2025 Reading Challenge

Ok, I made a reading list for myself from other lists and books/authors I had already been thinking about.
These all won't be this year, but between my local library, borrow from friends, and maybe a couple purchases I'll get into this list as the year progresses.
(going to post this in the general reading thread too)

I'd love to hear any input you folks have on these; which ones are absolutely epic, or snoozefests, or whatever.

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Thomas Pynchon - Gravity's Rainbow
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Virginia Wolfe - Mrs Dalloway
William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury
Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep
Kazou Ishiguro - where to start?
Paul Auster - where to start?
 
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ranbalam said:
Ok, I made a reading list for myself from other lists and books/authors I had already been thinking about.
These all won't be this year, but between my local library, borrow from friends, and maybe a couple purchases I'll get into this list as the year progresses.
(going to post this in the general reading thread too)

I'd love to hear any input you folks have on these; which ones are absolutely epic, or snoozefests, or whatever.

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Thomas Pinchon - Gravity's Rainbow
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Virginia Wolfe - Mrs Dalloway
William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury
Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep
Kazou Ishiguro - where to start?
Paul Auster - where to start?
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Gravity's Rainbow is a wild ride, I have read it, but if I could go back, I'd read The Crying of Lot 49 first to familiarize myself with Pynchon's style and knkw what O was in for. They're very similar in a way, but one is 800+ pages.

Ishiguro, I really enjoyed Never Let Me Go and have heard great things about Renains of the Day.
 
ranbalam said:
Ok, I made a reading list for myself from other lists and books/authors I had already been thinking about.
These all won't be this year, but between my local library, borrow from friends, and maybe a couple purchases I'll get into this list as the year progresses.
(going to post this in the general reading thread too)

I'd love to hear any input you folks have on these; which ones are absolutely epic, or snoozefests, or whatever.

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Thomas Pinchon - Gravity's Rainbow
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Virginia Wolfe - Mrs Dalloway
William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury
Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep
Kazou Ishiguro - where to start?
Paul Auster - where to start?
Click to expand...
I've read 4 Pynchon books and have yet to finish a one (eta: this wasn't for lack of enjoyment so much as I'd hit a wall of confusion and realize I didn't have my hands around what I was reading); I picked up Vineland the other week so we'll see if I'm 0 for 5.

On the other hand, I've read all of Chandler's novels; Big Sleep is great, The Long Goodbye is probably the one I'd pick which transcends pulp and reaches towards "literary novel" status.
 
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Oh, and Ishiguro rules; I'd recommend Never Let Me Go or Remains of the Day. I loved Klara and the Sun (though it retreads ground familiar from Let Me Go and is a bit less successful with it); I could not get through The Buried Giant.
 
Also, a heads up to kindle owners/users (my days with one are surely numbered), they're removing the ability to download and manually back up your purchases:
www.theverge.com

Amazon’s killing a feature that let you download and backup Kindle books

It’s bad if you like to keep ebook backup copies.
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com

I've already had it with them stripping all my sideloaded content (even the legally acquired stuff), and this is a whole nother level of rotten. Back your shit up, gang!
 
ranbalam said:
Ok, I made a reading list for myself from other lists and books/authors I had already been thinking about.
These all won't be this year, but between my local library, borrow from friends, and maybe a couple purchases I'll get into this list as the year progresses.
(going to post this in the general reading thread too)

I'd love to hear any input you folks have on these; which ones are absolutely epic, or snoozefests, or whatever.

Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Thomas Pynchon - Gravity's Rainbow
Iris Murdoch - The Sea, The Sea
Graham Greene - Brighton Rock
Virginia Wolfe - Mrs Dalloway
William Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury
Raymond Chandler - The Big Sleep
Kazou Ishiguro - where to start?
Paul Auster - where to start?
Click to expand...
4,3,2,1 from Auster. It’s a big book but well worth it.

Never Let Me Go is probably Ishiguro’s best (although he’s one of those where it’s difficult to pick a bad book). But When We Were Orphans is my favourite of his. The one I couldn’t get on with was The Buried Giant. The rest… great.

And I’ve read Gravity’s Rainbow and I’d say it’s only really worth doing so you can say you’ve read Gravity’s Rainbow. Took 10 years and multiple attempts. I may have another crack now I’m older as I’ve still got a copy but it was an arduous slog.
 
ranbalam said:
My ratings on the the last three books I've read have been 3, 3, and 2 out of 5.
In other words, there's been nothing special in my early 2025 reads. I need to either lean on an author I already love, or read more reviews to narrow it down to something I'll be really into. I do have a couple recommended books on order from my local.

I read some excellent stuff in 2024, both fiction and non-fiction.

Is it Paul Auster time? I'm an Auster virgin.
A friend told me his current favorite writer is David Mitchell, maybe I'll check him out.
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Cloud Atlas is unbelievably good (and it's like six books in one so you've gotta like SOMETHING in it).

I'm reading a book right now called "The Cautious Traveler's Guide to the Wasteland" and it's been a page turner, really digging it.
 
ayayrawn said:
I'm gonna let y'all in on this, but you can also download pretty much any ebook you can conceive of for free from Anna’s Archive

I've put maybe 80 books on my Kindle since I got it last year.
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Yeah, I stopped using the Amazon storefront because f Bezos. Kindle as a device is still remarkably good, but I've got no qualms about sellng it for a Kobo if Amazon gets scummier.

The "USB" stuff is bad but I never use it so doesn't impact me. I just use "Send to Kindle" for everything
 
Rowan said:
And I’ve read Gravity’s Rainbow and I’d say it’s only really worth doing so you can say you’ve read Gravity’s Rainbow
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I have heard it's difficult, and while I did get through War and Peace, I am not always up for works that are known to be difficult to get through. Good to know.
 
Just searched through my local library's database and they have almost all the books on the list I posted earlier. It's like two blocks away, ideal to use them.
 
ranbalam said:
What else would you compare it to, regarding the difficulty?
I'm intrigued too @avecigrec - I'm just learning of the book today.
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Are you familiar with Pynchon or other postmodern stuff? If not it's kinda hard to describe.

There's barely a plot, more like a general self aware vibe it has of itself. It runs the gamut from like ultra mathematical impenetrable descriptions of missle tech to hilariously grotesque, sexually explicit asides. It's a very funny book, but can also be devastatingly beautiful, or kind of disturbing. I took it as trying to contextualize the chaos of the 20th century but even that is probably reductive. It was one of the first books to be called an encyclopedic novel, i.e. does a little bit of everything: Encyclopedic novel - Wikipedia

My advice is to treat it like poetry, you are 100% not going to understand it all, there's just no way, but just keep reading, and let the general vibe or feeling it give you shape of the work. That's worked really well for me and Infinite Jest (less than 300 pages left!)
 
ayayrawn said:
Are you familiar with Pynchon or other postmodern stuff? If not it's kinda hard to describe.

There's barely a plot, more like a general self aware vibe it has of itself. It runs the gamut from like ultra mathematical impenetrable descriptions of missle tech to hilariously grotesque, sexually explicit asides. It's a very funny book, but can also be devastatingly beautiful, or kind of disturbing. I took it as trying to contextualize the chaos of the 20th century but even that is probably reductive. It was one of the first books to be called an encyclopedic novel, i.e. does a little bit of everything: Encyclopedic novel - Wikipedia

My advice is to treat it like poetry, you are 100% not going to understand it all, there's just no way, but just keep reading, and let the general vibe or feeling it give you shape of the work. That's worked really well for me and Infinite Jest (less than 300 pages left!)
Click to expand...

Depending on the page, I was sometimes in awe, sometimes laughing, sometimes confused, and sometimes just plain annoyed.
 
ayayrawn said:
Are you familiar with Pynchon or other postmodern stuff?
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Nope. But I'm loving how you described it, it seems like something I'd want to linger with on the patio in the summer. I almost never read when I'm high, but maybe I'd try that too, as long as I'm on a journey.

I've always been an avid reader, but sometimes a whole new world opens up that I just didn't know about. Love it.
 
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