What book(s) are you currently reading? 17 August

I’m reading Kambaramayanam, a 12th century Tamil epic. It’s written in my mother tongue, Tamil, but the language has changed so much over centuries that I am using a guide to understand the old Tamil words and phrases and the nuances behind the verses. I’m really enjoying it so far.

Two Tamil books in one week!

Languages change over time, and any language that has survived for so long would have gone with many evolution.
- Yeah reading the book, I can see how the words from then have evolved to words from now, and it's very rewarding when I'm able to understand a verse without any help from the guide.

Have heard many good things about the Discworld series for the longest time, but never brought myself to read it. Decided to change that with The Colour of Magic. Loving it so far!

:) I started my Discworld journey in the middle with The Truth and since then have zigzagged my way through the entire series, and have never regretted a second of it. The Discworld is a gold mine of history, beliefs, dark humour, and profound thoughts. I'm glad you've found your way to it.

GNU PTerry
- Discworld is definitely one of my absolute favourite series. GNU P Terry.
- It's nice to see a mention of GNU Terry Pratchett. 😀

The Tibetan book of the dead for beginners by Lama Lhanang Rinpoche.

The fifth season by N. K. Jemisin

I don't know much about "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", is it too difficult, that it needs a beginner's edition? Or is it just a translation, named like that?

The Fifth Season is pretty good. How are you enjoying it?
- It's more of a tibetan book of the dead for dummies kind of thing. It summarizes the teaching of the tibetan book of the dead.
  
  I actually have a bit of hard time with the fifth season. I find the writing style a bit hard to follow and I have some difficulty relating to anything.

Finished "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari and didn't like it at all. Next on the docket is "The Republic of Thieves" by Scott Lynch, really digging the Gentleman Bastard Series.

Glad to see I’m not the only one who didn’t like Sapiens. I think it should’ve ended after the first few chapters. I’m terrified to know there’s a sequel where he theorizes about the future.
- I think it should’ve ended after the first few chapters
  
  Had the same feeling. At the end, I felt like the author tried to prove a thesis by ignoring any historical happenings that didn't corroborate and stretching the veracity of those that did.
  
  I’m terrified to know there’s a sequel where he theorizes about the future.
  
  I hope that he's better at assessing the future than the past.

Been in an 'old gods' mood, so I'm currently re-reading The Child Thief, by Brom. Probably gonna go on to some Neil Gaiman stuff after that. Likely Good Omens

I was recently in the mood for some crime books, but now getting in the mood for more lovecraftian stuff, though haven't looked up anything in that genre yet.

Mistborn 5, I finished Mistborn 3 long ago but couldn't get into the changes Sanderson made in book 4 at the time when it came out, but now I'm really enjoying the adventures of Wax & Wayne, also now I'm really paying attention to the Cosmere related details, but what I'm really waiting for is the next Stormlight Archive novel.

Loved mistborn, but couldn't get into the Wax & Wayne stuff. I bought the latest book, but I just can't get excited about it.
- See that was my problem when I first picked up #4 almost a decade ago, but now I'm completely into the books rn, there's some really interesting intrigue going on in the series, and the way the powers are evolving in a more modernized society is pretty cool, although Sazed admits in the fifth book that humanity hasn't quite progressed as far as he'd hoped they would.
  
  Also Wayne is a fantastic character, he's not the main character, but the way Sanderson writes him is really fun and interesting.
I'm on the 2nd, the Well of Ascension. It's a bit slow, but I hear it really ramps up!
*Mistborn

I haven't started the second era of Mistborn, was waiting to get all the books first. Now that I have the whole series, I am wondering if I should re-read the original Mistborn series before starting the Wax & Wayne. I remember the story, but I don't remember all the characters, and smaller details. Would I miss them if I read the next books without refreshing those details?
- Lol yeah Mistborn, thx
  
  Yeah the series constantly references the main characters from the original trilogy.
  
  I read the original trilogy probably more than a decade ago, so I've had to go to Sanders's book wiki and remind myself of some of the details of some of the characters, I also had to do it to get a better grasp on which characters are "Cosmere centric characters" which are the characters that are in both Mistborn and Stormlight Archive, and will probably eventually be in the prequel series Sanderson is writing, which is a pain in the butt since those specific characters have many names.

Reading The Three Body Problem, and also listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures

Just finished this book! Hoping I can find The Dark Forest some time today.
- It’s taken me a minute to get into it, but it seems to be getting a little easier now that I’m probably a third of my way through
Ah, a book by Chinese author, don't recall if I have read any (not counting Wuxia web-novels), how is it? Remarkably Bright Creatures also looks interesting. Adding both to my wish list.
- It’s interesting, but it felt a bit sluggish to get into. It could be a translation thing? It’s picking up now, though.

Finnegans Wake - my 'big read' which I am doing over the year along with a group over on reddit: one of the only things that still has me dipping into reddit now. Fascinatingly incomprehensible.
Tchaikovsky's Children of Time - some good, thoughtful worldbuilding and a solid story.
Robert Brightwell's Flashman's Waterloo - one of his series of Flashman prequels featuring the uncle of George MacDonald Fraser's protagonist. Very well researched and entertaining
A collection of Neil Munro's Para Handy tales - gentle humour and a glimpse of a very different world - albeit rather stereotypical and patronising in some ways.

However, I don't have a great deal of time to read at the moment, and with several on the go at once, I am taking a good while to get through them.

I have James Joyce's Ulysses in my to-read pile for over a decade, but it looks so daunting, so never started it.

Nice collection of books that you are reading. Have fun!

The original Frankenstein.

feels funny to find out or remember that these popular monsters were created by someone in an original story. How do you like it?
I was surprised to find out who Frankenstein actually is, when I read the book. How are you enjoying the book?

"The sweet salt of Tamil" by Tho Paramasivan translated from the original Tamil by V. Ramnarayan.

Tamil is the world's oldest surviving language and is spoken by about 90 million people. The author writes so well, you feel like you're chatting with an old friend. The OG version of the book in Tamil, titled Ariyappadatha Tamizhagam (the hidden Tamil country), is a good read too, but a friend gifted me the English version, so this week I'm enjoying the English version of a beloved book.

Surprised to see another Tamil book in the comments. If you're tamil, feel free to join !kuttichevuru@lemmy.world and help us get the community off the ground. It's a casual tamil chat community.
- Thank for the invite, I'll definitely check it out.
Tamil also has a very beautiful script. I like how it looks.

I just finished, A series of unfortunate events #2 - The Reptile Room

I am also re-reading Discworld in order and have read Men At Arms, next its Soul Music

Currently I am reading, John Scalzi - Old Man's War, and so far its a good!

I end up zigagging in the Discworld. One day, I'll have a go at reading it in order.

GNU PTerry.
- I have read Discworld both by series (Wizards, Witches, The Watch, ..) and in order, the good thing with reading in order is that you get a break from the different characters and you notice the cameos easier.
I have been following John Scalzi on Twitter (and now mastadon) for many years, but I still haven't read anything from him. I think it's about time I do something about it.
- I was going to start on Ian M Banks' Culture series, but I read a few reviews that said his writing style is a bit repetitive, and then I found John Scalzi, my first impression of Old Man's War reminds me a bit of Pratchett and Douglas Adams, and I hope it continues in that fashion.

Still reading The Brothers Karamazov. Just started few days back. Like it so far.

Finished Project Hail Mary? How did you like it?

Michael J. Sullivan JUST dropped the final book of his new trilogy, so I'm going to be diving into that next.

If you haven't heard of him, do yourself a favor and read the Riyria Revelations trilogy. It starts out light and fun, and by the third book you realize that he's no lightweight. There was a well thought out plot and intricate world building that was under everything the whole time.

I love all his series in this universe.

You've intrigued me!
I was just trying to remember the name of these books! I got distracted and never finished the first book but I want to pick it up again
Riyria Revelations is on my wish list. Let's see when I get to them.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.

Not a whole lot of spooky stuff happening so far, but I'm pretty happy to be an only child.

Do share how you like the book. And should I, as not an only child, should read it? 😀

I’m not reading it, listening to the audiobook so I hope it’s okay I comment but Project Hail Mary! It’s sooooo good! It’s my first audiobook also

That's on my list, how you liking it so far?
- I love it. Have 2 1/2 hours out of 16 of the audio book and it’s so good. I’m a bit of a nerd myself so it scratches that itch but also is a great book in general
Books are books, listening, reading, doesn't matter.

How are you liking the book? It's next on my list to read.
- It’s amazing! I really do like it. I love space and science so it really grabs me there but overall it’s just a great book

The third book in the Percy Jackson series right now!

I have been thinking of reading them to see if they can be a good read for young kids. Though, I get the feeling (without actually reading them) that they are more suitable for teenagers, then kids of 8-9 years old.

What do you think?
- They are indeed for teenagers, but I first read them in my early 40’s and still loved them. The books are full of Greek and Roman history and myths which I love too. I’ve read them twice now :)
- I think it's honestly more aimed to older kids, but depending on their reading level and maturity it might be a good read. The books are quite dark, especially in the later ones.

Jumped back into Mage Errant series by John Bierce. Currently on book 5 out of 7. Light reads, very fun and engaging magic systems! Top tier progression-fantasy. The perfect "popcorn fantasy" where the plot just goes very fast and you turn pages like a mad person

The name "Mage Errant" seems familiar, not sure if heard of this before or confusing it with some other series. Will look it up!

Currently blasting through (because it's hard to put down) Qualityland by Marc Uwe Kling. A satirical but horrifying take on society that's fully dependent on algorithms. It follows a "useless" person around trying to seek meaning and the overt advertising throughout really feels too close to reality. It's a fun read I may finish in one day, it's well translated and a surprise to find in a dollar tree store.

Oohh that sounds cool, just put it on my wishlist!
Interesting premise. Going to look it up.

I've finished a handful of things since last week's post, the current new ones are Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire & Fable The Balverine Order by Peter David. They aren't bad, but they aren't great either. Other than that, The Way of Kings and Resident Evil and still going, possibly forever.

I just started the Abroad in Japan book. Hopefully I find time to finish it. It’s a very busy week :)

Does the book has anything to do with YouTube channel of the same name?
- Yes, the youtube channel owner is the author.

Just started Empire of Storms (book 5 of Throne of Glass) by Sarah J Maas. Curious to what it will bring.

Series looks interesting, how are you enjoying it?

Just started Year Zero

Just looked it up, but apparently there are multiple books with title Year Zero, which are you reading?

Battle Cry by Leon Uris

This looks interesting. I haven't read much books about WW2, so should look it up. How are you enjoying the book?

MA Carrick’s Labyrinths Heart. Just came out this past week and is the last book in the Rook & Rose trilogy. Going to drag this out to savor the ending

MA Carrick

Looks interesting. How are you liking the series?
- I love the series and am enjoying the last book, though drawing it out to savor the ending to the trilogy

Just finished Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker

Nothing at the moment but around a week ago I finished Crime and Punishment. I didn't understand the ideas and themes it's praised for but I still enjoyed it just for the story and characters which is exactly what I expected when I decided to read it, thinking something like "come on, if it's a classic it's at very least just a good book" and I was pleased that that was correct.

I have it in my to-read pile for about a decade. I should read it one of these days.
- If you wonder about translations, I never checked the original or other translations but I had no issues with Pevear&Volokhonsky

I'm reading Jack of Shadows to the kids.

Looked it up, looks interesting. How are you liking it?

I'm reading "Illuminae", the first book in the illuminae files series.