Hey Beehaw, whatcha reading right now?

  • scoobford@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    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
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      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

  • DJDarren@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • Frenchpress_Hellyes@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      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
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    1 year ago

    Pattern Recognition, William Gibson.

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

    • IAmNoJedi@lemmy.one
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      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.

  • d3fc0n1@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • cold_cathode@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I just started The Stranger too! I’ve been meaning to read it for a few years now. I wanted to find a paper copy in French, but I haven’t found one used yet so I’ve been reading it in English on paper and French online.

  • Duchess@yiffit.net
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    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.

  • GreyShuck@beehaw.org
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    1 year 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).

  • lunasloth@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I usually have a print/ebook and an audio book (for the car) going at the same time.

    For print book, currently reading Crooked Kingdom, one of the books in the Grishaverse series/world. I, uh, got a little obsessed after watching the first season of Shadow and Bone a year or two ago.

    For audiobook, currently listening to Children of Ruin. Not too far into it yet, but I loved loved loved Children of Time (also listened to the audiobook version), so I’m excited to see where this one goes.

    • lamentforicarus@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I really want to read Children of Time. I actually did start it and got half way through, but I have such an intense arachnophobia that I had to give up because I kept dreaming of spiders and waking up terrified. I enjoyed his writing style, though, and am curious about his new trilogy coming out.

      • flea@hive.atlanten.se
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        1 year ago

        You should try getting through it. Arachnophobia is a big part of resolving the plot A beautiful end.

        • lamentforicarus@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I figured. I got to the part where they captured a woman and she sort of starved to death. They weren’t doing anything evil intentionally; she was completely foreign to their way of life. I assumed the ending would revolve around learning from each other or cohabitation - some type of mutual respect. Maybe not. I’ll get back into it. I have the audiobook on my waitlist for the library.

      • lunasloth@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Aah that’s so rough, I’m sorry to hear that! I’m terrified of spiders IRL but fortunately it doesn’t extend much to other media 😅

        Is it the Final Architecture trilogy that’s his new one? I’ve got the first book on my to-read list, but haven’t gotten to it yet. It doesn’t look like the audiobook has the same narrator as the Children of Time books, though, which is a bummer!

        • lamentforicarus@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Yeah! The first one is Shards of Earth. I have it sitting on my nightstand to read next since the final book of the trilogy just came out.

          Thinking about it, I wonder if listening to an audiobook would help me with the phobia since I’m not usually bothered by people talking about spiders and, for whatever reason, I don’t create as much visualization in my head when I am listening to something as opposed to reading it. Especially since the narrator seems so good!

          • lunasloth@beehaw.org
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            1 year ago

            That’s an interesting observation! If you do end up giving it a shot and it doesn’t bother you as much via audio, you definitely won’t be disappointed in the narrator (IMO). 🙂 (Then again, I feel like I’m really picky about audiobook narrators for some reason, haha).

            • lamentforicarus@beehaw.org
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              1 year ago

              I feel you. I’m also picky about narrators. I’ve stopped listening to a lot of books because the narrator threw me off. It’s harder to enjoy the plot/characters if the storyteller has the wrong vibes.

  • altz3r0@beehaw.org
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    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