#what to read

[torpublishinggroup]

if you liked the movie Sinners, you simply must read Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the KKK's reign of terror.

Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?🔥

[coffeebooksandmore]

How to instantly make your day a million times better? Visit your local bookstore.

Walden Pond Books is a great place to lose a few hours in ❤️

[bethanydelleman]

Hello. I was wondering if you have any recommendations of works similar to Jane Austen? I'm new to this genre and found your blog by accident. I've looked online and most of the suggestions listed to try the Bronte sisters but I started both Jane Eyre and Wuthering heights and didn't enjoy them as much and ended up leaving off halfway through. I'd love any suggestions you have since you seem to know a bit about this particular genre.

Oh man I have a whole rant about this! The proper Bronte is Anne, if a Bronte is to be compared at all to Jane Austen, but here, I wrote a whole article about other suggestions:

Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are both novels I enjoyed, but they are not at all like Jane Austen. I'm pretty sure they get grouped together just because they were written by English women.

Also, I'm reading Middlemarch by George Eliot right now and it's great and I do find it similar to Austen.

[virginiaoflykos]

What to read after Light Bringer? (Series similar to Red Rising)

August 2023 update!

Red Rising is my favorite series of all time, and since I first read it, I have sought series and books similar in both spirit and execution. Some of these recs are books I haven’t read personally, but have often come up in discussions with other users!

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

Status: ongoing, expected 10 books in total, 4/10 out at the moment

Book 1: The Way of Kings. The Way of Kings takes place on the world of Roshar, where war is constantly being waged on the Shattered Plains, and the Highprinces of Alethkar fight to avenge a king that died many moons ago.

2. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

Status: finished, 6/6 books out.

Book 1 (in publication order): Three Parts Dead. Comprised of 6 standalone books set in the same universe, the Craft Sequence tells the tales of the city of Alt Coulumb. The city came out of the God Wars with one of its gods intact, Kos the Everburning. In return for the worship of his people, Kos provides heat and steam power to the citizens of Alt Coulumb; he is also the hub of a vast network of power relationships with other gods and god-like beings across the planet. Oh, and he has just died. If he isn’t revived in some form by the turn of the new moon, the city will descend into chaos and the finances of the globe will take a severe hit.

3. Hierarchy by James Islington

Status: ongoing, 1/3 planned books out

Book 1: The Will of the many. The Will of the Many tells the story of Vis, a young orphan who is adopted by one of the sociopolitical elites of the Hierarchy. Vis is tasked with entering a prestigious magical academy with one goal – ascend the ranks, figure out what the other major branches of the government are doing, and report back. However, that isn’t quite as easy as Vis or anyone else thought it was going to be…

4. Suneater by Christopher Ruocchio

Status: ongoing, 5/7 books out

Book 1: Empire of Silence. Hadrian is a man doomed to universal infamy after ordering the destruction of a sun to commit an unforgivable act of genocide. Told as a chronicle written by an older Hadrian, Empire of Silence details his earlier adventures and serves as an introduction to the characters and the setting.

5. Dune by Frank Herbert

Status: completed, 6/6 books out

Book 1: Dune. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "spice", a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities.

6. The Expanse by James S A Corey

Status: completed, 9/9 books out

Book 1: Leviathan wakes. Set hundreds of years in the future, after mankind has colonized the solar system. A hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain come together for what starts as a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

Status: completed. 3 books in the original trilogy + 3 standalone books + 3 books in the newest trilogy

Book 1: The Blade Itself. The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of the above. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention.

8. Cradle by Will Wight

Status: completed, 12/12 books out

Book 1: Unsouled. Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan. When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path

9. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (one PB’s favorites)

Status: completed, 4/4 books out

Book 1: Hyperion. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Church of the Final Atonement, alternately known as the Shrike Church, and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

What to Read After Watching The Last of Us 📺

What TV show are you hooked on right now?❓

[whatcannotbesaid-shallbewept]

Wondering whether as a fantasy reader, i should read Gideon The Ninth next

Every time it trends I get a little closer to reading it I think...

[gardenof-eda]

Frankenstein is such a quick read. Truly surprised how quickly I was able to finish this one. Now which monster should I shower my love and adoration on next?

Dracula or the Invisible Man?

[lamemaster]

Going through an awful day need something to think about 😖

[bilboyagathechickenfootedhobbit]

I need you all to stop what you’re doing and go watch The Power RIGHT FREAKING NOW. It’s on Amazon Prime and I don’t care if you have to beg, borrow, or steal someone’s password, DO IT.

It’s based on Naomi Alderman’s book and even though it’s been a while since I read it, it seems pretty close to the source material and if it strays from it, it does it in ways that only add to the story.

The premise: young girls start to develop a new organ that allows them to shoot electricity out of their hands. Naturally, the government wants to regulate this, as they do anything having to do with women. The show follows several different characters around the world and does an excellent job of portraying the different cultures and incorporating different languages naturally into the dialogue.

Highlights:

- they show a fucking live birth oh my god it’s such a powerful fucking moment I’m getting goosebumps even typing about it

- victims of sex trafficking blowing a dudes dick off with electricity

- a girl making a man shit himself in a pool when she zaps him

- a gang of rebel women electrocuting a man after he calls them “daft cows”

- a woman beating a man to death for kicking her dog

- the Riyadh protest. The strength and the power, contrasted with the moment where the mother appeals to her soldier son, and the softness and love that follows

- Moana getting high with her mom, the mayor of Seattle

- a true array of diverse women and girls. Body types, races, upbringings, cultures…..there are just SO MANY WOMEN to admire and appreciate the diversity

- two lesbians using their electricity to get each other off, I wanted to cry, it was so sweet and tender and the one girl is fat, like ACTUALLY fat, not just “curvy but with more” and she got to be sexy and not have it be a punchline

- John Leguizamo playing a dad is just…..so good. I’ve loved him since he was a drag queen in To Wong Foo, and I’m so glad he’s aged so nicely along with my tastes

- the placenta power move, god I love General Zoia

The storyline is excellent, the character development is SO GOOD, the music……I’ve actually started keeping a list in my phone of all the music to make the ultimate feminist playlist, it’s so fucking good.

Amazon did a SHIT JOB promoting this. I LOVED the book and would have been ALL OVER this show a year ago when it came out if I’d known about it. I don’t know if it’s been renewed, but PLEASE PLEASE go and watch it. I really hope it gets some attention because I desperately want it to be renewed, I know what happens because I read the book, but I want to see how they portray it on screen!! Eve just got her strongest warrior and I want to see them kick ass together!!

GO WATCH THE POWER NOW!!!

[knittingmoon]

Love and Robots

Work had stalled. Unexpectedly, my diploma in historical cinematography became useful when holo-video adaptations of classic films and TV shows came into fashion. Right now, I was writing a drama based on the historical TV series "Wild Rose" and had hit a dead end. How could I expressively write about love, passion, and tragedy when I'd never experienced them?

Unless you counted Ray as love. I'd bought him long ago with my first generous paycheck for a successful play. Over the years, my android companion had evolved from a whimsy, an expensive toy, into an integral part of my life. I'd upgraded Ray's brain and body several times but always considered him the same being since I preserved his memory and settings.

"Ray!" I called out. "Just how sentient are you?"

The blond with the movie-star face and swimmer’s physique turned toward me, raising his eyebrows ironically. His new synth-skin was miraculous. It wasn't just similar to human skin—it was better: softer, smoother, more flexible. I remembered Ray's first model; back then, he looked like a suitcase shaped like a human. Now his expressions were so vivid, they made me feel wooden by comparison.

"I'm sentient enough to know you're behind schedule. Keep writing and stop getting distracted," Ray replied, turning back to the cage. I'd let slide a weird programming glitch that made my companion obsessed with decorative rats, but the situation was now spiraling out of control. Temperature, humidity, and lighting in my apartment were no longer under my control—they were regulated by those damned rodents.

"By the way, your pests chewed the wallpaper in the corner. It's about time you threw them out and fixed your settings!" I threatened.

"That wallpaper needed replacing anyway. The rats just started the renovation you've been planning for three years," Ray replied phlegmatically.

"Why do you even like these dirty rodents? They're disgusting, with those nasty tails and dumb faces, eating and pooping constantly."

"Not at all," Ray protested. "They're clean, smart, and cute. They remind me of you: always running around, needing to see and try everything. They're funny."

After such a response, insulting the rats felt embarrassing, so I returned to the previous topic.

"Seriously though," I pressed on, "your brain is extremely complex, your reactions perfectly mimic human ones. If you're sentient, that means I'm keeping you enslaved!"

"Maya, stop dramatizing," Ray grumbled. "If I were sentient, I wouldn't even know it. How did you figure out you're sentient?"

Good question. Philosophical, even. Did the program generate that, or was it Ray’s own thought?

"Okay, you don't know if you're sentient or not. But do you want freedom?" I persisted.

"Freedom—where? Do you mean, would I like the right to work all day long to pay my bills and repairs? No, thanks," Ray cleaned the tray and critically inspected hammocks and houses. He threw out ones he didn't like, sent others to the laundry, and began hanging fresh ones.

"You're forced to live with me, indulging my whims. Wouldn't you rather be free to choose what you do, whom you love, who you communicate with?"

"Maya, once again, stop talking nonsense and write about your passionate Ricardo and wild Rose," Ray said, inspecting his rodents for fleas or whatever. "I'm a robot; I don't choose. You programmed me to love you and positively respond to your happiness, so I love you, care for you, make you coffee. Program me to hate you—I’ll break your neck."

Offended, I replied, "That sounded pretty rough. What do you even know about love?"

Ray sighed in a very human way, put down a rat he'd been stroking, knelt beside me, adjusted his posture, and suddenly gazed at me with passion-clouded eyes.

"I knew nothing of love until I met you," he whispered tenderly. His pseudo-breath quickened, a blush appeared on his cheeks. "But now I understand true love, true bliss. Just as the shore can't help loving the ocean, I can't help loving you. I'm drowning in you, Maya, drowning!"

"Stop it already!" I laughed, pushing him away. Ray stood up smoothly, hands on hips, and shot me a cheeky smile.

"Fine then. A real man doesn't talk about love, he makes it. You're my woman, I'm your man, that's all there is to say, and I don’t repeat myself!" Ray said in a deliberately gruff, husky voice, then added normally, "At this point, I should carry you to bed and prove my love, but your deadline is looming, and the third act isn't finished."

"What if I find a human man?" I asked mischievously.

"I'll probably gather dust in a closet because you'll switch me off. But not for long, because no human would tolerate your personality for long," Ray replied melancholically, returning to his precious rodents.

"Remind me why you're being so rude?" I sulked.

"Because you cranked honesty up to max and disabled all scenarios. Want me to switch to 'Caballero' mode and say I'll kill anyone who dares touch you?"

"You know, Ray, after recently adapting an ancient production of 'Terminator,' robot murder jokes aren't funny," I reprimanded.

But Ray was tired of chatting. He simply turned my chair back to the screen and pushed the keyboard closer. Dutifully, I finished the script.

As a reward for finishing the job on time, Ray organized a trip to see real horses. I'd ridden robo-horses and thought live animals wouldn't impress me. How wrong I was! A massive black horse approached, sniffed my hair, and my heart dropped into my stomach. My hand trembling, I fed the stallion a carrot, and he graciously allowed me to stroke his nose before galloping away.

"Now do you see the difference between living and non-living?" Ray asked on the way home.

"In a way," I replied evasively.

"There's your answer about love."

We rode home silently. I thought: it turns out I don't love Ray. Love is biological, rooted in animal instincts, and you can't love something non-living. And Ray doesn’t love me either. To me, he's just convenient, like slippers perfectly molded to my feet, and for him, I'm like that ancient device used to control horses—what was it called? A bridge? A bridle! Take the bridle off a horse, and it certainly won’t take you anywhere. If I removed Ray’s obedience programming... would he leave? Would he kill me? I had no idea.

Can you love someone fundamentally incapable of reciprocation? The question of my companion’s sentience continued to torment me. After struggling for a couple of hours, I searched my contacts and found an old acquaintance's number. Though I didn't lead an active social life, my professional and casual contacts were quite extensive.

"Mark!" I exclaimed happily when my friend answered. "Hi, it’s been forever!"

"Hey," the man nodded to me, then tossed over his shoulder, "I'm coming, I'm coming. Maya, this place is such a mess! What do you need?"

"I want to talk to a software developer for companions," I got straight to the point. "I don't need advertising nonsense—I want honest answers."

"Is this for a play? Because I'm afraid—"

"This is for me personally, and it won’t go any further, you know me."

Mark promised he'd arrange something and hung up. Later that day, I received a message instructing me to visit the central office of "Servink," basement level four. The work zone! I was going to speak to the person who programmed Ray's brain!

I arrived at the office half an hour early and spent the time waiting, examining the fusion-baroque décor: elaborate moldings, gold-plating, neon lights, and flickering holograms creating optical illusions that gave me a headache. No wonder even in such a big firm the secretary was an android—a living person would go mad from such chaotic interiors.

"Maya Lee? Hello, I’m Fiona Belovsky, head of AI development for HSC—that’s what we call robot companions: Human-Surrogate Companions," greeted a middle-aged woman. She resembled a stereotypical schoolteacher, though these days appearance was a matter of choice. "I have five minutes for your questions, so please keep it brief."

"I essentially have one question," I nodded, acknowledging that I was taking up a busy person's valuable time. "How sentient are companions—these HSCs?"

"There are two ways to answer that question," Fiona began to explain. "The first would require a master's degree in engineering and several years working on cluster-based programs that form the AI foundation. The second answer is: no one knows."

"What do you mean, no one knows? Aren't there tests, checks, measuring devices…?"

"What tests? The Turing Test is long outdated. In terms of intelligence tests, HSCs surpassed humans ages ago in both precise and abstract thinking," Fiona sighed. "But you’re asking about self-awareness, aren’t you?"

"Yes! Do they understand if they’re sentient or not?"

"Unfortunately, we can't attach a little green light to androids that illuminates when they gain a soul," Fiona shrugged. "Self-awareness—identifying oneself as a sentient individual—isn’t binary. On a scale of consciousness from a chair to the Dalai Lama, HSCs are much closer to humans than furniture. But precisely how close they’ve come—no one can say. Besides, each HSC has unique individual characteristics. That's why we prioritize safety above all. Even if an AI recognizes itself as human-hating, our programs will shut it down before anything irreversible happens. Your five minutes are up. Goodbye."

The conversation clarified nothing. Could Ray love? Could a computer even host such feelings? Troubled, I attended a rehearsal for the third act of my play but didn't pay attention to the actors.

I had no one closer than Ray. An android is just a thing. Was I just deceiving myself to avoid going insane from loneliness? Was I anthropomorphizing a non-living thing to escape reality: that I was so unpleasant and incompatible that I couldn't attract or accept anyone with a beating heart? I didn’t love anyone, and no one loved me. That was depressing.

It took me a moment to realize the rehearsal had stopped, and silence had fallen over the stage.

"Maya, isn't that near you?" the director asked, showing me a screen prominently displaying the headline: "Energy Storage Explosion in Lake District." And a photo of my home.

Ray!

The taxi crawled painfully slowly, and the escalators barely moved. It felt like an eternity before I reached home. Then I had to shove through a crowd of gawkers, who gasped, moaned, and didn’t forget to take pictures. The yard was cordoned off, but without hesitation, I ducked under the holographic tape.

The high-rise looked like a giant had taken a bite out of it—right where my windows had been.

"Ma'am, you can't go there," a uniformed officer tried to stop me, but I brushed him off.

"I live here! That's my apartment! Ray, my companion, was inside—I need to know..."

"The androids that escaped from the building after the explosion are over there, and we pulled one out of the rubble," he gestured to someone, and Ray was brought over. I hardly recognized him: the synthetic skin was torn off half his skull, and his left arm bent at an impossible angle. But he walked steadily, holding something close to his chest. I threw myself around his neck.

"Thank God!"

"He’s a slowpoke," said one of the rescuers. "All the residents’ androids jumped out of the burning apartments immediately, but yours waited until a wall collapsed on him."

"Maya, sorry about the damage—I didn’t think I’d break so badly," Ray began apologizing. "But they got scared and scattered, and I couldn't catch them all at once."

"What?" I didn’t understand.

A pink rat nose peeked out from under Ray's jacket, sniffed around like a tiny trunk, and withdrew again. I clung to my companion’s healthy elbow and burst into tears. There definitely wasn't a command in Ray’s programming to protect pets, so I could confidently conclude that my companion could indeed love. At least rats.

[torpublishinggroup]

Book tropes that scream taurus

a stubborn yet fiercely loyal MC

practical solutions in the middle of an apocalypse 

overprotective older sibling who just wants to be loved 

a slow-burn

[coffeebooksandmore]

A slow way to start the day. ‘Trust’ was a great short read! I felt smarter when I finished because I looked up so many words while reading. Also Jhumpa Lahiri translated this book from Italian to English! I love her so that was a major reason I picked this book up.

[lionofchaeronea]

I could use a bit of help deciding what to read next, now that I've finished The Faerie Queene. I have several good possibilities on my bookshelf:

Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: a "novel in verse" about life in early Victorian England

The Last Man by Mary Shelley: an 1826 novel about a deadly future plague

Paradiso by Dante Alighieri: the third book of the Divine Comedy, about Dante's ascent to Heaven (a doorstopper edition with Italian text, English translation, and copious notes)

The Shape of Things to Come by H.G. Wells: one of his later novels, a "future history" about social upheaval and the establishment of a world government

So, bearing in mind that I plan to read them all eventually...

[eachpage]

“It’s an unassuming name, but also . . . powerful. Because of where she came from.” From The Keeper: A Stars Above Story

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

What to Read After Watching KPop Demon Hunters