As an example, I love the Martian, and I think a lot of older books from authors like Asimov are heavily into engineering / competence porn. Other favs in this category include the standalone novel Rendezvous with Rama to leave you wishing for more, most of the Culture series for happy utopian vibes, Schlock Mercenary for humor, Dahak series for fun mindless popcorn.
Edit: I’m so happy to have found a replacement for r/books and the rest of them.
Huh, it’s not often I get series recs that I’ve never even heard of before. Thanks, will check them out!
Sten is from the late 80s, Expendable from late 90s. :). And there’s a shaggy dog story in the Sten books that’s takes… 4 books, I think, to get the punchline. LOL.