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Welcome one and all to the 2023 TBB Reading Challenge & Booklord Challenge! We've got a few tweaks for you this year to make things a little more flexible and (I hope) accessible, while still keeping plenty of options to make the challenge as, well, challenging as you want it to be. You'll notice there are fewer specific prompts than previous years, but there's also the addition of an entirely new category called THEMES. But what's the gist of the TBB Reading Challenge and Booklord Challenge? Primarily, it's to read more and read more broadly! To join in, just tell us your personal Reading Challenge (maybe it's a specific number of books, specific books, or something else!) and whether you'd like to attempt completing the FULL BOOKLORD CHALLENGE (using ALL the prompts below). Then get reading, and post updates here through the year. However much or whatever you aim to read, you're welcome to join. 2023 BOOKLORD CHALLENGE PROMPTS 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 25% of them are not written by men. 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 25% of them are written by writers of color. 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 8% of them are written by LGBTQ writers. 5. Read something that is not a novel (i.e. a play, a poetry collection, a comic/manga, etc.) 6. Borrow something to read (from a friend, a loved one, a library, etc.) 7. Lend or recommend a book to someone (tell the thread what you lended/recommended!) 8. Read something over 400 pages 9. Read something by an author with the same or similar name as you (can be just first, middle, last, a nickname, whatever) 10. Read a work in translation 11. Read something that someone you know HATES 12. Read something about books 13. Ask the thread for a Wildcard 14. Read a book published the year you turned 23 years old (if you're somehow younger than that, read a book published the year you turned 13) THEMES Themes are new this year, and entirely optional! They're not regular prompts like you see above, but you could treat them like extra prompts if you like! Or you could use them as an addition or modification to the prompts above. They're just here for some extra inspiration, so feel free to use them (or ignore them) however works for you. - Surreal - Adventure - Informational - Uplifting - Tragic - Seasonal - Scary - Comforting - Celestial - Chthonic Use this form to join the challenge and let us know your goals: Name: Personal Challenge: Booklord 2023? (Yes or No) SOME TIPS FOR READING MORE! These are just a few things I started doing that helped me read a lot more (and I've seen a lot of similar tips elsewhere). I seriously went from reading 1-2 books a year to averaging in the 75-100 a year range by doing the stuff below (and not really consciously at first -- and some of it might have started as a way just to keep myself from doomscrolling -- but it did work!). See if any of these might help you out! - Find the right format(s). If hard copies feel like a hassle, ebooks and audiobooks might be a good fit for you. Try them out if you haven't! - If it sucks, put it down! Remember that you don't have to finish a book you're not enjoying! It's a lot easier to read a book that you find fun or interesting! - Try reading more than one book at once. If you like a book but you're just not in the mood for it, try picking up something you are in the mood for to keep your momentum going. You can always come back to the other book later! - What are you really doing with your time? A lot of us are genuinely busy, but think about about how much time you spend mindlessly scrolling through things, watching YouTube videos of cow hoof trimming, playing a time-waster game you don't even enjoy. Listen to ebooks during your commute, open your ebook app while you're waiting for your doctor's appointment -- there are lots of little nooks in life you can use to read a few pages here and there if you keep it in mind. - Keep your books nearby. It's always easier to read when your book is right there! Put your ebook app on your homescreen, carry a paperback at all times, whatever works for you. - If you're really out of practice reading, set a comically small goal to start with. Commit to reading just one page, or even one sentence! You'll almost definitely exceed your expectations and it can be easier to build a habit when you start with low stakes. - Use an app or a notebook to keep track of what you've read and what you want to read. Scratch paper, Goodreads, Storygraph (my personal favorite), etc. Looking at what you've accomplished and what you're looking forward to can be a good way to stay engaged. - Relax! Reading for fun should be fun. (I assume you're doing this challenge for fun at least!). Even if you aren't quite meeting the goals you've set out, you're still accomplishing something!
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Jan 2, 2023 20:39
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CHALLENGER MASTERPOST (This is not a final list! There's always time to join the challenge, any time of the year.) Name: Gertrude Perkins Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? Yes Name: Heavy Metal Personal Challenge: 30 (also 8 books, 7 audiobooks, 400 comics) Booklord 2023? no Name: Humerus Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? Yes, and I'll even do a book for both my 13th and 23rd years because why not. And the themes. Name: Doc Fission Personal Challenge: 25 books (I have chosen to revisit my hubris) Booklord 2023? nope Name: TrixRabbi Personal Challenge: 52 Books Booklord 2023: Yes Name: Ben Nevis Personal Challege - 75 books Booklord 2023: Yes. Name: DanReed74 Personal Challenge: 200 books Booklord 2023: Yes Name: DurianGray Personal Challenge: 52 books Booklord 2023? Yes Name: WarpDogs Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? Yes Name: luscious Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? No Name: dijkstracula Personal challenge: 26 (specifically non-grad school related books, since my day job is sort of reading anyway) Booklord 2023? Tempting, but no Name: DrNewton Personal Challenge: 6 Booklord 2023? No Name: GoodluckJonathan Personal Challenge: 50 Booklord 2023? YES Name: bessantj Personal Challenge: 26 Booklord 2023? (Yes or No) No Name: Chococat Personal Challenge: 48 Booklord 2023: Yep Name: Papa Was A Video Toaster Personal Challenge: 1 (one) book Booklord 2023? No Name: freelop Personal challenge: 35 books Booklord 2023: Yes Name: Lawman0 Personal challenge: 25 books which is something I think I can actually complete. Name: Fellwenner Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? No. I have my reading year mostly set, but I'll take inspiration from it. Name: The Strangest Finch Personal Challenge - 52 Books Booklord 2023: Yes. Name: ENEMIES EVERYWHERE Total book goal: 60 Name: A Bakers Cousin Personal Challenge: All Booklord 2023? Yes Name: Count Thrashula Personal Challenge: 20 Booklord 2023? no Name: UwUnabomber Personal Challenge: 40 Booklord?: Sure! Name: Lord Zedd-Repulsa Personal Goal: 100 Booklord 2023? Sure! Nom de Plume: RailtraceR30 Challenge Level: 49 Booklord 2023? Hellyeah DurianGray fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Feb 11, 2023 |
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Jan 2, 2023 20:40
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One again I submit myself to the Booklord. Full challenge, all themes, number goal 52.
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Jan 2, 2023 21:34
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Name: Heavy Metal Personal Challenge: 30 Booklord 2023? no Looking forward to it! Ready for a reading comeback this year. I'm forgoing the big movie goals I've had in recent years, ready for the reading train. Books and lots of comics, some audiobooks too. On loaning books, I did just lend some Invincible (Kirkman/Walker/Ottley) to a friend, one of my favs. And a friend lent me a big stack of Saga. For my granular personal fun goals, I break it down like this: 8 books 7 audiobooks 400 comics And those comics are collected in 6 to 12 issues or chapters usually. More the merrier. So much to read. I'm looking to say finish the Punk Hazard arc and read the Dressrossa arc of One Piece, that's 120 chapters right there. I've been reading 80s Claremont X-Men forever, just tons of stuff to read. For novels, the most books I've read in a year in adulthood is 3. Though for audiobooks I've listened to more. So reading 8 paper books this year would be pretty much a world record for me. Looking to cut back on my net time to help with that too. Here we go folks!
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Jan 2, 2023 22:52
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Name: Humerus Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? Yes, and I'll even do a book for both my 13th and 23rd years because why not. And the themes. I slacked off on my reading last year so I'm going all in this year.
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Jan 2, 2023 23:42
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Name: Doc Fission Personal Challenge: 25 books (I have chosen to revisit my hubris) Booklord 2023? nope (spongebob voice) i'm ready Doc Fission fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Jan 5, 2023 |
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Jan 3, 2023 00:03
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Name: TrixRabbi Personal Challenge: 52 Books Booklord 2023: Yes For "borrow a book" I'm presuming books we've already borrowed but have been sitting unread count? Really need to chip away at that pile. Also, I may as well go ahead and request a Wildcard now so I can have it prepped.
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Jan 3, 2023 06:10
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Name: Ben Nevis Personal Challege - 75 books Booklord 2023: Yes.
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Jan 3, 2023 07:42
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Name: DanReed74 Personal Challenge: 200 books Booklord 2023: Yes I started strong last year, but fell off due to stress and health issues. Ready to give it another shot.
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Jan 4, 2023 06:36
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TrixRabbi posted:
Absolutely! No hard rules on it. I'll probably be reading a book I borrowed from a friend back in 2018 and still haven't gotten around to reading yet.
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Jan 5, 2023 03:37
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Name: WarpDogs Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? Yes
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Jan 6, 2023 03:47
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Name: luscious Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? No
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Jan 6, 2023 22:24
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Name: dijkstracula Personal challenge: 26 (specifically non-grad school related books, since my day job is sort of reading anyway) Booklord 2023? Tempting, but no
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Jan 8, 2023 17:51
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Name: DrNewton Personal Challenge: 6 Booklord 2023? No I have a learning disability and reading takes a lot of mental energy. Which is bad and embrassing considering my line of work. I just need to get into the habit again.
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Jan 10, 2023 20:41
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Oh yeah baby, I'm IN!!!!!!!! Name: GoodluckJonathan Personal Challenge: 50 Booklord 2023? YES
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Jan 12, 2023 14:03
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I’m asking the thread for a wildcard recommendation JUST IN CASE I do the book lord thing.
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Jan 12, 2023 14:48
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Name: bessantj Personal Challenge: 26 Booklord 2023? (Yes or No) No I really need to remove the backlog of books I have so I'm hoping that I'll do more than 26 but being realistic.
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Jan 13, 2023 13:57
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Name: Chococat Personal Challenge: 48 Booklord 2023: Yep I'm already doing this on goodreads so some more challenge is always welcome!
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Jan 14, 2023 23:20
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Name: Papa Was A Video Toaster Personal Challenge: 1 (one) book Booklord 2023? No The book is Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future. I got it from the library.
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Jan 15, 2023 01:40
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Name: freelop Personal challenge: 35 books Booklord 2023: Yes Failed at 35 books last year but I did read the Wheel of Time series which took a bit, this year I'm planning on reading Earthsea but my copy is an ombnibus so that's only 1 book to me. Might as well ask for a wildcard now.
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Jan 17, 2023 10:20
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Name: Lawman0 Personal challenge: 25 books which is something I think I can actually complete. Edit: Here is my actual list so far before I forget 1: Shattered Sword 2: Oil! 3: Before the Coffee gets cold 4: Steppenwolf 5: Solaris 6: Twilight of the Gods 7: The King Must die 8: The Importance of being Earnest. Lawman 0 fucked around with this message at 00:02 on May 24, 2023 |
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Jan 17, 2023 16:24
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Name: Fellwenner Personal Challenge: 52 Booklord 2023? No. I have my reading year mostly set, but I'll take inspiration from it.
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Jan 18, 2023 01:37
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freelop posted:Name: freelop Since you're going to count that omnibus as one book, for your wildcard, how about The Lathe of Heaven to give you something short that's also LeGuin?
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Jan 18, 2023 04:06
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DurianGray posted:Since you're going to count that omnibus as one book, for your wildcard, how about The Lathe of Heaven to give you something short that's also LeGuin? Thanks I'll pick it up! I've got The Left Hand of Darkness on the shelf waiting to be read as well so 2023 is the year of LeGuin
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Jan 18, 2023 09:45
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Name: The Strangest Finch Personal Challenge - 52 Books Booklord 2023: Yes. Does "in translation" mean anything other than "originally published in a different language?"
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Jan 23, 2023 14:02
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The Strangest Finch posted:Does "in translation" mean anything other than "originally published in a different language?" Yeah, if you want to use a really broad definition of 'translation.' Were you thinking maybe like, a comic book adaptation of a novel, or a movie novelization (just off the top of my head examples) or something like that (or something totally different)? I think those count as a type of medium-to-medium 'translation.' At any rate, you're welcome to interperate the prompts however you like!
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Jan 23, 2023 16:11
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gently caress yeah i'm in. Full challenge, all themes. I hope people will post mini-reviews of the things they read, too, I would love to see it! Total book goal: 60 Books I've read this year so far:
Been on a nonfiction kick lately centering around theater, games, and literary analysis. Reading Streetcar for the first time ever, RIGHT after reading three books back to back that dove deep into sexism and slut-shaming and how the heterosexuals are not okay...... whoof ENEMIES EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Jan 24, 2023 |
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Jan 24, 2023 01:14
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I'm at 5 books so far - here are a bunch of mini-reviews. I almost exclusively read sf/f genre fiction, so, sorry in advance #1. Lord Foul's Bane, Stephen R. Donaldson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ At the start of the year I got the urge for a really specific kind of fantasy: something older, not obscure but still occupying the 2nd or even 3rd tier of recommendations. Something you'd spy on a bookshelf and pull the trigger on based on a single friend saying "yeah i heard it was cool" and I lucked out big time, because this first book of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant was exactly that. It's a portal fantasy, but the protagonist is an angry, tragic man who doesn't want to be there, doesn't want (or know how) to be a hero, and doesn't think any of it is real. A lot of readers hate the protagonist and thus the series, and understandably so, but for me, Thomas Covenant being a bitter cynic actually made the world and every other character shine all the brighter. #2. The Illearth Wars, Stephen R. Donaldson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2nd book in Thomas Covenant, and superior in every single way. Higher stakes, better worldbuilding, characters, and fantasy army writing without getting tedious. Everything you'd want in the 2nd book of a trilogy, though I do wish the protagonist had experienced more growth #3. The Power that Preserves, Stephen R. Donaldson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Final book in Thomas Covenant. The series sticks its landing, though it has fewer highs than the 2nd book, and the actual ending comes too suddenly to really marinate on. #4. The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I read the Hobbit and the previous two LotR books toward the end of last year. I read Fellowship and Two Towers as a kid, but skipped the Hobbit and never bothered with Return of the King after I saw the movie (lol). I absolutely loved this book. Of course I knew the ending and important beats, but having only seen the adaptation there were still many surprises. But what delighted me the most was that nearly half the book was an unapologetic victory lap I love extremely long epilogues in books; I want to see what happens to the world and hero once all the saving is finished. You don't see it a whole lot, and here RotK is giving me decades worth of post-story world building, including multiple wikipedia entries at the end where all these heroes we've journeyed with become mere historical figures among many. It ruled! #5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin ⭐⭐⭐ I feel bad about this one. I picked up a copy at my library because I know this is a foundational book to fantasy that I had never read, and my reading list was already a sausage party. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and I think it's mostly because of my perspective - that is, being 35 and reading it in 2023. I marvel at its economy of words, its smooth prose and evocative magic system, and I adore that its structure is so similar to The Odyssey which sets it far apart from where fantasy has gone since the 70s. But its narrator was too distant, too impassionate. Victories, tragedies, revelations, huge timeskips - they were all delivered in the same tone as someone recounting the details of a work meeting. When combined with the brisk pace, the book comes across as someone summarizing a story rather than telling one. I can accept that tone with The Odyssey, which was designed for oral performance and straddles the line between literature and education. Harder to accept here I'm told the 2nd book is more personal and emotional, so we'll see if that's addressed at all.
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Jan 24, 2023 06:12
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Hello friends, I will join this challenge. Name: A Bakers Cousin Personal Challenge: All Booklord 2023? Yes I have a bunch of old classics from my grandfather im going through so expect some bizarre mini reviews A Bakers Cousin posted:Hello reading friends, a March update! A Bakers Cousin fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Mar 12, 2023 |
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Jan 28, 2023 05:21
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I started the year off by reading five books in January: 1 - My Sister, The Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It's short and breezy and more ominous-slice-of-life than crime drama as I was expecting. A lot of understatement that lets the mind go to nasty places that the prose doesn't. Not much resolution to speak of, though I liked the ending, I think. Does she decide to keep enabling her sister out of a sense of duty? A sense that justice is being done, to make up for the sexual and physical violence inflicted by their father? Or is she just resigned to her fate and discarding the hope for her own future? Pretty grim, and I liked it overall. 2 - Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly , by Anthony Bourdain. Finally listened to this, read by Bourdain himself, knowing almost nothing about him or about this book apart from reputation. And it really is fun, loud and brash and candid but with a real sense of care underneath the machismo. The testosterone-soaked world Bourdain navigates and the late-90s confrontational style show their age, but the man could really turn a phrase and his enthusiasm is infectious. There's even romance in here, a reverence for the craft of cooking and the joys of eating, that Bourdain communicates so well. It's no wonder that this book inspired so many people to get into cooking as a hobby or even as a career. If I'd read it as a teen it might have done the same for me. 3 - The Secret Service, by Wendy Walker. A strange and dense novel about secret agents in the early 19th Century who can transform into household objects. The book feels very long, with every paragraph filled with florid and sensorially rich language. As an aesthetic experience it's lovely, with every moment filled with detail and beauty; the plot feels like a secondary or even tertiary concern. That is not to say that there aren't really great moments, action scenes even. But things do happen very slowly, including an enormous dream/vision-quest in the middle of the book. I got the feeling that Walker spent hours on each sentence to polish it to a fine lustre. There's no way I would have picked this up on my own, so I'm glad it was gifted to me, because I enjoyed a lot of the time I spent with this book. 4 - Manga In Theory And Practice, by Hirohiko Araki. Prolific mangaka discusses his process in what turns out to be a for-beginners guide to creating the kind of manga that can crack the mainstream like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. There are a few interesting insights into Araki's own tastes and sensibilities - including writing enormous datasheets for characters and perfecting the first impression his work will make on a reader - but much of the book is rather standard "here's how I started, it might work for you, it might not". Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I was hoping for something more revealing about Araki as a creator, in his own words. 5 - A History Of My Brief Body, by Billy-Ray Belcourt. Short, poetic and deeply affecting memoir exploring queerness, indigeneity, and loneliness in modern Canada. Belcourt talks about poetry a lot - he is a poet himself - and the confessional style is both emotionally rich and very challenging in its content. The effects of settler-colonialism and white supremacy - and this version of gender norms - are talked about in stark and miserable detail, but Belcourt always comes back to the idea of joy: both snatched moments of contentment and bliss, and joy as an aspiration, a horizon to be reached. He draws heavily on a lot of other writers and poets to inform his own writing, and blends the personal and political in ways that feel natural and inevitable and powerful. I related to some of his experience of queerness, while other parts of the book seemed to tell me that I should put it down, gently caress off and burn down a police station. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 5/52 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 25% of them are not written by men. - 2 - 1, 3 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 25% of them are written by writers of color. - 3 - 1, 4, 5 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 8% of them are written by LGBTQ writers. - 1 - 5 5. Read something that is not a novel (i.e. a play, a poetry collection, a comic/manga, etc.) - 4 6. Borrow something to read (from a friend, a loved one, a library, etc.) - 7. Lend or recommend a book to someone (tell the thread what you lended/recommended!) - 8. Read something over 400 pages - 3 9. Read something by an author with the same or similar name as you (can be just first, middle, last, a nickname, whatever) - 10. Read a work in translation - 4 11. Read something that someone you know HATES - 12. Read something about books - 13. Ask the thread for a Wildcard - 14. Read a book published the year you turned 23 years old - THEMES - Surreal - 3 - Adventure - Informational - Uplifting - Tragic - 5 - Seasonal - Scary - Comforting - Celestial - Chthonic
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Jan 30, 2023 19:19
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An unusual month as things are being packed for moving, I decided to read a couple hardback comics before they went away along with another couple comic books that have been sat in a box and are destined for the charity shop. Stealing Gertrude Perkin's format: 1 - The Long Mars, by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter - 3rd in the series which I started last year and continues an enjoyable sci-fi story, I like how Long Mars doesn't quite work how I'd assumed it would. 2 - Tall Tales of Midgard Vol 1: Shadow of the Bound One by Bjørk Friis - An independent Danish comic I got for Christmas. Set in 867 it involves a thrall who is unaware of his past and is unwillingly dragged into adventure by 2 of Loki's underlings. A very enjoyable quest which involves aspects of Norse mythology I'm not familiar with (luckily there's an index in the back to help out) 3 - Ice Station by Matt Reilly - Completely over the top book, I think Matt actually wanted to write a late 80s/early 90s action movie as once things kick off it's just constant silly fights with special weapons (US Marines apparently all carry Batman style grappling hooks with magnes), hovercrafts and killer whales. Italics get abused as the author really wants to emphasise that this is crazy. I had fun reading it but it is not for everyone. 4 - Cyanide and Happiness by Kris Wilson, Matt Melvin, Rob DenBleyker, Dave McElfatrick - It's the web comic but in book form. Some of the jokes have not aged well, or maybe I don't find edgy humour as funny anymore. It was in a box in the garage and is now in a box for a charity shop 5 - Simon's Cat: Beyond the Fence by Simon Tofield - Another one for the charity shop, at least this one has aged better but it doesn't really appeal anymore. 6 - Dune: The Graphic Novel #2 by Frank Herbert (original story), Brian Herbert (adaptor), Kevin J. Anderson (adaptor) - The second part of an adaptation of the original Dune novel. These are a nice way of rapidly reading Dune (once the final book is released in 2024). Artwork is great and the story is being faithfully recreated. You do lose building the world in your mind but I have already read the novels so fortunately I've experienced that already. 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. - 6/35 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 25% of them are not written by men. - 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 25% of them are written by writers of color. - 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 8% of them are written by LGBTQ writers. - 5. Read something that is not a novel (i.e. a play, a poetry collection, a comic/manga, etc.) - 4 6. Borrow something to read (from a friend, a loved one, a library, etc.) - 7. Lend or recommend a book to someone (tell the thread what you lended/recommended!) - 8. Read something over 400 pages - 1 9. Read something by an author with the same or similar name as you (can be just first, middle, last, a nickname, whatever) - 10. Read a work in translation - 1 11. Read something that someone you know HATES - 12. Read something about books - 13. Ask the thread for a Wildcard - 14. Read a book published the year you turned 23 years old -
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Jan 31, 2023 07:59
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That Dune graphic novel adaptation sounds cool, I hadn't heard of that. I've got a few adaptations on my to read list, like those Parker ones by Darwyn Cooke.
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Jan 31, 2023 09:34
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JANUARY BOOK REPORT 1. How I Escaped My Certain Fate - Stewart Lee Memoir from a british standup comedian who came of age in the 80s/90s alt scene. He is (as he admits) a smug classically educated lefty elitist, but hangs out with avant garde gutter punks who blur the line between performance art and comedy. He thinks deeply about comedy as an art form and also as a political act of disruption; he's absolutely surgical with his dissections of his own work and how things land or don't land or land to certain audiences but not others. It was super interesting (and also really funny, which.... I guess is his job). At one point in the narrative, he's just gone through a wretched illness where his body is doing gross stuff completely out of his control, and simultaneously his most notable work has been targeted by US christian evangelicals for being "offensive." The fundies flood the BBC with so many complaints and threats that execs literally have to go into hiding. the combination assault drives him into an almost psychedelic meditation on the nature of life and being corporeal and comedy and offensiveness itself. We're all children under god's light, making GBS threads and pissing uncontrollably. Good stuff.  2. Playwriting - Stephen Jeffreys Sharp and highly readable book about the craft of playwriting that doesn't belabor any points or overstay its welcome. Detailed analysis of story structure, of ways to flip rules and expectations around form and content, of how to make experiments with form a supporting pillar of your content, plus writing exercises and practices to get yourself unstuck or find a more interesting path forward.  3. Critical Play - Mary Flanagan Academic but fascinating book about games and gameplaying. Straddles the zones of anthropology, art history, colonialism, feminism, freudian psychology, marxism... I guess all of this can be bundled up under the umbrella of critical theory. Takeaways: I need to read up on the Fluxus movement, I didn't know Yoko Ono was so legit, and also little girls have been torturing and mutilating their toy dolls since ye olden days so that makes me feel a lot better about what I did to my Barbies.  4. Rise of the Videogame Zinesters - Anna Anthropy A novella-length manifesto agitating for broader recognition of, and more participation in, auteur / indie videogame creation, especially from marginalized and otherwise nontraditional game creators. Interesting analysis of how different gameplay setups and mechanics can support, undermine, or invert the story the game is nominally trying to tell, and how gameplay mechanics can convey story in and of themselves. Loads of titles to look up and play later.   5. Reading the Romance - Janice Radway 6. Loving With a Vengeance - Tania Modleski These are both works of critical theory focused on mass market romance fiction (Loving with a Vengeance also explores gothic novels and soap operas). Explorations of capitalist commodity, psychology, anthropology, patriarchy, constructions of language and meaning, and strategies for resistance & acceptance among people living in oppressive systems (in this case: heterosexual women living in America). Downside is that there is little to no focus on race or other intersectionalities. Reading the Romance’s insights are drawn from a small, economically well-off population of isolated suburban women in nuclear families. Still highly recommend both books (I'd say read Radway first and Modleski second, so the arguments build in complexity). Their insights are profound and fascinating.  7. SLUT: A Play and Guidebook for Combating Sexism and Sexual Violence - Katie Cappiello et al. An interesting, multidimensional book. The core of it is a play (called SLUT: The Play) dramatizing a sexual assault that happens to a high school girl in new york, and the ripple effects through her community and friend group, which largely turns on her or tries to distance themselves from her as she pursues legal action. Tightly structured, harrowing. The rest of the book is interviews, essays, and manifestos. Standouts include a manifesto from a collective of black women talking about how trying to reclaim "slut" as a label of pride simply will not work for black women the way it might work for white women, because of their specific history of being literally sexually commodified, and that we need a different strategy for women to reassert ownership of their sexuality without slurs. There's also a long and eloquent essay/memoir from queer man talking about his experience of being in an abusive relationship and being raped by his partner, and talking more broadly about abuse and violence in queer relationships and of the different landscape faced by male victims. Capping the book is a beautiful piece from an international women's rights activist, talking about how slut shaming and victim blaming is on the same continuum as female genital mutilation and "honor killings." She stresses the importance of fighting back on all of these horrors with urgency and passion worldwide, as they are all just different manifestations of the same patriarchal complex trying to suppress and control women (and feminized others), to limit their sexual agency and take possession and control of their reproduction. She had a lot of great things to say about local activism and involvement. I put a lot of highlights in this section.  8. A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams When I told my friend I had just finished this play, she said "Oh yeah, I read that. Sucks about his misogyny!" ???? That.... completely wasn't my takeaway here. Maybe because I had just read three books back to back about the different strategies of women struggling in the grip of patriarchy, but— as written (I have not seen the film adaptation with Brando), to me, this play is centered firmly on Blanche, dying by degrees in a world that has no place for her. She's a larger-than life figure straight out of greek tragedy, and terribly human at the same time. Awful things happen to women in this play, yes! but I don't know why anyone would read it as an expression of authorial misogyny when the play is SO explicit about the shrinking circle of choices, all of them bad, that the women here have to make in order to survive. Blanche is brilliant, canny, funny, hypocritical, compulsive, untethered. An actor's dream.  10. The Hearing Trumpet - Leonora Carrington The Hearing Trumpet is a low-key classic of feminist surreal fiction centered on a near-deaf elderly woman, whose unlovely son & daughter-in-law ship her off to a bizarre & cultish retirement home. The plot meanders through social comedy, murder mystery, art history, religious conspiracy, political struggle, witchcraft, biblical apocalypse, jungian nightmare, rebirth... it’s a trip, and a very funny one, with a lot to say about gender, power, hierarchy, and christian orthodoxy, all through the filter of our unashamedly weird and self-centered protagonist.  11. A Lady for a Duke - Alexis Hall After reading a bunch of heavy hitters and feminist theory I figured I'd take a break with some light genre trash. HA HA HA i finished this book in a single sitting at 3am and cried myself to dehydration. It's set mostly in regency London among the usual nobility; the heroine is a trans woman (!) and a war veteran. When the heroine was wounded and left for dead in heavy combat, she used it to her advantage to disappear; she found some sympathetic people to help her transition, returned and came out to her brother and sister in law, and then started over with her new life and new name as the lady's companion to her SIL. The titular duke was her best best friend and war buddy who was GUTTED when she died and went back to the war zone to look for her corpse repeatedly despite his own injuries and turbo PTSD. Now, years later, he's addicted to laudanum because of his chronic pain, and still being haunted by his dead friend's ghost. He has no idea why he feels so comfortable around— and attracted to— this random elegant stranger working as a lady’s companion. There’s a lot of gender, and tormented pining, and crippling awareness of societal constraints. The book is about 75 pages too long and heavy-handed / twee in some parts, but when it hits, it hits hard as hell. I hope Hall puts out more like this. EDIT: oops completely forgot I also read  9. Persuasion - Jane Austen Talk about the shrinking circle of choices for women's survival! Once I got used to Austen's diction again I found it extremely readable— funny, melancholy, wrenching. In hindsight, Hall's book owes a lot to this one: the heroine is an older (read: late 20s, early 30s) woman of "good breeding," with a refined mind and kind spirit, but diminishing prospects for a happy marriage and economic security. The partner is someone she had a formerly close relationship with, severed because of social circumstance and a painful personal choice, now transformed by years and distance into something spiky and strange. I wish more of this book had been "show" and not "tell" — I would have liked to spend longer with Anne & Wentworth and see more of their interactions in real-time. As it is, Anne's horrible siblings and idiot dad get a huge number of the best and funniest lines, and steal the spotlight every time they're on page. EDIT AGAIN FOR STATS: 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge. — 11/60 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 25% of them are not written by men. — 7/11, 64% 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 25% of them are written by writers of color. — 0/11, 0% :/ 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 8% of them are written by LGBTQ writers. — 3/11, 27% 5. Read something that is not a novel. — A Streetcar Named Desire (play), SLUT (play), lots of nonfiction 6. Borrow something to read 7. Lend or recommend a book to someone 8. Read something over 400 pages 9. Read something by an author with the same or similar name as you 10. Read a work in translation 11. Read something that someone you know HATES 12. Read something about books — Reading the Romance, Loving With a Vengeance 13. Ask the thread for a Wildcard 14. Read a book published the year you turned 23 years old - Surreal — The Hearing Trumpet - Adventure - Informational — All the nonfiction books I read, but especially Critical Play - Uplifting - Tragic - Seasonal - Scary - Comforting - Celestial - Chthonic ENEMIES EVERYWHERE fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Feb 1, 2023 |
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Feb 1, 2023 01:55
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freelop posted:
I read this when I was about 12 and I loved it so drat much ENEMIES EVERYWHERE posted:
Oh hey, these two were part of the giant bibliography I amassed for my aborted academic career! The Anthropy one in particular is great, though showing its age now.
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Feb 1, 2023 11:02
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Name: Count Thrashula Personal Challenge: 20 Booklord 2023? no I have a 4 month old kid so reading is going to be tougher than usual but let's go 
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Feb 1, 2023 14:09
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I love reading everyone's mini reviews! You're making it very hard for me to not add even more stuff to my TBR. I finished 10 books in January -- off to a good start! I'm planning to give myself a sort of extra/mini challenge in February to try and read mostly books by Black authors (it's Black History Month in the US). I've already got a bunch of works that qualify on my TBR, and I don't usually try to keep a singular focus through each month so it should be a neat experiment if nothing else. 1. Solaris by Stanisław Lem There's so much packed into this novella. I watched the Tarkovsky adaptation a few years back and loved it (I have not seen the Clooney one) and was wondering how the book would compare. A lot of scenes were nearly 1:1 to the point I started almost replaying the movie in my head. But there were a lot of really neat divergences -- especially how much description there is of the Solaris entity compared to the movie where it's barely described. Highly recommend this as a sci-fi classic. 2. Kushiel's Dart by Jaqueline Carey This was a hefty ~1,000 pages according to my ebook reader, but I got through it in less than a week. The plot just gallops along and by the end of it I felt like I'd read about 3 books worth of story (which I sort of had). This has sort of a reputation for being borderline erotica (the protagonist is basically a sex worker/spy in the first 1/3) but there's not that much of it on the page, and the whole thing is much more of an action adventure travel story by the time you're done. Not the best writing ever, a little too purple at times, but it kept my attention. 3. The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi Is there a term for when you make sure to check and re-check if a book is a genre that's not your favorite, but it turns out the book is that genre anyway? Nowhere is this marketed as YA but stylistically it absolutely is (whether that's a turn on or off for you). Set in a sort of post-apocalyptic world where people are forced into castes based on their blood color (Red are the top, Blue and Clear are functionally slaves to the Red-blooded people). The main 3 pov characters are trying to topple the evil regime. I was sort of frustrated because there was a genuinely intriguing story and world buried in this book, but there was a lot of stuff-I-didn't-enjoy in the way. I try not to be pedantic when I'm reading fantasy, but there were also A LOT of "That's not how that works!" moments, or just inconsistent worldbuilding stuff that should have been caught by an editor -- enough to take me out of the story more than not. 4. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan A non-fiction book about the Dust Bowl! It's terrifying just how quickly the conditions in the plains were messed up by homesteaders. This was really informative and tightly written. It pulls a lot of direct quotes from oral accounts, diaries, and news outlets at the time to build a pretty full picture of what experiencing the heart of the Dust Bowl was like. But it also gives a lot of context for how it happened, why it happened, and what was done afterwards. 5. Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction This is a really short and breezy short story collection. Like most anthologies, there were a few really neat stories, but some sort of fell flat for me. This also seemed like it had a lot more thematic overlap than I was expecting between some of the stories. There were 2-3 with almost identical premises (though different executions) of needing to leave a dying earth. I'm also far from an expert, but it did seem like most stories were coming from an Ojibwe/Anishinaabe background, so it's more focused on stories in that particular native culture group than anything. 6. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes by Eric LaRocca Been meaning to read this for a while to see what all the fuss was about. The main title novella is a fun, gross little story of two women on the 90s/00s internet who have a long-distance dom/sub relationship that quickly spirals out of control. It's entirely told through forum PMs, emails, and IM chat logs which is a neat format for this sort of story. The other two stories in the collection were OK, but didn't pack the same punch. 7. Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee A short story and novella collection with stories that predate and follow after the events in the main Machineries of Empire 'trilogy'. I really dug that trilogy when I read it last year and this was a neat way to see that universe and the characters expanded on. I really recommend picking it up of you like the other three books and have already read them. This has huge spoilers if you haven't already finished the trilogy though. 8. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov I tried reading this 10+ years ago and didn't get too far, but recently a good friend mentioned it as being one of her favorite books and it reinvigorated my interest. I'm so glad I finally really read this. It's one of those books that has a sort of simple surface plot (The Devil comes to Moscow and puts on a magic show -- chaos follows) but is wildly complex the more you get into it. I'm going to be chewing this one over for a long time. One of the few thing I'd give a full 10/10 to. 9. Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire Another sort of stand-alone book in the Wayward Children series. The novella format really is perfect for these. They're light, but not too thematically light (most of the kids in the books all run away from home for good reasons, especially in this book), and none of the portal worlds the kids in these books escape to are always nice/safe places to be, but they've all been pretty interesting. The stories are quick and short enough I go through them like popcorn whenever a new one drops, but they're not too much more than popcorn for me. 10. The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer Despite the title, this doesn't lean too hard into the gimmick of being a time traveler's guide. Which is probably a good thing. This doesn't go super in depth in any one topic, but it does give a really interesting overview on different aspects of 14th century life in England. It feels like a fairly evenhanded approach to a lot of the individual subjects, basically settling on a "some things were really awful, but not everything was awful" approach. If you're looking for a book focused on the plague years, this does mention it a bit, but it doesn't dwell on it. PROMPTS 1. Set a goal for number of books or another personal challenge - 52 2. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 25% of them are not written by men. (~4/10) 3. Of the books you read this year, make sure a least 25% of them are written by writers of color. (~3/10) 4. Of the books you read this year, make sure at least 8% of them are written by LGBTQ writers. (~5/10) 5. Read something that is not a novel 6. Borrow something to read 7. Lend or recommend a book to someone - I got 2 friends to start reading Moby Dick! 8. Read something over 400 pages - Kushiel's Dart definitely qualifies 9. Read something by an author with the same or similar name as you - Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee 10. Read a work in translation - Solaris by Stanisław Lem 11. Read something that someone you know HATES 12. Read something about books 13. Ask the thread for a Wildcard 14. Read a book published the year you turned 23 years old THEMES - Surreal - Adventure - Informational - The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England - Uplifting - Tragic - Seasonal - Scary - Comforting - Celestial - Chthonic
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Feb 1, 2023 21:18
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Oh hey, these two were part of the giant bibliography I amassed for my aborted academic career! The Anthropy one in particular is great, though showing its age now. !!! Do you have any more titles you'd recommend? I have Writing for Games by Hannah Nicklin, which I've devoured twice and think is terrific, as well as Videogames for Humans ed. Merritt Kopas and Game Writing ed. Chris Bateman, both of which I'm about 10% into. I also have The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games by Jesper Juul kicking around somewhere, which I remember enjoying a lot, but it's been years and it's become lost somewhere in the warren of my house.
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Feb 1, 2023 21:48
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Name: UwUnabomber Personal Challenge: 40 Booklord?: Sure! Get ready for mini reviews of hardcore horror and splatter punk novels. Just snapped up a bunch of Monica J O'Rourke and Wrath James White books. January books- The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum I live for this kinda monstrous book, honestly. I'm fairly used to Ketchum's particular brand of filth and I had to put this down and go do something else for a minute a lot. The depiction of horrific child abuse would've been enough on its own but showing it from the POV of a younger child watching this all go on helplessly really dialed this up to 11. Death Troopers by Joel Schreiber After the last book I needed a palate cleanser so I went with a Star Wars book. Star Wars EU books are pretty far outside the range of things I normally read. This was a lot of fun. Stormtrooper zombies on a derelict prison barge and star destroyer. Really had a The Thing kinda vibe to it and I was pleasantly surprised when my boys Han Solo and Chewbacca showed up halfway through the book. White Noise by Don Delillo Watched the movie on Netflix. Decided to check the book out and lo and behold they're extremely close. The movie was a very faithful adaptation. I have mixed feelings about this one. I like the characters and the insane world they live in but I could really do without diarrhea of the word processor stream of consciousness narration. Starting to think postmodern novels just might not be for me. Currently working my way through the abridged audiobook of Neuromancer being read by Gibson himself. Probably going to start Suffer the Flesh by Monica J O'Rourke next. Other things on the list include Alcestis by Sonia Greene, (so I can stop thinking of her as "Lovecraft's wife") Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite, and Eisenhorn. I wanna knock out some Ursula K LeGuin and PKD because I've never read anything by either of them.
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Feb 1, 2023 23:18
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Name: Lord Zedd-Repulsa Personal Goal: 100 Booklord 2023? Sure!
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Feb 2, 2023 00:17
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So January was a good month. I benefitted from having a long plane flight in there. I'm trying to decide how best to "do" the theme stuff. Ultimately, I dunno. For now probably just a straight tally of them. 1. Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo - Book 3 in the Singing Hills Cycle. This was good. Honestly, I just really like the whole series. A historian monk and their magic bird collect histories. They're all sort of about the nature of stories and who tell them. They're quick engaging reads and I'd recommend them. 2. The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer - Gary is a schlub. Just a guy, with a dead end job, a seedy flat and an active imagination. One night a work associate has a drink with him at the local pub, then Gary meets a mysterious woman, and he finds himself in a dangerous investigation into police and corporate graft. This is very much a good vacation book. It's light and engaging and unlikely to have you sobbing on a beach or something. It is enjoyable, but primarily fluff. If you feel compelled to read novels by a British celebrity, Richard Osman is probably the better choice. But still, if you're lounging somewhere or on a plane or something, this is a solid choice. 3. With a Single Spell by Lawrence Watt-Evans - At the recommendation of the SFF thread, I've sort of been picking up this series piecemeal whenever I see them in HPB. This a story about an older teen who was apprenticed to an old wizard who taught him just one spell, a fire lighting spell. Now he's too old to be an apprentice elsewhere and has no money to pay for new spells or housing or anything. Naturally, he winds up a mercenary, and one thing leads to another as they do. Solid fantasy. 4. The Forty Elephants by Erin Bledsoe - "An exciting tale of a flapper era girl power gang" - the blurb, probably. "Based on a true story" - Also there. So yeah, this is about Alice Diamond and her rise to power as the head of the notorious "Forty Elephants" gang of robbers. From what I gather, such a gang did exist with Alice at the head. This bit is more speculation. The authors note or whatever at the end makes me think Peaky Blinders but for ladies. And the story itself is entertaining. The dialog though feels painful throughout. Hardly a conversation goes by where someone doesn't point out that women's choices are circumscribed in this male dominated world. It just feels so strained, like the author felt compelled to remind you throughout that this is a girl power novel about women seizing their chance to make a way for themselves. All the time. 5. The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson - The final book of holiday goof off reading. Maggie is a 20 something lady with a bit of a failure to launch issue. Her friend invites her to run her bookstore while she's taking time off pregnant. The bookstore is in a small town dedicated to some fictional author, and everything is in service to this. Most stores are owned in whole or part by Ralph and the Foundation and insist they further the goal of author tourism. As such, the bookstore doesn't sell anything but books around when the author worked there and up until he died, so pretty much "Classics" from pre-1965. With her irreverent attitude Maggie the support of the Foundation removed, and tries to make up for it by selling disallowed books on the sly. And eventually, starts hosting a racy bookclub with authors who do readings of classics mashed up with other genres, the first being The Hunt for Dick, with a local romance author putting her own spin on Moby Dick. They all get together, laugh, drink, and discuss why they like or dislike classics. Naturally, there's issues. This is a light, funny book that nonetheless provides some pointed critiques of the Western Canon. Definitely a comforting read. Possibly also a book about books. 6. Portable Magic, a History of Books and Their Readers by Emma Smith - Saw this on some "best of 2022" lists, and when I saw the Book about Books challenge, I was there. It's a book about books, not books as stories or in the abstract, but the physical books themselves. The transitions from scrolls, how they've been used through the ages, etc. It's a really interesting book. It's very much the sort of thing one could open from time to time to just read a chapter. Enjoyed this informative read. 7. Let No One Sleep by Juan Jose Millas - I checked this out because the cover was a taxi with chicken legs. This is a book about Lucia, who loses her job in IT and becomes a taxi driver. She has a bit of a crush on her actor neighbor who listens to opera, and finds this swelling into a full blown obsession when he moves out. She drives her cab, listening to Puccini's Turandot, imagining herself as the titular princess. As the book progresses she loses a sense of reality and comes to think she's driving in Beijing rather than Madrid. The eventual culmination of her obsessions and imaginings is surprising and memorable, unfortunately the rest of the book, maybe not as much. I dunno, I kinda keep going back and reconsidering bumping the rating up. 8. How to Turn into a Bird by Maria Jose Ferrada - Oddly less about birds than the previous book. This is about a boy Miguel who lives in a poor housing complex just a generation removed from homelessness. His uncle gets a job caring for the big Coke billboard next to the complex and takes the opportunity to live in the sign away from everyone. This minor breach is quite the topic of conversation at the housing complex, eventually spiraling out of control. I liked this one. quote:2023 BOOKLORD CHALLENGE PROMPTS
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Feb 2, 2023 17:03
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