books, Fantasy, The Future, Uncategorized

Back to the Future

26 Comments

A weird coincidence resulted in three dystopian future books hitting my reading list in the last month. First there was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel that was a Blevins Book Club selection.  Then there was The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch then Ready Player One by Ernest Kline.

Normally I like the dystopian future genre but by the time I got to the end of Ready Player One, I was ready to renounce any other titles that come my way.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m feeling like a dystopian future is already on our doorsteps or if it was just too many of these books in a row.  Whatever the reason, I’m looking forward to a Jane Austen title I just picked up from the library!

Do you have a favorite genre? Do you ever get tired of it?

26 thoughts on “Back to the Future”

  1. i love memoirs
    or semi autobiographical fiction. i used to think i didn’t like non fiction but anything written well is an interesting read
    history wrapped in a story, bull brysons telling of whatever he’s got in front of him,
    wordsmiths presenting fiction is where i usually waft in bliss but i sure spend a lot of time in self help how to do better stuff. motivation is an appealing crank it up for me.
    oh and how about coffee table books
    i love coffee table books
    and poetry
    and cookbooks
    and coloring books

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  2. I’ve been having a hard time with books lately. I don’t remember the last one I actually finished. I have several that I’ve started… some are fictional like one called “Vision and Art; the Biology of seeing” which is really interesting. Or the book on theater rigging history. And one on architectural styles. And then I started reading ‘Catch 22’ again after watching the new mini-series on HULU.
    But there’s always another magazine in the mail and another book I hear about and I’m easily distracted I guess.

    I did actually finish Neil Preston’s book ‘Exhilarated and Exhausted’ but that one had a lot of pictures… (photos and stories of his life as a rock concert photographer. He took the classic photo of Freddie Mercury at Live Aid. Really a neat book.)

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  3. I’ve never been a great fan of dystopian novels, though, of course, I’ve been compelled to read several of the best known ones as assignments for one class or another. I found them depressing, and heaven only knows, I don’t need to read a book to get me down. At the moment, all I need to do is read the newspaper, the dystopian future seems to have arrived.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    1. Yep – my s-I-l has signed us up for a weekly news digest called The Week that sums it all up nicely, and I don’t have to listen as closely to the radio, or read newspapers – It’s about all I can stomach on any of the topics.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. We really liked ‘The Week’. I’ve let it lapse just because I didn’t need another magazine but they still send me free issues occasionally.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  4. For a long time I’ve enjoyed reading about other women’s lives – fiction, esp. mysteries, or memoirs. I’m branching out to a little more nonfiction, authors like Barbara Ehrenreich and Victoria Sweet… and favorite spiritual authors like Thich Naht Hanh, and stuff about nature and our relationship to it – my book of the year is Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  5. I like history (gave up a lot of dystopian and sci-fi when I became a mother, I worry enough about stuff I imagine, I don’t need to add on what somebody else imagines), at least you know the human race survives whatever they get up to in that.

    Mostly, I like either historical fiction or history based political thrillers (I am devoted to author Steve Berry), and then will seek out the history they are working from.

    Audiobooks I can download to my phone from SPPL for free keep me in the “reader” column and help me stay focused when I am working. If the work takes more of my attention for a bit and someone is suddenly and inexplicably dead, the back button is my friend.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    2. You’re the one who turned me on to Steve Berry. Although I have to admit that I haven’t read one since they went to China, the one with the way too graphic description of those eunuchs. I’m sure I’ll get back to him though!

      Like

      Reply

  6. I’m generally a non-fiction reader, but I do love me a good thriller, mystery or science fiction/fantasy in the mix. My go-to is Dan Brown. Ever since DaVinci Code went big I love reading his novels. May not be high literature but it is darn good brain candy.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Not a fan of fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, steampunk, or anything that doesn’t involve “real people and real life.” Just too hard to keep the magical powers, creatures, place and character names, space-age weapons, mystical abilities, and all the other made-up stuff that seems designed to purposely confuse a reader and takes FOREVER to explain.

    I like mystery-suspense-thrillers, of course. Historical fiction, the occasional “women’s fiction” (wondering why there’s no such genre as “men’s fiction”), some classic literature (especially American), and certain non-fiction (not memoirs).

    More than anything, I’m looking for a good read, a well-written book that doesn’t waste my time. Even my favorite writers have written books that aren’t up to par with their best works and I sometimes regret reading those books. The old “Life’s too short to read a bad book” idea. But I still have trouble pulling the plug on a mediocre book. If it’s really crappy, I can do it (now–couldn’t five years ago).

    Chris in Owatonna

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. “Women’s fiction” generally refers to books written by women which are accordingly ignored by male readers. If female readers routinely ignored books written by men, that would be “men’s fiction”.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      2. Dorothy Sayers, Ngao Marsh, Marjorie Allingham. I also like Hilda Lawrence. She is an American author. Her “Death of a Doll” was excellent.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  10. i enjoy the a is for alibai author and her chartacheter.
    i enjoy dick francis and his horse track stories/
    tony hillerman and his 4 corners stuff
    i think ive said before i ready louis lamores last book and it was really good then he died and i went back to read his other stuff and it wasnt good. it was all what i expected before i read that last one as my first louis experience
    i thought id try zane gray and found the same thing years ago

    enjoyed vs’s book club fantasy with the trees

    Like

    Reply

  11. my favorite thing to do is find an author, herman hesse was the first onbe i discovered in high school. loved his stuff, mark twain never went wrong then on to pat conroy, kurt vonnegut, barbara kingsolver, louise erdrich, bill bryson, shakespear, voltaire, i like garrison as an author as much if not more than as a radio host.
    i saw garrison at crooners lounge a month ago and he was absolutely delightful but youd better get to see him soon. he will not be doing this another 10 years or maybe he will and he will just do it in a crumpled over mode. he is starting to look like a characature of himseldf. but he is sharp as a tack and rich dwarsky is a master at following garrisons playful introductions of songs out of the distant places of his mind.

    i love ee cummings and bill holm and shel silverstien and who the heck was the poet who appeared on garrisons show a few times. i met hinm at pen pals and found him delightful. hes form new england and has a great poem about lanyards. …..

    i find the spy stuff not of so much interest. who was the local guy who was george w bush’s favorite author who dies young 7 or 8 years ago. he was ok but nothing that called out to me. he said he got into trouble because he was so interested in current warfare technology he would talk to knowledgable people in the milatary and use it in his stories and not realie he was telling top secret stuff until after the fact.

    the blog folk introduced me to jespar fforde and he is wonderful,

    genre no, voices yes. an author buddie of mine who is a historical fiction writer told me when you write stuff they calll your fingerprint style of doing it your voice.. just right . who elses voice? maya angelo,
    remember nat helnoff talking about the jazz scene?

    i miss my bookshelf headbioard, it was 11 feet long and 8 feet tall with a set of like cabinets below and a book shelf the held 5 shelves running those 11 fett in many places 2 books deep. i didnt need to read the book , just looking at the titles reminded me of the journey each on had taken me on when i read it . now they are all in boxes in my garage and my warehouse and tis just not the same. i need to see bookcover and splines and be able to pick it up and page through to stop and read a page or a chapter.

    books on photography, mushroom hunting romanctic stuff thats not romance nove drivel, inspirational, fascinating, transporting, stimulating, and my kid sits in the basement watching the alaskan weird family on cable tv and he laughs every time i mention it to him and says ” yeah but its really good” i ve watched 7 or 8 different snippets anits not. its just not. my children will never read..except olivia. and i do have that grandson. ari will be my reader. i will teach hime the great stuff. see puff. see tom see jane. no on to shakespeare. and shel silverstien.

    when we first started we had those side deals with recipes and maybe poetry.
    can we look at doing one for music book and food> i have no idea how but ill bet its possible

    steve get on that will you? thanks

    good topic again vs thanks.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. It’s almost easier to list the genres of books I don’t usually read. I don’t usually read mysteries or thrillers. I don’t usually read memoirs, especially contemporary ones or self help books or books about spirituality.
    I read more nonfiction than fiction—history, science, sociology, cultural analysis, biography and sometimes autobiography. I like collections of essays. When I read fiction, it’s either because of the author or because the subject sparks my curiosity. Most of my reading in fact is curiosity driven. I choose books because I want to know their contents and often I find that one book, either because of some reference or because of something I find in the bibliography, leads me to my next book.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.