My eyesight is getting shot by looking at a monitor for so many hours, both at work and off work, so Doc said to switch to analogue - if I have to read something, let it be books.
I’m into pretty much all genres, so if there is any book you particularly like or recommend, I’m all ears (and eyes)!
EDIT: thanks for the great suggestions, I’m checking all of them!!!
If you have a lot of time and an urge to read:
- Peter F. Hamilton - void trilogy - space opera
- Brandon Sanderson - the stormlight archives - epic fantasy
- Adrian Tchaikovsky - children of time series - sci-fi
Check if you can get your hands on an ebook reader, if you don’t have already. The reading experience from the eye view side is similar to reading books and in addition you can increase the font size. It is superior to reading on a screen.
I’m currently halfway through Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt series and I’m enjoying the plot but finding his writing style a bit tedious at times - excessive rehashing of events that happened like two chapters ago, overembellished emotional dramatics, and painstakingly spelling out every single character’s internal monologue like it’s a Jane Austen novel.
I know CoT was written later, so I’m wondering if his tone/style has developed a bit? He has cool ideas, I’m just wishing he’d trust the reader enough to get a bit more ‘show, don’t tell’ with his writing…
I am not familiar with the Apt series but CoT was the first book I read from this author and was blown away.
Although the first part started slow and monologues still happen frequently but the idea and the plot pulled me forward. While I didn’t felt he recapped much.
My other suggestion, Peter F. Hamilton is the totally oposite direction when it comes to jumping between places / characters. Sometimes between paragraphs and not at chapters end or page ends.
Still after one sentence you know exactly where you are in the plot. Even when his books throw different characters at you like popcorn.
Good to know, thanks!
If you want something fun, weird and easy to read (scifi/fantasy):
Life, Liberty And The Persuit Of Sausages by Tom Holt
Fun even weirder (scifi/fantasy):
Shades Of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Fascinating and thinky scifi:
Beggars In Spain by Nancy Kress
Beautifully written feminist scifi:
Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
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The top two have a very British sensibility baked into the text and won’t be as funny if you don’t get the cultural references.
Just a few different options:
- Project Hail Mary (Scifi)
- Red Planet Blues (Scifi)
- Dresden Files (Fantasy)
- Gunslinger (Fantasy)
- Sigma Force Series (Action/Historical Fiction)
Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World - Nonfiction, Political Science
Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire - Nonfiction, History
Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials - Fiction, Compendium of illustrations and descriptions of notable aliens from literature
The Ciaphias Cain series - Fiction, Warhammer 40,000 Sci-Fi/Comedy
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain - Alt-History/Time Travel/Isekai
A Witch Shall Be Born (or any other Conan short story) - Fantasy
Ready Player One is a great read, especially if you grew up with 80’s 90s media.
Mexican Gothic was a fun thriller.
Persephone Station is full of flaws and unanswered questions/plot points, but it painted a good cyberpunk world that got me into reading more cyberpunk titles.
I’m currently reading this book “Smart Thinking Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, Second Edition (Writing & Journalism)” it has been interesting so far
My favorite book is Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K Dick. Themes include:
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The need for satisfying work
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Theology
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The individual vs the collective
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Perhaps that you’ve already read them but i recently enjoyed Martin Eden by Jack London and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
the black arrow a tale of two roses by robert louis stevenson
I’d recommend the Aubrey/Maturin series (Wikipedia link) by Patrick O’Brian to everyone.
When they were first suggested to me, I was very unsure - a series of books set during the Napoleonic Wars, set mostly on ships sounded pretty dull. But when I started reading them, they swallowed me whole. They are adventurous, fascinating and very detailed but also full of heart, life and often very, very funny which was a surprise (pun intended for those who’ve read them).
You don’t need to know anything about the Royal Navy, sailing or the time period, all will be laid out to you - it’s the same as realising you don’t need to be a medical expert to enjoy ER or House - and really, although ship-life is vividly portrayed, the cornerstone of the series of books is the unlikely friendship between Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.
As I read in a literary review of the series: “There are two types of people in the world: Patrick O’Brian fans, and people who haven’t read him yet.”
The first book in the series is Master & Commander (the movie that was made about the novels with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany took its name from this first book). I urge you to do yourself a favour and give it a try.
