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Books - what are you reading? (Official Book Thread)

Shadow Rising.

It's the fourth book in the Wheel of Time Series. My tablet is dying and I gotta send it for repairs tho so Imma probably stop reading it for the time being
 
Went to a book fair earlier today near Virginia Tech and picked these up
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Currently Reading:

- The Stand
- Tombs of Atuan.

In the latter, hearing my boy Sparrowhawk's name poppin' it to Arha lil 'got a lot to learn' self had me like

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Finished up 20th Century Ghosts. Solid 4 star collection that wasn't all horror to my surprise. He has a couple of stories that made me think of the non horror/non supernatural stories from Stephen King's Night Shift. I think I like the Black Phone movie better but that's not to say the short story is bad. It's just that the movie expanded on the story in a way that felt justifiable and made sense. There was a nice little bonus story hidden in the Acknowledgment section. Almost like a post credit scene from movies lol

I don't think I could rank them at the moment but I really liked:
Best New Horror
The Cape
Last Breath
My Father's Mask
Voluntary Committal
 
Currently reading It's The End Of The World As We Know It

I might have to look more into Wrath James White's work. I really liked his inclusion titled The Tripps
 
More I thought about it when I was done, the more I liked the book.

I'm liking it so far. It's a little more isolated obviously, but its doing a good job, so far, I think, on detailing the self-discovery journey of a woman in a patriarchal society/collective to mirror the self-discovery odyssey she had GED on in the first book. Also, I can easily see where NK Jemisin got some of her inspiration from for The Broken Earth. I know she's mentioned it before, but I can feel it in a way reading Tombs.
 
Went to a book fair earlier today near Virginia Tech and picked these up
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Read the first two in college. LeGuin in a Literature class and the Orson Scott Card book tangentially through the same class (I read the first book and liked it and dove into the series. The book you have is the 2nd or 3rd book in the series FYI.) Turns out Orson Scott Card was a huge racist btw.
 
Read the first two in college. LeGuin in a Literature class and the Orson Scott Card book tangentially through the same class (I read the first book and liked it and dove into the series. The book you have is the 2nd or 3rd book in the series FYI.) Turns out Orson Scott Card was a huge racist btw.
Yeah I got Enders Game but I haven't read it yet. From what I remember Speaker for the Dead was written first. Most of those science fiction writers from back in the damn had a bit of racist in them. So many of them had questionable depictions of black folks or random use of the n-word.
I read Left Hand Of Darkness last year but I liked the cover I found at the fair so I bought it.
 
I'm liking it so far. It's a little more isolated obviously, but its doing a good job, so far, I think, on detailing the self-discovery journey of a woman in a patriarchal society/collective to mirror the self-discovery odyssey she had GED on in the first book. Also, I can easily see where NK Jemisin got some of her inspiration from for The Broken Earth. I know she's mentioned it before, but I can feel it in a way reading Tombs.
I saw that afterwards but while reading it I was waiting and slightly upset that it wasn't a Ged novel lol
 
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I saw that afterwards but while reading it was I waiting and slightly upset that it wasn't a Ged novel lol

Oh, I was definitely disappointed when you told me about the pivot lol. That long journey with GED in the first one had me primed and ready to get to witness him level up now that he had faced his fears so to speak. I feel like Le Guin was still finding her own way low-key with the entire Earthsea thing tho & probably got in her bag the more she got comfortable, hopefully (when I read the rest).

Tombs damn near too short low-key. I'm just starting to REALLY dig it and it's about to end smh.
 
Oh, I was definitely disappointed when you told me about the pivot lol. That long journey with GED in the first one had me primed and ready to get to witness him level up now that he had faced his fears so to speak. I feel like Le Guin was still finding her own way low-key with the entire Earthsea thing tho & probably got in her bag the more she got comfortable, hopefully (when I read the rest).

Tombs damn near too short low-key. I'm just starting to REALLY dig it and it's about to end smh.
I haven't read The Other Wind, but I think you'll be satisfied with the next two books.
 
Currently reading Abundance by Ezra Klein.


I’ve been listening to his podcast for about a year and half now. Some legit gems of conversation on there, especially the ones that aren’t centered on politics. Unfortunately a lot of it is behind the NYT’s paywalls now.

I peeped the :mjpls: coming more strongly around just before election time. More & more his “Fugitive Slave Acts is good politics” side was coming out….showed his hand as a liberal that’s more than willing to throw Black progress, specifically, under the bus to make concessions and build with Reagan yts. The way he’s been undercutting affirmative action and doing “logical reasoning of semi post-racism” breakdowns….while also “saying” there’s still racism…..feels like when European pillagers/colonizers….send missionaries not only to soften up the otherside but to whitewash/soften up the Europeans on their own side who are possibly unsettled by the atrocities they are parts of. In that way, surprised that the people in his sphere are surprised by his angles now.


As far as the book, obviously it’s consistent with his “ends >>> means, as long as the means ain’t fucking over / targeting his ilk of people”……but it also highlights that a lot of language & laws are easily co-opted and turned around on people. Such as “woke”, free speech laws, being tolerant of even the intolerant…which can leads to the intolerant being in power, etc.

That aspect in particular….i don’t know how you get around it without particularly going ‘fuck it, we believe in principle…but these bad faith actors (Miller, Trump, Murdoch, Clarence Thomas, deep MAGA etc) do not deserve for us be beholden to such hardline principles….because they are repeat & escalating offenders.’
 
Finally got around to reading SA Cosby via The End Of The World As We Know It. I can tell I'm going to like his stuff. When he was name dropping some place along the Shenandoah he called Peaks of Otter, Brown Otter which I thought was odd. Maybe it's a local name from where he is from

I was at one of the parts of Peaks of Otter a couple of years ago
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finished The Chain and Verity a couple of weeks ago... the Chain was wild the premise is good but I didn't like the ending it was really predictable and I wish the antagonists were more fleshed out.

Verity was a good book, I'm of the mind that
the manuscript was NOT real.

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Right now reading The Other Woman
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Finally got around to reading SA Cosby via The End Of The World As We Know It. I can tell I'm going to like his stuff. When he was name dropping some place along the Shenandoah he called Peaks of Otter, Brown Otter which I thought was odd. Maybe it's a local name from where he is from

I was at one of the parts of Peaks of Otter a couple of years ago
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Cosby got a story in 'The End of The World...'??
:ohhh:


Streets been holdin' out on me! I would've been copped
:gucci:
 
It seems like a lot of people in this thread are into fiction. Was preferred around these parts fiction or non-fiction books?
 
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Cosby got a story in 'The End of The World...'??
:ohhh:


Streets been holdin' out on me! I would've been copped
:gucci:
Yup. His story, The Legion of Swine, is in Part Two of the anthology. This joint has put me on to a few authors that I have heard about but haven't read their stuff
 
It seems like a lot of people in this thread are into fiction. Was preferred around these parts fiction or non-fiction books?
I mostly only read fiction. I find it much more entertaining and stimulating. In my twenties I read majority nonfiction but I can see myself going back to that lol
 
It seems like a lot of people in this thread are into fiction. Was preferred around these parts fiction or non-fiction books?

Coming up as a lil breh, it was pure fiction. Then as I got older, I was into non-fiction for years. Biographies, self-help, all that.

But it just wasnt moving me like that after awhile. Got burnt out on that shyt. I decided to tap byke in with my roots and swing the pendulum the other way and I've been having a lot more fun b/c of it.

I still read some non-fiction here and there tho. I read Satya Nadella's joint last year. I got all the 48 Laws (and 50) joints. Got Power of Now and A New Earth, the latter of which I still need to read.

I'm slowly reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert at the moment too. I got The Man No One Believed on my TBR as well Got hella other shyt in my storage I ain't touched...just ain't been in the mood for it except sparingly.
 
Coming up as a lil breh, it was pure fiction. Then as I got older, I was into non-fiction for years. Biographies, self-help, all that.

But it just wasnt moving me like that after awhile. Got burnt out on that shyt. I decided to tap byke in with my roots and swing the pendulum the other way and I've been having a lot more fun b/c of it.

I still read some non-fiction here and there tho. I read Satya Nadella's joint last year. I got all the 48 Laws (and 50) joints. Got Power of Now and A New Earth, the latter of which I still need to read.

I'm slowly reading Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert at the moment too. I got The Man No One Believed on my TBR as well Got hella other shyt in my storage I ain't touched...just ain't been in the mood for it except sparingly.
You know, most men I come across that do read periodically, mostly only read nonfiction. Dudes will consume fiction through videogames and movies but draw the line when it comes to books :beli:
 
You know, most men I come across that do read periodically, mostly only read nonfiction. Dudes will consume fiction through videogames and movies but draw the line when it comes to books :beli:

That's because we're supposed to always be looking to improve, lol. The Way Of The Superior Man, and all that. We are supposed to be reading about how to get ahead in crypto or how kingdoms of old were conquered so we learn how to conquer our scaled-down households. Otherwise, are you a man?
:mjpls:


Don't get me wrong either. I have a crypto book lying around here somewhere, lol
:whoa: . But it's called dualities for a reason. Or, if you just don't wanna get into certain shyt, it shouldn't be an indictment on your masculinity or whatever. Maybe I'll read some David Goggins, maybe I won't
:gucci: .

I remember I was going through some shyt, and I was OD'ing on the self help/mastery books & a friend gave me some of the best advice---she told me, "put that shyt down and read just 1-2 fiction books and give your mind a break". I been byke look cooked crakk ever since
:ohlawd:
 
That's because we're supposed to always be looking to improve, lol. The Way Of The Superior Man, and all that. We are supposed to be reading about how to get ahead in crypto or how kingdoms of old were conquered so we learn how to conquer our scaled-down households. Otherwise, are you a man?
:mjpls:


Don't get me wrong either. I have a crypto book lying around here somewhere, lol
:whoa: . But it's called dualities for a reason. Or, if you just don't wanna get into certain shyt, it shouldn't be an indictment on your masculinity or whatever. Maybe I'll read some David Goggins, maybe I won't
:gucci: .

I remember I was going through some shyt, and I was OD'ing on the self help/mastery books & a friend gave me some of the best advice---she told me, "put that shyt down and read just 1-2 fiction books and give your mind a break". I been byke look cooked crakk ever since
:ohlawd:
I mostly read black history/black social commentary books but I did like biographies, historicals, with the occasional self help, and maybe a thriller or some literary fiction once in awhile. Basic ass breh books :mjlol:


I used to think that I was too old to be reading sci-fi and fantasy, but I'm glad I grew out of caring what other people thought about what I was reading. I now proudly display my speculative fiction when I read at work lol
 
I mostly read black history/black social commentary books but I did like biographies, historicals, with the occasional self help, and maybe a thriller or some literary fiction once in awhile. Basic ass breh books :mjlol:


I used to think that I was too old to be reading sci-fi and fantasy, but I'm glad I grew out of caring what other people thought about what I was reading. I now proudly display my speculative fiction when I read at work lol

Shyt, a lot of the time, some of these fantasy/sci-fi joints be having deeper content than what's peddled in some of these generic "do steps 1, 2, and 3, and you'll unlock the door to ya best life" books folks be putting out.

Don't get me wrong tho, I do enjoy me a good biography (if the mf keepin' it real) tho so if anybody got any recs on that, feel free to share
:russ: .

And I'm starting to mess with the historical fiction and/or retellings that makes it a little more interesting at least.
 
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So I read this earlier this year or late last year. I can’t exactly remember, but all I can tell you is that Peter Thiel
And Palintir are as serious as it gets. Everything you do and everywhere you go your image is being harvested so that one day possibly it may be used against you. The company itself extra shield, very secretive about how it goes about selling your data into the government and police forces around the country. All this stuff has race science at its route.
 
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So I read this earlier this year or late last year. I can’t exactly remember, but all I can tell you is that Peter Thiel
And Palintir are as serious as it gets. Everything you do and everywhere you go your image is being harvested so that one day possibly it may be used against you. The company itself extra shield, very secretive about how it goes about selling your data into the government and police forces around the country. All this stuff has race science at its route.

What book is it? Can't see the image.

The premise you kind of gave reminds of this book I read though, This Is How The World Ends, by Nicole Perleoth. They're doing crazy shyt with technology and whatnot that we can't even fathom fr.
 
I'm a nonfiction person. Currently reading Revolutionary Suicide by Huey Newton. Heavily considering Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber next.
 
Shyt, a lot of the time, some of these fantasy/sci-fi joints be having deeper content than what's peddled in some of these generic "do steps 1, 2, and 3, and you'll unlock the door to ya best life" books folks be putting out.

Don't get me wrong tho, I do enjoy me a good biography (if the mf keepin' it real) tho so if anybody got any recs on that, feel free to share
:russ: .

And I'm starting to mess with the historical fiction and/or retellings that makes it a little more interesting at least.
A lot of those self help writers are writing a bunch of surface level stuff anyway lol

I have a few historical fiction books on my shelf waiting on me. The first will more likely be Arms of Nemesis by Steven Saylor. It is a detective novel set in Ancient Rome
 
Finished the anthology The End Of The World As We Know it. 4.5 out of 5 for me. I didn't feel there were any bad stories but there were a few "well that was fine" stories. You got stories that were just fun like Wrong Fucking Place, Wrong Fucking Time by C Robert Cargill; silly stories like I Love The Dead by Josh Malerman; very unique takes like The African Paint Dog by Catriona Ward; and gut punching stories like Lenora by Jonathan Janz.
I guess the authors had some things they couldn't touch on but I would've loved to have gotten a story set in Las Vegas and maybe with some of the characters we saw there like Rat Man.
One story that had me like :mindblown: was The Unfortunate Convalescence of the SuperLawyer by Nat Cassidy in the last section called Other Worlds Than These. If you read The Dark Tower series, the story will make much more sense to you. Speaking of Dark Tower, in the afterword there is a slight spoiler to how it ends

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What does his books tend to be about and what’s the common thread that runs through all his work? I’ve heard them before, but I’m more into street literature and biographies then these types of novels.
I don't know. I have only read Mother Night. This is what I wrote about in the coli thread:

This book made me think about Apt Pupil but not nearly as bleak. The story is of the notes written by an American spy who was a nazi propagandist in Germany who is sitting in jail in Jerusalem while waiting trial

When I started reading the introduction, I wasn't sure if it was fiction and I had to pause and look it up lol
 
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Took another break from The Stand to dive into this, somewhat to prep for the 79' movie to watch, but also just b/c it's been on my TBR as well.

I don't think it quite hit me the same as some, but it did have quite the hold on me after awhile. You come for the supernatural, but stay for the price by piece unraveling of this 'Evil' small town.

Father Callahan and his story was probably the highlight for me. Mark was a little all too knowing, but I get it, and it worked for the most part. I was in and out with Ben at times but it feels like that was intended.

My man Parker was the epitome of no fukks given :russ:

Every day, I get a few more steps closer to that Dark Tower 👀
 
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Took another break from The Stand to dive into this, somewhat to prep for the 79' movie to watch, but also just b/c it's been on my TBR as well.

I don't think it quite hit me the same as some, but it did have quite the hold on me after awhile. You come for the supernatural, but stay for the price by piece unraveling of this 'Evil' small town.

Father Callahan and his story was probably the highlight for me. Mark was a little all too knowing, but I get it, and it worked for the most part. I was in and out with Ben at times but it feels like that was intended.

My man Parker was the epitome of no fukks given :russ:

Every day, I get a few more steps closer to that Dark Tower 👀
'salem's Lot is where I knew I was fucking with Stephen King. What I liked about it was that he made the Lot feel like a lived in place and not just a background setting. My favorite sections of that book was when the focus went to the tertiary characters
 
'salem's Lot is where I knew I was fucking with Stephen King. What I liked about it was that he made the Lot feel like a lived in place and not just a background setting. My favorite sections of that book was when the focus went to the tertiary characters

Yup, there were points where I was like, I know this lil quartet of the doctor, Ben, Burke & Mark is part of the nexus of all this, but get me byke to the homie Dud at the dump and what type of bullshyt he got going on, ole buddy puttin' the gauge in Telephone Man's mouth, or let's get some more into Father C or some of them other pastors in town lol.
 
Yup, there were points where I was like, I know this lil quartet of the doctor, Ben, Burke & Mark is part of the nexus of all this, but get me byke to the homie Dud at the dump and what type of bullshyt he got going on, ole buddy puttin' the gauge in Telephone Man's mouth, or let's get some more into Father C or some of them other pastors in town lol.

Is a book club something people in this thread might be interested in? If so, what kind of books are we talking about and what kind of books will be off limits to the fam?
 
Is a book club something people in this thread might be interested in? If so, what kind of books are we talking about and what kind of books will be off limits to the fam?

I wouldn't be opposed to it depending on how frequent we'd be talking about lol. I got a long ass & somewhat curated TBR list to get through, lol, but I throw some random shyt in there here & there
 
Title: The Hidden History of American Healthcare Edition: 1st edition.

Author(s): Thom Hartmann; Safari, an O'Reilly Media Company.

Year: 2021

ISBN: 9781523091652; 1523091657; 9781523091638; 1523091630; 9781523091645; 1523091649; 9781523091669; 1523091665

Language: English


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I wouldn't be opposed to it depending on how frequent we'd be talking about lol. I got a long ass & somewhat curated TBR list to get through, lol, but I throw some random shyt in there here & there

It could be weekly or monthly.Y’all’s choice Based on the genre and the size of the book. We can do series too ( paperbacks, black history, biography whatever).
 
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