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Post by Tea Rex on Oct 23, 2013 11:19:15 GMT -5
Still reading The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri. I hate to say it, but I'm finding this book to be a slog. Lahiri is incredibly detailed in her descriptions of even the most mundane aspects of life, but it doesn't make it an exciting read. I'm only halfway through, and other books on my List of Doom are whispering to me to abandon it and move on...
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Post by beastofman on Oct 23, 2013 11:22:13 GMT -5
I got Swamplandia from the digital library and plan to read that this week. Anyone read it?
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Post by Cerusee on Oct 23, 2013 11:24:37 GMT -5
I am on to the Down Syndrome chapter of Far From the Tree. And last night, I read a pile of Fumi Yoshinaga manga and found myself wishing there weren't so many sex scenes. They get pretty repetitive after awhile, and I really like her for her humor and characterizations. (Plus, all the food porn.)
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Post by whisperingeye on Oct 23, 2013 11:29:51 GMT -5
I didn't care for Swamplandia, but I believe I'm in the minority.
I've been reading Men of Maize. I'm enjoying it, even though I'm not always super into the epic poem thing (it's a novel, but it reads more like a poem).
I'm really ambivalent about reading The Lowlands. I should probably skip it--YOLO, etc.
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Post by [Citrus] on Oct 23, 2013 11:30:52 GMT -5
I recently started reading The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, which I'm pretty intrigued by, though I'm not completely sure I like the "Oh tarnation, I'm old" chapters.
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Post by Glen Coco on Oct 23, 2013 11:33:19 GMT -5
If you've got the time for a long book (~675 pages), I'd recommend We, the Drowned. It's pretty epic.
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Hat
TI Forumite
Posts: 124
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Post by Hat on Oct 23, 2013 11:33:56 GMT -5
I'm reading Boy Meets Boy because it was one of the Amazon monthly deals on my Kindle. I'm a third of the way through and it's unbearably twee, so I don't recommend it.
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 11:36:36 GMT -5
Kindof a pain in the ass not to be able to respond directly to people, huh? Even though the other place I hang out, Goodreads, works just like this and I never complain there? I FEAR CHANGE
I started Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I'm about a quarter of the way in and it's great so far. I see why people call it the Mexican On The Road. There have been a lot of blowjobs so far, which is great except that I feel weird reading about blowjobs on the subway.
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Oct 23, 2013 11:38:59 GMT -5
Almost done with "Empires of Light" by Jill Jonnes, about the early electrical industry. It's good, but I think even though I'm sure all the science in it is explained in as good a layman's way as possible my inability to really understand science is hindering me a bit.
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Post by apathymonger on Oct 23, 2013 11:42:41 GMT -5
I got Swamplandia from the digital library and plan to read that this week. Anyone read it? Yeah, I liked it a lot. I need to get round to her second short story collection. I read Matt Zoller Seitz's Wes Anderson Collection book last weekend, which was great. I haven't got it yet, but Hugh Howey's Dust is out here this week, so hopefully I'll be reading that. |
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Post by K. Thrace on Oct 23, 2013 11:42:52 GMT -5
I'm still reading Lowlands, too, which is why we haven't done Book Club for it. It's sort of uninspiring to finish.
But, Poll: for people who want to do the next Book Club, vote on which book we'll do next (or suggest a better choice):
Donna Tartt, Goldfinch
Dan Simmons: The Abominable (about Everest)
Alice Munro, Dear Life
Javier Marias, The Infatuations
Also, when should we start the discussion? I was thinking we all try to read about 1/3 of the way in for next week, since people read at different speeds and some people have more going on this week than others do.
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Post by Albert Fish Taco on Oct 23, 2013 11:45:18 GMT -5
Kindof a pain in the ass not to be able to respond directly to people, huh? Even though the other place I hang out, Goodreads, works just like this and I never complain there? I FEAR CHANGE I started Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I'm about a quarter of the way in and it's great so far. I see why people call it the Mexican On The Road. There have been a lot of blowjobs so far, which is great except that I feel weird reading about blowjobs on the subway. About a year or so ago I started to read Savage Detectives. While I like the way Bolano was writing (so I can see why people are big on him) I bailed on it about a 100 or so pages in. I think the lack of much of a plot and the going on about extra obsure poetic movements just didn't hold my interest. Also the sex got repetative. Too many passages along the lines of "that morning we had sex for the ninth thime, i came twice she came five times". That said I've been meaning to try Bolano again. Possibly Chile By Night, which sounds like it would have more of a plot. |
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Post by Tea Rex on Oct 23, 2013 11:47:04 GMT -5
K. Thrace, can we do the bookclub for The Lowlands so that I feel better about abandoning it? I wouldn't mind bitching about it to a bunch of other people.
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Post by ComradeQuestions on Oct 23, 2013 11:47:31 GMT -5
Sandman Vol. 2. Just two issues in. Shit's getting weird.
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Post by scrawler on Oct 23, 2013 11:49:21 GMT -5
I got home after the package room closed in my building last night, so I wasn't able to pick up my copy of Goldfinch, much to my chagrin.
I did just finish A Tale For the Time Being, which kind of blew me away. It had that rambling, enormouse Delillo quality, but rather than focusing on American culture, it was a mix of Western and Eastern culture, heavy on the Eastern philosophy. Combine that with an epistolary style that nearly always hooks me in and I was smitten.
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Post by ComradeQuestions on Oct 23, 2013 11:49:30 GMT -5
Kindof a pain in the ass not to be able to respond directly to people, huh? Even though the other place I hang out, Goodreads, works just like this and I never complain there? I FEAR CHANGE I started Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. I'm about a quarter of the way in and it's great so far. I see why people call it the Mexican On The Road. There have been a lot of blowjobs so far, which is great except that I feel weird reading about blowjobs on the subway. About a year or so ago I started to read Savage Detectives. While I like the way Bolano was writing (so I can see why people are big on him) I bailed on it about a 100 or so pages in. I think the lack of much of a plot and the going on about extra obsure poetic movements just didn't hold my interest. Also the sex got repetative. Too many passages along the lines of "that morning we had sex for the ninth thime, i came twice she came five times". That said I've been meaning to try Bolano again. Possibly Chile By Night, which sounds like it would have more of a plot. Been wanting to read Savage Detectives, but it's one of those books like Infinite Jest that I want to make time for to actually get into. It took me forever to read 2666, and while I enjoyed it, I wished I coulda actually just focused on it for a while. |
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Post by Dr. Dastardly on Oct 23, 2013 11:49:42 GMT -5
Richie, hopefully it'll work better for me. I've been okay with the meandering and the sex counting so far, but shit's getting fairly complicated in Act II.
Thrace, although I don't intend to participate in the book club this time around, I want to say that I approve of the choices there. Those are some good books, and also Dan Simmons.
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Post by cappadocius on Oct 23, 2013 11:51:04 GMT -5
Currently reading Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival, as part of my ongoing efforts to become Ken Hite. I have a love-hate relationship with what I think of as "woo-woo" books, but this one is very well written and shares my wild disappointment with the poor citations of the majority of esoteric/occult "scholars". I don't anticipate a need to scream epithets at the book for dragging in the usual suspects out of context like more than a few Colin Wilson books I've read.
EDIT: edited for BBCode.
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Post by scrawler on Oct 23, 2013 11:51:17 GMT -5
Poll: for people who want to do the next Book Club, vote on which book we'll do next (or suggest a better choice): Donna Tartt, Goldfinch Dan Simmons: The Abominable (about Everest) Alice Munro, Dear Life Javier Marias, The Infatuations Since I have a copy of Goldfinch waiting for me at home that I can't wait to start, it gets my vote. |
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Invisible Goat
Shoutbox Elitist 
Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving
Posts: 2,644 
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Post by Invisible Goat on Oct 23, 2013 11:55:31 GMT -5
I'm about 30 pages into Jason Heller's Taft 2012 which is way too early to say it's awesome, but I'm saying it anyway.
Also have Empire Falls lined up for this weekend hopefully.
Edit: Aww my italics didn't work.
Edit 2: Oh shit you just click the button. Isn't that clever.
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Post by cappadocius on Oct 23, 2013 11:55:42 GMT -5
Sandman Vol. 2. Just two issues in. Shit's getting weird. Son, you ain't *seen* weird. |
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Hat
TI Forumite
Posts: 124
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Post by Hat on Oct 23, 2013 11:58:19 GMT -5
I got home after the package room closed in my building last night, so I wasn't able to pick up my copy of Goldfinch, much to my chagrin. I did just finish A Tale For the Time Being, which kind of blew me away. It had that rambling, enormouse Delillo quality, but rather than focusing on American culture, it was a mix of Western and Eastern culture, heavy on the Eastern philosophy. Combine that with an epistolary style that nearly always hooks me in and I was smitten. I was about to tell you that there are formatting options so you can italicize without <i> but now it's showing up italic when I'm quoting you, so...I don't know what exactly is going on. |
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Post by scrawler on Oct 23, 2013 12:01:07 GMT -5
I got home after the package room closed in my building last night, so I wasn't able to pick up my copy of Goldfinch, much to my chagrin. I did just finish A Tale For the Time Being, which kind of blew me away. It had that rambling, enormouse Delillo quality, but rather than focusing on American culture, it was a mix of Western and Eastern culture, heavy on the Eastern philosophy. Combine that with an epistolary style that nearly always hooks me in and I was smitten. I was about to tell you that there are formatting options so you can italicize without <i> but now it's showing up italic when I'm quoting you, so...I don't know what exactly is going on. I figured it out and edited. I've grown unaccustomed to formatting options. |
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Ellie
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Post by Ellie on Oct 23, 2013 12:06:01 GMT -5
Aw man. I LOVE, LOVE LOVE Jhumpa Lahiri and have been "saving" The Lowlands. I actually really enjoy ostensibly boring detailed procedural descriptions of daily life (that's one of my favorite things about her writing) so maybe I'll like it?
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randy's donuts
AV Clubber
Grant writing. Please, please chime in to distract me
Posts: 316
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Post by randy's donuts on Oct 23, 2013 12:08:04 GMT -5
I got Swamplandia from the digital library and plan to read that this week. Anyone read it? I went on a Karen Russell kick and knew some "swamp folk" growing up (they were in my girl scout troop!). It really captures the weird netherworld of the Everglades and the strangeness of Florida (in general). Vampires in the Lemon Grove though - I want to make every story in it into a movie. |
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Hat
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Posts: 124
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Post by Hat on Oct 23, 2013 12:08:18 GMT -5
I'm about 30 pages into Jason Heller's <i>taft 2012</i> which is way too early to say it's awesome, but I'm saying it anyway. Also have <i>Empire Falls</i> lined up for this weekend hopefully. Edit: Aww my italics didn't work. Obviously a book in which Taft is suddenly reanimated after a hundred years isn't going to be the most realistic, but it's sort of annoying when Heller talks about organic food regulations like anything can qualify. It's really hard to get certified organic, I've had to try to find fence posts that are certified organic because a sheep might lick a post and then it wouldn't be certifiable. He also focuses too much on Taft's size. After a certain point, we get it. I went a couple of days without reading it and kind of forgot to ever pick it up again. I think it has the makings of a really good story, but there are some execution issues. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Oct 23, 2013 12:08:42 GMT -5
I am almost done with Boomerang by Michael Lewis. It's about how various countries were effected and then dealt with the 2008 financial crisis. It's an interesting read if you are into that sort of thing.
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Invisible Goat
Shoutbox Elitist
Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving
Posts: 2,644
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Post by Invisible Goat on Oct 23, 2013 12:11:56 GMT -5
I'm about 30 pages into Jason Heller's <i>taft 2012</i> which is way too early to say it's awesome, but I'm saying it anyway. Also have <i>Empire Falls</i> lined up for this weekend hopefully. Edit: Aww my italics didn't work. Obviously a book in which Taft is suddenly reanimated after a hundred years isn't going to be the most realistic, but it's sort of annoying when Heller talks about organic food regulations like anything can qualify. It's really hard to get certified organic, I've had to try to find fence posts that are certified organic because a sheep might lick a post and then it wouldn't be certifiable. He also focuses too much on Taft's size. After a certain point, we get it. I went a couple of days without reading it and kind of forgot to ever pick it up again. I think it has the makings of a really good story, but there are some execution issues. Aw, that's disappointing. It seems like a really quick read though, I plowed through those 30 pages in like 15 minutes so hopefully I can power through. I actually noticed that emphasis on the size already - at first they mistake him for "a large mammal"? I mean 330 isn't exactly unprecedented these days. |
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Post by Cerusee on Oct 23, 2013 12:21:28 GMT -5
Hat, really? I was under the impression that the biggest issue with organic food regs is that they're so lax, and all kinds of crap sneaks in under the organic label, so consumers don't really know what it means.
(I've never tried to get a certification myself, though.)
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Hat
TI Forumite
Posts: 124
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Post by Hat on Oct 23, 2013 12:21:59 GMT -5
<abbr> Agreed</abbr>! I mean, it's still worth reading, and I keep meaning to finish it, but I personally don't think it lives up to the great beginning. |
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