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It's January! 1 - The Great Successor, by Anna Fifield. Written by a journalist with experience covering North Korea. Covers the life of Kim Jong-un and the rapid changes in North Korea, of which only so much is known. 2 - Japanese Agent in Tibet, by Hisao Kimura. One of the most novel memoirs I've ever read, it's the story of a Japanese student who, after studying in an army-run farm in Inner Mongolia, is taught Tibetan and sent through to Tibet out of some scheme to spy on the British and Chinese during the war. He gets to Tibet itself by summer 1945, and after hearing stories that the war is lost, heads to British India. By the time he gets there, it's just India. The author has a real eye for detail and language that is unmatched. 3 - The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt. No explanation needed. The introduction is brilliant and her conclusions are still thought-provoking, yet her description of the Soviet Union is incomplete in retrospect as she lacks access to the archives and scholarly works after the 1990s. 4 - Cadres, Bureaucracy, and Political Power in Communist China, by A. Doak Barnett. An older book, but it really shows how much about the organization of the CCP was known by the 1960s. Even some of the terminology holds up, even though the people's communes are long gone. 5 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark. One of those older books it's very hard to write anything original about. Darkly witty. The harm of teaching delusional fantasies and their impressions on children. 6 - The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. BOTM read here. Sinclair has a real gift for description and I was moved by his depiction of poverty - as few things move me - but I felt oddly flat with the ending. Preaching to the choir? 7 - Escape from Rome, by Walter Scheidel. An unusual look at the connection between the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe and the questions of industrial development and 'modernity'. Suggests that the fall of the Roman Empire and its failure for any single empire to take its place over an extended period was a major contributor to industrialization. Scheidel supplements his argument with a series of counterfactuals, including rotating the Eurasian continent 180 degrees to prove a point about oceanic exploration and China. Read it at least to grapple with big historical arguments. 8 - The Thirty Years War, by Peter Wilson. Read on the recommendation from a certain poster in the Milhist thread. Made the conflict and its vast array of causes more understandable, with some 300 pages as exposition. Clear description of some two dozen setpiece battles. 9 - Ideology and Organization in Communist China, by Franz Schurmann. One of the older books on the PRC, and another one that still is useful even after fifty years. Describes the history of the CCP as in a process of state-building and inculcating its belief system into the general population. Of special note in the second edition is his first attempt to describe the events of the Cultural Revolution, his discussion of Marxism-Leninism vs. Mao Zedong thought, and the role of 'contradiction' in party ideology. 10 - Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend. Brilliant history that draws from primary sources in Classical Nahuatl and historical academic research. Tells the story brilliantly. A compelling side of history that I didn't even know I missed that much. 11 - The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon - Wildcard from Humerus. A charming fantasy novel from four points of view that didn't drag, worked in some fine exposition and worked as a self-contained story. Brain candy. I was pleased with the way Ead and Tane's relationship developed but if romance isn't a drawing point for fantasy novels then this is probably not what you're going for. 12 - The Handbook of Epictetus - Stoic philosophy. The Stoics don't speak to me as much as they once did. Perhaps the book can be read as a manual for survival in a state poorer, more violent, and more authoritarian than the one we live in? 13 - Made in Sweden, by Elisabeth Åsbrink. Series of short writings - jottings - about Swedish life and culture. Not as penetrating as I hoped, but short and descriptive. 14 - Rebranding China, by Pu Xiaoyu. Political science, but not given to sweeping theories that ignore counterexamples. Pu offers a subtle explanation as to why the PRC presents itself as wealthy and powerful and a poor developing country to different audiences, and he writes convincingly about the different audiences the government signals its status towards. 15 - Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, by Brendan Simms. Read as a refresher to help make up for all the information I lost since undergrad. Really focuses on everything from the 19th-20th centuries, and is given to monocausal explanations that don't really hold up to further scrutiny. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 14/150 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are not written by men. - 6 - 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 1/3 of them are written by writers of colour. - 2 - 2, 14 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 10% are written by LGBT writers. - 0?????? Fix this!!! 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900 - 6 (1907) 1910 - 1920 - 1930 - 1940 - 1950 - 1960 - 4 (1967), 5 (1961), 9 (1968) 1970 - 3 (1973) 1980 - 1990 - 2 (1990) 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! - 7. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. - I made a Goodreads in December please add me: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/105188876-nadja
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Feb 1, 2020 04:38
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January in review: 1) Inferno by Dan Brown. 2) Thrawn by Timothy Zahn 3) Me by Elton John 4) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien 5) Ravenor by Dan Abnett So mostly pulp but at least I'm having a good time. Challenges: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 5/55 - Not a bad start but I definitely slowed down as the month went on, so I gotta pick it up. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. So far 0% which isn't ideal but I have a list of books I plan to read this year and I should hit this easily. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. Also 0% so far which is concerning, I will absolutely have to make a better effort. I have a couple books on hold to help with this but I need to seek more out. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. Technically sitting at 20% right now! I'd like to read more than 5% but this is tricky because (shockingly) not all authors openly broadcast their identities in this way. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). Well I got the 30s on lock! 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. Fulfilled by The Hobbit. 10. Read something historical. Fulfilled by Me. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Feb 1, 2020 14:29
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January! 1. Bangkok Wakes to Rain - Pitchaya Sudbanthad 2. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong 3. All This Could Be Yours - Jami Attenburg 4. The Last Samurai - Helen DeWitt 5. Golden State - Ben Winters 6. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark 7. Flashman's Lady - George Macdonald Frasier 8. The Light of All That Falls (Licanius #3) - James Islington 9. The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt 10. Normal People - Sally Rooney 11. Black Orchids - Rex Stout 12. The Cheese and the Worms - Carlo Ginsburg Quite the heavy month, but I read a number of short ones along with the massive tomes. A number of my books have been pulled from The Morning News's Tournament of Books (https://themorningnews.org/tob/) so I have a huge number of 2019-published books - of these, the clear standout was On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, which is clearly a poet's first novel: it's beautifully written and not too heavily plotted. Other great books I read were The Goldfinch (for the second time - I love Donna Tartt and had been considering this for my "art" requirement last year); The Last Samurai, about a brilliant young man in search of his father; Flashman's Lady, the 6th of the series, in which he fights Borneo pirates and becomes the sex slave of Madagascar's queen; and Bangkok Wakes to Rain, which has a number of stories running through hundreds of years of Bangkok's history. I also finished the Licanius Trilogy with The Light of All that Falls, which wrapped up a far-too-complex fantasy trilogy, and I took on The Cheese and The Worms, which was an interesting look at the heterodox views of a 17th century Italian miller as he was brought before the Inquisition. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (12/50) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 42% female (Attenburg, DeWitt, Spark, Tartt, Rooney) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 16% POC (Vuong, Sudbanthad) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 8% LGBT (1 book - Ocean Vuong) 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1940s - Black Orchids 1960s - Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1980s - Flashman's Lady 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. - Sudbanthad, "Bangkok Wakes to Rain" 10. Read something historical. - The Cheese and The Worms 11. Read something about art/music. - The Goldfinch 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. - The Goldfinch (Pulitzer) 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. - Normal People 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited. - Normal People (Ireland), Light of All that Falls (Australia), Cheese and the Worms (Italy) Chamberk fucked around with this message at 23:08 on Mar 31, 2020 |
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Feb 3, 2020 21:54
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clamcake posted:And if anyone could toss me my first wildcard, I'd appreciate it. I think this got lost in the shuffle. Try A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James.
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Feb 4, 2020 05:32
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January is over and I'm only several days late with an update. What a way to start the year off. I'd had a big push at the end of last year to maintain 50% of books I'd read being written by women, and I'd checked out several at the end of last year and decided to continue into the New Year, and just read books by women, or non-men if you'd prefer, through January. I'll have a nice bump on that one heading into the year. I managed a few categories otherwise, including one for #5. I think my goal will be to do 1 decade/month. I assume earlier might be harder, so that gives a bit of leeway for ILL or whatnot to come through. Nothing too bad to start, but no real amazing reads either for the month. I was hoping to continue through and do all African American authors for February, but Valeria Luiselli is kinda shouldering in there. Still, I foresee a productive next month as well. 1. Famous Men Who Never Lived by K Chess - When there's a series of terrorist attacks in Hel's world rendering large swaths uninhabitable, Hel is one selected by lottery to step through a portal believed to lead the way to another world, our world. She and the other thousands of refugees find themselves in a New York that's fairly unrecognizable, as history seems to have diverged sometime around 1910. It's a novel about grief, loss, and the difficulties of refugees. I like that it's a sci-fi novel that uses those few things to examine real problems and issues. It was also a good read 2. The First Bad Man by Miranda July - Cheryl is a tightly wound and very strange and lonely woman, until her bosses ask her to temporarily put up their 21 year old daughter and suddenly everything changes all of the little, deeply idiosyncratic systems she'd created to shield herself come crashing down. There is a lot of good to this. The relationship is interesting as are Cheryl's attempts at normality, at some point though it's all just a step too weird to be great. It loses some of the impact when you're marvelling at a therapist making GBS threads in chinese takeout boxes. It was a good book with some decent humor and buried under a lot of weird, a compelling relationship and humanizing of a woman lost. 3. Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson - This was longlisted for the Booker last year, and sounded interesting so here I am. The novel tells parallel stories, of Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein and then of Ry and Victor Stein (eh? See what she did there?) and their relationship particularly Stein's fascination with transhumanism. Also a guy who make sex robots. Like there's way more sex robots and talk about sex robots than anyone might reasonably have assumed otherwise. There's definitely some stuff to like to here, some humor throughout, a lot to reflect on about transhumanism. On the other hand, it can get a bit TED Talk-y. Some reviews have called it transphobic, though others say transpositive. It didn't seem transphobic to me, the sex robot guy definitely is, but it's presented as a bad thing I'd think. I dunno, it's not a topic I'm terribly conversant with, but if it's a concern to you, know that going in. 4. Fire Summer by Thuy Da Lam - Set in the 90s, a young women who had fled Vietnam with her father returns in her 20s. She's trying to scatter her father's ashes, figure out why her mother did not leave with them, and also make contact with her great aunt to see if she's willing to agitate for revolution. Along the way she picks up a writer looking for some trace of his brother who'd gone missing in the war, a night club singer, a security detail, and a cat. It's a dreamlike journey through Vietnam, through night clubs, restaurants, markets, Cao Dai temples, all chasing something just around the corner. Throughout you see the scars of war in the country and in the people. It's a real interesting book and I enjoyed it. 5. False Bingo by Jac Jemc - A short story collection billed as horror, or maybe horror adjacent, but I didn't find much horror there. A couple stories really hit at it, but not as many as I'd thought. There were a couple that really connected and I enjoyed, but mostly, they just didn't hit with me. 6. Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma - Sort of a fairy tale, almost, Gideon has been told that the rock outcropping near the family farm is a dragon, and when his father dies leaving Gideon and his mother at the mercy of his cruel uncle, he decides to find out. A quick, pretty solid little read. 7. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani - I'd gotten a rec for this somewhere. It opens on a grisly murder, with a nanny having killed two young children. What then ensues is a deep dive into the relationship between the nanny, Louise, and the family for whom she nannies. It delves into class issues and the fraught relationships between parents and child care workers. It's an interesting book with a lot of good stuff to say on that. Unfortunately, it's advertised as the French "Gone Girl" and it isn't really in that genre. It's a compelling read and worth reading, but don't go in expecting a fast paced psychological thriller. 8. The King Must Die by Mary Renault - A novelization of the myth of Theseus, starting with his birth and leading up through him vanquishing the Minotaur and returning to Athens. It's good to see them all put together, I had trouble keeping them straight. There is an effort to tell them as though they're real life, the Minotaur in this case being a son of Minos and presumed heir, not a literal bullman. The sort of 6 bad guys he meets crossing the isthmus to Athens are condensed into 2 or 3 encounters. All in all pretty decent. Where it really shone I thought was the last 30-40 pages in overthrowing Crete. THE CHALLENGE: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 8/85 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 8/8 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 3/8 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 2/8 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). - 1950s 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book.- Fire Summer 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. - False Bingo 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Feb 4, 2020 17:37
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cryptoclastic posted:I think this got lost in the shuffle. Try A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. Looks like a nice one, thanks for the wildcard. As for my January reading, I don't feel like I read a lot, but I hit a few goals along the way. I'm on pace for finishing the booklord and personal challenges, but this year is going to really push me to read a lot of stuff I wouldn't normally prioritize reading. And that's really the point, right? 1. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - I read this in middle school, and it was rewarding to revisit this book. It’s easy to see how it helped lay the foundations for young adult lit. 2. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe - This play has been on my shelf for 9 years. How embarrassing. Reading it, I was surprised by how blasé the characters are about soul-selling and eternal damnation. Also, for a someone who's supposed to be the smartest and best scholar, Faust does some really childish crap with his supernatural powers. Using your infernal magic to crash the Vatican and pilfer the pope’s wine? Hosting a frat party and summoning Helen of Troy’s ghost settle a bet about how hot she was? Then later having sex with her to distract yourself from your increasing discomfort with knowing you're going to spend eternity in hell? Really? Really, it was not the brooding moody tragedy I was expecting. 3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - My first book of the month, and what a book! I was grabbed by the descriptions of the meatpacking plants and the tragedies that Jurgis and his family faced in that meaty industrial hellscape. I found the second half to be less engaging, and I suspect Sinclair included quite a few less believable story events only to provide a platform for him to drive home his political message. And sure, I get that the Socialist message is ultimately the point of the book, but maybe the storytelling suffered as a result. 4. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson - An award-winning collection of poems that share the writer’s memories of growing up and finding her identity in her family and the communities she grew up in. I fooled myself into expecting more of a linear memoir instead of snapshots of her childnood, but I suppose poetry isn’t meant to be a direct form of expression. 5. The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty - This food book had a much larger scope than its subtitle and goodreads description lead me to believe. I feel like 60-70% of the content was a broader history of slavery and the African American experience in the United States, as well as the author’s account of his research into his own family background. Yes, this is important context for the culinary history, and there’s an inherent value in Americans being confronted with this history of enslavement, racism, and systemized oppression. At the same time, it was sometimes overwhelming and frustrating for me as a reader to digest this other information in what I thought was going to be a more focused history of how African food traditions evolved to form Southern food/soul food traditions. Still, I’d recommend it; Twitty’s a strong writer/storyteller, and there aren’t many published writers of color in the areas of culinary research and foodways history. Challenge Progress 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge - 5/50. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are not written by men - currently 40%. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are written by writers of colour - currently 40%. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers - currently 40%. Personal. Of the books read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are nonfiction - currently 40%. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century - 2/10 6. Participate in TBB Book of the Month threads - 1/5 7. Ask for wildcards in this thread, then read them - 0/5. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Feb 4, 2020 18:40
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I read 6 books of my stated goal of 30 for the year in January! It's all genre trash (I'm burning through the bulk of The Expanse by James SA Corey at the moment), but within a week I'll go on a break and do some nonfiction that's been on the backburner for years. I hope to keep at least a semblance of this pace up and blow my goal of 30 out of the water. I've never read more than 11 books in a year so I hope I can. I tend to read in binges and then get lazy, but December + January was 10 books; I've never had a tear like that. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Feb 5, 2020 |
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Feb 5, 2020 16:45
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January : Read 1 book: Get A Life Chloe Brown. I just got back on vacation and it totally got me back into my reading groove! Whooo! (I also read another book on my vacation but I read it in February so I won't count it yet). February will be nothing but books! DrNewton fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Feb 5, 2020 |
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Feb 5, 2020 20:22
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Bit late with this. Was abroad until Monday and jet lag meant I was sleeping and waking up at weird hours. It is now time, however, for my January update!!!! As usual, it being vacation means that I read very little! I also went home to the US for the last ten days of the month, so I didn’t do much reading there. Everything I’ve done is short so far, but numbers are numbers. I’m also working on a couple of other things but they’re slow going for now. Anyway, my January books: 1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This was really cute but but also sad. It felt like a big critique of adults and adult pursuits. Just stop and smell the roses! 2. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. This was my childhood book. I remember reading this in sixth grade and bawling. Very different now. The whole hunting and cutting down trees to kill raccoons angle turned me off a lot. The pacing felt weird too. It went from the high point to the lower in about six pages. 3. Mountain Interval by Robert Frost. Poetry! I still feel like I don’t “get” poetry but this was more accessible. There were some simple cheesy poems, but also some really dark stuff as well. 4. You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time by Patricia Marx. My wife picked this to while we were in the States. Cute relationship advice. It’s fun to know everyone goes through the same stuff. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 4/36 Personal challenge: 20% Korean authors. 0/4 Personal challenge: 20% nonfiction. 1/4 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men.1/4 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour.0/4 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers.0/4 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900s 1920s 1930s 1950s 1970s 1980s 1990s 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Feb 6, 2020 00:35
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this was my January. traveling for work at the end of the month so was able to fit in more books. 1. Exhalation – Ted Chiang. just a really good short story sci-fi collection. Ted Chiang's definitely one of the best to do these short stories in a way that's engaging and makes the big picture even more meaningful. my favorite was the first one, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate." 2. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshanna Zuboff. a very exhaustive, scholarly work on how we keep getting expectations of privacy and individuality chipped away by Silicon Valley and other tech businesses. took me a while to get through but I think it's a really important book that details a lot of the grievances that have taken place in the tech world over the last 20-30 years. 3. The Great Pretender – Susannah Cahalan. tenured professors making up and falsifying research data to fit conclusions and advance careers. who would have thought? I think this would go really nicely with a viewing of Three Identical Strangers, not entirely the same sphere but a lot of interesting overlap. 4. Dune – Frank Herbert. The big granddaddy. Just as engaging as it was when I read it as a cool teen. Currently making my way through the rest of the series until I get tired of all the nonsense and give up. 5. The Jungle – Upton Sinclair. reread for the BOTM. I said it in the thread, but Marija's journey really hit hard this time through. A towering look, and every time I've talked about it with people everybody always brings up the meat-packing stuff. astounding that that point is usually the main takeaway instead of the exploitation of marginalized populations. 6. The Storm Before the Storm – Mike Duncan. I'm very dumb when it comes to matters of Roman or Greek politics, so this was a nice look at things that aren't Julius Caesar. so many words have been written on the Roman Empire, but you never really hear a whole lot about the decades that came before the collapse. 7. Dune Messiah – Frank Herbert. Definitely preferred Dune more, and the part that most people prefer – the look at the Jihad spiraling out of control and the powerlessness of Paul to stop it – was more effectively portrayed in the first book, at least in my opinion. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. – 35 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. – 2, 3 (29%) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. – 1 (14%) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900's – The Jungle 1960's – Dune 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Feb 6, 2020 07:03
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Since I’m thinking of it: can anybody throw me a wildcard?
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Feb 6, 2020 08:04
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cryptoclastic posted:Since I’m thinking of it: can anybody throw me a wildcard? Bilge Karasu - Night
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Feb 6, 2020 09:38
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https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/26945684 I read a bunch but tbf several of those were either plays or poetry collections, which I have been trying to get into more lately and which go by super fast. I know a few of these meet some of the challenges but I haven't been keeping track just yet so I will do that later on, once I get through my current batch of books (and my library branch is supposedly reopening "early" 2020 which will make it easier to get stuff). I am still waiting on a wildcard as well, I think it got lost in the shuffle.
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Feb 19, 2020 03:15
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Guy A. Person posted:I am still waiting on a wildcard as well, I think it got lost in the shuffle. I was about to say Five Spice Street by Can Xue but it looks like you're already a fan. Try The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai.
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Feb 19, 2020 03:48
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Kangxi posted:I was about to say Five Spice Street by Can Xue but it looks like you're already a fan. Heck yeah, I've had No Longer Human on my list for awhile but hadn't gotten to it. Thanks!
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Feb 19, 2020 03:55
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I feel I've been neglecting my BOOKLORD duties, so here's an idea: Challenge recommendations! Every now and then, I'll post a few books that you might not have read that could fulfil one or more of the challenges! So let's take a look at some famous books of the 1900s! First up, 1909's Phantom Of The Opera, originally published as a serial by Gaston Leroux. Everyone's familiar with the story and its countless retellings, but the original novel is still wildly popular. And if you've never been to France, it fulfils challenge 23! A classic novel you might remember from your childhood (challenge 14!) is 1908's Anne Of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery. The start of the bestselling series of books, a coming-of-age tale of an orphan girl in rural Canada. You might also have heard the recent History Honeys episode about the life of the author. Many of us read it last month as part of the BOTM thread, but if you haven't yet, Upton Sinclair's 1905 serial The Jungle deserves its reputation as a powerful, emotional novel of the poor immigrant experience in 1900s America. It was also heavily censored (challenge 22) when it was first collected as a novel. If it's romance (challenge 21) you're after, than you could do worse than E.M. Forster's A Room With A View, from 1908. It's the classic rom-com setup, with the protagonist caught between her stiff, conservative English upbringing and the excitement of Italian life. Finally, a personal favourite, also from 1908: G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. A surreal satirical adventure and wild farce about a secret society of anarchists. If anyone has any suggestion requests, post here and I'll see what I can search up for next time! Gertrude Perkins fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Feb 19, 2020 |
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Feb 19, 2020 16:05
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I was checking out poetry recommendations and Song of a Sourdough by Robert W Service, featuring the Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew, was published in 1907, so another potentially fun double whammy.
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Feb 19, 2020 17:13
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Gertrude Perkins posted:I feel I've been neglecting my BOOKLORD duties, so here's an idea: Challenge recommendations! Every now and then, I'll post a few books that you might not have read that could fulfil one or more of the challenges! I would humbly submit that the first few decades of the century could also include some fuckin' Joseph Conrad. For instance The Secret Agent is from 1907 and it will make you want to slit your fuckin' wrists.
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Feb 20, 2020 14:20
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I read a lot, but have never done a Book Challenge! My wife does this every year on Good Reads. I'll give it a shot. I ONLY read fantasy books right now, so I will stay in that category for this year. Going for just 20 books that I have NEVER read, starting right now. Work is very busy this year and I am back into a MMO  , so not going for a high amount.Not doing the BOOKLORD part. I care not WHO wrote a book or WHEN it was written, just that it was good enough for me to finish! I will probably meet a few of the other goals of BOOKLORD I am sure. I will list my first book when I get it in the next few days.
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Feb 23, 2020 20:24
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Late to this party, but I'll sign up! Name: Bluehay Personal Challenge: 40 books, mostly fiction to try to get away from my nonfiction addiction and flex my storytelling muscle. Booklord 2020? Definitely the umbrella, probably a few of the others as well. Really want to try to read a lot more from people of color. Please wildcard me! I'm up for just about anything.
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Feb 26, 2020 22:50
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Bluehay posted:Late to this party, but I'll sign up! The Palm Wine Drinkard, by Amos Tutuola.
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Feb 27, 2020 02:33
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January 1. Cities of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif (1/11/2020). A sprawling novel about communities on the Arabian peninsula unraveling after the Americans find oil. A very good read. Recommended if you like novels where the main character is not so much a person as a place and a time. Imagine Zola, but with slightly more human characters. 2. The Brink: President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 by Marc Ambinder (1/23/2020). A journalistic work on the saber-rattling, miscalculations, and paranoia leading up to the 1983 nuclear war scare. Thin on analysis and desperately in need of a proofreader. February 3. Perception and Misperception in International Politics by Robert Jervis (2/1/2020). A seminal IR text on how cognitive distortions, wishful thinking, miscalculation, and perception impact foreign policy and military decision-making. Dry prose, but this is vital if you're into IR theory. 4. Novel Without a Name by Duong Thu Huong (2/3/2020). A novel told from the point of view of a North Vietnamese soldier fighting the Americans. It's all right. 5. The Last Days of Louisiana Red by Ishmael Reed (2/8/2020). A hilarious and turbulent book about the late 1960s/early 1970s counterculture. 6. Everything You Have Told Me Is True: The Many Faces of Al Shabaab by Mary Harper (2/12/2020). Raw, harrowing book by a BBC journalist on the group al-Shabaab and the Somali Civil War more broadly. Harper draws on a wealth of interviews with Somali people, including civilians in Mogadishu, journalists, officials, the diaspora, and al-Shabaab's spokesmen. Strongly recommended. 7. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (2/16/2020). I've decided I'm not a Waugh person. 8. The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz (2/18/2020). Beautiful stories set in a dreamlike, at times nightmarish town in Galicia. Lovely imagery and striking characters. Strongly recommended. 9. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (trans. Nabokov, reread) (2/24/2020). I've already read and loved Eugene Onegin. Specifically, I read and loved a version where the translator tried to keep the poetic rhyme and structure. I'm also a sucker for Nabokov's work. Worth it. Progress 1. # of books: 9/75 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. So far, 2/9 with Duong Thu Huong and Mary Harper. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. Currently at 3/9 with Abdelrahman Munif, Duong Thu Huong, and Ishmael Reed. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. None so far. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc).: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. Please. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. TBD 9. Read an author’s first book. TBD? 11. Read something about art/music. TBD 12. Read something about food that isn’t a cookbook. TBD 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. TBD 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. TBD 16. Read a play. TBD 18. Read something that’s only available online. TBD 19. Read a prize-winning book. Not totally sure if I've already done this or not. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. TBD 21. Read a love story. TBD?
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Feb 27, 2020 03:12
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Hey is it too late to join this if I never noticed it at the start of the year? If the answer is no, I'm aiming for 60 books, plus the umbrella challenges, plus I want to try to finish a decade's worth of either Pulitzer or Booker winners. (i.e. if I've read half the Pulitzer winners from the 1980s I have to read the others... but I'll pick the decade retroactively.)
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Mar 1, 2020 10:28
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freebooter posted:Hey is it too late to join this if I never noticed it at the start of the year? If the answer is no, I'm aiming for 60 books, plus the umbrella challenges, plus I want to try to finish a decade's worth of either Pulitzer or Booker winners. (i.e. if I've read half the Pulitzer winners from the 1980s I have to read the others... but I'll pick the decade retroactively.) It's never too late! Adding you to the master list. Good luck on your prizewinnners - any you'd recommend?
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Mar 1, 2020 17:21
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How is it March already? February books: Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski, translated by David French - The last of the ~Saga~ of Geralt and Ciri (although he did write another book just a couple years ago to capitalize on the success of The Witcher 3 game), and I thought it was a pretty good ending. Though like all the Witcher novels I feel like the editor should have been more heavy handed; the five books easily could have been four without much lost. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - A pretty fun sci-fi-fantasy book that's kind of a mystery kind of a thriller with a sequel coming out later this year. If you need more LGBTQ+ authors I can really recommend this one. It's also her first novel so you can knock that challenge out if you need to. Milk! by Mark Kurlansky - Read for the food book challenge, and it was certainly interesting, but I was hoping for more a reflection on how dairy shaped various cultures and it mostly read like a textbook of straight facts. Still very interesting though. So yeah I only read three books, but at least I have a few extra days in March to play catch up. Challenges: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 8/55 - Technically behind here but Spring Break is coming up so I should be able to knock some out this month 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. Not great on this so far but by the end of the year I should hit this easily. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. Still 0% so I really got to make an effort soon. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 25% currently! I'd like to keep it around there but we'll see. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). So far I've got 30s and 90s, and I'm reading a book from the 50s now. 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. Fulfilled by The Hobbit. 10. Read something historical. Fulfilled by Me. Fulfilled by Milk! 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. Gideon the Ninth is nominated for the Nebula so we'll see! 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Mar 1, 2020 17:57
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February 16 - Violence and the Sacred, by Rene Girard. A broad work of anthropology/philosophy that has two 'main ideas' - the first being 'memetic desire', or the imitation of others' desires, which leads to conflicts and rivalry. The second is the 'scapegoat' mechanism, where communal violence is often projected onto a single individual, and where rivals can unite in inflicting harm to some scapegoat. Girard also ties this to religion, where the victim is made sacred as they have brought peace to the community. I'm not doing his ideas justice at all; much to think about. 17 - Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin. Baldwin's first major novel, about the family and life of the child of an abusive and violent preacher. Bounces between multiple perspectives; intense depictions of emotional pain. 18 - The Great Reversal, by Thomas Philippon. French economist at NYU wanted to write a book about high airplane tickets and ended up writing a book on the extreme concentration of power among large corporations resulting in stagnant wages, high prices, and lack of innovation. Doesn't argue directly for say, less stringent IP laws or breaking up some of the corporations mentioned, but I see that as a serious remedy for what he's proposing. 19 - The Third Revolution, by Elizabeth Economy. A political scientist at the Council on Foreign Relations looks at the changes in the Chinese government in the late 2010s. Looks both at the concentration of power in Xi Jinping himself, his stated illiberalism combined with stated interests in foreign trade, his more ambitious and expansive aims for Chinese foreign policy, and the challenges he faces in domestic policy. Readable enough for non-China specialists. 20 - The Lotus Sutra, by Anonymous. This is a hype book, if I may be brief. Has visible roots in oral recitation with the repetition of phrases or entire sentences. Several charming parables, such as the burning house and the toy cart, that emphasize the importance and moral benefits of Buddhist teaching while leaving it to others to elaborate on what that teaching is. 21 - Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James. A 'fantasy' novel, in the broadest sense of the word, loosely based on West African folklore and history. Like James' other work, it's steeped in violence and gore, and bounces between multiple unreliable perspectives. 22 - Between Two Fires, by Joshua Yaffa. Series of short biographies - often of private individuals but some more prominent - dealing with the question of moral compromise in a strongman regime. 23 - We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin. BOTM read. One of the foundational novels of dystopic science fiction, and rather obviously an influence on Brave New World. An interesting look on how a writer from the past viewed the future, with a focus on 'scientific management' that is not entirely gone today. 24 - The Dragon in the Land of Snows, by Tsering Shakya. History of Tibet from the 1940s to the 1990s. Shakya is rather obvious about his views on Tibet, but this doesn't tilt his scholarship completely. He knows there are some Tibetans who supported the CCP when they first invaded, and he does not have an idealized view of the country. I wish he could describe more about Tibetan society post-1949, but he is working from limited sources. 25 - American Pandemic, by Nancy K. Bristow. A social history of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Really less of a focus on institutional responses, but more of an understanding of emotional responses to the pandemic and how events were forgotten or misapplied. 26 - Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. Reread. The famous work of Stoic philosophy. Self-control; avoiding specific 'passions', detachment, etc., etc., etc. 27 - The Lies that Bind, by Kwame Anthony Appiah. A series of short essays/lectures on the malleability and fluidity of various forms of identity - race, gender, class - and how many 'contemporary' thoughts on these identities are stamped by older or outdated ideas from the era of more blatant scientific racism/sexism. Food for thought. 28 - Stalingrad, by Vasily Grossman. Sweeping novel preceding and heading up to the Battle of Stalingrad, the first in a two-part set. While Grossman is a skilled writer, this book was heavily censored, and the endnotes are full of examples of removed or altered material. The pervasive anti-Semitism of the late Stalin era also got the author blacklisted. This book was almost great. But I'll need to read the sequel, Life and Fate, for a more complete opinion. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 28/150 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are not written by men. - 8/28 - 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13, 19, 25 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 1/3 of them are written by writers of colour. - 7/28 - 2, 14, 17, 20(?), 21, 24, 27 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 10% are written by LGBT writers. - 2/28 - 17, 21 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900 - 6 (1907) 1910 - 1920 - 23 (1924) 1930 - 1940 - 1950 - 17 (1953), 28 [under the title 'For a Just Cause'] (152) 1960 - 4 (1967), 5 (1961), 9 (1968) 1970 - 3 (1973), 16 (1972) 1980 - 1990 - 2 (1990) 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles.
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Mar 2, 2020 00:11
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Thanks! In that case, as of the beginning of March:Gertrude Perkins posted:THE CHALLENGE: Gertrude Perkins posted:Good luck on your prizewinnners - any you'd recommend? I've already probably read a lot more than the average person because when I was back at uni doing my writing degree I very foolishly subscribed to the notion that ticking them off the list would improve me as both a writer and a person. Quite frankly they're misses just as often as they're hits, and the Booker committee in particular is as bad as the Academy when it comes to rewarding the wrong book. Nonetheless I'm still determined to slowly read all of them over the course of a lifetime. Anyway, I haven't read any so far this year, but some standouts from the past: Troubles, 1970 winner of the "lost" Booker Prize (retroactively awarded decades down the track because they changed the eligibility rules at the time and had to skip over a year - Historical novel set in a crumbling old British hotel (spot the metaphor!) on the coast of County Wexford during the Irish war of independence in 1919-21. Standout character is the stiff-upper-lip Tory owner who is gradually, slowly driven insane by the success of Sinn Feinn. This may not sound particularly compelling (and it's not a short book) but something about it really clicked with me; the straight man main character who has no reason to be there and yet stays out of inertia, the Gormenghast-like wreck of a vast hotel, and a writing style that just effortlessly carries you from page to page. The Killer Angels, 1975 Pulitzer winner - Historical fiction about the Battle of Gettysburg. Probably the most compelling war novel I've ever read. 10/10 and would recommend despite the fact that it verges uncomfortably toward Robert E. Lee hagiography sometimes. Lonesome Dove, 1986 Pulitzer winner - If you've only ever seen the miniseries, do yourself a favour and read the book. I think the quartet as a whole is genuinely one of the best pieces of 20th century American fiction. The Remains of the Day, 1989 Booker winner - These days Ishiguro seems more famous for Never Let Me Go, which is good, but I think ultimately this is the better book, about a butler who has basically wasted his life in thrall not just to another man, but to ideals that nobody cares about and which were never healthy in the first place. Tremendous use of an unreliable narrator who doesn't seem to realise that he's not just lying to his audience but lying to himself. Disgrace, 1999 Booker winner - A white South African university professor who is disgraced after an affair with a student and goes to live on his daughter's farm may not sound like your idea of a good time - it didn't to me - but this is a marvellously compelling short novel about many things, including, inevitably, racial violence in post-apartheid South Africa. I think this also remains my go-to example of why protagonists don't have to be "likeable" to be somebody you're still rooting for. True History of the Kelly Gang, 2001 Booker winner - An Australian fictionalisation of famous outlaw Ned Kelly which squarely takes Kelly's side and paints him not as a violent and selfish thief but as something more akin to an Irish republican revolutionary in an unjust colony ruled by British police, magistrates and landowners. A nice but undercooked sprinkling of magical realism, too, with creatures of Irish folklore having followed the convicts and immigrants to the new world. (I just wish he'd included more of this; the scene with the changeling sticks in my mind to this day.) The White Tiger, 2008 Booker winner - An Indian novel which is probably one of the best books I've ever read about the evils of capitalism and poverty, taken to a moral extreme. It helped that I read it shortly after having spent time in the third world for the first time in my life, and had to squarely confront the fact that my own comfortable and clean first world lifestyle is built on the back of unimaginable squalor. More timely than ever! The Orphan Master's Son, 2013 Pulitzer winner - absolutely brilliant novel set in North Korea. I went in expecting a dour, bleak parable about totalitarianism along the lines of 1984, but instead it's a very colourful, evocative, exciting and adventurous story. (The fact the protagonist is a spy with broader horizons than the average North Korean helps.) Starts out right off the bat with a page-turning fictionalisation of the operations North Korea used to run where they'd abduct random Japanese citizens off the beach by boat. The first half of the novel is probably stronger than the second, but the whole thing's great.
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Mar 2, 2020 00:55
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January/February update: 1. Interference by Sue Burke. Sequel to Semiosis, an interstellar colonization tale involving contact and accommodation with alien life forms. Very nice. +1 woman. 2. Penric and the Shaman by Lois McMaster Bujold. #2 in the series of fantasy novellas about a promising young temple sorcerer and his bound demon. Bujold good. +1 woman. 3. Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather. An itinerant order of Catholic nuns in a living starship, and the need to deal with fallout from past sins. + 1 woman. 4. Steel Frame by Andrew Skinner. Convicts piloting giant mecha to fight zombie robots in a region of weird physics! Personal redemption and pain! Good stuff. 5. Atomene spiller by Hans Christian Sandbeck. Mega-obscure Norwegian SF novel from 1945, set three hundred years into a post-scarcity Communist utopian future (after humans first almost wiped themselves out in a WW3 in the later part of the 20th century, and then rebuilt a stronger civilization from the ruins). But then the utopia begins to show cracks... the author obviously wrote this after the news had arrived about both the Nazi death camps and the atom bomb, and it was obviously meant as an exploration/explanation of the author's ideas about human nature and our strengths and weaknesses (unsurprisingly, the bad stuff involves fear and hatred and our capacity for turning our ingenuity to destruction; the good stuff being love and care for each other, and the potential for providing everyone with all they need). Chiefly interesting to me for the portrayals of the high-tech future (for instance, it's the earliest work I know of where everyone has their own personal phone in their pocket). 6. Stealing Worlds by Karl Schroeder. Nice, not what I expected, near-future cyberoptimistic information-economic revolution. BOOKLORD CHALLENGE: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 6/40 (on track). 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. - 3/6 = 50% (good) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. - 0/6 = 0% (need work) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. - none confirmed yet 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). - 1940s 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! - not yet 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. - have it ready but not read yet 8. Read something by an indigenous author. - not yet 10. Read something historical. - not yet 11. Read something about art/music. - not yet 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. - not yet 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. - not yet 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. - not yet 15. Read some poetry. - not yet 16. Read a play. -not yet 17. Read a short story collection. - not yet 18. Read something that's only available online. - not yet 19. Read a prize-winning book. - not yet 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. - not yet 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. - not yet 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited. - not yet
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Mar 2, 2020 11:13
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So for February, I tried to read all black authors (except for Luiselli who was a holdover started late January). It wound up being a great month overall, with lots of strong books. One notable weak spot, but that's what I get for reading YA, I guess. While I may revisit some sort of theme month later, for now I'm just going to read what catches the eye. 9. The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli - I'd read Story of My Teeth a couple years back, so naturally I was up for it when Luiselli's new book got all the buzz it got. This book ties together a failing family and their road trip to the southwest and the child immigrant crisis on the southern border. It's all about what we document and for whom. This was a great book. It has a real chance of being the best one I read this year, and it's only February. 10. Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson - A slender volume about growing up in Brooklyn in the 70s. It looks at a group of friends, their different families, and how each was struggling in the poor part of town. Everyone has a different strategy to cope, whether religion or education or respectability. It's a good read. 11. How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs - This is a collection of short stories largely focusing on Jamaican immigrants. It's about what you lose when you emigrate from Jamaica. Arthurs throughout rides a fine line, looking at benefits of living in America and Jamaica, cultural ties and differences and shows nuance in making it clear that neither is necessarily better. Each side has it's benefits and flaws and whichever way you choose, something is lost. A really good volume of short stories. 12. Oxherding Tale by Charles Johnson - Recommended in the lit thread, this is an escaped slave narrative. Also Buddhist philosophy. Due a pretty standard case of mistaken identity, Andrew is of mixed race, and able to pass. The first half of the novel is him dealing with life among slaves and eventually escaping. The second is him trying to hide as a white man with a made up past. Will he ever be free of his slave past? Will the Soulcatcher get him? This was really good, interesting and humorous throughout with more than a dash of Buddhism, though honestly the degree didn't quite hit me until the end. Would recommend. 13. A Blade So Black by LL McKinney - I read a recommendation for this somewhere. I need to remember where so I can disregard their recommendations. It was not good. Sure, some idea of Wonderland seeping through into the real world and a "Buffy" type being needed to hold things back could potentially be a good fun read. This isn't. 14. The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala - This details the lives of a generation of teens that grew up in the shadow of a cathedral being constructed in a poor neighborhood in Cuba. It's told in no particular order by a cast of characters ranging from gangsters and murderers to whores to poets to neighborhood gossips. There's a few ghosts as well. It's magical and somewhat grotesque, and shows poor Cubans and the roles of race, religion, education and art. 15. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - Morrison looks at what could make a young black girl want to change the color of her eyes. Famous and rightfully so, you probably ought to read it. Ben Nevis posted:1. Famous Men Who Never Lived by K Chess
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Mar 3, 2020 17:30
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So it turns out I really really don’t like reading during vacation. The semester starts here in March, so it’s back to work now. Except I don’t actually have to meet any classes thanks to COVID-19. Let’s see if I can read more in March. For February I read a grand total of one book! 5. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This was getting a lot of good reviews but ultimately fell flat for me. Lots of characters that seemed to pop in and out. Scenes where you expected some really heavy stuff just sort of petered out. I still have three other books going right now. Going back to the office and leaving my house again has encouraged me to read again, so hopefully I’ll be back on track this month. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 5/36 Personal challenge: 20% Korean authors. 0/5 Personal challenge: 20% nonfiction. 1/5 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men.1/5 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour.1/5 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers.0/5 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900s 1920s 1930s 1950s 1970s 1980s 1990s 6. Participate at least once in the TBB Book of the Month thread - read the book and post in the thread about that book! 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Mar 4, 2020 00:29
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Ben Nevis posted:15. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - Morrison looks at what could make a young black girl want to change the color of her eyes. Famous and rightfully so, you probably ought to read it. I've been eyeing this book for a while (ha!) and plan to read it this month. Now that the hilarious wordplay is out of the way, here's what I read in February: 6. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James - Baby’s first wildcard. Long, complex, and took a lot of attention to finish. But it grabbed me hard once I got the cast of characters sorted out. It was worth the effort for sure, but I'm hoping my next wildcard will be a little lighter. 7. Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due - A solid collection of engaging stories. A mix of magical realism, regular realism, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi, with (I think) the sci-fi being the weaker selections in the set. 8. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters - Recurring themes of small town folk having dark secrets and their town being less friendly than it appears. I imagine these poems were more shocking in 1915 when more people had the illusion that small town Americana was quaint, wholesome, and basically straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. 9. Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path by Ayya Khema - I'd say this book was a medium level of approachable since the writer assumes her audience has a basic understanding of Buddhism. At any rate, I appreciate the book’s practical suggestions for how to be more mindful and intentional with your thoughts and actions. Challenge Progress 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge -9/50. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are not written by men - 44%. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are written by writers of colour - 44%. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers - 33%. Personal. Of the books read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are nonfiction - 33%. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century - 4/10 6. Participate in TBB Book of the Month threads - 1/5 7. Ask for wildcards in this thread, then read them - 1/5. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 16. Read a play. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 22. Read something banned/censored/challenged. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Mar 4, 2020 07:00
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Name: Phalse Personal Challenge: 30 books. Booklord 2020? I will attempt 10 of the specific challenges for fun and a bit of diversity. Starting a bit late, but have been wanting to work through my book backlog and trying to deviate from the scifi/fantasy I typically read.
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Mar 4, 2020 22:36
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I traveled a lot in February and I bought an e-reader. going to blow through the 35 book target, we'll see where it finishes up! 8. Lot – Bryan Washington. a short story collection focusing on people surviving to live in Houston. a lot of the stories had real power. some were more moving and effecting than others, but overall it was a really strong collection. 9. Children of Dune – Frank Herbert. it's getting harder to get through these. 10. You Look Like a Thing and I Love You – Janelle Shane. very interesting, very accessible work on artificial intelligence and the humans who use it and use it to consistently gently caress up. 11. A Woman Like Her: The Story Behind the Honor Killing of a Social Media Star – Sanam Maher. things are consistently hosed up! really well-written look not just at the supremely unneeded killing of a woman because she was being racy on social media, but gender and cultural norms in Pakistan as a whole and how they are being changed daily. 12. The Tradition – Jericho Brown. I don't normally read poetry, but I think Jericho Brown did a really good job of funneling his emotion into all of his poems in this collection. covers a wide berth about what it means to be a black man in America, and it was really stirring and moving in his descriptions. 13. Sabrina & Corina – Kali Anfardo-Anstine. A short story collection about indigenous women in Colorado. I'm originally from Colorado, and while I can't speak to a lot of what these stories hit on, it felt true to life about life there for people who go through it every day. 14. We – Yevgeny Zamyatin. February BOTM. will definitely be reading Brave New World and 1984 to see how the ideas and themes carry on. 15. God Emperor of Dune – Frank Herbert. My favorite Dune since the original, I think. incredibly uneven and overly long at parts but has some interesting ideas sandwiched around a bunch more of "gently caress the heck?" ones 16. The Cactus League – Emily Nemens. baseball's coming back and I'm gonna read a lot of books about it before it starts. This recently came out. didn't vibe with it very heavily, the ending was really abrupt and some of the vignettes were much more interesting than the others, it felt very uneven. 17. The Skull of Alum Bheg – Kim A. Wagner. an interesting look at the 1850's Indian Uprising. read this on recommendation in the history book thread, and enjoyed reading it. learned a lot about the conflict and how it related to regular people of the time. 18. This is How You Lose the Time War – Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. a nice, pleasant little novella with time travel aspects.nothing that will really stand out forever in my mind, but it's nice. 19. Bottom of the 33rd – Dan Barry. another book on baseball, this one about the longest baseball game in history. it's incredibly easy to read, if disjointed at parts as it jumps from one character in the game to another. flew by quickly 20.The Resisters – Gish Jen. more baseball. didn't like it! has a lot of the trappings of the worst near-dystopian fiction, where everything has a funny name like GonadWrap or NutCase. the narrator was the least interesting perspective in a story that has some interesting parts but no real cohesion. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. – 35 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. – 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20 (40%) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. – 1, 8, 11, 12, 13, 18, 20 (35%) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. – 8, 12 (10%) 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900s – The Jungle 1920s - We 1960s – Dune 1970s – Children of Dune 1980s – God Emperor of Dune 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 16. Read a play. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles.
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Mar 6, 2020 15:54
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Before I get buried in monthly updates, could a guy possibly get a wildcard (edit) or two? Thanks!
clamcake fucked around with this message at 08:35 on Mar 21, 2020 |
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Mar 21, 2020 08:32
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clamcake posted:Before I get buried in monthly updates, could a guy possibly get a wildcard (edit) or two? Thanks! Try Laline Paull, The Bees!
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Mar 22, 2020 12:44
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Try Laline Paull, The Bees! This looks great! How could I have not heard of this book before? Thanks!
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Mar 22, 2020 18:56
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March update: only three more this month, because an unprecedented global pandemic has a habit of occupying your mind, plus I downloaded Warlock as an ebook and it turned out to be way bigger than I thought. 14. Lotus Blue by Cat Sparks. A far-future post-apocalyptic steampunk adventure novel in Outback Australia with trade caravans, dusty outposts, ancient cyber-soldiers, reawakened orbital weapons, etc. On paper this should have been right up my alley, but in execution it felt like Sparks was throwing too much at the canvas to see what stuck, and none of the (far too plentiful) characters ever managed to rouse my emotions. (Also Philip Reeve's tightly edited Mortal Engines series is one of my favourites of all time, and shares a lot of elements with this far more bloated singular novel, and it suffers in comparison.) Not a bad book but not a good one either; a politely applaudable interesting failure. 15. Warlock by Oakley Hall. A classic Western novel which I was inclined to read because in the past two weeks of self-isolation I've been playing a lot of Red Dead 2. The thing is, when it comes to Westerns, I've already read Lonesome Dove and nothing will ever measure up. Anyway, Warlock is based around a fictional town of the same name in 1880s Arizona (based on Tombstone, and apparently many of the characters are based on that town's ne'er-do-wells) and is about 500 pages long, perhaps 200 or 250 pages too long. It largely revolves around three men: Gannon, the former outlaw turned deputy; Blaisedell, the famous gunslinger hired as not-quite-legal marshall by the town to serve as lawman after the failure of successive deputies; and Morgan, the saloonkeeper and old friend of Blaisedell's who is a sort of black-and-white character on both sides of the law. The novel would have been better if it had a) turned more tightly on the relationship and tension between these three men, or b) made itself a huge, sprawling saga of the entire town of Warlock, going into more depth about the ancillary characters; sort of what I imagine the TV show Deadwood did. It tries to be both but dithers between them and fails as a result; for the second half of it I was mostly bored. I'm still interested in reading more Westerns; something I never realised until recently, because I'm not American, is that the American West - which is obviously mythologised now - was being mythologised before it was even over as an actual historical period. I can't think of another country that's done something like that. 16. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. A graphic novel which is probably not for everyone, and not really for me, but I definitely appreciated it for an objectively good work of art. It's a memoir about Bechdel's relationship with her father, her childhood, her coming to terms with her sexuality. (She found out her dad was closeted gay at the same time she came out, and he died a few months later). One thing I found really interesting was how, as a cartoonist/writer/storyteller, she's constantly looking for narrative tropes within her own life - this date is relevant, this is symbolic, could this have influenced that etc - but is also self-aware enough to realise this habit of hers is all probably futile in a hard, nihilistic world. Still, it's a much more optimistic and uplifting book than I would have expected from one dealing with the subject matter. Also it was clearly really cathartic for her and it won her a bunch of awards, so good for her. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 16/60 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 7/12 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 2/12 (Chinua Achebe and Ted Chiang) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 1/3 (Bechdel) 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 4/10 (50s, 60s, 80,s 90s)
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Mar 31, 2020 11:19
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Whoops, I forgot to do this last month. That's not a good look!quote:1 & 2 - My Brother's Husband, books 1 & 2, by Gengoroh Tagame I read ten books in February and March! 6 - The Grip Of Film, by Gordy LaSure, by Richard Ayoade. A fun and silly comedy "A-W of film", written in character as "Gordy LaSure", a brash, macho idiot. I've always liked Ayoade's sense of humour - the character voice is closest to his role as Dean Learner, with casual and absurd levels of bigotry, misogyny, insecurity and heavily Americanised attitudes to everything. The book is meant to be read in short stints, but I needed the pick-me-up so I powered through it in a few longer sittings. It's funny and occasionally quite poignant, and the extended sections where LeSure spins out a scene or a plot idea with increasingly troubling autobiographical detail are fun. I liked it! 7 - City Of Illusions, by Ursula LeGuin. I really like Le Guin's books. This SF tale of an amnesiac man travelling across the remains of America on a far-future Earth is laden with beautiful prose, philosophical and ethical musings, and some pleasantly troubling twists. I think at this point I'll end up reading every one of the Hainish books; they give me a pleasant feeling that other science fiction rarely matches. 8 - Mother Of Invention, edited by Rivqa Rafael & Tansy Rayner Roberts. A collection of short stories that I helped crowdfund. The majority of these works are by people of colour, and I don't think there's anything in here by a cis man? I could be wrong, though. The goal is to provide visions of invention, parenthood and artificial life through a non-patriarchal lens, so that makes sense. And for the most part, it really succeeds. Some stories are silly and sweet, some are deeply sad, and even the weaker entries have enough ideas going on to keep the pages turning. Particular favourites included "Sugar Ricochets To Other Forms" by Octavia Cade, "Junkyard Kraken" by D.K. Mok and particularly "An Errant Holy Spark" by Bogi Takács, the latter exploring gender, judaism and language. I'm really happy I helped make this book a thing, and have already lent it to a friend. 9 & 10 - Lady Killer, vol. 1 & 2, by Joëlle Jones & Jamie S. Rich. Very stylish ultraviolent romp. A mid-century American Housewife is secretly a government assassin; there's a lot of juxtaposition of cheerful suburban nuclear-family tropes and gruesome murder.. It's a simple premise and the project feels a little too short to explore all of its implications, but the writing here is fun and smart, if unsubtle. Put me in mind of similar style pastiches like Venture Bros or Archer, though with less misanthropic snarkiness. A quick, easy, enjoyable read. 11 - Dreams Of Amputation, by Gary J. Shipley. Ultra-grim, gore-soaked hellscape after a post-Ballardian societal collapse. Cyberpunk screen-addiction, rampant murder and sexual assault, animal and child abuse, etc etc. There are some pretty cool body modifications that (apart from the main protagonist) are largely forgotten after being introduced. The plot takes half the book to get going, after thoroughly desensitising the reader to the grotesqueries of the awful, awful world it's set in. It's a shame, because there are a handful of scenes and Burroughs-style skits that were actually impactful. I don't know how the author identifies, but this felt like a very hetero book, too, with the worst and most pathetic fates saved for the female characters. (There are two trans women featured, briefly: one is a serial killer's sidekick, and the other is a giant horse-woman with a giant penis who is murdered in a spree-killing after maybe three lines of dialogue.) It all felt rather shallow and try-hard-edgy, like if Charlie Brooker wrote snuff porn for a China Miéville fansite. I certainly got through it quickly, but every time I think about the book since finishing it I feel more disappointed. 12 - Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights, by Molly Smith & Juno Mac. A densely-researched and heavily-annotated overview of prostitution and sex work, mostly focusing on legislation and the lived experience of sex workers across the world. It's really good, really upsetting, and really passionate. 13 - Blur Witch, by Declan McCarthy. Great little comic about amateur ghost-hunting and friendship. McCarthy's style is fun and cartoonish but detailed enough to feel rich and vibrant even in black and white. I liked it a lot! 14 - Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. An epic novel spanning a hundred years of a Korean family and their descendants. Things start in occupied Korea, then follow life as immigrants in Japan, and then finally in the USA. There's prejudice, gambling, organised crime, interpersonal power, prejudice, and a lot of rampant sexism too, both overt and internalised in the characters' worldview. It definitely taught me about the day-to-day experience of Koreans under Japanese occupation, and then as immigrants in two different imperial powers. I don't think I enjoyed this book as fully as I wanted, but I still had a very good time with it. 15 - My Solo Exchange Diary, vol. 2, by Kabi Nagata. The continued autobiographical adventures of a severely lonely and depressed comic artist. Still powerful and sad and hopeful, this volume deals with forgiveness, coping mechanisms and hospitalisation. She also discusses candidly some of the fallout from turning her real life into a story for public consumption, which I found particularly interesting. A lot of recent stuff, and a lot of good stuff! Shame about Dreams of Amputation, I'd been really looking forward to that one. I think I'll try and get to more older books over the next couple of months, and fill out my 20th-century challenge a bit. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 15/52 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are not written by men. - 8 - 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 1/3 of them are written by writers of colour. - 6 - 1, 2, 6, 8, 14, 15 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/4 of them are written by LGBT writers. - 5 - 1, 2, 8, 13, 15 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1900 - 5 (1907) 1910 - 1920 - 4 (1920) 1930 - 1940 - 1950 - 1960 - 7 (1967) 1970 - 1980 - 1990 - 7. Ask someone in this thread for a wildcard, then read it. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 11. Read something about art/music. 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 18. Read something that's only available online. 19. Read a prize-winning book. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Mar 31, 2020 23:56
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Like many people, I've also had a bit more time on my hands this month. But also like many people, I've filled a lot of that time with other non-reading priorities and concerns. Still, I've chugged along with 5 more books in March: 10. Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living your Best Life by Ali Wong - It was enjoyable enough, and there's some solid food for thought in there. I just quickly got tired of the jokes. Not my taste in humor. 11. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by Benvenuto Cellini - March BotM. Cellini definitely shows his larger than life ego through the book, and so many of the actions he brags about are reprehensible to me as a modern reader. But then I look at the art that he talks about in his book, and think maaybe he's as great an artist as he is awful a human being? 12. The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh - Violence and dark humor are all over this play. I enjoyed reading it, but I’d be more interested to see how different performances interpret the script. It could easily lean too hard into the violence or into the absurd comedy. 13. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - Gut-punching exploration of how racism and abuse are internalized. I had a hard time reading it at times because of its content and its style, but it's certainly a worthwhile reading experience. 14. All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva - I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. I’d say the writing has a kind of soft spoken confidence to it, which was very refreshing after Morrison’s poetic writing and Cellini’s bombastic bragging. Challenge Progress 1. Set a goal for a number of books or another personal challenge -14/50. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are not written by men - currently 50%. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are written by writers of color - currently 50%. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers - currently 21%. Personal. Of the books read this year, make sure at least 33% of them are nonfiction - currently 36%. 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century - 5/10 6. Participate in TBB Book of the Month threads - 2/5 7. Ask for wildcards in this thread, then read them - 1/5. 8. Read something by an indigenous author. 9. Read an author's first book. 10. Read something historical. 11. Read something about art/music. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles. 21. Read a love story. 23. Read a book from a country you've never visited.
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Apr 1, 2020 00:15
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It's March. More time to reading, but not really. 29 - Orlando, by Virginia Woolf. One of my favorites. Reread. Love love love this one. 30 - China as a Polar Great Power, by Anne-Marie Brady. Study of Chinese language documents of PRC strategy and policy towards the arctic and antarctic regions, taking special care to note the differences between material for domestic consumption and policy debates versus material for foreign audiences. 31 - Testaments, by Margaret Atwood. A sequel that frankly could never hope to live up to the original, and I found two of the perspectives here to be, well, ordinary, compared to Offred's total passivity in The Handmaid's Tale, and there is only some explicit description of the total brutality visited on half the population, and I don't know where everything could have gone if this was a standalone book. Aunt Lydia returns from the original, and her more 'villainous' perspective is very well done, by comparison. That alone was worth reading it. 32 - Capital and Ideology, by Thomas Piketty. 1000+ page behemoth of economic history. Really can't be summarized in a few sentences, but Piketty tries to build off of Capital in the 21st century's expansive data sets, and he goes for an even longer view of "inequality" through human history. Not really Marx, where economic factors influence ideology, but more Gramsci, where ideological hegemony is what matters. Lots of ideas about "participative socialism" marked as a deliberate contrast to the Soviet Union, although my expectations for how this may or may not happen have been altered after the results of the 2018 midterms in the United States and the 2019 UK election. 33 - The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, by David Treuer. History of the indigenous peoples of North America, with a focus more on resilience and rebuilding - explicitly designed as a counterpart to narratives like "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee". 34 - The Shadow of the Torturer, by Gene Wolfe. First of the series. I'm intrigued. Wolfe's use of more obscure language and his description of unusual events is smartly done. As soon as I can find the Claw of the Conciliator I'm reading that. 35 - The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, by Milton Rokeach Nonfiction book around three individuals in a mental hospital near Ypsilanti Michigan who each believe themselves to be Jesus Christ. Deeply tragic. 36 - Maoism: A Global History, by Julia Lovell. Broad narrative history of Maoism in China, its supporters in and out of China, and its various offshoots. Edgar Snow's book Red Snow over China was so positive that Mao had it translated into various languages and distributed as part of his publicity efforts. Some of these ideological successors ranged from the comparatively successful or long-lasting (Nepalese Maoists, Indian Naxalites), to the partially adopted (liberationist/anti-colonialist movements, only some of which have retained Maoism) to a series of atrocities (The Khmer Rouge, the Sendero Luminoso, the Lambeth slavery case). 37 - Tell me How it Ends, by Valeria Luselli. Non-fiction based around the undocumented migrant children who make the journey alone from Central America to the United States. Anyway gently caress Trump and gently caress every shitfucking idiot who voted for him and hasn't come begging for forgiveness. 38 - The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, by Benvenuto Cellini. SA BOTM. One of the best surprises I've had in reading in a long time - Cellini has a stupendous ego and he's willing to fight almost anyone, and he will never admit any wrongdoing. He's also a masterly bronzeworker, and that alone might have given enough food for his ego. 39 - A Journal of the Plague Year, by Daniel Defoe. A novel, based on the author's own experiences as a child. A difficult read - I'm not referring to the lack of chapter breaks but the almost total and unending depiction of human suffering. 40 - Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis. Time travel sci-fi. The bits about life in Oxbridge (I've already forgotten which one) are a bit overlong, but the bits about life in medieval English in the mid-1400s are well done. Harrowing, even if I have no idea how accurate this portrayal of that society would be. 41 - The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gee, isn't this story about hysteria, a lack of agency, and a lack of life outside the home topical!!!! 42 - Occult Features of Anarchism, by Erica Lagalisse. Unusual book from a small publisher. Ties the roots of ideological anarchism to the occult, to conspiracy theory, and gendered thought. I'm not sure if I follow where her argument goes, but it gels with my experiences with certain activists and outsize personalities on the left. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 42/150 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are not written by men. - 16/41 - 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13, 19, 25, 29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 1/3 of them are written by writers of colour. - 10/42 - 2, 14, 17, 20(?), 21, 24, 27, 33, 37 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 10% are written by LGBT writers. - 4/42 - 17, 21, 29, 37(?) 5. Read a book from each decade of the 20th Century (1900s, 1910s etc). 1910 - 1930 - 1940 - 1980 - 12. Read something about food that isn't a cookbook. 13. Find the book you have kept on your shelf unread for longest. Read it. 14. Read a book you remember from your childhood. 15. Read some poetry. 16. Read a play. 17. Read a short story collection. 18. Read something that's only available online. 20a&b. Read two books with the same (or very similar) titles.
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Apr 1, 2020 17:40
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