Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (6 Viewers)

[On The Rocks]

Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.

 

[Eephus]

what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Disclaimer: Lurking in blinding light may be hazardous.

 

[Barry2]

finished Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. It's fitting to start attacking books from kupcho's thread with one of his picks. First time reading this author and I liked it. A detective Lionel with tourette's investigates a crime close to him. The tourettes creates humour but also empathy as we get into Lionel's head. The case itself isn't very gripping, the charm of the story is how Lionel sees things and and how he deals. It's a funny book, there was a part that put me in tears.

 

[TheBaylorKid]

Also, is anyone in Houston? There was a bookmark in the library's copy of Middlesex from B O O K S & A R T at 115 Hyde Park Blvd.

No, but that is a cool find.

 

[beer 30]

Just started Swords of Lightning by Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington & Jim DeFelice. Nutsch & Pennington were members of ODA 595, some of the first members of the military to set foot in Afghanistan in America's response to the 9/11 attacks. Previously I had read Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton which I thought was the only story regarding the first boots on the ground in October 2001. The movie, 12 Strong was loosely based on that book. Swords of Lightning is the same story told through a couple different sets of eyes. Looking forward to it, such an incredible story.

Swords of Lightning
They landed in a dust storm so thick the chopper pilot used dead reckoning and a guess to find the ground. Welcomed by a band of heavily armed militiamen, they climbed a mountain on horseback to meet the most ferocious warlord in Asia. They plotted a war of nineteenth-century maneuvers against a twenty-first-century foe. They trekked through minefields, sometimes past the mangled bodies of local tribesmen who’d shared food with them hours before. They saved babies and treated fractures, sewed up wounded who’d been transported from the battlefield by donkey. They found their enemy hiding in thick bunkers, dodged bullets from machine-gun-laden pickup trucks, and survived mass rocket attacks from vintage Soviet-era launchers. They battled the Taliban while mediating blood feuds between rival allies. They fought with everything they had, from smart bombs to AK-47s.The men they helped called them brothers. Hollywood called them the Horse Soldiers.

They called themselves Green Berets—Special Forces ODA 595.

 

[kupcho1]

I just finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones, the 2004 Pulitzer prize winner. It's an odd book, at least to me, in that it's more a rambling succession of vignettes than a novel. The subject matter was very interesting and something I was not aware of before reading the book. That is, black people (some of whom were former slaves) who owned slaves on their plantations. The story starts in 1855 with the death of one of the black slave owners, and proceeds with flashbacks to flesh out his origin story.
There are several vignettes that are very, very strange. One has a minor character (the cousin of the local Sheriff) migrating through Lousiana into Texas who comes across one of the oddest collection of characters heading the other way.
All in all, a good book.

87 down / 12 to go

Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner.

 

[Don Quixote]

Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner

Hope you enjoy as much as I did. Just bought her “Home” to read after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir.

 

[kupcho1]

Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Sorry GB, but I did not.

It's not the worst of the Pulitzers I've read by any measure. But it just didn't resonate with me. At times it is beautifully written, and telling the story as a father writing to his son (albeit for 247 pages) was interesting. My primary problem with it was that there was too much religion, theology, bible-thumping, etc., for my taste. There was a clever little twist (at least I think that was the intention) that I should have seen coming given the narrator's grandfather was a gun-toting abolitionist, but caught me by surprise.

It's a pretty good book that never really had a chance to displace Faulkner's A Fable as the worst Pultizer winner.

Currently 88 down / 11 to go

Next up, another short one March by Geraldine Brooks, the 2006 winner. If I can keep up my current pace, I'll finish ~ 6/2/2025, but will be happy to do so by the end of June.

 

[Don Quixote]

Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Sorry GB, but I did not.

It's not the worst of the Pulitzers I've read by any measure. But it just didn't resonate with me. At times it is beautifully written, and telling the story as a father writing to his son (albeit for 247 pages) was interesting. My primary problem with it was that there was too much religion, theology, bible-thumping, etc., for my taste. There was a clever little twist (at least I think that was the intention) that I should have seen coming given the narrator's grandfather was a gun-toting abolitionist, but caught me by surprise.

It's a pretty good book that never really had a chance to displace Faulkner's A Fable as the worst Pultizer winner.

Currently 88 down / 11 to go

Next up, another short one March by Geraldine Brooks, the 2006 winner. If I can keep up my current pace, I'll finish ~ 6/2/2025, but will be happy to do so by the end of June.

Sorry to hear that did not resonate. There was a lot of theology in it — that is not typically my style either, but resonated for me anyway because it was more philosophical and it worked in the context of the book for me. And I loved Robinson’s prose. But I can see it not resonating because of that.

 

[Barry2]

Beowulf by unknown
a turnjose7 selection in the top 300 thread. I knew the basics going in, a poem about a warrior who hunts down the monster Grendel. According to google it was written "Estimates for the date range from AD 608 right through to AD 1000." It wasn't too hard to follow, but I had to re-read parts especially at the beginning. Also had to search for some terms. The story wasn't a page turner for me but it did hold my interest. Beowulf vs Grendel was only a piece of the story and happened early which surprised me. This is about the life of a hero. It's easy to see the influence it's had.

 

[beer 30]

after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir

Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.

 

[Don Quixote]

after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir

Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.

Different Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. I’m ranking his songs for the next round of the MAD artist threads.

 

[beer 30]

after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir

Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.

Different Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. I’m ranking his songs for the next round of the MAD artist threads.

The level of disappointment I just experienced is tough to put into words, I am sad.

 

[Don Quixote]

after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir

Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.

Different Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. I’m ranking his songs for the next round of the MAD artist threads.

The level of disappointment I just experienced is tough to put into words, I am sad.

Sorry for dropping that bomb on you.

 

[beer 30]

after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir

Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.

Different Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. I’m ranking his songs for the next round of the MAD artist threads.

The level of disappointment I just experienced is tough to put into words, I am sad.

Sorry for dropping that bomb on you.

I know what you did there and it's just rubbing salt in the wound. Next you're going to tell me your reading the autobiography of Gust Avrakotos, you know, the one from Insane Clown Posse.

I hate you more now

 

[skillz]

Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.

I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.

 

[Sand]

Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.

I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.

I bought the audiobook based on that post. I figure it's good for a road trip with the wife.

 

[Don Quixote]

Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.

I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.

I bought the audiobook based on that post. I figure it's good for a road trip with the wife.

I think good for that. One of those rare books that both my wife and I have read. My wife enjoyed it more than me, but I’m not really someone who goes for the thriller reads.

 

[kupcho1]

I don't often dive right into the next Pulitzer prize winning book when I put the last one down, but I did so with March (2006 Geraldine Brooks) , but the cover flap description (which I don't always read beforehand) looked so darned interesting.

March is the story of Mr. March, the father in Little Women who has gone South with Union forces as the beginning of Alcott's Little Women. This is his story of the time spent ministering to Union troops (as Chaplain) and as a teacher at a Union captured cotton plantation (his mission being to educate the to-be-paid, rather than enslaved, workforce).

Mrs. March does take the narrative around 2/3 of the way through March, which dovetails nicely with the plot of Little Women, wherein she receives a telegram regarding her husband's health that brings her to Washington, D.C. BTW, I've never read Little Women but might some day having read this "companion" novel.

So that's 89 down / 10 to go; I'm almost at single digits!!!

Next up: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, the 2009 winner (having already read 2007's The Road and 2008's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao).

 

[Barry2]

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon was a Dr.Octopus selection. A wealthy man dies and names Oedipa, an ex-girlfriend, the executor of his estate. She hits the road and begins her duties. The craziness starts when Oedipa discovers that her ex was working with the mob and they sold the bones of U.S soldiers from WWII to a cigarette company. This sets off a chain of events that uncovers a century long feud between two postal services. The story was easy to follow but the subtext went over my head. Very funny but also strange. We had people named Pierce Inverarity, Genghis, Fallopian, Dr. Hilarious, and a rock band The Paranoids. It was a short book and I would've finished earlier but I made the mistake of reading this in bed. I needed to be on my toes so I started over. To me it was original and funny.

When creating my list for the countdown I had to search names of forgotten authors to some of my books. Whenever I see Pynchon mentioned it will be "oh that guy."

 

[shuke]

The Green Mile by Stephen King

I thought this was good, but I based on reviews I had read I expected more. IMO this middling King.

 

[kupcho1]

Olive Kitteridge was a fascinating book (Elizabeth Strout, 2009 Pulitzer winner). I hesitate to call it a novel as it is comprised of short stories that are all interrelated and set in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. Many of the stories don't really include the title character at all (outside of a reference or a bit of dialog). In fact as I was reading the first story, I wondered why the book was called Olive Kitteridge, as it was about her husband, Henry. But the stories do hang together, there is a chronology (with a big time jump) and a satisfying conclusion.

There are also some great character studies in the book, a whole lot of tragedy (some comedy) and a lot of old married couples with deep dark secrets.

Looking back, many of the Pulitzer winners were turned into movies (e.g., South Pacific, The Age of Innocence, The Caine Mutiny), some of them several times over. It seems the more recent winners are being turned into miniseries. Olive Kitteridge starred Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins (that guy!), Bill Murray, Ann Dowd and Zoe Kazan. I watched the trailer on IMDB and it looks like it was pretty well done. They have to move some scenes around, put characters in places they were not in in the book, etc. But all told, great cast. (BTW, I know that 2017's winner The Underground Railroad was made into a streaming series; that's still to come on my list),

So that is 90 down / 9 to go

Next up: 2010 winner tinkers by Paul Harding. I'm going in blind on this one. I'm not even reading the cover flap.

 

[kupcho1]

I really did not expect to be back this quickly, but ... tinkers, the 2010 Pulitzer prize winner by Paul Harding is a very short book (191 pages). Moreover, the dimensions of the book (i.e., page size) is also on the small side. Long story short, it's a quick read.

tinkers (FYI it's in lowercase on the cover, so that's what I'm going with) is a debut novel. You'd think this would be a rare occurence, but in the 99 awarded so far (and yes, I'm including Gravity's Rainbow in that number), it's happend 16 times!

1924: Margaret Wilson, The Able McLaughlins
1930: Oliver La Farge, Laughing Boy
1931: Margaret Ayer Barnes, Years of Grace
1934: Caroline Miller, Lamb in His Bosom
1935: Josephine Winslow Johnson, Now in November
1936: Harold L. Davis, Honey in the Horn
1937: Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
1948: James A. Michener, Tales of the South Pacific
1960: Allen Drury, Advise and Consent
1961: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
1969: N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn
1981: John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
2000: Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
2008: Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
2010: Paul Harding, tinkers
2016: Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

In any event, tinkers (per Wiki)

follows George Washington Crosby who (synopsis from Wiki) in the days before he dies and his memories from his childhood. The book takes the reader through both George's life as well as his father's, Howard, who sells home goods from a wagon in New England. The reader learns about George's skill at fixing clocks, which becomes a metaphor for life's beauty as well as its fragility. It is about Howard's struggle with epilepsy as well as his own relationship with his father, who was a minister who fell ill when Howard was a boy.

BTW, Howard's father didn't just fall ill. It's never made clear in the book, but he suffered some sort of mental breakdown and was taken away and never seen again. Howard's wife, increasingly bitter about her lot in life, has enough at one point and leaves a pamphlet for an insane asylum (apparently that's where epileptics went, back in the day) on her bureau for him to see. He takes off, abandoning her and their four children.

tinkers was the first winner to come from a small publisher since 1981 (A Confederacy of Dunces) and seems to have come out of nowhere to win the award. The New York Times hadn't even reviewed it (and they reviewed everything).

All in all, not a bad book. I was hoping I wouldn't like it so I could say something like: tinkers ? More like stinkers.

That's 91 down / 8 to go

Next up would have been 2011's A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, but I enjoyed that one shortly after it came out. It's a great book (#114 in the countdown).
There was no award in 2012 (the last time that's happened, so smooth sailing from here on out). It's on to ... hey wait, I've already read the next four as well

2013: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
2014: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
2015: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2016: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

That leaves me at 2017's The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.

 

[kupcho1]

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead was excellent. As I was reading it, it seemed familiar and then I realized that I'd watched a few episodes of the streaming series on Prime (I think). I never finished the series (which is becoming an increasingly common occurrence with me).

It is certainly an interesting take on what the underground railroad was. RIYL magical realism in a very interesting book.

That's 92 down / 7 to go

Next up should be the 2018 winner, but for some reason it hasn't arrived at my local library branch yet, even though I ordered it at the same time as the other 3 books in this tranche. Oh well, nothing says I've got to read them in the exact order. So, on to ...

The Overstory by Richard Powers, the 2019 winner.

 

[Don Quixote]

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead was excellent. As I was reading it, it seemed familiar and then I realized that I'd watched a few episodes of the streaming series on Prime (I think). I never finished the series (which is becoming an increasingly common occurrence with me).

It is certainly an interesting take on what the underground railroad was. RIYL magical realism in a very interesting book.

That's 92 down / 7 to go

Next up should be the 2018 winner, but for some reason it hasn't arrived at my local library branch yet, even though I ordered it at the same time as the other 3 books in this tranche. Oh well, nothing says I've got to read them in the exact order. So, on to ...

The Overstory by Richard Powers, the 2019 winner.

Loved The Underground Railroad. Had both that and The Nickel Boys by Whitehead in my 70 books, but they seem unlikely to make the top 300 at this point.

I’m coincidentally reading The Overstory right now and have it next to me on my desk. I started reading it a year or so ago, but it was not really working for me and paused partially through. Trying another go to see if I was just not in the right mood and hits different this time around.

 

[kupcho1]

I’m coincidentally reading The Overstory right now and have it next to me on my desk. I started reading it a year or so ago, but it was not really working for me and paused partially through. Trying another go to see if I was just not in the right mood and hits different this time around.

Uh-oh, my sub 4-day-per-book rate might take a hit here.

 

[Don Quixote]

I’m coincidentally reading The Overstory right now and have it next to me on my desk. I started reading it a year or so ago, but it was not really working for me and paused partially through. Trying another go to see if I was just not in the right mood and hits different this time around.

Uh-oh, my sub 4-day-per-book rate might take a hit here.

According to my Goodreads, I started it on May 12, 2023. So, you will certainly beat my timeframe. Some people love it. Some people find it overrated. (That probably goes for a lot of Pulitzer winners.) I was falling more into the latter camp when I first tried it, as was having trouble connecting with any of the characters.

 

[Barry2]

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates was a ilov80s pick. We meet a suburban couple living in the 1950s. A few pages in everything seems hunky dory than this jumps out

...a girl whose every glance and gesture could make his throat fill up with longing and that then before his very eyes she would dissolve and change into the graceless, suffering creature whose existence he tried every day of his life to deny but whom he knew as well and as painfully as he knew himself, a gaunt constricted woman whose red eyes flashed reproach, whose false smile in the curtain call was as homely as his own sore feet, his own damp climbing underwear and his own sour smell.

Both are bored, Frank at work, April at home. Serious resentment. Their social life consisting of cocktails with other suburbanites doesn't help. April has an idea to make things better, Frank agrees but struggles with his insecurities. A very good read but it's depressing. I don't remember one chuckle.

 

[brun]

None Left Behind: The 10th Mountain Division and the Triangle of Death​

320 pages, about $10 on kindle

"In the predawn of May 12, 2007, two humvees occupied by seven soldiers and an Iraqi translator were ambushed by insurgents. When the smoke cleared, four soldiers and the translator were dead and three were missing, presumably seized by the enemy. For more than a year, Delta searched for their missing comrades, never giving up hope. Their creed of battle: None Left Behind."

Starts a little slow with a lot of background. Later you get a very good depiction of life for soldiers deployed in dangerous circumstances south of Bagdad. Toward the end you get the situation quoted above. I found myself getting choked up reading some of this.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

: Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!

I loved Martyr! Just behind Percival Everett’s James as far as 2024 releases go for me. Akbar is a poet, and that really shines through in the novel. A joy to read something so well-written and constantly saying so much in so few words. Characters that will linger too. It has been on a lot of end of year book lists, and definitely worthy of the praise.

just finished this on the recommendation of an acquaintance and I really liked it. Funny, sad, poignant, and I really did not see that twist coming at the end .

For others - Mainly about a boy from Iran who emigrates to Indiana with his father as a toddler after his mother is killed in a plane crash. This results in the boy having a lifelong obsession with death and how to find meaning in life and also to substance abuse and addiction. There is more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Need to dive more deeply in to this thread as I see a lot of folks from the Top 300 books thread.

I just finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, a Christmas gift from my daughter. It was solid, although I didn't always enjoy the run-on sentences and dialog without quotation marks. It seems clearly intended to create a claustrophobic and despairing mood, but it can make it confusing to parse at points. At any rate, it's a dystopian novel set in Ireland, and it follows one family when an authoritarian party takes control at the start of the novel and orderly life slowly disintegrates throughout the story as a result. Like I said, I would rate it as solid but not amazing. The modern setting and showing the slide was interesting, as I feel like most dystopian works start with the boot already firmly around the necks of the people, so seeing what that might look like was somewhat thought provoking.

 

[Don Quixote]

: Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!

I loved Martyr! Just behind Percival Everett’s James as far as 2024 releases go for me. Akbar is a poet, and that really shines through in the novel. A joy to read something so well-written and constantly saying so much in so few words. Characters that will linger too. It has been on a lot of end of year book lists, and definitely worthy of the praise.

just finished this on the recommendation of an acquaintance and I really liked it. Funny, sad, poignant, and I really did not see that twist coming at the end .

For others - Mainly about a boy from Iran who emigrates to Indiana with his father as a toddler after his mother is killed in a plane crash. This results in the boy having a lifelong obsession with death and how to find meaning in life and also to substance abuse and addiction. There is more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist.

Martyr! made my list of 70 in the books thread. Not high enough for it to rank in the top 300 on my vote alone, but should indicate how much I liked it.

 

[Don Quixote]

: Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr!

I loved Martyr! Just behind Percival Everett’s James as far as 2024 releases go for me. Akbar is a poet, and that really shines through in the novel. A joy to read something so well-written and constantly saying so much in so few words. Characters that will linger too. It has been on a lot of end of year book lists, and definitely worthy of the praise.

just finished this on the recommendation of an acquaintance and I really liked it. Funny, sad, poignant, and I really did not see that twist coming at the end .

For others - Mainly about a boy from Iran who emigrates to Indiana with his father as a toddler after his mother is killed in a plane crash. This results in the boy having a lifelong obsession with death and how to find meaning in life and also to substance abuse and addiction. There is more to it than that, but that’s the basic gist.

Martyr! made my list of 70 in the books thread. Not high enough for it to rank in the top 300 on my vote alone, but should indicate how much I liked it.

Related point: I noted in the post quoted above that Martyr! was my second favorite 2024 release behind Percival Everett’s James. James just won the Pulitzer, announced this afternoon; so, another one for @kupcho1 to add to his reading list if he has not read it already. (And it is another one that made my list of 70.)

 

[kupcho1]

Percival Everett’s James. James just won the Pulitzer, announced this afternoon; so, another one for @kupcho1 to add to his reading list if he has not read it already.

Thanks ... I think.
I'll update my list. The good news is I'll finish before the next one is announced.

 

[kupcho1]

I’m coincidentally reading The Overstory right now and have it next to me on my desk. I started reading it a year or so ago, but it was not really working for me and paused partially through. Trying another go to see if I was just not in the right mood and hits different this time around.

Uh-oh, my sub 4-day-per-book rate might take a hit here.

According to my Goodreads, I started it on May 12, 2023. So, you will certainly beat my timeframe. Some people love it. Some people find it overrated. (That probably goes for a lot of Pulitzer winners.) I was falling more into the latter camp when I first tried it, as was having trouble connecting with any of the characters.

I just finished The Overstory. Wow, what a great book.

As I started reading it, it seemed familiar. I must have started the book around when it first came out. I think it might have been somewhere where I couldn't take the book with me, perhaps in a vacation home or some sort. Anyway, it starts very slow, but the first chapter is memorable.

The book is broken into sections
1. Roots: introduces all of the main characters
2. Trunk: (most of) the characters come together in some way and interact
3. Crown: the fallout of the actions in Trunk
4. Seeds: speculation on the outcome

I'm being very vague here as I don't want to spoil anything. I will say that I learned a lot about trees.
ETA: the author this book reminded me of the most would be Neal Stephenson. Make of that what you will.

So, heading out to the library to pick up the 2018 winner Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Depending on how quickly I think I can finish the next two, I'll probably reserve the final 5 and close this out. Current expected completion date at my current rate is June 1st. Seems optimistic, but anything's possible. It will depend on if they are Old Man and the Sea sized, or Executioner's Song in length.

That's 93 down / 7 to go

 

[TheBaylorKid]

Thanks to @kupcho1, when I created my top 40ish books for his awesome thread on the top 300 FBG books, I had to come up with a ranking system. I maintain an Excel list of books that i've read since 2006, it has 435 unique titles on it. So I used this 7 point scale to whittle it down and then used my heart and memory to finalize the top 40. I'm looking forward to using this 7 point scale to give feedback on what I finish reading moving forward. So here we go:

Slaying the Dragon A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons by Ben Riggs

My book reviews are on a 7 point scale, comprised of the “Novelty Score” which maxes at 3 points and the “More Reading Score” maxes at 4 points. If I am willing to re read a book I must love it, as there is not enough time to read all the amazing stores in existence.
Novelty Score

1. Predictable or uninteresting
2. Interesting, but could make predictions as to what would happen next frequently
3. Kept me interested, I couldn’t predict what would happen next, or surprises/twists held with the logic of the book

More Reading Score

1. Would not read another work by the author
2. Would read another work by the author
3. Inspired me to read more on the topic or topic related
4. I would re read the book again

I have to admit, I’ve never played D&D, and the closest I came was Hasbro’s Hero Quest. Yet I’ve read many Dragonlance and Drzzt Do’Urden novels, and painted Ral Partha’s officially licensed D&D miniatures. Outside of knowing that Gary Gygax was ground floor in launching TSR, I knew nothing of the company or its history. Ben Riggs’ Slaying the Dragon A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons was a fantastic read for me. On my Novelty Score, I gave it 3 points, it kept my interested, I couldn’t predict what would happen next. I give it a “More Reading Score” of 3 points, I “Would Read Another Work By the Author” and it has “Inspired Me to Read More on the Topic or Related Topic”. What would I read next? This appears to be Riggs’ first book, but I am willing to read his next publication. I plan on reading Of Dice and Men. So in total Riggs’s history receives a 6 out of 7 on my scale. Why does Riggs fall short of a perfect 7? I’m hard on non-fiction for rereads, unless the telling absolutely blows me a way

 

[Don Quixote]

I’m coincidentally reading The Overstory right now and have it next to me on my desk. I started reading it a year or so ago, but it was not really working for me and paused partially through. Trying another go to see if I was just not in the right mood and hits different this time around.

Uh-oh, my sub 4-day-per-book rate might take a hit here.

According to my Goodreads, I started it on May 12, 2023. So, you will certainly beat my timeframe. Some people love it. Some people find it overrated. (That probably goes for a lot of Pulitzer winners.) I was falling more into the latter camp when I first tried it, as was having trouble connecting with any of the characters.

I just finished The Overstory. Wow, what a great book.

As I started reading it, it seemed familiar. I must have started the book around when it first came out. I think it might have been somewhere where I couldn't take the book with me, perhaps in a vacation home or some sort. Anyway, it starts very slow, but the first chapter is memorable.

The book is broken into sections
1. Roots: introduces all of the main characters
2. Trunk: (most of) the characters come together in some way and interact
3. Crown: the fallout of the actions in Trunk
4. Seeds: speculation on the outcome

I'm being very vague here as I don't want to spoil anything. I will say that I learned a lot about trees.
ETA: the author this book reminded me of the most would be Neal Stephenson. Make of that what you will.

So, heading out to the library to pick up the 2018 winner Less by Andrew Sean Greer. Depending on how quickly I think I can finish the next two, I'll probably reserve the final 5 and close this out. Current expected completion date at my current rate is June 1st. Seems optimistic, but anything's possible. It will depend on if they are Old Man and the Sea sized, or Executioner's Song in length.

That's 93 down / 7 to go

Shows how books can resonate differently for different folks. Still had some problem with characters a bit too thin on my re-read (which I did finish this time). And, while I’m generally amenable to the author’s views on the environment, felt a bit excessive with how much he was hammering the message.

I enjoyed Less though, which will see if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I think it was a pretty quick read. Should have a couple of other quick reads ahead too with The Nickel Boys and The Nightwatchman. Trust and Demon Copperhead both pretty long though.

 

[kupcho1]

Gary Gygax was ground floor in launching TSR

Can you unpack this one for me please?
TIA

 

[Eephus]

Gary Gygax was ground floor in launching TSR

Can you unpack this one for me please?
TIA

The game company that published the original D&D rule set.

 

[Eephus]

Gary Gygax was ground floor in launching TSR

Can you unpack this one for me please?
TIA

The game company that published the original D&D rule set.

As a teenage nerd, I attended a couple of the early Gen Cons when they were still held in Lake Geneva, WI. Punk Rock rescued me from that fate but I had fun while it lasted. I would have never imagined that D&D would get as big as it has.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Not sure if there are other fans of Grady Hendrix in the thread, but I am about 1/2 way through his newest book. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is my favorite since My Best Friend's Exorcism and if it keeps up the pace it might place higher. It's set in 1970 at Wellwood House - a place were unwed pregnant girls were sent to have their babies out of society and their parent's way. I'm liking the setting and tension so far.

 

[kupcho1]

Polished off Less just now (trying to mix it up; "finished" is getting old. Thoughts? I'd like to Doc Emrick it a little to keep it interesting.), the 2018 Pulitzer winner by Andrew Sean Green. On a somewhat related note, this is the 2nd book I can recall in which one of the characters has won a Pulitzer (Humboldt's Gift being the other). I wonder if the Pulitzer committee has an alert set up to point them toward these books as potential candidates?

Don't get me wrong, both seem worthy, although Less didn't do itself any favors with a blurb on the cover from Gary Shteyngart stating "Mavelously, unexpectedly, endearlingly funny." I found his Absurdistan hilarious, so my expectations were heightened.

And they were met. I found myself laughing out loud at times during the book. The situations Arthur Less finds himself in, as well as some of the observations he makes, make for an enjoyable read. The book also has something to say about genius, and maybe that's why Less won a Pulitzer and Absurdistan didn't. Although 2008 winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao never really impressed me, so who knows. But I digress.

I also very much enjoyed the structure of the novel. We've got an omniscient narrarator who manages to stay firmly in the background until toward the end of the book. He even ends it on a greate line.

94 down / 6 to go

Next up: 2021 winner The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich.

I just put in the order to hold the final five books, so I'll finish this one and hopefully the last books will be waiting for pickup.
If I can keep up this blistering pace, I'll finish on May 31st.

 

[Don Quixote]

Polished off Less just now (trying to mix it up; "finished" is getting old. Thoughts? I'd like to Doc Emrick it a little to keep it interesting.), the 2018 Pulitzer winner by Andrew Sean Green. On a somewhat related note, this is the 2nd book I can recall in which one of the characters has won a Pulitzer (Humboldt's Gift being the other). I wonder if the Pulitzer committee has an alert set up to point them toward these books as potential candidates?

Don't get me wrong, both seem worthy, although Less didn't do itself any favors with a blurb on the cover from Gary Shteyngart stating "Mavelously, unexpectedly, endearlingly funny." I found his Absurdistan hilarious, so my expectations were heightened.

And they were met. I found myself laughing out loud at times during the book. The situations Arthur Less finds himself in, as well as some of the observations he makes, make for an enjoyable read. The book also has something to say about genius, and maybe that's why Less won a Pulitzer and Absurdistan didn't. Although 2008 winner The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao never really impressed me, so who knows. But I digress.

I also very much enjoyed the structure of the novel. We've got an omniscient narrarator who manages to stay firmly in the background until toward the end of the book. He even ends it on a greate line.

94 down / 6 to go

Next up: 2021 winner The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich.

I just put in the order to hold the final five books, so I'll finish this one and hopefully the last books will be waiting for pickup.
If I can keep up this blistering pace, I'll finish on May 31st.

Glad you enjoyed Less. I similarly liked Absurdistan — I forgot about that one in pulling together my 70.

I love Erdrich and have read 5 or 6 of her books. Interested to see what you think of that one. I think I’ve posted in here a couple of times that she is one of my favorite current authors. I included a couple of her novels in my 70, but not The Night Watchman. I thought about it, but decided to limit myself to two from her. She was overdue for a Pulitzer by the time of The Night Watchman, and glad when she won.

 

[kupcho1]

And then there were 5

I thought that The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich was very good, but damned if I could tell you why. There were parts that seemed like they belonged in a completely different book. Or this book was part of a trilogy (at least) and I should already know some of the characters that pop in momentarily.

The book is primarily about Thomas Wazhashk, a stand in for Erdrich's grandfather. Erdrich's grandfather motivated and inspired other members of the Turtle Mountain Reservation to resist the Indian termination policies of the 1940s-1960s. So at least one character is based on a real life person, although others (Pixie Patrice Parenteau, for example) are completely made up. The book uses multiple POVs. Per Wiki

This historical fiction provides detailed descriptions of surroundings and relationships between characters. Alongside the political storyline, readers follow a variety of other characters through daily life on the reservation, family tragedy, boxing matches, and romance.

So that's 95 down / 5 to go

Next up: The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family by Joshua Cohen (apparently a Sufjan Stevens fan).
Unfortunately, the remaining books are "in transit" to my local branch so I can't start right in. Oh well.

 

[kupcho1]

Next up: The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family by Joshua Cohen

Damn, this book was great. I didn't pick up on it initially given the length of the title, but yes, that Netanyahu. Well, not Benjamin (aka Bibi) although he does appear in the book. It is more about his father's quest for a job as a professor. Allow Wiki to sum it up:

The book centers on a fictionalized account of Harold Bloom's encounter with Benzion Netanyahu and his family, including his son, Benjamin Netanyahu, at an upstate New York college in the late 1950s, blending history, fiction, and humor.

Harold Bloom is a real person (fictionalized in the book as Ruben Blum) - "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." There's an afterward discussing Cohen's friendship with Bloom that name drops people Bloom had hung out with. From playing chess with Nabokov to losing piles of cash to Bernard Malamud to Saul Bellow stealing his bow ties, the dude was connected.

Bibi's dad, Ben-Zion, was a "scholar of Judaic history, he was also an activist in the Revisionist Zionism movement." And it's here that I was most fascinated. What I know about Judaism you could fit in a thimble and still have room for a thumb, so I may be conflating what Cohen put in Ben-Zion's mouth in the book as actual scholarship. In any event ... my takeaway is that the elder Netanyahu believed that the Spanish inquisition was a creation of the monarchy to manage the nobility in the consolidation of Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. They needed a Jewish populace they could terrorize to neutralize nobles that were against them, as the Jews and former Jews (i.e., conversos, voluntary Christian converts) were critical to the nobility.

Anyway, fascinating book and laugh out loud funny. The Netanyahu family could only be described as pieces of work and the chaos and destruction they caused as guests of their hosts the Blooms was outrageous.

96 down / 4 to go

Next up: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I have absolutely no familiarity at all with this writer. If asked, I would have guessed Romance novelists with her books featuring Fabio on the cover. Don't ask me why, maybe there is a romance novelist with a similar name. Hell, I may be surprised and find that this is a romance novel and it won the Pulitzer. Stranger things have happened. Faulkner won one for A Fable.

 

[Don Quixote]

Next up: The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family by Joshua Cohen

Damn, this book was great. I didn't pick up on it initially given the length of the title, but yes, that Netanyahu. Well, not Benjamin (aka Bibi) although he does appear in the book. It is more about his father's quest for a job as a professor. Allow Wiki to sum it up:

The book centers on a fictionalized account of Harold Bloom's encounter with Benzion Netanyahu and his family, including his son, Benjamin Netanyahu, at an upstate New York college in the late 1950s, blending history, fiction, and humor.

Harold Bloom is a real person (fictionalized in the book as Ruben Blum) - "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." There's an afterward discussing Cohen's friendship with Bloom that name drops people Bloom had hung out with. From playing chess with Nabokov to losing piles of cash to Bernard Malamud to Saul Bellow stealing his bow ties, the dude was connected.

Bibi's dad, Ben-Zion, was a "scholar of Judaic history, he was also an activist in the Revisionist Zionism movement." And it's here that I was most fascinated. What I know about Judaism you could fit in a thimble and still have room for a thumb, so I may be conflating what Cohen put in Ben-Zion's mouth in the book as actual scholarship. In any event ... my takeaway is that the elder Netanyahu believed that the Spanish inquisition was a creation of the monarchy to manage the nobility in the consolidation of Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. They needed a Jewish populace they could terrorize to neutralize nobles that were against them, as the Jews and former Jews (i.e., conversos, voluntary Christian converts) were critical to the nobility.

Anyway, fascinating book and laugh out loud funny. The Netanyahu family could only be described as pieces of work and the chaos and destruction they caused as guests of their hosts the Blooms was outrageous.

96 down / 4 to go

Next up: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I have absolutely no familiarity at all with this writer. If asked, I would have guessed Romance novelists with her books featuring Fabio on the cover. Don't ask me why, maybe there is a romance novelist with a similar name. Hell, I may be surprised and find that this is a romance novel and it won the Pulitzer. Stranger things have happened. Faulkner won one for A Fable.

Good review of that one. Will need to that to list.

Demon Copperhead is nothing like that. A modern take on David Cooperfield. I’ve read a couple of her books — that one and Poisonwood Bible, which was pretty good too.

 

[kupcho1]

Demon Copperhead is nothing like that. A modern take on David Cooperfield.

I opened the book and saw that she quotes Dickens' book prior to starting hers. And when she does, it's a nod to the start of David Copperfield.
Should be good.

 

[-fish-]

Starting The Plague by Albert Camus. Never read it and saw a brand new copy at a used book store for $6.

 

[Eephus]

Fifth Business (1970) is the first part of the Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies. It's a standalone novel but connects to the other two entries of the trilogy via relationships between characters from a small Canadian town. This one is structured as the reminiscences an old man looking back at his life from his boyhood through experiences as a soldier in WWI, a headmaster and finally a hagiographer who studies the lives of the saints. He becomes fascinated by the mythical elements that animate ordinary lives and the connections between what are seemingly coincidences and a realm of mystery and magic. Davies is a wonderful writer and it was nice to revisit it four decades later.

The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey is historical fiction that's been ranked as one of the greatest mysteries of all-time by panels of crime and mystery writers in both the UK and US. Tey's detective Alan Grant works for Scotland Yard in the mid-20th century but becomes obsessed with a 15th century mystery involving Richard III. Grant is incapacitated from injuries suffered on another case so he can only direct a group of supporting characters from his hospital bed. He's never in any jeopardy but it's fascinating as he uncovers inconsistencies in the historical record to solve the crime.

 

[Barry2]

The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey is historical fiction that's been ranked as one of the greatest mysteries of all-time by panels of crime and mystery writers in both the UK and US. Tey's detective Alan Grant works for Scotland Yard in the mid-20th century but becomes obsessed with a 15th century mystery involving Richard III. Grant is incapacitated from injuries suffered on another case so he can only direct a group of supporting characters from his hospital bed. He's never in any jeopardy but it's fascinating as he uncovers inconsistencies in the historical record to solve the crime.

is this a stand alone?

Pelle the Conqueror by Martin Anderson Nexo was a MrsMarco pick. The story consists of four volumes, the first being Boyhood that was published in 1906. It has a great opening, a Danish harbor where work has been paused because of fog. Bells and horns are going off in order to help a ship from Sweden find the shore. The ship arrives, Pelle and his dad get off and start their new life. They find a place to live and work at a farm. The dream of a better life takes a hit as they're still living in poverty and struggling to fit in with the other farm folk. The thoughts and actions of an 8 year old were a bit dull at times, but there was enough to believe the next volume Apprenticeship will be worth it. I will give it a shot but not right away because I have a hold ready to pickup.