What are you reading?

Currently reading 'How To Research Local History' authored by Pamela Brooks.

I'm interested in learning about the history of the town I live in; how it came into being, the industry that used to be located there, the buildings, and the people that used to live there.
The book discusses in depth on how to go about research, sources of primary and secondary evidence, as well as oral and physical evidence.
 
Just downloaded Phillip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage and Secret Commonwealth so that I can have another go at understanding them before reading the recently published Rose Field…
 
Recently started The Stand by Stephen King. I’m planning on just taking small bites out of it everyday, so I might not finish it before the end of the year. But, you know, slow and steady…

I’m also reading a new biography of Teddy Roosevelt, which I’m sure I’ll breeze through. I’ve already read (and own) a couple of other titles featuring Teddy: The Old Lion by Jeff Shaara, and The River of Doubt by Candice Millard.

Also, my daughter and I are working through a brief history of the Salem witch trials. And as soon as we wrap that up, we’ll get started with The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
 
I DNF’d The Stand. I was a little bummed (more so than usual) to give up on it, as it’s one of those novels that I’d practically heard about my entire life — often from friends — and consequently wanted to read. But after getting through 100+ pages of it, I realized I didn’t appreciate anything about it. Oh well.

I’ve moved on to A Study in Scarlet — enjoying it.

In terms of non-fiction, I’m reading Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. Really digging this one.


We were getting near the front line now, near the bombs, the machine-guns, and the mud. In secret I was frightened. I knew the line was quiet at present, but unlike most of the men about me I was old enough to remember the Great War, though not old enough to have fought in it. War, to me, meant roaring projectiles and skipping shards of steel; above all it meant mud, lice, hunger, and cold. It is curious, but I dreaded the cold much more than I dreaded the enemy. The thought of it had been haunting me all the time I was in Barcelona; I had even lain awake at nights thinking of the cold in the trenches, the stand-to’s in the grisly dawns, the long hours on sentry-go with a frosted rifle, the icy mud that would slop over my boot-tops. I admit, too, that I felt a kind of horror as I looked at the people I was marching among. You cannot possibly conceive what a rabble we looked. ~ Homage to Catalonia
 
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I finished, over the weekend, The Night Circus which was wonderful in so many ways, and perhaps more so because I wasn't really expecting to like it so much. I'm not typically a fan of explicit magic stories (sorry Harry Potter) but the way Morgenstern illustrates the subtle, almost imperceptible manifestations is exactly the kind I love.

I'm on to Atwood's The Blind Assassin now, and while I love her use of language I'm not seeing her point yet. I'll see it through and hope things become revealed later.
 
defaux said:
I'm on to Atwood's The Blind Assassin now, and while I love her use of language I'm not seeing her point yet. I'll see it through and hope things become revealed later.
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I couldn't get into that one either. I have it on my shelf and tried it a few times, but it remains on the shelf.
 
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I'm working my way, at a very spaced out pace, through Borges' Ficciones.

I do not recommend to do so on work lunch-breaks. Executive function is a bit diminished afterwards.
 
Currently reading a couple of things. I've continued the Red Rising series with Golden Son, and it's bloody fantastic. This is the kind of sci-fi I most adore. Think I covered my thoughts on the series last time, so enough said.

I also picked up Mark Lawrence's The Book That Wouldn't Burn, the first book in The Library Trilogy. As you may be deducing, it's a book about books, a story about stories. I mean, probably. I'm only 10 chapters in, but it seems to lean that way. In any case, it's the very stuff my alley is made of. I like Lawrence's writing, been a fan ever since The Broken Empire, but this is the first time I've read anything of his past The Red Queen's War—I've missed three whole trilogies that I'm gonna have to check out at some point.
So, this is some kind of a post-apocalyptic story, but it's not clear yet which apocalypse it follows. Maybe I missed something.
There are some rather heavy hints that it takes place within the Broken Empire universe, and a big part of the fun for me is sifting for those clues and connections.
I like Lawrence's writing style a lot, even though I found his earliest stuff a bit rough. The Book That Wouldn't Burn is an improvement in that regard. I got this one as an audiobook, solidly narrated by Jessica Whittaker. I'm fairly captivated, and excited to see where this goes.
 
Bone2pick said:
I DNF’d The Stand. I was a little bummed (more so than usual) to give up on it, as it’s one of those novels that I’d practically heard about my entire life — often from friends — and consequently wanted to read. But after getting through 100+ pages of it, I realized I didn’t appreciate anything about it. Oh well.

I’ve moved on to A Study in Scarlet — enjoying it.

In terms of non-fiction, I’m reading Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. Really digging this one.


We were getting near the front line now, near the bombs, the machine-guns, and the mud. In secret I was frightened. I knew the line was quiet at present, but unlike most of the men about me I was old enough to remember the Great War, though not old enough to have fought in it. War, to me, meant roaring projectiles and skipping shards of steel; above all it meant mud, lice, hunger, and cold. It is curious, but I dreaded the cold much more than I dreaded the enemy. The thought of it had been haunting me all the time I was in Barcelona; I had even lain awake at nights thinking of the cold in the trenches, the stand-to’s in the grisly dawns, the long hours on sentry-go with a frosted rifle, the icy mud that would slop over my boot-tops. I admit, too, that I felt a kind of horror as I looked at the people I was marching among. You cannot possibly conceive what a rabble we looked. ~ Homage to Catalonia
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I'm not the world's biggest fan of The Stand, but I will counsel trying to blast the first third. Build a bit of momentum. It careens out of control and maintaining reading control isn't how I'd tackle it. That being said, I can take or leave it. The first third is tremendous. The rest is... cosy catastophe.
 
I made the mistake of attempting to read "Pirates of Venus" by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Some of the imagery is impressive, but its a really boring read in terms of plot, characters and writing. The setting is alright though. I dropped it today, might get back to it as its a book that's easy to carry around in my pocket during bus rides and while waiting for food at the dinner. Love a good pulpy paperback. Overall it made me just want to read Jack Vance and Clark Ashton Smith more, and get chores done.

I've also been reading Don Quixote, which is excellent. I remarked to an online friend that I was curious if they made an Don Quixote action figure, as he's a toy collector, and he remarked he'd be the first in line to get one if they did. I dropped the Edith Grossman translation years ago, so I'm reading the John Ruthford one. I prefer it, but I ended up reading the Edith Grossman one when I was a young teen, so I'm probably just remembering being a worse reader.
 
Sandor said:
Don Quixote
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I've read it 3 times, starting when I was maybe 17? It made me realise people back then had a sense of humour and weren't so different, and it wasn't all blood and guts like Hollywood.
 
Oh God no, there are literally dick jokes etched on the walls of Pompeii.

kashgar.com.au

The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Everyone is now familiar with the release of quite explicit photos and service charges found on the walls of a brothel excavated at Pompeii, the resort town destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CCE. Now for your viewing pleasure comes a list of bawdy graffiti scrawled on the walls...
kashgar.com.au kashgar.com.au
 
I've started and discarded half a dozen books in the last week. I suspect none of them are light enough to counteract the intensity of participating in The November Writing Thing. I started To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage last night.
 
Link the Writer said:
Oh God no, there are literally dick jokes etched on the walls of Pompeii.

kashgar.com.au

The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Everyone is now familiar with the release of quite explicit photos and service charges found on the walls of a brothel excavated at Pompeii, the resort town destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CCE. Now for your viewing pleasure comes a list of bawdy graffiti scrawled on the walls...
kashgar.com.au kashgar.com.au
Click to expand...

Of course there are. :) People have been creating dick jokes since the beginning of time. I wouldn't be surprised if, alongside the cave art of antelopes and giant bears, some Paleolithic person drew a giant phallus.

For your reading pleasure:

How To Insult, Abuse & Insinuate In Classical Latin (also available on the Internet Archive, but I won't link to that because we're supposed to encourage each other to pay for books. ;) Oh, all right ...
here.
) ;)

One that I truly love? Nates pilosas, fili, non potes asse venditare. (Sonny-boy, you couldn't sell your hairy arse for a penny). From Catullus, poem 33.

Need I say more? ;) Those Romans weren't just semi-cultured, organised, engineering-obsessed, taking-over-the-world bastards. They were randy as hell, too.
 
Link the Writer said:
Oh God no, there are literally dick jokes etched on the walls of Pompeii.

kashgar.com.au

The Bawdy Graffiti of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Everyone is now familiar with the release of quite explicit photos and service charges found on the walls of a brothel excavated at Pompeii, the resort town destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CCE. Now for your viewing pleasure comes a list of bawdy graffiti scrawled on the walls...
kashgar.com.au kashgar.com.au
Click to expand...
I heard that when I was in high school a long, long time ago. Well, not Pompeii specifically, but Roman ruins all over Europe and the Med.

Supposedly for areas outside of Italy, most graffiti was done by soldiers and their sense of humor hasn’t changed in millennia. I can easily believe that !
 
Dogberry's Watch said:
Finished A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, and now I'm on to The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers, and Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
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I haven't finished either one of these, but I'm working on The King in Yellow again, and Orbital is still on my bed to read. I did some reading while camping, and I really enjoyed Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy. I also read The Lost Woman by Sarah Blaedel. I didn't like that one as much. It felt like it was forced heaviness, and I often feel like there's nuance missing from certain translated books. But yeah. I'm about halfway through both King in Yellow and Orbital. Stay tuned. I might finish them this month.
 
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