What book are you reading...

Been enjoying the Powdermage books from Brian McClellan. And with the hype for Cyberpunk 2077 read Hardwired from Walter Jon Williams and about to start the Bridge Trilogy from Gibson
 
Yesterday, finished Levison Wood's Eastern Horizons: Hitchhiking the Silk Road. One of my most favoured travel books of recent times.

Just started Robert Service's biography of Leon Trotsky.
 
Over the weekend I did read Thomas Harris "Silence of the Lambs" which I've read a few times in Swedish but never read it in English until now. Great book, but I had forgotten how old it actually is. Now I've started Murakami's "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle", only read a few chapters but it's a promising start.
 
Read Consolations of Philosophy another book touted as an introduction to philosophy.

I wasn't particularly impressed, it read like a bad self help book more than anything else. A few interesting philosophical points were mentioned but we're generally set inside some poor writing.

A brief history of thought was much more enjoyable and relevant.
 
I'd read MEG by Steve Alten years ago and really liked it so, with the release of the soon to be "why the hell did they bother it's garbage and not like the book" film, I thought I'd catch up with the rest of the series.

Meg 2 is OK but the stories afterwards rapidly drop off in quality and the amount utterly stupid behaviour (every.....single.....time the Meg gets sedated people die, learn you muppets) just gets too annoying to enjkoy the books and by book 5 it's well and truly "jumped the shark" as a series.

TL:DR - Meg is great, 2 is OK, rest are rubbish.
 
About a quarter of the way into Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin. Fabulous reading so far, she's a real crafter of word and phrase.
Monumental events presented in such a low key, casual but clever way. I'm torn between not wanting to put it down, and don't want to get to the end.
Have got a couple more ULG on my to read pile though so not too worried.
 
regulus said:
Just finished Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. Tells the story of the founding of Blue Ribbon shoe company (the precursor to Nike) and the struggles that followed getting to where it is today. Easily the best book I've read the past 5 years.

I don't think I can recommend it highly enough. It's NOTHING like I expected it to be. One of the most human and inspiring books I've ever read. I see it gets a perfect rating on Amazon, as it should.

10/10
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Without your recommendation I would never have even considered reading this, but purely down to your comments I decided to give it a go. Whilst I wouldn't necessarily regard it as "perfect", It was certainly a good read and Knight has a charming and friendly writing style. And it was certainly educational too. Although I now feel guilty for every pair of Adidas trainers I've ever bought and Nike's that I haven't.

So thank you.
 
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Halfway through Ravencry: Ravens Mark Book 2, Ed Mcdonald. :) Fairly good so far, possibly a bit short as smashing through it. :( First book was pretty good.
 
I’ve been reading the Stuart Mcbride series of books. Really enjoying them as they are based on where I am from and I can relate to the places so makes it easier to get through them all. So far I have read cold granite,dying light,broken skin and just away to start flesh house. Don’t have to read them in order but if you do you will notice references from the previous book which you wouldn’t if you read them in a random order.
 
Going back through the Waylander / Druss the legend books from my youth... After around 15 years I'd pretty much forgotten most of the stories which is a bit worrying but they are still excellent fantasy novels.
They sit on the right side of gritty without being too OTT or overly heroic.
 
Rimsy said:
Going back through the Waylander / Druss the legend books from my youth... After around 15 years I'd pretty much forgotten most of the stories which is a bit worrying but they are still excellent fantasy novels.
They sit on the right side of gritty without being too OTT or overly heroic.
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I do like his books, read them all years ago, but they are all pretty similar. :)
 
Still trudging through Game of Thrones. Also reading the complete Battle Angel Alita, thank you humble bundle. And picking up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius but only manage 3 or 4 pages at a time before putting down.
 
My recomendation for SF for people not that familiar with it is simple: buy any of the Gollancz Classic series. You'll hate some, be indifferent to others, but some you will love. Away from them, most of what you can buy currently is dross.
 
Other books on my very short list are the following:

Neuromancer - William-Gibson
Wasp Factory - Ian Banks

I also want to finish of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I've read 5/10 so far.

But yea I haven't touched the surface of sci-fi. Maybe The Stars My Destination will be the start of something.

Two random books I've read and loved are:

China Mieville - Perdido Street Station. This is a sci-fi, steam-punk, dystopian, philosophical adventure. And I loved every second of it.

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky. I dont know why but I found this book a very easy read. It was gripping and I couldn't put it down. It's not boring as these types of classic novels suggest. Defo should be read.

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I'm quite enjoying The Stars My Destination so far.
 
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opethdisciple said:
What are your stand out recommendations then?
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It goes a little into fantasy at times but I freaking loved the Nights Dawn Trilogy (something Hamilton is the authors name) it's a great sci first series and whilst I cannot stand anything else by Hamilton that was nigh on perfect.

The Retrieval Artist books Kathryn Rusch (thinks that's her name) are sci fi crime books which are good. They're always a slightly weird read in that they are about 70% slow slog but the remainder is so brilliant to keep you wanting to read the next book.
 
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