What's everyone reading lately? 08/06/2024)

I'm currently reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky. It's a lot more readable than I was expecting, though keeping track of all the character's names is tricky at times (especially when they have multiple nicknames and alternate between referring to their first and middle names, and surname). I'm about a third of the way through; it feels like I'm yet to get to the 'meat' of the story. So far it has involved a naïve Prince getting to know various people in Russia, and invariably getting muddled up in their affairs. I'm fascinated to see where things go though!

I just finished 'the year of the locust'.
It's 85% good spy thriller and the last bit gets a bit weird.
Normally I love weird books but I felt like this one didn't stay on its 'track'. Still definetly recommend the previous book by the author 'I am pilgrim' it's great.

Re-reading the Count of Monte Cristo

I'm in the middle of the Hyperion Cantos series. It's exceptionally good sci-fi, reminds me a lot of games like Elite Dangerous :)

"Come closer" by Sara Gran. I'm half way through it. I loooove spooky books and this fits the bill.

Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind.

Restarted Reincarnated as a Familiar Vol 1 (LN) by d.s. Craig, because I forgot what I had read, its a good read for the weeb side of me. Young adult books are just easy and therefore fin to read, so I'm just reading at my own pace. (About 1 page per month.)

Lemmy.

I started reading progression fantasy on Royal Road earlier this year (a site for posting web serials). Here's my current follow list (excluding stories that are on hiatus):

• The Runic Artist — isekai, rune-based crafting, good mix of action and slice-of-life
• The Broken Knife — Kobold MC with a dragon companion, dark but compelling read, excellent worldbuilding
• Demon World Boba Shop — cozy isekai, nice characters
• Dual Wielding — slow burn, tale of two friends (both very talented), writing is good, action scenes get dark and intense
• Legends and Librarians — cozy romance, magical library (not litrpg/progression), plenty of cute creatures
• An Otherworldly Scholar — isekai, teacher MC, good worldbuilding, nice romance, great characters, plenty of twists, adventure and danger, especially enjoyed the slice-of-life stuff
• Archmage from Another World: Gaining Administrator Access — isekai from another fantasy world, lighthearted fun with good set of characters, no looming world-level threats so far
• Underkeeper — MC is a recent magical academy graduate, good at magic but works as underkeeper (no money/connections to join adventurer groups), got darker than I'm comfortable with, but loved the characters and the demon companion
• Immovable Mage — good worldbuilding, characters, plot twists and detailed magic system, clever use of plot events pushes MC towards OP, would suggest to read at least till the end of 2nd arc
• Level One God — likeable MC, cool magic stuff I haven't seen before, some bad moments are really dark, good writing
• Spire's Spite — criminally underrated with only 100+ followers, mostly been spire climbing so far, good magic system, dark and has some stuff I don't like but overall I've enjoyed it
• Blood Curse Academia — overall I enjoyed the combination of action, learning and mystery, but a lot of weird coincidences and stuff didn't make sense
• Mana Mirror — loved the concept of mana garden and the myriad customization options, writing and plot was easy to follow, third volume is the best so far
• The Maid Is Not Dead — writing felt like traditionally published epic fantasy with progression elements, slow burn but events are starting to escalate
• Dark Lord's Last Call — MC's soul is swapped with the dark lord, plans to open a tavern, enjoyable light-hearted read
• Orphan — I usually ignore the litrpg math but this one takes it a bit too far! characters all have flaws (though sometimes it becomes a bit too irritating), good worldbuilding and mystery
• Rules of Biomancy — 70 year old herbalist MC with a secret past comes across two isekai-ed people in danger of dying and decides to help, enjoying a lot

I’m reading Discworld series after some Lemmings suggested it. They’re great! Read Sourcerer and Guards! Guards! And just starting Men at Arms

I laughed so much at the Brotherhood scenes in Guards! When the brothers are bickering, and when the guy has to recite the whole long password but the last line is incorrect.

Death’s End by Cixin Liu

It’s been an on and off affair for a little while now. I had a lot more free time back when I finished the first two, so I’m kinda struggling to get any meaningful reading done. Honestly, at this point I’d be happy just finishing this one by the end of the year.

Currently: Expanse book #1, Discworld book #1, Code by Charles Petzvold, and Raspberry Pi Operating System Assembly Language: Hands On Guide by Bruce Smith. I tend to switch between them based on my mood

Currently reading A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine. Liking it so far.

Last finished A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers. Didn't enjoy it as much as The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

My library loan for the Expanse second book expired because I was lazy. Also I had a 5h car trip the other day and decided for the first time to start listening to an audio book! It will take me 20ish hours of listening to finish the first book of Lord of the rings but I am kinda exited about it!

Reading "suck it in and smile" in French to try to get some vocab back after letting my French rust in a ditch for a few years. Enjoying reading French and seeing the spellings of words I used regularly.

That said the story is quite underwhelming with some key points that aren't much of Anything new. Its very short though and easy enough to read despite the language so I'll finish it up soon and move on to a more interesting story

"Burn Book" by Kara Swisher A book about Big Tech and Tech Giants by the one journalist, who followed the development in Silicon Valley from the beginning. So far I like it very much. Swisher is still convinced, that tech (companies) can make this place a better world, if it wasn't for the irresponsibility of it's owners. It's comforting to see her love for tech, her frustration with company leaders, and her firm belief, that it might still work out somehow. I'm curious, how it will go on and what she thinks might help getting tech back on track.

Picked up The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville and Keanu Reeves. It's part of the BRZRKR universe from comic books.

I gotta be honest though, the BRZRKR story is so incredibly visual, it doesn't translate well to a novel.

The watery world of Kevin, Tim Dortwell

How to skin a flintmouse, Fred Offerberry

9 sticks to flank priority, Jeffrey Ghinslee

The Yellow Toad, Rudolf Vadonski

Itchy pyjamas and other stories, Max Ipon

Tenerife Tundra: the world's lobster, Carmen Fondadraiyan

Been on a mystery kick lately too. Not much time to physically read so all audiobooks here. Recently finished "Holly" by Stephen King and "Listen for the Lie" by Amy Tintera. Both are great as audiobooks!

Tomorrow, I'm completing "Tell the Machine Good Night" by Katie Williams (SciFi... Just okay ". After I'm excited to move onto "Dungeon Crawler Carl". I heard from many its one of best audiobooks ever!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,

The Spell Shop

Demon Copperhead

Two Twisted Crowns

I particularly loved the first two, as I couldn't put them down.

Demon Copperhead was a difficult read, emotionally, and I recommend reading it before or after "The Empire of Pain".

The last one is the second (and final) book of The Shepherd King series, which features a very interesting magic system along with great characters

Recently completed HFM Prescott’s The Man on a Donkey, a wonderful piece of historic fiction about the main actors (and a few fictional ones) of the 1536 Pilgrimage of Grace—a rebellion against the religious changes of Henry VIII. Despite being a scholar of 16th century England I’m not at all interested in historical fiction, but this was quite a beautiful work set as a chronicle and tracing half a dozen characters from their youth until the final suppression of the Pilgrimage in summer 1537. Prescott does get straight to business so I can imagine it would be a bit difficult to place oneself without preexisting knowledge of late medieval/early modern England, but that thrown-in-the-deep-end attitude worked for me.

Edit: word is that Hilary Mantel was deeply influenced by Prescott, as was the playwright of A Man for All Seasons.

How are you liking F is for Fugitive?