Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Archived Chit Chat & All That
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What Are You Reading Now?
I have read the first three stories in Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (The movie Arrival is based on one of the short stories). Very, very good so far. Not one weak story.
I just finished the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and loved it!!! It's so funny!!! Tomorrow I will be starting An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
Aussie author Paul Starr has used his own experiences as inspiration for Prior Regrets. Does Mark Prior, a young backpacker from England have regrets two decades after his stay in Israel?
3★ Link to my review of Prior Regrets
Valentine is a debut by Elizabeth Wetmore about the dangers for all the women in the West Texas oil country where men are men and women are there to serve.
3.5★ Link to my review of Valentine
I began ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller yesterday :)
J_BlueFlower wrote: "I have read the first three stories in Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (The movie Arrival is based on one of the short stories). Very, very good so far. ..."The second story, "Understand," is one of my all-time favorites.
I finished reading the first in the Inspector Montalbano series:
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
I also started reading, for the Evolution of Science Fiction group read:
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Ten-year-old Rae is home alone in Aussie author Emily Spurr's moving debut novel, A Million Things. Kids are canny creatures, and Rae is one I am sure will be remembered.
4★ Link to my review of A Million Things
This children's book (yes, children's book) introduces kids to drag queen RuPaul! It's a new one in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara, who has produced countless inspirational biographies that even grown-ups can learn from.
4★ Link to my review of RuPaul with several illustrations to entertain you.
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them is just what it says it is. Francine Prose is a highly regarded literary authority who knows her stuff, but isn't stuffy. She also knows how to poke fun at herself.
5★ Link to my review of Reading Like a Writer
The Guest List by Lucy Foley. At the last few pages. Loved it so far.
Mod
I'm currently reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and it's actually a better read than I expected.I like that Krakauer not only talks about Chris, but he's trying to find a commonality with other young adventurers like Chris, and even including his own experiences on how and why they take these risks
Popular Aussie author Rachael Johns has written about a mother who is surprised to find herself pushed into Flying the Nest without her kids! Her fans will enjoy this one.
3.5★ Link to my review of Flying the Nest
It’s very weird when 2 unrelated books turn out to have something in common. I just read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and listened to Libertie. Both books start with a scene of someone escaping by being enclosed in a coffin! Then I read Janesville: An American Story for a local book group (we are only about 30 miles from that town) and now starting Beartown. Both of those are about what it is like to live in small working-class towns that have passed their prime. But I didn’t know that beforehand.
I finished:
Venus Plus X by Theodore Sturgeon
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
An interesting observation Robin. Sometimes one book brings out something fascinating in another, just by happening to be read at close times.I'm currently reading The King's Own by Frederick Marryat, which goes to illustrate many points of modern historical fiction in the same setting, like Patrick O'Brian's books - and bring out the progress made in storytelling since then!
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: ". . . and I started reading: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson."I'd be willing to bet money that you'll enjoy the Atkinson book more than the two-star read, RJ!
My Year Of Living Vulnerably sounds like a memoir by talented, tormented Aussie journalist, author, and broadcaster Rick Morton, but it dives into culture, politics, philosophy, and science, especially PTSD and the brain. Fascinating stuff and a great read!
5★ Link to my My Year of Living Vulnerably
I recently read Voss by Patrick White, which was absolutely superb. I'm presently reading non-fiction - Literary Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton. When I've finished, I'm thinking of reading some verse - either Omeros by Derek Walcott, or The Canterbury Tales, which I read as a 17 year old several decades ago. I'm particularly interested in long verse forms at the moment, because I'm in the middle of composing a 1600 line heroic couplet satire of identity politics called The Wokeiad.
Since I last posted, I've started and/or finished:A Map of Home - Randa Jarrar
The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley
No Signposts in the Sea - Vita Sackville-West
The Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio
The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings - Octavio Paz
Elizabeth and Her German Garden - Elizabeth von Arnim
The Book of Salt - Monique Truong
I finished An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott a few days ago and yesterday I started reading Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James along with The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (I am reading Lady Windemere's Fan) and still reading the Bible chronologically. :)
Richard wrote: "I recently read Voss by Patrick White, which was absolutely superb. I'm presently reading non-fiction - Literary Theory: An Introduction by [author:Terry ..."I was just thinking yesterday that I should read some Patrick White. You may have pushed me into it, Richard. :)
I loved Aussie author Tabitha Bird's imaginative debut novel, and I've just enjoyed her latest, The Emporium of Imagination. I'm pleased she weaves her magic in her hometown of Boonah, Qld, but I want this Emporium to open near me, please!
4★ Link to my Emporium of Imagination review
At the moment I am reading these 3 books: Transcend by Jewel E. Ann
The Harlequin-Anita Blake series (15) by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: ". . . and I started reading: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson."I'd be willing to bet money that you'll enjoy the Atkinson book more than t..."
And you are right! It hooked me right away. Excellent book so far - I'm about a quarter of the way through it.
We are almost halfway thru the new year y'all. I hope everyone's reading goals are moving in the right direction. I'm a little behind but in it to finally join the 100+ club. I'm flipping away at the Lone Wolf and Cub series and I gotta tell ya, I feel like I'm in too deep. This series is fricking depressing! Yall I just know that they are going to make this kid a murderer and I'm cant prepare myself for it. I mean he's not even 5. I gotta finish it but I'm kinda dreading it. I'm about 9 books in and its only 12. Talk about rough. Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road
I finished
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading
Choke Hold by Christa Faust
Currently reading Intrigo by Hakan Nesser. It consists of five novellas. The last four were made into the movies Dear Agnes, Death of an Author and Samaria. https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/...
I am cracking on with War And PeaceI started it on 1st April with the intention of it being a Q2 read
and I now need to read 25 pages a day for the next 12 days to finish it on schedule...
:oD
Darren wrote: "I am cracking on with War And PeaceI started it on 1st April with the intention of it being a Q2 read
and I now need to read 25 pages a day for the next 12 days to finish it on schedule...
:oD"
How are you finding it so far? I've had alot of recommendations pop up lately for this one but I'm still yet to decide what my next read is gonna be.
It's excellent, really well written, the chapters are quite short so it's easy to "serial read" a bit each day, and I'm actually finding it growing on me as I go along and am happy to read bigger chunks
I loved An Imaginary Life by acclaimed Aussie author David Malouf. What a strange and fascinating life he's dreamed up for the exiled Roman poet Ovid, banished forever to a remote village with primitive customs (and no common language).
5★ Link to my review of An Imaginary Life
Getting Tyson is exactly what the good guys are trying so hard to do with such little luck in this UK thriller by P.K. Davies. Big Dave Tyson has zero redeeming features!
3★ Link to my review of Getting Tyson
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "I loved An Imaginary Life by acclaimed Aussie author David Malouf. What a strange and fascinating life he's dreamed up for the exiled Roman poet Ovid, banished forever to ..."I really liked Malouf's Remembering Babylon, so have An Imaginary Life in my TBR pile - good to hear such positive reports!
My classics group is reading Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief. It is much lighter and more humorous than the current TV show. I am also reading Death of a Colonial, as I am working my way through this very good historical mystery series featuring the blind judge Sir John Fielding and his young assistant. I am listening to The Lager Queen of Minnesota. I lived in that state for over 25 years so I enjoy hearing the accent. It's maybe a little overdone, but not that much. Some people there really do sound like extras from the movie Fargo.
Darren wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "I loved An Imaginary Life by acclaimed Aussie author David Malouf. What a strange and fascinating life he's dreamed up for the exiled Roman poet O...I really liked Malouf's Remembering Babylon, so have An Imaginary Life in my TBR pile - good to hear such positive reports!"
I expect you will enjoy it when you get to it, Darren. Malouf is such a literate, inventive writer.
Since I last posted, I've started:Flood of Fire - Amitav Ghosh
Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays - Durga Chew-Bose
Voltaire in Love - Nancy Mitford
An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde and the Bible chronologically. :)
I didn't know Daphne du Maurier wrote this kind of entertaining, historical romance. Frenchman's Creek is a light, atmospheric bodice-ripper in which no bodices are seen to be ripped. Pirates, lords and ladies, Cornwall!
4★ Link to my review of Frenchman's Creek
Mod
"An Ideal Husband" is my favorite work by Oscar Wilde. I hope you enjoyed it.
I finished reading:
Psycho by Robert Bloch - yeah, the book that was the basis for the movie. Mother?
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:
The Shining by Stephen King - All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy....
Yikes, Slayer! Was it as scary as the movie?
Lynn wrote: "Janice wrote: "An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde and the Bible chronologically. :)""An Ideal Husband" is my favorite work by Oscar Wilde. I hope you enjoyed it."
I am really enjoying it so far. :) I have also read The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windemere's Fan. I really couldn't choose a favourite out of these 3 plays; I love them all!!! Someday I would love to see Oscar Wilde's plays in person. :)
Terry wrote: "Yikes, Slayer! Was it as scary as the movie?"If you're talking about Psycho then I think it was scary in a different kind of way. Films get to control what you see and they get a soundtrack to help build tension, whereas books just get words and your imagination. Bloch did a good job building tension throughout the story and keeping "Mother" a mystery as much as possible. Still, there are some books that are either eclipsed by their film versions or at least share the spotlight with them (Jaws, The Godfather, The Shining, etc.) and Psycho is one of those.
I finished reading
Choke Hold by Christa Faust - the second installment in the exploits of Angel Dare
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading
Hungry Men by Edward Anderson - the author of noted depression-era crime novel Thieves Like Us
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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