Now reading...

[Brad]

His books about the war in Virginia from 1864 on are considered classics; I've only read one of them.

[ejp626]

Picked up Ed Park's Personal Days.  It's a satire of corporate America.  Intriguingly, it came out within a year of Joshua Ferris’ Then We Came to the End and it also uses 1st person plural (at least in the first section), so the similarities are numerous but probably unintentional.  I haven't gotten far enough to tell how much I will like it, particularly the stylistic changes in the later parts, but Then We Came to the End does seem to be the stronger novel overall.

[kinuta]

[ghost of miles]

[kinuta]

[Brad]

I've also never read any of the Games of Thrones books so I'm going to give one a try. 

Edited May 25, 2019 by Brad

[jazzbo]

I like this series of historical "mysteries" set in the reign of (female) Pharaoh Hatshepsut. 

[Matthew]

Lord of the Rings. Read it many times growing up, and then, stopped for some reason. I realized the other day that it's been at least fifteen years since I last read the whole thing. looking forward to revisiting.

[jlhoots]

Myla Goldberg: Feast Your Eyes

[ghost of miles]

Just finished this excellent study of 1940s American literature:

[Simon8]

[jlhoots]

26 minutes ago, Simon8 said:

[Matthew]

7 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Just finished this excellent study of 1940s American literature:

 

6 hours ago, Simon8 said:

I desperately need to stop checking this topic, I see all these books I want to read, and not enough time! 

[ghost of miles]

19 hours ago, Matthew said:

 

I desperately need to stop checking this topic, I see all these books I want to read, and not enough time! 

I feel your pain, confrere!

[medjuck]

This may be the only time I ever bought a book because of its cover and title (and it was 25cents in a thrift store).   Awkwardly translated from Spanish and full of name dropping  and yet it has power-- especially the last five pages.  Should be of interest to those who were reading about the Spanish civil war

Edited May 28, 2019 by medjuck

[Brad]

8 hours ago, medjuck said:

This may be the only time I ever bought a book because of its cover and title (and it was 25cents in a thrift store).   Awkwardly translated from Spanish and full of name dropping  and yet it has power-- especially the last five pages.  Should be of interest to those who were reading about the Spanish civil war

This one is new to me but there must be many Spanish writers that we are not aware of. Will add this to the list. A very long list as well.

Followup Note: I see this is about Capa and Gerda Taro. Their relationship was part of Amanda Vaill’s Hotel Florida, which wasn’t bad.  Well worth picking up. 

Edited May 29, 2019 by Brad

[kinuta]

Final part of the trilogy.

[tkeith]

Trouble Finds Me by Ross MacDonald

[Matthew]

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. I was beginning the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but decided to backtrack and begin at the beginning. First time I've read it, and finding it very enjoyable.

[Aggie87]

1 hour ago, Matthew said:

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. I was beginning the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but decided to backtrack and begin at the beginning. First time I've read it, and finding it very enjoyable.

I've read that book a couple of times, though it's been a few decades now.  But I always enjoyed it. 

In contrast, the film trilogy is a waste, in my opinion, despite the effort that went into it.  I've watched the LotR films many times, and love them.  

[ghost of miles]

[ejp626]

1 hour ago, Aggie87 said:

I've read that book a couple of times, though it's been a few decades now.  But I always enjoyed it. 

In contrast, the film trilogy is a waste, in my opinion, despite the effort that went into it.  I've watched the LotR films many times, and love them.  

I was telling someone at work I might just have been convinced to watch 2 films - There and Back Again - but a trilogy was such an abuse of the audience's time and wallets that I couldn't stomach it.  I have no intention of ever actually watching the Hobbit trilogy.

[Matthew]

5 hours ago, Aggie87 said:

I've read that book a couple of times, though it's been a few decades now.  But I always enjoyed it. 

In contrast, the film trilogy is a waste, in my opinion, despite the effort that went into it.  I've watched the LotR films many times, and love them.  

 

3 hours ago, ejp626 said:

I was telling someone at work I might just have been convinced to watch 2 films - There and Back Again - but a trilogy was such an abuse of the audience's time and wallets that I couldn't stomach it.  I have no intention of ever actually watching the Hobbit trilogy.

I was wondering about the movies, there's no way from what I've been reading that you can get three movies out of the book. I bought the first part of the Hobbit trilogy, it was on sale at Amazon Prime for $4.99, probably skip the second part, and wait for the third movie to come on sale. 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Matthew

[T.D.]

[ejp626]

I finally, finally finished Musil's The Man Without Qualities.  (I would have finished sooner except it was much too heavy to take to the gym and read at the stationary bikes...)  The last 50 pages of rough notes (it's an unfinished novel) were particularly challenging.  On the whole, I'd say it wasn't worth it.  Interestingly, NYRB is going to be publishing a big chunk of Vol. 2 as Agathe.

Fairly close to wrapping up Park's Personal Days, and I am waiting on a copy of Achebe's Arrow of God to turn up at the library.