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Post by Soliton on Feb 4, 2022 0:50:27 GMT -6
Title: The Long Way Home
Author: Ed Dover
Genre: Historical
What do you think of it?
It is a great read before going to bed. It is the true story of the last Pacific PAN AM Boeing Flying Boat just as WWII started in the Pacific.
Just days before Pearl Harbor this plane takes off on a routine flight to New Zealand from San Francisco. The story is a journal of the flight from stop to stop across the Pacific. In those days, they could only fly at 400 to 3000 feet above the water at 180 mph. As they are 400 miles north of New Zealand their radio tells of Pearl Harbor. They are redirected to return to the US the long way around thru the Indian Ocean, Africa, Atlantic to New Jersey. Each chapter is a leg of the flight. I could hear the drone of the four propeller engines as I dropped off to sleep like I was in one of the planes sleeper accommodations.
Recommend it?
A great book for someone interested in technology, WWII, planes and an amazing real adventure.
There is also a YouTube video about the book as well.
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Post by HDSimplicityy on Mar 10, 2022 23:52:53 GMT -6
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and his Boy
Author: C.S. Lewis
Genre: Children's Fantasy
What do you think of it?
Im early on, but I like it. The horse has a courtly elegance to his talking and biting humor. Probably English-style too. The main character I can see go through a cool character arc of growth.
Finally nearing the end of my first readthrough of the series! What really should not have taken over a year has taken that long. My reading list from 2021 will be done when this is read. I finished The Magicians Nephew a few days ago; great book!
Good series overall. Not every book is strong, but still.
Recommend it?
Yep. Fun kids book that many should read before they become adults. Just read the whole series while their at it.
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on Mar 18, 2022 6:41:50 GMT -6
Been doing a lot of reading so, this is gonna be a longer post.
Title: Swordspoint
Author: Ellen Kushner
Genre: Fantasy
What do you think of it?
I don't read much fantasy, so this (and the next book) is a nice switch in pace. The book is set in a city where aristocrats hire swordsmen to settle disputes. The main character is the greatest swordsman in town, and he finds himself ensnared in the convoluted machinations of the aristocracy. Very witty writing:
But sometimes, the prose does come off as slightly clumsy (I'm sorry, but "friendlily" is an awful word). The world-building is great. You get such a sense of setting; the world feels really lived in. Kushner plays the plotting and scheming subtly. To be honest, I'm still a bit unclear about certain parts of the plot, so I'm planning to eventually do a re-read.
Recommend?
Yes, if you love political intrigue.
Title: The Goblin Emperor
Author: Katherine Addison
Genre: Fantasy
What do you think of it?
Yes! An underdog prince suddenly and unexpectedly ascends the throne of an elven kingdom. I love how unabashed the world-building is. The book begins with a guide on elvish pronunciation. Don't skim, because the author has no qualms throwing in a bunch of terminology. I love it when a book takes the throw-you-in-the-deep-end approach to world-building. But even if you don't, I argue that this works to the book's advantage. You will initially be confused and confounded, just as our protagonist is. And we slowly learn the rules/customs and adapt to courtly life alongside the protagonist.
Our protagonist and his friends inner circle are genuinely nice people but they're not infallible. The author takes great pains to present them as complex people trying their best, but hamstrung and occasionally overwhelmed by convention. I'd call it a comfort read but there are a few dark spots in the book.
Recommend?
Yes, if you love world-building and political intrigue. For all the fantasy fans here, please recommend me more stuff like these! These two books are great!
Title: The Mezzanine
Author:Nicholson Baker
Genre:Modernist / Postmodernist
What do you think of it?
A light stream-of-consciousness story about a man's ponderings during his lunch break. Our narrator is a meek, average guy who reflects and muses on the various objects we interact with on a daily basis. Don't be scared by the "postmodern" and "stream-of-consciousness" tags. The writing is clinically precise and there's extensive use of footnotes but the writing is warm, sincere and approachable. To give you a sense of the prose:
At times funny, at times tender, this is a beautiful book that celebrates the everyday. A book that insists on treating the mundane with wonder.
Recommend?
Yes! Even if you're not typically into this sort of writing, I still encourage you to sample a few pages and see if it interests you.
Title:Wuthering Heights
Author:Emily Bronte
Genre:Gothic
What do you think of it?
Yeah, I haven't read Wuthering Heights before. This is my first Bronte actually. I didn't know much about this book going in, so:
How it started ... This is going to be a gothic, funny Austen-esque comedy!
How it's going ... Misery! Vendettas! Gothic landscapes! Casual animal abuse! (WHAT?!) Gothic landscapes! Disease! Brooding! Death! Ghosts! Gothic landscapes!
A wild, intense, atmospheric, page-turning read. In this post, I originally said I "liked it but didn't love it". But I realize that's not exactly the case. The best way I can describe my feelings about this book is that it's a lovable, fun (???), hot mess. A car crash in 360 pages. Microwave take: Mr. Lockwood is the most pointless character in literature. He's a narrator-as-framing-device? That's no excuse. Even Nick Carraway and Jonathan Harker did more ... things!
Recommended?
Yes? For those who've read the other Bronte sisters, are they as pedal-to-the-metal intense as Emily?
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Post by RAVENEYE on Mar 18, 2022 15:57:30 GMT -6
Been doing a lot of reading so, this is gonna be a longer post. Title: Swordspoint Author: Ellen Kushner Genre: Fantasy What do you think of it?I don't read much fantasy, so this (and the next book) is a nice switch in pace. The book is set in a city where aristocrats hire swordsmen to settle disputes. The main character is the greatest swordsman in town, and he finds himself ensnared in the convoluted machinations of the aristocracy. Very witty writing: But sometimes, the prose does come off as slightly clumsy (I'm sorry, but "friendlily" is an awful word). The world-building is great. You get such a sense of setting; the world feels really lived in. Kushner plays the plotting and scheming subtly. To be honest, I'm still a bit unclear about certain parts of the plot, so I'm planning to eventually do a re-read. Recommend?Yes, if you love political intrigue. Title: The Goblin Emperor Author: Katherine Addison Genre: Fantasy What do you think of it?Yes! An underdog prince suddenly and unexpectedly ascends the throne of an elven kingdom. I love how unabashed the world-building is. The book begins with a guide on elvish pronunciation. Don't skim, because the author has no qualms throwing in a bunch of terminology. I love it when a book takes the throw-you-in-the-deep-end approach to world-building. But even if you don't, I argue that this works to the book's advantage. You will initially be confused and confounded, just as our protagonist is. And we slowly learn the rules/customs and adapt to courtly life alongside the protagonist. Our protagonist and his friends inner circle are genuinely nice people but they're not infallible. The author takes great pains to present them as complex people trying their best, but hamstrung and occasionally overwhelmed by convention. I'd call it a comfort read but there are a few dark spots in the book. Recommend?Yes, if you love world-building and political intrigue. For all the fantasy fans here, please recommend me more stuff like these! These two books are great! Title: The Mezzanine Author:Nicholson Baker Genre:Modernist / Postmodernist What do you think of it?A light stream-of-consciousness story about a man's ponderings during his lunch break. Our narrator is a meek, average guy who reflects and muses on the various objects we interact with on a daily basis. Don't be scared by the "postmodern" and "stream-of-consciousness" tags. The writing is clinically precise and there's extensive use of footnotes but the writing is warm, sincere and approachable. To give you a sense of the prose: At times funny, at times tender, this is a beautiful book that celebrates the everyday. A book that insists on treating the mundane with wonder. Recommend?Yes! Even if you're not typically into this sort of writing, I still encourage you to sample a few pages and see if it interests you. Title:Wuthering Heights Author:Emily Bronte Genre:Gothic What do you think of it?Yeah, I haven't read Wuthering Heights before. This is my first Bronte actually. I didn't know much about this book going in, so: How it started ... This is going to be a gothic, funny Austen-esque comedy! How it's going ... Misery! Vendettas! Gothic landscapes! Casual animal abuse! (WHAT?!) Gothic landscapes! Disease! Brooding! Death! Ghosts! Gothic landscapes! A wild, intense, atmospheric, page-turning read. In this post, I originally said I "liked it but didn't love it". But I realize that's not exactly the case. The best way I can describe my feelings about this book is that it's a lovable, fun (???), hot mess. A car crash in 360 pages. Microwave take: Mr. Lockwood is the most pointless character in literature. He's a narrator-as-framing-device? That's no excuse. Even Nick Carraway and Jonathan Harker did more ... things! Recommended?Yes? For those who've read the other Bronte sisters, are they as pedal-to-the-metal intense as Emily? Wow, lots of reading is right! Nice. As for Wuthering Heights ... I was not able to finish it. I HATED Heathcliff. What an a-hole. Kicking dogs ought never to have been something a romantic figure does, even in the early 1800s, IMO. Dark or not. Gimme a break. If he beats dogs, he'll beat his woman. I've watched the old movie version of it in which Lawrence Olivier plays him, so I knew what the basic plot was before I started reading. He doesn't kick a dog in the movie (that I recall). The whole tragic romance is portrayed as a dark Romeo and Juliet thing, one of those dark doomed affairs that teen girls get swoony over. And Emily was the dark sister of the three.  Anyway, it's not meant to be a comedy, but the melodramatic aspects might read that way these days, I guess. I have read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and utterly love it. It will be one I read over and over till the day I die. Plus, I've seen every movie adaptation out there, and still love reading the book. It's more realistic and (very subtly) feminist. It's so beautifully done. |
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Post by Alatariel on Mar 18, 2022 17:51:00 GMT -6
havekrillwhaletravel I just got The Goblin Emperor for Valentine's Day! My husband got it for me. He's the best. I've been wanting to read it for a while. Right now, my TBR list is long and I'm going on vacation tomorrow. Debating what books to bring! I wanna bring like 15 buuuuut I don't have the space to pack so many. Have to narrow it down.
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on Mar 19, 2022 2:52:22 GMT -6
@raveneye Yeah, the animal abuse was thrown in so casually that I had to re-read the page a few times. I thought I was reading it wrong or the words had some other meaning in the 19th century. I will check out Jane Eyre soon! Alatariel I feel you! The worst part about packing is figuring out how many and which books you can stuff into your luggage. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on Apr 26, 2022 9:49:42 GMT -6
Or more correctly "What Was I Reading?"
Title: The Sound and the Fury
Author: William Faulkner
Genre: Literary
What do I think of it?
I tried to read this famous novel over the last few days. I tried so hard. I even researched it first and knew to expect a difficult read. But dayum, y'all. I don't like a read so difficult that my brain hurts after a few minutes. There's difficult, like Shakespeare, then there's WTF.
The story is told as a series of flashbacks, not one bit of it is linear, all the narrators are "unreliable," and to aggravate this, it's stream-of-consciousness. I can't tell if it's better to read it slowly, taking my time to piece things together, or just fly through it at top speed and letting the narration absorb into my brain. I tried both methods. Neither alleviated the pain. I think the story would be an interesting one, which complex characters and tension, if I could only puzzle out the damn thing. Alas, life is too short, and I gotta get on with it.
Recommend it?
Only if you like books that induce headaches.
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on Apr 28, 2022 3:59:57 GMT -6
At least you've tried reading it, which is a lot more than I can say  True story, I bought a copy of The Sound and the Fury in a charity sale thing years ago anddddd ... it's been sitting on my shelf unopened ever since. Every time I psych myself up to read it, I take it out from the shelf, remember its reputation for being difficult, suddenly remember I have <insert excuse here> to do and put it back on the shelf
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Post by RAVENEYE on Apr 29, 2022 11:30:10 GMT -6
At least you've tried reading it, which is a lot more than I can say  True story, I bought a copy of The Sound and the Fury in a charity sale thing years ago anddddd ... it's been sitting on my shelf unopened ever since. Every time I psych myself up to read it, I take it out from the shelf, remember its reputation for being difficult, suddenly remember I have <insert excuse here> to do and put it back on the shelf
LOL! Yes! I cannot remember when I bought my copy, but it's so old the pages are yellowed, so probably shortly after I graduated from college, like 20 years ago. Sheesh. Why did I haul it around, house to house, all this time? Because "it's literary," which means "it's important," which translates to "I must own a copy."  |
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Post by HDSimplicityy on May 1, 2022 0:09:42 GMT -6
Title: Blood of the Falcon
Author: Uh, well... Raveneye!
Genre: Fantasy. Epic fantasy?
Do I like it?
So far I do. I like the writing style. its like my own for how I'm writing Just as Human. Its cinematic, visual, emotional, but much slower building than my standalone first book. I'm on Chapter 7. I struggle with focusing, so planning long reading sessions is hard and makes me take longer than I should to finish a novel. (Thank youuu undiagnosed ADD-something) There are spots where I would have shortened their page span. That said, it is a fantasy story; they normally develop slower than science fiction adventures.
Do I recommend it?
Yep, so far.
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 1, 2022 12:07:17 GMT -6
Title: Blood of the Falcon Author: Uh, well... Raveneye! Genre: Fantasy. Epic fantasy? Do I like it?So far I do. I like the writing style. its like my own for how I'm writing Just as Human. Its cinematic, visual, emotional, but much slower building than my standalone first book. I'm on Chapter 7. I struggle with focusing, so planning long reading sessions is hard and makes me take longer than I should to finish a novel. (Thank youuu undiagnosed ADD-something) There are spots where I would have shortened their page span. That said, it is a fantasy story; they normally develop slower than science fiction adventures. Do I recommend it?Yep, so far.  Panic! Oh, Lord. I'm panicking. Chewing my nails to nubs. Nah, what am I saying? I'd change so much in that first novel. Anyway, now I gotta drag out a copy and see what chapter 7 is about.   EDIT: Ooooh! So the attack has happened and Kieryn is burned. Got it. Poor kid. He has no idea the kind of life ahead of him. Doooomed! They're aaaaall doooomed!   Edit again: Holy crap, I published Blood a decade ago this year! Well, happy 10th anniversary, my darling twins. |
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on May 2, 2022 8:30:49 GMT -6
LOL! Yes! I cannot remember when I bought my copy, but it's so old the pages are yellowed, so probably shortly after I graduated from college, like 20 years ago. Sheesh. Why did I haul it around, house to house, all this time? Because "it's literary," which means "it's important," which translates to "I must own a copy."  Oof, I can relate to keeping books in my shelf that I never read and don't see myself reading in the future, but I keep them hanging around because, like you say, "it's important"  Title: The Death of Grass Author: John Christopher Genre: Sci-fi What do you think of it?A virus in China kills all varieties of grass and grain. As it slowly spreads across the globe, societal breakdown ensues. This book was the death of ME. My copy has a foreword which makes the case that this book is prescient in our mid-Covid landscape. Nope. There are no observations/ideas about how we respond to a crisis etc. And that's my main gripe: there are no ideas. Like, you'd think the book would have something to say about our relationship with nature, the sustainability of capitalist agriculture or whatever. Nope. The grass-virus could've been a meteor strike or zombies because the premise isn't explored in any meaningful way. It's just an excuse for ... the characters to roam the countryside as roving murderers. That's it. The prose is functional. There's a few good lines, but it doesn't elevate the material. There are some interesting characters the author does nothing with. So, this book is a 200-page slog of watching people commit atrocities. This book makes me appreciate Lord of the Flies more (which I didn't like) because LotF is essentially this book but better. There's nothing Death of Grass offers other than tepid shock factor. I can imagine in the hands of another writer, this could've been pulpy and luridly interesting, but this is just dull. I'm being harsh and slightly unfair to the author (who wrote this in the 60s), but can post-apocalypse fiction please stop with the "humans are the REAL monsters" trope? It's rarely interesting or profound. Recommend?No. Or ... yes??? if like me, you didn't like LotF and want to retrospectively appreciate it more? Title: Grass Author: Sheri S Tepper Genre: Sci-fi What do you think of it?Thank you all for recommending this book! At first, I wasn't enamoured. The bons were boring; there's a lot of fuss made about sitting on a horse; there's a Hunt where the bons do nothing. But then the book introduces more characters and the plot develops. I'm invested. And then it all makes sense! The horses are not horses; the bons are boring for a reason; of course, the humans don't do anything in the Hunt. MIND. BLOWN. The 3rd-person omniscient is ingenious. My heart breaks for all the characters. So flawed and contradictory and human. The prose is gorgeous and elegant. It's "stately" if that makes sense? The ideas it discusses are beautiful. The book reminds me of The Left Hand of Darkness, A Canticle of Leibowitz, Hyperion. Brilliant, top-tier sci-fi. Recommend?Yes! Title: The Book of Jonah (KJV) What do you think of it?Okay, I'm not Christian, but I decided a few months ago to read the Bible. Partly for its literary value, partly so I can get the constant biblical references in media. So my thoughts here deal only with the book, and isn't a commentary on the religion it's a part of. The only thing I knew about Jonah is that he gets swallowed by a whale (okay, "giant fish", but come on. It's a whale. What other giant fish do you know of? I will not tolerate this whale erasure  ). This is AMAZING. The storm in Chapter 1 is gripping. Chapter 2 is beautiful writing. It's a compact book, but the ideas it introduces are compelling. Also, it feels weird to say this but it’s kind of funny? Maybe it's me, but Jonah is kind of horrible. He basically ghosts God and then nopes out of helping the crew battle the storm that HE caused. After he gets spat out by the whale, he puts in the bare amount of effort and delivers what has to be the most anti-climatic prophesy ever. Then he gets angry at God for ... err, not murdering an entire city of people? Anyway, this book is great. |
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 2, 2022 9:31:24 GMT -6
Title: The Book of Jonah (KJV) What do you think of it?Okay, I'm not Christian, but I decided a few months ago to read the Bible. Partly for its literary value, partly so I can get the constant biblical references in media. So my thoughts here deal only with the book, and isn't a commentary on the religion it's a part of. The only thing I knew about Jonah is that he gets swallowed by a whale (okay, "giant fish", but come on. It's a whale. What other giant fish do you know of? I will not tolerate this whale erasure ). This is AMAZING. The storm in Chapter 1 is gripping. Chapter 2 is beautiful writing. It's a compact book, but the ideas it introduces are compelling. Also, it feels weird to say this but it’s kind of funny? Maybe it's me, but Jonah is kind of horrible. He basically ghosts God and then nopes out of helping the crew battle the storm that HE caused. After he gets spat out by the whale, he puts in the bare amount of effort and delivers what has to be the most anti-climatic prophesy ever. Then he gets angry at God for ... err, not murdering an entire city of people? Anyway, this book is great. Yes! Jonah does make me laugh, mainly because he's so relatable. He behaves like the poutiest child ever, but don't we all when we are told to do something we don't want to do? What makes him even more recognizable is that there's no happy ending for him. He doesn't appear to learn his lesson. In the end, he remains stubborn and angry. And God leaves him like that, without forcing him to change his attitude, and God seems to be okay with it. Cracks me up. It's like, "Thanks for finally helping these people. Now you can just sit over there and have your pity party. We're good over here." Bahahaha! Right about the whale/fish thing. That cracks me up too. I doubt the author understood that whales are warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals. Biology probably wasn't in the textbooks back then. "It lives in the water, right? Therefore, it must be a fish."  Edit: In 1850, Herman Melville described a whale as "a spouting fish with a horizontal tail." And continues to call it a fish throughout. So I suppose we must assume that non-fishhood is a relatively recent accolade imparted upon the noble whale. Hey, what if the "fish" was a whale- shark!? Do they swim in the Mediterranean? I have no idea... |
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Post by havekrillwhaletravel on May 3, 2022 7:38:16 GMT -6
Yes! Jonah does make me laugh, mainly because he's so relatable. He behaves like the poutiest child ever, but don't we all when we are told to do something we don't want to do? What makes him even more recognizable is that there's no happy ending for him. He doesn't appear to learn his lesson. In the end, he remains stubborn and angry. And God leaves him like that, without forcing him to change his attitude, and God seems to be okay with it. Cracks me up. It's like, "Thanks for finally helping these people. Now you can just sit over there and have your pity party. We're good over here." Bahahaha! Right about the whale/fish thing. That cracks me up too. I doubt the author understood that whales are warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals. Biology probably wasn't in the textbooks back then. "It lives in the water, right? Therefore, it must be a fish." Edit: In 1850, Herman Melville described a whale as "a spouting fish with a horizontal tail." And continues to call it a fish throughout. So I suppose we must assume that non-fishhood is a relatively recent accolade imparted upon the noble whale. Hey, what if the "fish" was a whale- shark!? Do they swim in the Mediterranean? I have no idea... Haha, yes! I can see myself in Jonah. It’s amazing how much characterization he got considering the whole book is 4 short chapters. Poor guy, I hope he's not still camped somewhere outside of the city.
I think you're onto something with Melville and non-fishhood. Moby Dick made me realize that our knowledge of whales is a relatively recent phenomena. Like, they just didn't have the tech to study whales and sea creatures properly. There weren't radar and documentaries. Thinking back, that's probably why Ishmael speaks of whaling as an almost sacred institution, because whalers were one of few people who encountered whales up close (I think he talks about this in the book? It's been a while). Still, it's hard to get accurate information about a species when your only interaction with that species is to stab it with pointy sticks |
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Post by RAVENEYE on May 3, 2022 17:07:34 GMT -6
Yes! Jonah does make me laugh, mainly because he's so relatable. He behaves like the poutiest child ever, but don't we all when we are told to do something we don't want to do? What makes him even more recognizable is that there's no happy ending for him. He doesn't appear to learn his lesson. In the end, he remains stubborn and angry. And God leaves him like that, without forcing him to change his attitude, and God seems to be okay with it. Cracks me up. It's like, "Thanks for finally helping these people. Now you can just sit over there and have your pity party. We're good over here." Bahahaha! Right about the whale/fish thing. That cracks me up too. I doubt the author understood that whales are warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals. Biology probably wasn't in the textbooks back then. "It lives in the water, right? Therefore, it must be a fish." Edit: In 1850, Herman Melville described a whale as "a spouting fish with a horizontal tail." And continues to call it a fish throughout. So I suppose we must assume that non-fishhood is a relatively recent accolade imparted upon the noble whale. Hey, what if the "fish" was a whale- shark!? Do they swim in the Mediterranean? I have no idea... Haha, yes! I can see myself in Jonah. It’s amazing how much characterization he got considering the whole book is 4 short chapters. Poor guy, I hope he's not still camped somewhere outside of the city.
I think you're onto something with Melville and non-fishhood. Moby Dick made me realize that our knowledge of whales is a relatively recent phenomena. Like, they just didn't have the tech to study whales and sea creatures properly. There weren't radar and documentaries. Thinking back, that's probably why Ishmael speaks of whaling as an almost sacred institution, because whalers were one of few people who encountered whales up close (I think he talks about this in the book? It's been a while). Still, it's hard to get accurate information about a species when your only interaction with that species is to stab it with pointy sticks Ha, right? I guess this is also why Melville felt the need to spend several tedious chapters detailing the anatomy of whales. (Or it felt like several chapters. It felt like a million pages of biology textbook reading.) Sadly, I got bored at that point and stopped reading.  I wish I had just skipped ahead (the book was so enjoyable until then), which I probably will when I give it another shot one day. Oh, well. |
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Panic! Oh, Lord. I'm panicking. Chewing my nails to nubs. 
). This is AMAZING. The storm in Chapter 1 is gripping. Chapter 2 is beautiful writing. It's a compact book, but the ideas it introduces are compelling. 
I wish I had just skipped ahead (the book was so enjoyable until then), which I probably will when I give it another shot one day. Oh, well.
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