What are some good books you've been reading lately?

I've been going through the Messenger Series by J.N. Chaney. It's trash sci-fi, more than a little contrived in spots, and you really don't want to go digging into, well anything about it, too hard. That said, it's what I've been in the mood for, for the last little while and it's often quite funny. Basic plot of the series is that an idiot finds an ancient jaeger, left behind by a long dead race, and must now face off against that race's mortal enemy to save all life in the galaxy.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Project Hail Mary was much more of an emotional ride than I was expecting.

Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. An epic fantasy.

I loved it and just started the second book.

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. My first time reading an ancient classic, and it's much less scary than I thought. In fact I'm quite enjoying it, and might read The Iliad (Homer's other epic poem) next. The humanness of the characters (well, the human ones!) is very relatable, even though it's 2700 years old. I don't know why I expected it to be crusty and boring. Maybe I assumed it'd be like the Bible.

The intro explains a lot of stuff about the original Greek poem and how it was written in dactylic hexameterwhich bards back then used to be able to improvise in, which is amazing to me. Reminds me of 8 Mile or something. 😅

Watership Down. Way better than I thought 🙂.

I read the Martian. It was at least as good as the very good movie.

Algorithms To Live By, applying computer science and mathematic principles to real life. Helping make better decisions that are provably more efficient. Really interesting and anyone who has any interest in computing can get a lot from the book.

The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy

• "Children of God" by Mary Doria Russell: Second and final part of a sci-fi series about a Jesuit mission to an alien culture that goes wrong. Like the first part, it's an emotional rollercoaster with a great cast of characters that you really grow attached to (and who often meet tragic ends). The author also created a really interesting alien society made up of two separate species. Oh, and the title might sound like it's a preachy religious book, but it's very much not. Would never have expected it, but this is now one of my favorite sci-fi series.

• "Memories of Ice" by Steven Erikson: Third book of the "Malazan Book of the Fallen" fantasy series. All three books I've read so far were enjoyable stories, but also very complex and not easy to read for sure. I love how the author creates a fantasy world where stone-age cultures play a pretty big role and where pre-history in many ways shapes the current world of the book. Also, quite a good cast of characters, which I didn't necessarily expect given that it's "epic fantasy".

Just finished World War Z again. It hits so much different post-pandemic.

For those that see "zombie book" or worse, just saw the movie, the book is written as an 'after the infestation' chronicle interviewing people from across the world and society, exploring the beginning moments, the panics, long term survival, and the cleanup. I view it as a modern "War of the Worlds" in that book shows what society react view from the "all-threat", which at that era was worried about a larger more powerful enemy coming in vs in 2006 the societal fear of an "all-threat" was infestation whether societal to plague and the reactions of the people in it.

• The Mercy of Gods: The first book in a new trilogy from the guys behind The Expanse.
• How to ADHD: Because I wasn't diagnosed until 40 and now I have to rethink everything about me.
• My War Gone By, I Miss It So: The memoir of a British war zone journalist who covered the Bosnian War and other Balkans conflicts. I originally read it decades ago but was reminded of it after watching Civil War earlier this year. I heard lots of criticism about the main characters in that movie not being relatable or very likable so I picked this back up to confirm that yes, that's accurate, and I think part of the point of the movie...

I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin. It’s an excellent thriller, with a great exploration of how Internet rumors can spill over into the real world

Learned on Lemmy a couple of weeks ago that Neal Stephenson has a new book out, and I'm still a sucker for them. Polostan is (so far) historical fiction and very readable. The Stephenson-esque infodumps seem to mostly concern the game of Polo and interwar Communism, with healthy dashes of 1930s physics and ranching.

Just finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Her imagery is beautiful and you can feel her talent. It's a an autobiographical roman à clef of her struggling with bipolar disorder/depression. And the only book she wore before taking her life when the love of her life left her for another woman.

'The first Fifteen Lives of Harry August' was pretty good.

Besides that, 'The Waiting' by Michael Connelly, but he's my favorite author, so I'll recommend almost each of his books.

Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. It's just won the Booker prize so I thought I'd check it out. It's set on the space station, and is basically the astronauts on board thinking. I can't believe how beautiful it is, how gripping.

Shattered by Lisa Morgan.

The "Semiosis" series. Just finished the second part, the third was published a few weeks ago.

Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John D. Clark. It's a surprisingly fun read.

The First Law series.

"Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler. Published in 1993 but set in 2024. Definitely resonates with the state of things today.

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. So fascinating. https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life

I finally started Infinite Jest, and it’s SLOOOOW going for me. I have three bookmarks.

"The Terror" by Dan Simmons. I already watched the show and enjoyed it, so I picked up the book and am only a few chapters in, but I'm liking it a good bit. There seems to be a good bit of historical facts thrown in, which I personally enjoy.

For those unfamiliar, it is based on the real life Franklin Expedition that disappeared while searching for a way to traverse the Northwest Passage in the Canadian arctic. The story follows the known facts regarding the fates of the expedition crew members, but it tells a paranormal horror story to fill in the blanks.

I'm currently listening to For We Are Many, the 2nd book in the Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor. I'd previously read them all, but the newest is currently only an audible exclusive, so I downloaded a copy and listened to it and loved it and am now listening to the rest of the series. Basic plot: a modern guy gets a service to freeze his brain upon death. He then does and is awoken and turned into a self replicating space probe and Earth goes into nuclear war and the probe tries to help where it can and explores. It's a really good and fun read.

I'm also re-working my way through the Anne Rice Vampire series. Haven't read them in a couple decades and wanted to get re-acquainted. currently on book 4. it's crazy what you retain and what gets dropped after many years.

I've found some of the random $1 for a 9 e-book set books that Amazon offers haven't been bad.

You mentioned Animorphs and thats one that I've got to give a re-read at some point. I get partway through another read through every couple of years. I'd love it if Katherine Applegate could re-work the series as an adult series. It's so good.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi was also a great read earlier this year. Absolutely love Scalzi. Basic Plot: Poor guy inherits his Uncles evil villain organization and tries to navigate his way through the shenanigans that ensue.

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood.

I'll just steal the description from Amazon "Billie Scott is an artist.

Her debut gallery exhibition opens in a few months.

Within a fortnight she'll be completely blind.

Zoe Thorogood's first graphic novel is a story about what it's like to get something you want, have it immediately taken away from you and then how you put it all back together again. Set in a world of people down on their luck from Middlesbrough to London, it's a graphic novel that speaks of post-austerity Britain and the problems facing those left behind."

The art is great, the characters feel real, and the issues with it are minor. I read it for a book club and loved reading this and discussing it

Babel, by R. F. Kuang

By the way, there are also book communities here on Lemmy. Check out

!books@lemmy.world

Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational by Michael Shermer

Not recently but the Witcher audio books are really well produced.

Also the lord of the rings as read by Rob Inglis are, I think, the best way to experience that tale.

Recently finished Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Much of the novel is a real slow burner, but the third act hit me right in the feels. I can't stop thinking about the author's wonderful misdirection, which caught me by surprise.

I have been reading Don Quijote de la Mancha in its native Spanish because I’m able to.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Sundown Towns, a book about the history of American racism, specifically the number of towns that had signs up warning black citizens not to be there after sundown. Spoiler: it was pretty much most of the towns. All over. It's a sobering read, not a pick-me-up.

Finally reading it to understand the memes and I'm thoroughly dune pilled

I've been liking Mr. Einstein's Secretary by Matthew Reilly so far. It's far from his usual high octane thrillers (my guilty pleasures) and is written very well.

Anne Applebaum - Autocracy Inc.

Mount Chicago by Adam Levin

Not as good as his first book, The Instructions, but I'm enjoying it. Try the forward, it's a good indication for whether you'll like the rest of the book. If you don't, still try The Instructions; it's very good.

I'm about 75% through The Ritual by Adam Nevill. It is also a movie. I really enjoy how he writes his characters, and the book is legitimately scary and creepy. I have to set it down sometimes.

On the scary/creepy note, another amazing book and movie is Birdbox by Josh Malerman. That book legitimately terrified me.

I enjoyed the trilogy "Remembrance of Earth's Past", on which 3 Body Problem is based.

Also, The Power Broker has been quite nice.