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I'll aim for 32; I suppose I'll aim for the booklord, though the color thing does give me pause.
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Jan 9, 2021 16:08
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:46 |
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And here we are at the end of the month already... 1. We Ride Upon Sticks - Quan Barry 2. Deacon King Kong - James McBride 3. A Children's Bible - Lydia Millet 4. Telephone - Percival Everett 5. The Searcher - Tana French 6. No Ordinary Time - Doris Kearns Goodwin I did not so much do anything related to the booklord challenge, but I read some good stuff. The first four books were for the Tournament of Books, which is always something I dig into near the beginning of the year to catch up on books from the last year. The cream of the crop was Deacon King Kong, which begins with a drunk deacon shooting a drug dealer in the head right in front of their Brooklyn housing project. The book then expands to the entire community - the church members, the police, the drug dealer's suppliers, etc.- and is a rollicking good read. The other highlight was No Ordinary Time, a biography of 5 years in the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt as they guided the country through World War II. They're both incredibly interesting people, and this book focused on an aspect of the war that I never really considered - how the mobilization for WWII affected the United States on so many social and economic levels. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (6/32) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 66% (Barry, Millet, French, Goodwin) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 50% (Barry, McBride, Everett) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. (None that I know of...) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. Read something recommended to you by a friend or loved one. 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. Read something in translation. 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. Read something about a monster. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. Read something historical about a place you've never visited. 15. Read something set in the recent past. - We Ride Upon Sticks (1980s) 16. Read something from a non-human perspective. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. Read a collaboration between two or more authors. 19. Read something about games. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21. Read something by a writer who spent time incarcerated.
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Jan 30, 2021 17:20
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clamcake posted:6. Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica - Icky dystopia novel about a world where cannibalism is normalized because people believe all animals carry a lethal disease or something and apparently they never heard they can eat beans or vegetables? I don’t know. The writer didn’t explain the world all that well. A lot of gory shock value, if that's your thing. But it didn't offer much else for my taste Rumor has it the author is a militant vegan who wrote that book to prove to people that eating meat is bad.
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Feb 2, 2021 03:43
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February! 7. The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett 8. Or What You Will - Jo Walton 9. Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse 10.The Cactus League - Emily Nemens 11. Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart 12. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab 13. Ring Shout - P. Djeli Clark Funnily enough, pretty much all books from February were published in 2020. Guess I had a bunch of library books come in this month. Among the highlights were Black Sun, the beginning of a fantasy series that has a Native American basis (rather than the European castles castles-n-knights flavor of fantasy); The Cactus League, a series of connected short stories centered around a baseball team's spring training; and Shuggie Bain, an absolutely devastating but beautifully written story about a young man growing up queer in Glasgow with an alcoholic mother. I also have to shout out P. Djeli Clark, whose novellas have been these wonderful alt-history adventures that are wildly creative--Ring Shout imagines an America in which the KKK is calling in other-dimensional demons to terrorize the South. He's got a full-length novel coming out in May and I'm excited to read it. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (13/32) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 66% (Bennett, Walton, Roanhorse, Nemens, Schwab) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 50% (Bennett, Roanhorse, Clark) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 6% (Stuart) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. Read something recommended to you by a friend or loved one. 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. Read something in translation. 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. Read something about a monster. - Ring Shout 13. Read an essay collection. 14. Read something historical about a place you've never visited. 15. Read something set in the recent past. - Shuggie Bain (1980s) 16. Read something from a non-human perspective. - Or What You Will 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. Read a collaboration between two or more authors. 19. Read something about games. - The Cactus League 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21. Read something by a writer who spent time incarcerated.
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Mar 6, 2021 15:53
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March! 15. American Elsewhere - Robert Jackson Bennett 16. Leave the World Behind - Rumaan Alam 17. Spangle - Gary Jennings 18. Memorial - Brian Washington 19. The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie 20. The Haunting of Tram Car 105 - P. Djeli Clark 21. Selected Works of T.S. Spivet - Reif Larsen 22. Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift 23. The Once and Future King - T.H. White 24. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien This was probably one of my most productive months of reading, and I finished some huge ones -"Spangle" I'd been working on since November, and OAFK is a favorite but clocks in at over 650 pages. (There were a few short ones as well - the Clark was about 80 pages, more of a novella, and Leave the World Behind, ABC Murders, and Memorial were all less than 300 pages.) Standouts were Once and Future King (one I always go back to, a gorgeous and lovely retelling of the Arthurian legend from a 20th century perspective), Haunting of Tram Car 015 (short, fun alt-history-fantasy about a haunted tram car in Cairo), and Spangle (a massive tome about the adventures of a circus in the 19th century). 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (24/50) (EXPANDED to 50) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 45% (Christie) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 41% (Alam, Washington, Clark) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 13% (Washington, White) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. Read something recommended to you by a friend or loved one. 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. Read something in translation. 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. Read something historical about a place you've never visited. - Gulliver's Travels  15. 16. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. Read a collaboration between two or more authors. 19. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21. Read something by a writer who spent time incarcerated. Humerus posted:By any chance have you read her other fantasy books, Trail of Lightning is the first? I read it last year and it didn't wow me but I was considering this one since it sounds good and is well received. But so was Trail of Lightning and it didn't do it for me. Have not, but given that I enjoyed Black Sun, it would be worth checking out... Chamberk fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Apr 1, 2021 |
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Mar 31, 2021 23:13
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April, May, and June... 25. Speedboat - Renata Adler 26. Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro 27. The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald 28. The Tiger’s Wife - Tea Obreht 29. The Cold Millions - Jess Walter 30. The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien 31. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 32. The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien 33. The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien 34. Diary of a Country Priest - Georges Bernanos 35. Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo 36. Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett 37. Cantoras - Carolina de Robertis 38. The Once & Future Witches - Alix E Harrow 39. In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez 40. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - Becky Chambers 41. Moby-Dick - Herman Melville 42. The Golem & the Jinni - Helene Wecker 43. The Death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi 44. Conversation in the Cathedral - Mario Vargas Llosa 45. The Road - John Ehle 46. Hamnet - Maggie O’Farrell 47. A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles 48. Version Control - Dexter Palmer 49. The Hidden Palace - Helene Wecker 50. Unbroken - Lauren Hillebrand 51. All God's Children - Aaron Gwyn 52. The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry 53. Salvage the Bones - Jesmyn Ward Continued to do a lot of reading, now that my grad school work finished up. Can’t say I made much progress towards the BookLord goal, but I reread some great ones (Moby-Dick, LOTR) and found some good new ones. Highlights included: -The Cold Millions: a story about two brothers in the labor movement of the 1910s, interspersed with the POVs of people who interact with them; smart and well-written -Cantoras: about a group of lesbian women who find a hideaway in 1970s-1980s Uruguay -Red Harvest: a private investigator basically gets every crooked cop and criminal in an industrial town to kill each other, v. hardboiled -Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom: a fun fantasy heist duology, not great, but fun -The Golem and the Jinni (reread) and The Hidden Palace: an old favorite and its new sequel - both are lovely reads with good characters and a real sense of place -All God's Children - a western set in the founding days of Texas, follows an escaped slave and a frontiersman as the territory becomes a possession of the U.S. -Version Control - a very odd sci-fi "time travel" book that has a lot of interesting insights into life - from the guy who did last year's brilliant "Mary Toft; or, the Rabbit Queen" -Unbroken - a great story of survival about a WWII bomber that goes down and the Olympic runner who survives the crash and drifts into Japanese territory to become a prisoner of war 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (53/100) (EXPANDED to 100) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 42% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 26% 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 8% (Emezi, de Robertis, Chambers) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. Read something recommended to you by a friend or loved one. - Diary of a Country Priest 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. Read something in translation. - Diary of a Country Priest, Conversation in the Cathedral 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. 15. 16. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. Read a collaboration between two or more authors. 19. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21. Read something by a writer who spent time incarcerated.
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Jun 28, 2021 20:29
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Ben Nevis posted:I could use a wildcard if anyone has one. How about "Skippy Dies" by Paul Murray? If that turns out to be too long, "The Animators" by Kayla Rae Whitaker.
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Jul 2, 2021 03:08
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July and August- in the middle of September of course... 54. A Master of Djinn - P. Djeli Clark 55. Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens 56. The Dragon Waiting - John M. Ford 57. Jade City (Green Bone #1) - Fonda Lee 58. Night Train to Turkistan - Stuart Stevens 59. Slapstick - Kurt Vonnegut 60. The Sweetness of Water - Nathan Harris 61. Jade War (Green Bone #2) - Fonda Lee 62. Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek - Annie Dillard 63. The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak 64. The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay 65. The Murmur of Bees - Sofia Segovia 66. The Witch Boy - Molly Ostertag 67. Long Distance - Wendy Gardner 68. Wanderers - Chuck Wendig 69. Master & Commander - Patrick O’Brien 70. A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik 71. The Night Watchman - Louise Erdrich 72. Omensetter’s Luck - William Gass 73. A Little Hatred (Age of Madness #1) - Joe Abercrombie 74. March (vol 1) - John Lewis (et al) 75. March (vol 2) - John Lewis (et al) At this point, I do not think I'll get my Booklord done this year; the color thing seemed to defeat me. That being said, I read some great stuff: -A Master of Djinn - as someone mentioned above, it's awesome to see Clark's imagination in a novel-length work. He is great at world-creation, though his mystery bona fides aren't quite as strong. Still, a very enjoyable read. -The Dragon Waiting - an alternate history book about Richard III, the Byzantine Empire, the Medicis, and magic. Weirdly constructed, but utterly compelling. Driven to read this by this article: https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/john-ford-science-fiction-fantasy-books.html -the Green Bone books (Jade City, Jade War) - a really enjoyable fantasy/gangster/kung-fu series with a lot of family drama and cool martial arts poo poo. -March - John Lewis was a loving hero and this was a really cool presentation of his story. -The Night Watchman - Erdrich rarely disappoints. -rereads: Book Thief, Lions of Al-Rassan, and the first book of Age of Madness (which I have since finished) 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (75/100) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 40% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 27% 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 6% (Ostertag) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. Read something recommended to you by a friend or loved one. - Omensetter's Luck 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. Read something in translation. - The Murmur of Bees 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. 15. 16. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. Read a collaboration between two or more authors. - March 19. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21. Read something by a writer who spent time incarcerated. - March
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Sep 18, 2021 22:15
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September! 76. Middlegame - Seanan McGuire 77. March (vol 3) - John Lewis (et al) 78. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 79. The Intuitionist - Colson Whitehead 80. Sorcerer of the Wildeeps - Kai Ashante Wilson 81. The Trouble with Peace (Age of Madness #2) - Joe Abercrombie 82. The President and the Frog - Carolina de Robertis 83. The Book of Daniel - E.L. Doctorow 84. The Wisdom of Crowds (Age of Madness #3) - Joe Abercrombie 85. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides Aside from some solid rereads (Of Mice and Men, Middlesex) the main thing that stood out for me was the Age of Madness - Joe Abercrombie can write a solid, thrilling fantasy series. I may have some quibbles but overall it delivered on the goods. Now, to reread the majority of the Terra Ignota series in preparation for ITS final book! 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (85/100) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 36% (McGuire, Robertis) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 25% (Whitehead, Lewis) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 5% (Wilson. Robertis) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) 6. 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. 15. 16. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. 19. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21.
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Oct 4, 2021 22:11
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 19:46 |
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October and November... 86. Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1) - Ada Palmer 87. The Night Manager - John LeCarre 88. The Lincoln Highway - Amor Towles (L) 89. Harlem Shuffle - Colson Whitehead (L) 90. Matrix - Lauren Groff (L) 91. The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones 92. Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney (L) 93. Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon 94. Seven Surrenders (Terra Ignota #2) - Ada Palmer 95. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix (L) 96. Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo 97. The Last Graduate (Scholomance #2) - Naomi Novik (L) 98. Night Boat to Tangier - Kevin Barry 99. Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (L) 100. Brothers of the Wind (Last King of Osten Ard 2.5) - Tad Williams 101. The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota #3) - Ada Palmer 102. Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen 103. Future Home of the Living God - Louise Erdrich 104. The Final Revival of Opal and Nev - Dawnie Wilson (L) 105. Perhaps the Stars (Terra Ignota #4) - Ada Palmer 106. Outlawed - Anna North (L) 107. The Truth (Discworld) - Terry Pratchett 108. When the Tiger Comes Down the Mountain - Nghi Vo Got enough read, of course - standouts include the new Franzen, the rest of the Terra Ignota series, the Groff, and the Kevin Barry. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. (108/100) 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 20% of them are not written by men. 39% (Palmer, Groff, Acevedo, Erdrich, Wilson, Novik, North, Vo) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 20% of them are written by writers of colour. 25% (Whitehead, Lewis) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 5% of them are written by LGBT writers. 5% (Erdrich, Vo, Jones) 5. Read books whose titles include all the colours of the rainbow. (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) ...nope, this ain't happening. 6. 7. Ask someone in this thread for a Wildcard, and read it. 8. Read something that's out of print. 9. 10. Read some poetry. 11. Read some short stories. 12. 13. Read an essay collection. 14. 15. 16. 17. Read something about the ocean. 18. 19. 20. Read a bestseller from the week/month you were born. 21.
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Dec 4, 2021 02:04
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