@bookstodon I'm looking for book recommendations for an 11yo who reads at a much more advanced level. He likes sci-fi. He has read the Hitchhiker's Guide series and loved them. I think he would enjoy some more 'hard' sci-fi as well. He needs something challenging but without subject matter that is too mature. Thanks for any help! #sciencefiction#bookstodon
There was a poll that stated—Rowling’s opening line in the HP series is one of best in the world. Someone posted about how there are a bunch of other opening statements that are better.
Here’s one of my personal favorites, from Gabriel Garcia Marquez (English translated):
“It is inevitable. The scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
@shaedrich@negative12dollarbill@bookstodon when I was little and even today if I'm reading a series and the next book isnt out yet I read other books in the meanwhile but thanks for explaining why people are so mad about Winds of Winter. I cant imagine getting so tunnel visioned that I had to wait for George to finish before I reax anything else but I guess some people do live that way.
@negative12dollarbill@Montaagge@bookstodon I'm not sure if I'm the one missing the point here. Your observation is right - and so is what I said about book series, however, as I said, this is about J. K. Rowling. And at least in that point, she's not that special and for once, it's not her fault but ist how things work
I'm in a reading slump! I had a long weekend and couldn't get any book to "catch." I need ideas! Something that grabs the reader from paragraph one but isn't a thriller. @bookstodon
@bookstodon I need #BookRecommendations please! I’m looking for low #fantasy recommendations. Romance can be there but I want plenty of adventure & banter to go along with it. Nothing epic- magic should take a back seat and it’d be amazing if the main character did not have magic at all. Best if MC is not royal/deity/etc.
The closest thing I’ve read to this is Intisar Khanani’s The Dauntless Path series (which is amazing and I highly recommend). Anything else like it?
Join in #13Books to know me because getting to know people by the books they hold close to their heart is great,
The Tombs of Atuan - Le Guin
Frankenstein - Shelley
Hunger Games - Collins
Last Unicorn - Beagle
The House of Spirits - Allende
The Handmaid's Tale - Atwood
The Left Hand of Darkness - Le Guin
Annihilation - VanderMeer
Three Times Lucky - Turnage
Good Omens - Pratchett Gaiman
Jane Eyre - Brontë
Pet Sematary - King
Howl's Moving Castle - Wynne Jones
This is torturous, but... #13Books (not necessarily novels)
Frankenstein - Shelly
Poetry/Tales - Poe
Ghost Stories/Antiquary - James
The Martian Chronicles - Bradbury
More Than Human - Sturgeon
We Have Always Lived In the Castle - Jackson
Two-Handed Engine - Kuttner & Moore
Dangerous Visions - Ellison
Earthsea (series) - Le Guin
The Norton Book of SF - Le Guin/Attebery
The Dark Descent - Hartwell
Tales of the Flat Earth (series) - Tanith Lee
The Weird - VanderMeer
The Call of the Wild - J. London
Life of Pi - Y. Martel
Ocean Sea - A. Baricco
Timbuktu - P. Auster
Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne
Slaughterhouse Five - K. Vonnegut
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - R. Bach
Les jardins de lumière (The Gardens of Light) - A. Maalouf
Het huis van de Moskee (The House of the Mosque) - K. Abdolah
Shame - S. Rushdie
La Peste (The Plague) - A. Camus
Cutting for Stone - A. Verghese
Kafka on the Shore - H. Murakami
@bookstodon As we approach the end of 2023, I would love to know about the very best books you read this year. (They don't have to have been published in 2023 for your "best of" list.)
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon totally agree! I found some really good stuff, especially after not reading much fiction for many years. That was silly, so I’m correcting my mistake :-)
I saw some of his art online and thought it looked like “Invisible Hands” from Liquid Television, which I LOVED. Same artist! This didn’t have quite the same level of twisted, creepiness as that animated series, but I was so happy to find his work in comic form. There’s more too.
@patl@bookstodon@ottsatwork I just got the first 4 of the Spiral series. My KU is now full, and I'd have to drop books I haven't read yet to get more. I'll consider it later.
'Personally, I find it ridiculous that Eilenberger gives this sophomoric pseudo-Nietzschean space in a book devoted mostly to much more subtle women. Her endless blethering in the imperative mood like Jordan Peterson on a bad day, about will, selfishness, the worthlessness of altruism and the moral foundation of capitalism, is very hard to take. And yet, I suppose, it is important to realise that Rand, though the feeblest of the thinkers here, was the most successful: as of 2020 her terrible novels had sold 37m copies, and her thoughts have underpinned the barbarous project of neoliberalism, inspiring former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, the Republican Tea party and, arguably, Trump’s low-tax and anti-regulation policies. Former British cabinet minister Sajid Javid, he of the “Tory power stance”, is a fan.'
@pivic@SteveClough@Talia@bookstodon Yes; if you're selling something that gives someone an advantage and makes them feel good about it, they'll buy eagerly
It’s not fair to books that may not have that attractive of a cover, but it is what it is-most especially when it’s an author or title I am unfamiliar with. The book below is evidence of this. This cover completely grabbed ahold of my attention. Not only did I read the synopsis, but I also knew I wanted to paint the other half. This is an older picture, but I’ve finally started reading it. While the synopsis is not one I’d gravitate towards, I’m giving it a chance, & all b/c of the initial attraction to the cover.#books#amreading#art#photography#randomhouse#delrey#ballantinebooks@bookstodon
@bookstodon Just out of curiosity, how close are you to your reading goal for the year? I need to read 12 more books to meet the goal I set for myself. 📚📚📚📚
Not everyone works the same way, of course. We've discussed before that reading goals are counterproductive for many. Having a goal really helps me, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just like reading for pleasure and reading to write a review are very different processes.
@kimlockhartga@bookstodon Totally agree, I don’t set a goal and have only been writing down what I read for 3 years but this year Ive read 15 more books than last year so I’m very happy with that
@bookstodon Tomorrow (today in Australia and New Zealand) is #Ageism Awareness Day. What really good novels have you read that feature older protagonists?
These come to my mind:
Remnant Population, Elizabeth Moon
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk