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Book reading is one of the most intentional things I do, as in I usually read to develop a certain aspect of my current thinking/interests. So I'm most likely to take recos when people tell me not just what I should read but why.
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Finished Iain M. Banks’ Matter last night. Probably my favorite display of writing virtuosity so far. The sheer amount of world-building crammed into a single story... and literally into a single world. Wow. The shellworld idea is a sci-fi narrative engineering masterpiece.
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I read my first Banks 6 years ago (Use of Weapons) because recommended it for a specific reason -- for extra revealing look at world-building mechanics. Didn't get back into it until this year but that was a very helpful type of reco for me.
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Good books can be read for many reasons, so a bald reco isn't usually super helpful. The best sort of reco is when someone knows I'm vaguely interested in X, and gives me a reco that aligns kinda precisely with that.
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For eg. I'm very interested in time and clocks, and people send me recos on that stuff all the time from all sorts of directions. Now that's very helpful. If I have to evaluate and discover on my own why something is worth reading, chances are I won't do it.
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Introducing a book to another person is kinda like introducing 2 people. Works best when you add some specific context to why the relationship between book and reader might be fruitful.
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