Now reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I love his writing: “Sit down, Montag. Watch. Delicately, like the petals of a flower. Light the first page, light the second page. Each becomes a black butterfly. Beautiful, eh?' ... There sat Beatty, perspiring gently, the floor littered with swarms of black moths that had died in a single storm.”
Totally agree. Unlike the others--Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein--Bradbury had a real flare for language. And an insight into human emotion. Definitely the most literary of the Godfathers, though you'd have to throw Herbert into that category as well.
So finally just finished 'Oliver Twist', have to say I enjoyed it. Dickens is a great writer of his time, and though I generally stick to more modern genres, it was surprisingly quite hard to put down. I will read more of his works. Having only read Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, is there any someone would recommend to go to next?
I became somewhat of a Dickens junkie in late high school. I seem to remember enjoying A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations (which I like to refer to as Great Expectorations sometimes and then chuckle at my own cleverness), and The Three Musketeers. I also enjoyed A Christmas Carol.
Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver. I'm calling this research for my WIP, but I've liked everything else of Kingsolver's that I've read so I don't mind it.
I am currently reading Ulysses as I wrote to you earlier. The book is very difficult, I spend a lot of time reading all the comments. At the moment I am already reading Chapter 7. I'm used to the writing style, although it's incredibly difficult too. Once the service Edubirdie suggested to me several YouTube channels on which there are useful videos on Ulysses and Joyce's works in general.
I started with the third Witcher book because the internet source I looked at said that was the first one and I trusted instead of getting a second opinion. But *now* I'm reading the first Witcher book. It's a quick read, but not in a bad way. I think Henry Cavill did Geralt justice, and I'm not just saying so because I appreciate his face and personality.
@Dogberry's Watch I have to admit I was disappointed with the Cavill casting, purely because I was hoping this would be a chance for a grittier, less Hollywood hot leading man, more like a Zach McGowan type or similar. I do think Cavill does a decent job, though, and after all it's not his fault he's almost laughably good-looking! On the topic of the thread, I'm a third of the way through The Well Of Loneliness and finding it much less dire than I was led to expect. It's not going to be my favourite book, but it's perfectly readable IMO, so now I'm wondering whether it's genuinely less boring than everyone else seems to think, or whether I am more boring than I thought...
Finished The Last Wish, and it disappointed me for several reasons, but that's all right because I immediately started The Bone Queen by Alison Croggon, and I'm a little over halfway through it. Been a bit since I've spent a day reading. It's nice.
I've been re-reading Murakami's Wild Sheep Chase, essentially because of its non-linear storytelling. When I'd read it a few years back, I was just aghast by the full circle the abstract yet complicated things converge into; but failed to pay attention to the nuances of writing. Now though, I've been specifically concentrating on the abstractness yet definitiveness important to non-linear writing. (talking of non-linear reminds me of Alejandro Innaritu's film, Amoros Perros) And, I'm almost done reading this SF by Nnedi Okorafor - Binti. I did not enjoy the work much (tbh) but did find some interesting insights during the research and the author interview. More than the quality of writing, it is a vent for what Nnedi calls, Africanfuturism. A pioneering theory for AA and Black writers.
Been working my way through the Murderbot stories by Martha Wells, about a SecUnit (part organic/part machine) that goes rogue but ends up helping the humans it wants to run away from and becoming a little more human in the process. I know telling stories from RPOV (robots point of view) is not a necessarily new concept these days but these novels are very well written, with a sprinkling of humour (from the SecUnit's viewpoint) and a very engaging story, with lots of action and tension. Have really enjoyed these, only one to go, and given their shorter than usual length have been getting through them rather too quickly. Also nearing the end of the second of the Expanse series, which then segues into a short story before the third installment.
Reading: A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum In the Company of Men by Veronique Tadjo And listening to: The Two Towers by Tolkien Dark Archives: A librarians Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Rosenbloom
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This is one of a couple of books I have started reading many times only to shamefully never finish. At least it has a fun copyright page: "First published in 180"
Just finished reading 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Enjoyed it, has a slow middle but it's got some memorable moments and nice to see where Long John Silver originated. It's a fun, swashbuckling story like you'd expect. Now reading 'Gone, Baby, Gone' by Dennis Lehane. He also wrote Shutter Island. I really recommend him if you like a good twist.
Have read one or two by Dehane, pretty good writer. Ben Affleck made Gone Baby into a movie some years ago, never saw that though.
Ghost King by David Gemmell. I'm also still working my way through The Knight, though at a snail's pace—three or four short chapters per week.
Just discovered the Sword and Sorcery books written by Jack Vance. Devoured Cugel the Clever (which was not only brilliantly imaginative but also quite amusing), The Dying Earth, and am one third of the way through the mesmerising Lyonesse Trilogy. This is right up there with the best fantasy epics ever. Beautifully written, incredibly imaginative, but with a solid, human core of characters who are believable and unique and far from perfect. (Think Joe Abercrombie, Phillip Pullman, etc—and add in Jack Vance.) This is really good stuff. Where has Jack Vance been all my life, eh?
Tucked away in the sci-fi shelves. I've never read him, but Gene Wolfe's New Sun series is in the dying earth genre, created or exemplified by Vance, and it's one of the best things I've read. In fact Wolfe was an avid reader of Jack Vance.
Finished Thunderhead, and now I'm on to The Toll by Neal Shusterman. Last in the trilogy. I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. Highly recommend the series.
The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith I've been told she is the master of suspense and I can see why.
Finished The Toll about an hour ago and I'm still basking in the afterglow of such a goddamn masterpiece. I'll probably read something by Erik Larsson next. Pardon me if I spelled his name wrong.
