What is everybody reading?

[kinnikuman]

100 pages into New Moon, and I've already cried once. TO BE FAIR, I already wasn't doing so hot, and reading an unexpected realistic portrayal of depression in my dumb vampire book didn't help. Spending months on end, dead inside, just going through the motions, while people around you are getting concerned but you get defensive and exile yourself from them, I can relate to that. But anyways, I just found the idea of crying at a Twilight book to be absurd and funny. The context surrounding the depression is stupid though, just considering how terribly the relationship is written to begin with.

Hey man keep your head up depression is a hell of a thing. But what they say is true the things you want to do the least are the things that help the most - excercise, and socialize, and for me driving on road trips has always been a godsend.

 

[kinnikuman]

Finished the three body trilogy last night - great sci fi and it’s coming to Netflix. Interesting to see how they will handle some of bigger concepts. And also if they will do all three books !? It will need 2-3 seasons per book. I have so many books on my shelves I don’t know what to start next! I’m leaning toward the name of the rose.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Finished the three body trilogy last night - great sci fi and it’s coming to Netflix. Interesting to see how they will handle some of bigger concepts. And also if they will do all three books !? It will need 2-3 seasons per book. I have so many books on my shelves I don’t know what to start next! I’m leaning toward the name of the rose.

Is that the books by Cixin Lui? I didn’t realize Netflix was adapting them. I have the first book on my tbr pile. I’d prefer to read it before an adaption is released so maybe I’ll get to it next.

As for recommendations Name of the Rose is great, though I read it over 30 years ago I think. For sci fi, you might look at Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series. Or, for a page turner, Blake Crouch is fun.

I’m currently reading Don DeLillo’s Underworld.

 

[kinnikuman]

Is that the books by Cixin Lui? I didn’t realize Netflix was adapting them. I have the first book on my tbr pile. I’d prefer to read it before an adaption is released so maybe I’ll get to it next.

As for recommendations Name of the Rose is great, though I read it over 30 years ago I think. For sci fi, you might look at Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series. Or, for a page turner, Blake Crouch is fun.

I’m currently reading Don DeLillo’s Underworld.

I’ve never heard of children of time or Blake crouch - but I’ll definitely add to my sci fi list. Is underworld book the source to the vampire movies?

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I’ve never heard of children of time or Blake crouch - but I’ll definitely add to my sci fi list. Is underworld book the source to the vampire movies?

Lol. No. It’s an epic postmodern novel from 1997 that was runner-up for the Pulitzer. Netflix recently adapted another DeLillo novel, White Noise, with Adam Driver though.

Blake Crouch is light sci fi. I’d recommend Dark Matter. Children of Time is more hard sci fi and deals with ideas more than plot. I reviewed it here.

 

[Eyepainter]

I've recently been interested in the period of Romanticism, and I decided to read Rafael Sabatini's "Scaramouche." I'm about 100 pages in, and it's been quite a fun read so far with no sign of boredom in sight. Don't know what's going to happen next, but I'm excited to find out.

 

[kinnikuman]

Lol. No. It’s an epic postmodern novel from 1997 that was runner-up for the Pulitzer. Netflix recently adapted another DeLillo novel, White Noise, with Adam Driver though.

Blake Crouch is light sci fi. I’d recommend Dark Matter. Children of Time is more hard sci fi and deals with ideas more than plot. I reviewed it here.

Dark matter sounds great - so does children of time but I’ve been in space for three books straight with three body. So much to read so little time

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Dark matter sounds great - so does children of time but I’ve been in space for three books straight with three body. So much to read so little time

You liked Three Body Problem, I take it? I ordered it and it will arrive Thursday. I might quickly read The Crying of Lot 49 before it gets here.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

I remember enjoying Dark Matter when it was on, but I couldn't tell you anything about it beyond the basic premise of "some people on a space ship wake up with no memories". And didn't it end on a cliffhanger?

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

I remember enjoying Dark Matter when it was on, but I couldn't tell you anything about it beyond the basic premise of "some people on a space ship wake up with no memories". And didn't it end on a cliffhanger?

What do you mean “when it was on”? Was it adapted for tv? The description you give doesn’t sound like this novel, which is more of a parallel universes type of thing. It’s very light and reads more like a blockbuster movie than any sort of “hard sci fi.” I read it in two days but I could easily see reading it in a sitting.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

Oh I got confused. There was a comic book miniseries called Dark Matter that then got picked up as a TV series to continue the story but it's unrelated. Never mind.

 

[kinnikuman]

You liked Three Body Problem, I take it? I ordered it and it will arrive Thursday. I might quickly read The Crying of Lot 49 before it gets here.

It’s a slow burn - and it seems like a lot of the sci fi stems from real theories? Almost like it’s hard sci fi lol. My only advice is to maybe jot down the names and like a quick sentence on each character because a lot of the characters are Chinese and after 3 books i found myself googling characters that popped back up. Good luck with Pynchon I’ve read chapter 1 of a couple of his books and was like “maybe next year”

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

It’s a slow burn - and it seems like a lot of the sci fi stems from real theories? Almost like it’s hard sci fi lol. My only advice is to maybe jot down the names and like a quick sentence on each character because a lot of the characters are Chinese and after 3 books i found myself googling characters that popped back up. Good luck with Pynchon I’ve read chapter 1 of a couple of his books and was like “maybe next year”

I started The Three Body Problem today after finishing The Crying of Lot 49 yesterday. My quick thoughts on that one are here.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

It’s a slow burn - and it seems like a lot of the sci fi stems from real theories? Almost like it’s hard sci fi lol. My only advice is to maybe jot down the names and like a quick sentence on each character because a lot of the characters are Chinese and after 3 books i found myself googling characters that popped back up. Good luck with Pynchon I’ve read chapter 1 of a couple of his books and was like “maybe next year”

Finished the first book of The Three Body Problem. Definitely interesting to read sci fi that comes from a Chinese background rather than the typical “western” background. The science ideas are really interesting too and I’d like to learn more about the (what I assume to be) real theories behind it. I see that the Netflix series is being done by the GoT guys. I think they actually did a good job with adaptation when they had something to adapt. I’m hopeful it will turn out well. It could come across as really silly really easily though if not done right. Looking forward to reading the next two installments.

 

[kinnikuman]

Finished the first book of The Three Body Problem. Definitely interesting to read sci fi that comes from a Chinese background rather than the typical “western” background. The science ideas are really interesting too and I’d like to learn more about the (what I assume to be) real theories behind it. I see that the Netflix series is being done by the GoT guys. I think they actually did a good job with adaptation when they had something to adapt. I’m hopeful it will turn out well. It could come across as really silly really easily though if not done right. Looking forward to reading the next two installments.

Yeah it took me a while to get used to all the heroes being Chinese - not racist or anything against Chinese- but I was like every important discovery is from a Chinese person? lol the next two books delve even deeper into “hard” sci fi. I hope the Netflix adaption is good, it definitely needs a huge budget.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Yeah it took me a while to get used to all the heroes being Chinese - not racist or anything against Chinese- but I was like every important discovery is from a Chinese person? lol the next two books delve even deeper into “hard” sci fi. I hope the Netflix adaption is good, it definitely needs a huge budget.

I bought the next two books but only book three is here so far. It’s definitely a beefier book than book one. Book one didn’t feel like a set up to a series necessarily but it also didn’t feel complete.

The Chinese backdrop of the Cultural Revolution is very cool for sci fi. And while there isn’t widespread government distrust of science in the “west” these days, scientists are definitely being questioned more by average citizens. And I think there’s just a different cultural reaction you see. For example, I have a hard time imagining widespread suicide among scientists because accepted theories are seemingly being proven false. But that very well May be how the Chinese would expect them to react.

On another note, I read the first three Murderbot Diary novellas. It kind of reminds me of Altered Carbon (the first season of the show is all I’m familiar with). It’s action packed, but fairly tropey. I do like the idea of the story being told from the perspective of an AI though.

 

[kinnikuman]

I bought the next two books but only book three is here so far. It’s definitely a beefier book than book one. Book one didn’t feel like a set up to a series necessarily but it also didn’t feel complete.

The Chinese backdrop of the Cultural Revolution is very cool for sci fi. And while there isn’t widespread government distrust of science in the “west” these days, scientists are definitely being questioned more by average citizens. And I think there’s just a different cultural reaction you see. For example, I have a hard time imagining widespread suicide among scientists because accepted theories are seemingly being proven false. But that very well May be how the Chinese would expect them to react.

On another note, I read the first three Murderbot Diary novellas. It kind of reminds me of Altered Carbon (the first season of the show is all I’m familiar with). It’s action packed, but fairly tropey. I do like the idea of the story being told from the perspective of an AI though.

I agree with your spoiler reaction - I was like well I wouldn’t do that. I read the first murderbot and I liked it - I gotta get back to that series eventually, but I have so many books on my shelf that I can’t justify buying something !!! That’s how I got into this mess lol. It’s like I love a book in a genre and I want to stay that world until I don’t! I wonder if Netflix will westernize the three body series? I was talking to some frinds that read the books as well and I was telling them that maybe the writer had pressure from the government to Chinese it? Because he sounds like a very smart guy and I doubt he thinks all the relevant people and discoveries will out of China? I mean just in an odds way. Although I guess volcanoes amd meteors and monsters always affect or attack to Los Angeles or New York hehe

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

These are my summer reading books. I’m having trouble deciding what to read next. It probably won’t be Karamozov or Gravity’s Rainbow as those are re-reads for me. Anyone want to help me decide?

 

[asterixsmeagol]

If you like being sad, go for Dostoyevsky

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

If you like being sad, go for Dostoyevsky

Yeah I’ve read it before and regularly re-read the Grand Inquisitor section. I just want I re-read the whole thing now that I am (a lot) older and presumably (somewhat) wiser.

I read the blurbs to my son and asked him to pick and he picked The Secret History. So I’ll begin that tomorrow.