The audiobook I’m listening to currently is pretty good: “The beginning after the end”. But that’s not what I’m trying to convince you to hear.

Go listen or Read “Cradle” by Will Wight. That’s a probably a 9/10. I can’t recommend it enough.

Both are fantasy novels, where the main characters gradually get stronger in principle.

Also: Travis Baldree is the GOAT for reading books.

Light Bringer by Pierce Brown. It’s part of the Red Rising series and it’s awesome.

The Lightbringer series by author Brent Weeks.

The type of “magic” in this fantasy series is unlike any other that I know of. Light can be split by some people into it’s individual colors, 1st book is The Black Prism, and those colors are able to be used/cast in a physical form with each color having specific properties and effects on the person that has the ability to use that color. Green is wild/free, red is anger/impulsive and so on. The prism, god chosen representative, is able to use all colors without limits. Murder, spies, politics, love, plot twists, magic…it’s got it all.

The reading is fairly easy and the story is easy to follow. This is, I think, the 4th time I am listening to the series. All of Brent Weeks books have been good…but something about this series is great.

Currently I’m listening to “What It Means to Be Moral” by Phil Zuckerman on Audible.

I like how it contrasts why some people might do the things that they do based on their beliefs and what it can lead a person to do or not do. It doesn’t force any conclusions on to you but it does make you think about things to come to your own conclusions.

I’ve been listening to the graphic audio versions of The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson.

I just finished listening to Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy. The narrator was fantastic. Probably the best I’ve listened.

Mother of Learning. It’s one of the best Rat Fics I’ve ever read, now in audio form.

Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Service Model”. It was excellent. But be warned, if you’re looking for military, adventure sci fi with snarky AI’s this will not be your cup of tea. The author takes on modern societal issues in the setting of post collapse human society. Yes, I’m aware of the dichotomy there.

If you do want snarky AI’s and adventure, then I recommend the following series:

“Backyard Starship” series. I think it’s up to book 17 so far and the quality of the books have stayed pretty consistent. The prequel series “The Peacemaker Wars” is also pretty good.

“Expeditionary Force” The quality does NOT stay consistent in this series and quite frankly, it’s not very well written. However, it’s like Lofthouse cookies, a lot of mediocre ingredients come together to make something great. I am a die hard fan of the series and highly recommend it if you want something that just removes you from reality for a while.

I recently listened to “A Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking” recently and I was NOT expecting YA fantasy fiction to go that hard on the subject of “heroism” being a term used to excuse the phenomenon of pushing people into dangerous jobs way too young to cover for the systemic failures and often outright corruption of existing power structures. I had a good few years experience in Healthcare beforehand but I graduated nursing school mid-covid and that book really spoke to me.

Somewhat coincidentally iirc it was actually released mid COVID as well, and I imagine had been worked on for years beforehand. So it’s interesting to me that the author picked up on the already existing manifestations of this phenomenon in a way that would speak so well to the epic clusterfuck that ultimately occurred.

1846 historical account by Francis Parkman called “The Oregon Trail”, narrated by Frank Muller. Francis was around 24 at the time and as a white male, certainly was influenced by the prevailing views of his time, but lived, feasted and hunted with Native Americans and directly observed their culture. He captures an era of American History in a unique way.

Plus, it isn’t so good that you can’t fall asleep. +8, would definitely do again.

There’s a podcast done by a well known Tolkien nerd in which he reads The Silmarillion and explains it along the way. I’ve been slowly making my way through it while driving to work and falling asleep.

The farseer triology.

It’s pretty interesting fantasy from about 20 odd years ago

character driven introspective

I’m listening to the Bobiverse again because the fifth book came out recently. The universe, pun intended, was really interesting and the entire idea of digital people is fun to think about while doing chores.

11-22-63 by myself and The Hail Mary Project with my wife.

I just finished listening to all 14 Honor Harrington novels.

I’ve started reading the somewhat expansive Cosmere universe of books by Brandon Sanderson.

I like actually reading, but there is a LOT to get through, so I’m reading the series (a couple trilogies, a series of 5 books) in actual print, and listening to the standalone novels in the universe on audio.

It’s actually been a nice day to keep moving through all the different overlapping character lines. One particular character, who I’ll call H, spans the various worlds and stories often. It’s fun reading something about H in one book and then hearing him as the narrator or showing up as a character in the audio book I’m listening to later.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

A funny little romance as told from the point of view of the monster terrorizing a town. She tries her best to woo a human and actually is a pretty supportive partner. It’s so weird and I love it.