Ask Lemmy

Finishing the Imperial Radch sci-fi trilogy (Ancillary Justice/Sword/Mercy) by Ann Leckie. Despite the agender language feature (everyone is addressed as she) the books deal more with colonialism, imperialism, and personal identity, rather than gender. Writing style is very information-dense, lots of thoughts and actions happening simultaneously. Compared to other science fiction that I read, it gets much more into the cultural and interpersonal situations, especially the second book.

Bouncing between Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions and The Screaming Staircase.

Algorithms is interesting but the actual algorithms aren't terribly useful so far.

The Screaming Staircase has a very neat world but not very interesting characters. I'm hoping it improves.

I just finished Abundance by Ezra Kline and Derek Thompson. A really interesting read regarding the housing crisis and the policies that have halted develpoment in major cities in America. I highly recommend reading this one. I took notes along the way and basically did a book report.

I'm now reading Casino: The Rise and Fall of the Mob in Las Vegas. A fascinating book that inspired the Scorsese film by the same title. Recommended for anyone with interest in Vegas or the mob. It's written kinda like a series of interviews from the perspectives of the different people involved. The (alleged) mob guys and the FBI agents who were investigating them.

Next up, I'm likely gonna read Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. I don't have too much insight on this one yet but I've heard it's pretty great

The expanse

Just finished them instead of reading them right now, but "The Left Hand of Darkness" and "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin. I liked the world building of the first far better, but it didn't hit at the politics I wanted to read about as much as I wanted, the second being the opposite.

I don't know why, but I just need content wrapped in sci-fi for me to find it enjoyable, and "The Dispossessed" in particular was what I was looking for, an exploration of anarchism grounded in examples and thought experiment.

Both of them are fantastic books, and definitely worth a read for anybody interested in science fiction, sexuality & gender, and anarchism.

Repurposing most of a comment from earlier in the day where someone asked about learning about the Jesus Myth theory that Jesus was originally a heavinly figure and only got turned into a guy with an earthly ministry decades later. This is well supported by the evidence in texts from the start of christianity (epistles, Dead Sea Scrolls).

The Jesus Puzzle, by Earl Doherty. He gets criticized because he’s not a trained scholar, but his work remains compelling and Robert M Price endorses him. I really enjoyed this one.

The Amazing Colossal Apostle - The Search for the Historical Paul, by Robert M Price. He’s a former Baptist minister with multiple degrees in the field, a true expert. He has a bunch of published YouTube interviews talking about these topics as well.

Quick warning: RMP is a Trump supporter. That makes sense. Ministers are rightwing. Coming from believing to realizing that the Bible is a collection of stories rather than history doesn’t necessarily change your politics. He mostly never mentions it, but it’s come out a couple of times in videos. Luckily, he doesn’t say anything further about it. The book is phenominal.

And, if you still want to consider Jeses to be a historical figure, I loved this controversial piece: The Passover Plot, by Hugh J. Schonfield. This book assumes that Jesus was a real apocalyptic Jew who truly believed that he was the messiah and who brilliantly engineered the conditions to fulfill prophecy. It’s a great read. If Jesus was a historical figure, this is the version of him that I think is most likely.

I am currently reading Marcion and the Dating of the Synoptic Gospels, by Markus Vinzent. I’m enjoying it a lot. Marcion was the first “heretic” for his view that Paul was the only apostle who understood the true message: that the creator god of the Jews was a lesser god, which is why there is evil in the world, and Jesus's god would adopt us.

If you like horror I can highly recommend the Christopher Snow Novels by Dean Koontz.

I reread Seize The Night almost yearly.

The Last Juror by John Grisham

Just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. It made me go hug my partner very tightly.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman. Great story, easy reading, relatable characters, and soon to be made into a series. There are 7 books so far, but rumors say there might be up to 10 eventually.

I'm currently reading Anthony Beevors 'D-Day'... But I'm also in Normandy, so I just read that book whilst sitting on Omaha Beach, which is pretty special.

im reading slobberknocker by jim ross. very interesting behind the scenes of the wrestling business

Finally got around to the Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan and it's more relevant than ever. It absolutely predicted the world we're in politically now and has some insight and analysis as to how and why and what to do to help. Definitely worth a read or reread if you haven't read it or it's been a while.

I'm reading Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. They fit modern fantasy into a British police procedural framework. What makes them exceptional are the characterizations, plus the wit and snark of the dialog. They are both good stories and a lot of fun to read.

Not reading it right now, but I'll take this opportunity to recommend people read Project Hail Mary before watching the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation which spoils major plot twists.

For the past, idk, one or two decades I have only read books very sparingly and if I did, it was fantasy. Right now I am devouring The Expanse books and having a great time. I watched the tv series first (awesome) but was somewhat bummed by the ending.

Rereading Berserk Manga(it's a book😤)

The Wild Robot Protects

Not quite as good as The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes, but the entire series is an excellent set of children’s novels.

I just finished Oryx and Crake the first of a trilogy by Margaret Atwood, I quite enjoyed it. It's a short of dystopian sci-fi. I was put off by her at first because I was forced to read her in high school but I'm glad I gave her another chance.

I'm starting Les Misérables in French in the hopes of improving my written French.

Also working my way through Weapons of the weak which is about forms of peasant resistance.

"Seeing like a state". It could be half the length without losing anything, but it's a very interesting perspective on states and central planning that I haven't thought about before and am enjoying.

Moon of the Crusted Snow and the sequel Moon of the Turning Leaves. Post apocalyptic novel following an Anisinaabe community. Well written and captivating stories.

Rereading Le Guin’s Earthsea saga.

Personally, I think she might be on par with Tolkien and actually surpasses him in a few ways. The 4th book (about a tired mom just trying to get by and care for people in a fantasy world) is the best one, but you need to work your way there.

Reading American Midnight, about how civil liberties were absolutely fucked after the US entered World War I.

Kangaroo apocrypts.

Yes. They are fun. BUY THE KANGAROOS! JOIN THE A-SOCIAL NETWORK! Spread the Jo-jos!

I'm reading the Percy Jackson books with my kid right now and I have to say, they're very well written. For kid/teen literature, i'd say there's a lot to like in the series, fun dialogue, characters with a lot of personality a fascinating and magical, yet recognizable fantasy world. I'm certainly enjoying it much more than I did the Harry Potter series.

Also the percy Jackson TV series is great too. The movies are hot trash though, wouldn't recommend them.

Trocken (Sober) by Daniel Wagner. Written in german, I don't know if there's an english translation. It's about himself struggling with heavy alcoholism and his way out of the addiction.

I'm reading how to blow up a pipeline by Andreas Malm, I'd recommend it.

Nearing the end of When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi, which came out a few months ago. It's a bit silly but I'd recommend it. The premise can be summed up as, "What would happen if the moon turned into cheese?"

If you like fantasy and haven't read any Brandon Sanderson then do yourself a favour and get on it!

My personally favourites are the Mistborn books but it isn't exactly an easy choice because literally everything he writes is great in my experience.

I just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea which is a shorter standalone book but still great!