19
votes
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.
Finished the Dungeon Crawler Carl series for now, (a new one will be officially released in May). I'm a fan.
Reading Kafka's the Metamorphosis for Tildes book club this month.
Reading Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks.
Finished Remarkably Bright Creatures - One of the point of view characters is an octopus. This is a warm hearted book.
Finished My Own Country a Doctor's Story by Verghese. Poignant memoir of treating AIDS patients in the 1980s and 90s.
I remember reading this when it first came out and really enjoying it, it was the first thing by Sacks that I ever read.
Nice! I'm currently working my way through Dungeon Crawler Carl too (currently on book 6). Despite being an avid gamer myself, and a huuuuuuge fan of cRPGs, DCC is the actually the first litRPG novel I've ever read. It's definitely not going to be the last I read of the genre, if this is what I can expect from it. DCC has been incredibly dark but really enjoyable so far.
Please post if you find other excellent litrpg books.
Im not confident that the elements i like in these books will be present in other litrpgs in the same way. Dinniman manages to parody so many aspects of modern life and weaves politics and intrigue throughout the story. It's built on a litrpg framework but I see it as a series that crosses genres.
Likewise, if you find any other good ones, let me know too. And yeah, unfortunately I can definitely see it potentially being the case where most authors in the genre simply fill their novels with shallow gaming and pop-culture related "nostalgia porn" type references (like the Ready Player One movie did), and not even attempting to make any sort of deeper social commentary or satirization/parody like Dinniman did with DCC.
p.s. Speaking of Ready Player One/Two, have you read those books yet? I was considering reading them next, since even though I didn't enjoy the movie, I've heard the books are much better and way less shallow than the movie ended up being.
Will do. I haven't tried Ready Player 1 or 2.
I'm yet to read DCC although it's been recommended to me a few times so I should really get on it.
One litrpg I've thoroughly enjoyed is The Wandering Inn.
It experiments with its own genre a bunch but the core is a mashup of high fantasy adventure and character-driven cosy slice of life stuff. It does a good job of keeping the RPG trappings in service of telling a story, rather than the other way around.
It does have a reputation for being very long, but the prose makes for easy reading and it gives plenty of time to build up an expansive world and a wide cast of fleshed out characters.
The whole thing is available for free on the web, otherwise there are ebooks and audiobooks for sale for those that prefer those formats.
Yesterday I started A New Earth by Eckhardt Tolle. I read it about 20 years ago and it hit super hard. My life has been doing one of those big cycles recently, and I want to see how it hits this time. After that I'm going to reread The Power Of Now.
« Les hommes qui n'aiment pas des femmes » (Men who hate women) or better known here by its English translation title "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" ¹
Without spoiling much the book is marvelous and not too dense despite being quite substantial in size, and even 40% in the mystery is still there — its not like some mysteries where you already have a clear suspect a few chapters in.
It's definitely on the darker side of things and may have some triggering elements for people, but overall I highly recommend the text it's been quite well crafted!
Now on thematic stuff which may be mild spoilers: from what I've read so far, It very effectively examinates and displays an insane gap between political rhetoric and actual violent acts faced against women, the ramifications of Nazism still festering in alcoves of Swedish society, failings of neoliberalism + welfare apparatus (most notably in legal / social / financial support of wards of the state), and lastly the absolute moral bankruptcy among much of the wealthy.
trigger warnings for potential readers (not a huge spoiler / I'm vague with it)
Most notably sexual assault and violence against women / minors / those under legal guardianship
1: Some fun information on the title:
Gabrielsson has been upset by some of the changes that have been made to the books, including the original title being dropped in the international editions. "Stieg refused to let the Swedish publisher change that – they said [Men Who Hate Women] wasn't commercial, and he refused. I have that in an email." She says that calling Lisbeth Salander "the girl with the dragon tattoo" diminishes her. "And the actual tattoo, well, in the original book, that's huge – it runs from her shoulder, along the spine, and ends somewhere on her buttock. Even that image is changed in the English version. It's changed to a small tattoo on her shoulder, because that's the cover they had in mind. You shouldn't be able to do that." She bangs a hand on the table, clearly incensed source
I just finished Bindle Punk Bruja, and I enjoyed it. It definitely gets a little long and unnecessarily introduces some characters that don't really make it to the wrap-up, but I enjoyed it enough to say if it's your type of book, give it a try. I'm trying not to read series at the moment, but I started it without realizing it was a duology.
I have several books in my library to start, and I just can't decide which one I want to start next. Might start with the next one due back, I guess, but I really want to start the next Uketsu book. We'll see what I decide.
I recently finished Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike. It's basically a satire about D&D and capitalism. I really enjoyed it!
Dungeon Crawler Carl is also a satire/parody of capitalism although i suspect it has more gore.
On the last book of Mistborn, The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson. I was hesitant to start this series for some reason, but the way it fleshes out the world of the original series has been very satisfying. Particularly the technological and societal changes after the time jump from the first series.
This series has made me desperate for his upcoming Ghostbloods series and I’m heartbroken to wait a few years. Oh well, guess I’ll have to read all his other books in the mean time!
I'm currently listening to Aurora by David Koepp. It's alright and fine semi dystopian entertainment. I'm still a little pissed that I can't find Andromedan Dark part 2 by Ian Douglas on any of my audiobook apps. Just finished the first and it was great and a heavy listen in a good way.
For my book club I'm rereading Don't Sleep There are Snakes by Daniel L. Everett because it was my turn to choose. I love this book and recommend it to everyone. It a journey in language, culture and human understanding and it's inspirational.
I'm reading Legend by David Gemmell. It'd been on my list for awhile and I'm really enjoying it!
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein is also good so far, but has been a little slower and I've found myself not always in the mood to read it. It does look like things will pick up soon in the book so I'll finish it sometime soon.
Finished The Wings of the Dove by Henry James Published 1902. A real challenge but a real reward in the end. The last 100 pages are literary magic. James has a way of just keeping you from knowing everything that is going on, there is always something he doesn't quite show or explain. Probably the deepest character development I've come across, almost no plot in 500 pages. 9/10 Among the most difficult books I've ever read and finished.
Finished Friedrich Engels' The Condition of the Working Class in England 1844 Published in 1845. Checked off the list? I think this sort of thing is better digested in novelized form. But a book like this served and serves a function as a systematic look at just how bad things were and how far we have come. It is a really thorough look into the whole plight of the working class during that time, you get it all here.
Started into Graham Greene's Brighton Rock Published 1938. I have read a number of Greene books and generally enjoy them. I picked this one because it is featured in Harold Bloom's The Western Canon which is something I'm slowly working through. Life-long project kind of thing.
As an Audiobook I've started Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane Published 2013. The most modern novel I've ever read! My partner is a big fan of Gaiman's work. Yes, I'm fully aware of his recent issues, but I'm a firm believer in separating the art from the artist. As someone who reads a lot of older books, if I started purity testing those writers there wouldn't be much left to read. This is definitely not something I would normally read, but for my partner's sake and it's only 5ish hours, what the hell. I have a feeling I will probably enjoy it. I pirated the audiobook to ensure I provide no monetary gain to Mr. Gaiman.
In between all this I read James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice Published 1934. A noir classic! Before becoming better known through film there were noir books, and this is supposed to be one of the best. Not totally for me, but it was enjoyable and really short. 100 pages short. Very light and entertaining, I recommend it as a fun read. Grittiness, Murder, Intrigue, Suspense.
Finished The Greatcoats.
It was okay. Lots of dropped potential and felt like it had its own filler.
Trying malevolent seven by the same author since it’s more recent and hoping he’s rounded out his rough edges.
It’s…okay… so far. A lot of “I get it. Shits awful” but I feel like it’s already doing a decent job of shoring up my issues of the previous book (only a few characters got any serious depth)
Absolute Superman 5-6 was great. I'm glad they seemingly finished this Superman's origin story, and the next issue will be a new arc with Ra's Al Ghul as the villain. These issues clarified even more why this Superman is kinda fucked up and how much he hates the oppression of the elites, since Earth's issues closely mirror those he saw in Krypton.
Fun tidbit one: in this universe, Jonathan and Martha Kent find Kal-El (Superman) as a young adult (or perhaps he's a teenager and ages quickly IDK). He is overwhelmed by the energy of our Sun, and they care for him as he is kinda "sick" for a while. It's a little weird that an elderly couple would just harbor an alien that age without thinking. That made way more sense when he was a baby or child. Also, during his "sickness", Kal-El starts showing his powers in a confused state. He almost kills Martha with his laser eyes and levitates at some point. Martha calls him an "angel", but the way it is depicted looks more like demonic possession, and that would 100% be the most natural association for a farmer in Kansas. The whole arc with the Kents felt rushed. I don't really buy how their relationship progresses so quickly.
Fun tidbit two: both Krypton and Absolute Earth have advanced AI. In Krypton, Kal-El was constantly admonished by teachers for his weird habit of actually writing instead of using AI like everyone else. On Earth, Lois Lane is criticized for doing the same with her reports to Lazarus. That was an interesting nod to our own troubles with LLMs, and also a way to display that both Lane and Kent are journalists at heart even in this world.
I've been on Eve's Hollywood, and.. if not embellished... it's wild to think of all the "names" she was in contact with. Some of the writing sometimes seems.. rudimentary?.. like, there was an adjective quota to hit.. but, as a Los Angeleno, I'm enjoying her musings on living life out here.