2023 Reading Challenge

[avecigrec]

Book 25

Homey Don't Play That! - The Story of In Living Color and the Black Comedy Revolution by David Peisner


Thanks to last month's TV-themed Vinyl Spin Challenge, In Living Color was on my mind and I discovered this book existed - I've been glued to it whenever I could be over the past 40 hours! I was a bit on the young side of understanding just how revolutionary In Living Color was when it aired - but I loved it. I don't know if there are other books about the show, but this must be the definitive one. Meticulously researched and featuring voices of most of the cast and writers along the way, the book is fantastically paced and does a great job building the story and tracing the lineage of what has come since. Very good read!

 

[avecigrec]

Book 26

Body Count by Ben Apatoff


Staying in the early 90s for a bit longer... this was a brisk and enjoyable read. Sadly plagued with lots of careless editing errors (missing particle words, doubled words, and the like) but it's a well-researched and well-told story of the album. Even with the sloppy editing, I'd rank it in the upper tier of 33 1/3 books I've read so far.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 27

Coming Out, Again: Transition Stories by Sabrina Symington


An enjoyable exploration of trans identities, polyamoury, neurodiversity, race, and sexuality. A bit more entertaining textbook than character-driven story, but it is nice how everything and everyone in the book ties together along the way. I quite enjoyed Symington's previous autobiographical book years back - this is a nice expansion on that and unpacks a LOT within its pages. Homophobes, transphobes and bigots need not apply.

 

[jt4527]

I'm so far behind with where I want to be with my reading this year, just haven't been feeling it. Here is what I am reading at the moment:

 

[Selaws]

Book 23: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Corgi, 2009)
Book 24: How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie (The Borough Press, 2021)
Book 25: The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Vintage Book, 2000)

Been a bit slack in updating my list but here are the last few that I have read. Quite the mix but all great reads.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

#34
John Scalzi - Starter Villian
I always enjoy John Scalzi books. The last few have been very easy reads, often done in a couple of days. I just wish someone would make a tv series out of Old Mans War
Amazon product ASIN 0765389223

 

[avecigrec]

Book 28

The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood by Brian "Box" Brown


I LOVE Box Brown. Every book he's put out since his Andre the Giant biography has been incredibly well done - meticulously researched and very enjoyable. Like Brown, I came of age during the era most covered by this book, and the hooks the advertisers planted back then are definitely obvious today -- and television was much more regulated in my home than nearly everybody I knew! Brown once again distills a large topic with many moving parts into a breezy read with a comprehensive bibliography for deeper digging.

 

[ayayrawn]

16. New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton. @Indymisanthrope I've been planning on the 7 Story Mountain for a while too, but decided on this essay collection. Very compelling! I don't even really consider myself catholic anymore, but I find his way of writing and perspective fascinating.

17. Wayward: Just Another Life to Live by Vashti Bunyan. Lovely, moving memoir from a folk legend (even if she hates the label). Recommend even if you don't know much about her music. She has a great story.

Currently reading through Flannery O'Connor's stories, which are great and very compelling. Looking at Count of Monte Cristo or Brothers Karamazov next as my big/multi-month read for this year.

18. The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor. Fascinating to see her develop as a writer and a person through these. Totally see why she's so revered these days. Mostly pretty great, but the last 7-8 stories when she becomes really self-reflective and dark are incredible.

19. Persepolis Rising (Expanse #7) by James SA Corey. Sucked me back into the series are book 6 left me pretty cold and disinterested. This one was lots of fun and I'll probably zoom through the last two soon.

20. Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) by Steven Erikson. Been looking for ages on a fantasy series to fill the Song of Ice and Fire shaped niche in me. TBD if this is it, but I liked it, for all it's weirdness, and often dense and even impenetrable world and lore. I'll probably read at least the next few. Not sure if I'll make all ten yet.

21. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers. Was feeling more southern gothic and McCullers has been a blind spot for me. These were lovely and effective, if maybe not life-changing. Want to check out her novels.

22. Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. Read almost all of his works back in college, but not this one. Forgot how evocative and amazing his prose is. The immesity of this one really got to me. It's tragic, hilarious, alternately gross and horrific and profoundly hopeful. Maybe his best? One of my favorites I've read so far this year.

Have some scary stuff lined up for October, including my yearly Stephen King. looking forward to those vibes.

 

[Mr Moore]

September 2023

Book 38: The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood

Very enjoyable tale of a lady in her twilight years telling her life story and that of her sister, the author of a novel called The Blind Assassin. With this we also get to read the novel that tells the story of clandestine meetings between a couple who seemingly meet to have sex and have a schlocky sci-fi story told to her. The interweaving of the two narratives is smart and despite being fairly lengthy, I thought it was worth it for the pay-off.

Book 39: Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry

I struggled with this one a bit. It's a complex, dense, rambling stream of consciousness at times told over only 12 hours or so. Each chapter from one of four characters' viewpoints, the main one being an alcoholic who frequently lacks cohesion and digresses at right angles with no warning at all. I'm glad I persevered because the writing is superb and the finale is worth the struggle. I read the introduction at the end (Penguin intros frequently feature spoilers so I always wait until afterwards) and even this suggests the full depth is only truly uncovered after a third or fourth reading. I'm not sure I'd ever do that at this stage in my life but, as a study piece I can imagine this being a remarkable book.

Book 40: The Accidental Tourist - Anne Tyler

This was just the antidote to the heavy text of the last book and such an uplifting story of hope and possibility in life and relationships. Despite being a story based on the breakup of a 20 year marriage one year after the violent and tragic loss of their child, the rebuilding of the life of a quirky, socially difficult man in his forties with the help of an altogether different woman to what he is familiar with, I found to be heart-warming and just plain lovely.

Book 41: Atonement - Ian McEwan

This one felt incredibly slow to get going as it introduced a select group of family members who lay out their rather benign viewpoints of a gathering at their stately residence. Almost a quarter of the way through, the novel takes a shockingly dark turn and from there it’s a masterpiece of storytelling. My instincts in relation to the crime were revealed to be correct in the closing section of the book but it’s the early view of one of the young girls that sends so many lives off in their often tragic trajectories. This retelling and settling of fact over fiction by the now near octogenarian is her atonement for her youthful error. Blinding writing, worth your time.

Book 42: The Young Man - Annie Ernaux

Beautifully written if very fleeting memoir about an older divorced woman and her relationship with a younger university student. Incredibly brief but really insightful (for this man) on how this woman in her fifties viewed youth and how she felt youth viewed her. I'd had this on pre-order since shortly after Ernaux was awarded the Nobel but I didn't realise it was only a half-hour short story. I'll try something longer in the future.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 29

Soft Shelters by Marie Metaphor Specht


I discovered this book's existence a couple of weeks ago by spotting it on the 'Recently Ordered' list at my library and instantly reached out to Marie with congratulations and curiosities. I first encountered her poetry just shy of 20 years ago when she came to the open mic I was co-hosting with a musician friend at a little bistro in a Rocky Mountain town. Now we live nearly as close to one another as we did then, but with our families in a city on Vancouver Island! Her book launch was this past Wednesday and it was an absolute warm embrace of an evening. I've always loved Marie's poetry, and this book is a brilliant distillation of all the time in between, motherhood, a dismal future, hope, love, caregiving, and caretaking. This book is full of big feelings but put together with such care as to never leave one not feeling held along the way. I am very sure I would love this book without such a personal connection to it, but that personal connection brings extra glee to the whole thing for sure. Because I've been off social media and generally out of touch I didn't know until she was introduced at the launch that Marie was named Poet Laureate of Victoria this past April - which speaks volumes about the quality of her work. Very cool!

 

[avecigrec]

Book 30

Stamped From The Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, Adapted and Illustrated by Joel Christian Gill


Been plugging away at this one over the past week and a bit and it's every bit as brilliant an adaptation as I'd hoped it would be. Even in graphic format, it's still incredibly dense, but very well presented and easily digestible with a wry dose of added humour that really suits the format and lightens the mood without taking away from the heaviness of it all. The most accessible version yet of this very important text.

 

[ranbalam]

I finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike yesterday. Holy shit.

I'll read something lighter for my next...

 

[TrainFan73]

Well, I haven't been in here in a minute...
Book 8:

The Little Guide to Dolly Parton. It was basically just a bunch of her quotes built into categories. I've been a little obsessed with the limited track this year.

Book 9:

The Secret Life of D.B. Cooper by Brian Churilla. Was a fun read. Premise was that Cooper was a Government Agent who did battle in a weird monster world in his mind.

Book 10:

The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury

11.
Mooncakes

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu/Suzanne Walker/Joamette Gil LBTGQ+ witches.

12.

Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo Good stuff.... kind of like Batman meets Mad Max

13:

100 Poems that Matter - a collection put together by The American Academy of Poets. Ran the gamut of poetry. Some stuff I may look into at some point.

14.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Did not like this book. Basically the premise is all fairy tales are real which is found out by the main character when he accesses the upside down from a neighbor's garage. Not his best written book or idea.

 

[ranbalam]

Book 12

I wanted something light and music related, that's usually my go-to after a heavy bit of lit.
I've had this for a few months, almost forgot I bought it actually. Then when on vacation my wife and I hit Short's Brewing on our way from TC to Boyne and they have a Ween wall, which reminded me to pick this one up next.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 31

JAJ: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas


The visual element of this is absolutely stunning. The original is an 8-meter squared mural in the east wing of Berlin's Ethnological Museum that I hope to one day see in person. The team involved with putting this tome together has done a really great job of formatting it for the book. The story itself covers a lot of ground and is not always easy to follow, but in a way that I feel both honours a culture of oral storytelling, and invites multiple readings - I've no doubt I'll be reading it again at least once more before I take it back to the library.

 

[Thackeraye]

Maitlis was the journalist that interviewed Prince Andrew, and this book tells the background behind this, and many other interviews. An easy read, but you tell why she subsequently left the BBC for a well paid podcast - you get the impression she never really had any time off!

 

[avecigrec]

Books 32 & 33

H.P. Lovecraft: He Who Wrote in the Darkness by Alex Nikolavitch & Gervasio-Aon-Lee


The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers & I.N.J. Culbard


A couple of seasonally appropriate graphic novels. The Culbard adaptation of The King in Yellow came up in @Turbo's challenge thread last month. My library didn't have any of his Lovecraft works but I was most interested in this one anyhow. Came across the Lovecraft biography in the library's system when I was looking for Culbard books and figured it would be worth checking out as well. Both were solid reads - not always the easiest to follow, but never so difficult to lead one to quit. The graphic format is not always perfectly suited to adaptations and biographies but these both do an admirable job and were certainly worth a look.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

When I set my personal reading goals for this year, I wanted to read 26 books and have only 2 skips. Well today I am making my first skip of the year. I have not read Pynchon in about a decade, but Inherent Vice is making me angry. So after about 100 pages I am making the call and pulling Pynchon from the starting line up.

 

[Selaws]

Book 26: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight (Simon & Schuster UK, 2016)

A friend lent me this book a couple of months ago and I finally got around to reading it. It was a fantastic read and really interesting. What really stood out to me was that there was barely any mention (other than a sentence towards the end) of Michael Jordan, which goes to show that despite having an impact he wasn't the sole (pun intended) success of Nike.



Book 27: Off Menu Live - Tour Programme

I just had to include this because I have spent more time reading and rereading it than I have some of the other chunkier books I have read this year. I have been a fan of Ed Gamble and James Acaster's podcast (Off Menu) for a few years now and when the opportunity came up to see them live I jumped at the chance. I bought this programme whilst there and it's full of fun interviews, statistics (really interesting), and more.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 34

Life Sentence: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore's Deadliest Gang Leader by Mark Bowden


The Wire is my all-time favourite television show, so this caught my attention right away at the library. In fact, many of the same places and characters show up here, and the show is referenced more than a couple of times. Bowden writes it up really nicely and the story is just as lurid, action-packed, tragic and funny as The Wire typically was. Great read.