Goodreads Reading Challenge/General Bookery

[Liam]

About to hit 101 for the year. That'll do.

[GhostMachine]

I set my goal at 20, but only finished 12. Too much going on for me to have much time to read. One of the books I've got up as currently reading, I started in August!

[Skummy]

Apparently I hit 59 books last year - that sort of thing is always skewed, as it includes graphic novels that I probably went through in one sitting, and my shortest book was Orwell's "Fascism And Democracy", which is a 36 page pamphlet.

Looking over the list, it was a good selection, though a bit heavily weighted toward wrestling books as I did a lot of research for my own writing toward the end of the year. I'm not sure how much effect lockdown had on my reading - on one hand, I had a lot more dead time, but on the other, I used to read on my lunch break, or I'd sit in a coffee shop over the weekend and catch up on reading, which didn't happen at all for large chunks of last year.

 

This year, I haven't set a target, but I am reading a lot more than in my downtime than I thought I would be. I've somehow ended up with a lot of books to read this year that are all ridiculously long - I recently finished Volume One of Simon Callow's Orson Welles biography, which was more than 600 pages and only got as far as Citizen Kane, and I have the next two volumes of similar length still to read. I have a history of American theatre that's 700+ pages, and just started on The Terror by Dan Simmons after watching the TV series, and that's 900+. 

[GhostMachine]

I have not set a target for this year, as far as the challenge goes. I've been far too busy to read, and am even moreso doing Doordash. I started a Doctor Who book (Shadow of Weng-Chiang, one of the Virgin Missing Adventures) in November, and still haven't finished it. Normally, I'd have had it finished in two weeks, max. And that's with normal levels of being busy. It wouldn't even take a week if I had plenty of free time.

Edited March 31, 2021 by GhostMachine

[GA!]

I have written my first ever book review. Yippee, I guess.

[Jimmy]

22 hours ago, GA! said:

I have written my first ever book review. Yippee, I guess.

Yippee!! 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Has anyone here read the Psychomech books? I like Lumley's other series, the Necroscope books (well, the 5 that I've read, anyway) so I was wondering about it.

[GA!]

Made the mistake of reading chapter (story?) 2 of 'How High We Go in the Dark' by Sequoia Nagamatsu at work. Fucking hell.

[RPS]

We have instituted no electronics days in the house,so I'm reading books. I have always been a casual reader, but I enjoy a good book. 

I picked up Carrie first, but any recommendations for anything after would be great. I'm not a fan of fantasy... No imagination here. Preferably something shorter. 

[Moses Julep]

1 hour ago, RPS said:

We have instituted no electronics days in the house,so I'm reading books. I have always been a casual reader, but I enjoy a good book. 

I picked up Carrie first, but any recommendations for anything after would be great. I'm not a fan of fantasy... No imagination here. Preferably something shorter. 

If you want something that delves into human emotions etc, I’m going to recommend My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh. If you want a trashy thriller I’m going to recommend the Silent Patient by Alex Michaelidis. If you want an awesome short story collection. that you can pick up and read anytime I recommend Broken by Don Winslow. 

[Liam]

4 hours ago, RPS said:

We have instituted no electronics days in the house,so I'm reading books. I have always been a casual reader, but I enjoy a good book. 

I picked up Carrie first, but any recommendations for anything after would be great. I'm not a fan of fantasy... No imagination here. Preferably something shorter. 

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett is good. Covers the changing nature of a family over the course of several decades. Really well written.

In arguably a similar vein, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi does something similar, but beginning with the life of a slave (iirc - can't quite remember exactly, but it is largely about race throughout).

Edited March 22, 2022 by Liam

[VerbalPuke]

I've read Wiseguy (book that inspired Goodfellas) and Moxleys biography thus far. Currently working on Donnie Brasco and then probably move on to Liams books. 

[Jimmy]

On 22/03/2022 at 16:48, Liam said:

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett is good. Covers the changing nature of a family over the course of several decades. Really well written.

In arguably a similar vein, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi does something similar, but beginning with the life of a slave (iirc - can't quite remember exactly, but it is largely about race throughout).

Homegoing is still one of the best books I've ever read! 

On 21/02/2022 at 15:52, GA! said:

Made the mistake of reading chapter (story?) 2 of 'How High We Go in the Dark' by Sequoia Nagamatsu at work. Fucking hell.

I also loved this book so much!! Chapter 2 is phenomenal, that book wrecked me and that chapter in particular is gut-wrenching. 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Jimmy

[RPS]

Carrie was exceptional. A great combination of body horror and science fiction. I always love being aware of a story, but not fully knowing the whole picture. I know of the infamous blood scene and of the science fiction overtones but not the whole tragedy. 

I took @GA! recommendation of How High. I'll probably wrap it up in a week or so and give you a review. I'm going to grab something kid friendly so I can give to my daughter after but I'll get through your all recommendations. 

[RPS]

@GA!... this was a very good recommendation. I'm on the fourth chapter now. Incredible stuff. Anyone on the fence should read it. It's easy - each chapter appears to be it's own standalone entity that picks up on a development from the previous chapter. Each chapter though has been starkly different in tone from the chapter before.

[RPS]

Finished How High We Go In the Dark. How poignant and lovely. The last chapter was beautiful. Made me tear up.

I just finished Convenience Store Woman. I skipped over y'all recommendations because it was gifted to me by a friend who said I needed to read it. It was certainly a ride. It is a fascinating exploration of conformity and femininity. I won't spoil anything but it's about a girl who appears to be neurologically atypical and who does not really understand human interactions. However, she finds structure and guidance from working at a convenience store. Quick read. 

I'll have to decide what to read next. 

[Jimmy]

9 hours ago, RPS said:

Finished How High We Go In the Dark. How poignant and lovely. The last chapter was beautiful. Made me tear up.

I just finished Convenience Store Woman. I skipped over y'all recommendations because it was gifted to me by a friend who said I needed to read it. It was certainly a ride. It is a fascinating exploration of conformity and femininity. I won't spoil anything but it's about a girl who appears to be neurologically atypical and who does not really understand human interactions. However, she finds structure and guidance from working at a convenience store. Quick read. 

I'll have to decide what to read next. 

So glad you loved How High! 

CSW is a fun read. I didn't love it, but zoomed through it. I always think of that alongside My Sister, the Serial Killer as fun read that I didn't fully vibe with but was glad to read.

I'm finally reading Pachinko at the moment, which is absolutely beautiful so far. Getting East of Eden levels of love for it right now - I rarely commit, but I love a family generational epic. Also recently read Sea of Tranquility, which I think comes out in May and I absolutely adored binging that. I think you'd like that as well RPS, worth keeping an eye out for. 

Akwaeke Emezi is also quickly becoming a favourite author of mine. I was blown away by Freshwater last year and I couldn't believe cannot believe the balancing act they pulls off in You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beuaty, which is a juicy, steamy page-turner that somehow transitions into something so meaningful and beautiful. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Jimmy

[Liam]

On 07/04/2022 at 22:54, Jimmy said:

Also recently read Sea of Tranquility, which I think comes out in May and I absolutely adored binging that. I think you'd like that as well RPS, worth keeping an eye out for. 

Not read this, but Station Eleven by her (Emily St. John Mandel) is excellent.

[RPS]

On 07/04/2022 at 17:54, Jimmy said:

Also recently read Sea of Tranquility, which I think comes out in May and I absolutely adored binging that. I think you'd like that as well RPS, worth keeping an eye out for. 

I'll keep an eye out. 

I read Nimona because my daughter likes it and I read it was queer inclusive. My daughter was like "there is no two boys who love each other in the book". I read it sitting beside her and I showed her why the two boys were in love. It was an aha moment for my daughter.

I read Never Let Me Go because my sister in law told me I would adore it. It was an easy read, I enjoyed the mystery and themes but I didn't like the narration done by Kath. It was very strange. I thought the back half of the book made it worthwhile but I made my way slowly through it.

I started reading The Vegetarian on Sunday and I'm nearly done. What an incredible read. 

[RPS]

On 25/04/2022 at 19:52, RPS said:

I started reading The Vegetarian on Sunday and I'm nearly done. What an incredible read.

Done. If anyone has not read this. It's really provocative. I'm still thinking about it after I finished it yesterday.