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I'm in for 52 books and the booklord challenge.
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Jan 4, 2018 20:44
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 15:07 |
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The end of January was hell for me, so here are my thoughts on January and February's books in one huge post: Babel-17, by Samuel R. Delany - I never know what to expect with old sci-fi, and this book pleasantly surprised me. The world and ideas presented varied between interesting and progressive, charmingly 60s-future (you can order a starship crew at a moment’s notice, but you need to use a phone booth to do it), and straight-up bizarre. I doubt that I’ll read more by Delany, but I’m glad I picked this up on a whim. Bird Box, by Josh Malerman - Good atmospheric horror Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf - I read this book wrong. I kept waiting for a plot to happen, only to realize too late that there was no plot, and I should have been reading for the characters and the mood. I’ll probably reread it at some point; I really want to like Virginia Woolf. The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle - This was good for Lovecraftian horror - I appreciated that the horror was actually written, instead of being described as “too horrific to describe” or similar, and the book's inversion of the source material made it a fun read. The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing - I read this at the wrong time. It was crunch time at work, so I would spend 45 minutes on the bus each morning immersed in the dreary world of this book. Then I would work for 12-14 hours, get a ride home, and fall into bed. Repeat for five weeks, during which time I grew to resent and eventually hate the book for occupying my sole free time with dead, gray 1950s Britain and with Anna Wolf’s whining. Whining about the fall of communism, whining about her bad taste in men, whining about gay people existing, whining about the possibility of someday having to work for a living… When crunch time finished, I flew through the end of the blue notebook and the culminating golden notebook section in one long sitting, missing most of the catharsis that followed the buildup at the end. However, the neatness, for lack of a better word, of the ending was not lost on me. The way that the novel builds Anna up piece by piece, only to swallow its own tail at the end and reveal that she never existed as a character outside of her own writing was fascinating and left me almost (almost) wanting to go back through what was originally presented as the framing story and reread it in this new light. I loved the form of this novel, but I hated the content so, so much. North American Lake Monsters, by Nathan Ballingrud - The more I think about the collection the more I dislike it. Almost every story introduces some interesting sounding Weird poo poo near the beginning, and then does its best to ignore all that while it examines some unmemorable characters and their uninteresting inner selves for the remainder of the story. It’s probably possible to write good stories about human nature while supernatural stuff exists in the background, but you have to have something interesting to say about human nature first. I know this is a big favorite here, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Agents of Dreamland, by Caitlin R. Kiernan - Delivered on the Weird poo poo, even if it was 2010 flavored Weird poo poo (did you know that there’s a fungus that makes zombie ants??). Mostly entertaining trash. The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell - I loved this. Some sections work better than others and the neologisms get Challenges completed: 8, 11 (and bonus), 13, 15, 22
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Mar 2, 2018 21:36
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Can I get a wildcard?
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Mar 13, 2018 07:14
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I'm glad this theme week was chosen because otherwise I would have put off reading a play until the very end. I borrowed A Raisin in the Sun and will try to get a copy of Sweat to read this week.A human heart posted:Under Satan's Sun by Georges Bernanos
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Mar 21, 2018 06:45
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A longer commute and shorter work hours made March a good reading month for me. The Color Purple - I had no idea this was a gay book. The Master and Margarita - I put off reading this book for ages because I knew I would love it. I wish I had bought a hard copy instead an ebook though, so I could have flipped back and forth to the translation notes. Waiting for the Barbarians - My history and geography knowledge are too weak to tell whether this book is supposed to be anchored in a specific place and time. For some reason, not knowing negatively affected my enjoyment of the story. Under Satan’s Sun - Unreliable narrators, overwhelming obsessions, mental aberrations, and a meeting with the devil - some of my favorite ingredients in a novel. I loved this, but I think I lost a lot reading it in translation. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite novels, so I don’t know why it took me so long to read this one. Jackson’s characters and the horror driven by their isolation and neuroses are so compelling to me. We Love You Charlie Freeman - I picked this up because the description of the book reminded me of Get Out. It did not disappoint. A Raisin in the Sun Sweat Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - This was an entertaining and approachable little piece of satire. It was so approachable that it often felt like young adult fiction, but the messages were clearly aimed at adults. Maybe there was just less division between what children and adults read back then. The Cipher - I found the prose offputting and the characters tiresome, but the horror was still effective. Challenges completed: 6, 8, 11 (and bonus), 13, 14 (and bonus),15, 17, 19, 22 (and bonus)
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Apr 9, 2018 06:37
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm looking a bit ahead in my reading list, and I need some suggestions on: It's a trick challenge; all writing is political  For some real suggestions, Human Acts was a beautiful short read that destroyed me emotionally, and The Master and Margarita is a fast paced magical realist horror comedy extravaganza with some thoughtful and touching moments. Both are very political.
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Apr 24, 2018 07:46
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Wow, where did April go? Whole month is a blur. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell - An interesting read, but I didn’t like it nearly as much as The Bone Clocks. Human Acts, by Han Kang - Devastatingly effective and beautiful. Boy, Snow, Bird, by Helen Oyeyemi - I enjoyed the writing in this novel. The story doesn’t really go anywhere after the end of the first act, but I was still on board with it right up until the last ~20 pages where it takes a bizarre and needless twist. Ultimately, the book just left me feeling confused and disappointed. O Pioneers, by Willa Cather - I guess I expected Little House on the Prairie going into this, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the novel is much more mature and interesting than that. The Twenty Days of Turin, by Giorgio De Maria - A slow moving horror with a few memorable haunting scenes. Posthumous Papers of a Living Artist, by Robert Musil - A series of sketches and essays. I can only describe this book as relaxing. I really enjoyed the final short story, though I question how well it was translated. Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - I was inspired to read this by this article. It describes a subculture of young men/teens who sneak into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, inspired by this book and the other media it spawned. The book was a fun read, and I enjoyed the afterword about the difficulties the authors had getting it published in the Soviet Union. Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart - I don’t follow the Sci-Fi and Fantasy thread, but its title has been brainwashing me into reading this book for months (years?) now. I found it a little misogynistic in the beginning, but it toned that down and grew on me as it went on. Basically Nicer Rick and Strong Morty in Fake China. Challenges completed: 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 (and bonus), 13, 14 (and bonus),15, 17, 19, 22 (and bonus)
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May 17, 2018 06:22
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 15:07 |
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June and July were pretty slow reading months for me. The Man With the Compound Eyes, by Wu Ming Yi - I enjoyed the magical realism and ecological themes. The writing was awkward sometimes, which may have been the translation. The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell - An interesting discussion about the role of myth in society and art. Kind of weird how the interviewer kept going on about Star Wars. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides - I enjoyed the intricate language and storytelling. The Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler - This didn’t click with me - probably because I didn’t see what was so unique, revelatory, or controversial about the main character’s religion. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay - An entertaining tribute to classic horror movies and novels. I noticed a strong influence from We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The Broken Earth series, by N.K. Jemisin - This was fine for what it is, but I've mostly lost my taste for long fantasy series. I, Claudius, by Robert Graves - This book managed to make court intrigues interesting to read about. I was surprised by the depiction of a female ruler who was brutal and calculating but ultimately just and effective. Disappearance at Devil's Rock, by Paul Tremblay - Fun and easy to read, but forgettable. Also the ending was bad. Slade House by David Mitchell - Might have made a good short story; was not enough material for a novella. Very repetitive, and the ending was dumb and anticlimactic. The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates - I didn’t find these tales particularly terror inducing. Challenges completed: 5, 6, 8 (and bonus), 10, 11 (and bonus), 13, 14 (and bonus),15 (and bonus), 17, 19, 22 (and bonus)
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Jul 15, 2018 06:19
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