The What Are You Reading thread (now with a simpler name)

[melkathi]

Raptors build and operate teleporters in Tingle's universe

[Hawke64]

On 8/3/2024 at 12:28 PM, melkathi said:

Raptors build and operate teleporters in Tingle's universe

Finished Chuck Tingle's novel, Camp Damascus. No unicorns or even raptors, which was most disappointing. Some spoilers below:

Spoiler

I liked that an autistic gay protagonist defeated her foes through the power of her memory and chosen family, while her toxic biological material donors were almost never mentioned again after kicking her out. They are not worth one's time and attention, if they do not represent an immediate threat, in which case, ensuring one's safety is a priority.

I didn't like the "zero-kills protagonist" trope where the antagonists are killed indirectly by the forces outside of the protagonist's control, but them surviving is extremely undesirable for the protagonist.

The horror elements were rather mild, considering the protagonist's inquisitive personality and scientific approach. The book mentioned the actual horror directly - the fictional Kingdom of the Pine is not unusual, and it is a reminder why conversion therapy must be banned, regardless of any religion attached.

Overall, it is very well written and I would recommend the book, though, it is not as wholesome as the short stories, due to the elements mentioned above.

[Malcador]

Reading the book on Blizzard, it's not exactly Masters of Doom in terms of in depth it goes, but I guess covering the 30+ years of the company that way would be too much to ask for.  Nothing all that earth shattering, Kotick is a stereotypical suit, although the anecdote of him wanting monthly releases of ______ Hero games and the executives thinking game development was like shampoo manufacturing were funny.

[uuuhhii]

a tide of black steel by anthony ryan

 a decent start for a new trilogy

the premise of viking vs roman style viking is certainly rare

main character are bland but tolerable

covenant of steel was a disappointment

hope this one end up better

 

Edited November 3, 2024 by uuuhhii

[uuuhhii]

more and more fantasy novel are now ai generate garbage instead of formulaic garbage

there seem to be no possibility of this trend being slowed or stopped in any way other than global power outage

finding decent novel would only be more and more difficult in the future

[uuuhhii]

wind of truth are more self indulgingly long then expected

still filled with so many pointless awful character author refuse to trim

moash was right

[Malcador]

The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad

Good  read, isn't military history really as isn't all that deep into what the armies are doing, rather focuses on how the people dealt with the siege.  Interesting to note the political gaming going on even with a siege ongoing, Malenkov and Beria mostly (the latter deserved worse than he got).

[summerz]

Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water is a sweeping, multigenerational novel set in South India, blending history, medicine, and family drama. The story follows a lineage afflicted by a mysterious condition where members drown in seemingly ordinary circumstances. Through lyrical prose and deeply human characters, Verghese explores themes of love, loss, and resilience.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, summerz said:

Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water is a sweeping, multigenerational novel set in South India, blending history, medicine, and family drama. The story follows a lineage afflicted by a mysterious condition where members drown in seemingly ordinary circumstances. Through lyrical prose and deeply human characters, Verghese explores themes of love, loss, and resilience.

Really weird how everyone keeps using the exact same phrases to describe this book, including even first time spammers posters on the Obsidian forums.

Edited February 5 by Bartimaeus

[Malcador]

Doing light reading, reading Cloak of Deception, Star Wars novel that came out after Ep 1.  Isn't all that bad, the author really likes the word "nicitating", but at least I learned a new word from the book.  Naturally, has a lot of politicking going on, about trade route taxation

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Malcador said:

Doing light reading, reading Cloak of Deception, Star Wars novel that came out after Ep 1.  Isn't all that bad, the author really likes the word "nicitating", but at least I learned a new word from the book.  Naturally, has a lot of politicking going on, about trade route taxation

You should read Red Harvest, that'll turn you off of Star Wars books for a while. I mean, unless you like bad zombie apocalypse novels.

[Hurlshort]

I went and saw the Broadway production of The Great Gatsby this week. I was a blubbering mess for the majority of the show. I was the only one in my family who had read the book. First off, I never really understood how much of a difference a strong actor can make in a performance. I've seen a few shows over the years in San Francisco; Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Beetlejuice. But watching Sarah Hyland play Daisy was incredibly different from any other movie or show. I fell in love with her almost immediately. I'm going to put the rest of my Great Gatsby Musical stuff in spoilers so I don't ruin the story.

Spoiler

Falling in love with Daisy is a terrible mistake. I knew that immediately. I basically became Gatsby, sitting in the audience watching everything unfold. The tricky part about The great Gatsby is understanding that Nick is the only redeeming character. Everyone else is a villain. Sure, Tom is an a-hole (which is worked into a song) but he's not even the biggest villain. By the end of it all, Daisy is the real villain. All the deaths trace back to her. All of the conflict. All of the sadness. 

So I sat in the audience and wept from nearly start to finish. My family looked at me like I had lost it, and I had. For better or worse.

So go read the book and then watch the show.

@Volourn would love this one.

[Malcador]

On 2/5/2025 at 5:08 PM, majestic said:

You should read Red Harvest, that'll turn you off of Star Wars books for a while. I mean, unless you like bad zombie apocalypse novels.

Only really reading this as I read the Darth Plageuis book due to listening to some of the audiobook on Youtube, they chose a great narrator, Daniel Davis. But I've read KJA's Star Wars novels that was enough   The book's not too bad though, the scheming isn't what I'd expected from a SW book.

I guess I will switch to non-fiction. Maybe will read a book on Hitler's rise (and unlike back in high school when I did it for a project, I won't find Neo-Nazi pamphlets in the book!)

[LadyCrimson]

@Hurlshort My teacher made us read Gatsby and I thought it one of those required readings (well, back then, no clue today). I was always placed in AP English most of my life tho, for some reason (it definitely wasn't for my grammatical ability, haha) so maybe a different routine. That teacher also made us watch the Redford movie.
--

Not reading but I saw this video re: Aphantasia (inability to visualize). Which made me wonder again "so not everyone sees a movie in their head when reading?"
I probably was aware of this already on some level - hubby is likely someone who doesn't visualize much, if at all (he also doesn't vicariously attach/emote re: films) but it was interesting learning a label for ppl like hubby. The reason I used to read non-stop as a kid (finish novels in one 5-16 hour sitting barely ever looking up) was because after one or two chapters I no longer saw the text, just a movie, and I couldn't "turn off" the movie because too much disruption. It would've been like trying to watch a film in 10 minute chunks over several days.

I find the text to visualizing has lessened somewhat for me as I've aged tho. It's still there but less immediate or affecting. Perhaps another reason I don't get as into books as I used to.

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

4 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Not reading but I saw this video re: Aphantasia (inability to visualize). Which made me wonder again "so not everyone sees a movie in their head when reading?"

Yeah, my ability to mentally visualize things is almost none, and it even applies to dreams. Anything I try to mentally visualize, be it a place or a face that I should know very well, all I really get is a very vague outline that's muddy, dark, and nearly unseen, as if what I'm trying to picture is hidden behind a thick black veil. I can't actually make the details appear, it's more just summoning up fleeting impressions with my meanings and feelings towards them attached. I've never been able to visualize characters or places in a book.

Exactly one time in my life, a few years ago now, I had an extremely vivid lucid dream that was unlike anything I'd ever dreamt or imagined before. Though I was consciously aware it was a dream, it somehow seemed more real and powerful in terms of sensations than even real life, even though it was a completely boring dream where nothing of note happened at all. This gave me insight into what normal people's mental imagery and dreams must look more like, and boy, I sure am envious. Such a phenomenon has unfortunately not occurred to me since that instance.

Edited Tuesday at 10:29 PM by Bartimaeus

[LadyCrimson]

@Bartimaeus  I'm not sure if I'd qualify as a true hyper visualizer, but I was probably close. If someone says "mom" I think of a specific image of my mother sitting at kitchen table when she was in her 50's. It's pretty much a mental photograph, or sometimes, video. I could tell you what was on the table, what fruit was in the bowl, what color the floor or her dressing gown was. From there other "photographs" might pop up, leading me to other memories. Which is great and immersive with good memories. A downside however is it can be quite terrible re: ability to distance from negative memories.

History/books were always my favorite/I'd remember better because they were like mini-stories. I can't visualize tech/math/programming/language manuals so the text in those literally starts to blur after a while, like my brain gives up since it can't visualize anything and just wants to blank the screen, heh.

Edited Wednesday at 11:25 PM by LadyCrimson

[Gfted1]

14 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

...manuals so the text in those literally starts to blur after a while...

This sometimes happens to me when Im reading technical manuals. I get to the point where I realize that my eyes are just moving across the pages but nothing is going in.