2022 Reading Challenge

Bull Shannon said:
When it turns out to be an actual under ground railroad
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It's been a couple of years since I read it so it's already a little fuzzy in my brain, but I remember thinking at the time that I wasn't totally sure what that device actually added to the narrative. I could be misremembering, but there didn't seem to be much about the story that couldn't have been accomplished with a more reality-based take. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought, but it felt like he was suggesting an idea that I didn't quite grasp.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
It's been a couple of years since I read it so it's already a little fuzzy in my brain, but I remember thinking at the time that I wasn't totally sure what that device actually added to the narrative. I could be misremembering, but there didn't seem to be much about the story that couldn't have been accomplished with a more reality-based take. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought, but it felt like he was suggesting an idea that I didn't quite grasp.
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It's been some years for me as well, but I remember the book being quite similar to Gulliver's Travels, in that every place the main character stopped at had its own "thing" that would present itself as a more positive dynamic than the last, but still flawed in some deeper systemic way. I felt like the literal underground railroad was a magical realist device meant to add to that distinct separation of "lands."

At the least, it's a hook that perhaps makes this book stand out to a prospective reader more than other slave narratives.
 
Bull Shannon said:
It's been some years for me as well, but I remember the book being quite similar to Gulliver's Travels, in that every place the main character stopped at had its own "thing" that would present itself as a more positive dynamic than the last, but still flawed in some deeper systemic way. I felt like the literal underground railroad was a magical realist device meant to add to that distinct separation of "lands."

At the least, it's a hook that perhaps makes this book stand out to a prospective reader more than other slave narratives.
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Yeah, maybe that's it, it allows the reader to focus on Cora's "being" in a place rather than on the journey *to* each place. That's a fair observation.
 
Hey guys! I finally finished a book!

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This was another one I picked out because I liked the cover, it's a book of essays (both personal and research-based) about the author and Florida. There were a few essays that really grabbed me. I loved the first one where she talks about her old best friend and how they drifted apart, and there is an essay about homelessness that I thought was very good, but I did find some of the other essays to be a little bland. If you are really looking for a book about Florida, I'd probably recommend Florida by Lauren Groff before this one, but if you like nonfiction I'd say give it a try if the topics seem interesting.

I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

I'm also still liking Swing Time but I am listening to that one on audiobook and haven't had much time lately.
 
Book 9: The Sellout - Paul Beatty

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Superb. Absolutely laugh out loud satire of race relations and racial inequality in modern day America.
Bonbon or Me (Me is his surname), attempts to put the fictional California city of Dickens back on the map (literally, as it’s removed without warning), by painting a boundary line, reinstating segregation and accepting a volunteer slave, former child actor from The Little Rascals to assist on his urban farm.
It’s full of biting social commentary tempered by hilarious absurdism that reminded me at times of Vonnnegut’s Breakfast of Champions.
Not to oversell the comedy, there are plenty of serious issues here. We’re left contemplating the idea that maybe America finally paid its debt when Obama was elected. Bonbon and Beatty seemingly have their doubts. “…the neighbourhood glee wasn’t O.J. Simpson getting acquitted or the Lakers winning the 2002 championship, but it was close.” Too funny.
 
Mr Moore said:
Book 9: The Sellout - Paul Beatty

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Superb. Absolutely laugh out loud satire of race relations and racial inequality in modern day America.
Bonbon or Me (Me is his surname), attempts to put the fictional California city of Dickens back on the map (literally, as it’s removed without warning), by painting a boundary line, reinstating segregation and accepting a volunteer slave, former child actor from The Little Rascals to assist on his urban farm.
It’s full of biting social commentary tempered by hilarious absurdism that reminded me at times of Vonnnegut’s Breakfast of Champions.
Not to oversell the comedy, there are plenty of serious issues here. We’re left contemplating the idea that maybe America finally paid its debt when Obama was elected. Bonbon and Beatty seemingly have their doubts. “…the neighbourhood glee wasn’t O.J. Simpson getting acquitted or the Lakers winning the 2002 championship, but it was close.” Too funny.
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This one's on my list for this year too! Maybe I'll move it up after this endorsement.
 
Mr Moore said:
Book 9: The Sellout - Paul Beatty

View attachment 129327
Superb. Absolutely laugh out loud satire of race relations and racial inequality in modern day America.
Bonbon or Me (Me is his surname), attempts to put the fictional California city of Dickens back on the map (literally, as it’s removed without warning), by painting a boundary line, reinstating segregation and accepting a volunteer slave, former child actor from The Little Rascals to assist on his urban farm.
It’s full of biting social commentary tempered by hilarious absurdism that reminded me at times of Vonnnegut’s Breakfast of Champions.
Not to oversell the comedy, there are plenty of serious issues here. We’re left contemplating the idea that maybe America finally paid its debt when Obama was elected. Bonbon and Beatty seemingly have their doubts. “…the neighbourhood glee wasn’t O.J. Simpson getting acquitted or the Lakers winning the 2002 championship, but it was close.” Too funny.
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Loved this one!
 
Book 3

The Holy Bible by David Evans
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This may well be my favourite of the 33 1/3 books I've read so far and probably my timeliest reading of one, as I've been on a pretty steady love affair with this album since first listening to it about 6 or 7 weeks ago. It's a nice breezy read (took me a week to read, but only a couple of sittings with a few days off in-between) that presents a good overview of the Manics' upbringing and career before and after the centrepiece of the album in question. Not sure how this would be for a more advanced Manics fan who has read some of the other many books available about the band but it was definitely a very satisfying entry point that has made me excited to delve further into the band and, most especially, this album - which has easily been my most listened to album of 2022 so far... making up for the lost time of having "discovered" the album 28 years after the fact!
 
LeSamourai said:
So, who's a multiple-books-at-a-time reader? I usually have 6-10 ongoing at any time, if I count audiobooks as well. Maybe it just means I have bad impulse control...

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One fiction and one non-fiction at a time is basically my limit, but even that I don't do often. I wouldn't be able to keep that many straight!
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
One fiction and one non-fiction at a time is basically my limit, but even that I don't do often. I wouldn't be able to keep that many straight!
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I typically have a book of poetry, a non-fiction music-related book, another non-fiction book, a book of essays and/or a book of short stories on the go at any given time. With occasional novels and graphic novels sprinkled in. And sometimes I double up on the music and/or poetry books.

[edit: and once in a while for sheer masochism I throw in a rather academic book about poetry or literature!]
 
avecigrec said:
I typically have a book of poetry, a non-fiction music-related book, another non-fiction book, a book of essays and/or a book of short stories on the go at any given time. With occasional novels and graphic novels sprinkled in. And sometimes I double up on the music and/or poetry books.

[edit: and once in a while for sheer masochism I throw in a rather academic book about poetry or literature!]
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That's impressive! I think in university I burned out from reading so many things at once, so when I didn't have to read anymore, I try to keep it simpler. I guess since most of my reads come from the library these days, too, I've got to work through them quicker.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
That's impressive! I think in university I burned out from reading so many things at once, so when I didn't have to read anymore, I try to keep it simpler. I guess since most of my reads come from the library these days, too, I've got to work through them quicker.
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Yeah, library reads need that extra focus for sure. Been about two years since I've taken anything out from the library, and even then it was usually five-to-one graphic novels. I think the reading so many things at once bit was one of my many long-ignored signs of ADHD! ;) It also lets me pick something up based on mood/environment which for a long stretch really racked my page counts way up.
 
LeSamourai said:
So, who's a multiple-books-at-a-time reader? I usually have 6-10 ongoing at any time, if I count audiobooks as well. Maybe it just means I have bad impulse control...

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Me!

I currently have 3 going I think, but I just randomly found myself at the bookstore yesterday and picked up a few things I'm eager to start so that number might increase...
 
I finished 100 Years of Solitude this morning.

So, I have a hard time writing about literature; discussions are easier for me to share thoughts about a book, especially a work like this.
I'll just say I've never read anything like it. I was riveted from beginning to end, no exaggeration - all the way to the last sentence.

I need to change it up and go with something very different, I'll probably start this tomorrow
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ranbalam said:
I finished 100 Years of Solitude this morning.

So, I have a hard time writing about literature; discussions are easier for me to share thoughts about a book, especially a work like this.
I'll just say I've never read anything like it. I was riveted from beginning to end, no exaggeration - all the way to the last sentence.
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One of my favorite books ever, it rules
 
Not sure about setting a goal, I haven't read too much since COVID for some reason but am finally on a kick and my goal is just to keep it up. Recently have been inspired to try to read a bunch of "important works" that I never read, or in some cases, own but never finished reading. I don't know if that will contribute to killing my momentum sooner or not.

So far this year I have read:

Kitchen Confidential
Devil in the White City
Mother Night

Currently reading Crime and Punishment and almost finished.

Have thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

Oh also have been reading chapter books aloud to my boys at night this year. Part of why I've been inspired to keep reading more is to set a better example for them that reading is great.

So far we read:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The BFG

And just started The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which I've never read.
 
Woof. I naively thought I was going to knock out Han Kang's The Vegetarian in a day or two, at just 200 pages.

But this thing is unrelentingly disturbing in some ways I wasn't prepared for. I'm only able to withstand about 15 pages a night before I need to play a game or something to lighten the mood before bed. I actually snagged this from my wife's to-read stack before she had a chance to get to it, and last night I told her I think she should skip this one. I only have about 25% of it left, and I have no idea where it's going, but I'm not sure I care.
 
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