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Enfys posted:1. Shift - Hugh Howey 18. Confronting Capitalism: Real Solutions for a Troubled Economic System - Philip Kotler Kotler is a big name in marketing. Here he examines the problems with capitalism and their possible solutions. He thinks that capitalism is basically the best overall of the various financial models, but that it is still hugely flawed and destructive. A lot of the book was pretty frustrating - sure, a lot of the problems with capitalism could be solved by closing tax loopholes and reigning in corporate greed, but...none of these solutions seem very feasible? Arguing that capitalism could be a great system if only people were better and less selfish just comes across as either naive or facetious. 19. Three Parts Dead - Max Gladstone I was a bit tired of actual law and finance, so I took a break to read about magical lawyers and accountants. An enjoyable read with an interesting cast of largely non-white female characters. 20. Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner I tried reading this years ago but eventually gave up. I saw it referenced as one of the most important or influential American novels and decided to give it another go. It's primarily the story of New England lady trying to make a marriage with a mining engineer work in the 1800s. There are a lot of interesting frontier and western locations throughout the book, and it examines a troubled but loving relationship. Stegner is a brilliant writer with a gift for describing the world of his characters and the issues in their relationships. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 20/50 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women . 6/10 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 6/10 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 12) Read something historical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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May 31, 2017 15:02
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quote:1 - The Outsider, by Albert Camus In April and May, I read eight books. Pace still very slow as real-life turbulence continues. 21 - Zero History, by William Gibson. Third and final book of the Blue Ant trilogy, with a returning cast of characters and a sprinkling of new ones. The plot concerns the world of fashion and "underground branding", playing on themes of augmented reality and hidden media as with the previous two books. The early chapters, with clandestine recordings of jean stitching, lavish and bizarre hotel rooms and the plot thread around Milgrim's rehabilitation, are excellent, vivid and amusing. However, I was disappointed and sometimes outright lost during the final act and the climax felt underwhelming to me. I'm happy to see the overarching narrative come to a close, but compared to the excitement of Spook Country or Pattern Recognition it felt a bit limp. 22 - s√he, by Saul Williams. His second published poetry collection, exploring the highs and lows of an early relationship and the parenthood that arose from it. There are some excellent short poems here, but a lot of half-finished thoughts. Obviously, as poetry about the breakdown of love and trust, there is an important voice missing (i.e. the woman he's writing about), but even taking that into account, I didn't feel as moved or as enriched by this collection as I was hoping. 23 - Mr. Fox, by Helen Oyeyemi. A writer's muse takes on a life of her own and starts to interrogate him for the way he treats the women in his stories, and in his real life. The book illustrates his fixations with engaging short stories set in different locations and with different incarnations of his archetypal men and women. The main plot of the book doesn't really get going for a while, and I found myself floundering for the first half, but it pulls together very well by the end. Even so, I didn't feel nearly as much pleasure or satisfaction from this kind of meta storytelling as I expected. Perhaps the stakes in the short stories affected me more than the main plot? I do like the way Oyeyemi writes though, so I can see myself picking up more of her work in future. 24 - Embed With Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers, by Cara Ellison. A Scottish games journalist and writer takes a trip around the world, stopping in locations from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and spending time with various (mostly independent) game developers. Written over the span of 2014, it provides a vivid snapshot of the cutting edge of videogame creation, while also being a very personal work (like much of Ellison's writing). She captures quiet, intimate moments and busy parties with equal dexterity, is candid in talking about the parts of games culture and culture at large that excite or upset her. The book is part travelogue, too, and Ellison sketches out cities and homes with character and life. Reading it I felt envious, not just of the places she was able to visit but the people and conversations she was able to engage with. A very good book. 25 - 3 Conversations, by merritt kopas and Charlotte Shane. A sixty-odd-page chapbook consisting of three long conversations, about 'Body', 'Work' and 'Relationships'. Candid, explicit and unflinching, kopas and Shane have a great and lively chemistry, and offer deep insight into topics such as sex work, transgender bodies, polyamory and survival. Engrossing and personal, I found myself nodding along throughout, even as a cis guy. 26 - Saga, vol. 7, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Still Saga, still excellent. More is at stake and more lives hang in the balance as characters succumb to immense stress. This trade has some of the bleakest scenes, and the beautiful artwork only adds to the affective elements of the story. 27 - Playground, by 50 Cent. I saw this in a pound shop and knew I had to buy it. Yeah, Fiddy wrote a book! (With a ghostwriter). It's a YA novel loosely based on his own childhood, about a troubled teen called Butterball dealing with the fallout of a violent outburst at school. Told in simple, blunt but effective language, the story follows Butterball through therapy, family anxieties and peer pressure, towards a pleasant and optimistic ending. It's actually pretty good, and captures a fairly authentic teenage voice. A quick read, but not one I regret at all. 28 - Tokyo Cancelled, by Rana Dasgupta. Solid and interesting magical realism with plenty of surprises. Effectively a short story collection, with the framing device of having thirteen strangers trapped at an airport overnight sharing stories. The stories are often really good - Dasgupta touches on a lot of turn-of-the-millennium anxieties such as cloning, information technology and pandemic (terrorism is conspicuously absent). There are several running themes across the stories: immigration and migration, body horror, and an unpleasant running trope of women as mysterious objects. This is offset a litte by the eleventh story - Katya has much more control than most of the other women in the book, but is still the target of manipulation. Gender stuff aside, apart from a couple of less-interesting entries, this is a good and interesting collection that had me pleasantly engaged from start to finish. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. Goal: 52 - 28 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by women. - 13 - 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by someone non-white. - 9 - 3, 9, 11, 12, 18, 22, 23, 27, 28 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) - Black Boy - 8) Read something which was published before you were born. - 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. - 12) Read something historical. - 12a) Read something about the First World War. - 15) Read a play. - 18) Read something which was banned or censored. - 19) Read a satire. - 20) Read something about honour. - 21) Read something about fear. - 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - 23) Read something that you love. -
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Jun 1, 2017 16:03
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Apparently I forgot to update for April so here's two months April 19. The Complete Cosmicomics- Italo Calvino 20. Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World- Sharon Waxman 21. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History- Elizabeth Kolbert 22. The Fifth Season- NK Jemisin 23. All Creatures Great and Small- James Herriot 24 For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond- Ben Macintyre 25. Consider Phlebas- Iain M Banks May 26. A Fire Upon the Deep- Vernor Vinge 27. Red Rising- Pierce Brown 28. Ninefox Gambit- Yoon Ha Lee 29. In The First Circle- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 30. Agapē Agape- William Gaddis 31. Omon Ra- Viktor Pelevin Standouts for the months: The Fifth Season- great setting, and I love me some second person when it's done well Omon Ra- extremely funny Negative Standouts: Red Rising- imagine all the generic tropes of young adult fiction in the last few years mixed up into one bad book I found myself underwhelmed by Consider Phlebas? I know Banks is supposed to be great and the Culture series is a popular favorite, but Phlebas was just very forgettable to me. Is there a better place to start with Banks?
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Jun 1, 2017 17:19
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Radio! posted:
I read a sample chapter of Red Rising and just wasn't into it, but everyone raves about it so I keep feeling I should get it to read anyway. Consider Phlebas has been sitting on my shelf for nearly a decade now. Every once in awhile, I pick it up and get a few chapters into it before losing interest. According to goons, some of the other culture books are really good though.
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Jun 1, 2017 17:42
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Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt This worked out to be a heavier reading month than I expected. There are some lighter books throughout, but not as many as I typically would string in, and some I thought were going to be light finished up heavier than I expected. All in all a gloomy start to the summer, but I did finish 11 books. I didn't really advance in the challenge, other than upping the numbers on 1, 2, and 3. And I just checked out a couple Westerns from the library, so we'll see. 39. The Aguero Sisters by Cristina Garica - Going back to Ms Garcia after enjoying Lady Matador's Hotel earlier this year. This one looks at Cuba before and after the revolution. The post Revolution story is told by the Aguero sisters, one who emigrated to Florida and the other who stayed behind. Throughout you get a rich longing for the Cuba that was. 40. The Amazing Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - Contrary to Tiggum, I'm enjoying the Pollifax books. I'd say "cozy spy stories" is an apt description and their strength rather than a weakness. That being said they are exciting and this one had some funny moments. 41. The Vampire Tree by Paul Halter - This was by far the dud of the month. Grabbed on a whim, it purports to have a double mystery, a series of killings in the present day and a historical hanging that still haunts the house to this day. Neither mystery was good nor were they adequately engaging. This would have been better with actual vampire trees. 42. Planetfall by Emma Newman - On a distant planet, a colony's secret past threatens them all when a stranger comes to visit. The ending flubs it a little, I think, but otherwise an enjoyable scifi read. 43. Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto - A young woman's mother moves in with her and they grieve for her father. This is sort of a year in the life after her dad dies and explores the way she and others grieve for him. It makes a unique coming of age story, and also serves as an elegy to quirky neighborhoods lost to gentrification. 44. The End of the Day by Claire North - Charlie is the Harbinger of Death. He Goes Before as a courtesy or warning. Sometimes it's to recognize the passing of a person or perhaps an idea or even a way of life. As you might expect, this job involves a lot of travel. It takes it's toll and makes maintaining a home life tricky. Have you even thought about how strangers react when they hear what you do for a living? This novel is really a character novel where you learn about Charlie and moreover learn about Death (and death). This was unexpected, but good, and while not for everyone, I think this'd be a nice novel for someone who enjoyed Pratchett's Death. 45. The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales - After a novel about grief and then one about death, I was looking to this one as a lighter fun read. That's how it's billed, after all. Crazy fonts. Hidden bunkers. Secret societies. Magical assassins saving the world. And it never quite pulls it together. It raises a lot of questions about loyalty that could have been interestingly explored, but are never quite. "Never quite" is really the story here. It doesn't quite commit to either hijinx or seriousness, but has feints at both. It's not un-fun but just not what I was hoping. And even then it didn't live up to what it could have been. 46. Daddy was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether - After that run you really want to delve into a lighthearted story of Harlem in the Depression. Basically being a person of color in Harlem during the Depression sucks. What's done so well here is how it's laid out by Francie, the 12 year old narrator. You see it all going on and how the unfairness of the world unfolds around Francie and her dawning realizations. Not just the realizations of a tween, but full blown the world is a mean place when you're the out group. It could get heavy handed or didactic, but Meriwether does it well. 47. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie - I think this was someone else's wildcard as well. Wound up really enjoying it. Solid mystery throughout. I'd never really read Christie, but I feel like I need to pick more of this up. The oddity to me was that despite being billed as a Ms Marple story, she's hardly in it. Like probably 2/3 of the story is sans Marple. 48.Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar - I was short on time at the library and grabbed this because it was a manageable length and had an interesting title. In the near future, Czechia, striving for international relevance, launches Jakub on a solo mission to collect samples of a mysterious gas cloud that's appeared between the Earth and Venus. Midflight he discovers a spider-like alien eating his Nutella. He shares his memories of growing up, of love, of the Velvet Revolution, and some philosophy about whether it's it's better to strive to be known or to be comfortable. Will he be able to make it home and repair his relationship with his wife? What'll happen to his country, now over run with tourists and KFC? For a book that easily could have become zany alien antics or a "Martian' redux this becomes a surprisingly moving and philosophical book about being human and how our pasts define us. Would recommend. 49. Human Acts by Han Kang - The brutal suppression of a student uprising in 1980 has long reaching effects. There's apparently a lot about South Korea of which I was unaware. Turns out a lot went on between "stop 'em at the 38th parallel" and Gangnam Style. This was really good, often difficult, and frequently discussed here already. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 49/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 21/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 17/12 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Taste of Honey 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - Mother Night 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Umami 8) Read something which was published before you were born. Grendel 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political - No Knives in the Kitchens of this City 12) Read something historical. - For All the Tea in China 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. - For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf 16) Read a collection of short stories. - Natural History of Hell 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - Stiletto 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - Get Carter 23) Read something that you love. - The Shipping News 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Jun 5, 2017 |
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Jun 1, 2017 18:27
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screenwritersblues posted:Currently reading: Our Endless Number Days by Claire Fuller and My Heart is an Idiot by Davy Rothbart Son of a... I got so busy that I forgot to post since February. I fell like an rear end. Feb to May 7) Our Endless Number Days - Claire Fuller 8) My Heart is an Idiot - Davy Rothbart 9) Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher 10) Love fore Sale: Pop Music in America - David Hajdu 11) How to Party with an Infant - Kaui Hart Hemmings 12) TV: The Book - Alan Sepinwell 13) The Godfather - Mario Puzo 14) South and West - Joan Didion 15) The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty - Vendela Vida 16) Above the Waterfall - Ron Rash 17) Binary Star - Sarah Gerard 18) The Kids of Appetite- David Arnold 19) The Sellout -Paul Beatty 20) String Theory - David Foster Wallace 21) Don't Look Now - Daphne Du Maurier 22) Best Boy - Eli Gottleib 23) The Boy Who Went Away- Eli Gottleib 24) The First Collection of Rock Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic - Jessica Hooper 24/30 6/13
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Jun 2, 2017 01:31
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May! 23. The Ice Princess. Camilla Läckberg. The mystery gets lost in the middle of explanations for everything except the clues. The characters were flat and the story was just boring, only a few sparks of humor saved it. 24. Diamond Dogs, Turqouise Days. Alastair Reynolds. A couple of short stories in the Revelation Space universe, the first is great, the second good. 25. Death Masks. Jim Butcher. A fun read. The characters were, as usual, the strong point of the book. This series keeps getting better. 26. Agent to the Stars. John Scalzi. Kind of decent story, but why do every character needs to be an annoying smartass? Even the alien! 27. Lockstep. Karl Schroeder. The world-building was pretty good, the characters were lacking and the story was just ok. 28. The Spawn of Dagon. Henry Kuttner. A fun short story, not much else. It would fit pretty well in the Conan universe. 29. El Imperio Eres Tú. Javier Moro. It's hard to write about the whole life of one person in one book, specially if that person is Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. It's entertaining, dense and repetitive, just like reading Wikipedia. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 29/75 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 13/15 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 6/15 4) 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) 18) 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) 24)
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Jun 2, 2017 01:36
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Radio! posted:I found myself underwhelmed by Consider Phlebas? I know Banks is supposed to be great and the Culture series is a popular favorite, but Phlebas was just very forgettable to me. Is there a better place to start with Banks? Ben Nevis posted:40. The Amazing Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - Contrary to Tiggum, I'm enjoying the Pollifax books. I'd say "cozy spy stories" is an apt description and their strength rather than a weakness. That being said they are exciting and this one had some funny moments.
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Jun 2, 2017 05:58
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Tiggum posted:Consider Phlebas is the first one and it's a bit different to the later ones. I liked it, but I wouldn't call it representative of the series. For someone who's already started with Consider Phlebas I think there's no good reason not to read the rest in publication order. So, Player of Games and then Use of Weapons and if you're not hooked on the Culture by then, you probably never will be.
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Jun 2, 2017 09:00
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Radio! posted:Omon Ra- extremely funny I read that a couple of years ago and it was indeed hilarious. Must remember to check out some more Pelevin.
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Jun 2, 2017 09:01
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Here's what I read in May: 27. The Little Communist Who Never Smiled - Lola Lafon (4/5) 28. Drag Teen - Jeffrey Self (4/5) 29. Not Your Sidekick - C.B. Lee (4/5) 30. The History of Rome, Vol. 1 - Theodor Mommsen (2/5) 31. The Rest of Us Just Live Here - E. Lockhart (3/5) 32. The Stars are Legion - Kameron Hurley (4/5) 33. We Are the Ants - Shaun David Hutchinson (4/5) 34. Archie, Vol. 2 - Mark Waid (3/5) 35. Arne - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (4/5) 36. Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire (3/5) 37. The Upside of Unrequited - Becky Albertalli (3/5) 38. We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (4/5) 39. The Most Dangerous Place on Earth - Lindsey Lee Johnson (2/5) On deck for June: Library books, Nobel winners, book of the month? Also probably some of the Hugo nominees since I have the voter packet. Favorites this month were The Little Communist Who Never Smiled, The Stars are Legion, and Arne. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 39/52 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 20/11 (Personal challenge: 20/20) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/11 (Personal challenge: 5/20) 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 9) Read something in translation. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 23) Read something that you love. BookRiot: 12/24 PopSugar: 27/52 BotM: 1/6 (But I will be counting books I finish outside of the allotted month as long as I start them in the month in question.) In German: 0/5 In translation: 4/10 Nobels: 2/12 Reviewed: 7/26
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Jun 2, 2017 20:50
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May - 7: Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body (Sara Pascoe) The Lost Heart of Asia (Colin Thubron) The Ticket that Exploded (William Burroughs) I Have a Dream: The Speeches that Changed History (Ferdie Addis) Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (Philip K. Dick) Fever Dream (Samanta Schweblin) The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) Animal was funny and also educational. Sara Pascoe is a British comedian, which gives the book a light tone, but what she's writing about is serious - women's bodies, and the way women's place in Western society has evolved and some of the reasons why. The content isn't revolutionary, but it's a cogent and readable introduction to the issues it raises. The Lost Heart of Asia was written in 1995ish, shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Thubron is a travel writer with extensive experience in the Arabic and Soviet worlds, and in Lost Heart he travels through the new Central Asian republics, experiencing life there in the new post-Soviet world. Thubron's powers of observation are faultless and he's completely willing to subsume himself in the lives of the people he meets. There's tons of interesting stuff here, except for two things - one, by the end it starts to drag, and Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan end up being quite rushed compared to the long time he spent in Uzbekistan. There's a bit of a feeling like he ran out of time/money and rushed through the end of the journey and subsequently the book. Two, Thubron is an Eton-educated conservative white dude, and his tone occasionally veers from concerned to paternalistic. Overall though, an interesting look at a part of the world which rarely receives much attention. The Ticket that Exploded made absolutely no sense to me. The cut-up thing was too overwhelming. I Have a Dream was a short book of excerpts from speeches, with a quick blurb about the surrounding events and consequences. It's kind of light and silly, because it's Great Man Theory personified, but whatever. Flow My Tears was cool, I like P. Dick. In this one, Jason Taverner is a pop singer and TV presenter who wakes up after being attacked by an ex-girlfriend to find that he's living in a world that doesn't remember him. Unfortunately the America of the novel is a fascist state with obsessive ID checks and not being able to produce any kind of identification will see him in a concentration camp in short order. It has those familiar Dick themes of creeping surveillance and the crushing weight of technology plus not being able to trust your own sanity or anyone else's. He's certainly a guy who wrote a very similar story a lot of times, but he executes it well. Fever Dream had a big buzz about it recently and was nominated for the Booker International. It's told in first person as a conversation between Amanda, who's in hospital dying of an unspecified illness, and David, who is her friend's son. There's a gradual revelation of how they got to this point, which doesn't actually reveal much - it's told exactly in the kind of confused, feverish narrative the title suggests, and what happened and why is wide open to interpretation. A very interesting debut for Samanta Schweblin. The Haunting of Hill House continues the theme of the last two books. Eleanor Vance is a woman in her early 30s who's spent the last decade caring for her sick and demanding mother. The mother dies and shortly after Eleanor receives an invitation to visit Hill House as part of a study of the supernatural. She goes, stealing her sister's car and effectively running away from home, desperate for some kind of adventure to enter her life. It's a hugely famous ghost story, with an undercurrent of the characters questioning their own perceptions - a theme which is picked up more explicitly in the film, which I also watched. Jackson has a great style, and I ended up buying a short story collection of hers on the strength of reading this. Ticking stuff off the booklord this month we have LGBT author for Burroughs, and fear for Haunting of Hill House. Not many categories left! Need to read my wildcard, a play and some poetry and then round out the numbers game. To date - 38: Booklord: 4-5, 7-13, 16-24 Women: 11/38, 29% Non-white: 12/38, 32% 01. The Ottoman Centuries (Lord Kinross) 12 02. Snow Country (Yasunari Kawabata) 8 03. Signs Preceding the End of the World (Yuri Herrera) 9 04. Socialism: A Very Short Introduction (Michael Newman) 11 05. Human Acts (Han Kang) 7 06. As Meat Loves Salt (Maria McCann) 17 07. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Damien Keown) 08. The Dog Who Dared to Dream (Sun-Mi Hwang) 24 09. Dirty Havana Trilogy (Pedro Juan Gutierrez) 18 10. Excession (Iain M. Banks) 11. They Who Do Not Grieve (Sia Figiel) 12. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Haruki Murakami) 13. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain (Barney Norris) 23 14. What is not yours is not yours (Helen Oyeyemi) 16 15. The Plague (Albert Camus) 5 16. The Tale of Aypi (Ak Welsapar) 17. Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) 20 18. Costa Rica: A Traveller's Literary Companion (Barbara Ras) 19. The Norman Conquest (Marc Morris) 20. It Can't Happen Here (Sinclair Lewis) 21. Coin Locker Babies (Ryu Murakami) 10 22. Broken April (Ismail Kadare) 23. If this is a man/The Truce (Primo Levi) 24. The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence (Martin Meredith) 25. The Circle of Karma (Kunzang Choden) 26. By Night the Mountain Burns (Juan Tomas Avila Laurel) 27. The Year of the Hare (Arto Paasilinna) 28. Goodfellas (Nicholas Pileggi) 13 29. A Cup of Rage (Raduan Nassar) 22 30. The Housekeeper and the Professor (Yoko Ogawa) 31. Moving Pictures (Terry Pratchett) 19 32. Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body (Sara Pascoe) 33. The Lost Heart of Asia (Colin Thubron) 34. The Ticket that Exploded (William Burroughs) 4 35. I Have a Dream: The Speeches that Changed History (Ferdie Addis) 36. Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (Philip K. Dick) 37. Fever Dream (Samanta Schweblin) 38. The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) 21
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Jun 3, 2017 18:42
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1. Jerusalem - Alan Moore7, 17, 23 2. A Billion Wicked Thoughts - Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam3, 22 3. Herman (The Game Warden, The Death of a Craft) - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9 4. The Atrocity Exhibition - J.G. Ballard8, 18 5. The Last Wolf - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9 6. The Kingdom of This World - Alejo Carpentier3, 9, 12 7. Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey3, 8 8. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel2, 12, 13, 17 9. Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9, 10 10. Sudden Death - Alvaro Enrigue3, 9, 23 11. Caligula for President - Cintra Wilson2, 19 12. The Dark Highlander - Karen Marie Moning2, 22 ----end of January 13. Universal Harvester - John Darnielle7 14. The Plague - Albert Camus5, 8, 9 15. The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky - Isaac Deutscher8, 11, 13, 17 16. A Temple of Texts: Essays - William H. Gass 17. The Child To Come: Life After the Human Catastrophe - Rebekah Sheldon2, 7 18. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - Dennis E. Taylor7, 24 19. The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard8, 9 -----end of February 20. Fight Club 2 - Chuck Palahniuk, Cameron Stewart7, 19 21. Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe - Thomas Ligotti16, 21, 22 22. The Emergence of Social Space - Kristin Ross2, 11, 12 23. The Black Monday Murders, Volume 1 - Jonathan Hickman, Tomm Coker7 24. Aquarium - David Vann21 25. The Master of Mankind - Aaron Dembski-Bowden7, 20 26. At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien8 27. Sleeping Giants - Sylvain Neuvel7 -----end of March 28. Waking Gods - Sylvain Neuvel7 29. Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich - Norman Ohler7, 12, 22 30. The Last Night: Anti-Work, Atheism, Adventure - Federico Campagna3, 11, 22, 23 31. Remainder - Tom McCarthy 32. The Circle Game - Margaret Atwood2, 8, 14 33. Star Wars: Thrawn - Timothy Zahn7, 24 34. Buddha - Karen Armstrong2, 12, 13 35. Literature Class - Julio Cortazar3, 9 -----end of April 36. Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Omnibus Edition - Ben Templesmith19, 24 37. The Zen in Modern Cosmology - Chi-sing Lam3, 23 38. The Great and Holy War - Philip Jenkins12, 12a 39. Prisons We Choose To Live Inside - Doris Lessing2, 8, 11 40. The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks24 41. October - China Mieville11, 12, 12a -----end of May 42. The Complete Short Stories, Volume 1, 1944-1953 - Roald Dahl8, 16, 19 43. The Carrion Throne: Vaults of Terra #1 - Chris Wraight7, 24 44. Being Insomniac: How Sleeplessness Alarmed Modernity - Lee Scrivner12 45. Are Prisons Obsolete? - Angela Davis2, 3, 11 46. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling2 47. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling2 48. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling2 49. The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin - Masha Gessen2, 11, 12, 13 50. Black Chalk - Christopher Yates -----end of June 51. The Multiversity - Grant Morrison et al.24 52. Sekret Machines: Chasing Shadows (Book 1) - A.J. Hartley & Tom DeLonge7, 17 53. The History of Sexuality: Volume 1 - Michel Foucault4, 8, 9, 12 54. Sewer, Gas, and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy - Matt Ruff19, 23 55. Hitler's American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law - James Q. Whitman11, 12 56. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling2 57. The American People: Search For My Heart (Vol. 1) - Larry Kramer4, 19 -----end of July 58. IBM and the Holocaust - Edwin Black11, 12 59. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling2 60. The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life - Sheldon Solomon et al.21 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 49/100 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 11/20 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 8/20 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) --> Human Acts - Han Kang2, 3, 9, 12 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. mdemone fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Aug 14, 2017 |
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Jun 7, 2017 03:15
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Goddamn I haven't updated in a while. Whoops, forgot to update for a while again. Alright, let's start in no particular order! 61: Divine Assistance - L G Estrella - Sort of a short story collection about Gods/Goddesses and things that happen. Worth the 3$ on kindle. 62: Deathform - Benjamin Allocco - Just.. meh. Space adventure where an alien artifact is opened and bad things happen. Not as great as I'd hoped. 63: The Kill Society - Richard Kadrey - Sandman Slim book 9. Not the greatest but pretty fun overall. Might be the weakest in the series so far though. 64: MoonBreaker - Simon Green - Decent, but I sort of called the ending about 10 pages into the book. Still, if you are a Drood fan it'll be worth the read. 65: The Man of Legends - Kenneth Johnson - I got it for free, and I'm pissed off I finished it. Took a great premise and just poo poo all over it. Horrible. 66: This Giant Leap - Edmund R. Schubert - Short story collection with some interesting ones. 67: Schoedinger's Gat - Robert Kroese - Interesting idea, somewhat good book but holy gently caress the info dumps are crazy. 68: Space Team Guns of Nana Joan - Barry Hutchison - Starts out kinda slow, and somewhat dumb (as is the entire series I guess), but it picks up a few chapters in and becomes a pretty good read. I'm loving this series. 69: Devil Inside - John Hartness - Latest Harker novel, and a pretty fun read. 70: Heart of Stone - Ben Galley - Pretty interesting book. Told from the perspective of a rock golem who's been made for war, and his POV is kind of interesting. 71: Fearless - Elliot James - Book 3 of the Pax Arcana series. Decent read. 72: The Perdition Score - Richard Kadrey - Book 8 of the Sandman Slim series. Had to reread because I was kinda completely lost at the start of book 9. Good read though. 73: Dr DOA - Simon Green - Book before MoonBreaker in the Drood series. Was a reread because it'd been about a year since I read the last book and I didn't want to read the new one and end up confused. Decent but kinda pointless. 74: All Systems Red - Martha Wells - Book about an insane AI/robot bodyguard. Actually pretty good. How can you go wrong when the main character refers to himself as "Murderbot"? 75: Stranger of Tempest - Tom Lloyd - Pretty good book. Book 1 in a new fantasy series. Nice to have a main character that's actually a kinda broken dude with ptsd and not a tremendous badass who never fails at anything. 75.9: Honor Under Moonlight - Short story set in the Tempset book universe. Pretty good but you need to have read the first book in the series to have any idea wtf is going on. Been kinda slow on reading lately, and I know I've forgotten a few I've read on kindle unlimited, but I think I got the main ones listed that I liked, or hated enough to review.
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Jun 14, 2017 10:34
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Haven't updated in a while. Lots of white dudes, whoops. JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I mentioned this before but I decided to re-read this series. This one is fine.) JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (This one is better.) Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow (Depressing but comprehensive look at the hosed up justice system. If you watched that documentary "13" you got the Cliffs Notes version.) Mark Frost - The Secret History of Twin Peaks (Read this was going to be relevant for the new season, so I read it. It's a bit weird, the beginning definitely drags, but I'm glad I read it before the new season started.) Ben Winters - The Last Policeman (A fine book, one notch above airport lit imho but it was fun. I'll read the trilogy.) Stephen King - Gwendy's Button Box (Decent short story, kind of predictable, whatever.) Ben Winters - Countdown City (Second in the trilogy. I liked this more than the first. I am looking forward to the third.) Noah Blumenthal - Be the Hero (I read this for a work thing. It seemed like 'basic Buddhism for businesspeople' and was silly.) John Sandford - Gathering Prey (I read a lot of the Prey series when I was a teenager, randomly picked up a late series one when I was killing time and decided to read it. Forgot how well Sandford keeps up the pace in these airport books. I think I'll read a few more of them through the year, they're one of the few things I can read that my dad also reads.) 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 26/40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 13/8 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/8 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 15) Read a play. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Jun 22, 2017 03:12
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The Berzerker posted:
You will probably not be disappointed.
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Jun 22, 2017 07:29
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12/24 female authors 6/12 non-fiction What is This Thing Called Science is terrible. I can't tell if the author is dumb or just bad at explaining himself, but the end result is the same either way - he sounds real dumb. Coed Demon Sluts is much better than it sounds, but still not great. Don't Point that Thing at Me is actually really good and funny though and I would definitely recommend it. Full reviews on Goodreads.
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Jul 1, 2017 04:01
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June update. Closer to normal reading pace again. Can see that I'm going to have to work on the black transgender lesbian quota, but I've got a few books in proximity to the top of my to-read pile which should help fix that. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. New: 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Utterly great, Herod Agrippa is a hilarious motherfucker until everything goes wrong. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. BOTM for June, and an interesting read it was. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. Norwegian post-cyber-whatever semi-dystopian SF! Obviously the first in a series (#2 is out and #3 is pending). It's a hundred years in the future and things may not be entirely crapsack everywhere in the world but there are definitely crapsack areas. Protagonist is a former special forces soldier on whom dangerous medical experiments and enhancements were performed, living in hiding in Albania and dealing with the criminal underworld, until he faces the risk of discovery by powers that want him safely decomissioned. Then a bunch of hosed-up and interesting poo poo happens. Good book. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. Longwinded (but pretty funny) and farcical tale of magical time travel as handled by an upstart US government agency. Allegedly more Galland (of whom I've not read anything before) than Stephenson, although it sure does have the trademark digressions and abrupt ending. It was... okay shading towards good, not really great, but a snappy read despite its length and I'd be game for a sequel or whatever. +1 woman. Currently reading The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, a book I've long wanted to read... I'm only about up to the actual start of the war (spoiler: nobody manages to prevent World War 1 from breaking out, and it's going to suck for everyone) but it is as great as its reputation would have it. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 30/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 10/30 =33% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/30 = 17% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 5/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 3/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 6/6 as of June No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far Groke fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Jul 2, 2017 |
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Jul 1, 2017 07:48
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Enfys posted:1. Shift - Hugh Howey 21. The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt Fantastic Western about two mercenary brothers during the California gold rush. I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. I have no idea how I heard about this book except that I saw it mentioned in some book barn thread, and it made its way to my to-read list. It's one of those books that manages to be comic and serious all at once. I'd recommend this one. 22. White Noise - Don DeLillo The opposite of the above, I expected to like this book far more than I did based on how much I had heard about it. I liked it a lot in the beginning, and it certainly had incredibly funny and brilliant moments, but it became exhausting to read in a way that's hard to articulate why. I also went into it expecting a different sort of story given how the back cover of my copy described it. 23. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro Hands down the best book I have read in a long, long time. A novel about a butler looking back on his time serving in a great English manor house, which sounds rather mundane but has an incredibly complex, funny, and heartbreaking story. Another book I randomly heard about in the book barn somewhere. I would recommend this to anyone and strongly suggest you avoid reading anything about it beforehand, even the goodreads blurb, as that gives away a substantial amount of the plot. 24. The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro I wanted to read more of Ishiguro. This is a sort of surreal, fantastical novel about a couple from vaguely Aurthurian England setting across a troubled land to visit their son. This was a strange book but a good one. I like the exploration of memory and how our memories (or what we forget) can shape our relationships. It plays with some common ideas we have about how "time heals all wounds" and our need to forgive and forget. The story shows the importance of both individual and collective memory on our lives. 25. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers I read this in a day as it's a really fun space opera that felt a bit like reading episodes of an alternate Firefly in novel form. It's another one of those books that suffers a bit from a lack of editing polish in being self-published, as certain parts read like something that would work great acted out on TV but were just a bit clunky in writing. The story and characters were really fun, and it was refreshing how wide a universe she created in terms of different races and relationships. 26. The Bees - Laline Paull A fantasy dystopian novel from the perspective of a bee in a beehive. It was overall a very enjoyable story but at times was a bit heavy-handed or just odd. It was fascinating to read a book from the perspective of bees, even if they were humanised to a degree for the sake of the story. It was at its best when it described how the hive communicated or functioned, and weakest with the sort of quasi-political/dystopian plot. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 26/50 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women . 8/50 : 16% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 9/50 : 18% 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 12) Read something historical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 20) Read something about honour. The Remains of the Day 23) Read something that you love.
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Jul 1, 2017 20:07
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quote:1 - The Outsider, by Albert Camus I read seven books in June. 29 - Multiple Choice, by Alejandro Zambra. A short book that blends fiction and nonfiction, poetry and prose. Presented in the style of the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, which Zambra himself took as a student, the format allows him to explore personal, political and historical moments through a detached and postmodernist lens. Frequently funny and surprising; I liked this a lot. 30 & 31 - Pluto, vol. 1 & 2, by Naoki Urasawa. Based on Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy, this series reworks one original story arc into a tense murder mystery told from the perspective of a robot detective. Really strong artwork and good pacing allow the emotional beats of the story to reverberate, and I love the way Urasawa fleshes out the setting and darker mood of the original Astro Boy. Can't wait to get through the rest of the series! 32 - The Pregnancy Project, by Gaby Rodriguez and Jenna Glatzer. The true story of a highschooler who decided to fake her own pregnancy as a senior project, to "live down" to the expectations of others. Much of the book is Rodriguez justifying the project, and coming to terms with the aftermath - there is a lot of discussion of her family history, particularly her mother, who had been pregnant herself as a teen. The book itself is aimed at a YA audience, and has some good messages about independence and reaching your full potential in spite of the labels society forces on you. Rodriguez's frustrations with the stereotypes around teen pregnancy are palpable. While I wouldn't say I enjoyed the book particularly, I can see it being important and influential for younger audiences. 33 - Turbulence, by Samit Basu. Everyone on a flight from London to Delhi ends up developing superpowers. Gathering together to try and figure out what happened to them and how, while becoming friends, rivals, enemies in the process. Heavily inspired by the likes of Heroes and the X-Men, this book is genre-savvy, often silly, and often brutal. It is fun to see an Indian spin on a well-trodden genre, and even if the story ends up being nothing new, the characters and set pieces are still plenty of fun, and the pacing is brisk. Curious to see where Basu goes in the sequel(s?). 34 - Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts, by Grafton Tanner. A short, dense and very fun book looking at the socio-cultural forces behind the vaporwave micro-genre and the appeal it has to young audiences in particular. Drawing on theorists like Derrida and Simon Reynolds, Tanner tracks themes from plunderphonics to hauntology and paints a dark but vibrant picture of sonic life under late capitalism. 35 - The House That Groaned, by Karrie Fransman. Graphic novel about a creaky old house and its strange tenants. There's a woman who runs a weight-loss group who is menaced by midnight phonecalls; a man sexually obsessed with illness and disfigurement; a woman who is invisible. The stories told overlap with each other in vignettes and flashbacks full of misfortune, misery and disappointment. A major recurring theme is women's bodies and the fears and pleasures of them. While Fransman's storytelling is good and her command of the comic panels works well...the art itself is ugly and drab. It looks like a cheap newspaper comic, even when coupled with more ambitious framing or complex visuals. If you can get past the artwork, though, there are some good little character pieces in here. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. Goal: 52 - 35 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by women. - 15 - 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 32, 35 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by someone non-white. - 13 - 3, 9, 11, 12, 18, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) - Black Boy - 8) Read something which was published before you were born. - 12) Read something historical. - 12a) Read something about the First World War. - 15) Read a play. - 18) Read something which was banned or censored. - 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. - 21) Read something about fear. - 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. -
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Jul 2, 2017 00:44
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Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt June was less prolific than May, but it's already clear I'm going to blow past my 60 books. There were a lot of really good books this month, in particular it finished off strong. That being said, we're expecting our second here in like 2 weeks, so I have a feeling I'm going to drop off a lot finishing out the year. I've got some lighter reads queued up for the immediate future, but am hoping to get into Poetry, WWI, and Biography before September. We'll see how that goes, but I already have books picked out for each (and already have 2 of them in my possession). On the challenge front, I feel particularly good about maintaining an above 20% on women and authors of color. Go me. 50. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer - This was the new hotness in SF here not too long ago and my library finally got a copy in. This was interesting but dense and often more confusing than it needed to be. Fundamentally this feels like a really long introduction to another book. Part of the problem here is that I want to read that other book, but felt like like the intro needed to be tighter and more interesting on it's own. 51. What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah - Of my handful of short story collections so far this year, this one is the top. Arimah grew up split between Nigeria and other lands and it shows here. Immigration and families split between countries is a recurring theme throughout these stories. The stories hung together well and all seemed to compliment each other, but it never felt like you retreading over what you've already read. I feel like Arimah is a bit of a quirky pessimist and it comes through here. There wasn't a weak story in the bunch. 52. City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett - The conclusion to RJB's rightfully acclaimed Divine Cities series. There's some great action set pieces, some well earned sentiment, and generally a solid all around finish. Would recommend the series and if you've read the first 2, there's no reason to believe you wouldn't enjoy this. 53. World, Chase Me Down by Andrew Hilleman - This is a novelization of the story of Pat Crowe, the first successful kidnapping for a ransom in the US. This was billed as a western, and I think it could have been written like one, but it just doesn't feel like it. More of a turn of the century noir type story. Pat Crowe is crushed by the machine in Omaha and lashes out by kidnapping and demanding a ransom. He succeeds and flees. The story is in two parts, both alternating between past and present. The first section details the kidnapping and what led up to it, the second his trial and the the time he spent on the run. It works in parts, but feels like it robs the story of some tension in others. Hilleman's language is a trifle much at times, frequently veering into words that dictionaries mark as "obscure" or "literary" which seemed a bit unbelievable for the characters. The big strength of the book is in telling an interesting story from history that I was completely unaware of (up to and including the beef monopoly stuff touched on in the late chapters). 54. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt - Pretty sure I picked this up because I saw it on Enfys' Goodreads. In contrast to the previous book, this is actually a western. Also in contrast, deWitt uses an oddly stilted language throughout and it really works and serves to characterize Eli. I agree with Enfys that it's a strong, enjoyable book, I'd add that I found it to be a really compelling read. I think this would make a great summer read and recommend it for someone who might want to give a modern western a shot and enjoys dark humor. 55. A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Goldstein - I checked this out from the library after seeing it was nominated for the Man Booker International and because it seemed like it'd be funny. In the time I had it out it went on to win, and I think it was probably deserved (though I've not read the other entries, you can see why this was a strong contender). A stand up comedian in a backwater town in Israel invites a childhood friend to see his act. It's quickly apparent that he's a bit of a hack, but as the act goes on he starts to spiral out of control, the jokes become few and far between as he starts to reveal his difficult childhood. The audience gets restless and you're trapped with the few who remain as his old friend feels compelled to bear witness and see if his own childhood betrayal will be revealed. In parts dark and moving, and I'll admit that I honestly enjoyed some of the hacky jokes. 56. Often I am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl - I grabbed this from the library with no knowledge of it in advance. I really just skimmed the book flap and it seemed interesting. This was absolutely a surprise gem of the month. A recent widow sits at the grave of her former best friend (and husband's first wife) and unburdens herself. She tells how she got together with her husband, some of the problems she had raising her friend's twins, about her relationship with her mom, and despite having nothing in common with the narrator I found myself really drawn into it all and surprisingly invested. It's way outside my norm, but this is a beautiful little slice of humanity that I feel fortunate to have stumbled across. Strong recommend for anyone. 57. The Ferryman Institute by Colin Gigl - Charles Dawson is a Ferryman, a member of a secret organization that helps the recently dead cross over into the afterlife and prevents them from becoming ghosts. It takes empathy and quick thinking. Charlie has empathy in spades and in 250 years hasn't had a single person not cross over. The constant senseless death and inability wears on him, and due to his ability he never gets a break. Needless to say, he's in a bad place mentally, and over 6000 applications to transfer have been denied. And then suddenly, one day, he's given a choice. Be a ferryman or save the girl. Needless to say it all goes to hell after that. A good, light summer read that's fast paced and flirts with Christopher Moore style comedy. It never quite hits Moore levels of funny (if you like Moore that may be a black mark, if you don't it's probably a good thing) but does have enough levity to keep it moving. 58. The Changeling by Victor LaValle - I've decided I really like LaValle. Genre bending is probably a dumb catchphrase but it feels appropriate. Black Tom combines Lovecraft with social justice. Devil in Silver combined horror and a critique of mental health system. The Changeling mixes horror elements, fairy tale, and mixes in light critiques of race in America. Like they're there, and you could probably write a whole big long thing about The Changeling and black families and absent fathers, the subversion of stereotypes throughout, the presentation of black male friends in a positive manner, the way when LaValle mentions race, it's mostly to point out whites. But while that's all certainly there, it's not the focus. Just a seasoning to a fairy tale of the old sort. One steeped in blood and sacrifice. One that at it's heart is about the fears of parenthood, what it means to keep you child safe, and to do whatever you can for it. And man does he prey on the fears of parents. Strong recommend here as well. So you're TL; DR for the month: Strong Recommends for What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, Horse Walks into a Bar, Often I am Happy, and The Changeling. And then Recommended Summer Reading for: Sisters Brothers and The Ferryman Institute. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 58/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 23/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 19/12 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Taste of Honey 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - Mother Night 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Umami 8) Read something which was published before you were born. Grendel 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political - No Knives in the Kitchens of this City 12) Read something historical. - For All the Tea in China 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. - For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf 16) Read a collection of short stories. - Natural History of Hell 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - Stiletto 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear- The Changeling 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - Get Carter 23) Read something that you love. - The Shipping News 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Jul 3, 2017 16:09
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June! 30. American Gods. Neil Gaiman. There's something special about rereading books, you always find new things and this wasn't the exception. I liked it more than last time. 31. Cyteen: The Betrayal. C. J. Cherryh. First part of the Cyteen "trilogy". The story is interesting, but the writing is poor and kind of boring. 32. The Confusion. Neal Stephenson. Like in the first book, most of the historical stuff was really interesting but it was more like vignettes of events. The characters were much more interesting this time... it also just takes forever to finish. 33. Después del Invierno. Guadalupe Nettel. Completely insubstantial. Two protagonists telling us their story in a boring monologue without giving us any time to care about them. At least it was a quick read. 34. 1922. Stephen King. Good horror story, but quite simple for being so long. Disturbing at some points, but not that scary. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 34/75 2) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 7/15 4) 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) 17) 18) 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) 24)
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Jul 4, 2017 01:37
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I've kept reading but I haven't updated since February. At this point I think I'll just do highlights/lowlights and the booklord stat block for the last four months and then try to get back into monthly updates at the end of July. I've still been keeping notes on what I'm reading, just not posting them. In the meantime, someone please wildcard me. Talas posted:31. Cyteen: The Betrayal. C. J. Cherryh. First part of the Cyteen "trilogy". The story is interesting, but the writing is poor and kind of boring.  There's only two Cyteen books (Cyteen and Regenesis). I wish it were a trilogy; Regenesis was kind of filler that didn't address any of the big questions raised by Cyteen and I think it would really benefit from a third book, set decades later, to round things out.Ben Nevis posted:33. Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire - I'd seen Seanan McGuire's name kicked around so grabbed this one from the library. All the ghosts in New York are being kidnapped. This was decent but largely felt unfinished. McGuire talked a fair bit about how ghosts work, but it never quite was worth it. The main plot is given short shrift for ghost details. A major aspect of ghost stuff is mentioned but not meaningfully impactful, which made me wonder why it was included at all. The ending, which should have been sweet and emotional just felt unearned. I love McGuire to bits, but I do think DoDoDoD was one of her weaker efforts. (Parasitology has a solid claim on her worst work overall.) I had similar complaints about her earlier fixup of ghost stories (Sparrow Hill Road). I do think that both Sparrow Hill Road and Dusk work better if you've read InCryptid*, not because you get more out of the ghost stories as such, but because they feel more like filling in background of a universe you're already familiar with and thus their deficiencies are less glaring. Honestly, what I want to see more of from her, ghost-wise, is just more standalone short stories; Sparrow Hill Road had a bunch of individual stories in it I really liked, but I felt the attempt to stitch them together into an overarching plot fell flat. Her best stuff overall is probably InCryptid ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer joins the World Wildlife Federation"), although later October Daye books also make a good showing. * Dusk isn't explicitly part of the InCryptid setting, but it is compatible with it, and it makes me happy to think of being part of it.
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Jul 5, 2017 14:52
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ToxicFrog posted:
The original book has also been published as three separate paperbacks, long before there was a sequel.
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Jul 5, 2017 14:59
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Groke posted:The original book has also been published as three separate paperbacks, long before there was a sequel.  Since I'm already here, may I please have a wildcard?
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Jul 5, 2017 15:18
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Talas posted:Yeah. I'm reading it in Spanish, so it's also in three parts Have you read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun?
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Jul 5, 2017 17:55
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Radio! posted:Have you read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun?
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Jul 5, 2017 18:24
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ToxicFrog posted:In the meantime, someone please wildcard me.
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Jul 6, 2017 02:15
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June~ 65. Sabriel (Old Kingdom #1) - Garth Nix 66. The Night Ocean - Paul la Farge 67. The North Water - Ian McGuire 68. The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus #1) - Rick Riordan 69. Temporary People - Deepak Unnikrishnan 70. The Brothers K - David James Duncan 71. The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2) - Rick Riordan 72. Fever Dream - Samanta Schweblin 73. Lirael (Old Kingdom #2) - Garth Nix 74. The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus #3) - Rick Riordan 75. A Separation - Katie Kitamura 76. Abhorsen (Old Kingdom #3) - Garth Nix 77. Farmer Boy - Laura Ingalls Wilder 78. The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) - Rick Riordan 79. Salt: A World History - Mark Kurlansky Turns out I read a lot last month, enough to put me close to my new goal. So I'll go with 100 books for the rest of the year. Several of the books I read (A Separation, Fever Dream, Night Ocean, Temporary People) were for the Tournament of Book's Summer Challenge, which picked 6 books published in 2017. They were all pretty decent (my favorite had to be Temporary People, about workers in the UAE, with a great deal of magical realism involved) and I'm glad that taking on some of those books allowed me to expand my horizons a bit. I also went nuts with some series - the second Percy Jackson series (Heroes of Olympus - somewhat juvenile, but fun) and Garth Nix's Sabriel/Old Kingdom series, which was a really good fantasy trilogy with some neat ideas. I reread David James Duncan's The Brothers K, which is an all-time favorite of mine, and The North Water was a pretty gripping and good adventure tale set near the North Pole. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. (79/80) 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women: Wilder, Schweblin 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. Kitamura, Unnikrishnan 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - SALT! 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Temporary People, Fever Dream, A Separation, The Night Ocean, The North Water 8) Read something which was published before you were born - Farmer Boy 9) 10) 11) 12) 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) 15) Read a play. 16) 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - most of the Heroes of Olympus books, The Brothers K 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) Read something that you love. - The Brothers K 24)
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Jul 8, 2017 00:22
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If you're having a hard time picking which book to read next for your challenge, why not let someone from the all new SHAMEFUL: The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread pick one for you? You know you want to.
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Jul 12, 2017 17:41
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It's been a while, between work and a vacation to Thailand I've been a little remiss in my reading. Still, I'm way ahead of schedule and will easily be able to finish my goal. First off, thanks to apophenium for the wildcard, all of the recommended books were good and are all on my list but I finished The Color Purple, which was an amazingly quick (and bleak) read, I did like how poor 'ol Celie got at least a small dose of sugar in her life at the end. So, books I've finished since my last update and a brief word about them. The Vegetarian by Kang Han was... not my cup of tea. I know it's being touted as a really awesome book and oh so deep, but to me it was just a really weird book about some lady who thinks she's turning into a plant and then starves herself almost to death. Oh, she also gets flowers painted all over her body and films an amateur porn with her sister's husband, class! At least it was short. Goodreads rating: 1 We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor was fun, a totally guilty pleasure read to try to cleanse my palette after an overload of artsy-fartsy. If you like silly sci-fi where the nerd totally wins in the end, this is a good book for you. Goodreads rating: 3 A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge was a fun and very interesting book. About a third of the way through I realized that I had read it before, but it must have been so far back that it basically doesn't count. Still sci-fi, but at least slightly heavier than We Are Legion. Definitely interested in getting the next book in the series, but I have soooo much to read already. Goodreads rating: 4 Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky was a decent little history book. It suffers from the same problem that all such history-of-the-world-through-xxxx books do, being a little too focused on making history fit the theme, but all in all it was a fun and interesting read. Goodreads rating: 4 The Color Purple was mentioned above, so I won't repeat. Goodreads rating: 4 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey really needs no introduction. If you haven't read it, go out and get it now. Truly on of the best books I've ever read (or in this case, reread. Take that banned book challenge!) Goodreads rating: 5 Deathform by Benjamin Allocco is an interesting take on Aliens. I guess it's also this dudes first full novel, which is pretty promising. Not the best story, but it was fun and easy to read. Goodreads rating: 3 That's all for now, folks!
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Jul 14, 2017 09:49
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13/24 female authors 6/12 non-fiction I only read one book this whole month, so I've fallen slightly behind again, but it was a pretty good one (Death By Silver). Solid mystery, neat setting, good story. I've added the sequel to my "to read" list. Full reviews on Goodreads.
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Jul 30, 2017 06:39
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July~ 80. The Witchwood Crown (Last King of Osten Ard #1) - Tad Williams 81. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) - Rick Riordan 82. The Impossible Fortress - Mark Rekulak 83. Marlena - Julie Buntin 84. Clariel - Garth Nix 85. Night Film - Marisha Pessl 86. Underground Airlines - Ben Winters 87. Mr Splitfoot - Samantha Hunt 88. Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder 89. On Beauty - Zadie Smith 90. The Salt Roads - Nalo Hopkinson 91. The Little Drummer Girl - John le Carre I have to say, I read a lot of really good stuff this month. Witchwood Crown was the beginning of a new series that continues my favorite fantasy trilogy, Memory Sorrow and Thorn, and while it might not have measured quite up to the original, I'm eager to see where it goes. The Impossible Fortress is a really fun coming-of-age story about a kid in the 80s who's learning to program on his Commodore 64 and falls in love; Marlena is another coming-of-age story about teenage girls in a dead-end northern Michigan town and where their rebellion takes them. Both were really, really good. Underground Airlines was a really interesting alt-history about 'if the Civil War had never happened' - four states still have slavery in the 21st century. (Sounds a lot like that HBO show that people aren't happy about.) Finally, The Salt Roads was a real mind-twister of a fantasy/history book, with some sort of spirit goddess connecting the lives of Charles Baudelaire's mistress, a slave on Haiti before the revolution, and an Alexandrian prostitute in the year 345 CE. I have no idea what to think of it, but it was really good. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. (90/100) 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women: Buntin, Hunt, Pessl, Wilder, Smith, Hopkinson 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. Smith, Hopkinson 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Hopkinson 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - The Witchwood Crown, Marlena, Underground Airlines 8) Read something which was published before you were born - Little House in the Big Woods 9) 10) 11) 12) 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) 15) Read a play. 16) 17) Read something long (500+ pages) - Witchwood Crown, Blood of Olympus, 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) Chamberk fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Jul 31, 2017 |
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Jul 30, 2017 13:54
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Enfys posted:1. Shift - Hugh Howey 27. All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy I really loved this. It was far less brutal than what I've come to expect from McCarthy, but not without a good dose of pain and loss. It's a sort of coming of age tale, and far less cheerful than most. The writing is stunning. 28. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro I continued on my Ishiguro kick. This one is about a group of students at a mysterious boarding school in the English countryside. This was a strange book that really sucker punched me in the end. I think this one will stick with me for a long time. It's a very powerful examination of innocence, the consequences of losing innocence, and the deep pain of regret at opportunities lost or treasured things that cannot be recreated from our childhood. The struggle to find meaning and purpose and the rage over the senseless unfairness of life is played out very well through the lives of the students. 29. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See The very sappy, unbelievable story of an indigenous Chinese girl in a remote Yunnan village and her daughter who is adopted by Americans. A mediocre at best book getting rave reviews probably for its depiction of an elusive indigenous culture. The parts about tea were interesting, but the actual plot of the book was disappointing and trite. This is chick lit with a eco-tourist flavour: the heroes getting perfect billionaire partners, dramatic showdowns with betrayers, secret benefactors, ridiculous coincidences, blah blah blah. All the tension was gone after the first 1/3 of the book, and then it was just a long slog to the inevitable conclusion. This is another case where the author can't write children very well. An overly precocious child becomes an overly childish adult because the character is written basically the same whether she's 5 or 20. The sections from her perspective are incredibly cringe-worthy. 30. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy Ahhh, there's the McCarthy who makes it hard to feel anything good about the world. 31. Butcher's Crossing - John Williams I loved this. It was a brutally beautiful book. A naive young man sets out on a quest to find himself, or to find his purpose in life by abandoning his life as a Harvard academic and traveling west to hunt one of the last remaining herds of buffalo. Reality offers a harsh lesson of its own. Man can make his mark on the world, can slaughter thousands upon thousands of buffalo, but he still cannot hope to tame nature to his desires. Is there any meaning at all in life? 32. Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. - How the Working Poor Became Big Business - Gary Rivlin An examination of the fringes of economics and finance in the US. Interesting but unexceptional. 33. A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers The sequel to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Like the first one, it's a pleasant, enjoyable read. There's not much tension or conflict, but it's nice to read books about good "people" doing good things for each other, especially after a month of reading lots of brutal depressing books. 34. Blindness - Jose Saramago This is a really grim book. A mystery epidemic starts turning everyone in a city blind. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 34/50 12) Read something historical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 20) Read something about honour. The Remains of the Day 23) Read something that you love. Enfys fucked around with this message at 06:46 on Aug 2, 2017 |
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Jul 30, 2017 18:24
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quote:1 - The Outsider, by Albert Camus I read five books in July. 36 - 253, by Geoff Ryman. It's set on a London underground train, with 253 passengers (including the driver). You're given the layout of each carriage, where each character is sitting, and each character gets exactly 253 words describing their appearance, their inner thoughts, and what they're doing/thinking. The actual timespan of the book is about seven minutes, but you get to learn about every person on the train, their relationships, their connections and interactions. And the book is peppered with footnotes, little joke sketches and so on. While the individual profiles are only vaguely connected, which means there isn't much flow, there is an index spelling out the many and varied connections between passengers. It's pretty cool! And then the epilogue section hits hard, and a lot of Ryman's choices become clear in retrospect. Really interesting project that I feel works well in execution. More than just a great snapshot of mid-90s London, it's a sweet and strange and powerful book. 37 - Prelude To Bruise, by Saeed Jones. Intimate and excellent poetry collection, exploring race and sexuality and the triumphs and mistakes that are part of self-discovery. Jones writes with a desperation and a playful, passionate poetic voice. Recurring themes of transformation, bodies, fire and pain resonate strongly enough that I couldn't put this book down. 38 - Gondwanaland, by Brenda Ray. Short short story collection, mainly centring around little snippets of parochial English life, with underlying darknesses. Some nice twists and satisfying, cosy prose, but nothing here that seems to have left much of an impact on me. I don't have much to say other than "its nice". 39 - The Humans, by Matt Haig. An alien comes to Earth and assumes the identity of a mathematics professor in order to carry out a mysterious, malevolent plan. And slowly but surely, gets infected with humanity. The book took a while to grab me - the first third is written in a style that reminded me a lot of The Curious Incident Of the Dog In The Night-Time, with the alien's inner monologue and behaviour being coded stereotypically "autistic". But Haig displays more nuance than that, and as the story progressed I was drawn into the characters and the philosophy. While a little mawkish at times, it has a good heart, and by the end I felt satisfied and good. 40 - Garbage Night, by Jen Lee. Graphic novel about anthropomorphised animals surviving in a post-apocalypse trek through a dangerous forest. The art is gorgeous and moody, and tonally I was reminded of Night In The Woods. While the plot is sparse, the characters are engaging and the few moments of conflict are powerful and enhanced by Lee's simple and emotionally-resonant artwork. I picked this up on a whim and was very happy with it. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. Goal: 52 - 40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by women. - 17 - 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 32, 35, 38, 40 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by someone non-white. - 16 - 3, 9, 11, 12, 18, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37, 40 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) - Black Boy - 8) Read something which was published before you were born. - 12) Read something historical. - 12a) Read something about the First World War. - 15) Read a play. - 18) Read something which was banned or censored. - 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. - 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. -
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Aug 1, 2017 04:55
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Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt So I read 7 this month, and it was a little bit of a down month, reading wise. It almost had to be after a strong last month several books which will likely be favorites of the year. My reading dropped a bit towards the end, which is not surprising. Having a kid is a great way to read for the first few days stuck in a hospital, for the rest, eh not as much. Also I got seriously bogged down in the polar bear book. I did cross off two more categories on the challenge and hit my 60 for the year quite a bit earlier than I expected. 59. Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou - A Man Booker International long list this year. "Let us thank God, the black Moses is born on the lands of the ancestors" is a heavy thing to name a kid. Moses grows up in an orphanage, escapes to live as a street urchin and then a broken down man suffering from dementia at 40. That's a lot to cram into 200 pages, and I'm not sure Mabanckou pulled it off. Ultimately the end didn't feel like it went. Half the book is about the orphanage, but the end didn't seem to flow from that experience. There were some strong moments and at least one laugh out loud one for me, but all in all it was a bit of a dud. 60. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers - Picking up as sort of an offshoot of Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, this tracks Pepper and an AI recently transferred into a human body. It's set up as sort of a dual coming of age thing as you get Pepper's history and Sidra's efforts to learn to deal as a person. Thoroughly enjoyed this, my one real knock is that Chambers sort of cheats out the tension at the climax. Still good, would recommend. I just really sort of like Chambers and her characters. 61. The Bad rear end Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer - After throwing off the colonial harness, people in Timbuktu try to reclaim their city's history. Long known as a center for scholars, valuable manuscripts were hidden all over. At last as they start coming together, Al Qaeda starts to come to power in the Sahara, putting them all at risk again. This details the efforts to reclaim and preserve those manuscripts, but also the rise of Al Qaeda and fundamentalist Islamic groups in the area. The first part of that is interesting, the second is lots of names and dates. Ultimately, it's useful knowledge, but in a book that tries to sell itself as bad rear end librarians, there's just a whole lot of things that aren't about that. Ultimately the librarians are bad rear end but are fewer and farther between than I'd been promised. Would recommend if you're interested in the recent history of the region. 62. Three Masquerades by Rachel Ingalls - 3 novellas, nominally horror or gothic or something of that sort. They're really interesting, they're written in a deceptively simple style but there's bits throughout that catch your eye and stick with you. I feel like there's a bit of a Lovecraft thing there except that the horror isn't some amoral uncaring universe it's more societal in that maybe you don't really fit in at all. You thought you did but really, you don't. This wasn't really like anything I'd read and I wound up enjoying it. There really is something that lingers here and I like that. There's a fair chance I seek out Ingalls in the future, and I'd recommend these, though I'm not sure off hand to whom. 63. All our Wrong Todays by Eli Mastai - You know that 1950s future? Squeaky clean, paradisiacal, flying cars, the whole 9 yards. That's the present where Tom Barren, disappointing slacker lives. Until he travels back in time and changes things. When he comes back he's stuck in our present. Except in our present he's a star architect, having made his name designing buildings cribbed from the other reality. He's got money, fame, and the girl. Should he change things back and make the world better for 3 billion people or does he stay in our present? It's an interesting take on a time travel story, and all in all I enjoyed this. 64. The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald - When Betty MacDonald married young, she didn't know her new husband's fondest wish was to run a chicken farm. Still, a young wife should support her husband so they move to the Pacific Northwest and start a chicken farm. The Egg and I is a humorous chronicling on the difficulties of running a chicken farm. It tells her life in a frank and informative way and is witty throughout, frequently eliciting a chuckle. The fly in the soup is that it's very much of it's time. I don't really hold with the accusations of intellectual snobbery, but it absolutely does have some unkind things to say about Native Americans. With asterisk, I'd still throw a recommendation to anyone looking for a charming and engaging biography. 65. Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada - I grabbed this on a whim from the library. It's not too big, it would fulfill a challenge, and it's about polar bears and circuses. Or maybe it's about communism. Or possibly what's natural vs unnatural. In the end, it's a story in three parts each part by another generation of polar bears about their public life. The first writes an autobiography and has to enter exile from the USSR to escape the gulags. The second works in a circus in East Germany and is a biography of her friend and handler, with whom she shared a forbidden kiss. The last part is by Knut, a young bear raised in the Berlin zoo who captures the world's attention for awhile. This never quite clicked for me. It flirted with a few different things but never really kind of got there. There are some interesting parts and it's nicely surrealist, but sort of abandons that as it moves to a clear real life analog at the end. I feel like the author was trying to say something here, but it fell short. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 65/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 27/13 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 21/13 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Taste of Honey 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - Mother Night 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Umami 8) Read something which was published before you were born. Grendel 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political - No Knives in the Kitchens of this City 12) Read something historical. - For All the Tea in China 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. - The Egg and I 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. - For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf 16) Read a collection of short stories. - Natural History of Hell 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - Stiletto 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear- The Changeling 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - Get Carter 23) Read something that you love. - The Shipping News 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. - Memoirs of a Polar Bear Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Aug 1, 2017 |
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Aug 1, 2017 20:56
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July! 35. The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman. Good little book. There's something about the little closed stories in the chapters making the whole book. 36. Salt: A World History. Mark Kurlansky. I had problems with the accuracy in this book. Also, it was kind of disjointed and jumped around in time and location a lot. Still, it was entertaining. 37. Cyteen: The Rebirth. C. J. Cherryh. Much better than the first part, the characters are more fleshed and the story is a lot more fun. 38. It. Stephen King. A nice entertaining read, but what a weird ending. The characters are quite good and the story too... well, some parts are lacking, but it's a good read. Heh, It. 39. Beggars in Spain. Nancy Kress. Good premise and story, at least the first part, then the book crumbles because the main characters are shallow and boring. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 39/75 2) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 7/15 4) 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!). The Urth of the New Sun. Gene Wolfe. 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) 17) 18) 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) 24)
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Aug 2, 2017 01:43
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Here's what I read in June and July (pretty slow months, especially compared to May): 40. George - Alex Gino (3/5) 41. Killers of the Flower Moon - David Gran (4/5) 42. Playing Dead - Elizabeth Greenwood (4/5) 43. The Fact of a Body - Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (2/5) 44. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. - Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland (4/5) 45. Gena/Finn - Hannah Moskowitz & Kat Helgeson (2/5) 46. Redshirts - John Scalzi (3/5) 47. Jackaby - William Ritter (4/5) 48. The Map - William Ritter (3/5) 49. Is Everyone Hanging Out WIthout Me? - Mindy Kaling (4/5) 50. Infomocracy - Malka Older (3/5) 51. Startup - Doree Shafrir (3/5) On deck for August: Finish Ficciones, which is mindblowing and I need to sit down and devote more time to, finish a bunch of the stuff I've started and haven't finished, maybe catch up on my comics? I'm woefully behind. Favorites this month were Killers of the Flower Moon, Jackaby, and The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 51/52 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 53% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 16% 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 9) Read something in translation. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 23) Read something that you love.
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Aug 2, 2017 15:14
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July update. Three-week holiday in Spain, got through eight books inbetween the swimming and overindulgence in Spanish food. Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 22. Sandstorm by James Rollins. 23. For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2) by Dennis Taylor. 24. The Conference of the Birds by Farid Attar. 25. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 26. I, Claudius by Robert Graves. 27. Claudius the God by Robert Graves. 28. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. +1 nonfiction. 29. Huset mellom natt og dag by Ørjan Nordhus Karlssen. +1 Norwegian. 30. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. +1 woman. New: 31. Min drøm om frihet by Amal Aden. Title translates as "my dream of freedom". Autobiography of a somewhat prominent public figure (author/lecturer/social critic) in Norway, who spent her early years as an orphan on the streets of war-torn Somalia, came to Norway as a teenager about twenty years ago, went on to have further problems involving drugs and dysfunctional elements of the Norwegian-Somalian community (of which she is rather critical) before growing into a useful adult. This book actually hits six of the booklord and personal challenge points since the author is a genuine black Norwegian lesbian: LGBTQ, +1 woman, +1 nonwhite, +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction, biography. Was an interesting but uncomfortable read. 32. Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. BOTM for July and a cracking good read. Had read a couple of these stories before so I was well aware of the awesomeness of Borges; getting a concentrated dose like that was extra-awesome. 33. Predikanten ("The Preacher") by Camilla Läckberg. Rather good scandi-crime novel by one of the more popular current Swedish authors of such things; my first encounter with this particular author. Part of a series set in a fairly tranquil coastal community with old fishermen and tourists and such, where people murder the gently caress out of each other because of old family secrets or whatnot. Sympathetic and memorable central characters, intricate mysteries, a slight tendency to overuse of cliffhangers/keeping information from the reader but nothing to complain about. +1 woman. 34. Steinhoggeren ("The Stonecutter") by Camilla Läckberg. More of the same. Summer vacation is a good time to binge decent crime fiction. +1 woman. 35. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. Actually read this in between various works of fiction. Towering classic covering the run-up to and first month or so of the First World War, in great detail. Very readable and interesting. Spoiler: A few people try to prevent the war from breaking out but they don't succeed. Most of the great powers have wonderful plans for a swift and glorious victory. None of these plans go exactly right and everyone ends up in a world of poo poo. +1 woman, +1 nonfiction, First World War. 36. The Delirium Brief by Charles Stross. Latest entry in the Laundry series, where British civil servants try to hold back the tide of the semi-Lovecraftian apocalypse. Things are getting increasingly grim and desperate and real damage is being done. I remain sold on this series and will follow it to the (probably quite bitter) end. 37. Ulykkesfuglen by Camilla Läckberg. Another bit of more of the same. Note to self: Avoid tranquil fishing/tourism communities on the Swedish coast, they're loving dangerous places to visit, live or even have a tenuous connection to. +1 woman. 38. Sporvekslingsmordet by Hans Olav Lahlum. Another entry in this increasingly long-running crime fiction series by this Norwegian author. The timeline is up to 1973, and a teenage girl who's a talented rising star in cross-country skiing is shot dead during a race. Subsequent investigation digs up a lot of rancid old secrets going back to the previous generation's misadventures during and before the Second World War. The series remans of consistent quality. +1 Norwegian. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 38/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 15/38 =39% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 6/38 = 16% 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 15) Read a play. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 7/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 5/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 7/7 as of July No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far
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Aug 3, 2017 12:01
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| # ? May 8, 2024 05:48 |
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Wildcard me droogs
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Aug 10, 2017 09:29
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