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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.
I just finished reading The Power by Naomi Alderman. The framing device is reminiscent of Handmaid's Tale, and the books have a similar energy despite the plots being basically opposite of one another. I like that the book depicts women as not being inherently gentler or kinder than men. We're all just people. I do think some of the cases of brutality were a bit unrealistic - not that acts that horrible don't happen now, but they usually happen in a specific context and with specific repercussions that didn't feel realistically presented in the book. I also felt that ingrained ideas of gender changed much more quickly than they would in real life. Both of those things can be chalked up to the framing device, though, and they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.
I would definitely recommend it. Trigger warnings for sexual violence, violence against children, extreme sexism, sexual mutilation, and war.
I really enjoyed The Power and had some of the same criticisms. I do think our history is very fragile - people's perceptions of the 1950s are incredibly ahistorical and that's just in the US. We're deeply influenced by what we experienced as children as a norm. I could see there being those drastic of changes, especially with those in power being inclined to believe it so.
If you enjoyed The Power you may also enjoy The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson. It's a little less grandiose, but also a little funnier.
Ooh haven't read that one yet.
And yeah I do see what you mean, but idk how long would it take if the ENTIRE WORLD shifted dramatically on something like that? Computers and cell phones, tech in general, shifted our world as quickly.
But I agree the framing device covers it in many ways.
Dungeon Crawler Carl.
I've not long finished Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which was phenomenal but quite heavy. Ahead of picking up it's sequel, I wanted something light and fun.
DCC, so far, is absolutely hitting the mark on that account. It's silly, it's light and it's extremely fun. Tonnes of pop culture references, and just an absolute slew of nerd-culture references. I'm about two thirds of the way through the first book and will almost certainly pick up the second and read that before moving on to something else.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is by far one of my favorite book series. If you aren't already, definitely give it a listen on Audible. Jeff Hays does an amazing job with every voice.
Down With The System, Serj Tankian
I'm a few chapters into it, and it's healthy and nuanced background into his early childhood and upbringing that led him to be the outspoken, humanitarian front man for a best selling rock band. System of a Down could probably be called responsible for cracking my head like an egg and letting some capitalist thought systems drain out.
Most people my age, 30, can easily remember B.Y.O.B., or Toxicity, and the lyrics still live in our heads rent free. "why do they always send the poor?" I am really enjoying learning how and why Serj Tankian is the way he is, and I haven't even really gotten to any SOAD stories yet.
Just finished the Ocean at the end of the Lane for Tildes book club.
Reading the Namesake by Lahiri and Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger. Elatsoe is a fantasy set in the US Southwest. The Namesake is realistic and beautifully written
Just finished Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer. I can't do this series justice in a review, it's religion and gender and national identity and government and philosophy and science and the nature of humanity and literature and anime and so much more
I haven't read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun yet but I'm told the two are similar. I also compare it to Dandelion Dynasty and Sun Eater, the first for being very inventive in its worldbuilding particularly as a celebration (or criticism) of human progress (or regression); and Sun Eater for having an antihero unreliable first-person narration with quite a bit of talking to the reader, as well as an expansive government structure that the narrator interacts with in many different guises
A Court of Thorns and Roses, which is a wildly popular NA fae-based fantasy romance thing. I have owned it for years and finally decided to try it after seeing friends talk about it yet again. I just finished it last night and found it extremely painful to read. I kept going because I heard that it got better toward the end, but I was already so fed up with the execution of this story that by the time I reached the end, all I could do was notice what was problematic. I'm a big fan of NA work, and this was one of the first books to draw attention to the category, but... I was just so very disappointed. Looks like I'll be the carrier of unpopular opinions here.
On the brighter side, I'm also reading Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, which I believe is a sword & sorcery classic. I read the two prequels to it before getting started and have also seen the TV series about a decade ago, the combination of which has been delightfully enlightening. (The First Confessor was a great introduction to the history of the world. I wish there was more work from this time period, but sadly, the author has passed away.) There is occasional horror but I think I can get through it. I'm about 150 pages in. Things are a bit mysterious and dark right now, but definitely intriguing.
I'm about 35% into Inheritance by Nora Roberts, which seems to be a cozy supernatural mystery. This is the first time I've picked up a Nora Roberts book because I thought she mainly wrote formulaic romance, which I don't have much interest in (which, she does, but this doesn't seem to be that). The writing is fun, the main character is very self aware, and the world building is going great.
I've been on a reading spree after not touching anything for like a decade and have also finished Sand by Hugh Howey, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, and Outlander in the last couple weeks. (Outlander was rough, but I made it.) I can listen to audiobooks while I work, which has been super useful for getting into things I probably would have been too intimidated to pick up as a text. It's nice to find joy in reading again!
I got suckered into reading Court of Thorns and Roses a few years ago. I just didn't like it at all.
I have books that I used to love that I now see as not very well crafted and am a bit embarrassed for younger me. This book might end up being like that for some of its current fans
Yep, that's also the feeling that I get! That's how older me feels about Twilight-fan-younger-me... maybe I just really learned my lesson and saw it coming up front, this time.
I just finshed the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. I got pretty invested in book one and just kept going. (took about a week to get through all 7 books) I loved the relationships between both the humans and the bot 'persons'. I thought I read somewhere that these were going to be adapted but a quick search didn't turn up much. It would be cool to see how an actor would portray Murderbot and how it would be written. Looking forward to the next in the series and plan to read more of Martha Wells' work.
Murderbot! I'm a big fan. I don't enjoy as much of Wells' other work, Witch King fell flat for me for example, but her Raksura series was something I quite enjoyed like 15 years ago or so.
It will be turned into a TV show, and some actors have been announced! It's not stated on the Wikipedia page and I'm not entirely sure, but if I remember correctly the first season of the show will be based on All Systems Red.
I was on a Dresden Files binge for a while and decided to stop and save the last couple of books for next year.
My friend got me started on The Way of the Kings. It's been on my to read list for ages. I'm close to 3/4 done and am interested in seeing how this first volume wraps up. It's been enjoyable getting to know the characters and understanding more about the setting, especially with all the rock/shelled creatures.
I've been slowly reading Swan Song. I generally enjoy post apocalyptic novels with the whole rebuilding society and how things come together. This is much heavier and makes me wonder what if anything will come after the nuclear holocaust these people managed to survive through. It's a heavier work that I've found myself reading a couple of chapters at a time.
Warlock of Magus World, my friend introduced me to Chinese webnovels (I believe the other one I read was a Xianxia). It's a great popcorn read and I've been slowly reading it for awhile now. I can usually read 20-50 (sometimes more) chapters before I decide I need something besides carbs in my reading and dive back into something else. I'm only 300 chapters in and will probably finish this sometime next year or in 2026 at the rate I'm going.
I recently finished Tender is the Flesh and it was a rough read, pretty grotesque vision of a dystopian future, but a fairly short read either way. I'd suggest staying miles away from it if you're not a fan of body horror.
Started reading The Raw Shark Texts and I'm having a lot of fun with it, about 3/4 of the way through it and really enjoying the crazy story. Although I will say I find the love story to be a bit eye-rollingly cringe, very late 00's manic pixie dream girl type of thing.
I noticed though that it's the second book I've read in as many months that's super focused on language, with Snow Crash being the other.
Edit: Okay, I just finished the Raw Shark Texts and...
I get it now, the love story between Eric and Clio, and Eric and Scout was purposefully written that way. He specifically mentions how he couldn't remember the real Clio after she died and his brain filled it in with a quick witted woman from a soap opera or Hollywood film rather than a bickering couple who talk about their bowel movements too much and Scout is his conceptual reimagining of Clio, different but quite clearly meant to be Clio.
Quite a bittersweet ending actually, I imagine it's up to interpretation, but I read it as Eric finally forgiving himself over what happened to Clio, came to terms with his past, accepted his death and now lives in some sort of conceptual afterlife on the island of Naxos, the place he was happiest, with Scout and his cat Ian, nearly brought a tear to my eye.
help! I am a prisoner to The Power Broker! I feel like I'm never going to finish this thing.
I'm following along with 99% Invisible, so it isn't too bad, but there's just so much to get through. I love the book but I have no idea why I am enjoying it so much.
Anyway, I also read The Body Keeps the Score, which is about trauma and stuff. I should switch to a pulpy thriller or something.
I recently finished The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time and man it’s probably one of my favorite books now.
Currently reading through Malazan: Book of the Fallen series. On Book 2 right now and it is mindblowingly good
I'm struggling through A Paradise Built in Hell, a book about communities coming together post disaster. It just hasn't grabbed me yet. Honestly, it may be a little too hopeful for me right now given the state of the world.
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
It's an Arthurian epic. I really liked The Magicians, so I tried this out. It's pretty good. The story builds a bit slowly for me, but I really like the exploration of all the character's journeys.
Still working through Collapse by Diamond. Lots of details about societies that have failed in history. I'm finding it about half as interesting as Guns Germs and Steel, so it's been kind of a slog. Still chugging along though. There hasn't been that much analysis yet, so I'm hoping that part will be more interesting for me.
The Force by Don Winslow.
I plowed through his Cartel Trilogy last year and loved it. The Force is a one off, and I'm not quite done with it, but I really admire how fast paced his writing is. Sweeps you along and makes you read compulsively. The story itself is a pretty by the numbers corrupt-cop drama which recalls old shows like The Shield and The Wire. But I loved both of those, so I'm on board with this book.