this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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Literature

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There's a thread about how people find new books, and one of my favorite ways to find things to read was browsing comments from the weekly 'What are you reading' threads in r/truelit and r/books. So what is Lemmy reading?

I'm finishing The Passenger, and about to jump into John Williams' Stoner. Excited to see what is next!

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[–] FearTheCron@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (7 children)

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I love reading science fiction from people with engineering and science backgrounds. Another good book I finished recently was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

[–] dynamism@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Project Hail Mary was such a fun read for me! I loved how concrete the engineering problems were throughout the book. It kept me tied to the stakes of the story.

Haven’t been able to finish Three Body Problem, unfortunately, it kind of lost me within the first 100 pages. May have to give it another shot! I hear a lot of good things about it.

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[–] Maerman@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If that's your vibe, try Blindsight by Peter Watts. It's a very technical examination of the phenomenon of consciousness which isn't afraid to get into the weeds, but never quite gets lost in them.

[–] FearTheCron@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Blindsight was great, I need to read it a second time.

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[–] Higlerfay@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

This book seems to have an equal measure of haters to fans but I loved the entire series. As it goes on it gets weird but imo was soo worth the read. Enjoy!

[–] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That book (three-body) was weeeeird. Really thought it was going to go in a very different direction during the introductory chapters.

I don't know if I liked it but it sure made me think about stuff!

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[–] BobKerman3999@feddit.it 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm re-reading all the discworld novels from sir Terry Pratchett, currently at Soul Music.

[–] Deebster@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

You're a few ahead of me on the re-read; Lords and Ladies is my next one. I'm taking my time though, I started in 2019.

GNU Terry Pratchett.

That's great! Whenever I'm feeling down, his books are mental comfort food that help me re-center. GNU sir Pterry!

[–] Firefox@midwest.social 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I just picked up a copy of house of leaves. Saw it referenced a few times in some other media I liked and figured I may as well check out the book itself.

[–] Maerman@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One of my favourite books of all time. Do you have the full colour edition?

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[–] Witch@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just got a few books from my local library that I'm excited to start. I'm starting off with "Focused Forward: Navigating the Storms of Adult ADHD" by James M. Ochoa which I picked out because it was the smallest book in the ADHD category, ha.

I also got a book on Linux/Unix, Diabetes, a workbook for Bipolar, a healthy snack book, and an organization book. Not too too sure if I'll be able to finish it all by the time they're due, but its a nice varied selection.

[–] ABoxOfNeurons@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That second paragraph is peak ADHD lol.

[–] Witch@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

I mean you aren't wrong! Hahaa.

[–] oscillonoscope@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

I just finished up reading The Return of the King for the first time since childhood. I like it a lot more than I remember. I think two things stuck out at me most: how dense it was compared to modern fantasy and how great the hobbits were portrayed. Fantasy tends to portray great heroes that came from nothing (ex. the chosen one/orphan trope). However, the hobbits were solely because they were common that they were able to do things the great heroes of their age couldn't.

Since then I've started reading Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. I kept hearing Pynchon's name come up for about a month at random and figured I should pick up one of his books. He has a very frenetic style that can be a bit difficult to parse but I'm loving his sense of humor.

[–] TheTrueLinuxDev@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The Expanse, the whole book trilogy!

[–] ice9@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Amazing series, be sure to check out the novellas as well! There are some guides online that will tell you where they happen chronologicaly

[–] probodyne@feddit.uk 4 points 1 year ago

It's a bit more than a trilogy lol. It's a nonology!

[–] styxbane@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

I am deciding between finishing the long way to a Small angry planet or starting howls moving castle

[–] theDuesentrieb@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Just finished Children of time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Absolutely amazing uplift-scifi, but you better stay away from it if you have arachnophobia

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[–] B4tid0@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, a

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[–] Maerman@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm reading a book of short stories by John Sayles, called The Anarchists' Convention. There have been some absolute bangers so far.

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[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

I'd highly recommend We are legion we are Bob and off to be the wizard to any fellow tech nerds

We are legion we are bob is about a guy whose brain is uploaded as an AI into a Von Neumann probe and sent into space to explore the universe.

Off to be the wizard is about a guy who finds out the world is some kind of simulation, and there's essentially one big file detailing absolutely everything that can be edited, uses it to go back in time and live as a wizard and make spells with his programming skills

Both of them have plenty of nerdy references and humour, would highly recommend

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[–] CrimsonOnoscopy@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Terry Pratchett's Jingo, currently. After that, more discworld.

[–] ebike_enjoyer@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Finished the sequel to Becky Chamber’s A Psalm For The Wild-Built. Can’t recommend this series more highly for a glimpse into a calming and peaceful alternative future.

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[–] crmsnbleyd@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

Got all three volumes of Capital on a whim, not very engaging lol.

[–] adi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Just finished Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (loved it, just discovered the "new weird" genre and it's totally my vibe). Now started reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, the structure of the book and the setting seems cool and intriguing.

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[–] lardasshardass@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Though I'm not much of a reader anymore, my wife has been absolutely obsessed with Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series. I enjoy listening to her talk about it and sum up the stories, wouldn't be surprised if it ended up on Netflix soon.

Any recommendations for audiobooks to listen to at work? I'm big on science/science fiction and philosophy, anything that challenges my way of thinking really.

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[–] ElusiveQuality@midwest.social 5 points 1 year ago

Just started book 8 of The Expance series

[–] pootriarch@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

nobody reads this junk here so i'll just shout at a cloud

a deadly education, naomi novik - this should finally unjam the block i've had on fiction; i don't do well with fiction when the world is burning. i've picked this up and set it down many times, but the novelty is that normally, a fiction book that stops after the halfway point to do world-building is one that will end up propping open a door. but in this one the late add increased my interest.

keep my heart in san francisco, amelia diane coombs - an adorable fluffy book set nearby that ended up on the to-be-finished pile during some political firestorm or other.

guide du routard, catalogne - americans don't want to see what i want to see and american guidebooks know it. i often drag in other people's guidebooks when i think about going other people's places.

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[–] ice9@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I really enjoyed the Expanse books, so just started one of the Author's other series, the Long Price Quartet

[–] Abel@lemmy.nerdcore.social 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Bumped, a feminist dystopia where only teenagers can reproduce. The book is very confusing to get into (it's narrated by two teenagers in 2036, so you need to learn alll the slangs) and the writing style rubbed me off as amateurish, but it's been very entertaining nevertheless. It gets even funny when you get what's going on because teens be teens.

[–] BakChorM33@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

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[–] eli@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Currently listening to Dust by Hugh Howey (book 3 of the Wool/Silo books)

Ive also been slowly reading MaddAddam by Margeret Atwood (book 3 of the MaddAddam series)

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[–] Kebab@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Currently I'm finishing the fifth book of the Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan. Next will be the sixth book of the Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan :)

[–] hybridhavoc@darkfriend.social 3 points 1 year ago

@Kebab
Heck yeah! Books 5 and 6 are among the fan favorites.

@literature

[–] ag_roberston_author@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Making my way through Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. Really enjoying it so far.

[–] Malarkeymark69@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just started reading 'The Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss.

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[–] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

H.P. Lovecraft - Tales of Horror

I've been blown away by all of this, up until the one I'm currently powering my way through (Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath). It isn't terrible, though. It just feels very out of place after the overall tone and flow of all his other stories within the volume.

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[–] deigge@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Since November I'm slowly working through the The Witcher books. Just finished the 5th book recently and currently looking for a book I can read before I continue with the 6th book. Normally I read mostly in german but I'm thinking about picking a english book as my next book.

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[–] DiscoShrew@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 year ago

Finished up my reread of Dune and onto Dune Messiah. I also have House of Leaves and Beckett Molloy trilogy in the wings to start at some point.

[–] xray@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

A Clockwork Orange!

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Started book #9 of Malazan this morning on a flight. It's been a long ride, and I'm looking forward to a climax. That's literature, right? ;)

Last night I started reading Children of Time out loud to my GF as we fell asleep. It triggered an excellent conversation about biological imperatives and evolution. Plus, Portia is cool ;)

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[–] tlwright@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm working my way through Thinking, Fast and Slow at a chapter a day. It took me a minute to get his point (well near the 30% mark, that is) but it's illuminating about how people think.

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[–] HisNoodlyServant@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

After quitting Reddit finally getting to my book backlog. The Expanse: The Sins of Our Fathers and then got to pick another old Star Trek book.

[–] tracuof@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Re-reading Kaiju Preservation Society because I needed something light and fun. It still delivers on that promise !

[–] somethingclever@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I’m reading through Le Guin’s Earthsea cycle for the first time, and I’m currently on Tales from Earthsea. Fantastic, unique books.

[–] Profilename1@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

I've been reading Manufacturing Consent lately after hearing so much about it. It's very interesting through the new introduction and the first part, where the propaganda model is explained, but it drags some as the authors try to apply it to certain historical events, like the 1984 Nicaraguan Election.

Still, it's interesting, and while the model still applies to mainstream media today, the advent of the internet, smartphones, and social media's resulting displacement of mass media has lessened its effectiveness.

[–] derek@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Now I'm reading Wheel Of Time, stuck on the 4th book.

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[–] CheeseQueen@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really need to get back into reading, the last series I read was The Stormlight Archive and I really want to read some more Cosmere books

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