What book(s) are you reading right now?

[akugami]

I liked the Wheel of Time, and the best part about it is the world building, but there were too many side stories that added nothing to the series. Overall I enjoyed the series, but Robert Jordan could have used someone to give him a swift kick in the rear with his later books in the series and told him to get to the point faster.

I think up to about book 6 (The Lord of Chaos) it was still a decent read, but still could use the removal of a few chapters here and there. The problem is the books after that should be chopped in half. For example, you could probably remove about 80% of Winter's Heart without affecting the overall series. And some of the bulk of the series in the last three books when Brandon Sanderson took over was needed to tie up the many unnecessary plot lines, and some still didn't get resolved.

RIP James Oliver Rigney Jr.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

The Occult Sciences, Vol. 2 of 2: The Philosophy of Magic, Prodigies, and Apparent Miracles by Eusèbe Salverte in 1847
Fascinating to read about various techniques or substances people once attributed to supernatural agency, which were typically leveraged to deceive them into belief in their gods. e.g. poisons, phosphorus, gunpowder, meteorology, alchemy etc Some editor has gone and added footnotes throughout the book, that flesh out historical examples, or even question the author's technical savvy. Translated from French.
I've ordered volume 1 now.

Ice Age Civilizations, by James Nienhuis 2008
Author figured out how ancients measured the earth/navigated. And contends that history/archeology community doesn't want to recognize a recent dating of sunken offshore megalithic ruins, because it belies their early date for the ice age at 10k years ago.

 

[dainthomas]

I'm reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
I liked some of the Amazon series and wanted to read the source material.

It's ok. Not exceptional. It almost seems like it was written specifically for teenagers. Very little exposition as to why some things are the way they are, why some characters are evil. A bunch of people who grew up together suddenly acting based on base impulses such as pride or jealousy, when there is every reason to work toward shared goals and unite.
And the 'heroic' character just seems to be strong enough to overcome anything, with the bad guys only surviving though deception.

I'm on book three of twelve. It may get better. So far it's ok to read for half an hour before bed. I would recommend it if you like fantasy settings, want to explore a new world with lots of lore, or you like the Amazon series and want to see what the source material is about.

I've listened to the audiobooks. Actually goes a lot faster when you can sort of tune out Jordan's verbose descriptions.

Book four is probably the best of the early ones in terms of action (and is also the longest). Then they become slower and kind of erratic in terms of quality, but really pick up in the last three when Sanderson takes over. Overall a worthwhile series, I'd say.

 

[MrSquished]

Just finished Litte Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - book club book - overall good book tackling societal themes in an interesting story with some cool characters. Nothing amazing but a good book set in the '90s near where she grew up in Ohio, a planned suburb called Shaker which was setup as a sort of Utopia.

 

[JujuFish]

but really pick up in the last three when Sanderson takes over.

Jordan's last book picks up quite a bit, from what I remember, though it's been a while. I wonder how he would have fared if he hadn't had his illness.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Some books I've gone through or have started:

Dungeon Crawler Carl book 1 - Was free through Prime last I checked, not available through any of my connected digital libraries. LitRPG is certainly new to me, but it seems this series is a great example of it. Some guy gets dropped into a RL dungeon with other people, mobs, fun items/armor and some interesting background lore. I really enjoyed this book, especially as someone who was into RPGs and WoW, some folks complain about reading the item descriptions but I liked that a lot. Overall I loved book 1 and will go through the series.

Murderbot diaries 1-3 read, on 4 right now - I cannot recommend these short books enough, especially the audiobooks. I am extremely glad I went with the audio versions of these. Kevin Free does an awesome job of voicing Murderbot and giving him the semi apathetic, anxious energy that a lot of tech folks will probably identify with. I know I did.

Station Eleven - ~30% percent through. Entertaining enough so far.

Blake Crouch Novels: Dark Matter(a couple years ago), Upgrade(~6 months ago), Recursion(last month) - Always fun easily readable romps. Some nice intro to sci-fi types of reading with Recursion being the most in-depth. I usually get these on audio when other stuff is on hold or I can't find anything else.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

An Examen of Witches, by Henry Boguet

Compiled in the late sixteenth century by the chief justice who served as a French inquisitor, this is the definitive witch-hunter's handbook. It recounts the practices of witches at the time, and assesses the truth of claimed deeds. Interesting read, I must say - learning so many reasons why.
Second half of the book outlines procedures followed by judges in trying witchcraft cases.

 

[BudAshes]

An Examen of Witches, by Henry Boguet

Compiled in the late sixteenth century by the chief justice who served as a French inquisitor, this is the definitive witch-hunter's handbook. It recounts the practices of witches at the time, and assesses the truth of claimed deeds. Interesting read, I must say - learning so many reasons why.
Second half of the book outlines procedures followed by judges in trying witchcraft cases.

Sounds legit.

 

[KlokWyze]

Ice Age Civilizations, by James Nienhuis 2008
Author figured out how ancients measured the earth/navigated. And contends that history/archeology community doesn't want to recognize a recent dating of sunken offshore megalithic ruins, because it belies their early date for the ice age at 10k years ago.

I thought it was common knowledge that about 22,000 years ago sea levels were about 100m lower, which would significantly expose much more land mass near current coasts. I think it's fairly obvious many of the megalithic structures are older than a lot of archeologists have previously guessed. Need to develop a method of somehow dating inorganic material to accurately date a lot of the monoliths.

 

[IronWing]

I just finished The Los Alamos Primer by Robert Serber

When the Manhattan Project ramped up at Los Alamos, there was a need to quickly bring arriving scientists up to speed on the bomb project. To do so, Robert Serber presented a series of five lectures providing a snapshot of what was known about building an atomic bomb and the work remaining. The book presents the original lecture notes and later annotations by Robert Serber. The book is very short but quite good. The reader would get more out of it by reading Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb first.

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I'm now starting Richard Rhodes' Arsenals of Folly.

https://www.amazon.com/Arsenals-Folly-Making-Nuclear-Arms/dp/0375713948/

 

[KMFJD]

1493:Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

 

[MrSquished]

Just finished Animal by Lisa Taddeo for last week's book club. A totally raw feminist book raging against thousands of years of the patriarchy via this whole metaphorical story. Also some unique prose with killer sentences that just hit hard and uniquely. It can be a bit haphazard at times but as an overall package, super powerful. Highly recommend.

 

[Muse]

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, M.D.

Exceptionally well written and conceived self help book. Was on the NYTimes best seller list for over 100 straight weeks in the 1970s. He was a practicing psychiatrist.

 

[igor_kavinski]

The reader would get more out of it by reading Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb first.

I believe the atomic bomb's only valid use would be blasting it a million miles away from a secluded ice planet in space to heat it up a bit and make it slightly more habitable. How ironic it would be hundreds or thousands of years from now when this uncontrolled reaction of chaos will be used to sustain life, instead of destroying it.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Highly recommend.

What would you rather have? A woman who supports man or a woman who enslaves him? Coz feminism kinda reeks of the latter.

 

[snoopy7548]

 

[jacobss]

The Green Mile, i watched a film before, is it worth reading it all ? who knows ?

 

[highland145]

Just finished Baldacci's The Edge. Decent. Starting Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly. Free via the public library.

 

[MrSquished]

What would you rather have? A woman who supports man or a woman who enslaves him? Coz feminism kinda reeks of the latter.

This is what you have in common with MAGA, your warped view of women. It's the last thing left for you to unencumber yourself from.

 

[igor_kavinski]

your warped view of women.

Done when I meet a woman who unwarps it

 

[MrSquished]

Done when I meet a woman who unwarps it

I meet really amazing women all the time. Lawyers, professors, COO's, teachers, therapists, producers, production managers, and anything you can think of. And it's not because they all want to date me, I get rejected plenty too. I'm not sure what your issue is. maybe move to a more westernized society? islamic society forces women into very specific roles which affects their behavior much more than in some western countries, though half the men in these countries are still sexist as fuck, but at least women have more breathing room altogether.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

Monsters of Patagonia, by Austin Whittall (2012)​

​

[ A Guide to its Giants, Dwarves, Lake Creatures, and Mythical Beasts ]​

Also,
The hairy giants: or a description of two islands in the South Sea, called by the names of Benganga and Coma, discovered by Henry Schooten, of Harlem, ...

Written in Dutch by Henry Schooten, and Englished by P. M. Gent.

Short book, but very interesting account of a Dutch explorer who voyaged to the South Sea and found an island with 12 foot tall giants. The Dutch ship pulled up to a settlement and was greeted by a Portuguese sailor in a canoe, rowed out to the ship by his servants. Sailor had been marooned with a couple crewmates who died after a couple months, leaving him alone to make a life for himself there. The giant natives adored the visitors - and declared them fit to live with kings and gods. So being well treated, he cozied up to the local chief's daughter, at her father's behest, and married her. Then commenced to have a family. She was 11 ft tall, and their children were tall too, but more smooth-skinned, not hairy like mom. OH yeah, her father, the local chief, gave him 200 slaves as dowry, hence the men rowing his canoe.

Book is free to read online at archive.org.

 

[highland145]

Just finished Baldacci's The Edge. Decent. Starting Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly. Free via the public library.

Connelly was good.

 

[Spydermag68]

My Effin' Life by Geddy Lee. It is a Effin' book by Geddy Lee about his Effin' life. Go tells about his Effin' family life. Learning about Effin' music and meeting Effin' Alex Lifson. Joining an Effin' band and then Effin's getting out of it a short time Effin' later. He then rejoins the Effin' band after the Effin' person who wanted him Effin' out the band quits. That band goes on to morph into the Effin' band know as RUSH and the rest is Effin' History. I really Efin' liked it.

 

[Gibsons]

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride.....Dungeon Crawler Carl #6
This is the best series I've read in a long time. It is just so stupid and fun.

I'm midway through this one. Stupid and fun is a good description. Also super violent and definitely not for everyone. Works for me though.