I’ll start first: (bear in mind I usually listen to audiobooks)

  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir |A guy finds himself stranded in space aboard an international space vessel where he has to remember who he is.
  • The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater |A true story about how hanging with the wrong crowd can have life-altering consequences
  • The Animorphs series by KJ Applegate |Young adult series in which a group of kids find an alien, get the powers to morph shape into animals, as well as uncover an alien takeover conspiracy (Plus, detailed depictions of how grotesque those transformations are!)
  • Saga by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples (Comic, ongoing) |Following the story of Hazel, a baby born from an ex-soldier and an enemy combatant, Saga shows how gowing up and raising a kid in a wartorn universe can have highs and lows.

Edit: added pipes for better separation

  • spy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    11·
    25 days ago

    Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. An epic fantasy.

    I loved it and just started the second book.

          • spy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            1·
            22 days ago

            I tried audiobooks only twice for… not even 10 mins each time. Once a proper audiobook read by a human and another time a text-to-speech thing.

            They’re not for me, I find myself trying to do something else because I’m “Free” and I just can’t multitask, I can barely pay attention to it and walk.
            Furthermore, English is not my native language. While my English is not too poor, it’s an extra mental obstacle, which makes brain have to do some extra gymnastics. When reading in English, I read at my own pace, but when listening … :P

            You mentioned in your other comment it’s 15+ books.

            Which 15+ ? I’m aware of the two Mistborn eras which are… 3 + 4 = 7.
            And I think he wants to write a 3rd Era - but hasn’t.
            Maybe you’re including the Stormlight Archives which are 5 if we count Wind and Truth.
            Where are the other 3+ I’m missing? :D

              • spy@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                1·
                21 days ago

                I’ll admit this sounds awesome, thank you!

                I still don’t think it’s for me though, due to the sort-of-language-barrier. I feel I’d miss out on a lot of the details by trying to listen.
                I followed this excerpt well enough because I had already read it.

                Even if I understand the words spoken (which is not always the case), and especially for fantasy books where we make up new words (skaa), or invent concepts (burned tin), it makes it harder to follow unless I’m already familiar with them.

                As an example of the first reaction when reading, the brain working: “What do you mean, burned tin? Isn’t tin a metal, let me double check. Yes, did he bring a forge? Wait, what, in his … stomach? Ok I guess I’ll understand this better later.”
                When I’m reading I pause and continue at my own leisure, when I’m listening I already missed out on the next 20-30 seconds of audio if I’m trying to figure this out or end up forgetting about this to pay attention to those 20-30 seconds. Sure enough, sometimes the explanation comes right after, but not always :)

                That being said, this does sound awesome and I may try it for books I already read!

                –
                As for my previous question, which books am I missing from those collections you mentioned 15+?
                I checked his bibliography and from what I could tell, either you were talking about another series or some of the short stories such as The Eleventh Metal.

      • 9bananas@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        23 days ago

        I love that trilogy.

        i mean…technically it’s like 15+ Books…but who’s counting? ;)

        sidenote: Stormlight Archives Book 5 is coming in December, i think?

  • KammicRelief@lemmy.world
    10·
    25 days ago

    The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. My first time reading an ancient classic, and it’s much less scary than I thought. In fact I’m quite enjoying it, and might read The Iliad (Homer’s other epic poem) next. The humanness of the characters (well, the human ones!) is very relatable, even though it’s 2700 years old. I don’t know why I expected it to be crusty and boring. Maybe I assumed it’d be like the Bible.

    The intro explains a lot of stuff about the original Greek poem and how it was written in dactylic hexameterwhich bards back then used to be able to improvise in, which is amazing to me. Reminds me of 8 Mile or something. 😅

    • B1naryB0t@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      24 days ago

      If you read a modern bible translation from the perspective of christian mythology just as we treat Greek mythology a lot of the stories are actually fantastic reads

      • KammicRelief@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        24 days ago

        interesting… it’s been a while since I’ve tried (as a kid in the 80s probably). Can you recommend a translation (and book/story)?

        • turmacar@lemmy.world
          2·
          23 days ago

          A lot of the Old Testament this. Any translation that uses more readable language is nice. The King James version etc get too much credit for sounding religiousy.

          Genesis through Deuteronomy or so are what a lot of Protestant churches at least focus on. The New Testament is Jesus’ life and then a bunch of letters to various early churches about how the Religion should work.

          A lot of “the rest” are the kind of fables they’re talking about. Ruth, Esther, Job, Samuel, etc. The ones named after people/mythological figures, depending on your point of view/beliefs.

  • B1naryB0t@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    6·
    25 days ago

    Algorithms To Live By, applying computer science and mathematic principles to real life. Helping make better decisions that are provably more efficient. Really interesting and anyone who has any interest in computing can get a lot from the book.

  • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    25 days ago

    Learned on Lemmy a couple of weeks ago that Neal Stephenson has a new book out, and I’m still a sucker for them. Polostan is (so far) historical fiction and very readable. The Stephenson-esque infodumps seem to mostly concern the game of Polo and interwar Communism, with healthy dashes of 1930s physics and ranching.

  • Volkditty@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    25 days ago
    • The Mercy of Gods: The first book in a new trilogy from the guys behind The Expanse.
    • How to ADHD: Because I wasn’t diagnosed until 40 and now I have to rethink everything about me.
    • My War Gone By, I Miss It So: The memoir of a British war zone journalist who covered the Bosnian War and other Balkans conflicts. I originally read it decades ago but was reminded of it after watching Civil War earlier this year. I heard lots of criticism about the main characters in that movie not being relatable or very likable so I picked this back up to confirm that yes, that’s accurate, and I think part of the point of the movie…
      • Volkditty@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        24 days ago

        Yeah, I would recommend it. My biggest takeaways from it so far have been understanding how many of my habits and personality quirks are actually coping strategies that I just didn’t realize. Like, I always thought I just happened to like chewing gum all the time because I enjoyed the minty flavor. Turns out the repetitive chewing motion can actually stimulate the dopamine I crave. I thought everyone has a collection of rhyming phrases or little songs that they only say in private and we all collectively pretend like we don’t because it’s embarrassing. Turns out that’s verbal or auditory stimming. It’s been great in that regard, helping me understand why I am the way I am.

        Can’t really speak to how effective any of the ADHD management techniques in the book are since I’m still working through it and trying to take things onboard, but the author also has a very popular and successful Youtube channel where you can probably find all the same information and more if you’re interested.

  • Lemminary@lemmy.world
    4·
    24 days ago

    Just finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Her imagery is beautiful and you can feel her talent. It’s a an autobiographical roman à clef of her struggling with bipolar disorder/depression. And the only book she wore before taking her life when the love of her life left her for another woman.

  • MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    24 days ago

    Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. It’s just won the Booker prize so I thought I’d check it out. It’s set on the space station, and is basically the astronauts on board thinking. I can’t believe how beautiful it is, how gripping.

  • ObsidianNebula@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    24 days ago

    “The Terror” by Dan Simmons. I already watched the show and enjoyed it, so I picked up the book and am only a few chapters in, but I’m liking it a good bit. There seems to be a good bit of historical facts thrown in, which I personally enjoy.

    For those unfamiliar, it is based on the real life Franklin Expedition that disappeared while searching for a way to traverse the Northwest Passage in the Canadian arctic. The story follows the known facts regarding the fates of the expedition crew members, but it tells a paranormal horror story to fill in the blanks.