this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2025
31 points (100.0% liked)

Books

6143 readers
94 users here now

A community for all things related to Books.

Rules

  1. Be Nice. No personal attacks or hate speech.
  2. No spam. All posts should be related to books.

Official Bingo Posts:

Related Communities

Community icon by IconsBox (from freepik.com)

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Finished Tripwire by Lee Child, third book in the Jack Reacher series.

Ending was expected, but I guess if you have such a long running series, pretty much ending will always be expected. Bad guy meets Reacher, bad guy loses, Reacher wins. Fun to read though, which is the main point. Going to keep reading them.

Don't think it ticked any of the Bingo boxes though.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?


For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial Book Bingo, and its Recommendation Post. Links are also present in our community sidebar.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] razzazzika@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

Very ADHD reader here, but reading:

When the Moon Hatched - Sarah A Parker - High fantasy where magical people have to register and be used by the government similar to FF16, except the Moon is a dragon egg (like FF14)... Actually wondering if Sarah A Parker is a Final Fantasy Fan....

He Who Fights With Monsters 12 - Shirtaloon (Travis Deverall) - My favorite LitRRPg series. Jason Asano is now basically a god, yet manages to stay grounded the best he can. He's having to deal with the fact that people treat him differently now because of his power level, and learning diplomacy and all that.

How I Magically Messed Up My Life in Four Freakin Days - Megan O'Russell - This is a fun YA urban fantasy. I actually bought a few books from the author herself at Thy Geekdom Con in Philadelphia a few months back.

And my fall asleep Audiobook of the Moment: The Echo of Old Books - Barbara Davis - I mainly only read fantasy and sci-fi and this could barely be called fantasy. It's mainly a historical romance told from the perspective of someone who happens to have a little bit of magic.. its almost like the modern day story is irrelevant... anyway I picked it up as a Kindle first read and the audiobook was in turn $2 so I've got my money's worth.

[–] fievel@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Just finished The midwife of Auschwitz, by Anna Stuart. Very good, very emotional, just loved this book.

For now, I search for something lighter for the vacation (and not too complex to follow because during vacations, I'm frequently interrupted in the reading). I don't see something in my to read pile, so I'll look in this post or older. But if someone have an advice...

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 2 days ago

What about some litRPG? They are generally not too deep and great to pass time.

[–] dziadek1990@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

"Schronisko które przestało istnieć" by Sławek Gortych - just began. and "Za Cenę Śmierci" by Małgorzata Rogala - 2nd volume of series I've began to love. Both crime/thriller books.

[–] onlyhall@aussie.zone 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Just started the nemesis series. Reading Dreadnought by April Daniels atm. I LOVE it! 2 days in, I'm 50% of the way through.

[–] OmegaMouse@pawb.social 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Earlier today I finished Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. That was quite a ride! Some really beautiful descriptions of locations and characters, and the way he writes really keeps you on your toes. It's the first book I've read in a while which has kept me hooked until the end. Highly recommend.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Haven't read anything by Dennis Lehane myself but have heard good thing about most of this novels.

[–] OmegaMouse@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

This is the first book I've read by him, but I'd love to try out some of his others now. A colleague recommend Small Mercies and I've heard Mystic River is also very good.

[–] b34n5@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I've just finished "The Five Philosophical Thesis" by Mao Tse Tung. I'm not a maoist but I found that book interesting.

[–] JakoJakoJako13@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Demon In White by Christopher Ruocchio. Not even 100 pages into it so I'm not gonna give an opinion yet. But what I'm finding really annoying in this book and the last one is the obvious missing content that's referenced over and over again from novellas he wrote in-between the main books. That's something I really dislike in general and it comes up so much. Like if whatever happened between books was so important that you reference it over and over again for context, why not just include it to begin with? That being said I've really enjoyed what I've read so far and Howling Dark is one of my favorite reads of the year so far. Everybody says Demon In White it the best book in the series. Can't wait to finish it.

Code by Charles Petzold. I'm about halfway through it. It's a good book that provides some context on how and why computers and code work the way they do. It's helped connect some bridges that just tutorials and practice coding didn't quite build. I'm not even in school for this shit. I'm just doing it as a side hobby. Still helps though.

Before these two I demolished The Three Body Problem in like a month. The first book is the fastest I've ever read a single novel. Took me about 3 days. I'm a slow reader, so that was lightning fast for me. Then I completed LotR for the first time completely. I started those books almost 20 years ago but never finished a single one for some reason. I still have my original movie copy of Two Towers with the Magic card I used as a bookmark in it. I bought the trilogy box set and just went for it. I cried multiple times throughout the read, then bawled like a baby at the end of Return of the King. I really felt that 20 year gap in my life come to a close. It was pure catharsis for me.

I think once I'm done with Sun Eater, I'm either gonna go Malazan or Elric. I'll probably sprinkle some Neuromancer in there for something different. See how that trilogy is before Hollywood fucks up another adaption. If anybody has any opinions on Malazan vs Elric I'll hear you out.

I'm very interested to see what you think once you finish Demon in White. I interpreted that the between context was intentionally omitted to show time has passed, but I hear what you're saying.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] CubitOom 9 points 1 week ago

Doing a deep read of The Politics of Nonviolent Action by Gene Sharp. There are many examples of how effective non-violent action/resistance has been to remove dictatorships. Along with the reasons they were successful or not.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (10 children)

I feel like I’ve responded with this series several times already, but I’m not the faster reader.

Still listening to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. I’m on book 7, The Inevitable Ruin. I’ve listened all the way through twice. And I’ve heard the first couple a few more. A friend started the series recently so I started over to listen with her. I don’t mind at all. I really do love these books.

After this, I plan to finish the Red Rising series. I haven’t read the latest book in that yet. I’d also like to listen to the new series by James SA Corey. The Expanse series is probably my favorite of all time.

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] A_norny_mousse@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I love the Jack Reacher books, so fun to read. The rugged 'murican roadtrip hero, but one that doesn't disrespect women, and has an individual conscience (not just patriotism or some such). The bad guys always get their comeuppance, which is satisfying. The ending might be expected, but the stories are not predictable. Not too realistic to get in the way of easy entertainment, but not too much strain on suspension of disbelief either.


I'm still reading Josiah Bancroft's Tower of Babel tetralogy, last book now. It's amazing, I love evrything about it. Plot twists, unusual characters, and unusal language too. He's making up his own analogies all the time and they all sound so natural.

I wish I could say the last book is as good as the first book, but that's an extremely high target and it doesn't just quite reach. That said, the series as a whole still stands miles above most of the genre.

What's the genre? 21st century Fantasy SciFi Steampunk?

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I recently finished the dark tower series from king. I enjoyed it.

Now I’m onto the expanse from Corey. I’m on the third book - so far I’m digging this series too.

[–] tavostator@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I also recently finished the Dark Tower and man… don‘t read the finale sitting in a crowded bus like I did, too many feels ._.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Dark Tower: such an excellent series! I even didn't mind ðe ending as some did; I can't imagine how else he might have concluded it - ðere was a lot to tie up!

Expanse: I don't write spoilers, but the auþors have said ðhe Expanse's main driver was never intended to be ðe sci-fi, and ðis starts being very evident around books 6 or 7, which is when I fully lost interest. I haven't even boðered to read ðe cliff notes about what happened after. Lots of people liked it regardless - if you make it all ðe way þrough (is ðe series finished?) it'll be interesting to see your opinion. Did you watch the show?

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] kusttra@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I finished up Terry Pratchett's Equal Rights the other day, and have moved on to Mort. As much as I enjoyed Equal Rights,I think Mort takes the title of my favorite so far. Lots to read yet, though, so we'll see if it gets displaced

[–] atomic@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I finished Trust by Hernan Diaz, which I absolutely loved (the quickest I've ever read a novel according to my StoryGraph). Hernan Diaz might be my new favorite author, and I added his first novel, In The Distance, to my TBR.

I'm currently reading Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams.

[–] MoreZombies@aussie.zone 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh, I just finished Careless People - a very good read that gives a lot of insight (and cemented my decision to cut out Facebook), and one that has gotten me back into reading non-fiction. I hope you're finding it compelling!

[–] atomic@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago

I just read the post-pregnancy, South Korea chapter, and wow! It's stunning how openly soulless tech execs can be to even their own employees.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Goblin Quest.

Wanted light funny fantasy and it seemed to be recommended a few times.

It's not as funny as they made it sound, but it's interesting enough.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I started reading le Carré earlier ðis year, starting wiþ Tinker Tailor, and read ðe next two before starting over at "ðe beginning" wiþ ðe first Smiley novel. It's been spaced out between Þe Black Company novels, and I just finished ðe second middle two back-to-back ðat feature Smiley only incidentally. I wasn't þrilled wiþ The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, and The Looking Glass War was better but not fantastic; maybe I'm just overly fond of Smiley and since he barely appears in eiðer... le Carré was a fantastic writer, so his novels have a higher bar, I guess. le Carré's worst storytelling is better ðan most author's best. I quite liked A Murder of Quality - full on Smiley, and no spy story! How interesting!

I'm taking a break before ðe next in ðe Smiley series. In going to read eiðer Baxter's Destroyer, or Tchaikovsky's Shroud; I haven't yet decided which.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I liked Tinker Tailor when I read it some years back, but stopped partway through The Honourable Schoolboy because I also am fond of Smiley, and he didn't seem to really be in it. Did I give up too soon?

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yes! Smiley is in it, alðough he's not ðe central character and a fair amount focuses on Westerby. It's a true Smiley novel, ðough... he's not just a walk-on character as in some oðers in ðe series.

It's a good book.

Have you read "A Murder of Quality?" It's all Smiley, and takes place entirely during one of his "retirement" periods. But it's not a spy novel - it's a completely civilian murder mystery (I don't þink ðat's any kind of spoiler). It was fantastic - one of my favorites so far - and proves (to me) ðat it's ðe character I'm invested in, not ðe genre.

Ðe movie adaptation stunk; don't see it.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Awesome, I'll give it another go at some point, then; thanks! I haven't read A Murder of Quality, but I did add it to my list after your first post, since I like mysteries, too.

The only other Smiley-connected novel I've gotten through is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which I liked more than you did. It's a let-down from a Smiley perspective, true, but as a standalone spy story, I thought it was pretty solid.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 3 points 5 days ago

I'm sure it would have been fine, but it was two novels in a row where Smiley had a walk-on appearance, and I was wanting Smiley.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] xep@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Reading Ketogenic: The Science of Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction in Human Health

Very dense book (textbook?) about the science behind the Ketogenic diet. Every cited reference to a study is additional reading which I've not done yet, but this is the most information I've seen about this in one place.

[–] m_f@discuss.online 4 points 1 week ago

You should post about that over in !ketogenic@discuss.online, seems like the sort of thing @pulsejet@discuss.online would be interested in

[–] HakunaHafada@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

The Oxford Handook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender, ed. Adrian Thatcher. I've got 6 chapters left to go.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Between books atm. However, I did finish:

The Fisherman by John Langan (literary cosmic horror) | bingo squares: award, late to the party (HM)

Two friends go fishing at a creek with an unbelievable history.

Given how much buzz this got when it came out, I was expecting something more than the sort of classical Lovecraft et al.-inspired horror that it is, but maybe that's exactly what its fans were excited for. Would probably rate this as "fine", albeit far too slow for my taste. I found the middle section more interesting than the rest, largely because it's more plot-driven and there's no fishing in it. Be prepared for a lot of fishing.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (cozy solarpunk) | bingo squares: minority author, orange, short, LGBTQIA+, award, cozy

2nd novella in the Monk & Robot series. The monk introduces the robot to human civilization.

This was also fine, but I liked the first one better.

(Edited b/c I forgot summaries.)

[–] TheFerventLion@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just finished The Monkey and the Monk: An Abridgment of The Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en, Anthony C. Yu (Translator), after attempting to read the primary work. Being exposed to western mythologies, I was very interested in exploring other cultural touchstones. I almost dropped it due to the enormity of the novel, but decided to switch to the abridged version. I'm glad I didz even if my heart didn't like the concept of an abridgment.

Overall, it was interesting, and I'm glad I read it but there must be some context regarding all the repetition within a single chapter that I'm missing. I can't count how many times a character explains, word for word, what has just happened to another character. I theorize two reasons. Either that the repetition is for emphasis(though this seemed inconsistent), or in Chinese there is symmetry in the placement on the page.

As a palette cleanser I just sped through The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook Matt Dinniman which was fun and easy.

[–] ZDL@lazysoci.al 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The repetition is there because these are primarily oral tales that have been barely edited into something that almost, but not quite, has a coherent narrative.

The tales within Journey to the West come from a very wide period of historical storytelling and are in a wide variety of storytelling traditions. There's very little consistency from tale to tale, and any overarching theme was added much later in forming the "novel". (It's a "novel" in the same way that Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is a novel, right down to inconsistencies from member story to story.)

[–] TheFerventLion@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Cool, appreciate the context. And this applies both to the repetition between chapters and within a particular chapter?

[–] ZDL@lazysoci.al 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The repetition between chapters happens because the storyteller of a given story doesn't know if you know the origin story or not. (It's like how every damned Superman or Spider-Man or whatever movie always has to show how Superman/Spider-Man came to be.) Within chapters it could be part of an oral recitation thing with the repetitions being vestigial choruses. There is a lot of scholarship around this novel, and I'm not really deeply involved in any of it. I'm a situation- and opportunity-driven dabbler.

Thanks for the insight!

[–] Auth@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

I just finished the Chrysalids by John Wyndham. I thought it was a great book and I've gotten Day of the Triffids also by John Wyndham out from the library and will start reading that one tonight.

[–] JaymesRS@piefed.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I finished what’s out for the Amra Thetys series and now I’m working through a bunch of physical books I just picked up. I’m starting with When The Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi and I’ll probably pick up Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley after I finish that (it’s the latest book following The Rook storyline.

[–] ZDL@lazysoci.al 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm splitting my attention between The Classic of Tea and The Legend of Darkness. The former is a nice little hardback with trilingual contents (Classical Chinese, Vernacular Chinese, and English) while the latter is a bilingual edition (Classical Chinese, and English).

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

How is The Classic of Tea? Don't have enough interest in Tea to actually read that, but curious after checking it's details.

[–] ZDL@lazysoci.al 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's a little bit out of date naturally (1300 years will do that to you), but it's actually kind of amazing how relevant it still is today. It doesn't have information on all the different varieties of tea available today (the 2011-published tome The Classic of Chinese Tea which is increasingly the standard textbook for tea production in China corrects this), but what it does mention is still here today processed very much in similar fashions (albeit with upgrades in the equipment for picking it).

It would be a bit of a slog to read (because of some unfamiliar terminology you'd have to check up in the appendices) were it not so short. My trilingual edition is a small hardback book of 150 pages (including some opening pages with pretty pictures, two introductions, a preface, two appendices and a references list). About half that is the English text, so you're looking at reading about 75 pages. I think you could browse it quite successfully over a weekend without strain.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 2 points 5 days ago

Interesting! Thanks for the info.

[–] zout@fedia.io 3 points 1 week ago

Finished AE van Vogt's "the universe maker". Like I said last week, an older book in an archaic Dutch translation. I was quite amused by it, even though the protagonist is totally unsympathetic to me. This may be due to the age of the book, I'm not sure. After that I've read "the forever war" (award winning in 1975) and "forever peace" by Joe Haldeman. They're also good, if you like space opera's, but these are 50-ish year old books, and there's some rampant homophobia in the main character. I also failed to see how this adds to the plot. The last book has some wierd ending, like the author wrote himself into a corner and didn't know how to get out. Still, an entertaining read.

I'm still listening to "the eye of the Bedlam bride" by Matt Dinniman on my commute. This a first time listening to an audiobook for me, but I like it so far. I have to say this kind of book lends it for listening (for me at least) due to it's length. Basically if I miss a part during listening (when driving) I'll pick back up without missing much or having to "rewind".

load more comments
view more: next ›