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What book(s) are you enjoying?

ScreenXSurfer

Ain't no bitch who can do it like me
For all the readers and bibliophiles of this forum, what currently has your attention? Non-fiction, fiction, whatever floats your boat.


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Personally I've always been a big non-fiction fan. Whether it's some book about the history of something, a political book, philosophy, current events, or science/math related. I've got recommendations for people in all those 'genres'. However from time to time I have to reset all that with a good fiction book.

I recently finished the 3-Body Trilogy by Cixin Liu. I wanted to sample the growing Chinese fiction literature and 3-Body was one of the few acclaimed ones. It was by far the most fascinating, deep & mind boggling Scifi story I've ever read. And it's mostly hard science, which is very hard to write well because there are so many challenges in physics. However Mr. Liu is the best I've ever read in doing it. Every book escalates beyond what you think is possible. Every conflict appears to be insurmountable. The challenges come from within and without in this story and it's a wonder how the protagonist will ever win. It's a real page-turner.

I'm a reader that will get thru about a 3rd of a book, get a bit bored and read an "off book" a 3rd of the way thru, then return back to the first book. Not with the books in the 3-body trilogy. Multiple times I stayed up late burning candlelight to see what was going to happen next. A few hundred pages every time.



I'm currently reading two books. A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell. He's an interesting person & podcast host, even if I only agree with him about 25% of the time. Somebody I enjoy listening to when I'm sick of the usual echochambers. This book is covering a lot of the untold history of the US. The parts that aren't glorified by old historians, or the parts that are ignored by the new breed of historians. It's covering the parts of American culture that were created by the outcast of society. Alcohol runners, hookers, pirates, immigrants, slaves & freemen, etc. Definitely a must read for anybody who wants to see another side of history that isn't taught in schools or common literature. The only 'mainstream' equivalent would be Drunk History I'd say.

The other book is Dear Reader: the Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il by Michael Malice. Michael Malice is another one of those thinkers I enjoy imbibing whenever he puts out content or a podcast because he's relentless against mainstream politics and his jokes are savage. He's the AnCap equivalent to Chapo Trap House, but way more self-aware. In regards to North Korea, I really love his take. In this book in particular his humor and the tragic humor of North Korean history & society comes through the pages extremely well. The opening line of the book is, "I remember the day of my birth perfectly" (lol) and then proceeds to highlight the mythology & propaganda behind the ruling Kim dynasty & Korean history. I'm only about 20 pages in since it's my current off book.


Lastly I've been really into the audiobook Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday. It covers the scandal and lawsuit that brought down a rising independent media giant. The story of a a battle between a scorned billionaire and a fearless journalist, and the conspiracy that brought down Gawker media. It deeply explores all the actors involved and the architect behind it remains anonymous to this day. I'm just getting into the section where the die has been cast and am continuing to listen while at work.
 
The Lavander Scare which is about the secondary scare going on at the same time during the Red Scare having to do with Lavender boys or what they called gay men. Also commited by McCarthy

It was actually the book that brought forth this Scare to light. Good for anyone interested in that era, McCarthy, or American Paranoia something that is quite a big genre.

and Queering Anarchism a quite delightful book. Probably one of the best deep dives on Heteronormative society. Its not exactly something I would recommend to someone usually but I would recommend to anyone not LGBT because its quite a eye opener. In general I am reading it because I am discussing said topic with friends and I was told to read this book. It is quite good.

heres a good description I found of it

Queering Anarchism brings together a diverse set of writings, ranging from the deeply theoretical to the playfully personal, that explore the possibilities of the concept of "queering," turning the dominant, and largely heteronormative, structures of belief and identity entirely inside out. Ranging in topic from the economy to disability, politics, social structures, sexual practice, interpersonal relationships, and beyond, the authors here suggest that queering might be more than a set of personal preferences—pointing toward the possibility of an entirely new way of viewing the world.


And I plan on starting the Celluoid closet a book on Queer depictions in Cinema.
 
Well, I really enjoyed the Iron Druid Chronicles series.
 
I'm reading the novelization of Alien: Covenant. Its actually better than the film by quite a margin...
 
I read exclusively books about young women mostly. Fiction and non-fiction. Two books I read recently:

Song of a Captive Bird by Jazmin Darznik: About a poetess (she likes "poet" tho) who grew up with a physically abusive military colonel father and an emotionally distant mother, plus her sister who loves her. She struggled in the professional world with rumors about her sexual promiscuity spread by the very peoples she dated and trusted to help her take off her career and spread a genuine message about the realities women in her country face. She suffers tragedy after tragedy and still finds some goodness in the peoples around her. The end is very sad.

Bumblebee at Superhero High by Lisa Yee: A book about Karen Andrena-Beecher, whose world was destroyed by a mysterious villain. She wonders if she has what it takes to be a superheroine or if she's just playing little girls' games? She finds her strength with and without her powers and confronts a possible version of herself who shares her interests yet decided a very different path in life for herself.
 
I read exclusively books about young women mostly. Fiction and non-fiction. Two books I read recently:

Song of a Captive Bird by Jazmin Darznik: About a poetess (she likes "poet" tho) who grew up with a physically abusive military colonel father and an emotionally distant mother, plus her sister who loves her. She struggled in the professional world with rumors about her sexual promiscuity spread by the very peoples she dated and trusted to help her take off her career and spread a genuine message about the realities women in her country face. She suffers tragedy after tragedy and still finds some goodness in the peoples around her. The end is very sad.

Bumblebee at Superhero High by Lisa Yee: A book about Karen Andrena-Beecher, whose world was destroyed by a mysterious villain. She wonders if she has what it takes to be a superheroine or if she's just playing little girls' games? She finds her strength with and without her powers and confronts a possible version of herself who shares her interests yet decided a very different path in life for herself.

I have heard a bit about the bee at Superhero high.

A few Lezzie friends of mine recommended it to me as a good book with queer readings (books in which do not actually have Queer Protags but can be easily read as such) I actually only originally read the Harry Potter Books because it was rec'd to me as book with a easy queer reading.
 
A few Lezzie friends of mine recommended it to me as a good book with queer readings (books in which do not actually have Queer Protags but can be easily read as such) I actually only originally read the Harry Potter Books because it was rec'd to me as book with a easy queer reading.
I read a lot of the girls' relationships as being very caring ones in which they could become lovers. It spends a lot of time having them chat with each other, share their feelings and stuffs. Like sometimes the writer has them share stuffs about their pasts, Bumblebee seems to care about all the girls she hangs out with, even the villain is pretty nice to her considering and Bumblebee really tells that person what's up. I got a Lezzie Domination vibe from those scenes.

I didn't get a queer vibe from Harry Potter? It seemed like the girls and boys were mostly straight there?
 
Originally I planned to enjoy a locally purchased copy of the communist manifesto by Marx but HEAVENSBEE its boring as fuck.
Finished a study on the Aeneid, or as I call it, Roman fan-fiction.

I used to enjoy reading when I was around 10. Sometimes I wonder what happened to the youth.
 
I read a lot of the girls' relationships as being very caring ones in which they could become lovers. It spends a lot of time having them chat with each other, share their feelings and stuffs. Like sometimes the writer has them share stuffs about their pasts, Bumblebee seems to care about all the girls she hangs out with, even the villain is pretty nice to her considering and Bumblebee really tells that person what's up. I got a Lezzie Domination vibe from those scenes.

I didn't get a queer vibe from Harry Potter? It seemed like the girls and boys were mostly straight there?

Oh yeah there are tons of queer readings theres an essay somewhere I saw about this sort of thing.



Yay found the Essay and yes I have used this essay before to talk about Queer Reading and harry potter.


https://alyssalunzvxkn.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/final-paper-queer-theory-and-harry-potter/


Im gonna quote my favorite Queer Reading if you don't wanna read it all (though I do Reccomend it)


Another queer reading in the Harry Potter series "is the parallel between werewolves and gay men due to their shared status as marginalized figures." (Pugh, 267). In their argument to support the idea that Rowling's werewolves mirror gay men, Tison Pugh and David Wallace suggest that "werewolves serve as a figure for queerness in that families must readjust their relationships and expectations of one another when a member becomes a werewolf, as families must…do when a loved one comes out…as a homosexual." (Pugh, 267). Much like Harry as a closeted child, the werewolf stands as a figure largely misunderstood and rejected by society at large.

When the students first meet Remus Lupin on the train to Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he is obviously an outsider. Rowling described Lupin as a "stranger…wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quiet young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray." (PA, 74.) Though the children do not know that Lupin is a werewolf at that point in the book, his state of disarray is attributed entirely to the fact that he is a werewolf. His appearance indicates that he has little money, probably due to a constant state of unemployment, and has not had an easy life, as indicated by his prematurely gray hair. Without any real explanation, Lupin's haggard appearance is a result of the severe prejudices that people with lycanthropy face. "The bigotry that [Lupin] faces as a werewolf" and the "connections between textual lycanthropy and metatextual queerness are striking…[They] are thus similiarly founded upon a fear of the Other." (Pugh, 267). Lupin's situation through the series reflects the bigotry experienced by some gay men, including the hatred expressed by those who are fearful of the Other and the "loathing that inhibits chances for gainful employment." (Pugh, 267).

The existence of werewolves within the family unit also mirrors the hysteria and concern of a gay man's family. When Bill Weasley is bitten by Fenrir Greyback during Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, his family rallies around him in attempt to support their newly changed relative. Despite their attempts to remain strong for Bill, his mother, Molly Weasley, is unable to contain her grief and exclaims that, "he was g-going to be married!" (HBP, 267). Molly's exclamation suggests that she assumes that Bill will be automatically rejected by his fiancée (Pugh, 267).

The existence of the werewolf disease, or lycanthropy, also parallels the HIV/AIDS virus that has plagued the gay community in western societies. A fear of infection has pushed werewolves into a marginalized status. As with Lupin, they are extremely misunderstood and subjected to intense loathing. Though werewolves are vicious by nature, at least during a full moon, the existence of characters like Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley (as the Other) demonstrated that "queers should not be shunned, despite the overarching cultural prejudices against them." (Pugh, 267).


A reccomendation I have is do a search of "Harry Potter Queer Reading"

Tons and tons of queer readings out there.
 
Originally I planned to enjoy a locally purchased copy of the communist manifesto by Marx but HEAVENSBEE its boring as fuck.
Finished a study on the Aeneid, or as I call it, Roman fan-fiction.

I used to enjoy reading when I was around 10. Sometimes I wonder what happened to the youth.

Something I can say is that the manifesto most certainly Reads like a manifesto. it goes on and on feels like he should be winded by the end.

and all the good ideas are muddled by the fact that it feels more like a Political rally. than a book on politics.

on the bolded: :LOL::ROFLMAO:
 
Just catching up with my childhood.

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The 1632 series by Eric Flint. I picked up a few books over a decade ago, read or tried to read a couple of them, but I just had other interests. I started rereading from the beginning last year during a long vacation, ordered more online, and have been working my way through them ever sense. On a side note, I've started part time at a community college studying history now, especially world and European history. These books may have forced me to get an Associates Degree in history to better understand and familiarize myself with the various real world individuals that appear in the series.
 
The 1632 series by Eric Flint. I picked up a few books over a decade ago, read or tried to read a couple of them, but I just had other interests. I started rereading from the beginning last year during a long vacation, ordered more online, and have been working my way through them ever sense. On a side note, I've started part time at a community college studying history now, especially world and European history. These books may have forced me to get an Associates Degree in history to better understand and familiarize myself with the various real world individuals that appear in the series.
In this case, I highly recommend you this series of books, taking place between 1550 and 1650: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_de_France

Fortune de France (Fortunes of France) is a sequence of 13 historical novels by French author Robert Merle, published between 1977 and 2003. The series is about 16th and 17th century France through the eyes of a fictitious Huguenot doctor-turned-spy Pierre de Siorac. It made Merle a household name in France, with the author repeatedly called the Alexandre Dumas of the 20th century. As of 2014, Fortune de France had sold over five million copies in France.

The series spans the years 1547 to 1661, shadowing the European wars of religion of the 16th and 17th centuries. In the first novel, veteran soldiers Jean de Siorac and Jean de Sauveterre settle into Château Mespech in Périgord, a beautiful but dangerous region of France far from the influence of the king. Staunch royalists but also devoted Huguenots, the men assemble a loyal community around them, but are challenged as religious unrest, poverty and famine threaten their way of life and push the country into chaos.[1][2][3]

Siorac's son Pierre narrates the first six novels, and Pierre's own son Pierre-Emmanuel narrates the remaining seven volumes. The men meet many notable people and witness various historical events, including the marriage of Henry, King of Navarre to Margaret of France, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, and the assassination of Henry III of France.
You will get all the background you ever need for the 1632 series with this series.
 
Currently an annotated english translation of the táin bó cúailnge. (If you're familiar with Fate, this is where Cu is from)

Like to find a similar one for Lebor Gabála Érenn, but no luck yet.
 
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