Books @lemmy.world dresden @discuss.online 2w ago

What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? November 12

Caught up to side stories in Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. It's a short stories collection in Dresden Files universe. Only 1 short story and 1 novella remaining in the book. Short story is after next the book and the novella is after the book after that.

Now reading The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. I have this book in my library for over 15 years. Bought it a long time ago just by looking at King's name, but then assumed it must be a part of a series (at that time all fantasy I had read were part of series), so left it for later and then forgot. Someone mentioned the book somewhat recently, and I looked it up again and found out it's a standalone book, so finally reading it now.

It's written in very different style from King's usual work, like a tale told orally. It's also a medieval fantasy, with kings, magic and dragons. Also, not as long, less than 400 pages. I am about halfway done, and enjoying the book. Should finish it soon-ish.

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

There's a Midyear Bingo check-in post, do take a look. Even if you haven't started this year's Book Bingo, you can still join, as there are still 6 months remaining!

For details, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and it's Recommendation Post . Links are also present in our community sidebar.

72 comments

Just finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Really interesting regarding the Kennedy assassination and time travel
- Yeah, the book is pretty highly recommended. It comes up often when asking for recommendation from King's books.
  
  Decided on what are you going to start yet?
- my favorite king book! highly recommend.
- I love this book, have read it a few times already and was considering it again recently!
I failed at finishing Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson. I really like a lot of his other works (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, D.O.D.O., et al), but this one in particular I found too cumbersome to get through. It seems the main story/plot revolves around the fact that the author was learning about historical trivia and then tied all of these into the vicinity of a main character. To me, that's not really much of a foundation for a story unless it is combined with character arcs and developments, for example the way Forrest Gump does it is perfect - there's an actual story there that stands well on its own, it just happens to tie in with historical events.

So instead I picked up Dungeon Crawler Carl on audible after someone mentioned it here on Lemmy. Loving it so far.
- Yeah, never could get into the baroque cycle von Stephenson. And he wrote at least 2 of my favourite books, Snow Crash and cryptonomicon. Reamde is also very good. But Quicksilver is just not as interesting as the premise suggests.
Just finished the first mistborn arc. I can see why people had mixed feelings about it. The final empire is excellent, but it feels a little like it was intended to be standalone, then he got a little stuck in book 2. But he brings it back around and the full story works, and the slow part in the second book does pay off.

Started into Wax and Wayne, and it's cool to see how the utilization of the same powers evolved in the time between.
- I loved the first arc, it was my first Sanderson books but agree the second book is a little slower. I want to revisit the second arc as I haven't read the newest book and wasn't paying full attention for the first 2 books really. I think the latest book is release soon if it remember correctly so I may wait for that and then do all the books through from the beginning of the second arc.
  
  I'm looking forward to the third arc more I think although I'm sure that is a while off yet!
  
  I personally really like the trilogy still. I just see why I got a couple "push through and make sure you get to Wax and Wayne". I still teared up at the ending lol.
  
  I know book 5 of the Stormlight Archive is coming in December. I'm definitely excited for that. I have no clue about more Mistborn stuff other than that the third arc is about the Ghostbloods, who appear in the Stormlight books.
- Since you have just finished Arc 1 and started Arc 2, how much would I miss if I start Arc 2 but only recall main plot points from Arc 1 without all the details and characters?
  
  I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's well into the future, and the world is very different from the first arc. I'm not that deep, but I can say pretty confidently that I don't think you'll need to know anything from the first set to immerse yourself in the second. There are places named for characters, and religions are connected to players in the first story, but they're all historical figures at this point (potentially minus some timeless figures from the bigger Cosmere, though that's just guessing from my other reading of his Cosmere novels).
Devolution by Max Brooks I loved his other works and I saw this one in a book store. I grabbed the audio book from Libby I’m enjoying it so far
- This book genuinely scared me. I was pleasantly surprised 😲.
  
  Your comment is scaring me. Now I am wondering if I should actually read it.
- I have only read his Zombie survival guide. I think. There are so many of these things out, it's possible I read something else.
  
  The synopsis seems interesting though, so will check it out.
I've been meaning to read Side Jobs - does it finally explain the sasquatch? Gotta do something while I'm waiting for the next book!

I'm currently doing a re-listen to Name of the Wind and catching a lot of references I missed on the first read and first listen.
- The Bigfoot bit is explained in 3 stories in the collection Brief Cases or the separate Working for Bigfoot collection that just features them.
  
  Ah, okay, thanks! I love reading them, but James Marsters is phenomenal on the audio books, so maybe I'll check that collection out as well.
- There is no Sasquatch in any of the Dresden Files novel or short story yet. So, don't know.
  
  Dresden met a Sasquatch named Strength of a River in His Shoulders between Fool Moon and Grave Peril to help him with something. He only exists in short stories until Peace Talks.
Currently reading One Dark Window, the first book in the Shepherd King series by Rachel Gillig. It's fun and interesting, with a good magic system. The romance aspect is a little obvious and over-done at times, though.

I really liked Eyes of the Dragon when I read it 30 years ago. It was fun and different from his other works. It was maybe the second fantasy book I ever read, so the new type of world was eye opening to me at the time. Not sure how I'd like it now, but I really enjoyed it then.
A few weeks back I decided to reread Lord of the Rings.

About 90% of the way finished with that, but stopped when I realized I wanted to do a reread of Stormlight Archives for a refresher (particularly on Way of Kings and Rhythm of War) since I have now read all sorts of fun Cosmere stuff like Sunlit Man, Warbreaker, Mistborn 2, and Elantris since I picked them up.

Just wrapped on Way of Kings and am progressing much slower into Words of Radiance.
The Eyes of the Dragon is my favorite King story. There is a brief moment at the end which implies a tangential connection to other works.

I’ve been struggling lately to get through books for a few months. This week was a breakthrough in that struggle, I needed some distraction and was able to get the focus I needed.

I finally finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and A Prayer For The Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers just as last week. I’m gonna start reading Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees which should be fairly quick and if I can; optimistically move onto Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

These all help progress my Bingo sheet.
- Yeah, finished the book, it was pretty interesting.
  
  Glad you are back to reading!
Started City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's pretty good so far, although I'm not sure if the world building is quite my taste.

--

Finished There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. I started it with only a very cursory knowledge of SCP, and I think you could absolutely read this with none at all, as a standalone.

Bingo squares: Independent Author; Easy, Breazy, Read-zie; Now a Major Motion Picture (youtube miniseries); It's About Time; Mashup; Institutional; (alt) Pseudonymous Work (hard); (alt) A Change in Perspective
- Going to dive deeper in SCP wiki? Or that's it for now.
  
  Oh, nah, I'm good for now. I only have so much reading time!
I read as always several books at once.

One of them is Babel by R. F. Kuang. I was blown away at first, but after the first third of the book I’m not as as enthusiastic anymore. Everything to do with languages and translation is awesome, the characters are well defined but a bit one-dimensional so far, but I think the plot is nothing to write home about and has some „young adult“ vibes to me. It’s still good though, and I’m far from finished yet.

Another one is „the notebook a history of thinking on paper“ I just got it today, but it looks very promising.
- Yup, I also got strong YA vibes from Babel. Got some other vibes too, but those are spoilers ;)
- The Notebook sounds pretty interesting. Do share your review when you are done with it.
  
  Will do! Its pretty interesting so far.
Currently on Book 7 of the Malazan series by Steven Erikson, "Reaper's Gale". Started book 1 back in June, still working my way through them. The whole series improved tremendously after Book 3 finished, it's been a heck of a ride so far.
- 3 to go. How do you like it? I started with book one last month then got side tracked by some of Stephen King's books. I don't think I'm mentally ready for a 10 books journey yet
  
  So many conflicting feelings.
  
  Book 1 was okay, not too bad, I was curious where it'd go
  
  Hated book 2, it was way too dark and I saw the ending coming from a third of the way in
  
  Book 3 was also WAY too dark, an absolute downer
  
  Book 4 had an amazing character arc over the first third, the rest was pretty okay
  
  Loved book 5. Absolutely a masterpiece
  
  Seriously enjoyed book 6
  
  Book 7 is very good so far!
  
  They're all SO long, too
I am at the end of The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. It's an overflow from Halloween season reads. I kinda hate it but I'll finish it.
I finished the short stories in my copy of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Some of them haven't aged that well but overall I found most of them enjoyable.

I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This book was absolutely amazing. If you want a short, atmospheric fantasy I highly recommend. I think this is a book I'll return to routinely.

Now I'm reading Educated by Tara Westover. It's a memoir about her growing up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho. She was not enrolled in school and didn't even have a birth certificate for many years. I'm not very far in yet but it is fascinating and very easy to read.
- I have Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for many years, but haven't gotten around to actually reading it. Have you read that one?
  
  Educated sounds interesting, I have some interest in survivalism, but that sounds like an extreme example.
  
  Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was alao very good! I really wish she wrote more but I've read she struggles with chronic illness so it's hard to get more books out.
  
  For Educated, while the survivalism is very present, the book is more exploring the impact it has had on the author's upbringing and on her siblings.
Ooh, I liked Eyes of the Dragon. Enjoy!

I just finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and just started Fagles' translation of Homer's Odyssey. Chapter 1 was surprisingly engaging and follow-able.. I was prepared to feel lost, as I haven't done "classics" like this before. But then, I did do a fair bit of research on which translation to pick, and this one did stand out as readable, so maybe I shouldn't be too surprised.
- Cormac McCarthy is difficult to read too. So if you can read his books I am sure classics shouldn't be too much of an issue.
  
  Ha, yeah, that's a good point! It was pretty thiccc/dense.
- I've been wanting to read the Iliad and odyssey, but the ones I've read have been so hard to follow and I lost interest. I'll have to look this one up, thanks!
  
  yeah, np! This is the video I used to make my pick. This guy compares a couple of passages in a bunch of different translations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLn_wmedmT0 good luck!
I finished off Mr Mercedes which was good but probably not high up there in terms of Kings books for me. I think Eyes of a Dragon was his attempted at writing a YA novel for his kids if I remember rightly. I enjoyed it but again not one of my favourite King books.

As always I've done a couple of Deathlands books this week and still enjoying it greatly.

I also read Flux by Jeremy Robinson which is the third book in the Infinite series. It was another really good book and another one that really reminded me of Koontz and the way he writes. The end of it ties in really nicely with The Others which was the second book and adds some further back story into the universe and that story that I wasn't expecting throughout the story which was a nice surprise.

I have the fourth book ready to go and may start on that after a couple more Deathlands books :D

On the side I have spent a few hours editing Underwood and Flinch (by Mike Bennett) podcast releases I have the files for into a cohesive audio book with none of the podcast preamble and shit talking. I've listened to it a couple of times already and editing it has tempted me back for another listen which I may so sometime soon. If you'd like a modern day vampire story I strongly recommend checking it out!
- I may have asked this before, but what are your favourite King books?
  
  I really like the Dark Tower series, the world and how it is built, the concept etc but the last couple of books are quite frankly mid at best. They aren't bad but I find the end kind of unsatisfying.
  
  I really like the majority of his work but my favourites in no particular order would probably be -
  
  The Talisman
  
  Needful Things
  
  Desperation
  
  The Regulators
  
  Black House
  
  Cell
  
  11/22/63
  
  The Green Mile
  
  I think xD I didn't want to make the list too long but honestly it is hard to pick for me.
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla

Probably my fifth go around with this book. First time listening to it on audiobook.
I have so many damn books and I wish I were so fast that I could read a book a day. It's so frustrating. I have a bunch of nonfiction I want to read, but I love novels, too. I'm currently reading King's "Pet sematary"
- Same! I wish I could keep up with the growth rate of my TBR pile.
- Hehe, I think that's a problem many people here face. I am reading more than one book a month, that is pretty good with my schedule, but I am still buying more than I am reading, and adding more to my wishlist than I am buying, so probably not going to catch up in this lifetime.
  
  I have started to look at it from the other side, I am not going to run out of the books and am always going to have something to read!
  
  Good way to look at it. I have 450 books waiting for me to read.
I finished Golden Son, the second in the Red Rising saga and moved right onto the third. It's difficult to get into specifics without spoiling but I can see why people had better opinions of the second book. The pacing was nonstop from one thing to another which was a step-up from the first book that held you in the same setting for 2/3rds of the book. Nothing prepared me for the conclusion either, even though there are a dozen hints along the way. Now I'm wondering how the third is going to top it. I've read quite a bit into it so far but it's only got an 'okay' from me, though the second felt the same in the beginning.

I'm planning to wrap up Morning Star in the following week, then I plan to reread Way of Kings in preparation for Winds and Truth next month.
- I really should start Way of Kings, it's going to take me almost an year to re-read the series.
Don Quijote de Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes in its native Spanish.

Also finished a book by Herman Melville.
I finished four ways to forgiveness, so now I’m on to the birthday of the world! Interesting stuff so far. Kind of a mindfuck though, to listen to all of these stories with themes on feminism, relationships, gender, society, and then for this current political farce to have happened.

72 comments