this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
48 points (100.0% liked)

Books

5369 readers
58 users here now

A community for all things related to Books.

Rules

  1. Be Nice. No personal attacks or hate speech.
  2. No spam. All posts should be related to books.

Official Bingo Posts:

Related Communities

Community icon by IconsBox (from freepik.com)

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Very busy couple of weeks, so didn't actually read anything.

Still on Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore, 2nd novel in Icewind Dale series, which is a subseries of Forgotten Realms series (D&D world).

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

Also, Book Bingo is near it's end, so get your Bingo cards ready!


For details, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and it's Recommendation Post . Links are also present in our community sidebar.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I'm still reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. My area had some unexpected weather a couple weeks ago so I've been off my usual routine.

The book is good and I'm about half way through. I want to finish it by tomorrow.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Nice. I should read it sometimes too. It has been on my backlog for so long.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Just finished Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos rising. Next up, the second in the series.

It was such a great book. I can't wait to read the rest of the series

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (2 children)

How is it, if you haven't read any Star Wars novel, and have only watched the movies?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I will also say that the star wars books, from what I have seen, aren't sequential. You can start anywhere in the universe and it doesn't matter, notwithstanding the actual series books, like Thrawn series and whatever. It's more like Terry Pratchett's Discworld. It's a bunch of independent stories set in the same universe.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Any recommendations for interesting starting points?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Not really. I'm pretty new to the Star Wars novels. I've literally read two, and they are both part of the same series. But FWIW, I am reading the Thrawn Ascendency series, and it's pretty damn good.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I am in the same situation. I have not read any other SW books, and have only seen the movies.

It's great. I can't put my Kobo down. It's enthralling, it's enticing. It's very well written. I love it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Cool. Thanks for the info!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Perfect Victims And The Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It seems to have nice reviews, what do you think about it? Does it cover the conflict for mostly ignorant?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

if you are interested in books for the mostly ignorant may I recommend instead: Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide by Ben White

Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappé

The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi

For more on israel's crimes: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé

The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World by Antony Loewenstein

Environmental Warfare in Gaza: Colonial Violence and New Landscapes of Resistance by Shourideh C. Molavi

Gaza Unsilenced edited by Laila El-Haddad and Refaat Alareer

you may have heard of Refaat Alareer, a prominent Palestinian writer and poet who was assassinated (very much the same way Ghassan Kanafani was) in December 2023. There is a collection of his poems and writings released in memory of him in 2024 called If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose that is also worth a read. There are also way more books, fiction or nonfiction, by Palestinian authors that are very much worthwhile once one gets a better understanding of the history of settler colonialism.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look at these.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Currently reading Food And Society In Classical Antiquity.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

How are you liking it so far?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Almost finished with it. It's somewhat more of an 'overview' than I was expecting, but I've learned a lot. And not all of it about antiquity - did you know that whole wheat bread isn't healthier than white bread? Fuck, I ate wheat bread as a kid for nothing?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Heh, didn't know that. Good thing I didn't force myself to eat those 😀 White Bread FTW!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Listening to Project Hail Mary. I've been utterly absorbed by the story and the scientific concepts being pushed around.

I never took physics and didn't take much math for my job but am jealous of people who have a natural, stronger affinity for those subjects

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Shout out to my boy Rocky

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I recently started The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I'm a 100 or so pages in, and slowly getting a feel for the characters. It's a large book, but I've got some long flights coming up so hopefully I'll make a good dent in it :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

How's the book? I have thought about starting it a few times, but I am afraid it might be too dry or complex.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I've just finished Part 1 (around 200 pages out of 1000 - unfortunately the flights I had planned were cancelled, and I didn't get time to read over the weekend!). So far I've been introduced to the characters and the book has explained their natures as well as the dynamics between each of them. It's quite heavy reading at points, especially some of the religious discussion and the fact that there are a good number of footnotes explaining certain references in the text. That said, the web of interactions and different moralities is quite fascinating. It requires a level of concentration to get through, but there's enough of an interesting story and exploration of big ideas to keep me hooked so far.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Ahan, thanks for the info.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Careless People - Satah Wynn-Williams

Not only it is a fascinating look into Facebook, it touches me personally because I'm a Canadian female tech worker in a US based company and her perspective on a lot of thing is very relatable to me.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

It is part of the "Bobiverse" so with a name like that I honestly couldn't help but have low expectations but so far it is a really fun read.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just finished reading The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey (authors of the Expanse series). Overall I really liked it and am excited for this series! I feel like the characters haven’t hooked me as much as the characters from the Expanse series, but I’m going to give them more time to develop.

I am now reading The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. This one has surprised me how much I’ve enjoyed it so far. I have read his Founders trilogy and Divine Cities books and found them hit or miss.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Felt exactly the same about the Mercy of Gods.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

Speaking Bones - Book 4 of the Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. This is probably one of the best fantasy I've read. The setting is based off of ancient China. It's similar to Game of Thrones in the sense that there's a lot of world building, there's no main character, no one is safe from death and the fantasy is lightly applied.

It introduces interesting ideas like storing electricity in objects made with glass, intestines and gold, then utilizing it in warfare. Also logic gates implemented with just basic materials like wood and ropes. Basic AI (non-ML). Etc.

I'm quite confident anyone who enjoys programming will enjoy this series.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I'm just continuing with Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. I finished Oathbringer and Dawnshard and will start Rhythm of War next.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

Children of Dune, Frank Herbert.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

How Music Works by David Byrne. It was recommended to me by a colleague when asked about good resources on learning more about music.

I'm only in chapter 3, so far it's been interesting. About how music has adapted since the introduction of recordings, about the shifting perceptions, not only in music but also showmanship, size of venues, choice of instruments. The current chapter is about the different recording media and their impact on the music.

All very interesting, although I do hope it will soon delve deeper into the nitty gritty: notes and intervals, progressions, and all the things I'm still totally unaware of.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just started Holly by Stephen King. I have no idea what’s happening. I got it as a gift for Christmas and left the book cover at home so no summary.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I prefer to start books without reading the summaries. Sometimes they spoil some stuff even 50 or 100 pages in.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm reading The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan, the fourth book in The Wheel of Time series. I'm starting to get a bit sick of the characters, frankly. Petty, angry, dishonest liars most of them, looking to make the worst decisions for any given situation. I still like the book, oddly enough, but I wish the characters like, grow up sometime soon.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I have started reading 'The Master and Margarita'. I am only a couple of chapters in and its pretty wild already.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Finished the fifth book in the "dungeon crawler Carl" series, and decide to step away from that for a while. The fifth book was a lot longer than the previous four, and this doesn't work out for me (I know, just weeks ago I complained about the novella format of most murderbot books:)). After that read through "midnight black" by Mark Greaney, which was nice, but not the best in the gray man series imo. Now about a third through John Scalzi's "the collapsing empire". So far a nice book, but I liked most books in the "old man's war" series better.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Hehe, it happens. Some books are too short and some books are too long. It's nice to have the book that's just the right size.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. About halfway through, really enjoying it. The audiobook narrator is great.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just finished Shades of grey by Jasper Fforde. What a weird fascist dystopian future. It took a long time to get interesting and only the last 15% got me to actually want to know more. I don’t think I will read the rest of the trilogy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

He just released the second book recently after so many years, and while I haven't read it myself, haven't heard many great things about it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Currently I'm reading The Rebel by Albert Camus. I was reading it last month but got interrupted by a hold being available from the library. I'm determined to finish it in the next week or so.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Reading the Patternmaster books by Octavia E. Butler. Weird but interesting. Definitely not hitting like the Xenogenesis books did but still seem good so far.

Also re-reading the Expanse books because I just read The Mercy of Gods by James SA Corey and it made my love of the expanse series resurface.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

How are the Xenogenesis books? They look interesting.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They're really interesting. As with a lot of Butler's works, they're extremely human which is a bit surprising for science fiction books. She is able to juxtapose aliens against humanity and use it to highlight aspects of our selves and talk about them. I would say that if you're mostly looking for a good narrative with something that conforms to the standard story arc you may be disappointed, but otherwise they are a must-read imo.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

That sounds interesting. Thaks for the info!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I've barely read or listened to anything for over a year, now suddenly I have 9 books/audiobooks on the go. Most are things that everyone has read or heard about anyway, and almost all are part of a series Ive talked about too much over the years so I don't have too much to say 🤷‍♂️

Audio:
The Wise Man's Fear by Pat Rothfuss when I'm jogging
Words of Radiance by Sanderson at work
Daughter of the Dragon by Michael G Manning at home

Books on rotation chapter by chapter:
White Night by Jim Butcher
River Marked by Patricia Briggs
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
The Hungry Isle by Emily Rodda
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Manga: Uzumaki by Junji Ito

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›