18 is One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and if I round up to 82 that’s The Handmaids Tale. Thanks. Looking forward to both of those!
Another evening with John Boyne's "The Heart's Invisible Furies". I've read a few of his books (I think the last was "A History of Loneliness"), but this one really gets to me (in a positive sense; I can barely lay it aside, but it is quite saddening at the moment).
"For Black Girls Like Me" an upper elementary school chapterbook. I personally know the artist who did the cover so i decided to show my love and get the book lol. Also, debating on whether or not to buy the collected works of Emily Dickinson. I know project gutenburg has all of her poems, but i want the book so i can write in it! Still weighing my options... Want vs need and all that jazz.... I still havent bought my friends book yet and i really need/want to. After this pandemic, im just tired of digital books right now.
Totally worth owning. I had it checked out for at least a semester in high school. I had to wait for their end of the year amnesty to turn it back in or pay a fortune. I love Emily Dickinson. I should buy a copy too.
Came back from B&N. I got book 12 of Mercy Thompson series, Paradise Lost, and.....wait for it....... THE COLLECTED POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON (i caved...) We also discarded a Murakami book at work too...so its mine now. Its depressing so far, but i shall stick with it. Lots of reading to do!
I'm listening to the new(ish) Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) reading of The Hunger Games. Damn it, it's good. I don't usually reread or audiobook anything I read less than ten years ago, but after a string of mediocre books and audiobooks, I wanted something I knew I would enjoy. YA tropes notwithstanding, these are damn good books. Any story that can make me cry in the first chapter has me hooked for good. I'm so looking forward to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. I can't wait to see what Suzanne Collins did with this prequel. I also started Welcome to the Monkey House, a collection of Kurt Vonnegut shorts. I've read all but one or two of his novels but never picked up a short collection for some reason. So far they're not bad. They're not Slaughterhouse-Five, but they're not bad. In fact, I remembered one from Literature class around seventh grade, "Harrison Bergeron" about a world where everyone with any talent is forcibly handicapped so no one feels inferior. It's a neat story. I think that and "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson are the only two shorts I remember from all of junior high.
I've been on a real Ben Lerner kick, since he's the big New Yorker literary poster child boy now (I guess replacing the void left by the disappointing post-corrections Franzen). I read 10:04 and leaving the Atotcha station back to back and now I'm on the topeka school 10:04 was everything I feared. All heady meta-fiction that was well-written but devoid of any engaging storytelling in my opinion. It had some good scenes and moments and every page takes you into his mind with a of depth of description and psychologically pin point phrasing. The basic narrative is about his efforts to be a sperm donor as well as his ideas for a future novel. The way he pads this non-story out to an engaging novel length is a feat in itself. I was more impressed than an active fan of this. Atotcha station has kind of a classic 'literary man abroad' vibe to it and I have to say, I loved it. I think maybe just because I totally connected with what he wrote about his time in Spain. I felt exactly the same about my time in Japan. Especially when he talks about how he didn't view his time in Spain as 'real' and how it was extending juvenelia and his fantasies about learning the language and staying there forever. He also writes about how leaving America is in a way the most American thing you could do. I thought almost the exact same thing but in terms of being British. I used to say 'there is nothing more English than hating the country so much you refuse to live there.' Topeka school is good so far. When people say there have been no great millennial novels, I suppose Lerner might well be a rebuke. Flaubert would not have approved of the amount of autobiography here though. I know some people think it's cool as hell that it's not clear exactly how much is autobiographical. I read them pretty much as memoirs with lots of literary tricks. His head does seem pretty far shoved up his ass but because he's aware of it, he gets a pass and because he never reveals anything but what a good-natured person he is at his core, it also gets plaudits. But it reminds me a bit of DFW, where I can't help but think there's a darker human being hidden behind all this that's missing. Perhaps this says more about me than Lerner. I don't know, considering I read a ton of this half-fiction stuff from people like Bukowski and Roth and Exxley not to mention the Japanese realists like Dazai and Mishima, I'm more used to the more vile/insane sides of human nature being explored. I feel like this is a narrative style that editors and the literary world can read and really relate to. You can read it and think 'this is basically me but with an ability to put clearly into words things I've always thought but never been able to communicate' and honestly that is a key facet to good writing. I think Bukowski and Roth and those guys presented a persona a lot of people wish they could be if they could let go of all their hang ups about sex and social convention. In a way, that's more interesting but in another way the ridiculous posturing is a bit exhausting and a lot of it has not aged well.
Not a book, but there's nowhere particularly to put this, so I'll just say that after having been recommended it before I finally started listening to Welcome to Night Vale.
Bought and am re-reading the Budayeen Trilogy by George Alec Effinger. Late 80s, early 90s cyberpunk set in the Arab world. Very good stuff.
I am reading 'Waiting for Anya' by Micheal Morpurgo, nearly finished but my eyes are stinging a bit! Definitely need the opticians to open soon. I think it is a beautiful modestly told story. He is super efficient with his words, is invisible as a narrator and has an easy style. I really admire this author, he just lets the story breathe. Hmm note to self, don't over engineer your own stories...
I'm reading The Boys from Brazil. It's my second Ira Levin in about a month after Rosemary's Baby. I'm really digging it so far. I think I'll pick up A Kiss Before Dying next.
Oh goodness, I'm reading four or so books right now. My life is such a mess I struggle to focus on anything. But for the moment, I've started on The Everlasting Man by GK Chesterton. After this I'm probably going to go into one of my science books for some research.
I'm reading Vampire Winter by Lois Tilton. For a long time, I really struggled to read books, I'd read the same sentence about 10 times or something daft but I've recently been doing good with my reading. I have worked my way through 3 books during lockdown. I'm loving Vampire Winter, it's not an easy book to get hold of but I found a copy on Amazon US for a good price. It's about a vampire struggling to survive during a fallout after World War 3 and it's so well written.
The Mistletoe Murder (I know, I'm not in season) and Other Stories by P.D. James. A bit of light relief.
Recently started The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, already half-way through. It's quite short compared to the fantasy novels I'm used to, plus it's a collection of short stories so it reads even faster. Luckily there's a whole series to keep me occupied for quite a while.
I'm reading Welcome to the Monkey House right now. I find them hit or miss, but the good ones are freaking fantastic!
Short stories in general are hit or miss for me. I think I just love his style so much that I enjoy them all but some are better than others for sure.
Having finished the Raven's Mark trilogy (which was quite good, despite some flaws) I found I'd an appetite for more in that same vein. I've gotten started on Cameron Johnston's The Traitor God, the first in a duology. It seems to be action-filled and fast-paced, which suits my needs perfectly right now. I like it very much so far, it's plenty grim and intriguing.
I'm reading The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson. He's my favorite author, and I've read this book faster than any book before. I'm going to finish it today which means I'll have finished it in three days. This may not be fast for some people, but I've never pushed through a book at this pace. Very excited to read the next two books in the series!
