Yesterday was his birthday, so I think you might owe it to him! ;) But honestly, they’re also shorter than you think. Especially compared to a lot of modern fantasy. (I regularly read books longer than all three combined, haha.)
I will also add im not a strong reader, its physically difficult activity for me and so I don't turn to books to turn off or relax for that I would go to a different medium. Theres a juice im looking for that can only be found in the best prose and I wouldnt say genre works cant get there but its mostly in Lit fic.
Have you tried audiobooks? Curious what you mean by juice, if you’ve got words for it. I know sometimes it’s just a vibe or whatever that’s hard to nail down.
Feels like a good time to plug Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s “The Shadow of the Wind.” Marries absolutely beautiful prose (translated from Spanish) with a love of the literary world and creepy mysteries. Second favorite book of all time after LOTR.
I'll try to describe the juice I'm looking for when I read. When an author uses the beauty of prose and it reveals profound truths about world through story. Audiobooks are good but don't fit into my life at the moment
I had a goal to read 25 books last year and I’m happy to say I hit it! Easily the most I’ve read in a single calendar year. I also created a Highlight on Instagram to archive the small review/write up Story posts I made per book with an accompanying song related in some way to the book. Here’s my list: 1. Gods, Man & War: An Official Sekret Machines Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon - Peter Levanda and Tom Delonge 2. Bad Monkey - Carl Hiaasen 3. Indian Burial Ground - Nick Medina 4. Brothers - Alex Van Halen 5. Wicked - Gregory Maguire 6. Clown In A Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives - Adam Cesare 7. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury 8. Fahrenheit-182 - Mark Hoppus 9. Unreasonable Hospitality - Will Guidara 10. Out There Screaming - Asst authors 11. Atomic Love - Jessie Rose 12. This Is Dark Love - Jessie Rose 13. Just Kids - Patti Smith 14. Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo - Andy Greenwald 15. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey 16. Jaws - Peter Benchley 17. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood 18. I Spit On Your Celluloid - Heidi Honeycutt 19. Screaming and Conjuring - Clark Collis 20. The Dark Half - Stephen King 21. Big Dumb Eyes - Nate Bargatze 22. Rejection -Tony Tulathimutte 23. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch 24. Clown In A Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo - Adam Cesare 25. The Last Action Heroes - Nick de Semlyn
Just started the M Night x Nicholas Sparks book. As mentioned in the Entertainment thread I am shook that the main characters name is Tate Donovan. Also I hate all the characters so far. But I will never doubt Night.
Reading two things: Audition by Katie Kitamura What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver Both are great so far, but WWTAWWTAL is something special.
Placed a hold on WWTAWWTAL. Rented Audition a few months ago from the library but didn't get a chance to read it because I had 7 other books become available around the same time. Too many people had placed holds on it and I wasn't able to renew. Will have to place a hold on it again.
Currently reading Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett. Normally I can only read one sci-fi book at a time, then have to go to a different genre, but with this trilogy I've been reading back to back.
I’m reading the second in Reinaldo Arenas’ Pentagonia series, The Palace of the White Skunks. The series covers “the secret history of post-revolutionary Cuba.” Dude writes like no one else I’ve read before, besides maybe the opening chapters of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Every time I dive in, I feel all of my previous notions of narrative go away. Truly dizzying and wonderful.
Took me a minute to realize I was misreading the title and all of you weren't talking about this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307269191/?tag=absolutepunk-20 Which I loved.
I have always been a reader since I was in elementary school in the 90s and devoured Goosebumps like water. Today, I read for several reasons: - I start my day by reading. Whether I work from home that day and crack a book in my easy chair with a cup of coffee, or on the train when I go into the office 3 days a week. - Reading gets me the fuck away from screens. I choose to only read physical books and have never attempted an e-book because it’s too close to my every minute existence looking at a screen. I need that separation. - I think reading helps my growing ADD. Focusing on a story/narrative that I have to read (versus watching tv/movies) makes me work for it more and is ultimately that much more rewarding. - It actively grows my vocabulary which makes me feel like I have a nice, big, big boy brain. I tend to gravitate toward horror/thrillers and autobiographies, especially musician’s. I have a deep, deep love of horror due to my aforementioned childhood Goosebumps obsession that naturally turned into a Stephen King fandom with age. Lately I’ve been into some of the big horror authors: Stephen Graham Jones (currently reading The Buffalo Hunter Hunter), Paul Tremblay, Grady Hendrix.
My goal for last year was 15 and I ended up doing 20. Going to set it for 20 this year. I'm very excited that my wife has finally become a regular reader after years of being one of those people that said she just couldn't pay attention. Years of me trying to explain that it's like a muscle, it might suck at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more you start to enjoy finally wore her down. I didn't become an avid reader until my 30s. Also got some close friends to join Goodreads so it feels like I finally have a group of people to share and discuss with irl. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was so dumb haha most '70s shit ever.
Also if anyone has any recommendations for stuff like Opposable Thumbs, Disney War, The Late Shift, The War For Late Night, Best. Movie. Year. Ever., Seinfeldia, etc., let me know. I've only got fiction on my list to read for the year so far and always love some pop culture esoterica.
The Last Action Heroes - Nick de Semlyn (focuses on action movies/stars of the 70s, 80s, and 90s) Screaming and Conjuring - Clark Collis (focuses on the impact and legacy of horror movies starting with the sensation of Scream in ‘96 to now) Comedy Book - Jesse David Fox (a comprehensive history of the evolution of comedy)
I recently read the first volume of On the Calculation of Volume. I really liked it and found the repetition in equal parts distressing and beautiful. I bought the remaining volumes that have been translated to English, but I ended up not moving onto the second volume so I could start the books I mentioned above, yet I keep finding myself thinking about it so I think I’ll have to start volume two once I finish Audition.