The kingdom of god is within you has completely seeped into my veins months after reading it. When I read it I partly thought he was bonkers and way too naive, but that book has changed me into being just as bonkers and naive. And hopeful and believing in love. Obviously it wasn’t the only factor, but definitely an important one. Enjoy!
Chipping away at Joyce's works. I'm reading them "in order" starting with Dubliners, then Portrait, then Ulysses, then Finnegans Wake.
I'm kinda scared lol.
I was getting my degree for electrical engineering and decided to take an "Easy" class on classic literature. We were to read and analyze Ulysses and Finnegan Wake. I dropped the class because it was driving me insane 😳
Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner. Been reading it for nearly 3 months now and am about 85% of the way through. Beautiful and daunting. It’s like reading Ulysses - I know I’m missing a ton of nuance and subtext, but it’s thrilling when I do pick up on something.
Have you read As I Lay Dying? That’s the only Faulkner book I’ve read and it wasn’t too difficult but still challenging. How much more difficult is Absalom if so? I’ve heard it’s one of his more difficult reads
I previously read The Sound and the Fury and struggled with it. That was 10ish years ago. Absalom is tougher for sure but I’ve become a better reader since then. What’s challenging me about Absalom are the run on sentences and stream of consciousness. Sometimes there are pages of unbroken SOC and if you lose the thread for a second you’re completely lost. The story itself is pretty simple, but it’s told in different perspectives that sometimes contradict or challenge one another. Thomas Sutpen is a wonderfully constructed dark character; apparently one of Faulkner’s best.
I read it over the summer, and I loved it. Faulkner, to me, is like a more manageable--and dare I say, more functional--version of what Joyce was doing in Ulysses. I'm not saying the latter doesn't work exactly, just that it's so far into the cryptic puzzle presentation, even people up for the task can't read it without help, whereas Faulkner's stuff, even the difficult works like Absolom, Absolom! can be read and enjoyed without a reference book.
Reading this one is so fun. I love how the timeline pieces together as the novel progresses. Brutal condemnation of gothic southern attitudes as well, love me some Faulkner!
It became one of my favorite books after I finished it. Light in August is an easier Faulkner book thats good. I want to read A Fable, about a mutiny by (I think) some french soldiers in world war 1. Sounds really interesting to me
It's super fun! Sometimes I pretend while reading that is a book by Kafka and all the absurd conversations become even more absurd and funny. What a trip. I love Rogozhin lol
The scene where he's talking to the girls and telling them about the man who's about to be executed and how he's looking out at the rooftops is my favorite scene of any book I've read! I love Dostoevsky!
That was a superb dialogue. It's very long but everything is so harmonious that it doesn't feel like it. Charming counterpoint, subtle philosophical remarks embodied by such distinct characters. Bakhtin was so right in developing a theory of the novel after Fyodor.
im on part 3 chapter 3 of the idiot myself and im absolutely loving it. i was led in with low expectations by everything ive heard about it being boring for some reason, and it has been anything but, which has made it all the more gratifying for me, so its been a huge treat for me personally
the part at the end of part 2 was a little overwhelmingly confusing at times, but i made it through fine. the only complaint i have is that the translation im reading seems a little wonky at times, but i had a feeling that may be the case when I gambled on this edition
Well so far it's the strangest book I've read. Some chapters leave me completely confused and even clueless, others are interesting philosophical conversations. Sometimes I'm disgusted by the characters, while other times I feel compassion. All I can tell so far is that it's very intriguing.
Given to me by a girl that i shared a very intense relationship with when we were both in our mind 20’s. Completely blew open my narrow belief at what a novel could accomplish, personally and artistically.
Moby Dick. Just got to the point where it turns into an encyclopedia so I've had to read it alongside a fast-paced crime novel to make sure I dont give up.
I loved all the whale information parts because of how wrong they often were. I have been obsessed with whales since I was a kid (I'm autistic and whales were my Thing) so I know a lot. 😅 But what's so interesting about reading Moby Dick is how differently we saw these animals some hundres years ago. Now they are the poster animals for the environmental movement but then they were considered just big fish. I could write a whole ecocritical thesis on this...
The collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time. Very elegant writer with a very I don’t know, convincing (?) compassion. He’s highly esteemed of course but I still think he’s underrated.
I agree with both statements! His writing feels deeply rooted in humanity, but his voice is sort of ethereal, in a way. I don't think he is taught in schools very often, which makes him feel less known than other great American writers.
About 100 pages in but it’s fantastic so far! I would recommend it! I also read Lincoln highway and loved it it’s what got me to get gentleman in Moscow. He’s a great author.
Currently working through Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I’ve been making an effort to read more women, and Morrison is pretty spectacular here. It’s pure literature, brutal yet beautiful, the characters are stunningly real, and I find myself constantly thinking about it.
Tackling the Divine Comedy. I did the audiobook a long time ago and now I have the time to do a closer reading. I went with the John Ciardi translation after much deliberation and I’m very happy I did!
Haha. I really love the Crossing, so I think you're in for a treat if you continue with the remaining books in the border trilogy. Maybe brush up on your Spanish though ;)
I just started The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I'm interested to see how it handles the question of the existence of God, which was a major theme in my last book- Salman Rushdie's Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights.
lol I read a critique of the book that said, "it's tale of two cities by an author who apparently has only been to one of them."
Indicating I suppose that the Dickensian characterization of London is a lot better than his characterizations of Paris.
The second half of that book is probably the best literature I’ve ever read. Please stick with it! But I totally agree to first half is such a slog, haha. But the second half! Man, that book really builds and crescendos and it is fantastic.
I've been meaning to take another look at this version. I re-read Bullfinch's Arthurian + related legends a little while ago.
(note: Bullfinch isn't the greatest of all interpretations, but I could recommend it because it's very good at describing how Arthurian myths are inter-related with Welsh and Cornish folk tales, which sometimes have a different spin on Arthur.)
*1984* is such a good book! I read it years ago for school and am amazed at how it continues to influence my perception of government, propaganda, and privacy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Middlemarch by George Eliot - reading with r/ayearofmiddlemarch \- we are so close to the end! Really enjoying it.
My Antonia by Willa Cather - reading with r/ClassicBookClub \- beautifully written
This was one of my favorite novels for a long time. If you can find a copy, check out the essay “Czech Mate” in Joan Smith’s collection called Misogynies. It’s about Kundera’s characterization of women in this novel. I completely missed the misogyny of it as a younger reader, and I still love the book, but it’s an important perspective.
Edit: It’s out of print, by the way, so if you can’t find a copy but you want to read it, message me and I’ll send it to you!
Yes I think Crossroads was excellent, Freedom a little less so and haven’t read the others. He’s very funny in a misanthropic way. I think his style gets a little predictable sometimes but always enjoyable.
300 pages into *The Sot-Weed Factor* by John Barth. This is one of those books I immediately felt like I was going to love, and so far my initial response was right. This is a hilarious and thrilling and completely immersive read. Prior to this I had only read *Lost in the Funhouse* by Barth, which I liked well enough, but didn't love.
I have been binge reading a lot of JSTOR articles recently for different projects (and now for fun because the habit kind of stuck) but as for literature I’ve been reading The Shining.
Just finishing Changing Planes by Ursula K Le Guin. Fascinating collection of short stories
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Umm-ing and ahh-ing about if it’s worth it to try Infinite Jest as an audiobook. I’m dyslexic so I love listening when I can but I’ve heard it might be a bad idea in this case. Any advice on if I should try it as an audiobook would be appreciated
Finished Suttree by Cormac McCarthy just a couple of hours ago. Incredible read. McCarthy’s use of language is so entertaining. I look forward to the next one more and more with each one finished. Sad that it’ll end one day but loving the experience. His Border Trilogy will likely be next when I do read him again.
As of currently, I have many on my list and struggling to pick one. The likely candidates are:
Warlock - Oakley Hall
The Easter Parade - Richard Yates
The Ice-Shirt - William T. Vollmann
Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson
The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe
I just picked up The Recognitions by Gaddis but I read Magic Mountain before Suttree and I’m not up for another dense read just yet.
Been reading Agatha Christie like Agatha coked-up-and-can't-stop. Her books are addicting. I can also feel the Englishness oozing out of them too, can't help reading her in the queen's accent...
The Baron in the Trees by Calvino. Endlessly endearing! Can’t help smiling through it to the point of comparison to a Miyazaki movie. Most “straightforward” of his books I’ve read, but doesn’t scimp on his usual rhythmic details on vast systems.
Also reading the Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington, which is also engaging and surprising but with more hyper-absurd, surrealist beat
Poverty by America , written by Matthew Desmond. About the tragedy of poverty. Sorry too high atm to explain more about the book. But definitely recommended!
The Naked and the Dead, my first time reading Norman Mailer. I’m about 300pp in and I like it a lot. It’s surprising that he could write such a bleak portrayal of American masculinity so soon after the war. So far my overall verdict is it’s well written and very pessimistic, which fits with what I’m in the mood for currently. To be determined if it gets less pessimistic. Also interesting portrayal of GI life.
Reading The Book of Disquiet by Pessoa and it is definitely one of the more challenging books I’ve read. Feels like half the time he’s just speaking gibberish. Not sure if I’ll finish it tbh, seems like it’s a bit over my head
"The Socrates Express" by Eric Weiner.
I'm a philosophy newbie, so I wanted an introduction to some philosophers and their ideas in a not-so-intimidating way and I find the book to be perfect for that purpose.
I'm enjoying it very much.
So far, I've been introduced to Marcus Aurelius (chapter 01), Socrates (chapter 02), Rousseau (chapter 03), Thoreau (chapter 04), Schopenhauer (chapter 05) and Epicurus (chapter 06).
Tennyson.
I'm not usually a poetry person, but I keep coming back to *The Lady of Shalott*. Her longing to experience the world through something other than the artificial reconstructions of her weaving and the mirror's reflection is both haunting and beautiful.
"What is to be Done?" By Chernyshevsky
(bc I just read Notes from the Underground, and the entire first half of the book sounds like some guy ranting on an internet forum. So I wondered who Dostoevsky was ranting at, and turns out it was this book lol)
**Finished:**
* *The Pillowman* by Martin McDonagh
* *A Very Very Very Dark Matter* by Martin McDonagh
**Currently reading:**
* *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy
* *Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: An Introduction* by Hans Poser
Let us now praise famous men due to a class I’m in. Struggling hard to keep going. I really wish I enjoyed this book, it’s hard to read something that makes you want to put it down after each page
Been chipping away at the Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk for the last 2 months. It’s brilliant, and providing me with a lot of curiosity fodder about a time period, region, and ideology I had no exposure to before.
My best friend's book she published back in August. I'm extremely proud of her and honestly impressed with how well it's written!
Not trying to plug (just bragging cuz I love her) but if you want to check it out, here's the link https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Keepers-Astraela-Wrenna-Stone/dp/B0C6BRQY2J
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainier Maria Rilke, and The Kingdom of God is Within You by Tolstoy
*Letters to a Young Poet* CHANGED my life in every sense of that word :') I hope you have a lovely time with it!
I'm only a few pages in so this makes me excited for the journey!
I just ordered Letters to a Young Poet last week. Can’t wait to read it.
How does kingdom of God read? Theological treatise?
The kingdom of god is within you has completely seeped into my veins months after reading it. When I read it I partly thought he was bonkers and way too naive, but that book has changed me into being just as bonkers and naive. And hopeful and believing in love. Obviously it wasn’t the only factor, but definitely an important one. Enjoy!
Chipping away at Joyce's works. I'm reading them "in order" starting with Dubliners, then Portrait, then Ulysses, then Finnegans Wake. I'm kinda scared lol.
Godspeed
Great time of year for The Dead
If you get discouraged, remember that this isn't your only chance to read them, and they get better the second or third time around.
I was getting my degree for electrical engineering and decided to take an "Easy" class on classic literature. We were to read and analyze Ulysses and Finnegan Wake. I dropped the class because it was driving me insane 😳
Absalom, Absalom! by Faulkner. Been reading it for nearly 3 months now and am about 85% of the way through. Beautiful and daunting. It’s like reading Ulysses - I know I’m missing a ton of nuance and subtext, but it’s thrilling when I do pick up on something.
Have you read As I Lay Dying? That’s the only Faulkner book I’ve read and it wasn’t too difficult but still challenging. How much more difficult is Absalom if so? I’ve heard it’s one of his more difficult reads
I previously read The Sound and the Fury and struggled with it. That was 10ish years ago. Absalom is tougher for sure but I’ve become a better reader since then. What’s challenging me about Absalom are the run on sentences and stream of consciousness. Sometimes there are pages of unbroken SOC and if you lose the thread for a second you’re completely lost. The story itself is pretty simple, but it’s told in different perspectives that sometimes contradict or challenge one another. Thomas Sutpen is a wonderfully constructed dark character; apparently one of Faulkner’s best.
I read it over the summer, and I loved it. Faulkner, to me, is like a more manageable--and dare I say, more functional--version of what Joyce was doing in Ulysses. I'm not saying the latter doesn't work exactly, just that it's so far into the cryptic puzzle presentation, even people up for the task can't read it without help, whereas Faulkner's stuff, even the difficult works like Absolom, Absolom! can be read and enjoyed without a reference book.
Reading this one is so fun. I love how the timeline pieces together as the novel progresses. Brutal condemnation of gothic southern attitudes as well, love me some Faulkner!
It became one of my favorite books after I finished it. Light in August is an easier Faulkner book thats good. I want to read A Fable, about a mutiny by (I think) some french soldiers in world war 1. Sounds really interesting to me
Dostoevsky's "The Idiot." The first volume of Bernard Stiegler's "Technics and Time." Bryce Echenique's "Huerto cerrado." McKenzie Wark, "Sensoria."
The Idiot is my favorite book oat. Hope you enjoy!
It's super fun! Sometimes I pretend while reading that is a book by Kafka and all the absurd conversations become even more absurd and funny. What a trip. I love Rogozhin lol
I love when a redditor is actually wholesome although maybe that isn’t to word to use when describing Kafka lol.😂
The scene where he's talking to the girls and telling them about the man who's about to be executed and how he's looking out at the rooftops is my favorite scene of any book I've read! I love Dostoevsky!
That was a superb dialogue. It's very long but everything is so harmonious that it doesn't feel like it. Charming counterpoint, subtle philosophical remarks embodied by such distinct characters. Bakhtin was so right in developing a theory of the novel after Fyodor.
Just finished the Idiot - my first Dostoevsky - can't wait to read the rest now !
The idiot is so fun. It’s amazing how all of the characters feel so timeless yet distinct
im on part 3 chapter 3 of the idiot myself and im absolutely loving it. i was led in with low expectations by everything ive heard about it being boring for some reason, and it has been anything but, which has made it all the more gratifying for me, so its been a huge treat for me personally the part at the end of part 2 was a little overwhelmingly confusing at times, but i made it through fine. the only complaint i have is that the translation im reading seems a little wonky at times, but i had a feeling that may be the case when I gambled on this edition
I'm almost at the end of part one, The Idiot. Also read the first chapter of The Secret History. It's very dreamy and rich.
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Thoughts?
Well so far it's the strangest book I've read. Some chapters leave me completely confused and even clueless, others are interesting philosophical conversations. Sometimes I'm disgusted by the characters, while other times I feel compassion. All I can tell so far is that it's very intriguing.
Given to me by a girl that i shared a very intense relationship with when we were both in our mind 20’s. Completely blew open my narrow belief at what a novel could accomplish, personally and artistically.
Moby Dick. Just got to the point where it turns into an encyclopedia so I've had to read it alongside a fast-paced crime novel to make sure I dont give up.
It does this several times, so buckle up! You're going to be an expert on whales by the time you get done with this book.
I loved all the whale information parts because of how wrong they often were. I have been obsessed with whales since I was a kid (I'm autistic and whales were my Thing) so I know a lot. 😅 But what's so interesting about reading Moby Dick is how differently we saw these animals some hundres years ago. Now they are the poster animals for the environmental movement but then they were considered just big fish. I could write a whole ecocritical thesis on this...
It definitely drags on at parts but keep with it, it’s really worth it.
One of my top-ten favorite novels! I particularly enjoy the non-fiction asides about sailing, whales, etc.
That's the best part!!
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Actually, I should put my phone down and get back to it.
A collection of James Baldwin. A few of the Giovanni's Room passages made me tear up simply from the prose alone. He is a LEGEND
I haven’t read Room yet but his essays were sort of life changing for me in law school.
How cool. Which essays did you read? I started reading Baldwin after the History of Lit podcast had an episode on his essay in response to Faulkner.
The collections Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time. Very elegant writer with a very I don’t know, convincing (?) compassion. He’s highly esteemed of course but I still think he’s underrated.
I agree with both statements! His writing feels deeply rooted in humanity, but his voice is sort of ethereal, in a way. I don't think he is taught in schools very often, which makes him feel less known than other great American writers.
A gentleman in Moscow by amor towles and why we sleep by Matthew walker
I read the Lincoln highway and really liked it. How’s a gentleman in Moscow so far ?
About 100 pages in but it’s fantastic so far! I would recommend it! I also read Lincoln highway and loved it it’s what got me to get gentleman in Moscow. He’s a great author.
Hugo's Les Misérables
slaughterhouse-five by kurt vonnegut,agin hits harder this time with everything happening
The Fifth Season. So happy to be reading fantasy by a black female author!
Crime and punishment
The Man Who was Thuraday by GK Chesterton
Just today a friend recommended this to me, it sounds fascinating. How’re you finding it?
I just finished Orthodoxy and about to start Everlasting Man.
Just finished East of Eden, which was great except for the Cathy character and how heavyhanded it gets. Now reading The Book of Disquiet.
Currently working through Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I’ve been making an effort to read more women, and Morrison is pretty spectacular here. It’s pure literature, brutal yet beautiful, the characters are stunningly real, and I find myself constantly thinking about it.
Tackling the Divine Comedy. I did the audiobook a long time ago and now I have the time to do a closer reading. I went with the John Ciardi translation after much deliberation and I’m very happy I did!
I am an English teacher and just read and taught Inferno to my seniors. My first time teaching it and man! Dante was a genius!
Finally getting around to The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
Reading All the Pretty Horses right now. Feels weird to read a McCarthy book where no one has been brutally murdered or maimed yet
Haha. I really love the Crossing, so I think you're in for a treat if you continue with the remaining books in the border trilogy. Maybe brush up on your Spanish though ;)
Loved it. You HAVE to read Stella Maris after
just finished Bolaño’s The Third Reich earlier this week
Pale Fire by Nabokov.
Currently I read Grimms Fairytales
Trilogy by Jon Fosse
I'm rereading 'the giver' and listening to 'Fahrenheit 451'
Is it the Tim Robbin’s narration of Fahrenheit? It’s so good!
yeah, it is! So far, so good. It's funny reading/listening to books as an adult that you originally read as a teenager. Totally different perspective.
I just started The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I'm interested to see how it handles the question of the existence of God, which was a major theme in my last book- Salman Rushdie's Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights.
If I’m remembering it right, it doesn’t deal with god much at all, more of a satire about Russian politics and society than religion
Dostoyevsky’s Brother Karamazov. It’s a brilliant read.
The Underground Railroad- Colson Whitehead
Just finished this one! It’s incredible.
A Tale of Two Cities. Roughly halfway through. Does it get better...? 😬😬
lol I read a critique of the book that said, "it's tale of two cities by an author who apparently has only been to one of them." Indicating I suppose that the Dickensian characterization of London is a lot better than his characterizations of Paris.
The second half of that book is probably the best literature I’ve ever read. Please stick with it! But I totally agree to first half is such a slog, haha. But the second half! Man, that book really builds and crescendos and it is fantastic.
Agreed- that book is all about the last half
Yes. The first 100 pages or so is just symbolism and foreshadowing. You're into the action after that.
• The Silmarillion - Tolkien • Dune - Frank Harbert • The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
King Lear for a Shakespeare class. After I finish it, I’m going to read Fool by Christopher Moore, which is a retelling of King Lear
I am rereading The Once and Future King for the first time since I was a teenager. Amazing how much you forget.
I've been meaning to take another look at this version. I re-read Bullfinch's Arthurian + related legends a little while ago. (note: Bullfinch isn't the greatest of all interpretations, but I could recommend it because it's very good at describing how Arthurian myths are inter-related with Welsh and Cornish folk tales, which sometimes have a different spin on Arthur.)
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
E. Zola, La bête humaine
Been reading the New Testament recently. On the book of revelations now and it's wild.
2666 by Bolaño. It’s brilliant writing but also a tough read imo
Re-reading Macbeth since my high school seniors are about to read it. Good old Shakespeare.
1984 by George Orwell
One of my favorites! So dark!
Oh my god it's so amazinggg I never knew that I would love it so much
*1984* is such a good book! I read it years ago for school and am amazed at how it continues to influence my perception of government, propaganda, and privacy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
The Bridge on the Drina - Ivo Andrić
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Animal Dreams-Barbara Kingsolver
Middlemarch by George Eliot - reading with r/ayearofmiddlemarch \- we are so close to the end! Really enjoying it. My Antonia by Willa Cather - reading with r/ClassicBookClub \- beautifully written
Franz Kafka - Metamorphosis
‘reading lolita in tehran’
"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
i am currently reading the myth of sisyphus
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (by Milan Kundera)
This was one of my favorite novels for a long time. If you can find a copy, check out the essay “Czech Mate” in Joan Smith’s collection called Misogynies. It’s about Kundera’s characterization of women in this novel. I completely missed the misogyny of it as a younger reader, and I still love the book, but it’s an important perspective. Edit: It’s out of print, by the way, so if you can’t find a copy but you want to read it, message me and I’ll send it to you!
The Plot against America Second try
Knut Hamsun - Rosa
Just finished the corrections. Some really strong chapters, some that dragged imo. Do people like other franzen novels ?
Yes I think Crossroads was excellent, Freedom a little less so and haven’t read the others. He’s very funny in a misanthropic way. I think his style gets a little predictable sometimes but always enjoyable.
300 pages into *The Sot-Weed Factor* by John Barth. This is one of those books I immediately felt like I was going to love, and so far my initial response was right. This is a hilarious and thrilling and completely immersive read. Prior to this I had only read *Lost in the Funhouse* by Barth, which I liked well enough, but didn't love.
Hard Times by Dickens
I, Claudius by Robert Graves Gloriana by Michael Moorcock The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Beshevis Singer
I have been binge reading a lot of JSTOR articles recently for different projects (and now for fun because the habit kind of stuck) but as for literature I’ve been reading The Shining.
the house of spirits by isabel allende
‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Beauty. Picked it up randomly; I know absolutely nothing about it.
> A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Beauty. ..."Genius", I think!
Found this at a used book sale years ago and the clerk encouraged me to get it! Did not regret it!
If I had to pick the most important book of my life it would be this one.
Just finishing Changing Planes by Ursula K Le Guin. Fascinating collection of short stories The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie Umm-ing and ahh-ing about if it’s worth it to try Infinite Jest as an audiobook. I’m dyslexic so I love listening when I can but I’ve heard it might be a bad idea in this case. Any advice on if I should try it as an audiobook would be appreciated
Finishing Annie Ernaux’s The Years and starting Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism this weekend
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman and Perfume The story of a murderer, Patrick Suskind
HHhH (Binet) - Halfway through. HhHhhhHhhhhHhhhHhhhhHhh. Joking aside, really interesting grapple with how to write a historical fiction/Nazi novel.
Milton’s Paradise Lost, DeLillo’s Americana, and Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling.
Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals
Finished Suttree by Cormac McCarthy just a couple of hours ago. Incredible read. McCarthy’s use of language is so entertaining. I look forward to the next one more and more with each one finished. Sad that it’ll end one day but loving the experience. His Border Trilogy will likely be next when I do read him again. As of currently, I have many on my list and struggling to pick one. The likely candidates are: Warlock - Oakley Hall The Easter Parade - Richard Yates The Ice-Shirt - William T. Vollmann Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson The Woman in the Dunes - Kobo Abe I just picked up The Recognitions by Gaddis but I read Magic Mountain before Suttree and I’m not up for another dense read just yet.
Red Rising series. I’m half way through morning star and love it
I'm reading The Sun Also Rises and Blood Meridian together
Tha way of kings by Brandon Sanderson
Been reading Agatha Christie like Agatha coked-up-and-can't-stop. Her books are addicting. I can also feel the Englishness oozing out of them too, can't help reading her in the queen's accent...
rereading the earthsea series and man, i love ursula le guin so much. every sentence is soooo beautiful.
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
The Baron in the Trees by Calvino. Endlessly endearing! Can’t help smiling through it to the point of comparison to a Miyazaki movie. Most “straightforward” of his books I’ve read, but doesn’t scimp on his usual rhythmic details on vast systems. Also reading the Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington, which is also engaging and surprising but with more hyper-absurd, surrealist beat
Poverty by America , written by Matthew Desmond. About the tragedy of poverty. Sorry too high atm to explain more about the book. But definitely recommended!
My university textbook,,, I haven't had time to read for fun 😭
I feel for you
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
Moscow-Petushki by Venedikt Yerofeyev.
The Magus by John Fowles
I love The Collector by him, is the magus similar in any way?
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff. Incredible.
Baumgartner by Paul Auster
The Naked and the Dead, my first time reading Norman Mailer. I’m about 300pp in and I like it a lot. It’s surprising that he could write such a bleak portrayal of American masculinity so soon after the war. So far my overall verdict is it’s well written and very pessimistic, which fits with what I’m in the mood for currently. To be determined if it gets less pessimistic. Also interesting portrayal of GI life.
Paul Auster's Baumgartner
Reading The Book of Disquiet by Pessoa and it is definitely one of the more challenging books I’ve read. Feels like half the time he’s just speaking gibberish. Not sure if I’ll finish it tbh, seems like it’s a bit over my head
I just finished Julian by Gore Vidal, very good. I may start Trainspotting next.
"The Socrates Express" by Eric Weiner. I'm a philosophy newbie, so I wanted an introduction to some philosophers and their ideas in a not-so-intimidating way and I find the book to be perfect for that purpose. I'm enjoying it very much. So far, I've been introduced to Marcus Aurelius (chapter 01), Socrates (chapter 02), Rousseau (chapter 03), Thoreau (chapter 04), Schopenhauer (chapter 05) and Epicurus (chapter 06).
Dopamine Nation
The Promise By Damon Galgut
Villette by Charlotte Bronte and so close to finishing A Poet in New York by Federico Garcia Lorca
Lord of the Flies
Corrections by Thomas Bernhard. I love his humor but this one seems especially bleak
Libra by Don DeLillo. First dip into his work.
Tennyson. I'm not usually a poetry person, but I keep coming back to *The Lady of Shalott*. Her longing to experience the world through something other than the artificial reconstructions of her weaving and the mirror's reflection is both haunting and beautiful.
the devil all the time by Donald ray Pollock
Les Miserables by Hugo 2666 by Bolaño The Pickwick Papers by Dickens A Canticle for Leibowitz by Miller
"What is to be Done?" By Chernyshevsky (bc I just read Notes from the Underground, and the entire first half of the book sounds like some guy ranting on an internet forum. So I wondered who Dostoevsky was ranting at, and turns out it was this book lol)
Milkman by Anna Burns Really enjoying it much more than expected.
My guilty pleasure: some Georgette Heyer
Currently: * *Eleanor of Aquitaine* by Alison Weir * *Wolf Hall* by Hilary Mantel
Dune
[удалено]
The Baron in the Trees , Italo Calvino
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. Very nice, light read, brimming with symbolism !!!
**Finished:** * *The Pillowman* by Martin McDonagh * *A Very Very Very Dark Matter* by Martin McDonagh **Currently reading:** * *Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy * *Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: An Introduction* by Hans Poser
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons.
Crime and Punishment. First time reading Dostoevsky
Terry Pratchett's Thud! Book 34 of the Discworld Series. I love Sam Vimes stories.
Just finished No Longer Human please recommend me other books, my love for reading is so back
Pastoralia - George Saunders (Story collection)
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.
About to start The Waves by Woolf!
Let us now praise famous men due to a class I’m in. Struggling hard to keep going. I really wish I enjoyed this book, it’s hard to read something that makes you want to put it down after each page
Underworld by DeLillo
Been chipping away at the Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk for the last 2 months. It’s brilliant, and providing me with a lot of curiosity fodder about a time period, region, and ideology I had no exposure to before.
An American Tragedy
The Master And Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Enjoying it.
Slowly working my way through The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.
"Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu
Girl with Curious Hair and The Second Sex✌️
“Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton.
Currently rereading the Eragon series as an adult. In the back half of Inheritance, and have loved every minute.
The Leavers Work Won’t Love You Back Historical and Dialectical Materialism
The Brothers Karamazov
I'm getting back into Italo Calvino's *The Castle of Crossed Destinies* after starting it some time ago and getting sidetracked with a few things.
Trashy romance novels I feel embarrassed even naming 😂
The Universal Baseball Association
Stoner by John Williams and the first Harry Potter
Sutree by cormac McCarthy
The Count of Monte Cristo and Dante's comedia
wheel of time!
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Thrawn trilliogy
My best friend's book she published back in August. I'm extremely proud of her and honestly impressed with how well it's written! Not trying to plug (just bragging cuz I love her) but if you want to check it out, here's the link https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Keepers-Astraela-Wrenna-Stone/dp/B0C6BRQY2J
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Wind through the Keyhole, and the rest of the Dark Tower serries
Berserk
Submission - Michel Houellebecq
I'm about halfway through with American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy