myrmidex
Ironically enough How To Read by Mortimer J. Adler. I try to reread this book every few years to remind me what (else) I should be doing while reading.
Out of Mind by J. Bernlef really stuck with me. A story about a man suffering from Alzheimer's, his life seamlessly flowing over into memories. At times he suddenly awakens from them, realizes his current state, and a terrible emptiness engulfs him.
Wow, featuring Sole! I skipped over the first paragraph, had to reread it as soon as my subconscious recognized the name Tim Holland. Great to hear of his actions through a seperate channel from his music. Really shows how committed he is. There is no end to my respect for him.
I have no idea whatsoever, I like to dive in untainted. 😃
I'm anxiously awaiting the English translation of Haruki Murakami's latest, The City and Its Uncertain Walls.
Ex-banker president targets banks... Now that'd be quite an unexpecred headline! Shame it'll never be.
Olauncher - very minimal, no distractions. Shows the app's full name instead of icons, handfull of links on the main page, the rest can be found in the app drawer in a long list of app names.
Edit: just saw the mention here of mlauncher, an open source fork. Making the switch now 🙂
Now onto an answer: I'm really into the soft sci-fi of the Strugatsky brothers. Definitely Maybe is such a great read. As for more popular works, I did enjoy Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir a few months ago.
Not an answer to your question, but I came across this lemmy instance focused on literature. Seems they're still new, so not many communities yet, but you might have some luck there too!
https://literature.cafe - seems !fiction@literature.cafe is the most relevant community, but they really should open up a separate sci-fi community!
I came across this quote in the book I'm currently reading, Until the End of Time by Brian Greene. It doesn't really go into what makes a great story, but rather what prevents a story from being great:
For a concept to grab hold of our attention with enough force that we remember it and transmit it to others, the concept must be sufficiently novel to offer surprise but not so outrageous that we immediately deem it ridiculous. Invisible people? Sure, so long as invisibility is the only counterintuitive feature. A river that answers calculus problems by singing them to the theme of MAS*H? Silly, and so is dismissed by most everyone and quickly forgotten. Aligning with the larger-than-life themes of mythic tales, the protagonists we encounter are larger than life but minimally counterintuitive constructs of the human imagination. No surprise that these protagonists have physical forms, thought processes, and even personality profiles that, at the very least, are thoroughly familiar, even if their powers exceed expectations based on anything we have ever encountered.