LeSamourai
Well-Known Member
I'm starting the George Smiley series today as a long-term reading project. I'll definitely be reading some other books between novels in this series, so we'll see how long it takes!
2025 Reading Challenge
- Thread starter Selaws
- Start date
I'm starting the George Smiley series today as a long-term reading project. I'll definitely be reading some other books between novels in this series, so we'll see how long it takes!
LeSamourai
Well-Known Member
Didn't realize how short the first book was... I'll probably finish it today.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I read them all a few tears ago. They’re all really readable in a short enough period of time.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
Book 2: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
I’ve been contemplating annihilation recently, and considering the absurd circumstances of our present fate, thought a bit of silliness was in order. I’ve read the Guide before, having had it personally placed in my hands by a shrewd high school teacher who truly was in the right place at the right time. He said this is a book everyone should read once, a lesson driven home on second reading.
This one went down rather clunky this time around. Maybe I’ve aged out of humorist writing. Don’t get me wrong: I like books with humor, but comedic, joke-based fiction increasingly strains my receptors; one can feel the author taking pride in their cleverness and sacrificing pace and immersion for goofy digressions. When you’re having fun with the blend of heady sci-fi with uncle humor it’s easy to overlook the story, but when the concepts are no longer surprising and you know the punchlines, you’re left with more space to notice the pattern of cleverly-but-recursive expositional conversations punctuated by a chase or gunfight, concluding in a miraculous-but-silly escape. The characters are defined solely by their wackiness or their normality, and each fades to the background as Adams introduces the next one.
Now, I really try not to bring the outside world into my experience of a book, and especially not my assessment of it or how I express it. But memetics haven’t served this book well; 42 has gone from an answer without a question to a punchline without a setup. It all feels a bit like revisiting badger badger badger mushroom mushroom: any absurdity has been bashed repeatedly into the dirt. It’s hard to read the Hitchhiker’s Guide knowing there’s a piece of space junk currently orbiting the planet bearing the monogram DONT PANIC, carrying a copy of the book and a towel, and that the person responsible understands humor like Vogons do poetry.
I hope I’m not coming off as bragging about having read this book “when it was cool;” it’s simply that I read it when I wasn’t online. That’s on me but, in a more real and accurate way, it’s on everyone else but me.
I’m hoping to continue the series through the year; I haven’t read past this first book, and hope i can keep an open mind for the next three of the trilogy.
I’ve been contemplating annihilation recently, and considering the absurd circumstances of our present fate, thought a bit of silliness was in order. I’ve read the Guide before, having had it personally placed in my hands by a shrewd high school teacher who truly was in the right place at the right time. He said this is a book everyone should read once, a lesson driven home on second reading.
This one went down rather clunky this time around. Maybe I’ve aged out of humorist writing. Don’t get me wrong: I like books with humor, but comedic, joke-based fiction increasingly strains my receptors; one can feel the author taking pride in their cleverness and sacrificing pace and immersion for goofy digressions. When you’re having fun with the blend of heady sci-fi with uncle humor it’s easy to overlook the story, but when the concepts are no longer surprising and you know the punchlines, you’re left with more space to notice the pattern of cleverly-but-recursive expositional conversations punctuated by a chase or gunfight, concluding in a miraculous-but-silly escape. The characters are defined solely by their wackiness or their normality, and each fades to the background as Adams introduces the next one.
Now, I really try not to bring the outside world into my experience of a book, and especially not my assessment of it or how I express it. But memetics haven’t served this book well; 42 has gone from an answer without a question to a punchline without a setup. It all feels a bit like revisiting badger badger badger mushroom mushroom: any absurdity has been bashed repeatedly into the dirt. It’s hard to read the Hitchhiker’s Guide knowing there’s a piece of space junk currently orbiting the planet bearing the monogram DONT PANIC, carrying a copy of the book and a towel, and that the person responsible understands humor like Vogons do poetry.
I hope I’m not coming off as bragging about having read this book “when it was cool;” it’s simply that I read it when I wasn’t online. That’s on me but, in a more real and accurate way, it’s on everyone else but me.
I’m hoping to continue the series through the year; I haven’t read past this first book, and hope i can keep an open mind for the next three of the trilogy.
Nee Lewman
बैस्टर्ड
I love Hitchhikers and have read it at least ten times. It’s been at least a decade though since the last time.
It’s just a long silly Monty Python sketch.
It’s just a long silly Monty Python sketch.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
I don’t mean to slag on it very hard; for all my musings and misgivings it was a 3.5-4 out of 5 read.
WhiteDahlias
Active Member
Hi everyone! I always start the year off posting in these threads and then fall off at some point, but I'm trying to be less "online" this year because everything is a dumpster fire and I have bad anxiety, so hopefully I will have more time to devote to reading and thinking more deeply about the books I read. I set my goal to 30 this year, and I'm already at 5 (though a few of those I started last year).
1. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell
I really liked Montell's first book, Wordslut, but I think I wanted a bit more from this one. I wish it had gone a bit more in depth/technical on the actual linguistics but I realize that would not appeal to people who don't have a master's in linguistics so that is definitely a me problem and not necessarily an issue with the book.
2. Heartstopper Vol. 3 - Alice Oseman
Not the most challenging read, but my friend described this series as her comfort series and I get it. The art style is very cute and the story is heartwarming. I do plan on watching the TV show at some point so I will probably read the rest of the books first since they are pretty quick reads.
3. 100 Boyfriends - Brontez Purnell
I have a bad habit of grabbing ebooks when they are on sale for like $2 and then forgetting to read them so I'm trying to get through some of them this year. This was the first one I started this year. A short story collection that follows many different gay relationships. I really liked the writing style even though I don't tend to read things that are this explicit. I was surprised that I liked this collection as much as I did.
4. Maybe In Another Life - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A lot of people I know rave about TJR but I think I'm ready to admit that she's not for me. I liked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, though I thought there were some plot points that were kind of unnecessary, and I thought Daisy Jones and the Six was okay, but even though I was excited by the sliding doors-esque premise of this book, I ended up very bored.
5. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
This book entered public domain this year in the US. The only Hemingway I've read before were a few snippets of The Sun Also Rises for a writing class in college. I think Hemingway's writing is maybe a bit more staccato than I usually like ("I did this and then this etc"), I definitely felt like I connected with the characters. This one was lovely but now I need a palate cleanser.
I'm currently reading Blue Sisters which I am trying to finish in the next few days before I have to return it to the library but I am really liking it (though I definitely wouldn't consider it a palate cleanser, lol). I also have a rather large stack of things I started before this year and still need to finish so I will probably pick one of those back up once I'm done.
1. Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism - Amanda Montell
I really liked Montell's first book, Wordslut, but I think I wanted a bit more from this one. I wish it had gone a bit more in depth/technical on the actual linguistics but I realize that would not appeal to people who don't have a master's in linguistics so that is definitely a me problem and not necessarily an issue with the book.
2. Heartstopper Vol. 3 - Alice Oseman
Not the most challenging read, but my friend described this series as her comfort series and I get it. The art style is very cute and the story is heartwarming. I do plan on watching the TV show at some point so I will probably read the rest of the books first since they are pretty quick reads.
3. 100 Boyfriends - Brontez Purnell
I have a bad habit of grabbing ebooks when they are on sale for like $2 and then forgetting to read them so I'm trying to get through some of them this year. This was the first one I started this year. A short story collection that follows many different gay relationships. I really liked the writing style even though I don't tend to read things that are this explicit. I was surprised that I liked this collection as much as I did.
4. Maybe In Another Life - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A lot of people I know rave about TJR but I think I'm ready to admit that she's not for me. I liked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, though I thought there were some plot points that were kind of unnecessary, and I thought Daisy Jones and the Six was okay, but even though I was excited by the sliding doors-esque premise of this book, I ended up very bored.
5. A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
This book entered public domain this year in the US. The only Hemingway I've read before were a few snippets of The Sun Also Rises for a writing class in college. I think Hemingway's writing is maybe a bit more staccato than I usually like ("I did this and then this etc"), I definitely felt like I connected with the characters. This one was lovely but now I need a palate cleanser.
I'm currently reading Blue Sisters which I am trying to finish in the next few days before I have to return it to the library but I am really liking it (though I definitely wouldn't consider it a palate cleanser, lol). I also have a rather large stack of things I started before this year and still need to finish so I will probably pick one of those back up once I'm done.
mdmost
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry. Yes, it's not really enjoyable so much as terrifyingly effective and impeccably researched. It really has no points to set it down other than the breaks for the history of nuclear weapons and protocols. Even then, you're wanting to get back to the main story to see what happens next. It's interesting as I have a harder time getting into fiction than nonfiction but this one is more of nonfiction book written as if this actually happened in an alternate universe. My brother had a similar experience with it and is now reading Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen.
Since I love cheerey works of nonfiction, this is my next one before I think I can finish it in the next week.
Since I love cheerey works of nonfiction, this is my next one before I think I can finish it in the next week.
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Rowan
Well-Known Member
I think this falls into the category of easy to read Japanese kitch. Basic concept of 10 short stories featuring characters that are all interconnected in some way. Putting this one straight into the ‘harmless’ pile. Reviews cite Murakami but it’s definitely not of that calibre or complexity. But enjoyable enough and a bit of light relief from the ‘big book’ I’ve been working through at the same time.
Quality front cover though
jamieanderson1968
ninniest jackaninny
I have been reading on my Kobo pretty exclusively that last couple of years. I picked up a few physical book cheap last fall and tried to crack both open since the new year.
Physical books are big and awkward and a total pain in the ass. One that I was really interested is almost unreadable to me with my glasses. The font is small, the paper quality is poor and the ink is light. After just a couple of pages I have to stop because of the eyestrain. The worst part is I paid I think $12 for it, but the ebook version would cost me $29. Bloody hell.
Physical books are big and awkward and a total pain in the ass. One that I was really interested is almost unreadable to me with my glasses. The font is small, the paper quality is poor and the ink is light. After just a couple of pages I have to stop because of the eyestrain. The worst part is I paid I think $12 for it, but the ebook version would cost me $29. Bloody hell.