Reading Books For Pleasure

[IrisAlthea]

This is always interesting! Sometimes I have more patience and actually finish a book that annoys or angers me and sometimes I just drop it. But I find it interesting to think about what made me react the way I did. It’s not always easy to pinpoint. Sometimes it’s just a book read at the wrong time rather than the book or something about the story or writing itself.

Yes and sometimes you just have to push through a hard part.
I’m currently reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
I started a couple of months ago and had a really hard time with the first part that is set during the Cultural Revolution. I decided to give it one more shot and powered through and now I really like it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Read lately:

Travis Baldree's "Legends and Lattes". A barbarian abandons adventuring to pursue her life's ambition: opening a café in the big city. Nothing life-changing but a good comfort read.

T. Kingfisher's "What Moves The Dead" and "What Feasts At Night". Two novellas; the first one is a retelling of "The Fall of the House of Usher". Both fun horror tales that don't outwear their welcome, with fun characters. The protagonist is a "sworn soldier" from a small country where "soldier" is effectively its own gender, presumably based on some similar customs in Albania and elsewhere; that was an interesting angle to it.

 

[IrisAlthea]

The protagonist is a "sworn soldier" from a small country where "soldier" is effectively its own gender, presumably based on some similar customs in Albania and elsewhere; that was an interesting angle to it.

An Albanian girl I knew, told me about
”Albanian Virgins”.
It seems like a very helpful way around very strict rules for the women in that society.
Going to a nunnery, in comparison, would only make it possible to save yourself and usually wasn’t for the poor, but the Albanian Virgins could take the role of a man in the houshold and the world and provide for family.

 

[seela]

An Albanian girl I knew, told me about
”Albanian Virgins”.
It seems like a very helpful way around very strict rules for the women in that society.
Going to a nunnery, in comparison, would only make it possible to save yourself and usually wasn’t for the poor, but the Albanian Virgins could take the role of a man in the houshold and the world and provide for family.

I saw a documentary about this and other considered-non-traditional-but-actually-very-traditional gender roles. Interesting stuff.

 

[seela]

I read a book by one of my musical idols of my youth. The blurb said it’s “Twin Peaks meets Dollhouse” and yup, I very much agree with that description.

Rajamaa (borderland) by Terhi Kokkonen. It’s about a couple that gets into a car accident during their vacation in snowy Lapland and they end up spending a little extra time in a resort, on doctor’s orders. Not the best book I’ve read but I did enjoy it, a quick read.

 

[twister947]

The Woman Lit by Fireflies
by Jim Harrison

 

[sallysparrow23]

I'm currently reading two books:

The Drawing of the Three which is book 2 in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King

and

Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliott, PhD.

 

[twister947]

The Fishermen and the Dragon
Kirk Wallace Johnson

Vietnamese fishermen and the Ku Klux Klan conflict on Texas Gulf Coast in 1970s.

 

[phil97405]

Yes and sometimes you just have to push through a hard part.
I’m currently reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
I started a couple of months ago and had a really hard time with the first part that is set during the Cultural Revolution. I decided to give it one more shot and powered through and now I really like it.

Outstanding book. The rest of the series is good as well.

 

[phil97405]

I'm currently reading two books:

The Drawing of the Three which is book 2 in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King

and

Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliott, PhD.

The Dark Tower series is on my all-time favorites list.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Outstanding book. The rest of the series is good as well.

Thanks, good to know. I’ve hardly run in to anyone who read them.

 

[twister947]

The White Album
Joan Didion

Joan Didion died a couple of years ago. I happened to read her obituary and knew I wanted to read some of her work. I'm glad I did; this collection of essays was a pleasure, start to finish.

 

[IrisAlthea]

The White Album
Joan Didion

Joan Didion died a couple of years ago. I happened to read her obituary and knew I wanted to read some of her work. I'm glad I did; this collection of essays was a pleasure, start to finish.

I love Didion.
A book of common prayer, is one of my favourite books.

 

[seela]

I love Didion.
A book of common prayer, is one of my favourite books.

This reminds me…

There was a piece about favorite books in a newspaper (I think) here recently. Ever since I’ve been thinking about what my favorite book is and I can’t answer the question at all.

How do you pick just one book? There are so many good books to choose from. Some books are good stories badly written, some are good writing but the story is so-so. Some books are good stories and well written but they still haven’t quite hit the spot for me. Some books I’m just fond of for sentimental reasons, even if the book itself is crap. Some books are Important even if they’re not very good, and in that way they, too, might be my favorite book. So how can I pick a favorite with all those variables.

I don’t get it. Is it just because I’m generally unable to rank anything or make any decisions that I’m struggling this, am I overthinking this or what? The mind baffles.

Do you (the people who read this, not just Iris whom I quoted) have a favorite book? How and why do you pick that exact book as your favorite? Is it something you think about and try to take into account the “quality” of the book or is it just a feeling based decision for you?

 

[seela]

Thanks, good to know. I’ve hardly run in to anyone who read them.

J liked them too!

 

[phil97405]

This reminds me…

There was a piece about favorite books in a newspaper (I think) here recently. Ever since I’ve been thinking about what my favorite book is and I can’t answer the question at all.

How do you pick just one book? There are so many good books to choose from. Some books are good stories badly written, some are good writing but the story is so-so. Some books are good stories and well written but they still haven’t quite hit the spot for me. Some books I’m just fond of for sentimental reasons, even if the book itself is crap. Some books are Important even if they’re not very good, and in that way they, too, might be my favorite book. So how can I pick a favorite with all those variables.

I don’t get it. Is it just because I’m generally unable to rank anything or make any decisions that I’m struggling this, am I overthinking this or what? The mind baffles.

Do you (the people who read this, not just Iris whom I quoted) have a favorite book? How and why do you pick that exact book as your favorite?

I'm with you, but if I'm forced to pick one favorite book, it would be the Lord of the Rings series. ...Oh, I guess that's more than one book, huh?

 

[seela]

I'm with you, but if I'm forced to pick one favorite book, it would be the Lord of the Rings series. ...Oh, I guess that's more than one book, huh?

Lotr was the “winner” in that piece as well. As in, it was the book people most often mentioned when answering that question. And I completely see why that’s the case.

I really loved it when I read it the first time. I fell in love with the world and the huge expansiveness of it. It felt real. I still love the world of Lotr et al, but sadly, as I’ve re-read the trilogy a few times, I’ve appreciated the story less and less, even if I still appreciate the world.

I don’t think I’ll read it again, because I prefer to remember the story and the complete immersion in the world as I first experienced. Lotr for me is one of those difficult books now. I have an amazing memory of reading it for the first time, jumping in the rabbit hole completely and devouring everything I could find that related to that world… It was a big thing for me for a while. But is that enough to make it my favorite, or one of my favorites?

It’s so haaaaard! I think I’m majorly overthinking this favorite book thing.

 

[IrisAlthea]

How do you pick just one book? There are so many good books to choose from. Some books are good stories badly written, some are good writing but the story is so-so. Some books are good stories and well written but they still haven’t quite hit the spot for me. Some books I’m just fond of for sentimental reasons, even if the book itself is crap. Some books are Important even if they’re not very good, and in that way they, too, might be my favorite book. So how can I pick a favorite with all those variables.

Oh, I totally agree!
I’m like that with most things and can’t even tell you what my favourite colour is, without elaborating for what and in what kind of light or…

How and why do you pick that exact book as your favorite? Is it something you think about and try to take into account the “quality” of the book or is it just a feeling based decision for you?

One of my favourite books, means one of those that dumbfounded me and/or still give me a fuzzy, happy feeling when I think about them.
I couldn’t make a comprehensive list of them and much less rank them.
Some of them are objectively speaking not very good books and some would quite possibly stick in my craw in another season of life. Some would probably stick in my craw at any season in life if I wasn’t prone to accept that art and litterature belongs in a context given by time and culture.

really loved it when I read it the first time. I fell in love with the world and the huge expansiveness of it. It felt real. I still love the world of Lotr et al, but sadly, as I’ve re-read the trilogy a few times, I’ve appreciated the story less and less, even if I still appreciate the world.

I gave it a try at 9 and got stuck on a very academic introduction.
My mother threw The Hobbit at me instead and that was how I ended up on Middle Earth.

 

[seela]

In my attempt to read in various, a bit less comfy, languages this year, I read Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche by Alina Bronsky and enjoyed it immensely.

A story of a family trying to make it to the West from the Soviet Union and what comes out of it. Features one of the most deplorable characters I’ve read in a long time. I’m a little unsure if I found her too over the top or not, maybe a little balance at times would have been good, but good lord am I happy she’s not my mother. Interesting, well written, extremely funny in a very, very dark manner. So snarky!

Edit: also available in English! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9806853-the-hottest-dishes-of-the-tartar-cuisine

 

[twister947]

Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn

 

[phil97405]

Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn

Yes, that's a good one!

 

[phil97405]

Yes and sometimes you just have to push through a hard part.
I’m currently reading The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
I started a couple of months ago and had a really hard time with the first part that is set during the Cultural Revolution. I decided to give it one more shot and powered through and now I really like it.

I thought the Three-Body Problem was excellent!

 

[twister947]

Desert Solitaire
By Edward Abbey
An old favorite , revisited.
and
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds
Notes From a Northwest Year
By Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Food for my nerdy self.

 

[seela]

Desert Solitaire
By Edward Abbey
An old favorite , revisited.
and
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds
Notes From a Northwest Year
By Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Food for my nerdy self.

Do you often revisit old book friends? I’m a little hesitant these days, because sometimes I haven’t enjoyed them as much the second or third or fourth time I’ve read them.

The bird book sounds lovely! I’m currently visiting my parents and I went to check out a few bird watching spots with dad yesterday. It was fun. No rare sightings, but, among other things, we got to see some fluffy goldeneye babies trying to swim upstream. Cute and inspiring.

 

[seela]

Doing today’s Connections was very appropriate after just having read the first post on this page.