Books

These children's biography books introduce young readers to important figures and moments in history, from mathematicians to activists.

A few weeks ago, I was very surprised to receive an email that my story, “Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold,” had been nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novelette. As is customary, the awards team asked if I wished to accept the nomination or withdraw it from consideration. Unfortunately, I’ve decided to

• What book is currently on your nightstand?
• Who is the author?
• What genre?
• How do you like it?
• Would you recommend it to others?

The most banned books in America are not the newest books on the shelves. That, plus this week's book censorship news.

A book review blog reviewing graphic novels, mysteries and historical fiction.

Drink your potions, gather your familiars, and ready your spacecrafts to blast off with these new sci-fi and fantasy books out in July 2023!

I've burned through like every audio drama I can think of. Trying Audible. I like cyberpunk and sci-fi like Neal Stephenson. Super dark and gritty fantasy like the Netflix show Castlevania or the audio drama Aethuran: Dark Saga.

I'm open to any recommendations. Thank you.

Even though Franz Kafka had been dead since 1924, his writing would provide Cold War-era writers and intellectuals in the United States with a literary vocabulary for imagining life behind the Iron…

Get ready to heighten the frights in your summer days with these 8 exciting new horror books to read in July 2023!

Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays published in 1973 by German-born British economist E. F. Schumacher. The title "Small Is Beautiful" came from a principle espoused by Schumacher's teacher Leopold Kohr, advancing small, appropriate technologies, policies, and polities as a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of "bigger is better".

Publishers Weekly, USA Today, the NYT, Amazon, and Indie Bestsellers all have their own bestseller lists. Here are the combined results.

Like Fracassi’s previous novel, Gothic, Boys in the Valley involves devil-worship and demonic possession. The publisher’s pithy tagline describes Boys in the Valley as “The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass.” Similarities to The Exorcism are obvious, and both the absence of effective adult supervision and the pervasive child-on-child brutality certainly bring to mind Lord of the Flies. But despite being—at its heart—a religious horror novel, I would also recommend it to fans of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).

From George R. R. Martin’s new Wild Cards anthology to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's dystopian take on America, there is a wealth of exciting science fiction out this month. Culture editor Alison Flood shares the novels she is most anticipating

Think of this thread as a mid year review:

How many have you read and are you on track?

Favorite reads of the year so far?

Least favorite reads of the year?

Any new releases you are looking forward to?

How do you all track your books?

I generally use a Google Spreadsheet, with Title, Author, Date Started, Date Finished, Rating, Review, and Source (such as physical/own, or Libby-Audiobook, etc).

Then I put the info into Goodreads at some point, but honestly I'm considering dropping GR, and either just doing the spreadsheet, or trying a new website.

#books

• What book is currently on your nightstand?
• Who is the author?
• What genre?
• How do you like it?
• Would you recommend it to others?

Probably lots of bleed-over from the last week since it was posted so late, but...

Audiobook versions of the novels, first published in the Eighties, to warn listeners of ‘outdated’ attitudes prominent at the time

An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.

Hi there.

Unfortunately I recently learned that one of my favourite authors turned into a huge pos over the last year's. So I do not want to support him anymore. Because he clearly stepped over a line I just can't ignore in favour of his stories.

Are there any good active SF authors that write stuff that's similar to Neal Asher's polity or Peter F Hamilton's Commonwealth and aren't complete right wing extremists?

I don't have to agree with everything am author says, but there is a certain line I just can't ignore.

Thanks in advance.

Real late in making this thread this week - but I got busy...

What book is currently on your nightstand? How do you like it? Would you recommend it to others?

If you haven't read this short story, first published on June 26, 1948 and written by Shirley Jackson , you should! It quite possibly makes June 27th the creepiest/scariest day of the year (outside on Halloween of course)

Here is just a small snippet of the beginning:

The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th ....”

I read the Handmaid's Tale yesterday, finally. I'm disappointed. I did not like the writing style at all, there was no real story, just descriptions. And then it just ended. No conclusion or anything.

My best guess it's because the TV show was so intense and well made (at least the earlier seasons), and the book was... Not? Episodes would stay with me for days, but I'm struggling to recall the book already.

Maybe the book is supposed to be unsatisfying to go with the theme. Nothing much happened after Gilead was created, every day just kinda goes by. Sure there was some torture and death, but... Eh.

Maybe I was expecting too much after all the praise it got. It's my first Atwood book, and way way outside of my usual genre (fantasy, scifi, horror).

What did you all think of it?

I've been on a binge this year of reading some fairly good and some terribly bad thrillers and mystery books. I just finished reading "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, which I greatly enjoyed, particularly after reading the Silent Patient, which I thought was awful.

Any favorites of the genre you'd recommend? Any terrible ones you'd steer away from?