Books / Lit What you reading thread?

[Quagmire]

Figured we need one of these

Currently Into the Narrowdark, the third book in the Last King of Osten Ard series. Great series, sequel to Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which was inspiration for A ong of Ice & FIre

Shepherd's Crown, last discworld and last Tiffany Aching book. Love both series and I think Tiffany is his best work

 

[Gloom-is-good]

I just finished Flowers in the Attic.. not sure if I want to continue reading the rest of that series

 

[MC74]

Revisiting the entire Lord of the Rings lore right from the very beginning. Originally planned to watch the series as usual since it's part of my yearly Christmas tradition, but I decided to take it a step further this year.

 

[Quagmire]

Revisiting the entire Lord of the Rings lore right from the very beginning. Originally planned to watch the series as usual since it's part of my yearly Christmas tradition, but I decided to take it a step further this year.

It's kind of funny, I love Fantasy, but I have zero interest in the Lord of the Rings. I like the ones that are more political/local conflicts in nature, so that is probably why. The traditional fantasy that Tolkien built is important, and there isnt what I love today without him, but just doesnt do it for me.

 

[MC74]

It's kind of funny, I love Fantasy, but I have zero interest in the Lord of the Rings. I like the ones that are more political/local conflicts in nature, so that is probably why. The traditional fantasy that Tolkien built is important, and there isnt what I love today without him, but just doesnt do it for me.

Yeah, makes sense if political/local conflicts are more or less what you're into. But agreed, Tolkien's work is important. He at least deserves the credit & recognition for the effort he's put into his craft.

 

[Quagmire]

Finished reading Daughter of the Forrest

It's historical fantasy that takes place in Britain, really enjoyed it. It's mysterious, tense, cozy and alien all at the same time and features a very strong female lead. It is bittersweet which is my favorite type of story

Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters, #1)

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of…

www.goodreads.com

 

[Nae'blis]

Currently re-reading Unseen Academicals, by Pratchett.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Brandon Sanderson's new Stormlight book just came out, so that.

 

[Quagmire]

Brandon Sanderson's new Stormlight book just came out, so that.

I used to be a huge fan, but after his editor change (first book with was Rhythm of War) I have lost a lot of interest

It could be me, but I reread the first three stormlight books before RoW and enjoyed them still, but really had a hard time with RoW and then the Mistborn Book that came out after that.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I didn't know this, but I also did not enjoy Rhythm of War as much as the first three. I attributed it being a middle book and character fatigue. Took me a while to get through it.

I really liked the last Mistborn book, though. Wayne is one of my favorite characters in his books.

 

[Quagmire]

I didn't know this, but I also did not enjoy Rhythm of War as much as the first three. I attributed it being a middle book and character fatigue. Took me a while to get through it.

I really liked the last Mistborn book, though. Wayne is one of my favorite characters in his books.

Im not a huge Wayne fan, it was fine until the last book. I feel with his last two big Cosmere books (I havent read any of the secret projects) Sanderson has tipped too far into the marvel joke/one liners direction and found myself cringing in a lot more scenes than I was before which is where I kind of come down to the editor change here. I didnt know there was a change until after I read ROW and I could tell something felt different

Now I really did like Steris and Marasi in era 2 though and enjoyed their growth

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Sanderson has tipped too far into the marvel joke/one liners direction and found myself cringing in a lot more scenes than I was before which is where I kind of come down to the editor change here.

Okay, I did notice that. I think some of it has to do with the Cosmere tie ins becoming more frequent due to world hopping and the fact that these secrets were more cryptic about how interconnected the worlds are. Now that so many characters are crossing paths and moving between worlds, it feels a lot more like a Marvel universe.

For the most part I think his main characters are still solidly in place how they were intended but many of the ancillary characters are bordering on one note, and have become a little too playful. Almost like he's veering into fanfic of his current work. I see that more with people like Lift, Syl, some of the wind runners.

I also think he knows his main criticisms are his ability to write deeper characters. I think he is consciously trying to inject personality into his characters rather than using them as plot movers, which, when it isn't your strength, is more noticeable. He builds incredible worlds, magic systems, and action, but his weakness has always been character building.

I'm still fully invested. I think he wanted to evolve Stormlight specifically into less of a typical high fantasy Tolkien/GoT into more of the Marvel/DC deal because he's varied his book settings, and it only makes sense that he wants to encompass multiple genres with it.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

I have the new Stormlight book on my Kindle and ready to read on the cross country flights I'm about to take.

I did enjoy the first 3 books more than the latest one, but I still enjoyed the 4th one quite a bit. And I agree with Tom about the second generation of the Mistborn series. I'm going to try and catch up on some other reading I fell behind on this year as well, and if I can get through this book, I'll comment on what I decided to go to next.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I'm on exactly page 100 of book 5 right now. It feels way more light hearted than the previous ones. I'm sure it'll change but it's almost silly in spots.

 

[Spiner202]

I am reading Shock of Gray by Ted Fishman. It's a bit old now, but it discusses some of the challenges related to aging and how the world will respond to a larger percentage of individuals being older.

The book has some interesting information, but I don't love how it is written. It alternates between chapters that are a case study on a specific part of the world and how they deal with aging, and then smaller chapters that are more information-based on getting older. I find the latter chapters more compelling, but the former are way longer.

 

[Quagmire]

Currently reading The Secret Pilgrim by Jean le Carre, I've read a lot of his stuff and enjoyed it all, but this one Im having a hard time getting into. I liked the set up, but havent really gotten to that resolution, or if we did it was lacking. Feels like a bunch of short stories about the main character's past.

One thing I will say, the current paper backs for his novels, the covers are drop dead gorgeous

First dozen ish are a good sample of what the covers look like

 

[bittersweet]

I'm currently reading Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf. Just finished reading The Man from Waco by Joan Johnston and William W. Johnstone.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Should have found this thread sooner, because for all of the things that I don't have time for in real life right now, reading is not one of them.

I'm reading Rhythm of War at the moment. I only started reading Stormlight in September, and will take a break before moving on to the most recent book. I'm about half way through. So far I absolutely loved the first two, but felt like Oathbringer was a bit more difficult to get through. No issues with Rhythm of War so far. Even when I criticise these books it feels minor, because they are just so, so good.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Should have found this thread sooner, because for all of the things that I don't have time for in real life right now, reading is not one of them.

I'm reading Rhythm of War at the moment. I only started reading Stormlight in September, and will take a break before moving on to the most recent book. I'm about half way through. So far I absolutely loved the first two, but felt like Oathbringer was a bit more difficult to get through. No issues with Rhythm of War so far. Even when I criticise these books it feels minor, because they are just so, so good.

Assuming you've read other Sanderson books? The fifth one so far references a lot of his other work.

I'm 400 pages into 5, it's very good.

Obv, I can't judge it yet but Words of Radiance is still my favorite. I loved Oathbreaker, too with the Dalinar backstory. I found book 4 but far the weakest as but still solid.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

I'm a bit over 500 pages into the latest one so far. I'm liking it, but yes it makes the most sense of you've read other cosmere stuff. If you haven't read Mistborn yet I'd highly recommend that before continuing with Stormlight.

Elantris is a good one off. A bit simpler as I think it was his first work. But there are some one offs that are pretty easy to get through that are referenced throughout as well.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

Warbreaker is my favorite one off, Nightblood is so much fun.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

That's the one I was trying to be think of the name for! Yes that's a great one.

 

[bittersweet]

Dream Town by David Baldacci.

 

[bittersweet]

Dream Town by David Baldacci.

Reading this physically.

And this digitally...

Legacy's Edge (The Claimed Realm, Book #1) by Marc Alan Edelheit

 

[Quagmire]

I'm a bit over 500 pages into the latest one so far. I'm liking it, but yes it makes the most sense of you've read other cosmere stuff. If you haven't read Mistborn yet I'd highly recommend that before continuing with Stormlight.

Elantris is a good one off. A bit simpler as I think it was his first work. But there are some one offs that are pretty easy to get through that are referenced throughout as well.

Elantris I think has one of his best characters in Hrathen

 

[Quagmire]

Hitting a classic with Wuthering Heights

And then a fun alternative universe with monsters set during a Victorian-esq era murder mystery in Murder on the Lamplight Express

 

[BigDaddy]

I just started reading Warbreaker the other day and am liking it so far. Previously from Sanderson, I have read the first Mistborn trilogy. After Warbreaker I plan to jump into the Stormlight Archive.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Assuming you've read other Sanderson books? The fifth one so far references a lot of his other work.

I'm 400 pages into 5, it's very good.

Obv, I can't judge it yet but Words of Radiance is still my favorite. I loved Oathbreaker, too with the Dalinar backstory. I found book 4 but far the weakest as but still solid.

I have, yes. The first six Mistborn books, Elantris and Tess in terms of Cosmere. I've read Reckoners as well, but obviously that's not Cosmere.

 

[Spiner202]

I am almost done reading AI Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor.

These guys are two AI researchers who try to dispel myths about AI in the book. They recognize that there are a lot of great things AI can do, but the focus of the book is almost entirely negative/disproving claims about AI. It's a pretty interesting read, although sometimes I feel like they dispute things by saying "we did the research, trust us". I'm sure they did do the research and that it would be impractical to show their work, but it also feels a little simplistic.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I am almost done reading AI Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor.

These guys are two AI researchers who try to dispel myths about AI in the book. They recognize that there are a lot of great things AI can do, but the focus of the book is almost entirely negative/disproving claims about AI. It's a pretty interesting read, although sometimes I feel like they dispute things by saying "we did the research, trust us". I'm sure they did do the research and that it would be impractical to show their work, but it also feels a little simplistic.

I listened to a fair few episodes of Better Offline, which is critical of quite a lot of things happening in the tech world at the moment. Its AI episodes were interesting, and I feel like it may have quoted from those two.

 

[Kat]

I got to the last book in the pile I bought from Powell's a while back, called Exadelic. Have you ever seen videos where somebody has a computer play something like Mario and it takes advantage of weird glitches to jump diagonally through blocks and whatnot? The premise of this book is somebody accidentally creates an artificial super intelligence which figures out how to do that with reality.

It sounds interesting and like it could become philosophical, but it mostly ends up being a social commentary on the tech industry and how rich and powerful people become completely detached from their humanity. And the protagonist is a tech bro who constantly whines about how he never wanted any of the hardship he's experiencing, so that's exhausting.

All I've taken away from it is I need to be better supervised when I'm book shopping.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

At page 500 in Wind and Truth and I'm hitting a wall... typical Sanderson mid-book slowness creeping in, even though the story is bouncing around to 5 perspectives. Problem is, 3 of them are a lot of info dumping and set up. Even the battle perspective is of a siege, so it's kind of slow. I've only been able to do 25-30 pages a night the last few days.

In Stormlight, I always get hooked on the first 400 or so pages, 400 - 700 typically take a lot of focus and the longest amount of time, and then 800 through the end is full Sanderslanche (or Sanderslide to some) to the end where I can't put it down.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

At page 500 in Wind and Truth and I'm hitting a wall... typical Sanderson mid-book slowness creeping in, even though the story is bouncing around to 5 perspectives. Problem is, 3 of them are a lot of info dumping and set up. Even the battle perspective is of a siege, so it's kind of slow. I've only been able to do 25-30 pages a night the last few days.

In Stormlight, I always get hooked on the first 400 or so pages, 400 - 700 typically take a lot of focus and the longest amount of time, and then 800 through the end is full Sanderslanche (or Sanderslide to some) to the end where I can't put it down.

I'm probably slightly ahead of you at the moment, but I haven't been able to read for a bit for different reasons. I'll be getting back at it soon, and then reading a bunch on my flight home Tuesday.

 

[Kat]

I finished my book. It was very confusing the way it went in the end, like the protagonist learned absolutely nothing. Then I read the blurb about the author and realized he's a real life tech bro, and it suddenly made sense. Sigh. I feel kinda dirty having that book in my head now.

I think I'll go back to the Foundation series now. Sometimes it's better to stick with the classics.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

I'm probably slightly ahead of you at the moment, but I haven't been able to read for a bit for different reasons. I'll be getting back at it soon, and then reading a bunch on my flight home Tuesday.

I just got to 600, luckily its getting more interesting, but the focus on the history of the world is less interesting than the regular timeline. It's cool getting some answers about why the story is set in motion, but its long.

I'm also back and forth on the Szeth portion of the story. It's cool seeing his point of view, and his beliefs are so different than everyone else, but its a slog. I bet the payoff will be huge because the book is called Wind and Truth, with him being Truthless from the beginning.

I can't wait for the bombastic end, its been a long time coming and I'm now at the halfway point. The Sanderslide should be starting up soon.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

I just got to 600, luckily its getting more interesting, but the focus on the history of the world is less interesting than the regular timeline. It's cool getting some answers about why the story is set in motion, but its long.

I'm also back and forth on the Szeth portion of the story. It's cool seeing his point of view, and his beliefs are so different than everyone else, but its a slog. I bet the payoff will be huge because the book is called Wind and Truth, with him being Truthless from the beginning.

I can't wait for the bombastic end, its been a long time coming and I'm now at the halfway point. The Sanderslide should be starting up soon.

I can tell you that it's starting to pick up more. I'm beyond page 700 now and there's some more action happening in almost all of the various plotlines. So yeah you're right for it being soon.

 

[The Eye in the Sky!]

You were right, I'm just about at 700 now. I was only going to read 30 pages last night and ended up continuing on another 60 more than that. It's getting interesting, things are starting to come to a head.

 

[A Fifth of a Million]

You were right, I'm just about at 700 now. I was only going to read 30 pages last night and ended up continuing on another 60 more than that. It's getting interesting, things are starting to come to a head.

Lol yup..it switched on pretty quick right there.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I think I'll go back to the Foundation series now. Sometimes it's better to stick with the classics.

Sorry if you've answered this before and I have noticed, but where are you up to with it? I've read a fair few classic sci fi heavy hitters over the past couple of years, and I thought Foundation was fairly middle of the road, by which I mean I enjoyed it and it did have some moments which made me appreciate its classic status, but I equally felt that it also read in parts like the dated book that it obviously is. That's in contrast to some classics that I just think are fantastic even reading them now (like Childhood's End and Flowers for Algernon), and ones that I think are just straight up terrible (Starship Troopers). It didn't make me want to read further into the series though. Is it worth doing that bearing in mind my impression of the first book?

 

[Kat]

Sorry if you've answered this before and I have noticed, but where are you up to with it? I've read a fair few classic sci fi heavy hitters over the past couple of years, and I thought Foundation was fairly middle of the road, by which I mean I enjoyed it and it did have some moments which made me appreciate its classic status, but I equally felt that it also read in parts like the dated book that it obviously is. That's in contrast to some classics that I just think are fantastic even reading them now (like Childhood's End and Flowers for Algernon), and ones that I think are just straight up terrible (Starship Troopers). It didn't make me want to read further into the series though. Is it worth doing that bearing in mind my impression of the first book?

I've read the first two or three, I think. The series is a bit dry without much character development. Even though that gets a bit better as the series progresses, there are so many large time jumps that you aren't going to get attached to any particular person. I like that style of writing, but if you weren't into the first one, you probably won't have a much different opinion of the following ones. I mean, Apple turning the first fifty pages of the first book into an entire season of TV tells you all you need to know there. It might be the only TV adaptation I know of where they had to add extra detail instead of taking it out.

IMO you will only enjoy his books if you're interested in the concept being played with. I, Robot (my personal favorite of his) is similar: the character development is minimal but the different scenarios of troubleshooting problems of an intelligent robot are quite entertaining if you're interested in that kind of thing. If you aren't interested in technical problems like that, it'll bore you to tears.

I'll let you know if I have a different opinion after reading more of it.