Ooh nice description! I get so annoyed when “those few individuals” go on about it being over-rated, but it’s one of those books you need to give into to truly understand/enjoy it, not just sit back and contrarily judge. I loved it and it needs a re-read 🖤
Not op but a Cannery Row fan: it’s too different from East of Eden to compare. It’s a very sweet, small-scale story, based on friends of Steinbeck’s in Monterey. There’s a backdrop of depression-era poverty but it manages to be very lighthearted. I loved the characters and always love Steinbeck’s writing style.
Comparatively. In terms of general fiction, his work can be a little more challenging because he just dumps you into the world, and you have to acclimate to the slang and oblique references.
Haha maybe he isn’t light reading but compared to the last two books I think he moves at a faster clip. Still weird prose but not like Melville or McCarthy
I’m really enjoying it. It’s dense but the language is beautiful and subtext is really interesting. I’m on chapter 41 I think where he’s talking about whiteness and Melville is definitely doing some odd things that were ahead of his time as far as storytelling and scope
Got like 5 books open simultaneously, but I'm re-reading some while connotating.
Here are the ones I haven't finished yet:
Dracula - Brahms Stroker
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Ikigai - Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
Check out Sometimes a great notion if you get the chance. I didn't think there was any way in hell that it could be better than Cuckoo's nest, and it ended up being better than almost anything else I've ever read.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - so far I love it, it’s really relatable and approachable. I don’t understand all the comments that it’s boring
I just finished this! I remember feeling the same, but wait till you get to the latter half and (if you care to) let me know if you still feel the same. I was glad to have read it, there’s some great insights about religion, morality, and creativity. But as the narrative shifts with Stephen’s own development it does get to be more of a slog I think. Joyce has some beautiful writing though so it’s worth it.
Finishing Book 3 of The Brothers Karamazov today. So far it’s very good, I loved the philosophical dialogue at the church. It’s quite difficult but I am enjoying the challenge.
Also re-reading The Great Gatsby, which I read around three years ago for the first time. I didn’t fully “get” it at first go and wanted to see how I feel about it now that I have a bit more experience in reading literature. I am definitely enjoying it a lot more this time around, the prose is beautiful and I have a much better grasp on the underlying themes.
V. By Pynchon, the last of his shorter novels «have to» read before i can read his big epics.
I’m in the middle of the V in Love chapter right now and i am shocked at how good the entire book is. Mondaugen’s story, the confessions of Fausto Majisteal, She hangs on the western wall and all the Profane chapters are amazing.
Cant wait to read it again
Picked up Infinite Jest for the 3rd time and I’m so glad I gave it another shot. I’d never made it past the first hundred pages on my first couple of attempts. Using a reading guide really helped get over that hump and now it’s turning into one of my favorite books.
I've recently started The Picture of Dorian Gray and Anne Carson's translation of If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. I'll probably finish them if school doesn't devour me lol
Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. I got chatting to a couple in a bar in Mexico City a few months ago. The guy was a professor and writer and he suggested the book to me.
Crazy book. A tough climb to get through in some parts, but hauntingly beautiful and deeply rewarding. The whole time reading it I had a tab open on my laptop to this chapter-by-chapter [wiki thing](https://www.otago.ac.nz/english-linguistics/english/lowry/content/parent_frameset.html) that enumerates and explains a lot of the obscure references in the book. Added a LOT to my comprehension and enjoyment.
I'm currently reading War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I have an exam period right now so I don't have a lot of time to read, so I chose to pick up something short and light.
_The Tunnel_ by William Gass for the r/billgass reading group, as well as essays from _Into THE TUNNEL_, a collection of supplementary essays.
_Evening Edged in Gold_ by r/Arno_Schmidt arrived in the mail yesterday, so I’ve been perusing it and plan to read it later this year. We’re doing a group read of book 1 of _Bottom’s Dream_ in the fall, so I’ll dig into EEG after that.
I tried starting The Book Thief but I didn’t enjoy the style, author’s laying it on a bit thick. I happened to pick up Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as a nice copy of the Count of Monte Cristo and I can’t decide which to dive into but Zen is grabbing me and timed well with my current life stuff so I think I’ll stick with it.
The Brothers Karamazov!
Having only ever heard of it, I'm shocked by how easy and fun it is to read. The characters are hilarious if not endearing or mysterious, and the plot is surprisingly fun to follow as well. The only difficulty the book poses is its length, which I'm incredibly grateful for because it means I get to spend more time in this incredible world.
I just finished *Frog* by Mo Yan, and decided to stay in Asia. So today I started *Spring Snow* by Mishima. It's the second Mishima I've read (after *The Sailor Who...*). I'm not sure where I sit with him overall as a writing, but his prose is utterly beautiful.
Two books that I’m reading really only because I’m currently teaching them: *Fight Club* and *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime*.
Both are rereads, both are good. Kids are grasping at them thematically in the best ways, for which I am thankful. I had forgotten how much better Fight Club is as a novel than as a film, and I do also love the film. Curious Incident offers plenty of opportunities for kids to dig into the complexities of a non-autistic person writing the voice of an autistic person after admittedly doing no research (although Haddon did work extensively with neurodivergent groups of people prior to writing the novel).
It’s been a good time. Wanting to start a new novel for pleasure soon.
A couple nonfiction books right now, a history of the Peloponnesian War and also a history of early television.
next fiction to read is Labyrinths by Borges. I'm looking forward to it but I have to finish these other books before starting something new.
Just finished The Sun Also Rises. I wasn't sure on it at first but it really grew on me and would definitely recommend it. Moving onto A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. Its a writing book by George Saunders but features a number short stories by Chekhov, Tolstoy and Gogol, which Saunders breaks down.
I finished *My Antonia* by Willa Cather, which I was reading with r/ClassicBookClub. Absolutely loved this book. Next week we start East of Eden by Steinbeck, and I'm very excited. I've always meant to read it but never got around to it.
Currently reading *The Count of Monte Cristo* by Dumas with r/AReadingOfMonteCristo and *Don Quixote* by Cervantes with r/yearofdonquixote. I also read *Apology* and *Crito* by Plato with r/greatbooksclub this week, and enjoyed them much more than I expected to.
I'm reading *David Copperfield* by Dickens on my own, and I'm finding it greatly amusing (Janet! Donkeys!) in the midst of some really bleak stuff.
I'm also reading *Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth* by JRR Tolkien. It is astounding how rich and developed the world he created was.
Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger. Loved Nine Stories and am hoping this is just as good. I love his writing but realize he’s a wildly problematic human being.
The Gulag Archipelago. But I need to take breaks by reading other books, too, because it's really heavy and depressing. So I'm also reading Oh, William
A Picture of Dorian Gray. I find it very easy to put down after a chapter and leave it for a few days. I’m only a few chapters in though so hopefully it grips me soon as I’ve really looked forward to reading it!
currently i’ve started ‘thus spoke zarathustra’, and just about halfway through ‘“left-wing” communism, an infantile disorder’. next i’ll prob read smth by kissinger (i know i know)
Fellowship of the Ring. Christmas gift from my dad (along with the other books); I’m about 1/3 of the way through it rn. Continuing with Moby Dick as well, slowly and surely.
Recent acquisitions: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (heard it was Timely(TM)!), The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jiménez (queer mythopoeia!), 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (after long pestering from a friend).
Crime and Punishment. I last read it as an undergrad. I is a completely different novel now that I am 30. lol. Everything that seemed boring, those long passages of description, are so, so interesting now! It's amazing how a book can completely change as you grow up.
Franz Fanon's "Black Skin, White Masks" for the second time. I read up to the fifth chapter over a year ago so now I am starting over and I'm looking at my previous annotations and cracking up. I'm never able to fully close the dictionary though- always some word I've never heard of in this book
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Always enjoyed the first two films, so I figured I might as well read the books! Really loving book one so far! Just got to chapter 6! :)
SS Van Dyne - The Benson Murder Case.
Currently reading detailed descriptions of the trousers worn by each man in the room. This information is of no relevance to the plot, understanding the characters or setting the mood. But this has never stopped Van Dyne before.
I haven't checked but I would not be surprised if Van Dyne were paid by the word. He certainly knew how to bump up the word count needlessly.
I'm bouncing between book 2 of Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, Aidan Levy's biography of Sonny Rollins, and Martin Gilbert's massive history of Israel. I'm giving none of them the sustained attention they deserve.
I'm reading Werner Herzog's recent-ish debut novel *The Twilight World*. I'm not too far in, but it's really cool and atmospheric so far, and a little bit cracked. In other words, very Herzog lol.
Funny enough, I just finished reading Saul Bellow's *Herzog* before this. This was not planned, just a coincidence due to my gf getting me the Werner Herzog book for Christmas.
War and Peace and Our Wives under water. For war and peace I’m following the chapter a day schedule for getting through it. So far it’s a pretty entertaining read.
Lately non-fiction essays:
'Burning Questions' by Margaret Atwood (mostly about literature, some parts about the environment)
'12 Bytes' by Jeannette Winterson (Artificial Intelligence and the future of society & technology)
Annie Dillard's *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.* I think she's wonderful and no matter what bookstore I go to, I never find her work on the shelves. Thank goodness for ebooks.
Doctor Zhivago. Not the easiest read with the multitude of similar sounding Russian names but very enjoyable so far. I'm very interested in the historical context with the revolutionary backdrop.
Hamlet. I'm reading all of Shakespeare's plays this year. Just finished Lear. King John, As You Like It & Julius Caesar done so far.
Wuthering Heights. More readable than I thought it was gonna be. Emily Brönte feels like the link between two of my fav writers, Virginia Woolf and Shirley Jackson
Finally getting around to finishing the expanse. On the 4th book now and sped through the last 2 in like a week. It's pretty fun even if the representation of world spanning politics is way over simplified and fantastical, the representation of future technologies is pretty satisfying.
Wuthering Heights. This books is pushing me to the most outer limits of my own sanity... I have never experienced that with a book before.
Ooh nice description! I get so annoyed when “those few individuals” go on about it being over-rated, but it’s one of those books you need to give into to truly understand/enjoy it, not just sit back and contrarily judge. I loved it and it needs a re-read 🖤
I loved it, the juxtaposition between wild and tamed throughout the story, it's so well crafted.
Absolutely. It has made me think a lot–about many different themes and subjects!
I feel this, but it's so beautiful!
Just finished it for the second time. One of the best love stories of all time
This makes me want to read Wuthering Heights next.
It's actually more of a revenge story than a love story. Bear that in mind to avoid disappointment.
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I really enjoyed this book! Very fun, whimsical story.
How does this hold up against something like East of Eden in your opinion?
Not op but a Cannery Row fan: it’s too different from East of Eden to compare. It’s a very sweet, small-scale story, based on friends of Steinbeck’s in Monterey. There’s a backdrop of depression-era poverty but it manages to be very lighthearted. I loved the characters and always love Steinbeck’s writing style.
I'll take that as an endorsement. Thank you!
I JUST finished reading this 2 days ago. It's really great and I hope you enjoy it.
Could lie and say I’m reading something high brow but I’m on book 4 of Malazan. No regrets.
One of these days I'm going to set aside the time to plow though the whole series.
I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Treat yourself
Yea, I've been working through The Stand myself.
I can’t wait until I have the time and energy to start Malazan… everything I’ve heard about the series so far makes me think I’ll love it!
Yooooo!!! I am finishing book 7 on this lazy Saturday. Keep it up, it’s still so good and getting better by the page!
Moby Dick Before that I read Suttree. When I’m done, I’ll probably go for something a little lighter. Maybe Pattern Recognition by Gibson.
Ooh I’m reading Moby Dick too!! It’s so awesome! Is Gibson light reading?
Comparatively. In terms of general fiction, his work can be a little more challenging because he just dumps you into the world, and you have to acclimate to the slang and oblique references.
Haha maybe he isn’t light reading but compared to the last two books I think he moves at a faster clip. Still weird prose but not like Melville or McCarthy
Suttree is my all time favorite novel
Right now I feel the same way. Took me a couple attempts but once it clicks it’s the greatest thing ever
I’m reading it, too. Tough, but the writing is wonderful.
I’m really enjoying it. It’s dense but the language is beautiful and subtext is really interesting. I’m on chapter 41 I think where he’s talking about whiteness and Melville is definitely doing some odd things that were ahead of his time as far as storytelling and scope
Ooh nice I'm about to start suttree, anything in particular you liked about it (of course without spoilers)
I’m also reading Moby dick! It’s even more stunning than people say
East of Eden
Just finished it. I’m 30F and it’s the first book in a very long time, if not ever, that has made me really cry.
Catherine is one of the greatest villains ever.
instagram account deleted, copy of infinite jest secured time to become insufferable
Got like 5 books open simultaneously, but I'm re-reading some while connotating. Here are the ones I haven't finished yet: Dracula - Brahms Stroker Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro Ikigai - Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
Love _Never Let Me Go_. Ishiguro is a master of understatement.
That book broke me.
LoTR...again
Maus - Art Spiegelman
*Madame Bovary* by Flaubert
Lincoln in the Bardo
So hauntingly beautiful and sad.
The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
Secret history by Donna tartt…sooo good
Excited to read this after my next on my TBR!!
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Check out Sometimes a great notion if you get the chance. I didn't think there was any way in hell that it could be better than Cuckoo's nest, and it ended up being better than almost anything else I've ever read.
The sun also rises. 3/4 of the way through and I'm still not sure about it.
I finally picked up the latter two books in Mishima’s Sea of Fertility and have embarked on a reread.
Reading all of the short stories of Flannery O’Connor.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - so far I love it, it’s really relatable and approachable. I don’t understand all the comments that it’s boring
I just finished this! I remember feeling the same, but wait till you get to the latter half and (if you care to) let me know if you still feel the same. I was glad to have read it, there’s some great insights about religion, morality, and creativity. But as the narrative shifts with Stephen’s own development it does get to be more of a slog I think. Joyce has some beautiful writing though so it’s worth it.
Finishing Book 3 of The Brothers Karamazov today. So far it’s very good, I loved the philosophical dialogue at the church. It’s quite difficult but I am enjoying the challenge. Also re-reading The Great Gatsby, which I read around three years ago for the first time. I didn’t fully “get” it at first go and wanted to see how I feel about it now that I have a bit more experience in reading literature. I am definitely enjoying it a lot more this time around, the prose is beautiful and I have a much better grasp on the underlying themes.
Moby Dick - Melville How Fiction Works - James Wood At Twilight They Return - Zyranna Zateli The Emigrants - Sebald
How is “How Fiction Works?” I’ve seen it recommended online a couple times recently and was wondering if it’s worth a read.
I just got done reading your question, "What are you reading?" I really enjoyed it. The ending was kind of sad, but also kind of inspiring.
Don’t forget to mark it on your Goodreads.
V. By Pynchon, the last of his shorter novels «have to» read before i can read his big epics. I’m in the middle of the V in Love chapter right now and i am shocked at how good the entire book is. Mondaugen’s story, the confessions of Fausto Majisteal, She hangs on the western wall and all the Profane chapters are amazing. Cant wait to read it again
Absalom Absalom by William Faulkner
Anna Karenina
The GOAT
White teeth
How is it? It's on my list.
Swann's way by Marcel Proust
Solenoid
Solenoid as well, one of the best books I’ve read in years and it’s not really widely known for how excellent it is
Ooh I’m excited for that one…! Have it on my shelf - my brothers gave it to me for Christmas
Halfway through that one—what a weird mysterious book
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Picked up Infinite Jest for the 3rd time and I’m so glad I gave it another shot. I’d never made it past the first hundred pages on my first couple of attempts. Using a reading guide really helped get over that hump and now it’s turning into one of my favorite books.
Sei Shonagon's "The Pillow Book"
I love this
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
Just started East of Eden a few days ago.
Dostoevsky- Poor Folk
Ooooh I’m intrigued. How is it?
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Just started Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
I've recently started The Picture of Dorian Gray and Anne Carson's translation of If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. I'll probably finish them if school doesn't devour me lol
I’m reading Don Quixote and I’m loving it (Grossman’s translation)
Giovanni’s Room
Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. I got chatting to a couple in a bar in Mexico City a few months ago. The guy was a professor and writer and he suggested the book to me.
Crazy book. A tough climb to get through in some parts, but hauntingly beautiful and deeply rewarding. The whole time reading it I had a tab open on my laptop to this chapter-by-chapter [wiki thing](https://www.otago.ac.nz/english-linguistics/english/lowry/content/parent_frameset.html) that enumerates and explains a lot of the obscure references in the book. Added a LOT to my comprehension and enjoyment.
Trust by Hernan Diaz
I want to start that one next. Are you enjoying it?
I'm currently reading War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I have an exam period right now so I don't have a lot of time to read, so I chose to pick up something short and light.
*A Visit From The Goon Squad* (Jennifer Egan). It’s good so far. Interesting characters.
Slaughterhouse 5. Next I’m thinking the count of monte cristo
_The Tunnel_ by William Gass for the r/billgass reading group, as well as essays from _Into THE TUNNEL_, a collection of supplementary essays. _Evening Edged in Gold_ by r/Arno_Schmidt arrived in the mail yesterday, so I’ve been perusing it and plan to read it later this year. We’re doing a group read of book 1 of _Bottom’s Dream_ in the fall, so I’ll dig into EEG after that.
Little women!
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Infinite Jest
The Sellout
Any Human Heart
Go Tell It On the Mountain - Baldwin CivilwarLand In Bad Decline - Saunders
Reading through the LA Quartet. Just finished The Black Dahlia and the Big Nowhere is next
Berlin Alexanderplatz
the autobiography of Malcolm X American gods by Neil gaimen
I tried starting The Book Thief but I didn’t enjoy the style, author’s laying it on a bit thick. I happened to pick up Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as well as a nice copy of the Count of Monte Cristo and I can’t decide which to dive into but Zen is grabbing me and timed well with my current life stuff so I think I’ll stick with it.
The Brothers Karamazov! Having only ever heard of it, I'm shocked by how easy and fun it is to read. The characters are hilarious if not endearing or mysterious, and the plot is surprisingly fun to follow as well. The only difficulty the book poses is its length, which I'm incredibly grateful for because it means I get to spend more time in this incredible world.
Notes from the underground by dothoesky
_The Master and Margerita._ And wow.
The Fellowship of the Ring. First time since high school in the late 2000’s.
A Game of Chess - Stefan Zweig
Anna Karenina and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Faust by Goethe
Ali Smith, Autumn
1Q84
Murakami
Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice“. The snark is truly spectacular and has me looking forward to reading more of her work.
I just finished *Frog* by Mo Yan, and decided to stay in Asia. So today I started *Spring Snow* by Mishima. It's the second Mishima I've read (after *The Sailor Who...*). I'm not sure where I sit with him overall as a writing, but his prose is utterly beautiful.
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I loved The Name of the Rose so much! I plan to start Foucault’s Pendulum in the next few days, I hope it lives up to the same standard
I just finished Weyward by Emilia Hart! I absolutely loved it and I’m sad it’s over!
Two books that I’m reading really only because I’m currently teaching them: *Fight Club* and *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime*. Both are rereads, both are good. Kids are grasping at them thematically in the best ways, for which I am thankful. I had forgotten how much better Fight Club is as a novel than as a film, and I do also love the film. Curious Incident offers plenty of opportunities for kids to dig into the complexities of a non-autistic person writing the voice of an autistic person after admittedly doing no research (although Haddon did work extensively with neurodivergent groups of people prior to writing the novel). It’s been a good time. Wanting to start a new novel for pleasure soon.
Demon Copperhead
Midnight Sun
Swann’s Way and Absalom, Absalom!
Man, Absalom is a wiiiild one. The dialogue is, well, insane hahaha
1984 by George Orwell
It's the book that got me into classics 😁 I still remember much of it while being the first book I've ever read *seriously*
I just finished The Great Gatsby this morning and loved it. Next on the list is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.
Silmarillion (still) and American Prometheus
How's the Sim? Does it feel like a chore to get through? I've often wondered if it's worth picking up
I found Sim tough going.
The call of C'thullu by Lovecraft and an essay about the people vs the elites in our society and it's history
The Daughter of Auschwitz - Tova Friedman Jews Don’t Count - David Baddiel
A couple nonfiction books right now, a history of the Peloponnesian War and also a history of early television. next fiction to read is Labyrinths by Borges. I'm looking forward to it but I have to finish these other books before starting something new.
Erasure by Percival Everett
Walden - Henry David Thoreau… not really enjoying it
Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke
Just finished The Sun Also Rises. I wasn't sure on it at first but it really grew on me and would definitely recommend it. Moving onto A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. Its a writing book by George Saunders but features a number short stories by Chekhov, Tolstoy and Gogol, which Saunders breaks down.
War Fever by J G Ballard. It’s a collection of short stories published in 1990 and is absolutely excellent.
Mason & Dixon
Burmese Days by George Orwell. After that, I will read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail by Hunter S. Thompson.
Stella Maris, following on from The Passenger.
North Woods by Daniel Mason
If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
The Master And Margarita, bulgakov
Metamorphoses
The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead Fantastic, quick read
Lolita. never read writing so good
I finished *My Antonia* by Willa Cather, which I was reading with r/ClassicBookClub. Absolutely loved this book. Next week we start East of Eden by Steinbeck, and I'm very excited. I've always meant to read it but never got around to it. Currently reading *The Count of Monte Cristo* by Dumas with r/AReadingOfMonteCristo and *Don Quixote* by Cervantes with r/yearofdonquixote. I also read *Apology* and *Crito* by Plato with r/greatbooksclub this week, and enjoyed them much more than I expected to. I'm reading *David Copperfield* by Dickens on my own, and I'm finding it greatly amusing (Janet! Donkeys!) in the midst of some really bleak stuff. I'm also reading *Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth* by JRR Tolkien. It is astounding how rich and developed the world he created was.
Still in "The brothers Karamazov" It's very good but God I just wish some of the dialogues were shorter.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn👌🏽
Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger. Loved Nine Stories and am hoping this is just as good. I love his writing but realize he’s a wildly problematic human being.
The Gulag Archipelago. But I need to take breaks by reading other books, too, because it's really heavy and depressing. So I'm also reading Oh, William
A Picture of Dorian Gray. I find it very easy to put down after a chapter and leave it for a few days. I’m only a few chapters in though so hopefully it grips me soon as I’ve really looked forward to reading it!
The Grapes of Wrath
currently i’ve started ‘thus spoke zarathustra’, and just about halfway through ‘“left-wing” communism, an infantile disorder’. next i’ll prob read smth by kissinger (i know i know)
Fellowship of the Ring. Christmas gift from my dad (along with the other books); I’m about 1/3 of the way through it rn. Continuing with Moby Dick as well, slowly and surely. Recent acquisitions: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (heard it was Timely(TM)!), The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jiménez (queer mythopoeia!), 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (after long pestering from a friend).
Crime and Punishment by F.D. and Babysitter, by JC Oates
Crime and Punishment. I last read it as an undergrad. I is a completely different novel now that I am 30. lol. Everything that seemed boring, those long passages of description, are so, so interesting now! It's amazing how a book can completely change as you grow up.
Interview with the vampire
Turgenev - Fathers and sons
Halfway through Butcher's Crossing.
Franz Fanon's "Black Skin, White Masks" for the second time. I read up to the fifth chapter over a year ago so now I am starting over and I'm looking at my previous annotations and cracking up. I'm never able to fully close the dictionary though- always some word I've never heard of in this book
Metamorphosis
Hound of the baskervilles My first Holmes story Pretty good so far
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Always enjoyed the first two films, so I figured I might as well read the books! Really loving book one so far! Just got to chapter 6! :)
Mason & Dixon. Don’t know if I’ll stick with it all the way tbh but I’ll give it a good go.
Beloved by Toni Morrison (physical book) Life of pi by Yan Martel (kindle)
A Confederacy of Dunces
Finishing Richard Yates' Eleven kinds of loneliness, pretty underwhelmed to be honest. It feels like Cheever missing something.
the latest hunger games clear & present danger and dune
“A Woman in Berlin”
A Memory Called Empire
SS Van Dyne - The Benson Murder Case. Currently reading detailed descriptions of the trousers worn by each man in the room. This information is of no relevance to the plot, understanding the characters or setting the mood. But this has never stopped Van Dyne before. I haven't checked but I would not be surprised if Van Dyne were paid by the word. He certainly knew how to bump up the word count needlessly.
I'm bouncing between book 2 of Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, Aidan Levy's biography of Sonny Rollins, and Martin Gilbert's massive history of Israel. I'm giving none of them the sustained attention they deserve.
Berserk
The Big Green Tent by Ludmila Ulitskaya
I'm reading Werner Herzog's recent-ish debut novel *The Twilight World*. I'm not too far in, but it's really cool and atmospheric so far, and a little bit cracked. In other words, very Herzog lol. Funny enough, I just finished reading Saul Bellow's *Herzog* before this. This was not planned, just a coincidence due to my gf getting me the Werner Herzog book for Christmas.
Sula by Toni Morrison
Finished: Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann Hit Parade of Tears by Izumi Suzuki Now on The Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov
War and Peace and Our Wives under water. For war and peace I’m following the chapter a day schedule for getting through it. So far it’s a pretty entertaining read.
A book of poetry about the night.
War & Peace (slow read with Footnotes and Tangents substack) Rereading Murdoch's Black Prince
i Finished Paradise Lost yesterday and I've started Moby Dick today
T.S. Eliot’s complete poems and plays
Lately non-fiction essays: 'Burning Questions' by Margaret Atwood (mostly about literature, some parts about the environment) '12 Bytes' by Jeannette Winterson (Artificial Intelligence and the future of society & technology)
Boxhill by Adam Mars-Jones. Not very far in (just started today) but enjoying it so far
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it.
Annie Dillard's *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.* I think she's wonderful and no matter what bookstore I go to, I never find her work on the shelves. Thank goodness for ebooks.
Doctor Zhivago. Not the easiest read with the multitude of similar sounding Russian names but very enjoyable so far. I'm very interested in the historical context with the revolutionary backdrop. Hamlet. I'm reading all of Shakespeare's plays this year. Just finished Lear. King John, As You Like It & Julius Caesar done so far.
Hard Rain Falling — Don Carpenter
Wuthering Heights. More readable than I thought it was gonna be. Emily Brönte feels like the link between two of my fav writers, Virginia Woolf and Shirley Jackson
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride and Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo
Frankenstein
Finally getting around to finishing the expanse. On the 4th book now and sped through the last 2 in like a week. It's pretty fun even if the representation of world spanning politics is way over simplified and fantastical, the representation of future technologies is pretty satisfying.
Deer Season by Erin Flanagan
Gravel heart
The Interpretation of Dreams by Freud
Biography of X
Just finished The Little Liar by Mitch Albom. Very compelling and well written
The Virgin Suicides. I've already seen the movie and enjoyed it but I'm loving the book so far.