Reading in November

[eleanorigby]

Still working my way through Karin Fossum, but her books are uneven. The last one (The Murder of Harriet Krohn) was so tedious, I stopped at page 28 and am returning it to the library. Life's too short and all that. Bought Still Alice at the airport, but haven't started it yet.

[SmartAleq]

On the recommendation of @Glazer I have tackled Neal Stephenson's Seveneves and it's very, very good so far. Good old school no bullshit hard SF FTW. Of course that could always change, I'm a bit less than halfway through.

[Glazer]

Has the hard rain started yet?

[Glazer]

About to finish Redshirts. Need to hit up the book store to reup.

[AuntiePam]

A medieval mystery series -- first book is The Apothecary Rose. I've read better in this genre, but these are okay. The characters are done well, fleshed out, and there's not too much exposition. That's a bugaboo for me, with historicals.

[SmartAleq]

Originally Posted by Glazer

Has the hard rain started yet?

Just starting, about to head out and rescue the snowball.

[Glazer]

Dianna's dad signing off made me cry. Really brought home seven billion people dying.

[SmartAleq]

Pretty fucked up scenario--say what you will, Stephenson is willing to Go There.

[Nonny J. Nonnington III]

Working my way further through Jeffry Lindsay's "Dexter" series. The TV arc and book arc bifurcated somewhere toward the end of book one. They are alike, however, in that they both started interestingly and gradually lost steam. "Dexter in the Dark" is pretty awful, actually. And can't say that I care much for the way character development deals with Rita's children.

These books were entertaining enough for light summer reading, but seem a bit silly now that the fall is here. One of my big regrets about my attitude toward education when I was in school was the way I ignored summer reading lists. At the time I resented being dictated what to read when on vacation, but now I continually come up against holes in my cultural knowledge. I am thinking of filling those gaps over the next few years. I came upon this list which might be a good place to start. I've read perhaps 25-30 of those listed, but there's a lot left still to be explored.

[Scuba Ben]

Based on last week, I'm going to be reading Matzo Frogs (wherein a colony of frogs makes matzah ball soup) and Trucks (a board book about exactly what it says on the spine). Many more times. Each day.

Occasionally I may get to change it up with Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (Both versions.)

[AuntiePam]

Nonny, I used to feel the same way about my reading. I'd look at those lists and be ashamed at what I'd missed.

The way I look at it now -- if a book in the canon appeals to me, I'll give it a try. But to read something just because it's on a "You should read this" list -- nope.

I've read several on that list -- nowhere near 25 -- and Lolita and Song of Solomon are the only ones I'd be sad to have missed.

[Pere]

As long as you're reading something good, you're doing OK.

[AuntiePam]

This quote is advice for writers but I think it functions as one definition of "good". I've enjoyed books from writers who follow these rules, even if they didn't make the best seller list, or if the author is someone no one has ever heard of.

I ask for little. Give me a story that draws my interest. If aspects of the plot must be predictable, divert my attention with attractive prose and insightful characterization. Do not cheat me by using an inadequate word in the place of a better one, even if the proper word usage might make me scramble for the dictionary. Do not insult me by using obscure words when a common one will be more accurate. Focus on your strengths, whether they be pacing, characterization, description, plotting, or whatever; and always strive to improve with each successive work. End the work when you're done saying what you want to say. Know the rules of grammar, structure, and punctuation, especially if you intend to break those rules.

[Nonny J. Nonnington III]

Originally Posted by Nonny J. Nonnington III

I came upon this list which might be a good place to start.

Heh. I was going through the list again and saw "The Tin Drum". I used to be in a few High School classes with a guy and he was always carrying around a battered copy. No one I knew had read it, but we were all very impressed with his choice in literature. I found out years later that he carried it around because it was very thick and when hollowed out it would hold his cigarettes and pot.

[Glazer]

Just killed Redshirts. (snort) Next up is the third book of Brent Weeks, Lightbringer series. The Broken Eye. It's a big ol chunk of book. Some Eight hundred odd pages. I enjoyed the first two and have been waiting for this to come out.

[eleanorigby]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

Nonny, I used to feel the same way about my reading. I'd look at those lists and be ashamed at what I'd missed.

The way I look at it now -- if a book in the canon appeals to me, I'll give it a try. But to read something just because it's on a "You should read this" list -- nope.

Ok, I opened that list but lost all respect for it. EMMA? You have got be effing kidding me. Austen, yes, but NOT Emma.

Plus, I've READ Pilgrim's Progress. It's tedious, sanctimonious and ignorant. It's much better as a reference than a resource, if you follow me.

That said, I agree completely with AuntiePam (who reads much more than I do). I no longer feel guilty or "lesser" if I haven't read a supposed classic. Some I have tried to read and had zero interest in. Some I had to read for school, and actively disliked. Others I had to read for school I fell in love with and reread even today.

IOW, literature doesn't universally appeal and there's no disgrace in not liking a classic.

Example: I'll never read Bonfire of the Vanities. I have tried several times and can't get past about page 7. I just can't. I don't care what happens to whatshisname. I still don't.

Love the quote in post #13!

ETA: I've read Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont. Didn't know it was a classic. It has stayed with me for the past 2 decades. Lots of good titles on that list. Really do need to read Anna Karenina (never got to it) and also Proust. Thanks for the list!

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

Ok, I opened that list but lost all respect for it. EMMA? You have got be effing kidding me. Austen, yes, but NOT Emma.

Also, Charterhouse of Parma instead of The Red and the Black?

Full disclosure, I haven't read either, but everyone raves about The Red and the Black. I've tried Charterhouse and it was deadly. I'll try the other when the e-book gets cheap.

[Nonny J. Nonnington III]

Your thoughts echoed some of mine as well. "Daniel Deronda" by George Eliot instead of "The Mill on the Floss", "Adam Bede" or "Silas Marner"? Hemingway's short stories instead of one of his novels? It seemed as if the the compiler was either being self-congratulatory in naming lesser known works, or else assumed that the reader was already familiar with the more famous ones. But, it should be a good jumping off point.

I read Tracy Kidder's "House" about 25 years ago. One of the carpenters he was profiling would use his lunch break to read books like "Vanity Fair" and "Pride and Prejudice". I remember thinking that if a laborer could find time in his day to read for a half hour, then an office guy could do the same and I carried through for awhile. Time to get back to that again.

[AuntiePam]

Also, Middlemarch wasn't on that list. Shameful.

[eleanorigby]

And why Wind in the Willows, but not The Secret Garden?

And as much as I loved the March girls and the book IS a classic, I don't consider Little Women to be great literature.

I find the mix on the list to be hodge-podge.

All that said, it IS a good place to start, if you need inspiration. But there is no shame in liking lesser works, too.

[JackieLikesVariety]

I'm halfway through Dayshift and enjoying it.

[eleanorigby]

Got tired of the bleakness of Nordic mysteries, so I picked up a few Christopher Fowler ones. From the blurb, they look right up my alley, but about 4 pages into the first one I have, I realized I had tried to read this particular one years ago, and did not like it. So, I chose another of his. Title to follow, if I end up liking it.


But I'll say that this self-congratulatory, nudge-nudge/ wink-wink thing he's got going in the introduction/"note to readers" is already getting on my nerves.

[JackieLikesVariety]

just finishing Al Roker's book about the hurricane in 1900 that killed 10,000 in Galveston, TX, it is excellent!

I'd read some about the conditions on the island before and during the storm so that wasn't new (but it is very well told) but had no idea about the weather forecasting part of it.

my impression was always that the science of forecasting just wasn't up to predicting this hurricane and that's why such a horrible loss of life. turns out?

scientists WERE making valid predictions about hurricanes in general and this storm specifically but were not only ignored, they were actually BLOCKED from sending info to Texas about the storm coming their way!!! why? well, I'll spoiler it in case you want to read the book (and you should)

they were Cubans!

the arrogance of head of the Weather Service reminds me very much of whoever decided the Titanic was "unsinkable" - lives would have been lost anyway but it didn't have to be this many.

[eleanorigby]

Chris Fowler books are ok, if a bit manic and attention-whory. LOOK AT ME! I write eccentric characters! I cram my books with arcane London trivia which is one character's sole reason for existence, and if I were a better writer, the reader wouldn't be so aware of that fact!!
And I try to make my cast of characters three dimensional and only partially succeed by giving each one a unique habit/hobby/manner of speech-what a hoot! Oh, and post about my books on my website!!


But I read these kind of books as a way to check out of my world. I won't remember these books in 2 weeks and I'm fine with that.

[Gorgon Heap]

Originally Posted by Glazer

About to finish Redshirts. Need to hit up the book store to reup.

It's on my list. I actually had it from the library and ran out of time.

I just went though nearly the entire Dresden library the last few weeks.

Also nearly done with A Princess of Mars and rereading The War of the Worlds for the first time in 15 years.

Among some other, long-term reads that are really slow going.

[Glazer]

I love the Dresden books. But he needs to get with putting out a new one.

[eleanorigby]

Ok, this Chris Fowler (The Invisible Code) is better than the last, so I'm giving him another chance.

[Amythyst]

I just finished Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. It's a novel about a 16-year-old girl in the modern-day Ozarks who finds out that her father, a crystal meth cook, put the family's home up for bail. The story follows her efforts to track down her father and make sure he shows up for his court date while interacting with an extremely closed-mouthed community. The plot is simple, but engaging, and the author uses some wonderful turns of phrase.

I started reading The Time Between by Karen White after my mother recommended it, but the main character (flawed as she was) was too much of a Mary Sue for my liking. I slogged through the first 100 pages before giving up.

[AuntiePam]

I'm reading The Fountain Overflows, semi-autobiographical, first of three volumes, by Rebecca West.

Mary, the young narrator and a thoughtful person, is listening to a gossipy woman making judgments about someone's clothes.

Mary thinks "Her mind is unfurnished, so there is room for first impressions."

[SmartAleq]

Stephen King's new short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Pretty good so far.

[Gorgon Heap]

Originally Posted by Glazer

I love the Dresden books. But he needs to get with putting out a new one.

A new one's due next year and I believe there'll be a total of 20 with a followup three-book "Apocalypse" series ... which I'm sure bodes well.

SmartAleq, how is King these days? I still have my faves that I go back to (IT, The Stand) but, much like RR Martin, killed me by fucking off for five years between books in a major series.

[SmartAleq]

Actually, with few exceptions his recent work has been quite solid--he's getting nicely back to basics, tight stories without a lot of silliness and fluff and that actually have pretty good endings. I really enjoyed 11/22/63 because I'm a sucker for time travel yarns. Mr Mercedes was a straightforward, tight thriller and the sequel Finders Keepers was also solid. Basically, he's battled his demons, sobered up and is back to being a writer--thanks goodness!

[JackieLikesVariety]

speaking of King, I've never read The Stand but it's on my list. do people here recommend it?

I really liked his book about writing.

[SmartAleq]

Yes, you should read it and you should read the longer version--the original edition was massively cut and the full one is better. I realize it runs like four million pages, but it's an entertaining read--BFF read it and she takes for-freaking-EVAR to get through a book but she really super enjoyed it.

[JackieLikesVariety]

OK, thanks - I checked and the library's version says "complete uncut version" so whew.

got to get through a couple more novels before I get it though - when I am caught up that's my next fiction

[eleanorigby]

Started on Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series. I'm missing a few of the volumes, but so far, so good.

[AuntiePam]

What I remember about the uncut version of The Stand was some new scenes with Trashcan Man, and some pop culture references added in that weren't quite right.

Loved that book, both versions.

[Amythyst]

I'm about 100 pages into The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell. It's a novel about two Scottish sisters who are left to fend for themselves after the deaths of their deadbeat parents. I was hooked from the first page:

Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard.

Neither of them were beloved.

[Gorgon Heap]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

What I remember about the uncut version of The Stand was some new scenes with Trashcan Man, and some pop culture references added in that weren't quite right.

Loved that book, both versions.

Yeah, I think they did a version with updated technology and references in the late 80s or some such.

I reread it every few years in a weeklong glurgy fugue while back-to-backing with the miniseries if I can find it.

[JackieLikesVariety]

still reading All The Single Ladies - it's almost not good enough and I want to stop but it's just good enough I keep going.

over-all, not great. never read this author before but I'm not going to run out and find more of her books.

[Wolf Larsen]

Started "Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2013" by Carol Loomis. This is a collection of articles about and essays by Warren Buffett edited by his long time inner circle member Carol Loomis. (She edits his annual letter to the share holders.) Lots of interesting stuff, but you need a pretty good background in Buffett before you read it.

[Archangel]

Thanks for the suggestion for The Death Of Bees. I was lurking here and picked it up on my Kindle-- it's an extraordinary book.

[SmartAleq]

Finished the King collection, moved on to the new Sharon Shinn Elemental Blessings novel, Jeweled Fire. I like Shinn, she's good for a solid potato chip fantasy book and less predictably Mary Sue-ish than Mercedes Lackey.

[Slate]

Just started Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein. Sci-fi from John Sandford? I've read the entire Prey series over the years, so that's a lot of good will built up. I like realistic sci-fi like The Martian...can't stand the stuff like "the Bleebop Flugs boarded their hyperspace urkvajet and ten seconds later assumed orbit around Xigel 12 in the Callipian galaxy". We'll see

[AuntiePam]

Let The Right One In by John Lindvquist, Swedish, interesting and an original take on vampires.

The movie version was really good, but the book (as usual) has more characters and more depth.

The main character is Oskar, 12 years old, bullied. He meets Eli, who looks to be 12 or so but isn't. They bond.

I've forgotten most of the movie so this is fresh.