highlight of this year.
After I finished Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, I bought The Hainish Novels and Stories. Yesterday I finished Rocannon's World and started Planet of Exile.
They're great books, I'm a fan. What I liked about Rocannon's World is the mixture of science fiction and fantasy elements, and how they're used to show different perspectives on the same events. Also, I would love to fly one of those windsteeds.
Looking forward to what Planet of Exile has in store.
Reading “The Will of the Many.” I see why people like it. I’m a little less than thrilled with the YA academy setting but the rest is pretty good.
Listening to “Gideon the Ninth.” I understand this one’s popularity less, but it’s okay enough to try and finish it to see if there’s something I’m missing. The narrator is great but there’s something about the writing style that leaves me feeling disconnected.
Also I didn’t realize that “The Will of the Many” was YA or close enough to it. I really should not try and consume two YA novels at the same time, as I’m not really all that fond of them typically.
I really enjoyed The Will of the Many, but it was mostly because of thr world and thr mysteries, I think. I agree that the YA-y relationship stuff was less my thing, but it didn't bother me too much.
I binged the whole Gideon series when I was sick once. I found it enjoyable to read, but I agree that I do not get the hype around it.
Was reading "the sacred cut" by David Hewson, but put it down after reading about a quarter of it. I don't know if it's the book or if I'm generally tired of the genre. So, was looking for something else, found Ian Banks' "the hydrogen sonata" on my e-reader, and decide to read it. I've read a number of the other culture books, but stopped during "matter" (it read more like fantasy than SF and I wasn't in the mood for that). This one's nice so far, we'll see how it unfolds.
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Had my eye on this. What are your thoughts so far?
Not OP but I'm on my 2nd read thru. They're great, each book is stronger than the previous one. The audiobooks version has the best narrator I've heard in any book series (Jeff Hays) so if that's your thing, do the listen.
The story feels like the best of the shit that played on Adult Swim back in the aughts. Funny and gross and weirdly emotional throughout.
I wanted a place to talk about them, so I just made !dcc@piefed.world in case you’re interested.
Yes, I’m pasting this a million times, trying to hit the people who mentioned really enjoying it.
Fun so far. Princess Doughnut is great!
This series got me back into reading this year. I've gotten up to book seven in about two months. It gets repetitive sometimes, but the underlying backstories have kept me reading. Each book up to this point has been a pleasure.
I wanted a place to talk about them, so I just made !dcc@piefed.world in case you’re interested.
Yes, I’m pasting this a million times, trying to hit the people who mentioned really enjoying it.
After about a year and a half I finished the last current Deathlands book this week, number 155. I then immediately started a spin off set in the same world called "Trader" which is currently only 4 books long.
By the end of it I'm not sure how I was feeling. I'm not sick of it yet and I like how it has transitioned into a lot longer, over arcing stories towards the end. Rather than all stand alone books. However some of the characters have lost a bit of consistency in their behaviour towards these last 25 books or so I feel. I think the new writers have changed the way some of the characters react and behave in certain situations that doesnt fit to how I knew those characters in the previous 130 books.
I'll still get any new books that follow as I am still enjoy most of the characters but I'm also kind of glad that I can take a bit of a break and just have something to look forward to in spaced out intervals.
For the podcast I'm currently reading Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys. If you've not read it, I recommend it for fans of Lovecraftian Mythos who'd enjoy a redemption of the work whilst ignoring the xenophobic dick who originally created it.
I'm re-reading Eines Menschen Flügel by Andreas Eschbach. It's about a society started by refugees from a far future civilization, and because touching the ground is deadly, modified their children to have wings.
I re-read the book every few years, because it describes essentially a utopian society and I find it very inspiring, while also just being interesting.
All caught up on the webserials and am partway through the 5th book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
I plan to read Saint Death's Herald by C. S. E. Cooney next, and I think I can get back on track with my Bingo card after the holidays.
I'm between books again.
The youngest son of a minor noble house unwittingly becomes host to a long-lived magical being.
Set in the same universe as The Curse of Chalion. I'm not sure I'm interested in reading the rest of the series, but it was enjoyable, well paced, and managed to cram a good amount of story into its short page length.
Finished up Cytonic and started Defiant by Brandon Sanderson. Tried to pace myself with this series but… the days are dark and cold so there are too many opportunities to read.
Those are great books!
Currently reading The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels
It’s a cute, festive, rom-com that is perfect for this time of year. Guy asks gal to be his fake date for the holiday family gathering. Gal meets his cute sister and falls for her. Fun holiday chaos ensues.
I’ll finish this by later today, then give myself a blind book date to read for Christmas Eve.
Eight: New Blood, Old Bones
Just finished my reread of Mistborn Era 2 yesterday! As I was wrapping book 3, I was confused how Sanderson was going to pull in all the things I remembered from my last read… then I remembered there’s a fourth book 🤦🏻♀️
currently reading Venetian Vespers by John Banville. I love the unreliable narrator. He’s total scum. The absolute pits.
I loved Mistborn! If you haven't read the novellas/short stories yet, I recommend reading them after Bands. They're quick to get through, provide some nice context, and offer a nice break from the novels.
I literally just finished Oathbringer last night (audiobook) and started Warbreaker immediately afterwards. I saw some recommendations to read that before Words of Radiance, but whoops, I was so caught up in the Stormlight series that I couldn't stop myself lol. Figured now would be a good time to get into it.
Yeah, I have yet to read the novellas, will read them soon.