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.
This is the second of an ongoing series of book discussions here on Tildes. We are discussing Piranesi.
Our next book will be Ursula le Guin the Dispossessed, around the 16th or 17th of May.
I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.
For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.
Thanks to everyone who discussed Cloud Atlas and to those who attempted to read it and to those who read along at home.
Piranesi is significantly shorter than Cloud Atlas. I hope you will join us in reading and discussing in a month.
I've recently finished Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook and have begun writing my own poems (just for fun). I feel though that I may be limited by my having read little poetry. So, I'm searching for anthology recommendations to get some inspiration.
I'm not really looking for collections of "classics," just a large collection of poems generally considered to be "very good," and maybe leaning more towards contemporary (late 19th century onwards?). But I'd welcome recommendations outside of these guidelines too if anyone feels particularly strongly about some collection.
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.
Be it fiction or non-fiction, what books did you find helpful for accepting the uncertainties of life? I used the word anxiety in the title, because that's the angle I'm mainly interested in right now, but in no way I'm just asking about psychology books. All kinds of books are welcome.
(A follow-up to Game recommendations, specifically)
This is a topic for book recommendations, but not just any standard book recommendations.
This is a topic for book recommendations where you have a very specific thing that you're looking for.
Maybe you're looking for a certain type of story that can't easily be summarized with genres and tags. Maybe you're looking for a book that will evoke a particular feeling that's hard to put into words.
Whatever you're looking for, share your desired specificity below, and let people try to recommend books that fit it.
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.
This is the first of an ongoing series of book discussions here on Tildes. We are discussing Cloud Atlas.
Our next book will be Piranesi, sometime in the third week of April.
I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.
For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.
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.
Inspired by this thread about the "bible" of your activity or hobby - What's a book that you would recommend to someone who has a vague interest in an activity or subject of your interest that you think will make them find it super interesting and/or impart a good surface-level understanding of your field?
I used to read voraciously in my youth, but as an adult it is very difficult to get into a story, even if it seems to be good. So, I'm asking for what you'd recommend... based on a few options.
I typically love/hate dystopian options that show that humanity is just a complete horrorshow. That being said, I haven't been able to get past page three (I think it was?) in Clockwork Orange. But, some of my favorite books are: The Lord of the Flies, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tale of Two Cities in backwards order (that is, Dickens' is my favorite, and Lord of the Flies is still great but the least of those four).
I feel that futility and the rest of the world hating on you or just being its normal awful self are the main themes I seem to gravitate to.
As I mentioned though, I still intend to read Clockwork Orange but I'm not a fan [yet?]. I also read The Good Earth when I was about 11, and honestly, it's a godawful book but I read the whole thing because its horror kept me reading. Just putting that out there for ideas. Also I'm not much of a fan of sci-fi, unrealistic fantasy (though that might be an exception), or zombies/apocalypse.
So with all that in mind, does anyone have anything either modern or classic that you'd recommend?
EDIT: THANK YOU ALL! (And feel free to continue adding more suggestions!) I just wanted to say thank you for so many potential options; I just have to get over to the library for a card (scheduled for Friday), and what I can't get there or something that seems a little too dense, I will look into audiobook options since I drive a lot.
I'm not going to commit to a specific day yet but I'm planning to have the discussion post up before March 15.
Hey y'all! I'm finishing up a work (academic) project, and, to my delight in the near future I will have time to read for fun again! In talking with a friend, I realized that many people have at least one or two favorite books no one's ever heard of before.
Fiction, nonfiction, weird, old, whatever! What're your favorites?
I'll start: Karl Kerenyi's book on Hermes, and Ex Libris, by Anne Fadiman. The Kerenyi text is lovely because he dwells in this between-place of pure academic and personal experience, and it reads almost like a memoir of a man who is still very much in the midst of his love affair with his research. The Fadiman book is a lovely (if tiny!) volume of essays that I've come back to time and time again about what books mean to a reader, and how they have shaped her life.
Hello, I'm looking for books written by professionals that would further my language and understanding of emotions, in order to connect with my emotions on a deeper level. An example would be "Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect", but it doesn't have to be about neglect. I just want to understand and experience the emotional spectrum better, so any book (written by a mental health professional) that would help with that is good. If possible, I prefer shorter books, around 100-250 pages, but it's not a hard requirement.
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.
Those participating will discuss Cloud Atlas starting the first week of March. This is an opportunity to check in about obstacles or progress.
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 stumbled upon this old AskMetaFilter thread, and thought it would be interesting to ask here.
I've recently found myself reaching for some of my favorite philosophy books as I enter another year of navigating a chaotic, painful world, and navigating my own depression and quest for meaning within it. Exploring philosophy really helps give me the language and mental framework to make sense and meaning out of an existence that often overwhelms me with fear and meaninglessness.
One big problem, though: a lot of philosophy books absolutely suck to read. They're overlong, impenetrably dense, and often awkwardly translated from another language.
TL;DR:
Can anyone recommend approachable, readable philosophy (or philosophy-adjacent) books that can help me navigate the world, find reasons to live, and develop a durable sense of meaning?
Some more background info: The philosophies that have resonated most with me over the years are the works of Camus, the broader world of existentialists and existentialist-adjacent philosophies, stoicism, and utilitarianism. While I recognize that things like logic, epistemology, and religion are important branches of philosophy I'm more interested in things that help me navigate the daily questions of existence such as meaning, suffering, purpose, and so on.
The most impactful philosophical ideas I've ever encountered are those of Camus in The Myth of Sisyphus. Camus' conception of the absurd and the challenges of navigating it resonated so deeply with me that it essentially kickstarted my entire interest in philsophy. Before that I had never done any philosophical reading that felt like it really applied to me. Suddenly it felt like Camus had taken what was in my brain and put it on the page. However, I still consider the Myth of Sisyphus not an approachable, readable philosophy book, and not really a good book at all. I found his philosophy impactful despite the fact that it's overly long, often boring, and weighed down by an English translation that may have been good in the 1950s but in the 21st century is extremely stilted and hard to read.
For that reason my favorite philosophy book is At The Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell. It's half biography of Sartre, Beauviour, and Heidigger, and half overview of the wide world of existentialist philosophies. It's an smooth, pleasant read written in plain English that both helped me understand more philosophical concepts than any other single book I've ever read and introduced me to tons of things I want to learn more about. I highly recommend it.
Some other books I've read:
Some I'm considering reading:
I deeply appreciate breadcrumbs anyone can provide as I try to learn how (and why) to keep living in this world and to develop a sense of meaning within it.
The results are in, and Dispossessed was the clear favorite with many strong contenders. It looks like quite a few people are interested in participating.
There was a tie for third place so we will start with four books.
Edit
We will discuss Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell in early March,
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke in Mid April,
The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin in Late May
And Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir at the end of June.
We will discuss Project Hail Mary in early March
Cloud Atlas in mid April
The Dispossessed in late May
and Piranesi at the end of June
At that point I plan to hold a voting thread for fiction and a voting thread for nonfiction and discuss/vote on how frequently to read nonfiction. Please feel free to renominate your favorites that didn't get chosen.
I'm looking forward to this. Thanks for participating.
A Couple of library users have said Project Hail Mary is going to take time to get ahold of.
Edit Based on responses so far I propose the following schedule
We will discuss Cloud Atlas in early March,
Piranesi in Mid April,
The Dispossessed in Late May
And Project Hail Mary at the end of June.
Can those of you who use libraries, check our four books and see if there is one to start with that is less in demand? Please report back with hold times and we can see if a different schedule works better.
Books are the Dispossessed, Cloud Atlas, Project Hail Mary, Piranesi.
Let me know.
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@azaadi
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Forget highbrow literature and critics for a moment. What's a book series that stayed engaging and enjoyable throughout?
Bonus points if you don't have to provide a disclaimer for those one or two books in the series that are "a bit of a slog but still really good!"
My top nominations are:
Red Rising: Never read anything quite like it. As an ADHD haver, reading something more than once is the bane of my existence. Not for this series. Endlessly re-readable and highly engaging throughout. Starts out as Roman hunger games in space, turns into peak Game of Thrones in space. God, it's so good.
Harry Potter: Not sure I need to explain this one. Plenty to hate about this series and the author, but they aren't popular for no reason. I find the world to be magical, whimsical, and the story to be very engaging. The later books are particularly good.
The Bobiverse: this is the most fun series on my list. The name and premise will turn most people away from this one and it's a real shame. I could not stop reading these and I'm dying for more. If this story went on forever and maintained its current quality, I don't think I'd ever get bored of hearing it on audiobook.
I made my first mistake coordinating this project. Gormenghast was nominated, but it's the second book in a trilogy so I excluded it. Turns out, @azaadi meant to nominate the whole trilogy. It hadn't occurred to me.
So what are your thoughts? I haven't known book clubs to include trilogies, but my experience is limited.
Please vote below and feel free to comment.
It's time to choose books for the book club to read. We will be voting between now and end of day Monday Pacific Time. Please only vote if you plan to read with us, regardless of whether you choose to comment.
I invite each person to choose up to three books from this list to vote for by upvoting. Edit: I did not adequately disclose this at the nomination stage. We will read a few top books, a number that makes sense from the final vote tally.
We will read at least the top five, possibly a couple more if there are books with the same number of votes. After voting, I will follow up with our books list and a tentative schedule.
From the list of suggestions I excluded the nonfiction, hoping that we can choose nonfiction in future where everyone submits nonfiction titles. I also excluded Gormenghast because it is second in a series. I did include some nominated books that are first in series.
Edit nominations are closed
I asked @Cffabro about doing another book discussion as with Roadside Picnic. He suggested that I pick it up instead. So hi. Are there readers here who would like to join me on a book discussion journey?
If yes, please name between one and five books you find intriguing and think others might enjoy. We will later have a voting thread so that each nomination gets an equal shot to win votes with no early nomination advantage.
Also, let's talk frequency. I think monthly, every six weeks or every two months all sound like reasonable intervals for busy people to read and discuss a book. What are your thoughts?
Lastly do you have things to mention that you thought worked well in the past or should be avoided?
I hope this gets some traction. I'm looking forward to it.
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.
After reading The Body Snatchers and The Puppet Masters, I am almost finishing Blood Music and I am not yet done with that theme.
These are all stories about human possession or replacement with copies by other entities, extraterrestrial or otherwise. As I finish Blood Music, I find myself craving for more. It doesn't matter if it is about invasion or something else that takes over our bodies and minds. Stories that question and entice our attachment to our identities, as well as our desire to conform and dissolve into the collective.
I wish for stories that are not about just one person undergoing a transformation, but rather a group or a community (family, town, country, the world).
Ideally, they should be some kind of science fiction (even if science's role is not immediately obvious and overt), but I am open to suggestions if you believe something in other genres deserves my attention.
References:
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 didn't have as much time for reading this year. My daughters kept me quite busy (and happy). However, I managed to squeeze in one or the other title. I don't want to discuss all of the forty-something books I read, but here's an incomplete list of what I can recommend (and what not).
I really enjoyed the following books:
I think my favorites were Black Swan Green and The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Both are very powerful stories with complex protagonists.
I didn't really enjoy these books:
I think those books taught me something, although they weren't necessarily fun to read:
Especially Chris Voss and James Clear can't stop boasting and/or advertising. I learned something from their books, but I found them annoying to read. The mental models book and the Phoenix project were fun, though.
I'm a software developer and read quite some books about this topic this year. I can recommend the following of them:
But I didn't really like those (although they're good from a technical perspective):
So, what did you guys read? What can you recommend? Which books disappointed you?
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.
Hello,
If this topic came up and such a recommendation has been made, please just point me to that post.
I would like to read an introduction to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
I would like the book:
Thanks much
Hello!
For the past few years, I've been an avid reader of fantasy and fiction. I've explored numerous books and sagas within these genres, ranging from well-known titles to some relatively underground gems. However, I've encountered a recent issue with my reading habits.
Firstly, reading has always been my preferred and "healthier" form of entertainment from a productivity standpoint. Compared to games or TV/movies, it has been easier for me to set aside a book when it's time to focus on work or study. Lately, though, I've become deeply engrossed in series with multiple entries. When a book's plot captivates me, putting it down becomes a challenge. This was particularly true with the Expanse series; by the fourth book, I was completely immersed in the narrative and characters. Unfortunately, the series comprises nine books, leading me to avidly read subsequent books almost obsessively and, regrettably, procrastinate on important tasks.
Admittedly, this lack of discipline is my own fault. However, I believe that if I had access to interesting short stories, I could read them during breaks or brief moments of leisure, satisfying my entertainment needs without committing to a lengthy plot. Recently, I enjoyed "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, which exemplifies the kind of short story I'm seeking. Another example would be "The Jaunt" by Stephen King.
Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with how to access such stories. It seems that short stories are often published in niche magazines, a trend that appears to be more specific to the US culture. I primarily read on Kindle, so if you know of a way to download these types of stories in bulk in epub format or specific book compilations containing short stories, I would greatly appreciate your recommendations!
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've stumbled across other fantasy with a similar feeling, but curious if you all have some specific direction to point me in. I've read all of her other books so other books of hers are already off the list. I think the qualities that I enjoyed so much about it were:
I read a few others in the past that felt the same, the one that jumps to mind is Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Something about the plot or writing in these books is really gripping for me, keeps me hooked, and is really satisfying. I'm open to any suggestions you can throw my way, and thank you in advance!
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've just started reading The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks, and am currently reading A Player of Games. This might be a controversial thing to say, but I'm getting some Douglas Adams vibes, especially in his depiction of the drones. Am I the only one who feels a certain connection there?
I was wondering what the best open source EPUB reader was, for both Android and Windows 10/11. It's ok if it's a different app for each platform.
I don't need to be able to convert EPUB to proprietary formats, I just need to be able to read some DRM-free EPUBs I have, preferably on an app that's open source so just does its job without collecting a bunch of data.
I wish to know more about science in general and books are a good way to do that. We have a good assortment of science-minded people on Tildes, so I think it would be interesting to know what everyone recommends. The one requisite is that the books must be adequate for a general audience. This means that the books must not require the reader to hold a STEM degree or even have a particular aptitude for STEM.
Just so it is abundantly clear: I am looking for books that people with an arts and humanities background can read. Laypeople. "Dummies".
I'm asking more about books that are intros to a specific field than introductions to science in general.
Thanks!
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.
As someone who hasn't always been good about reading consistently, it can be tricky to know what to read next. There's so many books out there, it can be daunting to just pick one.
Recently, I've gone through Goodreads' yearly award winners (two of 2023's so far: The Maid and The Guest List), but they've been a bit underwhelming in my opinion. So, I thought I'd turn to Tildes!
Regardless of genre, what are the books you would absolutely recommend that people read?
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.
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.
Basically what it says in the thread title- any recommendations are welcome.
Yesterday, I really enjoyed listening to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkpLbVtTAuk).
And today I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for similar audio-books which have multiple voice actors.
All genre is okay but preferably singular works that focus on story over recurring characters (anthology series are okay). Preferably works that are available on YouTube, or otherwise freely downloadable--but this is not a strict requirement.
I want to start reading more, and I'd also like to start avoiding screens before I sleep, so I'd like to get an e-ink device that I can use for reading.
I've never owned or looked into ereaders before so I'm not entirely sure what the general capabilities are in this space, but heres a list of things that I consider important:
I like to try and read seasonally-appropriate books during October and I'm curious what your favorites are. To qualify as "seasonally-appropriate", the book should have at least one of:
I'm looking for some suggestions for books to read. I used to be a big reader as a kid, but as time went on, I found myself increasingly less interested and eventually dropped reading altogether. Nowadays, there's such a glut of stuff out there that I found it daunting trying to look for something that might interest me.
My preference is horror fiction and to a lesser extent scifi, but I'm open to non-fiction historical books as well. Anthologies and collections of short stories are also good. I tend to bounce off fantasy novels, especially medieval fantasy and series like Wheel of Time that has 20+ books you need to get invested in, so I'm much less interested in those. Thanks in advance.