2024 Reading Challenge

[ayayrawn]

April 2024

Book 21: Eleanor Catton - The Luminaries
View attachment 201554
This was a real pot-boiler of an epic tale set during the New Zealand gold rush. A cast of 12 characters relate their part in a tale of murder and mystery for the first half of the book which does lead to a bit of repetition but not altogether unwelcome as it helped uncomplicate matters. The second half moves the story forward to an excellent revelation and conclusion.

Book 22: Jorge Zepeda Patterson - The Black Jersey
View attachment 201555
This was a bit of a dud. I don't know whether it's the translation or whether it genuinely is a young readers book but, it all felt fairly Hardy Boys in terms of both content and form. There's some detailed and interesting insight into the world of professional cycling and specifically the Tour de France but the murder among the riders story which sounded really promising to me just fell a bit short of expectations. The dumb twist at the end felt unnecessary and juvenile.

Book 23: Ali Smith - Spring
View attachment 201556
Third and favourite of the excellent quartet that I've read so far. Same themes of Brexit, division and art feature heavily and it really was told with spectacular prose and really vivid characters.

Book 24: Paul Auster - Music of Chance
View attachment 201557
I was dreading this reread of my favourite Auster as a few haven't lived up to my memory so far but, phew, this wasn't one of them. In fact, it was an absolute belter of a book with a great story and characters. It feels a bit like a David Mamet story at times but with more left to the titular chance than Mamet would ever allow for. Hopefully an Auster turnaround as I tackle a previously unread one next month.

Book 25: Alice Walker - The Color Purple
View attachment 201558
I loved this. I know I'm over 40 years behind everyone else here but, it's never too late to pick up a novel so deserving of its popular and critical acclaim. Having never seen the adaptations it was all new to me and although the epistolary style can sometimes feel like you're only getting a very loose view of a story, it really works here and helps the breadth of Celie and Nettie's histories feel manageable and resonant.

Book 26: Don Delillo - Great Jones Street
View attachment 201559
An aloof rock star dumps his band mid-tour and retreats to the solitude of his place on Great Jones Street, NY. Finding himself embroiled in a bidding-war over a pack of stolen, experimental, government-made drugs; multiple efforts to get him to return to the band; and the search for his near mythical 'mountain tapes'. Parallels to Dylan are evident and the prose is as strong as ever but, ultimately (and I have no doubt it is intentional), the superficial nature of these people involved in both rock n' roll and drugs is largely boring as all hell! Fortunately, there was plenty of plot to get me through this one but, not a high-point Delillo for me.

Book 27: Dorothy B. Hughes - In a Lonely Place
View attachment 201560
This was simply amazing. A true gem of crime fiction. It reads like a mid-20th century noir Crime & Punishment. The psychology of the killer is revealed in ever minute detail as he stalks his way through Los Angeles facing his past and his present loneliness, suffering paranoia and anxiety at every turn. Beautifully written and incredibly tense to the point of being really difficult to put down. Great read.

I also read the Color Purple for the first time this year! Definitely worthy of all the hype it's gotten over the years! I still need to get to any and all Paul Auster and Don Delillo.

Book 12: There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, by Hanif Abdurraqib
View attachment 201565
I was born in the 80s, and came into grade school during the height of Michael Jordan worship and the cultural dominance of basketball. I had parents whose instinct was to pull us kids away from anything popular for reasons they didn’t understand, but while the narrative at home was we shouldn’t worship people who “bounce a ball for a living” (my dad, a Black republican, had nothing but time for “pull your shorts up” respectability policing), I still understood the cachet the ball held on the schoolyard and to this day envy the constancy and drama of sports fandom.

With There’s Always This Year, Hanif Abdurriqib unravels the sport, its history and conventions, and threads it between the individual experience, the wider Black experience, and most importantly, the interchangeability of one’s identity with the identity of location. This is a book about accepting your hometown (a place inherently thrust upon us and a part of our identity that exists the furthest away from choice), leaving it, coming back, and what it means when others leave, whether pulled away by opportunity or force.

This thing is so incredible. Will end up one of my favorite books of the year easy.

 

[ayayrawn]

I have a lot of catching up to do.

2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker - a classic that's always been a blind spot for me. I thought it was really lovely and good!

3. Winter Recipes From the Collective by Louis Gluck - Her final collection of poetry before passing last year. More enigmatic than her stuff usually is, and slim, but really just love her voice.

4. Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith - Really enjoyed this collection. Some large scale ruminations on life and grief.

5. Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins - Collins' sardonic and easy style make for good comfort reading. Fun collection.

6. One Piece Vol 104 by Eiichiro Oda - Once again, will be reading these til I die. At least the Wano arc is finished now.

7. Poems New and Collected by Wilsawa Szymborska - Maybe my favorite out of this first wave of poetry I've read this year. Really gorgeous and immaculate vibes. Gorgeous and even funny too.

8. Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis - Listened to Davis herself read this on audiobook. Informative and inspiring. Some of the speeches get a little redundant and repetitive, but I'm happy to listen to whatever she has to say. Plus she has a really nice voice.

9. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - This is the big one I've been working on since late January and just finished today. It's pretty good, and I liked it, but do think I really prefer Tolstoy's flowery, emotional, and painterly style to Dostoevsky's more surgical, cold philosophical rants. I was occaionally affected by this one, but nowhere near as much as either Anna Karenina or Ware and Peace. I'll probably give a few more Fyodors a read down the line. Maybe with a more modern translation so it doesn't feel as dry. To be clear, it's good, and I'm glad I read it.

Anyway, I'm super stoked to finally be able to read something else. I'm currently listening to Werner Herzog's memoir that released last year (as delightful and screwy as you'd expect). Plan to hit some Pynchon and Merton here soon as well as Maggie O'Farrel's Hamnet, and Hanif Abdurraquib's new collection.

It's been a minute! I've been on a bit of a tear this year, so here's another fat update from the last couple months,

10. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon - My first Pynchon in a while - I read Gravity's Rainbow back in 2017. I want to read Vineland with the news that PTA is making a movie of it soon but wanted to ease back in with something smaller. I thoroughly enjoyed this novella. Thought it was hilarious and stimulating.

11. A Fortune For Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib - A nice poetry collection (though I think I connect more with Hanif's essays and culture writing).

12. Unfortunately, It was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish - An English translated collection by the late, celebrated Palestinian Poem. Much of this is very heartbreaking, as you'd expect, but very beautiful and ethereal.

13. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - This was fantastic. A devasting but stunningly rendered realist look at Shakespeare (never named) and his wife Agnes' lose of their son Hamnet. Loved this one. Chloe Zhao is working on an adaptation of this starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, which seems like perfection lined up, so keep an eye out.

14. Actual Air by David Berman - A reread of the late Silver Jews singer's only collection. Anybody interested in his music or poetry should check this out. It's wonderful.

15. There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib - @Bull Shannon summed it up well, this thing is goddamn amazing. More loosely structured than Hanif's other collections, and feels much more dense philosophically, but no less stunning in its emotional honesty and examination of culture. Y'all gotta read this.

16. There There by Tommy Orange - A novel of interwoven narratives on the Native American experience. I has heard acclaim for this back in 2018 when it came out, and have heard even more buzz for Orange's latest novel Wandering Stars that came out (I think) this year, so decied to check it out. It's a very bleak story, and maybe a bit overambitious for what it ends up accomplishing, but I liked it and think it's good.

17. One Piece Vol.105 by Eiichiro Oda - lol

18. No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton - I don't consider myself catholic anymore, but I really admire the candor, humor, and intelligence of Merton's writing. This is a great collection of essays on spirituality that work not just for religious folks, but for people trying to make sense of their internal workings. The universal application of mysticism is super fascinating to me.

19. Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur - Just finished this today. An incredible autobiography about one badass woman. It's absolutely unreal what she was put through, and I gotta say good for her for making it out. Would pair Excellently with the Autobiography of Malcolm X. If you're interested in the writings of black revolutionaries, want an extremely unflattering examination of the legal system, or to be inspired by somebody's resilience, check this out.

About to start Long Live the Post Horn by Vigdis Hjorth, and perhaps some books on screenwriting and movie-making to kick myself into creative gear. After that, I'm not sure! Need to line-up my next reads still. Also, still listening to Werner Herzog's memoir on audiobook, which is hilarious and fascinating. Recommend.

 

[mdmost]

The Wager was a very enjoyable read. My May book will be this one that sounded right up my Perry Mason HBO show loving alley

The Bishop and the Butterfly was excellent. It's cool to delve into one event that changes the course of an entire city and in this instance, the greatest American city.

Does anyone have some good recommendations for some a non-fiction book about Old Hollywood? I've seen compendiums but I would love something that delves into old Hollywood that is in the vein of this book and Empire of the Summer Moon.

I think this will be my next selection for June. I'll need more than one since we have our beach vacation towards the end of the month.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 23

Star Wars: The High Republic - Defy The Storm by Tessa Gratton & Justina Ireland


The first wave of The High Republic's final phase officially ends this week, which means I timed out perfectly with this one. While the book finds a good deal of resolution in its own stories, the overarching Saga could not be much more tense right now! First book of the second wave is due in just under two weeks, and I hope my library gets their copy very soon after. I've said it before and I'll say it again, The High Republic is some of the best Star Wars going.

 

[Mr Moore]

May 2024

Book 28: Paul Auster - Leviathan

This month's instalment of my Auster readings was met with the sad news of his passing. Although I've struggled to enjoy some of his works on second readings, I can't help but admire his overall canon and this was in fact, a really enjoyable novel. Beginning with a failed bombing that kills the potential saboteur by the roadside, this book goes back in time to tell the story of the man by his long-time novelist friend. Full of the coincidences that I'd often find troublesome but, appear to be a part of Auster's signature narrative structure, this one was a pleasure to read.

Book 29: Daphne Du Maurier - Don't Look Now & Other Stories

The lovely Mrs Moore and I visited Venice for our 20th Wedding Anniversary towards the start of the month. Even though it was our third time visiting, there's always plenty to see and do so I didn't get through Leviathan as quickly as I'd hoped. Consequently, this Venice set short from Du Maurier wasn't started until we were on the vaporetto back to the airport. Still, it's an excellent and terrifying example of short storytelling as anyone who has seen Nicolas Roeg's fairly faithful film will know. The other entries in the compendium were a little more hit and miss but I find that is often the way with short collections.

Book 30: James Joyce - Ulysses

While thinking about books I really ought to read, this was an obvious inclusion. It's every bit as difficult as most readers will attest to but, ultimately, very satisfying and an incredible work of art. I won't lie, I probably understood (on my own) around 20% of it if I'm being generous, and I also have no problem admitting I found Wikipedia and other online notes/analyses incredibly helpful along the way. It sort of reminds me of a huge painting insomuch as I could look at it 5 times and still feel like I haven't seen every detail the artist put on the canvas. At nearly a thousand pages though and the best part of the month reading, I can't say I'm in any hurry to tackle it again!

Book 31: Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge

This was a welcome reprieve to the dense, tangled web of Joyce's language. Told in 13 vignettes, all featuring (some little more than a cameo) the titular Olive. It feels like Strout really captures small town New England and the people who live and pass through there. Nestled in amongst the tales of ordinary (and the odd extraordinary) moments that make up life and death, there are some really sad events but, in the best sort of Americana fashion, it maintains that sense of feel-good hope and goodwill to one another. I enjoyed this a lot.

 

[ayayrawn]

May 2024

Book 28: Paul Auster - Leviathan
View attachment 204485
This month's instalment of my Auster readings was met with the sad news of his passing. Although I've struggled to enjoy some of his works on second readings, I can't help but admire his overall canon and this was in fact, a really enjoyable novel. Beginning with a failed bombing that kills the potential saboteur by the roadside, this book goes back in time to tell the story of the man by his long-time novelist friend. Full of the coincidences that I'd often find troublesome but, appear to be a part of Auster's signature narrative structure, this one was a pleasure to read.

Book 29: Daphne Du Maurier - Don't Look Now & Other Stories
View attachment 204486
The lovely Mrs Moore and I visited Venice for our 20th Wedding Anniversary towards the start of the month. Even though it was our third time visiting, there's always plenty to see and do so I didn't get through Leviathan as quickly as I'd hoped. Consequently, this Venice set short from Du Maurier wasn't started until we were on the vaporetto back to the airport. Still, it's an excellent and terrifying example of short storytelling as anyone who has seen Nicolas Roeg's fairly faithful film will know. The other entries in the compendium were a little more hit and miss but I find that is often the way with short collections.

Book 30: James Joyce - Ulysses
View attachment 204487
While thinking about books I really ought to read, this was an obvious inclusion. It's every bit as difficult as most readers will attest to but, ultimately, very satisfying and an incredible work of art. I won't lie, I probably understood (on my own) around 20% of it if I'm being generous, and I also have no problem admitting I found Wikipedia and other online notes/analyses incredibly helpful along the way. It sort of reminds me of a huge painting insomuch as I could look at it 5 times and still feel like I haven't seen every detail the artist put on the canvas. At nearly a thousand pages though and the best part of the month reading, I can't say I'm in any hurry to tackle it again!

Book 31: Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge
View attachment 204488
This was a welcome reprieve to the dense, tangled web of Joyce's language. Told in 13 vignettes, all featuring (some little more than a cameo) the titular Olive. It feels like Strout really captures small town New England and the people who live and pass through there. Nestled in amongst the tales of ordinary (and the odd extraordinary) moments that make up life and death, there are some really sad events but, in the best sort of Americana fashion, it maintains that sense of feel-good hope and goodwill to one another. I enjoyed this a lot.

Loved Ulysses when i read it last year.

Been meaning to hit Kitteridge for a while, and seems like a cozy read, may check out sooner than later

 

[ranbalam]

Book 11- Murder Your Employer - Rupert Holmes

Ok, that's two duds in a row. I wanted to like this book, with it's clever-seeming premise, but man, I did NOT care about the characters at all. I finished it, but didn't want to. And that ending? Silly.

Next up is another David Grann book - hopefully it's even half as gripping as The Wager, which I loved.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 24

The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso


Glorious! I tore through this one over the last couple days. It's very much Zappa: hilarious, thought provoking and unapologetic.

 

[mgp]

#6. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar - This one, I really really loved. Funny, poignant, and thought provoking, it's about a Iranian-American (or American-Iranian) man searching for his place in the US and world while dealing with racism, mid-20s ennui, and loss. Having gone through some personal loss last year, parts of it hit really close to home, but it's layered enough that I didn't feel hit over the head with it.

Note: I can't believe I'm only on #6. And also (not a spoiler) I had no idea the US shot down an Iranian passenger plane in 1988. Whoops.

 

[jamieanderson1968]

Next 3 books, 2 so-so and 1 traumatic reads.
#16 - Rory Sullivan-Burke - The Light Pours Out of Me. John McGeoch, along with Keith Levine created the post-punk guitar sound. Guitarist for Magazin, Siouxsie & the Banshees and PIL. I was hoping for me on the creative process for some of these amazing albums. A bit disappointing.
#17 - Mark Lanegan - Devil in a Coma. If Sing Backwards & Weep gave you PTSD, then this slim memoir/collection of poems from around his hospitalization in Ireland for COVID will kick you in the teeth.
#18 - Robert Sawyer - The Downloaded. I would classify this as a novella. Breezy sci-fi that leaves little trace on me after finishing.

 

[Fleetwood-Matt]

Fell a bit behind on posting. Went of a gay spree!

Book 7: Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales



This book made me reconsider my love of the queer ya genre. When they are good (like Heartstopper and Autoboyography) they are absolutely amazing, but there are just too many books in the genre that are like this. Just cringy and the romance isn’t believable or likable at all. The best part of this book is its exploration of terminal illness and death; which was incredibly moving, but that was so little of the book that it doesn’t save it.

Spoiler

Also their is literally a scene where a character shoots a game winning basket at the buzzer and then kisses his bf to come out and i can’t remember the last time i cringed that hard

Rating - 2.5/5

Book 8 - The Charm Offensive by Alice Cochrun



Same problems as book 7 so it’s not just a ya problem it seems. The reality show setting is a lot of fun, but the big issue for me is the thing that is keeping the main characters apart is the biggest non issue so all of tension just feels silly.

Rating - 3/5

Book 9 - Maurice by E.M. Forster



This book I have to think about a bit more. The first half of the book is absolutely incredible, the second half I didn’t enjoy as much. The romance and growth in the first half is just so good, that when things change in the second half I felt whiplash. Ultimately I think it did come together in the end, just didn’t love as much as I could. In a historical sense though this is such an incredible look into the history my of queer love

Rating - 4/5

 

[avecigrec]

Went on a gay spree!

 

[avecigrec]

Fell a bit behind on posting. Went of a gay spree!

Also, I'm not sure whether you're into Star Wars or not, but throughout the books and comics of The High Republic there are a large number of queer and non-binary characters. I wouldn't say the books themselves are particularly gay (though, some more than others for sure) but the representation without tokenization or self-congratulation has really been making me happy over the past couple years of reading.

 

[ayayrawn]

Fell a bit behind on posting. Went of a gay spree!

Book 7: Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

View attachment 205101

This book made me reconsider my love of the queer ya genre. When they are good (like Heartstopper and Autoboyography) they are absolutely amazing, but there are just too many books in the genre that are like this. Just cringy and the romance isn’t believable or likable at all. The best part of this book is its exploration of terminal illness and death; which was incredibly moving, but that was so little of the book that it doesn’t save it.

Spoiler

Also their is literally a scene where a character shoots a game winning basket at the buzzer and then kisses his bf to come out and i can’t remember the last time i cringed that hard

Rating - 2.5/5

Book 8 - The Charm Offensive by Alice Cochrun

View attachment 205102

Same problems as book 7 so it’s not just a ya problem it seems. The reality show setting is a lot of fun, but the big issue for me is the thing that is keeping the main characters apart is the biggest non issue so all of tension just feels silly.

Rating - 3/5

Book 9 - Maurice by E.M. Forster

View attachment 205103

This book I have to think about a bit more. The first half of the book is absolutely incredible, the second half I didn’t enjoy as much. The romance and growth in the first half is just so good, that when things change in the second half I felt whiplash. Ultimately I think it did come together in the end, just didn’t love as much as I could. In a historical sense though this is such an incredible look into the history my of queer love

Rating - 4/5

James Ivory has a fantastic movie adaptation of Maurice (and several of Foster's other novels)

 

[Fleetwood-Matt]

Also, I'm not sure whether you're into Star Wars or not, but throughout the books and comics of The High Republic there are a large number of queer and non-binary characters. I wouldn't say the books themselves are particularly gay (though, some more than others for sure) but the representation without tokenization or self-congratulation has really been making me happy over the past couple years of reading.

Never spent much time with anything Star Wars out side of the main movies. Glad to hear that the comics have some good representation!!

 

[Fleetwood-Matt]

James Ivory has a fantastic movie adaptation of Maurice (and several of Foster's other novels)

I’m immediately added the movie to my list of ones to watch after I finished the book. The cast looks great so I’m excited to watch it soon

 

[mdmost]

The Bishop and the Butterfly was excellent. It's cool to delve into one event that changes the course of an entire city and in this instance, the greatest American city.

Does anyone have some good recommendations for some a non-fiction book about Old Hollywood? I've seen compendiums but I would love something that delves into old Hollywood that is in the vein of this book and Empire of the Summer Moon.

I think this will be my next selection for June. I'll need more than one since we have our beach vacation towards the end of the month.

This was a fantastic read. Scary, eye-opening, and very enthralling. I am normally someone who takes a bit of time to get through a book. I read this in under a week. I'll admit my schooling on history has large gaps in it, partially my own doing as I wasn't the best or most interested student. I always thought of the Ku Klux Klan as a strictly Southern terror group and the Northern states were not as susceptible to the blind hatred of the Klan. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea the stranglehold the Klan had on the North in the early 20s, not to mention the rampant anti-immigrant fervor in the country as a whole. This really hits in the "doomed to repeat it" category because there's a lot of parallels between some of the movements we're seeing today. There's a book I want to put on my list that runs on a similar theme called American Midnight that talks about how turbulent the post Great War era was in America as the country's demographics were changing.

I think my next read since we're about to go on vacation to the Caribbean is a nautical one. I may grab two.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 25

Rise of a Killah by Ghostface Killah


This one was... fine. There were some cool insights and anecdotes, but I found Ghost's conversational style to to be a bit much at times. In fact, I took nearly a week off of reading it. It also felt sometimes like different interviews and been cut and spliced together in ways that created some awkward repetition. Probably worth checking out if you're a big fan, but maybe not as worth it for the casuals. Each chapter being named after a track and starting with the lyrics was nice.

 

[avecigrec]

Book 26

The Sick Bag Song by Nick Cave


I felt strongly to pull this one from my to-read queue today, only to discover it was ten years ago to the day when Cave started writing it. Nifty thing, that. I read the first half this morning and the second half this evening and would have happily done it all in one sitting if I could have; a brilliant read! A surrealistic travelogue of contemporary epic poetry that explores love, inspiration and memory. It's pure Nick Cave through and through, and it's fucking fabulous for it!

 

[avecigrec]

Book 27

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby


I don't imagine I'd have ever drawn the parallels myself, but Hornby does a great compare-and-contrast of both artists' lives, careers and output. I haven't read any Hornby since High Fidelity and About A Boy many (many) years ago but this one, like those, was a very easy breezy read. Quite enjoyable and well laid out in its comparisons. Reading this has left me wanting to read more Dickens, as I've only read Great Expectations (20 years ago, at that!), while Prince's output I am very intimately familiar with – but I don't think major knowledge of either artist's bodies of work is really necessary to enjoy this. Definitely worth a gander for anyone who has anything more than a passing interest for either artist.