What are you reading?

[lawyerdad]

Every october i read a scary book. Or at least a book that fits the october aura. This has all the hallmarks of a scary book but i don't know of it qualifies.

That said two chapters in and it is incredibly haunting. Also just as an aside when i picked this up i realized how rarely anyone on this thread reads non white male authors. Which is jist an observation and i also realize this is not a strong source of data or anything.
View attachment 1683573

Um, OK. Data points: currently reading Stephen L. Carter’s Back Channel and Julia Alvarez’s latest. Before that were The Goldfinch and Ann Patchett’s most recent. John Connolly’s new one is probably next, but everybody knows the Irish aren’t really white.

Oh, and for what it’s worth it’s been a good little run. I can heartily recommend all of those (except the Connolly one as I haven’t read it, but really his books are pretty much all the same — either you find them enjoyable brain candy or you don’t.) And on that note, somewhere in there I read Louise Penny’s latest Chief Inspector Gamache book. It’s pretty much indistinguishable from the precious 347 in the series, which is of course just fine with her fans.

 

[domdomdomdom]

Just about to finish Bolano’s Savage Detectives for the second time, which I last read during my school days 15 years ago. My experience this second time though has been both better and worse.

I was less charmed by the pauper poet youth-hostel lifestyle and instead found myself relating much more to those in the book who dealt with Lima and Bolano from places of relative stability. The middle section of the book was a slog the first time through and this time around wasn’t much different - it was a little draining to sit down with that section for more than an hour or two at a time. With that middle section though, I love the how the stories/vignettes wash into this nebulous impression of a narrative arc.

 

[Casaubon]

Just about to finish Bolano’s Savage Detectives for the second time, which I last read during my school days 15 years ago. My experience this second time though has been both better and worse.

I was less charmed by the pauper poet youth-hostel lifestyle and instead found myself relating much more to those in the book who dealt with Lima and Bolano from places of relative stability. The middle section of the book was a slog the first time through and this time around wasn’t much different - it was a little draining to sit down with that section for more than an hour or two at a time. With that middle section though, I love the how the stories/vignettes wash into this nebulous impression of a narrative arc.

I completely disliked the book on account of all the self-indulgent nonsense. Can't even remember what most of it is about, even though I'd read it a few years ago. Going through a summary of it now, I'm of the impression that I have somehow read just the first part, with the teenagers. Hated the protagonist. Could it have been that the parts were published as separate volumes? In any case, I enjoyed 2666 a lot more, but maybe that's just my propensity towards paranoid plots.

Having said that, I had my first foray into the world of John Le Carre last week, with The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and could not drop the book. The depth of it was surprising, even though I had heard quite a lot of praise for his writing beforehand.

 

[domdomdomdom]

I completely disliked the book on account of all the self-indulgent nonsense. Can't even remember what most of it is about, even though I'd read it a few years ago. Going through a summary of it now, I'm of the impression that I have somehow read just the first part, with the teenagers. Hated the protagonist. Could it have been that the parts were published as separate volumes? In any case, I enjoyed 2666 a lot more, but maybe that's just my propensity towards paranoid plots.

Having said that, I had my first foray into the world of John Le Carre last week, with The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and could not drop the book. The depth of it was surprising, even though I had heard quite a lot of praise for his writing beforehand.

2666 is a much better novel all-around, although even 2666 is self-indulgent in many ways. In The Savage Detectives, the endless lists of poets and novelists and city streets (not to mention the youthfully naïve fulminations on the state of literature from the visceral realists) are tedious at best but for some reason I never glossed over or skipped them. I think after this I'll be reading some Alice Munro to decompress and ground myself again before diving into something new.

 

[Sir Jack II]

For anyone who’s never read Bolano, I’d recommend Distant Star and By Night in Chile. Both are excellent slim (under 200 pages) works.

 

[edinatlanta]

Game of Thrones.

Fun fact ive seen several eps from several seasons and was always underwhelmed and annoyed by the show. Couple years ago i picked up the book while waiting at an airport i think and it was so good. Finally borrowed a copy and reading in earnest.

 

[smittycl]

What if Everything You Learned About Human History Is Wrong? (Published 2021)

In “The Dawn of Everything,” the anthropologist David Graeber and the archaeologist David Wengrow aim to rewrite the story of our shared past — and future.

www.nytimes.com

Amazon.com

 

[SixOhNine]

Game of Thrones.

First three books are fantastic. After that, the quality drops off a cliff.

He's never going to finish the series, but after how bad the last two books were, I kinda don't care.

 

[edinatlanta]

First three books are fantastic. After that, the quality drops off a cliff.

He's never going to finish the series, but after how bad the last two books were, I kinda don't care.

I remember when the 5th came out there was real disappointment. And I've followed along enough to know don't expect any completion. It's funny how butter people are but like how many stories end, at best, ambiguously. It's just part of narrative art.

 

[venividivicibj]

Starting Wheel of Time due to the Amazon show.

Just finished Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon series)

 

[mhip]

Starting Wheel of Time due to the Amazon show

He wrote a prequel called "New Spring" in 2004.
That's where I started.
It was good, gives you the back story of Moiraine and Lan.

 

[venividivicibj]

He wrote a prequel called "New Spring" in 2004.
That's where I started.
It was good, gives you the back story of Moiraine and Lan.

Apparently it has spoilers and shouldn’t be read until after a couple book (or so I’m told)

 

[cathyadkin]

Lamb by Christopher Moore. Almost halfway through and pretty hilarious so far. Also suits the season, looking to finish it before Christmas.

 

[lawyerdad]

He wrote a prequel called "New Spring" in 2004.

I was unaware of this until I read your post.
I hate you.

 

[Scuppers]

I decided to read all the parts of HarryPotter. Let's go!

Good luck with that!
I read the first 50 or so pages of the first (a few months after issue) - niece and nephew said I’d love it - progressed no further than that.