- What book is currently on your nightstand?
- Who is the author?
- What genre?
- How do you like it?
- Would you recommend it to others?
I’m currently reading Dune by Frank Herbert. I tried to read it once when I was in my early teens and didn’t finish, but I figured I’d give it another go with all the hype over the recent TV adaptation. I’ve just passed the point where I gave up before (~150 pages) and I’m kicking myself, because it turns out I stopped just short of where all the action seems to really get going. The book is front-loaded with a lot of worldbuilding by way of sci-fi/fantasy terms presented without much context, so I can understand why my younger self got bored and gave up. I’m really enjoying it this time around though, I think I’m a lot more patient as a reader now than I used to be.
I am also reading through dune right now, I’m enjoying it so far. I was fine with the world building, partly because I really liked the sets in the movie and also because I found it novel compared to the very generic space faring stuff or Tolkien rip-off you get as a backdrop in sci-fi and fantasy respectively.
I’m also really enjoying a lot of the environmental musings in the book, after I finish it I will look up more about Frank Herbert’s relation to these topics, I get the feeling there’s something about it.
This is a pretty interesting article that talks about a story that Herbert worked on as a journalist that ties in directly to some of the ecological concepts covered in Dune: https://niche-canada.org/2020/04/24/frank-herberts-ecology-and-the-science-of-soil-conservation/
Thanks for the recommendation, it was just the sort of thing I was looking for!
Oh, power through for sure! Dune is one of my all-time favorites. When you’re finished with the book, be sure to stop over at the wiki and read about the lore. The lore is deep in Dune and not a lot of it makes it into the movies and doesn’t shrine through in the first book. Especially check out lore on the various factions.
The Bene Gesserit for instance seem like a cult of witches at first read, but they are much, much, more with a 10,000+ year history of eugenics.
I’ve been reading The Unbroken by C.L. Clark. It’s well written and I like the worldbuilding, but it’s a bit of a slog because I’m having hard time actually liking any of the main characters.
I looked this one up, seems like others agree with you, but apparently it picks up soon?
Loveable characters? It's complicated: 49% | Yes: 36% | No: 14%I’m curious what gives a book a lgbtqia+ tag though…
I’m curious what gives a book a lgbtqia+
Strong female characters and romance between them
The story pacing definitely picks up after the first half, but it’s hard to care about the faith of the characters when you’re constantly annoyed by their decisions :)
The world building, culture etc is very much on point though.
Just finished “god is disappointed in you” by Mark Russell which was very good and am now about 1/3 through “dark matter” by Blake Crouch which I’m enjoying a lot so far.
Currently reading: Mort (Terry Pratchett) - fantasy/comedy. The story of Death taking on an apprentice. I’m enjoying it so far and would recommend. I’m a later arriver to the Discworld novels. People have been recommending Pratchett to me for years but I made the mistake of trying to read Discworld in release order (which I later realised isn’t at all necessary) and really struggled to get into The Colour of Magic on previous occasions. Finally clicked with it earlier this year and then started moving onto other novels based on recommended reading lists.
Currently listening to: Star Wars: Ahsoka (E K Johnston) - space-fantasy/sci-fi (let’s not get started on the debate about what genre Star Wars is…). I’m not far in but I’m a big Star Wars fan and Ahsoka Tano is one of my favourite characters, so I’m excited to see how it goes. Also the audiobook is narrated by Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka on Clone Wars and Rebels).
I just finished Caliban’s War [James S.A. Corey] and All Systems Red [Martha Wells] last night. (thanks for the Murderbot recommendation @fax_of_the_shadow and @windchime) Both of these are sci-fi, however the Murderbot stories appear to be more dystopian future sci-fi than ‘high science’. I’d recommend both! All systems Red is a really quick read too, and they even have an audiobook series!
Just started on Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Unfortunately I’m only about 10 pages into it so I can’t recommend it just yet. Just it has incredible mentions by sci-fi fans.
Personal reading: Models of the Mind by Grace Lindsay
Good take on the history and current state of modern neuroscience and its interconnectedness with modern machine learning and data science.
Reading to kiddo: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
I have a sore throat already from doing all the voices, what with all the shouting from Uncle Vernon and Hagrid in the first few chapters.
How old is your kid? I want to read Harry Potter but I don’t know if my son is quite ready yet.
Close enough to Harry’s age in the first book. Old enough that we can successfully contextualize the bad behavior depicted in the book.
Models of the Mind by Grace Lindsay
Thanks for this. I read everything I can find in those areas that looks reasonably coherent and it’s hard to find more without a bunch of fake nonsense drowning it out a lot of the time.
I just finished the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I can absolutely recommend it if you love fantasy, mystery and horror. I didn’t not make up my mind what to read next, but the Witcher books are already on my Kindle.
I know King is popular, and I liked a lot of the ride, but he always seems to go out of his way to write the darkest “there’s no point to anything” anticlimactic endings. It was definitely an interesting premise and world, but the conclusion was super unsatisfying.
I loved the ending. I think it perfectly symbolizes, how the journey is more important than the ending in stories.
It’s one of only a few books of his where I actually loved the ending (well, not those last few pages, but the ending before them, if you know what I mean). Usually I think his endings are pretty underwhelming at best.
I don’t think King is bad. I’ve read a decent chunk of his catalogue and a lot have interesting ideas. I’m admittedly not the biggest horror fan (though it’s because most is super trope-y, which he does tend to avoid), but I just really don’t like how he finishes stuff.
This and 11/22/63 are two where I actually feel like there’s a “message” and I feel were closer to being closed well, but I just don’t like the actual execution of it at all. It reminds me of this one NFL game a long time ago. The Saints pulled off a ridiculous series of laterals on the last play of the game to score the “game tying” TD, but their kicker shanked the extra point and they lost in painful fashion. That’s what the couple books where I feel like there’s an actual theme do. They get you right up to the finish, then botch it.
Maybe I’m being too hard for whatever reason, because I read a silly amount of light/mediocre writing and almost never critique fiction, but he frustrates me because of how close it feels like he got to a great piece start to finish.
Don’t get me wrong–I understand your frustration. My favorite King book, perhaps aside from The Dark Tower series, is The Stand. Of all the books I’ve ever read, it also has one of the most disappointing endings. I just liked the rest of the book enough to overlook it.
