October 2025
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    No explanation necessary unless you want to provide one – yes or no is fine!

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    The Winter of Our Discontent – John Steinbeck

    Absolutely would recommend.

    by rastab1023

    27 Comments

    1. The Devil Three Times – Rickey Fayne

      Would recommend. Especially to Steinbeck fans, magical realism fans, and history fans.

    2. garbage_account_27 on

      I’ve always got a few books going at one time..

      1. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (murderbot diaries book 3). Good books, funny series. Not very serious sci fi.

      2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. He’s such a good writer and it is fascinating stuff. Not quite self help.

      3. Use of Weapons by Ian Banks (Culture book 3). I’m really trying. It’s an interesting series. Book 2 was so good and I am riding the struggle bus with book 3.

      4. Dungeon Crawler Carl: the dungeon anarchist’s cookbook (DCC book 3). I love this series and this is my 2nd read through. They are all amazing and I love them.

      I’d recommend all of them I guess. You can bounce around in the Culture books since they are all stand alone, but DCC and Murderbot are linear so you need to start at #1. Anything by Gladwell is worth it from a learning perspective.

    3. Stoner – Absolutely would recommend
      The beach (Alex Garland) interesting so far, makes me wanna know more

    4. Currently reading *Bad Monkey* by Carl Hiaasen. If you’re looking for a fun crime/mystery with a dose of Florida satire and general comedy, absolutely yes I’d recommend it.

      Additionally, I’m through the first two books of the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer which I’d also thoroughly recommend to anybody into sci-fantasy, psychological thriller/cosmic horror vibes.

    5. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. 11 chapters in and it’s at least keeping me interested.

    6. ConsciousRoyal on

      Cracked Mirror by Christ Brookmyre

      I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would.

    7. I’m reading Helm by Sarah Hall.

      I’m only half way but so far it’s been incredible. It’s about a sentient wind throughout history and the language changes in each chapter based on the time period. One of the most original books I’ve read in a long time. It’s fairly new and I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about it!

    8. Woman in Cabin 10 – definitely. I think the author is playing with perception. It’s very interesting.

    9. here_and_there_their on

      Highly recommend
      Becoming Madame Secretary. If you like historical fiction, this is a well researched well written book about Frances Perkins, a badass woman who is grit-fueled work, policies and programs made a huge difference during the depression and beyond.

    10. Impressive-Peace2115 on

      1. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik – historical fantasy, would definitely recommend!
      2. The Cabinet by Un-Su Kim – science fiction, recommend if you like weirdness and more vibes than plot.
      3. The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei – detective stories featuring police officers in Hong Kong, enjoying it so far
      4. Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett – fantasy, Discworld #17 – hilarious!

    11. backcountry_knitter on

      There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone

      Would definitely recommend. Even if you’re familiar with the big picture issues, it’s structured in such a way that you are immersed in the details of the struggle with the families the book follows.

      If you’ve read Evicted by Matthew Desmond this is a great follow-up.

    12. Mr Jolly by Michael Stewart, and maaaaaaybe. Depends who I’m recommending to.

      It’s a short story collection, it skews surreal, and some of them don’t really have a resolution. But they’re all thought-provoking, his writing style is great, and they’re only a few pages apiece so you can dip in and out.

    13. Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners edited by Josh Davidson

      i definitely recommend it. each chapter is from a different person who has spent time locked up. it’s very insightful and fuels my rage against the prison industrial complex.

    14. PatchworkGirl82 on

      “Henry III: Son of Magna Carta” by Matthew Lewis. He wasn’t the most exciting of kings (unless you’re a big fan of architecture), but it’s a really interesting look at how power shifted in the wake of his predecessors.

    15. An oldie — Chesapeake by James Michener. Very long and covers a broad sweep of time (400 years) but so interesting to delve deep into one geographical area and see how America changed over that time.

    16. Heartbreaker by Mike Campbell. It’s a memoir by the lead guitar player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I’m actually listening to the audiobook (which I don’t normally do) because it’s read by Campbell. If you like rock and roll, you’ll probably like this. Hearing the man tell his story from poverty to becoming one of the biggest musicians in music in the 70’s-80’s-90’s is so cool. All the collaborations with other musicians, the shows, hearing him tell about how he wrote hit songs, it’s all fascinating. I highly recommend this book.

    17. Efficient_Amoeba_221 on

      I’m about halfway through Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. Would recommend.

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