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What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
I'm a fan of history and learning how many things we take for granted about human society, even among the most scholarly of us, is absurd. Almost the entirety of our backward projection of humanity is based on faulty accounts and educated but incorrect guesses, and an updated take with modern evidence is really enlightening. I highly recommend checking out a ebook sample on google if you have even a passing interest in anthropology or politics to see what preconceived notions they challenge. I was actually kinda mortified of by how much inherent bias I had toward earlier societies and I consider myself decently well-rounded. Turns out a lot of our foundational knowledge about how society developed was made up on the fly and can't be corroborated by any evidence.
One of the really frustrating things about The Dawn of Everything is trying to explain its thesis simply. It really does take the entire book to lay out the issues, explore them, present evidence, and unravel (my estimation) the vast majority of pop-history.
But the people that consume pop-history, written by non-historians/anthropologists/archaeologists are the least likely to engage with a technical, long-form book that genuinely requires its whole length. I think Graeber and Wengrow did a fantastic job to bring it down to a level where I could understand it, but it took a lot of mental effort, because - as you say - it was shocking to know how much baseless biases I had that are directly contradicted by evidence they present again, and again, and again.
The second most frustrating thing is I've seen people (here, as well as in reviews) dismiss the book entirely because Graeber (RIP) was an anarchist activist. He was also one of leading anthropologists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and people seem incapable of separating out his activism (and activism-adjascent books) from this scholarly work.
At no point did I feel like the authors were trying to push an agenda. The structure was just 'Misconception, origin of misconception, actual evidence that is available (particularly in the last twenty years), judgement on the likely makeup of a particular society or social structure.'
It's fantastic, and it's very frustrating that so many people will never touch it because of their prejudice against Graeber.
I had a really long comment draft that got lost when I accidentally refreshed the page so I'll write a brief summary.
I've seen the criticisms you're talking about as well as arguments that the book is written to be intentionally controversial for shock value or to push a narrative. I think the work is plenty objective and well researched (with numerous references) if a tad sarcastic from time to time. I would warrant a guess that a lot of these criticisms are born from people's resistance to face things that challenge their preconceived notions, especially as unrelentingly as this book. I consider it a must read, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who isn't willing to be flexible enough to entertain the ideas presented, and integrate them with their worldview. I think willingly inviting paradigm shifts is a practiced skill.
Just started The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. It's a fantasy book with the narration told through basically everyone involved, past/present, alive and dead. I personally am so deeply in love with how it's written. It's interesting, something I haven't seen before, and the grand tale being played out is wild as fuck. It's on the more graphic end of the scale with what happens to people but I definitely don't mind. I'm. Very excited to see what chaos will continue to happen.
What manner of fantasy is it? I find myself much more drawn to sword and sorcery stories lately, rather than high magic fantasy but the way you describe it has me intrigued.
I think it's considered high fantasy? Epic fantasy? Not sure what sub genre it would qualify as. But it's a grand tale about two men carrying a dying goddess while dodging the empire hell bent on getting her back.
I just finished The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Most of her other work I had read was pretty lighthearted, so despite the title, I was unprepared for the sucker punch this book was.
To be clear, the book was amazing and I recommend it. It deals with pandemics, with modern and historical. The amazing thing to me is that it was written in 1992, but feels like it could be an alternate history of our current timeline.
But now I need something light. I just ... didn't have the heart to take a chance on anything new, so I have fallen way back to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Clinical exploration of interstellar vehicle mechanics is pretty much what I need right now.
Clarke also wrote my favorite short story of all time, "The Nine Billion Names of God". You can hear it read here, less than 20 minutes. If you want more in that vein, Childhood's End is a quick read that will probably stick with you.
I'm interested in recommendations for lighter fare in fantasy and science fiction. Some things that came to mind I have read are the Eddie Lacrosse books by Alex Bledsoe (basically noir detective in a fantasy world) and, more recently, The Black Tongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman.
The Doomsday Book was a difficult read for me. It actually made me feel bad, which I'm sure is what the story was designed for.
Assuming you typo'd "lighter fare." Any restrictions? Both of your examples (which I haven't read yet) seem to be gritty stories involving criminals. Is that sort of thing you're looking for? Or anything goes?
Good point about the grittiness. It's hard to explain exactly. Gritty is okay, but I think the problems in the story need to seem like Somebody Else's problem. Contrast with Doomsday Book which is obviously really close to home, or something like Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock which kicks off with problems related to climate crisis.
I'm aware that putting our heads in the sand is part of why we are where we are, so I'm not advocating avoiding things totally. Just looking for fiction to be an escape, not a piling on.
Not sure if that makes sense, but probably the best I can do to explain.
I’m not sure which of Willis’s other work you’ve read, but if you liked Doomsday but wanted something lighthearted, you will enjoy it’s sort-of sequel To Say Nothing Of The Dog. Same setting but different characters, and it’s very funny.
Currently listening to The Internet Con - How to seize the means of computation by Cory Doctorow.
I got my audiobook download off it the other day, and it will be in the next set of books I load onto my phone. I'm really looking forward to hearing Cory's takes on the topic.
I finished Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, the second Murderbot book. I am really enjoying murderbot, a modern science fiction twist on the alienated noir-ish main character who investigates things and has adventures.
I finished Beyond, the first of the Valdemar founding trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. This is a fun story in a universe that I was invested in in my teens and 20s. I recommend it.
I finished Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy, a coming of age novel set in Australia, featuring a mysterious music teacher who is a concentration camp survivor. This is an excellent book. Thought provoking.
I am continuing Lady Death a memoir of Pavlichenko the WWII sniper for the USSR. The soviets used women in combat in ways that were not typical for the time. Pavlichenko is a good writer.
I started Librarian Tales by William Ottens which is funny.
I started Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist by Frans de Waal. It is interesting to read a book about biological and behavioral sexual differences written by a man who sincerely calls himself a feminist and includes a supportive chapter related to transgender people. So far, this is an insightful and interesting book.
For the Murderbot Diaries, read all of the novellas first before the full size novel. The reason for this is that the novel takes place after the current novellas, despite it being a stand alone story, which does not make any sense because the novel does contain spoilers for the main story.
Edit: I really love this series because it is a interesting take on sci-fi and the story is really fun.
To the extent you have room in your reading list, you might enjoy noir themed books and main characters in other genres too. I liked the exploration of artificial intelligence but for me half the appeal of Murderbot is as a private detective/investigator security specialist and there are many other instances of these type of stories done well outside of science fiction.
I'm glad to see another Valdemar fan! I've read about half of them over the years, but I hope to finish them in the next couple years (including the anthologies).
I just finished the Murderbot series and it is so good. Read them in order they were published. Another novella is coming by end of year!
I have about 75 pages left in the book Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.
After about 700 pages, I don't think I could really explain or summarize most of what I have read, and I'm not sure I would feel comfortable describing the parts that were clear to me in a public forum, lol. For real, there are parts in the book that are very profound, but there's also sections that have some of the most disgusting things I have ever read. I both highly recommend reading this book, and just as highly recommend never ever reading this book. If you have ever watched the episode of South Park where the boys write The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs, I would say that book is probably the closest thing out there to Gravity's Rainbow. I think I kind of get what is going on with the S-gerat, the cause and effect stuff with Slothrop, and I'm following along with the whole immipolex-g plot. Other than that it has mostly just been a haze of confusion and absurdity for me. If anyone has read this book and has any tips to keep in mind for the ending, or can provide any clarity for the sections I have covered so far, I would totally appreciate it!
I have read this book a few times in the past year or so, and I'm sorry to say that I can't offer any tips. You've already gotten through the most challenging parts, and clearly you figured out the "just keep reading" strategy. All I can really say is that the final section begins to elucidate many of the open questions, but nobody reads Gravity's Rainbow once and comes away with a decent understanding. It's made for rereading, and unless you took some serious notes throughout the process or have some sort of eidetic memory, it's just not realistic to keep track of everything.
I’ve just started reading Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake.
And, as an aside, what an interesting name that is - Mervyn Laurence Peake.
I’ve been meaning to delve into this series for a good while now, so hip hip hooray for me, the time has finally come!
Enjoy! These are some of my favourite books.
Perhaps one day I will finish The Culture: Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. I loved Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games, consider the presented world the ultimate utopia, and the Minds are beyond interesting as a concept as well as characters.
I finished Phlebas recently and I was on the fence about it. Parts of it I really enjoyed, other parts I really didn't. The ending is a bit of a gut punch but good. I'm having a break from Culture but I am definitely going back to it.
Yes I can definitely see why it's not necessarily recommended as the best starting point. I will read another, not sure which yet.
Someone mentioned the culture series recently, so I put all of them on my kindle list for when they go on sale. I read a lot of scifi so it's been on my radar for years, but not my yet on my list. In your opinion, are they as worth the read as I have heared from others?
I've read the whole thing.
I'm glad I read the first three books, but I strongly disagree with all the people who say "Player of Games" is a good starting point. All my favorite books in the series come after. (Or maybe it's a good starting point, provided people already know they're going to read more.)
And yes, they're worth the read! Most of the books have pretty unique concepts.
Excellent, thank you for the recommendation. Which book would you suggest I start with?
I'm one of those annoying people who likes to play twenty questions before recommending things to others.
I found each of the Culture books a uniquely enjoyable experience for different reasons. If you don't want to take the popular Player of Games rec, probably the best way to go about it is to read blurbs for each of the books and go with the one that seems most enticing to you. They all share the "Culture" civilization themes (Contact:SC is particularly recurring, which is a bit like Star Trek I guess) but are for the most part very disconnected stories.
The biggest divide I'd say has to do with whether stories are more galactic-scale with a greater focus on Minds and spaceships (people really like Excession) or whether they're stories more contained to a single planet. The planet stories can almost reach science fantasy levels, because events are often colored by the political unwillingness of the more advanced civilizations to interfere with the affairs of the less advanced ones (openly at least), which means each civilization's unique brand of backwards nonsense has to be dealt with by the protagonists.
Thank you!
Just finished The Mote in God's Eye. It's... interesting. The story is pretty good but oof, it's very old fashioned which feels quite at odds with the future setting. Mainly in regards to the patriachical society and monarchy. But I did enjoy it though I thought the ending to be a bit weak. Also feels like it could've been trimmed a little. The book's title is a stunner though.
Just started Pandora's Star. Only about 10% in. Some good world building so far and I'm intrigued. Who doesn't like a Dyson sphere?
I'm about halfway through 'the three body problem' by cixin Liu. Very good so far and more readable than I was expecting for a hard sci fi book. I have had the trilogy on my shelf for a while now and decided to dive in. It has been taking about the Chinese cultural revolution, and I'm wondering how historically accurate it is. Anybody else ever read this book?
I've read the whole series. The first book does start with the cultural revolution but the book jumps to present day and the series goes forward and beyond from there. As far as accuracy, I think there's a little poetic embellishment, but much of the violence is accurate. Struggle sessions for example were very real https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session
I just finished The Interdependency audiobook series by John Scalzi. Those are some really good books. Good story all the way through. But I'm not a huge fan of Wil Wheaton's narration. It's just not that good to me and he's used too much.
I'm about to start Finish Line, book 11 of the Hard Luck Hank series. It's a sci-fi comedy series. They're kinda dumb, but between the writing and narrator's performance, it just tickles my funny bone. It's nice to have series that are there mostly for humor. I love good narratives, but it's nice to take a break and have a laugh
I’m about 20% into John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I used to love Steinbeck but haven’t read him for at least a couple decades. I still love his style but the misogyny is kind of a downer. I don’t know if I was too young to notice it before or it didn’t come up in other works. Aside: I’m delighted by so many sci-fi folks, here! That is more my usual fare.
Man I'm a huge book worm, this last month I read:
The first Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson - this series was flat out amazing, one of the best fantasy series I've ever read
The first two books of the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks - I read this series as a kid, so it's a lot of nostalgia for me. Still a pretty good series, but more enjoyable if you've read other books in the Shannara series
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell - Also a book that I read a long time ago, it really changed my worldview when I read it and still holds up today. To dramatically oversimplify it takes a look at statistical anomalies in successful people and what causes these "outliers".
I'm also continually reading the manual of Epictetus, one page a day
Not sure how much of Sanderson you've read, but Warbreaker was my favorite.
This is my first time reading Sanderson - based on some cursory googling I think I'm going to go for The Eleventh Metal next, then Warbreaker, and start on Stomlight
Thanks for the recommendation! I'm excited to read it
If you enjoyed the original Mistborn, be aware that there are tie-ins with several of Sando Brando's other works including shared characters and background information that fleshes out that world (I can't provide a reading order guide off the cuff but I'm sure they exist out there.) Sometimes the tie-ins are more explicit, but he often likes to be subtle about it. If you're going to keep reading, try to spot the one character that appears in every story!
I definitely plan to keep reading, I'll keep an eye out!
As I mentioned in another comment, based on some cursory googling I think I'm going to go for The Eleventh Metal next, then Warbreaker, and start on Stomlight.
Just started reading Gödel, Escher, Bach and hoping I stick with it this time.
just finished book 1 of the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. book 2 on the way for some vacation reading next week.
good so far, but a bit of a Mary Sue, that Honor. writing quality is pretty good, though i think
My father is an absolute bookworm, he'll devour books and we always have great conversations about what we're reading at the moment. We take turns making recommendations to eachother, especially if we've actually bought the book and not just gotten it from the library.
I've just finished 'I Am Pilgrim' (truly amazing) and have now started Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six' - both I've gotten for free / Dad gave them to me to read.
Loving Rainbow Six - it's aged quite well and doesn't seem dated in the slightest; which can be a problem for some of the older books in the genre as technology has moved on quite far since they've been published!
We just went to the local library last week for the first time in years. I grabbed a couple mysteries, including Dancing in the Dark by Stuart M. Kaminsky. It's part of the Toby Peters series, a noir-style detective series set in 1930's/40's Hollywood with big celebrity cameos every chapter. They're fun reads, kinda simple and on the campier side, but that's just fun. This one was set in Marxh 1943 and featured Fred Astaire getting tangled up with a mob boss.
I also got The Secrets of Gaslight Lane by M.R.C. Kasasian. Fourth in the Gower St. Detectives series, a good detective series in Victorian England about a grumpy and sharp-tongued detective named Sidney Grice and his ward March Middleton. These are definitely more on the gritty side (they're how I learned that boiling animals alive makes the skin looser), and Grice is one of the most genuinely unpleasant detectives I've seen in fiction. Which is, in fact, a compliment. I'd hate to interact with the guy, but it's nice to see major characters who are genuinely asocial and overly smug now and then.
I'm 90% sure I haven't read this one yet, but I might have since it's been a few years since I checked them out. My memory is fuzzy since it's been a while, and the descriptions aren't enough to tell me. I'll find out soon when I actually start reading it and see if the scenes are familiar!
After having played Cthulhu Wars for a few years now, I’ve started reading some of the underlying stories from the Lovecraftian universe. Currently on The King in Yellow. Pretty good stories, but something that really stood out was the casual anti-semitism, which makes it mildly uncomfortable at times.
As I read something by Mark Twain (I don't now remember if it was Innocents Abroad or Huckleberry Finn), I was struck by the description of a Black man's hair as "wool" or "woolly".
The contemporary reader mayn't bat an eye at that. We have the hindsight advantage.
I can acknowledge my own reaction to an offensive/racist passage, term, attitude in an extant work, but I can't, wouldn't ever want to, change the fact that it was put there by the author.
That was the zeitgeist. In literature, you have to either say it, roll with it, or predict it.
Oh sure, I wouldn’t want to “update” it or anything. It’s just jarring — I had to look it up to see what the message was, like in a modern work it would probably be a signal that the character was a racist and by extension, bad. In this case, no, the author was himself a noted anti-Semite, and was just expressing his own personal beliefs through the voice of his character.
Just finished up Translator State by Ann Leckie, and I'm rereading Raven Tower by her right now.
She's probably my favorite author, and the Sci-Fi universe that she's built between her Ancillary Trilogy, Provenance, and now Translator State is incredible. Frankly, it's gotten kind of weird in Provenance and Translator State, but somehow it just works. Technically Provenance and Translator State exist as stand alone books -- you don't need to read the Trilogy to understand what's going on (the events of it are referenced, but kind of the same way the Clone Wars existed in Star Wars -- a big event but outside of the scope of the story), but they both throw readers into the deep end of her worldbuilding, while Ancillary Justice and co. build up to the weirdness.
Raven Tower on the other hand is a great fantasy novel about old gods and new gods and intrigue in whole. I recently read more about it and did not catch how the plot was a retelling of a very famous story - one omitted for the sake of avoiding spoilers, though maybe I was just oblivious to it! Rereading it is enjoyable - I love Leckie's treatment of gods and their magic, and the extra parallels I'm now catching made it worth revisiting, 2-3 years after I first read it.
I've just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany. I first read it about 10 years ago and I've been craving a re-read for a while now. I don't want to spoil anything, but I love the progression through the story split into those smaller anecdotes which inevitably end up having some greater meaning. There are parts of it that I could do without (and IMO make it feel a bit padded) but on the whole it is a book I love.
I'm currently reading Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment by Theo Padnos. It's a memoir of the 2 years he spent as a captive of al Qaeda in Syria. It's fascinating and offers a look into a situation that most people will (thankfully) never find themselves in.
I'm currently halfway through Stephen Markley's (author of Ohio) The Deluge. It's about where our current course of action (or lack there of) regarding climate change is likely to lead us. It is told through the lense of a diverse cast of characters ranging from climate activists to drug addicts and follows their lives through the coming decades. It is very depressing how possible the world it paints seems, but I just can't put it down.
After reading a string of books/authors who sung the praises of Marcel Proust, I decided to give him a try and read a complete collection of the short stories he published before he buckled down and wrote "In Search of Lost Time."
I can't see what all the fuss was about, but I'll chalk it up to being early in his career, as well as my belonging to an entirely different zeitgeist. I can certainly see his disillusionment with high society, but to read story after story of members of the aristocracy pining for unrequited/"impossible" love, individuals with regrets for wasted lives, etc. makes me weary after a mere 200 pages. Can't imagine going through 4k pages of the same content.
Recently, I just started "The Book of Yokai" by Michael Dylan Foster, and I've found that to be much more satisfying.
I've just finished The Death of Vivek Oji by Ekweke Emezi and started Eating to Extinction by Dan Saladino.
I came on to Emezis work first through PET years ago, which is targeted more at young adult readers but is still very worth your time. Vivek is very adult by comparison, but it's also extremely intimate and sensual. The author highlights such minute details about their characters that give you this very physical, almost erotic feeling for them, from the way sweat mats their hair to the scents noticed in an embrace. On top, Emezi jumps along the timeline of the titular characters life (and death) and between the perspectives of both them and their close acquaintances without ever making you feel like you lost the plot. Instead I felt more like I was reading a mystery novel, slowly piecing together the who, what, and why and I got a clearer picture of who the characters really were. It was beautifully written novel and I absolutely recommend it. I think I'll look to read Freshwater from them next.
I've only just started reading Eating to Extinction but I like the premise a lot. As someone interested in the long term sustainability of agriculture, I have a feeling it will be full of important lessons on the necessity of diversity in what we grow and eat. I'm keen to see where it goes, but given it's size I do worry it might become tiresome around the middle. I suppose we'll see how much I'm able to get through!
Project 2025, that massive conservative manifesto and transition plan for the US government. As much as I’d rather not, I need to deeply understand for myself what is happening in my home country. I’m also casually borrowing the most controversial US school library books. These two reading targets are unfortunately interlinked.
Currently reading the Silo series of books after watching season 1 of the TV show. Halfway through the second book and loving it.
Just finished the last available book in the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown. SciFi/Fantasy pulling heavily from Roman history and time honored class war/social stratification themes. Started out sort of young adult (but rather violent) flavor told in 1st person from a single character’s point of view. After 1st book the YA flavor goes away altogether. As books progress it moves into 1st person narrative from multiple character’s points of view. Really enjoyed the series over all and looking forward to the final book in series when published.
I recently finished the first book in the sci-fi Bobiverse series, We Are Legion, after seeing someone recommend it here. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing what happens to the many things the author set up for future books.
The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On "Liberal" As An Adjective by Michael Walzer, reviewed here
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2023/05/30/book-review-the-struggle-for-a-decent-politics-on-liberal-as-an-adjective-by-michael-walzer/
and here
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10064938/
I think the next book after that is going to be The Chinese Myths: A Guide to the Gods and Legends by Tao Tao Liu
no context, no explanation, just give it a chance:
https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football
I'm reading 2 books (and started a 3rd):
Opinion: Just finished all 7 Potter books so, continuing. Not liking it as must as the classic 7 books.
Opinion: He did an AMA on reddit, that's where I heard of it. So far trying to like it, writing style is "all over the place", if that's a style. Very long sentences with a lot of info. Not thoroughly enjoying it as much but will give it more time.
Opinion: You could say I'm a new-ish reader. As a kid I read a lot of sci-fi (Star Wars) and now that I'm picking up reading again I'm going thru the usual recommended lists. Never read any Crichton, but I am liking it. The pace is good, easy to read at a good pace.
OR I'm just a nerd and really like sci-fi / fiction. I've read a lot R.A. Salvatore (Dark Elf), Orson Scott Card, etc. When it comes to autobiographies, or non-fiction... I take a long time and get easily bored. Self-help books in particular I feel like it's a chore to pick it up.
The semester (my penultimate in law school) is ramping up, so I;ve not read as much as I'd like. That said, I'm reading or recently finished: