A Good Book You've Read

[SillierCrayon]

I mean the title explains it all. Name a good book you've read recently, or even a while ago.

Give the title, the author, and if you want put a spoiler tag and give a synopsis.

Reading fun to do, but sometimes you just don't know what else to read. Maybe you'll find a new favorite book!

 

[SillierCrayon]

Recently I reread Not-So-Normal Norbert by James Patterson as well as The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall.

 

[Astra]

It's been a while since I've actually read a book from front to back. I could say that my excuse is that I don't have the time, but in reality I'm just too lazy and lack the patience to. I do, however, have blurry memories of me sitting in the bathroom reading the entirety of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series at the time instead of sleeping, finishing somewhere between 2 am and 3 am. Beside that, though, most of the books I've read were for school stuff.

 

[Ziggizagoon lel]

sherlock holmes, the hobbit and artemis fowl, generally pretty widespread books but still rely gud

 

[Nix_Hex]

I read Dune and Dune Messiah from Nov 2020 til about Feb 2021. I'm about halfway through Children of Dune but I can't muster up the patience to finish it, and there are other books I want to read and other things I want to do.

The other book I'm kinda plodding through is Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, a near future sci-fi book about a congregation of Jesuit scientists who send missionaries to extragalactic planets to spread the Word of Jesus Christ. It was written in the late 90s, and a lot of the early events take place in 2015-2021. Some of the tech she writes about is popular today, one of them being a tablet (I believe she called it a "notescreen").

Finally, I'm reading An Introduction to West Greenlandic by Stian Lybech. It's exactly what it sounds like. Greenland is at the very top of my bucket list for travel destinations and I would like to converse with the natives when I get there... after Denmark decides to re-open so who knows how many years that will be

 

[Gravity Monkey]

Freezing cold take: best book I've read for school was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Holes by Louis Sachar comes in second, though tbh that might just have been my kid mind overestimating since I've read it so long ago.

Am currently reading a french "novel" (not really since its more of a biography) called Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano. For school again. It's pretty good. Apparently a french street got named after the book which is a pretty big flex from the author ngl.

 

[Astra]

Freezing cold take: best book I've read for school was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Holes by Louis Sachar comes in second, though tbh that might just have been my kid mind overestimating since I've read it so long ago.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird all the way back in eighth grade, and it's probably the only book I had to read for school that I enjoyed. Interestingly, though, I read the sequel of the book Go Set a Watchmen the summer before eighth grade. From what I remember, I thought it was also a good book, but I probably would need to read it again to get the full scope of it again (and perhaps To Kill a Mockingbird too).

 

[Pokeslice]

My favorite book has always been The Hobbit, by Tolkien, and part of the reason I'm such an avid reader today.

Two fantastic books/series I've read recently

For those who want a deeper, more philosophical book, look no further than The Screwtape Letters. It's C.S. Lewis's thoughts on what it means to be close to God, how to get close to God, and why we struggle trying to find Him, but the twist is, it's told through the lens of the demon Screwtape, adding another aspect to these questions I had never considered. 10/10 I'm still thinking about it weeks later.

Another fun one for all those fantasy lovers (like me :D) out there is The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. This series is considered one of the greatest fantasy masterpieces for a good reason. The character development, world, and plot are just top notch and I'm even rereading this series for the second time to catch all the crazy foreshadowing, hints, and other easter eggs I missed the first readthrough. I'm honestly obsessed with this series. The best part (or maybe the worst LOL) is that this series is SUPERRRR long, 14 books of around 700 pages each, so if you have a ton of time on your hands or just want something that will keep you occupied and you can't put down for 6 months, I highly recommend.

 

[Nix_Hex]

I should also add that I finally read 1984 and Brave New World last year which have been on my list for as long as I can remember. I still haven't put my thoughts together on BNW, but I'll comment on 1984 a bit. I will try to avoid derailing this thread by getting political but it's hard to avoid with a book like 1984.

If you're an American, and you've ever uttered the phrase "this is literally 1984," stop doom-pilling; in fact, maybe log off of Twitter and read the book.

We aren't in Orwell's 1984, but...

However, I'd say that the way social media shames personalities is reminiscent "Two Minutes Hate," and the media altering or straight up memory-holing stories they don't like pretty much describes what Winston's job is. But no, we are not "literally" in 1984. The US govt isn't sending troops into your house to kidnap you and make it so that you essentially never existed just because you vote republican, chill out lol.

I know I shouldn't have to put a spoiler for a book written in the 1940s and read in many high schools, but the host of The Chase ruined the ending for me a couple years ago and made me regret not reading it decades ago.

 

[SillierCrayon]

Oh yeah. Also whenever politicians (I heard Nancy Pelosi said it once) say we live in a Brave New World, I get kinda confused. Oh so everyone has been (basically) brainwashed into liking doing whatever they do, and if you are unhappy you just takes loads and loads of drugs.

Then again, on the final part at least, the statement isn't too far off.

 

[fian]

The Magicians saga by Lev Grossman is a great fantasy pick, would 100% recommend. It's kind of similar to Harry Potter, but geared more towards college students / young adults.

 

[Solaros & Lunaris]

Recently finished Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, which won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize. The basic idea is that this is a confession written by a nameless narrator who is stuck in a reeducation camp (for reasons that you have to read the book for, cmon man). It has a really layered opinion about macro ideas like capitalism vs communism, the American Dream, racism, and national identity, while also having more individual opinions about love, family, and what it means to be human. I will say, however, that this book needs a fat trigger warning slapped on it, as going into it blind probably wasn’t the best idea.

 

[SOMALIA]

The saga of Darren Shan

 

[nui]

very good book will Literally change the way you view things regarding government

 

[GatoDelFuego]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...aven where his parents are porcuswine farmers.

 

[eden]

keigo higashino - the devotion of suspect x

kazuo ishiguro - never let me go