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Book Club + What Are You Reading? (January 2019)

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ara

ara

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Oct 26, 2017
13,000
New year, still reading books. It's still 2018 for the majority of ERA users, but I likely wouldn't have had the chance to make the thread tomorrow, so I figured this is probably fine. It's a copy-paste job anyway. And it's January 2019 somewhere! Happy new year to all you 2019 folks! And for the rest of you.. Well, happy new year when you get there!

Obligatory:

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January Book Club Title

Kafka on the Shore

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Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting prostitute, a forest harbors soldiers apparently unaged since World War II, and rainstorms of fish (and worse) fall from the sky. There is a brutal murder, with the identity of both victim and perpetrator a riddle—yet this, along with everything else, is eventually answered, just as the entwined destinies of Kafka and Nakata are gradually revealed, with one escaping his fate entirely and the other given a fresh start on his own.

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Happy reading!
 
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BrokenFiction

BrokenFiction

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,317
ATL
Thanks for making the new thread, ara!

I checked my Goodreads challenge and I'm 55 out of 25 pledged to read. Some were short and novella length, though. I should up that for this coming year.
 
Spectromixer

Spectromixer

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
16,613
USA
Thanks for making the thread! Updating the Goodreads club with the new book choice!

If anyone wants to add me on Goodreads for the new year here is my account.
 
Number45

Number45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,038
I'll pick up Kafka on the Shore and start reading it when I get back to work later this week. Determined to actually hit a Goodreads challenge target for once!
 
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DassoBrother

DassoBrother

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,623
Saskatchewan
I'm just putting together some titles I want to try to read in the next year, anyone recommend House of Leaves or The Familiar? I'm interested in the author and looking for some books that aren't scifi or non-fiction since it seems like I have lots of those in mind already.
 
Chibs

Chibs

Member
Nov 5, 2017
4,505
Belgium
Just started my first Robin Hobb novel with Assassin's Apprentice.
Not far in yet, but I'm digging it so far.
 
TheBeardedOne

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
Thanks ara

I'm still reading The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, with about 100-120 pages to go.

I've also got The Haunting of Hill House and Jane Harper's Force of Nature in progress, but they're currently on hold.
 
gosublime

gosublime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,429
DassoBrother said:
I'm just putting together some titles I want to try to read in the next year, anyone recommend House of Leaves or The Familiar? I'm interested in the author and looking for some books that aren't scifi or non-fiction since it seems like I have lots of those in mind already.
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House of Leaves is great - it's a fantastic experience and I would definitely pick it over The Familiar (I really like The Familiar and what it tries to do, but the first book is mainly setting up the players for the rest of the 'season' so unless you are really into the author already, it probably comes across very poorly for a first book of MZD).

Feel free to skip bits in HoL as well - think of it like a DVD with lots of special features, some of which are pretty boring and should be skipped. My wife read it last year and loved it but she bounced off it a couple of times as she couldn't wrap her head round the idea of simply skimming parts of the book. When she finally got into it though she couldn't stop reading it.
 
DassoBrother

DassoBrother

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Oct 25, 2017
2,623
Saskatchewan
gosublime said:
House of Leaves is great - it's a fantastic experience and I would definitely pick it over The Familiar (I really like The Familiar and what it tries to do, but the first book is mainly setting up the players for the rest of the 'season' so unless you are really into the author already, it probably comes across very poorly for a first book of MZD).

Feel free to skip bits in HoL as well - think of it like a DVD with lots of special features, some of which are pretty boring and should be skipped. My wife read it last year and loved it but she bounced off it a couple of times as she couldn't wrap her head round the idea of simply skimming parts of the book. When she finally got into it though she couldn't stop reading it.
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Sounds perfect, I'll definitely start there. That technique of reading reminds me of working through the Twin Peaks dossier book. There was so much in there and it would bounce around between a lot of timelines so if one wasn't interesting it worked better to just skim through and continue on since it was easy to lose interest otherwise.

I expected The Familiar to maybe not be a great place to start. Looks like it'll be a huge series to get into so I'll see how HoL goes first.
 
MilkBeard

MilkBeard

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,778
Cool. I was wondering what I was going to read next. I forgot Kafka on the Shore was going to be the next book of the month.
 
gosublime

gosublime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,429
DassoBrother said:
Sounds perfect, I'll definitely start there. That technique of reading reminds me of working through the Twin Peaks dossier book. There was so much in there and it would bounce around between a lot of timelines so if one wasn't interesting it worked better to just skim through and continue on since it was easy to lose interest otherwise.

I expected The Familiar to maybe not be a great place to start. Looks like it'll be a huge series to get into so I'll see how HoL goes first.
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The other problem with The Familiar is that MZD has announced that because of the lack of sales, the other - 20 or so! - planned volumes aren't going to be published. The 5 work well as a series, but I wanted the whole lot of them.
 
FaceHugger

FaceHugger

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,949
USA
Got distracted with a few collected trades of Batman on Kindle. Will get back to actual books once I finish them.
 
PassiveObserver

PassiveObserver

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,176
Funny as shit so far, 85 pages in. It's what it says on the tin. Girl wants to sleep a whole year away and does so with a potent drug cocktail prescribed by a quack of a psychiatrist. Moshfegh goes all the way in on the premise.

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RepairmanJack

RepairmanJack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,106
Started back at reading in February and looks like I finished 17 books for the year. Wanting to hit 20-25 for 2019.

Favorite book I read: The Fifth Season by N.K Jemison

Least favorite book I actually finished: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Book I was middling on after initial read, but has oddly stuck with me the most: Killing Season by Faye Kellerman
 
Hampig

Hampig

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Oct 25, 2017
1,703
Continuing on with Out. Really loving it so far, has some really well defined, fun to read characters.
 
Regiruler

Regiruler

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,278
United States
I finally finished Hero of Ages. That was... an experience.
The Final Empire > Well of Ascension >>> Hero of Ages

I was reading the trilogy during the Stormlight archive hiatus. I'm probably going on to Stormlight book 3, but if anyone has a super good word to put in for the Mistborn sequel trilogy I'll hear it.
 
saenima

saenima

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,892
SIRENSOT1959.jpg


Just started the above. I don't know why i never got into Vonnegut before. This man has some truly fantastic prose.
 

BarefootTea

Member
Oct 27, 2017
92
Currently reading "Rich People Problems" by Kevin Kwan ("Crazy Rich Asians" book #3). Next, I think I'm going to attempt the book list a character is given in "China Rich Girlfriend" (sequel to "Crazy Rich Asians") to understand and interact with elite society. There are a number of books listed so I probably won't create another challenge for myself until I complete this one but I might need to read some books in between these books as a break.

The last time I read "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami was in 2006. I've forgotten a lot of details. I'm not sure if I'll attempt it this month though I have been meaning to re-read it for a while now.
 
Gushu

Gushu

Member
Sep 29, 2018
164
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Thrilling pageturner as most Eisler's books are. The second Lone novel (The Night Trade) is already ordered and i also have to catch up on his John Rain novels (#7 till #9). Exciting reading days ahead.
 

Deleted member 46493

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Aug 7, 2018
5,231
Just reading a Taschen book on Albrecht Dürer. Really like his art and it's easy holiday reading. Author is Norbert Wolf.
 
Famassu

Famassu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,186
I finally finished Robin Hobb's Fitz & the Fool trilogy as I got to the end of Assassin's Fate. I've kind of subconsciously been putting it off and not reading it quite as fast as I usually do books that good & engrossing. Now I feel so empty. I had to invent my own head-canon to make the ending a little less depressing... >_>; It was a beautiful ending but one particular thing in it is just too sad, after everything these characters have gone through. I needed to figure out something that gave them a bit less more peace & happiness (that is totes in line with the lore of the Elderlings books and I think even has some setup earlier in the book(s) :D )

Tried to read something lighter afterward and picked up a Terry Pratchett book from my shelf that I haven't read in a long time (the Witches trilogy omnibus). Just couldn't get into it because I keep thinking about Assassin's Fate.

I've read the other two Fitz trilogies countless times but I'm not sure if I can go through this last trilogy again. Not just because of the ending. The previous trilogies have had their sad & depressing moments & tons of hardships, but this was a whole new level of struggle & depressing. Like holy shit what these characters go through without much respite.
 
MilkBeard

MilkBeard

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,778
Started reading A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland. I wanted something sort of comfortable, but decided to take a chance, and I'm glad I did. I read about 50 pages this afternoon already, and the story has been pretty interesting and fun so far.

It has managed to marry a lighthearted feel with the sort of uncomfortable feeling of the main character being stuck in a hopeless situation, wrapped in a fantasy/mythological package. It's been interesting so far. I hope the story keeps up with this. The writing is easy and comfortable so far as well, which is what I wanted right now.

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Awesome Wells

Awesome Wells

Member
Dec 3, 2017
216
Currently bouncing between re-reading Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy and Essentialism by Greg McKeon.

The reason for the Eisenhorn reread is that I picked up his latest one a few weeks ago and fear I'll miss out on something if the story isn't fresh. Which probably means I'll end up re-reading the Ravenor books too... Thankfully, they are both excellent.
 
Protome

Protome

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,677
For like the third one of these threads in a row I'm still reading Under The Pendulum Sun which I'm enjoying, I just haven't been reading much lately.
My sister got me the first of the Mortal Engines books which I'll probably read next because I absolutely hated that movie and I need to know if the books are any better.
 
SxP

SxP

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Oct 27, 2017
2,867
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Finished December by barely making my Goodreads reading challenge (by reading a very short book at the end!).

Mythos lived up to the hype for me. I had Greek in high school, as well as Greek/Roman culture, so I knew a lot of the stories by heart, but Stephen Fry is a great storyteller, and he adds a little something to every story and connects them all (or mostly all) nicely.

Ship of Destiny really rounded out the Liveships Traders trilogy nicely. A lot of good character development and not so predictable and satisfying endings. This was definitely a world I want to read more about. And even though I wondered before starting this trilogy whether I would skip and continue with Fitz, I'm really happy I decided to read it. In fact, I think it's better than the Farseer trilogy and I'm almost disappointed the next trilogy is Fitz again, instead of a continuation of this.

Like I said, I read In the Orchard, The Swallows because I needed a short book to finish off the reading challenge and I decided to take something outside of my comfort zone, considering the book was so short. It's a simple story (though not in a bad way), told with beautiful, almost visual, prose about imprisonment, both real and in the mind, and Hobb manages to tell it beautifully.

Now I'm starting The Bear and the Nightingale. Which I wanted to do for a while, but I don't like waiting for upcoming books. So now the final book is almost out, I will start this.
 
Number45

Number45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,038
When I look for Kafka on Amazon UK I get "vintage magic book 6". It's not part of a series is it?
 
Jag

Jag

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,669
Regiruler said:
I finally finished Hero of Ages. That was... an experience.
The Final Empire > Well of Ascension >>> Hero of Ages

I was reading the trilogy during the Stormlight archive hiatus. I'm probably going on to Stormlight book 3, but if anyone has a super good word to put in for the Mistborn sequel trilogy I'll hear it.
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I liked the Wax and Wane series. Bit of Steampunk/Western. Different from Mistborn, but same world, years later. Sanderson can be formulaic, but it's like an old comfy shoe.
 
TheXbox

TheXbox

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
6,548
I don't know what the hell I'm gonna read. I charged through 200 pages of Fire and Blood last night so I could finish it and top off my Goodreads challenge at 20 books.

Should I read actual Kafka before Kafka on the Shore?
 
Sean C.

Sean C.

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,726
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
My Goodreads Challenge for 2018 was to read 52 books, which I fell way behind on at a certain point, but with a big push in the final two weeks I managed to just make it. I'm going to scale that back for 2019 just to give myself more latitude to read lengthier books (this is going to be the year I read The Brothers Karamazov).

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I started reading this almost two years ago, having picked it up super-cheap. It's almost 1100 pages of Lovecraft stories, but this frankly turned out to be, in my opinion, not a very good way to approach reading Lovecraft. Mainly because it serves to highlight how formulaic and repetitive most of his work is. I found this by times notable in highlighting the development of the horror genre, and Lovecraft's racism is interesting to interrogate, if nothing else.

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I was partway through this before I noticed that it was translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhnosky, the gods of Russian-to-English literary translation; I'd never read any non-fiction translated by them, though, just their Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, etc. Anyway, this is the second thing I've read by Svetlana Alexievich, the Belorussian Nobel Laureate in Literature, as part of my ongoing reading plan to cover all of the Nobel Laureates eventually (the Swedish Academy has helpfully been engulfed in scandal and stopped awarding Prizes for the year, at least, so I haven't fallen behind any this year). Alexievich's books are compiled oral histories, in this case she spent years interviewing female veterans of the Soviet forces in World War II and arranging them by topic. It's a fascinating read, if generally rather depressing for a bunch of different reasons -- you've got stories about war crimes committed by both sides (mainly German, of course, and yeesh, but you also get really fascinating female POVs on the gang rapes committed by Soviet soldiers in retribution in Germany), the general horror of combat, but also more mundane things like how many of these ladies were considered unmarriageable or undesirable by men after the war was over because they weren't feminine enough as a result of their experiences.

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One of those classics of the graphic novel (or memoir) genre that I'd been meaning to read for years but only got around to now. I find the ending kind of abrupt in some ways, but it's easy to see why this became so widely-read.

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This was a very compelling read. It's fundamentally an incomplete work, both in the sense that the author died before finishing and there are whole sections with notes about how she would undoubtedly have fleshed things out more had she lived to do so, and because the Golden State Killer was indeed, as McNamara prophesied in a really compelling epilogue, caught in the end. That angle is especially fascinating in the sense that McNamara documents the technique that eventually did catch him, though in an incomplete format (they hadn't started using GEDmatch yet). I have to wonder, did DeAngelo read this book before he was caught? Did he wonder if the DNA trail would eventually lead them to him? Seems like a precarious existence, if only for a couple of months, if he did, especially after so many years of impunity.

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I had originally been planning on Stuart Turton's The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle being my last book of the year, but I switched that out for something shorter in order to finish my list on time. Vonnegut's novels are always slim and propulsive reads, so this seemed a better option (also, less than half the length).
 
Sec0nd

Sec0nd

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,045
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'll try anyway.

How do you all go about exploring books to read? I really enjoy reading books but finding books is such a bottleneck for me. Since starting a book is such an investment time wise that I'm always extremely nervous about picking up a new book. Which resulted in me just reading biographical books or the Tom Clancy books (guilty pleasure) because I would know exactly what I was getting.

But for 2019 I aim to overcome this hurdle and read more interesting material. So I'm really curious how you guys go about it.
 
DionardoLicaprio

DionardoLicaprio

Member
Nov 14, 2017
1,587
Last year I read 0 books, I'm going to try to read at least 3 this year (yeah, I don't read a lot).

What I'll try to read first:
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fakefaker

fakefaker

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
284
Sec0nd said:
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but I'll try anyway.

How do you all go about exploring books to read? I really enjoy reading books but finding books is such a bottleneck for me. Since starting a book is such an investment time wise that I'm always extremely nervous about picking up a new book. Which resulted in me just reading biographical books or the Tom Clancy books (guilty pleasure) because I would know exactly what I was getting.

But for 2019 I aim to overcome this hurdle and read more interesting material. So I'm really curious how you guys go about it.
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I go to a few sites but find https://www.goodreads.com/ is the best way to find and explore new and different books. Course you have to take some of the book ratings and reviews with a grain of salt since they're user created, but you can still weed out the good books from the bad. Also, there is the ERA group you can join too. Good luck exploring!

My first book read of 2019 is going to be Fortunata and Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós. The book is supposed to be amazing, but it was the cover that really sold me on it.

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Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,470
New York
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Rereading this as I just bought the box set as a Christmas gift to myself.

I really need to get back to reading more and expanding my tastes with more challenging stuff, but I psyche myself out too much with what to read and am really picky about what I like. I fell off pretty hard this past year, barely reading a single real book. I have two hours a day commuting on the train where I should be reading or at least listening to something, so I hope to do better this year.
 
Beze One

Beze One

Member
Oct 28, 2017
39
Right now, I am in the middle of reading both "The Arabian Nights" and H.G Wells' "The Invisible Man". After The Invisible Man, I'll reread H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine".
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,009
I read 55 books last year, so I was pretty happy with that performance. This year I'm not counting, just going to take my time and read some longer books.

To that end, I got tickets to see Hamilton for Christmas and loved it, so now I'm reading the huge Chernow biography, named Alexander Hamilton, that inspired it. Really good so far.

I also got a Kindle Oasis for Christmas and this book is my first on that.
 
TheBeardedOne

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
Is GoodReads acting up for anyone else? It won't let me update my progress on each individual book I'm reading. As in updating the page I've made it to.
 
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