This Year In Reading (Or Audiobooks)

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I recently got back into books lately. Being a PhD candidate most of my job involves writing or reading dense material related to my research and the drive to read anything for enjoyment just left. A friend of mine pointed me to audiobooks sometime in August and, much like yo-yo, I really went overboard. With that said I thought that this would be a good spot to have people share what they have read and maybe be a place for recommendations if you do not know what to read next.

The List:

Children of Series by Adriane Tchaikovsky - hard sci-fi about humanity trying to find a new home in space but the only habitable planet is already occupied

The Three-Body Problem Trilogy by Cixin Liu - really hard sci-fi about first contact with aliens and ensuing panic/preparation/negotiation. Has a netflix adaptation coming soon too!

The Expanse by James S.A. Corey - 9 book space opera that is a deep dive into character development with the four person crew of the Rocinante as we go to the outer edges of our system and then some. Has a TV adaptation going to book 6, Babylons Ashes.

Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky - 10 book series that is a fantasy that, in my opinion, is unlike any other fantasy I have read to this point. The world is so hashed out, nuanced, and just utterly original. Am currently on book 5 but will finish this early next year. Probably my favorite series to date.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Clans of the Alphane Moon by Phillip K. â– â– â– â–  (PKD) - some old school sci-fi written by a guy who did hard drugs and knows how to convey paranoia.

Pet Sematary by Stephen King - first King novel and I will no doubt read more but this was a real bummer, was a good Halloween read though.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill - Was a good Halloween novel but could also double as a Christmas novel because of Christmas Land I suppose. Joe Hill is Kings son and he is much darker than his father. Would love to see what their dinner discussions are like.

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward - cannot say much about this novel but the ending ties everything together really nicely and it was a twist that was very original.

My Guy Died by Dan Neilan - just a short 1 hour novel following a dog that had their owner die. Supposed to be a comedy but did not get conveyed well to me. Was free on audible premium though, so that is a plus.

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World by Micheal Pollan - just a really glossed over view of the history and biochemical mechanisms of how caffeine works, may just read some articles on my own time if I get the urge to learn more.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - more like the war crimes and classism between worlds. Author had a fully realized world that was only touched upon in the broadest of brush strokes.

If you got this far thanks. I hope other people contribute and maybe give some stellar recommendations to me or anyone else that uses this post!

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Some good leads on your list.

The only reading I have planned is catching up on the latest of Joel Shepherd’s Spiral Wars series and continuing from the first book of his Cassandra Kresnov series.

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Seems like a long series I could easily lose myself in! Definitely going in the to be read pile. Thanks.

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I’m definitely going to look into the scifi stuff, I’ve been gobbling up pulp scifi in both audiobook and ereader format.

Here are my favorite authors and stories so far:

E. E. Smith: His Lensman series is the greatest space opera I’ve ever read. Pretty obvious that George Lucas also read it because a lot of Star Wars concepts, situations and even the Death Star itself seems to be ripped directly off from here. (On a side note, The City at World’s End by Edmond Hamilton features a character that matches Chewbacca too closely to be coincidental IMO. I suspect ol’ George did quite a bit of “borrowing” from these old stories in order to make Star Wars.)
Also, his Skylark of Space series is great too. Smith can sometimes get technical about things but it does serve to enrich the world he builds.

H. Beam Piper: Space opera with an emphasis on how politics, communication and trade might work in an interstellar society. Realistic sense of time and the expanse of space, since even at superlight-speed it can take months to travel between systems. In Piper’s world, radio communications are useless except within solar systems, since radio signals travel at mere light speed. It’s reminiscent of Earth’s era of sailing ships, where news traveled at precisely the speed of the newsbearer.

Harry Harrison: A bit lighter and more humorous than the previous two, enjoyable adventures.

Andre (Alice) Norton: Scifi but with a bit of mysticism thrown in.

I’ve also been enjoying Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Princess of Mars series although it does get formulaic.

It’s important to note when reading this stuff that it was written in a different age, when technology and society was nothing like it is today. Political correctness was not something that most people concerned themselves with, nuclear energy was either just on the horizon or recently discovered depending on the age of the story and the Soviets were the universal enemy of America for much of the period that these stories were written. It’s an interesting snapshot of what was very much a different world.

Librivox is a great place to go for public-domain audiobooks, the quality of the recordings varies from amateur to professional (Mark Nelson, Phil Chenevert and Kirk Zigler are excellent among many others).

For non-public domain, I like Audiobookstore.

For public-domain ebooks, I like Gutenberg and Global Grey.

Ivan

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I mostly just read manga this year (oops.)

Candy & Cigarettes by Tomonori Inoue - Probably my favorite thing I’ve read in an incredibly long time. It’s by the author of Coppelion so it had a really high reputation to live up to, and it surpassed it with flying colors. If you’re looking for an seinen assassin series with fantastic characters, this was the peak for me.

Reptile Secrets by Gujira - This has been on my radar for years now when I learned they were putting out a normal manga. If you’re interested in reading a comic that’s 95% reptile facts and information about their habits and caring for them as pets, you really can’t do any better than this. Although this actually might be your only choice.

Yuru Camp by Afro - Slice of life camping manga, I haven’t seen anybody talk about this series since the anime aired but it’s still going strong and is still great. It’s not super meaty and is mostly just light cute/comedy, but it’s really enjoyable for what it is. I want to try camping now.

Kawasemi’s Fishing & Cooking by Kiyomasa Masanoshita - It’s exactly what the title implies.

Diary of Our Days at the Breakwater by Yasuyuki Kosaka - Girls fishing and cooking.

Fishing manga was popping off this year.

The amount of regular books I read was very lacking this year. For normal stuff I mostly read philosophy and cozy mysteries… not exactly the most typical combo, but it’s what I like. I don’t seek out cozy mystery books though, I just grab whatever I see for cheap at used book sales. I haven’t gone to any library sales or book stores this year though, which just leaves me with some philosophy stuff.

The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler - It’s a big criticism of urban sprawl and the commercial development of suburbia. It’s not poorly written, but you get the entire gist of the book very quickly. For every interesting point made, there’s so much inane ranting prose that I just quickly lost interest. This book was a drag to read. It felt like I was reading an old man yelling at clouds, more than I was reading a truly interesting perspective on the topic. This book released in '93 though, and it feels disgustingly contemporary however. It was certainly ahead of the curve.

Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen by Larry McMurtry - It’s the author’s memoir. Half of it is the story of his life which I found to be mostly uneventful and drab, and half of it is criticism of modern literary trends. The criticism is interesting and feels more relevant than ever, but a lot of the memoir is just so mundane I was falling asleep for half the book. Maybe not the best choice to read during a plane ride.

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Why listen to “audio books” when it is much faster; and more satisfying to read it yourself? I must be too old. I read books.

My current Kindle list:

  1. SPQR - A history of Rome
  2. Jesus and John Wayne - Try to understand the evangelical Christian movement and its fascination with figures like Donald Trump and Herschel Walker.
  3. The Orphan Master’s Son - A novel of life in North Korea
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I used to have a 90 minute driving commute for work. Audio books were amazing to listen to during the drive.

At home I’d take reading a physical book over listening to an audio book every single time. Although I guess if I was cleaning/knitting/painting and wanted something on in the background, an audio book wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Sure there’s something lost in the process, since you’re not giving the book your full attention. But for books as purely entertainment, it’s not a bad option over television or radio. Personally I just opt for silence most of the time, but I know plenty of people who like having something on in the background.

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Two books Ive been reading this year are:

The Book that Made your World by Vishal Mangalwhadi. Its a book about how biblical principals are the foundation of the west, and how the bible has radiacally transformed nations.

The Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill. Its a book about what the world was like before and after Jesus.

Both books sound like Christian books, but they aren’t exactly. They are much more an examination of history and culture.

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@YoyoGeezer Same as Mable, I have long trips in the car and I love listening to audiobooks and podcasts (specifically the Mysterious Universe podcast) while I drive.

On the nonfiction side of things, I love everything I’ve read by Graham Hancock so far. Currently reading The Mars Mystery on the ereader and listening to America Before for the third or fourth time in audiobook format. This is one where I consider the audiobook format to be superior since it’s read by the author, who happens to be an excellent orator and of course knows the material intimately so it’s really an enjoyable experience to listen to. It doesn’t seem like he’s reading a book so much as delivering a lecture.

I also love Behind the Cosmic Veil by Thomas Fusco. His Theory of Everything changed the way I look at, well, everything.

Ivan

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Sounds like we have similar tastes in Books.

Ready Player One and Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline - I really like the books. Spielberg did a good job on the movie, but the Movie is no where near the book.

The League Series - Sherrilyn Kenyon- Sci-Fi Space/Assassination/Love/Comraderie Story. I am in the 5th book and there are a lot more to go.

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@craZivn I honestly love old sci-fi for the political incorrectness. I imagine most people write in a way that they think/write and it’s wild to see what people could get away with and see how far we have come. Gives me hope.

@mable have any recommendations for manga? I read some of Ito’s work but almost exclusively watch anime. It’s daunting to get into manga tbh.

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Agreed, I enjoy it as well because the stories can just breathe. The authors weren’t concerned about being “canceled” or lambasted on social media if something they said or a character they wrote wasn’t universally inoffensive. The stories stood or fell based on whether they were interesting, entertaining or thought-provoking. And the result was some awesome storytelling that holds up even now, decades later.

Ivan

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I can kind of understand being put off by manga, since it’s usually a lot longer. In my eyes though that’s the best part. Anime adaptations are always so truncated and just serve as a glorified advertisement for the manga, although it works seriously well. Just take a glance at how stupidly popular Spy x Family and Bocchi the Rock got the moment their anime started airing lol.

If you like Ito’s work would you want more horror/supernatural/weird recommendations?

If so I recently read through Mieruko-chan and liked it a lot. It’s about a girl who sees spirits and they’re basically all eldritch abominations that she tries to pretend she can’t see, otherwise they’ll kill her.

Alternatively look into pretty much anything from Shuuzou Oshimi if you’re interested in more psychological horror/suspense stuff. Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks would be two recommendations if you wanted a place to start.

I’m not very versed in sci-fi manga unfortunately. I love mecha and space military drama, but honestly there’s just not a lot of great stuff for it in written form. The golden era was in 80s and 90s animation to me. Dougram and Votoms are absolutely peak. Haven’t really found any manga that hits the same notes for me, maybe I just haven’t dug deep enough though.

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I had gotten away from reading many, many years ago.

I recently made a pledge to read at least a half hour a day, listed as a calendar appointment, and sitting at the same quiet location. Seems to be working. I started with some periodicals and some past reads from my personal library to dip in my toes. I have found reading relaxing quickly evolving from a task to a period of enjoyment.

I really should set up a similar routine for yo-yo practice!

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I love playing piano, so I need to sacrifice Netflix time for reading time. I also enjoy Sci Fi and adventure novels. Piano playing on a daily basis takes quite a bit of time, so audiobooks on a walk is a great idea.

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I read a mix of things this year, several plays, a fair amount of poetry, a lot of indie lit and some various other things.

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That’s the way. Once you find the right book, it rekindles a passion for reading.

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Let’s see, audio books have I listened to this year

Fantasy

Piranesi by Susan Clarke
I am a sucker for literary fairytale and magical realism.
Book follows a very content and unreliable narrator who feels incredibly confident in his excellent memory and scientific ability, but essentially has magically induced stolkhomes syndrome.
It all finishes off in a lovely Hollywoodesqe twist ending loose ends neatly tied in a bow.
It’s slow moving and feels as though Susan Clarke enjoyed the writing of it immensely then hired a screenwriter to figure out how to finish it.
Overall 10 out of 10 would read again.
(I don’t mean to sound cynical, I really love all the books I am mentioning)

Sandman by Neil Gaiman
audio dramatization of the comic books(also now a Netflix series)
I really enjoyed this adaptation. Maybe more than when I read the comics in the late 90’s
It’s somewhat anthological
And also sort of chronicles/follows the events that impacted Dream of the Endless aka Morpheus aka Kai’ckul aka anthropomorphic personification of the concept of dream or whatever else Gaiman decides to call him :rofl:
As he is basically a mopey omnipotent ■■■■ that basically decides to orchestrate his own death/reincarnation, because he’s dramatic haunted by his contradicting idea’s of responsibility and doesn’t want to run away from them like his brother Destruction.
Lots of fun myth/folklore and revisionist history type stuff in their as sandman basically just tiredly goes through the motions of existing. :rofl: it’s pretty great, I feel like I’m making it sound bad.
It’s just that Sandman’s attitude is “I can’t help but exist, but I just don’t get the point of my existence”
I am a self professed fanboy of Neil Gaiman.

Comedy/horror
“If this book exists you’re in the wrong universe”. By David (Jason Pargin) Wong.
This book is the latest in his “John Dies at the End” series. John, David and Amy have wild pseudo psychedelic adventures where they try to make sense of the lovecraftian horror universe intruding/creeping into their midwestern hometown of “undisclosed”.
This book feels a bit like the author is getting sick of the series. But still has some funny bits. Best in the series has been “this book is full of spiders, seriously dude, don’t touch it”
The books are self contained, so if you’re interested I’d start there.

Hard Sci-fi

Cyteen and Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh
a slow burn, it’s about recreating someone’s “genius” using cloning analogously with matching their rearing and biological progression.
It is wrapped in a sort of coming of age story and a who murdered why was my past self murder mystery
I haven’t read any other of C.J. Cherryh’s books
These are set in a pre established “union/alliance” sci-fi universe where a space colonization project has split off and is in a sort of a Cold War with their own interior factions. So the lore is referenced alot, but Cherryh weaves it all pretty well. I really liked the books, Cyteen(1988) more than the sequel Regenesis written much later in 2009. But this is not for readers who don’t like long natural development and character study type stuff. Cause these books are thick and really dive into minutia of the sci-fi societies, characters and it’s world building and political/philosophical concepts and their problems.

I could go on but I’m very tired of typing now

I do recommend all of these books,
I enjoyed them

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Punk in Translation… [

Episode 3: CBGB’s Secret Latin History

](https://www.audible.com/pd/Episode-3-CBGBs-Secret-Latin-History-Podcast/B09QXT338T?ref=a_pd_Punk-I_c3_lAsin_0_2&
pf_rd_p=625c212d-b95a-47db-8d56-d35a359de6e9&pf_rd_r=9PNGNRPZ0VRB2ZZ8YVRF)

Beastie Boys Book

Rob DryDick~

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I loved the John Dies at the End movie! Never read the books though, yet.

Ivan

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