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So what did you all read in January?

steffee

steffee

Active Member
I finished:
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I read:
Misreadings by Umberto Eco
Intensity by Dean Koontz
Velocity by Dean Koontz
Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
The God of Small Things by Arundhata Roy

Short Stories:
William Wilson by E A Poe (re-read)
The Raven by E A Poe
The Black Cat by E A Poe
Another one of Poe's that is about a couple who nearly win the lottery, and while they are waiting to find out, they realise how it would destroy them, but can't recall the name

I started and discarded:
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Wish I May by Justine Picardie

I started and intend to finish:
The Enchanter by Vladimir Nabokov
Ada by Vladimir Nabokov
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
 
I read:

  1. Palindrome Hannah, Michael Bailey
  2. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima
  3. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
  4. Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes
  5. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
  6. Goodbye To Berlin, Christopher Isherwood
  7. To A God Unknown, John Steinbeck
  8. Cold Spring Harbor, Richard Yates

And, I'm wasn't that far off finishing: Wait Until Spring, Bandini, John Fante.
 
I read:

1. The Fish Can Sing-Halldor Laxness
2. Reef-Romesh Gunesekera
3. The Traveller- John Twelve Hawks
4. Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
5. Suffer the Children-Mary Raftery
6. Ireland: A Novel-Frank Delaney
7. Whale Rider-Witi Ihimaera
8. The Butcher's Wife- Li Ang
9. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter- Mario Vargas Llosa
10. Undead and Unreturnable- Mary J. Davidson
11. The Rice Mother- Rani Manicka
12. Creative License- Danny Gregory
 
Stewart said:
Opinions? I have this in the post at the moment.
Click to expand...

This one is well worth your time. I came away with a better understanding of how difficult it must have been to experience the early days of Nigerian colonization, the clash of cultures and values, the hoplessness that overcame so many.
 
In order:

1) The Wine of Youth - John Fante (re-read)
2) The Master of Go - Yasunari Kawabata
3) Total Fears - Bohumil Hrabal
4) A Doll’s House - Henrik Ibsen (disappointing translation)
5) Confessions of Dan Yack - Blaise Cendraras
6) Being Freddie - Andrew Flintoff (Christmas Present)
7) Under the Glacier - Halldor Laxness
8) Three by Perec - Georges Perec

Still reading:
9) Scenes from the Bathhouse - Mikhail Zoshchenko

Only ‘The Wine of Youth’ & ‘Total Fears’ out of those rated above 6/10, so after a good start to the year I’ve now hit a bit of a reading lull.

K-S
 
Kenny Shovel said:
In order:

1) The Wine of Youth - John Fante (re-read)
2) The Master of Go - Yasunari Kawabata
3) Total Fears - Bohumil Hrabal
4) A Doll’s House - Henrik Ibsen (disappointing translation)
5) Confessions of Dan Yack - Blaise Cendraras
6) Being Freddie - Andrew Flintoff (Christmas Present)
7) Under the Glacier - Halldor Laxness
8) Three by Perec - Georges Perec

Still reading:
9) Scenes from the Bathhouse - Mikhail Zoshchenko

Only ‘The Wine of Youth’ & ‘Total Fears’ out of those rated above 6/10, so after a good start to the year I’ve now hit a bit of a reading lull.

K-S
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How was Under the Glacier? I nearly chose this instead of The Fish Can Sing. I liked the book I chose, but I do wonder if the coin toss was a good idea.
 
abecedarian said:
How was Under the Glacier? I nearly chose this instead of The Fish Can Sing. I liked the book I chose, but I do wonder if the coin toss was a good idea.
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"And the scores on the doors say..." 6/10. I much prefered "The Fish Can Sing", however the basic problem I had with the book was my not being in the right mindset. Laxness has a very unusual style and one that I find needs concentration, least the story washes away from you. I wasn't really in the right mood for him when I read it, I should really have put it to one side for later in the year. Of course, your mileage may differ...
 
Kenny Shovel said:
"And the scores on the doors say..." 6/10. I much prefered "The Fish Can Sing", however the basic problem I had with the book was my not being in the right mindset. Laxness has a very unusual style and one that I find needs concentration, least the story washes away from you. I wasn't really in the right mood for him when I read it, I should really have put it to one side for later in the year. Of course, your mileage may differ...
Click to expand...

LOL I noticed the style quirkeness. I had to shake myself and sit up straight and pay attention a few times. Either that, or take a break and think about the previous bit I'd read. I think part of it had to do with how he'd word the speaking parts of certain characters. Those were my wake up points. Not an easy read, but a good one just the same.
 
1. Floods of Spring - Henry Bellamann
2. Rubyfruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown
3. The Richest Woman in Town - Henry Bellamann
4. Victoria Grandolet - Henry Bellamann
5. The Gray Man Walks - Henry Bellamann
6. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
7. Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin
8. I Am Not Myself These Days - Josh Kilmer-Purcell

I started but didn't finish
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane - Henry Farrell
Crescendo - Henry Bellamann

Then I started Saint Bernadette Soubirous by Francis Trochu and I'll probably finish it tomorrow on my day off
 
I finished ‘House of Day, House of Night’ – Olga Tokarczuk
I read
Preface of Prefaces – Borges (essays)
Spoken Borges – Borges (lectures)
Captive writings – Borges (reviews and essays)
Personal Library – Borges (essays)
The Collected Stories of Alexander Pushkin
The Inheritors – Joseph Conrad & Ford Madox Ford

Still reading
Ulyses – James Joyce (a long way to go yet)
Captives: Britain, Empire and the World, 1600 -1850 – Linda Colley (almost done).
 
Kenny Shovel said:
Total Fears - Bohumil Hrabal
Click to expand...

I haven't heard of this one Kenny. (Not that I'm an expert on Hrabal but I know a few of his other books.) Is it newly published in English or something?
 
clueless said:
Still reading
Ulyses – James Joyce (a long way to go yet)
Click to expand...

Ooh, that is a fantastic read. One of my faves, if not THE favourite book I've ever read. Dubliners is brilliant too, and a bit easier to read.
 
Shade said:
I haven't heard of this one Kenny. (Not that I'm an expert on Hrabal but I know a few of his other books.) Is it newly published in English or something?
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I think I'm right in saying that Total Fears: Letters to Dubenka is the latest Hrabal book to be published in English, although that was actually a few years back now. It's not actually a work of fiction, more a collection of his thoughts in the form of letters to a "fan".
It's probably only of real interest to his readers; but as a "fan" myself I enjoyed the insight it gave me about the man behind the books.

K-S
 
I'm too embarrassed to mention my two or three books a month which I can manage. What with work and two active children (four and seven) I couldn't possibly get anywhere near any of you lot. I suppose I could add the books I read to the seven year old before he goes to sleep; currently 'The Indian in the Cupboard.' How do you manage a job and read ten books a month? I bet none of you watch the soaps every evening:) . I find it impossible to read with the TV on in the background.:(
 
Awww, blueboatdriver, it's not a competition, LOL, don't worry about what everyone else has managed to get through (I'm always a little envious too, as I average about one normal sized book a week, plus a short story or so, and I'm always reading books and not finishing them).

And yeah, of course reading books to your children can count too, I hadn't thought of that.

To answer your question, I don't watch much tv at all. I have it on always and kinda listen to the soaps, but never fully paying attention. I have a family, and am a full-time student, so maybe have a bit more time than if I was working full-time, but at the moment my children are in bed by 8pm, and I am left with nothing to do other than read, and TBF, and maybe a little housework now and then ;) and through the day I keep books on me to read during study-breaks (but it works more like studying during reading-breaks LOL), and have a fair bit of travelling, so that's probably the reason.
 
Steffee's right about the numbers game..I like to say that he who dies having read the most books...still dies! It's not about quantity.
 
Thanks I feel much better now;)

I will say though; I've found choosing which book to read next much easier since I've been around here:D
 
You people disgust me!! (I mean this as a joke, if you need to know.) :D

Even before our son was born, I could only get through five books a month at most. And they had to be shorter books, too. I see lists here that reach double digits. ARGH!!

As for me, I finished "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, which I started before Christmas, "Hidden Camera" by Zoran Živković, and I just finished "The Genizah at the House of Shepher" by Tamar Yellin last night. The last two being rather short books.

And yes, it is about quality, not quantity. Fortunately I enjoyed all three in some manner, though I REALLY enjoyed "The Time Traveler's Wife". Then again I have had the habit of tossing a book aside if it doesn't grab me. Like someone said before on another book forum, "Life is too short to read books you don't like."
 
I've finished:
Profitøren - Tom Kristensen (Norwegian crime)

I've started reading
Gone By The Wind

Wish that I had time to read more. I've been working over 50 hours extra at work in January, so Im to tired to read before I go to sleep:(
 
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