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What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? December 10 (discuss.online)

submitted 1 week ago by dresden@discuss.online to c/books@lemmy.world

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Still reading The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Book 2 in the series. I am more than halfway through, so should be able to finish it this week.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

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[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

Wind and Truth baby. Approaching the halfway point. It's paced excellently. It's impressive how he makes every scene have gravity without weighing the story down.

Still reading Altered Traits physically. It's more biographical than I prefer, but it did inspire me to make an effort at meditating. All the (valid) short term/small sample stuff aside, it's impressive how much a minute of simple breathing exercises at the beginning and on break of my workday changed how I felt at the end of the day yesterday. I was thinking of exploring meditation through yoga, but with more consideration I think finding the right kata from a martial art would suit me better.

Audible had some deals, so I went a little overboard

I'm up to H is for Homicide in Kinsey Milhone. I'll finish those from the library first.

I bought:

28 books in Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune series.

7 books in her Shaye Archer.

4 main books of Skyward by Sanderson.

A little overboard, but at about $2.50 a book I couldn't resist. I have a nice little backlog going for now.

[–] Cyth@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

One of my favorite things about the long Sanderson books is that even though they are SO LONG, they are paced so well that I never felt like it was too long. All the building up in the middle is important and enjoyable (at least to me), and it all wraps up so quickly and nicely at the end of every book.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago

There was an introduction to the version of Elantris I listened to where an early member of a writing group (or a teacher or something) was really confused about all his premises for stories just being characters in a setting. They had to "make him" get to the point where the world is at stake, because he was so focused just on the interactions between people. Then, in his notes at the end (of the later edition, with knowledge of its success), he wrote about how much he valued that it worked so well in a world of magic where most of the book minimally interacts with it. You can see that in every scene he writes. They're all just so natural, independent of the stakes of the story.

But Stormlight feels like his real masterpiece. There are so many characters that matter, and on top of that he blends in elements of his other works so seamlessly

[–] dresden@discuss.online 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Wow, and I thought i bought too much when I bought 11 books.

I didn't buy Wind and Truth though, still have to re-read the whole series, so will be a while before I get around to it. Will get it soon-ish though.w

How are the Kinsey Milhone books? I have A, B and F. Wanted to read A and B to see if I like it before getting more.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Eh, was a little under $100 for something around 375 hours worth of book. It is a lot, but I don't usually see prices at that point for audiobooks I know I like, and I really like when I can read whole series in a row. I've read something like 20 of the Miss Fortune as ebooks, but I'm way slower that way because I have way more time I can listen.

I like the character. The books are just a little brief, especially at the endings, compared to my preference, but I think that's a style choice from the types of stories it's inspired by. She's a little bit crazy, but in the way that maybe we're all a little crazy. She's just direct about it at times. Overall, they're enjoyable enough. It probably won't make my bookshelf, but I would guess that it helped inspire some of the stuff that I prefer a little more, and I would potentially read them again at some point.

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[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

I finished Wind and Truth.

Spoilers

So despite the spoiler tag, I'm not going to mention actual details. But I think my impressions themselves could change how someone reads the book, so I'm tagging it anyways.

Wow. Just fucking wow. It's not at all how I expected shit to go, but holy shit was it a hell of a ride, and the story it set up? Damn.

I need the next 5 books. I hope the timeline of the next setting is sooner than I had been expecting. It feels like a lot of threads that were winding up ripped wide open instead. The end result make the whole 5 book arc feel like a new beginning to something truly absurdly scaled. "There's always another secret."

All I'll say without tags is that as high as my expectations were, he blew them away.

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[–] pancake@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How are you liking The Well of Ascension on reread?

I finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Overall a solid book with some good commentary on modern poverty, foster care, and the opioid crisis. The first half stuck too close to the plot points of David Copperfield, but thankfully it stood more on its own in the second half. The ending felt a bit rushed.

Now I've started Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer. If it wasn't such a short read, I would not be finishing this book. Almost every character is unlikeable. I was hoping for a campy witchy book where I want to hang out with the characters, but instead I got a suburban mom who married rich and can't stop humblebragging about it.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I am really enjoying it. I am about 2/3rd done, and as I mentioned last week, I had forgotten most of the stuff. So, really enjoying everything going on. And while I remember the ending of the book, I don't recall how exactly they get there.

I haven't even read David Copperfield, how is it?

lol at suburban mom's humblebragging. Good luck!

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[–] SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE@lemm.ee 7 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I just finished The Mercy of God's by the same dudes who wrote The Expanse series. I can't wait for the rest of the series. I also read the in-universe novella called Livesuit which was also very good.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Did it differentiate itself enough from The Expanse? It’s on my to be read pile but I’m worried it’s just going to be a bad Xerox copy of their previous work.

[–] SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

Yes, it's nothing at all like the Expanse.

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[–] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm in between fiction right now. Contemplating what to read next. Maybe going to give Earthsea another try.

I'm also working through Guns, Germs and Steel, which is a fascinating read.

[–] JaymesRS 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Wizard of Earthsea is part of the 3 books that showed me I loved Fantasy.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

What are the other two?

[–] JaymesRS 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Magician by Raymond E Feist (later broken into Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master and the split works even better)

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings.

Both are pretty cliché by modern views, but both are pretty well written otherwise. Good world building.

But ooo-boy, if one is the type of person that has trouble mentally separating the very problematic writer from their works (like JK Rowling or Marion Zimmerman Bradley), Eddings probably isn’t the best to read.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 1 points 6 days ago

I have seen Eddings get recommended a lot, but I have never gotten around to reading any of his book. Belgariad has been on my wish list for more than a decade now. I really should check it out sometimes.

[–] brenticus@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I had to put down Fellowship of the Ring for a while due to a cascade of library books, but I'm finally back to it. God I just love how that book flows.

When I want something simpler to read I've been going to the Hardy Boys books lately. Read a bunch of them as a kid, they're still quite enjoyable now. Normally if I reread something 20 years later it's pretty clearly no longer my taste, but I'm on book 3 and still enjoying them quite a bit.

[–] JaymesRS 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’ve been tempted to give a few a go again. They were my jam in middle school.

[–] brenticus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

The first few are available on standard ebooks and they're quick, easy reads, go for it! With the caveat that the standard ebook versions are the original 1920s versions so there's a bit of weird racial stuff now and then.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 1 week ago

Recently met the librarian at kid's school and he recommended me Hardy Boys as the next series to start (for the kid). Glad to see it still holds up well.

[–] Cyth@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My re-read for Stormlight Archive has been taking longer than I figured it would, so I just started Rhythm of War this morning. I even got Wind and Truth delivered a day early, but didn't get to start it lol.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 1 week ago

My re-read hasn't even started yet. I was hoping to have read at least The Way of the Kings and Words of Radiance this year. Well, no hurries, it's not going anywhere.

[–] JaymesRS 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I’m plowing through the Dungeon Crawler Carl books, I’m currently on book 4. Book 1 was for bingo, the rest are just to boost my numbers for my annual reading goal :).

LitRPG can wildly fluctuate in quality, but if LitRPG interests you at all, this is one of the top 3 series I’d recommend.

[–] limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’ll try this later.

They can vary even by the same author: I felt burned by the “he who fights with monsters” series whose 1st book is simply awesome in my opinion, but by book 10 has devolved

[–] JaymesRS 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Yep. It takes a certain amount of skill to be able to ramp up the power and abilities of your protagonist without the story getting away from you. That’s kind of why I described what I could recommend as series because there’s a few where the first few work well HWFWM being one of them but after that, there’s a pretty significant drop off in quality of the overall narrative.

And even one of those that I’d say that I recommend (Ready Player One/Two) works pretty well but more so for a subset of readers that I just happen to be part of (those whose main cultural media experiences were between the 70s and the 90s.) and while the series works moderately well it’s definitely written to a specific subset of readers.

As an aside because I already mentioned two of the three I recommended in the original comment, I should probably also recognize the third just for posterity. It’s the four book trilogy, This Trilogy is Broken by JP Valentine.

[–] limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks for talking about broken, it’s on my next read list.

I did enjoy ready player 1; never did ready player 2 out of fright it would not be very good

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[–] sockman@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just finished The Skystone by Jack Whyte. Lovely little piece of historical fiction. I have the second in the series but everything has to wait until I finish Wind and Truth haha.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 3 points 1 week ago

Heh, I wonder how many Wind and Truth comments we will get this week.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Delay, deny, defend. lol

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith, the only complete SF novel he ever published. Part of the Instrumentality of Mankind universe that included "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell".

[–] dotslashme@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago

Currently a couple of chapters into Deadhouse gates. I do enjoy it, but the malazan universe is so massive and filled with so many characters, that I need the malazan wiki around, just in case I need to check something.

[–] Btop@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm listening to Extinction by Douglas Preston. Only heard about half of it, but I find it entertaining and the narration is done very well.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

I’m almost finished listening to We Will be Jaguars by Nemonte Nenquimo. A fascinating memoir by an indigenous woman growing up in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. Heart breaking tales of her family, neighboring tribes and home being exploited and swindled by missionaries and oil companies.

[–] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 2 points 1 week ago

I'm about halfway through The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin

Really not the sort of thing I'd normally read but I'm finding it very engrossing. Would recommend

[–] Snoopey@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I've just started Aftermath by Craig Alanson, book 17 in the expeditionary force series. I've never read such a long series and it's been quite comforting to be with the same characters for so long, it's probably been almost an entire year since I started them. Lots of zany antics and fun, reminds me of Stargate SG1

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 6 days ago

Stargate SG-1 is probably my favourite show. The series is already on my wishlist, but going to bump it closer to the top!

[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I had to give up on that series after book 10. They all just became so formulaic, with the exact same plot, conflicts, and jokes every book. To be fair, all of that is very fun, and each book in a bubble is enjoyable, but just because I think a meal is great doesn't mean I want to eat it every day.

[–] Mariemarion@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

Reading everything by Victoria Goddard. I should stop, I'm close to ODing, but it's delicious.

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Currently reading “Artemis” by Andy Weir. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I did “Hail Mary” which I thought was awful.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I liked Hail Mary more than Artemis, but I loved them both.

Why do you think Hail Mary was awful?

[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Spoilers:

I have a difficult time believing that they didn’t have enough backup plans to the point that they had to send a school teacher to save the world. I also couldn’t believe that someone with a doctorate would be teaching junior high (we don’t pay teachers enough in the US). I also didn’t care for the story stopping every few pages so that the author could do a math proof to pretend that the protagonist was some kind of genius (who just so happens to have the skills to reprogram a rocket ship trajectory???). And the endless “something else went wrong only I can fix!” every fifty pages got really tired. Oh and whatever you do, don’t send any of the probes back to earth until the last minute. Because instead of keeping Earth informed and updated as you learn things that might save them, you’re going to need all those probes for a plot point later.

Artemis was fun, but had a lousy ending. It’ll make a good tv series some day if they change up that part of the story.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 1 points 5 days ago

Heh, interesting points.

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