What Reads Are You Hoping To Finish Or Start Before The Year's End? (10/30/22)

[Marc]

Which books are you hoping to start and/or complete before 2023 starts?

[Robert]

The Eighth Life - it’s for my IRL book club so I have to read it.

[Stacia]

The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics

I've been reading it off & on since early 2021, one of those where you read a few sections, then set it down for a month or two (or three...). Most parts have been interesting, but a few have been dense & tedious. I think I have around 100 pages left.

[Nadine in California]

Marlon James' Moon Witch, Spider King. I loved the first book in this series, but it definitely requires being in a committed mood, and I'm in an annoyingly flighty reading mood that I hope ends soon! I wish there was a pill or a spell for that!

[Lark]

I pre-ordered Percival Everett’s new novel DR. NO, to be published tomorrow, so I think that means I want to read it immediately…although that’s not guaranteed, I’m sure I have books on my shelf unread that a preordered years ago.

[Marc]

Well, I did not expect such practical answers in terms of numbers. This all sounds ridiculously doable and realistic.

I believe I'm only committed to one group read (On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous), so that's a definite. I've got two library books out (Loudermilk: Or, The Real Poet; Or, The Origin of the World and So Much Blue) and I'd like to get to some slimmer, small press options (starting with Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead). None of these are particularly long reads.

[Joy D]

Each year, I do a random selection of 20 books I currently own, and commit to reading them sometime during the year. I have completed 18, and have 2 in progress that I plan to finish by year-end:
The Book of Fires
Galway Bay

I also commit to reading 5 books by a particular author. This year it was Iris Murdoch. I have read 4, and am in the process of finishing:
The Red and the Green

[Hugh]

I don't plan that far ahead!

[Hugh]

Probably won't finish The Idiot or start The Gardens of Consolation before November now though.

[Carol]

more Annie Ernaux

[Bill]

Lark wrote: "I pre-ordered Percival Everett’s new novel DR. NO, to be published tomorrow..."

I didn't even know about this, thanks!

Ok, my list is looking positively undisciplined:
Jesse Ball, Autoportrait
Sofia Samatar, The White Mosque
Mariana Enriquez, Our Share of Night
Paul Curran, Generation Bloodbath
Michael DeForge, Birds of Maine

Also a couple Shirley Jackson award finalists for single-author collections:
J.A.W. McCarthy, Sometimes We're Cruel and Other Stories
John Linwood Grant, Where All is Night, and Starless

[Alwynne]

Bill wrote: "Lark wrote: "I pre-ordered Percival Everett’s new novel DR. NO, to be published tomorrow..."

I didn't even know about this, thanks!

Ok, my list is looking positively undisciplined:
Jesse Ball, [b..."

I was a bit disappointed by the Enriquez, just too long and a bit slapdash in terms of writing style/plot. But keen to read the Ball. For some reason his books seems hard to track down here atm, not sure why. But supply chains on pretty much everything in the UK are screwed up right now, so may be related to that.

I'm trying to keep up with ARCs and finish [book:Pilgrimage, Volume 4: Oberland, Dawn's Left Hand, Clear Horizon, Dimple Hill, March Moonlight|1129963] apart from that I tend to read based on my mood.

[Marc]

I find it odd that neither of the library systems I I use has a single Ball book in their holdings (last time I checked). They did have Birds of Maine, which I stumbled on to without realizing it was DeForge at first (cover/size just caught my eye).

[Bill]

Marc wrote: "I find it odd that neither of the library systems I I use has a single Ball book in their holdings (last time I checked)."

San Francisco Public Library has a lot of Jesse Ball. Have you tried interlibrary loan?

[Bill]

Alwynne wrote: "I was a bit disappointed by the Enriquez, just too long and a bit slapdash in terms of writing style/plot."

Interesting. You gave it 4 stars though. If I thought a book was long and slapdash, I'd put it in the 2-3 star range. In any case, I'm a huge fan of Enriquez's earlier collection, and will definitely read the new novel.

[Marc]

Good suggestion, Bill! I always forget interlibrary loan is an option.

[Alwynne]

Bill wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I was a bit disappointed by the Enriquez, just too long and a bit slapdash in terms of writing style/plot."

Interesting. You gave it 4 stars though. If I thought a book was long an..."

If you scroll down to the end my rating is 3/3.5 the book's in sections with overlapping narratives, sometimes more like linked stories, some sections worked really well, others not so much.

Edit: Have to have a full rating for Netgalley, partial ratings, fractional etc not accepted on their site, my review did spell out my reservations though if that helps. I think her stories are more effective, she doesn't seem as comfortable with the long form narrative.

[Carol]

I don't plan my reading, instead it happens, one book or one conversation or one search leads to another

[Marc]

Carol wrote: "I don't plan my reading, instead it happens, one book or one conversation or one search leads to another"

I plan it and then do something that has nothing to do with my plans. :D

Do you really have no idea what might be next for you (nothing within sight, no piles of unread books calling out louder than other piles)?!!

[Emmeline]

Alwynne wrote: "Bill wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I was a bit disappointed by the Enriquez, just too long and a bit slapdash in terms of writing style/plot."

Interesting. You gave it 4 stars though. If I thought a boo..."

I also gave it four stars (or 3.5) but share Alwynne's reservations. However, it's true that I'm not a fan of traditional horror and I liked Enriquez's short fiction for the political dimension which feels a bit more tacked on. As someone who enjoys horror, Bill may get a lot more out of it.

[Bill]

Emily wrote: "As someone who enjoys horror, Bill may get a lot more out of it. "

I do enjoy horror, but I'm extremely picky. I'm getting a little concerned about you and Alwynne's reservations, since they are things I often complain about. But I do plan on reading Enriquez's new book soon.

[Nadine in California]

Marc wrote: "Do you really have no idea what might be next for you (nothing within sight, no piles of unread books calling out louder than other piles)?!!.."

My answer to this (pardon me, Carol, for jumping in) is that I've got huge piles of unread books calling (yelling?) out to me at all decibels, but none match my reading mood. I pick them up and put them down and pine for some unknown book. That's what's happening to me now.

I'm fiddling around with Hild but it's not catching, I'm dipping in and out of The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories, but I think my cure will be a re-read of my most beloved author's The Dispossessed. The copy I own is an ancient, yellowed and crispy mass market paperback, so I've ordered a new trade paperback from Alibris. In fact, I think I'll build a complete Ursula Le Guin collection over the next year.

[Hugh]

I give priority to discussions both here and in my face to face book group, then library books, and only then whatever is on my longer term to read pile. I am normally quite good at getting through these but I do still have a couple from early 2021 to get to, and the order I tackle those in is largely a matter of mood and balance, so is rarely planned, but I try to take the ones from the bottom of the pile if nothing is shouting out at me. Higher priority interruptions happen all the time.

[Carol]

Marc wrote: "Carol wrote: "I don't plan my reading, instead it happens, one book or one conversation or one search leads to another"

I plan it and then do something that has nothing to do with my plans. :D

Do..."

I used to buy lots of books, & some I'd read, some not, always dozens of the unread looking at me in disappointment.

Now I buy very few books. I belong to two libraries. I reserve books I hear about & read them as they arrive. E.g., Ernaux won the Nobel Prize, so I reserved two books of hers & read them.

I read a lot of poetry, much of it for the second or tenth time. One poet leads me to another. These books are on my shelves. This week it's Transtromer.

[Bretnie]

My goal for the end of the year is to finish multiple book series that I've started.

I just finished the first in Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris series (Marc I recommend it!), and recently read NK Jemesin's The Killing Moon, and Octavia Butler's Dawn. I'd love to finish the series before the first books leave my brain.

[Lyn]

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, good, but very long.

It would also be nice to finally finish Obama's A Promised Land, also very good, but he is certainly not brief!

[Marc]

Carol wrote: "I read a lot of poetry, much of it for the second or tenth time. One poet leads me to another. These books are on my shelves. This week it's Tranströmer."
Tranströmer sounds like a poet whose work almost demands re-reading!

(Incidentally, my plans were already derailed by a library hold I forgot all about!)

[Marc]

Bretnie wrote: "My goal for the end of the year is to finish multiple book series that I've started.

I just finished the first in Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris series (Marc I recommend it!), and re..."

I've still got my unread copy of City of Saints and Madmen glaring at me from the bookshelf, Bretnie! That's the first book in that series, yes?

[Jennifer]

I hope to have The Shadow of the Torturer done by the first of the year. Its a project.

[Whitney]

Jennifer wrote: "I hope to have The Shadow of the Torturer done by the first of the year. Its a project."

I dropped out of the group read for reasons, but I've been checking in to see your comments. I mentioned it's a reread for me, but previous ones were pre-internet, so this time I'm really digging in to pick-up more of the references and allusions.

One warning is that the Book of the New Sun is really one book, so you have to read all four for some of the things in Shadow to pay off. I've been listening along with the "ReReading Wolfe" podcast, which is excellent if you really want to do a deep analysis (about 90 minutes spent on each chapter), but they do freely reference future events so it's probably best for a reread.

I think it's worth reading for it's own sake, though, even without dedicating your life to a monk-like study of the text. You might appreciate this short article from Neil Gaiman, "How To Read Gene Wolfe". https://www.sfsite.com/fsf/2007/gwng0...

[Bretnie]

Marc wrote: "I've still got my unread copy of City of Saints and Madmen glaring at me from the bookshelf, Bretnie! That's the first book in that series, yes?"

Yep, that's the first one! I'd remembered it'd been glaring at you for a while, so maybe a nudge that it's worth picking up. It's sort of a series of interrelated short stories if that helps - you could easily break up the reading.

[Marc]

Bretnie wrote: "Marc wrote: "I've still got my unread copy of City of Saints and Madmen glaring at me from the bookshelf, Bretnie! That's the first book in that series, yes?"

Yep, that's the first one! I'd rememb..."

Its glaring (and this group) did get me to read Borne, Dead Astronauts, and The Strange Bird: A Borne Story!

[Jennifer]

Whitney wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I hope to have The Shadow of the Torturer done by the first of the year. Its a project."

I dropped out of the group read for reasons, but I've been checking in to see..."

Thank you Whitney. I am glad to know that you are checking in. I undertand why you aren't particiapting. I admit I am hoping you may choose to dabble here and there. To be honest I am in it for the story. I read the article thank you for that.

[Stacia]

Marc, thanks again for posting this question. It gave me the impetus I needed to finally finish The Argentina Reader: History, Culture, Politics. (Hooray! It only took me almost two years! Lol.)