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stealie72 posted:Picked this up on this recommendation and plowed through it in like 36 hours. Such a great read. Not sure why it's not held up more often with Invisible Man and Another Country. Awesome glad you liked it!
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Nov 26, 2024 18:26
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tuyop posted:I’ll give you like as many nonfiction books about history/geography as I’ve enjoyed. In going through years of books I’ve logged, I noticed that most of the nonfiction books by women and people of colour I’ve read have not been about history, so I apologize for the asymmetry of the list. Great list. I’ve read about most of these, a couple I haven’t heard of.
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Nov 26, 2024 18:28
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tuyop posted:I found Blackfish City a bit disappointing. I really wanted Indigenous Futurism (and feel like it’s sold that way a bit) and instead got a passable sci fi action novel with an interesting setting. On this note do you have other recs for Indigenous futurism?
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Nov 26, 2024 18:30
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shwinnebego posted:On this note do you have other recs for Indigenous futurism? Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse was good, I think, but I've completely forgotten it for some reason. Probably because of the events surrounding the time I read it in 2020. I recently read Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, which is Indigenous post-apocalyptic fiction that was very debut novel. Worth your time but not spectacular. I DNF'd Elatsoe because it was too YA for me, but if you like that then you'll probably enjoy it! It wasn't all Indigenous authors (I didn't actually check the ethnicity of each author so I don't really know) but New Suns is a great anthology of short fiction by people of colour. Give Me Your Black Wings, Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was a real standout about grief and guilt. Probably a stretch but Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson is an alternate history where John Brown's rebellion succeeded. The book takes place in the near future in the society that results, with lots of letters and history from the civil war era and resulting conflict that split the US. It's a very good book!
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Nov 26, 2024 19:17
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Fire on the Mountain sounds most interesting to me of those I read another book by Rebecca Roanhorse and I like, didn’t really like it that much unfortunately. Wish I liked it more but I just found the writing to be sorta, not good and the story to be kinda predictable in a way that dampened the fun
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Nov 27, 2024 01:43
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Looking for a good book, as a gift, about Antarctica. Either fiction or non-fiction, but what I’m looking for is an exploration of what Antarctica, as a kind of politically neutral zone where nature is still basically allowed to thrive, feels like to be there. I almost bought KSR’s novel Antarctica, but he can be a little dry. So I thought I’d check here first, but definitely interested in opinions on the KSR book.
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Dec 7, 2024 15:38
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I was looking for recommendations of books in intermediate level Spanish to read.
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Dec 9, 2024 09:34
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Suspekt Device posted:I was looking for recommendations of books in intermediate level Spanish to read. I’m also looking for recommendations of this, but I’m the meantime I can suggest Batallas en el Desierto by José Emilio Pacheco. It was very approachable for me. Also, though I want to read more books that were written in Spanish, I’ve had a good time revisiting some books I loved and read a lot when I in was a teen in translation (LOTR and the Hobbit for me). I’m familiar enough with the story that even though I might get confused I never get lost.
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Dec 9, 2024 16:38
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I'm looking for reference books on gardening to get a relative who's super into it, but I have no idea which one's worth the money.
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Dec 12, 2024 05:22
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Solitair posted:I'm looking for reference books on gardening to get a relative who's super into it, but I have no idea which one's worth the money. It's going to depend a lot of where your relative is gardening and what sort of gardening they want to do.
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Dec 12, 2024 13:33
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Solitair posted:I'm looking for reference books on gardening to get a relative who's super into it, but I have no idea which one's worth the money. Biology of Plants (aka "Raven Biology") by Raven, Evert & Eichhorn is great for a gardener who wants to dip their tows into botany from a foundational knowledge perspective. The current version is outrageously expensive (it's a text book), but an edition or two back is still mostly the same information and is still tremendously useful, and costs a fraction of the price. I picked it up when I had been gardening for several years and dealing with the various tribulations involved and I wanted a deeper understanding of how and why a specific blight might operate rather than just knowing how to treat it. It is 100% a text book, but it's great if the person seems like they're that level of plant nerd.
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Dec 12, 2024 16:33
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I haven’t read any of them so I can’t make specific recommendations, but Monty Don loving rules and has several
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Dec 12, 2024 18:13
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I'm looking for audiobooks with really stellar narration, and that can include a single great narrator or more elaborate productions with several narrators. I wanna take a break from audible and I'm out of pause time, so I'm looking to use five credits or so in a jiffy, and it's a good excuse to maybe read something I hadn't even considered before. My preferred genres are sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, Big Man (named Reacher) and weird fiction, but I don't really need it to be my niche for this specific request, good fiction is good enough. I don't particularly care for romance that doesn't involve necromancers, time travelers or the like, you catch my drift, but hey, if you can blow my mind. Black Griffon fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Dec 14, 2024 |
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Dec 14, 2024 00:24
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dungeon crawler carl
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Dec 14, 2024 00:27
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Black Griffon posted:I'm looking for audiobooks with really stellar narration, and that can include a single great narrator or more elaborate productions with several narrators. I wanna take a break from audible and I'm out of pause time, so I'm looking to use five credits or so in a jiffy, and it's a good excuse to maybe read something I hadn't even considered before. Books that are good and also has narration that was notably better than average: Oryx & Crake. Narrator hits just the precise right cadence and tone for this book. Oddly enough, he has the same approach for the sequels but it doesn't work there (also don't read the sequels). Post-apocalyptic is the genre. Book of the New Sun. Fantasy is the genre it usually gets slotted into, but comparing it to the below recommendation feels like genres that are worlds apart. If you have a spare 200 hours or so, Brandon Sanderson's "Stormlight Archive" books have two narrators, a man for the male pov chapters, and a woman for the women pov chapters, and they are fantastic (with one weird exception. There's a minor character introduced in a novella, which is read by the female narrator from the novels. And that might just be her best work, her interpretation of the character in the novella is fantastic. Then when that character appears in the novels, the narrator seemingly forgot how to voice her and she kind of sucks 😞 But at least she's rarely around). Fantasy. Anything narrated by Julia Whelan. I can offer no higher praise than to say I've bought books specifically because she was the narrator. Until the End of the World is a good option, zombie genre. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 01:11 on Dec 14, 2024 |
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Dec 14, 2024 00:59
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Master and Commander written by Patrick O'Brian and narrated by Patrick Tull, both of whom are excellent. It's nautical historical fiction, so not exactly a listed genre, but there's a whole thread about the series if you're interested.
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Dec 14, 2024 04:02
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yaffle posted:It's going to depend a lot of where your relative is gardening and what sort of gardening they want to do. Central Virginia, and she's keeping as many plants as she can in her yards and pots. I don't know how to be more specific than that.
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Dec 14, 2024 06:51
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Solitair posted:Central Virginia, and she's keeping as many plants as she can in her yards and pots. I don't know how to be more specific than that. Is she growing vegetables for food? Or flowers? Or various types of greenery? Does she only have plants outside, or does she also have plants in the house? Does she have a greenhouse? Does she only plant in pots, or does she plant directly in the ground?
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Dec 14, 2024 07:25
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regulargonzalez posted:Books that are good and also has narration that was notably better than average: Lotta good stuff here. I've read New Sun, and while I'm reading Stormlight on paper, it (and Brando in general) would be a good escape hatch to get rid of any number of points. AngusPodgorny posted:Master and Commander written by Patrick O'Brian and narrated by Patrick Tull, both of whom are excellent. It's nautical historical fiction, so not exactly a listed genre, but there's a whole thread about the series if you're interested. I've seen the film enough times at this point that it's a bit silly to not read the series, that's true. Azhais posted:dungeon crawler carl This is "One of the most unbearable pieces of dog poo poo I have ever laid eyes upon" according to a bud, so it's gonna take some convincing.
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Dec 14, 2024 08:48
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Black Griffon posted:This is "One of the most unbearable pieces of dog poo poo I have ever laid eyes upon" according to a bud, so it's gonna take some convincing. It's a litrpg, so I imagine enjoyability will vary depending on how you feel about that. But it's sci Fi and fantasy and has a well done audiobook. There's samples around
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Dec 14, 2024 13:32
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The Witches Discworld books have excellent narration. As does Small Gods. The rest of them range from passable (Death series) to great (City Watch) narration. DEATH himself always has terrific narration, and his special narrator reminds me strongly of the Disco Elysium.
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Dec 14, 2024 13:51
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The reader for the King-Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (Nick Podehl) is fantastic, both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are a pleasure just for the consistent variety of voices and timbre. Similarly The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is beautifully read by Anthony Heald, and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a nice 41 hours of well-realized characters and scene-setting by Ken Lee. My favorite reader does non-fiction though. Grover Gardner is fantastic in Debt: The First 5000 Years by David Graeber, and also made The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich such a pleasure to listen to I've done it 3 times despite it being over 50 hours long.
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Dec 14, 2024 17:23
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Black Griffon posted:I'm looking for audiobooks with really stellar narration, and that can include a single great narrator or more elaborate productions with several narrators. I wanna take a break from audible and I'm out of pause time, so I'm looking to use five credits or so in a jiffy, and it's a good excuse to maybe read something I hadn't even considered before. I listen to a ton of audiobooks and one of the best recently was the magical realist farce, Monday Starts on Saturday, narrated by Nathaniel Priestley. The beginning was rough for me but it really picked up about 45 minutes in. Another Russian comedy, The Master and Margarita, translated by Michael Karpelson and narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt was also great. In sci-fi horror/weird, Absolution by Vandermeer has a great narrator too. So does The Last Days by Evenson. In fiction, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, narrated by Samira Wiley was very different from the above but also a great performance and book.
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Dec 14, 2024 17:36
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Kenning posted:The reader for the King-Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (Nick Podehl) is fantastic, both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are a pleasure just for the consistent variety of voices and timbre.
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Dec 14, 2024 18:13
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anilEhilated posted:Too bad the books are poo poo.
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Dec 14, 2024 18:16
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I think if he'd finished the thing before he got a decade+ of hype people would think it was a fun fantasy trilogy that's fine to have on your shelf, if a little angsty. Alas.
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Dec 14, 2024 18:44
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wheatpuppy posted:Is she growing vegetables for food? Or flowers? Or various types of greenery? Does she only have plants outside, or does she also have plants in the house? Does she have a greenhouse? Does she only plant in pots, or does she plant directly in the ground? No greenhouse or indoor plants, but she does everything else you mentioned.
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Dec 15, 2024 10:47
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Azhais posted:It's a litrpg, so I imagine enjoyability will vary depending on how you feel about that. But it's sci Fi and fantasy and has a well done audiobook. There's samples around The main issue is that I just don't know what that means, even reading the definition of the genre. I try to keep an open mind, but the audible sample didn't really give me more context tbh. malnourish posted:The Witches Discworld books have excellent narration. As does Small Gods. Not a bad shout either. I prefer discworld on paper, but it's a good option. Kenning posted:The reader for the King-Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss (Nick Podehl) is fantastic, both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are a pleasure just for the consistent variety of voices and timbre. Similarly The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck is beautifully read by Anthony Heald, and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet is a nice 41 hours of well-realized characters and scene-setting by Ken Lee. tuyop posted:I listen to a ton of audiobooks and one of the best recently was the magical realist farce, Monday Starts on Saturday, narrated by Nathaniel Priestley. The beginning was rough for me but it really picked up about 45 minutes in. A lot of great stuff here, very much appreciated. I'm not as down on Kingkiller chronicles as most people around here seem to be, but that also means I've read them and don't really need to again. I also have a soft sport for Pat Rothfuss even though he might be a big piece of poo poo because he's a really fun guest on podcasts.
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Dec 15, 2024 10:57
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Black Griffon posted:The main issue is that I just don't know what that means, even reading the definition of the genre. I try to keep an open mind, but the audible sample didn't really give me more context tbh. LitRPG just means that there's diegetic RPG elements in the story. In Dungeon Crawler Carl's case, the premise is that aliens turn earth into a massive, psychopathic game show with a dungeon crawling theme. In any case, I also recommend DCC. It's got a dumb, bombastic setup, but it's executed so well that it works. It does humor, it does horror, it does pathos, it's got depth. It's also got a top-notch reading. The first book is a touch shaky at first as the author finds his balance, but it hits its stride about halfway through and then stays remarkably strong after that.
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Dec 15, 2024 15:33
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Alright, I'm taking a chance on you baby, don't let me down (there would be no real consequence if you let me down and there's nothing I could do).
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Dec 15, 2024 15:56
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Suspekt Device posted:I was looking for recommendations of books in intermediate level Spanish to read. UnbearablyBlight posted:I’m also looking for recommendations of this, but I’m the meantime I can suggest Batallas en el Desierto by José Emilio Pacheco. It was very approachable for me. I'm not yet intermediate level, but I've found reading foreign language comics/graphic novels accessible and I think it gives a good feel for how the language is used. I'll also second re-reading books in a foreign language, I'm still working my way through foreign Harry Potter, but I got that years ago.
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Dec 15, 2024 16:27
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Haystack posted:LitRPG just means that there's diegetic RPG elements in the story. Also they are almost/always fish out of water type stories. Powers beyond your control take you somewhere else and suddenly you're in an mmo. Sometimes there's some absurdist quality to them too, like Guy Fieri gets transported to the magical realm of Flavorless Town ruled by strange alien creatures who's only weakness is fried diner foods which heretofore never existed (tho that's more the realm of the isekai)
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Dec 15, 2024 20:44
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How does this dungeon crawler Carl compare to the Dungeons and Lattes and the Bobiverse books? Not in terms of narration or anything. Both Bobiverse and D&L have fine narrators, but by book 4 (which has a great setting so it’s a shame), dialogue gets kind of catty and self-referential and the narrator has weaknesses there.
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Dec 15, 2024 21:10
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The other thing about LitRPGs is they tend toward the arc of "I have accumulated massive power in a desperately unfair world. How do I change it for the better?" (At least in the popular western ones)
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Dec 15, 2024 21:25
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tuyop posted:How does this dungeon crawler Carl compare to the Dungeons and Lattes and the Bobiverse books? Dunno about Dungeons and Lattes, but DCC is pretty different than Bobiverse. Bobiverse is fun competence porn and space opera, but it's mostly just the Bobs vamping around solving problems on their own. DCC has a lot more going on. It's way more gonzo, it's got better character work, more interesting worldbuilding, a more ambitious plot, and some of wildest setpieces I've ever read.
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Dec 15, 2024 21:41
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Haystack posted:Dunno about Dungeons and Lattes, but DCC is pretty different than Bobiverse. Bobiverse is fun competence porn and space opera, but it's mostly just the Bobs vamping around solving problems on their own. DCC has a lot more going on. It's way more gonzo, it's got better character work, more interesting worldbuilding, a more ambitious plot, and some of wildest setpieces I've ever read. Kinda sounds like a blast of a book to end the year on
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Dec 15, 2024 22:36
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Solitair posted:No greenhouse or indoor plants, but she does everything else you mentioned. I would probably go with something like this book about butterfly gardens and if is a Christmas gift, tuck a gift certificate to her local plant nursery inside the front cover.
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Dec 15, 2024 23:21
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tuyop posted:Kinda sounds like a blast of a book to end the year on DCC, especially the audiobook, is one of my most favorite pieces of entertainment, like ever. I’m not sure what game / movie / book / anime / comic I’d put on second spot as there’s so many to choose from but all the DCC books are an unquestionable number 1. Yeah, they’ve got some moments which may not be as strong as the rest of the series but overall, if you really like the premise of the book then boy oh boy, get ready for a wild ride. kaaj fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Dec 16, 2024 |
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Dec 16, 2024 02:48
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Looking for a book about Apple that isn’t just a biography on steve jobs
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Dec 21, 2024 14:55
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kaaj posted:DCC, especially the audiobook, is one of my most favorite pieces of entertainment, like ever. I’m not sure what game / movie / book / anime / comic I’d put on second spot as there’s so many to choose from but all the DCC books are an unquestionable number 1. Yeah, they’ve got some moments which may not be as strong as the rest of the series but overall, if you really like the premise of the book then boy oh boy, get ready for a wild ride. drat what a good time, you're not wrong! I think I need more. Thank you for this
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Dec 23, 2024 20:27
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