One of the rare weeks where I got to read quite a bit.

Read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. A contemporary sci-fi thriller. It's my first Blake Crouch book and I knew nothing while going on. A quick and very enjoyable read. Recommended for thriller fans, if they don't mind sci-fi.

After that, read The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan. It's a first book in The Black Magician trilogy, though it does have a prequel book and a sequel trilogy after that, but I don't know if they the follows same characters or if they are different stories, just in the same universe.

The whole book takes place in one city, and stakes are very personal instead of some world saving quest. It was also a quick and very easy to read book.

Finally, started the most read / mentioned book of these weekly threads, Dungeon Crawler Carl. The book is hilarious, it gave me some of that Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy feel in the start, but it's a very different book.

It is very much a litRPG (have we finalised on litRPG now? what happened to Progression Fantasy? It was at least a better name than litRPG, or is there some difference between the two?), and one issue with the genre is there is rarely any feel of real danger (with some exceptions). This seems to be going the same way, but again, I am still in the start of the first book of eight book series, so anything can change. This isn't a negative though, this is kind of why I like these books, sometimes you just want to read about good guy getting the win, without worrying about if they will win, but it is something to note if you are new to the genre.

Enjoying it enough that I have already ordered the next books, not sure if I'll actually read them back to back, but I am definitely going to continue with the series.

What about all of you, what have you been reading or listening to lately?


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[–] 16 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I started Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. It's fun so far; can't really go wrong with Discworld.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    I'm almost finished Wintersmith, but I've been stopping to read other things in between books now, as I'm nearing the end of my first readthrough and don't want to see it be over. Someone on one of these recent posts recommended The Songs of Distant Earth, and that was enjoyable and interesting. That was my last Discworld break.

    Guards! Guards! was my first book I read in the series and I've been hooked ever since.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    My well thumbed 1990 print edition with the original Kirby cover is one of my most prized possessions. I don't know how many times I've read it. You're in for a ride, and the Vimes series only gets better as it goes along.

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    [–] 13 points 2 months ago

    There's another book called Dark Matter that's by Michelle Paver and creepy as heck.

    I'm listening to Christie's Labours of Hercule Poirot (which is surprisingly dark) and reading Sam Neill's autobiography.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 months ago

    Just finished 'The Talisman" and am currently into "Black House'. Getting ready for the third King/Straub novel on October 6, 2026!

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  • [–] 12 points 2 months ago

    Network Effect in the Murderbot series - it’s so good! Way better than I expected. https://hardcover.app/books/network-effect

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  • [–] 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    I found out there was an Old Man's War book 7, so I devoured that book. Kinda thought the series would end on book 6 since it was titled "The End of All Things" but book 7 was a happy surprise.

    Then since I was reading John Scalzi I looked up some of his other books and settled on The Dispatcher series. I loved the premise to the series right away and enjoyed the mystery. The premise is

    Spoilersuddenly the world changed, when someone is murdered (suicide and accidental deaths don't count) there is a very large chance (999/1000) that the person will reappear safe and sound in their home and I love the idea of a brand new profession that exploits the change in the world.

    Already onto book 3 since they're fairly short and fast paced books.

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    [–] 11 points 2 months ago

    Enjoying Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. About halfway through.

    Probably will start Crooked Kingdom, the following book to Six of Crows.

    I enjoy the alternating viewpoints/storytelling in the chapters of both series.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Finished Children of Time last week, now I'm on Children of Ruin.

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    [–] 9 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I read Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted and now I'm reading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both old favourites. Reading them together feels right somehow, probably because they have a thematic connection. Next up I'll be reading Blindsight by Peter Watts. I don't know much about it, but someone mentioned it on here and I found it at my local library, so I'll give it a go.

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    [–] 9 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I just finished book 5 of DCC! It does feel like the danger is reserved for everyone around them. Still, it’s interesting to see how they react to their circumstances and the shenanigans they’ll pull.

    I’m also doing a Michael J Fox memoir for a book club and a silly fiction book about yarn for a fiber arts book club.

    Still waiting on Libby for my sequel to The House on the Cerulean Sea.

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    [–] 9 points 2 months ago

    How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North.

    Interesting and funny, but a bit light as a main read. Ideal for a quickie though, as it's arranged by topic.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago

    The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson.

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  • Listen to Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Starting reading: Technopolice by Felix Treguer

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  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    OMG BLAKE CROUCH MENTIONED

    I really enjoyed Recursion by him.
    His mystery/thriller (im not good at genres) books are also fun!

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    [–] 8 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I just finished Serj Tankian's Down with the System. It's a wonderful autobiography that delves into the history of the Armenian genocide and how his activism shaped his art and vice versa.

    A wonderful read if you were ever a Serj or System of a Down fan.

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    [–] 8 points 2 months ago

    Just started "Steelheart" by Sanderson. I screwed up and read the short story sequel last month, not knowing it was a sequel. Massive spoilers there.

    Just finished Django Wexler's "Wells of Sorcery" trilogy. I started it not knowing it was YA, but it was still a decent read.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago*

    David Graeber's 'Debt: The First 5000 Years'.

    This bit stuck out from what I've read so far:

    ... the words of an actual hunter-gatherer — an Inuit from Greenland made famous in the Danish writer Peter Freuchen’s Book of the Eskimo. Freuchen tells how one day, after coming home hungry from an unsuccessful walrus - hunting expedition, he found one of the successful hunters dropping off several hundred pounds of meat. He thanked him. The man objected indignantly:

    “Up in our country we are human!” said the hunter. “And since we are human we help each other. We don’t like to hear anybody say thanks for that. What I get today you may get tomorrow. Up here we say that by gifts one makes slaves and by whips one makes dogs.”

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago* (5 children)

    Almost halfway through book 6 of DCC, it’s around 800 pages >.<

    After this it’s book two of Star Wars the Black Fleet Crisis, which is called Shield of Lies. The first book was good, although I wasn’t happy that they left all of the story lines open, usually one gets closed.

    Fantasy genre doesn’t typically have the RPG elements like the Achievement popups, actual leveling with stat points, narrators, and stuff like that. Unless that’s the “theme” of it being progression. Atleast that’s my understanding, I don’t enjoy the fantasy genre too much myself.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Currently reading animal farm. Will probably finish today.

    Just finished fourth wing, dungeon crawler carl (vol 1). I’m trying to decide if I want to continue one of those series next or read red rising.

    I’ve heard good things about dark matter, and look forward to reading it.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Finished DCD #5 and started #6 on audible

    Reading the poppy wars #2

    Kinda abandoned nexus.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago*

    https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/olaf-stapledon/last-and-first-men

    Last and First Men is an extended think piece about the possible future history of humankind, extending from the 1930s into the extreme far future, hundreds of millions of years from now.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

    [Arthur C] Clarke has said of Stapledon's 1930 book Last and First that "No other book had a greater influence on my life ...

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    i am still going on House of the Wolfings! still enjoying it! i am about halfway through now.

    i took a little break from it to read Soft Targets by Carson Winter, a novella i picked up on a whim because Tenebrous Press was having an ebook sale. i liked it and it is the first contemporary thing i have tried to read since coming back to reading. it was fucked up but in a satisfying way, if that makes sense. i picked up another novella and some short story collections from that sale too so i really do have plenty to get on with!

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    Finished up Bones of Betrayal by Jefferson Bass. It's more fun for people familiar enough with Oak Ridge to recognize some of the landmarks. I do know Oak Ridge, but not as well as the person who recommended this book to me.

    I think up next is going to be Purity by Jonathan Franzen who is a new author for me. The title character and most of the people she meets in the first 50 pages are, if not complete basket cases, deeply flawed humans, so it might get interesting.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Just finished "The dispossessed", for the xth time starting on the next which according to this ordering is " the word for world is forest". I've read left hand of darkness also before but the other books on the hanish cycle I haven't so figured I'd do the lot.

    The dispossessed is very progressive for being published in 1974!

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    I just finished the Fallen Gods trilogy by Hannah Kaner over the last few days/weeks.

    It's a tale of gods, faith and war set in the middle ages.

    I liked the books, after getting into the first one :))

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I'm listening to Wind and Truth by brandon sanderson. 40 more hours left to go. My buddy introduced me to stormlight archive. I now have the whole cosmere to explore. Along with the rest of my backlog that I let get out of hand.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Just finished the audio drama "The Red Letter Day" starring Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes. It's OK, not bad, but definitely only for people with nostalgia for the 80s series with Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes.

    I'm reading Real Tigers by Mick Herron. I'm a huuuuge John le Carré fan, and this series sort of scratches that itch, but it's not as "literary" or complex. It feels like a grittier, less action oriented version of the TV series "Spooks"

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    I've devoured all of Blake Crouch's sci-fi books and enjoyed them all thoroughly. I have had his Pines trilogy in my To Read list for too long though.

    After not enjoying DCC book 1 very much, I finally got bullied into carrying on and am half way through book 2 and enjoying it a lot more.

    I do find that at times it seems like someone has tried to write a story in the margins of a TTRPG players handbook, but I guess that's the appeal in a way.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I'll likely finish "The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne" today. I'd give it 3/5 Fudgy Points (I'm debating giving it a 2/5, but that seems too harsh). It started off really strong, and then just shit the bed into basically an OK crime thriller. It has some quirkiness to it (Lori's particular ability, the setting/town/peoples), but not really enough to carry it into greatness. After about three or four chapters, the story just sustains. And the writing lacks any real literary ability to give it that national book award bump/depth that lifts so many bland stories into greatness. Also, why do they just let the bad guy monologue at them like some shitty comic book movie? That doesn't make sense. If you see it on megasale and you like crime thriller novels, give it a read.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    Regarding Blake Crouch, I'm a fan, I've read a number of his books and enjoyed them. My wife summed up his sci-fi stories so perfectly that's it's comical to read them and see it. I'll throw spoiler tags around it, as it's a general theme.

    THIS IS THE SPOILERA man is trying to get to his wife but science gets in the way.

    I've also forgotten to respond to the prompt. So I'm listening to DCC, about 80% through book four. It's fun. I have my gripes with it, lots of DXM, but it's fine. It's fun.

    Reading The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, which is the fifth book in The First Law series. I'll throw a spoiler up here too, but I just finished a chapter that was really something else.

    THIS IS THE SPOILER.The chapter was from several different viewpoints of random characters on both sides of a battle, beginning moments before the battle, and following a character until their death at the hands of the next character whose perspective we'd then read on from. There were five or six character changes, and going from the death being described from the viewpoint of the dying, and picking immediately up with the viewpoint of the one meting out the death, was a really neat wY to progress the story.

    I am hot and cold on Joe Abercrombie, but I have learned to just keep reading, because he does some great things in his stories.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    Started rereading The Dresden Files. Currently on Fool Moon.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    Listening: Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman. It has a heavy topical premise combined with Dinniman's quirky sense of nostalgia-laden humor. I really enjoy the audio productions of his books. They seem more like radio plays than audiobooks at this point with different voice actors, sound effects and such.

    Reading: The High Crusade by Poul Anderson. It's an English Knights vs aliens kind of romp but the aliens suck at fighting. I am attempting to work my way through Gary Gygax's Appendix N list of books.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    Just finished 'God's Junk Drawer', by Peter Clines...

    it was fine. not great, not bad, eh.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Just finished Resolute by Jack Campbell and The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott.

    Resolute is one of many in a space military series. In this one, they're on a mission to go make friends with the aliens. Mostly to get the war hero main character out of Space Congress's hair, heh. I really enjoyed it. Jack is great at writing space combat action, and his aliens break the mold in some ways, too.

    The Nameless Land is the sequel to The Witch Roads. It's a pretty cozy tale with a sort of tragic romance involving the main character while she's traveling with a VERY ambitious prince with his eye on the crown (nevermind the heir in the way). There's a fair bit of political maneuvering behind the action.

    It's also fascinating from a world building perspective. It's a magical setting with a deadly fog that covered swaths of the land. Different cultures have different ways to cope with the danger. There are wizards of a sort and restless guardian spirits keeping watch after a legendary war against sorcerer-kings.

    And the main character is not all she seems...

    Excellent read, Kate Elliott is one of my favorite authors.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    I started a book like two weeks ago and I'm certainly enjoying it so far. The book is titled "The Strong State and the Free Economy" and it was written by Werner Bonefeld.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I read some books for my studies and also read "The Martian" And I must say: great read. I really enjoyed it. I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Still reading some other books for my studies and "The Path of Daggers" I'm at 22% now.

    I really enjoy this community. You help me never to have an empty TBR pile.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    The Path of Ascension by C. Mantis - just started book 5

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    Currently reading Sentenced to Troll 5 after a random joke in Dungeon Crawler Carl mentioned "The Author Steve Rowland" in book 6 leading me to a web crawl.

    I'm fine with LitRPG as that's what the authors themselves are using. Progression Fantasy doesn't have the same connotations for me. Especially with actual video game UI being used in the books.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Oh boy, it's been an interesting couple weeks for me. I've been listening to "The Bible Says So." By Dan Mclellan on the way to work in the morning, and "Exodus: the Archimedes Engine," by Peter F Hamilton on the commute home. I also just spent the last 4 days up in the high Sierras with my wife, reading Dune together (it's her first time!) and fishing. My dreams have been so weird lately.

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    Currently reading Hop ‘Til You Drop by J.M. Griffin. It’s the third in a cozy murder mystery about a woman who runs a rabbit rescue and helps police solve murders with her telepathic bunny named Bun. I’m sad there aren’t more because I love Bun and the way the author describes rabbit behavior is so accurate, all the way down to the snarky attitudes they get 🤣

    Dark Matter was my first Blake Crouch book. I’ve now read 5 of his books and he is an author I will automatically purchase books from when I see them. I love his stuff!

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    [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Currently reading Project Hail Mary, next up is Dungeon Crawler Carl.

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    [–] 5 points 2 months ago

    The White Ensign, the history of the Royal Navy in WW2 by Stephen Rosskill.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago

    At the Moment The Cherry Tree Theory by Rich and Rox Pink.

    Neuromancer ready to be read next

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  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I also read dark matter the past month. It was decent. I am kinda over the whole multiverse idea because of marvel. But it's not a terrible book.

    Now I'm reading A desolation called peace. I'm a quarter of the way through and it's finally getting interesting.

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    [–] 5 points 2 months ago

    Finsihed both A Parade of Horribles and Red Rising over the weekend.

    Will probably start Golden Son sometime this week as an audiobook.

    Not sure what else to start. Normally have an audio and physical book going but after the run through DCC kind of at a loss right now as to what else to start.

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