gandalfe
Well-Known Member
I love Murakami. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is probably my favorite.
Have I pimped this here? One of my favourite books, actually need to buy myself a new copy, lent mine to an bird and never saw it again.
Jazzfanz Bookclub
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NOBODY IS GOING TO LICK YOU!!!!
but i digress i left my copy of sputnik sweetheart on a place last year and was filthy about it.
I haven't read anything by him, but I do have "Seveneves" on my to be read list (don't remember why). Which of his books would you recommend most?
gandalfe
Well-Known Member
Seveneves is really good, if you like disaster books and/or orbital mechanics.
Snow Crash is a stone cold cyberpunk classic. Not nearly as nihilistic as William Gibson, either.
The Baroque Cycle is amazing, a work of massive breadth and depth.
Cryptonomicon is probably his best.
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Have I pimped this here? One of my favourite books, actually need to buy myself a new copy, lent mine to an bird and never saw it again.
Cool. Will read thru this shortly. I'm actually in the process of going thru all of Murakami's, Hemingway and Carlos Castenada's catalogues.
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Hemmingway was a ****in racist. Wasn't exactly expecting that ****. It's not even like the character he created is a racist and it's some period piece where it fits....
this stuff, undeniably, imo, the writer comes off as racist...
all u really need to see is the way he uses the n-word.. it's conclusive
this stuff, undeniably, imo, the writer comes off as racist...
all u really need to see is the way he uses the n-word.. it's conclusive
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Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
While I'm not quite reading at last year's pace (I finished 109 books), I'm doing okay (44 so far). Some favorites this year:
Fiction
"The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton - an interesting thriller that keeps you on your toes trying to figure it out.
"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid - this book is why the above book had to add one-half death when it was published in the USA to avoid confusion. This is my kind of romance novel, and I hugged the book after I finished. An entertaining book about Hollywood back in the day.
"Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi - a multi-generational saga of how slavery impacted two families. You'll need to refer to the family tree frequently.
"Men Explain Things to Me" by Rebecca Solnit - “Feminism, as writer Marie Sheer remarked in 1986, 'is the radical notion that women are people,' a notion not universally accepted but spreading nonetheless.”
"The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row" by Anthony Ray Hinton, a man who spent 30 years in jail and prison, mostly on death row, for crimes he did not commit. It is an inspiring story of how a man overcomes hatred and remains hopeful in the worst of experiences.
"Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69" by Stephen E Ambrose. It was the 150th anniversary of the "joining of the rails" in Utah, and this book is an entertaining account of this amazing feat. It can get a bit repetitious at times, but well worth reading.
To continue my historical anniversary reading, "Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11" by James Donovan. I discovered while reading this that I knew very little about the Soviet space program.
"White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo. The most worthwhile thing I've read this year as I learned so much about myself, my biases, my privileges, my defensiveness.
And for the book that everyone loves that I hated - "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. Ugh!!!!!
Fiction
"The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton - an interesting thriller that keeps you on your toes trying to figure it out.
"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid - this book is why the above book had to add one-half death when it was published in the USA to avoid confusion. This is my kind of romance novel, and I hugged the book after I finished. An entertaining book about Hollywood back in the day.
"Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi - a multi-generational saga of how slavery impacted two families. You'll need to refer to the family tree frequently.
"Hope Never Dies" by Andrew Shaffer - this is a ridiculously entertaining light mystery starring Joe Biden and Barack Obama. I giggled all the way through it. If you want a somewhat mindless read, I recommend this one. And there is a sequel that has recently been published that I'll get to soon.
Non-Fiction
Speaking of the Obamas, I adored Michelle Obama's memoir "Becoming" and Barack's book written after his stint as the first African-American editor of Harvard Law Review called "Dreams From My Father."
Non-Fiction
Speaking of the Obamas, I adored Michelle Obama's memoir "Becoming" and Barack's book written after his stint as the first African-American editor of Harvard Law Review called "Dreams From My Father."
"Men Explain Things to Me" by Rebecca Solnit - “Feminism, as writer Marie Sheer remarked in 1986, 'is the radical notion that women are people,' a notion not universally accepted but spreading nonetheless.”
"The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row" by Anthony Ray Hinton, a man who spent 30 years in jail and prison, mostly on death row, for crimes he did not commit. It is an inspiring story of how a man overcomes hatred and remains hopeful in the worst of experiences.
"Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69" by Stephen E Ambrose. It was the 150th anniversary of the "joining of the rails" in Utah, and this book is an entertaining account of this amazing feat. It can get a bit repetitious at times, but well worth reading.
To continue my historical anniversary reading, "Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11" by James Donovan. I discovered while reading this that I knew very little about the Soviet space program.
"White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo. The most worthwhile thing I've read this year as I learned so much about myself, my biases, my privileges, my defensiveness.
And for the book that everyone loves that I hated - "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. Ugh!!!!!
fishonjazz
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Reading a crazy *** book called What Happened to Lori currently
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
I haven't heard of this one before, but it looks intriguing.
fishonjazz
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2018 Award Winner
2019 Award Winner
2020-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
It's disturbing.
Written in a very unique way. Almost moviescript'ish.
And he tried an experimental way of portraying a characters thoughts. Instead writing out whose car is this?, Jonny thought.
He writes it like this: <whose car is this?>
This symbols represent inner/unspoken dialogue.
I find it works really really well and would love to see other authors adapt that style
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Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
also recently read the Jim Morrison biography 'no one gets outa here alive'.
Really most excellent. Highly recommend. His younger years remind me of mine..
Really most excellent. Highly recommend. His younger years remind me of mine..
Keefe
Well-Known Member
Pretentious blowhards?
zyzz
Well-Known Member
I'm working my way through Cormac McCarthy's catalogue. **** gets pretty dark though so I've been alternating McCarthy with Steinbeck. Pretty interesting contrast between the two. Steinbeck can say beautiful things in few words that anyone can understand. McCarthy can say beautiful/brutal things in ways that make you think "how the **** did someone come up with that??" Anyone else read anything from these guys recently?
So far my McCarthy rankings (haven't read The Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, or Cities of the Plain yet) are
1. Blood Meridian
2. Suttree
3. The Crossing
4. Child of God
5. No Country for Old Men
6. The Road
7. All the Pretty Horses
So far my McCarthy rankings (haven't read The Orchard Keeper, Outer Dark, or Cities of the Plain yet) are
1. Blood Meridian
2. Suttree
3. The Crossing
4. Child of God
5. No Country for Old Men
6. The Road
7. All the Pretty Horses
I finished "The Odyssey" by Homer last night. I might be in the minority, but it isn't a favorite. I thought my family tells long-winded stories . . .
Circe by Madeline Miller told the same story so much better.
I don't think I'm going to tackle The Iliad any time soon. I'll just rewatch Troy instead.
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Circe by Madeline Miller told the same story so much better.
I don't think I'm going to tackle The Iliad any time soon. I'll just rewatch Troy instead.
Sent from my moto z3 using JazzFanz mobile app
Keefe
Well-Known Member
You have BM one. That’s all that matters.