I almost forgot the weekly thread again, so just putting it up, will post my updates later.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
I just started Carl’s Doomsday Scenario! Book 2 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series which seems to be extremely popular given all the comments in this thread about the book series!
It is light hearted and fun which I think is needed.
I finished both Julia by Sandra Newman and 1984 by George Orwell. I liked 1984 better, much more depth and great writing, but Julia was good too.
I’ve now started Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. I like it so far, but I feel it could have had a bit more depth to it. Still an interesting story so far.
I got the new Kant and Wittgenstein biographies that came out last October. Pretty good stuff so far.
“Head Off” by John Scalzi. It’s the sequel to “Lock In”, which is a book about a disease that causes people to be conscious and whole but stuck in their minds.
Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure by Andy Wilman. A behind the scenes look at Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Not very far in yet, but it’s an entertaining read so far. Reading it in spare moments at work.
I’ve largely been rereading older releases for comfort, since I keep bouncing off the new (to me) books I’ve started–and the end of this bingo year is approaching!
I’ve read “the stainless steel rat” by Harry Harrison last week. I didn’t find it quite as good as the previous books I’ve read from Harrison, but I started the second book in the series “the stainless steel rat’s revenge” anyway. I have some hopes it gets better since the first one was also one of Harrison’s first books. If not, it was still okay-ish.
Currently reading God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines, and listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 6. Both are fantastic so far!
I had a plane ride so I devoured Falling in Love With Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson.
Just started Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie Valdes
“Twelve Months”, by Jim Butcher, book 18 in The Dresden Files. Been waiting over 5 years for this new installment. At least the next one is about a year out.
I had a lot of big emotions with this book.
I just read it as well, and was left feeling surprisingly “meh” about it at the end. Maybe because I didn’t love the previous book and there was a long wait for this one?
I’m not sure, but i’m not excited for the next book. I’ll read it anyway, but it’s a bit of a come-down as this series used to be one of my favorites.Honestly, a 6 year wait between installments really breaks up the narrative flow and kills hype. I’m at the verge of saying I won’t read any more until the whole series is completed. IF it gets completed, since there’s at least 5 more books on the way (apparently).
I finished a Confederacy of Dunces, and Three Body Problem. Now I’m about ⅓ through The Dark Forest.
I’d recommend all three of these books!
A Confederacy of Dunces is a Pulitzer prize winning comedy. By the end of the book you really like Ignatius, even though you hate him in the beginning.
The other two books are part of the “Remembrance of earths past” trilogy. Easy recommend for sci-fi fans.
A Confederacy of Dunces is hilarious! It has been awhile since I read it, but the part where Ignatius is in his college classroom and yells Zorro had me cracking up.
Ooooh we have similar tastes cause I loved all of those. Igantious was a selfish moron, but an endearing selfish moron I was rooting for by the end.
Dark forest was my personal favorite of the Remembrance trilogy, it has deeply colored my view of any potential IRL aliens in the universe.
A word of warning though, after the trilogy a fan fiction by a different author picked up steam as the “unofficial 4th book” and was even packaged with the original three by the publishers. However, The Redemption of Time is pure stinkin’ hot doggie doo-doo. Stay away and let the story end where the Liu Cixin intended.
Thanks for the heads up about redemption of time! I heard about it, and was unsure whether I was interested.
The Middleman by Olen Steinhauer. This is a new author to me. It’s about a group of left-wing activists who suddenly disappear and go off-grid. A lady FBI agent has been monitoring them for a while, even though there’s no evidence they intend violence. Well, things happen, people die, and the surviving members are officially labeled terrorists. Anyway, I have about 100 pages left and some very suspicious characters haven’t yet had their involvement adequately explained. If it finishes strong, I’ll add Mr. Steinhauer to my list of authors I would read another book by.
The Crucible - historical fiction by John Sayles.
I’m reading The Book that Held her Heart (book 3 in Mark Lawrence’s The Library trilogy). I really liked how the series started, but am not a huge fan of the ending it’s working towards, which is not my usual experience with this author.
Next up, I have 5 bingo squares left so I’m going to try to focus on getting those done.
Started Dungeon Crawler Carl this week. It is a hell of a read so far. Probably going to have to put the rest of the books on my to read list shortly.
Will also start audio book of Disquiet Gods soon? Maybe next week. Looking very forward to that since I also grabbed the last book in the Sun Eater series in print. Last one isnt where i usually do audio books
I’d honestly recommend the audiobook for DCC. Jeff Hays absolutely kills it, and there’s a legendary in-joke in one book that only comes across in audio.
I just finished dungeon crawler carl, and I’m so happy to hear that someone liked it, because I really struggled. There were parts I thought were really compelling though! What did you really like about it?
It’s probably my favorite series for a few reasons. The humor is unhinged and I was cackling regularly. It also justifies the unhinged humor in-universe well enough that it didn’t break my immersion. The worldbuilding is actually awesome. I like that even though the stakes are high, nothing too bad happens. Sure there’s some rough moments, but nothing too painful to read (unlike red rising which is a constant series of dick kicks). What surprised me is it isn’t just a silly series, there’s a message in there. Like the title of book 3 isn’t just for asthetic. Coincidentally that was also the hardest one to read. Too much shit going on for me to really visualize and follow.
I just finished book 1. While I didn’t find it hilarious, I am interested in the overall message of the series that I feel like is going to be a slow burn. Overall looking forward to reading more as the series is light hearted.
I need to start reading Red Rising again! I stopped at some point in the third book, but really loved that series as well.
I think the absurdity of it got me. Its so over the top silly.
Honestly I just am having fun with it and sometimes thats what you need.
I read the first one over my Christmas downtime. Moved on to the second one in the new year. I have a large collection of Stephen King, and Joe Hill books. Ive had a love of reading for a long time. These books have been like eating popcorn or chips. They feel like fanfiction of all my favourite games mashed together, but then had the quality increased about 10%. They arent bad. But they arent… Amazing. Like… I have bought 5 of them now, with the intention of supporting the author and finishing the series as I can. But I wouldnt say… Man you need to read this book. The Martian? Operation Hail Mary? Gotta read. Ready Player One? Yeah, that was solid. You should read.
Dungeon Crawler Carl? Its like a bathtub book. Or what I would consider a bathtub book if you weren’t interested in anything ‘spicy’ or vampires. So far solid 8/10
