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[BigBooper]

Recently read To Kill a Mockingbird which was FANTASTIC. If you've only seen the film I highly recommend the book.

Also, a sci-fi fantasy novel called "Gideon the Ninth" via Audiobook. The reader being a brit made it such a pleasure to listen to and the 2 main characters Gideon and Harrowhawk are such great frenemies. Currently listening to the sequel "Harrow the Ninth".

The story of that book is fascinating. Not just that the book itself was excellent, but the book was so good that it supported Harper Lee for life. Imagine someone writing a book nowadays and living off that one book forever, and it being such an excellent example of literature. Would that even be possible nowadays?

 

[BadBurger]

You ever tried an audiobook for The Forgotten Realms? Any recommendation on best start, or just start with the first? I've not read any of them, but I've got a long trip coming up and I need something to listen to. I read a couple of the Drizzt books and liked them.

*checks audible library.....*

Realms of the Arcane: A Forgotten Realms Anthology:
I would not suggest this. I remember the performance being fine-to-OK, but the stories would probably be boring to you without having the larger context of the Forgotten Realms lore. I rated it 2/5

Prophet of Moonshae: Forgotten Realms: Druidhome Trilogy, Book 1:
The Moonshaes are a group of islands off the Sword Coast (where almost all of the D&D games take place) that is more influenced by Celtic mythology. The performance was good. This is a sequel trilogy to a popular one from years prior, and even if you had read the first I would not recommend this one. It was stupid and boring. The first Moonshaes trilogy was great though.


City of the Dead: Forgotten Realms: Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep, Book 4:
This is a good one all around. It focuses on a family that lives next to an infamous haunted and massive graveyard within the "City of Splendors", or Waterdeep, a major city in Forgotten Realms. Not sure if it would be a good fit to someone new to Forgotten Realms.

That's all for audiobooks.

Where to start? Hmm. See the lore goes back so far, with literally the universes and worlds within them going through evolutions so many times it's tough to say. Personally I'd go with The Avatar Series. This begins what is called The Time of Troubles, when the gods are cast from the Heavens by their over-god AO and the world is thrown into chaos in their absence. Gods die, mortals ascend, and the world and wheel of the Realms (the various universes) changes into what players of the old D&D video games would be most familiar with. It introduces the reader into how the gods work and interact with the mortal realm, and you get to see the death and rise of the most popular and infamous gods that still drive the stories of today.

After The Avatar series you have a whole slew of things to read in that age until you reach what's known as The Second Sundering, when the universes change once again.

 

[IDKFA]

The only series from Mr Iggulden that I haven't read. Half way through book one at the moment and as expected, it's a damn good read. I normally rotate between fiction and nonfiction, but I might have to binge this series, one after another.

 

[PuppetMaster]

Just finished Project Hail Mary.

Finished it in just 2 days because I couldn't put it down!

 

[Tenaciousmo]

Finished Excellent sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life earlier this evening It was incredibly interesting and motivating

really enjoyed the first 3 parts out of 4, (sheep , self, schools, society) it talks about what university and education meant and means, how it changed over the years, how it was once used as learning to learn and not manufacturing "perfect people" who are miserable from the mold they are put in either by their parents, themselves or social pressure from standing out. It also achieved something that I would've never expected, It made me consider going to school for a humanity major.

that said, It might also negatively effect people in school right now. but who am I kidding, from what I read, you wouldn't have time to read it even if you wanted toé

EDIT: gonna be reading the great gatsby for the first time, got the papper mill press classic edition, and love the feel and format to those.

Didn't post about those but also read

Never Split the difference by Chris Voss
Book on negotiation by the FBI #1 international negotiator. really good read, liked how it's separated to build on previously shown topics making it almost a guide or crash course to negotiationfrom day to day life cases to actual hostage negotiations

Ordinary Men By Christopher Browning
I tore through that one quite fast but I'm not sure if the desensitization to Jewish deaths or treatment in general was intended, to reflect exactly on these ordinary men themselves, but after a bit those number start losing meaning, and you begin to gloss over them. even at the end when they tally the numbers, it's bad but it lost effect along the way. "The death of one man: this is a catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of deaths: that is a statistic!" comes to mind...

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

Just finished

The politics of sweeping under the rug has failed. I recommend this book for at least everyone living in Europe.

 

[BadBurger]

Palahniuk back in bizarre near-horror mode, similar to his Lullaby. It's certainly not his best but I enjoyed it. And like most of his previous works of fiction, the ending is not predictable.

 

[Queso de Grande]

I just finished The Neverending Story. It was great! I wish I would have read it as a child, it would have blown my mind. It gets crazy in some parts, that the movie just doesn’t capture.

 

[Tenaciousmo]

I just finished The Neverending Story. It was great! I wish I would have read it as a child, it would have blown my mind. It gets crazy in some parts, that the movie just doesn’t capture.

damn, i used to love that movie... I'll add the book to my list

 

[marcincz]

I just finished The Neverending Story. It was great! I wish I would have read it as a child, it would have blown my mind. It gets crazy in some parts, that the movie just doesn’t capture.

My first movie I've seen in theatre. I was 4 y/o.

 

[Malachai]

 

[Golgo 13]

Oh man! I had no idea this thread existed. Here’s the books I’ve read in the last year -

Autobiography Of Mark Twain
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Education Of Henry Adams
Wuthering Heights
1984
Animal Farm
Ordinary Men (most recently read)
The Big Sleep
Brave New World
Crime And Punishment
Notes From Underground
Gulag Archipelago
Man’s Search For Meaning
The Alchemist

if anyone wants to talk about any of these books, I’d love to. Almost all of these are considered literary classics and that’s why I chose to read them. Every single one has been great, some have changed me forever.

 

[12Goblins]

Not done yet, but legit excellent. Can't recommend enough.

 

[SinDelta]

Currently paused on this. Need to read Elantis, and the second Mistborn trilogy (heck maybe even re-read the first.). Also Warbreaker. Damn.

Spoiler: The Doorstopper in question

 

[IDKFA]

Classical philosophy writing to ponder.

 

[Collete]

My goal was to read a book every month, unfortunately got like one book in, but hoping to change that by reading at least 2 chapters everyday in hopes I can go back to my old binging ways

Anyway, I was browsing Half Price Books (because Goodreads and Amazon taints my soul by telling me the rating before buying a book...) and found this little book

Apparently the rest of the series was published after each month, which I love because then it doesn't give me Crunchyroll waiting times on books.
I don't know how to feel about this series though...
It's a decent fantasy book and I love that I can now binge a whole series however...
Holy crap, there are WAY too many names to remember that it almost feels like I'm back to reading Game of Thrones again.
The worst part about it is, I can tell Sarah was inspired by the book because there's like 5 different perspectives that will probably connect later but man...I really don't care about some guy that wants to go to university when I was in the middle of a pirate battle. So on and so forth.

That being said, I'm having fun being immersed in a good book again, but damn Sarah, chill with how much info you're giving me in the span of 20 pages.

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

Oh man! I had no idea this thread existed. Here’s the books I’ve read in the last year -

Autobiography Of Mark Twain
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Education Of Henry Adams
Wuthering Heights
1984
Animal Farm
Ordinary Men (most recently read)
The Big Sleep
Brave New World
Crime And Punishment
Notes From Underground
Gulag Archipelago
Man’s Search For Meaning
The Alchemist

if anyone wants to talk about any of these books, I’d love to. Almost all of these are considered literary classics and that’s why I chose to read them. Every single one has been great, some have changed me forever.

What's Ordinary Men like

 

[Golgo 13]

What's Ordinary Men like

Ordinary Men is a historical documentation of a “Reserve Police”battalion in WWII Germany who were mostly middle aged family men - men who grew up in a pre-Hitler Germany, who weren’t affiliated with the Nazi party or indoctrinated into the the ideology. The Reserve Police were primarily used to keep the peace in German controlled enemy territories (towns, villages, countrysides). These men were drafted into the Reserve Police, woken up one morning early to drive to an village in Poland where they all gathered around in a circle - then the commander, with tears in his eyes, told the Batallion their job was to round up the Jewish men, women and children. The men were to be separated and shipped off to a labor camp but the women and children were to be shot dead.

Most of the men had never seen combat, much less killed another human being. So again, these were all plumbers/waiters/farmers who got drafted - normal people. The book is a fascinating and well researched piece of literature; based off of court testimony from surviving Battalion members as well as eye-witness accounts that relate what happens to these men - both during the initial massacre (where they shot 1500 women, children, and elderly) and afterward - how normal human beings, “ordinary men” can become killers of women and children under the right circumstances.

It’s a devastating book but an endlessly fascinating one - a glimpse into the horrifying nature of human beings and how we are all capable of monstrous behavior.

It’s one of the books I mentioned above that definitely changed me forever. Can’t recommend it enough.

 

[Golgo 13]

Classical philosophy writing to ponder.

Plato has my attention. Completely unfamiliar with his writings but I’ve read some difficult books. What’s it like?

 

[IDKFA]

Plato has my attention. Completely unfamiliar with his writings but I’ve read some difficult books. What’s it like?

Republic is good and is probably the most well known. It is Socratic dialogue mostly centered around the discussion of justice, but also goes over immortality and the soul.

Laches is one of my favourites. It is also another Socratic dialogue written by Plato. In it, Socrates, Laches and Nicias try and come up with an agreed definition of courage. Really made me think about animal intelligence.

 

[Collete]

Yeah uh....
That book I read a few posts ago, didn't turn out as good as I hoped.
Excuse me while I'm depressed how that could have been an epic saga but turned out to be a cheap gimmick.

We will not speak of this book again, it shall not be named till the end of times.

Edit: No, you know what, I have to talk about this. Cause this was really stupid. SPOILERS


Kozloff spat on the Queen with utter disregard.
This girl was a bad ass. She embraced her femininity, loved her tea, looked fabulous in warfare, and was not afraid to get her hands dirty for her kingdom. She had a strong character that barely tolerated bull crap.
Yet

Her plot was to win a huge pirate raid that plagued a nation for many years, but she had to leave her daughter in hiding because there was a coup. The queen promised to return for her child and left. For a quarter to a half of the book, this Queen pined to return back to her Throne and see her daughter again. Kozloff even built a tight narrative for her, easily making the queen the strongest character in her entire book.
After some time, they thought they were going into a game winning sea battle. The Queen was armed with a brother that had innate ability of magical foresight, she herself had a bit of foresight, and a husband who is literally called The Lord of Ships and yet.... go into a pirate battle into an obvious trap, sailing straight into enemy territory, cliffs on all sides attacked by fireballs, that she wants to kill herself after she loses one battle.
Kozloff...This Queen promised her daughter to come back for her, cherished everything her daughter did, keeps complaining on wanting to see her daughter yet....one loss makes you want to kill yourself????
In fairness, her husband died but like...she never regarded her husband in that high regard, second maybe compared to her daughter. Her daughter was everything to her, her character literally would have been nicknamed "she needs no man" if she did not kill herself over a guy she hasn't seen in literal decades.
Her loss of her husband and army was great after that battle, but nothing they couldn't come back from.
I would have been fine for this plot twist if she was showing signs of depression or some train of thought that might have led to her suicide, but the only depression or great sadness we see in this book is her just wanting to return home to her daughter which would not warrant this out of character behavior.

Not to mention, Kozloff put too many "arrow in the knee" references and blatant rips of LotR that it made me recoil. I never been so mad at an author before...


Anyway, in my next step to being a great fantasy writer by consuming the good and the bad, next up is By Raven's Call by J.A Devenport
Before I banished myself from book ratings, this was the one book people were hyping up about and it seemed promising!

 

[Blackace]

Does anybody read indie books or rock Kindle Unlimited?

 

[IDKFA]

I was put off reading this. I thought it was "woke" crap, but God damn has it done a lot to change my outlook on life as a white person. This isn't a joke post, but I'm actually now starting to understand what white privilege is and why I'm part of a bigger problem. I'm about a third of the way through and really enjoying it so far.

 

[Golgo 13]

To put the thread back on a track of sanity and fun, does anyone here like detective novels?!

If you’re at all interested, I recommend Raymond Chandler’s books. They’re written in the 1930’s/1940’s with the same main character.

Honestly, I’ve never read anything quite like them! They’re like a portal into 1930’s Los Angeles - the drinking, the smoking, the tough guys of “the greatest generation”. The impeccable personal style, the cars, the witty dialogue, the play of masculine and feminine energies - these books are just shockingly good.

I’ve read some great novelists - Dostoevsky, Orwell, Huxley, Tolstoy. There’s something about Chandler’s work that is magical and completely unique.

The best starting point considered to be “The Big Sleep” - I’m currently reading Farewell My Lovely and I think it’s just as good, if not better.


Seriously, check this guy out.

 

[pauljeremiah]

Had some new books arrive on Friday

 

[Toots]

the sailor cast out by the sea
Took it because I liked the cover.
Reminded me of Céline.
Short and nihilistic.
Tremendous book.

 

[joedan]

Leave the World Behind

Did not enjoy at all. Nothing was happening in the book. Stuck with it hoping that at least there's some interesting twist at the end that would be a reward for my efforts...nothing happens at the end either. Not sure why this book got so many rave reviews.

 

[nightmare-slain]

got a couple chapters left of The Eye Of The World (The Wheel of Time)

i'm torn if i like it or not. i'm really interested in the world + characters but i have trouble following it. i think it might be because i'm listening to the audiobook. there are so many names thrown at you. so at times i feel lost on what is happening or who is speaking. i think if i do read the 2nd book i will just read it on my Kindle. if i do read the second book it won't be until after the TV show airs. there are 14 books in the series so i want to feel 100% committed to getting through them all.

 

[Golgo 13]

got a couple chapters left of The Eye Of The World (The Wheel of Time)

i'm torn if i like it or not. i'm really interested in the world + characters but i have trouble following it. i think it might be because i'm listening to the audiobook. there are so many names thrown at you. so at times i feel lost on what is happening or who is speaking. i think if i do read the 2nd book i will just read it on my Kindle. if i do read the second book it won't be until after the TV show airs. there are 14 books in the series so i want to feel 100% committed to getting through them all.

Books with a lot of characters definitely take some mental gymnastics to keep track of. Thankfully there’s resources online that can help - summations of books and the characters and their names (and even nicknames). These are tedious to refer to but they can save you time and enhance your enjoyment of more complex novels.

If you ever read Russian books translated to English this presents itself as a real problem because every character has at least 3 names, which can all sound very different from each other. I find this to be a shame because the patience required for those naming conventions for most people are enough to turn them off reading an author like Dostoevsky.

 

[IDKFA]

The first person account of the Ten Thousand, told by the man who led them on this epic odyssey.

Loeb classic library is really making my wallet weep. I can't stop buying them!

 

[Golgo 13]

Had some new books arrive on Friday

Where did you hear about these books?

 

[pauljeremiah]

Where did you hear about these books?

I’ve been reading Murakami novels for years, the same goes for PG Wodehouse. I’ve been listening to Leonard Cohen albums since I was a teenager and then got into his poetry. I read Emily Dickinson’s poetry in high school and I picked up her complete works after watching the AppleTV+ show about her.

 

[pauljeremiah]

Arrived this morning

 

[Tenaciousmo]

The first person account of the Ten Thousand, told by the man who led them on this epic odyssey.

Loeb classic library is really making my wallet weep. I can't stop buying them!

I hate you for teaching me about the existence of loeb classics, i wish to flag this post as Information Hazard.

 

[CloudNull]

I bought this awhile ago and finally got around to reading it. It is the best book I have read in a long time and one of my all time favorites. It reads like science fiction but is reality. I have so much respect for the OG engineers from SpaceX and the grueling circumstances they went through.... just phenomenal.

 

[Collete]

Finished By Raven's Call by J. A. Devenport and it was pretty solid! Had a few issues with some plot stuff, but nothing that made me yeet the book into the fireplace. If you're struggling to get back into the habit of reading and love fantasy, I highly recommend it!

Now, I'm taking a break from fantasy to finally finish this book that has been benched for like 5 years

 

[CloudNull]

Oh man! I had no idea this thread existed. Here’s the books I’ve read in the last year -

Autobiography Of Mark Twain
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The Education Of Henry Adams
Wuthering Heights
1984
Animal Farm
Ordinary Men (most recently read)
The Big Sleep
Brave New World
Crime And Punishment
Notes From Underground
Gulag Archipelago
Man’s Search For Meaning
The Alchemist

if anyone wants to talk about any of these books, I’d love to. Almost all of these are considered literary classics and that’s why I chose to read them. Every single one has been great, some have changed me forever.

This is a fantastic list.

My all time favorite book is Brave New World because I find it incredibly relatable and I’ve read it several times. I see this as being the most practical outcome of a dystopian future.... people who self medicate with Soma to be okay while sticking to the classes provided to us by the people in power. I don’t think the world will ever be this bleak but there is a lot that resonates with the current times. More so than 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 in my opinion.... both are fantastic books in their own right.

I read Animal Farm in high school but plan on rereading it after I read Project Hail Mary. I also have Wuthering heights on my list but not sure when I’ll squeeze that in.

 

[IDKFA]

Sticking to nonfiction for this week and have decided on this book.

When people think of classical Greece, a majority will think of Athens or Sparta, but Thebes doesn't really get a lot of attention. I've always found this odd, especially since the history and mythology of Thebes is just as rich. Clearly Paul Cartledge agrees and even calls Thebes the forgotten city of ancient Greece.

Can't wait to get stuck into this one.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I used to read a lot and then Oathbreaker kinda broke my soul. It was 1200 pages and wasn't that interesting.


Please can you suggest a short 200-250 page book, preferably thriller.

 

[CloudNull]

I used to read a lot and then Oathbreaker kinda broke my soul. It was 1200 pages and wasn't that interesting.


Please can you suggest a short 200-250 page book, preferably thriller.

Its a thriller mixed with Sci-Fi. Over your allotted pages but its a super easy read.

 

[Guileless]

For a good pageturner/thriller, I always recommend The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsythe.

 

[Golgo 13]

This is a fantastic list.

My all time favorite book is Brave New World because I find it incredibly relatable and I’ve read it several times. I see this as being the most practical outcome of a dystopian future.... people who self medicate with Soma to be okay while sticking to the classes provided to us by the people in power. I don’t think the world will ever be this bleak but there is a lot that resonates with the current times. More so than 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 in my opinion.... both are fantastic books in their own right.

I read Animal Farm in high school but plan on rereading it after I read Project Hail Mary. I also have Wuthering heights on my list but not sure when I’ll squeeze that in.

Wuthering Heights is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and one of the pieces of fiction that really affected me on a deep level. Definitely recommend it.

Brave New World is fantastic as well, it deserves a reread as does almost every book in that list, but to me 1984 personified the appeal of totalitarian security and the price we pay for believing convenient lies in the name of equality. That book fucked me up too.

 

[CloudNull]

Wuthering Heights is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and one of the pieces of fiction that really affected me on a deep level. Definitely recommend it.

Looks like I will bump Wuthering Heights up on my list. I have heard the same testament from too many people.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Finished The Strain and now started Neuromancer.

 

[Queso de Grande]

Wuthering Heights is one of the best novels I’ve ever read, and one of the pieces of fiction that really affected me on a deep level. Definitely recommend it.

Brave New World is fantastic as well, it deserves a reread as does almost every book in that list, but to me 1984 personified the appeal of totalitarian security and the price we pay for believing convenient lies in the name of equality. That book fucked me up too.

If you enjoy Brave New World and 1984, you got to check out This Perfect Day. It is written by the writer of Rosemary’s Baby and falls right into the vein of the other two books. I liked it better myself.

 

[Fbh]

Finished The Way of Kings and am now making my way through Words of Radiance.

Overall it lived up to the hype, really enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. It has a fun and rather unique fantasy world with some interesting twists. It's also one of these books that switches characters between chapters and I found all 3 main characters it follows in the first book enjoyable to read, unlike other similar books where you end up rushing through some chapters to get back to the characters you actually like.

The only thing I can hold against is that it sometimes feel a bit dragged out, like it takes a bit too long to get to the point and move the story forward in a significant way. The Way of Kings is pretty long at 1000 pages and by the end I did feel like there was maybe a 10% of it that could have been trimmed.

 

[Golgo 13]

Anyone read Flowers For Angernon? Considered to be a classic. I’m about halfway through and I like it so far but now blown away. This might be the first book that came highly recommended (in terms of being a highly regarded piece of literature from a wide variety of sources) that I’m slightly disappointed in. Of course, the book could finish strong in the second half and I could change my mind.

 

[Guileless]

Picked up Project Hail Mary on a whim at the library and finished it the next day. It's worth your while.

 

[Classicrockfan]

 

[Shubh_C63]

Its a thriller mixed with Sci-Fi. Over your allotted pages but its a super easy read.

Did read it. Very good one.