BjorgenFjorgen
Well-Known Member
This is exactly how I felt. I read it right after I read The Handmaid's Tale for the first time and it felt almost trite in comparison. A sequel for a sequel's sake.
The Reader’s Nook - The N&G Book Thread
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Almost like taking advantage of the popularity of the show. And it kind of boxes them into a story line on the show, right? Cause the show takes place before The Testaments. So do they plan to have the show's story line move along towards the storyline of The Testaments?
It also is kind of a giant spoiler for the show.
Bennnnn
Well-Known Member
I do think she said she wanted to flesh out the world of Gilead thus the sequel but also she wanted to yes give the show runners of the tv show a guide on where it should be headed. In that sense, it’s kind of an odd book - like an odd reason for it to exist. I enjoyed it a lot, but it did feel much lighter in its prose compared to THT.
Waitressboy
Well-Known Member
It wasn't me but I've been wanting to read that book since I knew about it.
If you like funny books with black humor, I recommend Christopher Moore's books.
Dammit - who was it??? Cause it was a funny as shit book. Rambling sentences, made up creatures and planets, biting humor. Give it a read, pal, you'll like it!
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
Have you heard of Space Opera, a space opera inspired by Eurovision?
Space Opera Author Catherynne Valente on the Out-of-this-World Appeal of Eurovision - B&N Reads
If you follow Catherynne M. Valente on Twitter, you’ve probably seen her Tweeting about something called “Eurovision.” Even if you haven’t, you might have heard a little something about her book Space Opera being “Eurovision in space.” Today, she joins us to explain what Eurovision is, why she...www.barnesandnoble.com
it was "Supa Hype - a G" or "Supahy Peag" or "Sup, a hype AG?"
supahypeag
Well-Known Member
Hey, glad you liked Space Opera! It's a weird book, so I was a little nervous that...ya know...you wouldn't.
Also, the name reads like "supa hype ag" as in "super hype aggie," a reference to my undergraduate college (Texas A&M). It was more or less my college email address.
Also, the name reads like "supa hype ag" as in "super hype aggie," a reference to my undergraduate college (Texas A&M). It was more or less my college email address.
supahypeag
Well-Known Member
Lamb is one of my fave books of all ever!
Very weird. Which is why it isn't for everyone. But I laughed at it a lot. Especially the part
where they wanted Yoko Ono to represent Earth. And since she wasn't available, Courtney Love. I was dying.
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
I like how I came up with 3 different options for how the spacing worked and all three were wrong
. I've been reading it as "supahy peag" up until now lol. I was trying to figure out what it was an anagram for, so cheers for clearing that up haha.
supahypeag
Well-Known Member
The author first got on my radar with The Refrigerator Monologues. Basically, she got really pissed off at the comic book trope in which the superhero's female significant other or friend or whatever is brutally murdered/assaulted/etc in order to provide the male hero with motivation. So she wrote that book in response.
Added it to my "to read" list. Thanks!
Waitressboy
Well-Known Member
Lamb is hilarious; I love parodies of the Bible, and that one is the best.
But my favorite is the trilogy The stupidest angel-A dirty job-You suck. I read those in the bus going to work and was laughing so loud people would turn and stare at me like I was crazy or something.
Starting my 2020 reading with Kafka's 'The Castle'. Looking forward to getting back into my books. I also want to read Knausgaard's 'My Struggle' this year.
@Ericj32 and @Tyr
I finished book one of My Struggle yesterday. I can't pinpoint what made me read it so ravenously...there is SO much minutiae, and yet it leads (sometimes anyway) to such big topics like death, love, art, family. Other times, it only serves to let us glimpse into his perspective on some of the mundane things in life, like, the details sees when he looks at a stranger in an airport: His tie, coat, nose shape, dandruff on shoulders. Why is it so interesting? I can't answer that. But I couldn't put it down, haven't stopped thinking about it, and I want to get to book two immediately. Not sure I will though, I have three other things queued up ahead of it.
I finished book one of My Struggle yesterday. I can't pinpoint what made me read it so ravenously...there is SO much minutiae, and yet it leads (sometimes anyway) to such big topics like death, love, art, family. Other times, it only serves to let us glimpse into his perspective on some of the mundane things in life, like, the details sees when he looks at a stranger in an airport: His tie, coat, nose shape, dandruff on shoulders. Why is it so interesting? I can't answer that. But I couldn't put it down, haven't stopped thinking about it, and I want to get to book two immediately. Not sure I will though, I have three other things queued up ahead of it.
LeSamourai
Well-Known Member
Is it weird that everything I've heard about My Struggle makes it sound both interesting and insufferable... I probably won't get to it soon, but I'm curious.
YES! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it. And your feedback seems to be one I hear a lot with KOV's book. "I'm not sure why I liked it so much, but I did!". I also could not put down his books. His writing captivated me.
I think you are absolutely correct about his ability to scale up the micro details to talk about more esoteric topics on a macro level. Before long you realize that the small details he is conveying about something as simple as a sofa or a sink are funnels into his larger thoughts about life, death, and loss. It is fascinating to me.
Not weird at all. That was my initial thought as well when I read the synopsis.
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
This makes me want to start reading it tonight haha.
I finished The Nickel Boys and Catch and Kill recently.
The Nickel Boys was quite good. But a tough read. I read it right after The Water Dancer and that was a mistake. Both books deal with slavery and its consequences. Both are necessary reads. Just not one after the other.
Catch and Kill - I did not like. I thought it would be the story of the women and what they went through. Nope. It was the story of Ronan chasing the story. It just wasn't what I expected. Ronan said several times in the book something like: I don't want the focus to be on me, it should be on these brave women and their story. Also Ronan: But look at me and everything I went through and how amazing I am to have done this! Yuck.
I'm now reading The Bird King. It's lovely so far.
The Nickel Boys was quite good. But a tough read. I read it right after The Water Dancer and that was a mistake. Both books deal with slavery and its consequences. Both are necessary reads. Just not one after the other.
Catch and Kill - I did not like. I thought it would be the story of the women and what they went through. Nope. It was the story of Ronan chasing the story. It just wasn't what I expected. Ronan said several times in the book something like: I don't want the focus to be on me, it should be on these brave women and their story. Also Ronan: But look at me and everything I went through and how amazing I am to have done this! Yuck.
I'm now reading The Bird King. It's lovely so far.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
This is a pretty fair assessment of Catch and Kill. I had to remind myself that the resulting journalism was about the women and the victims, while this book was totally about Farrow, the investigation, and how it affected him; I hadn't heard him say it's definitely not about him, which rings disappointingly false.
Meanwhile, in my ever-failing quest to read something simply for the sake of entertainment (most recently, I picked up Jeff Vandermeer's Borne with the intent of reading some fluffy sci-fi, but instead got an abstract, thoughtful and sometimes-heartbreaking wasteland story), I'm reading Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, the start of his Aubrey-Maturin series. Adventure!