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Yeah I kind of regret the 10 year cutoff because it leaves out a bunch of stuff between super old "classic" stuff and effectively brand new stuff. But I encourage people read more modern era plays in general.
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Mar 28, 2018 16:25
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I just found this thread, is it kosher for me to join the challenge, do the booklord, and mark off whatever booklordy challenges I've already done? I track everything I read on Goodreads, but I haven't gone through and determined if I've actually accomplished any of the booklord challenge.
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Mar 28, 2018 19:31
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MockingQuantum posted:I just found this thread, is it kosher for me to join the challenge, do the booklord, and mark off whatever booklordy challenges I've already done? I track everything I read on Goodreads, but I haven't gone through and determined if I've actually accomplished any of the booklord challenge. I'll make this one exception, but I swear to god if you tell anyone...
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Mar 28, 2018 20:02
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Alright, let's do this! I'm shooting for 70 books and booklording! Maybe I'll bump that number up since I've already read like 25 so far... Done to date, with a blurb and what booklordian numbers they apply to: 1. Cthulhu Mythos Megapack - Various authors . . . lots of lovecraftian horror, not all of it very good 2. Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky . . . really fantastic generations-spanning sci-fi with one of the most interesting "aliens" I've encountered 3. The Croning - Laird Barron . . . Not Barron's best work, but by no means his worst. Reads like a novel written by a short-story writer 4. Three Parts Dead - Max Gladstone . . . Magical lawyers! Gods are sort of investment vehicles! Gargoyles! 5. The Twilight Pariah - Jeffrey Ford . . . pretty traditional spooky haunted house story, but done very well. Does not overstay its welcome 6. The Mist - Stephen King . . . I love horror novellas, so just get used to it. Better than the show, but I liked the ending of the movie even better 7. The Wide Carnivorous Sky - John Langan . . . Weird fiction and horror story collection. It's the author's first collection and feels like it, though there are some definite highlights. 8. Universal Harvester - John Darnielle . . . an altogether eerie and touching book. Not what I expected to be. One moment about 40 pages in creeped me out more than just about anything I've ever read. Also unsettling because I drive by Nevada, IA pretty regularly (7) 9. The Ballad of Black Tom - Victor LaValle . . . a compelling retelling/reimagining of one of Lovecraft's more problematic stories (3) 10. The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 1 - Ellen Datlow, ed. . . . Some really solid stuff in here. Very white-male-heavy, though the later collections seem to improve in that respect 11. Horrorstor - Grady Hendrix . . . pretty formulaic horror movie plot set in a not-IKEA. Cool conceit, fun read, mostly unique in the design and layout of the book 12. Black Mad Wheel - Josh Malerman . . . a rock & roll band hunts around in the desert for a mysterious sound. Kind of falls apart as it goes along. Read Bird Box instead. 13. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe - Kij Johnson . . . pseudo-sequel to Lovecraft's Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, but does more interesting things with the setting than he did (2) 14. Hammers on Bone - Cassandra Khaw . . . Lovecraftian hard-boiled detective story with some really cool ideas. I think it's part of a series now? (2,3) 15. The Grip of It - Jac Jemc . . . Woweee.... probably one of the most compelling horror novels I've read in a long time. Definitely going to re-read soon. (2) 16. Roadside Picnic - Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, trans. Olena Bormashenko . . . surprisingly fun. Think Annihilation with a healthy dose of 70's era Russian irony and pessimism (10) 17. Wall of Storms - Ken Liu . . . overall had a weak middle compared to Grace of Kings, but it was fantastic to see some great female characters in the spotlight for a change. (3) 18. The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo . . . pretty good mystery novel, though I don't think it was as good as Snowman. Interesting historical aspect to it regarding Norway's troubled past in regards to Nazism (10) 19. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad . . . first time reading this, and it was way too late. It's a book I wish I had arrived at years ago. Still worth reading though (8) 20. Doctor Sleep - Stephen King . . . so I get that King fans usually hate this book, probably because it isn't The Shining. Personally I loved it, though it suffers from a perennial King problem of somewhat underpowered badguys 21. John Dies at the End - "David Wong" . . . another book I wish I'd read years ago. Still good, but definitely got overhyped for me. Also very much feels like it was originally a web serial 22. My Best Friend's Exorcism - Grady Hendrix . . . not a bad book, but retreads a lot of familiar ground, owes a lot to The Exorcist (unsurprisingly). If anything, I was disappointed that it wasn't a big improvement over Horrorstor 23. Agents of Dreamland - Caitlin Kiernan . . . Lovecraft meets espionage and government black ops. Very fun. (2) 24. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz . . . fantastic in so many ways. Hard to do it justice in a brief description. (3) 25. Steel Magnolias - Robert Harling . . . I really love this play, even though it's really not my style at all. Fantastic dialog. Never seen the movie, amazingly. (14) Challenges in progress: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: 25/70 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women.3/14 — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3/7 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white.4/14 — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3/7 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. Universal Harvester — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) Universal Harvester (I'm 99% sure at least, it was recommended to me on NYE) 8. Read something written before you were born. Heart of Darkness — bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 10. Read something translated from another language. Roadside Picnic, The Redbreast — bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language (man I wish!) 13. Read a collection of short stories. Lots. — bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors Easily. 14. Read a play. Steel Magnolias — bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 22. Read something about the future. Children of Time — bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year Roadside Picnic, I think?
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Mar 28, 2018 21:08
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Thread judgement: would The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao count for 15. Read something involving history? It has a lot to do with Trujillo's reign in the Dominican Republic, which was a part of history I knew pretty much nothing about before reading the book. Also I may as well get this going right away, someone wild card me!
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Mar 28, 2018 21:10
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Your wildcard should be The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.
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Mar 30, 2018 21:09
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March! 20. Cibola Burn (Expanse #4) - James S.A. Corey 21. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John Le Carre 22. The Idiot - Elif Batuman 23. Lincoln in the Bardo - George Saunders 24. The Alienist - Caleb Carr 25. The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin 26. The Naked and the Dead - Norman Mailer 27. Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell This was a generally good month for reading - even if I didn't read anything that blew me away on first read, everything was generally pretty solid, and rereading The Dispossessed and Lincoln in the Bardo was a treat. Cibola Burn was a solid continuation of the Expanse series, Tinker Tailor was a solid spy novel, The Idiot was a solid campus novel, The Alienist was a solid historical mystery, The Naked and the Dead was a solid war novel, and Eleanor and Park was a solid YA romance novel. Can't sing the absolute praises of any of them, but I wouldn't steer anyone clear of any of them either. A good month, all things considered! 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge (27/36) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. - Rowell, Batuman, Le Guin (25%) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. - Batuman (18%) 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). - Lincoln in the Bardo 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. 8. Read something written before you were born. - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Dispossessed 9. 10. Read something translated from another language. 11. Read something political. 12. Read a poetry collection. 13. Read a collection of short stories. 14. Read a play. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. 20. 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. - The Idiot (a search for self-actualization) 22. Read something about the future. - Expanse 4
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Mar 30, 2018 21:51
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MockingQuantum posted:Thread judgement: would The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao count for 15. Read something involving history? It has a lot to do with Trujillo's reign in the Dominican Republic, which was a part of history I knew pretty much nothing about before reading the book. The challenge is intentionally left up to personal interpretation. If you feel in your heart that you learned something about history and that is enough to fulfill the challenge, then I am not going to dispute that. If you think the intent of the challenge is to get you to consciously choose a book that fits the criteria, and thereby broaden your reading, that is also valid. I've honestly done it both ways in past challenges. There were times I was pleasantly surprised when a book seemed to meet a challenge and slotted it in, other times I decided I wanted to explicitly do research. It's a year long challenge so your mood is probably going to shift around at points. Just do whatever works for you, I only ask that you make a good faith attempt to push your reading at least some small amount over the course of the challenge.
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Mar 30, 2018 21:54
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Fewer books read in March than I was expecting, due to an unexpectedly stressful month, but still on track. 12. Revelation Space - Alistair Reynolds. Technically a reread, but the first time I read this I was like 13 years old so I recalled almost nothing. A very strong hard-SF space opera, with some incredible imagery, despite some first-novel issues with pacing and characterisation. 13. The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin. The second Le Guin novel I've read, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I did The Left Hand of Darkness, but it was still powerful stuff. My brother had been pestering me to read this for years. 14. Chasm City - Alistair Reynolds. A major step up in pure quality from his first book. Cleverer techniques with multiple protagonists than the first book as well, even if the 'twist' is obvious from miles away. 15. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Brown & Dave King. I reread this once every year or so to keep myself in good habits. Still as useful as it was a decade ago. 16. The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster. 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. Well, I gotta admit this was a painful slog and I would not have finished it if it wasn't my wildcard. I used to be really into experimental and postmodern literature and when I read what this series was all about (metafictional detective fiction about detective fiction) I was pretty excited, but 3/4 through the first story, City of Glass, disappointment began to set in. The prose itself is like wading through cold tar and none of what the book was getting at made any sense to me. I lack either the cultural context, literary background, or intellectual framework to appreciate this.
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Apr 1, 2018 11:56
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Milt Thompson posted:26 Books as a minimum, under 20% rereads (currently 7 books with 1 reread) Only three books but I'm happy with the progress and choices made. When The Shooting Stops is a book I'm very glad I picked up. Ralph Rosenblum was a well-respected movie editor in the sixties and seventies - collaborating with directors such as Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen - and this book is partly a memoir of his life and entry into the editing profession, partly a history of editing and its importance, but most revealingly it is an account of how much editing can change a film. Rosenblum and Karen take us through the exhausting process of editing on a number of films - The Pawnbroker, A Thousand Clowns, The Night They Raided Minsky's - before finishing with an astonishing inside view of how Rosenblum and Allen turned Annie Hall from a screwball comedy into the film released. Fascinating stuff. On Beauty is a book marked by Smith's keen eye for character and the tribulations of family life, but I felt it could have been so much more. I enjoyed it as Smith's prose is often beautiful, but the story drifted almost aimlessly for me and I would have been very interested to see more conflict between the patriarchs of the two families. Nonetheless, it made for an interesting exploration of aspects of black identity and academic life. Tales From Development Hell was a quick and enjoyable read, looking into the factors behind the often agonizing process of writing, rewriting, politicking and assorted nonsense that goes into the production of modern blockbusters, for example the Tim Burton Planet Of The Apes, and Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider movies. Throughout the book, I was struck with a sense of incredulity at the decisions made by producers, writers and directors which led their films into creative cul-de-sacs and production cancellations. The author finishes with an account of his own ongoing failures as a screenwriter, which was refreshing and illuminating. Progress on the non-white and female author challenges should pick up soon, as my research has led me to some hopefully good books such as Human Acts by Han Kang, Stiff by Mary Roach, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine, and some others. I'm still searching for a work on a war not involving the US, but I'd like to find something on the Iran-Iraq war. I'm also not sure where to turn for a book about music.
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Apr 1, 2018 18:16
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Only got through four books in March. 11. Seven Surrenders, by Ada Palmer. Sequel to Too Like the Lightning, which I read last year and loved. Intricate political scheming in a fairly unique future setting. I imagine I would enjoy it even more if I were better read in Greek plays and philosophy. 12. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin. I can't imagine a utopia book coming close to this. Le Guin raises a lot of interesting questions about the status quo of capitalism and shows some not entirely unrealistic alternatives. 13. Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. A reread. I found the book to be so rich with detail and foreshadowing that a reread was extremely rewarding. I'll likely continue rereading the rest of the series. 14. Where Freedom Starts: Sex Power Violence #MeToo, by Various. Released as a free ebook by Verso. A collection of poignant essays in the wake of the #MeToo movement. A hugely diverse array of viewpoints on the issues of sexual harassment and assault from how they're defined to how they should be punished. Really appreciated all the views and connections this collection raised. Goals 1. 14/50 Books Read. 2. %Women Authors: 50% 3. %Authors of Color: 29% 4. LGBTQIA+ Author: Yes: The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang. 5. TBB BotM Participation: Yes: The Sign of Four, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 6. Wildcard: Yes: A Question of Power, by Bessie Head.
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Apr 1, 2018 23:19
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Picked up the pace this month but a bunch of these were shorter plays. Have some longer stuff coming down the pipe in April, and going to read my wildcard and start looking more seriously at some of the challenges. 13. Don't Call Us Dead: Poems by Danez Smith 14. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende 15. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich 16. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh 17. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 18. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy 19. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde 20. The Humans by Stephen Karam 21. Othello by William Shakespeare 22. Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks 23. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters Don't Call Us Dead was phenomenal, highly recommend if anyone is looking for poetry recs. Also enjoyed rereading Lincoln, and the Turner House was another highlight. Honestly lot's of good stuff this month but those were the ones that stood out. I got the Spoon River Anthology as a companion to Lincoln since that was apparently an influence. Working on a more complete tentative schedule for theme weeks and going to post that later tonight or tomorrow. I figure that will be a better way to make sure people are able to prep in advance. Again tho, even if it's mostly just me taking part, I am happy with the discussion and suggestions they've generated so far.
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Apr 2, 2018 01:32
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March 17. Weird Dinosaurs, by John Pickrell Each of the chapters here focuses on a geographic region. You get South America for the Titanosaurs, Alaska and Siberia for Arctic dinosaurs and Australia for its opal fossils, among others. Pickrell spends roughly equal thirds of each chapter on the first expeditions there, contemporary expeditions, and the creatures themselves. If I had an early edit pass on this book, I would’ve taken out the early expeditions (they don’t contribute to the latest finds and interpretations, after all) and expanded the rest. But Pickrell obviously adores these early tidbits, since he spends considerable time recounting even the non-paleontological exploits of one hunter, Franz Baron Nopsca von Felső-Szilvás, in an early chapter. The difficulties of Antarctic expeditions, theorized behavior, improbable fields of footprints, were all fascinating and I would have loved more of them. (3.5/5) 18. Dinosaurs: The Textbook, by Spencer G. Lucas This textbook looks at everything through the lens of fossils; the right choice for paleontology but it’s great for a textbook to such rigor that it never slips and asserts something without the fossil evidence behind that claim. Lucas focuses on skeletal anatomy of the major lineages of dinosaur, though he also has several great chapters on non-skeletal fossils, field practices, and snapshots of the world at various key times of the dinosaurs’ reign. One of the best qualities a textbook can have is a good treatment of current controversies. Lucas reaches that bar easily: for any taxonomic or philosophical dispute, he identifies what the various positions are as well as which one he prefers. The book is a little too old to touch on the recent controversy on the saurischian divide with ornithischians, though I’m sure a seventh edition is coming. (4.5/5) 19. The Oceans: A Deep History, by Eelco J Rohling Rohling focuses this history on how oceans interact with Earth’s changing climate, which makes it a tad epic in scale. For instance, though he deals with continental drift, ocean formation and destruction, and mass extinctions, the most common discussion of marine vertebrates is as a mechanism for transforming carbonate into skeletons. Detailed chemical history, and the scientific evidence behind it, takes up a lot of space, as does analysis of how deepwater is formed and circulated. Suffice to say, this book is often dry and technical. But there are still a lot of gems: I found interesting the snowball Earth and hothouse Earth descriptions, as well as the anoxic deep water chapter. This isn’t a great book to just dive into; be prepared for mental strain. (3/5) 20. The Abrams Guide to American House Styles, by William Morgan, photos by Radek Kurzaj This book has cursed me; when I’m driving now, I’ll judge houses for having an odd number of Greek-style columns, or for their McMansion front facade, or for just a general lack of style. I see good examples too, of course; at least learning about aesthetics in architecture wasn’t ALL bad. The book is predominately photos showing how the various trends in America’s homes have appeared throughout the country, with introductory essays and diagrammed guides for each style. I appreciate the geographic diversity of the chosen houses: many homes here come from Houston, Galveston and Tuscon (cities dear to my heart) instead of just VA, MA and CA as I might have expected. (4/5) 21. Technically Wrong, by Sara Wachter-Boettcher Beep beep! #neo-nazis is here. So reads a push notification from Tumblr, the most hilarious piece in this book’s showcase of algorithmic crimes against humanity. Wachter-Boettcher has written an amazingly entertaining book that does more than just compile the highest-profile of electronic whoopsies. She builds a cogent argument that not only does the tech industry consistently decline to consider the position of the marginal, of the edge cases, but that the simple act of doing so creates an experience that harms everyone. No one is average in everything, so each of us will someday be an edge case that hasn’t been accounted for. A great cautionary tale for anyone who uses or designs for the connected world. (5/5) 22. Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders Phenomenal book, with a lot going on. I’m going to need to do a reread to do this one justice. (5/5) 23. Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes, by Adilifu Nama Nama takes on several topics key to black superheroes, among them the early trend of black supers to just be palette-swaps of white supers, the disturbingly common position of blacks as subordinate to whites even when superpowers are involves, and the use and misuse of black superheroes in films and TV. His literary criticism is top-notch, with well-chosen pages and spreads from comics both big and fringe. He clearly is a fan of many of these characters, even when they are problematic by his own admission, and engages with them with hope and love and fremdschämen. He wrote this in 2011; I hope a second edition will come out post-Black Panther. (4/5) 24. fantomas versus the multinational vampires, by Julio Cortázar This short book is cobbled together from dissimilar sources: a written adventure/conspiracy narrative, vintage black and white images, an actual Fantomas comic book oddly starring Cortázar himself and a tribunal report implicating various Latin American governments in oppression. It’s funny and moving, though it definitely is a product of its time (1975). Memorable parts include Fantomas entering each scene by jumping through windows, and a bizarre montage of espionage and disguise in which corporate and governmental powers are humiliated and bested. (3.5/5) 25. The Hellbound Heart, by Clive Barker If you want a some good gory horror, with some slasher action and BDSM space cults thrown in, read this. The pacing is great (though the plot doesn’t try to surprise you) and the gore is well written. Barker is gross and funny here; for example, the book’s monster grows out of a sad cum-stain that some dude bled onto. (4/5) 26. Mister B. Gone, by Clive Barker So a demon (Mr. B) gets fished out of Hell by some dudes trying to run a 15th century demon-trapping business, and goes on the lam with his savior and unrequited demonic love. He then gets trapped inside a book (the very book you’re holding!) and tries to bargain with you, the reader, to set his book on fire and end his suffering. The concept’s weird, but Mr. B is a great character, full of pettiness and self-pity. Barker again deploys gross-out humor to good effect, and does some interesting world-building, but sadly the conceit of a demon directly addressing the reader gives the whole thing a creepy-pasta feel. (3/5) 27. The Great Transition, by Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney and Emily E. Adams This book, on the energy transition away from coal, feels perfunctory. Each chapter covers a different power source, from oil to nuclear and wind, but the vast majority of the material is listings of different projects of that type around the world with estimates of power generation capacity. It’s criminally uninteresting to use all these paragraphs on something that a nice graph could have gotten across. The book is best when it takes on the human and social costs of giant dams, but this is something that Arundhati Roy, for example, does much better. Add in the 2014 publication date that obsoletes much of its content, and this book isn’t worth reading anymore. (2/5) 28. Swearing Is Good for You, by Emma Byrne Byrne has a really good pop-science book on swearing here. To get the reader in the mood, she makes liberal use of “gently caress” and its variations; must’ve been fun. Each chapter deals with a different sub-genre of swear-science. My favorite followed chimpanzees who learned sign language, and came up with their own insults and curses. They were taught taboos about dirty to make their human keepers’ jobs easier; if the chimps flush their own poo poo, you won’t get hit in the face with it. They would then use the ‘dirty’ sign to insult keepers when they were mad, and in one case a chimp called non-signing primates ‘dirty monkeys’. (5/5) 29. Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons and Dragons, by Michael Witwer This is a full birth-to-death biography of Gary, not just the D&D years. Witwer tells it in a series of vignettes, framed by a weird and groan-worthy allegory featuring Gygax as an RPG character. Skip those sections and the rest is a fun, quick read that focuses on Gary’s business dealings and gaming life. (3/5) 30. Protestants, by Alex Ryrie This is definitely a pop history, though it’s a good one. I was surprised by it, because even though he starts a moment before the 95 Theses, Ryrie spends a lot of ink on the modern world, especially in non-European contexts. He gets to Billy Graham on page 300 out of 467! You won’t find this book dragging on, but he does go into enough detail to explain (for example) just what the difference between Reformed and Lutheran Protestants is. Though he is a lay minister in the Church of England, Ryrie manages to avoid making this book a hagiography of Protestants: he covers the religion’s role in the American Civil War, Nazism, and South African Apartheid with only limited slip-ups (while discussing the Nazi’s bowdlerized Bible and its failure to excise all Jewish elements, he remarks that there are just some things Scripture won’t allow itself to say. Yech). (4.5/5) 31. Northern Renaissance Art, by Susie Nash I honestly never thought an art history could be this interesting! Nash focuses on art not as an aesthetic or intellectual thing but as something human: she talks about the economics of its production, the artists’ sales techniques, and how art owners would display and use the pieces. The sections on guild politics and practices were highlights, as were her diversions to the finely specified contracts made for art-to-order. The huge amount of good-quality pictures make this a no brainer (if you’re up for 15th century Burgundian and German art). (5/5) 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (31/80) 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. Where Am I Now? 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). Njal’s Saga 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) Priestdaddy 8. Read something written before you were born. fantomas versus the multinational vampires 10. Read something translated from another language. A History of Violence — bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. Read something political. The Violent American Century 15. Read something involving history. How Paris Became Paris 17. Read something about religion. - The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. The Fifth Season — bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person Mister B. Gone 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Technically Wrong — bonus: Read something about hunger The Hellbound Heart 22. Read something about the future. Leviathan Wakes
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Apr 2, 2018 03:59
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I missed the March play challenge but it inspired me to check my kindle and I apparently already have these Shakespeare plays: - The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus - As You Like It - Twelfth Night - Othello - A Midsummer Night's Dream I studied A Midsummer Night's Dream in school and am familiar with it but not sure I've ever read or seen the others - any recommendations?
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Apr 2, 2018 09:56
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Robot Mil posted:I missed the March play challenge but it inspired me to check my kindle and I apparently already have these Shakespeare plays: Othello if you're in the mood for a pretty strong tragedy. Twelfth Night is crazy genderbending love triangles and probably one of the best of Shakespeare's comedies. As You Like It is ... eh. Some people like it more than me, I guess? I would not recommend attempting to read Titus Andronicus. Depending on your view it's either aged really badly or it's the greatest work of slapstick violence trolling in literary history. Either way, kinda difficult.
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Apr 2, 2018 12:18
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So this is the tentative schedule for the challenge weeks, to give anyone who wants to participate time to check out books or ask for recs: week beginning... April 9 - short story April 23 - poetry May 7 - biography May 21 - a book published before you were born June 4 - LGBT author June 18 - something involving music July 8 - translated work July 23 - something about the future August 6 - something about history August 20 - something from non-trad perspective September 10 - something about religion September 24 - banned book October 8 - something involving Maslow's hierarchy October 22 - something published 2018 Also new BotM poll: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3853305&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
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Apr 2, 2018 17:38
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Ben Nevis posted:1. Djinn City by Saad Hossein A busy month with 7 books. No real downers, and no one should be surprised by the high point of Lincoln in the Bardo. Goodbye, Vitamin also proved to be quite good. The Mannequin Makers and The Night Market were winners as well, The Night Market surprisingly so. I did not do well with minority representation this month. I'll probably have to make a concerted effort to read more inclusive this coming month. The only challenge this month I can cross off is #5, but I'm glad I did it this month. And if you really want to know, 18, 19 and 20 here show some of what makes me grab books from the library and a few concepts that I always find intriguing. Any recs along those lines would be welcome. 15. Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong - Saw this on a few Best of 2017 Lists. After a bad breakup, Ruth moves home to help her mother with her father's newly diagnosed Alzheimer's. This was surprisingly humorous and warm but still felt authentic. It might not surprise you to learn there's a lot of ruminations on memory as well as trying to come to term with parents as people. I enjoyed this. 16. Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder - A very different sort of sci-fi. A basic revenge sort of tale set in a unique world. It's a fullerene sphere with small artificial suns floating through deep space. It leads to a world that's gravity free in parts, but has an atmosphere, so it's somewhere between a seagoing adventure and a space one. Really interesting and well put together there with a pretty good revenge/sea voyage type thing going on. I'll likely read the sequels when I feel like I need a space thing over the course of the year. 17. After the End of the World by Jonathan L Howard - The 2nd in the Carter and Lovecraft series. In the alternate world Carter and Lovecraft now inhabit, the Nazis either weren't so bad or no one cares. What do you do when no one knows how bad the Nazis might have been if things had broken just a different way? That's not the central conceit of the book, but an interesting question asked along the way. Mostly this is Lovecraft and Carter in a lovecraftian adventure with physics and spies. If you liked the first, I feel like you'd like this one, though it is different enough (mostly a spy-type novel) than the first that it's not assured. 18. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders- Hey this is great, you should have read it with the BotM. Funny and remarkably sentimental at times. Just a great read. If you do read it check out the BotM thread, there's some good thoughts. 19. The Night Market by Jonathan Moore - I'd grabbed this wanting something light here and the concept of a "night market" has always been fascinating to me. I mean that in the sense of a hidden market selling things beyond our ken. This turns out not to be about that at all. Rather it's a near future cop thriller and a scathing critique of capitalism. This wound up significantly better than expected. 20. The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen - Like the idea of a night market, circuses as a place or phenomenon that bends reality is an idea that really captures my imagination. So I grabbed this based largely on that. Apparently Jane Yolen is a beloved modern folklorist. I was not aware of this. Most of the stories in this collection are retellings or otherwise spins inspired by well known folk tales. Also Arthurian legend. These were well done, they just didn't resonate with me. If you like that sort of thing, this could be for you. 21. The Mannequin Makers by Craig Cliff - Like night markets or circuses, the idea of creating simulacra is something that really catches my fancy. This book caters to that, as a good bit is about trying to make art lifelike and vice versa. I felt the ending didn't really uphold that aspect as much as I'd like. Still this was a good novel that I enjoyed. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge - 21/80 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 8/14 — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you: 7 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/6 — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you: 4 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. — bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). - Lincoln in the Bardo — bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. — bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. Read something written before you were born. — bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). - The Night Market — bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 10. Read something translated from another language. - For Isabel, A Mandala — bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. Read something political. — bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. — bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. Read a collection of short stories. - Dreams of Falling and Flying — bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors - 2 14. Read a play. — bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. — bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. — bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. — bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. — bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. — bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. — bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. — bonus: Read something about hunger 22. Read something about the future. - Punch Escrow — bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Apr 3, 2018 |
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Apr 2, 2018 18:31
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Only four books this month. I started a new job, and the semester begins in March here in Korea. It was a hell of a month, but I still managed to get through enough. They were short, but all were good. 8. Wonder - R.J. Palacio. A feel good story. I've seen the movie and read the book for some tutoring I've been doing. It was enjoyable. 9. The Man with the Compound Eyes - Wu Ming-Yi. This was given to me by Safety Biscuits as part of the Secret Santa. I really really enjoyed this, having visited Taiwan in the past. It was a good look at how people are messing things up and polluting the nature all around us. It really made me want to visit Taiwan again, especially the Eastern areas that are mentioned in the book. 10. Tree of Codes - Jonathan Safran Foer. Interesting book. I picked this up through my university's ILL system. I'm going to use it to read more of these non-traditional books, as getting print books like this in Korea is expensive. 11. Macbeth - William Shakespeare. The first play I've ever read that I can recall. It was awesome. I tried to listen to the audio production but keeping everything in order in my head was complicated. Reading it was quite fun, and I really enjoyed it. I understand why it is one of the greatest now. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 12/40, 30% 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. 4/12, 33% — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you. 3/4, 75% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 3/12, 25% — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3/3, 100% 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author. 0 — bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors 0/12, 0% — bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it.The Marquise of O- and Other Stories by Heinrich von Kleist — bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) Beloved - Toni Morrison. My wife told me to read this the other day. — bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). — bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) — bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language — bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. — bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. Read a collection of short stories. — bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. — bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. Read something involving history. — bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. Read something biographical. — bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. — bonus: Read a major religious text — bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. Read something that has been banned, censored, or challenged. — bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. — bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. — bonus: Read something about hunger 22. Read something about the future. — bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year
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Apr 3, 2018 06:18
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Way less in February than in March -- work's been crazy and Holy Week took up even more of my time than I was anticipating. I'm hoping April gives me a chance to read a bit more. I have a few things in progress right now but I'm not super excited about any of them. Here's what I read from March 5 onward: 55. 100 Nights of Hero - Isabel Greenberg (5/5) Lesbian graphic novel inspired by 1001 Nights. I absolutely loved this. 56. Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon (2/5) This book was so bad. 57. Indecent - Paula Vogel (5/5) Saw this on stage, absolutely loved it, loved it in print. 58. Ooku, Vol. 7 - Fumi Yoshinaga (4/5) Really interesting alternate history manga about gender and politics and stuff. Looking forward to reading more -- although I didn't realize quite how long the series was when I started! 59. My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness - Nagata Kabi (4/5) Graphic memoir. Relatable and heartbreaking. 60. The Best We Could Do - Thi Bui (4/5) Memoir/family history about refugees, immigration, and family ties. I loved the art. 61. So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo (3/5) A really solid introductory primer on race and privilege in the US. The sort of book I'd recommend someone give their mom. 62. Tiny Pretty Things - Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton (4/5) Trashy soapy YA novel about a ballet school in Manhattan. Exactly what I needed to read when I read it. 63. Shiny Broken Pieces - Sona Charaipotra & Dhonielle Clayton (3/5) The sequel. I didn't like it as much because it got a little too off the rails -- the girls got a little too terrible for it to be at all realistic. 64. That Inevitable Victorian Thing - E.K. Johnston (4/5) Fun and queer alternate history novel that takes place in a really interesting world. The characters were engaging, but I really found the world much more interesting and want to read more stories in it. 65. The Masked City - Genevieve Cogman (4/5) The next installment in the Invisible Library series. Enjoyable, fun, and smart, just like the precedent the first book set. 66. Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang (5/5) An amazing collection of short stories; I wish I had read this years before. Highly, highly, highly recommend. 67. Ooku, Vol. 2 - Fumi Yoshinaga (3/5) 68. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy - Nova Jacobs (3/5) Fun math-centered puzzle thriller novel. Worth the time I took to read it, and I'll definitely check out the author's future books. 69. The Burning Page - Genevieve Cogman (3/5) And now, my Book Lord progress. Books can count for regular and bonus challenges, but not more than one challenge on the same tier. The first four are obvious exceptions. In situations where I read more than one book by an author who is new to me, only the first book I read is counted as being by a new author. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: 69/100 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. Currently at 83% non-male authors and 88% books by non-male authors. — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 70% of the non-male authors I've read are new to me; 58% of the books I've read by non-male authors have been by authors new to me. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. Currently at 55% authors of color. — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 90% of the authors of color I've read are new to me; 62% of the books I've read by authors of color have been by authors new to me. 4. — bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors I'm not actively tracking queer authors, but I'm definitely well over this. 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). — bonus: 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. — bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) 8. — bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. — bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) 10. —bonus: Read something that isn't in your primary language 11. — bonus: 12. Read a poetry collection. — bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets 13. — bonus: 14. Read a play. — bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years 15. — bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. 16. — bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. — bonus: Read a major religious text 18. — bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person 19. — bonus: 20. Read something about music. — bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. — bonus: Read something about hunger 22. — bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year
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Apr 3, 2018 15:37
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March! 16. Venas Abiertas de América Latina. Eduardo Galeano. Usually, history is told by the winners, in cases like this, it's told by the losers. When a book tells you the history of the theft of culture, people and resources, you can't help to feel angry. 17. City of Illusions. Ursula K. Le Guin. A beautiful tale of a lonely man in a lonely world trying to find himself. Some characters are lacking, but it's a very good chapter in the Hainish cycle. 18. Dhalgren. Samuel R. Delaney. A very difficult book to read... the plot is almost nonsensical and it was hard to find any story. Then again, the world built inside is quite interesting. 19. Anathem. Neal Stephenson. A really fun story inside a mix of philosophy, science fiction, and fantasy. The characters were pretty good and even the slow parts had something good in them. 20. New Spring. Robert Jordan. A prequel in the Wheel of Time series, it would be better if it wasn't connected to the bigger series. Also, it's kind of slow to get to the point, instead, it showers us with references to other characters or weird cameos of people we are going to meet in the normal books. Still, kind of fun. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: (15/60) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women. (4/12) — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. (6/12) — bonus: Of these make sure half are by authors new to you — bonus: Make sure 10% of the books you read this year are by LGBT authors (3/6) 5. Participate in the TBB BotM thread at least once in 2018 (thread stickied each month at the top of the forum). — bonus: Participate in the SHAMEFUL The Greatest Books You've Never Read thread 6. Ask another poster to issue you a wildcard, then read it. — bonus: Similarly, get a wildcard from another thread in this forum 7. Get a recommendation from a friend or loved one. — bonus: Read literally the first in-person book recommendation you get in 2018 (solicited or not) — bonus: Read a book written/published the exact year you were born 9. Read a book published in 2018 (or if you're eager to start early, the latter half of 2017). — bonus: Read something that wins an award in 2018, but only after it is announced (i.e. don't apply retroactively) — bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in 12. Read a poetry collection. — bonus: Read poems by at least 10 different poets — bonus: Read short stories by at least 10 different authors 14. Read a play. — bonus: Read a play first published in the last 10 years — bonus: Read something about a (nonfictional) war that didn't involve the U.S. — bonus: Read something biographical about someone you've met/seen in person 17. Read something about religion. — bonus: Read a major religious text 18. Read something from a non-traditional perspective. — bonus: Read something narrated in the 2nd person — bonus: Read something currently banned, censored, or challenged in its country of origin 20. Read something about music. — bonus: Read something about a genre of music you're explicitly not a fan of 21. Read something that involves Maslow's hierarchy of needs. — bonus: Read something about hunger — bonus: Read something about a future that takes place before the current year
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Apr 6, 2018 03:57
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A longer commute and shorter work hours made March a good reading month for me. The Color Purple - I had no idea this was a gay book. The Master and Margarita - I put off reading this book for ages because I knew I would love it. I wish I had bought a hard copy instead an ebook though, so I could have flipped back and forth to the translation notes. Waiting for the Barbarians - My history and geography knowledge are too weak to tell whether this book is supposed to be anchored in a specific place and time. For some reason, not knowing negatively affected my enjoyment of the story. Under Satan’s Sun - Unreliable narrators, overwhelming obsessions, mental aberrations, and a meeting with the devil - some of my favorite ingredients in a novel. I loved this, but I think I lost a lot reading it in translation. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite novels, so I don’t know why it took me so long to read this one. Jackson’s characters and the horror driven by their isolation and neuroses are so compelling to me. We Love You Charlie Freeman - I picked this up because the description of the book reminded me of Get Out. It did not disappoint. A Raisin in the Sun Sweat Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - This was an entertaining and approachable little piece of satire. It was so approachable that it often felt like young adult fiction, but the messages were clearly aimed at adults. Maybe there was just less division between what children and adults read back then. The Cipher - I found the prose offputting and the characters tiresome, but the horror was still effective. Challenges completed: 6, 8, 11 (and bonus), 13, 14 (and bonus),15, 17, 19, 22 (and bonus)
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Apr 9, 2018 06:37
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Esme posted:We Love You Charlie Freeman - I picked this up because the description of the book reminded me of Get Out. It did not disappoint. Wasn't this book so good? I read it basically in one sitting earlier this year, and I'm so glad I did. It was so much more than it could have been.
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Apr 10, 2018 18:25
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Chamberk posted:Your wildcard should be The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. Whoops, missed this. I... will try. Historically I haven't really enjoyed James so I'm already kind of guarded about the idea, but hey that's the point of a reading challenge, right?! Esme posted:We Love You Charlie Freeman - I picked this up because the description of the book reminded me of Get Out. It did not disappoint. nerdpony posted:Wasn't this book so good? I read it basically in one sitting earlier this year, and I'm so glad I did. It was so much more than it could have been. I'm just gonna go on faith and add this book to my reading list right now.
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Apr 10, 2018 19:26
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2018 Reading Challenge Theme Week #4 - Challenge no. 13: Read short stories A day late on this one. Technically the challenge is "read a collection of short stories" with the bonus challenge being "read short stories by at least 10 different authors" so you can start on either (or both, depending on the collection) this week. Tons of authors have short story collections or else just one-off short stories floating around. Here is a newly discovered Kurt Vonnegut short story the Atlantic published last year, and here's a bunch by forum favorite George Saunders (scroll down to the "Fiction" tag). I've always enjoyed the Best American series, which includes collections of short stories, science fiction and nonrequired reading (which has a mix but typically has a few short stories), and has featured in recent years authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Louise Erdrich, Karen Russell and the aforementioned Saunders. I am going to be reading the latest of their short story collections this week in between chapters of heavier novels. As always, just talk about what you're planning to read and any good stuff you've read in the past. -- Next theme week is going to be poetry on April 23rd
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Apr 10, 2018 19:54
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I recently read Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others and really, really enjoyed it. Although I usually read fairly quickly, it took me about two weeks to get through this (with other stuff in between), just because I wanted to sit with the stories for a while. If you saw the movie Arrival, you'll recognize one of the stories. I'm currently reading Daniel Mallory Ortberg's The Merry Spinster and Nalo Hopkinson's Falling in Love with Hominids and liking both. If anyone in this thread reads YA romance and wants to knock out both the challenge and the bonus in one go, Meet Cute is a really sweet anthology of YA romance short stories. I haven't read them yet, but my partner has recently read and loved Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova.
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Apr 11, 2018 21:56
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I've read a couple short story collections this year, and the stand out was Tales of Falling and Flying by Ben Loory. They're all pretty short, many just a couple pages. They're mostly sort of fables or parables with some rough overall themes. They really just sort of suck you in and I kept going, "Oh, just one more..." Last year the winner was What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah. Most of the stories focus on recent immigrants or divided families. There's a touch of magical realism running through it all. They're very good. Ben Nevis fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Apr 11, 2018 |
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Apr 11, 2018 22:28
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nerdpony posted:I haven't read them yet, but my partner has recently read and loved Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova. Read the Doll's Alphabet in February and enjoyed it. It was actually recommended by a book store clerk when I was buying What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi, which was similarly really good (and was cool in that there were certain throughlines to the stories which was different from most short story collections) Ben Nevis posted:Last year the winner was Was it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah. Most of the stories focus on recent immigrants or divided families. There's a touch of magical realism running through it all. They're very good. I actually just had my hold release on this, which I didn't think would happen since I was like 8th in line earlier in the week. So it looks like I am going to be reading this along with the Best American one. Glad to hear it's good!
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Apr 11, 2018 22:48
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My go-to recommendation for short stories is Etgar Keret. He's very similar to Kafka and Vonnegut, though his prose is closer to the latter. Strange short stories that are bittersweet, sometimes vulgar, usually optimistic. The stories themselves aren't complex, but they're very imaginative and are fun to think about. He's also just a funny neat guy in general. There's a video--well, it seems to have been erased from the internet now--where he attended a reading where the authors were dared to do something dangerous. He decided to smoke a joint on stage while reading his stories. It's a funny video. All of his collections are great, but his newest collection Suddenly, a Knock on the Door is as good of a place as ever. I tend to buy Complete Short Story collections. I can't imagine why anyone would spend $15 on a single collection instead of $16 for every short story the author wrote. Some collections I have that I recommend: Hemmingway, Flannery O'Conner, Raymond Carver, and Borges of course. I also love horror, which is almost always best served as a short story. Good horror short stories (beyond the obvious King) is Clive Barker, Thomas Ligotti, Joyce Carol Oates, Nathan Ballingrud, Joe R. Lansdale. George Saunders is another good one. Pynchon's short story collection Slow Learner is very interesting, but only if you're already a fan. I have quite a few collections to pick from. Dunno which I'll pick. Though admittedly I haven't really had the reading schedule to stick with these Weeks.
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Apr 11, 2018 23:03
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I just remembered that one of my favorite books I read last year is technically a collection of short stories (it's basically a novel, though) -- The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra. Really tightly connected short stories about life in the Soviet Union and Russia/the former USSR. It was really good and I highly recommend it.
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Apr 12, 2018 14:39
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I'm gonna read a motherfucking Donald Barthelme collection for this challenge.
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Apr 12, 2018 20:16
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Franchescando, have you read Revenge by Yoko Ogawa? That seems like something you might enjoy.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:22
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I have not! It looks good. Any specific reason why it may be a good fit for me?
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Apr 12, 2018 21:27
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The stories are fairly dark and all work to create sort of an eerie, macabre world that is sort of horror-adjacent, so I thought that would appeal.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:43
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Ben Nevis posted:The stories are fairly dark and all work to create sort of an eerie, macabre world that is sort of horror-adjacent, so I thought that would appeal. Well thank you! I added it to my list and will pick it up next time I want some horror short stories.
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Apr 12, 2018 21:45
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Ben Nevis posted:Franchescando, have you read Revenge by Yoko Ogawa? That seems like something you might enjoy. I love this book and I've given it to multiple people in this thread as a wildcard. The Diving Pool is also great.
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Apr 15, 2018 13:58
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Sorry bit late with this one! March wasn't a great reading month for me as I was focusing on finishing It. Previous books 1. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman 2. Blindness by Jose Saramago 3. Last to Die by Tess Gerritson 4. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up by Marie Kondo 5. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto 6. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman 7 & 8. Ice Cold and The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritson 9. Eat Up by Ruby Tandoh 10. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann March update 11. It by Steven King - A classic horror but one I haven't read since I was a teenager. Still genuinely creepy in parts although the racism, violence against women and random shoehorned in kids having sex has aged badly. I always find the endings of Stephen King books a bit disappointing and this wasn't an exception. 12. The Birdwoman's Palate by Laksmi Pumantjak - Beautifully descriptive book merging a slightly random storyline about Asian bird flu with an obsession with food. The two things didn't really work very well together. 13. Women and Power by Mary Beard - very short as it's really just two speeches/lectures by Mary Beard. It would have been nice for some of the themes to be investigated and explored in more detail but I guess that wasn't what this book was for. In any case, highly interesting and illuminating. I've already read some short stories but Revenge by Yoko Ogawa looks right up my horror loving alley. Booklord challenges completed: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge: 13/40 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by women: 9/13 (70%) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are written by someone non-white. 4/13 (31%) 4. Read at least one book by an LGBT author: Eat Up 8. Read something written before you were born: The Magic Mountain 9. Read a book published in 2018: Eat Up 10. Read something translated from another language: Kitchen & Blindness 13. Read a collection of short stories: Norse Mythology
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Apr 15, 2018 17:22
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For those of you planning on doing bonus challenge 9, the Pulitzer Prizes were announced today: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/business/media/pulitzer-prize-winners.html quote:FICTION
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Apr 17, 2018 00:40
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Hm, procrastinating on reading The Gulf may pay off for me!
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Apr 17, 2018 04:15
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2018 Reading Challenge Theme Week #5 - Challenge no. 12: Read a poetry collection April is National Poetry Month so for the last full week, let's read some poetry! I don't have a ton of experience with poetry myself although thanks to these challenges I've started reading more. My first foray was with Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red which I really dug and since then I've checked out several of her collections and not been disappointed. Earlier in the year I also read Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith which I thought was powerful and sad. For this week, I picked up The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded by Molly McCully Brown as well as Aniara by Harry Martinson, which I'm pretty sure I saw recc'ed somewhere on this subforum. There's also a brand new Poetry thread to discuss and get suggestions which I recommend checking out
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Apr 23, 2018 15:22
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I'm looking a bit ahead in my reading list, and I need some suggestions on: 11. Read something political. — bonus: Read something political from/about a country you aren't from and don't currently live in I don't ever really read any political fiction or non-fiction so I have no idea where to start. I'm not absolutely dedicated to doing the Bonus as well, but for reference I'm in the US, and I imagine there's tons of good books on non-US politics I've never heard of.
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Apr 23, 2018 19:28
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