What are you reading

[Baxder]

I received The Sky Atlas: The Greatest Maps, Myths, and Discoveries of the Universe for Christmas and love it! I think Amazon says it best:

Originally Posted by Blurb

With thrilling stories and gorgeous artwork, this remarkable atlas explores our fascination with the sky across time and cultures to form an extraordinary chronicle of cosmic imagination and discovery.

The Sky Atlas is a wonderful book for map lovers, history buffs, and stargazers, but also for those who are intrigued by the many wonderful and bizarre ways in which humans have sought to understand the cosmos and our place in it.

The authors did an amazing job of cataloging the history of mankind's perceptions of the night sky, beginning with ancient Mesopotamian myths and cave paintings and encompassing every major culture's subsequent beliefs and advancements. Not to mention the amazing illustrations from each.

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[Alex1983]

Originally Posted by Baxder

I received The Sky Atlas: The Greatest Maps, Myths, and Discoveries of the Universe for Christmas and love it! I think Amazon says it best:



The authors did an amazing job of cataloging the history of mankind's perceptions of the night sky, beginning with ancient Mesopotamian myths and cave paintings and encompassing every major culture's subsequent beliefs and advancements. Not to mention the amazing illustrations from each.

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I'd probably enoy that.

[Grouchy]

I typically read a fiction book and a nonfiction book at the same time. The latter is usually more active reading, with note taking and such.

I just started re-reading the Sword of Truth series, so I just cracked open Temple of the Winds today.


For nonfiction, I'm reading "For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith." Rather influential Marine Corps general.

[Zagros]

Happy New Year!

I have committed to read 30 books this year after Covid helped me blow out last years goal of 26 by more than double. So I gotta get on it.

I too often have two going at once. Right now its this one (alongside my high school daughter)...

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and this one for nonfiction...

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[bothers]

Originally Posted by Zagros

I have committed to read 30 books this year after Covid helped me blow out last years goal of 26 by more than double. So I gotta get on it.

Then you should join the RPGX book club

Slow Writing looks great - how are you finding it?

[S2condBestScotch]

I'm reading Krampus at the moment, by Brom. Before that, I read: Lovecraft Country. Between novels, I read short fiction from various sources.

[Phettberg]

Just finished Moon over Soho, the second book in the rivers of London series of novels.

I got into that because it was recommended to me by somebody with good taste, and since I fell out of love with Dresden Files it seemed like it might scratch a similar itch.

Superficially it seems like nearly the same thing, but I appreciate that a huge part of it is about the City of London and specific local history. It feels very informative in that way, so not just a monster of the week telenovela style thing. Might be that speaks to me more is because I can actually check description against the real world, and it's generally quite on point when it comes to the present. Of course when actually read it turns out that it's not literally a copycat anyway, apart from the fact that obviously DD didn't invent its genre either.

Anyway, Rivers of London is also tongue in cheek, but not overladen with pop culture references, and it gets pretty gruesome at times too. So far it also felt like it had a tighter narrative focus. I'm always wary of any series that goes way past ten novels, because eventually it perpetuates itself like a telenovela would, in a "keep going just to keep going" kind of way. You get complex (if not necessarily deep) stories, sure, but the aforementioned telenovelas are also actually complex in the web they weave over the years. It's entertainment either way, so that's not a value judgement, but I'm just saying I prefer a story that looks like it will actually be wrapped up at some point. When I get the feeling that there will be more books until the author dies or its no longer financially viable I check out, and I didn't get that here.

Anyway, very entertaining book, I'll get into the next one soon.

[Ziether]

I find solo activities nearly impossible most of the time due to idiosyncrasies of mine, which makes reading for pleasure almost nonexistent. It gets worse if the text has actual commentary. I just need an escape when I get around to reading.

I recently finished The Sword of Shannara after three false starts. Going from nothing to a 700-page-plus novel is, naturally, the only way to go.

So I've started The Elfstones of Shannara, but it'll almost certainly take me a few months to wade through it.

[ogamodyna]

I've been keeping my reading list light to accommodate better headspace for writing and editing. Louis L'amour westerns. Andre Norton Sci-Fi, Some Clive Cussler, and Alistair MacLean (admittedly heavier reading but it's all third or fourth reads so...yeah) and some McCaffery to round it out.

[Marshmallow]

I've recently been reading through Terry Pratchett's City Watch collection, because I overheard Eli talking about Angua and she alone struck my interest.

Now I love the whole Watch and I will stab anyone who tries to hurt these precious, totally morally upstanding citizens.

[Baxder]

The RPGX Book Club is about to begin its February read, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. It is by far our biggest must-read book yet!

We've also just opened our nominations for March, which will be our first themed read. If you know of any good books featuring unrequited love, add it to the list and join us for the conversation!

[ogamodyna]

Okay. Taking a couple of days to read something new. I think I'll try the Witcher books. Got the first one on sale on Amazon the other day. My seventh title is off to the beta readers and then my editor. After that it should be available on March 1st. My third title is being recorded starting next week for Audible release later in February. That's reason enough to relax a couple of days with something new to read I think. LOL.

[ruffdove]

Just finished Bing West's The Village. It's about a small team of Marines who were integrated with a small unit of South Vietnam Popular Forces (kind of like a National Guard, or militia--not the regular Republic of Vietnam Army) to counter Viet Cong efforts to control a village. It's a really different perspective on the war--and the Vietnamese people--than what Hollywood gives us. It's required reading for the US military even today, which I think is a good thing now that I've read it. The author also returned to the village 30 years after the war and added a chapter about that.