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whatevz fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Apr 25, 2022 |
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Jan 11, 2019 20:38
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So most of the posts and the challenges seem to be oriented towards fiction and descriptive/narrative non-fiction. I was planning on reading other books this year as well, notably some feminist theory, practical instruction texts and so on. Do people generally include all books they read in their counts, or only the narrative-oriented ones?
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Jan 13, 2019 15:26
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Definitely all. People post a lot about nonfiction stuff they've read. Throw it all together, there's no exclusion here!
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Jan 13, 2019 17:26
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cryptoclastic posted:So we have a small group that's signed up for the challenge this year and think I would like to try and start some discussion. Other than the BotM participation and the wildcard recommendation, I plan to read whatever catches my eye and tick the boxes for categories as I go. I'll start to target specific challenges in November as needed. I'm most looking forward to the reread, since I don't do those very often. I've got my eyes set on Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge and can't wait to revisit these stories. On the other side, I'm not big into sports, so I'm least looking forward to that category. Happily, there have already been some good-looking recommendations posted here for that one.
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Jan 13, 2019 18:18
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I went to my therapy appointment two hours early so I ended up going to the library. I had to buy a new tote bag just to carry my eight stack-browsing finds home.
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Jan 14, 2019 16:34
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I need to get better with actually going to my local library. I have a bad habit of just buying a book, reading it once, and either leaving it laying about on the off chance I might want to pick it up again or just adding it to the book pile/shelf. What's really drat bad is that I tend to order them off of Amazon as opposed to just going to Half Priced Books.
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Jan 14, 2019 17:34
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cryptoclastic posted:1 Are there any of the Booklord challenges you're excited about or interested in? Or the opposite: anything you're dreading? For 1, I'm looking forward to the indigenous author challenge as it gives me another excuse to read more Thomas King. The only challenges I am not looking forward to are the ones based on recommendations (wildcard etc.) because of how far off the mark some of those have been in the past. I also find the banned books challenge hard because after doing it for a few years I'm running out of banned books that I'm actually interested in. For 2, my to-read pile for the year usually starts with whatever books I got for Christmas. I also do a review of my bookshelves and note anything I haven't read and try to make sure I read it this year, but I never win that battle. I mostly fill challenges as I go but for the more specific ones I will ask here for recommendations and pick something. For those worried about reading a sports book, I can recommend Brad Snyder's "A Well Paid Slave" which is a book about workers' rights through a historical baseball-related context. It's great. I think my big challenge this year will be figuring out my library's ebook system. I used it for a while and then started having nonstop DRM issues and eventually gave up. I'd like to figure it out this year. I'm due for a new ereader anyway.
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Jan 14, 2019 19:48
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Oh yeah, could somebody be so kind as to wildcard me?
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Jan 16, 2019 13:12
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Groke posted:Oh yeah, could somebody be so kind as to wildcard me? Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
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Jan 16, 2019 16:13
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Duck Rodgers posted:Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo Cool; I've dipped into modern Nigerian literature a little bit before, this looks interesting.
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Jan 17, 2019 23:27
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Going for 52 books, and yes I'm down for the booklord's challenge. I'm hoping to read a more general collection of better books rather than the large amounts of shlock I read last year. Edit updating challenge: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 52 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4. Read a book by an author from every continent (N. America, S. America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania).
6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 7. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. 13. 14. Read a poetry collection. 15. Read a collection of short stories. 16. Read a play. 17. 18. Read a book involving sports. 19. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23. Read a book about art. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen. goodreads Furious Lobster fucked around with this message at 08:37 on Jan 31, 2019 |
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Jan 23, 2019 01:45
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I'm a bit late, but let's do this. 60 books, I'm down with the whole challenge. Sports are really going to be the difficult bit, most of the rest won't be too hard. Bonus challenge: I will read my entire backlog of physical books before acquiring more. That's 35 volumes, though I'm not sure how to count the 3 volume complete works of Primo Levi. (Note: audio books and e-books are exempted because I travel a lot and it's not always feasible to cart them all around with me, so I have separate backlogs for non-physical books, and at times I burn through those much faster than my physical books. Plus they don't clutter up space as much so I don't feel as bad about it.) I'm also going to leave an out that I can drop books entirely if I really don't like them, just so long as I get them off my to-read shelf. So far I've read: Borne, Jeff Vandermeer Roadside Picnic, Boris and Arkady Strugatsky The Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick Parasite Eve, Hedeaki Sena All Systems Red, Martha Wells (though I feel guilty counting it because of how short it is...) Elixir: The American Tragedy of a Deadly Drug, Barbara J Martin Currently reading: October, China Mieville The Reckoning, David Halberstam The Gormenghast Trilogy, Mervyn Peake Someone want to wildcard me?
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Jan 27, 2019 21:33
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Karia posted:I'm a bit late, but let's do this. 60 books, I'm down with the whole challenge. Sports are really going to be the difficult bit, most of the rest won't be too hard. Journey to the End of the Night by LF Celine
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Jan 27, 2019 22:11
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Much appreciated.
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Jan 27, 2019 22:44
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Well we are almost a month in so I figure I’ll start talking about challenges, just going down the list. So, read a book by an LGBT author. Last year I read Oscar Wilde for this challenge, and was considering doing something by Chuck Palahniuk this year. I’m open to change though as I would like to read something by an author I haven’t read before. What are some good works in this category that you would recommend, or what are you planning on reading?
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Jan 28, 2019 05:14
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cryptoclastic posted:So, read a book by an LGBT author. Last year I read Oscar Wilde for this challenge, and was considering doing something by Chuck Palahniuk this year. I’m open to change though as I would like to read something by an author I haven’t read before. I really like Joey Comeau. Overqualified and Bible Camp Bloodbath (which I guess is now being sold under the name The Summer is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved for some reason?) are the two I'd recommend most.
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Jan 28, 2019 06:22
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I missed it when it was BotM but I'm reading the Blackwater omnibus by Michael McDowell right now. I'm in the middle of book three and the more I read the more I love it. If you like your southern gothic with a side of murderous river monsters you gotta read this thing.
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Jan 28, 2019 23:10
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cryptoclastic posted:Well we are almost a month in so I figure I’ll start talking about challenges, just going down the list. Yukio Mishima, Jean Genet, James Purdy and William Goyen are all good authors well worth reading
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Jan 28, 2019 23:37
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So as a trans woman I am so ridiculously tired of cis people writing bad novels about trans people in order to explore gender. It's bad. It's so overdone. Instead, read novels by trans people about trans lives that aren't just weird pity plays! Imogen Binnie's Nevada is the big go to one. Here's a free legal epub/pdf/mobi: https://github.com/ZoeyWolfe/have-you-read-nevada/tree/master/source If you want to read the book that all the trans people pass around about being trans, this is it. I have like 20 more if people want more, but Nevada is the must-read.
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Jan 29, 2019 02:27
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cryptoclastic posted:Well we are almost a month in so I figure I’ll start talking about challenges, just going down the list. Typically happens several times in a year without trying; but if the author's gender/sexuality status has to be considered relevant for the book, it's a bit harder. I'd second the recommendation of Yukio Mishima, based on only having read The Temple of the Golden Pavillion which was really good and interesting. Maybe I'll tackle one of his other books this year.
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Jan 30, 2019 14:14
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apophenium posted:I missed it when it was BotM but I'm reading the Blackwater omnibus by Michael McDowell right now. I'm in the middle of book three and the more I read the more I love it. Seconded, too, it's long but worth it. (The man-eating river monsters are among the more sympathetic characters, really.)
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Jan 30, 2019 14:15
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apophenium posted:I missed it when it was BotM but I'm reading the Blackwater omnibus by Michael McDowell right now. I'm in the middle of book three and the more I read the more I love it. Seems interesting enough - I'll toss that in the hopper after I get caught up on the stuff I'm working on now, and after I finish up the Brother Cadfael omnibus that's been sitting mostly untouched for a while now. Unfortunately my bad habit of reading multiple books at the same time is kind of biting me in the moment. I've got three different ones that I'm only partially through because one's currently my "read at the dog park" book, one's my general lazing about book, and the other I keep bouncing off of.
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Jan 30, 2019 18:33
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Books by women: 1/24 Non-fiction: 1/12 Full reviews on Goodreads. The Magicians was, by far, the best book I read this month. I can't describe it in a way that makes it sound good, but it just works. I loved it. I didn't much care for the sequel though. I read The Bad Beginning after finishing the TV series and it was OK, but not as good as I'd hoped. If I'd read it before the TV series I'd probably have liked it better, I think.
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Jan 31, 2019 03:01
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cryptoclastic posted:
January Gnomon, Nick Harkaway The sci-fi doorstopper that has divided the opinions in this subforum during the past year or so - I just knew I had to read it. A story about life in a dystopian Britain based on total surveillance contains several meta fictional narratives presented as internal storytelling of a character attempting to resist a brain probe. Most of the criticism in TBB is aimed at the meandering narrative of the novel that "takes too long" to get to the point, something that I actually found to be one of the virtues of Gnomon. The cringey "experimental" chapters and the abrup, unsatisfactory ending, not so much. Still glad I read it, some of the ideas and some of the prose were worth it. Homicide: A Year On the Killing Streets, David Simon This is the book that gave us the TV show Homicide: Life On the Street, as well as the opening scene and some other bits of The Wire. Simon spent a year with the detectives of Baltimore PD Homicide Unit in 1988. It's a good work of journalism, although all the detective's attitudes about gender as well as the author's attitudes about race are not very progressive even by 1988 standards.
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Jan 31, 2019 16:37
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It was an awkward and slow start to the year. Between finishing a book for last years challenge at the end of December and then locked in deadlines for an ILL and a book with a long wait list at the library, I kind of spent about a month reading without feeling like I had much choice in what I was reading. Normally, I'd break it up, switch genre or go from a heavy book to a lighter one, but I didn't have that luxury and I dragged early. I made up for it by reading a handful of novellas I'd had on my list, and finished out with a respectable 7 for the month. Read one that might definitely qualify as an awesome cover, but I have another in the pipeline instead. I might just update that entry to be the most awesome cover I've read to date. And I'm stuck on a quandary of whether a non-binary individual counts as LGBT. Eh, it's probably not the only one I read this year, so we'll let it go for now 1. Ice by Anna Kavan - A recommendation AHH threw into the genre thread, presumably to tweak them about a genre straddling book. An unnamed man chases an unnamed girl across a world slowly being frozen over. He's at turns thwarted or helped by a mysterious head of state known only as The Warden. Dreamlike is a word that leaps to mind here. The book often backtracks or shifts unexpectedly, and it's unclear how much is actually happening or is just happening in the narrators head. The heart of it here is the compulsion to possess the girl. It's interesting to me how half a century later, climate change really provides some alternate readings here. This was a pretty good read. 2. The Milkman by Anna Burns - The Man Booker winner last year, this is the second novel in a row where there really aren't any names. Rather, this is narrated by a young woman telling of how she attracted the attentions of the Milkman. Set in an unknown time and place (but really it's Belfast during The Troubles) the Milkman is a powerful separatist. It's as much about the neighborhood and family and how they all get along in a highly partisan era and the dangers of nonconformity, and how those strictures can keep you from even seeing outside possibilities. An interesting book, not as hard to read as advertised, and it does have a sense of humor running through it all that kept it more entertaining than you might expect. 3. Tell them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants by Mathias Énard - Énard takes a few historical fragments we're aware of and creates a story of Michelangelo visiting Istanbul to design a bridge for Bayezid. He also, inadvertently, gets tangled in some court drama. It's a light read with some speculation on what Michelangelo would have thought of Istanbul and how the art and culture may have influenced him. A pretty solid novella 4. The Descent of Monsters by JY Yang - The third book of Yang's Tensorate series. I think this is my favorite of the three. Apparently a 4th is coming out later this year and I'm looking forward to it. 5. An Elderly Lady is Up to no Good by Helene Tursten - I couldn't pass up the title and the cross-stitched skulls on the cover. This is a collection of stories about Maud, an 88 year old woman who keeps to herself and occasionally kills people. Whether that's for good or ill is left as an exercise for the reader. This was sort of middling. They're not bad, but I feel like they could have really leaned into the moral ambiguity of Maud or done more cat and mouse with police and wound up with either a more interesting or a more entertaining book. 6. The Governesses by Anne Sere - Three beautiful young governesses throw play in the woods, throw amazing parties and generally serve as a diversion for Mr and Mrs Austeur. The also occasionally devour male passersby who wander into the estate. This has the feel of an old, grim fairy tale. It was all OK. In the end I'm not quite sure what it's all about or why. 7. The Ensemble by Aja Gabel - This made the occasional Best of 2018 list. It follows about 20 years in the life of a string quartet. It delves into the relationships between the four members, the intimacies that develop, and the obligations that come with that. It looks at how their devotion to music changes their lives and how their devotion to the quartet effects everything they do. It follows along as they grow, have relationships and kids, and to some extent what happens after a lifetime of play takes its toll on the body. The focus really is on the inner lives of the members, and thus you might say nothing happens. It's not really wrong, so if that's the sort of thing that bugs you, you might give it a miss. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed it and found it compulsively readable. And it gave me a list of quartets to listen to on YouTube. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 7/80 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/7 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/7 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 7. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. Read a book published in 2019. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. - An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good (for now) 13. Reread a book. 14. Read a poetry collection. 15. Read a collection of short stories. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a book about feminism. 18. Read a book involving sports. 19. Read something biographical. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23. Read a book about art. - The Ensemble 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Jan 31, 2019 |
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Jan 31, 2019 18:40
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For January, I read a whole lot because it's loving cold, I had no freelance work, my day job was slow, and I got a puppy that doesn't let me accomplish much else. Bolded numbers are what specific challenges they apply to, if any. 1. Any Other Name, Craig Johnson - A Walt Longmire book. I read a ton of these last year, they're fun but formulaic, and just happen to scratch a very specific itch for me. This was a pretty good one, though a bit more meandering than previous books. 2. Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse - This was great, it was a very different twist on very common urban fantasy tropes. Probably one of my favorite genre books I've read in years, though like the above book, it does scratch a pet itch. I'm looking forward to future books from her. 2, 3, 6 3 Wait for Signs, Craig Johnson - A Longmire short story collection. Pretty good, but not outstanding. 15 4. The Gone World, Tom Sweterlitsch - This was kind of a struggle for me, I really liked the idea of this book, and it has some great moments, but it felt like a real plod for the first half or so, and the author has some stylistic quirks that I find very annoying, like using incomplete sentences for description (e.g. "Her glistening hair in the sun. The drip of water. A sullen breeze through the grass.) 5. The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon - I loving love this book. I read it in high school and adored the weird conspiracy madness that it devolves into, but given that I was young and dumb, I missed so much of the humor and satire in the book. I'm so glad I re-read it, it was a blast. 13 6. Dry Bones, Craig Johnson - Another Longmire. Just okay, still enjoyed it. 7. The Highwayman, Craig Johnson - A Longmire... novelette? I don't know what publishers call what. This is a weird one because it kind of strayed into different plot territory than most of the books (specifically spiritual/supernatural events), but honestly, I loved it and would specifically love a series that was just a nudge more in this direction. 8. Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells - The third Murderbot book. I loving love Murderbot. I wasn't wild on the second book, but this one was pretty action packed and went by fast, while still being funny and charming in its weird way. 2 9. Moon over Soho, Ben Aaronovich - The second(?) book in the Peter Grant/Rivers of London series. I didn't like it as much as the first, but it was still pretty good. 4 10. The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammett - This was my first read of anything by Hammett, and I think it was kind of a weird choice. I didn't initially expect the book to be funny, but it was ultimately pretty enjoyable. I still want to read something else by him, probably Maltese Falcon or Red Harvest, because I don't think I really got the flavor of classic hard-boiled detective novel here. 11. The Warren, Brian Evenson - Weird, kind of depressing, a bit intriguing, very vague. I mean, that sort of sums up a lot of what Evenson writes. This is a sci-fi novella that plays with the nature of being in a post-apocalyptic setting, but honestly even describing it that way would probably mislead someone looking for something like that. It's a hard book to summarize. I enjoyed it more than I thought. 12. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders - Wow, what a book. Honestly, I'm still digesting this one, I'm really not sure what to make of it yet. I may need to revisit it soon before I can really say anything insightful about it. Well worth a read. 13 Whispers Under Ground, Ben Aaronovich - Another Peter Grant novel. I liked this more than Moon Over Soho, though it still had some iffy moments. I like Aaronovich's style a lot, but the architecture and car descriptions are kind of meaningless if you don't know/care about either of those subjects. He's clearly knowledgeable about both subjects, but kind of sucks at making them mean anything to people who aren't. Not like they ever take up much time, though, it was just something I noticed with this book. 14. The Graveyard Apartment, Mariko Koike - This was a surprisingly straightforward horror novel, and despite having had some false starts on it last year, I actually really liked it. It sometimes feels a bit bland, but that's likely only because so much of modern horror movies, Japanese and otherwise, seem to have been cribbing from it since it came out in 1988, directly or indirectly. It had some really excellent moments that were still pretty chilling, though. 2,3,4,22 15. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman - I loving loved this book. Admittedly I love Norse mythology to begin with, but I thought this was such a fun and engaging way to read the major myths. Obviously there were liberties taken, some substantial, but it makes for a great narrative and a really approachable intro to the subject matter. I know SA in general isn't big on Gaiman, but I've never minded his style, and when he's on, I think he's really on. Side note: I partially read this, partially listened to it as an audiobook. Gaiman reads the audiobook, and honestly I think that's the better way to experience it. The writing really lends itself to being spoken. 16. Exit Strategy, Martha Wells - Last novella in the Murderbot quartet. This was probably my favorite, by far. It was fun and exciting, but also started to dig into some meaty questions that I like to see explored in sci-fi. It doesn't get that deep into some of those questions, but it leaves me very excited for a hopeful future Murderbot novel. I think in general the character and setting would benefit from some more room to breathe, so I do hope it happens. 2 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 16/70 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 4/14 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/14 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. 7. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. Read a book published in 2019. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. 13. 14. Read a poetry collection. 15. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a book about feminism. 18. Read a book involving sports. 19. Read something biographical. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. 22. 23. Read a book about art. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:13
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MockingQuantum posted:13 Whispers Under Ground, Ben Aaronovich - Another Peter Grant novel. I liked this more than Moon Over Soho, though it still had some iffy moments. I like Aaronovich's style a lot, but the architecture and car descriptions are kind of meaningless if you don't know/care about either of those subjects. He's clearly knowledgeable about both subjects, but kind of sucks at making them mean anything to people who aren't. Not like they ever take up much time, though, it was just something I noticed with this book. I liked that one as well but I think this was the book where the series started the typical urban fantasy bloat.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:33
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citybeatnik posted:I liked that one as well but I think this was the book where the series started the typical urban fantasy bloat. None of the books I've read so far has really improved on Midnight Riot/Rivers of London honestly. I'm reading Broken Homes right now, though, and while it's got its own problems (jeez I was complaining about bland descriptions of architecture that I know nothing about before, this book is worse) I actually think it's a little better than Whispers/Soho in how you kind of just get a broad view of a bunch of weird bits of the magical underground of London, even at the expense of having a little more meandering of a plot. Honestly even if they end up being as bloated as most UF series, I'm more okay with this one if only because Grant isn't (so far) an insufferable Mary Sue of a character, and it feels like the books have some sort of direction to them, or some sort of plot point they're building up to. Admittedly I've said that about other UF and been wrong, so I guess I'll see.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:39
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MockingQuantum posted:None of the books I've read so far has really improved on Midnight Riot/Rivers of London honestly. I'm reading Broken Homes right now, though, and while it's got its own problems (jeez I was complaining about bland descriptions of architecture that I know nothing about before, this book is worse) I actually think it's a little better than Whispers/Soho in how you kind of just get a broad view of a bunch of weird bits of the magical underground of London, even at the expense of having a little more meandering of a plot. Aaronovich does a pretty good job of keeping Grant grounded, yeah. It's the folks around him that tend to get some kind of pumped up - I've read through the most recent one and it's dawning on me that if I want to figure out why X is like Y in it I'll have to now go back and check out some of the novellas and the like if I can be arsed. And I liked Broken Homes as well! Let me know what you think once you finish it.
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Jan 31, 2019 21:45
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January is doooone. I finished my seventh book this morning and I'm having a lot of fun getting back into reading big time. It's great to take some time out of my day and go somewhere else, just be. Much better than staring at my phone. I've been reading in fits and starts, reading a lot for a few days and then barely touching a book for a few more. In February I'm going to make it a goal to read each night before sleeping, which should work. 1. Stephen Greenblatt - The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve. An effective and scholarly yet accessible examination of the story of Adam and Eve, different interpretations of the story and its meanings. 5/5 2. Lauren Groff - Florida. This was on a bunch of best of 2018 lists I'm still churning through. As a lot of short story collections are, it was mixed. Some of them were really good and fun, others were just boring. It got less effective as time went on. A lot of people cheered it for disrupting stereotypes about Florida, and sure it was about a lot more than Florida Man. 3/5 3. Ed Greenwood - Swords of Eveningstar. This is a bad book. It has giant plot holes and a ton of mind control rape and just it's a mess. I finally got through it on my third try, and once I did I went to goodreads just to check that I wasn't going crazy and it was that bad. The only redeeming part of this was being a giant Forgotten Realms fangirl and checking up on some of my favourite characters. 2/5 4. Sarah Perry - Melmoth. This book is incredible. I picked it up off a library shelf because of the cover and it is an amazing gothic tale filled with metatextuality, historical commentary, and just so much more. Perfect. 5/5 5. Paige Cooper - Zolitude Erotic, fantastic short stories, all about isolation and community. I read this right after my mom so we had some really awkward conversations: "Mom, do you know what suspension is? Why this character had all those tiny scars?" More fun for the absurd responses it got from her though. If it wasn't for a couple bum stories, this one would be perfect. 4/5 6. Arkady & Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic Read this for the BotM thread. I liked the Russian bleakness, the mix of the sublime and the matter-of-fact. Very fun, very unsettling. 4/5 7. Annie Jacobsen - Watermelon Syrup (reread) This was my favourite novel I read for my English degree, and I think it still is. Mennonite Canadian bildungsroman, very sparse but affective. Incredibly powerful. My prof assigned this to our class just so she could have someone to talk to about how good it was [because it's incredibly obscure], and I'm so glad she did. 5/5 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 7/50 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 4/7 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 0/7 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. Read a book published in 2019. 14. Read a poetry collection. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a book about feminism. 18. Read a book involving sports. 19. Read something biographical. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen. @Ben Nevis: Non-binary people are considered to be under the trans umbrella, so yes. edit: And now that I have a month's reading done so people know what I generally go for, someone wildcard me. Arivia fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jan 31, 2019 |
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Jan 31, 2019 22:14
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Arivia posted:edit: And now that I have a month's reading done so people know what I generally go for, someone wildcard me. Night by Bilge Karasu
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Jan 31, 2019 22:50
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A human heart posted:Night by Bilge Karasu Ordered! I have no idea what the gently caress this is but it should be in my hands by March.
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Jan 31, 2019 23:04
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Well January is officially over, and we are one month into the challenge. As of right now I'm slightly ahead of my total number of books goal, which makes me feel pretty good. This month I read four books, although I think about half the month was taken by one book alone. 1. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. This was for my local book club. It was a book about growing up in South Africa. It was interesting but for some reason biographies never really grab me. It probably also didn't help that I had never heard of Trevor Noah before the book. It was well written and entertaining but ultimately nothing special. It covered the Africa part of challenge 5, as well as challenge 19. 2. The Good Son by Jeong You-jeong. First Korean book of the year. A book about a murder that slowly unravels the pieces as the story goes on. The middle was good, but things went kind of off the rails at the end. I didn't really enjoy the ending. Fun and quick. Asia part of challenge 5 is done. 3. A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stores by Flannery O'Connor. I've had her work on my to-read list forever, and finally decided to try it out. I really enjoyed these, and this is definitely my favorite of the month. I am from Western North Carolina so the setting for these stories really felt like home. I enjoyed how they all took a little turn at some point but the tone never really changed. My favorite of the stories was The River. North America part of challenge 5 is done, as well as challenge 15. 4. Milkman by Anna Burns. I had this book on hold as it was the Man Booker winner last year, and it came in about halfway through the month. This was a slog for me. The topic and characters were interesting, but the writing style was something I really do not like. It felt very stream of consciousness, with giant multiple-page-spanning paragraphs that would switch topics. I really did not enjoy this at all. It did satisfy the Europe requirement of challenge five. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 4/40 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3/4 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/4 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 7. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. Read a book published in 2019. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. 13. Reread a book. 14. Read a poetry collection. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a book about feminism. 18. Read a book involving sports. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23. Read a book about art. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen.
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Feb 1, 2019 02:06
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Yeah, so: January update. 1. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas. Actually started this a good while before New Year's, have been slowly savouring it in all its insane unabridged glory. drat me, what a ride. 2. Glasshjerte, Torkil Damhaug. Norwegian psycho-crime thriller by one of our current masters of that craft. Teenage girl goes missing and is later found murdered; suspicion falls on her cousin and/or his developmentally challenged brother, things are complicated. Fine example of its type. As a side note, the author is local to where I live (as are a hundred thousand other people) and often sets his stories in locations that are familiar to me. In one of his other books, he chose to describe the murderer's house in such a way that the only possibility that fits both location and appearance is my brother-in-law's place, so that was amusing. 3. Penric's Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold. #1 in a series of fantasy novellas set in the same world as The Curse of Chalion which I loved. For some reason hadn't gotten around to this yet even though Bujold is a long-standing favourite of mine. Short and sweet. (And hell yes I will count it as a book, like I counted the Dumas as a book. 100 pages or 1200 pages, who cares.) 4. The Wandering Earth, Liu Cixin. Collection of short stories, hard-ish SF, lots of global destruction and dark humour. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Booklord challenge: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 4/40. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - 1/4 = 25%. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. - 1/4 = 25% (unless you count Dumas just to be clever) 4. Read a book by an author from every continent (N. America, S. America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania). - N. America, Europe, Asia 5. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 7. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. - have it assigned but not yet read. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10. Read a book by a local author. - Glasshjerte 11. Read a book published in 2019. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. 13. Reread a book. 14. Read a poetry collection. 15. Read a collection of short stories. - The Wandering Earth 16. Read a play. 17. Read a book about feminism. 18. Read a book involving sports. 19. Read something biographical. 20. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21. Read something in the public domain. - The Count of Monte Cristo 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23. Read a book about art. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen. - The Count of Monte Cristo
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Feb 1, 2019 10:27
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I read 6 books this month, which is above the pace I set for the year. Was going at a faster pace the first two weeks of January but decided to slow down and do other hobbies. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese A sort of coming of age story about an Ojibwe boy who gets taken from his family and sent to a residential school. He discovers hockey at the school and he uses it is an escape from the horrible things happening around him and to him. Ultimately as an adult he is able to use hockey as a means of healing. The book explores the horror of residential schools, but also looks at the racism inherent in Canadian society as a whole. Ojibwe spirituality runs throughout the book, connecting the character to his family and to his character. It also subverts the goal of the school ("to kill the Indian in the boy"), and it is what helps him to excel at hockey, which is seen as a 'white sport'. The book is an enjoyable but tough read, about a difficult subject matter. The Break by Katherena Vermette My new favourite book. All the characters are so beautifully developed, each flawed in their own way but ultimately so strong in how they deal with the central tragedy. The characters are the women of an extended family dealing with the assault of a teenage daughter, and by extension their own past traumas. Vermette writes some POVs in the first person, and some in third. An interesting stylistic choice in a book that deals so much with the agency and power of the women. Part of what made the characters feel so real is seeing the differences (and similarities) in how they viewed themselves and how they were seen by their daughters/sister/cousin/mother. I highly recommend this book. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin A classic award winning, groundbreaking book when it was written. Many of the ideas around sex and gender roles are not as groundbreaking as they were in 1969, but the discussion is by no means settled. A very different book to the previous two, with the ideas taking precedence over characters. I enjoyed the exploration of binaries (gender, answers/questions, collective identitiy/facism, belonging/not belonging etc). I also very much enjoyed the trip across the ice. Some of the story wasn't as interesting to me, like the politics of the two countries, and the time spent in the Soviet stand in. My first Le Guin book, and I'll definitely be reading more. Birdie by Tracey Lindberg Another sort of coming of age book, dealing with the childhood trauma of a Cree woman and the importance of her (women) family network and connection to culture and spirituality. The story is told from the perspective of the woman as an adult, reliving her life as a way of confronting her past trauma. As a result, the story is non-linear as she jumps around in time and space. At times the perspective is from the character as a girl, but with interjections from herself as an adult noticing things she hadn't noticed or providing the benefit of hindsight or knowledge of future events. At times I got too caught up in trying to understand the 'timeline' and probably missed important bits. Ultimately the story is not about her traumatic past, but about her overcoming her trauma in the present. I think I'll have to reread this eventually, and drop my insistence on understanding the 'timeline'. Another very good book. Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel This book provides a good overview and introduction to indigenous issues in Canada. It explains who indigenous people are, debunks a number of myths, and outlines some of the major issues. It is written in a conversational style with each chapter being quite short, sort of blog style. Good for Canadians to read, but probably not as useful for Americans since it deals so much with Canadian laws. North End Love Songs by Katherena Vermette I enjoyed The Break so much that I went out and got this book of poems by Vermette. The poems explore the same themes as The Break. The strength of women in the North End (a neighbourhood in Winnipeg) in the face of often tough situations. Vermette's brother died after falling into the river in the winter when she was a teenager. Many of the poems deal with her reaction to his death, as well as the racism surrounding the disappearance of a Cree man. I don't read a lot of poetry, but this book seemed like a good place to start. Arivia I saw your recommendation for Nevada and have added it to my list. Probably I'll come back for more later. Also, is there a list of books that are public domain? 1 Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 6/50 2 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/6 3 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/6 4 Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5 Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6 7 Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8 Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9 10 Read a book by a local author. 11 Read a book published in 2019. 12 Read a book with an awesome cover. 13 Reread a book. 14 15 Read a collection of short stories. 16 Read a play. 17 Read a book about feminism. 18 19 Read something biographical. 20 Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21 Read something in the public domain. 22 Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23 Read a book about art. 24 Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen.
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Feb 1, 2019 16:15
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I've only managed to hit two for this month, in part due to my horrid habit of reading multiple books at the same time. I spent last night just sitting down and reading through one of those just to make sure that I finished it before the end of the month. A (Brief) History of Vice by Robert Evans I talked about this one in the What Have You Just Finished thread. Evans has a podcast that I enjoy listening to so I wanted to pick up the book by him to give it a try. It was slightly breezy, and his time at Cracked is evident with the basic structure of the chapters - short, punchy, funny. I'm not entirely sure that I learned anything groundbreaking from it but it certainly was interesting and a welcome break from the urban fantasy that I'd been working my way through recently. The Quartermaster: Montgomery C. Meigs, Lincoln's General, Master Builder of the Union Army by Robert O'Harrow Jr. Originally a suggestion in one of the D&D threads, this is a biography of, well, Quartermaster General Meigs. It focuses not only on his actions during the Civil War but also his initial building works in D.C., painting the picture of a man desperate to leave some kind of legacy. There is some hagiography going on - I'm not entirely sure how much I trust the author painting Meigs' stance on using freemen in the army as progressive/enlightened, and his actions during the Indian Wars are glossed over - but the sheer amount of accomplishments of this man are staggering. Earthworks, buildings, his scientific discoveries, his artistic endeavors, and that's all before the Civil War. The man's incandescent burning hatred of General Lee is another reason to like him. Another reason I enjoyed this book (and the reason it was suggested to me I believe) is how it presents the Union's approach to the war and its focus on logistics. Here in Texas it's still common to run in to the Lost Cause narrative, with a focus on generals out in the front and personal bravery . But when you look at what the Union had to work with - the sheer manpower devoted to getting troops fed and supplied on time, innovations in transport and military structure - you start to realize just why the Confederacy lost. There's a common theme running through it of rebels realizing that even if they burnt down a particular supply depot another one would just be built, that for every railroad tie they bent there'd be a crew out shortly with machines specifically developed to just straighten them again, and that while they're stuck having to eat cornbread and hunting game without any shoes on their opponents are being fed fresh meat while wearing a brand new pair of boots. It manages to make requests for mules seem just as gallant and fearsome as Sherman's march to the sea. 1 Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 2/30 2 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4 Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5 Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6 Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 7 Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2019 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). 8 Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9 Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 10 Read a book by a local author. 11 Read a book published in 2019. 12 Read a book with an awesome cover. 13 Reread a book. 14 Read a poetry collection. 15 Read a collection of short stories. 16 Read a play. 17 Read a book about feminism. 18 Read a book involving sports. 19 20 Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21 Read something in the public domain. 22 Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). 23 Read a book about art. 24 Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen. While I have a few other books already in the hopper for this coming month (Confederates in the Attic, Roadside Picnic, a few more urban fantasies, my Brother Cadfael omnibus) I'm open to some other suggestions on what to focus on next. In particular I'd like something to cover: 1) A book by a LGBT author 2) A book by an indigenous author 3) A poetry collection (unless I feel like cheating and finding my e.e.cummings collection to reread) 4) A book about feminism 5) A book about sports 6) A book about art I'll glance through some of the stuff posted by others in the thread to see if anything listed that covers those things are mentioned already and catch my eye.
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Feb 1, 2019 17:53
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What kind of feminist text would you be interested in? A novel? A theoretical work? Have you read previous feminist texts that you enjoyed and if so, which ones? I already plugged Imogen Binnie’s Nevada for the LGBT challenge up thread.
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Feb 1, 2019 18:15
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Arivia posted:What kind of feminist text would you be interested in? A novel? A theoretical work? Have you read previous feminist texts that you enjoyed and if so, which ones? I've added Nevada to the list, thanks! As for what I might be interested in I'm not entirely sure? I for sure have a bit of a blind spot with them and as embarrassing as it is to admit I can't think of a particular book I've read outside of some stuff in college - I've bounced off Atwood before I know that much. Unless you count some of the stuff I've read to our toddler, but that's primarily things like Rejected Princesses or Dealing with Dragons and I seriously doubt either of those count for the purposes of the challenge. So I suppose if there was one book you'd smack some cis guy aside the head with and shout at them to read it I'll take it in to consideration.
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Feb 1, 2019 19:53
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citybeatnik posted:I've added Nevada to the list, thanks! bell hooks - Feminism Is For Everybody.
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Feb 1, 2019 21:08
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Duck Rodgers posted:Also, is there a list of books that are public domain? There are a lot of public domain books at Project Gutenberg. A list would be quite long. Most things published before 1923, if you're in the US.
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Feb 1, 2019 22:07
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