# Books you've been reading/listening to



## Lorcan Ward

Since we have TV, movie and games threads why not a book thread. I've got really into audiobooks recently since I don't have much free time but my work environment is ideal for them at times. I've been using the audible app which has a huge selection and a very active user review section. 

I just finished Star Wars - Tarkin. I highly recommend this one, it didn't feel forced or a cash grab and really got into the mindset of the character. I downloaded book 1 of the Darth Bane trilogy to see if the Jedi/Sith books are as good. I might start one of the Thrawn trilogies then.

I started the first Witcher Book this week, The last wish. The name of the Wind was so good it ruined fantasy for me so I'm having a hard time getting into this book but I've been urged to read the first few books before the TV show. 

Bruce Dickinson's "What Does This Button Do?" is very entertaining and to make it even better the audiobook is read by the main himself with all the inflections to really bring it to life. I'm going to a reading and Q & A later this year.

The last book on my current list is Sapiens. I really enjoyed the first half but its losing my interest now.


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## budda

I have started good omens, gotta finish it.

May read now, thanks to this thread.

Adrian Smith has an autobiography coming out soon too.


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## PuriPuriPrisoner

I've been reading through the complete works of HP Lovecraft. I love the cosmic horror genre so much. I've also been reading the Silmarillion. Both are amazing reads. I'm trying to get through them soon because grad school is coming up and I will have zero free time once it starts.


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## ThePIGI King

Jocko Willink - Extreme Ownership

Anyone that is in a position of management or is in charge of a single individual, you need to read this book.

-signed everyone that's had a bad boss


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## Seabeast2000

ThePIGI King said:


> Jocko Willink - Extreme Ownership
> 
> Anyone that is in a position of management or is in charge of a single individual, you need to read this book.
> 
> -signed everyone that's had a bad boss


I have this on audiobook. Need to hear it.


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## DudeManBrother

I recently(ish) bought the 10 volume set of Ante-Nicene writings. This is a vast collection of all known writings pre dating the 325AD Council of Nicaea (under order by Roman Emperor Constantine) where modern Christianity gets a lot of its traditions (adopted pagan festivals) and Trinity doctrine. 

I have read a lot of Volume VIII so far, as this contained the writings I was most interested in: The Clementine Homilies and Recognitions of Clement; who was the scribe for the Apostle Peter. He was sending these accounts back to James, the brother of Jesus. 

Very dense subject matter but it is utterly fascinating to read the accounts of all these men. It seems they had a very different ideology compared to what became the churches. Funnily enough; a ton of topics decided on during the Council were discussed at length, in Clementine’s writings, as taught directly to Peter by Jesus. Guess they shoulda got these books


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## MFB

I'm jumping back into the world of graphic novel/trade paperback/omnibus collecting, mainly on heroes/characters I wouldn't have read before, most recent one I finished was Jeff Lemire's 2016 run of _Moon Knight. _Total of 16 issues, kind of 'out there' concept wise if you don't know anything about the character, but after reading this I plan on going back and picking up some of the older ones. Up next on the list is Matt Fraction's _Hawkeye_ omnibus, I started reading it when it was first coming out but fell off for whatever reason, so it's nice to have it all collected in one book. Then I'll finish that up with _Old Man Hawkeye, _and probably read the original _Old Man Logan_ after that since it seems to get a bunch of praise. 

In terms of REAL books, I think I'm going to give _Mistborn_ another shot. I finished reading _IT_ like ...2 weeks ago, after doing all of it in just a hair over 3 weeks which I will never recommend, so I'm now back in like, full reading mode. I tried _Mistborn_ back when I only sort of cared and it didn't stick, too much to care about at the time when I had just come off of the first two _Rogue Squadron_ series books which were light by comparison.


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## Leviathus

Been reading Ulysses since February. It's been a grind to say the least, been close to putting it down a few times but i'm too far in at this point.


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## Ralyks

Neuromancer and Juliet, Naked.


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## chopeth

EVERYTHING Brandon Sanderson has ever written.

Finished: Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Arcanum unbounded and now the Stormlight Archives. 

I can say he is my favourite writter ever. His stories and the way he depicts the characters, and also the depth he gives everyone of them is just addictive as hell. Really really love it. I'm even thinking of starting to write myself.

Other: Legion comics


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## USMarine75

ThePIGI King said:


> Jocko Willink - Extreme Ownership
> 
> Anyone that is in a position of management or is in charge of a single individual, you need to read this book.
> 
> -signed everyone that's had a bad boss



Worth the read or did I get the cliff notes version in the TED Talk?


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## PunkBillCarson

chopeth said:


> EVERYTHING Brandon Sanderson has ever written.
> 
> Finished: Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, Arcanum unbounded and now the Stormlight Archives.
> 
> I can say he is my favourite writter ever. His stories and the way he depicts the characters, and also the depth he gives everyone of them is just addictive as hell. Really really love it. I'm even thinking of starting to write myself.
> 
> Other: Legion comics




I'll vouch for this every fucking day. I'm on Oathbringer at the moment.


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## jaxadam

PunkBillCarson said:


> I'll vouch for this every fucking day. I'm on Oathbringer at the moment.



I’ve had a hard time getting into Oathbringer for some reason. The pacing or plot just seems to be different or thinner to me for some reason. This is coming from someone who thought Word of Radiance was one of the best books I’ve ever read.


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## Drew

Since I was taking an involentary break from cycling for a couple weeks to recover from a collarbone break, I picked up a couple of Phil Gaimon's books about his days as a pro cyclist. I'd already read "Ask a Pro" which is hilarious, so I greabbed "Pro Cycling on $10 a Day," which predated it and was ok, and "Draft Animals" which was also excellent. Not likely to appeal to anyone who isn't in to cycling, poop jokes, or both, though.


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## KnightBrolaire

I've been on a military history kick lately.
Frozen Hell-all about the Russo Finnish Winter War. Goes into a lot of detail surrounding the tactics used by the Finns and gives a very good overview of the fighting in general.
Ivan's War- all about the russian perspective of WW2.
Also picked up the Walking Dead Omnibus. I haven't read the comics in years and I forgot just how much more brutal the comics are than the show. It also moves at a breakneck pace compared to the show. What takes close to 4 seasons in the show is basically just the first 50 issues of the comics.


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## MFB

Wasn't the Finns main tactics either to guerilla attack them on skiis, or just to let the White Ghost snipe the Christ out of everyone and then hope they decide to say "fuck it."


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## Mathemagician

Sanderson - Mistborn trilogy. Enjoying it so far.


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## chopeth

^That was my first, have fun with Kelsier


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## PunkBillCarson

chopeth said:


> ^That was my first, have fun with Kelsier




I can't help but think that Michael Fassbender would make an excellent Kelsier.


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## KnightBrolaire

MFB said:


> Wasn't the Finns main tactics either to guerilla attack them on skiis, or just to let the White Ghost snipe the Christ out of everyone and then hope they decide to say "fuck it."


they had a bunch of tactics tbh. It was basically a necessity for the Finns not stationed on the mannerheim line to use skis and hit and run tactics since they had no vehicles/armor and the terrain was all heavily forested with a shitload of snow. They didn't typically attack while still on their skis, they'd usually hop off of them, attack and then jump back on em and ski off into the night.
Simo Hayhaa and most of the finnish snipers had a pretty easy time dealing with the Russians early on since they would silhouette themselves against giant bonfires. Plus the Russians were very poorly trained and equipped for a good stretch of the war.
A lot of the combat was pretty conventional but the snipers and the ski troops get all the recognition. 
The Finns were pretty creative with how they dealt with tanks before they started getting decent antitank weaponry. They'd jam logs in the treads of the t34 and then toss a grenade or special molotov cocktail in the tank. They also developed wooden mines that couldn't be detected.


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## fps

What The Hell Did I Just Read - David Wong.
Third in the John Does At The End series. Really funny, more horror in this one than the others, another great story. Strong recommend for this series, so easy to read, great stories, but still thought-provoking, and laugh out loud.


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## Lorcan Ward

I finished the first Darth Bane Book and already bought the next two. It's everything I wish the films were. Hopefully we get one someday that portrays the world like the books and games do. I do have high hopes for the Mandelorian TV show though.


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## oppgulp

At the moment I am reading David Ellefsons "More Life With Deth" and Dan Simmons "Terror". I like both books


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## oppgulp

Finished The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson yesterday, and now I have started reading The Fisherman by John Langan.


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## Charlie Foxtrot 3rd

Just finished Spartan Gold by Clive Cussler


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## Lorcan Ward

I recently finished:
Star Wars - Plageuis

Warhammer 40k
Eisenhorn - Xenos
Eisenhorn - Malleus 
Eisenhorn - Hereticus
The Lords of Silence

Not sure what I’ll start next.


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## myrtorp

Lorcan Ward said:


> I recently finished:
> Star Wars - Plageuis
> 
> Warhammer 40k
> Eisenhorn - Xenos
> Eisenhorn - Malleus
> Eisenhorn - Hereticus
> The Lords of Silence
> 
> Not sure what I’ll start next.



Nice!
If you want more 40k there's the Ravenor triology, which is also really good! 
Right now im reading The Magos which I found to my suprise in an english book shop here. It's all the Eisenhorn short stories + some new unpublished ones as well as part 4 of the Eisenhorn triology... quadology?

Recent listens:

Rendezvous with Rama - Really good, Im not that familiar with Arthur C. Clarke, but this really makes me want to check out more. (No I haven't seen 2001 ) 
Siege of Terra: The lost and the damned - I cannot get enough of wh40k. The story is really coming to a climax in these books closing in on the end.
Clockwork Century: Not really my cup of tea but it was good for falling asleep to.


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## Lorcan Ward

myrtorp said:


> Nice!
> If you want more 40k there's the Ravenor triology, which is also really good!
> Right now im reading The Magos which I found to my suprise in an english book shop here. It's all the Eisenhorn short stories + some new unpublished ones as well as part 4 of the Eisenhorn triology... quadology?



I just started The Magos and will continue the rest of the Eisenhorn books. If I'm still in a 40K mood I'll take a look at the Ravenor Trilogy.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Currently reading Perfecting Sound Forever - The Story of Recorded Music by Greg Miller.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Today I started reading The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens. It's a novel about a college student who as part of one of his courses is supposed to interview and write about an older person. The person he chooses to interview is an old Vietnam vet who also is a convicted child rapist and murderer. It's a real page turner IMO.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Got a lot of extra time during quarentine, so this weekend I finished Elevation and now I have started on Four Past Midnight, both books by Stephen King.


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## blacai

If anyone is into Software Engineering... I do recommend "The Pragmatic Programmer" . It's a very old book but the 20th anniversary edition introduced some updates.
It is more about how to become a better programmer from the psychological/soft skills point of view than a concrete technology.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Maple Hill Cabin Studio said:


> Got a lot of extra time during quarentine, so this weekend I finished Elevation and now I have started on Four Past Midnight, both books by Stephen King.



Finished _Four Past Midnight_ two days ago, then I started reading _Arcade Mania: The Turbo-charged World of Japan's Game Centers_ yesterday which I have already finished, so now I am going to start reading _The Tommyknockers_ by Stephen King.


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## transyldavianhunger

I just finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and am in the middle of House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.

I typically listen to audiobooks at work, and in my freetime I am reading through the entire fiction oeuvre of Fyodor Dostoevsky in paperback in chronological order of publishing. I’m currently on House of the Dead in that endeavor.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Finished _The Tommyknockers_ by Stephen King and I have now begun reading Follow This Thread by Henry Eliot, a book about the history of mazes and labyrinths.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

transyldavianhunger said:


> I just finished Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, and am in the middle of House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.



How do you like House of Leaves so far? Got it in my bookshelf but I haven't read it yet.


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## transyldavianhunger

Maple Hill Cabin Studio said:


> How do you like House of Leaves so far? Got it in my bookshelf but I haven't read it yet.


It’s certainly a different experience. It reads half like an academic work, with incessant footnotes, and half like a film critique. I don’t want to judge it too early, but I’d have reservations about wholeheartedly recommending it just yet.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

transyldavianhunger said:


> It’s certainly a different experience. It reads half like an academic work, with incessant footnotes, and half like a film critique. I don’t want to judge it too early, but I’d have reservations about wholeheartedly recommending it just yet.



I am aware of how the story is constructed with a lot of documents and like you say like an academic work. I have been curious about the book because of this (I don't think I have read a novel constructed like that before) and the book often does really well on best horror novel lists, so it is interesting to get to get other viewpoints.


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## USMarine75

Rereading one of my fav of all time...

The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett.




10/10 for anyone interested in medicine, medical history, and infectious diseases. Fitting.


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## transyldavianhunger

Maple Hill Cabin Studio said:


> I am aware of how the story is constructed with a lot of documents and like you say like an academic work. I have been curious about the book because of this (I don't think I have read a novel constructed like that before) and the book often does really well on best horror novel lists, so it is interesting to get to get other viewpoints.


Update: I finished it last week in audiobook format, and I immediately ordered it in paperback so that I can see just how strangely printed it is, and once I flipped through it I immediately gained a lot of appreciation for the individual who endeavored to record it in audiobook format. Now that I’m familiar with it, I plan to read my paperback copy for a different experience, at least once I have time after all of the other things I’m aspiring to read rather than listen to.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Finishing the following books the last couple of weeks:

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
He-Man and the Master of the Universe Minicomic Collection
Dark Water - Elizabeth Lowry
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury


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## fps

Maple Hill Cabin Studio said:


> Finishing the following books the last couple of weeks:
> 
> The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
> He-Man and the Master of the Universe Minicomic Collection
> Dark Water - Elizabeth Lowry
> Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury



Just been reading about how 451 is misread and it's about television not totalitarianism. 

Just finished The Word For World Is Forest and now I'm going to get back into the Gormenghast trilogy which I abandoned for shorter books a while back.


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## Daemoniac

Been going through the monster backlog of Horus Heresy novels I've had. Managed to make my way through I think 40 of the 54 of them in the last two years.

Currently on "Ruinstorm," one of the less great novels in the series. It's definitely an up-and-down series.


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## Lorcan Ward

^I finished book 3 Galaxy in Flames recently. The last quarter of the book was very heavy. I need to take a break to let it all sink in. I’ll read the next few main books and then pick ones with good reviews that sound interesting. 

Masters of DOOM:
Overall this was really good and a great insight into making games in the late 80s/90s. At times it reads like a Wikipedia entry which gets tiring quickly but there’s also lots of times he had more information to work with. It’s it a bit biased for my liking but it made me appreciate the two John’s and everyone involved with DOOM/ID even more.

David Mitchell - Backstory:
I love Peep Show buy an entire book of Mark ranting at minuscule things that annoy him got tiring quickly. Made it a third of the way through and returned it.

Michael Caine - Blowing the bloody doors off:
This man has led such a fantastic life and has so many experiences to share with advice to pass on every step of the way. 

Next on my list is Horus Heresy - Flight of the Eisenstein, World war Z and Blood, sweat, Pixels.


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## Daemoniac

Lorcan Ward said:


> ^I finished book 3 Galaxy in Flames recently. The last quarter of the book was very heavy. I need to take a break to let it all sink in. I’ll read the next few main books and then pick ones with good reviews that sound interesting.
> 
> ...
> 
> Next on my list is Horus Heresy - Flight of the Eisenstein, World war Z and Blood, sweat, Pixels.



The first five or so novels are depressing as all hell. Flight Of The Eisenstein is a great novel. Easily in my top ten of the series so far.


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## Ralyks

The Real Frank Zappa Book
Devin Townsend - Only Half There


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## Ericjutsu

Right now, I'm reading "How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollen. It's about psychedelics and their potential for positive mental change.


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## wedge_destroyer

Homage to Catalonia by Orwell is the current one.
Previous one was The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.


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## Winspear

Lorcan Ward said:


> Next on my list is Horus Heresy - Flight of the Eisenstein, World war Z and Blood, sweat, Pixels.



Glad you are enjoying Horus so far! Eisenstein is a great read after the initial trilogy. Look forward to Fulgrim, it is so metal and almost the entire inspiration behind my upcoming Carillion haha

I'm taking a little break from Horus currently (I'm in book 8 I think).
Have caught up on Book of Dust pt 2 and Kingkiller Chronicles , good stuff!


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## Captain Shoggoth

Just finished Stoner by John Williams, beautiful and very underrated book (it's not about weed, it predates stoner as a slang term). Wonderfully written ode to the mundane beauty, and pain, in an ordinary man's life.

Started The Buddha of Subhurbia by Hanif Kureishi today. Seminal British PoC literature, and devilishly irreverent and funny


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## transyldavianhunger

wedge_destroyer said:


> Homage to Catalonia by Orwell is the current one.
> Previous one was The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.


Meditations is great! It reads somewhat like scripture does, so that was an adjustment for me given my aversion to it, but it is replete with stoic nuggets that are very engaging and provoking.


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## Boofchuck

I'm re-reading Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo. It uses the art of guitar as a framework for applying Zen principles to the guitar and to life. I really like it. It's helping me find myself again after losing my mind to complete my Bachelors Degree. 

"From one thing know ten thousand things"


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## InHiding

Better to read that book above if you're interested in the human mind. Basic psychology books do not offer similar insight. The guy has really good youtube videos too, actually the best I know of. If we are becoming a narcissist global society (which is kind of true after the introduction of social media) it all might actually be much more relevant than one might think.






Sort of related to the above book and cluster B in general (as far as I understand).


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## sirbuh

Captain Shoggoth said:


> Just finished Stoner by John Williams, beautiful and very underrated book (it's not about weed, it predates stoner as a slang term). Wonderfully written ode to the mundane beauty, and pain, in an ordinary man's life.



Great choice - heavy novel, that continues to resonate with me a decade later.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Finished the following books lately:

World War Z - Max Brooks
The Deep - Alma Katsu
Wanderers- Chuck Welding
The Winter People - Jennifer McMahon


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## Daemoniac

Decided to give "The Conquest Of Bread" by Peter Kropotkin a read. So far it's fascinating.


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## MFB

Bloodborne had put me in a "gothic/Victorian/Lovecraft/monster hunting mood" so I started reading the _Monstrumologist_ series, with the Doctor character giving me vibes of a Sherlock Holmes character, and unfortunately too much of myself in the assistant  Finished book one of it about a week or so back, and then jumped over to _Lovecraft Country_, which has me thoroughly underwhelmed with it's presentation moreso than it's content. I'm trying to wrap it up quickly so I can go back to the other series I bought at the same time as Monstrumologist.


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## gnoll

Anybody know the Moomins? 

I've been re-reading the Moomin books by Tove Jansson lately. The Moomins are a family of mild-mannered hippo-resembling characters residing in Moominvalley. The books started out as more or less children's books but got darker in tone over the years.

There's nine books. Here's some of my favorites:

_Comet in Moominland_ (1946), the second book in the series.

A comet is coming. The kids of the Moomin family set out on an adventure to find the observatory in the mountains where hopefully they'll be able to find out if the comet will kill them all or not.

Very apocalyptical and philosophical for a children's book. I love how it manages to be a light-hearted adventure story while maintaining a proper sense of impending doom throughout. First appearance of Snufkin, an amazing character that doesn't give a fuck about anything except smoking and playing music.

_Moominland Midwinter_ (1957), the sixth book in the series.

The Moomins normally hibernate in winter (after eating a lot of pine needles), but this winter Moomintroll wakes up and can't go back to sleep. He's forced to go out and face a snow-covered world and he has a tough time with it.

This is the first book where things really start to take a darker turn. More serious themes of loneliness, belonging and death show up. Good thing Too-ticky lives in the bathhouse. She's pretty reassuring.

_Moominvalley in November_ (1970), the last book in the series.

A bunch of different characters end up at the Moominhouse to visit the Moomins, who they hope can help ease their struggles. Unfortunately, Moominpappa has had a midlife crisis and taken his family to a remote island, so the house is empty.

Pretty heavy and psychological stuff. Coping and growth. Bleak yet hopeful in a lovely way.


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## Celtic Frosted Flakes

Books I've red lately:

Burntown - Jennifer McMahon
American War - Omar El Akkad
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis (I had to get myself a bottle of J&B because of this book)
Forever Nerdy- Brian Posehn
Needful Things - Steven King
For The Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records - Brian Slagel and Mark Eglinton


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## transyldavianhunger

I gave McCarthy’s “Child of God” a listen, since I heard it was a loose source material for the first season of True Detective (which my long distance girlfriend and I binge watched all 9+ hours of one day on her first visit). It was a concise work, and I plan to revisit it very soon.

I also just finished listening to Moby Dick in audiobook format. It was a little more onerous of a task than I had anticipated, but I felt obligated to finally check this classic off my list, especially since it is an inspiration for McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian,” with which I have become obsessed since my first read a few months ago.

I’ve started Camus’ “The Plague” as I’m sure many have given current global events.


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## transyldavianhunger

In the past few weeks I’ve finished Camus’ “The Plague” and found it pertinent to the current state of the world. He made some concise observations about the nature of humans in the privation of quarantine, etc. There were also some allusions to his own work “The Stranger,” which is a favorite of mine. Overall it is a strong, classic nihilistic work. I would have had a hard time relating to it if not for the global pandemic and concomitant local measures.

Yesterday I finished “The Devil All The Time” by Donald Ray Pollock. I really enjoyed the juxtaposed plots that eventually collided, and the depravity of the characters. It had a distinctly Tarantino feel to it, but darker and repugnant. It was quite jarring at several points, so I’m going to _relax_ a little and re-listen to McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian.”


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## transyldavianhunger

I finished “The King in Yellow” by Robert W. Chambers last week. It turned out to be a lot different than I expected, but it holds a place among other gothic horrors of the late 19th century. Sadly it did not reveal anything new to me about the first season of HBO’s “True Detective,” which inspired me to read it.


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## r33per

Battleship Bismarck: A Design and Operational History by Robert O. Dulin, William H. Garzke, and William Jurens.

Just up to the point of completing the prep for Operation Rheinubung.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Merton of the Movies: Harry Leon Wilson, just finished it.
Starting Paradise Lost, by John Milton.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Just finished _The Mysterious Rider_ by Zane Grey.


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## DeathbyDesign

I am almost done with the first book in The Strain trilogy. Thought it would be fitting for how things are currently going in the world.


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## KnightBrolaire

DeathbyDesign said:


> I am almost done with the first book in The Strain trilogy. Thought it would be fitting for how things are currently going in the world.


That's a great series.


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## TheBlackBard

Been getting into Warhammer 40K lately. Started reading the Ciaphas Cain series and I am hooked!


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## transyldavianhunger

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Merton of the Movies: Harry Leon Wilson, just finished it.
> Starting Paradise Lost, by John Milton.





TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Just finished _The Mysterious Rider_ by Zane Grey.


I feel obliged to chime in noticing your two most recent reads: If you’re in the mood for a book that draws themes from Milton AND is set in a Western environ, I would highly recommend Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

transyldavianhunger said:


> I feel obliged to chime in noticing your two most recent reads: If you’re in the mood for a book that draws themes from Milton AND is set in a Western environ, I would highly recommend Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy!


Will seek it out, thank you.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Had to take a break from Paradise Lost, just finished the Ilead, so I need a different style for a bit. Also just finished Zane Grey’s _The Mysterious Rider_, which was great. Digging into another ZG book as I hit a flight to Tucson tomorrow, starting _Man Of The Forest._


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## oldbulllee

*post\cyber punk\noir\dystopic* kind of thing, and written to the utmost craft standards give it a go. there is a lot: i guess most have seen the " Altered Carbon" show, i was surprised to see all the ( mostly) positive responses, as the show is an UTTER disgrace to the novel. so check it out. writers name is *Richard K. Morgan. *there are two " sequels", you might call them that, main character reappears. " Broken Angels", and "Woken Furies".

*dark fantasy* trilogy (can't recall the names of all three)next: "The Land Fit For Heroes" by the same author. the only such books in my ( rather extensive ) knowledge that has gay protagonists. pseudo middle ages settings, hard and than hardened some more killer and gay. a beautiful touch. another main character, a steppe nomad ( take on the mongol, cocsack thing) warlord who is felling his age, and is getting fed up with tradition of living in the skin tent in the middle of nowhere. 

*pure( a bit purer) sci fi* ( but on a dark side): *Neal Asher*. he has a lot to chose from, so check it out yourselves.
than *Pierce Brown* " Red Rising" series. excellent.

man, i could go on...


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## r33per

Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie


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## Quiet Coil

Been reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my 3 and 5 year old grandchildren. Definitely a challenge, but we’ve made it through a chapter a night so far.


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## Floppystrings

Since the Dune movie is coming out soon, I would suggest everyone that is into science fiction read the original book from 1965. It is the best selling science fiction book off all time, movies like Star Wars, The Terminator, Alien, Blade Runner, Stargate, 2001: A Space Odyssey wouldn't exist without the influence of Dune.

It is a very hard book to follow for most people, so I would suggest doing some research beforehand so you don't feel lost.

Here is a little motivation that might create some interest:


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## zodiactone

Ever so often I like to re-read The Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster (the original book came out in 1983, but it’s just a cool series to go back to and read again). It’s very cool how music is intertwined to make magic.


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## nightflameauto

Floppystrings said:


> Since the Dune movie is coming out soon, I would suggest everyone that is into science fiction read the original book from 1965. It is the best selling science fiction book off all time, movies like Star Wars, The Terminator, Alien, Blade Runner, Stargate, 2001: A Space Odyssey wouldn't exist without the influence of Dune.
> 
> It is a very hard book to follow for most people, so I would suggest doing some research beforehand so you don't feel lost.
> 
> Here is a little motivation that might create some interest:



The Dune books were some of my favorites as a kid. I don't remember the first one being particularly hard to follow, and I first read it when I was ten or so. It has a lot of high concepts in it, but the writing is pretty straightforward. Great characters and world building throughout.

Currently just finished up "Sapiens" and am starting in on the follow up "Homo Deus" Ykval Noah Harari. Interesting reads. The first is a somewhat unflattering but mostly factual look at human history from ape to now with a few nods towards the future. The follow up is looking mostly from now forward, where we're headed, what we're likely to do, and the effects we'll continue to have on the world and the universe.


----------



## Louis Cypher

Just finished reading "Troy" by Stephen Fry (3rd book in his Greek mythology series - Mythos & Heroes) and in the middle of listening to his reading of "The Orwell Collection: Animal Farm & 1984" on Audible


----------



## Dan_Vacant

I went on a bit of a shopping spree today. I bought a book about Dan Severn. Hopefully people are ready for me to talk about wrestling nonstop.


----------



## jaxadam

Dan_Vacant said:


> I went on a bit of a shopping spree today. I bought a book about Dan Severn. Hopefully people are ready for me to talk about wrestling nonstop.



The Beast!


----------



## wheresthefbomb

I got a Kindle for school last year and I've been voraciously devouring books through it, reading has become my bedtime ritual once more after a long hiatus since my late teens. The kindle is great because I can read laying down and shut it off when my eyes get heavy.

During the daytime I still prefer a "real" book for the most part. 

I usually have a few books going on at once, whatever entertaining candy reading (sci fi and fantasy mostly) that I read before bed, and then dense philosophy type stuff that I read during the day when my brain is turned on. 

Right now The Expanse is my candy, just started book 4.

I got down a rabbithole of semiotics and the foundations of meaning and representation/perception in my linguistics classes and it really stuck. I read some Joseph Campbell earlier this summer which was interesting but I wanted to find more of the "source" material and I've been reading Arthur Schopenhauer "collected works" recently.

his writing is incredibly dense and I honestly don't know wtf he's talking about at least 20% of the time, but really fascinating stuff about the nature of perception, existence and what we perceive as "reality." Not necessarily uplifting stuff, he was famous for concluding that the baseline condition of existence is suffering, but it's a bit more nuanced than that.

Charles Sanders Peirce is next, also well known for being incredibly difficult to read. My professor helpfully recommended some other writers who have digested his work for the less initiated. 

Anyway, books are great and I'm really glad to have reconnected with this part of myself that hungers for written words and seeks knowledge for its own sake. 

What are you reading? What do you like to read? Why are books so awesome?


----------



## Ericjutsu

I'm reading Shogun by James Clavell. I'm only 50 pages in right now, but I really like it. It also serves as a great introduction to Feudal Japan.


----------



## jaxadam

About halfway through Fallen Dragon by Peter Hamilton. What an interesting ride.


----------



## MFB

I went in my wayback machine and bought _Halo: Fall of Reach_ on Kindle since I for sure don't have the copy from when I was a kid. The Halo universe lore is stupidly deep, and I remember reading the first three or so books, so I'm curious how they continue as the games went on, and if the quality of them is good or if they were just done to fill in what they couldn't in-game.

So far it's been good, but I don't know if it's nineteen installments worth reading good


----------



## oldbulllee

for people who like scifi, but with cyberpunk flavor: martha wells. murderbot diaries. it's got 5 or 6 sequels, but each one is 150 to 200 pages, not long.
decent writing.


----------



## USMarine75




----------



## jaxadam

jaxadam said:


> About halfway through Fallen Dragon by Peter Hamilton. What an interesting ride.



Holy fuck what a book. Hard to believe it was written 20 years ago.


----------



## KnightBrolaire

Stuff I finished this summer:
Stealing Buddha's dinner by Bich Minnh Nguyen - A poignant, bittersweet book about a first generation immigrant and how food was an integral part of her memories. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee- A multigenerational story about Koreans that emigrate to Japan during the Japanese occupation, and their struggles. It's a really great book.

Mistborn Trilogy - Awesome series. I haven't been reading much fantasy in the last few years but this was a massive breath of fresh air, kind of like the Prince of Thorns series. 

The Trouble with Peace/A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. - Trouble with Peace was awesome, but A little hatred was just bad. Like GoT season 7 bad. The characters all magically become idiots in that book to set up the massive battle and it just massively overstays its welcome. The class warfare and political machinations in the first become the focus of this book and it just moves at a glacial pace for most of the book. 

Pet Sematary (haven't read it in probably 15 years so it felt fresh). King gets a bit long winded in his descriptions with certain books (like the stand or this one) but I just love this book for taking a simple idea and managing to properly convey the dread/tension over the pages. 

A Plague Upon Humanity by Daniel Barenblatt -details the extraordinarily heinous stuff Unit 731 did to people. They made the Germans and Russians seem milquetoast comparatively. A must read for anyone that wants to know more about one of the darkest pockets of WW2.


----------



## MFB

I read through book 1 of Mistborn pretty quickly, but once Kels was out of the picture, I don't know, I didn't feel connected to the world even though Vin is the central character. It was weird seeing this patriarch of their crime family suddenly vanish but everyone else stick around.


----------



## Woodland Burl

Currently halfway through The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb, second book of the Liveship Traders trilogy. I'm also reading The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik, and Tombland by C. J. Sansom. I have a habit of reading several books in the same period, switching between them depending on mood.

I'm also listening to Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake, on audiobook. I'm fortunate to have a job where I can sometimes listen to audiobooks while working, so there's always one on my list.


----------



## ArtDecade

I'm just starting book ten of *Wheel Of Time*.


----------



## USMarine75

Who would have thought the heroes of the Left and democracy would be Barr, Esper, and Millie.


----------



## Adieu

USMarine75 said:


> View attachment 99176
> 
> 
> Who would have thought the heroes of the Left and democracy would be Barr, Esper, and Millie.



...who?


----------



## Furtive Glance

MFB said:


> I went in my wayback machine and bought _Halo: Fall of Reach_ on Kindle since I for sure don't have the copy from when I was a kid. The Halo universe lore is stupidly deep, and I remember reading the first three or so books, so I'm curious how they continue as the games went on, and if the quality of them is good or if they were just done to fill in what they couldn't in-game.
> 
> So far it's been good, but I don't know if it's nineteen installments worth reading good



Lots of the Halo novels are actually really good. Fall of Reach, Contact Harvest and the Karen Traviss Kilo-5 trilogy are standouts. 

I just finished The New New Thing by Michael Lewis (2000). Still holds up today.

Working through Samsung Rising.


----------



## nightflameauto

Finally managed to finish up Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. While Sapiens was a fairly light read about our history as a species, with a few peaks into our darker corners, Homo Deus was literally a brain beating fuck you to our entire species the whole way through. I'm talking soul crushing, spirit breaking shitfest. The worst part being, every word of it is true. We are the perpetrators of cruelty upon cruelty, and it's a rare person that cares to hold the mirror up this strongly to us.

I don't regret reading it, even though I don't feel I got much from it other than a bit more dread about where we're headed in the future. It was released in 2016 and nails so many things that have happened in the ensuing years that its conclusions really can't be denied. We're fast headed towards irrelevance. And maybe the universe will be better once we're gone or paired down to reasonable numbers.

I do not recommend it unless you have a healthy level of self-awareness and inner peace. Fragile minds need not apply.

So, to lighten things up I grabbed "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vinge. I needed some classic sci-fi dystopia to cope with our reality of dystopia. Just getting started on that one.


----------



## Chris Bowsman

I was on a huge Star Wars kick, read a bunch of Extended Universe, or Legacy, or whatever the hell they're called now.

Just got back on horror. Finished Ania Ahlborn's BROTHER the other day, absolutely brutal. Her stuff is always great, and I'll tell any horror fan that if they don't enjoy her debut SEED, I'll reimburse them for it. SEED has been a favorite for the decade or so since it came out, and I've loved all of hers I've read since, but BROTHER is the new high water mark. 

Gonna finish Kealan Patrick Burke's SOUR CANDY tonight. He's another favorite.


----------



## MFB

Before I left for my cruise, I picked up a novel called "Between Two Fires," that I'm know roughly 75% of the way through.

It takes place in 1348 during the Black Plague in Europe, an excommunicate Knight protects a girl who is having visions of demons and angels on Earth as they believe that the plague is the Angel's attempt at killing man after the failure of the war for Heaven that got Lucifer cast into Hell. 

There are times where it's a little tough to follow as some of the stuff gets a bit abstract for the demons and what's going on with whether or not they really exist, and anything in fantasy/non-industrial eras tends to be tough to get a timeline of what's passed; that said, I do really dig the concept of Angels sending a plague to kill Mankind for earning God's favor over them, made even more hilarious because God refuses to be found by his own Angel's who are still loyal to him (Uriel, Gabriel, Michael, the big names you're used to hearing.)

It's very Paradise Lost/Dark Siders adjacent but reading it, it's more gritty, like Dark Souls.


----------



## Leviathus

So hyped for this...


----------



## BlackMastodon

Tried Robopocalypse last spring after a friend gave it to me but bounced off of it. I probably would've gobbled it up in high school but I just couldn't get into it. I read maybe 4 chapters which were all distinct sections in the broader story and were all written differently. They were interesting enough but it felt like I was reading someone's creative writing assignment.

Started Dune last week after my partner got it for me for Xmas, since we both loved the new movie.

On the list:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy omnibus
Murderbot Diaries (read the first book in 2020 and loved it, ordered the next 3 last week)


----------



## wheresthefbomb

Reading Lord of the Rings for the first time since I was a kid. Got the whole thing in one volume on my kindle, a little over halfway through the two towers right now. Steady chugging through 2-3 chapters a night.

I didn't really process as a kid how dark this story is, and the movies didn't really portray it either: Middle Earth is in decline and from elves to wizards to ancient forests, much of the mystical wonder of the world is on its way out whether Sauron is destroyed or not.


----------



## BlackMastodon

Having never read the books, it was crazy when I found out the ending of those compared to the movies


Spoiler: Spoilers for 67 year old books



where Frodo and Sam return to the shore and find it's been sacked by orcs


.


----------



## KnightBrolaire

BlackMastodon said:


> Having never read the books, it was crazy when I found out the ending of those compared to the movies
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Spoilers for 67 year old books
> 
> 
> 
> where Frodo and Sam return to the shore and find it's been sacked by orcs
> 
> 
> .


I'm pretty sure there's a deleted scene from the films showing that. Definitely wasn't in the theatrical or extended cuts, but it should have been. It really shows that the war was for ALL of middle earth.


----------



## KnightBrolaire

The Poppy Wars trilogy:
An absolutely brutal grimdark fantasy series that takes place in a fictitious version of WWII era China. There's magic, unflinching violence and reference to real events (comfort girls, the Rape of Nanking, Unit 731) but it's done in such a way that it never feels out of place with the world building.
Highly recommend it if you like stuff like Joe Abercrombie's books or the Mistborn series.

Funny in Farsi: A cute book about Iranian immigrants and how they handled moving to America after the revolution, particularly how the kids handled it. Pairs really well with Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.


----------



## FILTHnFEAR

KnightBrolaire said:


> I've been on a military history kick lately.
> Frozen Hell-all about the Russo Finnish Winter War. Goes into a lot of detail surrounding the tactics used by the Finns and gives a very good overview of the fighting in general.
> Ivan's War- all about the russian perspective of WW2.
> Also picked up the Walking Dead Omnibus. I haven't read the comics in years and I forgot just how much more brutal the comics are than the show. It also moves at a breakneck pace compared to the show. What takes close to 4 seasons in the show is basically just the first 50 issues of the comics.


If you're into military history and WW2 in particular, I can't recommend these enough.

Eugene Sledge "With the Old Breed" is one of, if not the best WW2 biography I've ever read.

Major Richard Winters "Beyond Band of Brothers"

Kurt "Panzer" Meyer "Grenadiers"

John Mosier "Cross of Iron Rise and Fall of the German War Machine 1918-1945"!


----------



## wheresthefbomb

Finished LotR. About halfway through Dune (first book), really digging it so far. Interesting to see how many plot devices were changed/made up for one of the film adaptation and then adhered to faithfully by following adaptations. 

Will probably buy the whole collection and plow through that next, I didn't want to buy it all on the chance I didn't enjoy it.


----------



## Lorcan Ward

Dune is a fantastic read. The worldbuilding in the second half with the Fremen really made the book for me. I’d wait until you read Messiah before before committing to the collection. That book loses a lot of readers.


----------



## nightflameauto

I love the Frank Herbert Dune books. Haven't read the follow-ups, as I feel no story really keeps the feel when you change the authors. Even if one of them is a direct descendent.


----------



## MFB

I bought and started - and by started, I mean made it through the prologue while feeling uneasy the whole time - a book on dealing with imposter syndrome (honestly can't remember the title because it was incredibly generic for the subject), and boy, reading that is gonna be like a normal person watching an A24 movie for me.


----------



## wheresthefbomb

MFB said:


> I bought and started - and by started, I mean made it through the prologue while feeling uneasy the whole time - a book on dealing with imposter syndrome (honestly can't remember the title because it was incredibly generic for the subject), and boy, reading that is gonna be like a normal person watching an A24 movie for me.



Interested to hear more about this. Let us know. 



Lorcan Ward said:


> Dune is a fantastic read. The worldbuilding in the second half with the Fremen really made the book for me. I’d wait until you read Messiah before before committing to the collection. That book loses a lot of readers.



Thanks for the tip, will do.


----------



## MFB

wheresthefbomb said:


> Interested to hear more about this. Let us know.



If that epilogue/first chapter is any indicator, then it's most likely going to solidify the idea that I need to actually talk to someone vs. self-help, which means it will not happen and I continue to just ...act like it's not a problem while it slowly kills me?


----------



## wheresthefbomb

MFB said:


> If that epilogue/first chapter is any indicator, then it's most likely going to solidify the idea that I need to actually talk to someone vs. self-help, which means it will not happen and I continue to just ...act like it's not a problem while it slowly kills me?



Relatable. I'm waiting for insurance to kick in from my new job and then I'll be seeking counseling for the first time in my life. Good luck, man.


----------



## BlackMastodon

I gotta be more disciplined about finding time to read and keep going on Dune. I think my caveman brain sees big book. And gets scared. 
So far I'm surprised how faithful the latest adaptation is to the book, though I think the movie handled the introduction of Baron Harkonen better, while the book felt a bit cheesy and heavy handed but I did appreciate it. Really enjoying the writing so far, even though I'm not very far in (they just arrived on Arrakis), and it doesn't feel aged at all.


----------



## CJ7

12 Rules for Life - Jordan Peterson

Really good book. It’s not really a “self-help” book, like I was worried it might be. Definitely easier to listen to than read. Or maybe I’m a poor reader.


----------



## Drew

Picked Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" back up recently after more than a decade, as it seemed like the right novel for a post-covid world (set in pre-WWI Austria, it's a story about a young man who goes to visit his cousin in a TB sanitarium in the mountains over Davos for three weeks, and ends up staying for ten years). I've been too busy reading financial statements for work lately to read for pleasure, so I packed it for a long flight (ironically, with a layover in Zurich) and it's been good to get back into it.


----------



## Drew

MFB said:


> I bought and started - and by started, I mean made it through the prologue while feeling uneasy the whole time - a book on dealing with imposter syndrome (honestly can't remember the title because it was incredibly generic for the subject), and boy, reading that is gonna be like a normal person watching an A24 movie for me.


If you don't have at least a LITTLE impostor syndrome, then you either 1) aren't getting far enough out of your comfort zone to grow, 2) lack the intellectual ability to self-asses, or 3) both.


----------



## MFB

Drew said:


> If you don't have at least a LITTLE impostor syndrome, then you either 1) aren't getting far enough out of your comfort zone to grow, 2) lack the intellectual ability to self-asses, or 3) both.



I have enough that for four and a half years at my last job I honestly thought at any point they would show me the door because I didn't go to school for Electrical Engineering but was designing residential distribution systems by the time I left; I had a senior engineer who obviously reviewed me work, but I was doing the initial design pretty solo. 

I'm more comfortable at my current job with what I learned there, but it's gotten to/verging on crippling at times.


----------



## BlackMastodon

Alright, so I'm 90 pages into Dune and there is vastly more detail and side stuff in the book than in the movie, like Jessica being way more fleshed out as a character. Still love the Villeneuve movie, though, and I guess that's a symptom of movie adaptations. Lots of things get cut that aren't super important to the story, and you don't often get to see into a character's thoughts like you do when they're nerrating.


----------



## narad

CJ7 said:


> 12 Rules for Life - Jordan Peterson
> 
> Really good book. It’s not really a “self-help” book, like I was worried it might be. Definitely easier to listen to than read. Or maybe I’m a poor reader.



I'm curious to read it, but at the same time, how can anyone follow 12 good rules and still wind up like Jordan Peterson?


----------



## CJ7

narad said:


> I'm curious to read it, but at the same time, how can anyone follow 12 good rules and still wind up like Jordan Peterson?


Maybe he didn't do a very good job of following his own rules? I like listening to his work. He has a lot of good things to say, and most of it makes me a little bit of a better person. So that's good.


----------



## jaxadam

CJ7 said:


> and most of it makes me a little bit of a better person.


----------



## Xaios

Read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (same guy who wrote The Martian) a few weeks ago. Loved it.


Spoiler



It has one of the coolest, nicest and most interestingly conceived aliens in fiction, Rocky the Eridian.

"I am scary space monster, you are leaky space blob."  Has to be one of my favorite quotes from a book.


The plot alternates between a present-day and flashback viewpoint all throughout, and it really works, helping explain the main character's motivations and how he got where he is without revealing too much too early.

I really need to read more.


----------



## nightflameauto

Xaios said:


> Read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (same guy who wrote The Martian) a few weeks ago. Loved it.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> It has one of the coolest, nicest and most interestingly conceived aliens in fiction, Rocky the Eridian.
> 
> "I am scary space monster, you are leaky space blob."  Has to be one of my favorite quotes from a book.
> 
> 
> The plot alternates between a present-day and flashback viewpoint all throughout, and it really works, helping explain the main character's motivations and how he got where he is without revealing too much too early.
> 
> I really need to read more.


OK, the quote sold me. That's going on my list.


----------



## DoctorStoner

I look forward to reading through this whole thread, but I will just drop audiobook suggestions now.

1) Gumption - Nick Offerman - Easy intro to mainly American historical figures, fairly humorous.
2) What If - Randall Munroe - Science questions answered by the creator of XKCD, read by Wil Wheaton, also quite funny.
3) The Invention of Nature - Andrea Wulf - Historical exploration


----------



## wheresthefbomb

Wrapped up Dune, got tired of plodding through the appendices and started Dune Messiah.

The foreword by Herbert's son explains that this installment was apparently poorly received because it presented Paul in a less-than-heroic light, exploring the dark side of his position in things. To me though, that was the obvious direction from the first book. Maybe I read more deeply than most or something but I felt the clues were laid on pretty thick, even Paul and Jessica themselves obviously feeling swept up in regrettable circumstances now far beyond their control.



Spoiler: spoiler



Also when Kynes dies early in the story there's the quote from his father about people being "afflicted by a hero" which couldn't be more obvious as to its implications, the rest is just watching the shitshow unfold.





Edit: Also finally wrapped up The Essential Schopenhauer. I started off trying to read The World as Will and Representation and I likely still will, but I was so completely lost without any prior context into his philosophy, so I found something more digestible and this was it, barely. I expect to revisit sections of this book many times.

It made an excellent companion to Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which I am still working my way through. It's easy reading but it's also sometimes a plod to sort out the nuggets of wisdom from the cringe and outright nonsense.


----------



## KnightBrolaire

Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
I never read this when it came out, but it's quite fascinating. I really liked how it alternated between the logistics and politics of building the Chicago World Fair with Holmes' skullduggery. The book does a great job setting up the why and how Holmes managed to get away with so much insanity. It's a bit dry when it comes to the engineering and politics involving the world fair but that's more of a personal quibble.

The Great Influenza- John M Barry 
All about the Spanish Flu outbreaks in the early 1900s, and how/why it proliferated the way it did. There's a fair bit of medical/technical analysis as part of the setup, but he manages to balance it out with the interwoven storylines also explaining medicine in the USA at the time, and how the US army both had a hand in spreading/curtailing the outbreaks. What I found the most interesting was just how fast the onset in a healthy population was (typically 8-12 hours). Nurses/Doctors would show up for work and be dead by nightfall in some cases. The book goes into great detail about how the mutations on the influenza virus were a perfect storm that optimized infectivity and lethality. Highly recommend if you're interested in medical history.


A Killer's Mind/ In the Darkness/Thicker Than Blood - Mike Omer
It comes off as standard law enforcement chasing down a serial killer schtick but has some really interesting characters and twists. They're pretty quick reads and I thoroughly enjoyed them. 

Billionaire Wilderness- Justin Farrell
It's basically an expose/scholarly look at Jackson Hole, explaining why the ultra rich are flocking to WY and why conservation (in the form that the ultra rich practice it) is disingenuous. A really fascinating book but pretty dry and academic. It's a bit of a slog to get through but the content is really interesting.


----------



## syzygy

Xaios said:


> Read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (same guy who wrote The Martian) a few weeks ago. Loved it.
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> It has one of the coolest, nicest and most interestingly conceived aliens in fiction, Rocky the Eridian.
> 
> "I am scary space monster, you are leaky space blob."  Has to be one of my favorite quotes from a book.
> 
> 
> The plot alternates between a present-day and flashback viewpoint all throughout, and it really works, helping explain the main character's motivations and how he got where he is without revealing too much too early.
> 
> I really need to read more.


I just finished this one! It was such a good book, and totally didn't go narratively in the direction I was thinking it would.



Spoiler



I also loved the whole alien reveal, Rocky was such a great character and the whole concept (alien biology and how that affected Eridian culture) was really well-done. Just wish the linguistics portion hadn't been hand-waved so much; I'm doing a linguistics-related minor and would have geeked out more if Weir had explained more of the process. I understand why he didn't, though, and it probably would have slowed the plot down even more. Just me being selfish 



All in all, totally recommend. Project Hail Mary is pretty different from the Martian despite their initial similarities, and it got pretty poignant at points. 

Now to finally read Dune...


----------



## Xaios

syzygy said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> and would have geeked out more if Weir had explained more of the process. I understand why he didn't, though, and it probably would have slowed the plot down even more.





Spoiler



I can't imagine the blue balls you must have had watching "Arrival" and the single section where they jump ahead is the part where working out the nitty-gritty details of the Heptapod language (the part that's narrated by Jeremy Renner's character).


----------



## syzygy

Xaios said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> I can't imagine the blue balls you must have had watching "Arrival" and the single section where they jump ahead is the part where working out the nitty-gritty details of the Heptapod language (the part that's narrated by Jeremy Renner's character).





Spoiler



I don't know what was worse, how quickly they just moved past that part or the fact that the movie still is probably one of the better takes on human-alien communication I've seen. And don't get me started on the silliness of learning another language and having it rewrite your brain. Most I've ever experienced in learning another language was picking up some different inflections and having a slightly different speaking cadence.

Sigh. Good movie, though.


----------



## wheresthefbomb

Dune Messiah has me hooked. I usually read myself to sleep at night but it's hard to put this one down, haha. Now I'm excited when I wake up and can't sleep because it means more reading.


----------



## HoneyNut

KnightBrolaire said:


> Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
> I never read this when it came out, but it's quite fascinating. I really liked how it alternated between the logistics and politics of building the Chicago World Fair with Holmes' skullduggery. The book does a great job setting up the why and how Holmes managed to get away with so much insanity. It's a bit dry when it comes to the engineering and politics involving the world fair but that's more of a personal quibble.


I had no idea what this book was about when I started reading it. Firstly, it was quite interesting to read about the large fair the town was preparing for. Reading about the various characters and their involvement in the process gets some acknowledgements in the book, but definitely dry a lot of the times. Once the Holmes section started to creep in I started to question what I was reading. And a few more returns once it involved his family, I had to put it down. Coudln't do it. It wasn't a great in a period of my life, so I might have not been headstrong at first read. But I doubt I'd read it even in a better state of mind. That stuff does not fascinate me, and I don't like these criminals recieve any platform to retell the horrors they put their victims through. Lock them up for good in my opinion, just like hit runners.


----------



## wheresthefbomb

Wrapped up Dune Messiah, started Children of Dune. I have been just blasting through these books.

I was planning on reading all six books in one go but Rings of Power has me itching for more Tolkien, will probably re-read the Hobbit next and then take my first crack at the Silmarillion after that.


----------



## Drew

wheresthefbomb said:


> and then take my first crack at the Silmarillion after that.


Fair warning - the Silmarillion isn't a novel. It's a history of Middle Earth. It's pretty dense.


----------



## KnightBrolaire

Drew said:


> Fair warning - the Silmarillion isn't a novel. It's a history of Middle Earth. It's pretty dense.


and bad. Don't waste your time, go on a wiki and get the abridged version instead of trying to slog through that shit


----------



## Drew

KnightBrolaire said:


> and bad. Don't waste your time, go on a wiki and get the abridged version instead of trying to slog through that shit


I won't really weigh in on good or bad here, as I know plenty of people who love it. But, you have to be the sort of person who likes reading a history of the world, except it's a different world, and there's some fables and myths sprinkled in here and there too (though without the sort of unreliable narrator issues you might expect normally).

I've tried it twice (admittedly, once was in 5th grade, after reading the trilogy) and never finished it, though.


----------



## nightflameauto

Drew said:


> I won't really weigh in on good or bad here, as I know plenty of people who love it. But, you have to be the sort of person who likes reading a history of the world, except it's a different world, and there's some fables and myths sprinkled in here and there too (though without the sort of unreliable narrator issues you might expect normally).
> 
> I've tried it twice (admittedly, once was in 5th grade, after reading the trilogy) and never finished it, though.


Yeah, there's sorta an art to creating a history book about a fictional world in a way where it doesn't leave the reader spending more time yawning and wondering WTF than reading. I did make it through it once, apparently, as I remember lots of bits and pieces of it. But I read everything I could get my hands on as a teenager, and Gramps knew I was into "those dragon books and stuff" from all my Dragonlance novels scattered about the farm back then. One of his friends, or grandma's friends, said something about this book being amazing for fantasy fans, so it was a heartfelt gift and I couldn't say no to it.

That's one book I wouldn't mind seeing someone take a crack at re-writing in a more artistic style, but I don't know anybody that'd be willing to do it and endure the never-ending ridicule they'd get from the fanbois for it.


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## Drew

nightflameauto said:


> That's one book I wouldn't mind seeing someone take a crack at re-writing in a more artistic style, but I don't know anybody that'd be willing to do it and endure the never-ending ridicule they'd get from the fanbois for it.


Oh yeah, the backlash to trying to novelize the Silmarillion would be unimaginable.


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## nightflameauto

Drew said:


> Oh yeah, the backlash to trying to novelize the Silmarillion would be unimaginable.


I've been enjoying Rings of Power right along. I have to think the online backlash to that is at least 50% fanboy driven "DON'T TOUCH THE SACRED SCROLLS" bullshit.


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## wheresthefbomb

nightflameauto said:


> I've been enjoying Rings of Power right along. I have to think the online backlash to that is at least 50% fanboy driven "DON'T TOUCH THE SACRED SCROLLS" bullshit.



Like so many things in life, it's all about managing expectations. I expected/prepared for much worse than I got, and so I'm having great time watching it.


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## Andromalia

Currently on Terry Pratchett biography "A life with footnotes". Started it but didn't finish, because Amazon keeps sending me damaged books so I return them with the hope of getting one whose corners aren't mangled etc. I'd just give up and go to a library, if fantasy books in english weren't hard to find in France, at least with the variety of editions available elsewhere.


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## wheresthefbomb

On to God Emperor of Dune. Shit's getting weird, but I'm still along for the ride. It's a pretty jarring transition being some 3,000 years in the future from Children and an almost completely new set of characters. Slowly reinvesting in new characters and plotlines.


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## BlackMastodon

I finished Book 1 (or part 1, I guess) it the first Dune book yesterday. Also rewatched the Villeneuve movie over the weekend again and I really wish it was like an hour longer. Seemed like it was extremely rushed to get to the Harkonnen attack and so much was omitted. I know I'm being pedantic and was annoying my partner because, duh, the book is always gonna have more, so she just said you gotta treat them as 2 separate things. I did, however, prefer what they did with Leto towards the end in the movie.


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## wheresthefbomb

BlackMastodon said:


> I finished Book 1 (or part 1, I guess) it the first Dune book yesterday. Also rewatched the Villeneuve movie over the weekend again and I really wish it was like an hour longer. Seemed like it was extremely rushed to get to the Harkonnen attack and so much was omitted. I know I'm being pedantic and was annoying my partner because, duh, the book is always gonna have more, so she just said you gotta treat them as 2 separate things. I did, however, prefer what they did with Leto towards the end in the movie.



Have you watched the 2001ish SciFi miniseries? It's worth it, though the CGI is dated as hell. Where it falls short on the visuals, it massively makes up for in deep world-building that the Villeneuve version really skimped on. The first movie covers Dune and Dune Messiah, you can find it for free online pretty easily. They also had a Children of Dune followup which is a little harder to find, I got it on DVD from the public library. I remember SciFi running them as an all-day marathon when I was a kid.

The Lynch version is worth watching as well, for the sheer level of Lynchian what-the-fuck-ness that pervades it. When you consider how old it is, the special effects are downright impressive, and much less jarring than the awful 00's CGI. The Miniseries also has the best Vladimir Harkonnen of the three IMO, though I appreciated where Villeneuve took him.

Here's hoping we get a 3.5-hr extended cut of the newer movie(s) down the line.


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## gabito

I’ve been reading a lot these past few months:

Currently reading A Confederacy Of Dunces again, one of my favorite books.

A few weeks ago I read Nemesis, by Isaac Asimov. Also Fahrenheit 451.

And I read One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) last month, I think. In spanish, of course  Very good book, I wasn’t expecting to like it so much.


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## devastone

Been reading a lot over the summer and fall due to a screwed up shoulder, potential LTC, and some side effects from a herbal sleep aid (liver toxicity, be wary of 1906 Midnight drops) keeping me from playing outside all summer. 

I read Rob Halford's autobio, interesting, he struggled a lot (duh), decent read, the autobiography of the metal god. Bruce Dickinson's auto bio was good too. 

Also read through Barry Eisler's John Rain series and working on some of the peripherals, assassin/spy stuff but entertaining, Dox makes it better when he comes on the scene. 

Reading God's Eye View now, another Eisler book

I'm sure there are more that I'm missing, gone through a dozen or more in the last 4 -5 months. Thankfully getting back to playing, but still not a lot of stamina for biking or anything. 

You guys are making me want to reread the Dune books, it's been decades.


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## Furtive Glance

Just grabbed 3 non-fiction books from the library. I never have to wait for new books or be put on a waiting list because it seems nobody in this town reads anything... Good and bad, I guess.

The Auschwitz Photographer
How the World Really Works
Stolen Focus


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## Ralyks

Literally just finished this. Kinda bittersweet, seeing how they're my favorite band and their most recent album will be their last.


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## wheresthefbomb

took a break from the Dune saga to read Starship Troopers and I'm not sure what I was expecting but I'm almost done and still have that "where's the beef?" feeling. I've been blasting through it waiting for the story to start, I guess I just DGAF about all the extraneous military stuff. Johnnie Rico keeps saying "I won't tell you everything about boot camp," "I won't tell you everything about officer training," and then tells you everyfuckingthing about it. Half the book is boot camp. 

I really enjoyed Stranger in a Strange land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress as a teen so I expected to love this but I'm honestly glad it's almost over.


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## Furtive Glance

I'm reading through all the Halo novels #nerd. I own a good portion of them and am slowly building up so I have the good ones (IMO) in my possession. The Kilo-5 trilogy could stand alone as a sci-fi series - it's fantastic.


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## wheresthefbomb

Finished The Hobbit. A nice palate cleanser from Starship Troopers. Started back into the Dune Saga, on Heretics now. Nothing else seems to be scratching the itch currently, even The Hobbit felt a little flat compared to Herbert's storytelling. Not many books left in the series, not sure what I'll do after that....


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## BlackMastodon

wheresthefbomb said:


> Finished The Hobbit. A nice palate cleanser from Starship Troopers. Started back into the Dune Saga, on Heretics now. Nothing else seems to be scratching the itch currently, even The Hobbit felt a little flat compared to Herbert's storytelling. Not many books left in the series, not sure what I'll do after that....


Isn't there technically like a dozen+ books in the Dune saga once Herbert Jr. picked up the mantle? Ive heard that the main Frank Herbert ones are the only worthwhile ones, though, so not sure the extended universe necessarily counts here.


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## wheresthefbomb

BlackMastodon said:


> Isn't there technically like a dozen+ books in the Dune saga once Herbert Jr. picked up the mantle? Ive heard that the main Frank Herbert ones are the only worthwhile ones, though, so not sure the extended universe necessarily counts here.



That is correct. Some of them are based on dad's notes, and Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune comprise the sequel and conclusion to Heretics and Chapterhouse based on a hefty manuscript dad left. I'll probably read as far as those two, and decide based on the writing whether I want more of Jr or not.


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