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 11 points 1 year ago (8 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.

[–] 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.

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

Right? It just slaps so hard.

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[–] Higlerfay@lemmy.world 3 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 (1 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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[–] dynamism@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

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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[–] Firefox@midwest.social 10 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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[–] oscillonoscope@beehaw.org 8 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.

[–] Witch@beehaw.org 7 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 4 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.

[–] TheTrueLinuxDev@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The Expanse, the whole book trilogy!

[–] probodyne 4 points 1 year ago

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

[–] 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

[–] ice9@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

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

[–] Kebab@beehaw.org 5 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 :)

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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

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[–] ebike_enjoyer@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (3 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.

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

How does it compare to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet? I read that whole series, but the first book was my favorite out of all of them.

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

I've read that series as well. Both are amazing, but I prefer the Monk and Robot (Psalm of the Wild-Built) series a bit more. If you liked A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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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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[–] theDuesentrieb@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (3 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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[–] CrimsonOnoscopy@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

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

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

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

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

I've been getting into beekeeping so I'm soaking up as much info as I can. Just finished up Honey Bee Democracy by Tom Seeley. Fantastically interesting book regarding honey bee swarm preferences and decision making. Next up is an English translation of Beekeeping for All by Émile Warré, mostly because I want to read his thoughts on his hive style and management practices.

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

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.

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

A Clockwork Orange!

[–] 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.

[–] derek@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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

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

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

[–] Malarkeymark69@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

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

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

[–] tlwright@beehaw.org 4 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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[–] ElusiveQuality@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago

Just started book 8 of The Expance series

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

Currently Reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Also trying to get a Lovecraft book club off the ground over at !lovecraft@ka.tet42.org

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[–] adi@lemmy.world 4 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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[–] 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.

[–] howler0502@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Currently reading "Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West," by Calder Walton.

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

If you haven't read The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, you gotta.

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[–] B4tid0@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, a

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[–] 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.

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