Post AvGAzEmpzzPVTdCSBs by ricci@discuss.systems
(DIR) More posts by ricci@discuss.systems
(DIR) Post #AvG2Hz71bJf0mJVTqy by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T14:33:31Z
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I'm canceling my Audible subscription and have a few final credits to use. Seeking recommendations for #audiobooks .Kinds of things I'm looking for:* History, especially of places, people, and perspectives I didn't get in school in the USA* Science fiction / fantasy* Light reads for when everything is just too much* Anything you think is extra remarkable
(DIR) Post #AvG4QHjwQYH6mAnNEe by rebeccawb@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T14:57:25Z
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@ricci If you haven't already listened to these, consider The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow Or Ed Yong's An Immense Word: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden World Around Us
(DIR) Post #AvG5EOTNfW9Y8XwWHY by dev_lange@vis.social
2025-06-18T15:06:27Z
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@ricci The MANIAC, by Benjamin Labatut was an interesting way to learn more about John von Neumann and some of the related computer science history during his life.
(DIR) Post #AvG7ERm5anyYHkqYim by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:28:50Z
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@technicat fun is good, sold
(DIR) Post #AvG7ONPif269el7ONM by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:30:41Z
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@rebeccawb Thanks! I've read An Immense World and really liked it. My spouse has The Dawn of Everything, so I'll have to decide if I should read it or listen to it! :)
(DIR) Post #AvG7TaQFirRhRwqsYC by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:31:38Z
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@dev_lange Excellent, thanks!
(DIR) Post #AvG7YsscWd1s8ueAIy by rebeccawb@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:32:34Z
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@ricci It is rather long, so I think listening to it in bite sized chunks might be worthwhile.
(DIR) Post #AvG88nkT56kieWxbHc by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:39:05Z
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@technicat oh yeah, I started (probably) the same trilogy and liked it but have not been in for such long books lately
(DIR) Post #AvG96d9taDunBSNmM4 by carsonwoods@mastodon.social
2025-06-18T15:49:49Z
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@ricci you may have already read/listened to these, but I’ve really enjoyed:We Are Legion by Dennis Taylor. It is a fun sci-fi book about how a cryofrozen software developer from the present ends up running a von Neumann probe in the near-future. Its full of pop-culture references and is a fun listen. For a more “serious” sci-fi series, Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a far future sci-fi series told from a variety of intertwining storylines and perspectives.
(DIR) Post #AvG9Gaq53vGmsxrgGm by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T15:51:43Z
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@carsonwoods Awesome, thanks!On We Are Legion and pop culture references: if I really, really, really didn't like Ready Player One, do you think I might no like this one?Hyperion is fantastic, one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time!
(DIR) Post #AvGAD7S7xnOipZZIGW by adrian@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T16:02:16Z
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@ricci at the risk of making obvious suggestions, the most "extra remarkable" audiobooks I've listened to are:* _Lincoln in the Bardo_ by George Saunders. An indescribably wild novel, and a ridiculous audiobook recording with a 166-person cast led by Nick Offerman.* _Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish_, a novel by… David Rakoff. Entirely in verse, read by the author. Poignancy levels off the charts.
(DIR) Post #AvGAzEmpzzPVTdCSBs by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T16:10:49Z
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@adrian these sound amazing
(DIR) Post #AvGBJxtfzPPBAxHYki by carsonwoods@mastodon.social
2025-06-18T16:14:43Z
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@ricci I think so! I wasn’t a big fan of Ready Player One, but thoroughly enjoyed this. There are a good amounts of references, but it usually manifests as quips or inside jokes between the characters. It’s rarely a driver of plot outside of how it affects the main character’s personality. For example, because the main character is a big star trek fan. Initial space exploration is framed along those lines, but this changes as he gets more experience.
(DIR) Post #AvGBQm5IJ5RYZBxnRw by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T16:15:52Z
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@carsonwoods sounds great, I'll give it a try!
(DIR) Post #AvGBk16Ghe5Adgav68 by carsonwoods@mastodon.social
2025-06-18T16:18:35Z
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@ricci I hope you like it!
(DIR) Post #AvGCLkUEv43A7MnahE by jtk@infosec.exchange
2025-06-18T16:26:14Z
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@ricci For history, maybe something from The Teaching Company or the Modern Scholar? You could do a lot worse than Margaret MacMillian's Paris 1919 for example.
(DIR) Post #AvGE6Sfz3YEaRa88kS by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T16:45:53Z
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@jtk great suggestions, thanks!
(DIR) Post #AvGQbJxmhQavqewCky by SallyStrange@bookwyrm.social
2025-06-18T18:03:00.268145+00:00
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@ricci@discuss.systems If you haven't read the Raksura series by Martha Wells, it's definitely worth using some credits on that. The audiobooks for that series are available exclusively through Audible, I believe. Fantasy isn't usually my jam, but this series avoids all the fantasy tropes that annoy me the most, and the setting is truly creative. Plus, the narrator does a fantastic job. Start with The Cloud Roads. For history, I recommend Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Lewis.
(DIR) Post #AvGQbKyAxSVAyA820O by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-18T19:05:56Z
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@SallyStrange Re: Cloud Roads, while I do have a soft spot for the fantasy tropes, I love a book that intentionally avoids or modifies them, this looks great!Re: Late Victorian Holocausts, yeah that sounds like a tough but important listen, exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for Thanks!
(DIR) Post #AvIWeqR7PSTDTJdrGq by joergr@bookwyrm.social
2025-06-19T16:05:51.297035+00:00
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@ricci@discuss.systems Olivia Laing - The Lonely CityChristopher Brown - A Natural History of Empty LotsCal Flyn - Islands of AbandonmentRobert MacFarlane - LandmarksHein de Haas - How Immigration Really WorksSue Burke - Semiosis
(DIR) Post #AvIWera19rBP1CoTmS by ricci@discuss.systems
2025-06-19T19:23:10Z
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@joergr great, thank you for the suggestions!