by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 11/24/2017 at 20:21
by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 11/24/2017 at 20:21
Tags: Reading material
STARS: 4
Hallo, and happy post-Thanksgiving, y’all! I need to work off yesterday’s gluttony, so I figured I’ll head to the bookstore and pick up some new things to read. It also helps that I’ve got a coupon burning a hole in my pocket. So, what should I get?
I like science fiction, magic realism, historical fiction and some fantasy. But I’m also up for a good biography or other nonfiction.
As a news person, I also love some good long form journalism. Know of a good book written by a great journalist that takes an in-depth look at a particular news story, community or moment in time? I’ll take it!
I’ll read pulp, but not if it’s just atrociously bad, like Dean Koontz or something.
Got a good rec for something funny? I’ll take that, too.
What are the books that have really been impressing you lately?
"Svend" (svend)
11/24/2017 at 20:32, STARS: 3
Get up off the sofa and get moving, do some dancing.
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
11/24/2017 at 20:32, STARS: 1
The Oppo mandatory “Ultimate Speed Secrets” by Ross Bentley
"Agent Scully: Feminist She-Devil" (sciencegal03)
11/24/2017 at 20:36, STARS: 2
If you like scifi and want to really sink your teeth into a story, I’d recommend The Expanse series. The first one (Leviathan Wakes) was the first book in a long time where I literally read for like 4-5 hours straight, it was that hard to put down.
I also read Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton recently - I’d recommend it! It was less science-y than I was expecting, but it was a quick read and some fun historical fiction.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
11/24/2017 at 20:45, STARS: 2
Michael Crichton makes me so sad. He was one of my earliest introductions to pulpy science fiction. I gobbled up as many of his books as I could when I was younger (but not Dragon Teeth, yet!)... then, just before he died, I learned he was a climate change denier . I couldn’t believe it. I lost my taste for his work after that.
But.... this Expanse series you mention.... that sounds pretty interesting. Thank you!
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
11/24/2017 at 20:46, STARS: 0
Where... where did you get footage of me dancing on the couch? O.o
"oldwomanyellsatclods" (oldwomanyellsatclods)
11/24/2017 at 20:58, STARS: 6
Ann Leckie; sf,-start with Ancillary Justice.
John Scalzi, sf (I’ll read anything by Scalzi). Start with Old Man’s War, Lock in, Redshirts, or The collapsing empire
Daniel O’Malley. sorta sf. Start with The Rook. It’s outstandingly outstanding. We have someone who can grow broccoli from his head; how can we weaponize it? X-files meets X-Men.
Jonathan Howard. Fantasy/horrorish. Start with Johannes Cabal the necromancer. Dark, but hilarious.
"dogisbadob" (dogisbadob)
11/24/2017 at 20:58, STARS: 1
Just pick up a random book from the Dollar Tree :p
"G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
11/24/2017 at 20:59, STARS: 0
Have you read The Book Of Negroes by Lawrence Hill yet? It’s probably the best pieces of historical fiction I’ve ever read.
"Svend" (svend)
11/24/2017 at 21:05, STARS: 6
I read a book on slow drying glue once, at first I wasn’t all that stuck on it but soon after, I couldn’t put it down.
I like big books, and I cannot lie.
When I read, I always remember to use my reading glasses.
A little chick walks into a library and walks up the the librarian and says, ‘buck buck buck’, at first the librarian is not sure what to do but thinks the chick wants a book, so puts a small book in it’s beak and sends it on it’s way,
an hour later the chick walks back in, drops the book on the counter and says, ‘buck buck buck’,
again the librarian places another small book in the chick’s beak and sends it on it’s way,
an hour later the chick returns and places the book back on the counter and says, ‘buck buck buck’, etc...
This goes on for a while and it’s soon lunchtime. So the librarian decides to follow the chick next time on her lunch break.
Sure enough the chick walks back in with the book, and says, ‘buck buck buck’, the librarian again puts another book in the chick’s beak and sends it on it’s way.
The librarian gets her coat and follows the chick round the side of the building, across the road and down the street, the chick enters the park and walks up to the pond and drops the book in front of a frog, the frog looks at the book and says, ‘reddit’.
Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading contest. I hit a bookmark.
Sure reading a book under a tree is peaceful but imagine how stressful it is for the tree to see a bunch of it’s dead friends in your hand.
"Svend" (svend)
11/24/2017 at 21:21, STARS: 1
What can I say, you don’t always draw your curtains.
You’ve got a thing for standing on furniture.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
11/24/2017 at 21:27, STARS: 1
Well, Your Majesty, next time you feel like hiding in the curtains to capture some cat memes, d’you think you could also bring along one of your famous steaks, too? With some yummy sides? Heh.
"Agrajag" (Agrajag)
11/24/2017 at 21:27, STARS: 1
You’ve probably read the series already, but I’ll recommend Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
11/24/2017 at 21:28, STARS: 1
i just finished 1968. crazy year student protests, a crazy campaign
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
11/24/2017 at 21:32, STARS: 2
If you haven’t read the Martian yet you’re missing out.
"Svend" (svend)
11/24/2017 at 21:43, STARS: 3
As your full from thanksgiving food, would a lamb kebab tortilla do?
I didn’t have any pittas so used tortillas.
I think you’d of liked them.
Chips, lamb kebab meat, easy tomato and onion salsa with oil and sea salt and tzatziki.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
11/24/2017 at 21:45, STARS: 0
Oh man! That looks delicious!
"Svend" (svend)
11/24/2017 at 21:48, STARS: 0
It was as I refried some chips I didn’t eat earlier so they had a lovely crisp outer and fluffy inner.
"Agent Scully: Feminist She-Devil" (sciencegal03)
11/24/2017 at 21:50, STARS: 1
I agree with you about Crichton and the climate change thing. I read State of Fear a long time ago and thought “oh, he’s just using climate change as a hypothetical example, he can’t possibly believe that, he’s a scientist.” Then I went back and re-read parts of it and went “Wait....”. His autobiography ”Travels” was pretty interesting but was another book that made me sort of side-eye him a lot. He was a great writer, but sort of questionable as a person.
Anyway let me know what you think of The Expanse if you start it! The TV series is really good too, but honestly I’d recommend reading the books first (at least the first couple, there are like seven in the series right now).
"Taema" (taema)
11/24/2017 at 21:58, STARS: 1
I’ve been sucked into litrpg books lately... They are pulpy but entertaining. You wouldn’t be disappointed with something by Robert bevins, or Travis bagwell to name a couple.
"Yog-Sothoth is the Gate" (Ossifrage)
11/24/2017 at 22:19, STARS: 1
RE: Scifi - If you haven’t read Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels, get them!
"Taema" (taema)
11/24/2017 at 22:34, STARS: 0
Bobiverse! I blanked on it. But it’s the best stuff I’ve listened to in a while!
"Taema" (taema)
11/24/2017 at 22:37, STARS: 3
+1 for Scalzi. But I’d include Fuzzy Nation as must read by him.
Then Heinlein, Stephenson....
"oldwomanyellsatclods" (oldwomanyellsatclods)
11/24/2017 at 22:47, STARS: 3
Fuzzy Nation is the only thing I haven’t read so far. I put off Lock In, thinking it didn’t sound interesting, and man, was I wrong. Loved it!
I like Scalzi partly because he’s like Heinlein without the misogyny. I did enjoy Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon and Anathem.
"pygmypossum" (pygmypossum)
11/24/2017 at 22:49, STARS: 6
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - both have some magical themes and both have really stuck with me since I read them.
"booktart" (booktart)
11/24/2017 at 22:53, STARS: 2
Historical fic (20th cen. story): A Gentleman in Moscow. I’m just starting Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, hope it’s good...
"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko)
11/24/2017 at 22:58, STARS: 2
If you can find a copy of From The Cockpit by Bruce McLaren, do it. Fucking fantastic book.
"TheAmiableSlut" (theamiableslut)
11/24/2017 at 23:38, STARS: 1
My tastes always run to the morbid side, so I’ve been juggling Obsession by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker (Douglas was an FBI profiler in the Behavioral Science Unit) and The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris. She tells the story of early surgery and the advent of asepsis. (Yes, I’m a loud and proud nerd, lol.)
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St Clair is fascinating because she tells the story of the origins of colors and pigments.
If you’re looking for a weird-ass mystery, try The Bangkok Asset by John Burdett. Actually, all of his Bangkok series mysteries are good.
"Forgottenfish" (forgottenfish)
11/24/2017 at 23:42, STARS: 1
Many. Apologies.
The Pig, the Prince, and the Unicorn by Karen Brush
. It is better than a book about a faerie pig chosen to save the world has any right to be.
The Conan stories by Robert Howard
are pretty good pulp, though he’s pretty damn racist.
The Abhorsen series
by Garth Nix
is about a teenage girl necromancer. When you check reviews, apparently it’s compared to SOIAF, but the only similarity is that there is dead people and walls.
The Coldfire trilogy by C.S Friedman
is dark scifi fantasy, but I would highly recommend. Warrior/mage/priest guy! An evil undead guy who only has his soul because he has a serious code of honour (except for the thing that made him go evil in the first place)! Monsters are real because the fae of the planet takes them from human brains and makes them real!
If you want something really depressing and frightening, One Soldier’s War by Arkady Babchenko is a memoir about the Chechnyan wars.
Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
is funny and sad in equal measure. A little irreverent in places, but it turns Jesus (Joshua in Aramaic) into a real person.
Pretty much anything by
China Meiville
. Part of the “New Weird” genre.
"Taema" (taema)
11/24/2017 at 23:56, STARS: 1
Fuzzy is a rewrite approved by the authors family. But I would say get the Audible version.
I didn’t like lock in very much, my wife loved it and has listened a few times.
Heinlein has his misogyny but the shit is good if you can overlook it.
"Taema" (taema)
11/24/2017 at 23:59, STARS: 0
And cryponomicicon was excellent. I’ve done it on paper and audible. Anathem I wander off. But finished it grudgingly. Hal’s of Stephenson’s books I have to struggle to the end, the other half I can’t get enough.
"TotorroRising" (totorrorising)
11/25/2017 at 00:45, STARS: 0
New lurker here, but i just finished reading Lori Rader-Day’s newest novel/mystery The Day I Died, which has a bit of puply element to it. Her stories are so grab you by the shirt compelling and, if you’re into mysteries at all, they are definitely worth a look. I’m going to read Tinsel again for the ‘holiday season’—it’s by a writer from the Washington Post who followed a series of families around Frisco TX for a couple of year and chronicled how their relationship to the concept of christmas (as an ideal, a chore etc) changed in the waning days of the final Bush administration.—it sounds dour etc. but it’s really funny, if a tad depressing.
"mtdrift" (mtdrift)
11/25/2017 at 01:36, STARS: 1
Oh man, I’ve been recommending this book to so many people lately, the author probably owes me a commission.
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, by John Vaillant
You can thank me later.
"mtdrift" (mtdrift)
11/25/2017 at 01:41, STARS: 0
Seconded. I totally devoured that one - was sad when it was over.
"lochaber, guillotine enthusiast" (lochaber)
11/25/2017 at 02:15, STARS: 5
I really, really liked Station Eleven. I wish more people read it. I just feel it was really well done, the characters, the story, etc.. It started to get pretty dark at points, but I felt like it ended on a really positive/optimistic note.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
11/25/2017 at 02:32, STARS: 1
I can’t stand Heinlein... :/
But I love the word grok.
"lochaber, guillotine enthusiast" (lochaber)
11/25/2017 at 02:33, STARS: 1
Not sure what genre it would be (possibly mystery?) but I really liked Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Files series - it’s primarily about a 30something slacker/stoner in San Francisco who’s entire family is weird, borderline dysfunctional, and are all private investigators. It’s pretty light reading, and I find Lutz funny as fuck.
I also really liked Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Centur y series - it’s basically steampunk with zombies. each of the books stands up pretty well alone, but they all take place in the same universe, and the main characters from one book will show up as supporting characters in some of the other books.
Also really liked Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series. Main character is a drifter/grifter who can see someone’s death when she touches them. Wendig said something along the lines of that series being so dirty, he wouldn’t let his son read it until he’s 35 :) lots of violence, swearing, sex, shit-talking, substance use, etc.
I’ve been avoiding nonfiction lately, but highly recommend anything by Mary Roach ( Stiff, Bonk, Spook, Grunt, Gulp, Packing for Mars )
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
11/25/2017 at 05:54, STARS: 1
"kcunning" (kcunning)
11/25/2017 at 06:07, STARS: 0
I just finished Autonomous by Annalee Newitz, and it was fantastic. It’s a bit like Snowcrash, but for bio-med.
Also, Goodreads is doing their Book of the Year contest, and there’s some really great suggestions there: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2017?int=gca_doodle
"Matthewtuckey" (matthewtuckey)
11/25/2017 at 08:11, STARS: 0
I read an anthology called ‘Best SF’ a few years ago- it was 14 in a series. It was really good. About 20 short stories that had already been published in top magazines. Anthology published by EOS.
"lurkerbynature" (lurkerbynature)
11/25/2017 at 09:43, STARS: 0
Humble Bundle has a good looking Sci-Fi/Fantasy bundle on right now! It’s a bunch of stuff I haven’t read, but there are books by Patricia McKillip, Peter S. Beagle, Nalo Hopkinson, Peter Watts, and several other good authors.
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/scifi-fantasy-tachyon-books
"CB" (jrcb)
11/25/2017 at 10:30, STARS: 0
Seconded, this is a pretty solid book.
"CB" (jrcb)
11/25/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 0
If you enjoy historical biographies/first person accounts of horrible moments in history, Shake Hands With The Devil by Roméo Dallaire is an excellent account of the Rwandan Genocide by the general for the UN in Rwanda at the time. Be warned, it’s sad.
For science fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky up until the last four pages. The premise is that it’s set in the Moscow Metro after a nuclear war pushed survivors into it, and now every stop is its own city.
"oldwomanyellsatclods" (oldwomanyellsatclods)
11/25/2017 at 11:58, STARS: 2
I actually attended a book launch for Fuzzy Nation, and enjoyed Scalzi’s reading of the first chapter, so I’ll have to pick it up.
Heinlein wrote ripping yarns, for sure. I grew up on his juveniles; Have Space Suit, Will Travel, etc.
"oldwomanyellsatclods" (oldwomanyellsatclods)
11/25/2017 at 11:59, STARS: 1
I liked the twists in Anathem. His characters tend to be a bit flat, but they are a fun read, nonetheless. I take his tomes to the cottage, where I can sit and read, uninterrupted for days.
"farscythe - makin da cawfee!" (farscythe)
11/25/2017 at 15:34, STARS: 0
if you havent read them yet... the expanse series is great reading
"Taema" (taema)
11/25/2017 at 20:49, STARS: 0
If you aren’t on the audible...wil wheton read many of the Scalzi books. Its a comfortable voice and a good read.
"oldwomanyellsatclods" (oldwomanyellsatclods)
11/25/2017 at 21:05, STARS: 0
I’ve tried audio books, but I find I like reading it myself; something about pacing maybe.
"Sexually Transmitted Crazymouth" (s-t-c)
11/26/2017 at 02:08, STARS: 0
Journalism/non-fiction: I like Mark Bowdon, of Black Hawk Down fame. He wrote an interesting book about the Iran hostages of the 1970's. I also liked Five Days at Memorial about the actions at a hospital during Hurricane Katrina.
There has been some great writing lately featuring real talk from real fat people, and what that’s like. Shrill by Lindy West (former Jez writer) and Hunger by Roxane Gay.
"MamaBearsApron" (mamabearsapron)
11/26/2017 at 06:44, STARS: 2
I second the Expanse - fantastic series. And, when you’re done reading, watch the show (Netflix? Amazon? I don’t remember). It’s really well done.
"MamaBearsApron" (mamabearsapron)
11/26/2017 at 06:51, STARS: 0
Here For some solid fantasy, try the Pellinor series. It’s like Lord of the Rings, but about a million times better.
If you are open to young-adult, then Patricia Wrede has the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (start with Dealing with Dragons), and Cecelia and the Chocolate Pot (a letter-style book that is basically the Regency era in England, with magic). Also, anything my Tamora Pierce. (I assume that, since you’re here on GT, you have already read her).
If you like biographies, I really enjoyed Alison Weir’s bios on Pretty much all of the Tudors (and associated peeps). She has also written a novel on Elizabeth I that I enjoyed.
If anyone has any recs for Historical-Fiction-Fantasy (that does not include sexual violence), I’d love to hear them! I love Phillipa Gregory, but the sex/rape is not what I enjoy reading.
"CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)" (ccpbb)
11/28/2017 at 04:06, STARS: 0
I’ve been really into post-colonial theory....so Edward Said’s Orientalism (really love Said), Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, and Cesaire’s Discourse on Colonialism. But longform journos: Jeremy Scahill’s Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.