|
Sure, I'll sign up again. 60 books + challenge.
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2016 19:28
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 10:33 |
|
|
Sandwolf posted:What's everyone's first book of the year? Mine's God Knows by Joseph Heller, read Catch 22 last year for the first time and fell in love with it, so I'm trying Heller's foray in religion. I'm polishing off The Biographers Tale by AS Byatt, but like 90% of that was last year. First book wholly of this year is either Umami by Laia Jufresa or A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson, just depends on how I'm feeling once I finally finish this one.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2017 18:53
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:I'm having a bit of an weird issue with this too, but with LGBT. I'm trying to mark my Goodreads so I have a list to draw from, but it's a blurry line to define sometimes. Michael Chabon has written several gay/bisexual characters, he quietly identifies as bisexual, but he's married to a woman. I wrestled with that a bit last year and basically settled on Non-European. Mia Coutu may be writing from Mozambique, but dude's Portguese and white af. South Americans like Piglia and Amado I basically just decided were nonwhite, on the basis that I'd consider someone from Mexico non-white, but not Spain. Mostly, I think the answer is Race is a Social Construct, go with your gut. Alternately, "How would this author be treated in Alabama?" For LGBT if it's not well known, I searched interviews to see if they identify. One of my first books is a guy who identifies as "queer" so I'll likely cross off the challenge there, but I'd like to generally expand my horizons there, and it's not real easy outside of people writing as queer authors rather than authors who happen to be LGBT.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2017 19:29
|
|
|
Shoot, I'll get in on the good reads thing. Add me if you want: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23075025-mike
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2017 15:38
|
|
|
So I'll for the most part be confining my updates to the end of the month, but I figured I may try this year to do some more detailed reviews if anything sticks out partway through the month. Part of this decision is due to the book I just finished, Umami by Laia Jufresa. I saw this on the library's new book shelves and grabbed it because I remembered seeing it on NPR's Best Books of 2016. Umami is a book set in Belldrop Mews in Mexico City. It focuses on the losses of it's inhabitants. One family has lost a daughter, another has had the mother run away, and the landlord has lost his wife. It's interestingly told, with each chapter taking place in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, and 2000 in sequence. Each year is narrated by a different occupant so it changes focus from a young girl building a garden in the yard, to a struggling artist, a recent widower, a young child on vacation, and a girl trying to cope with her unhappy parents. Jufresa does a great job of giving each character a unique voice and making them distinct. The set up means there's not really an overarching narrative, rather the overlapping stories paint a rich picture of the lives of all the inhabitants. The structure creates a few mysteries to keep you thinking and reading a long and humor is well used throughout to prevent the constant focus on loss from being overwhelming. In addition to grief, the book really has a lot to say about family, English, and a few other things as well. This turned out to be a great read. If you need additional prodding, the author is Latina, it was a book written in 2016, and it has been translated, so there are some categories available to be checked off if you're reading solely for mercenary purposes.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2017 17:52
|
|
|
It was a good month in books, not surprising, because many of these were culled from Best Of lists or goon recommendations at the end of the last thread. I decided count Latin American authors for challenge #3. We can fight if that doesn't work for you. 1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt - Grad student gives up post-structuralist literary critique and gets laid. That's an unfair summary. I sort of liked the conclusion and like parts, but the getting from here to there was sloggy for me and it never quite clicked into being good. This was probably the worst book I read this month. 2. A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson - A man reflects back on a pivotal week in his life and how it might have been different. I was expecting something more in the vein of Sorceror of the Wildeeps. This was good, but not really what I was hoping for there. I like the world Wilson has created and there are some clever little inversions in there. 3. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut - BOTM. We are what we pretend to be. There was a lot to unpack here, and a surprising number of ties to the current political situation as well as the way we behave online. A good book. Would recommend. 4. Umami by Laia Jufresa - Reviewed upthread. Pulled off an NPR Best of 2016 list, and they were right, at least about this one. Would recommend. 5. Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosely - I'd seen recs for this here and there. It's a hardboiled detective novel set in Watts in the 1940s, with a down on his luck black factory worker hired to locate a white woman who frequents black clubs. This hit the hardboiled tropes well and did it interestingly and with it's own spin on things. 6. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli - This was written for (and the author says in conjunction with) workers at a Jumex factory in middle of nowhere Mexico. An auctioneer expounds and demonstrates the uses of storytelling in enhancing value. A goon recommendation from last year (don't recall who, sorry), this had many positive aspects. I felt there was potentially a really good storyline that was dropped, but this really does adhere to the homage to storytelling aspect. There's a lot to sift through, with references to authors both historical and current. A fact I found fun, and you might(n't), is that Luiselli was quoted for a blurb on Umami, and Jufresa is cited in My Teeth as a neighbor of the main character (though her first book wasn't yet published at the time). There is a notably interesting artifact in here where the translator has provided a rather eclectic timeline that winds up shedding light on the story as a whole. By eclectic I mean it has entries like "2300 years prior to this date Plato wrote Republic" or "Exactly 40 years prior to this date, Virginia Woolf had 2 teeth removed and wrote the short essay Gas about the experience". It's wholly of the translator, but winds up tying together aspects of the story nonetheless. I could see the right reader really enjoying this novel. 7. For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange - Recommended by Guy A Person at the end of the last thread, this is a "chorepoem." It's a series of interconnected poems meant to be performed on stage with dancing and music. As such, it contains aspects of both play and poetry, but I counted it as a play. I feel that's fair as it is at it's heart a performance piece as well. And holy poo poo, this was a surprise standout this month. This is just a tremendous work. Beautiful and raw and I'd strongly recommend this to someone who doesn't know what play (or poetry) to read. 8. A Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford. Grabbed at the library due to an interesting name a cover blurb from Joyce Carol Oates. Most of the stories focus on the supernatural and are broadly in the realm of horror. My favorites tended to tie into sort of pre-existing folk tales. At his best, I think Ford here channels Bradbury a bit, and I assume some of the references are deliberate. On the whole it was solid with a few standouts and no real duds. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 8/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/12 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. 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 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. - 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). 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.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 1, 2017 17:40
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt Read several more books this month and am currently running way ahead of schedule. I'm expecting a distinct slowdown later in the year though. It's also just because I've read a number of short books so far this year. That's not really deliberate, just a habit of grabbing what looks interesting at the library. That and some recs thrown around. So, the books: 9. We are Pirates by Daniel Handler- Someone elses wildcard, but it looked interesting. A young girl plots to sail away on a boat with her friends and her dad tries to close a big radio deal. This is poorly rated on Goodreads, and I think it's a betrayal of expectations issue. This is all sort of about the messiness of The American Dream, and not at all a fun pirate romp. I'd probably go 3.5/5. 10. Revenge by Yoko Ogawa - Another someone's wildcard, though I didn't realize it. Talked about upthread a bit, and they're right. A really interesting collection. Would recommend. 11. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch - The 4th book in the Peter Grant series. Enjoyed it, you probably will if you've liked the previous. 12. Dust by Michael Marder - The same NPR list that gave me Umami from last month also had this. This is a short collection pondering the philosophical aspects of dust. It's dual role as an emblem of death and our ultimate immortality. It's odd transcendence that partakes of earth, air, water and fire. If the contradictory nature of dust interests you and hifalutin' musings are your cup of tea, this might be the book for you. Otherwise, I'd give it a miss. 13. The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina Garcia - At a luxury hotel in an unnamed Central American country that is still trying to find it's way after a civil war, the paths of 6 strangers cross. Each chapter is finished with the news that ties together some stories and also sets the stage for the upcoming election that's the major story of the day. I wound up really enjoying this. 14. The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - This was a recommendation from the Funny Books thread. A widow in her midsixties finds she has time but no purpose and decides to do what she's always wanted to do with her life, so she becomes a spy. A simply delightful story of a clever but kindly old lady navigating the dangers of international intrigue. Would heartily recommend to anyone. 15. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt - This book looks a cannibalism in nature and through history as well. Obviously there's discussion of the Donner party, but also a look at how claims of cannibalism were used in the New World to justify treatment of indigenous people. There's a look at historical uses of corpses in medicine and the recent uptick in cannibalism. Spoiler alert: You may know a cannibal. I found this fascinating and would recommend it. 16. Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley - The sequel to The Rook in what is now apparently a series. Enjoyed this, though I think I preferred the first. Will almost certainly read the 3rd. 17. Little Mountain by Elias Khoury - Khoury is billed as the writer to know for Lebanon. The forward gives an interesting overview in where Khoury fits among the Arabic writing tradition and it gives a little context to the "formless" nature of the book. Little Mountain is set in Beirut at the outset of the Lebanese civil war. In each of it's five sections is narrated by characters who are probably different people. It's not 100% clear that they all are. I'd say there are as few as 2 and maybe as many as 5. The back of the book says 3, so we'll go with that. There's some overlap in secondary characters. I found the first section to be fairly concrete and my favorite. There were some strong parts to sections 2, 4, and 5, but 3 lost me almost completely. This is hard for me to rate, because there were parts I really enjoyed that I felt hit, and parts I really struggled with. For a short book (~150 pages) I found it to be long. 18. Grendel by John Gardner - Another recommendation from the Funny Book thread. Grendel watches Hrothgar's power and ponders his role in the grand scheme of things. The philosophical angle was an interesting one here that bears some reflection. I like a book that gives you something to think about. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 18/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/12 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. 12) Read something historical. 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. 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. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Mar 1, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2017 18:24
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:
Some very solid reading this month, and I somehow got a lot read. The run of 20, 21, and 22 really should have taken me about half the time it took, but it just drug a bit for me, for various reasons. I'm doing well hitting categories here, but I'm through many of those I'd cross off incidentally just in the course of reading. I need to start being more intentional about some of these, I think. 19. The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei - A middle aged audiophile makes a meager living installing high end stereo systems and finds himself installing the best system ever for a very shady character, but it might give him enough to get out from under his sister's thumb. This is full of details of music and stereos and also China. The back references Murakami, and this is reminiscent in a number of ways, but certainly less long winded, and somewhat more grounded as well. I enjoyed it. 20. Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L Beach - I grabbed this on a whim at a 2nd hand bookstore some time ago and never read it. It's about submarine warfare in WW2, specifically a captain who tries numerous times to outsmart "Bungo Pete" a destroyer in the Bungo Strait that is killing a lot of submarines trying to sink Japanese ships. The submarine stuff is great. The last third as a whole is as well. I found all of the nonsubmarine stuff to be a drag. I have some actual history planned, but reserve the right to count this for #12 if I need to. 21. Gringos by Charles Portis - An American expat in Mexico tries to hunt down a missing friend and a gang of sinister hippies. This felt like the literary equivalent of an expat just whiling away hot Mexican afternoons at a bar. It was good, but no True Grit. 22. No Knives in the Kitchens of this City by Khaled Khalifa - This was, despite it's length, a hard book to read. There's not really a central narrative, there's no overt conflict, and not a clear structure, often wandering back and forth in time without a firm tie between the aspects. It's just the repeated degradation of a family in Aleppo over about 40 years. Everyone is is ashamed, by their hidden desires, their fallen class, and their acquiescence to a brutal dictatorial regime. The bonus here, and why I'm counting this as my political novel, is that when you look at what a hellhole Aleppo has become in the civil war and wonder what makes it worth it, you can point to this book and see what makes people there rebel despite the costs. 23. Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett - A Nigerian man wakes up the morning of an important interview and finds that he's turned white. This takes you on a tour through different bits of Lagos and see the way white men are treated there. I found this to be an interesting book and a generally good read. It keeps it fairly light, which has good and bad sides. It's not an in depth sociological thing by any means. 24. The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder - 22 men gather in an out of the way hotel every year to reenact the Monday Night Football play where Joe Theismann's leg was broken. This moves quickly though their psyches looking at the troubles they face with their kids, their lives entering middle age, and how they project that onto this yearly reenactment. It's also about rituals and how we can create sacred spaces without realizing it. It's clever, with some funny moments throughout. I really enjoyed this. No football knowledge is required. 25. Home by Nnedi Okorafor - Binti #2. After a year at university, Binti returns home to see how her leaving has effected her family and learns some secrets of their past. This was much less a complete book than Binti was, and much more obviously an episode in the middle of things. It's good, but I have some concerns going into the 3rd. I'll read it anyways. 26. Invisible Planets by Ken Liu - A collection of 13 works of contemporary Chinese Sci-Fi. Many of the authors have multiple stories, which I liked. It gave me a better sense of their work as a whole. It also had a good mix of women in there too. There are 3 short essays at the end were interesting as well. On the whole this was a solid collection that left me feeling that I knew a bit more about contemporary Chinese Sci Fi. 27. Get Carter by Ted Lewis - A classic tale of revenge. Frank Carter is found dead in a presumed car accident. His brother thinks it's suspicious and comes back to town to figure out who done it. He beats a few people up, looks up women's skirts, and eventually stumbles onto the answer. This was decent. It didn't quite have enough of either Chandler or Thompson to excel, so felt like it fell a little short of what it could have been. Counting this as a 7 Sins novel, as vengeance is an aspect of wrath. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 27/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 9/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 10/12 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. 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. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Mar 30, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2017 18:09
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt Somehow I finished 11 this month. Really, I think it's because I had several that were just my jam along with some short ones. It was, overall, a great month. The highs were very high and though there were some lows, there was nothing that outright bad or uninteresting. I finished a history book, read a book I loved, and got in a poetry book and a WWI book to polish off soon. 28. The Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-Reverte - An art restorer digs into the mystery held by an old painting. As she solves it, people around her start being killed. I thought this was great up until the ending, which was only OK. I'd really enjoy reading more of this sort of thing, but have no idea what might be out there. 29. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx - After the death of his wife and father, Quoyle and his two daughters move up to Newfoundland with his aunt to their long abandoned familial home. Someone (Mel?) had tossed a rec for this ages ago in the Lit thread, and it turns out it was real good. I'd had something else planned for "read something you love" but I'm knocking this in there. 30. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - A recent fantasy hit, I thought I'd try it out myself. It's a familiar sort of tale, wicked stepmother, wild daughter, and a struggle between folk religion and Christianity. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but the more I reflect the more I felt like there wasn't really much here other than the Russian folklore aspect. Some people will absolutely love this though. 31. Growing up Dead in Texas by Stephen Graham Jones - Stephen Graham Jones goes back to his hometown to investigate a cotton fire from 25 years ago. Part memoir and party mystery, the whole thing is told in a rambling fashion. It's sorta like visiting the old hometown with my dad. He'll tell you about the year they won state he hadn't met mom yet and was going with Betty Smith who lived over there by where the train hit the chicken truck and you wouldn't believe how people came from all over to get those chickens but Betty's dad was the coach and he used to hang out Pouland's Feed Store with your grandfather and once... Not quite as bad as that, but each new memory or link in the chain ties to others, and as we ramble along Jones shows how this town is bound together in blood relations and business that goes back generations and how this fire changed everything. It took me a while to see what all he was doing and by end I was all on board. I thought this was a great book. And I know more about cotton farming and growing up in West Texas than I previously did. 32. Slipping: Stories, Essays and Other Writings by Lauren Beukes - A collection of shorts, on the whole it fairly solid. I felt like a couple may have been adapted into/from scenes in one of her novels. What really kicked this up for me were the essays at the end. Particularly about the murder of a family friend and the letter to her daughter. 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. 34. The Con Men: Hustling in New York City by Terry Williams - Two sociologists talk to con men and hustlers in their acquaintance. This could have been an interesting book about con men and their hijinks. It could have been an interesting book about why people get into hustling and how living on that edge effects them. It could have delved into the differences and similarities between white collar con men and guys on the street. It did a little bit of all of these and sorta just fell short. It was still an interesting book, just not as good as it might have been. 35. A City Dreaming by Daniel Polansky - M, a magician of some renown, returns to New York after a long absence and catches up with friends, saves his pub, deals with socialites, and saves the world, or at least NYC. It's more strung together stories and vignettes about what it's like being a magician in New York rather than one big story. I grabbed this on a whim and really enjoyed it. Some stories are a little spooky. Some are laugh out loud funny. It moves quickly and was fun. 36. The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Robinson - In 1983, the US and Russia are on the brink of nuclear war and the small town of Riptide has a mysterious rash of killings. The Finster family, the sherrif, and his deputy all are drawn together by grief and are trying to figure out what's going on. This was pretty good. There were well developed distinct characters who felt real. It didn't quite live up to the thriller status I'd expected and it didn't quite hit the study in grief that I think it was going for. There was a minor alt-history aspect that felt a little tacked on. Ultimately, it felt unresolved. I felt like this could have been a really good book, but just didn't quite hit it's marks. Amusingly 2 people from the publisher liked my middling review on Goodreads. 37. For all the Tea in China by Sarah Rose - This pop history looks at British efforts to sneak tea out of China. I didn't have much background on the East India Company or the opium/tea trade in SE Asia, so I found this interesting. There's a nice adventure story aspect to it as well. 38. The Long Dry by Cynan Jones - A farmer looks for his lost cow and ponders his hopes, his disappointments, and life in general. This was a short, poignant novel. I liked it and will probably look for more by Jones. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 38/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 13/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 12/12 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 18:15 on May 1, 2017 |
|
#
¿
May 1, 2017 18:09
|
|
|
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 |
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2017 18:27
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2017 16:09
|
|
|
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 |
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2017 20:56
|
|
|
Corrode posted:June - 7: I'm curious what you thought about this one.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2017 14:46
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt There was some good this month, but I have a feeling that a fair few of these I'll look back on next year and think, "Oh, what was that about again?" I had a plan for August but my library was unexpectedly quick. I had a book on hold that probably wasn't coming in until October and somehow everyone finished a lot quicker than expected, so I had to shove it in here somewhere. And I wanted to read the BOTM as well. All in all things didn't go to plan. I finished up a book from somewhere I want to travel (well, I've read a lot of those, but this was explicitly for that challenge). I'm about 3/4 through some poetry, but am sort of spreading it out a little. And I've got my WW1 book waiting on the shelf. 66. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - Precious Ramotswe takes her inheritance and founds Botswana's first female run detective agency. She navigates her personal life while solving minor mysteries. This was a pretty fun, light read. I wish the mysteries were more mysterious. "But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors." That bit is surprisingly little of the book. There's a lot of day to day going about her business in Botswana. This might be a fun last gasp of light summer reading for the back to school crowd. 67. The Round House by Louise Erdrich - When Joe's mother is attacked, he has a lot of growing up to do real fast. This reminded me of two books I'd read earlier this year. Growing Up Dead in Texas, where the protagonist untangles how an incident effects his community and Daddy Was a Number Runner, where a similarly young protagonist learns that the world's just stacked against you. If you know or have read anything about judicial matters on tribal land you can see the course of this story shaping up from about page 30. The real story is the dawning realization on Joe and how he and his family on the reservation react. This was good, but definitely grim. 68. Mister Memory by Marcus Sedgwick - A guy with a literally perfect memory kills his wife. When he's immediately remanded to psychiatric care a policeman gets suspicious. And it all happens in turn of the century Paris. This was decent but, ironically, pretty forgettable. 69. Brother's Ruin by Emma Newman - For some reason in Victorian England a group of jackbooted magic users forcibly take unreported magicians on behalf of the Crown. However if they voluntarily report, they get rich. But maybe it's scary if you become a magic user? I dunno. I was disappointed. I liked Planetfall by Newman, but this just fell flat. It's more like the outline of some larger story. Or maybe a flashback from the main character to explain her backstory while she does something else. Except it's its own book and just blah. 70. My Life and Hard Times by James Thurber - BOTM and good fun. A farcical biography of Thurber's childhood with the occasional picture for comedic effect. Like The Egg and I, this suffered some due to a bit of racism. 71. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Petty - In a sleepy town, an old legend awakens and people are frightened by the prospect of the Essex Serpent. Newly widowed Cora is an avid fossil hunter and thrilled at the prospect of finding a living fossil. The local reverend is sure it's nothing and tries to quieten his flock amid all the superstition. All of that literally happens. Mostly what happens though is a budding relationship between the widow and the reverend and how that effects others in their lives. Really there's at least 2 overlapping love triangles. The appeal here really comes from exploring these relationships, from Perry's lush descriptive language, and from a different look at Victorian times. If you want monster hunting, you'll likely leave disappointed. 72. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - Widow, spy, and sensible old lady in a silly hat, Mrs Pollifax once again travels to into danger and has to deal with dangerous enemies of Democracy. I find these to be just delightful. 73. Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan - This was my "Place I want to travel" someone in the lit thread asked about books from Bali and the response was that Kurniawan was the name to know, so here we are. Margio brutally murders a neighbor, and this book takes a deep dive into Margio's family and the family of the murdered man, Anwar Sadat (no relation) until the whys and wherefores are simply and stunningly revealed at the end. This took me a little bit to get into, since I was expecting more tiger, but this wound up as a really good read. 74. Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa - This follows 7 people through the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle. 3 protesters, 3 police, and a delegate from Sri Lanka. It's interesting to see it from all sides, and I feel like Yapa did a good job of capturing the optimism and passion of the protesters. It's a little too much though. A little to pat how the characters come together. The good guys a little too good. The bad guys a little too bad. At times, a little too overwritten. On the whole this was a good boo that felt like it probably could have been better. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 74/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 31/15 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 23/15 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. - Man Tiger 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
|
|
#
¿
Sep 1, 2017 16:43
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt A little bit of a slower month than some. I had a few books take longer than expected, but I got caught up by the expected backlog caused by Essex Serpent. I did manage to finish my WWI book and a book about Honor. I just started my Banned book and anticipate finishing Poetry next week, which means I should finish handily, assuming I can get a wild card. If anyone reads this bit, wildcard me! 75. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I grabbed this because the description made it seem like it might scratch that Foucault's Pendulum or Club Dumas itch. Unfortunately it did not, but it's a pretty good book in it's own right. Very much a gothic story set in Barcelona. A teenage boy tries to unravel the mystery of why books by Julian Carax all seem to have disappeared. The secret lies tangled in messy family histories and underhanded deeds during the Spanish Revolution. 76. Raven Strategem by Yoon Ha Lee - Lee's followup to Ninefox Gambit. I think I liked this better than Gambit. A different sort of Space Opera, this is good fun. 77. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley - I enjoyed Watchmaker of Filigree Street so figured I'd like her second book, which is not really a sequel but apparently set in the same universe. That was ultimately disappointing. I'm not sure I want to read a bunch of books in this universe. It was decent. Not as good as Watchmaker. Some stuff seemed shoehorned in from the first, and I really don't want a future book with dumb British flying, exploding trees. That Ms Pulley is a bridge to far. 78. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - So, at a loss for what do about Honor, I checked the library. You can search by subject and Honor - Fiction was one option. Only 4 books about that in the library. One is in Chinese. One is Heroes by Abercombie (which I've read) one is some weird soldier in Iraq murder mystery, and one is Chronicle of a Death Foretold by GGM. The choice was easy, and the book was good. 79. So Many Olympic Exertions by Anelise Chen - The title was intriguing, the cover suitably abstract, and it had 4.5 stars on Goodreads. So I checked it out. Then realized that was 4.5 stars on like 10 reviews. It's possible I'm the only person not related to Anelise Chen to have read this. Athena Chen is a grad student who is floundering. 7 years and she can't finish her dissertation on the Meaning of Sports. She is shaken emotionally when she learns an ex committed suicide. Her funding is finally cut off. Athena tries to come to terms with her life through sports. She's fascinated by losers and failures, especially in tennis, running, and other sports where you can see the athlete's face. Interspersed between bits of inner monologue, diary entries, and more typical storytelling are sports vignettes. Not the typical stories of overcoming, but what happens when it's all too much and all that's left is exhaustion. Somehow it works. Chen keeps enough of a wry humor present to keep it from bogging down and the shifts frequent as they are seem effortless. This was a surprising read going into it and actually deserves the Goodreads ranking. It didn't get over the 5 hump for me, but I can see why folks would go that way. 80. Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan - It has a great title, and I liked the last Kurniawan I read, so... After witnessing a traumatic rape as a teenager, Ajo Kawir becomes impotent. Initially this leads to fury fighting and a mob hit. Later he takes his penis as sort of a guru, admonishing a more ascetic existence. On the whole, this came off flat to me. There was some humor, but ultimately it seemed like a pulp novel. No real meaning. I am curious why the translator decided to so commonly translate dick as "bird" given that cock is right there. 81. Her Privates We by Frederick Manning - My WW1 novel. It's a novel about the Battle of the Somme written by a veteran of that battle. Specifically it focuses on one of the offenses toward the end of the battle. Private Bourne and his buddies are waiting to "over the top" and spend a lot of time doing parades, drinking, complaining about officers, and trying to dodge scutwork. Like 90% of the book is them doing this. There's occasional deaths, but they're offscreen. You get to know the men and see a few different views of the war, which only makes it all the more affecting when their turn actually comes near the end. This was good. Would recommend for folks needing their WWI book. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 81/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 33/16 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 27/16 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. - Man Tiger 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. - Her Privates We 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. - Chronicle of a Death Foretold 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 18:16 on Oct 2, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2017 18:12
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt It was a slower month than expected, but I finished off all the challenge categories. So Challenge Complete! Just going to try and maintain the >%20 rules for the remainder. 82. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - My banned book for the year. I guess it was time to see what all the fuss was about. Nabokov certainly has a way with words, and I think the book is at it's most fun when he's playing with them. And when he sneaks in a Burma Shave ad. The most interesting aspect is HH particularly when his mask slips. 83 Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone - I felt this not quite up to the standard the rest of the Craft Sequence has set. Mostly it felt a bit draggy before the giant action sequence that was the last quarter of the novel. 84. The Lost Boy by Christina Henry - Purportedly the origin story of Captain Hook, it's the latest in a series of Peter Pan rewrites that recognize that kids are basically assholes. This book is brutal but really shallow. Fairly compelling read but otherwise meh. 85. God's Trombones by James Weldon Johnson - Subtitled "Seven Negro Sermons in Verse" this book, written in 1927, takes seven common sermons in black churches and sets them to verse, and hence is my poetry book for the year. I feel like the verse is really nice here for giving you a sense of the cadence and how a better idea of how these might have been preached. The most interesting I thought was the Prodigal Son which was preached somewhat differently than I'd ever heard it. Some of these do get down into old timey fire and brimstone. Would generally recommend. 86. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen - My Wildcard (gotten from the Goodreads thread). A North Vietnamese spy's confession. This was a really interesting novel. MOst of what I know about Vietnam focuses on the American experience, to see it from the Vietnamese side was good, even more so to see it from both the North and South side. This was good. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 86/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 35/17 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 29/17 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!) - The Sympathizer 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. - Man Tiger 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. - Her Privates We 13) Read something biographical. - The Egg and I 14) Read some poetry. - God's Trombones 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. - Lolita 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. - Chronicle of a Death Foretold 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
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2017 16:56
|
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt Having completed the challenge, pretty much all of these I picked off the new books shelf at the library from things that looked fun. I'd grabbed a bad mystery (The Dying Game) in there, so went on a run of other mysteries to wash the taste out of my mouth. On the whole it was a solid month, with one dud. 87. Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw - I almost put this down when it was explained that there's a difference between vampires and vampyres early on. It turned out OK. Fairly predictable, not bad though. I probably won't grab any further entries in the series unless I get an recommendation otherwise. 88. A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma - Short stories focused on Indians or recent Indian immigrants. These are written in a very straightforward manner, but there's a subtlety to them that I found rewarding. 89. The Dying Game by Asa Avdic - In a dystopian future, people get trapped on an island and die 1 by 1. I'm not sure why there was a dystopian future. In the end, this comes off as either a poor dystopian novel or a poor And Then There Were None. I was saddened. 90. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - My wife had just read this and wanted me to. There are some flaws, but it was an overall entertaining read. Probably my favorite part was discussing opinions of the characters at the end of part one. That made for some interesting talk. 91. A Red Death by Walter Mosley - Between the IRS and the FBI, Easy just can't catch a break. I feel that there's an bit of Chandler to Mosley here. 92. Sleepless by Charlie Huston - Huston diverges from the breakneck pace he was known for with the Caught Stealing and Joe Pitt series. More thoughtful and contemplative, this is a mystery set in a current USA (2010) that was rendered a dystopia by a prion disease resembling Familial Fatal Insomnia. You catch it and you can't sleep and eventually your body shuts down. A policeman is under cover looking for an illicit supply of the only drug able to provide palliative care. I was hoping for more of the hard hitting action I expect of Huston, but still wound up enjoying this. 93. The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter by Theodora Goss - Many (some) Victorian horror stories had women that were overlooked. Jekyll's daughter, the Puma Woman from Isle of Doctor Moreau, Rappaccini's Daughter, etc. In this book, which is likely the first in the series though it's not advertised as such, they join together to try and find Mr Hyde, and obtain a substantial reward. On the whole, it's fairly solid. There are some flaws (origin story chapters for each character as they appear in the story, which saps some momentum and a running commentary from the cast as the book is being written) that make it a little rough. I'd hope some are ironed out in future stories. I feel like the arguing over the story will continue and it didn't add much. Oh yeah, Sherlock Holmes is in this as well. Of course. There's a 50/50 shot I read future books in this series. 94. The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - A Novella setting up a new series. It plays to some familiar tropes (magic vs machine) but with an interesting twist and a different sort of setting. Pretty good. I'll likely pick up the rest. 95. Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by Jonathan Crowley - The high point of the month. I grabbed this after seeing it on Tor's list of the best books this year. Dar Oakley is the first crow to learn to speak to humans and he recounts his long life and his interactions with humans. And, given the crow's stature as a carrion bird, it's also about how humans relate to death. There's definitely a real mythic feel to all this. Would recommend. 96. Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham - It's a familiar story. A 30 something guy discovers at his father's funeral that his father hadn't committed suicide, but was instead murdered. See, he was an undercover agent for the Invisible Hand, a society of natural born magicians, and was actually killed by their rivals, The Golden Dawn. Probably to try and get the Sphere of Destiny (yes, that's its name). The action sequences are a little rough, but it's fast paced and generally pretty fun. Some of the twists and turns of the story are a little predictable, but I enjoyed it overall and would recommend it as a sort of mindless palate cleanser between denser works. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 95/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 39/19 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 32/19 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!) - The Sympathizer 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. - Man Tiger 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. - Her Privates We 13) Read something biographical. - The Egg and I 14) Read some poetry. - God's Trombones 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. - Lolita 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. - Chronicle of a Death Foretold 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
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2017 06:31
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 10:33 |
|
|
Ben Nevis posted:
Just sort of coasting to the end. I clearly wasn't aggressive enough setting a number, since I've topped 100 books this year. This month I had a stretch where I couldn't get by the library (the source of almost all of my reading) so wound up reading a few that had been languishing on my shelf. I apparently only read 1 book this month by an author of color. Still, wrapping up the year, 41% of my reads were by women and 31% by non-white authors. Generally, I didn't find that challenge too hard. I'm hoping to put up a year in review where I pick a few favorites out. 97. Hooks Tale: Being the Account of an Unjustly Villainized Pirate Written by Himself by John Leonard Pielmeier - The second Captain Hook origin story I read this year, and it was the better of the two. It was much more in keeping with the usual Peter Pan story, it had a good sense of humor, and actually some depth. If you're going to read a Captain Hook origin story and have to pick between this and The Lost Boy, this is the clear winner. 98. A Loving and Faithful Animal by Josephine Rowe - When a poor Australian family's dog is found killed by a cougar, it precipitates a falling out that tears the family apart. Rowe takes you through the immediate events from the point of view of each member of the family on that fateful day and then a wrap up chapter at the end. She uses a different point of view for most of the characters or at least a radically different voice. It really wraps you in a sense of the heartache of each of the members of this family in a way that seems immediate and intimate. It's a well done little book. 99. The Neon Palm of Madame Melancon by Will Clarke - I grabbed this because it really looked like a light bouncy thing after the tragic family novel. Duke Melancon, a corporate lawyer for Not-BP, has been transferred back to his hometown of New Orleans just in time for a tragic Not-Deepwater Horizon oil spill. At the same time, his mother, palmreader to the mafia, disappears. Duke tries desperately to cope with both crises, and his mystically inclined family doesn't help matters. There's really a sense throughout of wrestling personally with a career that devastates your home as well as old and new New Orleans struggling against each other. This wound up being a lot better than expected, there's a Hiaasen-ish vibe here. 100. The Gates by John Connelly - A precocious boy and his dog have to thwart a demonic invasion. This was a romp. Would generally recommend for fun reading. 101. Disgrace by JM Coetzee - What really surprised me here was how compelling a read this was despite the difficult subject matter. It's one that stuck with me for awhile. 102. The Eyes of the Killer Robot by John Bellairs - So I read this for a book report probably 30 years ago and found a copy squirreled away in the back of a closet. One particular scene (the gas station scene) has stuck with me for ages, so I figured I'd reread it. Basically, back in the 20's Johnny's grandfather kept his minor league baseball team from buying a pitching robot from nefarious inventor. Flash forward and Johnny's friend the Professor loses $10k on a bad investment and thinks he can recoup the money by finding and rebuilding the robot to win a pitching contest. Obviously, the nefarious inventor is still around and wants to get revenge on the grandfather by kidnapping Johnny and using his eyes to magically power another, better designed robot. Can Johnny and the Professor stop him? Will they ever discover what the mysterious sword cane is used for? Is the ghost trying to help them or is it malicious? This is some sort of crazy. 103. The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang - The novella released concurrently with Black Tides of Heaven that I read last month. With BToH setting things up more, this was a much closer look at Mokoya's character. I liked this, I'm curious to see where the story goes because the first novella set up a sort of epic civil war type story and this did little to advance that story line, more just look at the character. 104. Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls - Dorothy is a disaffected housewife with an unavailable husband who one day commences a torrid affair with Larry, a 6 foot 7 frogman escaped from a local lab. This slender volume crams a lot into a tale about monster love. I really want to read more by Ingalls. She's a favorite new to me author this year. 105. Devil's Call J Danielle Dorn - A pretty straightforward revenge Western with shades of Hannie Caulder, except the main character is a witch. I'd come out pretty positive about this, but a few days later, I don't retain much sense of the novel. It's competent, but not outstanding. Apparently there's a Devil's Call 2, which there's a 50-50 shot I pick up. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 105/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 43/21 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 33/21 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!) - The Sympathizer 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. - Man Tiger 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. - Her Privates We 13) Read something biographical. - The Egg and I 14) Read some poetry. - God's Trombones 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. - Lolita 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. - Chronicle of a Death Foretold 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
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2017 18:11
|
|