What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? October 15
What book(s) are you currently reading or listening? October 15
Finished The Twelve by Justin Cronin. Book 2 of The Passage trilogy! Finally!
It was interesting read, but too long. Too much back story and details that could have been condensed quite a bit. As it is, I didn't like the fist quarter, second quarter was okay, third was interesting, and really enjoyed the last one.
Still one book remaining in the trilogy, but need a break, will come back to after a little while.
Read some more stories from The Complete Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft.
Now reading The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore. First book of The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and The Legend of Drizzt / Forgotten Realms series (publication order).
It's my first Drizzt, and first D&D novel and has been on my wishlist for a very long time. Just started it so can't really say much about it, but enjoying it so far.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The book that inspired the game. All the characters are so, so wordy, but I'm enjoying it.
It's on my wishlist, didn't like the game much, but the lore seemed interesting specially near the end of first game and in second game. Though having straight up Nazis didn't feel very creative, but maybe they make more sense in the books.
I've been thoroughly enjoying the Infinite Series by Jeremy Robinson. It is a masterwork of scifi, spanning several scifi sub-genres. Each book (that I've read so far) is only loosely connected to the other books - it reminds me a bit of early Marvel movies where at the end Nick Fury shows up. I had read Infinite, not knowing that it was the beginning of a series, and then when I found out I decided I would read the next book, but make no commitments to continue the series. I've not stopped and each book just keeps getting better.
I randomly stumbled across the dark which is much later in the series and really enjoyed it. I've now gone back and started from the beginning with infinite and will be continuing in order. I'm looking forward to it!
"Across the Dark", D for Dark, D for Death. Yeah, makes sense that's the one you stumbled upon. 😀
Haven't read the series, but apparently you get crossovers in last few books.
Do RPG and skirmish games rulebooks count? If so, I'm currently spending time with Basic Role Playing and Runequest 6ed (planning a hack/homebrew/adaptation of Elder Scrolls), plus Moonstone (Goblin King Games), Conquest (Parabellum) and Warsurge on the skirmish front.
So many rulebooks! Which RPG is your favourite? I have always wanted to play them but was never able to convince enough people.
I personally prefer using Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay when it comes to medieval-ish fantasy, because it's gritty and dirty, so to speak, also more "realistic" than DnD, mainly because combat is brutal, armor simply reduces damage, all kinds of shit can get someone insane and magic is dangerous.
The last time I narrated WFRP one of the characters died in a spectacular way that I never imagined would happen
The player had a dwarf with a large ram for a mount. During one combat inside a mayor's mansion, a group of bandits attacked the ram and lethally wounded it. The player wanted to save the ram at any cost. Every character has some Fate points, which they can burn to escape certain death. I made a deal with the player, "you spend that fate point and the ram lives, BUT- I will roll this dice to determine who saves it". I made it clear that there was a risk an unwanted force could be the one responsible for keeping it alive.
Dice rolls. I smirk and describe a blue-hued raven landing atop the ram and asking the dwarf if he truly wants to save his ram. The deal is made, the raven enters the wound, which closes, but the ram's eyes give an eerie purple glow and it laughs at him. The next day, he finds out the ram started eating small critters like bunnies and squirrels. The rest of the group starts considering leaving the ram wherever.
Some time later, the ram is attracted to a profane totem and refuses to move. The dwarf tries everything to get the animal back on track and gets headbutted. Once he threatens to destroy the totem, he's attacked for real. Second round of combat, the ram charges. On the damage roll, it was a double critical (criticals only happen in damage rolls in WFRP, a 10 on the dice allows you to roll again) and the total damage was twice his total health.
In a single charge, one of the ram's horns went under his chin, piercing his cranium with such force that the head was ripped out of the body, with blood gushing from the now lifeless body. The impaled head remained as a souvenir on the horn. The rest of the group turned tail and fled, then came back later to loot the gold that was with the dwarf.
As to getting people to play with, some places you can look for players are local game stores (if there are any around where you live) or colleges. You can also try playing online via discord, it's much easier to find people looking for groups there. Getting along with everyone outside the game is definitely one of the more important aspects of keeping a group alive and going
I'm reading the Silmarillion, so I can be madder at Rings of Power
How do you keep all the name straight? I have tried couple of times but that's where I got lost. Have been planning to start again, and make a relationship / characters chart as I go along, so that I can remember who's who.
I'm still using reading mostly as a means to fall asleep but I finished Slow Horses on the weekend. Even after watching the TV series the books are very enjoyable.
On to the next one!
Not currently reading anything but just finished The Fisherman by John Langan. I’m just here hoping someone can recommend some good horror from the last few years
I read a lot of horror! Here are some of my recent faves:
- Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
- I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
- Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
- The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
- Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman
I really loathed the fisherman. It felt like a bait and switch, and the framing device felt like I was being asked to accept an insane proposition. Why would they just sit there in that diner for what must have been hours listening to that guy exposit in anachronistic old-timey waffle?
I am baffled by its popularity.
Edit: conversely, and so I’m not being a negative Nancy, The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch was fun and weird and kept me interested.
I'm not sure if these will exactly fit the bill for horror for you, but they scratched a similar genre itch for me:
- The Terror - Dan Simmons
- Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M Danforth
I watched The Terror tv series and loved it, although I know the book is a bit different. Have you read The Hunger by Alma Katsu? Apparatus she wrote it as basically a spiritual followup, also being historical horror
I am slowly going through The Wandering Inn. Without spoiling things I'm loving the utility of a door.
Really enjoying this series, too. (wanderinginn.com) Amazing amount of output from the author, and while there's no way you can enjoy every plot thread (I just don't care for Flos), it's amazing how often I get excited when a new chapter starts from a new perspective.
Personally, I'm also working on "When the Clock Broke" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195790601-when-the-clock-broke and "This America of Ours" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58311951-this-america-of-ours
Both are interesting reads, but "America" is definitely largely lighter material ..(wild, given it's about McCarthy-era politics)
Just started with Scalzi's Starter Villain. No opinion yet. But it's short, so I should have one soon.
I just finished Lessons in Chemistry. It started of a little dark but quickly turns into a roller coaster slice of life novel that secretly weaves a series of plot points before coming to a heartwarming end. I am starting Meditations by Marcus Aurelius with annotations for context.
I’ll probably also read a second lighter book in-between sections of Meditation cuz it’s a dense book.Just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, and haven't picked out what I'm reading next.
I think this is one of those I should have dropped rather than power through. I liked the story, but the writing style just wasn't for me: poetic, but verbose verging on purple, imo. Is all his work like this? I vaguely remember reading "There Will Come Soft Rains" a long time ago, but I don't remember how it was written. Also, I thought this was going to be Halloween-related, but it really isn't.
Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1962), Family Drama, (maybe) Plays With Words, Bookception (hard), Now a Major Motion Picture, It's About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.
Yeah, sometimes it's better to just drop the book rather than force it. Life is too short for bad books.
I am working my way through the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. I'm on The State of the Art which is an anthology. All of the books up to this point have been EXCELLENT, especially Use of Weapons which is one of the best science fiction books I've ever read. Usually with the space opera genre and perhaps sci-fi in general, you land somewhere on a sliding scale between imaginative concepts and good writing, but Banks is one of the few that hits top marks in both areas.
Just finished King's Fairy Tale. Almost started the dark tower series, but then remembered that I needed to read Moby-Dick. So, that's what I'm reading now.
Fairy Tale was great! Talisman is another great book in that vein.
I liked it. It was a fun book. I switched gears to the lotr trilogy now. My son has been wanting to watch the movies with me, but I wanted to read the books first. Little man will have to wait a bit. Lol
Working my way through book 5 of He Who Fights With Monsters.
Tap for spoiler
Jason has just been diverted from Japan to Indonesia as shit is fucked up.
I'm reading A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time Book 14!). I'm only about halfway through and so far it's been good but I liked the books leading up to it more. We'll see how the second half goes.
I didn't like how the books ended. Felt a bit anti-climatic to me. But at that point I was just glad that we got an ending.
How are you finding Lovecraft so far? Do you have a favourite out of what you've read so far?
I'm carrying on with Deathlands (of course) but this week I have been throwing in some R L Stine Goosebumps books. I spoke about liking them as a kid with my gf recently and it made me want to revist a few titles I remember as I don't remember the stories themselves.
I have only read a few, there were a couple nice ones, but IMO his earlier work isn't that great.
Though it could just be his use of archaic language that I can't get used to. But I remember liking some of his work that I have read before, so maybe I'll like his later work more.
Do share how the Goosebumps books are, I am constantly looking for books for my kids, that he can read now, and that I can get him in near future
I've read most of his library. Some favorites:
- At the Mountains of Madness
- The Mound
- Dagon
- Shadow Over Innsmouth
- Duma Key
- The Shambler of the Stars
- Nyarlathotep
- Unknown Kadath
- Wanderer in Darkness
- The Temple
Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dream Quest to Unknown Kadath are probably my favourites although on the whole I enjoyed most of them!
A History of Medieval Europe, from Constantine to Saint Louis. by R.H.C. Davis
Also reading some books about C++ and object oriented design patterns.
That sounds nice. I have read a few history books here and there, but nothing containing proper history of Europe. How are you liking it?
Oooh, nice. Which design patterns book are you reading? I recently started Design Pattern by the Gang of Four, have studied design patterns, but never read the book, so finally taking care of that.
The history book is excellent. It's so interesting to see how society changes over time, and all the power games. Wow, they were violent though.
I have the same design patterns book. It's actually more difficult than the C++ book. But it makes more sense now that I'm using C++ (I tried reading the design patterns book when I was just using JavaScript and it was harder to imagine how to implement the ideas).
Finished Words of Radiance, started Oathbringer.
They hit pretty hard back to back with the end of one and right out of the gate in the other.
Getting ready for Wind and Truth?
I might have just bought the whole series as hardcovers (target has pretty solid pricing for their books, even the preorder of Wind and Truth was only $25 shipped) as part of a binge inspired by random friends in another community convincing me I should have physical copies of some of my favorites, lol. But yeah, I'll definitely be impatiently waiting in the finale for a good month.
Cool about Drizzt! I enjoyed (what I read of) The Dark Elf trilogy.. I forget how much I read, but, very cool world-building.
I finally finished books 1 and 2 of The Kingkiller books (Rothfuss) and thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm now onto Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.
I really want to read The Kingkiller books, but not going to until the series is finished. Too many unfinished series in my life.
I might be in the minority on this, but even though the story arc is VERY unfinished, I still came away with the feeling that I just read some great stories, I know (and like) the main character very well, many of the 2000 pages made me smile broadly and/or well up with tears a few times. No regrets here, even if bk 3 never comes out. But I also do totally hear you. It'll be worth the wait (and it's gotta be coming... someday.... lol).
At the moment, I am still reading "Amadeo Bordiga in the Italian Communist Party" by Agustín Guillamón. Additionally, I have started "Anatomy of an Epidemic" by Robert Whitaker, which critiques the solutions that current psychiatry proposes in Western societies; it specifically focuses on the United States.
Oh that second book piqued my interest! Onto the downloading list it goes.
That first Passage book starts out so strong, and then just changes to a completely different (and far less interesting) book about 1/3 of the way in. It’s bizarre. I’m surprised you decided to read the sequel. Book one just felt like the publisher pushed Cronin to write a lame walking dead rip off.
Haha, agreed, that was bit jarring when it happened, but then I got used to the characters. I will probably read the third book too, but I don't think I am going to recommend the series to anyone else. At least if I like them 😀
I just finished (audiobook) The Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno. I am not really a regular reader of horror, but I dug this one a lot.
I've checked out (via Libby) Rakesfall by Vjara Chandrasekara, but haven't started it yet.
We are legion (we are bob)
That's an interesting concept. Though they synopsis just reminded me of a horror-ish short story I read about similar topic, so not happy about that.
There's a black Mirror episode where they make a cookie and the make it into the brain of a smart home / assistant of their real self. Don't remember the episode, but a horrific concept considering how they make the cookie comply by essentially torturing it.
The Twisted Ones.
Not a huge fan of how this author writes, but I think it's an interesting enough mystery so far.
I had similar issues with The Hollow Places, and it put me off reading any more of her horror titles. I do like T. Kingfisher's fairy tale-inspired stuff, however; that kind of voice meshes a lot better with that genre, imo.
I may have to give that a try after this one. Thanks for the heads up, 👍🏾
Just started Blindsight by Peter Watts. Haven't gotten far yet, but so far it seems interesting
Fiction: Currently reading "The empty chair" from the Lincoln Rhyme series by Jeffery Deaver. I am liking it so far and it is good distraction.
Non fiction: "The psychedelic explorer's guide. Safe, therapeutic and sacred journeys" by James Fadiman. Some I like, some I don't but it is interesting learning about somebody else's experience.
I just started Alaska by James Michener today. It's very good so far! I am considering rereading The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann after this. Nothing cozier than a nice delve into a good long story.