Finished Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.
I didn’t realise second half will also feature Iran and the life after revolution. A very interesting look at part of recent history I knew nothing about. Highly recommended if you don’t mind graphic novels and memoirs.
Bingo squares: Banned Book - hard mode, Set in war
Also read Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.
This is my second book by Scalzi and he is reaching status of my favourite author. It’s an easy to read space, military sci-fi. Another highly recommended book for sci-fi fans.
Bingo squares: Set in war, Stepping Up, Late to the Party
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A masterpiece, enjoy !
Phasma by Delilah Dawson. I absolutely love Star Wars. Don’t get me started on the sequels. The OG movies were peak Star Wars and it’s been downhill ever since. But the books are great
Re-reading Iain M Banks’ opus.
Currently: Use Of Weapons. A violent first-person delve into a high level mercenary slowly losing his mind, Culture style.
Unfortunately I still haven’t grasped the timeline of the Culture novels, but this feels like one of the earlier ones.
- Driven by wartime setting(s)
- Title in the format of “X of Y”
- Award winner
- Organized gamble, game or contest (Culture POV)
- Political machinations
- Features a jerk with a heart of gold (debatable)
Use of Weapons is soooo good
I really need to read Use of Weapons again. I’m such a huge fan of Banks’ work, the man was an absolute genius. Reading The Hydrogen Sonata was heart-wrenching, knowing that I’d never got another of these.
It’s almost 20 years since I devoured them all, re-reading them now is almost like the first time. Even discovered some I hadn’t got to the first time around.
I just finished Heaven’s River last night, the fourth book in Dennis S. Taylor’s Bobiverse series. Easily my favorite book in the series so far, I couldn’t put it down.
I had the first book in the series, We Are Legion, We Are Bob recommended to me a while back by a stranger in a local park when our dogs met. It sat in my “to be read” category until, when finishing my re-listen of Project Hail Mary, I noticed that the same narrator did the Bobiverse books. I’ve enjoyed them very much, and I suspect many in the Fediverse would as well. It’s the story of a software developer/physicist/engineer from the 21st century who, after his head is cryogenically frozen when he dies, becomes the replicant intelligence for a von Neumann probe in the 22nd century.
Bobiverse are among my favourite finds in the last year. Stumbled upon it last christmas, and I liked all of them.
I just finished Not Til We Are Lost (the book after Heaven’s River) last week. The next book is supposed to be coming out next year and I can’t wait for it!
Just finished Nation by Terry Pratchett and it was one of the most intense books I’ve read this year. It’s supposed to be YA so didn’t expect it to be this dark but it really pulls you in. If you like Terry Pratchett definitely give it a read.
I read this a little over a year ago, I was surprised there was a Pratchett book I hadn’t read yet, and was blown away with how good it was. One of his best books in my opinion.
Will check it out, thanks for the recommendation!
I started the Hainish Cycle books by Ursula Le Guin and have gotten to The Left Hand of Darkness . They are a lot of fun as they feel very nostalgic for me. I very much want to re-read some Anne McCaffrey after this. They are also very sad, as they are usually allegorical and do not reflect our society in a positive light. Nevertheless, they ring very true and are very thought provoking, and her writing is outstanding.
Edit: If anyone is a fan of Le Guin but has NOT read any of Octavia Butler, I highly recommend her works. Especially the Xenogenesis trilogy.
I read Ursula Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey when I was very young, so while I remember enjoying the books, I don’t remember much about them, and probably didn’t fully appreciate them. Should give them another read.
Octavia Butler’s work look interesting, thanks for the recommendation.
I’ve nearly finished To Kill a Mockingbird and I’ve really enjoyed it. I love how the main events have been shown from an ‘outside perspective’ i.e. news coming second hand from a biased character, or witnessed by Scout/Jem unknowingly by their Father. Perhaps the scariest thing is that these events don’t seem all that far-fetched or shocking today…
I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed Old Man’s War! Will you be reading the second one? I’ll give it a go in the next few months hopefully (though there are some other books I want to read first to help with the bingo).
Yes, I really enjoyed the book. I have first 3 books of the series, and am going to read the remaining 2 soon. Also going to get rest of the books.
Let me know what you think! Scalzi seems good at mixing interesting sci-fi with light hearted moments and some genuinely moving scenes.
I’m a regular subscriber to the Folio Society so when they started promoing Piranesi, I was intrigued… not enough to drop $90 on THEIR edition, but enough to check out a less expensive version. 😉
https://www.foliosociety.com/usa/fiction/piranesi
It’s a strange book… very metaphorical. I’m not sure what to make of it yet. The protagonist, Piranesi, exists in a series of marble hallways filled with statues and they have been there several years.
They have memory lapses and have been documenting everything in a series of notebooks. There is one other living person, whom they call “The Other” and the skeletal remains of 13 other people.
The hallways exist on three floors, a lower level, open to the sea, where Piranesi can fish in order to survive, an upper level, open to the sky, where rain water collects, and a middle level isolated from the tides below and the storms above, that is habitable.
It’s not a BAD read, but definitely not for everyone. Reminds me a lot of experimental 1950s stage plays like Samuel Beckett or Harold Pinter.
I had a similar reading experience but may have enjoyed it a bit more than you. It’s a very strange and quiet book.
And thank you for pointing me towards the Folio Society. Those printings are amazing!
Finished Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp and now hopping between Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, Whitehead’s Process and Reality and The Satanic Verses by Rushdie.
Doing a re-read of Feist’s “Magician: Apprentice” to sort of unwind after reading “It Stops Here” which was really intense.
Feist is one of my “comfort food” books. One of the authors that made me a lifelong fantasy reader.
Still on that Deathlands train. I literally just finished 128. I’m coming to the end of the currently released books now though, I have “Outlanders” a spin off series ready and I also just found out there is another spin off series called “Trader” about a regularly referenced character so I have the first 5 books of that ready to go.
Nooo! Deathlands ending! Well, at least there are the spin-off series. How long are they?
Outlanders has around 50 and Trader has 5, so a little bit more after.
Maybe I should take a break…
Or you can just finish them all first 😀
From a little free library, just finished Burn by Nevada Barr, part of her Anna Pigeon series. Normally these are all set in a national park, where the natural geology plays a major role in the mystery. This one happens near the New Orleans Jazz Historical Park, but doesn’t have anything to do with the park, or jazz, or even New Orleans and could have taken place anywhere there’s a black market for certain illicit services. I liked some of the more outdoorsy ones a bit better, but this was worth the read. I have to think about whether Anna Pigeon qualifies as an E5-caliber grump for bingo card.
I really liked Redshirts by John Scalzi. Just added Old Man’s War!
I’m about halfway through The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. It’s the 4th book in the (semi-non-linear) series. So far I really liked books 1 and 2, 3 was meh, and 0.5 was fine, but expected. 4 is captivating.
I ordered Redshirts few days back, should be getting it any day now. Though I’ll probably read it after reading first 2-3 books of Old Man’s War.
Wayfarers series look inserting. Adding it to my list.
The Road by Cormac Maccarthy
Ive had this on my shelf for a year but I’m too scared 🫣
Tbh, I’m feeling like chickening out too. It’s so awful. I think this is the most a book has ever managed to touch me. But the prose is too good for me to put it down.
Started Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell, although I think I’ll be reading it in chunks.
__
Finished The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper (culty cosmic horror) | bingo: creature, minority author, short, LGBTQIA+ lead HM, steppin’ up HM)
While searching for their missing partner, a homeless person stumbles onto a doomsday cult.
MC seemed well done, interesting ending. Overall, though, I think this was just “fine”, and probably won’t be reading the sequels.
