this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2023
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I'm making my way through the Strugastky brothers' works, found out about them through roadside picnic but i just finished "Monday starts on Saturday" and enjoyed it just as much. Edit to add: it's a science fiction novel from the perspective of a soviet programmer who stumbles into magic. He meets a lot of people for whom magic is mundane, and the book does such an awesome job describing his confusion and curiosity vs everybody elses acceptance of it as day-to-day. Its also super funny :)

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[–] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm a novice in terms of bookworm territory, but I've found my favorite book currently.

Flowers for Algernon. It's a story about an intellectually disabled (68 IQ) man named Charlie who wants to get smart. Due to his immense motivation to learn, a research group offers him an experimental brain surgery operation which should increase your IQ. This book explores on how a person's life changes depending on his intelligence. 10/10 book for me, it has absolutely amazing character building.

[–] razzmatazz@lemmings.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hell yeah! A friend gifted me a physical copy of it & its a great read

[–] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

You have a friend with a great taste, that's for sure!

[–] lurker2718@lemmings.world 5 points 1 year ago

I recently started reading the discworld series by Terry Prattchet and I'm really enjoying it. It has just so absurd humor.

Your book reminded me of "Harry Potter and the methods of Rationality", which i read a few years ago. The setup is lously based on Harry Potter, however Harry tries to take a scientific and rational view on magic. It is one of my favourite books.

[–] germanatlas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 year ago

Do audiobooks count? Then the Kyoshi novels.

If not, the only book I’ve read recently was Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces.

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm chewing my way though Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm on Book 6. It's a LONG series.

[–] damnfinecoffee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

ooo I'm planning to start that soon. How long has it taken you to get to book 6?

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A year and a half. Lol.

I'm listening to it on audiobook. I've been pretty diligent on listening for a half hour or so every night

[–] damnfinecoffee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

That's a pretty good pace actually, considering you're listening to an audiobook!

[–] Mwallerby@startrek.website 4 points 1 year ago

I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke recently, in about 2 sittings, it was amazing. Very fantastical and weird.

By the same author, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - alternate British history set around 1800 where magic is real, one of those books that you just live in the whole time you're reading it (also made into a very good BBC miniseries)

[–] FullOfBallooons@leminal.space 4 points 1 year ago

I just read through The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison again. It's about a half-goblin half-elf outcast who suddenly becomes the ruler of a country of elves. It's a fantasy book, but more about court politics than dragons. And even though that might sound a little dry, it's charming as hell.

[–] kebabslob@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 year ago

Solaris was good

[–] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Reading Valuable Humans in Transit by qntm. It's scifi short stories, a few about the human consciousness stored as a digital file. My favorite is "cripes do you remember Google People"

[–] FatherGoose@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

If you're into fantasy then anything by Mark Lawrence is fantastic. Empire of thorns is top tier and I'm currently listening to Book of the ancestor trilogy and loving every bit of it!

I just read Yellowface. Hated nearly every character but loved the book. Also read Our Wives Under the Sea and it instantly became one of my favourite books ever.

[–] mich_iel@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Against the Day

The Futurological Congress

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

XX by Rian Hughes. Get the physical book. The author uses typography tricks to tell a great story.

[–] FoundTheVegan@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Just finished The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LA Guin, which was absolutely fantastic but so is all her books. Techincally Sci-fi but only in the loosest sense to describe sociology and the narcissism involved in thinking one person can "fix the world".

Highly recommend.

[–] KaleDaddy@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Just reread Lost Gods by Brom. The only book I've ever reread. Imagine if darksouls took place in the 70s, but with a bit more real world mythology influence. Its my favorite book

[–] riwo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago

mistborn: the last empire is a great fantasy novel about the overthrowing of a god emperor. it has a lot of mystery and badass action and is part of a big fantasy novel universe.

[–] damnfinecoffee@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I've been on a nostalgia trip reading the Legend of Drizzt series. I'd normally go for fantasy that's darker or verges more on weird fiction, but I read the Drizzt books as a kid and Baldur's Gate 3 made me want to read them again.

About to finish book 10, I've enjoyed a good amount of them but I am starting to see how Drizzt's plot armor gets old after a while, haha

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm going to go back a few books and say Stalking the Wild Pendulum, simply because it's so out there and weird while still feeling vaguely plausible, maybe?

[–] AlternateHuman02@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just reading through the acknowledgements and preface made me excited to read this. Thanks for the link!

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I'm glad someone found it interesting! It's a wild ride. He was an interesting dude. Somewhere between a quack and a genius. I just found it a refreshing change of pace from the standard fiction/non-fiction tropes.