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Good-Natured Filth posted:That's a very wide scope, but here are some comics / one-offs (mostly from Image - the publisher of Monstress, which you should continue because that series is fantastic) that I've enjoyed recently that have been collected into volumes: StumblyWumbly posted:Genre does matter a lot, but I'll just list my favorites: Thanks you two, I think I'll start with Eight Billion Genies and give volume 2 of Monstress a go. I added a bunch of these to my goodreads as well
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Jul 23, 2023 21:10
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tuyop posted:Looking for a new graphic novel. I enjoyed On A Sunbeam a lot, and I thought Monstress was pretty good but I’ve only read volume 1. "Ice Haven"
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Jul 23, 2023 23:53
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https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Waiting-Vol-Linda-Medley/dp/1606996029 what if we just followed all the cool people who were not the princess and prince when they are left behind to run a castle? I love it
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Jul 24, 2023 01:56
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regulargonzalez posted:The Gulag Archipelago
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Jul 26, 2023 02:05
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Speaking of incarceration. I was reading Golding's "Pyramid" on the bog, and it got me thinking about "Lord of the Flies". Suddenly the thought came to me that LotF and Clavell's "King Rat" have a lot in common. Any similar (good) stories around? How being trapped (literally or figuratively) leads to what it leads to, and what release means to people? I guess that's really vague but if you've read both novels I mentioned, I hope you'll know what I mean. TIA. E: Fiction only.
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Jul 26, 2023 09:25
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3D Megadoodoo posted:Speaking of incarceration. I was reading Golding's "Pyramid" on the bog, and it got me thinking about "Lord of the Flies". Suddenly the thought came to me that LotF and Clavell's "King Rat" have a lot in common. Any similar (good) stories around? How being trapped (literally or figuratively) leads to what it leads to, and what release means to people? Person instead of people, but John Fowles - The Collector and The Magus. Jose Saramago - Blindness is probably a closer fit. I've only seen the movie (which is phenomenal) but Kobo Abe - Woman in the Dunes
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Jul 26, 2023 20:39
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I just finished Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. I loved the story and tone even though his telling of it can be hamfisted (this is a novel not a high school science class Andy) and some of the plot points were silly. I don’t know that much great modern sci fi but would love recommendations. I used to read a lot of Arthur C. Clarke fwiw.
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Jul 26, 2023 22:58
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I just finished Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. I loved the story and tone even though his telling of it can be hamfisted (this is a novel not a high school science class Andy) and some of the plot points were silly. I don’t know that much great modern sci fi but would love recommendations. I used to read a lot of Arthur C. Clarke fwiw. Children of Time would probably be up your alley if you haven’t read it yet. More weird alien stuff? Check out Embassytown, or Semiosis for something less weird. Ability porn? Maybe the Bobiverse series or the Murderbot books. Cool space crises? Maybe Seveneves, even with it’s flaws, but Spin by Robert Charles Wilson is for sure good.
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Jul 27, 2023 00:34
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I'm looking for not too dry books about 19th century world's fairs. Parts of At Home by Bill Bryson and Devil in The White City by Eric Larson fit the bill
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Aug 1, 2023 21:45
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Anyone know which are the better books on the manhattan project? I'm jonesing after watching Oppenheimer.
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Aug 2, 2023 02:02
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Fuzzy Mammal posted:Anyone know which are the better books on the manhattan project? I'm jonesing after watching Oppenheimer. I can put in a good word for Richard Rhodes's The Making of the Atomic Bomb.
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Aug 2, 2023 02:09
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Selachian posted:I can put in a good word for Richard Rhodes's The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Seconding this. And the first half of his follow-up, Dark Sun, is about Soviet espionage of the Manhattan Project (the rest is about the US and Soviet hydrogen bomb programs). For someone who watched Oppenheimer, Dark Sun will have a lot of the bits where Oppenheimer gets back-stabbed. e: And I presume you know that the movie is technically based on American Prometheus, which is also a very good book, though focused more on Oppenheimer than the entire atomic program per se. Lewd Mangabey fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Aug 2, 2023 |
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Aug 2, 2023 02:18
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Selachian posted:I can put in a good word for Richard Rhodes's The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Just finished this and yes, it's an excellent book
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Aug 3, 2023 02:52
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Man, Goodreads has been getting very, very confused about languages.
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Aug 3, 2023 07:24
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FPyat posted:Man, Goodreads has been getting very, very confused about languages. If you mean you read one Lem book and all of your recommendations are in Polish now, yes, but that has been going on for a while
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Aug 3, 2023 08:54
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It's been very difficult to find anything or record that I read an exact edition of a book, and the search results are giving me more languages can't read Is there some other book website people are moving to these days? I used to spend so much time on Goodreads and now it's been steadily getting worse
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Aug 3, 2023 15:28
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I use LibraryThing because I didn't want to give Bezow anymore money, but I strictly use it for tracking no idea how the other parts are. Works great for that though
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Aug 3, 2023 15:45
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I like StoryGraph. The stats are fun to look at, and it has a pretty good recommendations system. They also have community challenges you can join, and some "Plus" features that I'm not privy to (since I don't pay for it).
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Aug 3, 2023 16:13
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Kangxi posted:It's been very difficult to find anything or record that I read an exact edition of a book, and the search results are giving me more languages can't read I use StoryGraph. You can manually upload a specific edition of a book if they don't have it already. It's a bit of a process, but I've noticed the catalog has been improving.
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Aug 3, 2023 16:15
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Kangxi posted:It's been very difficult to find anything or record that I read an exact edition of a book, and the search results are giving me more languages can't read For what it’s worth, searching by ISBN has always worked for me. But it is annoying that I can’t seem to add editions anymore.
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Aug 4, 2023 08:16
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So I'm 3 books into the Poirot series and have been enjoying it a lot. I've got 4 and 5 now, but it might be September before the next few books clear the queue, especially if I'm trying to read in order. That's just the reality of libraries, which is fine, of course. I've been trying to fill in the gaps with nonfiction books I've wanted to read, but I have failed to read three in rapid succession so I am just going to accept that right now I am reading to be entertained rather than improved. I've been greatly enjoying reading these detective/mystery novels. I've mentioned in the past that I am looking for ones without graphic descriptions of blood and gore, and Doyle (who I have already read) and Christie (who I am reading now) have both mostly suited me fine on that front. Looking around the net, it turns out there's a shitton of authors in what they call The Golden Age of Detective Fiction. I have no idea where to begin. Anyone have any suggestions of where to begin? The time period and setting don't matter; just that they're good and not terribly graphic. I'm afraid to crack open something and discover a multipage Clancy-esque description of an autopsy or something.
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Aug 6, 2023 22:51
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Magnetic North posted:So I'm 3 books into the Poirot series and have been enjoying it a lot. I've got 4 and 5 now, but it might be September before the next few books clear the queue, especially if I'm trying to read in order. That's just the reality of libraries, which is fine, of course. I've been trying to fill in the gaps with nonfiction books I've wanted to read, but I have failed to read three in rapid succession so I am just going to accept that right now I am reading to be entertained rather than improved. I've got a big list ready for you in the Mystery Fiction Megathread.
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Aug 6, 2023 22:59
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Hey all. I'm in need of some pop history book recommendations. I'm in an improv troupe that does long-form narrative shows with a historical theme, and for the fall season we're shamelessly capitaizing on the Barbieheimer craze and doing the 1950s. I'm looking for some nice, accessible books about 1950s America, focusing on Cold War espionage, nuclear proliferation/paranoia, and the changing nature of gender roles and the nuclear family. Previous show texts we've used include Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, Railroaded, and The Pirate Republic. Thanks! ETA: actually, while I'm at it I've also been on a cyberpunk kick this summer and am looking for more books on that trend. I read Gibson's Sprawl and Bridge trilogies and Burning Chrome, and an obscure one I found called Trouble and Her Friends. Slightly Lions fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Aug 7, 2023 |
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Aug 7, 2023 22:32
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Slightly Lions posted:
Jennifer Government. I'm not sure if it's technically cyberpunk but it's at least cyberpunk-adjacent.
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Aug 7, 2023 23:03
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Slightly Lions posted:Hey all. I'm in need of some pop history book recommendations. I'm in an improv troupe that does long-form narrative shows with a historical theme, and for the fall season we're shamelessly capitaizing on the Barbieheimer craze and doing the 1950s. I'm looking for some nice, accessible books about 1950s America, focusing on Cold War espionage, nuclear proliferation/paranoia, and the changing nature of gender roles and the nuclear family. Previous show texts we've used include Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States, Railroaded, and The Pirate Republic. Thanks! First: Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a really fun memoir about what it was like to grow up in the 50s (without too much Boomer sentimentality). Second: You might like George Alec Effinger's Marid Audran books (When Gravity Fails et al).
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Aug 8, 2023 01:33
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Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net is one. His book Heavy Weather is also what I'd call cyberpunk-adjacent, is slightly prescient and contains a cool-rear end jeep. If you haven't read The Difference Engine by both Gibson and Sterling, then I'd add that, even if it's more retro-cyberpunk. (It's set in the 19th century and features analogue computers. It's about computation, not steam power, so I would say it handily avoids being steam-punk.) Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. When the Metaverse and Google Glass and "I studied the blade" were still cool*. *still not cool but the book is fun.
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Aug 8, 2023 01:50
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Studs Terkel is a good call there too
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Aug 8, 2023 06:38
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I'm hoping that The Fifties by David Halberstam serves me well when I read it in a few weeks.
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Aug 8, 2023 06:45
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Selachian posted:First: Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a really fun memoir about what it was like to grow up in the 50s (without too much Boomer sentimentality). This is a good suggestion as you can totally crib a bunch of Bryson's turns off phrase and look like a genius in an improv setting
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Aug 10, 2023 03:19
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curious about stuff with a gothic vibe that takes place in a modern day/urban environment
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Aug 10, 2023 03:21
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I'm sure there are a million to choose from out there, but I'd love a strong recommend on a biography of Bugsy Siegel. If possible, not too dry but not too lurid either, not just telling the story of Murder, Inc. A biographer who gets lost in the weeds explaining the surrounding events of the time is a bonus, not a detriment - I really enjoyed Tom Reiss's The Orientalist and The Black Count for doing just that.
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Aug 18, 2023 18:20
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I'm about a third of the way through China Mielville's The City and the City, and I'd like an alternative recommendation. I like what it's trying to do, but I'm not enjoying it enough to keep going much further. (I keep running into speed bumps that are either stylistic choices, very British writing, or straight up errors that an editor should have caught.) I'd rather read something best-in-class than something that's "pretty good." I don't have as much time to read as I used to, so I'd rather not read a 6/10 novel. I really like the idea of a detective story taking place in the Balkans or other Eastern Europe/Soviet satellite country, with an underfunded, understaffed, corrupt, and overworked police agency, with a lone detective doggedly trying to detect and solve crime. Geographical location can be anywhere as long as it has that tired, borderline-defeated vibe. I don't read a lot of mystery, but I have read and really enjoyed Raymond Chandler. If I can't find a good recommendation, I'll probably pick up one of his that I haven't read yet. I don't necessarily want, but am not opposed to, sci-fi being part of the world. The book need not even take place on earth, if it gets the vibe right. I don't like urban fantasy, and tend to bounce off of books that are mainly praised for their worldbuilding. Nothing against a good world, just that it should also be a really, really, good book besides.
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Aug 19, 2023 22:22
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So, it would be a bit of a twist but definitely has the vibe you’re going for, but consider checking out Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tocarczuk. The Wikipedia summary is very accurate:quote:Janina Duszejko is an ageing woman who lives in a rural Polish village, located near the Czech border in the Silesia region, in between Lewin and Kłodzko. Janina spends most of her time studying astrology and translating the poetry of William Blake into Polish with her friend Dizzy. She had two dogs as pets but they both went missing. One day, her neighbour Big Foot, a frequent hunter, is found dead in his home by Janina’s friend Oddball. But I want to highlight the sense of desolation. It has the same noirish vibe as The City and the City but focused on the days and interests of a very eccentric old woman barely getting by in rural Poland who tries to solve a mystery. You can pretty much tell if you’re going to like it quite quickly though.
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Aug 19, 2023 22:34
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doctorfrog posted:
The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka collection might work for you
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Aug 20, 2023 00:33
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Thank you both, and I'm off to the library tomorrow afternoon!
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Aug 20, 2023 03:17
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Oh man I know this one. You should check out Graham Brack's Josef Slonsky series. It ticks pretty much every one of those boxes.
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Aug 20, 2023 05:43
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I need a good book on anything science I loved Ghost Map but I'll take anything frankly as that book was not great - still loved it
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Aug 20, 2023 05:58
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doctorfrog posted:I'd rather read something best-in-class than something that's "pretty good." I don't have as much time to read as I use I really enjoyed The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon and it fits a bit with the vibe you’re describing here.
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Aug 20, 2023 22:17
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tuyop posted:So, it would be a bit of a twist but definitely has the vibe you’re going for, but consider checking out Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tocarczuk. This is the first suggestion I've turned to and it's perfect from the first sentence.
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Aug 20, 2023 22:22
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Upsidads posted:I need a good book on anything science First Light by Richard Preston - Telescopes and the people who love them. Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream by Jay Stevens - Drugs! The Dinosaur Heresies by Robert Bakker - A bit outdated but still a great book about how cool dinosaurs are.
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Aug 20, 2023 22:33
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