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It's been a busy month. I've been working a lot of over-time and I'm in the middle of moving to a new apartment, so my reading schedule has been hectic. I managed to finish some short works, but I'm bouncing across six other books that will go to March's number. We Should All Be Feminist by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie An essay on common sense feminism. Doesn't need much introduction, just read it. I wish more people would, it does well to disrupt idiotic arguments against feminism while delivering a clear and positive message to the intent and definition of feminism. In America's current climate, I'd say a book about feminism counts as Political. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros This has been on my bookshelf for quite a while. It's a school-taught book for middle-schoolers or high-schoolers, but was not part of any curriculum I took. It's okay. It's a collection of vignettes, short scenes in the life of a 12-year-old Hispanic girl growing up in Chicago ghettos. The themes cover everything from racism to immigration to sexuality to death, etc. It was another fast read for me, which was perfect, but I'm too old for any emotional resonance in the story. Could have done more with the playful poetics. Throwing this one under "Banned", since it's been banned and unbanned by school boards for its depictions of sexuality and sexual assault/rape. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen A supposed classic of supernatural terror that is too muddled to deliver any real message, other than women can be scary and ruin men's lives because they want to gently caress invisible goat monsters (or something). Maybe I missed the charm, but it just didn't work for me. It's a horror story, I guess, so this one goes under "Fear". 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 5/42 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 2/9 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/9 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Feb 27, 2017 13:59
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real busy month, not as much reading done as in February. 1) Read some books: 6/?? 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. 1. Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon 2. The Fall of the Stone City, Ismail Kadare 3. The Royal Game, Stefan Zweig 4. The Sound and The Fury, William Faulkner 5. The Class, Hermann Ungar 6. The Fox Was Ever the Hunter The Class was really good. its about Josef Blau, a paranoid school teacher in a Czech village. he himself is from a poor background, but teaches rich kids at a private high school, and is constantly feeling insecure and lesser than his pupils because of it. he develops a need for absolute control, and eventually this blend of compulsion and paranoia seeps into his personal life as well. The Fox is about the end of the Ceausescu regime. It starts off rather lighthearted with detailed and almost fairytale like descriptions of every minutiae, but eventually drags you in to the reality of the totalitarian regime. ulvir fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Feb 27, 2017 |
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Feb 27, 2017 17:14
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February! 10. We Should All Be Feminists- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A nice, simple overview of feminism and why it's necessary. If you've ever read anything about feminism before it's probably too simple, but it's a great primer to give to people who think feminists hate men or think "egalitarian" is a good term. 11. Hydriotaphia & the Garden of Cyprus- Thomas Browne. My wildcard! I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting when I first got. The part where Browne points out that you're going to be dead an infinitely longer time than you're going to be alive has really stuck with me. 12. The Venus Fixers- Ilaria Dagnini Brey. A book about the Monuments Men in Italy during WWII. Suffers from my common complaint about Monuments Men books, in that it doesn't have enough pictures of the art it's talking about. 13. Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World- Aja Raden. A sort of pop history/sociology look at jewelry and how humans decide what is valuable. Super interesting when talking about gemstones themselves (like the De Beers monopoly on diamonds and their perceived worth vs their actual rarity), but some of the historical claims seem to overstate the role of jewelry (I sincerely doubt that England's sea empire was entirely the result of Queen Elizabeth being jealous of one pearl necklace). 14. The Hanging Tree- Ben Aaronovitch. I love the Rivers of London series with all my heart and I greatly enjoyed this even though it was probably the worst series entry so far. The writing is fun and humorous as always, but the plot goes literally nowhere and at the end the characters are all in exactly the same places they were in the beginning.
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Feb 27, 2017 17:56
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:THE ROAD SO FAR: 20: The Translators - Gord Rollo One of my favorite books, simply because there is NO WAY to describe it without somehow destroying the fun of the plot. Basically, it's batshit crazy and somehow works Mayan pyramids in with Nessie and a guy who can translate any language he hears. 21: The History Major - Michael Phillip Cash Not fantastic, just weird. Girl wakes up in a college with a roommate she doesn't remember and classes she doesn't recall signing up for, and blah blah it's just a let down. 22: Super City Cops : Secret Identities - Keith R. Decandido Good read. I'm a sucker for police procedural novels in weird places though. 23: Hungry ghosts - Stephen Blackmoore Awesome. Just, awesome. Love the sharpie magic, and even though I know jack poo poo about aztec lore, the book has some crazy poo poo happen while explaining it all without making it feel like an infodump. 24: Idle Ingredients - Matt Wallace I love this series, even though book 1 is why I can't eat chicken mcnuggets anymore. 25: Miniatures - John Scalzi Sucked. Just, wasn't that great. 26: The Galactic Peace Commitee Pretty fun read. Basically, what happens when the elders of the universe decide to bust a gently caress it and "promote" humanity into being in charge of the galactic UN. 27: Wizard Home Security - Victor Gishle Decent short story but I'm a bigger fan of some of his other works. 27.5: Heroes Reborn - Can't recall the author. Horrible book. Got it from some recommendation somewhere, and it just sucked. Made it 81% of the way through before deciding to just delete it after the lead guy who we are supposed to somehow care about ends up loving a hobgoblin. Only including it because it was so goddamn long and a trudge to get that far. 28: Empire's End - Chuck Wendig Sucked. Turns out the whole trilogy was the origin story of the fat dude from Heroes who shows up in TFA. 29: Shapeless - Glenn Bullion Good story, not connected to his Damned series, but was a little weird. Good read though. About a guy who's a shapeshifter. 30: Near Earth Object 2017AP - John Paul Cater Bad book. It's like a badly fanfic of astronomers. The only thing missing is the giant breasted hot chick who totally digs science guys. 31: Splits - Chuck Grossart Decent book about the end of the world. Not zombies or anything like that. Interesting premise though. Stupid_Sexy_Flander fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 28, 2017 06:17
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3/24 female authors 3/12 non-fiction Preincarnate was confusing, over-complicated, poorly executed and full of references to things I'm not familiar with. I had a hard time just working out what was going on and who the people involved were. I'm still not sure who the author character was or why he was involved at all, and the first-person sections seem utterly superfluous. I can imagine a lot of it being funny on TV, where you can see it happening, but I couldn't see it happening and so it wasn't funny. Third Girl is an odd mystery, because for most of it you're not even sure what the mystery is. Poirot spends most of the book just trying to figure out what he's even supposed to be investigating. It's an interesting concept, and it does keep you guessing, but ultimately the payoff is not very good and there's also a really weird tacked on romance right at the end where two characters who've known each other less than two weeks decide to get married, and I cannot understand why that's even there. It doesn't tie up any loose ends or resolve anything, it's just weird. Men Explain Things to Me is a really good essay, and if the whole book had been like that then I'd have liked it much better. Unfortunately it sort of loses steam as it goes, and the one about Virginia Woolf just utterly bored me. Full reviews on Goodreads.
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Feb 28, 2017 08:13
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Enfys posted:1. Shift - Hugh Howey 6. The Last Kingdom - Bernard Cornwell This is the first in his Vikings series set in mid to late 800 AD around the time of the Viking invasion of England and the reign of Alfred the Great. Cornwell writes wonderful historical fiction, and this is no exception. I particularly enjoyed how he presented good and bad sides to the Danes and to the English rather than just having straight up 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. 7. Big Questions of Philosophy - David K. Johnson Starts off with what is philosophy and why is it important and relevant in today's world, then moves onto logic and reason - how can we evaluate commonly held beliefs which we might think are based on reason but often turn out to be irrational (and should we even question/explore our fundamental beliefs)? It covers a lot of the great philosophers/philosophical theories and trends throughout history to explore various moral, religious, political and personal beliefs. It looks at questions like what is knowledge and truth? Do we have freedom/free will? Does God and the soul exist? What is justice, and what would a just society look like? What is the meaning of life? It often made me uncomfortable and left me longing for a bit of certainty and assurance in some regards, but I'm very glad to have grappled with these topics. 8. Revenge - Yoko Ogawa This was my wildcard, and I absolutely loved it, so thanks Corrode! What I first thought was just a collection of odd stories slowly transformed into a beautiful and haunting story made of interconnected parts. The first stories seemed a little bizarre and eerie, but as each new story added new details and added depth to this strange world, I became entranced. All of the characters inhabit a slightly surreal, dangerous, yet beautiful world full of emotion and obsession. I wish I understood the final story better. This is one that deserves a reread. 9. The Pale Horseman - Bernard Cornwell This is the second in his Viking/Saxon series. I really enjoyed the first book, but this one has unlikable characters and tripped over itself to describe all the gratuitous rape, betrayal, and violence it could possibly stuff into its pages. At least once per chapter, if not multiple times per chapter, women were being raped or men were discussing rape. The main character was likeable in the first book, as were many other characters, but in this book everyone is horrible. I know that life in the 800s was pretty bleak and brutal and that war involved lots of rape, pillaging, and general horribleness, but somehow the first book managed to mention these things without dwelling on them. This book gets right down into the muck and wallows in it. Haven't really felt like continuing the series, which is surprising as I tend to like Cornwell's historical fiction. 10. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie This is a novel from the perspective of 4 characters during the 60s when the British pulled out of Nigeria and explores the resulting civil war. British involvement in Nigeria led to a huge amount of racial tension between Muslim, Christian, and minority groups. The massacres a few years after independence led to part of the country trying to separate and form its own nation. The civil war caused mass starvation and was a humanitarian crisis of enormous scope. The political and bureaucratic interference by Western countries led to the formation of Doctors without Borders. It's a personal and moving look at the realities of war, starvation, genocide and cultural misunderstandings. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 10/50 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women . 3/10 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/10 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Feb 28, 2017 12:38
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I'm glad you liked Revenge! I love that book. I also enjoyed the Saxon Stories stuff, it's light but fun historical fiction, and Half of a Yellow Sun is a great book and every time I see Adichie's name I wonder why I haven't read more of her work. Good month.
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Feb 28, 2017 13:59
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Here's what I read in February: 5. Golden Delicious - Christopher Boucher (3/5) 6. The Tsar of Love and Techno - Anthony Marra (4/5) 7. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E.L. Konigsburg (5/5) 8. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers (3/5) 9. The View from Saturday - E.L. Konigsburg (4/5) 10. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut (4/5) 11. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon (4/5) On deck for March: Finishing The Plague, convincing myself to finally start Theodor Mommsen's History of Rome, Vol. 1, maybe Das Kalkwerk by Thomas Bernhard, which is my wildcard. I also need to step up my authors of color reading. I've also amended my reviewing challenge I set for myself to instead be to review half of what I read this year -- I've realized that I simply don't have review-worthy thoughts about everything I read. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 11/52 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 4/11 (Personal challenge: 4/20) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 0/11 (Personal challenge: 0/20) (Or maybe 1 if we're counting Lavie Tidhar) 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. BookRiot: 6/24 PopSugar: 10/52 BotM: 1.5/6 In German: 0/5 In translation: 0/10 Nobels: 0/12 Reviewed: 6/11 (thus far)
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Feb 28, 2017 17:05
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February update: 3. The Honourable Schoolboy - John le Carré Certainly not as good as Tinker, Tailor, but overall a good novel filled with intrigue and tension, whilst also been fairly realistic and believable. I think my opinion of this book is slightly tainted as I'd tried to start it so many times before I finally managed to finish it. 4. Cold - John Sweeney Enjoyable book, but a little farfetched. I'm a big fan of John Sweeney and it's great to see the stuff he's learnt throughout his years of journalism in the book, although some of it feels a little crowbarred in. Perhaps if I wasn't so familiar with his journalism I wouldn't have felt like that. Also, don't write anymore sex scenes John, they're not your forté. Currently Reading 5. The Salt Roads - Nalo Hopkinson If anyone is looking for books by non-white authors then The Salt Roads is a great little fantasy novel. An ancient god is summoned to earth and lives her life through several different people across time. Also good history, especially if you know nothing about the Haitian revolution. Also read this year: 1. The Dresden Files #2 - Fool Moon by Jim Butcher 2. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 4/25 1a) Read 10 books that I owned before August 2016 1/10 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 0/5 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 1/5 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. If anyone's interested we've resurrected the Book Barn Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/2686-book-barn-goons?ref=nav_bar_discussions_pane_group
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Feb 28, 2017 18:14
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Corrode posted:I'm glad you liked Revenge! I love that book. I also enjoyed the Saxon Stories stuff, it's light but fun historical fiction, and Half of a Yellow Sun is a great book and every time I see Adichie's name I wonder why I haven't read more of her work. Good month. I'm almost done with Americanah right now and I'm so glad I finally picked it up because it's excellent.
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Feb 28, 2017 19:30
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Radio! posted:I'm almost done with Americanah right now and I'm so glad I finally picked it up because it's excellent. Nice. I nearly bought Americanah recently, it's a shame I didn't. One to pick up soon imo. February - 7: 11. They Who Do Not Grieve (Sia Figiel) 12. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Haruki Murakami) 13. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain (Barney Norris) 14. What is not yours is not yours (Helen Oyeyemi) 15. The Plague (Albert Camus) 16. The Tale of Aypi (Ak Welsapar) 17. Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) They Who Do Not Grieve was cool. Figiel is Samoan and (apparently) the first Samoan woman to be published in English. This novel is a meditation on women and their place in independent Samoa, and its relationship with New Zealand, as well as Westerners and their image of what life on "the Islands" is like vs. the reality. Hard Boiled Wonderland was fine I guess. I think I'm done with Murakami for a while. I can never summon up much enthusiasm for any of his novels, so whatever. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain was very very cool. I'm slightly biased - it's set in the area I grew up in, and tons of familiar places show up including my school. Norris does a great job of getting the feel of the place right. It's also a great novel - there's five sections each from the PoV of a different character. They're all fantastically characterised - the voices for each are unique, and the way their stories intersect and their lives slowly build up together is well done. The opening character is Rita, a flower-seller who deals drugs on the side. One night she gets caught; she's convinced she's ruined her life and the story escalates from there. I'm describing it quite clumsily but I liked this a whole lot and would definitely recommend it. What is not yours is not yours was also super cool. It's a collection of short stories, which circle around similar themes - keys, secrets and hidden things - and share some characters, typically by a secondary character in one story showing up in a later one. Some of the stories are a little obtuse, but the collection just about hangs together. The Plague was this month's BotM. Go check out the thread for it! I doubt I have much to say about it that hasn't been said a million times. The Tale of Aypi is a Turkmeni book which is banned in its home country (Ak Welsapar is a proscribed writer in Turkmenistan). As novels go it's pretty average - the story lurches from one set piece to the next, and the themes are stated baldly with very little left to subtext. The translation was weak in places, too. It was interesting to get a small insight into Turkmenistan though, since it's a country I know nearly nothing about. Disgrace was amazing. I didn't want to put it down. A communications professor in a Cape Town university has an affair with a student; poo poo goes south; he moves in temporarily with his daughter on her farm in the Eastern Cape. It pulls out themes about aging and the loss of desire (or desirability), and the changing of race relations in South Africa - particularly the change in social position of white men. Great month, really happy with what I read. In terms of booklord, I read the BotM (5), short stories (16), honour (20) and something I loved (23). I expected the last one would mostly cover re-reads and the like of books that people already loved, but I'm filling mine with Five Rivers because a big part of its appeal for me was the way it worked as a kind of love letter to the places and people I grew up with. Disgrace covers honour - one of its themes is the loss of honour which accompanies David when he loses his professorship, and the way in which later events further change that. To date - 17: Booklord: 5, 7-9, 11-12, 16-18, 20, 23- 24 Women: 5/17, 29% Non-white: 8/17, 47% 01. The Ottoman Centuries (Lord Kinross) 12 02. Snow Country (Yasunari Kawabata) 8 03. Signs Preceding the End of the World (Yuri Herrera) 9 04. Socialism: A Very Short Introduction (Michael Newman) 11 05. Human Acts (Han Kang) 7 06. As Meat Loves Salt (Maria McCann) 17 07. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Damien Keown) 08. The Dog Who Dared to Dream (Sun-Mi Hwang) 24 09. Dirty Havana Trilogy (Pedro Juan Gutierrez) 18 10. Excession (Iain M. Banks) 11. They Who Do Not Grieve (Sia Figiel) 12. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Haruki Murakami) 13. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain (Barney Norris) 23 14. What is not yours is not yours (Helen Oyeyemi) 16 15. The Plague (Albert Camus) 5 16. The Tale of Aypi (Ak Welsapar) 17. Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee) 20
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Feb 28, 2017 21:36
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Hey thread! I totally forgot to check in last month, so here's what I've read so far this year! 1 - The Outsider, by Albert Camus. One of those "cult novels" I'd been meaning to get to for a while. Camus expertly paints the psyche of his main character, a restless and disaffected young man who in the author's words "refuses to lie" - and thus condemns himself with his frank apathy. It's a quick read, but with vivid prose and a great sense of tension and frustration. Will definitely be reading more of his stuff, now that I've finally got round to it. 2 - The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith. A classic story of deception, impersonation and murder. Easy to see how this became such a successful series: Highsmith's writing is engrossing and detailed, and the inner workings of Tom Ripley's mind are both alarming and satisfyingly real. She has a superb knack for building tension and exploring social anxieties, and the various twists and turns of the narrative never feel forced or clumsy. Ripley is an arsehole, but it's easy to see each step and conscious choice that mark his fall from grace. Very good stuff. 3 - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 - Phantom Blood, vol. 1, by Hirohiko Araki. It feels a little strange to go back to the origins of a franchise that now feels ubiquitous, but I had never actually sat down and read JoJo's before. This collection has been really nicely laid out, with some colour highlights in certain chapters to give the dated (but still exciting) artwork more of a pop. The story is standard shonen stuff, but you can see glimpses of Araki's unique voice and style starting to take shape here and there. Looking forward to read more, and thus condemn myself to a life of reading nothing but beautiful muscle-man comics. 4 - Ripley Under Ground, by Patricia Highsmith. An expanded cast of characters and a plot revolving around art forgery. Ripley is more active and predatory in this one, a master manipulator for whom things get quickly and horribly out of balance. I didn't feel as connected to the plot in this one at first, but as things escalated I was glued to the pages again. 5 - A Field Guide to Identifying Unicorns by Sound: A Compact Handbook of Mythic Proportions, by Craig Conley. Whimsical, silly and strangely touching, this short illustrated handbook is replete with "accounts" from literature about unicorns through history, and offers readers a comprehensive (and often contradictory) guide to spotting them. It's breezy, and rarely failed to put a smile on my face. 6 - Sandman: Overture, by Neil Gaiman, J.H. Williams III, Dave Stewart and Todd Klein. Possibly the most beautiful comic art I've ever seen. The colours are vibrant, and the structure of each page flows and warps with the pace and scope of each scene. Gaiman's writing is at its most high-concept, but still finds space for "human" moments between characters. Some scenes and conversations seem inspired by 'Saga', which works for the enormous cosmic scale of the book. I don't know how I would have approached or appreciated this as someone new to Sandman, but after reading everything else this feels like a good and engrossing way to end/begin the series. 7 - Big Hard Sex Criminals vol. 1, by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky. The first ten issues of the comic series about people whose orgasms stop time. It's goofy and silly, but often sweet, humanising its characters even as things get stranger with each issue. The writing rarely failed to put a smile on my face, and even the background gags made me laugh, with a decent blend of puerile humour and thoughtfulness. 8 - Ripley's Game, by Patricia Highsmith. The third Ripley novel, and the first to take a perspective other than Ripley's. A terminally ill man is coerced into becoming a hitman, and things spiral inexorably out of his control. The most human of the books I've read so far, exploring the real personal and familial fallout from violence and deception. 9 - Hello Avatar: Rise of the Networked Generation, by B. Coleman. Book exploring the history and philosophy of virtual personas, or "avatars", and the psychological risks and pleasures of living online and offline simultaneously. A good primer for anyone interested in how we got to where we are now, complete with short interviews with other writers and theorists - and an extended discussion of a cannibal on Second Life. 10 - The Wallcreeper, by Nell Zink. A short novel that follows the inner life of a newly-married woman as she follows her husband to Switzerland and beyond. Good and bad sex, birdwatching, isolated stretches of river, monologues on mankind's relationship with nature, disappointing dubstep raves, and nascent ecoterrorism. I wish I enjoyed this book more than I did: it only feels like things are ramping up in the last couple of chapters, only to end abruptly. Disappointing. 11 - The Pervert, by Michelle Perez and Remy Boydell. A moving and powerful comic about sex work, imperfect connections and scraping by. Perez's writing is casual and blunt, mixing perfectly with the washed-out watercolours. It's good as a collection of episodes from one young trans woman's life, and it's a deeply affecting overarching story. The parts we don't see are as important as the parts we do. It's rough in spots, but it never loses its tone. 12 - Fatal Invention: The New Biopolitics of Race and Gender, by Dorothy Roberts. A dense, thoughtful and troubling book about how race is socially and politically constructed, and has been perpetuated from colonial times up to the present day. Roberts has a scientist's vigour and a journalist's stubbornness, illuminating the strategies and fallacies of scientific racism and laying out the grim consequences. I like to think I'm fairly well-read in terms of racial politics, but this was one of those "oh no, it's even worse than you think" kind of books, peppered with nasty surprises that in hindsight are revealed to be the inevitable result of centuries of white supremacy. Only a few years old, this book feels even more urgent now. 13 - The Plague, by Albert Camus. A story about an epidemic in an isolated town that left me feeling grim and drained, but in a good way. Camus has an excellent command of place and pacing, and the way the town *sags* instead of crumbles under the weight of the plague was palpable. The truth that life really does continue on as normal, but in a washed-out facsimile, I suppose. I thought some of the longer monologues dragged, but were still filled with insightful and moving passages. Tarrou's life story is particularly powerful, especially when set against the "scientific" approach of the Principality and the quarantine camps. Very good, as necessary now as it was when it came out. 14 - Culdesac, by Robert Repino. A novella about an anthropomorphic bobcat, a hard-bitten soldier whose squad hunt down humans for their giant ant Queen. The premise is silly, but the writing itself is orders of magnitude sillier: "grimdark" doesn't even scratch the surface. Swearing (complete with made-up fantasy slurs), gratuitous gory violence, and the kind of dialogue that would make a Breaking Bad fanfic writer wince. The recurring thought I had was that this book is like reading the prose adaption of an early-00s furry webcomic. It has all the hallmarks: vague tech-uplift reasoning for "there are animal people now", an adolescent "gently caress everything" tone, trite messages about the inherent evil of humanity, a femme fatale to warm the heart of, and eventually betray, our stone-faced hero. I can't hate this - if I read it when I was twelve I would have thought it was kickarse. It's kind of adorable. Not good though, not good at all. 15 - The Sluts, by Dennis Cooper. A dark mystery of sex, violence and deceit told through messageboard posts and emails. The story of a young troubled escort in LA as imagined by a dozen semi-anonymous online users, the medium allows Cooper to weave complex and grotesque fantasies and collate many different truths about characters who become publc-domain in the eyes of their observers. While these tangles get a little tiresome by the novel's climax, the overall story is really satisfying. This is an ugly, desperate novel that for me is his most successful in capturing the nausea and fascination of urban legends about snuff films and sex. 16 - State Of Play: Creators and Critics on Video Game Culture, edited by Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson. A solid collection of essays exploring various aspects of videogame culture (as it says in the title). This came out in 2015, in the immediate wake of the Gamergate shitshow, and that's reflected in a good chunk of the chapters exploring online abuse and the homogeneous white supremacy of "gamer" identity. Dan Golding's chapter on the cultivation of "the Gamer" is particularly strong. This is far from the only topic though: merritt kopas has a great piece on sex and sexuality in games; Hussein Ibrahim discusses what it's like to be portrayed as "the bad guy" in a culture still dependent on racist shorthand; and Ola Wikander finishes the collection with a chapter on Gnostic religious imagery in Japanese games of the 90s. Worth picking up for anyone interested in some good discussion of contemporary game culture. So far a good spread of books, fiction, non-fiction etc. I still need to up my game where it comes to authors of colour, though I just started Lilith's Brood so that will help. Is it okay that I've been counting collected trilogies (like Ripley) as three books instead of just one? 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. Goal: 52 - 16 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by women. - 7 - 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 1/3 of them are written by someone non-white. - 4 - 3, 9, 11, 12, 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) - Black Boy - 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - 8) Read something which was published before you were born. - 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. - 12) Read something historical. - 12a) Read something about the First World War. - 13) Read something biographical. - 14) Read some poetry. - 15) Read a play. - 16) Read a collection of short stories. - 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - 18) Read something which was banned or censored. - 19) Read a satire. - 20) Read something about honour. - 21) Read something about fear. - 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - 23) Read something that you love. -
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Mar 1, 2017 00:00
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February Barrel Fever By David Sedaris<super7</super> The Terranauts By TC Boyle Margaret The First By Danielle Dutton The Foretelling By Alice Hoffman I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and A Grander View of Life By Ed Yong One Wild Bird at a Time: Portraits of Individual Lives By Bernd Heinrich Total: 16 Women: 62.5% POC: 31.25% I think my favorite this month is The Terranauts, which follows three different perspectives of a group of scientists volunteering to spend two years in a biodome. I love this kind of science fiction where the focus is on human relationships and how they break down in a stressed and strange environment. I also found One Wild Bird at a Time charming. If you like a guy who is obsessed with wild birds and will go to great lengths to learn more about them, then this is the book for you. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 1, 2017 03:04
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Ben Nevis posted:1. A Biographers Tale by AS Byatt Read several more books this month and am currently running way ahead of schedule. I'm expecting a distinct slowdown later in the year though. It's also just because I've read a number of short books so far this year. That's not really deliberate, just a habit of grabbing what looks interesting at the library. That and some recs thrown around. So, the books: 9. We are Pirates by Daniel Handler- Someone elses wildcard, but it looked interesting. A young girl plots to sail away on a boat with her friends and her dad tries to close a big radio deal. This is poorly rated on Goodreads, and I think it's a betrayal of expectations issue. This is all sort of about the messiness of The American Dream, and not at all a fun pirate romp. I'd probably go 3.5/5. 10. Revenge by Yoko Ogawa - Another someone's wildcard, though I didn't realize it. Talked about upthread a bit, and they're right. A really interesting collection. Would recommend. 11. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch - The 4th book in the Peter Grant series. Enjoyed it, you probably will if you've liked the previous. 12. Dust by Michael Marder - The same NPR list that gave me Umami from last month also had this. This is a short collection pondering the philosophical aspects of dust. It's dual role as an emblem of death and our ultimate immortality. It's odd transcendence that partakes of earth, air, water and fire. If the contradictory nature of dust interests you and hifalutin' musings are your cup of tea, this might be the book for you. Otherwise, I'd give it a miss. 13. The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina Garcia - At a luxury hotel in an unnamed Central American country that is still trying to find it's way after a civil war, the paths of 6 strangers cross. Each chapter is finished with the news that ties together some stories and also sets the stage for the upcoming election that's the major story of the day. I wound up really enjoying this. 14. The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - This was a recommendation from the Funny Books thread. A widow in her midsixties finds she has time but no purpose and decides to do what she's always wanted to do with her life, so she becomes a spy. A simply delightful story of a clever but kindly old lady navigating the dangers of international intrigue. Would heartily recommend to anyone. 15. Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt - This book looks a cannibalism in nature and through history as well. Obviously there's discussion of the Donner party, but also a look at how claims of cannibalism were used in the New World to justify treatment of indigenous people. There's a look at historical uses of corpses in medicine and the recent uptick in cannibalism. Spoiler alert: You may know a cannibal. I found this fascinating and would recommend it. 16. Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley - The sequel to The Rook in what is now apparently a series. Enjoyed this, though I think I preferred the first. Will almost certainly read the 3rd. 17. Little Mountain by Elias Khoury - Khoury is billed as the writer to know for Lebanon. The forward gives an interesting overview in where Khoury fits among the Arabic writing tradition and it gives a little context to the "formless" nature of the book. Little Mountain is set in Beirut at the outset of the Lebanese civil war. In each of it's five sections is narrated by characters who are probably different people. It's not 100% clear that they all are. I'd say there are as few as 2 and maybe as many as 5. The back of the book says 3, so we'll go with that. There's some overlap in secondary characters. I found the first section to be fairly concrete and my favorite. There were some strong parts to sections 2, 4, and 5, but 3 lost me almost completely. This is hard for me to rate, because there were parts I really enjoyed that I felt hit, and parts I really struggled with. For a short book (~150 pages) I found it to be long. 18. Grendel by John Gardner - Another recommendation from the Funny Book thread. Grendel watches Hrothgar's power and ponders his role in the grand scheme of things. The philosophical angle was an interesting one here that bears some reflection. I like a book that gives you something to think about. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 18/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 5/12 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Taste of Honey 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - Mother Night 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Umami 8) Read something which was published before you were born. Grendel 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. - For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf 16) Read a collection of short stories. - Natural History of Hell 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - Stiletto 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Mar 1, 2017 |
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Mar 1, 2017 18:24
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February! 7. The Age of Innocence. Edith Warthon. Too much stuff and too little story... I may read this in a future day, because it's confusing. 8. The Female Man. Joanna Russ. Badly written and confusing, but with some very interesting themes. The story is kind of good if you know where to look. 9. Descartes' Error. Antonio Damasio. Too specialized with some nice real life examples, but that's it. The little seems a little presumptuous. 10. Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë. Some parts of the story were unbelievable, but it was a fun read. The protagonists are not the best people and I'm really glad I read this before watching the movies. 11. A Monster Calls. Patrick Ness. Plenty of sadness, but quite predictable. Even the few stories inside the main story. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 11/75 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/15 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 1/15 4) 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 8) 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) 12) 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 3, 2017 01:47
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While I've been remiss in updating the thread and, to a lesser extent, reading, I have been doing some reading. Work has been an absolute terror for the past month, so I've got that to blame. I am getting ready to wrap up Floating Dragon by Peter Straub and... it's ok. Nothing super great, but not terrible either. I'm hoping to move on to some of the books recently recommended by Stephen King, but maybe will hop on the book of the month train. Books I've read: 1) Catch 22 2) The Black Company 3) Floating Dragon (almost done)
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Mar 3, 2017 06:46
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15. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield This was fantastic. It's structured as a series of anecdotes about Hadfield's life and career, and his path from being a kid looking up at the moon during Apollo 11 to commander of the ISS, but each chapter also connects that to some lesson about the skills needed to be an astronaut -- and how those skills are applicable to day to daylife on earth (hence the title). 16. A Choice of Destinies by Melissa Scott An alt-history novel wondering what would happen if Alexander the Great had had to turn back before starting his Indian campaign. It was alright, but I suspect I would have gotten a lot more out of it had I more than vague knowledge of Alexander's life and campaigns. 17. Uptown Local and Other Interventions by Diane Duane Despite the title, only two of the stories in this collection are about wizards. (At least overtly. One could probably argue that all of them are interventions, and those two are just the only ones written from the wizard's perspective.) It starts out kind of slow -- the first story is both the longest and, for me, probably the least interesting -- but picks up after that. 18. Old Man's War by John Scalzi 19. The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi 20. The Sagan Diary by John Scalzi I've gotten a lot of solid book recommendations off of Scalzi's blog but I've never actually read his books. Then my e-reader died and it turned out the backup only had The Dracula Tape and the first three Old Man's War books on it, and I'd already read the former. These were not particularly unusual or thought-provoking, but they were fun and I'll likely go back and read more of his stuff later. I'd put him more or less in the same bucket as Zahn, I think. 21. Burning Bright by Melissa Scott Like Mighty Good Road and Trouble and Her Friends, this features a lot of politics and threats and very little actual violence, and a central conflict that's resolved via informational leverage rather than by a shootout. This seems to be a favoured plot structure of Scott's (similar to Cherryh's "bus ride to a gunfight"), and she does it well. The Roads of Heaven are still my favourite of her books, though. 22. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexeivich Monologues from people who lived near Chernobyl or were in some other way involved with the disaster, collected in the ten years following. I've read stuff before about the disaster itself, but this is the first look I've had from the point of view of people who just lived in the Zone. It's...horrifying. A few parts had me swearing out loud at the book, like the scientist talking about how they were testing samples from towns near the reactor and saying "this isn't milk, it's nuclear waste"...and then they turn on the TV and it's a public service announcement talking about how the meat/crops/livestock in the Zone are totally safe for human consumption, nothing to worry about. Booklord Challenge Update (bold == updated this month) pre:1) 96 books, ≥10% nonfiction, ≤25% rereads
22/96 books, 2 nonfiction (9%), 8 rereads (36%)
2) ≥20% by not-men
12/22 books (55%)
3)
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Mar 3, 2017 17:58
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Much better progress in February. Trying to make sure most of my books meet the booklord challenge so I can just read bad zombie apocalypse stuff at the end of the year  Also trying to make #2 and #3 on the booklord challenge mutually exclusive so I'm not searching for 10 books by non-white females that fit other categories as well. ltr posted:
4. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold 5. Shogun by James Clavell 6. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 7. The Queue by Basma Abdul Aziz 8. The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham 9. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick 10. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor So Shogun, 1100 pages of 1600s Japan, Conflict between Japanese rulers, tension between feudal Japan and the Catholic Church, Eastern vs Western culture, . I’ll say it was quite good with a mediocre ending. There were some small errors with japanese words, but not too horrible. There is tons of culture, which is dated and sometimes incorrect, but in a lot of ways it does help explain more traditional views in Japanese society. I guess I’m reading this book through the lens of having a Japanese wife and my interactions with her very traditional, rural lifestyle father. A Closed and Common Orbit was a good sequel to A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet. It follows two side characters from the first book. Not much action, mostly more human and non-human interactions. a fun light read which is what I needed after finishing Shogun. The Queue its about a dystopian country, an absurdist totalitarian government, people wait in an endless line to take care of basic needs such as a surgery to save their life. While some events do happen, this is another character drive book. It was my first foray into middle eastern authors. It parallels the Arab Spring movement quite a bit, but in a fictional country run by the Gate. I liked The Dragon’s Path. It did not lay too many invented words for common things and strange character names that some epic fantasy seems to. I was more interested where Marcus’s story went than Geders, but overall it was good. I felt like Geder needed to be fleshed out a little more as to why he did what he did half way into the book. He was this guy who was teased and picked on by more “warrior” like people around him because he preferred to read and write, then once those guys are out of the picture, he acts very rashly. Binti was good up until the ending. I was just too feel good ending for me. Why did the university suddenly accept a race that they were at war with and who had just killed a bunch of new students? Binti ended up some Meduse/Human, even she would be a risk to the university. It was definitely a different take on sci-fi, but I’m not sure I want to pick up the sequel. 1) 10/52 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 4/10 (HPaTSS, Mirror Dance, ACaCO, Scrappy Little Nobody) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/10 (The Queue, Binti) 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 4, 2017 04:00
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Read a few books, crossed off a few challenges in February: Stacey May Fowles - Infidelity (Great, depressing story about a woman who cheats on her fiance and the man she cheats with. Author gives a sad and realistic view of infidelity, worth reading.) Ann Vandermeer / Various - Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology (Yep, what it says on the tin. Hit or miss as with any short story collection, but some really good ones in here to be sure.) Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale (I'd never read this but I've read a few Atwood books. Thought this was really great, love the slow reveal of details as to how the world became like it is, liked the ambiguous ending.) Pola Oloixarac - Savage Theories (Definitely not in my wheelhouse, I feel like if I had footnotes for this I would have got more from it. Still digesting it, I just finished it recently.) e: Also this month I learned Challenge #8 isn't read something from the year you were born which means the Handmaid's Tale doesn't qualify for it, whoops, fixed 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 9/40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/8 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/8 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 4, 2017 04:57
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Well 2666 ate up basically my entire February, but here's where I stand so far: 2666 by Roberto Bolano - (9/10): Still kind of digesting this one, but man, this is a hell of a book. I've read quite a few of Bolano's short stories, but I hadn't read Savage Detectives or any of his novellas before this, so I wasn't sure what his longer-form writing was going to be like. This book is so dense and discursive and honestly kinda ugly and apocalyptic, but I'm going to be thinking about it for a very long time, I think. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee - (8/10): First time reading Coetzee. I was a bit worried when the initial setup looked like it was going to be the "old professor has an affair with a hot young co-ed" thing that has become sort a workshop lit. fiction joke, but the context pretty rapidly justifies itself. Strangely though, I find myself torn on some parts of this book. The writing can be beautiful at times, but the dialogue is pretty consistently wooden and it sometimes it can feel a bit *too* pointed, like it's running down a checklist. There are powerful images and important issues being discussed, but it also, in a way, seems to be holding back - there are moments that feel like appeasements, or little unearned moments of redemption. Maybe it's just me. Hell of an ending, though. Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee - (8.5/10): Read this one after Disgrace, and it's probably heresy to like this one a bit more, but eh. There are shades of In the Penal Colony here, as well as The Tartar Steppe. The prose is, again, a little stiff in places, though some of that is obviously intentional given the setting. An interesting look at complicity in empire - Coetzee seems to tend toward the allegorical. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami - (7/10): I've always liked Murakami's short stories and been pretty meh about his novels. This is a really short novella, I guess, with illustrations. I actually thought it was a children's book at first, because the prose feels very stripped down, even for him, but it definitely gets pretty dark as it goes on (I guess it might still be?). A goofy but fun premise, some interesting imagery, not a whole lot of room for any characterization. Still a bit of emotional punch at the end, and it has that same dreamy quality that a lot of his stuff has, but unless you're a big Murakami fan you can very safely skip this one. Concrete Island by J.G. Ballard - (5/10): Read this on a friend's suggestion. Another case where I'd read some of the author's short stories, but never any novels. If this is representative of his longer stuff, he definitely seems better suited to short-form writing. The premise here is just sorta dumb, to the point where it seemed to be inviting some fantastical element that never appears. The prose is mostly clunky, and sometimes downright bad. The characters are largely uninteresting and the narrator is so unlikable that I honestly didn't care what happened to him, which in a story like this is pretty much untenable. This feels like a short story that he decided to pad out to novel length for no good reason - it starts out interesting enough, but it starts to drag pretty quickly, and parts of it feel repetitive, until by the end it's just a slog and at times feels almost incoherent. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 5/40 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 0/8 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 2/8 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. ]5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (after 1/1/2016) 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Grizzled Patriarch fucked around with this message at 06:22 on Mar 4, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 05:57
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February! 16. The Angel’s Game (Cemetery of Forgotten Books #2) - Carlos Ruiz Zafon 17. All the King’s Men - Robert Penn Warren 18. The Prisoner of Heaven (Cemetery of Forgotten Books #3) - Carlos Ruiz Zafon 19. The Wall of Storms (Dandelion Dynasty #2) - Ken Liu 20. Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson 21. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) - Philip Pullman 22. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials #2) - Philip Pullman 23. Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi 24. Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut 25. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials #3) - Philip Pullman 26. Streets of Laredo - Larry McMurtry 27. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders 28. Undermajordomo Minor - Patrick DeWitt 29. Zama - Antonio di Benedetto Another month in which I shot right past my expectations in reading. I expect things to pick up at work soon, though, so maybe it’s good that I gave myself a sizeable lead. Once again I went with some favorite books to reread - the His Dark Materials trilogy (which I found out mid-read is getting a sequel later this year!) and All the King’s Men, one of the best political novels ever written. Among my new reads, there were definitely a few gems: Homegoing was a good multi-generational story about Africans and African-Americans, and how life changed over the centuries both in Africa and the United States for these people. Just Mercy was a good book about the criminal justice system in Alabama and the South and its racist bias, told by a guy who started a nonprofit in order to help those on death row. Streets of Laredo reminded me that I really loved Lonesome Dove. Granted, how everyone crosses paths and knows each other in a region as huge as the American West is a little bit of a mystery, but I still found it pretty engaging and I’m planning to read the other two of the series, Dead Man’s Walk and Comanche Moon, pretty soon. Lincoln in the Bardo was a pretty amazing book consisting of dialogues among ghosts in the cemetery where Willie Lincoln, Abe’s beloved son, was buried. I loved George Saunders’s short stories, and this matched or exceeded them in many ways. Also worth checking out: Zama, a Peruvian existentialist novel about an Americano noble who falls on hard times and chases women, Undermajordomo Minor, the story of a young man who takes a job at a mysterious castle - written by the guy who did The Sisters Brothers, a pretty solid western, The Wall of Storms, second book in Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty fantasy series. He does a pretty good job of building a world and its belief systems, but like Brandon Sanderson, sometimes his characters fall a little flat - still a good read, though. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. (29/52) 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - Gyasi 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. - Liu, Stevenson, Gyasi 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Lincoln in the Bardo, Homegoing 8) Read something which was published before you were born. - Zama, All the King's Men 9) Read something in translation. - The Angel's Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, Zama 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. - Just Mercy 12) 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - The Wall of Storms, All the King's Men, The Amber Spyglass, Streets of Laredo 18) Read something which was banned or censored. - pretty sure His Dark Materials (or at least the first) was banned somewhere 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - All the King's Men (greed) 23) Read something that you love. - All the King's Men, His Dark Materials 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 5, 2017 01:12
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1. Jerusalem - Alan Moore7, 17 2. A Billion Wicked Thoughts - Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam3, 22 3. Herman (The Game Warden, The Death of a Craft) - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9 4. The Atrocity Exhibition - J.G. Ballard8, 18 5. The Last Wolf - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9 6. The Kingdom of This World - Alejo Carpentier3, 9, 12 7. Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey3, 8 8. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel2, 12, 13, 17 9. Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens - Laszlo Krasznahorkai9, 10 10. Sudden Death - Alvaro Enrigue3, 9, 23 11. Caligula for President - Cintra Wilson2, 19 12. The Dark Highlander - Karen Marie Moning2, 22 ----end of January 13. Universal Harvester - John Darnielle7 14. The Plague - Albert Camus5, 8, 9 15. The Prophet: The Life of Leon Trotsky - Isaac Deutscher8, 11, 13, 17 16. A Temple of Texts: Essays - William H. Gass 17. The Child To Come: Life After the Human Catastrophe - Rebekah Sheldon2, 7 18. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) - Dennis E. Taylor7, 24 19. The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard8, 9 -----end of February 20. Fight Club 2 - Chuck Palahniuk, Cameron Stewart7, 19 21. Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe - Thomas Ligotti16, 21, 22 22. The Emergence of Social Space - Kristin Ross2, 11, 12 23. The Black Monday Murders, Volume 1 - Jonathan Hickman, Tomm Coker7 24. Aquarium - David Vann21 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 16/100 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 2/20 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/20 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) --> Human Acts - Han Kang2, 3, 9, 12 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). 8) Read something which was published before you were born. 9) Read something in translation. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) Read something long (500+ pages). 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. mdemone fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Mar 20, 2017 |
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Mar 5, 2017 20:43
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mdemone posted:
Huh, the idea never even crossed my mind of counting the perspective of multiple branching copies of a computer simulation of a dead human brain controlling self-replicating interstellar space probes as "non-human". I guess that says something about my own internalized attitudes toward what is or is not "human".
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Mar 6, 2017 13:36
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Groke posted:Huh, the idea never even crossed my mind of counting the perspective of multiple branching copies of a computer simulation of a dead human brain controlling self-replicating interstellar space probes as "non-human". I guess that says something about my own internalized attitudes toward what is or is not "human". Yeah I pondered a bit about that one. But to my thinking, the two most crucial factors that make a mind "human" are being embodied, and being mortal. Although it must be said that the Bobs generally do think and speak in a very human way, despite being derived from an engineer's brain.
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Mar 6, 2017 14:40
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I've been reading Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry by Kenneth Koch for my poetry book for The Book Lord challenge. Just wanted to pop in and say it's only $6.29 in brand new paperback right now on Amazon (possibly today only). I paid double that for a used copy. First 80 pages are about "The Language of Poetry", Part 2 is 40 pages on Reading & Writing Poetry, part 3 is 170+ page anthology of poems from a broad range of poets. It's nice, casual, and it's good at winning over people that are intimidated or just don't "get" poetry, or to just understand some "fundamentals" better and to find new poets.
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Mar 6, 2017 19:06
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Franchescanado posted:I've been reading Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry by Kenneth Koch for my poetry book for The Book Lord challenge. Just wanted to pop in and say it's only $6.29 in brand new paperback right now on Amazon (possibly today only). I paid double that for a used copy. Thanks for this. I've never really gotten poetry, although there are a couple of times where I read a poem and thought it was very good. Maybe this will turn me onto them? Bought it!
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Mar 8, 2017 02:55
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NYPL posted this list of 365 books by women today; maybe it will be a good source of recommendations for books by women (and authors of color, for that matter) for some of you!
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Mar 9, 2017 03:04
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nerdpony posted:NYPL posted this list of 365 books by women today; maybe it will be a good source of recommendations for books by women (and authors of color, for that matter) for some of you! Wow that is straight up a list of 365 books in a row. I think it would have probably been better to do 100 or even just 50 with an actual short review/summary tho? But still thanks for posting, there are definitely some good books on here and it reminded me of some I wanted to read (specifically the New Jim Crow)
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Mar 11, 2017 08:01
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I'm definitely on the light-weight side of the bibliophiles taking part in this challenge, but I thought I'd toss out a quick recommendation. I'm doing the unthinkable right now (at least for me), and reading two books at the same time. The Dispossessed, which is the current BoTM and promises to be pretty interesting, and Zorba the Greek. If you are looking for a translated book, I'd seriously recommend Zorba the Greek. The plot can basically be boiled down to "read about two dudes sitting on the beach and drinking," but it's quite interesting. Zorba is kind of a happy-go-lucky dude who spouts a bunch of sorta philosophy/sorta life-lessony stuff (Run after women! Drink and have fun! Don't get lost in minutia!) while the narrator, who is only referred to as Boss, listens, contemplates his navel, and tries to figure out his life. It was recommended to me as a book about how to live and cope in the 20th century, and I guess it does that job. I''m not much of a literary dude, instead preferring to read for joy and not think to much, but Zorba has been an absolute blast.
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Mar 15, 2017 07:22
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Franchescanado posted:Aquarium by David Vann Just got around to reading this and it was awesome; thank you for the recommendation.
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Mar 17, 2017 10:39
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Finished up two books that I can add to my list, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin and Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. The Dispossessed was this month's book of the month and was actually an interesting read. It's sort of a political scifi in the sense that we watch the main character, a scientist born on a purely anarchistic planet, as he tries to make his way on a more typical capitalistic planet. It's interesting due in part to the structure (we start with the scientist landing on the capitalist planet, and then each even numbered chapter after that is his early life leading up to departure on the anarchistic planet while each odd chapter is a continuation of chapter 1) and in part to the way it was written. Le Guin does an excellent job putting us in the main character's shoes while he is trying to understand a totally new culture. Binti was a very fast read at under 100 pages, but was quite interesting. It's one of those scifi stories that drop you into a totally new universe with no explanation and you need to figure it out through the main character. The main character is a young girl that has recently received a full ride scholarship to the best university in the galaxy, and we watch her travel to said university. Needless to say, some stuff happens, but the most interesting part of the story is the cultural parts. I, a 30-something year old white dude, was pretty interested to read about Binti and her family/people's way of living. Binti is a Himba girl, and seeing the world (even a made up scifi world) through her eyes was definitely interesting. Both books were good! Now I'm on to The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Only on chapter 3, but it is turning out to be equally good and, as an added benefit, is not scifi. Books finished.: 7/30
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Mar 28, 2017 02:32
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Kekekela posted:Name: Kekekela  Progress update!!! After starting many books, I finally finished The Righteous Mind. Rated 4/5, thought provoking but a little long winded. total read 1/10 fiction read 1/8
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Mar 30, 2017 00:28
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ltr posted:
March Update! 11. The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany 12. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Leguin 13. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 14. The Man in The High Castle by Phillip K. Dick March update: I really liked the world building in The Man In The High Castle, even to the point where the book which plays a part in the story has a different history of how World War Two was won by the Allies. In some ways it felt like three novellas(?) all slightly linked playing out at the same time. Not sure why Frank’s part of the story was included except to link Tagomi story to Julianne’s. I preferred The Dispossessed over Left Hand of Darkness which I read a few years ago. I felt it really showed how ways of governance(anarchist vs capitalist) taken to extremes are not nearly as free and open as one would think. Exit West started out quite good, definitely interesting reading about normal people’s struggles in a war zone. The last third as another reviewer said, seems to run out of steam. Spoilers for the rest since this is a new book. The doors seemed a quick way to get around the long travel of refugees so we can get to the struggles refugees have when they finally arrive at a semi-permanent home. Once they settled in California, I felt it started running out of steam. With little external conflict, their personal reasons for staying together began to fall apart as well. even with the problems in the last third, it was a quick read 1) 14/52 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 5/10 (HPaTSS, Mirror Dance, ACaCO, Scrappy Little Nobody, The Dispossessed) 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/10 (The Queue, Binti, Exit West) 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5) 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) 8) 9) 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12) 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 17) 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective.
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Mar 30, 2017 02:05
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March summary! 15, 16, 17, 18. Katya and the Starbride series - Barbara Ann Wright. 19. Best served cold - Joe Abercrombie. 20, 21, 22. Shattered sea trilogy - Joe Abercrombie. 23. The golem and the jinni - Helene Wecker. 24. The house in Fata Morgana - Novectacle.
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Mar 30, 2017 03:46
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3/24 female authors 3/12 non-fiction Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan were both good, although a bit dated and not what I'd call funny. This is a Book was very hit and miss; some parts were really funny, other parts weren't funny at all, mostly it was just OK. I originally read (and hated) The Outsider in highschool, so I thought I should give it another chance. It was OK, but I don't understand why the prosecutor thought it was necessary to go on about his mother's funeral (or even bring it up at all). He murdered a guy in cold blood, admitted it, and offered no defence. How is that not an open and shut case? Why are you wasting everyone's time with all this bullshit about his life and family when it should be the easiest conviction ever? Also, the supposedly weird protagonist is way more relatable than anyone else in the story. Sword of Truth is still a terrible series for terrible people. Full reviews on Goodreads.
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Mar 30, 2017 05:08
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Ben Nevis posted:
Some very solid reading this month, and I somehow got a lot read. The run of 20, 21, and 22 really should have taken me about half the time it took, but it just drug a bit for me, for various reasons. I'm doing well hitting categories here, but I'm through many of those I'd cross off incidentally just in the course of reading. I need to start being more intentional about some of these, I think. 19. The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei - A middle aged audiophile makes a meager living installing high end stereo systems and finds himself installing the best system ever for a very shady character, but it might give him enough to get out from under his sister's thumb. This is full of details of music and stereos and also China. The back references Murakami, and this is reminiscent in a number of ways, but certainly less long winded, and somewhat more grounded as well. I enjoyed it. 20. Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L Beach - I grabbed this on a whim at a 2nd hand bookstore some time ago and never read it. It's about submarine warfare in WW2, specifically a captain who tries numerous times to outsmart "Bungo Pete" a destroyer in the Bungo Strait that is killing a lot of submarines trying to sink Japanese ships. The submarine stuff is great. The last third as a whole is as well. I found all of the nonsubmarine stuff to be a drag. I have some actual history planned, but reserve the right to count this for #12 if I need to. 21. Gringos by Charles Portis - An American expat in Mexico tries to hunt down a missing friend and a gang of sinister hippies. This felt like the literary equivalent of an expat just whiling away hot Mexican afternoons at a bar. It was good, but no True Grit. 22. No Knives in the Kitchens of this City by Khaled Khalifa - This was, despite it's length, a hard book to read. There's not really a central narrative, there's no overt conflict, and not a clear structure, often wandering back and forth in time without a firm tie between the aspects. It's just the repeated degradation of a family in Aleppo over about 40 years. Everyone is is ashamed, by their hidden desires, their fallen class, and their acquiescence to a brutal dictatorial regime. The bonus here, and why I'm counting this as my political novel, is that when you look at what a hellhole Aleppo has become in the civil war and wonder what makes it worth it, you can point to this book and see what makes people there rebel despite the costs. 23. Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett - A Nigerian man wakes up the morning of an important interview and finds that he's turned white. This takes you on a tour through different bits of Lagos and see the way white men are treated there. I found this to be an interesting book and a generally good read. It keeps it fairly light, which has good and bad sides. It's not an in depth sociological thing by any means. 24. The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder - 22 men gather in an out of the way hotel every year to reenact the Monday Night Football play where Joe Theismann's leg was broken. This moves quickly though their psyches looking at the troubles they face with their kids, their lives entering middle age, and how they project that onto this yearly reenactment. It's also about rituals and how we can create sacred spaces without realizing it. It's clever, with some funny moments throughout. I really enjoyed this. No football knowledge is required. 25. Home by Nnedi Okorafor - Binti #2. After a year at university, Binti returns home to see how her leaving has effected her family and learns some secrets of their past. This was much less a complete book than Binti was, and much more obviously an episode in the middle of things. It's good, but I have some concerns going into the 3rd. I'll read it anyways. 26. Invisible Planets by Ken Liu - A collection of 13 works of contemporary Chinese Sci-Fi. Many of the authors have multiple stories, which I liked. It gave me a better sense of their work as a whole. It also had a good mix of women in there too. There are 3 short essays at the end were interesting as well. On the whole this was a solid collection that left me feeling that I knew a bit more about contemporary Chinese Sci Fi. 27. Get Carter by Ted Lewis - A classic tale of revenge. Frank Carter is found dead in a presumed car accident. His brother thinks it's suspicious and comes back to town to figure out who done it. He beats a few people up, looks up women's skirts, and eventually stumbles onto the answer. This was decent. It didn't quite have enough of either Chandler or Thompson to excel, so felt like it fell a little short of what it could have been. Counting this as a 7 Sins novel, as vengeance is an aspect of wrath. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 27/60 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 9/12 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 10/12 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. - Taste of Honey 5) Read at least one TBB BoTM and post in the monthly thread about it. - Mother Night 6) Read a book someone else in the thread recommends (a wildcard!) 7) Read something that was recently published (anything from after 1st January 2016). - Umami 8) Read something which was published before you were born. Grendel 9) Read something in translation. - The Story of My Teeth 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political - No Knives in the Kitchens of this City 12) Read something historical. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 13) Read something biographical. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. - For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf 16) Read a collection of short stories. - Natural History of Hell 17) Read something long (500+ pages). - Stiletto 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. - Blackass 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 22) Read something about one (or more!) of the seven sins. - Get Carter 23) Read something that you love. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Mar 30, 2017 |
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Mar 30, 2017 18:09
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Tiggum posted:I originally read (and hated) The Outsider in highschool, so I thought I should give it another chance. It was OK, but I don't understand why the prosecutor thought it was necessary to go on about his mother's funeral (or even bring it up at all). He murdered a guy in cold blood, admitted it, and offered no defence. How is that not an open and shut case? Why are you wasting everyone's time with all this bullshit about his life and family when it should be the easiest conviction ever? Also, the supposedly weird protagonist is way more relatable than anyone else in the story. Someone is free to correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, a European killing a black African colonial subject wouldn't have been that big of a deal. The focus on the mother's funeral is meant to show Meurseult as a emotionless, unsympathetic, unfeeling sociopath who kills for killing sake. They mistake his apathy for life as malice towards human life. The very fact that he doesn't care about his mother's funeral is (to the government) indicative of his amorality and makes him guilty of far worse than killing an Algerian.
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Mar 30, 2017 23:43
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Sandwolf posted:Someone is free to correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, a European killing a black African colonial subject wouldn't have been that big of a deal.
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Mar 31, 2017 01:25
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March 15. Americanah- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 16. Necropolis: London and Its Dead- Catharine Arnold 17. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World- Shannon Hale. A cute middle grade novel about Squirrel Girl. It captures the humor of North's SG pretty well. 18. The Princess Diarist- Carrie Fisher. Underwhelming. I basically haven't read anything in the past two weeks because I started a new job (!!!!) with a crazy schedule and oh my god I'm so tired.
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Mar 31, 2017 01:50
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March update! And what a month it's been for reading! Erstwhile: 1: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. 2: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. +1 woman 3: Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. 4. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. + 1 woman, +1 nonwhite 5. Death's End by Liu Cixin. +1 nonwhite 6. Empire Games by Charles Stross. 7. Among Others by Jo Walton. +1 woman 8. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. 9. Bror din på prærien by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. 10. The Plague by Albert Camus. 11. Haimennesket by Hans Olav Lahlum. +1 Norwegian. 12. Land ingen har sett by Edvard Hoem. +1 Norwegian. This month I got a surprising amount of reading done; granted, some of these books were pretty short and quick reads, but not all of them: 13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. An apocalyptic tale set before and during the collapse of an unstable world. Can't really say much about it that's not spoileriffic, but this book was great. +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. Also pretty sure it ticks off the "wrath" box as far as the seven deadly sins are concerned. 14. The Long Cosmos by Stephen Baxter and (allegedly, although I doubt he contributed much to this one) Terry Pratchett. #5 and probably last in this multiple-earth series. It was... okay, I guess, the best bits were (as usual for Baxter) the ones involving exploration of weird-rear end milieus. 15. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin. BOTM for March and a fine choice it was. Seventies classic showing the contrast between a very Earthlike world and its neighbor planet colonized by utopian Anarchists, drawing both societies into a pretty harsh critical light. Loved this a bunch and my respect for LeGuin only grew (had read several of her books before but never this one). +1 woman. 16. Aquarium by David Vann. This was my wildcard. A pre-teen girl lives alone with her mother (a hard-working dockworker) in Seattle in the 90s. They are all alone in the world and the girl spends a lot of time hanging around the aquarium near her school, looking at the fish. She befriends and old man and then a series of horrible secrets are brought to light. A quick and beautiful but also very painful read, lovely prose. 17. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren (well, that's its English title, it's originally Swedish, I read it in Norwegian). Read this aloud to my oldest. It's a towering classic of 1970s Scandinavian children's literature, and a book I dearly, dearly love from my own childhood. The narrator is a young boy who lives in poor conditions with his mother and his older brother (clearly implied to be in Scandinavia some decades previous to when it was written); he has a disease which is expected to kill him (probably tuberculosis, which kids used to die from back in the day) and his older brother comforts him with stories of a fairy tale-like afterlife. Older brother dies first (heroically saving his little bro from a fire, even though he hasn't long to live either) and the bulk of the book is set in that afterlife. Which turns out to have its own scary parts as the idyll is threatened by an evil warlord with an army of brutal thugs and a HUGE AND loving TERRIFYING DRAGON which has traumatized generations of Scandinavian kids. It's all about brotherhood, love, self-sacrifice and facing up to your fears (which are many, and justified). There are things you have to do, even if it's dangerous, or you're not a human being but only a little piece of dirt. +1 woman. 18. 1001 Natt by Vetle Lid Larssen. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the North African city of Algiers was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire but in practice nearly independent; and a powerful naval and economic force, as the main center of operation for the so-called Barbary pirates. They frequently made war on European shipping and coastal areas, and captured large numbers of people into slavery. This book is based (in part) on the first-hand accounts of two Norwegians who were both held there as slaves in the 1770s (alongside many others who didn't leave written accounts), and chronicles their experience as well as an attempt by the Danish-Norwegian state to resolve the "they took our people as slaves" issue by means of a great naval expedition. Fascinating read, well-researched. +1 Norwegian, +1 nonfiction. 19. After Atlas by Emma Newman. A companion story to her novel Planetfall, this is set back on Earth, a dystopian science-fiction mystery. A religious sect leader has been murdered, an indentured police detective who long ago grew up in the same sect is set on the case. Things get worse from there. Neatly plotted, fine prose, lots of nastiness. Good book. +1 woman. 20. Exodus by Andreas Christensen. Norwegian author apparently self-publishing in English, hadn't really heard anything about this guy before, this book was dirt cheap on the Kindle and is apparently #1 in a longer series (or trilogy of trilogies or whatever). Pretty much a paint-by-numbers SF technothriller where the Earth is hosed by an astronomical accident and there's a last-ditch attempt at rushing an interstellar colony mission. It was... okay, I guess. Nothing very original or exciting here (at least to a veteran reader of nerd-genre books such as myself) and the characters were pretty cardboard but that's not exactly unusual either. Was a quick and easy read and the later books may have more interesting things going on, might check them out eventually. 21. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor. Now this was great. Continuation of the story from Binti, where the main character (a girl from the Himba culture of Africa, in a future where humanity is finding its place in a greater galactic society) has now spent a year as a student on an alien planet, and is returning home for a pilgrimage, with her friend from a formerly-hostile alien race tagging along on a sort of diplomatic mission. Things subsequently go pear-shaped in a very weird manner. Again, lovely prose, interesting point of view (the main thing that struck me with the first book remains true of this one, how the viewpoint character from her position as part of a discriminated-against minority culture barely distinguishes between aliens who are other humans and aliens who are nonhuman -- here, however, she is also confronted with her own attitude towards a different human minority culture which her own people look down upon, and then there are major questions about the border between human and non-human). +1 woman, +1 nonwhite. 1) Read some books. Set a number and go hog wild. 21/40 - seems pretty sure I'll crush this goal badly, but that doesn't exactly hurt anything. 2) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/21 =38% 3) Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/21 = 19% 4) Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 10) Read something from somewhere you want to travel. 11) Read something political. 12a) Read something about the First World War. 14) Read some poetry. 15) Read a play. 16) Read a collection of short stories. 18) Read something which was banned or censored. 19) Read a satire. 20) Read something about honour. 21) Read something about fear. 24) Read something from a non-human perspective. Extra: At least 10 Norwegian books (translations don't count) - 4/10 so far At least 5 nonfiction books - 2/5 Read every BOTM (except optionally for ones I've read before) - 3/3 as of March No more than 5 rereads (vs. the vanilla goal, I would count them against specific goals) - 2/5 so far Groke fucked around with this message at 10:11 on Mar 31, 2017 |
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Mar 31, 2017 09:55
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