this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2023
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Literature

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Hey Beehaw, whatcha reading right now?

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[–] fishy_2_0@beehaw.org 4 points 2 years ago

Currently reading Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy really fun reads though it got weird in some places

[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

My current read is Abarat by Clive Barker.

I'd not heard of it until last week, when folks on r/books were singing its praises in a thread, so figured I'd give it a shot. Yeah, it's enjoyable. Definitely aimed squarely at the middle of the YA crowd, but it's an easy read at a time when my brain isn't letting me really get into any books.

Barker has a fascinating imagination. I finished Coldheart canyon recently. I almost walked away repulsed many times but there was good story under all his signature flair. After Imajica I will try to read anything he writes.

[–] altz3r0@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.

Gibson is tough to get into, personally, but his stories are very cool!

[–] scoobford@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Murderbot Diaries.

I've been enjoying it, it has a surprising amount of heart for a series about an emotionally damaged not-robot.

[–] IndeterminateName@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

I was put off by the pricing on these. Full price for novella length. I really enjoyed the first one, I'll grab the rest if they go on sale

[–] Brisktheaardwolf@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The eyes of the dragon by Stephen King

[–] IAmNoJedi@lemmy.one 1 points 1 year ago

I read this so many times that my hardback copy started breaking. You know how the edges of the outer cover about 2/3 of the way down start getting fuzzy from being held when you've taken off the dust jacket? Almost fuzzy enough to make into a rope for escaping from a tower.

[–] argentcorvid@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Just started Howl's Moving Castle. Liking it so far!

Not exactly like the movie, but it's pretty close.

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[–] ozoned@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Currently reading "Brave New World", Aldous Huxley. Next up Isaac Asimov's Foundation.

[–] flea@hive.atlanten.se 1 points 1 year ago

Foundation books are great! Go for it!

[–] mainfrog@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Expeditionary Force: Match Game

[–] Ninefingers@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

I finally managed to read through Gardens of the Moon recently which I really liked, so now I'm on to Deadhouse Gates.

[–] fievel@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Black House, by Stephen King and Peter Straub

[–] GreyShuck@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

My 'big read' this year is Finnegans Wake - which I am (or have been) reading week by week along with the TrueLit sub on reddit. It would be a profoundly different experience to read it without the analysis and discussion going on there, so that is something...

Otherwise, I am reading The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, which is engaging and entertaining, as was her The Hollow Places which I read immediately before. I am also dipping into a collection of the Para Handy tales by Neil Munro, which are a cosy - if stereotypical and patronising - glimpse into another time and pace of life.

I have just returned from a couple of weeks away during which I finished an anthology of Clarke Ashton Smith short fantasy tales (all about the atmosphere: story and worldbuilding are very much secondary and character scarcely features); Haldor Laxness's The Atom Station (a sparse look at the clash of modern - written in 1948 - and traditional Icelandic values); and Blackwood's The Willows (an extrapolation of the original idea of "panic" - as several of this other tales are).

[–] scevola44@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I’m halfway into “Guards! Guards!” by Pratchett. My first story of his, and I’m having so much fun!

[–] alex@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

ahhhh welcome to the discworld!!

[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Once you've read that, get a copy of Nightwatch. Much the same cast of characters, but it's widely considered to be Terry's magnum opus. That book is a damn work of art.

#GNUTerryPratchett

[–] scevola44@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

Yeah, I already have planned to read the whole night watch saga. Then I’ll see what other side of the Discworld to move on to

[–] followthewhiterabbit@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

You'll love these books!

Jealous you get to read them all for the first time.

[–] altz3r0@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Finally finished with Pattern Recognition, William Gibson. It was... nice, it definitely felt like Gibson was uncomfortable writing in the present tense.

Next up is a Brazillian book, As águas-vivas não sabem de si by Aline Valek

[–] rmspc@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Not a Beehaw member, but still gotta answer it, lol.

Been enjoying post-modernist books right now, and just straight philosophy. It's all so intriguing.

Reading the classic White Noise by Don Delillo, in the middle of Discipline and Punish: The Birth of The Prison by Michel Foucault. Finished Shibumi by Trevanian a month or two ago, one of the most funny and badass reads I've been through. Looking forward to picking up some Byung Chul Han books after reading a PDF of his book The Burnout Society.

[–] Duchess@yiffit.net 2 points 1 year ago

do comic books count? i just started reading DCeased. otherwise i've finally cracked open Lolita, it's an interesting but disgusting read.

[–] GooseDwarf@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm currently reading through Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I'm a fan of SciFi, and cyberpunk especially. This book was on my reading list, and I decided to pick it up while in the bookstore the other day.

So far I'm really enjoying it. It feels a bit more pulpy than some of the other cyberpunk classics such as Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but that's not a bad thing. It certainly doesn't take away from the entertainment in my opinion. Not every book needs to have a grand philosophy behind it.

[–] drownedPhoenician@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

I guess I should finally read Snow Crash, but other books keep getting in the way. I just finished Neuromancer which surprised me with how well written it was. No idea why, but I expected the classics to be more … exhausting.

[–] IndeterminateName@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Currently working my way through the Three Body Problem series. They are very good but I'm not sure how much I'm enjoying them, they are pretty bleak in places.

[–] Yazee@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Fantastic novels. Skip the redemption of time though. It's terrible

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[–] elessar@fosstodon.org 2 points 1 year ago

@Kamirose I am currently reading the hobbit

[–] astromd@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Currently reading "Blue Earth Remembered" by Alastair Reynolds. It's a bit of "hard" sci-fi about a near-future world where Africa is the dominating technological force. Loving it so far.

[–] SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I'm currently re-reading Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg, for Pride Month!

[–] Qaad@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Currently reading Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte, and in tandem I'm also going through HBR Project Management by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez.

I'm restructuring my whole organization structure around PARA and CODE as described in BASB (It resonated with me because I realized I was already doing a form of PARA with my work files), and with that using Project Management as a primer for establishing how to complete my personal projects (I've always been bad at this because somehow I never registered personal stuff as projects in the way that I register my work projects). I'm an engineer so I have some project management experience, but I know I'm missing knowledge here and there so this is a twofer in educating myself on managing both my projects at work and my projects at home.

I'm also reading my way through Hamlet after becoming obsessed with the Kenneth Branagh adaptation. I've listened to two separate Librivox dramatizations and bought a dramatized version on Libro.fm.

[–] Silence@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hello, first post here. :D I'm reading A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford.

[–] Kamirose@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago
[–] Silence@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I finished A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford, feel like it was an interesting snapshot of the life and mannerisms of rich European nobility ~WW1, but Bedford was part of that group and doesn't seem to realize her intensely spoiled characters might not be so sympathetic to people outside of it. I read A Compass Error, the sequel, first, which includes a lengthy chapter summarizing the plot of A Favourite of the Gods.

Also finished Translation State by Ann Leckie - if I could go back in time and DNF'd this at ~75% I would, I had a really great time with the first part but did not think the ending was well thought out and it irritated me. This is the newest book in her Radch series but they seem to be advertising it as a standalone.

Also reading Dare to Go A-Hunting by Andre Norton, Palimpsest by Catherynne M Valente, and End of Watch by Stephen King.

[–] acaleyn@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been reading through the Anne of Green Gables series (L.M. Montgomery). It's one of my comfort reads, and I've been needing it.

I also just finished the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. I would have read more of them, but she hasn't written any more yet.

[–] Qaad@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I highly recommend the focus on the family Radio Theatre dramatization of Anne of Green Gables! Obviously focus on the family is highly problematic and this is no endorsement, but you can find the CD version used. The score and sound production is high quality, and Anne is played by Mae Whitman, who voices Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

[–] bsag@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I'm re-reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. I had forgotten how funny it is in places, and what a wry and surprisingly modern voice she has (once you get used to the 19th Century writing style).

[–] PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Two Towers. I’ve been needing to read more slowly in the past few years for health reasons, and I am finding lotr just so perfect for that. The nature descriptions are absolutely to die for.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"After all, why shouldn't I write about trees for three pages? It's my own book, my precious." - JRR Tolkien

[–] d3fc0n1@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm reading The Stranger, by Albert Camus. It's a short read and I'm already focusing on some of The Atlantic's recommendations in the Summer Reading Guide.

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[–] Basil@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Just started House of Leaves! Been super interesting so far, I love when books, movies, or games break tradition and do something truly unique

[–] CherryClan@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I'm reading Elektra by Jennifer Saint. After reading Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller I wanted to keep reading retellings of Greek mythology but I'm kinda struggling to get through this one. The story is really sad so maybe that's part of it.

[–] rancidity9480@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I have 2 going right now:

  • Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
  • Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash is good, but IDK. It just isn't pulling me in the way I expected it to, so it's taking me too long to get through.

Then I have some Jack Reacher novel on my bedside table waiting to be started, and I was just eyeballing a collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories on my shelf.

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[–] wieders@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Killing Comendatore by Murakami. It's late here and I always like reading his stuff at night.

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