Topic: Books You're Currently Reading?

@FuriousMachine As @MightyDemon82 says, they're very much standalone and set across different parts of the galaxy and across quite different timeframes too so there is pretty much zero overlap.

But that's what makes the series so interesting as there are so many parts to explore. One I read (I forget which) barely features space at all to the point where you wonder how it's actually related to the other books until it reveals itself. It also means there is little lore you have to worry about as it never gets bogged down in politics or significant canon that crosses over and no matter where you start it should make sense as to what is going on in the grand scheme of things.

It's just some of the silly names I struggle to keep up with, particularly the hilariously convoluted names the ships have in the books (something Musk/SpaceX have used for their own rockets and equipment).

@Thrillho @MightyDemon82 Thanks for the update, this is probably right up my alley

@PixelDragon Wow, never knew such a thing existed! Huge fan of Romero's Dead movies, so this is a must-read for me

I've just finished 'Numbers in the Dark' by Italo Calvino and I'm currently reading his 'The Complete Cosmicomics' a collection of science fiction-based works which have varied in quality thus far. But the first tale is very good.

I've moved on from The Complete Cosmicomics to Italian Folktales by the same author now, and it is much better, although the consistency of happy endings is getting a bit repetitive, but it's still quality, heartening stuff. It's a bit different from the Brothers Grimm!

Finished Upgrade by Blake Crouch (Goodreads page) and I quite enjoyed it. With a title and premise similar to the brilliant Leigh Wannell film from 2018, I worried that it would feel like a rip-off, but it was very much its own thing and poses some interesting questions about what humanity is and how we react when we're coming face-to-face with our own extinction. I gave it four stars in my Goodreads review.

Now I'm almost halfway into The Reversal by Michael Connelly (Goodreads page), the third book in the Lincoln Lawyer series and the first proper Mickey Haller/Harry Bosch crossover (they have had cameos in each other's series before, but here they share the whole novel, it seems). Very solid so far

I recently finished Babel which was a truly fantastic book. Loved it. I DNF Gravity's Rainbow, got about 120 pages in but there was no way I was finishing that Babel and The Alchemist before they were Due back. Enjoyed
What I read so will buy a copy of my own to chip away at.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I just finished reading Invisible Cities which I really enjoyed. Thanks for bringing Italo Calvino to my attention, definitely will check out his other works.

Next up I'm reading the Southern Reach trilogy, Slaughter House 5 and of Mice and Men.

@MightyDemon82 Glad you enjoyed it, friend! Hopefully his other works will be equally edifying for you!

@MightyDemon82 fan of babel as well, poppy wars was great too

@Elodin they have been added to the list. Hopefully get to them next year!

@FuriousMachine Dark Matter is the only Blake Crouch book I’ve read and I thought it was fine. A clever premise but dragged on a bit. I should check out more of his stuff though.

@MightyDemon82 Is Slaughterhouse 5 your introduction to Vonnegut? I love his books but they are pretty mad.

Still reading Italo Calvino's retellings of Italian Folktales, about 100 pages deep so far, it's a good book if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Edit: I've read about 100 of 713 pages of text.

@Thrillho Yes it will indeed. Looking forward to diving in once I'm done with Annihilation.

@Thrillho I particularly recommend the Wayward Pines series, if you've managed to steer clear of the TV series adaptation of it.

@PixelDragon Nice! Looking forward to reading it

@Falcon94 Glad you're enjoying it! I also find Herbert to be a bit of a dense read at times, but in the case of Dune, the story and characters more than makes up for it, in my opinion.

Just wrapped The Reversal by Michael Connelly (Goodreads page), the third book in the Lincoln Lawyer series and the 21st book in the larger Bosch Literary Universe (BLU? ). Connelly's books are becoming like comfort food for me now, so this was, unsurprisingly, another four star review on Goodreads from me.

Continuing on my "crime spree", I will now return to Peter May with the third novel in his China Thrillers series, The Killing Room (Goodreads page)

re-reading Star Wars High Republic Fallen Star and going to be reading the new Star Wars High Republic novel Eye of Darkness

I Finished Annihilation and look forward to what happens in Area X over the next two books. I should watch the film again as last time I was tired and kept nodding off.

Had a great time reading Slaughterhouse 5. Crazy book that made me chuckle several times throughout!

@XandertheWise How is the Star Wars novels these days? I need to go back and read The New Jedi Order, got about 5 books in before the opposite sex started taking up my time.

well pretty much any new Star Wars novels these days are of the High Republic stuff. im about done with High Republic Fallen Star so ill be reading the new Eye of Darkness novel pretty soon.

Calvino is faring quite well so far, I am about 250 pages in now (of 713 pages) and there has been a sprinkling of stories with unhappy endings mixed in with the 99% happy ending nature of the other folktales, so, yeah, they are a welcome breath of fresh air from the norm, but yeah, I would still recommend this book, if you can take a slight bit of repetition in terms of all the happy endings to the stories, because the journeys to get to those endings are infinitely varied.