What are you READING right now?

[chevy1956]

I started reading "The Complete Wheel of Time" ebook. 20 yeara go I read the first 3 parts but never got aroudn collecting it, and I don't like collecting series that are not finished (for a reason as this series proves).

But I got the ebook quite some time ago and finally I started it. Average reading time 254 hours. Let's see if I manage it in a year lol.

I loved this series. When each book came out I got it and read it. The same as Game Of Thrones. I love Brandon Sanderson as a writer. The Wheel of Time sucked though didn't it. It just ended a boring set of books. Game Of Thrones is similar. I can't even remember what happened. My oldest kid is 21 and I remember reading those books when she was young. It's still not finished.

[LennStar]

Worn: A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser —interesting historical perspective on clothing: linen, cotton, industrialization, slavery, development, colonialism etc. I’m only 1/3 of the way in and it’s not an easy read but well-written. I’m interested in how skills such as cloth-making and clothing construction used to be done in most households and how differently clothing is used (consumed often without any regard to material or waste) these days and how rarified these skills have become.

Sounds interesting. At what historical age starts that? Antiquity?
And how good would you think is that book as reference for a fantasy writer? ;)

[Serendip]

Worn: A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser —interesting historical perspective on clothing: linen, cotton, industrialization, slavery, development, colonialism etc. I’m only 1/3 of the way in and it’s not an easy read but well-written. I’m interested in how skills such as cloth-making and clothing construction used to be done in most households and how differently clothing is used (consumed often without any regard to material or waste) these days and how rarified these skills have become.

Sounds interesting. At what historical age starts that? Antiquity?
And how good would you think is that book as reference for a fantasy writer? ;)

 I don't think this would be great reference for writing @LennStar  but it depends what you would need. There aren't many descriptions of clothing, it is written more as a historical analysis-- the rise of empire,  commerce and all that.  My library was able to bring it in so perhaps check and see if yours has access to a copy?
Right now the author is describing the desertification of areas in China to grow cotton..it's quite the book but seems LESS about clothing and MORE about the industry, politics, etc of the fibres needed for clothing..and the justification of brutal working conditions for the people making our clothing (throughout most of history!)

[LennStar]

No, thats about what I could use, if I ever did anthing about clothing in my current work. Too bad in Germany that's not something likely to be in a library, even over loan.

[BuffaloStache]

Just finished reading My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. I really enjoyed it and it was a quick read.

[sui generis]

I'm reading Girlhood by Melissa Febos.  It's surprising to me how different the facts of my own girlhood were from hers, and yet I had all the same feelings and thoughts that she describes.  It's a somewhat painful and infuriating read, but it's also helpful to know it's a broad experience that I'm not alone in.

[Vindicated]

I just recently finished Tress of the Emerald Sea.  The first of Brandon Sanderson's four secret project books.  It was a fun and easy read.  He said he was inspired by Princess Bride, and told the story as if the Princess went after Wesley.  It's also set in his Cosmere, so Hoid narrates it, and there are some familiar magic systems that pop up in the story.

I'll probably start the 2nd of the Secret Project books next.  It's called The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England.  My understanding is that this has no connection to any of his other books.  I'm excited to see what it's all about. 

I also dropped off some old kid's books at Half Price Books and used that credit to buy the first Hyperion book.  I've always heard the series was good, figured I'd get it on the shelf so I could pick it up soon.

Before Tress, I read my first ever Warhammer 40k book, and was pleasantly surprised by it.  It is called Assassinorum: Kingmaker.  A group of three Imperial Assassins is assigned to eliminate the monarch of a Knight World, which has been showing signs of secession, then steer a new pro-imperial candidate to the throne.  It's 1-part Game of Thrones, 1-part Pacific Rim, and 1-part James Bond.

[Luke Warm]

I'm about half way through 'Hell of a Book' by Jason Mott. It's hard to put down.

[Raenia]

Jumping in with some of my current/recent reads:

Lolita, Nabokov: The prose is excellent, but man is it uncomfortable to read. I going to try to finish it, I'm about 2/3 through now.

An Autumn War, Daniel Abraham: 3rd in the series. I enjoy worlds where the magic is well integrated into the culture and geopolitics. Interested to see where it goes from here.

Just finished The Obelisk Gate, by N.K. Jemisin. Second in the trilogy, I'll start the third once I'm done with Autumn War. Very weird approach to storytelling, especially in the first book, but I'm finding the world building very interesting. Never seen an author pull off second person perspective before, either.

Also recently finished Bastille vs the Evil Librarians, final book in the series by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (she co-authored the last book only). Fun, wacky middle grade series, it made a nice break from all the heavy stuff.

I have Underworld by Don DeLillo and Furies of Calderan by Jim Butcher out from the library to read next. I can only handle one 'classic' at a time, usually, and I don't want to start another fantasy series until I finish one that's currently in progress. Unfortunately, the fourth book in the Abraham series doesn't seem to be available in my library system, so that will probably be inter-library loan, which can take a while to get. But I can at least finish the Jemisin.

[LennStar]

Still 2 days left on humble bundle to buy (nearly) all of the old Battletech / Mechwarrior books as ebooks.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/battletech-fiction-catalyst-game-labs-books?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_3_layout_type_threes_tile_index_1_c_battletechfictioncatalystgamelabs_bookbundle

Those things where on my "mabye buy later" list, since I liked some of them that my library had when I was still in school. Not sure how they hold to the current day me, but 20 bucks for 60 books, even if I read them only once, is a steal.

Now they only need to do this for the dragon riders of pern too, the same applies there :D

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England

Definitely sounds interesting, give a report after you read. I am confused what this book might be even. A fictional handbook? A story collection? A satire of the modern world (Pratchett would have done that)?

[simonsez]

The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku
Meditations (annotated) by Marcus Aurelius

Will do 1984 by Orwell on upcoming drive to CO (either audiobook or the non-driver reading aloud).  Wife has never read it and we just finished Brave New World.

[Vindicated]

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England

Definitely sounds interesting, give a report after you read. I am confused what this book might be even. A fictional handbook? A story collection? A satire of the modern world (Pratchett would have done that)?

That's what I was thinking.  Kinda a Pratchett-esque story.  I don't know anything about it yet, but will report back!

The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku
Meditations (annotated) by Marcus Aurelius

Will do 1984 by Orwell on upcoming drive to CO (either audiobook or the non-driver reading aloud).  Wife has never read it and we just finished Brave New World.

If you like Meditations, I read that in close succession with Letters of a Stoic by Seneca and Commentaries on the Gallic War by Caesar.  The three books together offer great insight into the formation and early generation of the Roman Empire.  Of course, the "History of Rome" podcast by Mike Duncan is a great overview of the entire Empire's history.

I did 1984 and Brave New World back to back as well.  Maybe reading these back to back is why I'm so centrist (though leaning left) in my political feelings.  Both sides can go too far.

[jinga nation]

"Read" via audiobook, Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I had read the book and watched the TV series, but audiobook is a completely different experience.
Now listening to Gaiman's American Gods, narrated by Lenny Henry (yes, that British stand-up comedian and sketch actor).

Been hooked on audiobooks of late, listening during workouts/runs and the occasional commute. Thanks Hoopla!

Die With Zero is also being read, albeit slowly. Mostly sits on the nightstand.

[cool7hand]

The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku

This was a really interesting read!

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

"Read" via audiobook, Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I had read the book and watched the TV series, but audiobook is a completely different experience.
Now listening to Gaiman's American Gods, narrated by Lenny Henry (yes, that British stand-up comedian and sketch actor).

Been hooked on audiobooks of late, listening during workouts/runs and the occasional commute. Thanks Hoopla!

Die With Zero is also being read, albeit slowly. Mostly sits on the nightstand.

I'm reading Die with Zero now due to a recommendation and a sort of counter perspective of old school MMM. Listening to Warbound by Larry Correia.

After reading through this thread, I'll probably listen to Dark Forest,  as I enjoyed Three-Body Problem and read A Man Called Ove.

[jinga nation]

"Read" via audiobook, Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I had read the book and watched the TV series, but audiobook is a completely different experience.
Now listening to Gaiman's American Gods, narrated by Lenny Henry (yes, that British stand-up comedian and sketch actor).

Been hooked on audiobooks of late, listening during workouts/runs and the occasional commute. Thanks Hoopla!

Die With Zero is also being read, albeit slowly. Mostly sits on the nightstand.

I'm reading Die with Zero now due to a recommendation and a sort of counter perspective of old school MMM. Listening to Warbound by Larry Correia.

After reading through this thread, I'll probably listen to Dark Forest,  as I enjoyed Three-Body Problem and read A Man Called Ove.

Haven't read it, but watched A Man Called Ove a couple of years back. They've remade it as A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks. I've yet to watch it. I hope it is as funny and satisfying as the original.

[cool7hand]

Rereading The Passenger and Stella Maris

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

"Read" via audiobook, Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I had read the book and watched the TV series, but audiobook is a completely different experience.
Now listening to Gaiman's American Gods, narrated by Lenny Henry (yes, that British stand-up comedian and sketch actor).

Been hooked on audiobooks of late, listening during workouts/runs and the occasional commute. Thanks Hoopla!

Die With Zero is also being read, albeit slowly. Mostly sits on the nightstand.

I'm reading Die with Zero now due to a recommendation and a sort of counter perspective of old school MMM. Listening to Warbound by Larry Correia.

After reading through this thread, I'll probably listen to Dark Forest,  as I enjoyed Three-Body Problem and read A Man Called Ove.

Haven't read it, but watched A Man Called Ove a couple of years back. They've remade it as A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks. I've yet to watch it. I hope it is as funny and satisfying as the original.

I finished the book. It took me a little bit to get into it, but by the end, I was laughing quite a lot.

[BicycleB]

Finally made myself at home by getting library card in my hometown, where I returned after many years' absence.

Celebrated by binge reading Walter Mosley's "And Sometimes I Wonder About You" - sleek, dramatic noir.

[Raenia]

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England

Definitely sounds interesting, give a report after you read. I am confused what this book might be even. A fictional handbook? A story collection? A satire of the modern world (Pratchett would have done that)?

Just got my copy of this one in the mail! Can't wait to get started. It's fiction/fantasy, but don't know much beyond that yet.

[calimom]

I just finished Lessons In Chemistry for my book group and was deeply, deeply satisfied by the reading experience. Don't judge a book by its cover applies here. Even though it's been a NYT bestseller for awhile, the rom-com-y jacket needn't turn anyone off. It's very well written, with a good message about women and human rights. And possibly the best dog character of any book in history.

[LennStar]

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England

Definitely sounds interesting, give a report after you read. I am confused what this book might be even. A fictional handbook? A story collection? A satire of the modern world (Pratchett would have done that)?

Just got my copy of this one in the mail! Can't wait to get started. It's fiction/fantasy, but don't know much beyond that yet.

Tell me if you find the name Rincewind anywhere inside there ;) As the author I would have tried that for sure.

[caracarn]

Inventing the World by Meredith Small

An anthropologist gets led to write a history of invention in Venice showing how the entirety of major aspects of life in Western civilization actually originated in this one republic.   It's actually a fascinating book and about 75% complete.  The amount of crucial concepts invented there is astounding and the fact the writer is from another discipline than a historian makes the connections spanning culture and how they integrate much more fleshed out. 

[Tyson]

Since my last post I started and finished:

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
How to be Both by Ali Smith
Dubliners by James Joyce
Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
On the Genealogy of Morals by Nietzsche
Breath by James Nestor

Just started River out of Eden by Richard Dawkins

[Dogastrophe]

I recently finished The Overstory by Richard Powers. One of the central characters was based loosely on Suzanne Simard and her research on how trees communicate with each other, which pointed me toward her book Finding the Mother Tree.

I have Dave Grohl's The Storyteller in the works. I pick it up every week or two and read a chapter.

[Raenia]

The Frugal Wizards Guide to Surviving Medieval England

Definitely sounds interesting, give a report after you read. I am confused what this book might be even. A fictional handbook? A story collection? A satire of the modern world (Pratchett would have done that)?

Just got my copy of this one in the mail! Can't wait to get started. It's fiction/fantasy, but don't know much beyond that yet.

Tell me if you find the name Rincewind anywhere inside there ;) As the author I would have tried that for sure.

Not that I found, sadly. Wasn't that kind of wizards. The book was almost more sci-fi than fantasy. Sort of an alternate reality/time travel thing. Reminded me a lot of Michael Crighton's Timeline, actually, but much more humorous.

[Warlord1986]

Just finished reading <i>The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi </i>

A foul mouthed, middle aged lady pirate with a bad knee goes on an adventure. ^.^

I loved it.

[Tyson]

Finished River out of Eden by Dawkins and it was fine, but I think I would have appreciated more back in the 90's when I was still engaging with religious people about science. 

Started reading The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

[Luke Warm]

Finished River out of Eden by Dawkins and it was fine, but I think I would have appreciated more back in the 90's when I was still engaging with religious people about science. 

Started reading The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

The Pale King was a slog. I think it was about the IRS?

[TempusFugit]

Reading a collection of articles authored by William F Buckley, Jr on the subject of travel.  "Getting About" is so far quite interesting, in particular the many articles about sailing.  Buckley was well known for his expansive vocabulary.  This is definitely a good one to read on a Kindle so you can quickly define some of his etymological choices.

[evme]

"The Institute" by Stephen King. His work since 2010 has been hit or miss for me but I'm liking this so far.

[Luke Warm]

'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles. Best book I've read in quite a while.

[Jade]

In reading "unnatural history".. Jonathan Kellermans latest book. I quite like this series and then back to a dawn o'porter book next.. "the cows". I've read a few of hers recently and find them funny.

[LaineyAZ]

'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles. Best book I've read in quite a while.

Agree.  I'd rate it in the Top Ten of books I've ever read.

I'm reading "Tequila: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico"  - it's similar to the book "Salt" where focusing on every aspect of one commodity can give you a deep insight into agriculture, history, cultural beliefs, finances, politics, etc. 

[Tyson]

Finished River out of Eden by Dawkins and it was fine, but I think I would have appreciated more back in the 90's when I was still engaging with religious people about science. 

Started reading The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

The Pale King was a slog. I think it was about the IRS?

Pale King was good writing but clearly unfinished.  It just sort of stopped, randomly.  Which makes sense given it was cobbled together after his death by a friend. 

Finished the Pale King and started on Paradise Lost by Milton.  I'm glad I am reading it now (after having read previous epic poems like The Odyssey, the Illiad, The Aenied, The Divine Comedy and The Faerie Queen).  I was raised as a Lutheran and I was younger thought other (older) religions were silly because they were 'obviously false and just a bunch of fairy tales).  Reading Paradise Lost as an atheist adult, I can see the through-line from all these works.  And it makes me realize, in a way not as clear before, that Christianity is just the middle eastern version of fairy tales.  I remember I also thought this a bit back when I read the full Bible, but Paradise Lost really drives it home.

And I'm really enjoying the book because it's basically the origin story for Satan 8-)

[Serendip]

'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles. Best book I've read in quite a while.

Agree.  I'd rate it in the Top Ten of books I've ever read.

Loved that book as well!

I'm reading Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Clare Dederer. The author looks at the problem of good art made by people who have done awful things..especially in this time when biographies and details of personal lives are splashed everywhere.  Enjoying but it's a discomforting read.

[Luke Warm]

Finished River out of Eden by Dawkins and it was fine, but I think I would have appreciated more back in the 90's when I was still engaging with religious people about science. 

Started reading The Pale King by David Foster Wallace.

The Pale King was a slog. I think it was about the IRS?

Pale King was good writing but clearly unfinished.  It just sort of stopped, randomly.  Which makes sense given it was cobbled together after his death by a friend. 

Finished the Pale King and started on Paradise Lost by Milton.  I'm glad I am reading it now (after having read previous epic poems like The Odyssey, the Illiad, The Aenied, The Divine Comedy and The Faerie Queen).  I was raised as a Lutheran and I was younger thought other (older) religions were silly because they were 'obviously false and just a bunch of fairy tales).  Reading Paradise Lost as an atheist adult, I can see the through-line from all these works.  And it makes me realize, in a way not as clear before, that Christianity is just the middle eastern version of fairy tales.  I remember I also thought this a bit back when I read the full Bible, but Paradise Lost really drives it home.

And I'm really enjoying the book because it's basically the origin story for Satan 8-)

I worked my way through Infinite Jest and it just sort of ended also although it wasn't written in chronological order. DFW had an interesting writing style.

[jamaicaspanish]

Sarah Smarsh -- Heartland
A fascinating autobiography about a hard-scrabble life in Kansas in the 80s.
Recommended by Martha from A Way with Words -- I listened to the audio book every spare moment.

[BuffaloStache]

Over the last ~week, we've been slowly reading The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. My kids are a little young to understand all of the second-order lessons, but they still enjoyed the story greatly.

One of the biggest points of criticism of this book is that it's oozing with virtue, and while I enjoyed the book I can agree with this sentiment. In some ways it almost felt like Atlas Shrugged where the manifesto/underlying lessons became more important than the actual plot or developing the characters. But unlike Atlas, Whangdoodles did do a good job of continuing to move the story along and still painting a pretty fantastical world.

[Jade]

I just finished "summer people" by Julie Cohen which I really enjoyed.

[jinga nation]

Snuff by Terry Pratchett. (I don't know how I missed this one.)
Audiobook: Western Lane by Chetna Maroo.

[LennStar]

Snuff by Terry Pratchett. (I don't know how I missed this one.)

Knocked out by Thud!!! ?


PSA: Humble Bundle currently has 42 Shadowrun e-books on their humble sale. Get the classics of dystopian cyberpunk for small change!

[brandon1827]

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson...this is Secret Project #4

[Wolfpack Mustachian]

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson...this is Secret Project #4

That's great! I've been too cheap to buy them, and my library system has been very slow to get the secret projects, but I've finally gotten Tress, and I'm on the list to get the Frugal Wizard and Yuri, so I'm getting there. Hope that one is good!

[brandon1827]

It's a bit slow moving so far, but I'm only around an hour in. I really enjoyed the other 3 so I'm sure this one will end up being good too

[Sanitary Stache]

I am reading A. Turf History of Equality by Thomas Piketty.  It is a condensed version of his work and I vibe with it, but I need to read about half of the sentences twice and some of them three times to grasp what they are saying. I haven’t made it through a chapter in one sitting yet.

This book opened with a node to readings who said “I love your work, but can you make it shorter. “. After giving up on Capital in the Twenty First Century twice I am starting to suspect that the economics tomes are long AND complicated. Hopefully I make it through this one and continue to hone my reading comprehension and can try the bigger books again.

[Tyson]

Started and finished Faust Part 1.  It was surprisingly breezy.  Started Faust Part 2 and it's much more dense.

[LennStar]

Started and finished Faust Part 1.  It was surprisingly breezy.  Started Faust Part 2 and it's much more dense.

Haha, yes. Part II is Goethe on drugs. Science thinks: literally.

But those are works that influenced German society tremendously, like it spawned several sayings, most of them still in use today.

[BicycleB]

I am reading A. Turf History of Equality by Thomas Piketty.  It is a condensed version of his work and I vibe with it, but I need to read about half of the sentences twice and some of them three times to grasp what they are saying. I haven’t made it through a chapter in one sitting yet.

This book opened with a node to readings who said “I love your work, but can you make it shorter. “. After giving up on Capital in the Twenty First Century twice I am starting to suspect that the economics tomes are long AND complicated. Hopefully I make it through this one and continue to hone my reading comprehension and can try the bigger books again.

I found the early chapters of Capital in the Twenty-First Century to be a rat's nest of inconsistencies and partially articulated logic chains that rested on assumptions that I suspect to be incorrect - except for the places I could not understand at all. End of experience.

By contrast, when I first learned econ, it seemed so easy and clear that it felt like cheating, even though a couple of spots seemed to be based on assumptions that were likely false. Turned out my econ prof wrote the book and clarity was one of his strengths. People who challenged the "assumptions that were likely false" went on to win Nobel Prizes. Don't give up on econ, skip Piketty.

One person's opinion. :)

[cool7hand]

Religion and Nothingness