What are you READING right now?

[LennStar]

I just finished reading Strong Towns.  Good read for any mustachian.  Anyone who watches the Not Just Bikes You-tubes will be familiar with Strong Towns ideas.

This book looks really interesting, thanks for the suggestion!

I haven't opened it yet, but I just picked up Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity by Scott Galloway from my local Library. I haven't read any of his books yet, but I definitely relate to some of the videos/tweets/excerpts I've seen from him, especially some of his criticisms of the Corporate-facing society we now live in. This TED talk is a great example.

I also recommend the "city beautiful" channel on Youtube. (Sorry it's not a  book ;) )

[TempusFugit]

Reading the newest Andy Weir novel Project Hail Mary.  If you enjoyed his other two novels, you'll like this one as well. 

[sui generis]

Man, people LOVE Frederik Backman (most famously, from what I can tell, A Man Called Ove) and I just can't stand him, I think.  I did not like A Man Called Ove.  It seemed so saccharine and predictable, but I'm trying Anxious People just because maybe Ove was a one-off? 

But no, right away, I can tell the same tropes are being used.  A horrible, awful downright tedious person.  Someone I would probably murder if I knew in real life (and honestly, I do NOT make a habit of murdering people!  Haven't even done it once so far, but would definitely give my first go if I met his characters) and then they turn out to be deeply hurt and damaged inside and you are supposed to forgive them, I guess, for being the worst assholes anyone's ever met? 

I reject this entirely.  Everyone is hurt and often deeply damaged inside the same way these asshole characters are in his books.  But guess what?  Like no one I've met in real life has managed to be such an asshole 100% of the time.  92%?  Maybe!  75% certainly!  But these people would definitely have been murdered by a fellow human for their horridness far before anyone got a chance to find out how hurt and damaged they were and that they are just lashing out and we should all just treat them even fucking better than all the characters already have been? 

I'm sorry, I know this is will seem like a disproportionate rant but I honestly just don't know how his books are so universally loved.  People really fucking love a goddamn redemption story I guess?  I just want to see these people burn in hell, but I guess everyone else is happy that it is going to (so predictably!) end happily ever after with everyone learning more about their fellow humans and how we all just need to have a little more understanding of why these other people treat us like subhuman sludge and everything will work out super sweet.

Gross. me. out.

Tldr; 0/10 never recommend Frederik Backman.

[Cressida]

Recently finished Troubled Blood by the pseudonymous Robert Galbraith. This is the fifth of the series and they are quite the guilty pleasure. Recommended for detective novel fans.

[Watchmaker]

I'm currently in the middle of Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro's newest novel. Loving it so far.

[redhead84]

Man, people LOVE Frederik Backman (most famously, from what I can tell, A Man Called Ove) and I just can't stand him, I think.  I did not like A Man Called Ove.  It seemed so saccharine and predictable, but I'm trying Anxious People just because maybe Ove was a one-off? 

But no, right away, I can tell the same tropes are being used.  A horrible, awful downright tedious person.  Someone I would probably murder if I knew in real life (and honestly, I do NOT make a habit of murdering people!  Haven't even done it once so far, but would definitely give my first go if I met his characters) and then they turn out to be deeply hurt and damaged inside and you are supposed to forgive them, I guess, for being the worst assholes anyone's ever met? 

I reject this entirely.  Everyone is hurt and often deeply damaged inside the same way these asshole characters are in his books.  But guess what?  Like no one I've met in real life has managed to be such an asshole 100% of the time.  92%?  Maybe!  75% certainly!  But these people would definitely have been murdered by a fellow human for their horridness far before anyone got a chance to find out how hurt and damaged they were and that they are just lashing out and we should all just treat them even fucking better than all the characters already have been? 

I'm sorry, I know this is will seem like a disproportionate rant but I honestly just don't know how his books are so universally loved.  People really fucking love a goddamn redemption story I guess?  I just want to see these people burn in hell, but I guess everyone else is happy that it is going to (so predictably!) end happily ever after with everyone learning more about their fellow humans and how we all just need to have a little more understanding of why these other people treat us like subhuman sludge and everything will work out super sweet.

Gross. me. out.

Tldr; 0/10 never recommend Frederik Backman.

I don't hate his novels, but I don't love them either. They feel so tedious to get through. Without fail, I forget this fact and give in to reading his latest after a few people recommend it to me. It's a tough cycle to break.

[davisgang90]

I'm reading the Gulag Archipelago, the authorised abridged version, which is still hella long.

[NumberJohnny5]

Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior

Love the advice column.

[LennStar]

Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior

Love the advice column.

Sounds funny :D
Is it like "I will be so extremely friendly that everyone knows I would like to burn you on the stakes"?

[NumberJohnny5]

Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior

Love the advice column.

Sounds funny :D
Is it like "I will be so extremely friendly that everyone knows I would like to burn you on the stakes"?

She's able to tell you to f* you and the horse you rode in on, in a very cordial manner, when the situation warrants. Despite what one may initially think, this can often be accomplished by complete silence or nothing but an "Excuse me?" on repeat.

She's also very against obvious gift grabs (people keep trying to convince her that registries can be a good thing, she's not buying it...get it? Not buying it...I'll see myself out).

[BicycleB]

She's also very against obvious gift grabs (people keep trying to convince her that registries can be a good thing, she's not buying it...get it? Not buying it...I'll see myself out).

LOL

[iris lily]

Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior

Love the advice column.

is she still churning it out?

She was funny 35 years ago, I really enjoyed her.

[iris lily]

I am reading HER by Harriet Lane, a psychological suspense novel set in England. It is about two women who knew each other early in their lives and one of them holds a grudge.

The author is a good writer. She sure can set the scene of a young mother stuck at home with two children, “tiny illogical tyrants, “ they are.

Recommended by rosa on another website.

[sui generis]

I'm reading "Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home" about not only thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, but an attempt (ultimately successful) to set the FKT (Fastest Known Time) for the trail. 

As a hiker, it's already painful to read just the first couple chapters and it really resonated when she talked about being fat and unathletic when she was young.  I wasn't really fat, but I definitely have never been athletic.  It's amazing to think the middle schooler she described could become the person to set a world record for hiking the PCT.  I know I'll be gritting my teeth through many parts of the book while reveling in a lot of other parts which is...basically how my actual backpacking trips go, too! Ha!

[TempusFugit]

I'm reading the Gulag Archipelago, the authorised abridged version, which is still hella long.

I was surprised to find that the only copy of Cancer Ward that my local library used to carry has now 'disappeared.'  I have pulled the book off the shelf a couple of times just to sample it there in the library but by the time I got around to trying to check it out....gone. No longer in the system.  I guess it's been erased, ironically. 

[jinga nation]

Terry Pratchett's Raising Steam. His penultimate work.

[davisgang90]

About half-way through Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland.

It is a surprisingly good read about the Roman Republic and the rise of Julius Caesar.

[TempusFugit]

I re-reading Dune by Frank Herbert in anticipation of the movie remake coming in October!  I read this novel probably 25-30 years ago and read I think 3 of the later novels, which were ok by my recollection but not awesome.

I'm looking forward to seeing the movie (in the theater).  I remember seeing the David Lynch one back in the 80's when I was in high school.     

[sui generis]

I'm reading Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams and liking it!  I resisted it for a long time.  I don't know why - it seemed so popular that I worried my expectations would be too high?  That it would just be a retread of all the articles I see about the importance of sleep and how we should keep our phones out of our bedrooms in order to sleep better?  Well, I'm only about 1/5 in, but so far I'm enjoying it's wide ranging survey of sleep in our world.  It's well-written and engaging!

This is just one random fact (and the presence of random facts are really not why I'd recommend this book, but it does add a little fun!) but did you know that dolphins and many whales sleep with only half their brain at once?  Yeah!  As you can imagine, sleeping for a marine mammal can be tough, because they would probably drown if they were fully asleep.  They don't seem to have REM sleep (where your body paralyzes itself, obviously would not work out well for them), but they also have only either the left or right hemisphere of their brain sleep at a time.  Crazy!

[brandon1827]

Interesting topic for sure. I recently got a Garmin Instinct. Among the many features it has is a 'Sleep Tracker' function. It's been very interesting to see what type of sleep I've been getting. One big surprise for me was that over the past 10 days, I'm averaging something like 34 minutes of deep sleep per night to go along with an average of 3.5 hours of rem sleep. I was troubled by this as I felt more deep sleep was probably needed. I don't know much yet about the different types of sleep, but I gather that deep sleep is physical restoration whereas rem sleep is mental restoration....but sounds like I should probably read the book you're on @sui generis

[Dollar Slice]

Interesting topic for sure. I recently got a Garmin Instinct. Among the many features it has is a 'Sleep Tracker' function. It's been very interesting to see what type of sleep I've been getting. One big surprise for me was that over the past 10 days, I'm averaging something like 34 minutes of deep sleep per night to go along with an average of 3.5 hours of rem sleep.

I tried a sleep tracker app on my phone recently and it thinks I don't sleep at all or (some nights) am in a constant "light sleep". I'm pretty sure it interprets the background decibel level of my air conditioner and NYC street noise as me constantly tossing and turning. It took audio samples when it detected louder noise (it's supposed to detect if you're snoring or sleep talking) and almost every time it was the garbage truck or a delivery truck or something else outside. It sounds like yours works a little better than mine did, though, LOL.

[sui generis]

Interesting topic for sure. I recently got a Garmin Instinct. Among the many features it has is a 'Sleep Tracker' function. It's been very interesting to see what type of sleep I've been getting. One big surprise for me was that over the past 10 days, I'm averaging something like 34 minutes of deep sleep per night to go along with an average of 3.5 hours of rem sleep. I was troubled by this as I felt more deep sleep was probably needed. I don't know much yet about the different types of sleep, but I gather that deep sleep is physical restoration whereas rem sleep is mental restoration....but sounds like I should probably read the book you're on @sui generis

Yeah, definitely check out this book when you can!  The short of it is NREM (non-REM sleep) is more about pruning and storing mentally, and REM sleep is about building connections between everything, so they are both important.  In fact, the section of the book I'm in now is talking about how the proportion of REM and NREM sleep varies over development (for a child, it's way more REM, for a teenager, it's a lot more NREM, then settles into a more reliable pattern for the rest of our lives) and hypothesizes about why and how critical it may be for teenagers' transition into rationality and adulthood, as well as how it correlates with developmental mental disorders like autism and schizophrenia.  Very interesting!

[Plina]

Interesting topic for sure. I recently got a Garmin Instinct. Among the many features it has is a 'Sleep Tracker' function. It's been very interesting to see what type of sleep I've been getting. One big surprise for me was that over the past 10 days, I'm averaging something like 34 minutes of deep sleep per night to go along with an average of 3.5 hours of rem sleep. I was troubled by this as I felt more deep sleep was probably needed. I don't know much yet about the different types of sleep, but I gather that deep sleep is physical restoration whereas rem sleep is mental restoration....but sounds like I should probably read the book you're on @sui generis

I got a Garmin Fenix 6x and I found out that if I read in my bed it registers it as sleep so I don’t trust the measuring.

I listened to most of the book but thought it was to long. Somewhere in the middle, I also found out that there were critisim towards the book and the research behind it so I kind of lost the interest.

[LaineyAZ]

Just finished "Soul of A Woman" by Isabelle Allende.  It's her memoir, now that she's almost 80.  An easy and engaging read of a life-long feminist.   

Allende's adult daughter Paula died years ago and the profits from her book about it, "Paula" go to a foundation which helps women and girls in underdeveloped countries.  Also interesting is that she just got remarried a few years ago - she really lives her live full blast.

[BlueHouse]

Just finished
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Wow wow wow.  Anybody who has to deal with people who oppose Critical Race Theory, this is a great book to read.  I had never heard this history of George Washington and sadly never thought about the perspective of the enslaved.

 In general, it's great to be able to ask someone:  "Are you familiar with the history of Ona Judge, George Washington's slave?  No?   It's documented with George Washington's own letters, accounting records, and testimony.  Are you willing to let your kids learn history that is documented with facts even if it isn't the history that was taught when you were a child?" 

 

[sui generis]

Just finished "Soul of A Woman" by Isabelle Allende.  It's her memoir, now that she's almost 80.  An easy and engaging read of a life-long feminist.   

Allende's adult daughter Paula died years ago and the profits from her book about it, "Paula" go to a foundation which helps women and girls in underdeveloped countries.  Also interesting is that she just got remarried a few years ago - she really lives her live full blast.

I'll check it out!  I haven't loved her novels, but I saw her speak at a fundraiser for the Center for Reproductive Rights (about taking a friend of hers to get an abortion when she was a teenager in Chile) and she was amazing.  She was also really funny. She was talking about how she didn't like to use a microphone because isn't it rather phallic?  And she told other funny stories.  Just a few years ago and she looked great - so energetic and vivacious.  I hope I look half that good at her age.

[sui generis]

Just finished
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Wow wow wow.  Anybody who has to deal with people who oppose Critical Race Theory, this is a great book to read.  I had never heard this history of George Washington and sadly never thought about the perspective of the enslaved.

 In general, it's great to be able to ask someone:  "Are you familiar with the history of Ona Judge, George Washington's slave?  No?   It's documented with George Washington's own letters, accounting records, and testimony.  Are you willing to let your kids learn history that is documented with facts even if it isn't the history that was taught when you were a child?" 

 

Wow, sounds interesting.  Have you heard of How the Word is Passed?  It's really excellent and has a number of well-told histories similar to this.  You may find it worthwhile.  In fact, I can't remember if it was this book, or another I read recently, which spent a little bit of time on Ona Judge.

[GodlessCommie]

Reading Chernow's "Grant". Finding it so stimulating that I have to take frequent breaks. It will take me a year to finish it.

[BlueHouse]

Just finished
Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Wow wow wow.  Anybody who has to deal with people who oppose Critical Race Theory, this is a great book to read.  I had never heard this history of George Washington and sadly never thought about the perspective of the enslaved.

 In general, it's great to be able to ask someone:  "Are you familiar with the history of Ona Judge, George Washington's slave?  No?   It's documented with George Washington's own letters, accounting records, and testimony.  Are you willing to let your kids learn history that is documented with facts even if it isn't the history that was taught when you were a child?" 

 

Wow, sounds interesting.  Have you heard of How the Word is Passed?  It's really excellent and has a number of well-told histories similar to this.  You may find it worthwhile.  In fact, I can't remember if it was this book, or another I read recently, which spent a little bit of time on Ona Judge.

Adding it to my list of holds at the library!  Thanks!

[midweststache]

Late to this game, but I just finished River Solomon's "The Deep" on the recommendation from a friend. WOW.

(clipping.'s "The Deep" is one of the most memorable TAL segments I've ever heard - the book is based on that piece - I and have a strong interest in genre fiction/afrofuturism, but it's just really great.)

[trashtalk]

On my brother’s recommendation, just started reading the “graphic novel” of Sapiens.

[Tyson]

I tend to do a fiction book and a non fiction book in parallel.  Just finished Demian by Hermann Hesse and The Body by Bill Bryson.  Now onto Underground by Delillo and Factfulness by Rosling.  Some people find Underground to be dense, but I think the language is beautifully poetic.

[Noodle]

After approximately nine million good reviews, I finally picked up Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, which were excellent. One nice thing about them was that they are still really popular so I wasn't able to  binge them...I had to take a pause between installments which made it very exciting as each one became available.

[Warlord1986]

I just finished 'She Who Became the Sun' and y'all, I just experienced emotional trauma at the hands of a library book.

[Luke Warm]

1Q84. not sure if it's good or not. i'm not even really sure what it's about.

[midweststache]

1Q84. not sure if it's good or not. i'm not even really sure what it's about.

I adore me some Murakami, but I perpetually feel like I have about a 30% grasp of the plot at any given point. I like the experience of being on shaky comprehension ground in the reading process, but it's certainly not for everyone.

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

1Q84. not sure if it's good or not. i'm not even really sure what it's about.

I adore me some Murakami, but I perpetually feel like I have about a 30% grasp of the plot at any given point. I like the experience of being on shaky comprehension ground in the reading process, but it's certainly not for everyone.

I liked the first half of 1Q84 but was put off by some of the creepy old man vibe coming across in the writing later in the book (won't mention cause spoilers). I abandoned the book 80% of the way through. I have a copy of Kafka on the Shore that I might try sometime since it is supposed to be much better.

[brandon1827]

Just started a new book called This Fallen World. It's a post-"event" world, but I haven't yet read what the event was. It's not zombies and all that, but definitely something that changed the world as we know it. Good so far, but we'll see

[chaskavitch]

After approximately nine million good reviews, I finally picked up Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, which were excellent. One nice thing about them was that they are still really popular so I wasn't able to  binge them...I had to take a pause between installments which made it very exciting as each one became available.

I just started these too!  Apparently I like snark in my modern sci-fi.

Maybe plot spoiler?

Spoiler: show

So, I read the first one, and gave Murderbot a feminine-ish voice in my head, despite being emphatically genderless (possibly because it was written by a woman?).  I got the second book on audiobook and was SUPER thrown off by the fact that it's read by a man.  It surprised me how startled I was when the book started.

[sui generis]

I'm accidentally reading two biographies at once.  A new biography on Tecumseh and his brother the "Prophet", and a new biography of Malcolm X.  I usually wouldn't want to read two of the same type of book at once, but I am just finishing the Malcolm X book (which is excellent).  Next I'll be starting "Sex Robots and Vegan Meat" which is about the future instead of the past!

[Luke Warm]

1Q84. not sure if it's good or not. i'm not even really sure what it's about.

I adore me some Murakami, but I perpetually feel like I have about a 30% grasp of the plot at any given point. I like the experience of being on shaky comprehension ground in the reading process, but it's certainly not for everyone.

I liked the first half of 1Q84 but was put off by some of the creepy old man vibe coming across in the writing later in the book (won't mention cause spoilers). I abandoned the book 80% of the way through. I have a copy of Kafka on the Shore that I might try sometime since it is supposed to be much better.

finished it yesterday. it was a long book with an unsatisfying ending but i liked the writing style.

[1967mama]

“The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living,” by Daisy Luther. Nothing earth-shattering here but a good primer for a newbie. She credits Amy Dacyczyn/The Tightwad Gazette as her inspiration for the frugal lifestyle.

[sui generis]

I'm really enjoying "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue."  I feel like there are lots of these genre of books lately, where the protagonist lives dozens of different lives.  This is a twist on that, and I think it's my favorite of the bunch.  This feels markedly more creative and finely-tuned than some of the others. 

The only thing I don't like is that the author overuses the word palimpsest.  It's such a little-used word that it sticks out like a sore thumb.  Like if someone very earnestly used the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious a few times....you can't not notice.

[Dollar Slice]

The only thing I don't like is that the author overuses the word palimpsest.  It's such a little-used word that it sticks out like a sore thumb.  Like if someone very earnestly used the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious a few times....you can't not notice.

I can think of a couple of authors I've read who do that with a word or phrase; I always wonder why their editors don't point it out. It's especially jarring if they have multiple fictional characters using whatever the word is.

[sui generis]

The only thing I don't like is that the author overuses the word palimpsest.  It's such a little-used word that it sticks out like a sore thumb.  Like if someone very earnestly used the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious a few times....you can't not notice.

I can think of a couple of authors I've read who do that with a word or phrase; I always wonder why their editors don't point it out. It's especially jarring if they have multiple fictional characters using whatever the word is.

Yep, I was just thinking they needed a better editor.  How could they miss that sort of a tic?

[BuffaloStache]

Recently got access to Apple TV (through a friend, not paying for it!), so I decided to (re)read some of Asimov's Foundation before starting the show. I just finished the first novel, and am reading the 2nd one. I've started but never finished this series several times, so maybe I'll actually get through it all now?

[TempusFugit]

I read the first of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy but it wasn't very memorable.  I don’t even recall enough to know whether the TV series is at all like the novels. 

I’ve just finished the first of Cixin Liu’s trilogy The Three Body Problem and have begun the second. It took a little while to get into it but now it’s quite interesting. 

[sui generis]

I read the first of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy but it wasn't very memorable.  I don’t even recall enough to know whether the TV series is at all like the novels. 

I’ve just finished the first of Cixin Liu’s trilogy The Three Body Problem and have begun the second. It took a little while to get into it but now it’s quite interesting.

I really liked The Three Body Problem but haven't read any further (a combination of feeling like the first one stood alone pretty well and worry that the subsequent books would not be as good).  I'd be interested to hear what you think.

[turketron]

I read the first of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy but it wasn't very memorable.  I don’t even recall enough to know whether the TV series is at all like the novels. 

I’ve just finished the first of Cixin Liu’s trilogy The Three Body Problem and have begun the second. It took a little while to get into it but now it’s quite interesting.

I really liked The Three Body Problem but haven't read any further (a combination of feeling like the first one stood alone pretty well and worry that the subsequent books would not be as good).  I'd be interested to hear what you think.

I thought the first one was a little tough at the start without much background knowledge of the history of the CCP and the cultural revolution, but I did like it overall. I thought The Dark Forest was easily the best of the three. I remember liking the third one well enough, but honestly a ton of crazy shit happens in it and I don't really remember the specifics that much. Probably time for a re-read!

[Dr Kidstache]

I'm struggling through "Salvage the Bones" by Jesmyn Ward. Has anyone read her books? I read "Sing, Unburied, Sing" recently and it was the first of her books I've read. I was blown away by that book, lyrical but also direct and unflinching, and so I went back to read her earlier novel set in the same town (also a National Book Award winner). Salvage the Bones has the same character of unsparing directness but feels more brutal to me. I can only read little bits before having to take a break and read something silly. Her books are not for the faint of heart but they're not self-flagellation either, more an exercise in sitting with very uncomfortable truths.