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I'm up for 60 books again this year, and will try for Stravinsky's challenge as well. My Goodreads is here and I will be counting graphic novels and comic TPBs (though not single issues), because Jeff Lemire deserves to be included in my list. Also, Stravinsky, there's a typo in the thread title, and you seem like the type of person who simultaneously does and does not give a gently caress. Knowledgeable people of TBB, can someone recommend me a poetry collection? I enjoy Raymond Carver's stories, so maybe one of his collections?
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Jan 3, 2015 04:30
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Blind Sally posted:What kind of poetry do you enjoy? Do you just want more stuff similar to Carver? Sorry, somehow I forgot to include that I've never read any poetry I've liked. I enjoy Carver's short stories but haven't tried his poetry. I'm probably looking for something fairly easy; I dislike overly ornamental language and experimental poetry.
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Jan 3, 2015 07:34
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Fellwenner posted:Maybe Emily Dickinson? She's the only poetry I've read and I really enjoyed it. The verse is structured and not too lengthy. I've read a fair amount of her poetry but it didn't really do it for me. I think I'd have a better chance of enjoying something more modern, maybe from the mid-20th century.
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Jan 3, 2015 07:54
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saphron posted:Elbow, you could try out some contemporary Irish poets and see if it's more to your liking. Seamus Heaney is the obvious go-to poet, but I've always been partial to Derek Mahon myself (A Disused Shed in Co Wexford and The Spring Vacation stand out in particular). There's also Thomas Kinsella, Medbh McGuckian, Patrick Kavanagh, Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley, and more that I can't think of at the moment. The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry is a decent anthology, but it can be difficult to find and is pretty hefty. IIRC there's another anthology that was released last year that's supposed to be good too, and covers a much wider range of poets, so that might work too if the poems you find online spark your interest. Thanks, I'll check these out! If anyone else wants to chime in with recommendations please do so, especially since it looks like I'm not the only one who is new to poetry.
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Jan 3, 2015 12:44
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Thanks everyone for the poetry recommendations!
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Jan 4, 2015 03:04
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A terrible start to my reading year - going from part-time work with a long commute to full-time with a short commute has really cramped my style. Goals: 1. Read 60 books 2. Read 10 books by a female author 3. The non-white author 4. Philosophy 5. History 6. An essay 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl 13. Something dealing with the unreal 14. Wildcard (Some one else taking the challenge will tell you what to read) 15. Something published this year or the past three months 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 19. The color red 20. Something banned or censored 21. Short story(s) 22. A mystery January 2/60 1. De Intrede van Christus in Brussel, by Dimitri Verhulst. Verhulst uses a story about Christ’s arrival in Brussels to examine contemporary life in Belgium (or any Western city, really). Clever and funny. 4/5 2. Murder in Mississippi, by John Safran. An Australian journalist investigates the murder of a white supremacist by a black man with whom he may have had sex. I really enjoy true crime, and I have to say this was a refreshing take on the genre; it was written with humor and had heart. 4/5
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Feb 1, 2015 05:14
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elbow posted:A terrible start to my reading year - going from part-time work with a long commute to full-time with a short commute has really cramped my style. Goals: 1. Read 60 books 2. Read 5/10 books by a female author 4. Philosophy 5. History 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl 13. Something dealing with the unreal 14. Wildcard 15. Something published this year or the past three months 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 19. The color red 20. Something banned or censored January - 2/60 1. De Intrede van Christus in Brussel, by Dimitri Verhulst. 4/5 2. Murder in Mississippi, by John Safran. 4/5 February and March - 13/60 3. The Chemickal Marriage, by GW Dahlquist. This is the last volume in the Glass Books of the Dream Eaters trilogy, and unfortunately it had been about 3 years since I last read the first and second book in the series. At first it was difficult to remember who the various characters were, but I just kind of went with it and ended up getting swept up in the adventure anyway. Didn’t appreciate that ¼ of the book was about how Celeste, one of the three protagonists, was continually overcome with lust. We get it, Dahlquist. Still a great read. 3.5/5 4. The Death of Grass, by John Christopher. A misogynist piece of crap, I hated this book from start to finish. While I understand why the characters are racist (Christopher wrote this in part as a critique of British exceptionalism), I don’t know why they’re sexist pigs. Their values and morality are all over the place as well, and I felt like this was at times not part of the aforementioned critique, but just sloppy writing. On the one hand the protagonist(s) think that farmers and people from the country have got things figured out, on the other hand they look down on them. “Ann shouldn’t take things too much to heart, Johnny. It’s all in a day’s work.” – one female character talking about another female character who was raped and watched her daughter being raped, and then shot the guy who did it. “[H]er rather stupid country face still showing no signs of anything but submission in the inevitable.” – the main character talking about a young woman whose parents he killed so they could spend the night in a house. gently caress this book. 1.5/5 5. The Last Policeman, by Ben Winters. This was such an enjoyable book, just a fun read. It’s a detective story set in the US, with an oncoming apocalypse in the form of an asteroid. Looking forward to reading the next book in this trilogy. 4/5 6. Bad Feminist, by Roxane Gay. Picked this up because I’d heard such great things about it, and it didn’t disappoint. I really appreciate how inclusive her writing is, and how she can critique TV/movies/books while still enjoying them. 4/5 7 – 10. Four trashy YA novels I read and loved as a kid and wanted to revisit. 11. Elephant and other stories, by Raymond Carver. Love Carver, he mastered the craft of short stories. That said, I didn’t think this was his most outstanding collection. 4/5 12. Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle. Really enjoyed this, though I think Darnielle still has a little way to go in his craft – there were a bunch of secondary/tertiary characters who kept floating in and out of the story and I had no idea who they were. Still, immensely enjoyable. 4/5 13. Rivers, by Michael Farris Smith. I was really excited about reading this but found it a bit disappointing. I never really felt a connection to any of the characters, and while the premise is interesting, it wasn’t given enough history/background/context for me to ever fully suspend my disbelief. 3/5
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Mar 29, 2015 08:39
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thehomemaster posted:You done gone read good books. Now I want to read Kevin. You should!
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May 5, 2015 10:20
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elbow posted:
Goals: 1. Read 25/60 books 2. Read 5/10 books by a female author 4. Philosophy 5. History 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl 13. Something dealing with the unreal 14. Wildcard 15. Something published this year or the past three months 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 19. The color red 20. Something banned or censored April and May - 25/60 14. Ms Marvel, vol 1. Really enjoyed this, it had beautiful art work and I can’t help but cheer for a teenage Pakistani-American hero. 4/5 15. Hawkeye, vol 1 My Life as a Weapon, by Matt Fraction. This really hit the spot for me, 10/10 for artwork, story and humor. 5/5 16. Lost Dogs, by Jeff Lemire. Lemire is fast becoming my favorite comics artist. This is one of his earlier works, and it is definitely a bit raw and rough. That said, it fits the story well, and it is absolutely heartbreaking. 4/5 17. Sin City vol 1, by Frank Miller. I love the movies but for some reason never picked up the comics before. Really well done, love his style. 4/5 18. Countdown City, by Ben H Winters. This is the sequel to The Last Policeman, and it is still utterly enjoyable. I also liked seeing the world turn a bit grittier in the face of the impending apocalypse. 4/5 19-20. Hawkeye vol 2 and 3 , by Matt Fraction. Bro. 5/5 21. The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell. Not quite as enjoyable as Cloud Atlas, but still a great read. 4.5/5 22. Selfish, Shallow and Self-absorbed, edited by Meghan Baum. This is a collection of 16 essays about choosing not to have children. It’s a good read, but very specific (all the contributors are professional writers) and a little repetitive. I also disliked the mandatory “Of course I LOVE children” disclaimer. 3.5/5 23. Paper Towns, by John Green. This was OK – I didn’t like some of the language Green used in dialogue (retarded, honeybunnies) and I couldn’t stand the protagonist’s love interest. 3/5 24. Sin City vol 2, by Frank Miller. Didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one. 3.5/5 25. The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. I knew this wasn’t going to be amazing, and I was exactly right. 3/5
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May 31, 2015 04:01
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ZakAce posted:
Ah, that doesn't bode well for me! I loved the movie and bought the graphic novels immediately after but haven't yet read them because they're so inconvenient to handle. Hope I enjoy them anyway.
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Sep 2, 2015 03:36
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June – November – nothing but comics! - 52/60 26. The Wicked + The Divine, vol 1. Took me a little bit to get into, I found it hard to follow in the beginning. But once it got going, it was good. 3.5/5 27. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, by Jon Ronson. As Ronson’s books usually are, this one was very entertaining and interesting. I didn’t feel like I got a lot out of it, though. 4/5 28-31. Fables vols 3-6 by Bill Willingham. This has its ups and downs but it’s mostly just ups! 4/5 32. The Walking Dead vol 23 by Robert Kirkman. Not the most groundbreaking comic out there, but still a solid zombie story. 4/5 33-34. Saga vols 1-2, by Brian K Vaughan. Really loving great. 5/5 35. Sex Criminals vol 1, by Matt Fraction. Picked this up because I loved Fraction’s Hawkeye and was surprised at how good this was. 5/5 36. Rat Queens vol 2, by Kurtis J Wiebe. I was never into DnD but this series just hits the spot for me. 5/5 37. As If! The Oral History of Clueless, by Jen Chaney. I was never really into oral histories but couldn’t pass this up. A really interesting look behind the scenes of one of the best comedies ever. 4/5 38. Hawkeye vol 4, by Matt Fraction. Devastated that this has ended. 5/5 39. World of Trouble, by Ben H Winters. This is the final book in a trilogy about a detective trying to solve cases while the earth is in chaos because of an impending asteroid impact. It wasn’t the best ending, but it is such a lovely book. 4/5 40. Station Eleven, by Emily St John Mandel. Believe the hype – this is a really good addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. 4/5 41. Ms Marvel, vol 2. 4/5 42-43. The Islanders, vol 3 and 4, by Katherine Applegate. Lovely YA fluff. 3.5/5 44. Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn. Didn’t enjoy this as much as Gone Girl, but it was still a great page-turner. 4/5 45. The Martian, by Andy Weir. Such a fun read. There some goony loving bits in there, but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment. 5/5 46. Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell. Every time I start reading a Mitchell novel, I’m ready to give up in the first 20 or so pages, but then he always manages to hook me in anyway. 4/5 47. Lady Killer., by Joelle Jones. I was ready to fall head-over-heels in love with this book, but I finished it wanting a bit more from this. I don’t know what – just something else. 4/5 48. The Walking Dead, vol 24., by Robert Kirkman. 4/5 49. The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins. It was ok – a pageturner, but nothing memorable. 3/5 50. Bitch Planet, vol1., by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Awesome, awesome, awesome. 5/5 51. Welcome to Night Vale, by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. I think they did a great job evoking the atmosphere from the podcast in page form, and the story was fun too. 4/5 52. Sex Criminals, vol 2., by Matt Fraction. My reading got a bit interrupted and maybe for that reason I wasn’t quite as into it as I was in the first volume. Still a solid story. 4/5 I'm really falling behind here, especially on the specific challenges: Goals: 1. Read 52/60 books 4. Philosophy 5. History 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl 13. Something dealing with the unreal 14. Wildcard 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 19. The color red E: I'll take a wildcard as well, please!
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Nov 8, 2015 11:27
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ulvir posted:Blindness by José Saramago Good wild card, but it's too good; I've already read it twice, most recently last year!
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Nov 10, 2015 10:24
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Burning Rain posted:Then you get Maqroll by Alvaro Mutis (either the complete seven novellas NYRB set or the previously published sets of 3 and 4 novellas, I won't judge you) Thanks, I'll try and get a hold of these!
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Nov 12, 2015 01:41
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