Books! The good Reads thread

[Idlehands]

Finished Broken Earth Trilogy.

Interesting magic, interesting world building. Sort of sci fi and sort of fantasy.

Just downloaded The Ax and the Throne. Buddy says looked like gritty fantasy so I'm all in. I need stuff for the train ride when I actually commute.


I'm still waiting for the last book of the Lightbringer series.

[omaniphil]

Good thread topic. This summer I read all the books in the Expanse, a sci-fi series - highly recommended. I also started re-reading Wheel of Time. I read up to book 8 back in the 90s, but then Robert Jordan's pace really slowed down, kind of like GRRM with Song of Ice and Fire, and I lost interest. Then Jordan died, and a new writer, Brandon Sanderson, came on to finish the last three books in the series sometime around 2010. I'm currently on book 6 of 14.

[Idlehands]

Good thread topic. This summer I read all the books in the Expanse, a sci-fi series - highly recommended. I also started re-reading Wheel of Time. I read up to book 8 back in the 90s, but then Robert Jordan's pace really slowed down, kind of like GRRM with Song of Ice and Fire, and I lost interest. Then Jordan died, and a new writer, Brandon Sanderson, came on to finish the last three books in the series sometime around 2010. I'm currently on book 6 of 14.

I read most of the expanse. I think. I forgot where I left off. The tv show is surprisingly great . Check out the show!

[omaniphil]

I read most of the expanse. I think. I forgot where I left off. The tv show is surprisingly great . Check out the show!

Indeed. I started watching it right after I finished with Babylon's Ashes. Took me a while to get into it, but the casting was great. The next book comes out in December, and I don't think I'll be able to picture the characters in my mind without thinking of the actors from the TV show - they owned the characters. Especially casting Shohreh Agdashloo as Avasarala --- genius.

[Murelli]

Anything written by Bernard Cornwell. Start anywhere, but the first book from a series is always a good bet (I've read King Arthur's and Starbuck's).

[aurelius]

I don't always have the time (or will) to read. Graphic novels are a fun 2-3 hour investment where you get a complete story arc. Some fun ones I follow now are East of West and Lazarus. Both are post-society/apocalypse worlds. One is fantastical and the other is some kind of high-tech feudal society.

I will also second Bernard Cornwell. The Sharpe series is truly great.

[Murelli]

I will also second Bernard Cornwell. The Sharpe series is truly great.

Stop agreeing with me. Don't post again on my log.

[cwd]

Recently re-read the Dresden Files books by Butcher. Fun.

This is strange and awesome: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: http://www.hpmor.com/

[Murelli]

Recently re-read the Dresden Files books by Butcher. Fun.

This is strange and awesome: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: http://www.hpmor.com/

Any love for Frederick Forsyth?

[Idlehands]

Recently re-read the Dresden Files books by Butcher. Fun.

This is strange and awesome: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: http://www.hpmor.com/

I'm waiting for the next Dresdon book. Those are like popcorn to me. Much fun, many win.

[Allentown]

If you like fantasy, I picked up Robin Hobb on a surge of nostalgia for reading books about dragons 4-ish years ago. I really like everything I have read.

[Root]

I just finished Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. Glad to be done with it, honestly. Maybe I just don't have a mind for abstract philosophy, but I found it really hard to follow in places, and didn't really see the big deal.

Had a friend recommend and give me a copy of Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Anyone read it?

[Hanley]

and didn't really see the big deal.

Motorcycles are cool.

A good chunk of it is set in my town.

But, yeah, the daydreams on quality....not my thang.

Edit: ^ I think of it more as an "autobiography of mental illness" than "philosophical inquiry".

[KarlM]

Just finished "The Reinman Hypothesis: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics" by Karl Sabbagh. Fortunately Mr. Sabbagh, who is a fantastic writer, knows enough math so that the reader really gets a feel for the problem, while also using standard writing chops to tell a compelling story. Highly recommended if you like mathy books.

[strega]

The Books of Enoch: The Angels, The Watchers and The Nephilim (With Extensive Commentary on the Three Books of Enoch, the Fallen Angels, the Calendar of Enoch, and Daniel’s Prophecy)
Editor: Joseph Lumpkin

A non-canonical book that influenced the New Testament. First discovered in the 18th century many thought it to be a forgery. Discover of the Dead Sea Scrolls, put that argument to rest as it likely pre-dates the new testament. It's sort of like reading the book of Revelation on acid, or at least what I'd imagine it to be like. Somewhere in here is one hell of a movie script, but primarily I find it soothing to read books that are a bit off beat.

[BootyBeech]

I've been reading a fair bit of Warhammer 40,000 books recently. The Horus Heresy is definitely a good place to start but whoever mapped that plot out went overboard by 10,000,000%. There are over 40 books in the series now. Start with Horus Rising, False Gods and then Galaxy in Flames. Maybe The First Heretic after that.

[vanslix]

I'm not too proud to admit it wasn't until I reread Zen the second time around that I truly got the beauty and genius of the book. And, Hanley, I absolutely agree in that it also functions on an autobiographical account of someone unraveling mentally. Given that on any given day, an average of roughly 30% of my patients have a mental illness underlying the majority of their health problems, it is a very true book from where I sit. But, no, not an easy book to trudge through.

[cwd]

I also had to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance twice to "get" it.
Same with Goedel, Escher, Bach.

Both were worth the effort.

[Idlehands]

I also had to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance twice to "get" it.
Same with Goedel, Escher, Bach.

Both were worth the effort.

Isn't godel esher and bach just on the halting problem? or was that goedels theorum.
I think i've read one or both.

[GlasgowJock]

I've been reading a fair bit of Warhammer 40,000 books recently. The Horus Heresy is definitely a good place to start but whoever mapped that plot out went overboard by 10,000,000%. There are over 40 books in the series now. Start with Horus Rising, False Gods and then Galaxy in Flames. Maybe The First Heretic after that.

Ah a fellow Warhammer 40k fan Anything by Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Graham McNeill is a solid bet. Would thoroughly recommend the Eisenhorn trilogy & the Gaunt's Ghosts series.

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War however my top pick for military sci-fi.

Conn Iggulden does excellent period fiction (especially the Gladiator series) with Simon Scarrow, Clive Cussler & Bernard Cornwell doing decent lightweight stuff.