I finished this yesterday, I read it in less than a week, because I seriously couldn't put it down. I compare it to Into Thin Air only because of how compelling the story was for me...that was another one I couldn't put down. Highly recommended.
2024 Reading Challenge
- Thread starter Selaws
- Start date
I finished this yesterday, I read it in less than a week, because I seriously couldn't put it down. I compare it to Into Thin Air only because of how compelling the story was for me...that was another one I couldn't put down. Highly recommended.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Books 4-6
#4 T.R. Napper - 36 Streets. Old school cyberpunk. It was fine, nothing earth shattering.
#5 Michel Faber - Listen. He looks at how we listen and why. I enjoyed the book. I loved his section of 'classical music', calling symphonies tribute acts.
#6 Marc Masters - High Bias. The impact of the compact cassette on music. Fun read but somewhat repetitive.
#4 T.R. Napper - 36 Streets. Old school cyberpunk. It was fine, nothing earth shattering.
#5 Michel Faber - Listen. He looks at how we listen and why. I enjoyed the book. I loved his section of 'classical music', calling symphonies tribute acts.
#6 Marc Masters - High Bias. The impact of the compact cassette on music. Fun read but somewhat repetitive.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
Whoop! Whoop! Ya Boi made a thou consecutive days reading!
mgp
Well-Known Member
Book 2 - In The Distance by Hernan Diaz
I went into this one blind (how I prefer it). I really really enjoyed Trust last year, and that was my only preconceived notion, and as it turned out the two books have almost nothing in common. I respect an author who can shape shift and take a completely different voice between books, and Diaz seems to be that. This is a western style novel about a Swedish immigrant who finds himself trying to get from San Francisco to NYC in the mid 1800s. It's beautifully written, and a bit disorienting... Every time I thought it was hitting a rhythm, something would happen and the story would pivot. I liked but didn't love this one as much as I thought I would.
I went into this one blind (how I prefer it). I really really enjoyed Trust last year, and that was my only preconceived notion, and as it turned out the two books have almost nothing in common. I respect an author who can shape shift and take a completely different voice between books, and Diaz seems to be that. This is a western style novel about a Swedish immigrant who finds himself trying to get from San Francisco to NYC in the mid 1800s. It's beautifully written, and a bit disorienting... Every time I thought it was hitting a rhythm, something would happen and the story would pivot. I liked but didn't love this one as much as I thought I would.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Book 2.
Quite depressing, really. Damn you, The Patriarchy.
Quite depressing, really. Damn you, The Patriarchy.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 10
Hendrix – Electric Requiem by Mattia Colombara & Gianluca Maconi
A very enjoyable blend of fact and fantasy with some stellar moments of visual storytelling. I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would.
Book 11
Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei with Elettra Stamboulis & Gianluca Costantini
I got to see an Ai Weiwei exhibit in Indianapolis before tailgating a Bob Dylan show in Noblesville while on tour back in the summer of 2013. The exhibit was much more immersive and profound than I'd expected - so much so that my tourmates, our local host and I wound up staying much longer than planned and missed My Morning Jacket and all but the last two songs of Wilco as a result. Disappointing, but worth it. Similarly, this graphic memoir moved me more than expected and took me to fascinating spaces. Sequenced through a lens of the Chinese zodiac this memoir is far more of a philosophical journey than it is a straightforward biographical narrative, laced with great doses of hope, humour and beauty. I reckon I'll be picking this one up for the shelf so I can revisit it many more times.
Hendrix – Electric Requiem by Mattia Colombara & Gianluca Maconi
A very enjoyable blend of fact and fantasy with some stellar moments of visual storytelling. I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would.
Book 11
Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei with Elettra Stamboulis & Gianluca Costantini
I got to see an Ai Weiwei exhibit in Indianapolis before tailgating a Bob Dylan show in Noblesville while on tour back in the summer of 2013. The exhibit was much more immersive and profound than I'd expected - so much so that my tourmates, our local host and I wound up staying much longer than planned and missed My Morning Jacket and all but the last two songs of Wilco as a result. Disappointing, but worth it. Similarly, this graphic memoir moved me more than expected and took me to fascinating spaces. Sequenced through a lens of the Chinese zodiac this memoir is far more of a philosophical journey than it is a straightforward biographical narrative, laced with great doses of hope, humour and beauty. I reckon I'll be picking this one up for the shelf so I can revisit it many more times.
Mr Moore
Well-Known Member
If you ever find yourself in Yorkshire, UK - check out the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It has hundreds of great sculptures from global artists but one of them is an amazing circle of zodiac heads by Ai Weiwei in bronze, all mounted on tall posts. They’re beautiful to take in in person.Book 11
Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir by Ai Weiwei with Elettra Stamboulis & Gianluca Costantini
I got to see an Ai Weiwei exhibit in Indianapolis before tailgating a Bob Dylan show in Noblesville while on tour back in the summer of 2013. The exhibit was much more immersive and profound than I'd expected - so much so that my tourmates, our local host and I wound up staying much longer than planned and missed My Morning Jacket and all but the last two songs of Wilco as a result. Disappointing, but worth it. Similarly, this graphic memoir moved me more than expected and took me to fascinating spaces. Sequenced through a lens of the Chinese zodiac this memoir is far more of a philosophical journey than it is a straightforward biographical narrative, laced with great doses of hope, humour and beauty. I reckon I'll be picking this one up for the shelf so I can revisit it many more times.
Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads | Yorkshire Sculpture Park
To celebrate YSP's 40th anniversary, we welcomed Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads (2010) to the Park. Since May 2011 this work has been on a
ysp.org.uk
I got lucky too when just by chance we were visiting Alcatraz only to discover an amazing and immersive Ai Weiwei exhibit about freedom and imprisonment being held there. Like you, we ended up spending way longer there than we anticipated because of this.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Book 3: The Honjin Murders, by Seishi Yokomizo
Book club read right here; we voted on this one out of a selection of three early-to-mid-century detective novels. This one's the first of a series revolving around a rumpled amateur detective named Kosuke Kindaichi, who went on to appear in over 70 more novels. I've only read a couple Japanese novels, but it seems like the tone here is in line with those: the prose is very direct, and as a result, the story is a very straight-forward description of the murder scene, the detective arriving and (very) briefly reviewing the details we've been given, then outlining exactly what happened. At one point the author includes a map of the scene, then politely reminds the reader to refer to it during crucial segments. I'm a bit skeptical of the physics, but this was an enjoyable enough read.
Book 4: Fathers and Children, by Ivan Turgenev
Holy effing ess. I'm late to the game on Russian lit (my big introduction came with Saunders' Swim in a Pond in the Rain a couple years back) but so far these 19th century mfers are batting 100 (1000?) with me. I'm struggling a bit to capture what I enjoyed so much about this book as I get further from it, but there's a real clarity of place and character with which I'm really vibing. Turgenev picks his characters apart with such tenacity; as a middle-aged(ish) person seeing the push-pull between my generation and those ahead and behind me, a lot of the self-manufactured conflict between the younger and older characters hits home. Great stuff.
Book 5: Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
This one's a reread in anticipation of the Netflix series coming at the end of next month; it'd been 8 years since I first read it and I wanted to brush up. I'm concerned that Benioff and Weiss are trying to add a lot of badass action and tense drama to a deeply geeky book. This book gets a lot of deserved flak for being dry and containing a lot of paper-thin characters, but there's an emotional spine to this book and series which deserves more love. It's definitely tripping over itself to get into the scientific weeds (the sophon-folding sequence near the end of the book is a tough hang and I didn't even try to pay full attention to it this time around), but larger questions of humanity, love, and existentialism hover over the proceedings, especially in the next two books. I'll probably tackle those this summer and fall, respectively.
Book club read right here; we voted on this one out of a selection of three early-to-mid-century detective novels. This one's the first of a series revolving around a rumpled amateur detective named Kosuke Kindaichi, who went on to appear in over 70 more novels. I've only read a couple Japanese novels, but it seems like the tone here is in line with those: the prose is very direct, and as a result, the story is a very straight-forward description of the murder scene, the detective arriving and (very) briefly reviewing the details we've been given, then outlining exactly what happened. At one point the author includes a map of the scene, then politely reminds the reader to refer to it during crucial segments. I'm a bit skeptical of the physics, but this was an enjoyable enough read.
Book 4: Fathers and Children, by Ivan Turgenev
Holy effing ess. I'm late to the game on Russian lit (my big introduction came with Saunders' Swim in a Pond in the Rain a couple years back) but so far these 19th century mfers are batting 100 (1000?) with me. I'm struggling a bit to capture what I enjoyed so much about this book as I get further from it, but there's a real clarity of place and character with which I'm really vibing. Turgenev picks his characters apart with such tenacity; as a middle-aged(ish) person seeing the push-pull between my generation and those ahead and behind me, a lot of the self-manufactured conflict between the younger and older characters hits home. Great stuff.
Book 5: Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
This one's a reread in anticipation of the Netflix series coming at the end of next month; it'd been 8 years since I first read it and I wanted to brush up. I'm concerned that Benioff and Weiss are trying to add a lot of badass action and tense drama to a deeply geeky book. This book gets a lot of deserved flak for being dry and containing a lot of paper-thin characters, but there's an emotional spine to this book and series which deserves more love. It's definitely tripping over itself to get into the scientific weeds (the sophon-folding sequence near the end of the book is a tough hang and I didn't even try to pay full attention to it this time around), but larger questions of humanity, love, and existentialism hover over the proceedings, especially in the next two books. I'll probably tackle those this summer and fall, respectively.
Last edited:
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
Three-Body Problem is sitting on my digital "to be read" pile
I've read a bit of Russian lit (Anna Karenina is on my all time top 10) but never any Turgenev. This one just made my list. Thanks!
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I'll admit rereading it was a bit less exciting especially as I'd argue book 1 turns out to be the story Liu is telling in order to tell the stories in books 2 and 3, but the experience of reading Three-Body for the first time will always sit with me.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Anna Karenina is a mountain I will climb one day. Probably not this year, but maybe this coming winter; I'm currently in the middle of my Honkin' Big Great Literary Work read and will need to breathe a little.
Understandable. I mix it up from fiction to non-fiction, but also heavy to light.Anna Karenina is a mountain I will climb one day. Probably not this year, but maybe this coming winter; I'm currently in the middle of my Honkin' Big Great Literary Work read and will need to breathe a little.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I don't know if anyone else is like this, but I need that dopamine hit of reading something quickly; if I stack 500+ page books one after the other, the more likely I am to put one down through no fault of the work itself. Heck, if I'm still on a 200-page book after a couple weeks I start asking myself what I'm doing here.
jamieanderson1968
Well-Known Member
I tend to go from something a bit heavier or longer, then to something pulpy that I can read in a couple of days, to non-fiction. Rinse. Repeat.
That's where the 33 1/3 series comes in handy!
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Book 12
June Fourth Elegies by Liu Xiaobo
Both the poet and a quotation from this book were featured in Ai Weiwei's graphic memoir and piqued my interest. Twenty years of elegies for the Tiennamen Massacre, written at home, in prison and in re-education camps by a direct participant and the actions and hunger strikes that led to the violent government response. It is by no means a light read, but it is stunningly beautiful and incredibly important.
June Fourth Elegies by Liu Xiaobo
Both the poet and a quotation from this book were featured in Ai Weiwei's graphic memoir and piqued my interest. Twenty years of elegies for the Tiennamen Massacre, written at home, in prison and in re-education camps by a direct participant and the actions and hunger strikes that led to the violent government response. It is by no means a light read, but it is stunningly beautiful and incredibly important.
mgp
Well-Known Member
Book 3 - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
I suspect I'm way late to the party on this one, as I usually am. But what a fun read! It's a coming of age love story, of sorts, through the eyes of three friends who decide to make video games together. It's dorky, and sweet, and smartly written with a ton of cultural and geographical touchpoints that kept me thoroughly engaged. My first Gabrielle Zevin book, I think, but I'll definitely search out others.
I suspect I'm way late to the party on this one, as I usually am. But what a fun read! It's a coming of age love story, of sorts, through the eyes of three friends who decide to make video games together. It's dorky, and sweet, and smartly written with a ton of cultural and geographical touchpoints that kept me thoroughly engaged. My first Gabrielle Zevin book, I think, but I'll definitely search out others.
Thackeraye
Well-Known Member
Book 3 - I’d Rather Not - Robert Skinner
A quick palette cleanser. A collection of short chapters kind of formed into a memoir. The author is one of those guys who has stuff regularly happen to him - parks are slept in, cars are broken and crashed, camels are travelled on.
Not a bad little read.