5
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.
Finishing up The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane which is such a tonal shift back from my litrpg junk food that I've been having a bit of whiplash
Just finished Cryoburn so there's only one Vorkosigan novel to go and then I'm done.
Just finished Tonic Shop at the End of the World and book 4 of the Newt and Demon series, both litrpg alchemist stories
I'm bouncing back and forth between two authors: Chuck Tingle and Matt Dinniman.
With Tingle, I finished Bury Your Gays, followed immediately by Camp Damascus, which are two that have "broader appeal" than some of his other work (seriously just go and read some titles). I thought both books were fun, quick reads that gave cishet me a better understanding of representation and social pressure. BYG addresses profit motive vs. representation in media, and how "representation" can feel as crappy as non-representation when handled poorly. CD is a horror book about conversion therapy.
I'm a science fiction and fantasy kid, and I'm only now realizing at 41 that I should have been delving into subsections of the horror genre my whole life. So while I'm also fitting in episodes from Tingle's podcast (Pounded In The Butt By My Own Podcast), I'm also listening to Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon from Dinniman. I prefer to not give Audible money, so until they come to Libby, I'm not doing the DCC series.
But my library had this one, and the internet said I'd like it, and stylistically it's proving to not be very different from Tingle (Pargin, too, who I quite like): using absurdity to safely approach topics that require reflection, without coming across as so earnest that it causes the reader to roll their eyes.
It's a genre I like more and more: I call it Sincere Camp, but I think the label New Sincerity is winning out. The irony/cynicism combo is tiring, so I'm finding myself more and more drawn to authors/creators who use irony and absurdism to get super close to a topic rather than using the irony to maintain a detached distance.
Anyhow, really enjoying Dinniman, loving Tingle, and still strongly recommend Pargin. The internet says I should read Scalzi and T. Kingfisher next, so let me know if that tracks.
I think you'd like both Scalzi and Kingfisher - she varies her types of books more so if there's a vibe you're looking for I may be able to point you in a direction
I see she has a number of series. I just love spending a long time in a world. Do you have a favorite series from her? It doesn't need to be her longest series, just a universe you liked the most. I'm genre- and plot-neutral.
I finished How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying for Tildes Book Club.
I finished Breakfast with Seneca
I'm currently reading Circe by Miller
I went to a jazz concert with Lars Saabye Christensen, and enjoyed it so much I bought a (signed) copy of his latest book, Kitchen. First book of his I've ever read. It's pretty good, but I think I prefer him as a jazz vocalist rather than as a writer.
Only got about a fifth through the book before I accidentally left it at the gate in Schiphol. :-(
Schiphol, by the way, is the only airport where I've seen a cheese shop next to a tulip shop. The Netherlands is clearly not a real place, and I'm pretty sure I hallucinated the whole thing.
In any case, at the next airport I bought a copy of Stephen King's 2018 book The Outsider, which I'm currently reading. First book of his I've ever read. Really enjoying it so far! More of a mystery thriller than horror, though I suspect we'll find out there's something supernatural at play. I'll try to remember to make a post when I get further into it.
Having finished the Bobiverse series just this week, I moved on to "The Singularity Trap" because I really like Dennis Taylor's writing style.
Just starting it, a few days in, so not much to say really, other than the author knows how to draw you in. Looking forward to it. Been ages since I read something that wasn't part of a massive series.