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What Are You Reading?


Kohloo

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What are you currently reading, have read recently, or are planning to read?

Right now I'm rereading the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. I just finished The Golden Compass (the first book) and am waiting for the ebook rental from the library for The Subtle Knife. I used to enjoy these books in my pre-teen/early teen years, and it's fun having something light to read for a change

The most recent set of books I've finished is the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. I was introduced to the first book thanks to an online book club I was briefly running, I enjoyed it enough to continue reading the rest! 

I'd like to get back into the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons though. I finished the first two books, Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Now I just need to get my hands on Endymion as well as The Rise of Endymion. Sadly though, the local library doesn't have them available, so I'll need to wait until I can purchase them. 

And one of these days, I'll finish rereading the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Again though, the local library is missing physical copies, aside from the first book, Dune itself. Which means I'll need to purchase copies of Dune Messiah and all the rest as well. 

 

A book I've read recently that I strongly don't recommend though? Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. I read the whole thing, amazingly, but it made me extremely uncomfortable for the majority of it. I have a word to describe it, but it's a very inappropriate word for a family friendly forum.

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I just can't seem to find the time to read stuff besides for work. Something I have tried to do is to catch up more on non-Western literature. I did start reading some of Tolstoy but because I had too much on my hands I dropped it again. Once I get settled in with all the work stuff, I hope to continue it though 😂 

15 hours ago, Wedgy said:

Born A Crime (Trevor Noah)

What did you think of it? I'm considering reading this in the near future

Edited by Illusion of Terra
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17 hours ago, Kohloo said:

A book I've read recently that I strongly don't recommend though? Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons.

I'm pretty sure I read the novella version of that in Omni back in the day.  Not my thing either.

I can't really say I'm currently reading it but I've had Stephenson's Seveneves on my nightstand for quite a few weeks now.  If I ever get the time that's what I read.

 

2 minutes ago, Illusion of Terra said:

I just can't seem to find the time to read stuff besides for work.

Yep..

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I used to have the same problem here, not ever finding time/motivation to read. As for Andy (my boyfriend), he didn't enjoy reading because he's dyslexic and it takes him a long time to finish a book. 

It's become part of usual routine to relax at bedtime and read before we go to sleep though. I love it because it's getting me reading more, and he loves it because he's actually enjoying reading now. Plus, making a point of having some no-screen downtime before I sleep is a huge positive for me. It's impossible for me to sleep a whole night through (I'm constantly waking up), so being mindful of what I'm doing the hour or so before bed helps at least make it more bearable!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just started reading Brandon Sanderson's 'Mistborn: The Final Empire' as well.

shadow-of-the-conqueror.thumb.jpg.446e5072e96de0ae8a60f24503218474.jpg

I hope to read Shad Brook's 'Shadows of the Conquerer' as well, as I'm a big fan of his YouTube channel (Shadiversity is it's name. If you like medieval stuff, especially swords, he's your man. He's also into his fantasy and is a confirmed weeb).

Shameless plug - I'm actually trying to read more fantasy books with heavy worldbuilding so I can improve my own writing for a science/space fantasy series I'm working on.

 

 

Ah yes, I've also read about 100 different books and journal articles for my MA research project, but I won't list them as I'm frankly sick of the sight of them lol.

Edited by RZ.
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15 hours ago, RZ. said:

Shameless plug - I'm actually trying to read more fantasy books with heavy worldbuilding so I can improve my own writing for a science/space fantasy series I'm working on.

If you want more inspo, check out the "DemonWars Saga" by RA Salvatore! The world building for this fantasy series is so immersive. By far the most creative I've read so far for this genre. 

Also, as a child I remember my brother going on and on about the "Redwall" novel series, and his imagination for writing grew leaps and bounds. This is a childrens fantasy series by Brian Jacques, but Im sure he has more grown up series as well, so maybe you've heard of him.

 

@The History Kid have you read "The Other America"? Its a good history of the industrial revolution, although I don't believe in the authors socialist views of economy I still enjoyed the read.

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2 hours ago, Seshi said:

If you want more inspo, check out the "DemonWars Saga" by RA Salvatore! The world building for this fantasy series is so immersive. By far the most creative I've read so far for this genre. 

Also, as a child I remember my brother going on and on about the "Redwall" novel series, and his imagination for writing grew leaps and bounds. This is a childrens fantasy series by Brian Jacques, but Im sure he has more grown up series as well, so maybe you've heard of him.

Thank you, I shall defintiely check them out! I'm more of a watcher/listener than a reader so my literary knowledge isn't great. The only book series I've ever read in its entirety was the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowicz. Taking up writing probably wasn't the smartest move, all things considered, but I don't care :D

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  • 3 months later...

Just got 2 new books that I can't wait to dig into: 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins(this is the prequel to The Hunger Games series)

The Outsider by Stephen King

As much as I love anime, I'm also an avid reader so it will feel good to get back into an actual book again. The weather should be good over the next few days so I may very well pack a small lunch & spend a few hours outside reading in the nearby park. 

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  • 5 months later...

I recently picked up a set of Douglas Adams books at the thrift store for cheap. It’s got the five Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books and the Dirk Gently books. I just finished the Hitchhikers books (what fun reads those were!) and now I’ve just started Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. 

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  • 1 month later...

Just picked up the books I was currently missing from the Leopard series by Christine Feehan. If anyone likes books based on shape shifters, survival, crime and romance I highly suggest any of her series. I actually believe her newest series isn't paranormal related at all. Sounds like a series about romance and biker guys, lmao.

Anyway, definitely check out her books (forwarn the romance parts can be quite detailed and may be a little much for some).

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Started the 12 Kingdoms series,  (had an anime adaption) and its pretty good. Isekai before Isekai became a thing (well, the trope already existed but it wasn't a huge thing in the 90s) and with a female protagonist thrown without anything into a pretty dark world. Also, the language isn't too hard, though it uses a bit too few kanji which sometimes make it harder to understand. Also read the original novel of welcome to the NHK (way harder, with some pretty complex kanji) and it manages to be even more depressing. I heard the eng translation is pretty good, so I can only recommend it since it's genuinely a good novel completely detached from the anime.

I though about reading Earthsea some time ago, but I might finish the Arséne Lupin books before that. Really liking the gentleman criminal vibes; might prefer it over Sherlock Holmes even!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Pulled down an old favorite from the bookshelf; Mayflies, by Kevin O'Donnell Jr.  Kind of a cross between Brian Aldiss's Starship and Anne McCaffrey 's The Ship Who Sang.  The protagonist literally loses his head (or would that be body?) during an earthquake and by a quirk of circumstance the brain is kept alive.  Supposedly brain-dead, it is reprogrammed as the core of the computer controlling a generation ship.  Only he's not dead, just traumatized and catatonic.  As his human mind fights to regain consciousness he accidentally knocks out the ship's drive a few months after launch, and the programmed part is unable to recover due to its rigid programming that didn't take such a failure mode into consideration.  "Flames dance in a circle of lightning.  The flames perceive the lightning not.  The lightning scoffs at the notion of flame."  Thanks to a politicized selection process the passengers on the ship are .. not the Earth's best-or-brightest, and now instead of a 15 year trip they have a few thousand years to kill.  Struggle within to overcome and/or integrate the two minds (not to mention a god complex), cultural conflict over several generations among the passengers, and of course an alien encounter or two along the way make this a fun and interesting read.

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Kenji Miyazawa - Once and Forever

Came across an old bare-bones html website a while ago on this interesting poet. Out of curiosity, I picked up a translated collection of his stories. The tales so far have been simplistic and folksy, but incredibly comfy reads. Miyazawa's stories have been adapted into children's anime, so I might go poking around for those after I finish the book.

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  • 3 months later...

Finished reading Shingeki no Kyojin and now about to finish Haikyuu! They're all pretty interesting. I think I'll go for Hunter x Hunter, I watched the anime but never touched the manga, though.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Juggling a couple books (I need to free up some time D:)

The Drawing Lesson, Mark Crilley (it's mostly basics, but I love this dude's tutorials and support him whenever I can. It's a cute book. Would be good for beginner artists)

What the Hell Did I Just Read?, David Wong (Sequel to John Dies at the End)

The Metamorphosis and other Stories, Franz Kafka (this is a re-read...and I am slowly plodding through)

 

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  • 2 months later...

For Christmas Mom got me a copy of First Person Singular, so I'm over halfway through it. Pretty good. I can't say I like it more than After Dark or The Elephant Vanishes (both of the short story books are really frickin' good), but it's got me thinking about memory and stuff like that.

 

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Currently reading "Brave New World
This book is for my Honors English class, and we are digging deeper into Utopian societies, and my teacher explained how this book is just like that.
My brother takes the same class i'm in (But he is a Junior *supposed to be a senior*) and he takes AP English, and soon CCP English which will get him his
college credits . 
My English teacher teaches AP, IB, and CCP English, so me and my brother have the same teacher, despite us being in different grades. :)

My brother read "Brave New World" In the past when he was a Sophomore, and he said...and I quote "HATED" the book. Considering it makes no sense and it's 
hard to keep up with. Now, I am going to begin reading chapters 1-2, since it's a assignment for my class, and I'll be the judge whether the book is good or not. :P
But that will take me some time to get through the ENTIRE book. 

Anyhoo -- Have you read "Brave New World" ? If so, what are YOUR thoughts on it? Maybe give me a mini review to see what challenges I have ahead? 
Much appreciated, enjoy your reads!

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