What are you reading? (Literature)

Jabberwok

Just finished the third book in the stormlight series, man I love Brandon Sanderson's power systems he makes there really cool

does anyone know other series that have unique power/magic systems?

Stromlight and Mistborn are the only Novels I've ever read that have those kinds of power systems, the only other place I see stuff like that is in Mangas

Sanderson's pretty unique in terms of the detail and limits he puts into his magic systems. If you haven't read his Wax and Wayne books already, they're an industrial age remix set in the same world as Mistborn.

I'd also potentially suggest A Darker Shade of Magic, which has a moderately defined magic system and a neat tournament arc in the second book.

Shiebs

@Jabberwok:

Sanderson's pretty unique in terms of the detail and limits he puts into his magic systems. If you haven't read his Wax and Wayne books already, they're an industrial age remix set in the same world as Mistborn.

I'd also potentially suggest A Darker Shade of Magic, which has a moderately defined magic system and a neat tournament arc in the second book.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a tournament arc in a book series before, I’ve already heard good things about this series so I’m probs gonna check it out

Thanks for the suggestion

andre

I'll second the Wax and Wayne series and recommend the audiobooks if you're into them.

Lancer21MiG

I've recently finished Vassily Grossman's Life and Fate, about his experienced on the Eastern Front of WW2. That was a heavy read, but a fascinating one that I don't regret for a second.

Kay_B

I try to read more. Only this year they re-read The Chronicles of Narnia with the children, and for myself I read Bradberry, Orwell, Dumas, Selinger. I plan to read 2-3 works of Lovecraft even before the new year and maybe I will have time for something else.

Nolus

I'm currently reading Small Gods from Terry Pratchett and Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. The latter is a sort of introduction to philosophy through the eyes of a 15-something year old girl who unexpectedly rolls in a philosophy course through mysterious letters. I like how it's an approachable way to learn about the subject and its roots and I can definitely imagine myself researching certain philosophers more in-debt once I'm finished with the book.

starlalilymoon

Honestly, the only books I have been reading are my schoolbooks, still have a book I checked out from the library that I need to read. It's called The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I get to the book eventually >.<

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Femme

@Shiebs:

Just finished the third book in the stormlight series, man I love Brandon Sanderson's power systems he makes there really cool

does anyone know other series that have unique power/magic systems?

Stromlight and Mistborn are the only Novels I've ever read that have those kinds of power systems, the only other place I see stuff like that is in Mangas

Be sure to read Brandon Sanderson’s “Warbreaker”, as it will be connected to the next Stormlight book, Rhythm of War. I am so freaking excited D: It’s coming out in November.

Btw, are you aware of the Cosmere? Sanderson’s multiple series that are connected?

Apologies in advance for my extensive Sanderson nerdiness.

Shiebs

@Femme:

Be sure to read Brandon Sanderson’s “Warbreaker”, as it will be connected to the next Stormlight book, Rhythm of War. I am so freaking excited D: It’s coming out in November.

Btw, are you aware of the Cosmere? Sanderson’s multiple series that are connected?

Apologies in advance for my extensive Sanderson nerdiness.

Oh man, I didn't realize there were more to read

So far I've read the first Mistborn trilogy, the 3 Stormlight books and I just started the second book of the Mistborn series, shadows of self

I knew they were all part of a multiverse but I don't know what order to read them in, what would you recommend?

also no need to apologize on being passionate about something, I'm the exact same way, once I get into something I just can't stop

pariston_hill

Sanderon also connected his stories like Asimov? Nice. The guy is super wholesome, we wore a MtG Novel (a game he is super fan) for free.
Might enter the Sanderson wagon when I have money to buy the books.

Jabberwok

@pariston_hill:

Sanderon also connected his stories like Asimov? Nice. The guy is super wholesome, we wore a MtG Novel (a game he is super fan) for free.
Might enter the Sanderson wagon when I have money to buy the books.

If you're looking to try some Sanderson, the entire Warbreaker book is available free on his website chapter by chapter. Ironically it's one of the few books by him that I haven't read.

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/warbreaker-introduction/

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

On a different note, I've just finished Susanna Clarke's (author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell) new acclaimed book, Piranesi.
I found it enjoyable and engrossing for the most part, but the ending was both smaller and more obvious than I was expecting. Definitely a bit of a let down but still a good read.

Shiebs

Finished all the Mistborn books except Secret History, Now I'm reading WarBreaker

Nolus

Finished Small Gods from Terry Pratchett. Reading those bits about the flat-earth/round-earth debate was hilarious considering our situation nowadays. Enjoyed the parodies of the philosophers as well, especially since I've just started reading up on the subject so I understood most of the references I believe.

pariston_hill

I fucking wish Discworld was more available here in Brasil.

Nolus

I buy the Kindle edition from Amazon, actually. Pretty cheap and you get it right away.

John Smith Jr

This post is deleted!

pariston_hill

@Nolus:

I buy the Kindle edition from Amazon, actually. Pretty cheap and you get it right away.

Call me old fashioned Nolus, but I like my books made of dead trees and with the delightful smell of printing ink.

Nolus

@pariston_hill:

Call me old fashioned Nolus, but I like my books made of dead trees and with the delightful smell of printing ink.

I fault no one for preferring traditional books, they have their own distinct feel. But Kindle is so cheap and I got to read so many wonderful books without having to worry about atrocious shipping costs.

pariston_hill

@Nolus:

I fault no one for preferring traditional books, they have their own distinct feel. But Kindle is so cheap and I got to read so many wonderful books without having to worry about atrocious shipping costs.

Shipping costs…shudders. I just can't concentrate reading a digital version, the only books I've read on digital format were the Dunk & Egg novelas on my Ipad, but they amount for less than 250 pages in total, and the 3/4 of Robot Dreams while I was doing and internship in a college lab, during a college strike.

Nolus

@pariston_hill:

Shipping costs…shudders. I just can't concentrate reading a digital version, the only books I've read on digital format were the Dunk & Egg novelas on my Ipad, but they amount for less than 250 pages in total, and the 3/4 of Robot Dreams while I was doing and internship in a college lab, during a college strike.

An e-book reader does wonders in my opinion. I've had a Kindle for almost 8 years now. The battery life is really good, it looks just like reading the printed edition (it has no backlighting) and it's very light and reasonably durable. I've read the entire LotR trilogy as well the The Hobbit, several Vampire Hunter D, Terry Pratchett and other books. It does feel different than staring at a screen.

andre

I finished Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book 4: Rhythm of War today. What a damn journey!j As they say - Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

Cobra Banclock

@andre:

I finished Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book 4: Rhythm of War today. What a damn journey!j As they say - Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

I appreciate your recs. Will check it out. (Also gonna check out that podcast, boiiii)

andre

@Cobra:

I appreciate your recs. Will check it out. (Also gonna check out that podcast, boiiii)

I appreciate it a lot! It's a work in progress, but it's been a lot of fun this last half year.

Cobra Banclock

@andre:

I appreciate it a lot! It's a work in progress, but it's been a lot of fun this last half year.

Listening to Episode 5, its time to get my jam on, even if I'm stuck in the middle of a lockdown. Looking up all the songs.
Looking forward to the others eps. Keep creating, bro, it's cool stuff.

Shiebs

@andre:

I finished Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive book 4: Rhythm of War today. What a damn journey!j As they say - Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination.

I also just finished this! Now I’ve read all the Stormlight books, all the Mistborn books and War Breaker, now I need more Brandon Sanderson fix

andre

@Shiebs:

I also just finished this! Now I’ve read all the Stormlight books, all the Mistborn books and War Breaker, now I need more Brandon Sanderson fix

You might finish them quickly, but I highly recommend his short story collection. They are all excellent! I particularly love Sixth of the Dusk.

Shiebs

@andre:

You might finish them quickly, but I highly recommend his short story collection. They are all excellent! I particularly love Sixth of the Dusk.

Thanks! I'll check it out!

andre

@Shiebs:

Thanks! I'll check it out!

Mistborn: Secret History is going to be great if you've read all of Mistborn. Also I should mention that the White Sand Graphic Novels are pretty good and part of the Cosmere, and of course there's Sanderson's first published novel, Elantris. All is worthy. I hope you enjoy.

Shiebs

@andre:

Mistborn: Secret History is going to be great if you've read all of Mistborn. Also I should mention that the White Sand Graphic Novels are pretty good and part of the Cosmere, and of course there's Sanderson's first published novel, Elantris. All is worthy. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks man! LOL I just finished Mistbron a secret History a few minutes before responding, I have Elantris at my house, and I''ll def check out White Sand, I assume that has to do with the white sand that was in Rythm of War?

pariston_hill

I'm waiting for my copies of Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, and Flowers for Algernon to arrive to start the yearly readings. But since I order directly from the editor's maybe I should start with the books I left from last year: Quincas Borba, Nausea, and The Sorrows of Young Werther.

andre

@Shiebs:

Thanks man! LOL I just finished Mistbron a secret History a few minutes before responding, I have Elantris at my house, and I''ll def check out White Sand, I assume that has to do with the white sand that was in Rythm of War?

Yes, and there are some characters from White Sand who appear in Shadesmar as well.

Nolus

I've recently finished Night Watch by, you guessed it, Terry Pratchett. This might my favourite from the Discworld books so far. From start to finish I couldn't name a moment I had any issues with. My emotional investment was through the roof the whole time.

! Of course it helped that it was basically a sort of "flashback" chapter in the series, and we basically revisited established characters through the lens of the past.
Vetinari's "introduction" was especially neat, and I couldn't help but smile when reading about young Nobby's shenanigans. Vimes having to confront his younger self was also an interesting take on the character and his development.
! Interestingly enough, this was the first Watch book with almost no Carrot in it. He was there, of course, but for a couple of pages. It was a Vimes-marathon all along and while I like Carrot, I do think Sam is more interesting.

Cobra Banclock

Human Acts by Han Kang. Nothing better than a sweet little existential crisis before bed time.

Nilitch

I thought I could give a try to Don DeLillo. Maybe Underworld, but it seems a bit long to start with. So I don't know exactly…

I have to finish reading Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa first

Shiebs

Does anyone know if SkyWard by Brandon Sanderson is any good, I read almost all his Cosmere stuff (just got white sand and arcanum unbound left) and was wondering if this was as good? I know it’s not part of his Cosmere but is it worth reading?

Shiebs

Hey all you Brandon Sanderson fans look at this!

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/mistborns-kelsier-springs-forth-in-fortnite

starlalilymoon

I have been reading "The Starless Sea" by Erin Morgenstern. I'm really enjoying it, I like that the main character is gay but it is treated as normal as a straight person. Though the story gets a bit abstract, so sometimes it is hard to follow, but otherwise it is pretty good. I think I'm currently in the climax of the book, but not sure.

lamotulu

The Girl Who Played with Fire (2nd in the Stieg Larsson series)

starlalilymoon

I have been reading the Miss Peregrine book series! I have really been enjoying them! Currently, I'm on the fourth book - Map of Days, which I'm close to finishing! :happy:

Nobodyman

About halfway through Stephen King's 11/22/63.

This is a seriously great book. One of his best.

charlimoun

I like to read Tresuare Island

Smudger

@lamotulu:

The Girl Who Played with Fire (2nd in the Stieg Larsson series)

The third books great. A little wacky but still good.

As for me, I've been following this guy on tiktok (thetalkingbook), and found myself totally entranced with ancient philosophy.

And so like any illogical tiktok junkie…. I decided to jump into the deep end and buy some of the literature he reads from (marcus aurelius - meditations).

At some point I'm going to fall into a Good Will hunting cliche, I just know it.

Nilitch

What's the Good Will Hunting cliché ?

Candide

@Nilitch:

What's the Good Will Hunting cliché ?

Maybe they think of keeping a low profile, unintentionally that is.

Aldarion

Re-reading Ciaphas Cain series. It is essentially a comedy series... set in Warhammer 40k universe. Yeah.

Books are awesome though, if you like a mix of comedy and horror, so... definitely would recommend.

Satsuki

The Golden Enclaves, book 3 of the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik.

I can't love this author enough. Like Harry Potter? Want something darker or more intense? Want a heroine who's half Indian? Feeling betrayed by J.K. Rowling and can't read HP anymore? This is your series.

Jabberwok

@Satsuki said in What are you reading? (Literature):

The Golden Enclaves, book 3 of the Scholomance trilogy by Naomi Novik.

I can't love this author enough. Like Harry Potter? Want something darker or more intense? Want a heroine who's half Indian? Feeling betrayed by J.K. Rowling and can't read HP anymore? This is your series.

Ugh, I'm dying to get to Golden Enclaves but I'm slowly getting through Tamsyn Muir's third Locked Tomb book, Nona the Ninth, first. It's...very clearly a book that slowly spun out of a small gap in a planned trilogy.

Amiracle

I'm continuing my October tradition with another Stephen King audiobook. This year, I'm listening to Thinner. It has plenty of the stock characters you'd expect from King, but that's kind of why I like him. I don't think it'll rank high on my list along with The Talisman or Rose Madder, though.

JessieJim

Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath"

Jabberwok

Finished The Golden Enclaves. I think I liked it significantly less than The Deadly Education but slightly more than The Last Graduate. I liked that the ending established optimism and a potential change to the flawed world system while also highlighting that change was unwelcome to a majority of the enclaves. I also appreciated the reversal with Orion and El's roles. However, the frequent jetsetting felt excessive and not particularly organic, and El felt more in her own head than ever. I found myself occasionally pushing her to actually move forward rather than just thinking for pages and pages in the middle of action.