Just finished Orlando by Virginia Woolf and I really enjoyed it. I read Mrs. Dalloway back in December and liked it well enough to try another book by her. Orlando is completely different from Mrs. Dalloway tho. No stream-of-consciousness to be found here, but her descriptions are everything. The way she writes is almost like poetry. I also love the way she handles the main character changing genders and the impact that that has upon how they view the world. I think the next book I want to read from her is A Room of One's Own and then I'll move onto The Waves and To The Lighthouse.
What are you reading? (January 2016)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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LordAmused
Member
Interesting. I might have to watch it, I just got done with the novel a few minutes ago. It was very good. Well paced, a good page-turner and not too long sitting at 284 pages for the French Translation. Erlendur, the main character, is an old grumpy man but I still like him.
He kind of reminds me of myself...Except for the age.
I am now moving on to the second book in his Erlendur Series.
Just finished this one. It really hit home, both emotionally and as a thriller. Indridason definitely knows how to write great mystery novels.
Don't know if this has been asked, but just curious what everyone's top 3 want to read books are for 2016? Oh and it can be new or old, just not something you've already read. For me it's:
1. I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
2. The Last Policeman series #2 and #3
3. Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh
Technically that's four books, but just go with it eh?
1. I Am a Cat by Natsume Sōseki
2. The Last Policeman series #2 and #3
3. Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh
Technically that's four books, but just go with it eh?
Offhand, I really want to read a few books that I own and haven't gotten around to yet. Off the top of my head, I can think of two in particular: Journey to the West and The Book of the Long Sun, though there are many that could be number three.
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. New Vorkosigan, focusing on Cordelia? Yes pls!
Can't think of much else I'm really raring to read at the moment. Usually if I want to read something I just go get it and read it, so it'd have to be stuff that hasn't come out yet. Nothing really on the docket that I'm super excited by. (Now if Susanna Clarke comes out with something or if there's a sequel announced for The Goblin Emperor that could change in a heartbeat.)
Can't think of much else I'm really raring to read at the moment. Usually if I want to read something I just go get it and read it, so it'd have to be stuff that hasn't come out yet. Nothing really on the docket that I'm super excited by. (Now if Susanna Clarke comes out with something or if there's a sequel announced for The Goblin Emperor that could change in a heartbeat.)
For me it's:
House of Leaves (which I am reading!)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Infinite Jest to round out my super long pretentious list
Cause I'm actually looking forward to the Expanse book of this year, but I know I'll read it. Those three are long struggles so I look at em as challenges, especially coupled with the fifty books thing.
Tawney Bomb
Member
I'm looking forward to reading:
The Stand by Stephen King
The Fireman by Joe Hill
Babylon's Ashes by James S. A. Corey
The Stand by Stephen King
The Fireman by Joe Hill
Babylon's Ashes by James S. A. Corey
1. That new China Mieville thing
2. The Wool sequels
3. The Winds of Win.... ahahhahahahahhahah!
RepairmanJack
Member
The Devil all the Time
Well, that part in California got pretty damn dark. This dude seems to have something against people in Ohio/West Virginia. There is no such thing as a redeeming quality in this world.
Well, that part in California got pretty damn dark. This dude seems to have something against people in Ohio/West Virginia. There is no such thing as a redeeming quality in this world.
sparky2112
Member
Took a short break from the Neopolitan novels and read this:
It was good, but read like a super long prologue. Which it kind of is, I guess? Do I want to read the next one (which I also have)? Yes. Yes, I do.
Also blew through:
Huge buzz for this a few years ago, which was largely deserved. Dad's a Microsoft exec, Mom is a former MacArthur genius grant winner for architecture before walking away from it, daughter is extremely bright, but they're completely dysfunctional, so what could go wrong with a planned trip to Antarctica? Throw in a private school where several parents are terrible human beings. Bring that all to a boil, and...that's the book. Amusing stuff.
It was good, but read like a super long prologue. Which it kind of is, I guess? Do I want to read the next one (which I also have)? Yes. Yes, I do.
Also blew through:
Huge buzz for this a few years ago, which was largely deserved. Dad's a Microsoft exec, Mom is a former MacArthur genius grant winner for architecture before walking away from it, daughter is extremely bright, but they're completely dysfunctional, so what could go wrong with a planned trip to Antarctica? Throw in a private school where several parents are terrible human beings. Bring that all to a boil, and...that's the book. Amusing stuff.
Just finished the Martian, Child Thief, The First 15 Lives of Harry August, and The Inverted World.
Loved the Martian. Child Thief was amazing. 1st15HA was great even if the ending was a little underwhelming.
Inverted World was going places which I thought would be far greater than what it led. Abruptly ended. Amazing build up though.
Wide range but I guess they are all quick page turners. Any more recommendations among the same lines?
I read mostly on my commute work and since I am usually up at 5am I need something to keep me awake. Thrillers and mysteries work really well but anything that might be a series would be good too.
Loved the Martian. Child Thief was amazing. 1st15HA was great even if the ending was a little underwhelming.
Inverted World was going places which I thought would be far greater than what it led. Abruptly ended. Amazing build up though.
Wide range but I guess they are all quick page turners. Any more recommendations among the same lines?
I read mostly on my commute work and since I am usually up at 5am I need something to keep me awake. Thrillers and mysteries work really well but anything that might be a series would be good too.
I am enjoying all the love I am now seeing for The Child Thief after I had recommended it a bunch.
I'll say this again as a recommendation, check out Red Winter by Dan Smith. It's basically a sequel/companion book to Child Thief.
Thanks! Have you read more by Claire North? I really enjoyed The first 15 Lives of Harry August and was wondering if I should dig into her other works.
Dandy Crocodile
Member
The first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, is $.99 on Amazon today.
That was the only book of hers I have read, and just thought it was ok, so haven't bothered to check anything else.
Maklershed
Member
Just saw this via berzeli in the Netflix thread that Netflix has ordered the Altered Carbon series. I love the Takeshi books. Hopefully the show does the books justice.
DukeLongfellow
Member
The Greatest Show on Earth by Dawkins. Say what you want about the man and his public conduct, the way he writes is a thing of beauty.
The Waves has been my favorite of the three (Mrs Dalloway, A Room of One's Own, and The Waves). It's as poetic as prose gets, too.
Easystride
Member
I can't think of 3 off the top of my head, but I'm extremely excited for Richard Russo's "Everybody's Fool.". I loved Nobody's Fool, so it will be cool to see some of the characters again.
Never read that one but Sputnik Sweetheart was my gateway drug into Murakami. I should pick up something of his again soon....such an absurd but wonderful reading experience.
Be sure to read the follow-up, Dance Dance Dance. It's just as good if not better, since he had matured as a writer.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Touch is pretty good. Haven't read any of her other stuff yet. She also writes under Kate Griffen and Catherine Webb. Or rather she is Catherine Webb and writes under the pseudonyms Griffen and North.
Anyway if you really enjoyed 15 Lives of Harry, I highly recommend Replay by Ken Grimwood. One of my favorite books ever and shares some of the same themes.
Atraveller
Banned
And inner dialogues that barely go anywhere.
Well, I'm finally nearing completion of Montaigne's Essays and Knausgaard's A Time for Everything. A Time for Everything is really quite interesting, though I'm finding this last section to be less engaging than the absolutely fascinating reimagined Pentateuchal stories of Cain and Abel, Noah, and Ezekiel, and it's really cool theological plot twist that I'm sure Christians would find very disagreeable but I found rather interesting not having a bone in the argument.
Also, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years is going well. I'm at the Counter-Reformation: Jesuits! Roman Inquisition! All that fun stuff.
Sputnik Sweetheart is a great place to start; for awhile it was probably my favorite. I had trouble for a few years deciding between that, Norwegian Wood, and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World; a few years later I added The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to that list. Of course, it's been something like eight or so years since I read those books so I'm not sure how I would respond to them today, and I've suspected for awhile that I read Kafka on the Shore in a less than engaged way and would like it much better if I read it again.
Also, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years is going well. I'm at the Counter-Reformation: Jesuits! Roman Inquisition! All that fun stuff.
Sputnik Sweetheart is a great place to start; for awhile it was probably my favorite. I had trouble for a few years deciding between that, Norwegian Wood, and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World; a few years later I added The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to that list. Of course, it's been something like eight or so years since I read those books so I'm not sure how I would respond to them today, and I've suspected for awhile that I read Kafka on the Shore in a less than engaged way and would like it much better if I read it again.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
I don't know, he participated on the new official Norwegian Bible translation in 2011.
Maklershed
Member
RepairmanJack
Member
Been a while since I checked out the Goodreads app, it's gotten a lot better. Going through recommendations and the book synopsis just dropping down is so helpful rather than going to the book's page and having to go back to the rec's.
I read it in high school per the recommendation of an English teacher who was something of a mentor during that time. It remains one of my favorite books of all time.
I own Wind-Up Bird, Norwegian Wood and Kafka, but all have only been partially read. I may pick up Norwegian Wood and burn through it because it seems the easiest read. I've also read his short story that came out a year or two ago which was less-than-engrossing but still pretty good overall.
DarkChronic
Member
Frustratingly having a lot of trouble with Dune.
I'm a little more than halfway through and I'm just...struggling with boredom. I like the characters (well, Paul, Thufir Hawat, and Gurney. And (1/3 to middle of book spoilers)
) but I feel like I'm not seeing enough of them.
The setting seems okay.Not really feeling the villain yet. His motivations still seem a bit unclear.
It's possible I'm not far enough to get a clearer picture.
I'm hoping I stick with it to the end but I feel like I'm dangerously close to just wikipedia'ing the ending.
I'm a little more than halfway through and I'm just...struggling with boredom. I like the characters (well, Paul, Thufir Hawat, and Gurney. And (1/3 to middle of book spoilers)
The Duke, but he didn't stick around long
The setting seems okay.Not really feeling the villain yet. His motivations still seem a bit unclear.
Why exactly did he take down the Duke? So he could control Arrakis, right? But I remember reading the attack cost so much that 50 years of spice selling still wouldn't recoup the costs. So what was the point?
I'm hoping I stick with it to the end but I feel like I'm dangerously close to just wikipedia'ing the ending.
I'm pretty sure it comes up within the first third of the book but the Harkonnens and Atreides have a big feud going on, that has lasted for 10000 years. Hence the Harkonnens trying to get revenge.
Of course, there's more to it, and it will be made clear.
This is a thing that certainly never bothered me.
How many inner dialogues you have that don't seemingly go anywhere? And in how many cases you do make a decision or something afterwards?
Relatively common for me, so i can related to Sanderson's liking of inner dialogues. And i curse him every time he notes in his annotations he had to make the scene shorter or have less of them. I find them interesting often.
No, I meant that I don't have a bone in it. It wasn't a commentary on him (though I didn't know that, and it is interesting!).
RepairmanJack
Member
The Devil All the Time
Jesus fuck! Every damn time I think it can't get more depressing, it goes and gets more damn depressing.
Jesus fuck! Every damn time I think it can't get more depressing, it goes and gets more damn depressing.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
Well, I meant that if all Christians found it very disagreeable, he would probably not be asked by the Church of Norway and the Norwegian Bible Society to translate parts of the old testament
RepairmanJack
Member
Finished: A Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
It's dark, depressing, and sometimes hard to take but I really enjoyed the hell out of it. I honestly never saw how it was all going to come together and the way it did really made an impact. My only downside is something I may have actually missed(concerning Bodekker)
Other than that I really enjoyed the quick read. I look forward to checking out his short stories and what he does next. Always seems crazy to me seeing writers who start so late in life.
Next up:
It's dark, depressing, and sometimes hard to take but I really enjoyed the hell out of it. I honestly never saw how it was all going to come together and the way it did really made an impact. My only downside is something I may have actually missed(concerning Bodekker)
There was so much talk of how he was dirty by the town but I feel there was never anything really showing that until the end. There's also the part at the end talking about Tater and I just wondered if there something I missed with that?
Other than that I really enjoyed the quick read. I look forward to checking out his short stories and what he does next. Always seems crazy to me seeing writers who start so late in life.
Next up:
LordAmused
Member
I bought one book and rented two others today.
The one I bought is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Was able to get my hands on a beautiful (translated in French (I'm from Quebec)) edition. Pretty hyped up because I love Pynchon novels and I've heard it was similar in some aspects, as an encyclopedia novel.
The first rented is Naked in Garden Hills by Henry Crews. Read the description on goodreads, thought it was appealing. I'm sorry I don't have an English translation of the summary.
I guess we will see. The second one is The Devil all the Time by Donald Ray Pollock, because of the post above.
I still don't know which one I am going to read first though.
Suggestions?
The one I bought is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Was able to get my hands on a beautiful (translated in French (I'm from Quebec)) edition. Pretty hyped up because I love Pynchon novels and I've heard it was similar in some aspects, as an encyclopedia novel.
The first rented is Naked in Garden Hills by Henry Crews. Read the description on goodreads, thought it was appealing. I'm sorry I don't have an English translation of the summary.
I guess we will see. The second one is The Devil all the Time by Donald Ray Pollock, because of the post above.
I still don't know which one I am going to read first though.
Suggestions?
Well, I meant that if all Christians found it very disagreeable, he would probably not be asked by the Church of Norway and the Norwegian Bible Society to translate parts of the old testament
Oh.
Yeah, I didn't get that. Have you read it, though? It's pretty radical! I think it's more likely that they're able to differentiate between his works of fiction and his ability to translate than that they endorsed what was in the book. I don't even know if it represents his views on the matter.
I mean, unless they actually do
believe that when Jesus Christ died, God also died and this trapped all the angels on Earth and prevented them from returning to Heaven and this explains their slow degeneration on angels into, er, seagulls. It's actually way better written / explained than that; you should read the whole thing.
Edit: Wait, yes, you have. Well, consider those spoilers to be for other people.
macfoshizzle
Member
Love love love this! This is one of those books where you want it to never end.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
Oh.
Yeah, I didn't get that. Have you read it, though? It's pretty radical! I think it's more likely that they're able to differentiate between his works of fiction and his ability to translate than that they endorsed what was in the book. I don't even know if it represents his views on the matter.
I mean, unless they actually doBut anyway, I doubt the Norwegian Church believes that.believe that when Jesus Christ died, God also died and this trapped all the angels on Earth and prevented them from returning to Heaven and this explains their slow degeneration on angels into, er, seagulls. It's actually way better written / explained than that; you should read the whole thing.
Edit: Wait, yes, you have. Well, consider those spoilers to be for other people.
Haha, yeah, many years ago (I think it was published over ten years ago here), and no: I don't think they would exactly approve of Knausgård's Angelology
Maybe they liked his vivid re-imagination of the Pentateuch though. It's extremely fascinating how he writes out lengthy and detailed whole chapters on stories which are only a few lines long in their original version (like the story of Cain and Abel).I'm glad i read Hunters and Sandworms of Dune again. Not because they're anyway good, but because they're so bad they're amusing. Prose, characters, plot, pacing... everything.
Anyway, now i need something better. I'm making an order for Thing Explainer and Mistborn: Bands of Mourning but i figure i might as well order a couple of books more while at it. But what?
In mood for some fantasy, i think.
I know many recommend Gene Wolfe and... was it Book of the New Sun or what?
And what else? I'd prefer something that starts a series or a at least a trilogy rather than a stand-alone book.
Anyway, now i need something better. I'm making an order for Thing Explainer and Mistborn: Bands of Mourning but i figure i might as well order a couple of books more while at it. But what?
In mood for some fantasy, i think.
I know many recommend Gene Wolfe and... was it Book of the New Sun or what?
And what else? I'd prefer something that starts a series or a at least a trilogy rather than a stand-alone book.
Funyarinpa
Member
Holy fucking shit, Battle Royale Remastered has some shitty prose. Cheesy-ass inner monologues, superfluous sentences, idiotic errors are everywhere. The plot more than makes up for it though. Still my favorite novel, but I'd like to get my hands on an original TL to compare.
Next up:
[/QUOTE]
Do you listen to the podcast. I ever had and started reading this a few days ago. Made it about 40 pages in and have stopped, not sure if I will continue up reading. E erythromycin g seems to be weird/crazy for not apparent reason other than to be weird. I a curious if I don't like it simply because I have no reference for things in the book. The podcast sounds need and I have downloaded the first few episodes to listen too.
Do you listen to the podcast. I ever had and started reading this a few days ago. Made it about 40 pages in and have stopped, not sure if I will continue up reading. E erythromycin g seems to be weird/crazy for not apparent reason other than to be weird. I a curious if I don't like it simply because I have no reference for things in the book. The podcast sounds need and I have downloaded the first few episodes to listen too.
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