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Ben Nevis posted:Yo, anyone want to hand out a wild card? Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
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Sep 30, 2019 19:53
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera Looks like a winner. Thanks!
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Sep 30, 2019 20:25
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Now that it’s fall, I’ve been paying more attention to the challenges and more intentionally choosing books to check off boxes. As a result, it feels like my reading has slowed. But hey, I finished 5 more books this month to include in my September Update: 51. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay - I read this for the September Book of the Month and followed that thread 52. Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia by Robert Greenfield - What a wonderful way to learn about Jerry Garcia's life! Greenfield did a great job of clipping and compiling his interview transcripts to give an intimate look at the development of Garcia’s musical career and personal flaws. 53. The Giant Book of Poetry compiled by William Roetzheim - This collection really dragged on for me. I could see it being a fine book if you really just want bulk for your buck. The first 300 pages are essentially an anthology of the most anthologized English poems, so it feels like treading familiar ground to anyone who's taken a college lit course. I thought the selections from more modern poetry--let's say anything after Robert Frost--were frustratingly uneven. 54. Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef, by Cassandra Khaw - With a title like this, I was expecting a quirky horror comedy, and the novella delivered. I was happily surprised that the actual story followed a noir-type detective format our chef protagonist being tasked with solving a supernatural murder mystery only to face plot twists and encounters with rival factions of deities. Then add in some opportunities to learn about Malaysian ghost folklore, and I thought it was a real winner!The downside is that the book is short and ends with a set-up for its sequel instead of an actual resolution. 55. Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen - I really like Gary Paulsen, but this one didn’t make a strong impression on me. I appreciate that it touches on the important history of slavery, and I imagine that it would start some good discussions in middle school classrooms. But I definitely prefer Paulsen’s nature writing more. Challenge Progress 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). 4/6 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. (Received but not read) 10. Read a book by a local author 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt. 23. Read a book about art. clamcake fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Oct 1, 2019 |
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Sep 30, 2019 21:26
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September update. Erstwhile: 1. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas. 2. Glasshjerte, Torkil Damhaug. 3. Penric's Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold. 4. The Wandering Earth, Liu Cixin. 5. The Gone World, Tom Sweterlitsch. 6. The Passage, Justin Cronin. 7. Before Mars, Emma Newman. 8. Fiasco, Stanislaw Lem. 9. Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emrys. 10. Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor. 11. Semiosis by Sue Burke. . 12. Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey. 13. DEMON-4 by David Mace. 14. River of Bones by Taylor Anderson. 15. Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds. 16. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. 17. Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 18. Atlas Alone by Emma Newman. 19. Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone. 20. Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo.. 21. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann. 22. Perihelion Summer by Greg Egan. 23. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. 24. Exhalation by Ted Chiang. 25. Pass of Fire by Taylor Anderson. 26. This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. 27. The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling. 28. The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal.. New: 29. Dust (Jacob's Ladder, #1) by Elizabeth Bear. Neat variation on the "derelict generation ship" theme, liked it a lot, intend to read sequels. +1 woman. 30. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. For some reason I went into this blind, expecting some kind of secondary-world fantasy. Jesus gently caress, it was not that. Brilliant book though. 31. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.. "Lesbian necromancers explore haunted Gothic mansion in space" is not really accurate but the story was a lot of fun and I loved the author's voice. +1 woman. Booklord challenge: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 31/40. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - 14/31 = 45%. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. - 5/31 = 16% (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, Africa, Oceania 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). - 1491 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. - Stay With Me 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. - Tiamat's Wrath 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. - Gideon the Ninth 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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Oct 1, 2019 07:38
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Groke posted:31. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.. "Lesbian necromancers explore haunted Gothic mansion in space" is not really accurate but the story was a lot of fun and I loved the author's voice. +1 woman. It doesn't look like you need it, but for the rest of the thread it's worth noting that Muir is a Kiwi so this book would count for the Oceania part of the continents challenge, and it's a current favorite of the Sci-fi/Fantasy thread
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Oct 1, 2019 20:23
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A little bit of a "lesser" month, only finishing off 6, but 3 were pretty long, and The Orientalist took a lot more time than anticipated. That being said, we're getting to crunch time and I only finished off one wildcard! I had a couple middling reads midmonth, but nothing tragically bad. I was excited to read Mitchison, I've got some more by her on the list coming up. By about midOctober I ought to have polished off play, poetry, and wildcard (depending on the vagaries of ILL). Hopefully, I'll get a chance to reread A Night In The Lonesome October this month. That'll leave me November and December to finish off 17 and 20 and 22. Should be a snap, right? 68. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison - Saw this referenced heavily in This is How You Lose the Time War so I decided to pick it up. It's good! A short fantasy book. It starts in the realm of fairy tale, with a princess raised by bears and proceeds through time until it's a more "historical" tale of the same princess joining some people to beg for relief in Constantinople. It's really interesting how the story progresses from magical prehistory to actual historical and the diminishment of magic. Would recommend! 69. Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko - A teenaged girl is convinced by a strange man to perform odd seemingly meaningless tasks, and should she fail, unstated bad things may happen. It escalates until she's blackmailed into attending a distant university in a small town doing weird reading and visualization exercises to unlock her potential. Her potential what? A unique and addictive read. I couldn't put this one down. I felt the ending was a little bit of a let down, but otherwise, solid and fascinating. 70. Star by Yukio Mishima - A short read. A young actor, the flavor of the moment heartthrob reflects on fame, hypocrisy and the masks we wear. Though apparently one of his lesser efforts, this was still a good read. 71. The Hotel Neversink by Adam O'Fallon Price - This is a series of connected short stories that traces the life of a popular borscht belt hotel, think Mrs Maisel season 2. The hotel hides a dark secret as children have occasionally vanished. Over the half century or of the story the hotel declines and eventually the owners are forced to reckon with the mysterious disappearances. It's not uninteresting, but it doesn't live up to the billing. It's sold as a spooky hotel story, and there's some, but it's mostly not. It's mostly the lives and times of the people attached to the hotel. And occasionally someone vanishes or mentions vanishings. It's not bad, just know what you're getting into if it sounds interesting. 72. The Orientalist by Tom Reiss - The biography I read, this has been on my list for awhile. It's sort of both the story of Lev Nussimbaum and of Tom Reiss's efforts to trace him and also demonstrate that he's Kurban Said, author of the book Ali and Nino, the sort of national novel of Azerbaijan. Nussimbaum is a singularly interesting character. A Jew who grew up in Azerbaijan, he fled the bolsheviks, and travelled through central Asia, eventually heading back to Turkey (where he converted to Islam), just at the fall of the Ottoman empire. Then into Germany, where he gained fame as a writer just in time for the rise of Hitler. Constantly on the run, he developed a deep distaste for revolution and a romantic view of monarchs. Potentially very interesting. Also, there's Reiss's search for info about Nussimbaum, meeting far flung relatives, writers, publishers, rock opera writing baronesses, nuns, even the last heir of the Ottoman empire. Also interesting. They just tend to get in the way a bit. That and Reiss's tendency to include every bit of relevant history prevents a good narrative from developing. It feels like there's more history than either of those two stories and it gets a bit muddled. This is good, but could have been better, I think. 73. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - The new genre hotness. Lesbian necromancers in space! Honestly, the necromancer part is probably most important. It's a variety of necromancers trying to solve a puzzle in a giant haunted castle (in space!). There's a mystery, lots of action, and lots of boning. Well, lots of skeletons at least. The lesbian blurb is mostly interesting because our main character is a lesbian and other than crushing on some necromantic hotties it's not really ever a plot point. Everyone likes some normalization and an idealized (bone-heavy) future. A very enjoyable genre novel. Ben Nevis posted:1. Ice by Anna Kavan
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Oct 1, 2019 22:50
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MockingQuantum posted:It doesn't look like you need it, but for the rest of the thread it's worth noting that Muir is a Kiwi so this book would count for the Oceania part of the continents challenge, and it's a current favorite of the Sci-fi/Fantasy thread Indeed, as if one would need yet another reason to read this. I'm only missing South America, myself.
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Oct 3, 2019 12:02
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Groke posted:Indeed, as if one would need yet another reason to read this. I will rigorously recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude as often as possible, I read it for the first time this year (due to the challenge, so I'd call that a success) and it was amazing.
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Oct 3, 2019 16:51
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MockingQuantum posted:I will rigorously recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude as often as possible, I read it for the first time this year (due to the challenge, so I'd call that a success) and it was amazing. Oh yeah, that's a good one. Basically any GGM or if you've exhausted those, Borges. If you want something apart from the usual recommendations, I think I'd throw out Home is the Sailor by Jorge Amado.
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Oct 3, 2019 17:17
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Well it's been a while. July 1984 - George Orwell This was my reread. I completely forgot about the 'love' story aspect, and forgot that he gets broken by the end. Women Talking - Miriam Toews Enjoyed this one. Liked the straight, forward and clear writing style. Interesting that the characters argued so much about the meaning of words and concepts. Seems right up Toews' alley, as her writing is very precise. August Beloved - Toni Morrison I started this before she died. It is a great book. I understand the connections with the movie Us now. Good and Mad - Rebecca Traister My feminist book.The connection to historical events and people throughout was appreciated, disproving that women have to keep their cool to get things done. A Closed and Common Orbit - Becky Chambers Enjoyable but too much time spent on world building. Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur A lot of this felt more like an abstract short story without characters rather than poetry. A few good poems mixed in. September war of the Worlds - H.G. Wells Interesting to think of this in the context of our current clime crisis. Rather than nature saving us, it will destroy us. Washington Black - Esi Edugyan Perspective flip on the classic adventure around the world Eager: the surprising story of beavers and why they matter - Ben Goldfarb Well written and informative book about beaver's and their reintroduction into the US and UK.. Could have used more indigenous perspectives Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay Struggle against the repression of society that destroys girls. Personal goal: read 5 books by Iraqi authors: 3/5 1 Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 41/50 2 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 23/41 3 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 21/41 4 Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5 6 7 8 Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 9 10 11 Read a book published in 2019. 12 Read a book with an awesome cover. 13 14 15 16 Read a play. 17 18 19 20 Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21 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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Oct 5, 2019 18:48
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Also I need a wildcard
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Oct 5, 2019 18:48
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Duck Rodgers posted:Also I need a wildcard Han Kang's The Vegetarian ,if you haven't read it
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Oct 6, 2019 01:37
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September 78. The Echo of Things to Come (Licanius #2) - James Islington 79. Night Watch - Terry Pratchett 80. The Poppy War (Poppy War #1) - R.F. Kuang 81. Malaria Dreams: An African Adventure - Stuart Stevens 82. The Dragon Republic (Poppy War #2) - R.F. Kuang 83. Stephen Florida - Gabe Habash 84. A Little Hatred (Age of Madness #1) - Joe Abercrombie 85. The Dream of the Celt - Mario Vargas Llosa 86. The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers September was a busy month, continuing or starting a number of series. R.F. Kuang's' Poppy War books are solid fantasy written around the history of China in the early 20th century (i.e. fighting off imperialism from the West and Japan) and recommended if you like strong but flawed female protagonists. A Little Hatred is a solid start to another Joe Abercrombie series, and he never fails to impress. A few of the standalone books include Malaria Dreams (my wildcard) which followed a trek across Africa in the 80s when everything that could go wrong did go wrong; The Dream of the Celt, a biographic-ish novel about a human-rights hero who was executed for treason against Britain; The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, an endlessly inventive fantasy trek across a lost continent that includes seven-brained geniuses, eternal tornadoes, man-eating islands, and other wonders; and Stephen Florida, a brilliant novel about a wrestler in South Dakota who has an... interesting perspective as a narrator. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (86/50) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - R.F. Kuang 40% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. - R.F. Kuang 26% 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5. 6. 7. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. - Malaria Dreams 9. 10. Read a book by a local author. 11. Read a book published in 2019 - A Little Hatred, The Dragon Republic 12. 13. Reread a book. - Captain Bluebear, Night Watch 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Read a book involving sports. - Stephen Florida 19. Read something biographical. - The Dream of the Celt 20. 21. 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. Soliciting recommendations for books about art!
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Oct 6, 2019 20:02
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I have been super busy and haven't posted for either August or September yet. Still reading, just didn't get to post in here. August 40. Zoe Whittall - The Best Kind of People. Touching exploration of family trauma. 4/5. 41. Karen Thompson Walker - The Dreamers. Exploration of life and love in crisis. 5/5. 42. Bina Shah - Before She Sleeps. Interpersonal South Asian feminist dystopia. 4/5. 43. Juliet Grames - The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna. Italian family story. 3/5. 44. Christina Baker Kline - A Piece of the World. Searing, introspective artistic life story. 5/5. September 45. Ian McEwan - Atonement. Historical, literate British tragedy. 4/5. 46. Susan Orlean - The Library Book. Intimate, fascinating look at libraries and their places in human lives. 5/5. 47. Chigozie Obioma - An Orchestra of Minorities. Classical tragedy in African trappings. 3/5. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 47/50 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 30/47 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 11/47 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 14. Read a poetry collection. 16. Read a play. 18. Read a book involving sports. 21. Read something in the public domain. 24. Read a book that is the basis for a movie/tv show you have already seen.
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Oct 10, 2019 02:39
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October 87. The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin 88. The Secret Commonwealth (Book of Dust #2) - Philip Pullman 89. Jayber Crow - Wendell Berry 90. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers - Thomas Mullen 91. Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons 92. Morte D'Urban - J.F. Powers 93. Inferno - Dante Alighieri A busy month, and I've been reading some very long books that are taking a while to get through. Still, as with every month, there were some winners. Jayber Crow was my first Wendell Berry, and considering how much I enjoyed his delineation of a small town's life (and how many books he has about this specific small town) I think there's a pretty decent chance I'll read more of his work. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers was my 'local author' pick (the author lives in Atlanta) and it was a cracking good read about Depression-era bank robbers (with a slight twist - they can't die, no matter how many times they get gunned down). Watchmen was a reread, inspired by the (so far) excellent TV sequel. And Inferno was my tackling a book I'd abandoned earlier; it was a fairly good read (the Ciardi translation) and I may revisit Purgatorio, but I doubt I'll hit up Paradiso. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (93/100) (at this point, I think I'll safely hit 100, so I'm upping my total) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - Chloe Benjamin 37% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 25% 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Read a book by a local author. - Thomas Mullen, "The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers" 11. Read a book published in 2019 - The Secret Commonwealth 12. 13. Reread a book. - Watchmen 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt (think high school if nothing comes to mind!). - Dante's Inferno 23. Read a book about art. 24.
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Oct 31, 2019 19:46
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October Picked things back up a little in October and read three books! I’m also reading my wildcard right now, which is way too long. I have too much TV to watch these days! I will finish though, as it IS the Booklord’s challenged, and it would be sort of embarrassing if I didn’t. 30. The Interpreter by Suki Kim. Interesting mystery about a Korean-American interpreter and her finding out more about her parent’s murder. Was okay for the first 2/3 and then got dumb. 31. The Fisherman by John Langan. Cosmic horror stuff. Was fun but the author jumped the shark (fish?) for the last 1/3. It felt like he had some ideas and didn’t know how to bring them to fruition so he just put them in. 32. Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin. South America and 2019 book. Weird collection of short stories, mostly about treating other people like poo poo. Especially women. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 32/40 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 13/32 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 11/32 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 12. Read a book with an awesome cover. 18. Read a book involving sports. 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. 8 books for my personal challenge left, but 7 of those will need to be challenge books. Unless I can double up with the Oceania challenge and something else. Anybody have a suggestion for a sports or art book from Oceania?
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Nov 1, 2019 00:08
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cryptoclastic posted:32. Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin. South America and 2019 book. Weird collection of short stories, mostly about treating other people like poo poo. Especially women. Fever Dream by her is quite good. Precisely and lushly told with hints at disorder without breaking full into modernist prose-play, quite fantastical without breaking into actual fantasy, disturbing without being horror, and layered in what you can take from it. She's following along the South American tradition really well, while writing from a personal (in effect, not necessarily her actual personal) viewpoint
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Nov 1, 2019 00:41
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October Update: 56. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone - I loved the time travel landscapes, and the letters between Red and Blue were a joy to read. Part of me would have liked more background on the agents’ rival factions, but most of me thinks that the extra exposition would just distract from the central characters. I’ve already marked this one to reread and see if it holds up for a second, slower reading. 57. The Regret Histories: Poems by Joshua Poteat - My local author selection, from historic Richmond, Virginia. The poems revolve around the ideas of a shaky present being built on the bones of the past and the sins of the past eventually coming to the surface to confront us. Very dense, hard to interpret poems, but heavy emotional impact. 58. The Old Man Who Read Love Stories by Luis Sepúlveda - A beautifully written novella that explores the abuse of the jungle and civilzation’s disconnect from the natural world. I’d suggest it to anyone looking for a writer from South America, a story that hits lightly but effectively on ecological concerns, or a book that you can read in a day (only 150ish pages!). 59. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey - I don’t remember why I abandoned this book years ago, but I know I struggled with the author’s personality this time. I couldn’t see this as a book about conservation or the value of natural places. I read it as a book about how good Edward Abbey thinks Edward Abbey is at experiencing the desert--which is very much so, since he’s smarter or manlier than everyone he meets in his stories. 60. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi - What a book! The writing itself is striking, and it explores topics of identity, mental illness, spirituality and the supernatural. There’s a lot of good stuff happening in this short book. 61. Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge - A light, fun read for the Halloween season. Catchy writing and a solid creature feature storyline with a few surprises along the way. 62. The Fisherman by John Langan - It’s a nice cosmic horror novel overall, and the core story of the Fisherman has some solid otherworldly dread going on. For me, the modern framing story didn’t hold up its end of the deal, and I was disappointed with the close of the novel. 63. A Mouthful of Birds by Caryl Churchill & David Lan - Not to be confused with the Schweblin book. The vignettes that make up this play were surreal, and the thing was made weirder by the fact that the stories are separated by interpretive dance performances. The stage directions leave a lot to the imagination, especially in regard to dancing. What does it mean to dance dangerously with a pig? 64. Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard - Another local author whose farm is about 40 minutes from me. I enjoyed the look at what the early days of the grass-fed/organic/sustainable/locavore farming movement looked like, but the writing had a tendency of getting a bit too flowery for my tastes. Challenge Progress 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. 9. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. (Received but not read) 23. Read a book about art. clamcake fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Nov 1, 2019 |
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Nov 1, 2019 03:36
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January 1. Stephen King - Doctor Sleep 2. James S. A. Corey - Leviathan Wakes 3. James S. A. Corey - Caliban's War 4. James S. A. Corey - Abaddon's Gate 5. James S. A. Corey - Cibola Burn February 6. JY Yang - The Black Tides of Heaven 7. Richard Lloyd Parry - The People Who Eat Darkness 8. James S. A. Corey - Nemesis Games 9. James S. A. Corey - Babylon's Ashes March Nothing April 10. Fumio Sasaki - Goodbye Things May 11. HP Lovecraft - The Shadow Over Innsmouth 12. HP Lovecraft - The Horror at Red Hook/Victor LaValle - The Ballad of Black Tom 13. James S. A. Corey - Persepolis Rising 14. James S. A. Corey - Tiamat's Wrath June 15. Paul Tremblay - The Cabin at the End of the World July 16. N. K. Jemisin - The Fifth Season 17. N. K. Jemisin - The Obelisk Gate August 18. Liu Cixin - The Three Body Problem September 19. Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle 20. Kim Stanley Robinson - Antarctica 21. Eleanor Herman - The Royal Art of Poison (Audiobook) October 22. Nathan Ballingrud - North American Lake Monsters - October, time for horror. This book reignited my love of horror shorts, which shaped the rest of the month. This is a fantastic collection. It's pretty short, but none of the stories feel like duds. 23. Thomas Ligotti - Songs of a Dead Dreamer - I don't have much experience with "weird" fiction. I've read a smattering of Lovecraft, but he never really grabbed me. Ligotti's stories are much more evocative and relatable, but they also feel like dreams themselves; you're entranced while you're reading them, but they start to slip through your fingers after you wake up. I've always been fascinated by dreams. Ligotti and David Lynch are two of the few artists who've been able to capture how a nightmare really feels to me. I rarely have nightmares where a big monster is chasing me and I learn some plot-relevant facts about my life, but walking down an unfamiliar street, not knowing how you got there and spotting an obscure figure in the glow of a street lamp is extremely my poo poo. 24. Thomas Ligotti - Grimscribe, His Lives and Works - While I loved SOADD, I think Grimscribe is a mixed bag. There are individual stories I liked more than anything in SOADD (The Glamour, The Cocoons) but as a whole the collection is more plodding and same-y than the first book, and it became hard to remember where one story ended and the next began. 25. Thomas Ligotti - Teatro Grottesco - Absolutely perfect. Bleak as hell, but surprisingly funny. The stories here are much more varied in structure as well as content. Probably my favorite book of the year. Highlights: The Town Manager, Our Temporary Supervisor, The Red Tower 26. Stephen King - Night Shift - As far as King collections go, this is fine, but even his classic stuff doesn't do much for me anymore. I preferred the more grounded stories (The Ledge (well maybe "grounded" is the wrong word) The Woman in the Room) to the goofy, monster of the week ones.
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Nov 2, 2019 23:25
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October Update Finished a few near the start of the month, then got bogged down in life because that's how fall is around here. I'm in the middle of One Hundred Years of Solitude, and feel as if I've been reading it for one hundred years; alas, it'll have to go on the list for November it seems. Also doesn't look like I'm going to finish the whole book challenge, but I never really expected to. 27. 보통으로 사는 건 보통 일이 아니야/Living a Normal Life Isn't Easy by 자림/Ja Rim -- This is my poetry collection, and I picked it up way back in March. To be honest, it's not at all what I was expecting from the fairly cute illustrations that accompany the poems. It's a lot more melancholic and bittersweet as Ja ruminates over the various struggles of living in modern Korea, and the different ways to cope with that struggle. I do think it's intended to be uplifting, so there was a very weird tension as I read it since I mostly found it depressing. 28. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado - My short story collection and my spoooooky October read. I have mixed feelings for a lot of the stories here, but on the whole I enjoyed it and look forward to what Machado writes next. 29. Puss in Heels by Aysha U. Farah -- A gay cyberpunk novella. I feel deeply in love with the world building, and was deeply disappointed at Farah not thinking through the implications of how they had the android assert their ability to choose things. To Do: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 29 of 30 so far; 10 of 10 Korean books complete(!) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written not by men. 44% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 44% 4. Read a book by an author from every continent ( 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 14. 15. 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. 2019 So Far 1.The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty 2. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo 3. 흉가/The Haunted House by Shinzo Mitsuda 4. 돌이킬 수 없는 약속/The Unbreakable Promise by Gaku Yakumaru 5. The WoW Diary: A Journal of Computer Game Development by John Staats 6. Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov 7. 책을 지키려는 고양이/The Book-Guarding Cat by Sōsuke Natsukawa 8 & 9. 신세계에서 1 & 2/From the New World 1 & 2 by Yusuke Kishi 10. 고양이 식당/Cat Restaurant by Bongsu Choi 11. The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer 12. 박물관의 고양이/The Museum's Cats by Ma Weidu 13. A Horizon of Jostling Curiosities by Sam Keeper 14. A Bodyless and Timeless Persona by Sam Keeper 15 & 16. 단아한 고양이 1/The Graceful Cat 1 by 달그네/Dalgune 17. Who Killed the World: Solarpunk after the Apocalypse by Sam Keeper 18. Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor 19. Uncovering Grammar by Scott Thornbury 20. The Illiad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander, Homer 21. Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain by David Gerard 22. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer 23. Peter Darling by Austin Chant 24. Color and Light: A guide for the realist painter by James Gurney 25. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay 26. 날씨가 좋으면 찾아가겠어요/I'll come find you when the weather is good by 이도우/Dou Lee 27. 보통으로 사는 건 보통 일이 아니야/Living a Normal Life Isn't Easy by 자림/Ja Rim 28. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado 29. Puss in Heels by Aysha U. Farah
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Nov 4, 2019 01:40
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Haven’t posted in a long rear end time, here’s what I’ve been up to since March: Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata The Dispossessed Ursula K. LeGuin Beloved Toni Morrison The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon Writing Down the Bones Natalie Goldberg in late summer/early fall I went off the deep end and binged a bunch of sci-fi / fantasy: Seraphina Rachel Hartman Shadow Scale Rachel Hartman The Fifth Season N.K. Jemisin The Obelisk Gate N.K. Jemisin The Stone Sky N.K. Jemisin Terrier Tamora Pierce Bloodhound Tamora Pierce Mastiff Tamora Pierce The Raven Tower Ann Leckie Back on track since October: Reservation Blues Sherman Alexie Born To Run Christopher McDougall currently working on Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf but it's slow going. 1. Personal Challenge. Total books: 38 New-to-me "Classics": 5/20 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 20/38 = 53% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 6/38 = 16% 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.  11. 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. 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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Nov 4, 2019 01:55
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Phew. I'm late here, but October was a productive month. I finished 9 books, including a bunch of challenges. I wrapped up poetry, a play, a re-read, a wild card and a feminist novel. And you know what? It was all pretty good. I also passed my numerical goal. Just have a banned book and one book I'd not completed left. I intend to try and regain>=50% women here as well, we'll see how that goes. 74. Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh - An expert in Bengali folklore tries to chase down the origins of a folk story all the while contending with the effects of climate change. The novel unravels this mystic journey in folklore and ties it to minor climate change in the 16th (probably maybe 17th, it's been a month) century and contrasts it against modern effects seen in India, California, and Venice. It has a bit of an aspect of Indiana Jones (or less charitably Dan Brown) but has a sense of environmental conscience that's interesting. A pretty solid read. 75. Memoirs of a Space Woman by Naomi Mitchison - Diving into more Mitchison, this is short book about a spacewoman whose specialty is communicating with newly discovered species. It starts sort of episodic, with the first few about her first few missions or ones that were significant. About the halfway mark it turns focusing more on two episodes, one with a species that maybe has the chance to achieve immortality and sort of bliss, and how the crew deals. I liked that section, it could have been a whole novel and I've have read it gladly. The final section focused on attempts to graft an alien (presumably non-thinking) lifeform onto native life forms, for science. I feel like there may have been some sort of larger meaning here that just escaped me. It's an interesting sci fi book overall, one focused on communication rather than conquering or conflict. It also predates Star Trek, but has a little bit of that feel to it, missions of discovery etc. 76. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Berry - Longlisted for the Booker, this is about two aging drug smugglers hanging out at a ferry station in Spain trying to find an estranged daughter they believe to either be arriving or departing on the boat to Tangier. Through it they reflect on their past, the various escapades of their life together in crime, and their own interpersonal conflicts. This was humorous, with lots of the sort of gangster patter and rapid back and forth as they terrorize hippies in this ferry station. It was also very human and grounded dealing with a life of regrets. I liked this, and on reflection may go back and bump up my goodreads rating. Would recommend. 77. The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Hosseini - In a not-distant future, the Lord of Tuesday, a particularly bellicose and drunken djinn awakes from his long imprisonment to find a world much changed. He meets an old gurkha who convinces him that Kathmandu is ripe for the taking. The city is it's own city state now run by Karma, an AI who monitors every action assigning a positive or negative karmic value, all the while protecting the city from pollution, hostile technology, etc. But the old gurkha has a score to settle. This was a pretty enjoyable novella. And unlike Hosseini's Djinn City, actually has an ending. 78. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - My feminist novel, it's a retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis. As such, it very much focuses on the plight of the conquered, particularly the women taken as slaves. I liked this, it was an interesting read that really tells sort of the untold side of a familiar work. 79. The Goat, or Who is Silvia? by Edward Albee - The Play, this is about a family suddenly struck by the revelation of the father's extramarital affair and the immediate aftermath. What might be otherwise a bit cliche is livened by Albee's characteristic dialog with bits of humor scattered through. Also, it's about an extramarital affair with a goat. Like literally. Reading about after the fact, there's some interesting ties through to Greek tragedy and other things. If you're going to read a play, it's not a bad one. Also, I can only imagine the original production which cast Bill Pullman as the goat fucker. It won a Tony for Best Play in 2002. 80. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera - Wild Card! This slender volume is about a young woman sneaking across the border to try and find her brother, who left some time ago for the promise of free land. It's short, but you get a glimpse of her home village, how organized crime plays a roll in all of this, and then an almost mythical journey on the other side trying to track down her brother. This was a good book! 81. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazney - My re-read. This was just as good as the first time through, you should probably all read it. 82. Book of Folly by Anne Sexton - More or less randomly selected from the library by picking the name of a poetry book that was interesting, and checking it out after seeing the author won a prize. So clearly it must be good. It's sort of misleadingly at the end here, I read it a bit at a time over the whole month. Honestly, it was interesting, probably good, I don't know that I really quite connected with it. I need to try reading one or two out loud or something I suspect. There were a couple sections here a linked poems, a handful about the life of Jesus and that was interesting to see how they spun out. I dunno. Ben Nevis posted:1. Ice by Anna Kavan
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Nov 4, 2019 18:34
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I only read five books in September/October...because one of them was 805 pages long and very, very slow. 49 - Because Internet: Understanding The New Rules Of Language, by Gretchen McCulloch. A really fun and interesting book about how technology has shaped language, and how modern language communications that might seem impenetrable have underlying structure and social purpose. As someone who, like the author, grew up online, I really enjoyed how she tracks the evolution of "Fully Online"people. She focuses primarily on English, but offers some examples from other languages as well. There are also a lot of jokes in this book, which surprised me, but wasn't offputting at all. It reads like the culmination of years of internet linguistics...which is what it is. Read it! It's good! 50 - Picnic At Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay. Read for the BOTM thread. Polite private-college society is shaken by a dark mystery and disintegrates into paranoia, doubt and shame. It's one of the "great Australian novels", but I haven't read enough to judge that myself. I do know that I really enjoyed it, and after being drawn in by the premise I found the last few chapters even more engrossing, and the climax powerful. It's a good book! 51 - Dhalgren, by Samuel Delaney. A very long, very dense, very slow-paced "cult classic" novel. Billed as SF, closer to a magical-realism feel, it explores everything from societal breakdown to sexuality to the nature of art. A nameless man with one bare foot and no name arrives in a city in which society has collapsed, the economy no longer exists, and there's no sense of time or date. Our protagonist wanders between families, communities, a notorious street gang, finds love, becomes a poet, and experiences a couple of wild cosmic events. Mostly, though, the book is concerned with extremely long conversations, and explicit, really unpleasant sexual encounters.The foreword/afterword describe Dhalgren as a "mystery with no solutions", and that's a fair description. I'm not upset that I read it, and will likely recommend it to people I think would get more out of it than me. But I'm glad it's over. 52 - Batman: The Killing Joke, by Alan Moore & Brian Bolland. I've read this before, a long while ago, but with the new Joker film I wanted to revisit it. It's still a bloody good comic, with excellent writing, detailed artwork and some appropriately ghoulish visuals. My one gripe is that this is the "Deluxe" version, with the colours redone in DC's house style...and it just doesn't look nearly as good as the original. Vivid, psychedelic colours are replaced with some really drab, muted tones, and it takes a lot of the mania out of Joker's carnival in particular. That said, TKJ is still an excellent Batman story, an excellent Joker story, and one that deserves its reputation. 53 - Memories Of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez. Novella about a 90-year-old man reminiscing on his life full of patronising brothels, while lamenting that he has never felt true love, until one particular teenage girl is presented to him and his life changes completely. There are some lovely passages about desire and passion and the tribulations of a life long-livd, but also it's about a very old man lusting after a teenager in the most flowery and romantic terms possible. A very pleasant book about a very unpleasant central topic. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are not written by men - 25 - 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 40, 43, 45, 48, 49, 50 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by someone non-white - 20 - 4, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17, 21, 26, 27, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43, 45, 48, 51, 53 [*]N. America - 1, 3, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 42, 44, 45, 49, 51 [*]S. America - 53 [*]Europe - 2, 4, 5, 8, 12, 22, 23, 24, 27, 32, 39, 40, 41, 46, 47, 52 [*]Africa - 31, 37, 43, 48 [*]Asia - 9, 10, 17, 21, 36, 38 [*]Oceania - 50 6. Read at least one book by an indigenous author. 8. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 10. Read a book by a local author. 16. Read a play. 18. Read a book involving sports. 21. Read something in the public domain. 22. Read one book you didn’t finish in a previous attempt.
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Nov 5, 2019 22:25
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October was a successful reading month, particularly for completing some challenges. If Beale Street Could Talk - James Baldwin - this was my book that is the basis for a movie I've already seen. Technically I did the same with the two H.G. Wells books I read, but I wanted this to be for a good movie. The movie very much follows the book until the end. The movie had a sad, but perhaps optimistic end. The book has a much darker end, with less closure and more pessimism. A Thousand Ships - Natalie Haynes - My 2019 book. The Illiad, Odyssey and other related Greek tales told from the perspective of the women in the stories. Many of the men come off not as heros, but as evil, thoughtless, or crass, with little concern for the aftermath of there wars. Some good humour too, with the gods written as little more than spoiled children. A Meditation - Juan Benet - This was my book choice based on its cover, and what a choice. Turns out this book is one 360 page paragraph, no breaks, stream of conscious. Narrator recounts a story about the people in a region of Spain during and after the civil war, including the decline of his own family. Lots of digressions into philosophical musings. It was a difficult read. Lots of long sentences, and not uncommon for multiple commas, brackets, colons and semi-colons in one sentence. But I very much enjoyed it, maybe my favourite this year. Please Kill Me - Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain - My art book. The uncensored history of punk. This is an oral history and they have great access to people involved in the scene in the late 60s to early 80s. Musicians, industry people, friends and hangers on. Lots of great stories about Iggy Pop, the New York Dolls, The Ramones, the Sex Pistols etc. Arranged into a narrative that starts with Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, and the Velvet Underground, and ends with the death of punk (literally the death, mostly O.D. of many of the main people in the scene in the 1980s.) The Vegetarian - Han Kang - My wildcard. A story of a women rejecting many of the norms of society, particularly those aimed at women. She decides to be a tree instead. Personal goal: read 5 books by Iraqi authors: 3/5 1 Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 47/50 2 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 26/47 3 Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 24/47 4 Read a book by an author from every continent ( 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Read a play. 17 18 19 20 Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 21 22 23 24
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Nov 6, 2019 13:06
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So the year is almost over, and 2020 is fast approaching! Does anyone have any interest in being Booklord next year? Send me a PM!
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Nov 20, 2019 01:24
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Oh poo poo, I forgot to ask for a wildcard. Hit me with something about feminism, if you please.
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Nov 20, 2019 02:12
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Talas posted:Oh poo poo, I forgot to ask for a wildcard. Hit me with something about feminism, if you please. Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit.
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Nov 20, 2019 04:11
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cryptoclastic posted:So the year is almost over, and 2020 is fast approaching! Hey did you find someone to be Booklord for next year or should I drop  and send you a PM?
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Nov 21, 2019 03:58
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Arivia posted:Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit.
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Nov 21, 2019 04:26
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Arivia posted:Hey did you find someone to be Booklord for next year or should I drop You’re the first! Send me an e-mail at “cmgarlan” on the g mail.
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Nov 21, 2019 07:10
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cryptoclastic posted:You’re the first! Send me an e-mail at “cmgarlan” on the g mail. Sent from my username at gmail!
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Nov 22, 2019 23:44
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Arivia posted:Sent from my username at gmail! I didn’t get an email, and just tried to send you one and it said there’s no such address. Edit: probably because I sent it to gmail.con... check your inbox
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Nov 23, 2019 03:22
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I need a wild card, ideally sports related because I have kind of zero interest in sports.
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Nov 23, 2019 04:53
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FelicityGS posted:I need a wild card, ideally sports related because I have kind of zero interest in sports. End Zone by Don DeLillo.
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Nov 23, 2019 05:42
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Thanks!
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Nov 23, 2019 06:43
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poo poo, anyone have recommendations for a play to read?
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Nov 24, 2019 17:16
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Arivia posted:poo poo, anyone have recommendations for a play to read? Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht
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Nov 24, 2019 18:46
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A Number by Caryl Churchill
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Nov 24, 2019 19:13
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Sarah Ruden's Lysistrata translation.
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Nov 25, 2019 01:13
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Probably won't get in any more books for November, but that's my challenge (30 books) complete. Maybe cheated with a few too many novellas/short story collections, but I've got a few more novels I want to get to before the year's over. January 1. Stephen King - Doctor Sleep 2. James S. A. Corey - Leviathan Wakes 3. James S. A. Corey - Caliban's War 4. James S. A. Corey - Abaddon's Gate 5. James S. A. Corey - Cibola Burn February 6. JY Yang - The Black Tides of Heaven 7. Richard Lloyd Parry - The People Who Eat Darkness 8. James S. A. Corey - Nemesis Games 9. James S. A. Corey - Babylon's Ashes March Nothing April 10. Fumio Sasaki - Goodbye Things May 11. HP Lovecraft - The Shadow Over Innsmouth 12. HP Lovecraft - The Horror at Red Hook/Victor LaValle - The Ballad of Black Tom 13. James S. A. Corey - Persepolis Rising 14. James S. A. Corey - Tiamat's Wrath June 15. Paul Tremblay - The Cabin at the End of the World July 16. N. K. Jemisin - The Fifth Season 17. N. K. Jemisin - The Obelisk Gate August 18. Liu Cixin - The Three Body Problem September 19. Philip K. Dick - The Man in the High Castle 20. Kim Stanley Robinson - Antarctica 21. Eleanor Herman - The Royal Art of Poison (Audiobook) October 22. Nathan Ballingrud - North American Lake Monsters 23. Thomas Ligotti - Songs of a Dead Dreamer 24. Thomas Ligotti - Grimscribe, His Lives and Works 25. Thomas Ligotti - Teatro Grottesco 26. Stephen King - Night Shift November 27. Kim Stanley Robinson - New York 2140 Most of KSR's books are heavy on science and light on plot, and usually that's fine with me, but the balance is way off in this one. The characters and situations are interesting, but so little actually happens in this book. I often find KSR spellbinding when he's writing about the future, but I was supremely bored with NY 2140. 28. Forward Collection - Edited by Blake Crouch I usually ignore the free Amazon Originals you get with Prime, but this one grabbed my attention because it featured several authors I'd actually read before: Jemisin, Tremblay, Weir, etc. This is actually a fantastic collection of 6 little Black Mirror-esque stories. Jemisin's is the standout and Weir's is the weakest, but they're all worth your 30 minutes. 29. Dean Koontz - Nameless Following up the Forward collection, I decided to check out the next free Amazon original. This is a collection of six very cheesy stories about a nameless assassin seeking justice around the country. I'd never read any Koontz before and this is probably not the best introduction to his work, but it's a mediocre novel. The serialized structure means that each story has to reiterate the important points from the previous story you just finished reading. Also, I've never read anybody who uses brand names so profusely. Stephen King does it to lend a bit of verisimilitude to a story; here it just feels like I'm reading a catalogue and he's doing it to fill out the word count. The central mystery of the story is extremely unsatisfying as well. 30. Martha Wells - All Systems Red Fine story with a great protagonist and an interesting setting, but I'm annoyed with the trend of publishing a series of novellas rather than collecting everything into one volume. I'm sure the publishers have crunched the numbers and figured out this is the best way to maximize profits, but it costs $34 to buy the whole series, about 600 pages, which is just insane for an eBook. So I'll be waiting until the library gets the rest of the series in stock. 31. Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul Some may find Sanderson's writing a little video game-y, and that's a fair criticism, but I'm always impressed with the worlds and systems he creates. 32. Michael Crichton - Dragon Teeth (Audiobook) One of Crichton's posthumous releases, written in the 70s. This is a great page-turner, and it's mostly lacking Crichton's weird political hangups. Makes a great audiobook due to the short chapters and straightforward narrative.
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Nov 27, 2019 16:47
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