Ask Lemmy

Last book was "The Catcher in the Rye" (yes i'm late..) Can't really recommend but i'll definitely never forget that one. Currently: Looking for Alaska. So many memories of my youth overwhelmed me. (banned in the US!?!?) 🤦

Last: Undivided, by Neal Shusterman This is the 4th/last in his series that begins with Unwind. I really enjoyed the whole series and recommend for anyone who enjoys dystopian themes and doesn't mind a touch of body horror.

Current: Mort, by Terry Pratchett. I'd read a bunch of the Rincewind Discworld novels ages ago and this is my jumping back in point for that universe. Would recommend to those who like silly fantasy and British humor.

Just finished Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky, very much enjoyed that. I've just started Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin. It's off to a cracking start - Rebus is in prison, what the what now?

As ever though I'm reading dozens of books. Most disappointing is John & Paul, A Love Story in Songs, by Ian Leslie. I bought it after going to a talk by the author. I'm a Beatles fan since childhood, so I thought it would be interesting. Well I guess I'm not a REAL Beatles fan, because I'm finding it tedious. Chapter 7 and it's still only 1962! I mean sure, it's fascinating that as a child, George Martin's family shared a communal lavatory with three other families, but please can we get back to the main subject?

Best of the rest is The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, by Steve Brusatte. Section 4 and we're only up to the Cretaceous, lol. I love this book, not just for the critters, but for the paleontologists, some amazing characters with epic stories of working with teeny tiny bones.

I am always reading one of Jarod K Anderson's collections of poems and I recommend them to everyone.

Currently reading, "The Bullet Swallower" by Elizabeth James García. Yes, I would recommend it to any fans of magical realism and/or Cormac McCarthy.

Last book I read was "The Mirror and the Light" by Hilary Mantel. I would recommend it only to history nerds like me lol

Reading: Vladimir Bartol, Alamut Arguably the best Slovenian book ever. It has a lot to say about power, manipulation, faith etc. Would 100% recommend.

Currently working my way through the He Who Fights With Monsters audiobook series. It’s a LitRPG, so it comes with all of the trappings that entails. The main character can be a little insufferable at times, but it’s at least self-aware enough to recognize that and call it out. There have been several laugh-out-loud moments from references that I wasn’t expecting. It’s clear the writer is a big nerd with a fetish for bad 80’s films and philosophy. The narrator (Heath Miller) is fantastic.

My biggest complaint is more about the audiobook format; The series frequently rehashes character abilities. In a regular book, this wouldn’t be a problem. You could just turn the page and skip reading it. But for an audiobook, you can try skipping ahead but you’ll still inevitably end up listening to the same ability description that you have heard twenty times before. It also frequently rehashes things that just happened. That’s more a symptom of it gradually being released on the writer’s Patreon, before it is compiled into a full book. Rehash at the start of a chapter makes sense when you’re only reading a chapter per week. But when you’re listening to the entire book, the rehashes can get redundant.

Overall, I’d suggest it if you enjoy the genre. Even with the complaints, those are relatively minor and I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far.

Last Book: Is Math Real? - Eugenia Chang

Reading: The Greeks, A Global history - Roderick Beaton

I would recommend both if either subject interests you.

"Is Math Real?" is a really fun book, and gives the brain a lot to chew on. It asks the "stupid questions" of math and explains why they aren't so stupid.

"The Greeks" is incredibly well written and researched, and goes into many details that aren't well known about Greek history. This is a subject that has always interested me because of my heritage, and I have learned a lot.

The last book I read was Monstrous Regiment, a Discworld book that had somehow slipped past me.

It was pretty good. It's more or less a stand alone book in the setting with some minor cameos by established characters. There is one conceit that the book runs on, which you'll likely catch onto early, but it manages to mix up how it uses that conceit to keep it fresh enough. The ending big action set piece is contrived even for Discworld action, but the book really isn't about the action anyway so it gets a pass. B+ book, one of the lesser Discworld books which still puts it way above most other books.

Last book: Murderbot Diaries - Network Effect by Martha Wells

Current book: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

The first book is really fun. Lot's of action and witty characters with a lot of development.

The second book might change your life. It made me realize just how much emotion I've not been letting myself feel for the last two decades.

Last finished: Deadhouse Gates (2nd Malazan novel), not sure what I think of the series yet, it has engaging parts, but too much violence for my mood atm (don't need dying refugees in my entertainment).

Now: The Last Continent, Discworld is always recommended.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

100%

Last book: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn) by Brandon Sanderson

Current book: Wind and Truth (Stormlight Archive) by Brandon Sanderson

I would 1000% recommend these books and other Cosmere books to anyone that enjoys fantasy but with the caveat of being aware of the Sanderlanche. Pretty much every book this guy writes takes time building everything up so it can feel quite slow, but then towards the end you get your avalanche of action, quick story progression, and answers to questions you get throughout the books.

Last book: Children of ruin. I didnt really like this one, while i was in awe of the brilliance of Children of time.

Currently reading a non-fiction book called The genius of birds. I already knew from direct experience how smart birds are, including ones that people perceive as dumb, like pigeons. But this book really gives a different perspective in how birds are complex creatures that adapt to their environments in intelligent ways, and how other birds will instantly copy these novel ways.

Currently reading: The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl #3) by Matt Dinniman Last read: The End of Ordinary by Edward Ashton

I recommend both! The Dungeon crawler series is waaaay messed up and pretty funny.

Last book I finished was Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Solid read, get it done before the movie comes out.

About to start the Kaiju Preservation Project by John Scalzi, no idea on that one yet, but Scalzi does good work in general.

Last one I can't reccomend is The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville and Keanu Reeves. I'm a big fan of the BRZRKR comics so I jumped at the chance for a novel in that universe... aaand it's largely unreadable. :(

Last book I read was Bee Speaker by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I normally love his stuff, and I loved both Dogs of War and Bear Head, but Bee Speaker was awful. Such a disappointment.

Currently I'm reading Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

FYI, there is an instance that asks this every week!

But to answer your question,

My last read was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Its a historical fiction about a few generations of a Korean family. It was solid.

I'm currently on vacation and have been reading Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone ... Picked it up since it was available and supposed to be an easy read... Which it is. Its just a whodunit. Idk how I feel about it yet.

Last book (reading with my kid): The Wild Robot Escapes. Definitely would recommend, nearly on par with the first.

Current book: The Wild Robot Protects. Would recommend if you’re a fan of the series; otherwise, it seems like a step down so far.

The Puppet Masters by Robert A. Heinlein, and now onto Invasion of the Body Snatches by Jack Finney. After that I will then read Village of the Damned by John Wyndham.

Last finished: The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions—and How the World Lost Its Mind by Dan Davies.

Currently reading: Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism by Leif Weatherby.

They’re about how two mid-20th century intellectual movements (cybernetics and structuralism, respectively) that would have provided valuable tools for managing contemporary issues (institutional collapse and artificial intelligence) were sidetracked in the 70s and 80s by other movements (neoliberalism and poststructuralism), and proposals for updating them for our present needs.

I just finished Jonathan Maberry’s Kagen the Damned trilogy. If you’re into epic fantasy it’s a good read.l, even if feels a little rushed in places and the short chapters irked me slightly.

Now I’m starting How to Survive in Ancient Rome by Robert Garland.

Finished the fifth wheel of time book last week, about done with the sixth. They are awesome books. I cant wait till the main characters start fucking things up. Its coming.... i can feel it in my bones with every page.

Last was war and peace, would recommend.

Currently "reading" Wisconsin • Minnesota | Midwest Bouldering Guidebooks to plan for an upcoming trip to devils lake. If you plan to go climbing there the book is awesome if not it would still be cool to page through if you are interested in climbing.

Listened to the audiobook version of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I'd read it long ago and was surprised how differently I experienced listening to it. Recommended.

Currently finishing a read of the (British) Rough Guide to Cult Pop (2004) ... a book about pop/rock music and its makers from the 50s forward to to 20 years ago. Broken up into many sections, put together by a crew of Brit-wits, many interesting facts and stories about a half-century of chart hits. Strong recommend IF you're into that sort of thing, appreciate a bit-o-snark, and know most of the names already (or want to).

Last book: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Current book: Absolution by Jeff Vandermeer

Doctor Sleep was good, it's been a long time since I read The Shining but this was a good follow-up. The movie is pretty decent too, but as always not as good as the book.

Absolution is the fourth book in Vandermeer's Southern Reach series. It's a challenging read, as are the other books but not bad so far. I don't think this is what I was expecting from a fourth book, but I'm not disappointed.

Last book: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Current book: Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Never Let Me Go was not my favorite book, but not a waste of time either. The story had some good highs and lows but it did not resonate with me personally.

Hyperion is excellent so far, I'm about halfway through and Simmons gives just enough information at the right time and pace to build the world out slowly and thoroughly, and each short story so far has left me contemplating for hours afterward. Definitely enjoying the journey so far but I have been warned not to expect definitive answers towards the end, so we'll see.

Last book The Peripheral by William Gibson

Current book Chapterhouse Dune by Frank Herbert

Yeah, both are good. I really love Gibson, and I’d have read Dune 1,2,3 before, but just decided to reread the whole series that Herbert wrote. Great downtime filler.

Last finished was Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey. It's a haunted house story with a twist. I would recommend to people who like horror.

Currently reading a first aid manual, On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, and The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. The first aid manual is handy, but reading it doesn't do much good without training and experience. OT is short and good, very on the nose for this Trump term. Woman in Black is another horror book; from 1983 and proving "elevated horror" isn't a new thing.

Last book: The West Passage by Jared Pechaček. Delightfully surreal fantasy; highest recommendation. Almost purposefully confusing at times, it wants you to infer the bizarre structure of its world through the mysteries it presents rather than ever try to over-explain itself.

Current book: Everything Must Go, The Stories We Tell About the End of the World by Dorian Lynskey. Also strong recommend. I've been feeling rather apocalyptic lately due to the everything and some dramatic life changes I'm going through and this is having the intended effect. By taking an unflinching, academic (yet sometimes humrous) look at various eschatological stories they become demystified and help reduce the anxiety. Do we really believe we'll be the lucky generation to witness the closure of all things? Probably not. But also ... maybe?

Last book: The Apothecary Diaries 6 by Natsu Hyūga

Current book: The Magic Engineer by L.E. Modesitt Jr

The Apothecary Diaries series has been pretty good so far. Enough quirky characters and situations to not get to dark, but some definite darkness so it doesn't get to sweet.

The Magic Engineer is the third in The Saga of Recluse series. Overall I enjoy Modesitt, but it also is clearly a cheap paperback fantasy from the 90s. It's fun tracking down these second hand and they are fun reads. However, I enjoyed the first 3 books in his Imager series more.

Last book: This is How You Lose the Time War - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_How_You_Lose_the_Time_War
It was good. I don't normally like love-stories, but this was poetically written. A lot of fun sci-fi and beautiful imagery.

Current book: Little Brother - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Brother_(Doctorow_novel)
Lots of fun hacking and rebellion against an increasingly authoritarian government, very much inspired by 9-11. It's a fun Young Adult Novel so far.

Last book : the wheel of time (#5) by R. Jordan. I don't really recommend. I mean the story's great but the way the characters are written is dull and sexist (men saying that women are mysteries, women complaining about how men are dumb and other ridiculous clichés), it feels like following people that are somewhat the worse of both teens and boomers, it takes me out of the book every single time. I prefer the king killer chronicles (P. Rothfuss) although we're still waiting for the last book.

Current book : Trapped (C. Lackberg and H Fexeus) it is a great polar, with nice twists, I recommend!

Last book: The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

This book is really informative if you want to learn the history of the Palestinian struggle for liberations. It makes an effort to recognize its successes and its faults as well as how they can do better. Fantastic book but it will break your heart. I had to read it pretty slowly because I could only stomach so many pages a day.

Current book: The Conquest of Mexico & The Conquest of Peru by William H. Prescott

I'm only 100 pages in and while it is good and most of the history holds up it has some faults. main fault is that the guy is kinda a white/euro supremacist by modern standards. He refers to many of the natives as barbarous and examines their worth by how "civilized" they were in one aspect or another. Does some pompous moralizing etc. I will give him that he doesn't necessarily attribute this to race and often refers to Spainish history as equally if not more barbarous, especially the inquisition. Credit where credit is due I guess. It was written in the 1840s so this is to be expected. Another flaw I'd like to mention is that the author tells the history as a sort of romantic narrative. Everything is heavily cited and like I said most of the history is accurate but due to the format he leans into the great man theory of history. Historical materialism was in its infancy at the time so he can't truly be blamed for this but his books must be read with an understanding of this limitation.

Last: Pièrre Hadot, "Filosofie als een manier van leven" , the Dutch translation of "Qu'est-ce que la Philosophie Antique?" , or "What is Ancient Philosophy?"

Current: Caroline Criado Pérez, "Invisible Women"

I would definitely recommend Hadot for a clear overview and an interesting read on filosophical history. Invisible women is kind of a must-read to learn about the data gap in statistics of women.