Izzy

What are you Reading? (August 2023)

https://lemmy.world/post/2355178

What are you Reading? (August 2023) - Lemmy.world

I’ve put together a collage of some books from last months What are you Reading? post. It’s mostly random, but the more discussion something gets the more it stands out to me. Going forward I’m going to make a new post every month to talk about what people are reading. Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (July 2023) [https://lemmy.world/post/629105] At any rate, what are you currently reading or plan to read in August?

Jul 29, 2023 at 8:47pmWeb
Show threadIzzyJul 29, 2023

I’m currently in the middle of Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. I’m only about 15% of the way through so I don’t have a great picture of what is going on or what it is about yet. It seems like the main premise if about an archeologist who has been working on an excavation of an ancient species on a distant planet for an extremely long period of time that likely has far reaching implications about the universe. I’ve definitely never read anything similar to this in the past.

The other book I plan on reading (listening to) is “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers. I tend to listen to a book whenever I can’t read such as when I’m driving or bathing and then read at times that I can like before sleeping. I find it is a good system to get through 2 books at once.

Show threadsir_wandelfJul 29, 2023
I really enjoyed reading TLWtaSAP.
Show threadRiker_ManeuverJul 30, 2023
It was incredibly refreshing in that it was almost just slice-of-life at times; so much time was dedicated to just getting to know the characters in not necessarily extreme scenarios.
Show threadbaltakateiJul 30, 2023

Revelation Space, the only book within which I saw the word “triumvirate” used outside of the “Our jimmies are eternal. None can rustle the Triumvirate.” meme.

If you want to get a wider feel more quickly of the Revelation Space worldbuilding, try Galactic North which is a short story collection featuring many varied shippets featuring characters from the main series.

To an ordinary person not interested in sci-fi world building, I would be more inclined to recommend Reynolds’s Pushing Ice or Century Rain which are self-contained.

That Really Rustled My Jimmies | Know Your Meme

"That Really Rustled My Jimmies" is an expression used to convey one's feelings of discontent or discomfort in response to someone else's post on image boa

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Show threadraffomaniaJul 30, 2023
Galactic north really got me deep, after finishing the main trilogy. Id recommend reading it after for the full effect
Show threadMentalEdgeAug 9, 2023
House of Suns is also fantastic. It’s my favorite one-book sci-fi anything ever.
Show threadCiaocibaiJul 29, 2023

Currently reading 11-22-63. Pretty bloody grim and depressing in places, but good enough to hold my attention.

Finished Locked In by John Scalzi not long prior. Great thought experiment considering it was written long before covid too.

Show threadMajesticSlothJul 29, 2023
I got about half way through 11-22-63 some years back. I think King is just too much bloat for me much of the time or I need to be in a different frame of mind to read him. I’ve always said I’d revisit it, but I haven’t.
Show threadCiaocibaiJul 30, 2023
I find the audiobooks good for long drives when I’ve got time to kill, but can understand you sentiment.
Show threadMajesticSlothJul 30, 2023
I did used to listen to them back when I often had a long commute. I have a harder time focusing on them if I’m not driving though. But that may be a better way to get into some books that aren’t working for me. Especially if the narrator is particularly good.
Show threaddangerouskitchenJul 29, 2023
Read Locked In recently and really enjoyed it! Would recommend it to anyone looking for their next adventure. Police procedural meets sci fi and a very satisfying read.
Show threadExclamatoryProdundityJul 31, 2023
Read 11-22-63 recently while on a king kick. Love his ideas and was disappointed in the Hulu show, so I went to the source. Illustrates how difficult it would be as a present day man in the sixties. Modern, tolerant ideals clash with the racism, bigotry, ignorance of that era. With some time travel stuff every now and then to remind you this isn’t just a book about the sixties. Still a believable fantasy and compelling read . “The past is obdurate”
Show threadpnutzh4x0rJul 29, 2023
I was re-reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein, which I read about 15 years ago and really enjoyed (even bought it for a friend as a gift). On the second read through… I found it much less entertaining (though the connection between the computer and the current LLM/AI hype is interesting), got about half-way through and basically stopped. I probably won’t finish it, which is kind of sad. Oh well, tastes change I guess.
Show threadJonDotGJul 29, 2023
Is that the one with all the complicated relationships? I found it a little too detailed on that point, but otherwise a good read. I wouldn’t read it again though. I read Rendezvous With Rama around the same time and liked that a lot more.
Show threadpnutzh4x0rJul 29, 2023
It is about a revolution on the moon, and it had some complicated relationships (a very different society where there “clans” and basically open marriages), but I don’t it was that bad. My current issue is that I can kind of see through libertarian ethos that permeates the book and at some points it’s basically Heinlein pontificating instead of moving the story along… which my younger self enjoyed. Now? not so much.
Show threaddangeratioJul 29, 2023
Neuromancer, count zero, blade runner (do androids dream…), burning chrome. Lots of cyberpunk stuff lately
Show threadIzzyJul 29, 2023
I really need to read Neuromancer at some point. It seems like one of those classics that every science fiction fan should have already read.
Show threadpnutzh4x0rJul 29, 2023

I recall reading and enjoying Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep along with Man in the High Castle and A Scanner Darkly a while ago… I should attempt a re-read.

Everyone recommends Neuromancer, but when I tried it a while back… I got stuck in the first third and give up. I vaguely recall it had a lot of world building, which I’m not a huge fan of (at least at the time).

Show threadcheshJul 29, 2023
Add Snow Crash to that list. One of my favorites
Show thread6daemonbagJul 30, 2023
I’m only 30-50 pages from finishing but life keeps getting in the way. So close…!
Show threadDerrioJul 30, 2023
I just started reading Neuromancer last week after finishing Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.
Show threadz3n0xJul 29, 2023
Currently on book 3 of the Bobiverse. Most fun, zany scifi I’ve read in a while.
Show threadJohnDClayJul 29, 2023
Just started player of games and I’m really enjoying it! My first Iain Banks book, but definitely not my last.
Show threadPaddy_eJul 29, 2023
I started reading The Culture books this year, already on book 7, amazing series!
Show threadJohnDClayJul 29, 2023
Indeed. Do you have a suggested reading order?
Show threadsir_wandelfJul 29, 2023

Here’s my input:

  • Use of Weapons is great, and comes next in the publishing order.

  • Consider Phlebias is the first published culture novel and it is a good book. I read it first, but since it gives a more outsider perspective on the culture it probably wasn’t best to start with.

Either of those books is my recommendation, although be aware I’ve only read 4 of the 10 novels. Also as far as I know the books are generally self-contained and can really be read in any order, but there are some references you won’t get if you do so.

Show threadfreamonJul 29, 2023

Excession is my favourite. There’s very little cross-over between Culture books, and not all of Iain M Bank’s books were set in the Culture (of those, I think I enjoyed The Algebraist the most).

Banks’ passing was a huge loss. I don’t think there’s any other author quite like him.

Show threadPaddy_eJul 30, 2023
I’d say read them in release order, you can mix the first two but stick with the way he wrote them,
Show threadtreeJul 29, 2023
I’m on Matter and I’m loving it! Player of Games and Use of Weapons are my favorites in the series so far but I’ve loved each of them for their own reasons (with the exception of the short story collection State of the Art, it was fine but the rest of the series is on a different level!)
Show threaddangerouskitchenJul 29, 2023
Just started Ancillary Justice by Anne Leckie and seems great so far. I have no idea what is going on with how people are gendered in the various languages but I’m looking forward to puzzling it out.
Show threadJonDotGJul 29, 2023
I stopped in the middle of the first one. It was too much work to keep track of what was happening. Maybe I’ll try again.
Show threadmytornadoisrestingJul 30, 2023
I loved all the ancillary books. IMO not knowing anyone’s gender for sure was part of the fun. It does rely on the reader to work at making connections tho. I can see why some folks don’t like that aspect, but I personally like some challenge.
Show threadShranTheWaterPoloFanAug 26, 2023

The best way to describe those books is “subtle.”

I loved them, and translation state feels like the start of a new series in the same universe. The worst part is how often Anaander Mianaai is written and how that many 'a’s just fail to compute in my head.

Show threaddangerouskitchenAug 26, 2023
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did all that heavy lifting, and I’ve got to say she was great!
Show threadShranTheWaterPoloFanAug 26, 2023

She was fantastic!

However her reading of translation state involved the most guttural pronunciation of grandmama I’ve ever heard

Show threaddangerouskitchenAug 27, 2023
Haha, yes it did 🤣
Show threadIm_oldJul 29, 2023
The laundry files, a series by Charles Stross. He’s brilliant and so precise with the details that even if it’s science fiction it feels SO real.
Show threadOldFartPhilJul 29, 2023

I’m a huge fan of the Laundry Files books. Just finished Season of Skulls, the 3rd book in The New Management trilogy. It’s a little less bleak than the first two books of the trilogy and very funny.

I’m now reading War Bodies by Neal Asher.

Show threadBookmeatJul 29, 2023
Currently reading Lemmy. It’s a bit mixed.
Show threadGutless2615Jul 29, 2023
On vacation and just posted through The Kaiju Preservation Society by Scalzi, Children of Memory by Tchaikovsky and Terraformers by Newitz. All excellent
Show threadMajorHavocJul 29, 2023
Most of my favorite books are by Asimov, Bradbury and Heinlein; but “Kaiju Preservation Society” is one of the rare books for me that rocketed into my all time favorites.
Show threadGutless2615Jul 30, 2023
Wow that’s interesting to hear! I wouldn’t put KPS stylistically with those classics at all, but yeah, I really enjoyed it. A great summer page turner , it seems destined for some kind of adaptation.
Show threadAlien SurferAug 1, 2023
Just finished KPS. Kind of a comedy / sci-fi romp. Not too serious. Lots of friendship humor. Interesting story. Definitely not in same category as heinlein, etc. But I liked it. It was a lot lighter than I was expecting.
Show threadGutless2615Aug 1, 2023
Couldn’t agree more. A fun romp, not very serious. Very light hearted.
Show threadMajorHavocAug 1, 2023
KPS is certainly not at all like Heinlein’s most popular stories; but I think fans of Heinlein’s young adult fiction (i.e. Red Planet, Starman Jones, The Star Beast) would enjoy KPS - for the tone/style reasons you mentioned.
Show threadHiImYourDadsSonJul 29, 2023
Im halfway through The color of magic by Terry Pratchett, I’ve read a few other discworld books but I thought it was time to start the first book an try to read them all in the “right” order.
Show threadCrackaAssCrackaJul 29, 2023
Listening to Making Money, read it a few years ago. Pretty good though I’m not a huge fan of the voice actor doing the reading. it’s tolerable though. Pratchett is what got me into sci-fi and fantasy, he’ll always be one of my favorites and always holds up when I go back to something of his.
Show threadMajorHavocJul 29, 2023

I read a lot of other Rincewind stories first, and I have to admit that getting the story from “The Color of Magic” explains a lot.

The later books, surprisingly, don’t spoil the main gag, at least in my vague recollection.

Show threadCitizenKongAug 23, 2023
It’s probably the weakest of the Discworld books (at least from what I read of them). You can tell that he’s still developing the world and it’s much more just a fantasy spoof as opposed to the social satire masquerading as fantasy spoof that those books then more and more turn into.
Show threadCMGX78Jul 29, 2023
Currently reading The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi.
Show threadValenJul 29, 2023
I love the Old Man’s War series.
Show threadMajorHavocJul 29, 2023
That whole series was so much fun!
Show threadSubPrimeBadgerJul 30, 2023
Just finished book 1 of Old Man’s War and am 1/3 through Ghost Brigades now. I am enjoying the series and happy that it’s got some long legs with the number of books available.
Show thread7u5k3nJul 29, 2023

Wool by hugh howey

Wife and I watched silo and enjoyed it so I thought I’d read the books.

You can buy the books DRM free off his website hughhowey.com/books/wool/

Make sure you get all 3. Wool shift and dust.

Wool - Hugh Howey

This Omnibus Edition collects the five Wool books into a single volume. It is for those who arrived late to the party and who wish to save a dollar or two while picking up the same stories in a single package. The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. […]

Hugh Howey
Show threaddavidalsoJul 29, 2023
How did you like the show? I read the books when the came out and just remember snippets of them. I sure enjoyed them, though.
Show thread7u5k3nJul 30, 2023

We liked it pretty well… A lot of the internet didn’t like the accents… but meh what ever. Over all it was enjoyable and I look forward to the next season.

The book is a smidge different but the changes they made are for the benefits of the viewing audience.

Show threadMcLoudJul 29, 2023
“Between the Stars” by Kirk Maxwell Got it for a few bucks on Amazon.
Show thread7u5k3nJul 30, 2023
Thanks I’ll check it out!
Show thread1019throwJul 30, 2023
Can I read drm free books on a Kindle?
Show thread7u5k3nJul 30, 2023
No idea. :( I’d assume since it’s a version of Android you’d be able to install an app that reads those files.