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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.
My wife is releasing her first book after working on it for ten gears, and im reading it for the first time! I'm not her target audience (it's a YA book) but proud of her. I'm hoping to get it read by the book release date
Are you able to tell us what it's called? If you don't want to plug it publicly, would you DM me the name?
It's called the Hidden Crown. I think she did a good job on the cover. It was actually kind of hard to find with searching in Google and Amazon... So that's probably not a good sign..
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHZ2VF3Z?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420
Publicizing books enough that people can find it is its own challenge. Congratulations that she finished and polished the book. that is a huge accomplishment.
Thanks! I will keep an eye out for it and review it on Amazon when it comes out. Hopefully they will promote it more closer to the release.
What does YA stand for?
Young Adult.
Ah thank you
I am on the 6th Expanse book and am really looking forward to the part of the story that I've not seen before (the show was great!). Books 7-9 will be awesome.
I've got a few on the go right now!
"Games people play" - Eric Berne. Older book, but enjoying reading some psychology again.
"Unpopular Essays" - Betrand Russel. Anyone who starts a philosophy book calling British people planks for not paying attention to philosophy is a great thing. Got a first edition copy a few months back and it's REALLY good.
"Demons of Air and Darkness" -Keith R.A. DeCandido. Star Trek Deep Space Nine meets Voyager as a novel. I'm probably 30-40 pages in and I'm a bit baffled about what's going on right now. Bit of a let down from "Abyss"!
Wayward Pines trilogy of Blake Crouch. I read some of his other works that I found really interesting. Interesting concepts and but more interesting consequences of those concepts (Dark Matter, Recursion, and to a lesser extent Upgrade).
They are all quite light books, and read very fast. Wayward Pines is ... ok. I enjoy reading it, but it's nothing special.
Like you, I think Crouch's writing is just ... okay. I found both Dark Matter and Recursion interesting for the ideas they explored, but both of them had these really bleak moments where it just seems like there is no way out. The final resolution softens the bleakness, but just barely.
I appreciate someone who is willing to temper the happy ending to avoid doing it for its own sake. And maybe I was in too dark a place when I read them, but both of them really did a number on me.
Finished Stone of Farewell, which I enjoyed just as much if not more than Dragonbone Chair. The pieces all seem to be in place for a very exciting conclusion to the trilogy. However, the last book, To Green Angel Tower, is apparently one of the longest novels ever written, so I'm giving myself a bit of a palate cleanser in between and reading some stuff more on the literary side.
I'm now reading through One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which has been on my list for a long time and is really compelling so far. I love the writing, and the blazing fast pace of it really works for me. I've heard a lot of complaints about multiple people with similar names, but it hasn't been too hard to keep track of so far, although that may change as I get farther in and more generations are born.
Also just read the Metamorphosis by Kafka. First thing I've read of Kafka's but this has definitely convinced me to check out his novels.
Woah, haven’t heard those names in a long time! I remember having the two thick paperbacks that made up To Green Angel Tower in high school. Couldn’t tell you any of the story or characters (that’s not unusual for me), but I seem to remember feeling pleased with the ending.
I just finished reading Project Hail Mary. I can see why people have said it may be Andy Weir's best book yet, It goes back to the bigger scope of The Martian compared to Artemis.
Click to expand spoiler.
The amnesia plot line feels well done compared to others with a nod to the sterotype it plays on towards the end.
I think the next book I'll be reading is the 3rd part of the Hellonica trilogy.
Did this one as an audio book. It was good. Can't go wrong with the derelict space ship trope !
I quite liked Project Hail Mary and am 'forcing' my family through the audio book on our Family Nights. I paid the hardcover forward to a friend I thought might enjoy it, as was done for me when I acquired it. The "pentagonal tonal rock" (pseudo-spoiler) really made the story for me, and I figured the family would get a kick out of it as I did (they are).
Finishing
Working on
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228017/theterraformers
It got pushed to the top of my queue because it got recalled at the library but I should have started it sooner it’s that good. It’s the first piece of contemporary science fiction (last ten years) I’ve read in a while.
Currently half way through the power of geography by tim marshall. Gonna work my way through his main geopolitical books as well as his book on his time in the balkans.
I just started the sound of being human. It's good so far. It's about music evoking memories firvthe author as well as other interesting scientific facts about how music is important to humanity.
Getting closer to Halloween, so to get in the mood I'm reading "The Book of Yōkai" by Michael Dylan Foster.
It does a good job explaining Yokai through the historical ages of Japan, and how they evolved with the zeitgeist(s). Nice illustrations, too.
My time to read has shrunk to almost nothing, but I am in the middle of Lady Death by Pavlichenko, a memoir of a WWII sniper and also Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist.
Lady Death- ok I may have to check that out. Her story fascinates me, and I didn't know there was a memoir.
The Six of Crows Duology, by Leigh Bardugo - I’m just about to finish Crooked Kingdom, the second book. The two books form one continuous story, so you can kind of think of it as one book in two parts, a la Lord of the Rings which is both one book and three.
This pair have been absolutely fantastic. The first book is focused on a heist, with most of the book dedicated to the build up preceding it. The pacing is fantastic and it does a great job of introducing you to the characters. The narrative is quite streamlined: there are side plots and backstories, but it’s always driving towards the inevitable climax that is laid out from the start. And when you get there, oh man, the pay off is fantastic.
The second book is quite different. We’re still following the same cast of protagonists, but there’s quite a lot more going on, and you get a lot more character development. It’s very rewarding to see a lot of the arcs that were set up in the first book resolved here. One of the things Bardugo does really well is dropping in little clues and details that become important later, so when there’s a twist or something major happens, you go “ah hah! That’s because of that! How did I not see that coming?” Or sometimes you’re able to see what’s about to happen because you’ve been paying attention, which is equally satisfying.
I really love these books. Bardugo does great world building, writes interesting characters that are loveable and at the same time flawed, and overall I think her prose has a beautiful style that is just pleasant to read. I read another book of hers, Ninth House, a while ago, which has a fairly recently published sequel I need to pick up, and I’ll have to read the other books she has written in the same universe as Six of Crows.
But before I get round to those I need to read the second volume of The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson), or else it will get to be too long since I read the first volume and I’ll have no clue what’s going on. I’m also one book into Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the second book is waiting on my shelf, but I might put that off since the third book isn’t out yet, so I can equally well wait now and then hopefully read books two and three back to back when it’s finally finished.
I am reading one and listening to multiple audiobooks at the moment.
I‘ve basically moved into my Van and on our journey from Germany to (now) northern Spain, we had a lot of time for audiobooks.
Audibook 1: How not to Die by Michael Greger:
This book has been very eye opening for me. It explains the relationship between diets/foods with diseases. I‘ve had low iron and high cholesterol for a while, and seeing how a change in diet can change it, really moves me more to a plant based diet. I‘m still not there 100% but I am trying to improve.
Audiobook 2: The Oxygen Advantage
This is a book I am listening to while running. It‘s about changing your breathing habits and focusing mainly on nose breathing to improve your health and athletic performance. I had a deviated septum and even after the surgery, I struggled to breathe through my nose.
Audibiook 3: Never finished by David Gogggins
I loved his first book „Can‘t hurt me“ and I credit it with helping me with my sports and everyday life. If you liked the first one, I think you‘ll like this one. I‘m still early in the book, so I can‘t really judge much. „Can‘t hurt me“ was great though
Book 1: 80-20 Running
This is a book about balancing your running training with 80% slow runs and 20% intense runs. I am also not too far into it, but from what I have heard and read this seems to be the best approach to increasing your running performance.
Also want to mention „Born to Run“ for anyone interested in Running. I already finished that book (while running) and I loved it.
Writing all this really makes me want to go on a run again.