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Oh yeah, wildcard me, someone.
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Jan 9, 2018 10:14
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Groke posted:Oh yeah, wildcard me, someone. The House of Breath, by William Goyen
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Jan 9, 2018 10:21
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A human heart posted:The House of Breath, by William Goyen Cool, not previously familiar with that and it looks interesting. Thanks!
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Jan 9, 2018 10:26
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Chazani posted:Under the North Star by Väinö Linna in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Finnish Civil War. I'll look around, but the cheapest copy I'm seeing is $110, which isn't gonna happen. It sounds interesting, though, so I'll post again when I've had more time to look around.
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Jan 9, 2018 14:40
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I am going to read 100 books this year. I have already read five. Mostly I read mysteries and nonfiction so I'm looking to expand my horizons. I'm up for a wildcard, if I can get it at my local bookstore/library network.
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Jan 11, 2018 07:56
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Magikarpal Tunnel posted:I am going to read 100 books this year. I have already read five. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt (or her second novel Lightning Rods.)
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Jan 11, 2018 16:50
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Corrode posted:Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris. Thanks, this looks good!
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Jan 11, 2018 23:11
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Why the gently caress did I select Ron Chernow's Grant as my first book. 550 pages in, only 40% complete according to my Kindle.
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Jan 12, 2018 02:43
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Assuming you don't read the index/notes like a normal person, you're further than it seems. My average non-fiction book finishes at 75% or so according to the kindle.
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Jan 12, 2018 03:27
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Yeah I usually skip to the notes/appendix of any non-fic book when I start it to see what true percentage it ends at A little tip from your booklord
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Jan 12, 2018 05:28
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Hit me with a wildcard, please! Nothing too gigantic.
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Jan 12, 2018 19:28
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Hungry posted:Hit me with a wildcard, please! The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
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Jan 12, 2018 20:02
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Franchescanado posted:The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster Thank you! Never heard of that before, a quick google and it sounds interesting.
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Jan 12, 2018 20:09
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My goal for this year is 20, and I'll attempt the booklord challenge. There's a good chance I won't get far on either, since I'm probably going to be away from books and computers for a few months later this year. e: Also, give me a wildcard. I might as well start that now.
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Jan 12, 2018 22:19
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Strong Mouse posted:My goal for this year is 20, and I'll attempt the booklord challenge. There's a good chance I won't get far on either, since I'm probably going to be away from books and computers for a few months later this year. Torture Garden, by Octave Mirbeau
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Jan 13, 2018 00:35
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New post for a new month! 1. Bird Box - Joshua Malerman . . . post-apoc agoraphobic body horror endangers children 2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff . . . hell, same 3. In The Swarm - Byung-Chul Han . . . "Sovereign is he who commands the shitstorms of the Net." 4. The Golem - Gustav Meyrink . . . so who the gently caress was Pernath? 5. Hiding in the Mirror: The Quest for Alternate Realities - Lawrence M. Krauss . . . umpteenth rehash of standard model and string theories 6. Late Victorian Holocausts - Mike Davis . . . capital exploits and deepens natural disaster, a century before climate change 7. The Cynic Enlightenment - Louisa Shea . . . Diogenes' fashionable influence on the salons of the French Revolution 8. The World, The Flesh and The Devil: An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul - J. D. Bernal . . . influential futurism from the early-20th century perspective of a brilliant Communist and American scientist 9. communism for kids - Bini Adamczak . . . they should teach this book to middle schoolers ---------- end of January 10. Black - Alain Badiou . . . aging philosopher pontificates tediously, sells many copies 11. Tales of Misery and Imagination - Scott S. Phillips . . . these were okay stories, worth a bargain-bin read 12. Nine Dantesque Essays - Jorge Luis Borges . . . little gems from a peerless mind on a timeless subject 13. Rings of Saturn - W.G. Sebald 14. e: The Story of a Number- Eli Maor 15. My Struggle, Book 1 - Karl Ove Knausgaard 16. LoveStar - Andri Snζr Magnason 17. Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit - Joshua Foa Dienstag ----------- end of February 18. My Struggle, Book 2 - Karl Ove Knausgaard 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: 15/100 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women.1/20 bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white.2/20 bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 10. bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. bonus: Read something about hunger 22. bonus: mdemone fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Mar 11, 2018 |
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Jan 15, 2018 03:01
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I'm in! Even though according to goodreads I only finished 4 books in 2017! My goal is at least 24, at least 18 of which are books I already own because I buy them and don't read them like some bourgie hoarder. I won't specifically try for the booklord challenge because stuff like that stresses me out but I will take a wildcard from someone. I'd like to be more literary and actually understand what good prose is and stuff like that. Also, I have to ask: 1Q84 or 2666 (I own both)
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Jan 19, 2018 02:11
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Socialized posted:I'm in! Even though according to goodreads I only finished 4 books in 2017! I'll wildcard you if you don't mind. I read Zorba the Greek last year for the booklord and thought it was an absolutely amazing book. Look it up and, if it seems even mildly interesting, read it.
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Jan 19, 2018 02:40
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I'm in for 24 again, I may pick and choose some bits from booklord, and my personal challenge is to actually keep posting in this thread.
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Jan 21, 2018 23:04
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Hit me with a wildcard, somebody. Preferably, but not necessarily, something by a Female author or author of color (or both!).
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Jan 28, 2018 00:08
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I'm joining in with this. I am always looking to broaden my reading horizons, so I'm setting the following challenge: 26 Books as a minimum, under 20% rereads (currently 4 books with 1 reread) Booklord's Challenge 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. (minimum 6) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. (minimum 6) 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 11. Read something political. bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a war that didn't involve the U.S. 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 20. Read something about music. 22. Read something about the future. bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year For me, the challenges are really what I'm interested in, and where the bonus is listed, that is the aim. Somebody issue me a wildcard! Completed Books: 1. The Damned United by David Peace (reread) 2. Player One by Douglas Coupland 3. The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis 4. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut In Progress: 5. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Coming Soon: On Beauty by Zadie Smith When The Shooting Stops by Ralph Rosenblum and Robert Karen Side Jobs by Jim Butcher Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
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Jan 28, 2018 00:16
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apophenium posted:Hit me with a wildcard, somebody. Preferably, but not necessarily, something by a Female author or author of color (or both!). A Question of Power, by Bessie Head
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Jan 28, 2018 00:21
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Is it too late to sign up? If not, I'd like to sign up for the personal challenge--52 books, with at least ten poetry books and less than ten written by straight white dudes from dominant literary canons. This is both a fun challenge because I want to really dive into more diverse work and also a regular challenge because I love Russian literature and it's mostly dead white dudes all the way down.
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Jan 30, 2018 07:24
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It doesn't really make much sense to think of slavic people as white in exactly the same way as western europeans most of the time
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Jan 30, 2018 07:53
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A human heart posted:It doesn't really make much sense to think of slavic people as white in exactly the same way as western europeans most of the time I don't really wanna get into race vs ethnicity chat because the derail would be pointless and annoying, but let's say I'm going standardized testing fill in your race bubble rules
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Jan 30, 2018 08:16
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I've been reading a ton this month, so am just going to do this month's check-in a little early. I'm currently in the middle of The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I also may start The Complete Sherlock Holmes on audio today. I've been reading a lot more speculative fiction, especially fantasy, than I typically do. I also read my first manga, Princess Jellyfish, which has been really fun. My least favorite was definitely The Transition by Luke Kennard. My favorites this month include J.Y. Yang's Tensorate Series (The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune) and Taproot by Keezy Young. Seven of the books I've read this month have been Tor.com novellas, and they've been really good. If you're into speculative fiction, you should definitely check out their offerings. Here are the books I've read in January in order:
 to make my spreadsheet auto-calculate these numbers it the way it's set up to track author gender.1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: 32/100 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. Currently at 84% non-male authors. bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 60% of the non-male authors I've read are new to me; 56% of the books I've read by non-male authors have been by authors new to me. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. Currently at 36% authors of color. bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 78% of the authors of color I've read are new to me; 54% of the books I've read by authors of color have been by authors new to me. 4. bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors I'm not actively tracking queer authors, but I'm definitely well over this. 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). bonus: 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 10. bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. Read something political. bonus: 12. Read a poetry collection. bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. bonus: 14. Read a play. bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. bonus: Read a major religious text 18. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. bonus: 20. Read something about music. bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. bonus: Read something about hunger 22. bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year nerdpony fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jan 31, 2018 |
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Jan 30, 2018 17:19
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January - 6: 1. The Man with the Compound Eyes (Wu Ming-yi) 2. Marie (Madeleine Bourdouxhe) 3. Small is Beautiful (E.F. Schumacher) 4. Madonna in a Fur Coat (Sabahattin Ali) 5. Byzantium: A Very Short Introduction (Peter Sarris) 6. The Man Who Was Thursday (G.K. Chesterton) A good month to start the year with. I'm currently halfway through Judith Herrin's Byzantium, which is super detailed and really interesting. I've claimed 19 for Madonna in a Fur Coat, since the author was allegedly murdered by the Turkish government, which always suggests that they're not fans of his work. Let me know if you feel that's not in spirit, booklord. Year to date - 6: Booklord: 8, 10-11, 15, 19 Wildcard: My Uncle Oswald, Roald Dahl 1. The Man with the Compound Eyes (Wu Ming-yi) 10 2. Marie (Madeleine Bourdouxhe) 8 3. Small is Beautiful (E.F. Schumacher) 11 4. Madonna in a Fur Coat (Sabahattin Ali) 19 5. Byzantium: A Very Short Introduction (Peter Sarris) 15 6. The Man Who Was Thursday (G.K. Chesterton)
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Jan 31, 2018 17:29
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2018 Reading Challenge Theme Week #1 - Challenge no. 11: Read something political So I decided to not do these in any particular order, and since in America it is 1) an election year, and 2) yesterday was the current American president's first State of the Union, I decided to make this first post about challenge number 11 - "read something political". My personal pick for this challenge was Michael Wolff's new trashy gossip book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. This was obviously not very literary and potentially full of some exaggerations but still offered some interesting insights into Trump's inner circle as well as organizing stuff I already knew about the first year of his presidency into a narrative. So much of that poo poo last year was like a fever dream, so it was helpful to get things straight in my mind reading about it with the benefit of hindsight and a clear progression. I'd recommend it as a good primer (at the very least if you're not that politically inclined it gives a pretty solid summary of the first year of Trump's events and scandals) and for a few insights which have probably since been reported on/fact checked anyway. Just read it with a grain of salt that the dude is probably shaping some things to fit his preferred narrative. Other recommendations: I am a pretty big fan of Rick Perlstein's trilogy on the rise of modern American conservatism: Before the Storm (2001), Nixonland (2008), and The Invisible Bridge (2014). These go chronologically through 3 of the bigger figures who shaped the modern Republican party platform, ideologies, strategies and what have you. I have yet to read Before the Storm but the other 2 were really good. For literature there's also classics like Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here which was featured in a BotM thread at the end of 2016. Bonus challenge: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in I was totally hoping to do some research and have a few examples here or at least my own choice but then I totally didn't do that. So I am leaving that up to you guys, and hoping that we can get a discussion going and I can get my own recommendations. ---- So feel free to discuss your own choices or interpretations of the challenge or previous books you've read that could fit. Remember "something political" is pretty open ended and certainly doesn't have to do with government politics on the national level like the examples I posted.
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Jan 31, 2018 19:18
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Last year I read No Knives in the Kitchen's of this City by Khaled Khalifa as a political book for the challenge. The novel traces the descent into ruin of a once rich family in Aleppo under the Assad regime. You look through different characters and histories of the family to see how the fear and control of the regime has lead to their degradation. It's definitely a bummer of a read, but when you look at the mess Syria is now and wonder what prompted them into this nasty revolution, this provides a good sense of what drove people to that extremity. I'm probably not going to get a political read in for Theme Week, unless I stretch to make it sci-fi. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Jan 31, 2018 |
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Jan 31, 2018 19:43
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Ben Nevis posted:I'm probably not going to get a political read in for Theme Week, unless I stretch to make it sci-fi. Oh yeah, just for clarification, definitely don't expect people to read their political book this early, especially in a single week. I happened to read mine because it was a hot topic but mostly I intend the theme weeks as being more about discussion of the challenges, rather than read-alongs or whatever. I just want to get people talking and giving suggestions/interpretations.
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Jan 31, 2018 19:57
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Soviet Daughter by Julia Alekseyeva is definitely a political book -- it's a graphic adaptation of the author's great-grandmother's autobiography about growing up in Soviet Ukraine (she ended up working for the government in various capacities, including for the NKVD), but it has interludes wherein the author reflects upon the grandmother's influence on her life and personal politics. It would be a good political read for someone who doesn't want to read a book about current events or more traditional political history. Infomocracy by Malka Older and its sequel, Null States, would be good fictional political books. The final installment in the trilogy, State Tectonics, comes out this September. The Accusation by Bandi, the book of short stories smuggled out of North Korea and published in English last year, could also count toward this task.
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Jan 31, 2018 20:02
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nerdpony posted:Infomocracy by Malka Older and its sequel, Null States, would be good fictional political books. Null States was actually the sci-fi I was considering stretching to this. I'll probably be to it late next week. I enjoyed the first (and it presciently got at a government trying to rule via fake news) and am looking forward to the second.
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Jan 31, 2018 20:08
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January Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa ... (Full write-up here)I admit that I began this book in 2017, but read more than half of it during the first week of the new year. Dark, vulgar, weird, funny, tragic, nostalgic. Two narratives: an 18 year old aspiring writer experiences love and romance for the first time with middle-age Aunt Julia (whom he is related to through marriage), which causes a fall-out with his family, and a series of radio serials (presented as short stories) which slowly become intertwined as their author Pedro Camacho grows insane. It was a wonderful weird start to my year, but it's a little too long. Remains of the Day by Kazuo IshiguroAn English butler goes on a week-long trip through the countryside in the late 1950's to meet with an old co-worker. Along the way he visits villages, talks with colorful locals, reminisces about the previous homeowner he worked for Lord Darlington, World War 2, the nature of dignity, the past and future of butlers, politics, the state of the UK, and life's many regrets. As we spend more time with Mr. Stevens, we gain more insight into the moral dilemma that came with working with Lord Darlington, as well as the true nature of his relationship with Miss Kenton. Stevens is a fun unreliable narrator. He is knowledgeable, he is intelligent, but only in regards to serving as a butler and being proper. He is polite, but does not know how to banter. His sense of humor is dry. He constantly lies to other characters, the reader, and himself, not with a malicious intent, but because he is completely repressed: emotionally, socially, romantically, etc. His life was spent as a cog in the capitalist wheel, in service to Lord Darlington, who he considers a "great man". However, we learn that Darlington was more villainous than Stevens would want to admit. Stevens never actually lived a fulfilling life, while he allowed his employer to live an evil life that caused the suffering of many people during WW2. The book is full of missed opportunities for happiness, regret, but also nostalgia for the past. All in all, a great book. I liked it much more than I anticipated. Multiple Choice by Alejandro ZambraThis book is written in the form of the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, which includes 90 multiple choice questions in various formats, such as Sentence Order (see below), Word Association, Critical Thinking and others. The questions are quite bizarre. Where they written by a mad man, or someone experiencing an existential crisis? Does this test have sinister connotations? Are we, the reader, going mad? This is a fun mental exercise if the reader engages the book and considers the questions as if they were actually being tested (there is an answer key included, in fact). It is in turns funny, dark, sad, and creepy. The word games inspired me to meditate on language, literary devices, the idea of standardized testing, authors of standardized tests, the ideas of individuality, and free will. Quite a few questions made me consider which of the answers stood out as "correct" to me, and what that conclusion says about me. It's not all serious, as I said much of it is quite funny. Here are two questions that give you an idea of the tone: Place the sentences in the best possible order:   Quite an enjoyable book. The 2018 Booklord Challenge 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge 3/24 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 0/5 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/5 Aunt Julia & the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 & participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6 times BOTM: coming soon Shameful: 1/6 Aunt Julia & the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it.  I need a new wildcard, the one chosen for me is out of print and too expensive. Something preferably under 500 pages.7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 8. Read something written before you were born. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (published in 1989) 9. Read a book published in 2018. 10. Read something translated from another language. 11. Read something political. 12. Read a poetry collection. 13. Read a collection of short stories. 14. Read a play. 15. Read something involving history. 16. Read something biographical. 17. Read something about religion. 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 20. Read something about music. 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 22. Read something about the future. TOTAL CHALLENGE GOALS COMPLETED 2/22 Currently reading: Pride & Prejudice for the first time
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Jan 31, 2018 20:29
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Franchescanado posted:
This looks sweet. Guy A. Person posted:Bonus challenge: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in One of my favorite authors to read on foreign politics is Arundhati Roy. She's an Indian novelist, activist and essayist who commonly writes about : rural/village rights, communist and left insurgency, adivasi movements, anti-Muslim violence and oppression, and nuclear proliferation. I've found her writing useful not just for learning more about India but because when I read about these situations that I have zero pre-conceived notions about, I can use my thoughts about them to inform my opinions in cases where I have a lot of ingrained biases. If this sells you on her, a good one to start with is Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy. For what I'm reading in the surprise theme week, I notice that last night I put a first bookmark in The Two-State Delusion, by Padraig O'Malley. thatdarnedbob fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jan 31, 2018 |
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Jan 31, 2018 20:32
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One month down and only 6 books read (of a 52 for the year), because ofGuy A. Person posted:7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. I'm determined to do as many of the bonuses as I can, and unfortunately for me this one was triggered by my half-asleep husband mumbling "You're gonna read Gai-jin, right?" Which is, of course, a half-million word doorstop of a novel. 1 - Agents of Dreamland - Caitlνn R. Kiernan [+1 woman +1 LGBT] Cosmic horror blended with hardboiled spy-thriller. All of Kiernan's usual powerful prose but it felt a bit short. Probably going to read a ton of Kiernan's work this year, I've been putting her off for too long because she's so good I can only handle her in short doses. 2 - To Walk the Night - William Sloane Cosmic horror from the 1930s and much to my relief free from the stogy prose and terrible cut-out characters which plague the genre from that period, instead written with real professionalism and characterisation. Set among upper-crust New Yorkers, also a complete departure from the genre. Sadly it suffers from a lot of low-level unexamined misogyny and what I can only assume was an attempt to use autism as a horror trope, both completely undermining the effect for a modern reader. 3 - Black Wings IV - ed. S. T. Joshi Rock bottom awful. Very disappointing after the first three collections. Only a single story was no-doubt good and barely one other just scraped over the average bar. Rest were trash. 4 - A History of England: Volume One, Foundation - Peter Ackroyd From 900,000 BC to Henry the VII, and not a dull moment. Ackroyd alternates between chapters which advance the historical narrative and chapters about particular aspects of life or technology, religion or medicine, which stops any one section from getting too monolithic to handle all at once. Very grisly and full of human detail. 5 - Gai-Jin - James Clavell Massive making GBS threads bastard of a book, but no less fun than Clavell's more famous novel, Shogun. This one is set in the 1860s just before the Meiji Restoration and mainly concerns itself with the trading port of Yokohama and the fallout from a fictionalized version of a real event in which several samurai killed a British trader. Intrigue, sex, murder, sex, racism, sex, political backstabbing, sex. Did I mention sex? It's kept realistically uncomfortable for Victorian attitudes of the time, but it did make me wonder about Clavell's motives. Unfortunately he also tries to replicate the style of ending from Shogun but fails miserably and just sort of trails off. Completed challenges: 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. Read something written before you were born. 13. Read a collection of short stories. 15. Read something involving history.
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Jan 31, 2018 22:32
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I only read four books for the first month of the year, and one of them I started last year. But at the same time I've been working my way through a really tough non-fiction book, so that is my excuse. 1. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide - J.K. Rowling. I've been tutoring a kid who is reading through the Harry Potter books, so I was working through the short stories and other parts of the universe. 2. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck. I have loved everything I've read by Steinbeck, so I figured I should start tackling the books I haven't read. 3. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson. I started this last year (hell, maybe in 2016?) and finally finished it. It has been my bedtime reading for quite a while. It's a comic, so I don't know how much it really counts, but I am putting it on here. 4. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Short and interesting. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 4/40, 10% 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 1/4, 25% bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you. 0/1, 0% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 1/4, 25% bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 1/1, 100% 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 0 bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors 0/4, 0% 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) Beloved - Toni Morrison. My wife told me to read this the other day. bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. Read something political. bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. Read a collection of short stories. bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. bonus: Read something about hunger 22. Read something about the future. bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year So overall I've completed two goals, but have plans for others. I'm reading the political book right now. I could also use a wildcard, if someone wants to give me something!
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Feb 1, 2018 02:39
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January! 1. Crossroads of Twilight. Robert Jordan. This one was really boring to read. Nothing gets resolved, even stuff from the book 9. 2. Dr.STONE 1. Riichiro Inagaki. A fun story with a lot of science. The art is weird in some aspects, but it also has its fun moments. 3. Armada. Ernest Cline. A fun read with a lot of forced stuff. Unlikeable characters, predictable story and a barrage of references that should have made me smile but just made me cringe. 4. Annihilation. Jeff VanderMeer. Creepy and atmospheric... but I just didn't feel the story right even if the characters are very interesting. In the end, the book just leaves you with more questions than answers. 5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Mark Haddon. A quick and easy story narrated by an autistic child. Very representative of their way of thinking, but the story and most other characters are quite simple. 6. The Turn of the Screw. Henry James. The story and the characters are pretty good. If only the book wasn't that hard to read... 7. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend. Matthew Dicks. The characters are interesting and the story started boring but got really good in the middle and that caught me by surprise. I really liked it. 8. Nova. Samuel R. Delaney. It's kind of hard not to ignore all the problems this book has with real science. But if you can, you will find an enjoyable story with interesting characters. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: (8/60) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. (0/12) bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. (1/12) bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors (1/6) 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 11. Read something political. bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. Read a collection of short stories. bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. bonus: Read something about hunger bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year Talas fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 04:13
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January check-in! 1. The Shining, by Stephen King. A little overlong, not too scary, and heavy reliance on a troubling and racist trope. Some decent imagery, but not King's best. 2. The Moon and the Other, by John Kessel. Read this for a book club I didn't end up going to and I'm really sad about that. Kessel circles around having something to say about gender roles, but never actually does. The book takes place in a matriarchal utopia on the moon. Lots of subterfuge and politicking that was engrossing, but I really wanted Kessel to take a stand one way or the other. Lacked bite. 3. The Sound and The Fury, by William Faulkner. Kinda went over my head, but I'm glad I read it. I'm sure I'd enjoy it more on a reread now that I know a little bit about it. 4. When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele. Pretty moving and interesting. I found Khan-Cullors' life before Black Lives Matter to be very interesting. Once the Black Lives Matter stuff starts happening the pace gets ramped up a lot and lacked as much emotional impact. 5. Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer. Really wanted to like this one but it was just OK. One really weak character sunk a lot of the book for me. Still some neat ideas, though few are really explored to their fullest. The title character is the best part. Goals 1. 5/50 Books Read. 2. %Women Authors: 20% 3. %Authors of Color: 20% 4. LGBTQIA+ Author: Not yet. 5. TBB BotM Participation: Not yet. 6. Wildcard: Not yet. As far as political stuff goes, I'm with thatdarnedbob. I read Arundhati Roy's book Capitalism: A Ghost Story in 2016 and really liked it. A good showing of how India has been impacted by capitalism. So much corruption.
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Feb 1, 2018 04:53
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My january readings: 1. Carol Anshaw : Carry the One - First book I've read from Anshaw. Went in completely blind and was surprised to find an actually good novel with lesbian characters in it. Gay and lesbian movies tend to be horrible crap, so it is always enjoyable to find good lesbian fiction. It also holds up on the non-lesbian parts. 2. Joyce Carol Oates : Gravedigger's Daughter - This was the third book from Oates in few months I finished. I really enjoy her writing. She has brutal scenes in her books, which tend to stick to my mind for a long time. It never feels exploitative though. I think the sort of honesty she has in describing the violent events makes an impact on me. Gravedigger's Daughter is a story about violent parents, violent husbands, fear and the cost of surviving these events. 3. Edward Hallowell: Driven to distraction - I apparently have ADD, which is huge relief to find out at the age of 34. The books by Hallowell are classics on coping with ADD. Nothing special to say about them otherwise. I never had huge problems with reading, because it is important to me so I am able to focus to it. 4. Edward Hallowell: Delivered from distraction Currently reading: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - This was recently translated to finnish and after Joyce Carol Oates and a hectic month I felt that a lighter book would be good. No, it is not good. I used to read a lot of genre fiction during university, because I rarely had energy to read anything proper. I think the combination of not reading any genre fiction in years and reading it in my primary language highlights the faults for me. Literature is meant to give new experiences and Mistborn did actually succeed in it. When I read genre fiction in english it easier to ignore silliness of the titles and magic stuff. But on your primary language it really shows ( Tinasilmä! Velvoittaja!) Now I can relate to how painful the Warhammer naming scheme must feel to native english speakers and I really admire what you have to go through with fantasy books and games. I mean, in all fairness, it is meant to be light entertainment and in that it mostly succeeds. I personally seek something else from books. The Round House by Louise Erdrich - I've actually read this one before already. I'm currently reading this out loud to my SO. The finnish translation is a sloppy work, but the book in itself is still just fantastic. Coming of age story of a young native american boy whose mother is raped by an unknown assailant. Erdrich manages to combine handling a tragic event with the mindset of 13-year old boy. Her style of writing might not be for everyone, but I enjoy her version of "postmodern" prose.
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Feb 1, 2018 06:26
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Six books this month. I started off on a tear and rapidly slowed down when I got to my current book which turned out to be a lot longer than I thought. Some decent reads but nothing with 2 that were real solid, but a few frustrating misses as well. I've got higher hopes for February as my current read is shaping up to be better than most of this month. 1. Djinn City by Saad Hossein - Started in the last days of 2017 this was one pulled from a Best of 2017 list. This is a really interesting book that creates a compelling world of Djinn and their interactions with people. It tells a pretty good story, and then just stops well before anything is resolved. Like it's almost literally, "Can the heroes get together in time to stop the bad thing?" ~Fin~ No current indication of a sequel, so I really have trouble recommending this. 2. Tales of Falling and Flying by Ben Loory - A collection of short short stories. I don't think any exceeded 10 pages, and many didn't get to 5. A lot of them seem to fables of a sort and others more dreamlike. I really enjoyed this one, and read it far to quick. I'd like to re-read and maybe just do a story at a time for awhile. 3. The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the Worlds Most Coveted Fish by Emily Voigt - Voigt begins looking into the mysterious world of the Asian arowana, the worlds most expensive aquarium fish (distinct from fish for eating (giant tuna) and outdoor water feature fish like koi). It's rumored that the arowana trade is unsavory with mob ties and fierce, even deadly, competition between vendors. As she explores the arowana trade, Voigt wants to see one in the wild, and begins a quest to find them in Myanmar or Indonesia or find their cousins in the deep recesses of the Brazilian rainforest. This is a surprisingly wild nonfiction tale with lots of travel and more colorful characters than I can name. I'd recommend it. 4. Sourdough by Robin Sloan - I grabbed this after enjoying the previous book by Sloan. This looked promising with weird bread cultures and spooky farmers markets, and it didn't really get there. It touched on several things I thought would have been real neat but didn't go in that direction. On the whole it wasn't bad just sorta flat. 5. The Punch Escrow by Tal M Klein - The cover was eager to let me know this was being made into a major motion picture. And that makes sense, it was a pretty exciting book and once it got rolling was a really compelling read. When you're told there's a mysterious company controlling teleportation and the main character is going to be on the run there's a predictable reason, and sadly that was the reason here. Consequently several interesting questions may be raised, and here they are. They're not really dealt with though. Inasmuch as a sci-fi teleport thriller can be predictable this sorta was. It's not bad just kinda there, though it was exciting. Ultimately fairly forgettable. 6. The Accidental by Ali Smith - The child loving thread had some stuff about Smith recently and it looked interesting, so I grabbed one from the library. In this one a stranger cum houseguest disrupts a family's life, throwing each member out of their comfort zone and changing all their lives. It takes place in three parts, the introduction, their life with the stranger, and the aftermath. Each section has a chapter from each family member. To me I thought the best thing was Astrid's narrative. It really seemed accurately teenage. There were definitely some highs here, but ultimately I didn't think it came together. Sort of a let down at the end. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge - 80 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 2/6 bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you: 2 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/6 bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you: 2 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. Read something written before you were born. bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 10. Read something translated from another language. bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. Read something political. bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. Read a collection of short stories. - Dreams of Falling and Flying bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. bonus: Read something about hunger 22. Read something about the future. - Punch Escrow bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Feb 1, 2018 |
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Feb 1, 2018 22:30
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