John’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2021)

John’s comments from the On The Same Page group.

Mary and I will be repeating our challenge to each other to read a book from five of the following categories (some of which may change before the 31st).

1. A book Reed College would have on a syllabus
J: the odyssey

2. A book set in California, Colorado, Oregon or Washington
J: Columbine

3. A book by an author or a genre we normally wouldn't read

4. A book we tried to read together but didn't succeed in finishing

5. A book written before 1800.

6. A book in translation from someplace other than North America or Europe

7. A book of essays, short stories or a collection of poetry

8. A book made into a movie or television program.
J: The Road

Mary wrote: "Hey John- looks like you will have a great year of reading! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean. I am also looking forw..."

I think both of those are up soon since I've started both.

Alondra wrote: "Great looking list, John.

The Road is just an awesome read; rather dark, but so good. I could read anything by Cormac McCarthy and be so happy."

His writing is on another level entirely. I'm planning on rereading the Border Trilogy at some point. I don't think I fully appreciated it 20 years ago.

I may tweak this a little but it's all about books I own and haven't read yet.

1. *moved to 2024 list* The Practice of the Wild: Essays
2. ***READ 8/4/23*** Columbine
3. *moved to 2024 list* The Calculating Stars
4. *moved to 2024 list* How Long 'til Black Future Month?
5. Parable of the Talents
6. ***READ 7/24/23*** Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
7. Just Kids
8. ***READ 8/27/23*** The World We Make
9. Wanderlust: A History of Walking
10. **READ 6/22/2023** The Road
11. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity
12. Do the Work!: An Antiracist Activity Book

And the four:
1. *moved to 2024 list* How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
2. Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean
3. *moved to 2024 list* The Discourses
4. *moved to 2024 list* How to Read Now

To the Lighthouse and Suttree are fabulous.

Good luck!

Wow Mary! I especially like Truckin and Trailerin. Definitely a genre buster!

Just finished Into Thin Air. What a phenomenal book.

Four down, one to go! The Memory Police

Just finished The Peacekeeper; its a modern mystery, kindof CSI/Law and Order, but takes place in an alternate reality where Native Americans weren't colonized. I'm not a big mystery reader, or thriller reader, and this is the author's debut novel (she is a former colleague). So I'm calling it "A book by an author or a genre we normally wouldn't read."

oh we aren't reading the same books! Just the same categories. I read True Grit (movie) and Parable of the Sower (takes place in California). Both terrific .

Two down, three to go!

Just finished Parable of the Sower. Powerful book. I think probably moreso for me because as the group travels they pass through terrain familiar to me, and in a time only three years from today.

"True Grit" is a phenomenal story.

A challenging list!

John wrote: "I'm liking that you've gone with so much nonfiction!"

Seems to be the way I read. I can't do a lot of fiction back to back. Not sure why that is.

I am going to do this challenge with a friend. Read 5 from the following categories:

1. A book Reed College would have on a syllabus

2. *finished* A book set in California, Colorado, Oregon or Washington Parable of the Sower

3. *finished* A book by an author or a genre we normally wouldn't read The Peacekeeper

4. A book we tried to read together but didn't succeed in finishing

5. A book from my friend's reading list.

6. *finished* A book in translation from someplace other than North America or Europe The Memory Police

7. A book of essays, short stories or a collection of poetry

8. *finished* A book made into a movie or television program. True Grit

Copied over from the other group.

1. *finished* Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
2. The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
3. *finished* Dissolution
4. Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean
5. *finished* Parable of the Sower
6. *finished* True Grit
7. *finished* Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
8. Just Kids
9. Thinking, Fast and Slow
10. *finished* Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
11. The Light of Other Days
12. Curbing Traffic: The Human Case for Fewer Cars in Our Lives

And the Plus Four:

1. Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments: A Stone Reader
2. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
3. The Calculating Stars
4. Columbine