yearly necro
what books did u cunts get for christmas

also

Listened to The Narrow Road Between Desires audiobook a few weeks ago, it's by Rothfuss as well & while it's not either of the Kingkiller books, it's written in the same way & hearing Kote speak for the first time in over a decade was something special.

I've super given up hope on Rothfuss releasing book 3, I've literally been waiting since TWMF came out.

I didn't get any books for christmas but I read the Southern Reach trilogy this year by Jeff VanderMeer, Annhilation was fucking amazing, it was an incredible read. Authority and Acceptance were very diffferent in atmosphere and not what I was expecting. Still good but they just weren't the same.

Annhilation, the book, is very different from what I remember the film being, with the book being vastly superior imo.

I also started Lord of the Rings again for the first time since I was a kid, it's going to be hard to not think of the movies the whole time.

This may be out of place here as I struggle to latch onto novels or fiction books, but for my undergrad thesis I've been really enjoying reading Martin Hägglund - Radical Atheism: Derrida and the Time of Life. It is probably the most lucid explanation of Derrida, an extremely pleasant read.
Giorgio Agamben - Remnants of Auschwitz is another text I'm going through, though I struggle to say much about it. Agamben's philosophy has been piquing my interest recently. Refreshing and somewhat sobering.

Some books I've read since last time:
Hyperion series - Book 1 was really great. Listened to the audio book version which was really cool with great performances. Book 3 I didn't really enjoy that much.
I Am Legend - Pretty neat book.
Rendezvous with Rama
Carrion Comfort - Pretty enjoyable but gets a bit wacky.
The Terror - This was a very cool book. Loved the format.
The City and The City - This was a hard read for me at first but I got engrossed in how bizarre it was at points.
Perdido Street Station & The Scar - These were also a tricky read for me personally (I'm dumb). Mainly because I struggle to concentrate whilst reading sometimes and the weird as fuck names and concepts threw me off. But I'm really glad I stuck with it. The world building and concepts are incredible.

Also on book 8 of WOT. Was struggling to keep going on the last couple of books, I was getting tired of having a detailed description of what people were wearing all the time.

If you like science fiction and haven't read the Dune series yet, then you are making a mistake.

It looks like we gave a lot of book commonality. I've also read those China Melville books. I wasn't as wowed by Perdido Street Station as I was The City and the City.

To weigh in on WOT, you are basically prime SLOG. WOT is at it's most tedious from books 8-10. Realistically best to keep this in mind and just practice speeding thru dull chapters and characters (cough Elayne chunks). It picks a decent amount in book 11 and then is class for all Brandon Sanderson books. Also the prequel is really good so if you haven't already read that, I'd recommend.

For me, I've most recently read On Such a Full sea which was good but I wouldn't recommend it other stuff. It is compared to Kazuo Ishiguro who I think clears it. I would however recommend Barney's Version. I've described it as a drunken version of the World According to Garp, not as purely wholesome but still touching and paints a picture of a character that one is taken with. I would also wholeheartedly second the Perfume recommendation that I saw elsewhere in this thread.

necro!!
i havent been reading with the same frequency that i used to but here u are

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Voung is one of the best books I have ever read. The writing in this book is unreal. I think the first chapter of this book might be the most perfect, well written 8 page description of middle america I've ever seen. I finished this book on the train the other day and had to accept that I just kinda had to ball my eyes out in public. Read this. Ocean Voung is so unreasonably articulate (like listen to this interview with dua lipa, what the fuck???) I could listen/read to this guy talk forever. He even somehow manages to make his Oprah interview a genuinely pleasant and interesting experience.

Playground by Richard Powers had me hooked from start to finish. The Overstory is another of my most favourite books, and in Playground Powers manages to play with the format in such a unique and creative way that I think it might surpass The Overstory in quality.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Zevin Gabrielle feels like a book my mum would have bought me cause she saw that its about video games. I think this book does a perfectly adequate job at telling its story, but I can't get rid of my inner edgy 16 yearold self that felt really pandered to, and ultimately also misunderstood as someone who likes video games. Maybe this book isnt actually for me.

Fish Have No Feet by Jón Kalman Stefánsson is another banger from one of my favourite authors. Although this is originally written in icelandic I find that his work translated to danish is still some of the only danish literature that manages to not sound like shit. I found the story in this book to be less compelling than it's twin novel (About the Size of the Universe), but a very nice emo read while going through some personal shit earlier this year.

I love the way that Benjamin Labatut has decided to carve out this strange niche of writing historical-semi fiction about scientists, and The Maniac feels very much like a natural successor to the proof of concept that was When We Cease to Understand the World. John von Neumann is such an interesting character, and this book does such a cool job building and working with the mythology surrounding him.

I also read This Other Eden by Paul Harding like 2 years ago and I remember vaguely enjoying it, but I left like no notes on my goodreads besides a 4 star review so idk lol. It was good (i think).

I've read a few books since my last post, my main highlights include:

House of Leaves: Highly rated and lived up to the hype imo, a little weird to begin with but it just keeps on giving. I did read it on kindle so I believe I missed out on a lot of shit regarding the physical layout of the pages and text.

A Short Stay in Hell: Amazing novella that I really do wish was longer, but that would probably defeat the purpose.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray: A very enjoyeable read and timelessly relevant.

If you enjoyed House of Leaves, I highly recommend giving it a re-read but reading Johnny's part aloud in Branslams voice. It adds a lot of nuance that otherwise would go unappreciated.

Did anyone read ANTLERS???????????

DUNE: Read the first one, was pretty decent, unsure if I'll continue with the others in the series as yet.

I read The First Law and The Age of Madness series (including the stanadlones) by Joe Abercrombie. Really enjoyed this series, the characters are really well done with each having a uniqueness to them, although one does seem to get a bit repetitive... It's pretty gory and grim with no real happy endings for anyone.

I finished WOT. Which was a massive slog, by the end I just powered through it like I was shitting my guts out after getting food poisoning. Some moments were really cool and enjoyable, others felt really rushed and suddenly cut off. I also realised that the guy(s) can't write romance or anything to do with women that well.

Finished the stormlight archive as well, which was alright, I think it's rather overrated. There were some great moments in the books, some interesting concepts that I wanted to read more of, but other than that some of the character progression just seemed really sudden and out of the blue. It also read like there was a bit of "fan service" going on as some stuff just seemed really out of place.

Currently reading Malazan Book of the Fallen. And it's really good but INCREDIBLY complicated sometimes, it's a bit like the China Mieville books but slightly more contained in universe and a lot more of them. At the moment I'm really enjoying the books, I'm on the fourth currently. Unsure if I'll read the spinoffs afterwards.

Want to read: House of Leaves
And some Adrian Tchaikovsky books seem really intersting.
At the moment I'm mainly reading fanasty and sci-fi books. I'd want to branch out a bit more at some point to other genres.

Man I was a huge fan of the series up until the last two books, book 4 wasn't the best, but I held faith for 5. I thought wind and truth ended up being a pretty big disappointment. I feel like the story and the universe are just getting way bigger than is enjoyable to read about in one series. I'm kinda checked out at this point after reading the stormlight archive since it first came out.

The books all have great moments, and I know you need peaks and troughs, but man they're so far apart that I barely cared by the end. If Sanderson cuts down the word count by like 30% I might read the next in the series, but it's Sanderson so that won't happen.

Didn't say in my last post but I'm currently reading The Library at Mount Char, it's been ok so far.

i think the stormlight archive is one of the most polarizing fantasy series i know about that people regularly talk about in the space. I'm one of the people that love it.

there's folks who might get tired of the series as it goes in the way kermit said, but i had the opposite reaction where i got more invested as i got further thru the series.

i really like all the characters, the silly and the serious, i really like all their little interactions. In particular I like the interlude POVs of otherwise irrelevant or only loosely relevant characters that still have a place in the world, as to me they really give the world more meat and make it feel more lived in. I can definitely understand the viewpoint of those who want more tightly focused writing and dont want nearly as much fluff. I remember reading a note written by one of his former classmates and friends who mentioned sanderson had an issue early on before his writing career where he'd write endlessly of character interactions and sort of daily fluff stuff without ever having some sort of overarching plot. perhaps his affinity to caring more about characters/interactions than keeping tightly scheduled pace just doesn't vibe with people and that's ok.

many stories/arcs, whether they're standalone short stories or only loosely relevant stories within the interludes of the main series seem to me to just give the world more character. However again I know there are people who prefer much more focused stories without all the fluff.

on the other hand i think he's gotten pretty good at planning big things and mixing small twists in the plots. I think sanderson has become fond of building big the reveals, and in particular i felt like all various pieces coming together from far reaching parts of the cosmere has been fun to watch unfold, both in the explicit references as well as the more hidden easter eggs.

after finishing oathbringer i went to go read elantris, warbreaker, and several of the stories and essays from the arcanum unbounded book and it only cemented more how much i like how disparate each world's magic system feels, each internally logical, while still feeling like they mix well with the underlying workings of the bigger picture.

In the end though i think one of the biggest things for me is that i just happen to be someone that vibes with his characters, their interactions, and the changes many of them have go through. I never got the same sense of a character development coming out of nowhere, but i've basically had an uninterrupted go at it all, having started the series later than most i think.

i'm currently reading through dawnshard since i never got to it and then i'm going to finish wind and truth, which i actually already got maybe 20% into before deciding i wanted to finish dawnshard first. what i've read so far i've quite liked.

I only ask because I was a big fan of the film, but the book, the 2nd half and the ending is so much different, the ending in the book is so insane. I’m not gunna spoil it, but I understand why they didn’t do it. It would had been so hard to film.

Maybe this isn't relevant if you only thought dune was okay... But the next few sequels are somewhere between fine and good. Sometimes people say "the sequels are horrible", but that's mainly because
1. the sequels are different than dune and get more and more different-er.
2. Herbert made some of Paul's character more obvious since a lot of people were misreading him as a Luke Skywalker-type character (and were probably expecting space fantasy hero story, not desert worm guy story).
3. I haven't read them, but the 17 books written after Herbert died seem to be actually awful. (but fwiw, the first 6 books basically conclude the actual dune story)

I think I read 1-4, and they're all fine. I may read five and six since I just learned those are apparently the Silmarillion, but weirder and deserter

If you're looking for a light fun book, cannot recommend The Bartimaeus Trilogy enough. The world building is pretty cool and the humor is pretty nice - loved the pace and character building the author inputs into the story.

Any Redwall fans in here?

i think sanderson kinda just needs harsher editors
hes just too big and popular now, so he kinda just writes and writes. and thats good for the diehard fans that want as much content as possible, but for the average reader it just becomes harder and harder to enjoy. wat is so controversial with how bloated it is

sandersons best traits are his worldbuilding and plotting
his actual character writing and prose are lacking in some regards, but the sanderlanche style is very enjoyable once you get into it, and his worlds are interesting and feel lived in

i actually really liked yumi and the nightmare painter, its a shameless cheesy ya book, and its a lot shorter and cleaned up than his normal stuff.

agreed, i think my favorite work by him that i've read so far might actually be his emperor's soul short story

necro:D
Meantime by Frankie Boyle - funny but depressing
Comedians autobiographies - Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Kevin Bridges, Frankie Boyle, Ed Gamble, Billy Connolly - really nice for easy listening while ur doing work
Gentlemen Bastards Sequence - So good but another one that has fooled me into waiting for a book that has been in limbo for the last 11 years so if ur not down for that turmoil avoid

Still reading malazan book of the fallen... On the last three in the series, it's incredible but I'm tired... There's 25+ books set in the same universe...

I either need to up my reading output or pick smaller series...

preface: i started writing tihs in the tftv post area but accidentally backed out and lost everything. so now im writing it in a text editor. fuck u enigma.

ive tryied to get back into readin g books in my native language (swedish) while also still reading english books. as of writing this i havent been back to hte library for a loan in a bit lolz. also i mostly read in bed an hr or so before falling aslee though i really should get back int ojust reading like a Human during the day.

the plague of sound by alex raymond: this is almost exactly what id expect from someone writing scifi in the 60s o r whatever. its not bad but its not exactly great. genuinely makes no difference whether youve read the prior book, i think cause of the nature of magazine serialisations in the 70's for scifi. you just have the Bad ass Male Main character whos sexy and hot but also insanely entelligent making perfetct decisions.

Planetjägarna by Keith Laumer: decent styff compared to all the other 60s-70s scifi books ive been reading courtesy of my dad hoarding a bunch of stuff. Its like a western frontier book but in space. decent

Ravenor series by dan abnett: I read eisenhorn, was insanely into it and decided i wnat ot keep reading about eisenhorn. I read ravenor. Awesome. Warhammer 40k scifi nerd shit if youre into it. enjoyed everym oment of it. Maybe ill get around to reading the bequin series if i ever finish/get bored of the Horus Heresy lol

Blood meridian, or the evening redness in the west by Cormac mccarthy: this shit was retarded as fuck. i dont know if its because im ESL or what but it was so dfficult and boring to read while i kind of enjoyed the actual contnets/going ons. i rated it a 2/5 on goodreads but its so imprinted o n me im considering getting a copy in swedish from the library just to see the differences. good (?) but no tsure what to think about the schzio writing style.

the jungle by sinclair upton: this shi t is awesome. i dont know if its actualy real or if this guy just made up a bunch of shit but i liked reading it lol. you get a feel for what its like to be a european immigrant in 1910s smog filled chicago followin Jurgis from Lithuania.

the spy an the traitor by ben macintyre: this was awesome. great thriller . i wanted to keep reading so bad i stayed up until 8 am reading through the whole night. if youre into this kinda shit i think it will Grip you and Keep you.

a scanner darkly by phillip k dick: loved the movie loved the book. you get to follow a guy who kind of loahtes addicts into becomin a junnkie. Naut more to say. read it.

destination : void by frank herbert: gonna be honest didnt rememberg reading this until i started writing this post lol but i do remember enjoying it a good deal. read all o dune books last year or w/e and decided id read this too. its better than i expected,. you follow a bunch of peolpe on a space ship who dont really want to be there but have to deal with it.

Fasansfulla händelser i dunwich hby hp lovecraft: read a visual novel by the name of Dei Gratia no Rashinban and decided i wanted to finally actually read porper lovecraft. thi was in the library at the right time. liked: the dunwich horror, the shadow out of time. slow burn pieces that were given enough time nad words to elaborate. The Tomb and The Pictuer In The House were more meh for me in that i dont really find baby shoes never used style story engaging.

Det gør du ikke by Jens Christian grøndahl: i had a danis h course over summer whch i did not pass or finish. tere was a requirement to read a book in danish and recorda video or whatever. I did read the book. it sucked. Not my style. Using anime terms (lol) slice of life drama book about a family living in a well off copenhagen suburb. Hated it. But at lesat compeared to the other danish books at the library i could get i twasnt a fucking murder/crime thriller( scandaninavians love this shit ).

The Time machine by hg wells: this owned. i love this stuff. its so good. considering the time its been written in i adore it. Morlokcs and shit.

mostly stuff of my goodreads that ive bothered catalogueing and rating. outside of that i read "Nova Science Fiction 2 1985" which is some kind of collection of sci-fi stories translated into swedish. out of all of them i remember Behold the Man by Michael moorcock sticking with me.

now im bakck on my Horus Heresy shit and cucrrelty reading Fulgrim with a semi - erect boner not sure ho to feel about it yet. Flight of the eisenstein ws good tho.

Long est ass post ever on tftv. give me up frasgs.

i only just got on study leave so i am yet to fully get on my christmas reading grindset but i did read a couple things i guess

book of dust vol3 by Phillip Pullman made me very happy and very sad. His dark materials was the first time litterature ever really made me feel something (the end of the amber spyglass really fucked up 9 year old wandum) and the northern lights is (probably) my favourite fantasy book of all time. I am deeply attached to Lyra as a character and getting to spend time with her again for as long as this book was is such a privilege. I know the book is getting mixed reviews of people not liking the end etc but i also think its literally impossible to give her an ending everybody would be happy with. For what its worth, i enjoyed my final return to the universe. I will miss lyra and pan a lot.
The City and its uncertain walls by Murakami is kinda like a sequel but also just a reimagining of Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of The World. I read the latter earlier this year cause Murakami is someone who I can just kinda read without having to super lock in but looks like i felt little enough about it to not actually include it in my last post. This book is a more boring, more "normal" version of that story. I think Murakami feeling the need to add a 3 page justification of why the book exists in the first place is reason enough to say that you should only really read this if you REALLY fuck with Murakami.
Blood Meridian by Cormac Mccarthy. I read this book because my old roommate watched the 5 hour wendigoon video about it and has been begging me to read it ever since. I think it is objectively well written. It is also the most reddit "zomg its so dark and edgy wow" book i have ever read. I dont get it. If you like reading a book about people being beheaded in graphic detail then sure i guess this is the book for you. I know reddit loves the judge and has him on all of those "top 10 scaries villains ever" lists. But like genuinely. What the fuck. This is actually the most *tips fedora* book ive ever read. Thank you so much for the reddit gold kind stranger.
I plan on spending a good amount of time reading real books this christmas (like wuthering heights! (unfortunately my very legally aquired copy on my kindle has 50 pages of prefaces)) so hopefully i can necro this thread again in like 2 months with real books

yeah im still in doubt whether its actually possible or not to genuinely enjoy blood meridian. i think it would take some kind of super freak to read through all that debauchery shit. lol at connecting hte judge to redditors though (obvious reason why). i still want to give it a 2nd shot because it pissed me the fuck off and i have a disgusting itch to see whether its just as unreadable when i dont have to stop and think about the insane run on sentence about scalping indians or whatever

never have gotten more riled up/pissed off reading something than i did when i got to a part where there was a fucking page and a half long run-on sentence. unbeliveable garbage. i cant remember what it was specifically about but want to say it was a part where they were camping out in the woods with thunder happening

I probably haven't read multiple books in a year since i was really into literature in the summer of 2017 or so, but this year I've had a great time reading and annotating botanical non-fiction

Plant Systematics by Michael G. Simpson is an extremely comprehensive introduction to botany covering a range of topics from evolutionary history to taxonomy to biology to scientific nomenclature. Definitely got me hooked.

Biology of Plants by Raven, Evert, and Eichhorn went much more in-depth on the biological processes of plants. As someone with no biology background a lot of it was either difficult to parse, or a level of chemical and biological detail I didn't really need, but much of it was really informative and answered questions I didn't know i had yet.

Phylogeny and Evolution of the Angiosperms by Douglas and Pamela Soltis was definitely the driest read of the three because of its constant referencing of recent and old studies. That being said, it had the most up-to-date taxonomy and did a great job of laying out the different clades of flowering plants, the history of their categorization, and some of the current science surrounding them.

A Botanist's Vocabulary by Susan K. Pell and Bobbi Angell is a recent purchase that I was very disappointed to find out was alphabetized. I still plan to read through it once and it's nice to have but I was definitely expecting like-terms to be grouped together rather than a random assemblage of jargon.

Guide to Flowering Plant Families by Susan B. Zomlefer hasn't arrived yet but it'll be next. Its old so some families will have been shuffled around or split/recategorized but overall I'm looking forward to seeing a secondary account of flowering plants that's more focused on identification. Maybe I'll update how it was.