I am currently reading (and loving) Project Hail Mary. Great for the scientists and engineers, I would imagine. Apparently much better than the movie.
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Most books are LOL!
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I am an engineer who liked the Project Hail Mary book. Though at book club I admitted to skimming some of the long, descriptive pararaphs (a bit like I do fo the “ begat ” paragraphs in the Old Testatment.) Actuallky looking forward to seeing the movie for visualization of some of it. For me, the best part of the story was the friendship with Rocky.
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I loved the book Project Hail Mary. I loved the science in it. The movies focuses much more on the relationship with Rocky. Not bad – just different.
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My (engineer) husband loved the book too, particularly for the science - same reason he loved The Martian (same author I think?
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I LOVED the audio book of Project Hail Mary – both my S25 and I consumed it this way, and the narrator was just top notch. My D22 read the book and loved it, and my D26 and DH didn’t read it but saw the movie, but they loved that, too.
I didn’t care for the movie the first time I saw it – the book was SO much better – but it grew on me the second time.
I was really irritated with the trailers because Rocky was such a huge reveal that having him in the promos for the movie was a giant spoiler, IMHO.
What’s funny is everyone is talking about the science, but my D22 – a linguistics major – had a lot to say about the language learning and timeline thereof. 
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Maybe a hot take, but I think Lord of the Rings (extended editions) is the only time I can remember enjoying the movies much, MUCH more than the books.
(That was not true for the The Hobbit, however. Loved the book. It did not need to be three movies.)
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It was years between when I read LOTR (which I absolutely loved) and when I saw the movies. I loved the movies (a lot more than I expected).
Another movie adaptation that I thought was excellent, that managed to be quite faithful to the book even as it left a lot out, was Trainspotting. I’m not sure if that was quite the phenomenon in the US that it was elsewhere in the English-speaking world. I know a lot of people could not handle the way the book was written (my husband included), but I thought it was fabulous.
I know there were a couple other movies of books that I enjoyed but they’re not coming to mind right now. To be honest I just avoid a lot of movie adaptations because I expect to be disappointed! (And then for the ones based on suspense novels, well, I know the twist so it seems a little pointless.)
I remember being rather skeptical that the language barrier could be overcome so easily.
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I think my issue with LOTR is that I cut my teeth on Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends and similar stuff in middle school, and when I went back and read LOTR, I thought it was derivative, lol (I know, I know).
Trainspotting was huge here, but I have not read or seen it.
I did enjoy all the Harry Potter movies, although they were of varying quality if you start picking them apart. (True for the books as well.)
And I love the Game of Thrones books, but I also enjoyed the show, even the ending that everyone hated. (It’s not like we’re going to get more books to finish the series for real, lol.)
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(slight tangent)
after starting as #142 on the waitlist for The Correspondant, I got an email that I can pick it up in the next three days and have a week to read it (both standard rules for popular titles)
I am bedside w DH after a scheduled major operation and tomorrow he comes home for caregiving and convalescing. I wonder what number I will be when I cycle back to this title!!!
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The Correspondent is an easy title to pick up and put down in case you are inclined to try it. Hope things go well with your H’s surgery.
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Oh goodness. All good vibes to your DH as he recovers from surgery.
You’ll be busy, but will he be resting in bed or sleeping a lot while recovering? Maybe you’ll get more reading time in than you think!
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Good luck to your husband. Fwiw, The Correspondent could be a very good read for your downtime in nursing duties.
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I sorta read Mona’s Eyes. After chapter 12, I just couldn’t continue reading it linearly. It’s really two books badly pasted together. One is a mildly interesting story of a child’s few instances of temporary blindness and the search for the cause which acts as a poor contrivance for what seems to be the real purpose of the book — an Art 101 Survey course. Each chapter is neatly divided into a couple of pages of the child’s vision saga followed by several pages of her and her grandfather viewing one piece of art and discussing it in a cringeworthy back-and-forth where the grandfather marvels at the ten-year-old’s “insight.” Get it? “Insight” vs. “Blindness.” Pa dum pum.
After chapter 12, I just read the child’s story through to the end (chapter 52 as they visit one work of art a week for a year) and was underwhelmed. I then went back to chapter 13 to slog through the bad art lectures but just couldn’t do it. This one was a didn’t finish for me.
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I’m just finishing up the 8th (short–all ~150 pages) book in a series called The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion by Beth Brower. They are just laugh out loud funny in parts and I’m very sad to be finishing this volume. It’s unique, but if I had to peg it with something more well-known, consider it to be a late teen/early 20s Anne Shirley (of Anne of Green Gables fame) set in 1860s England. Emma is spunky, adventurous, full of heart, and makes a lovely “found family” in the novels. I don’t know if there are more volumes to come, but I hope so.
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I recently read The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine. It won the National Book Award, so no need to take my word on it being decent fiction. It’s very funny, a great story, and quite moving.
It touches on so much, and in spite of taking place in Beirut and involving a number of extraordinary characters, the humanity of it is very familiar - no small trick.
Highly recommend (and guessing this isn’t the first time on this thread!)
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Just finished Wild Dark Shore - thank you to whoever recommended it above.
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Thank you for sharing this book. I just finished the 1st book and I absolutely loved it! Beth Brower is a new author to me and I plan to work my way through all of her books.
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Thanks all for the recommendation of Yesteryear. A quick read, some interesting ideas, and a plot that keeps those pages turning!
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