2023 Reading Challenge
- Thread starter Selaws
- Start date
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 35
Pig by Sam Sax
(Realized I deleted the photo from my phone after already returning the book to the library)
I've long been a fan of Sam Sax, and this is a pretty exceptional book of poetry he's put together, using the pig as a lens to explore faith, sexuality and desire, body, and power. I would really like to have spent more time with it, but I had to rush it a bit as I wasn't able to renew it at the library and only started reading it the last couple days of my loan. That said, I'll likely pick up a copy before too long, which will allow me to better digest some of the more difficult pieces.
Pig by Sam Sax
(Realized I deleted the photo from my phone after already returning the book to the library)
I've long been a fan of Sam Sax, and this is a pretty exceptional book of poetry he's put together, using the pig as a lens to explore faith, sexuality and desire, body, and power. I would really like to have spent more time with it, but I had to rush it a bit as I wasn't able to renew it at the library and only started reading it the last couple days of my loan. That said, I'll likely pick up a copy before too long, which will allow me to better digest some of the more difficult pieces.
Selaws
Well-Known Member
Book 28: The Black Giants by Pauline Rivelli and Robert Levin (The World Publishing Company, 1970)
I picked this book up at a discount store in Copenhagen last year and finally got around to reading it. It's absolutely fantastic with interviews and articles highlighting John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, and more!
Book 29: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, 2015)
I've been really enjoying Murakami's work during the past few years and have read quite a few of them now. Much like the others, this one really captures the imagination and was tricky to put down. Its much, much more 'straight ahead' than other example of his books but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I picked this book up at a discount store in Copenhagen last year and finally got around to reading it. It's absolutely fantastic with interviews and articles highlighting John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, Archie Shepp, and more!
Book 29: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami (Vintage, 2015)
I've been really enjoying Murakami's work during the past few years and have read quite a few of them now. Much like the others, this one really captures the imagination and was tricky to put down. Its much, much more 'straight ahead' than other example of his books but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I finished Karl Ove Knausgaard's Autumn pretty quickly, it was definitely a much lighter fare overall than his epic My Struggle series. But it had its great and deep moments, and I even belly laughed at the Vomit chapter.
Book 13
Next up is this one....
Edit: Just checked, this comes in at a hefty 900 pages. See you in December!
Book 13
Next up is this one....
Edit: Just checked, this comes in at a hefty 900 pages. See you in December!
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 36
Sonnets From A Cell by Bradley Peters
This one was on a whim from the library's "recent acquisitions" list. A debut collection from a poet who studied under someone whose work I've enjoyed but never done a deep dive with. There were a few pieces here that really grabbed me, and some technical elements to the smaller and overall pieces that I enjoyed, but overall I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped.
Sonnets From A Cell by Bradley Peters
This one was on a whim from the library's "recent acquisitions" list. A debut collection from a poet who studied under someone whose work I've enjoyed but never done a deep dive with. There were a few pieces here that really grabbed me, and some technical elements to the smaller and overall pieces that I enjoyed, but overall I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd hoped.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
October 2023 - The Witching Month
Book 43: Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin
Super easy reading horror classic. I've seen the movie several times albeit the last time about 25 years ago so this seemed fresh enough to be unspoiled. Great concept of taking the devilish behaviour out of the gloomy gothic English or European mansion into a New York apartment building. Even half a century old, the clashing of the psychological and the Satanic feels thoroughly modern - an immensely enjoyable read.
Book 44: Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi
Another interesting premise - an Iraqi junk dealer repurposes anonymous body parts from the numerous explosions happening during the war and forges a modern day Frankenstein that regains life and begins avenging the original owners of his body parts. The bleak look on war and how it affects the normal lives of people was the real winner here as the horror aspect was a little goofy and didn't really work for me.
Book 45: 30 Days of Night - Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
Another one that I'd seen the movie of upon release and really enjoyed. This graphic novel proved to be something of a let-down though. While I thought the artwork was quirky and impressive and it accompanied a really interesting take on the vampire mythology, it was just way shorter than I both anticipated and than it need to be. There was very limited character development, the whole thing just seemed rushed.
Book 46: Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Parts of this were alright but, on the whole, another bit of a dud for me. The ghostly goings on being a symptom of a blob-like monster mushroom coupled with dialogue that felt anachronistic for the '50s setting just left me flat.
Book 47: The Queen of the Damned - Anne Rice
Third entry in the series and I've been tackling one each year but this may end up being the nail in the coffin (pun intended) for this series and me. Overly long, insanely repetitive, (not just within this novel but retelling stuff from the previous books too), and it seems like the idea of forging a Ricean History of Vampires was the priority over telling a decent story. When there were fresh bits told, it was good, well written and engaging. Unfortunately, the fresh bits alone should have taken 200pp, not the 500 delivered.
Book 48: "Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?" - Harold Schechter & Eric Powell
I enjoyed this a lot. True crime told through a graphic novel. I'm assured by the blurb quotes that it's incredibly well researched and it does appear that way although so much is told through the viewpoint of Gein himself that one would have to assume a lot of this is what 'experts' have deemed happened, including and especially the causation. Still, it reads well, the artwork is impressive and the characters are developed enough to feel like accurate portrayals. My only real critique is the opening and closing reminder of what an influence on popular culture Gein's tale has had. As true as this is, it felt a little too celebratory and sort of irrelevant to make it worth bookending the actual events as a focal point.
Book 49: The Case Against Satan - Ray Russell
Like Rosemary's Baby, this is another example of a really readable tale of Satan who, in this case, seemingly inhabits the mind, body and soul of a sixteen year old girl. Written almost a decade before Blatty's, The Exorcist, the book shares the same themes and even similar characters. It's a good 30 years since I read Blatty's book so I don't remember it all too well but I can remember it excelling in setting a dark, atmospheric mood. Russell's novel reads a little lighter but excels in a succinctness and a readiness to hold the Catholic faith to task, potentially offering a psychiatric solution as a more viable alternative over demonic possession, testing the priest's own faith in the process. A really good read, would recommend and it's made me add Penguin's Ray Russell compendium of short horror fiction to my to-buy list.
Book 50: Hallowe'en Party - Agatha Christie
While most of my peers were reading Choose Your Own Adventure books, circa 10-year-old me had a couple of years long dalliance with The Queen of Crime. It's coming up to four decades ago so I really can't remember which one's I've read in the past but, with this one recently adapted for the new Branagh film, I figured I'd add it to my October list. I will say I didn't realise Christie wrote well into the 1970s. Published in '69, this threw me when early on there's talk of kids smoking hemp and taking L.S.D. I always picture her settings in the Art Deco splendour of the roaring '20s where a stiff martini was the worst you'd get. Here, the setting is a garden variety Hallowe'en party in a rural English village where a young girl proclaims that she witnessed a murder in the past but didn't realise until later what she'd seen. Laughed off as nonsense and one of her typical childish lies by those present, she's later found drowned in the apple-bobbing bucket. Poirot is approached by a party guest to investigate who killed the poor girl and, if she had indeed been a witness to a past murder: when and who? The Belgian sleuth trundles along making connections to all manner of past incidents and people until he pin-points the culprit. It's not original, it's very formulaic but, I did enjoy it a great deal and, perhaps that's for nostalgic reasons but I'm happy to take that every now and again. Having seen the trailer for the new movie though, it seems a stretch to see that as much of an adaptation as, aside from being located in Venice, it also looks rather supernatural and this book doesn't even hint at spooky stuff!
Book 43: Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin
Super easy reading horror classic. I've seen the movie several times albeit the last time about 25 years ago so this seemed fresh enough to be unspoiled. Great concept of taking the devilish behaviour out of the gloomy gothic English or European mansion into a New York apartment building. Even half a century old, the clashing of the psychological and the Satanic feels thoroughly modern - an immensely enjoyable read.
Book 44: Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi
Another interesting premise - an Iraqi junk dealer repurposes anonymous body parts from the numerous explosions happening during the war and forges a modern day Frankenstein that regains life and begins avenging the original owners of his body parts. The bleak look on war and how it affects the normal lives of people was the real winner here as the horror aspect was a little goofy and didn't really work for me.
Book 45: 30 Days of Night - Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith
Another one that I'd seen the movie of upon release and really enjoyed. This graphic novel proved to be something of a let-down though. While I thought the artwork was quirky and impressive and it accompanied a really interesting take on the vampire mythology, it was just way shorter than I both anticipated and than it need to be. There was very limited character development, the whole thing just seemed rushed.
Book 46: Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Parts of this were alright but, on the whole, another bit of a dud for me. The ghostly goings on being a symptom of a blob-like monster mushroom coupled with dialogue that felt anachronistic for the '50s setting just left me flat.
Book 47: The Queen of the Damned - Anne Rice
Third entry in the series and I've been tackling one each year but this may end up being the nail in the coffin (pun intended) for this series and me. Overly long, insanely repetitive, (not just within this novel but retelling stuff from the previous books too), and it seems like the idea of forging a Ricean History of Vampires was the priority over telling a decent story. When there were fresh bits told, it was good, well written and engaging. Unfortunately, the fresh bits alone should have taken 200pp, not the 500 delivered.
Book 48: "Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?" - Harold Schechter & Eric Powell
I enjoyed this a lot. True crime told through a graphic novel. I'm assured by the blurb quotes that it's incredibly well researched and it does appear that way although so much is told through the viewpoint of Gein himself that one would have to assume a lot of this is what 'experts' have deemed happened, including and especially the causation. Still, it reads well, the artwork is impressive and the characters are developed enough to feel like accurate portrayals. My only real critique is the opening and closing reminder of what an influence on popular culture Gein's tale has had. As true as this is, it felt a little too celebratory and sort of irrelevant to make it worth bookending the actual events as a focal point.
Book 49: The Case Against Satan - Ray Russell
Like Rosemary's Baby, this is another example of a really readable tale of Satan who, in this case, seemingly inhabits the mind, body and soul of a sixteen year old girl. Written almost a decade before Blatty's, The Exorcist, the book shares the same themes and even similar characters. It's a good 30 years since I read Blatty's book so I don't remember it all too well but I can remember it excelling in setting a dark, atmospheric mood. Russell's novel reads a little lighter but excels in a succinctness and a readiness to hold the Catholic faith to task, potentially offering a psychiatric solution as a more viable alternative over demonic possession, testing the priest's own faith in the process. A really good read, would recommend and it's made me add Penguin's Ray Russell compendium of short horror fiction to my to-buy list.
Book 50: Hallowe'en Party - Agatha Christie
While most of my peers were reading Choose Your Own Adventure books, circa 10-year-old me had a couple of years long dalliance with The Queen of Crime. It's coming up to four decades ago so I really can't remember which one's I've read in the past but, with this one recently adapted for the new Branagh film, I figured I'd add it to my October list. I will say I didn't realise Christie wrote well into the 1970s. Published in '69, this threw me when early on there's talk of kids smoking hemp and taking L.S.D. I always picture her settings in the Art Deco splendour of the roaring '20s where a stiff martini was the worst you'd get. Here, the setting is a garden variety Hallowe'en party in a rural English village where a young girl proclaims that she witnessed a murder in the past but didn't realise until later what she'd seen. Laughed off as nonsense and one of her typical childish lies by those present, she's later found drowned in the apple-bobbing bucket. Poirot is approached by a party guest to investigate who killed the poor girl and, if she had indeed been a witness to a past murder: when and who? The Belgian sleuth trundles along making connections to all manner of past incidents and people until he pin-points the culprit. It's not original, it's very formulaic but, I did enjoy it a great deal and, perhaps that's for nostalgic reasons but I'm happy to take that every now and again. Having seen the trailer for the new movie though, it seems a stretch to see that as much of an adaptation as, aside from being located in Venice, it also looks rather supernatural and this book doesn't even hint at spooky stuff!
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Selaws
Well-Known Member
Book 30: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Quercus Publishing, 2008)
I have been meaning to read this for a while and came across a cop for just 50p the other day. I really enjoyed it despite it being quite heavy with some really depressing elements.
I have been meaning to read this for a while and came across a cop for just 50p the other day. I really enjoyed it despite it being quite heavy with some really depressing elements.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
At 89 pages, this was a quick read.
This author hates LinkedIn, and uses it as a vehicle to critique virtues like authenticity, empathy, humility, individuality, and how these virtues can be used negatively by the left and the right. I didn’t agree with all of it, but it was a good, quick read.
Just curious; to the people that are reading 25 to 30 books a year - How do you fit in so many books? When do you do most of your reading?
I try to read a little bit after work every day and for a couple hours over the weekend. I don't always though, so I generally go through a book a month.
I try to read a little bit after work every day and for a couple hours over the weekend. I don't always though, so I generally go through a book a month.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
I have just started book #37 for the year and I have to say I am shocked at how much I have been able to read this year. A lot of it I think is because I have switched to reading on a Kobo. I was reading on my phone or tablet and it was too easy to flip over to instagram or play another game of solitaire.
An approximate sum of my time reading daily - I probably get in about an hour a weekday
- 15min while ride my exercise bike
- 10 min eating breakfast
- 30 min in the afternoon after I get home
- 20-30min before bed
Selaws
Well-Known Member
35 minutes on the train to work and 35 minutes on the way home 4-5 days a week. I don't always read during that time to be fair (usually doze on the way in), but I do for a good chunk of it.
Plus at weekends or in the evening I might read with a coffee for a bit, especially if it's a particularly gripping book.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Usually 30-60 minutes after getting the kiddo to daycare, then 30 minutes -3 hours in the evening depending on how tired I am or how engrossed in the book. ADHD is a superpower until exhaustion shuts me down when I'm too still!
I've also been reading a buttload of comic book trade paperbacks (which I haven't been posting here), which have actually kept my numbers a bit lower.
I've also been watching less and less television than the already not much I watched before, because I've been on such a reading kick.
TrainFan73
Frothy
If you want to really up your book count, reading books by Sandra Boynton will help. Toddler books are great in general … I read four books a night. Lol
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Sometimes four books, sometimes one book four times!
Usually 30-60 minutes after getting the kiddo to daycare, then 30 minutes -3 hours in the evening depending on how tired I am or how engrossed in the book. ADHD is a superpower until exhaustion shuts me down when I'm too still!
I've also been reading a buttload of comic book trade paperbacks (which I haven't been posting here), which have actually kept my numbers a bit lower.
I've also been watching less and less television than the already not much I watched before, because I've been on such a reading kick.
Pretty varied answers, cool to hear these. Public transport would definitely up my reading time.
I don't like reading after I get high, so that means most nights before bed I don't read. It's an ok trade off, as it helps me sleep.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
This was the way I was back when I still smoked...UNLESS I was reading while I smoked (a common daytime thing during the covid lockdown while my wife and I shared a 400 sq ft bachelor apartment and she was working from home) then I would be able to keep with it.
True, it does depend on what I'm reading. A 33 1/3 book, sure, but War and Peace, nah.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
Around an hour a day commute. I'm fortunate and get opportunities whilst at work to have a bit of a read in down-time, probably about an hour a day and if I'm really enjoying a book, I'll find about an hour when I get home. If I'm close to a chapter end or a tense part, I'll read a bit before bed but I tend to opt for a TV show more than reading at bedtime,
Weekends, a bit less - I'll read for about an hour in bed as soon as I wake up but then that's it for the day.
I definitely read faster on my Kindle because I can make the font bigger which I find helps.
Also, and I know it's a crappy reason, but the reading insights they do has kept me reading daily, even if only a few pages so I don't lose my streak! I'm currently at:
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 37
An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created by Santi Elijah Holley
Finished this one a couple days ago and forgot to come back and post it. A fascinating look at the tragedies and triumphs of the Shakur family from the Black Panthers through Black Liberation through 2Pac's superstardom. The book doesn't try to be a comprehensive biography of any one figure in the story, since those are readily available, but instead ties a decades-long narrative together that I found pretty revelatory. Going in I feel l had an advanced knowledge of Tupac with a decent knowledge of Afeni and Assata and a passable knowledge of Mutulu but I came out the other side feeling pretty schooled. It's pretty incredible how much impact a single family could have on contemporary American history - and how much shit could be handed right back to them for it.
An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created by Santi Elijah Holley
Finished this one a couple days ago and forgot to come back and post it. A fascinating look at the tragedies and triumphs of the Shakur family from the Black Panthers through Black Liberation through 2Pac's superstardom. The book doesn't try to be a comprehensive biography of any one figure in the story, since those are readily available, but instead ties a decades-long narrative together that I found pretty revelatory. Going in I feel l had an advanced knowledge of Tupac with a decent knowledge of Afeni and Assata and a passable knowledge of Mutulu but I came out the other side feeling pretty schooled. It's pretty incredible how much impact a single family could have on contemporary American history - and how much shit could be handed right back to them for it.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I work from home, so lunchtime and the wind-down after work are when I do plenty of reading. I rarely read more than 20 minutes a sitting.
Also, and these aren’t necessarily good habits, but I usually make a goal to read ~10% of a book a day, which is doable if you pick shorter books and/or books you want to read. I’m also pretty unsentimental about dropping books if I’m not enjoying them; you can generally tell the difference between “slow going, but a good reading experience” and “just plain not for me.”
I also try to read in a pattern of one “serious” book, then two “fun” books; that’s a super subjective designation, but it ensures I’m reading for pleasure and enrichment in turn.
Sometimes I worry gamifying my reading ruins the in-the-moment joy, but I set my reading goal to 30 this year rather than 40, and I’m already at 32
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