Books you have read/Want to read : suggestions and recommendations

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I totally loved Annihilation (although I am having a hard time getting into Authority, but think that is more because I want to go back to the biologist narrating). I love self-referential stuff and I saw a snark mentioned somewhere in the first few pages of the first story when I looked on amazon, so I think it should be a good book for me. We shall soon see!

[Traveller]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I totally loved Annihilation (although I am having a hard time getting into Authority, but think that is more because I want to go back to the biologist narrating). ..."

...then I hold some hope! Just btw, there are already threads if you're interested, but I suspect you might want tot start reading a bit first of course.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Wonderful. Will jump in as soon as I'm ready.

[Sumant]

I am currently reading A thousand names and really enjoying this military/flintlock fantasy.

[[deleted user]]

I want to read Frozen Socks: New & Selected Short Poems by Alan Pizzarelli.

His haikus are very American and very good.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Greg wrote: "I want to read Frozen Socks: New & Selected Short Poems by Alan Pizzarelli.

His haikus are very American and very good."

Thanks for that! I threw it on my stack. (I will try anything haiku at least once.)

[[deleted user]]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Greg wrote: "I want to read Frozen Socks: New & Selected Short Poems by Alan Pizzarelli.

His haikus are very American and very good."

Thanks for that! I threw it ..."

It has only just come out. It should be affordable at around $20 or so. I read his The Canary Funeral and excellent does not describe the picture that he paints of Little Italy, Newark, New Jersey. I am enthralled by his genius as I am of many geniuses.

[Traveller]

Hmm, Greg just reminded me in another thread, of what good fodder for discussion Shakespeare can be, and there is one particular Shakespeare that I have never quite fully figured out for myself, and would therefore love to discuss: you guessed it: it's Hamlet.

Is there anybody around here who would be interested in doing a discussion on Hamlet sometime in 2016?

[Derek]

Sounds good. I've probably seen Hamlet more times than any other Shakespeare play — not that that means I understand it any better. If we do Hamlet, though, we should include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for bonus points :-)

[Traveller]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Sounds good. I've probably seen Hamlet more times than any other Shakespeare play — not that that means I understand it any better. If we do Hamlet, though, we should include [book:Rosencrantz and ..."

Oh boy... you can add the latter to my list of shame, so yes! Though I am afeared of R&G are Dead...:S

[Derek]

Oh, no, there's nothing to be scared of there! R&G is huge fun. Of course, some people are scared of spiders or snakes, so there's no accounting for phobias.

[Traveller]

Maybe you can cure my phobia. We'll have to see...

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I would love to do Shakespeare with this crew, and Hamlet works for me. (It's the one I geeked out on in college and did the comparative film project for.) I discovered the Arden Third Series this year due to another group reading Macbeth and so I'm planning reread the Bard (or in the case of the minor plays, read) with that edition. (This is their Hamlet.) I see you have tagged the Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism edition (Hamlet), Traveller. I assume that one is wonderful as well.

Always up for Stoppard. (Arcadia is a better place to meet him, IMHO, but R&G is a given with Hamlet.)

2016, definitely. My boat is pretty sunk for the rest of 2015 if I want to finish my silly Pop Sugar challenge (and I do!) and the group reads we have on deck.

[Derek]

I haven't seen Arcadia, but I've probably read more of Stoppard's plays than any other playwrite but Shakespeare.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "I haven't seen Arcadia, but I've probably read more of Stoppard's plays than any other playwrite but Shakespeare."

You are ahead of me; I followed his stuff avidly in college but I sort of fell by the wayside with my reading in general for a long while afterward. He's on my list to catch up with.

[Traveller]

I love the Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism books! There was another criticism series that I also found good, being the Norton Critical Editions : http://books.wwnorton.com/books/subje...

[Traveller]

Listen, people, so when are we going to read All the Light We Cannot See ? March 2016? Make a poll? :P

[Traveller]

So, will around February do for Hamlet and then around March for the Dickens/Wilkie Collins project? In order to try and get a bit of order out of the chaos and to gauge how much of what we've already said we want to read and discuss can be fit into the next 6 to 8 months, I have gone to the liberty of working out a preliminary schedule, here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Please view and let me know in which ways it doesn't work for you - it's not set in stone and the Murakami is just a placeholder for any Murakami.

The idea of the schedule is that there will be at least one thing per month for each person's taste; for example, one SF, one classic, one contemporary etc.

[[deleted user]]

I find Hamlet to be a silly goose. Macbeth interests me more.

[Derek]

I've had it with this troll. We have a group that has absolutely no trouble having interesting and heated discussions. There's no need to be deliberately inflammatory. You're blocked.

[[deleted user]]

Who's the troll?

[Lori]

Yeah I see no troll.

[Derek]

You too, then.

I mean, really, he's had absolutely NOTHING to say since he joined the group that wasn't intentionally inflammatory. Not worth the trouble.

[Traveller]

Take a nice long deep breath, Derek. :) I think Lori is probably just being sarcastic, or, maybe she has not experienced Greg elsewhere, and therefore, is being sincere... I don't think she is trying to heap the coals on.

Apologies to you, Lori.

Yeah... from his very first post I suspected Greg of being a troll, but, you know, in the name of freedom of speech, we initially decided to leave him on a bit and see what transpires.

He has to this point quite cleverly avoided making any ad hominem attacks that would give me a clear excuse to throw him off.
Remember, differences of opinion are allowed - as long as we don't allow it to descend to a personal level.

I shall have some deliberations regarding the matter - the thing is, I don't think any of his utterings are sincere, and more often than not, he pulls out quotes as "replies".

Simply throwing a person off a group is a serious matter, though, so... hang in there Derek, this matter is being investigated and considered.

[Bill]

Traveller wrote: "Take a nice long deep breath, Derek..."

Hi Traveller,

I'm only going to put my opinion in on this once. Because the responses you and others have made is what a troll wants.
The only way to deal with it is to ignore any comments he makes completely. Believe me, ignore it and it goes away.

[Traveller]

Bill wrote: "Traveller wrote: "Take a nice long deep breath, Derek..."

Hi Traveller,

I'm only going to put my opinion in on this once. Because the responses you and others have made is what a troll wants.
The..."

Yeah, that's true Bill. ...and I think by now, it has become clear that he's out attention-seeking.

Will do! :)

[Lori]

Hey Derek, I haven't been active lately so missed all troll action elsewhere, apologies to adding to your bad mood!

Traveller, it's all good, no worries. :)

[Traveller]

Thanks Lori! Btw, have you or Bill been tempted to do any reading with us next year? You are quite welcome to make suggestions still, not all the books on that schedule are set in stone, and there's always still late June and onwards....

[Lori]

I definitely plan on joining a group read in the future! My problem is most of my reading comes from the library, so I have to read those before they are due!

[Amy (Other Amy)]

In any case, Derek, thanks for pointing it out for those of us slow on the uptake. *goes to take stupid book off her shelves*

[Traveller]

Lori (Hellian) wrote: "I definitely plan on joining a group read in the future! My problem is most of my reading comes from the library, so I have to read those before they are due!"

Ah yes, indeed. Well, in that sense, maybe it's a good thing to have some of your reading planned so far in advance as I've done with that schedule. Though, even so, timing can be a problem because you don't always know when a book will be in at the library.

[Sumant]

Here is my review of The thousand names, which is the 1st book in The shadow campaigns series, really loved this book and it is a must read for people loving military or flintlock fantasy.

[Traveller]

Due to some member feedback, I started a new folder for non-fiction here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Not a suggestion, but I had to share: my brother texted me out of the blue the other day and asked if I'd read The Poetic Edda. Of course I haven't; it's just on my stack. He wants me to have it read by Thanksgiving so we can discuss. You could knock me over with a feather; he's never asked to do a buddy read of any kind, though he does ask me what I'm reading now and again. (He's cars and I'm books, generally.) Anyway, I downloaded it to the Kindle. Wish me luck.

[Derek]

Whoa! That's a heck of a read for someone who doesn't do buddy reads. It really piles on the pressure, doesn't it!

Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of The thousand names"

I've heard a few good things about Wexler, but so little time...

btw, Clouds, who I know is friends with a few people here, wrote a pretty huge review of The Thousand Names

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Whoa! That's a heck of a read for someone who doesn't do buddy reads. It really piles on the pressure, doesn't it!"

That's what I thought too! When he first asked I thought maybe he was going to ask me something about The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, but no, he's really ordered it! so of course I'm determined to get it read, now. Crazy pressure.

[Derek]

LOL. MY brother and I always had pretty similar reading tastes. And he might well have asked me to read the Eddas with him. But I think if either of my sisters had asked... :-) (and that's no dig at my sisters: at least one of them tends to read far deeper and more complex works than I'm interested in).

[Amy (Other Amy)]

You get so used to your territories, right? My brother is a smart guy, and we have wonderful discussions and debates on all manner of things, but things like this are just generally my realm and not his. I almost asked him who he was and what he'd done with my real brother.

[Traveller]

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "You get so used to your territories, right? My brother is a smart guy, and we have wonderful discussions and debates on all manner of things, but things like this are just generally my realm and no..."

You never know, maybe he's met somebody with a deep interest in Nordic mythology? ;)

[Amy (Other Amy)]

He better not have. He's a married man :O

[Traveller]

Ah. :|

[Sumant]

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Whoa! That's a heck of a read for someone who doesn't do buddy reads. It really piles on the pressure, doesn't it!

Sumant wrote: "Here is my review of The thousand names"

I've heard a few good th..."

The book is really good.

[Sumant]

Currently I am reading Pandora's star and loving it.

[Derek]

I'm sure it's far too long. I read the The Night's Dawn Trilogy, and it runs to 3000 pages, with easily 2/3 of it being filler. I enjoyed them, but I'm not going to slog through any more of his until he tightens up his writing.

[Stephen]

A challenging book I'm currently reading is Naomi Mitchison's novel The Corn King and the Spring Queen, set in ancient Scythia, Greece, and Egypt. It has a rich historical setting, and well-developed themes of barbarism and civilization, magic and philosophy, but I've been struggling to identify with the characters.

I heard about this in Neal Ascherson's Black Sea, which, in contrast, I can recommend wholeheartedly. It's one of my favorite non-fiction books.

[Derek]

Stephen wrote: "I heard about this in Neal Ascherson's Black Sea, which, in contrast, I can recommend wholeheartedly. "

Looks interesting, though my wife would be appalled at this line from the blurb: "As he shows… Black Sea patterns in the Caucasus, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Turkey, and Greece have linked the peoples of Europe and Asia together for centuries."

How did they manage to skate all the way around Bulgaria (the land of her people). Greece isn't even ON the Black Sea (though, obviously it was in Byzantine days).

[Stephen]

Good point. If you want a comprehensive history of the region, this is not the right book. It does come up a few times, but Ascherson himself acknowledges that "Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania get less attention than they deserve" (10).

[Bill]

Traveller wrote: "Thanks Lori! Btw, have you or Bill been tempted to do any reading with us next year? You are quite welcome to make suggestions still, not all the books on that schedule are set in stone, and there'..."

I'm taking a long time responding, but yes I will participate in a few discussions over the year. I bought a copy of COSAM, then see that discussion is delayed. I'm looking forward to participating in some of the Vandermeer and other stuff.
I was hoping to participate in The Martian discussion, but as it turns out I'd only finished it a couple of weeks before the group read. Loved the book though.
I think I have a hard time discussing the specifics of a book as much as others here are able. I'm enjoying watching some of the comments, and I will try to participate, but my comments are more about heart than head - hope that makes sense.

[Lori]

Bill that's me but I think that's just as important.

[Traveller]

Hi guys! Yes, Bill, Lori is right - there's no 'correct' way to respond to a text! If you feel your response is emotional, hey, that's good too - I think the best books make us respond emotionally... and after all, fiction is art, and art is supposed to give us emotional responses as well as intellectual responses.

Please don't let the time that the discussion was first placed deter you - aren't you a member over at Mievillians as well? We've still responded to people there sometimes -years- after we'd done the discussion - in fact, there is a person posting on those old discussions as we speak! :)

So, please don't be shy... ;)