Vixen
Penultimate Amazing
Erratum: that should, of course, read, 'Atwood'.
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What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.
- Thread starter alex04
- Start date
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
Moreta.
Gulliver Foyle
Philosopher
Currently reading The Far Edges of the Known World by Owen Rees. It's an interesting history of communities living at the edges between historically well documented civilisations and less well documented ones (Massalia and Olbia being two examples). Even though I haven't finishex it, I'd recommend it.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
For the heck of it I flipped to the last page (#621!) just to check it out. It said "TO BE CONTINUED IN BUCKAROO BANZAI, EMPEROR OF EARTH".
Absolutely ◊◊◊◊ that!.
Armitage72
Philosopher
As I noted in one of my reviews, the book does almost nothing to significantly advance the plot and feels like it's almost entirely set up for the next book in what was supposed to be a new ongoing series.
Lennart Hyland
Muse
Started Underworld by Don Delillo. I'm about 4% in and it seems like an easy ready but its looong.
Its my first Delillo book, was it a bad idea to begin with this one?
Its my first Delillo book, was it a bad idea to begin with this one?
Emily's Cat
Rarely prone to hissy-fits
I decided to jump in the way back, and I'm re-reading the original Dragonlance trilogy.
I've now outed both my age and my nerdity.
I've now outed both my age and my nerdity.
SteveAitch
Master Poster
I shouldn't worry about it - round here. there's a lot of it about.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
The Wilder Way by YouTube adventurer Eva Zu Beck was a great read. It covered the struggles of her kid and teen years where she never fit in as a Polish immigrant in Britain, to her travels to places like Mongolia, Sweden (to do a gruelling Arctic marathon with a pulka sled), and Socotra. It's a good read and a good supplement to her YouTube channel where she covers the same journeys, but I also view it as a cautionary tale --she keeps embarking on challenges she's not prepared for (perhaps out of a kind of desperation, as she also struggles mentally throughout the book) and suffering as a result, or emerging unscathed through sheer luck more than anything. Here in Norway our emergency services and various volunteers like the Red Cross have to rescue countless tourists like her every year. I respect her determination that for example allowed her to hike to the Mt. Everest Base Camp with basically no hiking experience, but please, don't throw yourself at hikes and adventures you're not prepared for.
White Tears, Brown Scars is fantastic so far. In short it's about how white women's feminism is, and has maybe always been, exclusionary to non-white women and can even be a tool to maintain white supremacy, with the white woman serving as the 'second in command' of the white man, and women pulling their ladder up after them when they get into high-level business and political positions. It also talks about how tears are weaponized to great effect when non-white women call out white women. I'll write a full review of this one when I've finished reading it because it's so chock-full (spelling?) of great points and reflections. 10/10 so far, give it a read.
eta
As a side note, looking forward to There are no Giant Crabs in this Novel, a Novel About Giant Crabs by Jason Pargin aka David Wong, which ships this September.
White Tears, Brown Scars is fantastic so far. In short it's about how white women's feminism is, and has maybe always been, exclusionary to non-white women and can even be a tool to maintain white supremacy, with the white woman serving as the 'second in command' of the white man, and women pulling their ladder up after them when they get into high-level business and political positions. It also talks about how tears are weaponized to great effect when non-white women call out white women. I'll write a full review of this one when I've finished reading it because it's so chock-full (spelling?) of great points and reflections. 10/10 so far, give it a read.
eta
As a side note, looking forward to There are no Giant Crabs in this Novel, a Novel About Giant Crabs by Jason Pargin aka David Wong, which ships this September.
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Emily's Cat
Rarely prone to hissy-fits
I'm about halfway through the first book. It's okay... but not nearly as good a read as I thought it was. I suspect I was more enamored of the "heroic undertaking with dwarves and such" than I was with the actual writing, which is pretty mediocre.
It's not going to stop me from finishing the trilogy though. Ah well.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
Moni, the Goat Boy.
The oldest book in my library. 110 years old and still in pretty good condition (cover appearance aside) First printing, published 1916.
Picked it up from a Little Free Library kiosk but this one will be staying in my library. The inside has some inscribed names and other pages have pencil marks and such, but it didn't detract at all. Unfortunately it seems to be missing a couple of the color plates, but the ones that remain are beautiful!
A very simple story about a yodeling goatherd and a couple very minor incidents. It does have some allusions to God but it's not a religious story, per se. Quite enjoyable and short.
The oldest book in my library. 110 years old and still in pretty good condition (cover appearance aside) First printing, published 1916.
Picked it up from a Little Free Library kiosk but this one will be staying in my library. The inside has some inscribed names and other pages have pencil marks and such, but it didn't detract at all. Unfortunately it seems to be missing a couple of the color plates, but the ones that remain are beautiful!
A very simple story about a yodeling goatherd and a couple very minor incidents. It does have some allusions to God but it's not a religious story, per se. Quite enjoyable and short.
Emily's Cat
Rarely prone to hissy-fits
That beats out anything I've got. I have a set of teensy leatherbound booklets with a wild variety of stories, poems, and information. None of them have a copyright, and they're close to falling apart so I'm just leaving them in their archival box. I also have a 1943 printing of Ancient and Modern Initiations published by the Rosicrucians, a 192? edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales that belonged to my great grandfather. My greatest treasure is first edition printings of Asimov's The Stars, Like Dust and The Currents of Space.
xterra
So far, so good...
First English edition of Fridtjof Nansen's account of the Fram expedition, Farthest North, 1897.
Norwegian title is Fram over Polhavet. Den norske polarfærd 1893–1896
Norwegian title is Fram over Polhavet. Den norske polarfærd 1893–1896
Gulliver Foyle
Philosopher
I mentioned Nansen Passports at work earlier today.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
Want to start reading this. Apparently it's a fantasy re-imagining of the Hongwu Emperor's rise to power in China. I've avoided learning too much about it, and I know very little about Chinese history in general, so I'm going on pretty much blind. Should be interesting.
Finished Ulysses. Wow. I certainly can't say I understood it all, but I loved it. The incredible use of language and styles of writing! The vast vocabulary! The creativity!
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
I'm a few stories into A Wind From the Sun, a collection by Arthur C. Clarke. So far all the stories are new to me, which is fantastic. He has the talent to conjure up amazing and spectacular images (I'm talking, like the trip in Contact) in just a few words. And to pack so much into just a few pages each. Outstanding.
Earlier I was looking for a lengthy summer read. I might have to check that one out. Unless, of course, you're being facetious?
I wasn't being facetious. It's the most challenging book I've ever read, but also one of the best.
Helen
Implicitly explicit
Just reread it, inspired by you, and it's also a novel that you are never finished with - i keep finding more to enjoy, every time I read it. Deep, funny, and infinitely generous to those of us who love language. So glad you loved it, Orphia
Started on Finnegan's Wake again as well - an almost impossible read, but if you let go, and don't struggle with trying to understand everything, it's quite fun.