Anybody reading any good books?

[add to descartes]

I highly recommend Childhood's End and anything else by Arthur C. Clarke. he was one of the "big three" classic science fiction writers, along with Robert Heinlein (Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land) and Isaac Asimov (I, Robot, the Foundation series). anything by either of those 3 are quality science fiction (and quality fiction in general), not cheesy or lame stuff like much of the genre.

unrelated: the movie I, robot absolutely butchers the novel, it has virtually nothing to do with the book. the only thing they have in common: they both have robots. the book is brilliant.

Clarke also wrote the book 2001: A Space Odyssey and cowrote the screenplay with Stanley Kubrick. he actually wrote several sequels as well...they made a movie out of the first sequel called 2010 in the 80s, but it didn't do very well.

and of course, Brave New World is essential reading. it's one of the three classic dystopian novels next to 1984 and fahrenheit 451. I actually have it on my table right now, was planning on rereading when I get done with my current book.

a little more trivia, which you may already know: the author, Aldous Huxley, also wrote the book The Doors of Perception, which is where the band got its name. the book itself is about Huxley's experiences with peyote.

[herbalhippie]

I have read Farenheit 451 and 1983 but not since school, those are coming up on my list.

I did read 2001: A Space Odyssey. I read Heinlein as a mid-teen, found him too incesty for my tastes.

Doors of Perception sounds interesting. I come from a time of experimenting and peyote was a favorite. But my god, the taste.

[add to descartes]

I've only read stranger in a strange land by heinlein, and while it was pretty good, there were elements that were a little unsettling that didn't seem to fit the mood of the book. I read some pretty out there stuff sometimes, but the weird sexual stuff in "stranger" seemed shoehorned in and unnecessary. overall it left a bad taste. I much prefer Asimov.

1984 is especially prescient right now. it's like orwell had a crystal ball. he and asimov are two of my favorite authors.

i didnt care much for F451 on my first reading of it, but maybe that's because 1984 and brave new world set such a high bar for me, and it was the last of the three I read.

do you use Goodreads? I got the app recently, you can find virtually any book ever published, find reviews and ratings, I can't believe I am just now discovering it. my want-to-read "shelf" is getting massive.

[herbalhippie]

Oh I like Orwell very much. I have Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier. Funny I never picked up 1984.

I use Goodreads on desktop to find new books in a genre I"m looking for, it's so helpful!

[add to descartes]

Oh I like Orwell very much. I have Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier. Funny I never picked up 1984.

I use Goodreads on desktop to find new books in a genre I"m looking for, it's so helpful!

down and out is one of my favorites! i like that genre/subgenre in general. a couple other good ones in that vein - Maggie by Stephen Crane, You Can't Win by Jack Black.

other ones I like by Orwell - Homage to Catalonia, and Burmese Days. havent read Wigan Pier, but I'll try to check it out. he's got some good short stories too.

[herbalhippie]

Oh I like Orwell very much. I have Down and Out in Paris and London and The Road to Wigan Pier. Funny I never picked up 1984.

I use Goodreads on desktop to find new books in a genre I"m looking for, it's so helpful!

down and out is one of my favorites! i like that genre/subgenre in general.

Wigan Pier is pretty much in the same genre. I love that genre too and if I remember right, I put it into Goodreads to find more books like it. Can't remember offhand what I came up with though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

My most recent Goodreads-generated binge was last year and it was Appalachia. Before that it was The Travellers/Roma. With both of these, the library had to resort to
interlibrary loans for almost all the books I requested. I really put them through their paces for a few months. lol

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

I highly recommend Childhood's End and anything else by Arthur C. Clarke.

His book the Fountains of Paradise is a strong contender for my favorite book of all time.

[herbalhippie]

^^Added to my very long list, thanks!

I finished Expanse book 4 and started to read Brave New World and it just wasn't working for me. Except for the occasional bits of humor in
the Expanse (there are some good ones toward the end of #4) all I've been reading are Serious Books.

So I put BNW down and am reading In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, and it's hilarious. What I love about Bryson's books are he isn't just
being funny, he's also teaching you things.

[IndelibleDotInk]

On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony is the first in a fantasy/sci fi series called the Incarnations of Immortality. The protaganist is about to commit suicide and is startled into killing the Grim Reaper, who has come to claim his soul. He then learns he must pick up the scythe and his role as the next Reaper. The book is fun, kinda superheroic. The subsequent books are about different roles like time, nature, etc. They get progressively worse. But I recommend the first.

[Tekone333]

I listen to a lot of audiobooks due to having a really boring job where I’m alone the last half of my day so it’s a lot of music, podcasts and audiobooks. I just finished The Hike by Drew Magary and it was pretty good. I got it because it was described as a bit of Chuck Palahniuk and a bit of Kafka but to me it was really a modern version of The Odyssey. A man follows a path that takes him into another world inhabited by murderous dog face humans, man eating giants, winged demons and so on. I like to read a lot of horror/fantasy novels or if I’m listening to books I try to get a series so I have a lot to listen to.

[add to descartes]

I highly recommend Childhood's End and anything else by Arthur C. Clarke.

His book the Fountains of Paradise is a strong contender for my favorite book of all time.

I haven't heard of that one, thanks, i'll add that one to my Goodreads want to read list. I found almost the whole 2001 series at a used book store recently (except 2061). he's probably my second favorite, I don't think anyone can surpass Asimov

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

Anyone here read Malazan Book of the Fallen?

Greatest epic fantasy ever written.

[Phil0110]

I'm reading Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath, it's good.

[Roofdog]

Just got done with grey man. Now on to Mitch rapp. If you like covert cia stuff these 2 kick ass

[herbalhippie]

Ever since I finished the Expanse series, NOTHING is holding my attention. I can't count how many books I've started
and then put back down. The only one that I've been able to read all the way through is Ghost by Noel Hynd. Last night
I started reading The Corrections again, that might do it. This is weird, I've never had this happen before.

[froggy33]

Anything by the late Carlos Castaneda, Neale Donald Walsch, Dan Millman, Wayne Dyer. Been a while though.

[Babel-17]

Well, I picked up Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks a while ago but I keep neglecting to continue my reread of it.

[PistolsAtDawn]

I really dug Brave New World. It's probably been 20 years since I last read it now that I think about it. I should read it again!

I recently went on a Star Wars book tear and read all the Thrawn novels as well as Darth Plagueis - ten books in total. I enjoyed the first reboot trilogy the most out of the three trilogies. Darth Plagueis is worth a read if you're a big fan, but otherwise it's missable.

[herbalhippie]

I bought the Three Body Problem trilogy and it's been sitting to my right in my bookcase staring at me accusingly ever since it got here.

Still working on the Corrections. I'm a fast reader, but modding and Midjourney. lol

[PistolsAtDawn]

I decided to start on Asimov's Foundation series. I really enjoyed the show on Apple TV+, and I've always been a fan of his work anyway. The I, Robot movie was a travesty compared to the source material, but Millennium Man was much closer and a better film. (I miss Robin Williams though )

Ultimately I will almost always prefer the book over the film with rare exceptions (Jaws for instance, or maybe A Clockwork Orange because the ending was so radically different).

[herbalhippie]

I just finished the two books Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House, The Lottery) wrote about raising her kids
and started Howl's Moving Castle last night. I've watched the Studio Ghibli movie twice and love it so much, but
the book it was based on is different.

Then I'm going to read the first four Dune books again and that should take me up to where Amazon
sends me Memory's Legion to read with The Expanse books. I can hardly wait to read those again.

[Roofdog]

American Assassin
The greyman.

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

Just started Simmon's Hyperion for the first time - and I'm finding it absolutely riveting. Excellent prose, a strong sense of cosmic mystery, and amazing sci-fi concepts. Seems like strong character work so far too.

[herbalhippie]

Just started Simmon's Hyperion for the first time - and I'm finding it absolutely riveting. Excellent prose, a strong sense of cosmic mystery, and amazing sci-fi concepts. Seems like strong character work so far too.

I see Hyperion mentioned on the Dune subreddit a lot, I should put it in my (miles-long) to read list.

I'm reading Blue Highways by William Least Heat moon and then I think I might read a couple Paul Theroux books. These are travel books and it's good winter reading.

Maybe I'll feel like tackling The Expanse series again after these.

[Kelleytoons]

Because there is some hype on it becoming either a series (or perhaps series of movies) I started reading and now HIGHLY recommend the Murderbot Diaries (seven books in the series. I guess, so far).

As a rule I don't read "series" and the fact the author is usually a YA author is still more reason to keep this old man away. But as someone who grew up on Heinlein, Asimov and Clark I love me a lot of SF. I have to admit this is the best robotic series I've ever read, even better than Asimov (or the writers who continued his robot series). The less you know the better so I'd just advise you to pick up book 1 (All System Red) and read it (these are actually novellas, and thus a very fast read - I've been reading one each day and I don't even have a lot of time to read, just an hour or so each night). Now I'm highly amped for the show (of course it won't be as good because they never are :>).

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

Any Vernor Vinge fans here? One of the greats in sci-fi, he died this week. A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my all time favorites.

[herbalhippie]

Any Vernor Vinge fans here? One of the greats in sci-fi, he died this week. A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my all time favorites.

I think I've seen the name mentioned but have not read anything by him.

Scifi huh? Have you ever read Eon by Greg Bear? It's one of my favorite scifi books. That, and The Expanse series.

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

Any Vernor Vinge fans here? One of the greats in sci-fi, he died this week. A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my all time favorites.

I think I've seen the name mentioned but have not read anything by him.

Scifi huh? Have you ever read Eon by Greg Bear? It's one of my favorite scifi books. That, and The Expanse series.

Hmm haven't heard of Eon. I've read most of the expanse though - I've got two books to go.

[IndelibleDotInk]

Rogue Warrior tells the story of Richard Marcinko, no middle name, the developer of the Navy SEALS, and head of the first squad, which is SEAL team 6.

Bit of repetition of themes, most of the book is about popping enemies with his macho team during the Vietnam War. He is highly intelligent and capable, but his outlook is what is really interesting - an outlaw. For example, his team is checked into an average American hotel, and to access the room, they enter by scaling the building to get in and out. Or knowing how to take copious weapons with them on civilian airliners (I believe they could easily pass nowadays TSA).

This book is followed up by some sequels, then a slew of fiction, then some fiction written by others but endorsed by him. I recommend only the first.

You have to be willing to accept his macho flaws as well as be awed by how skilled and strong his specialized team is.

[herbalhippie]

Any Vernor Vinge fans here? One of the greats in sci-fi, he died this week. A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky are among my all time favorites.

I think I've seen the name mentioned but have not read anything by him.

Scifi huh? Have you ever read Eon by Greg Bear? It's one of my favorite scifi books. That, and The Expanse series.

Hmm haven't heard of Eon. I've read most of the expanse though - I've got two books to go.

Eon is the first book in a trilogy and is SO good. The second book is good too but I've heard the third is not up to the first two and is ok to skip and so I haven't read it.

[IndelibleDotInk]

Watchmen is a great graphic novel. The movie follows it very closely. This made me appreciate graphic novels.

[IndelibleDotInk]

I'm probably repeating books I already plugged, but the Batman: Vampire graphic novel is superb.

David Brin's The Postman is a post-apocalyptic novel I thoroughly enjoy.

Jumper by Stephen Jay Gould is a little juvenile, but I liked it. It was a standalone book, but after they movie-ized it, he wrote several sequels which killed the first book; I haven't read them.

I liked the Narnia series, the writing is really very well crafted and draws you in and leaves you with a good feel.

LOTR is epic, but the actual writing is, can I say... not too good. It is a classic with tremendous and loughty imagination.

Right now I'm reading Scientific Facts from the Bible by Ray Comfort. If you don't know him, Ray bicycles around with his dog, who wears shades, and witnesses to people. He's tremendously fun and you can just feel the niceness radiating from him. Check him out on YouTube. The Scientific Facts aren't groundbreaking, but if you put a lot of them together, you see a pattern and a case for a Creator. It's easy reading, just blurbs.

Haha, I haven't read a Star Trek book in years, I used to bother my mom to drop me off at Waldenbooks every Saturday so I could read the books there. Can't really go wrong if you like Captain Kirk and Spock. Sometimes McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, or Scotty would have a meaty role. Love the imagination.

[herbalhippie]

LOTR is epic, but the actual writing is, can I say... not too good. It is a classic with tremendous and loughty imagination.

I read Fellowship of the Ring when I was 11 iirc. My good friend's parents had an amazing library in their home which was
a wonderful old Craftsman style house in a great neighborhood near Lake Washington in Seattle. WHen you walked in
the house there was a door immediately on the left that was a long, narrow room almost as long as the side of the house
and was bookcases on 3 walls and windows on the 4th. ANYWAY, whenever I spent the night at her house, which I did a lot
because her parents were OG hippies and cool as hell, she'd go down to the library and get me a book to read. This was
just one of many good ones I probably wouldn't have read until much later otherwise.

I just ordered and received the three book set and it's the exact edition I read the first time, 1968 Ballantine.

https://imgur.com/a/sjdCNAn

The pages are very yellowed, as you'd expect, but the spines aren't broken or even creased. Notice that
laid side to side, they make a complete picture. Cool stuff.

[IndelibleDotInk]

Some people with mansions buy fake books to fill their book cases along the walls. Like, a cube or longer of what looks like book spines.

Blew my mind when I saw those.

[herbalhippie]

Some people with mansions buy fake books to fill their book cases along the walls. Like, a cube or longer of what looks like book spines.

Blew my mind when I saw those.

I was JUST thinking about that yesterday! Or buying new fancy looking hardbacks just to make their
bookcases look nice.

What I was thinking is, a bookcase full of well used, well worn books, even paperbacks, is sexy to me. lol

[IndelibleDotInk]

lol let me take you on a date to the library of congress, lol

[herbalhippie]

lol let me take you on a date to the library of congress, lol

LOL

ok

[Voice_of_Morgulduin]

LOTR is epic, but the actual writing is, can I say... not too good. It is a classic with tremendous and loughty imagination.

Aw man, I have to disagree with you there. LOTR has some of the best writing in modern literature. The intention and care that went into crafting every passage is unparalleled. Tolkien is a master of language. Admittedly it's in a style that some might find archaic, perhaps long winded - but personally it's the type of reading that causes me to pause and contemplate the experience.

[IndelibleDotInk]

I read the series early books, The Hobbit, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and Return of the King, as a child, and really enjoyed them..

However, i reread them as a young adult, and there was something lacking in the prose. The poems, songs, etc. are amazingly crafted, as is the entire series I read, but amidst all the magic... there was a type of magic that was missing, like going in a hot air balloon but still having one rope tethered to the ground.

The movies, however, are entirely wonderful, except for the ending of Return of the King, that dragged on unnecessarily. A perfect example of book to film, like The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile.

I don't look down on people who love LOTR, it's so epic, I guess I could say I love it, but only at a crush level, lol. Now the Chronicles of Narnia is for younger children, and is not as epic, and more friendly. But the way Lewis words the story just takes me back to childhood. It's clever and fun, mixing modern Britain and the magical Narnia. Probably everyone will disagree with me, but that's fine, both are essential in any book discussion, fantasy or other analysis.

[boureka]

Going by the books you mentioned, I'd highly recommend a trilogy where the first book is called The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. I think the trilogy is called His Dark Materials. It's really excellent. Lmk if you read it!