The Dispatcher by John Scalzi -- Interesting premise; I'm not sure what it is other than being an Audible short story but its cadence or something reminds me of Murderbot Diaries; definitely a decent listen and I will finish the other two.

Murder By Other Means by John Scalzi -- book 2 of series

Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi -- book 3 of series/ Probably the best of the three. Heavily influenced by Covid, which is an interesting backdrop.

The Suneater Series is fantastic, if anyone is interested in an epic sprawling space fantasy/opera.

I finished "Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole.

It was supposed to be funny, and there were some places where I laughed out loud. It was fun to experience street life in the poor, inner city section of New Orleans back in the 1960s.

But some of what might have been funny when I was much younger now just seems sad. The main character is a complete and total loser. He's verbally abusive of everyone including his own mother, who is non-deserving of it. It's like reading an entire book about Will Ferrel's character in "Wedding Crashers". Ma! Meatloaf!!

Supposedly there is an entire section of society similar to Ignacious called Neckbeards. I gotta admit, I don't know any of them, and if I did I wouldn't spend much time with them.

I tried reading it decades ago, and did not finish. This time I finished, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

From today's lens he's definitely on the spectrum.

Rudyjax said:

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From today's lens he's definitely on the spectrum.

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Yep. When it was written, Ignacious was just an eccentric character in a town full of eccentric characters. Today he would be diagnosed, medicated, arrested, prosecuted, exposed, cancelled, and ostracized.

Philo B 93 said:

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Rudyjax said:

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From today's lens he's definitely on the spectrum.

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Yep. When it was written, Ignacious was just an eccentric character in a town full of eccentric characters. Today he would be diagnosed, medicated, arrested, prosecuted, exposed, cancelled, and ostracized.

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I wouldn't go that far.

Rudyjax said:

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Philo B 93 said:

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Rudyjax said:

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From today's lens he's definitely on the spectrum.

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Yep. When it was written, Ignacious was just an eccentric character in a town full of eccentric characters. Today he would be diagnosed, medicated, arrested, prosecuted, exposed, cancelled, and ostracized.

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I wouldn't go that far.

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I should have stopped after medicated. I was on a roll. The guy was horrible to his mom, though. Also, imagine forging the signature of your company owner on a scathing, nasty letter to a supplier resulting in a law suit, and then organizing a strike/protest by the workers against your own company. There would be some legal action involved.

Finished The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien.

Man…I struggled. It was good but I constantly found myself ready to be done with it. Very similar to the feeling I had when reading The Hobbit. Now I'm questioning if I want to continue with the next two. Someone tell me the next two books are more action..bc I felt like action was missing from this one.

Either way, my brother-in-law loaned me his copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl and has been on me to start it, so I think it's time I dive in. High expectations going in, thanks to this thread. I'm hopeful it won't disappoint.

Books read in 2026:

January
The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

February


March
The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien

The answer is yes you want to continue, then chase it with The Silmarillion

Completed: The Wizards and the Warriors by Hugh Cook. Fantasy story written in the 80s, first in a series of ten. I was surprised I'd never heard of it before, but I really enjoyed it. The style reminds me a little bit of Glen Cook (no relation that I know of), specifically his Dread Empire series - plain, easy writing not overly concerned with flowery text.

Almost done with Project Hail Mary - really good

Is The Martian a good read? I loved the movie

Is Artemis any good?

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I be been wanting to try the Remembrance of Earth's Past - Three Body Problem; but nervous since it's Chinese l-centric it won't translate well ... ?

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Almost done with Project Hail Mary - really good

Is The Martian a good read? I loved the movie

Is Artemis any good?

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I be been wanting to try the Remembrance of Earth's Past - Three Body Problem; but nervous since it's Chinese l-centric it won't translate well ... ?

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PHM is the best.
But i really like all 3.

I read both PHM and The Martian last year (in that order). I liked The Martian better.

Wolfpac 08 said:

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I read both PHM and The Martian last year (in that order). I liked The Martian better.

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Not a bad opinion.

Martian book and movie are my favorite combo.

SpreadsheetAg said:

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Almost done with Project Hail Mary - really good

Is The Martian a good read? I loved the movie

Is Artemis any good?

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I be been wanting to try the Remembrance of Earth's Past - Three Body Problem; but nervous since it's Chinese l-centric it won't translate well ... ?

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Loved PHM. Really enjoyed Artemis as well.

Have not read the Martian yet.

HawthornAggie said:

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SpreadsheetAg said:

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Almost done with Project Hail Mary - really good

Is The Martian a good read? I loved the movie
Is Artemis any good?

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I be been wanting to try the Remembrance of Earth's Past - Three Body Problem; but nervous since it's Chinese l-centric it won't translate well ... ?

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Loved PHM. Really enjoyed Artemis as well.

Have not read the Martian yet.

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This is me too. The Martian is on my list for soon.

I am currently reading The Martian.

The first time I read The Hobbit and LOTR was in the mid to late 70s and I loved them so much I reread them probably thirty times over the years. A couple of years ago I started to read the Hobbit again and stopped about 25% in; it just didn't interest me that much anymore. I do believe you'll enjoy finishing the trilogy, but based on your reading history, you'll probably enjoy DCC more.

Like the others said, The Martian is an outstanding book and definitely worth the time to read. Artemis isn't bad, but not as good as either PHM or The Martian.