What Are You Reading? vX.x

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Nearly a year later and I finally finished the Color of Magic. The series has 41 books in it. So at this pace I will have finished the series around the time the Lions win their next playoff game.

I still haven't made it through The Wheel of Time series, so I feel you here. Middle of Book 12(?) right now where Sanderson takes over.

[cuervo72]

I am reading The Devil in Velvet by John Dickson Carr, Medieval and Early Modern Times: The Age of Justinian to the Eighteenth Century ('60s textbook I found at Goodwill), and Fourteen Great Detective Stories, a compilation from the late '40s. A bit halfway through each, more or less. (There are also some long-term or stalled reads on my list which I may or may not eventually return to.)

Last completed book was Drew Magary's The Night the Lights Went Out. Finally picked it up at the library. Need to get started on Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead (Tokarczuk), also from the library and due in a week. (Suppose I may have to renew that.)

[sabotai]

I was pretty underwhelmed by The Color of Magic. I did recently hear Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells say on one of their recent podcasts to not start with it. I still liked it well enough that I plan to read more.

I've been reading mostly non-fiction recently.

1491 - Charles C. Mann - About what life was like in the Americas right before Columbus (~25% through it)

Pacific Crucible - Ian W. Toll - Book 1 of a 3 book series on the Pacific War. Book 1 covers 1941-1942. (~40% through it)

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy - Karen Abbott - The story of four women (2 union, 2 confederate) during the civil war who worked as spies for their side. (~40% through it)

Recently Finished:

Why Nations Fail - Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson - An examination of economic success or failure of states, arguing that above all other factors, "inclusive" economic and political systems/institutions lead to prosperity while "excusive" institutions lead to poverty.

[Solecismic]

Looking over the last few months. I tend to alternate between a run of older literature and one of modern literature.

Older:

Anthony Trollope: The Way We Live Now, moving on into the Barsetshire series. Trollope holds up well - great sense of satire, skewers everyone. Another writer from that time period who holds up is Wilkie Collins, who is a little more hopeful, but a great advocate of standing up to injustice.

Laura Z. Hobson: Gentlemen's Agreement. The movie won plenty of awards. It's a very close adaptation of Hobson's novel. The levels of internal conflict, something the movie couldn't completely relate, make this a great read. I went on to read First Papers, which is somewhat autobiographical about Hobson's childhood. Long, but very solid and a lot less preachy than you'd expect.

David Guterson: Snow Falling on Cedars. A very, very slow-placed novel, but if you can get past that, a novel that explicitly addresses treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, but is far more ranging.

Arthur Golden: Memoirs of a Geisha. I didn't really like it. Kudos for a long look at a culture we'd never otherwise understand, but it could have been a lot deeper.

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None. Renamed a couple of times for obvious reasons. I don't get the Christie love at all. Every time I try, I end up disappointed. This one, at least, doesn't have Poirot, who is a poor imitation of Sherlock Holmes. Same ludicrous plotting, though. "You just don't understand the classic detective novel." Yeah, classic this, buddy. Go read Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone and tell me about classics. That one I'll read again some day.

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose. I almost never give up on a novel. This one had me so painfully bored I only made it 10% through. For those who don't mind, this seems to end up on a lot of "best novel ever" lists.

Newer:

Kate Quinn: The Huntress and The Rose Code. Quinn has moved on from Roman times and Henry VIII times to WWII. I haven't read any of the older stuff, but The Rose Code (about Bletchley Park/cracking the Engima) and The Huntress (bringing Nazi war criminals to justice) were fantastic reads. Quinn's formula is telling the stories about exceptional women during the most difficult of times. Great writer, somewhat repetitive, but the formula works.

Jonathan Franzen: Crossroads. I'd read anything Franzen writes the minute it becomes available. This is the first of what promises to be a series about a family connected to the clergy, but also post-Vietnam sentiment. Not his best novel, but still among the best of what's out there today.

Cloud Cuckoo Land: Anthony Doerr. A huge disappointment after the incredible All the Light We Cannot See. But worth reading. Very intricately crafted plot across multiple timelines, moving in different directions and let's not forget the mandonkeycrowowleaglething.

Richard Russo: Straight Man. I've read a lot of Russo's work. Fun, light, imperfect heroes in a world no one can take seriously. This one pokes academia quite effectively. It's about an English professor written about the time my dad (who was an English professor for 40 years) died, so it had more meaning for me.

Blake Crouch: Upgrade. I appreciate that Crouch tries to write somewhat serious non-scientific science fiction. But it's a hard genre if you want to go deeper than Asimov or Heinlein. Which Crouch tries, and I think fails. I like turning the pages on his novels, but when I'm done, I'm frustrated.

Fredrik Backman: Anxious People. Backman (translated) has this style that pokes fun at the unreliable narrator, but he's on your side. Nothing like it out there today. If you've read the Beartown books (a third is coming out in English next month), it's like that, but more urban. One of my favorite modern authors.

Peng Shepherd: The Cartographers. Currently in the middle of this one - seems to be a standard fantasy fiction, set in the world of map-making. I'm not really enjoying it. Coming right off of Quinn, Shepherd's writing seems awkward - it's sometimes difficult to see what her narrators are seeing.

[cuervo72]

I read Trollope's The Warden after picking up a copy of Barchester Towers from my local used bookstore's dollar shelf. Enjoyed it, but have gotten sidetracked and haven't actually gotten back to the series.

The Woman in White was one of the early books from my reintroduction to reading. Also enjoyable, but long. Have a copy of The Moonstone somewhere. But I have bought a lot of used books during the pandemic, so we'll see when I get to it (same goes for Geisha).

[21C]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

Fredrik Backman: Anxious People. Backman (translated) has this style that pokes fun at the unreliable narrator, but he's on your side. Nothing like it out there today. If you've read the Beartown books (a third is coming out in English next month), it's like that, but more urban. One of my favorite modern authors.

+1 for Fredrik Backman. The Beartown series and A Man Called Ove have been some of my favorite reads.

[Solecismic]

For a new take on the age-old impossibility of time travel problem, Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility. I really enjoyed this one, and it's relatively short if length is an issue.

I'm hoping to get Backman's The Winners as soon as it's out in a couple of weeks. Got a good place in the library queue, but only so many available state-wide. I tried to get a review copy on Netgalley a couple of months ago, but I haven't done enough reviews yet to attract their attention for the big releases.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

11/22/63, Stephen King.

Fits the pattern of a lot of King novels - great build-up and a 'what just happened?' ending. In this case, having the ending be so abrupt kind of made sense in the context of what was going on, unlike some of his other works where he gets about 600 pages in and says "and they all lived happily ever after...or not."

I'm actually surprised, between this and Under the Dome. I thought he was in semi-retirement, but he keeps cranking out these fairly hefty books.

Just saw this book landing on a "banned book" list and... I'm at a loss. It has time travel, some gambling, and... idano... a bit of violence? What am I missing?

Virginia’s Madison County School Board approved banning 21 books from its high school library.https://t.co/vPoPFonLHY pic.twitter.com/afiQSosSli

— Mason Adams (@MasonAtoms) January 14, 2023

Nary a transsexual or critical rale theorist insight, that I can recall...

[GrantDawg]

Well, it is about trying to PREVENT the assassination of a Democratic President. They don't want kids to get the idea that is a good thing.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[cuervo72]

Man, do they hate Toni Morrison.

Just finished Becoming (M. Obama - younger child's coworker offered it up, figured what the heck), then The Ides of March (Wilder), then A Bell for Adano (Hersey). Figured I'd stay in Italy with Corelli's Mandolin (Bernieres).

Also (partly for trivia purposes), I am thinking of tackling the Narnia series. I assume I should start with Lion/Witch/Wardrobe (i.e. go chronological by release)?

[ntndeacon]

I'm reading Shakespeare for Squirrels, by Christopher Moore. I love his stuff. And Just finished Spitfire by M.L. Huie... A good spy story by someone I went to school with. There' a Sequel called Nightshade that's on my reading list.

[cuervo72]

I read Moore's Lamb; I liked it overall but man, some of the gags seemed pretty sophomoric/crude/dated. (Granted, it is 20 years old now and "different time" and all that.)

[bronconick]

Thought the first part of the Handmaid's Tale would be required reading.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Nearly a year later and I finally finished the Color of Magic. The series has 41 books in it. So at this pace I will have finished the series around the time the Lions win their next playoff game.

I only needed 5 months to read the sequel. I'm getting better at this reading thing. Now onto the next one!

[NobodyHere]

I don't know what this "book" is, but given the author I want it.

'Calvin and Hobbes' creator Bill Watterson making a comeback, but not for a kids comic strip

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I only needed 5 months to read the sequel. I'm getting better at this reading thing. Now onto the next one!

I might tackle part of Discworld; I was a little leery given the number of books but I guess there is a pretty good reading order for the different story lines. Thinking Witches, right now.

Currently reading The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. It's short. Finished On Beauty the other day, fun homage to Howard's End. How to Be an Antiracist probably up next, Nervous Conditions after that.

[Edward64]

Struggling to finish book #4 Rhythm of War.

I finished the 4 book Alloy Series earlier this year. I had read the first 2 books in the Stormlight Archive years ago and just finished #3 Oathbringer after the Alloy books.

But book #4 is really dragging for me.

Somewhat concerning as Sanderson was always one of those comfort reads and he's the most consistent in churning out books. Maybe my tastes are changing and have to find someone else while waiting on Doors of Stone.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Currently reading The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. It's short. Finished On Beauty the other day, fun homage to Howard's End. How to Be an Antiracist probably up next, Nervous Conditions after that.

4*, 5*, 5* were my Goodreads ratings for those. Insightful, and provided a bit of a comparison between racism in Zimbabwe and here (hint: not terribly different).

After that:
To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: An Informal Autobiography (Hansberry)
A very non-traditional format (it was presented on-stage and with audio/video), but tremendous. 5*

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Smith)
Considered a modern classic; 4* here. Set in the 1910s but still applies.

The Guns of August (Tuchman)
Atlas of World War 2 (Natkiel)
First had a lot of words, second a lot of pictures. Both served to further my knowledge on two big wars a bit. (4*, NR)

Titus Groan (Peake)
Pseudo-medieval fantasy which I rated at 3*; story a bit weird but the characters were pretty memorable. Would go to 3.5 if GR could do that. The first of a three-part series, will get to Part II sometime.

House Made of Dawn (Momaday)
Pulitzer-winner. A bit trippy in parts. May have been one of the eariler novels to provide a Native American perspective, but I feel like I enjoyed Ceremony (Silko) and The Plague of Doves (Erdrich) more. 3*.

The Friend: A Novel (Nunez)
A book about death (suicide) and writing (and pets, I guess). Short, but concise can be good. 5*. Referenced multiple books/authors sitting on my shelf which I will queue up: O'Connor (Wise Blood), Coetzee (Disgrace, which Nunez specifically mentioned), Alexievich (Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets).

[cuervo72]

I had to slip Julian Barnes's The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters before getting to Alexievich. Wise Blood and Disgrace were just so damned bleak, needed a palate cleanser.

[Thomkal]

A heads up to fans of fantasy/sci-fi writer Will Wight. Today only (its an anniversary of some sort), on Amazon/Kindle you can get most/all of his ebooks for free. His now 12 or 13 book Cradle series are all free except latest, and has long been praised by litrpg readers. I've been trying to get through Book 1 for a while now, and its a bit slow in getting my interest perked, but you can't beat the price if you are a fan of his

[Edward64]

Patrick Rothfuss new book confirmed out in Nov 2023.


... but no, it's not #3.

Sorry! Something went wrong!

[cuervo72]

Because Critch mentioned it, I figured I'd bump this thread.

I never did get around to reading Alexievich. Read a good deal after that, won't detail all that here; if anyone cares enough they can follow me on Goodreads. I've toned down my reading goal for 2024 so I can get some longer books in.

April and May have been:

Mansfield Park (Austen) - 4 stars. Perfectly enjoyable, essentially Austen's take on the Cinderella story. I'd never read any Austen before and figure I was overdue. I'll get to the other titles sometime, I hear this isn't necessarily her best.

Lonesome Dove (McMurtry) - 5 stars. Long, but kept me engaged. I've not seen the miniseries. I read some spoilers on the next book in the series and...well, it was McMurtry's creation, he could do what he wanted. I don't know if I'll be reading it though.

The Day of the Locust (West) - 4 stars. Odd little book, but a good quick read.

Napoleon's Russian Campaign (Segur) - 3 stars. Good from a historical perspective of the path to Moscow and back by someone who was with Nappy, but despite the campaign being a complete disaster it somehow felt like the Russians never did anything right (basically just cossacks riding around in the woods occasionally yelling), the French were always valiant. BUT SOMEHOW hundreds of thousands of troops went *poof*. Yeah yeah, the weather. Also, writer was perhaps a bit antisemetic.

Currently reading:

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (West) - I swear I will finish it sometime in 2024. 870 pages down, 320 or so to go.

Erasmus of Rotterdam (Zweig) - Short autobiography of the humanist.

----

I've checked my shelves, and it looks like I have both Selected Stories and Dear Life from Munro. The latter is half the size of the former, so I will probably start with that.

[thesloppy]

I just recently finished a 17-book series by Louis L'amour, following a single family's line from 1600s Europe to late-1800s wild west. It was pulpy and simple, just what I wanted.

It also lead me to 'The Floating Outfit' by J.T. Edson....a 66 book series! Haven't decided if I'm going to start that or not.

[Critch]

Since I was mentioned in the post that bumped this thread, I figured I'd reply.

I've been trying to wean myself off brainless games on my iPad so I've been doing a lot of reading recently.

Finished recently:
Agent Running in the Field by John Le Carre - One of his more recent books, published 2019. I got it in hardback for $4.99 from Ollies Bargain Outlet, cant argue with that. I generally love John Le Carre books, one of my favorites, but I didnt like the ending of this one. 3 stars.

The Only Story by Julian Barnes - A young guy having an affair with his older female tennis partner. Jeez it's bleak. $3 from a second hand store. 4 stars (also recent Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending - 5 stars, England England - 1 star - didnt finish it, it blew.)

"Lionel Asbo" and "The Pregnant Widow". Both Martin Amis. Both 3.5 star (this is out of 5, isnt it?). Both picked up from the same second hand store as the book above. The Pregnant Widow was better so maybe Lionel Asbo was a 3.0. Lionel Asbo was a bit too much of a posh knob (Amis) writing about what he imagined working class British housing blocks to be like. Make it 2.5.

Currently on the go:
Unruly:The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell (the English comedian, not the bloke that wrote Cloud Atlas with the same name). Enjoyable so far, but I havent even reached 1066 yet so lots to go. Maybe a bit too heavy on the humorous comments and not enough on the history for me. Full price on Kindle.

A History of the Island by Eugene Vodolazkin. A Russian author's critique of Western History apparently. The history of a fictional European country with input from the country's monarchs who are 400 years old so have lived through most of it. Slow going. Full price on Kindle.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami -I got about 10 pages into his 1Q84 before never going back, lets see if I can get further on this one. Another second hand store pickup.

And I'll start one of my unread Alice Munro books too. She wrote dead good for a chick.

[Critch]

A bit behind the times since it was released in 2005, but Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was really good.

I read it last week, risked sunburn by reading the second half on my deck on Saturday afternoon. That's how good it is. There's a movie, I'm going to watch it too.