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I'm hoping to read a few longer books this year, so I'm in for 42 books and I'll do the Book Lord challenge. Someone please give me a wild card that is preferably literature and not fantasy or romance. So, 8-9 books will have to be written by a woman and/or minority.
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Dec 27, 2016 13:44
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Groke posted:Oh yeah, wildcard me something, please. Aquarium by David Vann
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Dec 27, 2016 13:55
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The Berzerker posted:I appreciate that, though I can't imagine I'm going to watch a 95 episode TV series, on top of a 2500 page book, for just one of the 24 challenges in the Booklord this year. "Can I get a fun wild card?" "IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME BY PROUST. ALL OF IT."
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Dec 27, 2016 21:20
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I didn't do the format thingy to make it easy to copy/paste. Name: Franchescanado Number: 42 Booklord's challenge: Yes Still need a wild card, but I'm not really rushing.
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Dec 27, 2016 21:30
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The Berzerker posted:In Search of Lost Time by Proust. The whole thing. If I'm failing the challenge this year I'm taking you all with me Hahaha, I'm starting 2017 with Infinite Jest, and I'll be reading either Mason & Dixon or Against the Day by T. Pynchon before the end. I'm good on long books, bud.
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Dec 27, 2016 21:52
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I still need a wildcard too, please.
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Dec 30, 2016 16:49
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Guy A. Person posted:Lots of cool wild cards on this page, someone wild card me too The Peregrine by J. A. Baker
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Dec 30, 2016 23:35
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A human heart posted:Rural Rides, by William Cobbet. Free on kindle! Thanks.
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Dec 30, 2016 23:38
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I'm reading Infinite Jest, The Underground Railroad by Colton Whitehead for my book club, and also Mother Night by Vonnegut.
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Jan 2, 2017 03:23
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For those with eReaders (mainly Kindle), I recommend bookmarking the ebook deals thread. It updates almost daily, and saves a huge amount of money for good books. Or post any deals you find.
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Jan 2, 2017 18:35
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ToxicFrog posted:I'm in, with the same parameters as last year: 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. Is Alexandre Dumas considered non-white? What about Malcolm Gladwell? José Saramago would be considered white, but he's Portuguese.
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Jan 3, 2017 19:06
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Wezlar posted:If you don't mind YA, I'm going to read either More Happy Than Not or History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (or both), they're supposed to be good. I currently have One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau (gay) and Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (Lesbian/Transgender) on my shelf, among Roxane Gay, Clive Barker, Sedaris, Fun fact, my friend works for SoHo Press and oversaw the design for More Happy Than Not (at least the smiley face design), and I was supposed to get a free copy from her (and never did). I haven't read him yet, but Adam Silvera's supposed to be a super nice guy to work with. I hope you enjoy it! Here's my Goodreads. Be my friend.
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Jan 3, 2017 19:54
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Also, somebody sling me a wildcard! Preferably written by an author of colour, since I need to expand those horizons. Black Boy by Richard Wright
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Jan 5, 2017 13:24
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mdemone posted:I'm gonna need a ruling on how many booklord items Wolf Hall fulfills. I say historical and biographical but I will bow to the thread's consensus. It was mentioned that the goal is for each book to qualify as one criteria except for non-white and female authors.
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Jan 10, 2017 00:10
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If anyone needs more female authors, the answer is Flannery O'Conner and Carson McCullers.
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Jan 23, 2017 17:18
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I can't release my book reading progress because they're under Book Lord audit. It doesn't matter. I already read them. They were great, they were wonderful. I read way more books than you. No you can't check me, I have support from all the best librarians in the country.
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Jan 23, 2017 19:52
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I started off strong with Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut, which I loved and have been recommending to many friends. Not much to say, since it was an okay BotM thread. Second was The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. This was for my book club. It is an exploration of the lesser-known evils of slavery, such as Resurrection Men, human zoos, Slave catchers/hunters, freedom farms, etc., through the eyes of Cora, a 3rd generation teenage slave who escapes a plantation in Georgia by means of an actual underground railroad that aims to deliver slaves to states offering freedom. This does not happen often, as she is pursued and made victim by slave hunters, society and even other slaves. Not an easy book: the prose is dry, Cora is a distant narrator (she suffers PTSD from years of abuse, refuses to trust people), plot threads are introduced but never fully explored (to disappointing affect), there is no humor, hope is minimal, there is McCarthy-level violence, and the human cruelty on display sadly echoes through to today. There are some major highs: Ridgeway, a bounty hunter/slave catcher who lives according to a personal moral code, is a wonderful villain; characters are not Good/Bad, morality is a complex creature; hope is brought through perseverance and personal insights, not a deus ex machina or faith in an Almighty God. It had read half of the book before I was really grabbed. Other aspects that I enjoyed: the story is told with slight magical realism. This is not cut-and-dried history lesson, it is a heightened world. A great example is a scene that takes place in Tennessee, where Cora is brought after being captured (again). The land has been ravaged by fired, burnt black or still glowing red; a nearby town is plagued with death; they have entered Hell. There are these brief flashes of fantastic imagery, but it never really reaches the fairy-tale/fable/parable feeling of someone like Saramago. Not a favorite of mine; as horrific and exhausting as The Underground Railroad is, it could have done more for an emotional response from the reader. I don't know if it earned its place at the top of many Best of 2016 books, but it's certainly a good book with plenty to discuss and explore. Best book of the month still goes to Mother Night, however. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 2/42 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 0/9 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 1/9 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. I am also 20% through Infinite Jest, roughly 25% through The Hero of a Thousand Faces (J. Campbell) and I just began The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which is the next book club book. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Feb 27, 2017 |
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Jan 30, 2017 16:20
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Corrode posted:I just glanced at the title and assumed it was another 'read this thing that's out of print and costs $50' suggestion, if not then no bother. It looks like his complete works are split into three volumes on Kindle for free, and it seems to be included in Vol. 2., or there's this version for $2 that has a few other pieces. Safety Biscuits posted:What do you mean by speculative linguistics? It's been so long since I've read it that I've no idea what you're talking about. I feel like this is a reference to the Kenosha Kid gag? Or maybe one of the Pavlovian experiments that occurs in the book, like Grigori's conditioning to attack?
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Feb 1, 2017 14:08
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Safety Biscuits posted:I don't remember this section at all but I have a vague idea it's something to do with Tchitcherine. Man there was so much in that book and so much went over my head. You never did? The Kenosha kid. YOU! Never did the Kenosha, kid. How language, context, meaning, rhythm, etc. is susceptible to even the slightest change in grammar. This is when Slothrop is being, what, hypnotized? And then he has the dream where he falls in the toilet after his harmonica and almost gets raped by Malcom X. I admit that I don't remember Tchitcherine much, or much of the Schwarzkommando or otukungurna sections.
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Feb 2, 2017 14:39
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How was Universal Harvester? I liked Wolf in White Van, but I'm trying to hold off from buying new books, unless I should stop everything for it.
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Feb 9, 2017 20:18
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I really like Sum, but some of the ideas were a little heavy. What'd you think? And I agree. Everyone read Aquarium, and My Name Is Red is also a playful mystery with insights on Eastern vs Western culture/religion with some good humor, and is perfect for the non-human perspective.
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Feb 9, 2017 20:36
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mdemone posted:I read it in an hour. My first Darnielle, he's a decent stylist, good pacing and a feel for place. I quite enjoyed it, but it's a bit more of a soul excavation than it is a horror vehicle (like the cover blurb might mildly suggest). It's $15 for a hardback on Amazon, which might be worth it since I like the hardback's holographic cover (it is holographic right?), or $12 for Kindle. I'm sure it'll take me more than an hour to read, but I dunno if I wanna throw down the money. $15 can get me anywhere from 5-7 used books.
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Feb 9, 2017 21:26
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Corrode posted:07. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Damien Keown) How was this?
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Feb 11, 2017 18:48
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Sandwolf posted:So my work library had a total of four books worth reading (a lot of romantic chick lit) and I was looking for a recommendation on which to read first. Looks like you already figured out which order to read them.
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Feb 17, 2017 04:06
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It's been a busy month. I've been working a lot of over-time and I'm in the middle of moving to a new apartment, so my reading schedule has been hectic. I managed to finish some short works, but I'm bouncing across six other books that will go to March's number. We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie An essay on common sense feminism. Doesn't need much introduction, just read it. I wish more people would, it does well to disrupt idiotic arguments against feminism while delivering a clear and positive message to the intent and definition of feminism. In America's current climate, I'd say a book about feminism counts as Political. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros This has been on my bookshelf for quite a while. It's a school-taught book for middle-schoolers or high-schoolers, but was not part of any curriculum I took. It's okay. It's a collection of vignettes, short scenes in the life of a 12-year-old Hispanic girl growing up in Chicago ghettos. The themes cover everything from racism to immigration to sexuality to death, etc. It was another fast read for me, which was perfect, but I'm too old for any emotional resonance in the story. Could have done more with the playful poetics. Throwing this one under "Banned", since it's been banned and unbanned by school boards for its depictions of sexuality and sexual assault/rape. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen A supposed classic of supernatural terror that is too muddled to deliver any real message, other than women can be scary and ruin men's lives because they want to gently caress invisible goat monsters (or something). Maybe I missed the charm, but it just didn't work for me. It's a horror story, I guess, so this one goes under "Fear". 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 5/42 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 2/9 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/9 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Feb 27, 2017 13:59
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I've been reading Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry by Kenneth Koch for my poetry book for The Book Lord challenge. Just wanted to pop in and say it's only $6.29 in brand new paperback right now on Amazon (possibly today only). I paid double that for a used copy. First 80 pages are about "The Language of Poetry", Part 2 is 40 pages on Reading & Writing Poetry, part 3 is 170+ page anthology of poems from a broad range of poets. It's nice, casual, and it's good at winning over people that are intimidated or just don't "get" poetry, or to just understand some "fundamentals" better and to find new poets.
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Mar 6, 2017 19:06
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If you're having a hard time picking which book to read next for your challenge, why not let someone from the all new SHAMEFUL: The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread pick one for you? You know you want to.
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Jul 12, 2017 17:41
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