What book(s) are you reading right now?

[zj]

I'm currently reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins!!
Prior to that I re-read the original Hunger Games triology, needed a refresh from when I read them at 12 when they came out. Before reading, I thought I wouldn't like this book due to how horrible of a person Coriolanus Snow, the main character of this book (age 18) and the main antagonist (as an old man) in the original triology is. But it's been interesting to see not only how he differs from his peers in the Capitol yet blends in, but also the general society at the time, as this book is set 64 years before the original triology.

The technology available is much more limited, the capitol citizens' views of the games as a concept only 10 years into it is interesting and several characters show their dislike. In the original trio, most of the living population has had the games as a part of their entire lives, while in this one, it's fairly new of a concept. And Even Coriolanus finds the cheery demeanour of the host seconds after a dead body is shown, to be ghoulish. But then he reminds himself that "he is no Sejanus", that being a classmate who publicly opposed the games. It's very interesting to see how everyone interacts with each other and society at large! can't wait to see the movie afterwards and compare to my reading experience.

After this one I'll read the next book about the 50th games, where the mentor in the original trio won. I know just a little about it, and it will be interesting to see how much things have changed in 40 years. With the games, tech, public opinion, the regime.. Maybe when I'm done that movie will be out or close to out :D kind of sad to run out of books after that, but I am still glad I got these!! I love Suzanne's social commentary on real life fascism through her books.

[Winternet]

That is awesome! If you enjoy Douglas Adams' writing, you will probably love Terry Pratchett. :) The Discworld novels are incredibly funny and smart.

As for me, I'm currently on a bit of a non-fiction kick. Reading More Everything Forever by Adam Becker, which is all about the utter insanity of Silicon Valley and AI tech bros.

Ooooh that book sounds really interesting! I'm gonna have to read that. Have you seen the show Silicon Valley? It's pretty good.

[IndigoGolem]

Currently i'm reading A City on Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, Journey to the West translated by Anthony C. Yu, the archives of 4 webcomics, another hundred webcomics as they update, and i'm rereading the Lord of the Rings in between borrowing other books from the library. Or i was, until i got an ereader and now i have a comfortable way to read everything on Project Gutenberg.

I recently finished Gambler and Vagabond (Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction), How to Take Over the World by Ryan North, Ringworld by Larry Niven, and The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett.

I also started reading The Count of Monte Cristo, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu, The Prince by Machiavelli, and How to Be a God by Richard Bartle, but i wasn't much enjoying those so i stopped.

[juette]

im trying to read more this year (after a couple of years of never reading anything for fun....) but im pretty slow cause i keep picking books that are really hard to read due to their subject matters. my 2 current ones are lolita by vladimir nabokov and whipping girl by julia serano and i try to read a few pages everyday

[st3phvee]

Ooooh that book sounds really interesting! I'm gonna have to read that. Have you seen the show Silicon Valley? It's pretty good.

Yes, I love Silicon Valley! I've watched it twice. Gilfoyle is my spirit animal.

[Eunice]

I'm reading "Excellent Women" by Barbara Pym and I've just finished "Some Tame Gazelle", also by Barbara Pym. They're quite similar in they are both about single women who grew up in the church, and are not really interested in marrying. They're "social comedies", in which she uses a lot of aspects of her own life. Such as her living with her sister, working for the censorship department during WWII, and eventually working in Naples. Much as people in her novels do, certainly the first two. She tended to write about "excellent women", who performed small but meaningful duties for the church or voluntary organisations, but are taken for granted and overlooked.