Hello everyone!

I've been reading a lot lately. I haven't read books in years but I found myself getting back into it a few months ago. I would like to share some of the books I've been reading and discuss stuff with people!

(I will be avoiding spoilers here, focusing on the premise and vibes more than anything.)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I read Ender's Game a long time ago, and rereading it recently was the catalyst to my renewed enjoyment of books. It's about a uniquely intelligent young boy named Ender who is recruited into the space army in preparation of a second alien invasion. The book is actually more about the mind games and social conflicts Ender is put through during his years-long training and it's more philosophy than sci-fi, though it has plenty of action and intrigue.

I was impressed by how well it holds up today and it reminded me of how vividly books can paint a picture in your mind. The definition of a page-turner. If you're interested in sci-fi and are looking for a book to start with, Ender's Game is probably the most accessible.

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation is the book that inspired the movie of the same name, as well as the video game Control. It follows a team of unnamed women who journey into Area X, a bizarre, distorted place where nature itself has been twisted in incomprehensible and hostile ways. They are the twelfth expedition. None have ever returned.

Annihilation is told from the perspective of the biologist, who is quickly shown to be an unreliable narrator, often totally absorbed in her inner world and objective to a fault in her observations. This is probably one of the best-written books I've ever read, and my heart was genuinely pounding at multiple moments throughout. It's drowning in themes and parallels you could write an essay on. If you like psychological mind-bending insanity, I would highly recommend it.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

This is a collection of sci-fi short stories, one of which being the inspiration for the movie Arrival. Chiang clearly has an interest in exploring the impossible and pushing the borders of reality - common themes in almost every one of his stories - yet I'm deeply impressed by his apparent breadth of knowledge. He writes about mathematics, neurology, linguistics, and physics almost equally as convincingly. If you'd like a demo of sorts, you can find his short story Understand online.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

This thing is more like a real-life cryptid than it is a book. It gives off a cursed aura. It makes every creepypasta, SCP, and Backrooms-adjacent work look like a cartoon Halloween special.

A man named Will Navidson and his family move into a new house, only to discover that it is bigger on the inside. This book is unhinged. This book uses a multitude of unorthodox writing styles and bizarre typesetting to fully immerse you in the story. You will find yourself identifying with the narrator Johnny as you become lost within its pages, obsessed with finding connections and meaning within the meaningless.¹ Just as the characters creep through the halls, you will

tip

toe

through

the

pages,

careful

not

to

get

lost.

Conclusion

So that's what I've been reading! I would love to hear your thoughts. Have you read these books, or do you want to? Have any recommendations? What are you reading right now? Drop a comment below. -3-

---

¹This is a weird thing to say. The book clearly has meaning. That meaning is ________.^2
2Deaathtraap left this blank. -Ed.