I'm so excited that my all time fave Douglas Coupland is releasing his first work of fiction since 2013. 'Binge' is out next month.
I spent yesterday listening to the Never Let Me Go score (where's Rachel Portman's Oscar?!?!!?) and today there's an Ishiguro sale at the Devil's Shop... my mind... Ishiguro is winning the Booker getting shortlisted!
Had no idea Harlem Shuffle was a crime novel? That might explain the Booker snub (or potential non-submission).
Congrats Ms Clarke.
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I’ve never read Strange & Norrell…
Ddd I’ve not read it either.I-
I am considering making 2022 my year of long reads. There are so many that I want to read and I never seem to get around to them.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Heart’s Invisible Furies, Kavalier & Clay, literally any Jonathan Franzen, Life After Life, The Stand, Wolf Hall, Cloud Atlas, Pachinko… and then of course there’s Hanya’s next opus in January.
Actually exhausted just writing the list.
It’s the wrong way to approach reading but I normally spam short books in January so that I don’t feel behind my reading challenge target for the rest of the year. Thanks, Goodreads.
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Finished Tomb of Atuan yesterday and loved it!
I also finished Dune the day before which I adored. It kept me gripped from start to finish and I’m hyped to dive into the next one when I return from holiday!
I have the first The Wheel of Time novel to start next but I’m kinda unsure whether to start. It’s so big and there’s so many in the series that I’m really daunted by it. I feel like some the posters in here have read them, anu thoughts?
I also need to read Foundation before the Apple TV series starts later this month!
I also finished Dune the day before which I adored. It kept me gripped from start to finish and I’m hyped to dive into the next one when I return from holiday!
I have the first The Wheel of Time novel to start next but I’m kinda unsure whether to start. It’s so big and there’s so many in the series that I’m really daunted by it. I feel like some the posters in here have read them, anu thoughts?
I also need to read Foundation before the Apple TV series starts later this month!
Yesterdayy I was at the library looking for Alias Grace by Atwood, but they didn't have it. Instead, I got Oryx and Crake, which I had never heard of. I started reading it last night and it seems pretty good!
I LOVED Life After Life (A God In Ruins, its companion piece, is also a must) and Cloud Atlas. Wolf Hall is pretty dense but I found Bringing Up The Bodies a bit easier to get through. The Mirror And The Light, which is a whopping 875 pages, is still in my stack. I'll get to it someday!
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I’ve had a bit of a struggle reading this year, starting some books but not finishing them before I move onto the next. Turns out a pandemic doesn’t do any favours to my concentration.
I did read Shon Faye’s The Transgender Issue over just a couple of days. She sets out her arguments in a way that should be convincing for the GP, and it’s good to have a trans writer having this space rather than letting the terfs dominate.
I also finally finished off Klara and the Sun this week. It’s probably one of my least favourite books of his (not that he’s ever released a bad book, but When We Were Orphans is bottom for me). Klara is an icon but there seemed a lack of depth in most of the other characters. I feel Ish could have leant further into the fairytale style.
I’m aiming to finish Sula next. I’ve read the first few chapters and, as always, Morrison’s writing is gorgeous.
I did read Shon Faye’s The Transgender Issue over just a couple of days. She sets out her arguments in a way that should be convincing for the GP, and it’s good to have a trans writer having this space rather than letting the terfs dominate.
I also finally finished off Klara and the Sun this week. It’s probably one of my least favourite books of his (not that he’s ever released a bad book, but When We Were Orphans is bottom for me). Klara is an icon but there seemed a lack of depth in most of the other characters. I feel Ish could have leant further into the fairytale style.
I’m aiming to finish Sula next. I’ve read the first few chapters and, as always, Morrison’s writing is gorgeous.
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100 pages in and new Sally Rooney is giving me Ali Smith vibes. That’s a good thing. It’s more socially conscious (or more concerned with *seeming* socially conscious) than her previous books and less tightly wound. It’s not exactly a sprawling narrative but it is more prone to meandering flights of fancy than SR1 & 2.
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So I finished The Farthest Shore yesterday and I think that’s my favourite of the 3 Earthsea novels I’ve read so far? Maybe it’s because it really spoke to my own anxiety and fear of death. I also found Arren to be a bit more compelling than Tenar was and it certainly helped that Ged was present for greater parts of the story.
Started Foundation today and I’m hooked already.
The way I’ve got back into reading for pleasure this last month has been so lovely, it’s nice to take the time to just immerse myself in different worlds and stories for a bit.
Started Foundation today and I’m hooked already.
The way I’ve got back into reading for pleasure this last month has been so lovely, it’s nice to take the time to just immerse myself in different worlds and stories for a bit.
It’s kind of going down like a lead balloon for me.
I also decided to prioritise new Rooney, and I’m loving it. Her prose is so enviably precise.
The characters, as ever, are carefully drawn, and thankfully not as irritating as the cast of Conversations With Friends.
I am enjoying the emails a lot more than I expected, too — there are a lot of interesting ideas and anxieties packed in there which I think are a heck of a lot more successful than, say, Patricia Lockwood’s novel. They can feel a bit like Guardian Opinion articles that she has decided to put in a character’s mouth rather than her own, but I often like Guardian Opinion articles so I’m cool with it.
The characters, as ever, are carefully drawn, and thankfully not as irritating as the cast of Conversations With Friends.
I am enjoying the emails a lot more than I expected, too — there are a lot of interesting ideas and anxieties packed in there which I think are a heck of a lot more successful than, say, Patricia Lockwood’s novel. They can feel a bit like Guardian Opinion articles that she has decided to put in a character’s mouth rather than her own, but I often like Guardian Opinion articles so I’m cool with it.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett was a delight, cannot wait for the inevitable screen adaptation.