What book(s) are you reading right now?

[Pheran]

Which book? There are 5 in the series.
1- The Song of the Jubilee
2 - The Gambit with Perfection
3 - The Synthesis and the Animus
4 - The Descent into the Maelstrom
5- The Restoration of Flaws

I'm into the 5th book now, but the link I provided is the whole thing for free.

 

[Pheran]

Started reading the first book in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

This series starts out well but goes sadly downhill after book 3-4.

 

[Brainonska511]

This series starts out well but goes sadly downhill after book 3-4.

That's good to know - probably won't buy the rest all at once then.

But I also have a big stack of books to get through still (making progress, probably read 4-5 since the start of the year), so it might be some time before I go out buying even more books...

 

[DainBramaged]

I've been slowly plodding through The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy. It started pretty slow, and it's hard to accept a lot of the norms prevalent during that time; however, midway through, or so, it really started taking off. I'm currently a bit concerned as to how it'll end. We'll see.

I'm also reading The Lonely City, by Olivia Laing. Loneliness is something I've been baffled by. First I'll be distressed that there won't ever be anyone. Then, I'll find myself wishing there never had been anyone. Now debating the utility of alone-ness vs. the utility of together-ness. Not sure where the debate will end, or where it'll put me at. Time'll tell, I guess.

 

[Pheran]

I just finished The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton. It's essentially one huge novel split into 2 books. Humanity has invented wormhole technology and spread across dozens of planets, but then discovers a puzzling star that seems to have been instantly enclosed by what they originally thought was a Dyson sphere. I highly recommend it, it's the best science fiction I've read in a while.

 

[Brainonska511]

The other day, I finished off Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly. It's a great book about the relatively unrecognized women who played critical roles at NACA and NASA and succeeded, despite growing up and living in an era of intense racism, segregation, and prejudice against women.

 

[bfun_x1]

I'm just about done with the first book in the Wheel of Time series and I'm debating whether to continue on to the second book. On one hand I'm really enjoying it but on the other I'm really bothered by the fact that it seems like the author just renamed the LOTR characters and changed the story a little.

Two Rivers = Shire
Mat and Perrin = Merry and Pippin
Lan = Aragorn
Moiraine = Gandalf
Myyrdrahl = Nazgul
Dark One = Dark Lord
Padan Fain = Golem

So if I don't move on to The Great Hunt I'll probably get The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter or The Lies of Locke Lamora

 

[SKORPI0]

I'm just about done with the first book in the Wheel of Time series and I'm debating whether to continue on to the second book. On one hand I'm really enjoying it but on the other I'm really bothered by the fact that it seems like the author just renamed the LOTR characters and changed the story a little.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/sho...e-as-good-as-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-hobbit

 

[clamum]

I just finished The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton. It's essentially one huge novel split into 2 books. Humanity has invented wormhole technology and spread across dozens of planets, but then discovers a puzzling star that seems to have been instantly enclosed by what they originally thought was a Dyson sphere. I highly recommend it, it's the best science fiction I've read in a while.

Huh that sounds like I might like it. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll add it to my wishlist.

I just finished The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. Mother of God did I love this series, almost as much as Song of Ice and Fire. I follows several families from the U.S., England, Germany, Russia from the beginning of the 20th century to the fall of Communism and weaves in actual history and characters with the fictional characters. I thought the first couple books were better, especially the first, but overall I really enjoyed the series. Highly recommended if it sounds interesting (which it should you son of a b-).

That was my bedtime reading; now I'm finally gonna read Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France. It actually used to be my dad's book but he gave it to me awhile back when my parents moved. It's an actual paperback; I normally read on the phone and now Kindle laying in bed just due to easiness but I have a bunch of actual books to read so I gotta get through these, and bed time is when I do my reading, besides audiobooks in the car.

Audiobook in car is I just started the Extinction Cycle series based on a high recommendation of a co-workers. It's post-apocalyptic fiction, with zombie-type creatures (more in the vain of I Am Legend than Walking Dead). I've definitely gotten hooked; it's quite good.

 

[Captante]

Stephen King "Revival"

 

[DaveSimmons]

Humble has a collection of Nebula-award winning SF books and story collections for $1-$20:

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/super-nebula-2018-books

It's a mix of very old up through 2017.

I've read and enjoyed these: Fritz Leiber (Faffryd & Grey Mouser), Harlan Ellison, Tim Powers, Samuel R. Delaney. I forget whether I've read these specific titles or not from Greg Bear, Octavia Butler and Ursula K. LeGuin.

 

[highland145]

Faffryd & Grey Mouser

Ha, I remember that. Talk about a lifetime ago.

 

[Brainonska511]

Finished off Norwegian Wood and Brandon Sanderson's short stories about his cosmere universe, so now I've started on Oathbringer

 

[FeuerFrei]

Monsters of West Virginia: Mysterious Creatures in the Mountain State
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

 

[Thebobo]

Dan Brown's Origin 9/10

Just finished reading Dan Brown's Origin and really enjoyed it. This was the Audio version and it is well narrated. I think a lot of the tech geeks here would like the subject matter. Quantum computers, AI, religion, murder, a brilliant computer scientist and of course professor Langdon. The entire book takes place in spain and the medieval castles churches and palaces are marvelously described. I had to check them all out on google and the Sagrada Familia I never knew about and its amazing and still is a work in progress after over a hundred years.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Dan Brown's Origin 9/10

Just finished reading Dan Brown's Origin and really enjoyed it. This was the Audio version and it is well narrated. I think a lot of the tech geeks here would like the subject matter. Quantum computers, AI, religion, murder, a brilliant computer scientist and of course professor Langdon. The entire book takes place in spain and the medieval castles churches and palaces are marvelously described. I had to check them all out on google and this one below, the Sagrada Familia I never knew about and its amazing and still is a work in progress after over a hundred years.

I read the first two of the Dan Brown books a year or two before they started making the movies and I enjoyed them. They were fun adventure tales with semi-plausible "symbologist" plots. After that I guess I didn't feel the need for more of the same, but maybe I'll give them a try.

 

[tynopik]

been on a bit of a litrpg kick

Dakota Krout - The Divine Dungeon series
Shemer Kuznits - Life Reset
Aleron Kong - Chaos Seeds series
Mother of Learning

 

[FeuerFrei]

Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend
by Donnie Sergent Jr.

More like a compilation of verbal reports, and news clippings than a narrative. If you ask me. It's my first book / movie on the subject. I might want to attend the annual Mothman Festival some September, if I ever happen to be in that part of the country.

 

[DainBramaged]

The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel

An affair: it can rob a couple of their relationship, their happiness, their very identity. And yet, this extremely common human experience is so poorly understood. What are we to make of this time-honored taboo—universally forbidden yet universally practiced? Why do people cheat—even those in happy marriages? Why does an affair hurt so much? When we say infidelity, what exactly do we mean? Do our romantic expectations of marriage set us up for betrayal? Is there such a thing as an affair-proof marriage? Is it possible to love more than one person at once? Can an affair ever help a marriage? Perel weaves real-life case stories with incisive psychological and cultural analysis in this fast-paced and compelling book.

 

[Kaido]

The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity by Esther Perel

An affair: it can rob a couple of their relationship, their happiness, their very identity. And yet, this extremely common human experience is so poorly understood. What are we to make of this time-honored taboo—universally forbidden yet universally practiced? Why do people cheat—even those in happy marriages? Why does an affair hurt so much? When we say infidelity, what exactly do we mean? Do our romantic expectations of marriage set us up for betrayal? Is there such a thing as an affair-proof marriage? Is it possible to love more than one person at once? Can an affair ever help a marriage? Perel weaves real-life case stories with incisive psychological and cultural analysis in this fast-paced and compelling book.

You might like watching this TED Talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJv0TEcLapg

 

[Kaido]

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

Kind of a lightweight thriller spy novel. The main character worked for the U.S. government, which turned on her, so now she lives on the run. It's actually pretty good! The author's writing isn't perfect, but has improved quite a bit from her Twilight days. About halfway through right now. This would be really good if they made it into a movie!

 

[Kaido]

I'm just about done with the first book in the Wheel of Time series and I'm debating whether to continue on to the second book. On one hand I'm really enjoying it but on the other I'm really bothered by the fact that it seems like the author just renamed the LOTR characters and changed the story a little.

Two Rivers = Shire
Mat and Perrin = Merry and Pippin
Lan = Aragorn
Moiraine = Gandalf
Myyrdrahl = Nazgul
Dark One = Dark Lord
Padan Fain = Golem

So if I don't move on to The Great Hunt I'll probably get The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter or The Lies of Locke Lamora

I don't mind repetitive stories (in terms of pattern-matching other stories), if they're written in a unique & interesting way. Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game (which is a fantastic book), wrote this gold nugget of an article about JK Rowling:

http://www.linearpublishing.com/RhinoStory.html

There's an excellent video on Star Wars (originals) about how "everything is a remix":

Kirby Ferguson has an excellent broader video on that very topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJPERZDfyWc

As well as a great Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/kirby1/videos

 

[Perknose]

"Cartoons" and poetry at the moment. I have a bunch of books from Billy Collins. He's a fabulous poet. And I have several collections of the "cartoons" of the late John Callahan, his life story now featured in the Gus Van Zant film Don't Worry He Won't Get Far on Foot, which I'll probably be seeing this coming week.

THE REVENANT

by Billy Collins

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you.

When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.

I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and--greatest of insults--shake hands without a hand.

I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.

You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.

While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place

except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner--
that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and all the others in prose.

The late John Callahan:

 

[SKORPI0]

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer

.This would be really good if they made it into a movie!

TV adaptation...

‘Twilight’ Author Stephenie Meyer’s ‘The Chemist’ To Be Adapted As TV Series By Tomorrow Studios - Jan 2018

 

[Mai72]

I've been into audio books as late. I love being able to 2X the speed so I can learn at a faster clip.

My current books are:

*Rise and Grind by Daymon John
*10X Rule by Grant Cardone
*Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone
*The Power of Ambition by Jim Rohn