Looking for new books to read as I am preparing to head out on a much needed vacation and want to dig into some good reading. Can be fiction or nonfiction, just so long as it hooked you and made you want to keep reading and reading until the end.
The Mote in God’s Eye
Here’s some I have even reread.
- The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. By Stephen R. Donaldson. 10 books
- The Galactic Center Saga by Gregory Benford. 6 books
- The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks 10 books
- LOTR
Love the Murderbot series too.
A few books that kept me captivated recently
- Blindsight by Peter Watts https://www.rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm
- Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt
- Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Edges by Linda Nagata
- Mickey7 Ashton, Edward
- Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
For some chill, positive vibes that had me up rather too late flipping pages, I’d recommend either or both of:
- Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna
They’re basically the novel version of a slice of life comic/manga. L&L is more high fantasy, while Very Secret Society is here on Earth if witches were real. It feels like there’s a sub-genre of these kinds of stories popping up post pandemic and I’m all for it.
For something more action-packed, this one was incredibly engaging:
- The Blacktongue Thief - Christopher Buehlman
Hyperion Cantos -Dan Simmons Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson A deepness in the sly - Vernor Vinge Insane City - Dave Barry Where Eagles Dare by Alistair MacLean.
End of the World running club. As someone the UK the concept of a massive apocalyptic event set in the uk was intriguing. I loved the book.
Also Sphere by Michael Crichton. In my own head canon, I seem to recall reading this in one sitting over a single night I was doing an all nighter. It was just super gripping!
I’m actually reading a book like right now, The Bourne Identity, it’s phenomenal!
It’s probably been said, and is not exactly a hidden gem, but 1984 is something special. I read an excerpt of the first chapter and was hooked.
This is a hot take, but Street Lawyer, by John Grisham.
Hey I dig it. Some Grisham hits the spot for me.
However, I’m a lawyer myself so sometimes it’s hard for me to read legal thrillers because I want to escape real life….
My favorite book that I read in one sitting (though not hard to do because it’s so short) is The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman… made me cry with its beauty!
Here are a few of my favorites:
Susanna Clark
- Piranesi
- The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
Vonnegut
- Cat’s cradle
- Slaughterhouse Five
Douglas Adams
- literally anything he ever wrote
Mark Haddon
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Margaret Atwood
- Oryx and Crake
Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Lathe of Heaven
edit: formatting
Piranesi is a real gem!
I scrolled all the down the comments and didn’t see Discworld by Terry Pratchett. Don’t listen to anyone and just start reading it. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.
Maybe the wrong way is to start with Book 1. I’d say try ‘Witches’ first, as I found the first book a bit offputting.
Imajica by Clive Barker.
Reading this right now, and a little over halfway through. Enjoying it, but it took a long time for me to really sink my teeth into it. It’s a very long book and a slow burn.
It’s so intricate and intimate - I just disappeared into the book and isn’t that what we need sometimes?
Gibson’s sprawl trilogy when I read them back in '89. The fact that it had many short chapters made it easy to consume in quick bursts of reading
I love all of Gibson’s books, have you read anything by Pat Cadigan? Fools may be the most mind bending book I’ve ever read, in a good way
A Short History of Chinese Philosophy by Fung Yu-Lan. I spent pretty much all of my time off work reading it. I found it insanely interesting since I knew almost nothing about Chinese philosophy, and the book is written specifically for people like that. The way their schools of thought developed through the ages and were influenced by each other constantly as one became dominant was very fascinating.
