What fiction are you reading right now? How is it?

I'm looking to add a few books to my fiction "to-read" list.  Suggestions welcome!  

I'm usually reading 3-4 books at a time, consisting of 2-3 non-fiction books, sometimes for general interest, sometimes relevant to a current or upcoming project.  They cover a pretty wide range of subjects: permaculture (of course), natural building, science, philosophy, aesthetics, theology, media studies, local histories, indigenous literature.  Then I always have some fiction on my night-stand to help wind down at the end of the day.  Sometimes I read just a couple pages before nodding off, but I rarely start a book I don't finish eventually.  Some of my all-time favorite fiction includes the work of Flannery O'Connor and John Steinbeck.  Some nights, not quite ready for such an undertaking, I default to past and current science fiction or not-cheesy fantasy - Orson Scott Card for a while there, George MacDonald always, and lately, Liu Cixin.

I just finished "How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" by Charles Yu.

Quick, and worth the read.  I like science fiction, but this is atypical.  Great for writing nerds and book nerds, with lots of mashup between sci-fi and grammar/syntax.

I'm a fan of books that show me what it's like to be someone other than who I am - and I picked this book, in part, to better understand the experience of 2nd-generation Asian Americans.  

What I didn't foresee was a rather profound study of father-son dynamics of grief, regret, loss, and closure.  

For lack of a next book in my queue, I'm now beginning Yu's book of stories, "Sorry Please Thank You."

What fiction are you currently reading?  What are some of your go-to's?

For fiction, I would say some great fantasy is:

A lot by Brandon Sanderson
Lord Grimdark (Joe Abercrombie)
GRR Martin (yes I read the books)
Patrick Rothfus (name of the wind)
Obviously JRR Tolkien -- though the Silmarillion can be a slog for many
scott lynch comes to mind too

As for sci fi I have every star wars book practically written. I was an avid reader in my youth. AC Crispin was one of my favorites as well as Timothy Zahn. Of course there are the classics as well, like Isaac Azimov (and many others). Read all those too. Actually I've read a whole lotta things (currently engaged in medical books). Hard to put it all down in a post. But this was about fiction. I literally have boxes and boxes full of books. Part of my current interest is in antique literature. But that is a different subject.

Hope I helped point you at a few great fiction options!

Curt Cogburn wrote:For fiction, I would say some great fantasy is:

A lot by Brandon Sanderson
Lord Grimdark (Joe Abercrombie)
GRR Martin (yes I read the books)
Patrick Rothfus (name of the wind)
Obviously JRR Tolkien -- though the Silmarillion can be a slog for many
scott lynch comes to mind too

Silmarillion is actually my favorite of Tolkien's.  About once a year, I read Silmarillion, usually out loud, on through the Hobbit and LOTR, then end with Silimarrilion again.  I feel like what I really want from the whole of that collection is at its best in the mythic undergirding of middle earth in the first place.  Also, just picked up a copy of "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" for my 8-year-old, which I have actually yet to read.

Brandon Sanderson is at the top of so many people's suggestions list.  I think I even had Mistborn from the library for a minute, but if I remember correctly I reached for Steinbeck's Cannery Row instead, and had to return Sanderson's book.  It's funny, I'm kind of resistant to fantasy for fantasy's sake, but if the ideas are compelling and the writing is good, I tend to really like it once I get into it.

I'll look into the others you mentioned.  Thanks!

+1 for Name of the Wind. I've only read that this year and I adored it.

I also highly recommend anything that Ursula Le Guin has written. She is phenomenal at both fantasy and sci-fi.

Someone gifted me the whole "Wheel of Time" book set, and I've been reading those for a few months now.   At one point I started over from the beginning just because it's SO HUGE to keep track of the different threads and characters.   I'm enjoying it, for the most part.   Appreciating it might be a better word.   There are threads of social constructs running through it that seem, to me, to capture a specific mindset and attitude of the author, from his cultural viewpoint at that specific time.   Which is also interesting.  

besides the already-mentioned fantasy, tad williams is high on my list. real deep world building stuff.

+1 on u.k.leguine

I just finished (and adored) Le Guin's The Dispossessed and started (and am loving) Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. (I should have read both of these as a teen!) I am also reading and enjoying The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. My all-time favorite piece of fiction (so far) is Anathem by Neal Stephenson.

   I just finished “Domes of Fire” By David Eddings. A great story, he’s style is so human and easy to read for me. A story about paladin knights (following the head knight) aiding fellow nations fight mythical figures/creatures. It also gets into siege tactics, group coordination,  travel logistics with armies, magic, family life.

   Also definitely go for the Belgariad series by David Eddings again. First book of which is “Pawn of Prophecy” excellent stuff, good coming of age age story, following Garion discover his grander role in the world of gods, wizards, and warriors.

   In the beginnings of two books currently.
“Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” By Susanna Clarke and “High Sorcery” by Andre Norton.

Strange and Norrell deals with 1800’s English wizards after the practice is largely forgotten, a select few begins to bring it back.

High Sorcery is a punchy collection of short fatasy and sci-fi stories. Nice little thing I keep it in a cargo pocket to read on the go.

Beau Davidson wrote:I'm looking to add a few books to my fiction "to-read" list.  Suggestions welcome!  

You've just added to my TBR w _How to Live.._


Time Travel and the Black Death: Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book
https://www.tor.com/2012/06/14/time-travel-and-the-black-death-connie-williss-doomsday-book/

My favorite series right now are the "Master and Commander" series by Patrick O'brian (about 20 books) and the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.  The master and commander series is great, tracing the career of a fictitious british naval captain through the napoleonic wars.  The battles are authentic, most of the events are descriptions of real battles, but not all fought by the same captains.  The Dresden Files is good, but it's getting a little predictable.  It's about the only wizard in the phone book (do they even have phone books anymore?) in Chicago.  The enemies keep getting bigger, the stakes keep going up as well as the number of characters.  The wizard battles trolls, vampires, etc in modern Chicago and most people assume he's a charlatan.

For fiction I like light reading and I'lll read a favourite book again and again. I don't like to put a book down, so I like books I can read at a sitting. I quite like to know I'll enjoy a book before I read it, so it's exciting when I find a new author who's written lots of books. My husband reads very slowly and very thoroughly, completely my opposite.

Fairly light humoured fantasy I like includes Terry Pratchett (I have a few signed early Discworld books, regretting now I couldn't afford the hardbacks as a student), Jasper FForde, Eoin Colfer, and recently discovered the Invisible Library Series by Genevieve Cogman, which I think will be a keeper. I used to read more Science Fiction, but preferred short stories to novels.
I like Historical naval books (like the Master and Commander mentioned above). The Ramage series was my favourite by Dudley Pope, but also Alexander Kent, Douglas Reeman and CS Forester (not just the Hornblower books). Also Lindsay Davis, Ellis Peters, Jean M Aeul historical books.
A few not too challenging detective style or adventure books: Dick Francis, Desmond Bagley, Hammond Innes, Sue Grafton.
I like historical romances: Georgette Heyer being the classic author along with Jane Austin (my favourite is Persuasion), and I also enjoyed many of Julia Quinn, Mary Balogh and the earlier Stephanie Laurens books, modern chick lit: Katie Fforde.

Just finished book 2 in a 3 book series by Jane Kirkpatrick, Every Fixed Star.
The stories of the life of Marie DorianNative American history in beautiful detail. She and her people were the first, ultimate homesteaders. Beautiful historical fiction based on true stories.
I am reading a little out of order since I found the 2nd book at a thrift store, but have book one to start soon.
Diamond Eye  by Kate Quinn is what I’m into now. Also really good historical fiction.

Robert Eiffert wrote:
You've just added to my TBR w _How to Live.._

Let me know how you like it.

Thanks for the great suggestions, everyone.

I had no idea permies like wizards so much, though I shouldn't be surprised.

I'm currently re-reading two series, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern and Marion Zimmer Bradley's  Darkover.  I went to a big used book sale and bought a stack of each, so I added them to the ones I had underfoot,, and am going back through them both in order.

I loooved the Dragonriders of Pern books when I was a kid. My grandma was super into sci fi and fantasy stuff (she had big framed prints of all the original LOTR book cover art and a huge map of middle Earth) so she bought me some great books when I was a kid. Dragonriders series was one of them.

I haven't read much fiction lately, but some of my favourite sci fi are the classic Ringworld series by Larry Niven and the Heechee series by Frederik Pohl. A few years ago I read a top sci fi ever kinda list and heard about The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. It deserves its place on the list. The last fiction I read was probably rereading Vonnegut, who's always excellent.

Apart from sci Fi, Martin Amis stands out for me. Of his famous novels, I probably like London Fields the best. It's hilarious. One of his short stories, What happened to me on my holiday, is written like he's trying to reproduce someone speaking with a bad head cold or something. The idea is that the story is too painful and unimaginable for the narrator to speak about it clearly. They want the reader to have to work to understand. It completely changed how my family spells certain words. Fish is now forever vish.

One of the funniest books I've ever read is The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth. It's a satire set in the late 1600s. The main character travels between London and Maryland and has all kinds of convoluted adventures. There are stories within stories, one of which is an alternate telling of the John Smith and Pocahontas story from a portion of a journal that's found at one point. The whole book is crude and ridiculous and very, very funny.

I basically re-read my bookshelf over and over since I don't have a lot of access to English books. So far it looks pretty similar to other posters' choices.

I have:

Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Also The Children of Hurin (It's really tragic). And the Silmarillion is on my shopping list. - Tolkien makes me feel feelings that I like.
Earthsea The First Four Books - It took me ages to get into this, but every time I read it now I love it more.
Name of the Wind, The Wiseman's Fear, and a strong longing for the Doors of Stone. - Best overall fantasy I've read
Harry Potter books 1-7 - I tend to read these once every year or two.
Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, Stephen Fry's Mythos, and Marie Heaney's Over Nine Waves (a great book of Irish mythology) - I like all of these
Myst the Book of Atrus - surprisingly wonderful fiction based on the game
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Every time I read this book I enjoy it.
The Sheriff by Dwyer and Wright (a western written by my college roommate, really quite good)
The Old Man and the Sea - Wonderful short read
The Little Prince - Helps me keep my priorities in line.
I also have the first three Dragonlance Books, Redwall, and Mossflower, but I don't really recommend any of those as quality fiction.

I also have some juvenile books, the best of which are Holes, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda.

I re-read lots of the non-fiction I have too, but that's off topic.

A great reminder that I need to start reading fiction again. Since stumbling across Permaculture my reading list is all non fiction. I have a biography I was given last Christmas. It sits by my bed and I think I’ve read every page a dozen times but I’ve only made it to the third chapter. I pick it up, read, drift of to sleep, come to with a start, reread, rinse and repeat, give up and there it sits, 90% unread.

There’s so great memories here - Tolkien, Dragon Rider series and Name of the Wind, which I second as best fantasy. Both my boys are mad with the author for not writing more . . . They’re not alone!

These days, I mostly listen to books. It keeps the annoying dialogue in my head quiet which is useful when I’m moving chip or walking the dog. The last book I actually read was The Expanse series. I watched the first two seasons on TV, bought the books, read them all, rewatched all existing episodes prior to a new season on TV, then watched that. I’ve also listened to the whole series as audio books. Same can be said for The Witcher series.

I read so much nonfiction, I often forget about the sheer fun of fiction. Even in much of my fiction reading though, I tend to look for well- researched historical fiction, particularly Celtic and American. But, I do love Tolkien, and ages ago,  I fell in love with the pure joy of Piers Anthony's Xanth series. I've a feeling I'd love the Dragon Riders of Perth, too. Maybe I'll check into those.

Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors, but few hit a hometown every time.  A couple of books of his I particularly liked were "The Wee Free Men" and it's follow on, "A Hat Full of Sky".  At the end of each he presents, as part of the solution a really good concepts.

I read a lot, like too much to keep track of, but recently I've been reading a lot of reworkings of Greek mythology (Circe, by Madeline Miller) and lest you think it's all highbrow around here there was also a series called the Crescent City series by Sarah Maas with werewolves, vampires, and other silliness that was rather fun.

I do make a habit of rereading some of the Dune books (as many as I feel so inclined, could be one or all) and Moby Dick every summer. There is something delightful about reading Dune on a hot summer night on the back porch with a sweaty glass in my hand, and Moby Dick is one of these books I squirmed to avoid in school but enjoy more every single time I read it now that I'm old and crotchety. Every year I find another hysterical passage that I don't know how I missed before.

Tereza Okava wrote:I do make a habit of rereading some of the Dune books (as many as I feel so inclined, could be one or all) and Moby Dick every summer. There is something delightful about reading Dune on a hot summer night on the back porch with a sweaty glass in my hand, and Moby Dick is one of these books I squirmed to avoid in school but enjoy more every single time I read it now that I'm old and crotchety. Every year I find another hysterical passage that I don't know how I missed before.

Okay, Dune I loved, mostly because I see in it much of what I appreciate about all science fiction to follow, and it's ecological thread makes me giddy.  The 2nd, I struggled with, because I didn't like spending time with any of the characters.  I never got beyond that.  Can you tell me what I'm missing?  I'd like to give the sequel (and the rest) another shot.

+1 for Moby Dick.

I've not been able to pull the trigger on Earthsea.  I just don't feel the need for more dragons in my life, I guess.  But it's on so many peoples' lists.  Can someone convince me to give it a shot?  Tell me why you love it.

Beau Davidson wrote:  The 2nd (Dune) I struggled with, because I didn't like spending time with any of the characters.  I never got beyond that.  Can you tell me what I'm missing?  I'd like to give the sequel (and the rest) another shot.

Oh I hear ya. There is one book where I just roll my eyes a lot, maybe God Emperor? Tedious.
If you like the Terraforming and permie aspects, may I recommend reading Chapterhouse? It is the last book (i think) and despite being thousands of years later you're not lost at sea if you've read the first book, since some characters are still alive (in a manner of speaking) and the themes are similar. I think it also is the book with the afterword by Herbert talking about his state of mind while writing, intense and beautiful.
Then afterward you can decide whether to go back and read the other ones; I am big on reading the whole damn thing, but there's no shame in picking and choosing either: there's so much good stuff out there to read!

Great conversation about Dune. I’ve read the first book a few times but always struggled with the second and got no further. Time to start again and push through. Thanks Tereza!

John is a huge fan of all things Dune, and I've tried and tried, but just... can't. In my efforts to like it, I've come to understand it, but I'll not likely ever be a fan. I think one of the reasons I love the historical fiction is because I find it a pleasurable way to get some basic history lessons, with a bit more cultural context than the rote date/time/place/person-of-interest type of desert-dry history we got in school.

Beau Davidson wrote:I've not been able to pull the trigger on Earthsea.  I just don't feel the need for more dragons in my life, I guess.  But it's on so many peoples' lists.  Can someone convince me to give it a shot?  Tell me why you love it.

Leguin uses her fantasy to paint portraits of people's experience in shades of sail cloth and sunset. The fantasy itself in it is really just a way to tell the story of people that could not exist. I think by reading them I gain great empathy and respect for people of different temperaments and backgrounds. I love that she can romanticize high adventure and homestead life equally. Tehanu, the fourth book, is much the latter.

The plots in the books are a tiny bit anti climactic, but they always support the character development naturally.

touching on L. Johnson’s mention of the hitchhiker’s guide a few posts ago, adams’s pair of books dirk gentry’s holistic detective agency and the long dark tea-time of the soul are fun, in an old gods running into the modern world kind of way. and if that’s at all interesting, to you, then maybe more neil gaiman? american gods and anansi boys both deal with some of the same stuff. probably mor of his stuff too, but i haven’t gone too deep as yet.

and it’s a very different kind of read, but i want to put a shout out to salman rushdie for weird fantastical stuff. midnight’s children and the satanic verses at the top of the list, though he’s written a lot more.

I am completely taken by The Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin
 Super gripping, Very interesting way of telling a story. I almost feel part of the story was told backwards. Very cool world building. I am about to finish the last book :(


Next will be The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Tereza Okava wrote:
I do make a habit of rereading some of the Dune books (as many as I feel so inclined, could be one or all) and Moby Dick every summer. There is something delightful about reading Dune on a hot summer night on the back porch with a sweaty glass in my hand, and Moby Dick is one of these books I squirmed to avoid in school but enjoy more every single time I read it now that I'm old and crotchety. Every year I find another hysterical passage that I don't know how I missed before.

I've reread the Dune books and Moby Dick many many times as well! When I was young, I tried reading Moby Dick so many times and could never get more than a couple pages in. Then, I was stuck on a long bus trip as a teenager. I'd optimistically brought Moby Dick with me while visiting a friend. Of course I never looked at it, but on the bus ride home I had nothing else to do. Once I'd got past the first few pages I'd always had so much trouble with I couldn't put it down. It's definitely one of my favourites. I love the technical descriptions of whaling, and, yeah, it gets funnier on rereading.

I love every single Dune book, although I can see why some people wouldn't like some of them. LOTR I read once, and will almost certainly never read again. I enjoyed the books, but don't feel the need to revisit. There's so much going on in the Dune books, though. I can read those again and again.

Thinking of how much trouble I had reading Moby Dick at first made me think of Doris Lessing, one of my favourite authors. Ive only read maybe a third of her books. Almost every time I pick up a new one and read the blurb, I think, "Wow. I have absolutely no interest in this story and it sounds like a complete downer." I've learned to ignore this and read the book anyway. No matter how uninteresting it initially sounds to me, once I start reading it I can't put it down. She's so insightful and her characters, no matter how different from me they are, are still deeply relateable in some ways.

Thanks for the great recommendations!

Current favorites:
Neil Gaiman (especially Anansi Boys and The Graveyard Book)
John Scalzi's Old Man's War series
Justin Cronin's The Passage series
Becky Chambers' Wayfarers Series
Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series
Also anything by Steven King, Kim Stanley Robinson (Ministry for the Future!) or Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven!)

Mick Fisch wrote:The Dresden Files is good, but it's getting a little predictable.  

I agree! I loved it for the first six or so books, but then it gets both repetitive and also a little confusing (for me) as I lost track a little of the characters and relationships.

Nancy Reading wrote:

I like historical romances: Georgette Heyer

I love her books, as well. Maybe not quite as good as Austin, but funny and smart.

Erica Colmenares wrote:Kim Stanley Robinson (Ministry for the Future!)

+1 for me on that book.  I even referenced it over here.

I haven't heard of some of the others.  Thanks for the suggestions.

Backyard Starship by J.N. Chaney, strictly for the hilarity!

Well, I would advise getting some of William Gays books. I don't think he is widely known. I got onto him when I found one of his books at my dump, which I consider a 5 star recommendation. You mentioned Flannery O'Connor...he was a fan of hers as I am. He is dark and humorous. There are a few good interviews on Youtube, and sadly he has passed on already. Cormac McCarthy was an influence. Try "Twilight" or " The Lost Country".

I'm currently reading The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. I found it at my library through googling Canada Reads winners/contenders from previous years. That's a great way to find some well-written fiction. Canada Reads is a competition put on by the CBC every year to pick the best book of the year. Often the contenders are relevant to what's going on in the world. The themes range from poverty to refugees to the residential school system to world war II.

I have enjoyed every Canada Reads book I've read, and I often learn a lot through them too. Just be warned...they are not beach reads!!

https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/past-canada-reads-winners-1.4034451

me and my wife Tami read a lot and you all have given us new ideas!
we both really like the authors Steve Miller and Sharon lee. great stories but i like the "Linden universe". 25 books(i think) and all ways looking foe the next.

Tess Daniels wrote:Well, I would advise getting some of William Gays books. I don't think he is widely known. I got onto him when I found one of his books at my dump, which I consider a 5 star recommendation. You mentioned Flannery O'Connor...he was a fan of hers as I am. He is dark and humorous. There are a few good interviews on Youtube, and sadly he has passed on already. Cormac McCarthy was an influence. Try "Twilight" or " The Lost Country".

I have read so much Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy.  Kind of surprising I've never come across William Gay before.  He looks interesting.  Thank you so much for the suggestion.

Reminds me of a non-fiction book I really loved.  Half memoir, half ode to the disappearing Long Leaf Pine ecosystem.  'Ecology of a Cracker Childhood' by Janisse Ray.

I've been reading non-fiction almost exclusively for the past 6 months or so.
Wendell Berry
Willie James Jennings
Oscar García-Johnson
& Coppice Agroforestry, as talked about here on permies a lot.

But I'm feeling the need for some fiction again, at the end of the day.  Or accompanying a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I never go around to reading William Gays, so I think I'll start there.

What's everyone else reading?

Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brien.

It's historical naval fiction. So yeah likely not for everybody!

But it's KILLER.

Currently reading Folk of the Air by Peter S. Beagle. I keep a number of fantasy novels piled on my water closet tank.