What are you reading?

[MrNovember]

Yeah I read the first few chapters and it's pretty much everything I remember from the Prose Edda. But that's literally what Gaiman says in the intro; he's just retelling the stories from the Prose and the Poetic Eddas. I haven't read the Poetic Edda, so there'll at least be a little bit of new stuff for me.

I read the Southern Reach trilogy back to back, so it's all kind of just one weird, but really interesting story to me. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say any more. I can't wait for the movie to come out, I'm really interested to see what they'll do with it

[weebles]

Just Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee a few weeks ago. It took me a very, very long time to get through it. Just not pleasant reading. I actually finished 6 or 7 other books in the time it took me to finish this one.

[MrNovember]

Yeah I read the first few chapters and it's pretty much everything I remember from the Prose Edda. But that's literally what Gaiman says in the intro; he's just retelling the stories from the Prose and the Poetic Eddas. I haven't read the Poetic Edda, so there'll at least be a little bit of new stuff for me.

I read the Southern Reach trilogy back to back, so it's all kind of just one weird, but really interesting story to me. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say any more. I can't wait for the movie to come out, I'm really interested to see what they'll do with it

So I never finished Norse Mythology. I just couldn't get into it because it was so similar to the Eddas. I'll probably read it in a few years when the material is a little less fresh.

Also, Annihilation (the movie) was excellent! It was completely different and yet still similar to the book. I read an interview after watching it and apparently the screen writer read the book once and based the entire movie on his memory of the book, which is actually exactly how the movie felt. And I don't mean that in a bad way; I kind of really wish more movies would be adapted that way.

I'm reading Borne now and loving it. Vandermeer is an excellent writer. Easily one of my favourites now

[jirodreamsofdank]

A quarter of the way through the third Stormlight Archive novel - I've never read any epic fantasy before (I tapped out on LOTR as a teenager after the first genealogy of a tree or something I found equally inane) so I decided to give some fantasy a whirl this year. Didn't know going in that it was a 10 book series published every 2-3 years so I'll probably be dead before the last one comes out.

[JereFuzz]

i'm reading "the life-changing magic of tidying up" by marie kondo … I'm not the neatest person so I picked up this book and it has been great so far … here is the cliff's notes cliff's notes version: "get rid of anything you DON'T LOVE"; keep only WHAT YOU LOVE" … so far, I've devoted a lot of time to getting rid of stuff (small portion of my junk) and organizing the rest, she would not agree with my technique but I'll be damned if my place looks much much cleaner and I feel much much calmer … her enthusiasm (decluttering is her job/hobby/obsession since she was 5 y.o.) is infectious; if anything, if you don't follow her instructions 100% or even 50% her enthusiasm will make decluttering into a hobby for you …

[coldbrightsunlight]

That's interesting. I know I have far too much stuff and I really want to get rid of some but it's so hard to start!


I finished A Fire Upon The Deep yesterday, loved it.

Also reading the Gormenghast trilogy during lunchtimes at work. It will take some time with only 20-30 minutes 5 days a week.

[OldGeorge]

Just started Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins and I'm not quite half way in. Fantastic so far

[Lurker13]

Speaking of tidying up, what do you all do with your books when you're done with them? I have two 6' bookcases full of books I'll probably never read again. Some of them are more than 20 years old and the pages are turning yellow, so even the local libraries won't accept them as donations. And some of them I loved so much I just have a hard time parting with them, because maybe - just maybe - someday I'll want to read them again. So they linger and age, collecting dust on the shelves. I don't really have anyone to pass them on to.

[JereFuzz]

Speaking of tidying up, what do you all do with your books when you're done with them? I have two 6' bookcases full of books I'll probably never read again. Some of them are more than 20 years old and the pages are turning yellow, so even the local libraries won't accept them as donations. And some of them I loved so much I just have a hard time parting with them, because maybe - just maybe - someday I'll want to read them again. So they linger and age, collecting dust on the shelves. I don't really have anyone to pass them on to.

Create a list of the ones you have a high likelihood of reading again.

Go on eBay/Bnoble/Amazon to see if they are readily available.

If not, keep. If they are, sell to half price books or goodwill (donate).

Some ideas ...

[OldGeorge]

Speaking of tidying up, what do you all do with your books when you're done with them? I have two 6' bookcases full of books I'll probably never read again. Some of them are more than 20 years old and the pages are turning yellow, so even the local libraries won't accept them as donations. And some of them I loved so much I just have a hard time parting with them, because maybe - just maybe - someday I'll want to read them again. So they linger and age, collecting dust on the shelves. I don't really have anyone to pass them on to.

Anything I enjoy gets passed on to friends on tour when they roll through. Like wise books from the road get traded around town when bands roll through that are friends. It's a really fun way to get new stuff and keep contact with other bands/musicians that you know and like. That's how I ended up with roadside actually

Sometimes I end up in a facebook mailing list where I mail a book to someone random and then receive one from someone else I don't know real well or even know.

[BetterOffShred]

Never read any Michener, so I started reading Space. I have a few paperbacks I picked up, including Carribean, tales of the South Pacific, Hawaii, Alaska.. but I figured I'd start with Space.

I opened it up and there's a bookmark made from a clipped 1984 newspaper article about Arthur Rudolph, the German scientist who's credited as the inventor of the modern rocket, and how he renounced his US citizenship..

Strange coincidence considering the subject matter and how Michener does historical stuff..

[coldbrightsunlight]

Speaking of tidying up, what do you all do with your books when you're done with them? I have two 6' bookcases full of books I'll probably never read again. Some of them are more than 20 years old and the pages are turning yellow, so even the local libraries won't accept them as donations. And some of them I loved so much I just have a hard time parting with them, because maybe - just maybe - someday I'll want to read them again. So they linger and age, collecting dust on the shelves. I don't really have anyone to pass them on to.

Anything I enjoy gets passed on to friends on tour when they roll through. Like wise books from the road get traded around town when bands roll through that are friends. It's a really fun way to get new stuff and keep contact with other bands/musicians that you know and like. That's how I ended up with roadside actually

Sometimes I end up in a facebook mailing list where I mail a book to someone random and then receive one from someone else I don't know real well or even know.

I'm trying more and more to lend them out, and going forward I'm buying mostly ebooks to avoid accumulating more.

I still have stacks that are never going anywhere because of sentimentality/I genuinely will read them again.

[popvulture]

I'm almost finished with NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Been a fantastic story so far, very inventive. Cool world-building and pretty unique, creative imagery. Plus the writing is definitely above par for SF.

[comesect2.0]

our friends from frolix 8 is getting pretty good, basically from the get go you ask yourself .."didnt I just read this in ubik, or flow my tears? or game players of titan?" & you get all excited because its a continuation! and, but its not... reviews for frolix 8 are all "disorganized" "mash of old material" well...it is.....but its PKD! and well, how the fuck can you mess up an ending where a revolutionary seeks out help in other star systems and brings back a telepathic slug....reviews say im gonna be left high and dry....pfffffft. 5:00am baby oww!

[Lurker13]

Anything I enjoy gets passed on to friends on tour when they roll through. Like wise books from the road get traded around town when bands roll through that are friends. It's a really fun way to get new stuff and keep contact with other bands/musicians that you know and like. That's how I ended up with roadside actually

Sometimes I end up in a facebook mailing list where I mail a book to someone random and then receive one from someone else I don't know real well or even know.

I don't know any touring musicians, although the FB mailing list sounds interesting. I think I'll check it out.

I'm trying more and more to lend them out, and going forward I'm buying mostly ebooks to avoid accumulating more.

I still have stacks that are never going anywhere because of sentimentality/I genuinely will read them again.

ebooks suddenly sound like a great idea. I usually buy from Amazon anyway, I guess I might as well start Kindleing. No more tons of books to move, no more yellow pages or loose bindings, everything stored electronically, not having to wait for shipment or pay for Prime - suddenly it's all coming together and makes perfect sense.

Create a list of the ones you have a high likelihood of reading again.

Go on eBay/Bnoble/Amazon to see if they are readily available.

If not, keep. If they are, sell to half price books or goodwill (donate).

I took this advice, too. So far I've donated almost every book on one of the bookcases to Better World Books, which has donation bins at some nearby libraries. This week I'm going to start getting rid of most of the books on the other bookcase. I really enjoyed reading most of the books I donated, but I just don't know if I'll ever find time to read them again. It actually feels somewhat liberating, too.

Thanks for sharing, everyone.