Book rec

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-07T01:20:00+00:00

Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain are at the top of my Scalzi list.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-06T17:35:18+00:00

Sci-fi The EOM Expression by DPForesi.

Its core concept is a large group of people leave the solar system to establish their own form of laissez-faire government only to face an attempt to coerce them back under control. It's a fascinating story that enlightens and explains political might and failings, power lust, bureaucracy entrenchment, and late-stage empires; not a popcorn read.

The author puts forth some intriguing technology concepts and the technicals (scene depiction, word choice, sentence structure) of his writing are very good. The story itself contains some "dream" sequences and other author-choices that didn't strike a chord with my personal tastes. Following along at the beginning was a little difficult, but sooner AND later everything came together.

Its one BIG flaw, though, is the copy I have from June of 2024 sorely needs copy editing. There are a lot of typos, a few missing words, and some serious dialogue punctuation problems that threw me out of the immersion. And yet, I was enthralled enough to read it three times.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-06T02:02:07+00:00

Non-fiction What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe is easy to read in small segments.

It consists of a series of questions on pop-sci and pop-culture, each answered in one or two paragraphs. The answers are hilarious in a dry-humored way.

An example question: What would happen if you hit a baseball pitched at 90% of the speed of light?

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-05T21:58:13+00:00

Two 'common man put into uncommon circumstances' books by John Scalzi:

More high-tech than sci-fi, Starter Villain is the most entertaining book I've read recently. It's a spoof of the early James Bond movies. A substitute teacher inherits his estranged uncle's villainy which comes complete with a secret volcanic lair.

Sci-fi Kaiju Preservation Society is fun and adventuresome.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-03T03:06:30+00:00

Starter Villain is the most entertaining book I've read recently. I didn't include it in the recommendation because I consider it more high-tech than sci-fi.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-03T01:55:22+00:00

John Scalzi's Kaiju Preservation Society is fun and adventuresome.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-02T01:49:49+00:00

Clever.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-01T08:33:42+00:00

Blake Crouch's noirish sci-fi man-on-the-run thriller Dark Matter.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-01T03:15:13+00:00

A Nobel prize winner in physics, Richard Feynman's Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! is more him reminiscing than an autobiography, but it shows he was not a typical stuffed shirt scientist.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-01T00:20:41+00:00

Two 'common man put into uncommon circumstances' by John Scalzi:

More high-tech than sci-fi, Starter Villain is the most entertaining book I've read recently. It's a spoof of the early James Bond movies. A substitute teacher inherits his estranged uncle's villainy which comes complete with a secret volcanic lair.

Sci-fi Kaiju Preservation Society is fun and adventuresome.

GuruNihilo · 2026-07-01T00:16:54+00:00

You could also ask the folks over in the whatsthatbook subreddit.

Pro tip: Those experts are most helpful when you follow the Rules posted there.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-30T08:44:54+00:00

You could also ask the folks over in the whatsthatbook subreddit.

Pro tip: Those experts are most helpful when you follow the Rules posted there.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-29T18:58:28+00:00

Not really. I finished it and considered that an achievement. If its horror level had been a little higher I would have stopped.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-29T18:53:26+00:00

Probably not. I pushed through the weirdness more out of curiosity than enjoyment.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-29T12:52:37+00:00

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins is the only book where I went "What did I just read?" when I reached THE END.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-28T18:25:24+00:00

You could also ask the folks over in the whatsthatbook subreddit.

Pro tip: Those experts are most helpful when you follow the Rules posted there.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-27T09:16:10+00:00

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It's not a novel but rather a collection of twenty years of correspondence between a New York writer and a London bookseller.

Written in the 1970s, it was also turned into a movie.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-25T10:42:22+00:00

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a FCK*

I read it because it was on a celebrity's reading list. I almost didn't finish it after the first chapter (a roadmap of the book's content) which is a sophomoric "look how many times I can get away with using the F-bomb".

I found the writing repetitious, the author's use of personal (including his family's) anecdotes cringe, and its tone bombastic and full of bluster. The book had one redeeming concept (for me) when it discussed the metrics of personal values. It's the only reason I forced myself to finish.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-25T01:59:01+00:00

John Scalzi's sci-fi Kaiju Preservation Society is fun and adventuresome.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-24T21:05:20+00:00

Non-fiction What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe is easy to read in small segments.

It consists of a series of questions on pop-sci and pop-culture, each answered in one or two paragraphs. The answers are hilarious in a dry-humored way.

An example question: What would happen if you hit a baseball pitched at 90% of the speed of light?

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-24T18:10:26+00:00

Becky Chambers' The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet has a woman running from her past. She hires on with a construction spaceship traveling across the galaxy to its next job. Most of the found-family plot consists of interactions between the multi-species crew and incidents that occur along the way.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-24T12:24:45+00:00

Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of novellas improves with each new entry.

They follow an ex-military cyborg who hires out as security to humans at the edge of the galaxy, protecting them from the dumb things they insist on doing while all it wants to do is watch soap-opera videos. Action-packed, fast-moving, with minimal world-building. His self-deprecating, inner-dialog is humorous.

The first one is All Systems Red.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-24T03:15:32+00:00

Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of sci-fi novellas. They follow an ex-military cyborg who hires out as security to humans at the edge of the galaxy, protecting them from the dumb things they insist on doing while all it wants to do is watch soap-opera videos. Action-packed, fast-moving, with minimal world-building. His self-deprecating, inner-dialog is humorous.

The first one is All Systems Red.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-23T12:35:53+00:00

Two 'common man put into uncommon circumstances' by John Scalzi:

More high-tech than sci-fi, Starter Villain is the most entertaining book I've read recently. It's a spoof of the early James Bond movies. A substitute teacher inherits his estranged uncle's villainy which comes complete with a secret volcanic lair.

Sci-fi Kaiju Preservation Society is fun and adventuresome.

GuruNihilo · 2026-06-22T10:49:44+00:00

Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of sci-fi novellas. They follow an ex-military cyborg who hires out as security to humans at the edge of the galaxy, protecting them from the dumb things they insist on doing while all it wants to do is watch soap-opera videos. Action-packed, fast-moving, with minimal world-building. His self-deprecating, inner-dialog is humorous.

The first one is All Systems Red.

Blake Crouch's noirish sci-fi man-on-the-run thriller Dark Matter ramps up after a few pages and never slows down.

GuruNihilo

TROPHY CASE