I read The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb and it was fantastic
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Death’s End by Liu Cixin
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I keep starting some books after this one but I can’t seem to finish anything.
Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul:Re. A decade late but I loved it.
A. Das and T. Ferbel -Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics.
It was an interesting book but a horrible experience in general. I gotta finish this degree
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of Their Lost World - Steve Brusatte
The Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin. Fantastic and heartbreaking. It’s kind of a crossover in science fiction and fantasy, set in a world that experiences apocalyptic levels of climate and geological change every few hundred years. Jemisin does excellent world building and a very admirable job of writing parts of the narrative in second person in a way that seems seamless/not gimmicky. Highly recommended.
I loved those books! In the beginning second person felt extremely weird, but the “resolution” of why it is written that way made so much sense that it made the books even more enjoyable IMO.
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Unsurprisingly, I’ve become more conscious of my bedtime, but one small diagram was significant to me— having small periods where you wake up every 3 hours or so was a normal part of sleep. Since then, I’ve become less stressed over the quality of sleep I was getting, which then improved my sleep quality…
Napoleon: A Life, really well written biography that reads like a novel highly recommended!
I’ve been on a memoir kick. Specifically women celebrities. I just finished Mean Baby by Selma Blair and it was good. I’m about to start Hello Molly by Molly Shannon.
I’m chewing my way through the stormlight archives by Bryan Sanderson. Just finished book 2.5, on book 3 now.
Brandon*
I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was okay, though I don’t think it lived up to the hype for me. I actually preferred Klara and the Sun to this one, though still worth a read.
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
somewhat interesting and in the same vein as the Barsoom/Mars books by Burroughs but more preachy and less action.
It was on the “free” pile at the library.
I just finished Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Great book, that not only coined terms like “avatar” and “metaverse” (for better or worse), but is also really well written. It somehow manages to find a tone that is consistent for the dystopian worldbuilding, the silly and self-aware things that happen in the world, and the philosophical aspect dealing with culture, religion and free will. Highly recommend!
Everyone goes on about how important this book is, but I got barely 1/3 if the way through and bounced off it hard.
Horses for courses I guess.
I think it laid a lot of groundwork for books that came later. But as you said, not every book is for everybody.
And I’m currently reading his newest novel, Termination Shock. Quite different, but still has that Stephenson sense of world building that I love.
This was the first book of him I read, but I will definitely check out his other works if they’re all like this!
