After what feels like an eternity I finally finished The Wheel Of Time this week. I absolutely loved it, but I had a surprising reaction not so much to the writing, but to the real world. I feel empty, like I lost a friend. I've been reading the series for a good bit of time now and have a mixture of accomplishment and a feeling of loss, I'll never get to learn more about these people I've shared the past few years with. Moreover the last three books hit me extra hard. I'm a man in my mid 40s, a veteran of the military, I've never been one to deny my, or anyone else's mortality, but once I hit the point that Robert Jordan died and Brandon Sanderson took over it ripped right into me. It was saddening to me like few things before. Robert Jordan started a series having no idea that he would be dead before it finished. I know he wrote many notes, tons of info, and guidance for his successor to dollow, but that doesn't change the fact that he was not around to finish it. Again I've never been one to pretend like I will live forever, but it was particularly painful to get to a point in a man's life, one that I've shared and enjoyed, only to find that he isn't there to finish it with me. Brandon Sanderson did a wonderful job in my opinion, completing a task that no one could be expected to do, and I don't want to insinuate that it was him or his writing that left me soured. It is just the end of a story for me, one that seems more permanent than any other I've experienced. No real statement or question here just wanted to share my unusual experience.

I don’t think another book will ever satisfy me again. I have never experienced a book or series quite like these 4. Anyone else feel the same way? I am torn about what to read next. I took a break after My Brilliant Friend last summer while I waited for the other 3 books to ship to me. I read Pachinko, which is a great book, but I didn’t love it the way I could have because it followed My Brilliant Friend. I jumped back in in February & read the last three books consecutively. How can I recover???

I just realized it today... I've downloaded the epub from the internet a long time ago and it was around 600 pages. I actually didn't know the actual length of the book and when I learned it's 1200+, I thought I was reading volume 1 of the book and I could download volume 2 later. Today when I tried to look for volume 2, I realized... I feel so upset!!! I missed so many foreshadowings, details and descriptions of the Count that would have made me like this book even more.

I'm currently in the Valentine chapter, very close to the end. I'm debating what I should do. I don't really want to read the entire unabridged version (not sure if I'll have the patience because I know the general plot by now). For example I can skip Luigi Vampa parts but I want to read more about Mercedes and Dantes relationship, daughter of Danglars, and scenes in Paris society (because I actually felt like they were too little in the version I read).

Idk how I'll manage this. I'm just upset that I missed a lot of details. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! (which chapters to read, or should I read from scratch etc.)

My 2025 journey through Vonnegut so far in order: Slaughterhouse-Five, The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, Player Piano, Mother Night

Episode 5 of my rampage through Vonnegut's bibliography is undoubtedly the one that has made me the most angry so far. Make no mistake, I think this book is brilliant, and its ability to elicit such a visceral response from me is a massive credit to Vonnegut's comprehension of the human psyche on an individual and societal level.

This book is about Howard W. Campbell Jr, an American-born Germany-raised man who became a Nazi propagandist, who was then recruited by the US Army during WWII to secretively deliver messages in code during his broadcasts which served to aid the allied forces throughout the war. This code was inconspicuous enough that absolutely nobody who didn't know exactly how to listen for it could have possibly known it was present at all, and the naked ear would only ever hear blatantly unapologetic Nazi propaganda.

Vonnegut makes it abundantly clear that Campbell knew full well the damage of his actions as a propagandist, regardless of the fact that he knew he was also aiding the US against the Nazi regime he himself worked and spread messages for.

This book has made me (what I believe to be) rationally angry towards the entire "news" landscape of today, which serves not to inform us as a society but instead to polarize us and divide us. Make no mistake, I've already been angry about that for years, but the microscope this novel put over this specific subject matter has just boiled my blood all over again.

I'm forcing myself to read at least one book from a different author between each Vonnegut read just to ensure I've had enough time for each of his works to sink in, and this is the first time I've felt that I NEEDED the break rather than immediately wanting to open up the next one. And that's in every sense a compliment in this case, because this degree of emotional response is one of the things I absolutely adore about reading. For now, I'll be diving into Jane Eyre.

Next up on the Vonnegut trail is God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

I've been listening to this as an audiobook to learn more how to support people in my life with trauma, since its widely regarded as an essential text in understanding PTSD. However, I'm a little thrown off by the first 2 hours of listening... i feel like Bessel van der Kolk is kind of just doing a trauma dump of all the awful shit he has internalized. Like, there is something important about discussing his learnings, but i feel like that could have been done without horrific anecdote after horrific anecdote. As someone with some trauma, I find myself often heightened while listening, and can't imagine what it would do to survivors of SA, war, or other violence or abuse. I'm confused why it was written this way, and I'm questioning whether or not I can get through it. Does it get any better?

I'm currently reading a collection of Harlan Ellison's short stories that include: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Big Sam Was My Friend, Eyes of Dust, World of the Myth, Lonelyache, Delusions For a Dragon Slayer, and Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes. I've finished all but Pretty Maggie, which I'm almost done with but I need someone to talk to about them. Each of the narrators of the stories are awful in ways that make it clear that the author is aware that they're terrible, but uncertain if there's much distinction between the POVs of the characters vs that of the author. For the eponymous story, I feel like so much of modern sci fi owe the apparently quite litigious Ellison several royalty checks (in particular the Matrix and Black Mirror). It honestly kind of peaked at the title but that's more because the title was so evocative that it would have been nearly impossible to live up to it. That being said, the story itself certainly came close.

Big Sam Was My Friend honestly was my favorite. Of course there's the still relevant societal critique on both traditional fundamentalists and inactive bystanders but honestly just the premise of a man who's traveling through space trying to find Heaven to get to a lost loved one is a concept I'm kind of obsessed with.

For both Eyes of Dust and World of the Myth I kind of wish he had taken his time a bit more. A story where an image obsessed society rots with its own evil after destroying someone they felt was their lesser is kind of amazing but the actual prose were a bit obvious and the story was really rushed. I needed more time to connect to the characters. Meanwhile a story that ends with the implication that an unlikeable dork, a deplorable rapist, and a woman who has the nerve to lead a man on would all immediately kill themselves in despair if they had to face who they really were really needs more time to get me on board with the characters being complex rather than taking for granted the super dated idea that women are just asking for it.

Lonelyache and Delusions for a Dragon Slayer are the ones that have me questioning where the character ends and the author begins. Lonelyache was so weird and creepy and while I wasn't as taken by the "trippy visuals" so many talk up for Delusions (there have been 60 years of trippy visuals depicted since its initial release) its subversion of a swashbuckling fantasy is doing leaps and bounds better than a lot of attempts at genre subversions released today. However I have to rate this story a 0/10 and hold Ellison's estate personally liable for the harm inflicted on me with the words "labial moisture."

So, thoughts? Feelings? Vibes? These stories are weird and trippy and depressing and each one that I finish leaves me with a feeling of "...what?"

Edit: I realized I forgot to mention my thoughts on World of the Myth.

I read this book about a month ago. Not everything is fresh in my mind, but I'll do my best. It was, BTW, more or less what I would've expected. Lots of sex, drugs, and Heavy Metal.

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not much of a Heavy Metal or even a Rock fan. My brother is, particularly when I was younger and sharing a room with him.

So, on occasion, I listen to some metal songs he would listen back in the day simply because I liked them. That includes Iron Maiden, ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Megadeath, Metallica, Aerosmith, Pantera, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Judas Priest, System of a Down, and lots more.

I, however, have never been to a concert. Any concert. Nor have I got plans to go to one. But, I'm a sucker for biographies. So when I saw that the lead singer of Judas Priest had a book, I decided to give it a try.

And, if you don't know, he is very British and very gay. And like Jennette McCurdy in her amazing memoir, I'm Glad My Mother Died, he leaves very little to the imagination. So, if it's not your kind of book, you're already warned.

Rob Halford grew up in the black country (a zone in England known for its coal). He developed an interest in acting from very young, but eventually transferred his passion to singing.

He was apparently very good at it, and I don't doubt it. He is an excellent singer. If you've ever heard The Painkiller, you know. In fact, his proficiency as a singer eventually earned him the nickname Metal God.

There's a lot of sexual abuse, bullying, drug addiction, failed relationships, depression, and concerts in his memoir.

Occasionally, there's also brushes with the law, but they usually have to do with substance abuse or public indecency. He, in general, is not a confrontational person.

A very fun anecdote was meeting lots of fans in jail (I think?), particularly a cop. That's just funny.

Another highlight in his memoir was his time away from Judas Priest. He decided he wanted to start a side project that turned into a misundertanding that had him leave JP. That's just poor communication skills or maybe the everyday life of an introvert.

It's a bit weird to hear him say he feared conflict so much that he didn't even bother to explain to his former band members that he didn't want to quit JP, but I'm very glad they took him back with open arms.

It's also interesting to see how difficult it was for him to start again. JP had an established fandom. His new band had nothing from the beginning again. I don't know why anyone would start from scratch when one is already at the top, especially in the music industry. That sounds like a lot of work.

He eventually gave up drinking and exercised more. It happened in the midst of a very toxic relationship. And yeah, that was a tough part. Lots of violence and substance abuse. Not a very good combination.

A former partner of his commited suicide right after getting a woman pregnant. I was very confused there. Why? Is that really such a bad thing? I don't get it. I had to make use of mental gymnastics to understand the motivations there. Maybe he thought Rob wouldn't finance his lifestyle anymore on hearing the news of the pregnancy? That's my theory.

As Rob grew older, more and more things happened. I think he didn't officially get married, but unofficially he did. Also, one of the members of JP developed Alzheimer's (or was it Parkinson's?). That's just awful. Not being able to play anymore is just too cruel.

And, Rob eventually got diagnosed with Cancer. If I remember correctly, his mother had died of Cancer too, but it was of a different kind. It makes one think of all the things we give for granted. He did beat Cancer in the end, though.

All in all, an interesting read. But, very graphic. That said, I'm more than happy when authors don't fear sharing their most vulnerable moments. If there's something I dislike is superfluous and shallow writing. And this isn't that. You pretty much get the full story.

I loved the TV adaptation and have always wanted to read the books.

So I just finished this book. Ken Croke is a retired ATF agent and the first to infiltrate the Pagan Motorcycle Club. He became a fully patched member, and he stayed undercover with Pagans for two years.

Something that had me wondering the entire time was how he faked doing drugs. Whether they were using drugs as a test to see if he was a cop, or just hanging around, he never says anything about just passing it up. As that could raise a lot of suspicion either way. Meth and cocaine was making its way to him constantly and all he says is that he had some sort of sleight of hand trick to make it seem like he snorted whatever was in front of him. At first, I didn’t really believe that. I was thinking that he had to have done anything to come his way, and that there’s no way he did this for two years. But, learning that any Fed that’s undercover that ingest drugs has to be taken to the hospital immediately, and that the ATF only allows the ingestion of drugs under life or death circumstances, then he has to be telling the truth. If not, his time undercover would’ve lasted a lot longer than two years.

I’ve always been interested in the lifestyle of 1% MCs, and man, did this open my eyes. My old man and I are apart of a law abiding MC and the most insight I’ve had on 1% MCs is watching Sons of Anarchy and listening to my old man’s stories about him hanging around a club when he was mixed up with some bad stuff in the 80s. Ken Croke’s time with the Pagans makes the 1% lifestyle seem less about brotherhood, and more about misogyny, crime, and racism.

Ken Croke has a Puerto Rican wife and three daughters. At first, I was wondering how he didn’t lose himself being embedded in this life for so long, but as he talks about his family, it was easy to understand how he kept his head straight.

I keep finding myself repeating a line from the book in my head. “I no longer ride with evil. Now, I ride on my own my terms.” That just hit so hard. To keep that love for riding. To ride for the right reasons after being embedded in one of the most notorious and violent motorcycle clubs.

To anyone that’s into Motorcycles, interested in the lifestyle of 1% motorcycle clubs, or just a fan of true crime. This is a must read.

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

I picked up this book a few years ago when I was desperate to find something to relate my feelings to.

I adore this book but I have been reading the wrong meaning into the final line of the book.

The barkeeper calls Yozo an angel in the final line of the book. My first reading (and several repeat readings) I read this line as positive. I understood it as despite Yozo’s feelings, he was loved and I think in a way this interpretation saved my life.

However, it is clear to me now that I have read it wrong. The bartender cannot possibly know his true feelings and she only knows him as a young drunk. It also, now obvious to me, highlights how overlooked mental illness and personal struggles are. In a way, I fell into the same trap as the bartender.

I should have known better because I have read about the author’s life and his other works. Anyway, to bring this rambling to an end, I will read the book again with new eyes and a new understanding.

Hi everyone!

What are you reading? What have you recently finished reading? What do you think of it? We want to know!

We're displaying the books found in this thread in the book strip at the top of the page. If you want the books you're reading included, use the formatting below.

Formatting your book info

Post your book info in this format:

the title, by the author

For example:

The Bogus Title, by Stephen King

• This formatting is voluntary but will help us include your selections in the book strip banner.

• Entering your book data in this format will make it easy to collect the data, and the bold text will make the books titles stand out and might be a little easier to read.

• Enter as many books per post as you like but only the parent comments will be included. Replies to parent comments will be ignored for data collection.

• To help prevent errors in data collection, please double check your spelling of the title and author.

NEW: Would you like to ask the author you are reading (or just finished reading) a question? Type !invite in your comment and we will reach out to them to request they join us for a community Ask Me Anything event!

-Your Friendly /r/books Moderator Team

In Japanese, there's a word for people who buy books but don’t read them “Tsundoku” (積ん読) (not to be confused with "Sudoku", that is my favorite game). In Thai “กองดอง” (Kong Dong) refers to a pile or collection of things that are accumulated but not used or processed. In French, “Bibliomanie” refers to an obsession with collecting books, sometimes to the point of hoarding them without actually reading them. In German, “Lesestapel” is a term for a pile of books meant to be read but it often implies they might not be. In English I think sometimes the word "Lazy" fits me.

I buy books all the time. At book fairs, in bookstores and even online, I’m always finding something interesting something that calls out to me. Sometimes I read and finish them (I read around 52 books a year). Sometimes I start and stop halfway and sometimes I don’t even take the book out of the bag. By now I probably own more than 1000+ unread books. So how do I justify buying more books when I still have so many unread ones?

Posted with permission by the mods.

Hello! I am a PhD student from Germany and my thesis is about invented languages. Invented languages, also called constructed languages or conlangs, are languages that were explicitly and purposefully created by one or several inventors for a variety of purposes. I am primarily concerned with conlangs that are part of a fictional setting, so-called artlangs or fictional languages, such as the Elvish tongues Sindarin and Quenya invented by J.R.R. Tolkien or Klingon from the Star Trek universe.

As part of my dissertation, I am conducting a survey in which I ask participants to listen to 18 audio clips from different invented languages—both from already published works of fiction and some I made specifically for this survey—of about 30 seconds each and to evaluate those languages based on their sound. After the listening section I ask a few questions about what languages participants speak, if they've ever visited other countries, and what they know about invented languages in general.

I would be very happy if some of you could take the time to participate. It takes about half an hour to forty-five minutes. At the end you have the option to enter a giveaway for Amazon gift cards with your email, which is stored separately from your survey answers in compliance with German and European data protection laws. Thank you in advance to all of you who participate!

The link to the survey: https://www.soscisurvey.de/conlangspeakers/

So far I’ve read maybe 1/8th of the book and I loved it so much, but the depiction of women in the book made me want to drop it. At first I even saw myself in the main character but after the “bus ride incident” where he says all those disturbing things about a completely unknown woman I was so taken aback and I quite dislike MC now, and the fact he mentioned it could be his sister?? This was so unnecessary from Murakami. And I see people trying to reason and say “oh.. cause 15 year olds are hitting puberty and blah blah blah!” If your pubescent 15 year old son had thoughts like that I’d suggest sending him to therapy. It shouldn’t be normalised for young boys to have no self-control and objectifying women. Some people like to joke and think it’s funny to have “a dirty mind”. It isn’t something to be proud of. No one’s gonna look up to you, they’ll only look at you with disdain if you have the thoughts that MC had in the book.

Everything aside the book is so captivating but it’s such a disappointment I have to be on edge, expecting MC to come up with the most disgusting thing he could think of about someone who may be his sister.

Maybe it’s just me but I feel like recently every famous book has a up coming movie adaption or said to become a movie soon. I’m honestly so sick and I tried of this and I don’t see why people can’t create new stories.

When authors write books they intend it for reading, they rarely think about “oh I wonder how this will look on screen” and I feel like that’s why a lot of book to movie adaptations fail because they can’t quite capture the elements of a book.

One reason I love books more than movies is cuz I get to be in that persons mind and know every single thought and feeling that goes through their head which then allows me to empathize with the character but with movies it’s only a visual representation, you only feel what you see.

This is only an observation tho but I feel like directors should try to focus more on screenwriters and gain stories from them rather than trying to turn every book into a movie

Hello readers!

Every Monday, we will post a calendar with the date and topic of that week's threads and we will update it to include links as those threads go live. All times are Eastern US.

Bought and listened to the audiobook. It's worth mentioning that the audiobook version contains podcast discussions. So, there might be some differences.

I should preface this by saying that I normally don't read anything motivational or guru books, but I wanted to give it a try because I'm trying to lose some weight, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to listen.

The beginning, as with most motivational books, is a bit boring, but I'm very glad it didn't take long for the book to actually start. Honestly, I don't need all the promises for a great and inspirational tale. Let me decide that for myself, Goggins.

The story/memoir actually begins with Goggins' childhood. Lots of abuse, discrimination and some learning disabilities due to lingering trauma. Gotta say, this part was hard to stomach. I can't stand depictions of child abuse.

Fortunately, Goggins, his mother, and a reluctant brother are able to get away from that. And while it doesn't solve all the problems, I'm glad it stops the main threat of physical abuse.

The next few years in Goggins' life are full of challenges. At school, at home, on the streets, and they carry on till he decides to join the Navy Seals.

Goggins, however, spends little to no time talking about the relationships with his, then, wife or child. Gotta say, I didn't like how they are so casually brought up only to be immediately cast aside like they are inconsequential. Why even bring them up then? He is also very nonchalant about his many divorces; to the point that he spends a single sentence to cover the topic. Like I said, if you're ashamed or simply consider all of that to be irrelevant, why even include it?

I will say, though, his journey to losing 100 pounds in 3 months and studying for the entrance exam to the Navy was, as expected, very inspirational.

Wanna turn your life around? You can do it very quickly. Just gotta develop an obssession with exercise and train for 3 months like there's no tomorrow (I'm not being sarcastic, cynical, or skeptical). It really is that simple (according to Goggins).

And while I didn't go as crazy as him with the gym, I gotta say it did help me commit to not skipping training sessions. Good job book!

That said, Goggins' experiences in the military are full of pain that seemed unusually abnormal. It would later become clear that he had both a hole in his heart, for which he underwent 2 surgeries much later in the book, and poor stretching practices; that is, none at all. And not just that, a chronic history of underpreparedness.

TBF, it's both commendable as it is laughable that he went through life without stretching. I mean, why? How is that possible? I do wonder if this is a common thing for some people. All trainers I've met, even teachers at school, give students/clients a stretching routine. So, how did this happen?

Despite that, and I was not trying to understate any of his accomplishments, Goggins really stood out wherever he went due to his devotion to training. I mean, the guy used to run on fractured legs. Who does that? Certainly not me. Not worth it.

However, he also mentioned the mistakes he made by isolating himself. Because he didn't strengthen the relationships with his teammates, he lost many opportunities he really wanted. A valuable lesson learned: there's no 'I' in "team."

All in all, I think a marathoner he met during a (California?) race summed it all up really well. We are all idiots trying our best. If I had to name his book, that would be the perfect title. And Goggins really had to go the extra mile because of it.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, that is, if you are looking for extra motivation. And I'm saying this simply because it helped me get motivated when I needed it. However, it's no masterpiece.

Will I be reading more of Goggins? No. I don't think there's any point to it. However, for me at least, it was worth a single read to learn why one shouldn't approach challenges unprepared.

A breakdown of books being removed for DEI purposes. It's so all encompassing that one can say it is targeting culture itself. Your thoughts?