this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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Looking for new books to read as I am preparing to head out on a much needed vacation and want to dig into some good reading. Can be fiction or nonfiction, just so long as it hooked you and made you want to keep reading and reading until the end.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

here are a few of my favorites

Susanna Clark

  • Piranesi
  • The ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories

Vonnegut

  • Cat's cradle
  • Slaughterhouse Five

Douglas Adams

  • literally anything he ever wrote

Mark Haddon

  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake

Ursula K. Le Guin

The Lathe of Heaven

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Great list. Piranesi was also a very fast read for me. I loved the way she painted pictures with her words.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Some great books there, that reminds me I need to read some Susanna Clark.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

A Short History of Chinese Philosophy by Fung Yu-Lan. I spent pretty much all of my time off work reading it. I found it insanely interesting since I knew almost nothing about Chinese philosophy, and the book is written specifically for people like that. The way their schools of thought developed through the ages and were influenced by each other constantly as one became dominant was very fascinating.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I read almost exclusively fantasy and sci fi. Here's a few favourites.

Sci fi: Red Rising Trilogy Bobiverse The Martian and Project Hail Mary

Fantasy: The First Law Trilogy (my absolute favourite of everything I've read) Brandon Sanderson (literally any of his stuff. If you're looking for a trilogy, start with Mistborn and if a stand alone, Warbreaker). Don't be overwhelmed by his Cosmere world, if you only read mistborn era 1 it wraps up in a nice bow. Robin Hobbs first trilogy is a nice introduction to her series. If you don't love it it wraps up nicely after the first trilogy.

Dystopian: Unwound by Neal Schusterman Arc of the Scythe by Neal Schusterman

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The expanse. I'm on book 8 right now and it's been going fast. The world building is so good. It makes you wish you were there with them. If you're into hard scifi, then you'll love this series

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Not sure if your into light novels, recently I've been addicted to Acendence of A Bookworm.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I scrolled all the down the comments and didn't see Discworld by Terry Pratchett. Don't listen to anyone and just start reading it. There's no right or wrong way to do it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe the wrong way is to start with Book 1. I'd say try 'Witches' first, as I found the first book a bit offputting.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Here's some I have even reread.

  • The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. By Stephen R. Donaldson. 10 books
  • The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford. 6 books
  • The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 10 books
  • LOTR

Love the Murderbot series too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

End of the World running club. As someone the UK the concept of a massive apocalyptic event set in the uk was intriguing. I loved the book.

Also Sphere by Michael Crichton. In my own head canon, I seem to recall reading this in one sitting over a single night I was doing an all nighter. It was just super gripping!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Here's some I have even reread.

  • The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. By Stephen R. Donaldson. 10 books
  • The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford. 6 books
  • The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 10 books
  • LOTR

Love the Murderbot series too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Every time I buy the new Alex Delaware novel written by Jonathan Kellerman I read it straight through in one seating. I own the entire collection in hardback.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I feel like I have read quite a few books that I felt that way about, but it's always hard to bring them to mind when someone asks. That said, the first few that popped into my head:

  • Cradle (series)
  • Wool (series)
  • The Martian (Audio book is especially well narrated!)
  • Murderbot Diaries (series)
  • The Bobiverse (series)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

If you love The Martian, you are going to love Project Hail Mary. The audiobook is really good as well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Absolutely love cradle. Sad that it's over now

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

+1 for Cradle, I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I was going to

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Lilith by george mc donald

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Kingkiller Chronicles is a series by Patrick Rothfuss. The first book is The Name of the Wind. Definitely one of my absolute favorites

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Be forewarned that the author has not released the third book and last I checked there’s no release date on the horizon

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Hyperion. And that book was fucking heavy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My two favorites so far this year are Babel by RF Kuang and The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Seconding Babel. Such a powerful read for me as I grew up in a former British colony. Some of the parallels to the real world colonial system and how it affects locals are so relatable, even today!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Babel has been on my list for a while! Need to give it a bump to the top soon.

Have you read Yellowface? Or her other series, The Poppy War?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is a hot take, but Street Lawyer, by John Grisham.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Bobiverse series (science fiction).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
  • A Secret History
  • A Gentleman in Moscow
  • The Martian
  • 11/22/63
  • Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
  • East of Eden
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'd add Artemis too, or really anything Andy Weir writes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Here's some I have even reread.

  • The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. By Stephen R. Donaldson. 10 books
  • The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford. 6 books
  • The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 10 books
  • LOTR

Love the Murderbot series too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Here's some I have even reread.

  • The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. By Stephen R. Donaldson. 10 books
  • The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford. 6 books
  • The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 10 books
  • LOTR

Love the Murderbot series too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Already mentioned, but Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I’m not sure if I read it in one sitting or two.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Very recently, Mrs March by Virginia Feito. I was just gripped, I finished it in a day. It was compulsive, I just had to know what the main character was going to do next and how it was all going to unravel.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The Anthropocene Reviewed is the coziest book I’ve ever listened to. John Green reads it himself for the audio book and you can really feel his emotions and charm through it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Camino by Anya Niewierra. She's Dutch so I'm not sure if the book also exists in English.

Before that, Ready Player One. Later on I heard there is some criticism/toxicity around genders, right elitism and the like, but I never noticed that when reading it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Gibson's sprawl trilogy when I read them back in '89. The fact that it had many short chapters made it easy to consume in quick bursts of reading

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Reading this right now, and a little over halfway through. Enjoying it, but it took a long time for me to really sink my teeth into it. It's a very long book and a slow burn.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It’s so intricate and intimate - I just disappeared into the book and isn’t that what we need sometimes?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I actually read it in 2 weeks. It gripped me in a way that any free time, I was reading it. Every meal, break and bathroom trip 🤪 I sometimes struggle with fantasy stories because it's hard for me to picture the world they are set in. Clive has a way of creating worlds that when you're done reading the book, it takes a while for me to process that world doesn't actually exist somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Weaveworld is another great one! Actually any Clive Barker book is great to me. Mister B. Gone it's probably my favorite quick read by him.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes another great book that seems so bizarre when you read the summary but is just so well written and believable!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The Midnight Library and The Words We Keep. Missed bus stops multiple times because of reading the books, well worth it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A few books that kept me captivated recently

  • Blindsight by Peter Watts https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
  • Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt
  • Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
  • Edges by Linda Nagata
  • Mickey7 Ashton, Edward
  • Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@Evolone The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers (anything by Becky Chambers, really). Also anything by Gail Carriger.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not knowing what you have read...

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